Quick One

This is just a quick posting as it's past 10:30pm and I've got to catch a 8am flight to Singapore tomorrow for work. VT already bugging me to sleep but what the heck, couldn't resist blogging since Bryan fell asleep on the way home (else I would have had to spend half-an-hour rolling around in bed with him).

Thanks to Sharine for awarding me with the award - so pai seh lah.....like you said, it's so weird how we've never met each other but yet I feel like we've known each other for a long time. So uncanny! This Saturday, I'm meeting up with Jasmine (finally!) so will blog about our meeting after that. Hopefully she brings her canggih camera kekeke.

Like I said, short posting here just to say "hello" to all my blogging friends. Life would be so boring with you all!! {{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}

Tag: Magic Carpet Flying Ride

***Start Copying Here***

Rules:1. Write a short paragraph about your visit by the two Genies and include a link to the blog that passed on the Genie Symbol to you.
2. COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it on your blog.
3. List down your wish.
4. Place your name below the last name on the list and pass on the Genie Symbol to at least 5 other bloggers.
5. Please put up either one (or both) of the Symbols of the Genies on your blog to show that the Genies have visited your blog:

Genie Princess
Genie King

The Genie King, the Genie Princess and their trusty Genie Buddy have visited:
Mariuca would like to wish for happiness and success.
Adrian would like to wish for good health and happiness.
Emila would like to wish for happiness and success.
Trinity would like to wish good health for Jan’s brother and
Yah and Wan and success.
MPG would like to wish for love and peace.
Jean would like to wish for stress free work environment and happiness.
Cbenc12 would like to wish for health, happiness and luck for my family and friends and me too!
Paris Beaverbanks would like to wish for more publicity! Hooyah! (taps swollen head)
Giddy Tiger would like to wish for longer weekends and never-ending holidays!
Shooi would like to wish for peace on earth, love, good health and happiness.
Chinnee would like to wish for happiness and good health forever!
Hui Sia would like to wish for love, health, wealth and happiness.
Chew Lee would like to wish hubby for a successful business venture in Singapore.
Anggie would like to wish for dream and wish come true.
Slavemom would like to wish for happiness and good health for her loved ones (and of coz for herself too!)
Wen would like to wish for happiness and health for herself and her family.
Bryan's Mama would like to wish for health, love & happiness for everyone

Welcome aboard the Magical Flying Carpet for the Ride of your Life!
Alakazam!
So make your wishes now;

Sharine
Sasha

Claims Refuted!

Since Bryan was born, most of the people whom have seen Bryan, says that he looks more like VT. Not like I have a problem with that (as long as he has my brains har har!), but when I chanced upon the myHeritage.com website, I for sure wasn't the one to resist.

The results? Here it is, ladies & gentlemen:

I Need A Holiday After A Holiday

The three of us just spent a weekend at Port Dickson. It was really good fun - away from the hustle & bustle of the city, massive car & human traffic jam in 1-Utama/ the Curve, idling around. Of course, it also meant we were taking care of Bryan 24/7 which proved to be quite challenging particularly for me. Since he was 5-6 mos, he developed this incredible need to be joined at my hip. I thought my being away on business trips would help ease some of those "stickiness" but lo & behold, my plan back-fired! He's now stuck to both my hips & waist!! Anyway, I ended up having to carry him around the resort a bit plus he is still down with a runny nose & cough. So he was particularly clingy & whiny.

Which brings me to the title of this post - I feel quite exhausted after the holiday. I reckon it was also contributed by the fact that I had only returned home the previous night at 10pm and 12 hours later, we were in the car headed south on the NKVE.

Nonetheless, we did find out a few things about our little one during this short trip:

(1) He hates the sand & sea combo
(2) Ditto to scrambled eggs
(3) Loves swimming....but we knew that already since his first encounter with chlorine at 7mos.
(4) Loves running around the room naked. Somehow he doesn't get to do this at home - dunno why.
(5) Sleeps very well in a strange bed (!!!)

We took some photos and videos - will attempt to post them onto the blog very soon.

*Sigh* back to work tomorrow and again to Singapore on Thursday.......cest lah vie'!

Tag: 8 Random Facts About My Mum

Got this tag from Sharine - thanks! Somehow I enjoy doing tags (provided I have the time, and I do now cos VT putting Bryan to bed) mainly because I am an out-going person who enjoys sharing and more importantly, talking. But I digress.....back to the tag!

1) My mum is my best friend. She used to be quite strict and fierce when we were younger but has since calmed & mellowed down over the years. She has a very symphatetic ear and even if you scr*w up, she has some comforting words for you. I can tell her almost anything and I love spoiling her in return!

2) My mum is a great cook. As a result, I grew up with a discerning taste for food, particularly chinese food. She has a knack of tasting good food once, say in a restaurant, and able to re-produce the same dish at home - sometimes it taste better!

3) My mum is definitely not IT-savvy. When I was in uni, I recall receiving an email from her which didn't have full-stops, commas or paragraphing. I think it took me 15mins to decipher what she was trying to tell me! Needless to say, after feedback from me, she reverted to the good ol' aerograms.

4) My mum is the shortest in the family. No one is super-tall in my family (besides VT) so I suppose she doesn't feel so bad. I'm short too, by the way but still taller than her ha ha ha

5) My mum hardly believes in superstitions surrounding post-childbirth, ie I could shower & wash my hair everyday during my confinement period, and even go out. But she did cook lots of nourishing food for me to regain my strength.

6) My mum used to be a crossword-addict. She would spend hours at the desk with a thesaurus and her crossword puzzle. I'd noticed that she stopped indulging herself since she started caring for my niece.

7) My mum taught me one important lesson, which was to ask. So if you don't know, ask - afterall, it is free!!

8) My mum is MY mum, and no one can replace her - I supposed that's what makes all mums (including ourselves!) special!

I Am Whoozy

If there was something that I really dislike doing, it is flying in a plane. Now, I am what most people would term as "chicken sh*t" as my sense of balance is really poor so I get motion sickness extremely easily. I stay clear of coller-coasters, swaying bridges, boats of any forms, shapes & sizes and where possible, aeroplanes. I'd just returned from Singapore less than an hour ago. I'm still feeling giddy! When I flew in to Singers in the morning, I had a dull headache the whole day. I should really get my ears checked-out but don't think that would had made a difference had I aspired to be a pilot/air stewardess (of course with the latter, I would have lacked the height and the demure-ness as well!).

The most extreme case had to be when I stepped on a chair to change a light bulb....I think I almost passed out!! Oh, I forget to tell you that I am afraid of heights too :)

Tag: Charity for Orphanage

Found the tag Wen! Sorry, missed the end Aug deadline but thought I do the tag anyway just for fun!

1. A person is only as good as ………what he/she says
2. Friendship is always ……precious & rare
3. To love is to………..expect nothing in return
4. Money makes me…….. itch to buy things that I don't need
5. I miss …………… sleep
6. My way of saying I care is by …………lending a listening ear
7. I try to spread love and happiness by……………being a better person myself
8. Pick the flowers when…….they can be given to someone to make them happy
9. To love someone is to………….forgive their shortcomings
10. Beauty is …………..within everyone
11. When I was thirteen, what I remember….. was not having a care in the world
12. When I was twenty one, I remember……..my frst job
13. I am most happy when ………my family is with me
14. Nothing makes me happier than ………….seeing my hubs & son happy
15. If I can change one thing, I will change……….the emphasis on being thin!
16. If smiles were banned……. the world would be a dull place
17. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could…… stop & smell the roses everyday
18. If you want to ask me to smile while taking my picture….. tell me a crude joke
19. Money is not everything but……. you still need it for the rainy days
20. The most touching moments I have experienced is…... hubs proposed on bended knee
21. I smile when…….I'm happy
22. When I am happy, I…...smile!
23. If only I don’t have to….wake up in the middle of the night , then…. I would be a much saner person
24. The best thing I did yesterday was…..spending time with my best friend, just the 2 of us
25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title……. "What Not to Say to Offend People"
26. One thing I must do before I die is…… make a difference in one person's life
27. Doing this memo, I feel like …life is much more than work, money and pride

Of Aching Thighs & Sun-burned Arms

Swell that I get to blog on a Sunday evening. Typically this will not be a blogging time for me since the little prince dropped his PM nap during weekends. I'd just returned from a 2D/1N company offsite trip to Melaka. It was 0% work and 100% fun. Went there on early morning Saturday and just back. It was tiring but enjoyable as I haven't had any physical activity in a longgggggggggg time. Which brings me to the title of this posting. Over the course of 1.5 days, we had to participate in these activities -

(1) Paintball
(2) Bowling
(3) Obstacle course, which involve (a) swinging on a pendulum-like rope over water, (b) crawl commando style, monkey bars (over water of course!), (c) climb over a 6ft concrete wall, (d) run across shaky planks (you guessed right - over water!)
(4) Team builing games, which involve (a) forming a human pyramid to reach a whistle tied up high from a tree & blowing it without using your hands, (b) playing volleyball using pillow cases!
(5) Fancy dress party at night

How not to feel tired right? Friday night was a pretty rough night for me with the boy so I had only 3-4 hours of sleep. Somemore have to do all those stuff - wahhh...really Supermum !! I am going to suggest going for spa for the next offsite LOL!

Should I Be Frustrated ?

I don't know how many mothers/fathers are out there with a toddler, who has never experienced one night of at least 5-6 hours of sleep continuous. If you've not, congratulations; if you have, join the club!

I think I have whinged & whined many times about how poor a sleeper Bryan is since the day he was born (Day 2 to be precise - Day 1, I think he was still drugged with the epidural that I was on LOL). I thought the days (or nights) of restless sleep will be over by the time he turned 6 months. The 6 month milestone came and went....then I told myself, maybe it will change overnight so let's wait till he's a year old. Now, THAT came and went as well, and guess what? This mummy (& daddy) is still not getting a full night's worth of sleep! The little fella (who has comfortably taken his place in our bed) wakes up 3-4 times a night, crying but with his eyes closed. It takes me 5 seconds to pat him back to dreamland, but Mummy is wide awake for the next hour. I'd asked many other parents and these are the feedback that I'd obtained:

(1) He's over-stimulated during the day so he has nightmares - maybe, but EVERYNIGHT???
(2) He's hungry - I really doubt this one as he fueles up pretty well before going to bed
(3) He's a light-sleeper so he wakes up when he wee-wees - Doubt this one too because he's ok with naps & I'm sure he wee-wees then as well
(4) It's habitual - BINGO?

Anyway, as I fell ill with fever & sore throat 2 days ago, dear VT asked me to sleep on the spare bed in his study so that I could get complete rest at night, which I had been. Let me tell you - it feels so so so good to be able to snooze the night through. I wake up earlier than usual because I had my good share of zzzzzz. I had come to be point of being so tired & frustrated about this that it was affecting my mood. But perhaps other parents go through this and not b*tch about it as much as I do?

So Mummies & Daddies, what do ya think?

Observations of Hanoi

I had always wanted to pen down my thoughts about Hanoi, Vietnam as it is such a quaint and lovely city.

My first visit to Hanoi was probably 5 years ago before I was married. I'm responsible for the operations in Vietnam so I try to make one trip there annually. And I had been, save for the year that I was preggers.

Hanoi steeps in culture & history, and natural beauty (if you ever visit Hanoi, you MUST go to Halong Bay - a UNESCO Heritage site). But I'll leave those with travel guides and instead, focus on my own observations of the city.

(1) Hanoi-ans LOVE their horns. In fact, I think they are a bit obsessive about its use. From the moment you wake up, you would be able to hear honking from the street about 20 stories below. However, they use the horns as warning, rather than as a sign of anger. I was told this joke recently of how if the brakes and horn were broken, Hanoi-ans rather get the horn fixed first!

(2) There is "free preaching" every Sunday. Yup, as a capitalist state with heavy influences of Communism, the public PA system disseminates doctrines every Sunday morning.

(3) Food in Hanoi goes so much more than spring rolls (Nem) and beef noodles (Pho Bo). Northern Vietnamese cuisine is simply superb, though you must like fish sauce as it is often used in replacement for soya sauce. I would recommend this restaurant called "Wild Rice" - I never fail to pay a visit each time I'm there. The best thing is that food is relatively cheap in Hanoi. Other must try are fried fish with dill (cha ga) and grilled pork with noodles (bun cha).

(4) Commas are used, replacing full stops in numbers. So if it's 16.5, it would be written as 16,5. I don't know the reason.

(5) People are genuinely nice and keen to find out more about you & your own culture. So don't be offended if they ask you what we view as personal questions, like the forbidden "How old are you?". That's their way of simply getting to know you.

(6) There's a huge population of motorcycles on the roads in Hanoi. So to cross the street safely, just close your eyes and walk forward. The cyclists will know how to avoid you!