mummy's mama's 55 birthday

28 September was my mama's birthday. I was planning to take leave on the day to accompany my mama like what I did last year. Go shopping, chit chatting, eat, drink, car riding, pay bills, watch tv etc. But, I can't take leave this year as I have engaged with 'emergency' tasks at the moment in the company and the company also need me to stand by to kill any software 'bugs' raised during the UAT (User Acceptance Test). :(

So, I decided to bring my mama out for dinner. I brought my mama to Yong Seng Restaurant last Tuesday. Yea, just the two of us! Hehe! It was a small but lovely treat for a mother and daughter lar.. :) I didn't bring agnes along to the dinner as bappy worried I will get tired to take care of this naughty lady during the dinner. Thanks bappy to let me have a joyful time with my mama alone. :) I appreciate that. Muaaksss~

- Yong Seng Restaurant -

We ordered Yong Seng's famous bean curd, cereal chicken chopped and mixed vegetables. As for drinks, I ordered warm horlick plain (no sugar) while my mama ordered warm horlick and a glass of cold orange.

Elvis' romantic songs were played in the restaurant that night. The tables and chairs are nicely decorated with clean clothes with matching colours - dark purple and pink.

- cereal chicken chopped -

- mixed vegetables -

We enjoyed the food and the environment very much there. :) We took some pictures there too. And here's the bill ...

- the dinner costed me RM28.10 only -

Oh yes! During the dinner, we spotted someone looks like Ping Guan, a singer. You know Ping Guan? Neh~

- Ping Guan, a Malaysian Singer -

Mama and I were not sure if he is the real Ping Guan. But I would say he 90% look alike Ping Guan.

me: ma, that guy looks like Ping Guan. Do you see him? few tables away from us only.

mama: ya, I also feel that guy looks like Ping Guan. But unbelievable Ping Guan is here. And, from some angle, he doesn't look like Ping Guan also. I'm not sure.

me: ma, I will approach him and ask if he is Ping Guan. I feel 90% he is. And if he is Ping Guan, I hope I can take a picture with him. :P

mama: really?! what if he is not Ping Guan?!

me: I also will take picture with him lar.. since I feel he is already 90% look alike Ping Guan.

mama: you dare ar?

me: I don't know. But I wish to clear my doubts. My instinct tell me he is Ping Guan leh... ma, if he is Ping Guan, you want to take picture with him? :)

mama: no no no.. :) hehe

I don't want to feel regret later for not finding the truth. And I don't want to see those unbelievable expression from bappy, friends or my brothers when I telling them I met somebody look like Ping Guan during the dinner leh. :P So, I take my first move! Go, ask and Snap!

Look at the picture! Who is next to me? Do you think he is Ping Guan?

- looks like Ping Guan hor? don't you think so?? -

Yes he is! :)

~~::~~::~~::~~::~~::~~

me: Hi! sorry to disturb. Are you Ping Guan?

Ping Guan: Yes, I'm Ping Guan.

My eyes went bigger and straightaway I ask...

me: Can I take a picture with you?

Ping Guan: okay.

I looked at my mama sitting at our table and GRIN~~~ I got a waitress' help to snap the picture. I even told the waitress not to take the picture too far away. :P

*snap

me: ONE MORE! :P

Ping Guan: one more ya.. :)

Greedy me! I just want to 'guarantee' myself to get a nice picture with him. I scared I get the picture like what Eve got when she took picture with the sport stars - Lin Dan & Xie Xingfang at Top Spot at the first time. Yea, I learned a lesson from Eve. Thanks Eve! :P There is a true word I learn from her post - They only appeared in ur life once! I won't get another chance to take picture with a celebrity in such comfortable way wor.. or maybe hardly have such chance lar... I don't need to que, don't need to push each other for the picture... right right?! :)

*snap

I shook hand and thanked Ping Guan for letting me to take picture with him. :P Before I got back to my seat, I double check the pictures taken in my camera. Yea, satisfied! Thanks to that nice and capable waitress too!

It was a memorable dinner with mama. :) I took a picture with a celebrity wor! And is my first picture with a celebrity in my life. Yea! now it's time to SHOW OFF my picture with celebrity! wuakakakkakaa!!!

mooncake from Singapore

Just now, I received a registered parcel from Singapore. That's a big surprise for me! It was from Siew Ping! She is my excolleague, my exsenior who taught me alot in my work. And now she is working happily in Singapore. Guess what she send me. A box of lovely mooncakes. Oh... I was touched! It was like a warm gifts from overseas... It is egg yolk 'lian rong' mooncake. Wow! I received a box of mooncake from Singapore wor! So yippie! Thanks Siew Ping! Muaks muaks muak!!!!

- wah! the mooncake so lovely -

I was very happy so I took one small piece of it to try. Yum! It's sweet and it tasted very nice. :) After few bites, I found a small paper in my mouth!!!!! So, I take it out and see... wow!! Look everybody, look what I got from Siew Ping!

- warm wishes from Siew Ping -

Siew Ping, thanks for the surprises. I'm happy. My bb also happy because of the sweet mooncake you send to me! hahahaha!!

Get your surprise here!

my first snowskin mooncake

- snowskin mooncake -

I wanted to give my parent some snowskin mooncake this year. I think giving my parent the food that I made my own is more meaningful and most important reason is I like to bake for my loves one. :D

Last Sunday morning, I made 16 small sized snowskin mooncakes. This is my first try in my life. Wuahaha! Overall outcome are ugly snowskin mooncakes. :( But still edible lar...

I learned and found some problems in making the mooncakes. Yea, never try never know. I thought it will be easy like A B C if I study few mooncake recipes. But not, really different in reality lar.

- ugly snowskin mooncake -

The snowskin easily cracked! The snowskin is hardly shaped! When I get this blur stamp on my mooncakes, I feel dissapointed. Why? Why? Why? Why not like the snowskin on market one.. :~(

- green snowskin mooncake -

- the inti of the mooncake -

The mooncakes look thin and more like kueh. :P The inti of the mooncake seems acceptable for me. The 'tao sa' (bean paste) is evenly wrapped with the snowskin.

However, I still give 10 pieces of my ugly mooncakes to my parent side. :P I want to share my first try with them mah... especially my brothers. wuahahhaa!!

The taste of the mooncake is so so lar. Nothing special. It's 'tau sa' (bean paste) snowskin mooncakes. The skin smell nice. Really! :) I have cut off the sugar amount. I tasted some of it. But it is still very sweet to me!!! I think I better cut off MORE sugar next time.

Nevermind if your first try doesn't look like what you want as long as you never give up! Yes! I found my main problem of making nice snowskin mooncake - I was too slow in preparing the snowskin. That's why my snowskin dried and hardly shaped and that's why easily cracked. And there are many small mistakes I learnt too. Gotta study again and adjust the method which I comfortable with. Study a recipe is a kind of knowledge also. It's not like copy and paste and TADA! You get what the recipe owner gets. :P

That's my big gain from the first try. I learnt something at least. :D I plan to make some big size snowskin mooncake this coming Sunday again. I won't satisfied until I made a nice snowskin mooncake lar. Until next time ...

Bappy, gambade me! :)

from antenatal class

Bappy and I attended the free antenatal class organised by Kuching Specialist Hospital. We received quite a number of free gifts from the organiser. :D So happy!

- some free gifts I got from the class -

The free gifts contains of:-

1. Winnie the Pooh Calendar
2. Soothing music CD
3. Neurogain fish oil for children
4. baby milk powder
5. Abbott receiving blanket
6. Abbott wet tissue
7. Mamy Poko wet tissue
8. mummy magazines
9. few brochures on baby's thingy

The gifts that I love most:-

- NeuroGain for children -

- soothing music CD for mother-to-be -

I just knew there is Neurogain fish oil for children in the market. All the while I thought only have Neurogain fish oil for preggies. It's so lovely to have this expensive sample as Neurogain is a trusted and popular brand in Singapore. :P

I'm happy to have this soothing music CD. But ar... I not yet listen to it. The CD still nicely wrapped and collecting dust at home. Stupid me! Should have bring it to office or my 'toitoise' car to listen ley... what a waste...

About the class

Muahaha! I met 2 female friends there! We never meet each other after so long (years). So happy to know they are pregnant and having baby this year like me. :) They are hie ling (my excollege mates) and lee choo (exschoolmates). Hie Ling's EDD is end of November while Lee Choo's EDD is end of December. Wow! We will having doggie babies. I'm not alone! I'm not alone!

Before the class starts, I told bappy that after this antenatal class, I'm sure he will pamper me more and more. :P To me, the most interesting sessions are 'How a baby is born' and 'breastfeeding'. Aiyo, what so interesting since I'm already a mummy for 3 years?? Hahaha!!

During the session 'How a baby is born', they played a video tape showing the whole process of vaginal birth. After watching it, bappy said it's soooo 'unexplainable' experience - amazing, horrible, pain, surprises, happiness... yes, by just watching video, we got such feelings... but when you are the one who give birth in the labour ward, you will get 3 feeling... number 1 feeling is pain, number 2 feeling is pain again and and the last feeling is still PAIN!

As for 'breastfeeding' session, we watched a video on how to breastfeed a baby in proper way. It is so miracle I would say! I don't know how to put the feeling in words. Eh! Not the breast is miracle okay. Is the magic response of a baby to mummy's breast. It's so amazing to me. Hehe. Yes, I got more confidence in breastfeeding now. Hopefully I can do it.

- unsubmitted feedback form -

As you can see, I didn't submit my feedback form at the end of the class. I went home before the class ends. The session was too long for me. I can't stay any longer in the class as there are many couples attending the class which make the room sooo humid. Hm.. maybe the room is too small for such number of people to stay. I scared I would fainted during the session. I can't take that risk lar. So, I missed the pain relief and tour & delivery suite sessions. :(

Is the Antenatal class....

1. Too short
2. Just right
3. Too long

Yes! the class is Too Long for me!

her very first colourings

Just wanna show you all the first few colourings agnes did when she started her 'pupil life' at play school, 2005. Hehe!

- doggie -

- car -

- fish -

- bird -

From the pictures you can see, she doesn't focus on the image yet. Her teacher taught her the way to hold the crayon and stroke the colour on the paper. She started with one colour for each picture. These practices took quite few months before she able to focus the image and try to colour inside the image. I can see her improvement in colourings after she did dunno-how-many-times of colouring exercises. I uploaded few colourings she did in 2006, agnes' red fish, agnes' huge prawn, agnes' octopus in my previous posts. Can you see the difference? :D

'smell' me

One evening, when I just arrived home from work, agnes already waited for me at the main door. She just took her shower and was wearing her clean pyjamas.

at maindoor...

agnes: MUMMY! MUMMY!

me: agnes!!!!

agnes smiled.

me: B, you took your shower?

agnes: Yes. shower already... mummy, smell me!

She stood still in front of me and hoping that I would smell her. So, I approached my nose to her shoulder... and SMELL as hard as I could...

me: Hm... nice powder scent you have. smell nice. * I like the smell and can't stop smelling her... agnes grinned widely.

agnes: mummy, let me smell you...

*straightaway she approached her nose to my shoulder and smell...

agnes: Hm!!! mummy smelly!! smelly! smelly!!

My eyes opened widely and shocked for what she said! I try to catch her but she ran away from me as fast as she could and shouted 'mummy smelly! mummy smelly!' around the living room.

Aiyoyo! That lady really likes to make fun of me... How embarrased if my nextdoor neighbour heard it!

I imagine...

neighbour: aiyo... the nextdoor mummy so smelly.. even her daugther also cannot stand it...

my long lost joke...

Yes! That's the joke.. that's it!! Gerl found the joke that I always wanted to post in my diary. I lost it before I have my diary to keep it. I always remember it because it sounds very funny to me. This joke also 'saved' me out of the working stress in my office. Thanks Gerl! No reward for finding this joke lar. But I will always remember that 'Gerl found my joke back'. *hugs~

annie: this is the joke that I talked about!

[Sick leave]

Tom urgently needs a few days off work, but knows that his boss will not allow him to take leave. So he thinks, ‘maybe if I act crazy, my boss will tell me to take a few days off.’ So Tom hangs upside down from the ceiling and starts to make funny noises. Mary, his blonde assistant asks him what he thinks he’s doing. Tom tells her he’s pretending to be a light bulb so the boss will think he’s crazy and give him a few days off. Two minutes later the boss comes into the office and asks Tom, "What are you doing?" When Tom tells him he’s a light bulb, the boss says, "You’re clearly stressed out. Go home and recuperate for a couple of days." Tom jumps down and walks out of the office. When Mary starts to follow him, the boss asks her, "And where do you think you're going, madam?" She replies, "I'm going home too, I can't work in the dark!"

When we (colleagues) feel stress working in the office, we make joke at each other to act 'light bulb' on the ceiling in front of the boss so we all can go home to rest too. Wuaahaha!!

V.I.P

- watch out! V.I.P is in me -

Look at the sticker! There is no more space at the driving seat for my tummy!

I got this sticker at the back of my car. Yea, signing to every drivers that I'm having a Very Important Prince or Princess in me. So, drivers! Please forgive me if I'm driving slow like tortoise on the road and please not to drive so close to me at the back. I scared you 'kissed' my 'butt' lar..

5 monkeys in our bedroom

Bappy and agnes did an interesting handcraft one night. The handcraft is very easy for kids. It consists of 5 yellow monkeys and they pulling each other's tail to form a 'long train' when hanging.

- the 5 monkeys -

Look at the poor monkey at last bottom in the picture above. Can you see any difference of the monkey comparing to other monkeys? Yes. the monkey lost its right arm. agnes accidentally 'break' its arm when trying to tear it from the card. OUCH! Okay lar.. don't blame her anymore on this 'accident', I'm sure she felt bad and sorry to that poor monkey.

'ahhh!! bappy!!! zhuo4 merk4 zhe4 yang4.... (means: why like this)', exclaimed agnes when she accidentally 'break' one of the monkey's arm.

Agnes teared the rest of the monkeys from the card carefully after such terrible 'incident'. Luckily she did well for others. Otherwise there will be no 'long train' of monkeys.

- close up -

After agnes tearing all the monkeys from the card, bappy then hook the tail of each monkey to the hands of the other monkey just like what you see in the picture above. After that, bappy hangs the monkeys on our room wardrobe for display. Wow! what a cute artwork in our room! :)

agnes and bappy enjoy very much in the process of handcrafts making. There are surprises and laughters during the process. Yea, simple things turned differently when involve kids. wakakaka!

little mooncakes

- 2 mini mooncakes -

We bought 2 mini mooncakes from a cake house with RM2.60 each (if not wrong). Guess what is the flavour of these mooncakes? Actually nothing new about the flavour. They are durian mooncakes.

- durian mooncakes' inner looks -

It is small but enough to share one mini mooncake among 3 of us to cure our craving. For me, it gets more deli and tasty when we fight for share the food with our loves one. Do you agree?? I can't take much of it and you know the reason too. I just take one small bite of a slice and it is very sweet to me (maybe I already used to not taking sweet food). NO! NO! enough for me. haha! So, agnes and bappy enjoy the rest of the mini mooncake. We 'save' the other mini mooncake for PIL for tasting too.

Bappy disappointed with this mooncake as the bean flavour is stronger than the durian flavour alot. 'boh3 liu3 lian1 bee3' (teochew) he says wor (no durian smell). haha! Hm... hopefully I can make durian goodies (that is up to his flavour standard) for him one day.

slow cooker

Yesterday when I back home for lunch, I saw a big parcel on the table. It is the slow cooker that we redeem 2 weeks back. To my surprise, the slow cooker was just courried through TNT service on 18th September and I received it yesterday, 19th September. Wow! that's fast! So, it is the process of the documents that take time...

- you've got parcel! -

We use 22000 points from RHB CC to get this slow cooker. I'm not sure if it is worth for such value but to me, this is the best choice from the booklet at the moment because I like cooking. Eh.. I like cooking doesn't mean I'm expert in cooking okay, I'm still learning lar. And now I have my own slow cooker to cook watever I like, super chilli pepper porridge and supa dupa spicy soup with belacan and sambal! Wow... so happy!! :P Just joking... I know bappy won't let me cook such 'poisonous' food unless I cook while he is travelling. :P what a brilliant plan!

- slow cooker -

The slow cooker is stainless steel design and it is oval shaped which gives more space to put in different sizes of food. Even a whole chicken can be nicely cooked in that slow cooker.

Simple specification of the slow cooker

1. 3.5 Litre capacity
2. Can cook Porridge, Soup, Sweeties
3. Oval Stainless Steel Body
4. Removable Ceramic Pot
5. Tempered Glass
6. Hi & Lo modes with Auto Switch

We plan to try the slow cooker this weekend. Wanna see how well the food is cooked using this slow cooker. So, what are we going to cook? ... wait and see lar. Okay! until next time...

durian flower

- durian flower from bappy's uncle (ji pek) -

Durian flower is edible. But of course we have to cook it before we eat it. :D. And it is best to cook with belacan! The durian flower in the picture looks dull because my MIL says the flower is collected yesterday. It would be fresher and nicer if we cook it on the same day the flower is collected in the durian farm. The durian flower gets dull very quickly.

Before we cook the durian flower, we have to pre-process the flower first. We take off all the anther of the flower slowly by fingers. It is quite an easy task but there are lots of flower to be cleaned and the anther are sticky. MIL says if we cook the durian flower with the anther, the dish will be more 'sticky' wor... I'm not sure about this because I never cook durian flower. :P

- agnes helps in the 'cleaning process' of the durian flower -

At the beginning, agnes tear the anther from each stamen one by one. Wow, that's really slow like a tortoise and bappy says this won't help to finish the cleaning soon. But I say just to let her busy with us in the food preparation else she has nothing to do and start 'disturb' other things that could drive us mad or worry. I believe she slowly will find herself a smarter way to clean off the anther from the stamen soon.

After don't-know-how-many anthers she has cleaned, I realised she found the faster way to clean the flower. :D Just wipe the stamens with the finger tips and the anthers will easily teared from the stamen lor. wuahahhaa! Yea, I think she learned something from the process. :)

- close up to see what she does to the durian flower-

- wipe off the anther from the flower with fingers -

a 'permission' from her...

Yesterday was one of my buddy's birthday. So, we had a lunch gathering at KOREAN DA OM BBQ HOUSE. Before my buddy come and fetch me to the gathering, I try to get 'permission' from agnes to free me for few hours with my buddies. I hope I don't need to play hide and seek with her and suddenly disappear in the house leaving her keep seeking for me around the house. I would feel very guilty and selfish. So, I try to have a friendly talk with her about my plan hoping she . Sigh! I'm nervous! What if she ... !!! Help me! Help me!

mummy: ... ... err B, today ee ee (aunt) wants to bring mummy to work.

* Hehe... I know I'm bad, but it is an easier way to help her understand my gathering is as important as my work... I only have 4 gatherings in a year with my buddies so it is as important as my work lor. I think, if I never attend those 4 important gatherings, I might don't have any buddies in my marriage life. That's very pity to me. How my life will be without buddies? yalar... I won't die without buddies in my life... but my life will be dull and old...

agnes: mummy need to work today?

mummy: ya lor, ee ee works and she need me to help her. So, mummy need to work today.

agnes: bappy stays at home with me and mummy goes to work har...?

mummy: yes.. you stay with bappy at home and ee ee brings me to work. Okay B?

agnes: oh...

* Oh yes! Oh yes! I got my permission from her! I don't need to play hide and seek and leaving her sad at home! I can walk out from the house and having a happy gathering with my buddies later... Yes! I'm happy!

This time, the negotiation is quite fast and easy because she more likely to accept if I don't go out with bappy together. She believes we don't go to work if both of us go out in one car. Don't know why she got such thinking. So, it is easier to convince her one of us goes out for work if we go out separately. She wants either one of us (bappy or mummy) to stay at home accompanying her.

After 30 minutes, my buddy come and fetch me... agnes and I hugged and kissed goodbye. Just before I go out ... ...

mummy: ee ee's car is here, I have to go now, B. Bye bye....

agnes: bye bye...

mummy: B, you must listen to bappy okay?

agnes nodded ...

agnes: oh... mummy, you must listen to ee ee har?

Wow!! she uses my words on me!! I shocked. Bappy and I laughed and laughed and of course... I nodded back to her quickly (telling her that I will listen to ee ee) and go to 'work' happily with ee ee after that... ... :P

fact #8 about mummy

eve says,

You like Surprisessss loohhhh...i think anyone who made u angry or sad, can easily lighten u up by giving u surprises. so ur frens feel very comfortable and like to bully u lor. coz u get moved n happy very easily, by some very little 'touchy' thing that we do or say marrr... hehe and u like to give surprises to ur frens too... u can cancel or amend an appointment at last minute, or even suddenly show up at an appointment that you have oredi cancelled worr....

Who don't like surprises wor? keke.. eh eh..i think ppl tend to bully u more than bully me leh. haha! :P It's a very bad habit to cancel or amend an appointment at last minute actually. I feel guilty especially when I cancel the appointment I made with friends or family. Say want appointment is me, say cancel also me. aiyo! what attitude is that! no no no.. no good. So, I try my best to make it lor. Thanks for bearing my bad habits for soooo many years ya.. :D Hugs*

fact #7 about mummy

gerl says,

you don't really take sweet food even before you're preggie :P .You're so careful with sweets.
You go to the 'candy section', look look only and asking/talking about the sweets but don't take the sweets. If you take, maybe just one and that's maybe for Agnes. Not a sweet fan, right?? Small bites of chocolate, milo kosong, roti kosong, .....

U r right, I don't take candies. Hm... but I like some sweet food e.g. cakes and cookies. :D kekeke... I prefer to bake my own so that I can cut down the sugar. Yes, I like to talk and ask about candies that my colleague, Liz has on her desk... she is so generous to chia us candies all the while... sometimes I just take one and keep it as 'souvenier' on my desk. Because... I like to have it but I don't like to eat it.

Yea, I do bring candies or crackers home for agnes but mostly candies end up in someone else's mouth... Haha! I don't want agnes finish all at one go by herself... too much for her at her age lar... a little bit candy at a time is good enough for her... and u know, once upon a time, my handbag was a super candy bag for her. She used to explore my handbag for candies and crackers everytime I bring her home from her play school. Aiyo! what a bad habit. Make my handbag so messy! But now she has weaned off this bad habit because I keep hiding my handbag when I bring her home. Hehe!

i'm baby!!!!

Yesterday night, agnes and I were watching an advertisement on TV. The advertisement shows a mother puts her daughter to bed and after giving hugs and good night kisses, the mother goes back to work with father in the living room.

mummy: B, you see, jeje can sleep alone in her bedroom. She is a good girl. Her mummy work with her bappy ar... so you should learn from jeje and sleep alone in bedroom like the jeje.

agnes: no... I don't want. I want to sleep with mummy.

mummy: why? you are jeje now. You should sleep alone like the jeje in TV. You see. Cannot always sleep with mummy.

agnes: I'm not jeje.

mummy: you are not jeje?? you are becoming jeje soon wor. You have to learn to sleep alone.

agnes: I'm baby!! I don't know how. I want to sleep with mummy.

mummy: YOU ARE A BABY?!!

agnes nodded hard with big grin.

agnes: I'm baby!!

mummy: ... ... (oh oh... I think I gonna have a hard time to train my big baby to sleep alone)

fact #6 about mummy

annie says,

hmmmm...mummy is a good mother, very liao pu qi de (great) ma ma 2 little "hang fuk" (happy) agnes n 2 her sibling soon....... well, honestly say tat i haven know much about u... but wat i can say.. she is a happy go lucky fren n not kiam siap (not stingy) 2 share the things that she knows.. eg.. health issue... she juz move 2 my side (office) for temporary... so i sometimes can hear she sing cheerfuly.. but hardly can hear wat song is she singing... haha...another one thing about she that similary 2 me = like 2 5 sum places that got tree o cool places 2 park the car. i believe everyone is the same lah bout this .. but overall.. she is a nice friend that u should befriended or have.... :o)

Thanks annie. Hehe.. I sing song to my little one in me ... not for u de.. that's why u only can hear abit and don't know wat I sing lar.. sorry to create so much 'unwanted' noise around you in the office har.. :D.. you just try to 'enjoy' my blurred-song until I move back to my office lar... keke!! maybe after I move back to my office, then you will miss my blurred-song. wuahahha!!

my pretty girl

- little 3-year-old agnes -

fact #5 about mummy

liz says...

You are approachable, has a caring heart and is very cheerful around people. As a friend, I can say you don't keep bad feelings about people (neither do I) and you are one of the people I don't want to loose working with so that you could continue to keep the office a friendly place like you always do. ... that's your 1 real fact.

Sometimes you are not sensitive to 'hidden' feelings but if you try to 'close' your eyes (for 1 minute), empty your mind from your own thinking (for 1 minute) and be the person you are trying to understand (for 1 minute).... you will be able to see the 'hidden' feelings. I hope that you could let religion take a little time off your family life... and enrich your life. In times of difficulties, turning to someone UP There is always the best option. .. that's some extra as a straightforward friend

Thanks for the nice advice. I will remember to 'close' my eyes, empty my mind and be the person I want to understand.

Err... I want to understand someone... someone that I wanted to understand since I know him - my boss, why he don't make Saturday an off day har? Err okay... I close my eyes.. empty my mind.. and be the boss... yes.. I'm the boss now.... the boss of the company... why Saturday a working day? hm.. oh well, I make Saturday a working day for my employees because .... because I'm the boss and that's it! .......................... @#$@%$%^&*%^&

agnes' greatest solution

INSTRUCTION: Help the fisherman find his worm through all the fish.

and B drew this ... ...

HAHAHAHAHA!

bappy thinks B is lazy but mummy thinks B is genius! :P

fact #4 about mummy

ad says,

mummy likes people to assess her

aiyo! where got lar... Just want to know more about myself in other ppl's point of view... hehe..

fact #3 about mummy

cutie says,

mo..is a swak laksa lover.....(good)
mo....is a strict mother....(bad)

erm.. i see 1st fact as bad... 2nd fact as good ... wuahhahaa!!!

yummy banana cake

Yes! I baked my first banana cake in my life last Saturday morning. I find this recipe in internet but I modified some of the ingredient. The sweetness is depend on the bananas you use.

- baked banana cake -

- light and fluffy banana cake -

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6oz butter/margarine
2. 6 oz castor sugar/brown sugar
3. 2 lage eggs
4. 3 1/2 tbsp yoghurt
5. 3 large banana, mashed - I modified this to 10 medium bananas
6. 8 oz self raising flour, sifted
7. If you are using plain flour, use 8 oz plain/cake flour with 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp bicarbonate soda

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
2. Cream butter & sugar till light and fluffy
3. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well
4. Add yoghurt and banana mix till well blend
5. Fold in flour to mixture and pour into a greased baking pan6. Bake at 180C for 45min - 1hr or till skewer comes out clean

- ready to serve! -

agnes didn't join me during the making of banana cake as she busy playing with her little cousin - Eugene.

My first baked banana cake came out just nice. Thank God! :D It's a sweet cake so I took few bites only. It's not enough lar... but I got to control myself. I still can bake it in future mah right. haha! My family like to eat the cake too especially my greedy bappy.

I must bake one for my mummy side soon. It's not enough to share a cake for 2 families as I have 4 big eater brothers. They are my very best big guinea pigs. They eat watever I baked or prepare as long as it is edible. :D That's really a big encourangement to me to keep on baking and cooking. Don't worry to waste food if I made a terrible food. Yea, must treat them my lovely banana cake soon.

- a close up of my banana cake -

what is this?!

One night, she drew something on her own and showed me her drawing ... ...

mummy: wow! I see something dear. It looks like an animal? What is this..?

This time, I was so happy to see her drawing because I see something in her drawing you see... Before this, all her drawings were like artistic arts that I could never understand. hahaha! I always applause at each of her drawings to encourage her to draw, draw and draw!

Guess what is this?

- drew by little artist agnes -

She says it is a ... lizard! wuahahaha! oh dear, you did a great art!

lovely egg roll

- lovely egg roll -

I want to cook something special for my family but I don't want to have a 'complex' cooking which will make me tired at the end of the day. So, I made this simple dish - egg roll. Yea, it was my first time making this egg roll and I learnt this from my dearly mummy. keke. I find it very simple to make and its taste special to me.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 3 eggs
2. mayonise
3. cooking oil
   

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk all the eggs gently. Add in dashes of salt into the egg mixture.
2. Heat up the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
3. Pour a layer of egg mixture on the frying pan and fried slowly.
4. Put aside the fried egg on a plate.
5. Repeat step 3 to fry another layer of egg mixture till you finish the egg mixture.
6. Spread the mayonise over each layer of fried egg and roll nicely on the plate.
7. Tada! Ready to serve.

I'm not sure if my PIL like the egg roll as they didn't give me any comment. But my dearly bappy ate TWO pieces of egg rolls! Not sure if he loves it or he was too hungry?? :P

Hm... would be nicer if can add ham in the egg roll too! Gotta try next time.

fact #2 about mummy

gabby says,

u have a cute round face??

haha! yes I do! I do! * buey paiseh..

my name is mummy

Yesterday night, I did my glucose blood level test at labour ward, SGH (Sarawak Government Hospital). Bappy and agnes were at the waiting area with me. There were many preggies doing the same test like me. So, we wait patiently for my turn.

Agnes felt excited to see few preggies like her mummy having huge tummy. haha! She started walking around the waiting area and show funny shy actions while looking at other preggies. :P aiyoyo!!

Then, bappy asked her to sit still and wait for the nurse to call my name.

bappy: B, you sit still here with me and hear if the nurse call mummy's name, okay? ... What is mummy's name?

agnes: mummy

hahahahahahaha!!!!
We laughed quietly with her reply.

HAHAHA! She is right. For her, my name is mummy.

fact #1 about mummy

pat says,

... find you huggable... :P prolly u seem like mummy to us all :)

Oh~ ... I must have spring you all with my mummy loves and mummy lectures . Hahaha!!

waiting and getting my facts ...

Today... is my 3rd day waiting for all my friends return me with 1 fact about me. I was waiting patiently but also eagerly. I can't wait to upload all the facts my friends wrote about me.

Slowly, I wonder if my request has troubled my friends in their busy daily duties. I started to feel paiseh so I write an email to one of the not-yet-reply me the fact, my buddy A...

xxxxxxx, since u so busy to write my fact.. nvm lar.. :).

After 2 hours, my buddy A replied me an email with ...

how to write? where to write?

I feel funny + happy when she ask me these questions. Because I just realise that my buddy A doesn't know where to write lahhh... she thought she need to post it to my blog or chatbox ...

Then... I also find out this message in my buddy A email ... is a message from my buddy B to buddy A.

oii cha borrr, y u take so long to write juz ONE fact about her???

Im dropping tears here in office after knowing my buddy B is pushing my buddy A for me to write me one fact..thanks buddy B. Paiseh to tell, my eyes get watery again when I blog this. I feel touched and happy knowing a friend try to fulfill my little wish behind me.

So, I reply my buddy A...

click on reply and type in the email and click send. :D

And I feel happy and touched again that my buddy A finally send me her fact about me. :) Thanks buddy A. Yes, find so true about one of the fact my buddy B write about me.

Yes, buddy A, buddy B and I are buddies for more than 10 years. Hope they don't mind I post this small matter in my blog. I just want to have this funny memory between us in my diary.

I appreciate the facts my friends send me very much. Thank you thank you. It's doesn't matter how short, how long, how good, how bad, you have write my fact. I enjoy the progress of waiting and reading your facts about me. I feel you all care about me. :) I feel warm.

And I got a cute friend here who not yet send me the fact but then she writes me this...

This is my second attempt to write a fact about you, little mummy. So simple, right? One line nia mar?? OK, she told me to write just one fact, and I tried. From that one line, I didn't know how it ended up so long! Like essay, you see. The off topic type. I slowly realised it is so hard to say something about someone. She has too many facts!LOL!

Hahaha!! She is writing a 'not-yet-ending' essay about my facts!! Okay, I will wait for my last friend to send me my fact tomorrow... :D

sleep positions for preggies

Preggie women are not advisable to sleep on their back because the weight of bb will be resting on the vena cava which is the blood vessel that brings oxygen to mother's heart (think so). So if the vena being squeezed, then there might be less oxygen n blood going to our baby and our own blood circulation might be poor. Some preggies get giddy if they lie on their back. But my doctor said any position also can. I think as long as not giddy can liao. I come across some articles advising preggies try to sleep on their left, which is the best position for both mummy and baby.

no no to caffeine!

Hi friends, I read some articles on caffeine last weekend and I find it is very important to share with friends are pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, or suffering from premenstrual syndrome. Let me show you the top reasons that kicking the coffee habit can protect your health and your baby.

1. Caffeine Decreases a Woman’s Ability to Become Pregnant
In one research, caffeine has even been linked with increased rates of miscarriage when caffeine consumed in high doses.

2. Caffeine Affects Fetal Development
Caffeine reduce iron availability up to 50%, which may contribute to iron deficiency anemia. It also interferes with your body’s ability to absorb calcium, magnesium and potassium. During pregnancy, these nutrients are absolutely essential to your fetus’ growth.In fact, drinking caffeine during pregnancy can cause babies to be born with weak bones because of poor calcium absorption. Caffeine consumption can also lead to future osteoporosis and inflamed gums for both you and your baby.

Caffeine is a diuretic. When you drink a can of caffeinated soda, you’re losing more fluids than the amount you drink. Caffeine flushes precious fluids and essential calcium out of your body. So, preggie women should drink water instead of sodas. You’re body needs extra fluids to supply your baby with amniotic fluid and your baby’s ever-building blood supply.

Caffeine passes through your placenta and is absorbed by your baby. Adults are able to break down/digest the caffeine fairly quickly. However, your developing baby can’t do this as efficiently. This means that caffeine will be stored inside of his blood for longer periods of time even after the baby is no longer receiving all of its nourishment from you. The baby can become dependent on the drug. See, how pity is your baby? Your baby is forced to take drug!

Caffeine alters the baby’s heart rate and respiration, and these effects can last throughout infanthood. Babies of women who consume large amounts of caffeine (more than 500 mg/day) may be more likely to have faster breathing and heart rates and to sleep less in the first few days of life. Arggh... that would be new mummy's nightmare as you can't have enough rest after the exhausted labour but to keep an eye on your awake baby most of the time.

Another effects is lower baby birth weight. Low infant birth weight is associated with an increased risk of birth defects and infant mortality.

3. Coffee Drinking Is Associated with an Irregular Heart Rate During Pregnancy
An irregular heartbeat can often occur during pregnancy. The amount of time that caffeine circulates in the blood stream before being detoxified in the liver of a pregnant woman is tripled in the last two trimesters. This further intensifies caffeine withdrawal symptoms in infants after birth.

4. caffeine is digestive discomfort
Pregnant women are especially prone to heartburn should avoid further aggravation from caffeine.

5. Caffeine Affects Breastfeeding Babies
What a woman eats and drinks while breastfeeding influences her child’s health as substances pass from her bloodstream into her breast milk. Coffee consumed becomes part of the breast milk and it has been detected in breast milk even days after a woman has ingested it. A baby’s liver before the age of 6 months does not have enough liver enzyme capacity to detoxify caffeine efficiently and thus caffeine stays in a baby’s system for 80 to 100 hours in comparison to a typical adult who can process caffeine in 4-8 hours. Breastfeeding babies of women who drink more than 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day may become irritable or have difficulty sleeping. So, this is one of the reason why you have difficult baby when you consume caffeine while breastfeed to your baby! So, to make your new mummy life easy and happy, you can try to avoid caffeine in your daily food.

6. Caffeine Increases Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Studies shows the more caffeine you drink, you will experience some of these symptoms include anxiety, irritability and depression. Got such symptoms mey? I'm not sure wor but I feel more energetic if I drink coffee ley.

Most experts agree that small amounts of caffeine (equal to about one to two 8-ounce cups of coffee a day) appear safe during pregnancy. High caffeine intake (equal to about 3 or more cups of coffee a day) may increase the risk of miscarriage and of having a low-birth weight baby (less than 5½ pounds).

I don't think we are possible to totally eliminate caffeine in our daily food as most of our daily food contains bit of caffeine nowadays. However, I would say women should limit or control their caffeine intake during pregnancy in order to have a healthy baby lor. I know you can!

wanna know something about mummy?

I was tagged by pinkcotton on Merdeka Day to write 6 facts about myself. Hm... quite hard for me to write the real fact about myself ley... ... because ...because... I'm not sure what I say about myself might be true to myself but not true for my friends out there... haha... err.. I'm a multi-personality person? eeee....

1. I'm very slow in making decision during shopping. Buy? don't buy? buy? don't buy? buy? don't buy... ... Luckily bappy already used to my shopping sickness. :D


2. I don't bother of having hp actually. I can let my hp off in my handbag whole day. Or sometimes I accidentally let my hp on staying overnight in the dark office with cockcroaches and lizards. hohoho...


3. I LOVE straight-forward people. I'm a straight forward people too. I'm very very weak in guessing the actual meaning of your hidden words. I also not sure if I have hurt how many people around me. Let me know if I have say something wrong ar? Don't be stupid hiding the 'thorn' inside you, I will always thought you are happy with me until you tell me.


4. I hate to see no new emails from my colleagues when I click on 'send/receives' at my office mailbox. Shh... I love chain mails when I'm free but I hate chain mails when I'm busy. Hahaha! :)


5. I drop my tears easily. When I share a sad touching story or experience, I will drop tears before the 'audience' do. :D. And quite a few times I drop my tears in office because I read something very sad and touching articles. Not sure anyone in office notice me crying or not. Hehe...


6. I like to 'torture' my fella colleagues with my ugly sing. la la la~~ Yes, I sing in office but not that loud till everyone can hear and not that soft till no one can hear. Hehe!! I keep on singing even tho I sing the song till out of tone.

Okay... that are 6 real facts about myself that I can think of at the moment. Actually I would like to know the real facts my friends know about me.

So, I listed the following friends to email me 1 real fact about myself.

1. gerl
2. pat
3. annie
4. liz
5. eve
6. ad
7. cutie
8. pinkcotton

Okay. *waiting eagerly for the 8 facts* =)

proud of her again ...

Yesterday night, agnes sang 'The Trimetric Classic' (三字经 san1 zi4 jing1) to her ah gong and ah mah in the living room. This was their first time to see and 'listen' to agnes's performance. Bappy listened too. He was sitting somewhere corner of the living room 'pak toh'ing with computer. Hehe...

Ah gong surprised with her ability to memory and well sing of such long 'The Trimetric Classic' at her young age. She sang the following to her ah gong yesterday night. Ah gong very happy and impressed with her talent.

Just for little agnes' note ...

哎哟，这么厉害, 会背三字经。又记得这么多。。。bappy 都输你啊! -testimonial from ah gong @ 1st September 2006, Friday-

我，mummy also 输 to her but I'm MORE happy. Haha!

人之初，性本善。性相近，习相远。苟不教，性乃迁。教之道，贵以专。
昔孟母，择邻处。子不学，断机杼。窦燕山，有义方。教五子，名俱扬。

养不教，父之过。教不严，师之惰。子不学，非所宜。幼不学，老何为。
玉不琢，不成器。人不学，不知义。为人子，方少时。亲师友，习礼仪。

香九龄，能温席。孝于亲，所当执。融四岁，能让梨。弟于长，宜先知。
首孝弟，次见闻。知某数，识某文。一而十，十而百。百而千，千而万。

三才者，天地人。三光者，日月星。三纲者，君臣义。父子亲，夫妇顺。
曰春夏，曰秋冬。此四时，运不穷。曰南北，曰西东。此四方，应乎中。

曰水火，木金土。此五行，本乎数。曰仁义，礼智信。此五常，不容紊。


The above are all she has learnt and memorized at the moment. There are many more in the trimetric classic to learn. Hehe... I feel very abit 'hao lian' (proud) the moment she sings to her grandparents. Bappy... how about u?

[Update]

Note: I would like to tell the world that I trained my agnes 'the trimetric classic' all the while and I hope my agnes always remember who trained her this too. Wuahahaha! show off! show off! :D

agnes my gal, gambade!!