Unfortunately they ran out of their Nasi Lemak which we remembered to be really good to this day. So settled with some English cakes & scones & tea... How pretentious! ;-p
Friday 25 November 2011
Wednesday 23 November 2011
夢醒時分 The moment when a dream is awakened..
Direct copy from author without further amendments (except blue fonts).
鄭丁賢•夢醒時分 你是否和我一樣，發覺身邊的親戚和朋友，似乎少了許多。 I wonder you feel the same as me ; all the sudden I realized friends and relatives around me seems to get less and less.
往接近過年時，各種聚餐排得滿滿的，而今年，似乎沒聲沒息。 Those years when the New Year drew near, all sorts of gathering appointments almost completely filled the diaries, but this year seems so quiet.
即使是平常日子，電話少了，與大家見面也少了。 Even in normal time, phone calls become less and less, face to face meet up also become much less.
也許，大家各忙各的；或者，目前流行“宅生活”，儘量避免出門。 Perhaps, everybody is busy with their own things, or perhaps, nowadays people prefer to stay in.
也不盡然如此。再想一想，很多老友和親戚，已經不在了。嗟！大吉利是，他們都還好好的，只是離開了馬來西亞。 However, it is not entirely like this, thinking further, actually old friends and relatives are not around any more. God bless, they are still alive and well, they just left the country, Malaysia .
去了中國大陸開工廠；王子不做工程師，移民到澳洲開小食檔；阿風離開本地大學，去香港做講師；青蛙去了台灣，開展事業第二春；還有的到了美國、英國，唔，還有去印尼的……。 They have gone to China to set factory; Ah Wang quit his engineer job and migrated to Australia to set up his little food store business, Ah Fong left the local University went to Hong Kong as a lecturer. 'Frog' went to Taiwan to pursue his second career life. Others went to America , England , even Indonesia ...
起初，以為這只是個別現象，逐漸的，旁人也有同樣發現；原來，這不是個別現象，而是社會現象；這不是少數，而是相當大的數目。 At first, I thought these are individual cases, but gradually, people around me realized the same, these are not individual cases but a general symptom of our society. they are not small numbers but the pretty big indeed.
外交部早前披露了一個數字，說明這個現象是多麼真實，多麼貼近。 Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures earlier, it confirmed the situation is real.
從去年3月到今年9月，已經有30萬大馬人移民他國；其中20萬 人是今年1月到8月出走的數目。 From March 2008 thru September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysian migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009. (in 8 months)
累積下來，已經有超過200萬大馬人移民，接近今天印尼外勞在大馬的人口。 Cumulatively, 2 million Malaysians migrated, this figure is close to the number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia today.
不同的是，移居他國的大馬人，多是專業人士、中產階級。 The difference are, those migrated are mostly professional and middle class people.
他們有很多出走的理由，追求事業發展，為了孩子前途，尋找個人更大空間……，概括一句：對馬來西亞失望。 They have many reasons to leave: pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life and environment... In one sentence, they lost hope of Malaysia .
50年前，大家說，馬來西亞真好，好過香港，甚至日本。 50 years ago people said: Malaysia is very good, better than Hong Kong and even Japan .
30年前，大家說，馬來西亞還不錯，比得上韓國、台灣（不提香港和日本了）。 30 years ago people said: Malaysia is not bad, comparable to S. Korea and Taiwan. (No mention of Hong Kong and Japan any more).
20年前，大家說，馬來西亞還可以，至少超越中國、泰國（不能和台、韓比了）。 20 years ago people said: Malaysia can do lah, at least better than China and Thailand (Cannot compare with Taiwan and Korea lah)
10年前，大家說，馬來西亞再差，還不至於像越南、印尼（中國已是不同級別）。 10 years ago people said: No matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam and Indonesia ok-lah. (China is already in a different category).
今日，越南和印尼的經濟成長率遙遙領先大馬， 社會活力和知識發展也勝過一籌；距離愈來愈近了。 Today, the economic growth rate of Vietnam and Indonesia already far exceeded Malaysia , Social activity and intellectual development of the country is also better, the gap between us and them is closing up.
怕甚麼，還有菲律賓和柬埔寨、緬甸。
Why worry? there are still Philippines , Cambodia and Myanmar behind us.
但是，一位經濟學家最近到菲律賓考察之後，認為再過20年，大馬可以取代菲律賓，出口馬籍女傭到全世界了。 However, according to an economist who recently surveyed Philippines, he think in 20 years' time, Malaysia can replace Philippines to become the World exporter of Malaysian maids.
半個世紀以來，馬來西亞是在大宅院裡，用封建方式，分配祖宗家業，消耗社會資源，浪費和逼走人才；不談競爭力，忽略生產力，討厭績效制。 Over half a century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continued to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drove away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglected productivity, and hated meritocracy.
亞洲金融風暴來襲時，大馬把門關起來，以為避過一劫， 有人還自我陶醉，自以為是天才策略。 When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, they even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well.
然而，其它國家面對風暴，走出風暴，進行體質改革，跨步向前，登上另一個水平；大馬卻還在原地踏步。 However, just look at other countries in our neighbourhood ; they stood up, faced the storm, and walked out of the storm. They overhauled their system, improved the processes and marched forward ; they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia , still walking on the spot . . !
馬來西亞，該醒一醒了。 Dear Malaysia , it's time to wake up ! We are very very late now !
So what am I doing here? Shouldn't I just grab the Beijing offer (despite the difficulties it poses) & leave? Have we no hope now that we need to resort leaving our home? That's so sad...
鄭丁賢•夢醒時分 你是否和我一樣，發覺身邊的親戚和朋友，似乎少了許多。 I wonder you feel the same as me ; all the sudden I realized friends and relatives around me seems to get less and less.
往接近過年時，各種聚餐排得滿滿的，而今年，似乎沒聲沒息。 Those years when the New Year drew near, all sorts of gathering appointments almost completely filled the diaries, but this year seems so quiet.
即使是平常日子，電話少了，與大家見面也少了。 Even in normal time, phone calls become less and less, face to face meet up also become much less.
也許，大家各忙各的；或者，目前流行“宅生活”，儘量避免出門。 Perhaps, everybody is busy with their own things, or perhaps, nowadays people prefer to stay in.
也不盡然如此。再想一想，很多老友和親戚，已經不在了。嗟！大吉利是，他們都還好好的，只是離開了馬來西亞。 However, it is not entirely like this, thinking further, actually old friends and relatives are not around any more. God bless, they are still alive and well, they just left the country, Malaysia .
去了中國大陸開工廠；王子不做工程師，移民到澳洲開小食檔；阿風離開本地大學，去香港做講師；青蛙去了台灣，開展事業第二春；還有的到了美國、英國，唔，還有去印尼的……。 They have gone to China to set factory; Ah Wang quit his engineer job and migrated to Australia to set up his little food store business, Ah Fong left the local University went to Hong Kong as a lecturer. 'Frog' went to Taiwan to pursue his second career life. Others went to America , England , even Indonesia ...
起初，以為這只是個別現象，逐漸的，旁人也有同樣發現；原來，這不是個別現象，而是社會現象；這不是少數，而是相當大的數目。 At first, I thought these are individual cases, but gradually, people around me realized the same, these are not individual cases but a general symptom of our society. they are not small numbers but the pretty big indeed.
外交部早前披露了一個數字，說明這個現象是多麼真實，多麼貼近。 Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures earlier, it confirmed the situation is real.
從去年3月到今年9月，已經有30萬大馬人移民他國；其中20萬 人是今年1月到8月出走的數目。 From March 2008 thru September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysian migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009. (in 8 months)
累積下來，已經有超過200萬大馬人移民，接近今天印尼外勞在大馬的人口。 Cumulatively, 2 million Malaysians migrated, this figure is close to the number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia today.
不同的是，移居他國的大馬人，多是專業人士、中產階級。 The difference are, those migrated are mostly professional and middle class people.
他們有很多出走的理由，追求事業發展，為了孩子前途，尋找個人更大空間……，概括一句：對馬來西亞失望。 They have many reasons to leave: pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life and environment... In one sentence, they lost hope of Malaysia .
50年前，大家說，馬來西亞真好，好過香港，甚至日本。 50 years ago people said: Malaysia is very good, better than Hong Kong and even Japan .
30年前，大家說，馬來西亞還不錯，比得上韓國、台灣（不提香港和日本了）。 30 years ago people said: Malaysia is not bad, comparable to S. Korea and Taiwan. (No mention of Hong Kong and Japan any more).
20年前，大家說，馬來西亞還可以，至少超越中國、泰國（不能和台、韓比了）。 20 years ago people said: Malaysia can do lah, at least better than China and Thailand (Cannot compare with Taiwan and Korea lah)
10年前，大家說，馬來西亞再差，還不至於像越南、印尼（中國已是不同級別）。 10 years ago people said: No matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam and Indonesia ok-lah. (China is already in a different category).
今日，越南和印尼的經濟成長率遙遙領先大馬， 社會活力和知識發展也勝過一籌；距離愈來愈近了。 Today, the economic growth rate of Vietnam and Indonesia already far exceeded Malaysia , Social activity and intellectual development of the country is also better, the gap between us and them is closing up.
怕甚麼，還有菲律賓和柬埔寨、緬甸。
Why worry? there are still Philippines , Cambodia and Myanmar behind us.
但是，一位經濟學家最近到菲律賓考察之後，認為再過20年，大馬可以取代菲律賓，出口馬籍女傭到全世界了。 However, according to an economist who recently surveyed Philippines, he think in 20 years' time, Malaysia can replace Philippines to become the World exporter of Malaysian maids.
半個世紀以來，馬來西亞是在大宅院裡，用封建方式，分配祖宗家業，消耗社會資源，浪費和逼走人才；不談競爭力，忽略生產力，討厭績效制。 Over half a century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continued to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drove away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglected productivity, and hated meritocracy.
亞洲金融風暴來襲時，大馬把門關起來，以為避過一劫， 有人還自我陶醉，自以為是天才策略。 When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, they even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well.
然而，其它國家面對風暴，走出風暴，進行體質改革，跨步向前，登上另一個水平；大馬卻還在原地踏步。 However, just look at other countries in our neighbourhood ; they stood up, faced the storm, and walked out of the storm. They overhauled their system, improved the processes and marched forward ; they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia , still walking on the spot . . !
馬來西亞，該醒一醒了。 Dear Malaysia , it's time to wake up ! We are very very late now !
So what am I doing here? Shouldn't I just grab the Beijing offer (despite the difficulties it poses) & leave? Have we no hope now that we need to resort leaving our home? That's so sad...
Cameron Highlands Trip - Day 2
We really maximized our day. We woke up bright & early (thanks to Kun Sam - natural alarm clock) & started the day by going down to Ringlet to the Boh Tea Plantation cum Factory. Alas, we found that they're closed on Mondays. So we went to the cafeteria of Bharat Tea Plantation instead (mid-way between Ringlet & Tanah Rata). The view from the cafeteria is truly majestic! Hills & valleys of age old tea tree of almost the same height. It looked like a huge patterned green carpet!
Food is pricey though. You'd have thought that the tea being so near, it should be cheaper than KL! No Sir-ee! The teas (though wide selection) was so expensive. We took among the cheaper ones -Massala tea; which is really creamy & tasty & 2 packets of Nasi Lemak. It cost us nearly RM20 all in all. As much as I wanted the scones, butter & jelly set, it was too pricey too. So with breakfast nicely tucked in, we took a stroll down the steep steps towards the tea plantation. We snap some pictures with Kun Sam "busy" hitting the tea "bushes". It's really painful because there were many twigs growing upwards, so hitting it would be like having a wooden fork poking at your palms. Yet Kun Sam seem to be oblivious to all that & continue "whacking" like no body's business. I tell you... this boy is truly destined for the drums (no piano for him)!
After breakfast, we visited a strawberry farm & have strawberries! It was sourish, but delicious with cream. Kun Sam loved it so much, his face is all smeared with strawberry juices. Don't belief me? Take a look:
Yummy but so sour mummy! See my eye?
We then went up to Brinchang and had a simple lunch of rice, boiled vegetable with oyster sauce & stewed pork leg in vinegar, near the local farmer's market so it's not as pricey. Not knowing where else to go, we went to another strawberry farm (cum cactus cum rose garden cum hydroponic vegetables cum restaurant cum cafe etc) nearby. After walking around, we found that the scones set & pancake set in this cafe is much cheaper than Bharat. So, we took tea! A pot of tea + a hot scone + butter + strawberry jam + 2 pcs of pancakes with pieces of strawberries in the bater + vanilla ice cream & more butter & strawberry jam! Kun & daddy loved the fluffy pancakes with ice cream. Mummy is contented with the hot scones - ahh... finally...
After stuffing ourselves with sinfully delicious desserts, we visited a temple in Brinchang & took a meditative stroll around the compound. We then head back to the hotel room for a little snooze & clean-up Kun Sam.
We ended the day with dinner at Brinchang - a restaurant we've been eyeing the previous night but did not go because it was jam packed with people. I'm happpy we went there. It's really delicious. We had "Indonesian" fish curry, stir fried "dragon whiskers" vegetable (only available in Cameron apparently) & errmmm... can't remember the third dish... if not mistaken, it's mantis prawns. Kun Sam? Teething biscuits & milk for dinner. :-)
Really a relaxed family outing.
Believe It Or Not?!
In my last post I mentioned Kun Sam was sick right? He was having fever for 4-days despite taking paracetamol. So went to see the paediatrician who made a more detailed check & even take a blood test. We had to wait 45mins to get the result of the blood test (which is pretty fast actually), before going back to the Dr's office again to get the diagnosis. Nothing serious. Just viral infection of the throat & inflammation of the nose canal. Just some mild medication, no antibiotics required. All in all, the whole exercise took about 2-hrs.
On the way driving back, my mother-in-law is still feeling uncomfortable that Kun Sam's illness may be related to something paranormal. Rationale is that we always bring him out at night, so some evil wondering soul must be disturbing him - hence the fever.
To give her peace of mind, hubby drove in to a Taoist temple that she normally go to for "enlightenment". There's apparently a medium who's very "accurate" & good in resolving such paranormal disturbances. To be honest both hubby & I were skeptical. At least hubby roughly know how all this works. I was truly like a fish out of water. I don't know if I should sit / stand / pray / burn incense etc.
There's an old man at the right hand corner of the temple who got Kun Sam's information like his name, date & time of birth, place of birth etc. Then we're asked to bring the envealope to the medium who was seated in the middle. He just took a look at Kun Sam, pointed at him & said, "Kun Sam right? Listen carefully. He's not being hounded by ghosts or having paranormal disturbances. His nostril is merely blocked, hence causing his throat to be infected; which causes fever. Just give him this list of herbal medication & another herb to soothe his teething gums, he should be fine. I'm also giving him a "fu" (a strip of yellow paper with some characters written by the medium in red & 3 stamps of a wooden stamp), you should burn it, take the ashes & disolve in water. Use the ash water to make his milk. Understand? Hmmh ok."
That was it!
In only less than 10mins & he was able to rattle off all the Dr's diagnosis that took about 2-hrs & even issue a prescription too (albeit the dubious "fu" that we need to give its ash to a baby)!
I'm not sure if I'm a convert now... but WOW! Believe It Or Not?!
On the way driving back, my mother-in-law is still feeling uncomfortable that Kun Sam's illness may be related to something paranormal. Rationale is that we always bring him out at night, so some evil wondering soul must be disturbing him - hence the fever.
To give her peace of mind, hubby drove in to a Taoist temple that she normally go to for "enlightenment". There's apparently a medium who's very "accurate" & good in resolving such paranormal disturbances. To be honest both hubby & I were skeptical. At least hubby roughly know how all this works. I was truly like a fish out of water. I don't know if I should sit / stand / pray / burn incense etc.
There's an old man at the right hand corner of the temple who got Kun Sam's information like his name, date & time of birth, place of birth etc. Then we're asked to bring the envealope to the medium who was seated in the middle. He just took a look at Kun Sam, pointed at him & said, "Kun Sam right? Listen carefully. He's not being hounded by ghosts or having paranormal disturbances. His nostril is merely blocked, hence causing his throat to be infected; which causes fever. Just give him this list of herbal medication & another herb to soothe his teething gums, he should be fine. I'm also giving him a "fu" (a strip of yellow paper with some characters written by the medium in red & 3 stamps of a wooden stamp), you should burn it, take the ashes & disolve in water. Use the ash water to make his milk. Understand? Hmmh ok."
That was it!
In only less than 10mins & he was able to rattle off all the Dr's diagnosis that took about 2-hrs & even issue a prescription too (albeit the dubious "fu" that we need to give its ash to a baby)!
I'm not sure if I'm a convert now... but WOW! Believe It Or Not?!
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Scared Shitless but Don't Know What to Do!
This month must be a very bad month for Kun Sam. He first had fever for 4-days. Then after seeing the paediatrician, his fever continued for another 2-days before finally subsiding.
After taking so much medication & so little milk, his face & some parts of his body broke out in rashes like spots. My mother-in-law said that it's due to "toxins" in the body trying to be excreted out.
Then... this morning he fell off the bed!
I left him on the other end of the bed towards the wall & he was sleeping; to quickly make a trip to the toilet. When I came back, he's already on the floor (on his stomach - crawl position)! I freaked out!! But.... I can't show that I'm freaking out inside because my mother-in-law is already on nagging mode. (e.g. "I've taken care of so many kids & not once did they fell off the bed!"). Well sorry to be such a bad mother!! As if I'd wanted such things to happen.
Sigh... I try... I really try... Maybe I'm truly a lousy mother...
Anyway, Kun Sam is fine (or at least that's based on the fact that he just cried for a while), he can move all his limbs, there's no nasty cuts / bruises on his head / body, not vomiting blood / bloody nose. He even started playing & smiling by the time I was ready to leave for work (yeah... I actually left for work, but that's to collect my laptop to be able to work from home later as I continue to monitor him).
It's 4pm now & so far he's eating, drinking, playing & sleeping as usual. I don't know... Should I bring him to the paediatrician again to check if he suffers anything from the fall? Scared SHITLESS!!
After taking so much medication & so little milk, his face & some parts of his body broke out in rashes like spots. My mother-in-law said that it's due to "toxins" in the body trying to be excreted out.
Then... this morning he fell off the bed!
I left him on the other end of the bed towards the wall & he was sleeping; to quickly make a trip to the toilet. When I came back, he's already on the floor (on his stomach - crawl position)! I freaked out!! But.... I can't show that I'm freaking out inside because my mother-in-law is already on nagging mode. (e.g. "I've taken care of so many kids & not once did they fell off the bed!"). Well sorry to be such a bad mother!! As if I'd wanted such things to happen.
Sigh... I try... I really try... Maybe I'm truly a lousy mother...
Anyway, Kun Sam is fine (or at least that's based on the fact that he just cried for a while), he can move all his limbs, there's no nasty cuts / bruises on his head / body, not vomiting blood / bloody nose. He even started playing & smiling by the time I was ready to leave for work (yeah... I actually left for work, but that's to collect my laptop to be able to work from home later as I continue to monitor him).
It's 4pm now & so far he's eating, drinking, playing & sleeping as usual. I don't know... Should I bring him to the paediatrician again to check if he suffers anything from the fall? Scared SHITLESS!!
Monday 14 November 2011
Cameron Highlands Trip - Day 1
I know... it's stale news. What with my trip to Cameron being last month in Oct, but really didn't have the time nor the mood to write since coming back... Until now...
Before heading up, we had dim sum for breakfast, then took a slow drive via the trunk road towards Bidor. Upon reaching there, we stopped by to have a quick lunch of "wu kok" (fried savoury yam dumplings) & wan tan noodles at the famous "Pun Chun". The "wu kok" was as good as we remembered, but the wan tan noodles is really not recommended. I'd rather have only "wu kok" for lunch & nothing else than to attempt eating the noodles again. Kun Sam had his teething biscuits - boy he loved them. He had 5 sticks in 1 sitting!
After lunch, we continued our journey up the highlands via Tapah. Gosh... I was really sick on the drive up. I know I tend to have motion sickness but it's a first going up to Cameron - I didn't have it in my past trips. Partially thanks to Kun Sam actually. He just refuses to seat in his car seat. He has somehow learned to pull & kick & tug at the seat belt till it's so loose that he can squirm out of the seat belts & wriggle out of the car seat. I just can't describe it more accurately but suffice to say if I had left him to his own device he would have fallen out of the baby car seat & on the floor!
So I had no choice but to carry him. Bad move...
On top of the safety risk, he was just super hyper! I'm not sure if it's because he's super excited to be travelling & not cooped up at home or everything he sees out of the windscreen is just super interestingly new to him. He was jumping, clambering on & off my lap, peek at his dad over the rear-mirror, clamber to the window on the left & then to the right & the whole "process" repeats again. Golly... Upon reaching Ringlet, we just had to absolutely stop because I was really close to vomiting in the car! So Kun Sam... If you read this when you're older - you really owe mummy this!
Anyway, it was with much relief to all of us that we reached Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata safely & me without vomitting. The hotel is ok... A bit old, but it's spacious & has all the basic things we need - fridge, TV & clean bathroom. That's more than enough for me.
After putting down our bags & enjoying the fresh cool air from our balcony (yes we had a balcony but not much of a view though... It's facing the car park though, so at least we get to see our car); we left the hotel for Brinchang. We drove around just to survey the area & start planning (loosely... not a regimental plan) where we want to go in the next few days.
We then took a walk at the Pasar Malam - bought some fried mushrooms & steams sweet potatoes for Kun Sam. Poor Kun Sam by then was so tired that he fell asleep on dede's shoulder as we walked around the stalls of the pasar malam. Finally we adjourned for dinner at one of the restaurants in Brinchang. We had steamboat! It was nicely cold - not too cold that you'll need a sweater but cool enough to want a nice hot steaming soup. Not to mention it was drizzling slightly. Parking was atrocious though. We waited for nearly half an hour for a space to park.
With Kun Sam asleep in the stroller we had a nice steamboat for 2 consisting of prawns, fish, pork fillet, pork balls, fish balls, vegetable, eggs, noodles etc. We were so stuffed! Not to mention tired. The 3 of us fell asleep almost immediately after washing up, changing & feeding Kun Sam!
Before heading up, we had dim sum for breakfast, then took a slow drive via the trunk road towards Bidor. Upon reaching there, we stopped by to have a quick lunch of "wu kok" (fried savoury yam dumplings) & wan tan noodles at the famous "Pun Chun". The "wu kok" was as good as we remembered, but the wan tan noodles is really not recommended. I'd rather have only "wu kok" for lunch & nothing else than to attempt eating the noodles again. Kun Sam had his teething biscuits - boy he loved them. He had 5 sticks in 1 sitting!
After lunch, we continued our journey up the highlands via Tapah. Gosh... I was really sick on the drive up. I know I tend to have motion sickness but it's a first going up to Cameron - I didn't have it in my past trips. Partially thanks to Kun Sam actually. He just refuses to seat in his car seat. He has somehow learned to pull & kick & tug at the seat belt till it's so loose that he can squirm out of the seat belts & wriggle out of the car seat. I just can't describe it more accurately but suffice to say if I had left him to his own device he would have fallen out of the baby car seat & on the floor!
So I had no choice but to carry him. Bad move...
On top of the safety risk, he was just super hyper! I'm not sure if it's because he's super excited to be travelling & not cooped up at home or everything he sees out of the windscreen is just super interestingly new to him. He was jumping, clambering on & off my lap, peek at his dad over the rear-mirror, clamber to the window on the left & then to the right & the whole "process" repeats again. Golly... Upon reaching Ringlet, we just had to absolutely stop because I was really close to vomiting in the car! So Kun Sam... If you read this when you're older - you really owe mummy this!
Anyway, it was with much relief to all of us that we reached Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata safely & me without vomitting. The hotel is ok... A bit old, but it's spacious & has all the basic things we need - fridge, TV & clean bathroom. That's more than enough for me.
After putting down our bags & enjoying the fresh cool air from our balcony (yes we had a balcony but not much of a view though... It's facing the car park though, so at least we get to see our car); we left the hotel for Brinchang. We drove around just to survey the area & start planning (loosely... not a regimental plan) where we want to go in the next few days.
We then took a walk at the Pasar Malam - bought some fried mushrooms & steams sweet potatoes for Kun Sam. Poor Kun Sam by then was so tired that he fell asleep on dede's shoulder as we walked around the stalls of the pasar malam. Finally we adjourned for dinner at one of the restaurants in Brinchang. We had steamboat! It was nicely cold - not too cold that you'll need a sweater but cool enough to want a nice hot steaming soup. Not to mention it was drizzling slightly. Parking was atrocious though. We waited for nearly half an hour for a space to park.
With Kun Sam asleep in the stroller we had a nice steamboat for 2 consisting of prawns, fish, pork fillet, pork balls, fish balls, vegetable, eggs, noodles etc. We were so stuffed! Not to mention tired. The 3 of us fell asleep almost immediately after washing up, changing & feeding Kun Sam!
Friday 11 November 2011
It's 11th November 2011 - Kun Sam is exactly 10 months old!
Wow! Time really flies. Not only 11-11-11 is a special day due to the many 1s; the significance to me is greater. Kun Sam is exactly 10 months old today! 11th Jan 2011.... 11-1-11...
I wonder if ppl celebrate 10-mths b'day? Hehe.... 1-yr birthday is juzz too normal & boring... ;-)
I wonder if ppl celebrate 10-mths b'day? Hehe.... 1-yr birthday is juzz too normal & boring... ;-)
Sunday 30 October 2011
Pangkor Laut Resort
Day 1 at Pangkor Laut. This place is fantastic. If only it doesn't rain so much.
Kun Sam was fortunately behaving himself. He surprisingly allowed himself to be strapped in a lifejacket for the trip to Pangkor Laut too! He was so tired that he fell asleep half standing though, with his chin supported by my hand. :-)
Wish I can upload all the pix from here now, but alas I don't have the cable with me.
Jeez... It feels a little uncomfortable updating my blog in such a public space. Maybe I'll update when there are less people around me / after going back (hopefully I have the time!)
Can't wait to share all the beautiful pix of this area. If the pix didn't turn out nice, it's the camera & camera man. Definitely not because of this heavenly place.
p/s: heavenly if you can afford it... Not so heavenly if you can't! ;-)
Kun Sam was fortunately behaving himself. He surprisingly allowed himself to be strapped in a lifejacket for the trip to Pangkor Laut too! He was so tired that he fell asleep half standing though, with his chin supported by my hand. :-)
Wish I can upload all the pix from here now, but alas I don't have the cable with me.
Jeez... It feels a little uncomfortable updating my blog in such a public space. Maybe I'll update when there are less people around me / after going back (hopefully I have the time!)
Can't wait to share all the beautiful pix of this area. If the pix didn't turn out nice, it's the camera & camera man. Definitely not because of this heavenly place.
p/s: heavenly if you can afford it... Not so heavenly if you can't! ;-)
Friday 21 October 2011
A Mother's Dilema: Am I Spoiling Him?
As much as I said I don't want to spoil my boy; sometimes it's quite hard keeping that resolve! It's indeed much easier said than done. Especially when he's your 1st and not to mention he came after many years of trying.
Last weekend, we went out to use up some cash vouchers we received as a present & what did we use it for? A "Bu Dao Ong" i.e. Self-righting-toy aka humpty-dumpty. Although it's only RM9.99, but still... is that spoiling him?
He loved it though... He laughed with glee when we hit it & the walrus-shaped bu dao ong bounced back tusk & all (no kidding, the bu dao ong is in the shape of a walrus with tusks!). It saved dede (daddy in Canto) a lot of effort when taking care of Kun Sam while mummy is on the computer working.
This week? Well, we're going for 2 coming trips as a family - Cameron & Pangkor. The hotel we're staying in Cameron has a pool as well, so I justified that it'll be great to bring Kun Sam swimming. Hence, we'll need a float! So off we went to buy a float. You can't imagine all the shapes, sizes, colours, cartoon characters etc that they have on floats now a days. We got the one that the middle of the tube had a seat so that he can sit in it rather than relying on his hands to cling to the float. I wanted the cute yellow duck that looked like the rubber ducky we float in bath tubs, but hubby said - "My son is not sitting on any Duck. He's no Duck!" (Cantonese nickname for a Gigolo is - you guessed it! - Duck). So we finally settled on a giraffe at RM14.
So.... am I spoiling him? He's only 9-months and look what I've already got for him! If I didn't control myself, I was sorely tempted to get him that push car in the shape of a tiger too (fortunately it costed RM140, so it was thankfully a huge turn-off)!
Now, the pertinent question - Am I Spoiling Him?
Last weekend, we went out to use up some cash vouchers we received as a present & what did we use it for? A "Bu Dao Ong" i.e. Self-righting-toy aka humpty-dumpty. Although it's only RM9.99, but still... is that spoiling him?
He loved it though... He laughed with glee when we hit it & the walrus-shaped bu dao ong bounced back tusk & all (no kidding, the bu dao ong is in the shape of a walrus with tusks!). It saved dede (daddy in Canto) a lot of effort when taking care of Kun Sam while mummy is on the computer working.
This week? Well, we're going for 2 coming trips as a family - Cameron & Pangkor. The hotel we're staying in Cameron has a pool as well, so I justified that it'll be great to bring Kun Sam swimming. Hence, we'll need a float! So off we went to buy a float. You can't imagine all the shapes, sizes, colours, cartoon characters etc that they have on floats now a days. We got the one that the middle of the tube had a seat so that he can sit in it rather than relying on his hands to cling to the float. I wanted the cute yellow duck that looked like the rubber ducky we float in bath tubs, but hubby said - "My son is not sitting on any Duck. He's no Duck!" (Cantonese nickname for a Gigolo is - you guessed it! - Duck). So we finally settled on a giraffe at RM14.
So.... am I spoiling him? He's only 9-months and look what I've already got for him! If I didn't control myself, I was sorely tempted to get him that push car in the shape of a tiger too (fortunately it costed RM140, so it was thankfully a huge turn-off)!
Now, the pertinent question - Am I Spoiling Him?
Thursday 20 October 2011
Shameless Plagiarism?
They say Plagiarism is the greatest form of a compliment to the original author. I hope this Special Columnist of a Chinese Daily will view my article this way. :)
This morning hubby shared with me 2 very interesting articles from this Columnist.
1. Steve Jobs passing is a great loss to the US.
US has lost 3 great talents in recent history - Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and most recent of them all - Steve Jobs. They've left a great void in the music, entertainment & technology industry. What is more ironic is that, their passing also reflected the plight of the American. With them gone, the Americans are also left "Jobs"-less, "Cash"-less and hence "Hope"-less (as in out of / no hope not that they're useless).
What a clever play of words.
2. Three Apples has changed the history of mankind.
1st Apple - The apple that Adam ate
2nd Apple - The Apple that fell on Newton's head
** Hubby went on to add - imagine if it were a durian / a coconut! Newton wouldn't have been alive to share his discovery! Of which I replied - Duh! Where got durian & coconut at the place where Newton was born-lah!?! Come to think of it, what's the biggest fruit that can come crashing down on him? Apple? Orange? Pears? None that can cause permanent head damage.
3rd Apple - The Apple that Steve Jobs co-founded
Sometimes getting this interesting articles 2nd hand via hubby; & I'm sure there's a lot of missing nuances & messages that got lost in translations; makes me wish I know how to read Chinese characters. :p
This morning hubby shared with me 2 very interesting articles from this Columnist.
1. Steve Jobs passing is a great loss to the US.
US has lost 3 great talents in recent history - Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and most recent of them all - Steve Jobs. They've left a great void in the music, entertainment & technology industry. What is more ironic is that, their passing also reflected the plight of the American. With them gone, the Americans are also left "Jobs"-less, "Cash"-less and hence "Hope"-less (as in out of / no hope not that they're useless).
What a clever play of words.
2. Three Apples has changed the history of mankind.
1st Apple - The apple that Adam ate
2nd Apple - The Apple that fell on Newton's head
** Hubby went on to add - imagine if it were a durian / a coconut! Newton wouldn't have been alive to share his discovery! Of which I replied - Duh! Where got durian & coconut at the place where Newton was born-lah!?! Come to think of it, what's the biggest fruit that can come crashing down on him? Apple? Orange? Pears? None that can cause permanent head damage.
3rd Apple - The Apple that Steve Jobs co-founded
Sometimes getting this interesting articles 2nd hand via hubby; & I'm sure there's a lot of missing nuances & messages that got lost in translations; makes me wish I know how to read Chinese characters. :p
Monday 17 October 2011
Wouldn't you love to say this to someone?
Hahaha... Received this today. I wonder when I reach a ripe ol' age similar to this lady - will I be able to say it out without getting anyone offended? Afterall, people will then tend to dismiss me as a cranky old lady with too much time in her hands. :-p
Saturday 15 October 2011
Pictures from Ming's Graduation
Jump for joy! Merdeka!!
Kun Sam holding tightly to the scroll.
Kun Sam is happy to get hold of that bear-bear.
Pressure... I'm only 9-months old lar popo... Setting the expectation for me to graduate next?
Yay! A family photo with Kun Sam distracted by a helium balloon nearby.
1 for the family! Kun Sam is again distracted by the helium balloon.
Yee Khaw having a hard time carrying both babies. Kay Lynn is looking worried... dejavu? Looks like a similar expression that Kun Sam had on in the earlier post.
Yay. This is nice... How often do you see the son-in-law standing so close to their mum-in-law? *wink* *wink*Pictures from 2011 Chinese New Year
Kun Sam a matter of days away from his 1st month milestone being carried for the first time by Yee Khaw. Even at such tender age, he's already wise enough to be worried... ;)
Hehe... So small already know how to complaint that Yee Khaw is not carrying him right!
This is Yee Khaw's doing! It's baby's talkum powder supposedly to keep the bum dry but used to "make-up" Kun Sam's face.
Our family photo for 2011 CNY. The rare few of the more serious variety. Wait till you see the others!
Us doing the "Lou-Sang" of the "Yee Sang" - chinese version of the salad. Can mix but can't eat. I was still in my confinement period, so I can't eat a lot of stuff. Sigh...
Hehe... See what I mean? Our silly family potrait # 1. Lean to the left everyone?! Shen doing that silly face. Mum looked like she's surrounded by loonies...
Now lean to the right!! Tihi!
Now everyone do the Love Arch! Purrrrrrrr-fect!
Random Pictures from 2010 & 2011
Popo just a few months before she passed away. I'm glad we took this picture. It's a testament to her sporting-ness & her spirit! Love you popo!
Never in a million years would I ever imagine us taking such a photo of mummy & daddy! Gagagagaga.... Definitely something to keep to show the grandchildren! The King & Queen of the house!
I love this picture. It was taken at Taiping Lake and Kun Sam was only 2-months old. How I wish I can do something about my handbag slung over hubby's shoulder though. So un-macho.
Hihi... Kun Sam's in Chin jiji's arms (Kun Sam's Grand auntie).
If I crop this pix a little, think it'll look like he's the one taking this pix using a handphone camera! :) Here's Kun Sam being carried by Nicole in her house.
Kun Sam at Puchong with "Yee Khaw" (i.e. 2nd uncle)
Kun Sam giving that "manja" look with "Khaw Foo". Wanna "bodek" for something?
At Shen's wedding. I must say I like this pix. It would have been nicer if Kun Sam were to face the camera, but not complaining.
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