I know that this is the wrong time to be extravagant. Afterall, my boss just told me that there will be no increment nor promotion (I had been hoping for one) next year in light of the current financial situation. As you know, I work in the financial line so I suppose I should be lucky enough to have a job.
Anyway, back to my being extravagant. What did I spend on? Wellllllllll.................last Friday over lunchtime, I took a stroll to the Louis Vuitton shop (the huge one in Starhill), browsed for 10 minutes and bought a bag!
WOW, you might say. Before you congratulate me on owning my first LV bag, I have to make this qualifying statement: The bag was for my Mum.
She celebrates her birthday tomorrow and this year being her 65th birthday, I had wanted to get her something I know that she would never get for herself. All this time, she has been sacrificing for the family and saving up for us - yes, even now so that my brothers and I can lead an easy life. So I definitely think she deserves it. I don't mind not owning one and buying for my Mum. Not only do I think it is money well-spent, but I even battled through crazy Friday evening, rainy traffic to drop off the present so that she got a surprise when she returned from Penang the following day.
What I've done is so immaterial, compared to all that she has done for me. Funnily, all the pieces finally fell into place after I became a mother myself and understand what a mother goes through. God made us to be amazing creatures!!
Cheeky Cheeky Me
Happy Happy Me
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Snapshots
Brandon enjoying a good suck of his fingers
The brothers together - one still sucking his fingers, the other busy watching TVAusterity Drive & Toilet Training
What is the connection between an austerity drive and toilet training? You're right! Disposable diapers cost a bomb!!
I was happilly putting groceries and other necessities, such as diapers (3 packs of Mamy Poko), milk formula (a 1.8kg tin of EyeQ Gain), in Tesco. Then Wham! I was slapped with a RM420 bill at the checkout counter. I went through the bill again to ensure that nothing was mis-priced or calculated twice after I'd reluctantly handed over my plastic card. No such luck. All was in order.
Which brings me to potty-training. Bryan is still not yet potty-trained. Nope, not even for big business. Call it laziness, call it his own non-readiness, call it anything and the fact remains that the diapers are burning a hole in my pocket. And more so now that my boss has confirmed that there will be no increments/bonus/promotion in 2009. Shites! Some books say that a child is ready to be potty-trained when he can go by for a few hours and the diaper is dry. Not Bryan. This little fella drinks milk like a fish so his diaper requires a change every 1-2 hours. Admittedly, I have not been putting in much effort to potty-training this toddler. Looks like now I have a real motivation, besides from the fact that he will outgrow the XXL size soon, at the rate he is drinking milk!
If anyone has any good tips to share on potty-training, or better still, if anyone is willing to stay in my house (all meals provided) for the next 3 months to potty-train Bryan, please, do give me a call immediately!
I was happilly putting groceries and other necessities, such as diapers (3 packs of Mamy Poko), milk formula (a 1.8kg tin of EyeQ Gain), in Tesco. Then Wham! I was slapped with a RM420 bill at the checkout counter. I went through the bill again to ensure that nothing was mis-priced or calculated twice after I'd reluctantly handed over my plastic card. No such luck. All was in order.
Which brings me to potty-training. Bryan is still not yet potty-trained. Nope, not even for big business. Call it laziness, call it his own non-readiness, call it anything and the fact remains that the diapers are burning a hole in my pocket. And more so now that my boss has confirmed that there will be no increments/bonus/promotion in 2009. Shites! Some books say that a child is ready to be potty-trained when he can go by for a few hours and the diaper is dry. Not Bryan. This little fella drinks milk like a fish so his diaper requires a change every 1-2 hours. Admittedly, I have not been putting in much effort to potty-training this toddler. Looks like now I have a real motivation, besides from the fact that he will outgrow the XXL size soon, at the rate he is drinking milk!
If anyone has any good tips to share on potty-training, or better still, if anyone is willing to stay in my house (all meals provided) for the next 3 months to potty-train Bryan, please, do give me a call immediately!
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Strange Sunday Evening
As I sit here in my room in darkness save from the light from the laptop screen, pretty much touch-typing, I'd looked at the clock and it is only 6pm. And what is so strange about it? Well, I am posting up this blog when usually I won't get the chance to until at least 10pm after the boys are asleep. And why? Both boys ARE asleep now!
For Brandon, this is his usual sleeping time. As he grows older, he dislikes being left on his own more and more. We still try to let him play by himself most of the time although sometimes he is too darn cute to resist. There are the smiles and the coos that keep us mesmerised to no end, and of course, his screams when he realised that he is alone in the room.
As with Bryan, his usual bedtime is 9pm but this cheeky monkey refused to take any naps the whole of today. He was running around and quite happily entertaining himself while I cooked dinner. But when it was time for him to have dinner (which I'd brought forward to 5:30pm seeing that he skipped his nap), the poor little boy's head was slumping with every bite he took. Seeing that, I had wanted to give him his usual bath and milk before bedtime, but alas, he fell asleep on my shoulder while I was removing his diapers! I ended up woping him down before putting on pyjamas on him and moving to the bed - all this while he was already asleep!!
Now it is time for VT and I to spend some quiet time together - quiet dinner, quiet dessert, quiet TV (we turn it down really low so that we can hear the boys upstairs).
P/S: Sorry for absence of photos. My laptop USB port is locked hence can't download the photos from the camera. Soon, yah?
For Brandon, this is his usual sleeping time. As he grows older, he dislikes being left on his own more and more. We still try to let him play by himself most of the time although sometimes he is too darn cute to resist. There are the smiles and the coos that keep us mesmerised to no end, and of course, his screams when he realised that he is alone in the room.
As with Bryan, his usual bedtime is 9pm but this cheeky monkey refused to take any naps the whole of today. He was running around and quite happily entertaining himself while I cooked dinner. But when it was time for him to have dinner (which I'd brought forward to 5:30pm seeing that he skipped his nap), the poor little boy's head was slumping with every bite he took. Seeing that, I had wanted to give him his usual bath and milk before bedtime, but alas, he fell asleep on my shoulder while I was removing his diapers! I ended up woping him down before putting on pyjamas on him and moving to the bed - all this while he was already asleep!!
Now it is time for VT and I to spend some quiet time together - quiet dinner, quiet dessert, quiet TV (we turn it down really low so that we can hear the boys upstairs).
P/S: Sorry for absence of photos. My laptop USB port is locked hence can't download the photos from the camera. Soon, yah?
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Who Said Headgears are Only for Girls?
Ok, so VT wasn't too impressed when I put the McD's promotional Madagascar headband on Bryan. He does look girly, doesn't he? But I couldn't resist because it was so cute! By the way, I decided to put up this post after seeing how cute Ashley looks in the headband :)
Bryan looks pretty *sweet* yah
Bryan looks pretty *sweet* yah
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Brandon @ 4 Months; Bryan @ 27 Months
It's amazing, isn't it? With Brandon I find as if time really went by quickly. Two more months and he can start on solids. He weighs 7.4kg now, drinking 5-6 ozs every 3 hours. He is able sleep through from 10pm to 6am, much to VT's delight since VT takes care of the night shifts.
Brandon's head is still a little floppy. Poor little fella - I reckon it's due to us not playing as much as we'd liked to with him. His kor kor is such a demanding toddler and a jealous monkey too. The good thing that came out is that Brandon is generally mild-mannered who doesn't mind being/playing by himself in his cot. He can be kept entertained by the cloth nappy for more than an hour. He loves to have people talking to him. Of course lah right, since he barely gets spoken to. His favourite game now is peek-a-boo, which doesn't fail to make him laugh (yes, he can laugh out loud!). I hope that I'll be able to spend more time with Brandon, especially now when he is becoming more aware and curious of his surroundings.
Bryan, on the other hand, weighs close to 17kg. He has been drinking milk more often now as he insists on getting the same treatment as di di. I suppose more milk is better than less. Just like mummy, he loves to eat crab sticks (those synthetic ones) and a cake never fails to chirp him up. His current favourite shows are Robots and Finding Nemo. He will usually watch the first 5 minutes and then lose interest. But it doesn't mean you can turn it off either. He steals glances ocassionally.
Over the past month, Bryan's vocabulary has exploded. He can string up to 5 words in one sentence and can easily say 2-syllable words. He enjoys asking people to buy toys for him or finding his missing items, be it a book, CD or toy. It is such a joy having a proper conversation with him now. Like they say, "Once they start, they can't stop!".
Brandon's head is still a little floppy. Poor little fella - I reckon it's due to us not playing as much as we'd liked to with him. His kor kor is such a demanding toddler and a jealous monkey too. The good thing that came out is that Brandon is generally mild-mannered who doesn't mind being/playing by himself in his cot. He can be kept entertained by the cloth nappy for more than an hour. He loves to have people talking to him. Of course lah right, since he barely gets spoken to. His favourite game now is peek-a-boo, which doesn't fail to make him laugh (yes, he can laugh out loud!). I hope that I'll be able to spend more time with Brandon, especially now when he is becoming more aware and curious of his surroundings.
Bryan, on the other hand, weighs close to 17kg. He has been drinking milk more often now as he insists on getting the same treatment as di di. I suppose more milk is better than less. Just like mummy, he loves to eat crab sticks (those synthetic ones) and a cake never fails to chirp him up. His current favourite shows are Robots and Finding Nemo. He will usually watch the first 5 minutes and then lose interest. But it doesn't mean you can turn it off either. He steals glances ocassionally.
Over the past month, Bryan's vocabulary has exploded. He can string up to 5 words in one sentence and can easily say 2-syllable words. He enjoys asking people to buy toys for him or finding his missing items, be it a book, CD or toy. It is such a joy having a proper conversation with him now. Like they say, "Once they start, they can't stop!".
Less Stress
I used to be very stressed over, what now looked to be, small matters. For example, I would get stressed when Bryan doesn't nap or when he was being extra whiny and tearful. Sometimes I even got stressed when our schedule was just slightly off. VT on the other hand, would get stressed when Bryan walked around the house with a chocolate cookie in his hand, because Bryan will leave fingerprints all over our suede sofa. Additional stress is added when I don't get enough sleep.
However, after Bryan's accident, both VT and my own's view of life and parenthood changed completely. We realised just how lucky we should be to have healthy kids and as long as they are kept from harm's way, everything else is a small issue. I have to say that because of that, I really enjoy having the kids around me all the time now. I am less stressed and won't sweat the small stuff. And because of that, I feel that I am a better mother by paying more attention to both Bryan and Brandon.
For example, last Friday I had arrived home from Jakarta close to midnight although my plane landed just after 9pm. There weren't any taxis at the airport hence the queue was endless. On top of that, Brandon woke up every 2 hours to have his fill of milk (growth spurt). I was absolutely knackered on Saturday morning. Usually I would be very short-tempered and irritatable. In fact, when I woke up, I was all those things. But I reminded myself that both the boys are safe and then I didn't feel so tired anymore.
Life is just so precious, you know, especially the lifes of our little ones. I want to cherish every bit of it!
However, after Bryan's accident, both VT and my own's view of life and parenthood changed completely. We realised just how lucky we should be to have healthy kids and as long as they are kept from harm's way, everything else is a small issue. I have to say that because of that, I really enjoy having the kids around me all the time now. I am less stressed and won't sweat the small stuff. And because of that, I feel that I am a better mother by paying more attention to both Bryan and Brandon.
For example, last Friday I had arrived home from Jakarta close to midnight although my plane landed just after 9pm. There weren't any taxis at the airport hence the queue was endless. On top of that, Brandon woke up every 2 hours to have his fill of milk (growth spurt). I was absolutely knackered on Saturday morning. Usually I would be very short-tempered and irritatable. In fact, when I woke up, I was all those things. But I reminded myself that both the boys are safe and then I didn't feel so tired anymore.
Life is just so precious, you know, especially the lifes of our little ones. I want to cherish every bit of it!
Friday, 14 November 2008
My Take on Jakarta
First impressions are often the longest-lasting ones, don’t you think?
Just 2 days in Jakarta and these are my observations:
- The main airport building is very old – it looks like a bigger version of the airport in Bali if you have been there. Quite gloomy and sad.
- Traffic is horrendous. Drivers can turn a 2-lane highway into 4 lanes, or more, depending on how they squeeze. Because of that, there are massive traffic jams everywhere. You’ve got to have guts of steel to drive in Jakarta. Never shall I complain about KL city traffic again or the drivers again.
- The Toyota Innova is called “Kijang”. Other commonly-used cars are Suzuki Swift and Toyota Vios & Alphard.
- I can’t differentiate between the Indon Chinese and the Indon Malays. Even the Indon Chinese have relatively darker complexion than the Malaysian Chinese.
- It is a regulation that vehicles entering malls, office buildings, hotels need to be checked, but the intensity of which it is done ranges. At the hotel where I stayed (Ritz Carlton), the check was very intensive. Afterall, it is diagonally opposite JW Marriott, which was bombed. At Plaza Indonesia, a shopping mall, they only performed a cursory glance-over. Serves what purpose, I don’t know.
- There are metal detectors doors everywhere but again, even if it beeped, they never bothered to stop you.
- There are Krispy Crème doughnuts here though locals flock to J.Co (by the way, the J.Co fad in KL has died. There is barely a queue at the Pavillion outlet).
- Indonesia cuisine is absolutely delicious though the names sound dodgy eg. Sup Buntut (- clear oxtail soup) and Mee Tek-Tek!
- Service in restaurants is worse here than in KL. Thought it could not get any worse, eh?
- I was browsing in a supermarket last night with my colleague who needed to pick something up. Noticed that a bottle of Palmolive body wash costs RM35 equivalent! Plus you cannot find liquid detergent over here. Everyone seems to use only powder detergent. You can’t find Strepsils either.
- The weather is extremely humid, which I found rather strange. Afterall, how much more humid can it get than in KL, which is located in the valley?
- The sun is up, and I mean really high up in the sky, by 5-ish in the morning but it gets dark by 6pm. As a result, I woke up at 5:30 this morning.
The high point of the trip was definitely the Indonesian food. Even for breakfast, I opted for Mee Bandung instead of making a beeline for the American breakfast buffet spread like I usually do in Singapore. Too bad I didn’t bring my camera hence no photos.
Just 2 days in Jakarta and these are my observations:
- The main airport building is very old – it looks like a bigger version of the airport in Bali if you have been there. Quite gloomy and sad.
- Traffic is horrendous. Drivers can turn a 2-lane highway into 4 lanes, or more, depending on how they squeeze. Because of that, there are massive traffic jams everywhere. You’ve got to have guts of steel to drive in Jakarta. Never shall I complain about KL city traffic again or the drivers again.
- The Toyota Innova is called “Kijang”. Other commonly-used cars are Suzuki Swift and Toyota Vios & Alphard.
- I can’t differentiate between the Indon Chinese and the Indon Malays. Even the Indon Chinese have relatively darker complexion than the Malaysian Chinese.
- It is a regulation that vehicles entering malls, office buildings, hotels need to be checked, but the intensity of which it is done ranges. At the hotel where I stayed (Ritz Carlton), the check was very intensive. Afterall, it is diagonally opposite JW Marriott, which was bombed. At Plaza Indonesia, a shopping mall, they only performed a cursory glance-over. Serves what purpose, I don’t know.
- There are metal detectors doors everywhere but again, even if it beeped, they never bothered to stop you.
- There are Krispy Crème doughnuts here though locals flock to J.Co (by the way, the J.Co fad in KL has died. There is barely a queue at the Pavillion outlet).
- Indonesia cuisine is absolutely delicious though the names sound dodgy eg. Sup Buntut (- clear oxtail soup) and Mee Tek-Tek!
- Service in restaurants is worse here than in KL. Thought it could not get any worse, eh?
- I was browsing in a supermarket last night with my colleague who needed to pick something up. Noticed that a bottle of Palmolive body wash costs RM35 equivalent! Plus you cannot find liquid detergent over here. Everyone seems to use only powder detergent. You can’t find Strepsils either.
- The weather is extremely humid, which I found rather strange. Afterall, how much more humid can it get than in KL, which is located in the valley?
- The sun is up, and I mean really high up in the sky, by 5-ish in the morning but it gets dark by 6pm. As a result, I woke up at 5:30 this morning.
The high point of the trip was definitely the Indonesian food. Even for breakfast, I opted for Mee Bandung instead of making a beeline for the American breakfast buffet spread like I usually do in Singapore. Too bad I didn’t bring my camera hence no photos.
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Free Wifi!
What do you know - KLIA has free wifi! As many of you know, I am an IT-idiot so probably free wifi to you is something very common but the fact that I brought my laptop out to do some work while idling some time prior to boarding and the computer detected Wifi AND I had managed to connect to it (ok, so it only involves a click of a button), it is an amazing feat for this sua-ku mummy!
So once I was connected, I forgot about doing my work and just HAD to put up a post. I'm going to Jakarta for work - very short trip, just overnight. I have not been to Jakarta before so it's a bit of an adventure for me. Best bit of the trip? I'm looking forward to ONE night of uninterrupted sleep yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!
I just hope that I don't come across anything unpleasant (like, a bomb!) during my stay there. Wish me luck - think I really need it this time!
So once I was connected, I forgot about doing my work and just HAD to put up a post. I'm going to Jakarta for work - very short trip, just overnight. I have not been to Jakarta before so it's a bit of an adventure for me. Best bit of the trip? I'm looking forward to ONE night of uninterrupted sleep yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!
I just hope that I don't come across anything unpleasant (like, a bomb!) during my stay there. Wish me luck - think I really need it this time!
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Love & Hate
Bryan has a love-and-hate relationship with Brandon. Bryan loves his di-di to bits, often wanting to cuddle and kiss him, and playing "chiak" (peek-a-boo) with him. But other times whenever I start talking and playing with Brandon, the green-eyed monster would makes its appearance. Bryan will get all whiny and starts crying for my attention, despite my playing with him practically the entire day! Bryan will start pulling my hand to go up to my bedroom to play or will insist that I sit next to him on the couch. So poor di-di is left to play by himself.
On weekends, I will often put Brandon in the play gym while I feed Bryan breakfast. The moment Bryan sees the gym, he will clamour and lie down beside Brandon and starts playing with the toys. I guess Bryan just wants to make sure that he gets his fair share of attention and play as well, right?
On weekends, I will often put Brandon in the play gym while I feed Bryan breakfast. The moment Bryan sees the gym, he will clamour and lie down beside Brandon and starts playing with the toys. I guess Bryan just wants to make sure that he gets his fair share of attention and play as well, right?
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
A Special Day
So how did I spend yesterday?
VT and I dropped the kids off first thing in the morning and snuck off to La Bodega in Bangsar for their scrumptions English breakfast. For once, we didn't have to shove our food down or keep telling someone to sit down or wait. Breakfast was finished at a leisurely pace....even had the chance to browse through magazines while waiting for the meal to be served.
Then we were off to The Gardens to walk around a bit before proceeding to GSC's Signature premier class cinema. Guess what movie we caught? High School Musical 3!!! I wanted to relieve my teenhood, that's for sure, today more than ever. Each ticket costs MYR16 but the seats are very comfortable and the premier cinemas are all with twin (lover) seats, although the first thing that we did when we sat down was to put down the armrest in between us ha ha. When the show started (and ended), we were the only two in the cinema. It was like a personal screening, grand or not?
VT and I dropped the kids off first thing in the morning and snuck off to La Bodega in Bangsar for their scrumptions English breakfast. For once, we didn't have to shove our food down or keep telling someone to sit down or wait. Breakfast was finished at a leisurely pace....even had the chance to browse through magazines while waiting for the meal to be served.
Then we were off to The Gardens to walk around a bit before proceeding to GSC's Signature premier class cinema. Guess what movie we caught? High School Musical 3!!! I wanted to relieve my teenhood, that's for sure, today more than ever. Each ticket costs MYR16 but the seats are very comfortable and the premier cinemas are all with twin (lover) seats, although the first thing that we did when we sat down was to put down the armrest in between us ha ha. When the show started (and ended), we were the only two in the cinema. It was like a personal screening, grand or not?For lunch, we went to "Flying Chillis" for Thai food. I had a yearning for the steamed siakap with lime and chilli. Polishing the fish off, amidst another bowl of tomyam soup and stir-fried veg, was an easy feat. We then hopped over to Mid Valley proper to work off lunch before heading back home at 4pm since VT had a flight to catch at 8pm.
This year, I didn't receive any flowers nor presents, save for a lai si from my Mum which I get every year without fail. VT asked me what I wanted. Thought we could save some money for rainy days. I was hoping to get some flowers at work the day before but it didn't materialise. So I went to get some for myself! I believe that we are responsible for our own happiness. For a MYR30 bunch of flowers, I was happy enough. Besides, there is nothing happier than having a loving husband and two beautiful children, right?
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Almost Had It!
Thank goodness for a satisfying dinner comprising of teochew-style clear porridge with some of my favourite condiments - picked lettuce, salted duck egg, fried peanuts and anchovies. It gave me the much required break and a chance to pull myself together.
The boys drove me up the wall today!!
Bryan wouldn't nap beyond the 20mins catnap in the car on the way home from Sri Hartamas after lunch, while Brandon was fretful the entire day - screaming on top of his lungs relentlessly. Due to the lack of sleep, Bryan was tearful and edgy the rest of the afternoon/evening, bursting into tears whenever he was frustrated or if his wishes weren't met.
By early evening, this mummy had enough. Packed Brandon into bed at 6pm and Bryan at 7:30pm. Good thing tomorrow I will have some peace and quiet at work tomorrow, once again testifying that I can never be a stay-at-home mother.
The boys drove me up the wall today!!
Bryan wouldn't nap beyond the 20mins catnap in the car on the way home from Sri Hartamas after lunch, while Brandon was fretful the entire day - screaming on top of his lungs relentlessly. Due to the lack of sleep, Bryan was tearful and edgy the rest of the afternoon/evening, bursting into tears whenever he was frustrated or if his wishes weren't met.
By early evening, this mummy had enough. Packed Brandon into bed at 6pm and Bryan at 7:30pm. Good thing tomorrow I will have some peace and quiet at work tomorrow, once again testifying that I can never be a stay-at-home mother.
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