originally uploaded by Sunshine.

You must be wondering if I'm schizo or something. Don't worry, I'm not suggesting that you role-play either (you can do all that kinky stuff in the privacy of your own home!). My Social Psych tutor asked us to list down the different roles that we play in our daily lives. At that time, I didn't write anything down .. I was late and trying to get myself organized, you know fishing out stationery and stuff like that while pretending to be paying attention because I was seated right under her nose (the price you pay for tardiness). But let's see ...

I am a:

- wife

- mother

- daughter

- sister

- slave to my job

- part time babysitter (this usually happens between 6.30pm to 6.45pm daily)

- shopping partner

- friend

- blog junkie

- aspiring cook (like real!)

- oh ... did I forget student

I think the list can go on depending on my current situation in life. It's pretty interesting isn't it, that we have the capacity and the capability to play so many different roles and become so many different people. Are you always the same person no matter who you are with? I suppose not. I don't think I can be the same with the Big Boss as I am with my friends. It's no wonder that I get so tired everyday trying to be different people.

This actually got me thinking. I feel like the same person inside today as when I was eighteen. Yup, I've grown fatter and sprouted several white hairs but I feel essentially the same. In our teens we all thought that anyone beyond thirty was WAY OLD. But here we are now, but do we, the aged over thirty people, feel any older inside? Maybe the way we perceive the world has changed, you could say our thinking has matured, but a lot of things stay the same. Am I sounding crazy here? Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person who feels this way.

So who am I right now? A part time blogger cum student who's procastinating on finishing her Social Psych assignment (that's why I'm talking a whole load of crap!).

Monday Blues

It's the start of the week again. It's so difficult to fire up the engines after an enjoyable weekend. I feel so overloaded at the moment. I understand the rationale of implementing certain programmes (unlike some people) but at this time of the year, there's just so many things to do. No matter how early you arrive or how late you stay, there will still be lots more to finish. Oh well, looks like I'd better scoot off to work soon then.

All Grown Up

Yesterday was my Little Princess's 2nd birthday. She didn't have a big party, just a family celebration. My intention was to order a Barney cake for her since she loves the big, fat, purple dinosour so much (I wonder why .. Barney is not even cute, but that's besides the point). But too bad for the little kiddie, she had to settle for a no cartoon cake since I didn't have enough time. I had intended to make a trip to the cake shop on Friday, but I was on MC so there goes the Barney cake.

The menu for the day was steamboat. Heh, heh .. I was too lazy to cook up a storm! With a steamboat, everybody does their own cooking! Anyway, I was getting into the spirit of the Chinese New Year reunion dinners. This time, there were no accidents with the cake .. no one tried to lick the icing off or drop the cake on the floor and nobody poked a hole in the cake. The older bro was singing a birthday song for her all day long! Sometimes he can be so adorable. And he didn't insist that it was his birthday (he usually does this whenever we celebrate anyone's birthday). Check out the smiley face on the cake, done by yours truly. The cake was baked by her dearest granny who has finally perfected the recipe for a yummylicious chocolate icing. And If you see the POOH handphone holder, that's the present I got for myself. Please ignore the cheesy tablecloth, I didn't want to get the nicer ones dirty.

I can't believe that my little darling is now 2. I can still remember quite vividly all the pain and agony I went through during my pregnancy. And all those horrible tests. And right before she was due, she decided to get her bum stuck where her head should be and the naughty little girl refused to turn for 2 whole weeks so she had to be delivered by C-section. Very drama you know that little princess. I can still recall before they knocked me out in the operating theatre the doctor who looks like Datin J's hubby looking down at me and trying to persuade me to have a half-body epidural instead of GA. Hahaaa .. I nearly freaked out and I'm sure I freaked him out when I started bawling right there and then, wailing that I wanted to be totally unconscious!

She's a big girl now. Next year she'll be starting playgroup. Why do my little darlings grow up so fast. The next thing you know, they'll be teenagers who do not want to be kissed and cuddled anymore .. sigh .. and I'll be real old by then. Like I was telling K, savour the moment as they go by really fast. I'm gonna go and cuddle them now ...

So in Lurve

I have been making many trips to La Senza and I can't seem to stop raving about how fabulous the stuff are. It first started when I went to KL. Now, I just love their stuff so much that I cannot walk past the shop without going inside, browsing, convincing myself that yes, you can never do without more bras and panties and then come out poorer but happily carrying the white paper bag with all the goodies inside.

The good thing about them is that their designs always change. So there's always something new to buy. And it's soooo darn comfortable. Plus, it fits perfectly, unlike many brands sold locally. I always find that these undergarment makers think that if your body is bigger, you automatically have size 'C' breasts. And when they sell bras and panties in a set, the panties are always tagged 'FREE SIZE'. Duh! People have different sized boobs but everyone fits the same panties????

Now, I'm venturing into their sleepwear, which is just as comfortable though a bit on the expensive side for things that you sleep in. But they make you look so gooooood. And when you think you look good, chances are you'll feel good too!

LaSenza, originally uploaded by Sunshine

Today I went to their outlet at Vivo City and bought this pair of super comfy pants (not in blue, in beige). I'm wearing them now and they feel sooooo good! I can't wait for another sale so that I can get my hands on them at 50% discount (hopefully)! Check them out here.

Look What The Stork Brought!

To my dearest friend K, congratulations to you and hubby on the arrival of your precious little bundle of joy. I love looking at baby's feet, they are just so tiny and totally adorable. Rest well and have fun taking care of the little one.

Read All About It!

I bought 4 books in 2 weeks! Normally, I buy 1 book every other month. The rest of the time, I sponge them off my sister. Makes more economic sense that way! She buys, I borrow them indefinitely. But I'm a nice sister, I let her borrow my books too you know.

Why have I been buying so many? Nooo, not because of the Big, Fat Bonus (some people's are Bigger and Fatter than mine, but hey .. I'm not complaining!). The little guy goes for a holiday playgroup in a shopping centre. So what to do when I wait 1 1/2 hours for him? I sit in Starbucks and read a book (this is mainly to stop myself from shopping too much). Since I read pretty fast, I have to keep on buying new ones. I have been spending lots of happy time in Starbucks! What bliss.

I have to say that the books have been pretty good. So here are my recommendations ... First up is this book by Sophie Kinsella.

I really adore her books. The Shopaholic series is totally hilarious! I didn't read them in order however, so I'm back tracking to her earlier copies. Look out for the latest in the series, Shopaholic and Baby which will be out in February 2007. Can't wait!

I've never read Jodi Picoult before and didn't know what to expect. But the summary was intriguing. Besides, if the bookstore carried so many titles of written by her, she can't be that bad.

Must say that I was engrossed in the story about a father kidnapping his own child. The girl thought that her mother was dead and only learned the truth when the police came to arrest her father 23 years later. I was so into this book that I finished it at 4 am!

Currently reading this. Didn't watch the movie though. I'm only at Chapter 6 but it has been good so far.

This, I bought to read on the way to KL next Monday. Yay! I'm going on a shopping holiday! Hope I don't get sick and puke from reading in a moving vehicle!

And this better be a good read! I don't want to be deliriously bored on the way there. Well, Stephen King has never disappointed me so far .. so I have good hopes for this one. Will update after I'm done with it.

Out and About

We finally checked out Vivo City! So much hype and talk about it all this time. There's a Candy Empire there .. yahoo! Now I don't need to make a trip to Millenia Walk anymore. The place is so huge! And so many things to see .. I will definitely go back without the kids and lose myself in all the shops. They are just fantastic!

I fell in love with the jammies in La Senza. But unfortunately they were more than $50. Think they will be cheaper in Malaysia? I will definitely be heading to KLCC next week to check it out! I hear that they are having a Year End Sale there. Just perfect!

And kids are not left out either. There's a playground for them to romp around and better yet, there are huge wading pools on the top floor. That is just so great! Most kids don't just wade though, they were practically swimming about! So if you are bringing kiddies along, be sure to bring towels and a change of clothes. We don't want them dripping all over the place. The view was fantastic too! Check out the pics .. whoever designed the place has done a good job!

Niyaz and uncle ... he started off wading then decided that hey, if there's water, he might as well throw his whole self in!

Trying to take an artistic shot here .. hehe

This is the 3rd wading pool we visited, yes we took turns visiting them all. Don't want to miss out you know!

Batam anyone?

Tired of wading? You can chill out at one of the decks and wait for the musical fountain show to start over in Sentosa. Free light and laser display okay! Best of all there was a band playing that day, free music! Best!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Domestic Goddess In The Making

Aren't they simply gorgeous. Nah .. in case you were wondering, I didn't make these. I wanted to, but alas I lack the necessary equipment (luckily I think). School holidays bring out the Domestic Goddess in me (it's normally dormant for a good part of the year). The amount of cooking I do during the hols far surpasses the number of times I cook in the previous 6 six months put together! No, not lazy .. busy!

Since my kitchen was sadly deficient in the baking department, I decided to search for nifty gadgets that would do the trick and look at these gorgeous beauties that I encountered. If Ms Reluctant Hamster Co-tenant is reading this, you can consider getting one of these babes for your spanking new kitchen.

Oooh, look at this sexy babe .. simply gorgeous!

And they have it in purple .. how cool is that?!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist this beautiful blue ..

They make want to run out, throw down my $$$ and bring one of these babes home! But, I shall restrain myself. Let's face it, how much baking would I actually do? No matter how I try to justify it, sigh, these babies are not coming home with me. But I haven't given up on those Mixed Berry Muffins yet! I will perservere ... anyone want to get me one of these?

Hand Held Mixer

Hahahaaa! Philips okay, not just any old cheapo stuff!

Sometimes The Best Things In Life Are Not Free

Mdm L told me that my blog entries are too wordy, heh .. heh .. I must make up for the long span of time between the entries you know! Well here's a less wordy one.

You know how people always say that the best things in life are free. Well I don't dispute that. But I would like to highlight that sometimes they are NOT free! First and foremost, let's start with my two darlings.



Kids are free you say .. well definitely not mine. Between them, they were the cause of 9 hospitalizations (not including delivery mind you) and we spent more than 15k in total. I'm not complaining here, I'm very happy and thankful that they are a part of our lives but kids are definitely not free!

Next .. I'm a coffee addict. It's weird, I never used to drink coffee but after having my baby girl, I MUST have coffee every day. Coffee of choice ... Caramel Macchiato from where else, STARBUCKS. At nearly $6 a pop, certainly not free, but worth every cent!



That's my table at work (where I need coffee the most). Recently, the laptop in view had part of its insides burnt, but that's a story for another day. Moving along now ...

Stressed at work? Go for a HOLIDAY and who ever said that they were gratis? The best holidays are when you spend a lot of money on the accomodation so that you can laze around all the time and really unwind.



Can't afford to go on holiday all the time? Here's how to make yourself happy at home. Buy pretty things for your house. Presenting the new collection from Corelle ... tadaaaa! Square plates! See how they match my dining table flower arrangement .....



Now that you are surrounded with your lovely children and beautiful things in your home, how do you keep in touch and up to date with the latest gossip? A fancy NOKIA phone of course! This baby slides open ... ooohhh. Plus it is so tiny. And the fancy phone has a fancy phone charm studded with Swarowski crystals .. don't play, play okay!



Okay, then you can't stay in your house forever right .. what better way than to step out in your own set of wheels! Our Black Beauty .. Not cheap, not cheap okay .. especially in this lovely, sunny isle of ours. But every single cent well spent. No more dialling 65521111 (except occasionally)! Too bad I don't get to drive this macho hunk all the time ... I have to share!

Well there you have it, some of the things that definitely make our working so hard day in, day out all worthwhile! Especially the first 2 noisy ones at the beginning!

Seeing Red

I have been living, breathing, working and existing in a sea of red. I am engulfed by it. Not a moment goes by when I am not worried about, irritated by and scolded all because of it. What am I talking about? Well my dearest and closest would know. I have been going on and on about it since this affair started. I have been seeing red, literally and figuratively.

First it was the people who hogged the stuff for weeks and I had to go on a frantic search for them. Then it was working for a totally unreasonable superior. After that was the ransacking incident followed by the 'I am super blur, everything and anything has got nothing to do with me' person with the equally blur, bordering on stupid face (I try not to be nasty but sometimes these kind of people just get me into a fit).

Let me see what else happened as a result of these pesky red things. Oh yeah, many people have demonstrated their ability to be irritating. Let me illustrate with an example:

Conversation with Supremely Irritating Person (SIP)
* Spelling errors purely intentional to indicate how the words were pronounced by the speaker. In cases where I fail to spell the phonetic equivalent, imagine the person I have in mind.

SIP: Eh, this one cannot fit my chilren. Why all the sizes so diffrnt??????? Like that cannot one. When I measure that time and they give not same one!!!!

At this point, I try and explain for the upteenth time that they are exactly the same. Yada yada ... the supplier has shown me how exactly the same the sample and the ones given were yada yada ... and I might have been better off talking to the fly on the wall for all the attention that SIP paid me. After my lengthly explaination to her, she came up with ....

SIP: NO! Not same one!! (in an I am right you are wrong kind of tone)

Gawd!!! If you refuse to listen to my answer, why do you even bother to ask and waste 10 mins of my precious time!! Just to irritate me? Just you prove you are the smartest person alive? What? What? I just cannot understand certain people not just sometimes but ALL the time. Get out of my face woman. I did not ask for this. I am just doing my job!

There were many other things that happened but I will not dwell too long on such unpleasant matters. But I have got to vent about the mother of all irritating things that happened. I went back to my table one evening to find that the pesky red things that I have stacked up very neatly in my very own system of order was in disarray ... *gasp of horror* Who could have done this abominable thing!! For the SECOND time no less! I was fuming mad. And I was even more disgusted to discover that this criminal person has made off with a WHOLE PILE of those red thingies without even doing the polite thing of leaving a little note behind. We live in a civil world lady, if you take something that doesn't even belong to you the at the very least leave a note or an email, whatever. Those things don't belong to me either, but I, unlike you, am ACCOUNTABLE for them!

The note eventually came (only after I sent out an email to the staff) and when this person was confronted, I was presented with a 'bo chup' (devil may care) face that did little to soothe my ruffled feathers.

Now, THE Day is over and I am finally able to heave a huge sigh of relief. At times like this, I wish I was on a holiday somewhere, lying in a hammock (trying not to fall out more like it) without a care in the world. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and the breeze gently blowing. Just as I'm falling asleep, I'll be somewhat jerked out of that tranquil state by a cry of "Ibu, come play sand!" Ha, ha ...



Looking at this picture has made me realise how outdated my TEVAs are. People are wearing Crocs these days. But I am reluctant to get a pair. Somehow, I always think that Crocs make my feet look like they belong to Ronald McDonald.

Under The Weather

The weather's so unpredictable these days. It can be clear and sunny one moment and then start pouring the next. Needless to say me, Hub and the little kiddos have been taking turns falling sick. Now's my turn to look after the others. The worst is of course Niyaz. When he falls sick, we can expect to be cleaning up huge amounts of vomit. Have you ever been vommited on? Well its gross. Even if it's your own darling son. He's done it to me twice. Not the accidentally in your lap kind. The accidentally on your chest and the rest of you kind. Phew! The smell is really something. Especially when you happen to be wearing a pullover kind of shirt. Then the vomit covered shirt has to go over your face before you can take it off. Ewwww ... Do you guys know of any other way to take a shirt off?

Today, My Darling Hub is sick. I must say that he's one of the easiest people to take care of because there's not much taking care to be done. Just let him sleep all day and conduct periodic checks to make sure that he's still breathing and that's all. He's really happy when he gets a whole day of uninterrupted sleep.

It's really sunny today though. Even though nearly everyone is sick and we had to stay home it's nice to be spending time with my family. Just me and the two kiddos. We don't get that enough these days. Even on weekends I'm thinking about work and trying to finish work that I brought home. **Big Sigh** I really envy those people who can just quit and stay home to bring up their children. I really should do some financial planning so that I can take a year off when the kids start going to primary school. That would be really, really lovely.

ADDICTED

The two little kiddos are in DREAMLAND so here I am with a minute or two to spare. Just taken the happy little yellow pill because I've got an attack of the sneezies. You should take a look inside my medicine drawer. It can double up as a doctor's mini store anytime. Headache pills, body ache pills, fever, flu, pills for the runs, numerous multicoloured painkillers for all kinds of pains you can imagine - available in drowsy and non-drowsy versions. My personal preference is of course the drowsy kind, they put you in a happy place - in your bed for at least 8 hours straight! I even have pills left over from my pregnancies .. Obimin tablets, the packaging was so pretty that I didn't want to throw them away. But I am not about to talk about an addiction to medicine .. in fact I have an allergy to them. Zak can vouch for that. That's why I have so many leftovers in my drawer.

Today, I barely managed to get through work. I was totally sleepy because I missed my morning coffee. What else, busy, busy, busy. By the time I managed to get a cuppa it was 3 pm and my entire system was out of sync. You could say that I am addicted to coffee now. I'm a late developer where coffee is concerned. My baby girl is the culprit. I hardly drank coffee until I was pregnant with her. Of course before that I enjoyed hanging out at Coffee Bean with my friends and slurping their Ice Blendeds. I've since then switched to Starbucks by the way but that's another story. When I was pregnant with her I had this inexplicable craving for Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks. I don't know why but everytime I see a Starbucks I must have it. Sometimes I would even go out of my way just so that I would SEE a Starbucks. So thus my coffee addiction began.

As if being groggy like a froggy wasn't enough, my only solace and comfort at work was not available! The server was down!! Oh my gawd .. I cannot access the INTERNET! How am I supposed to read other peoples' blogs?? My emails?? My online games?? Yahoo Auctions?? What if the seller posted a reply to my queries?? I kept on checking every 5 mins, yes every 5 mins I would click on the beloved blue icon but to no avail. I was ranting and raving. How could they do this to us? Why isn't the service provider doing SOMETHING about it? Why? Why? Well, found out later that it was a routine maintenence taking place. Silly people, can't they maintain it in the middle of the night when I'm NOT at work and have no use for the internet. Sheesh, these inconsiderate people! So that's my second addiction.

My third is reading people's blogs. I've found some really good ones that I keep going back to. Some of them I simply stumbled upon by chance. Some of them I go to because I am very LOYAL to my friends. There are a lot of great and funny writers out there. I don't even need to buy a book! Keep it up all you guys. What would I do without you .. hmm .. actually I think I would get more work done if I wasn't reading all those blogs! But I enjoy them so much!! So keep on writing guys! The world's a less boring and more honest place with you.

PRO-CAS-TI-NA-TION

I am very lazy. Why do things today when they can be done tomorrow. I love doing my assignments last minute. During my school days, my friends were the ones who panic when I have not finished an assignment that was due in a couple of hours. I can't understand it myself but I always seem to be able to function better when I'm forced to think. Before you get me wrong, I'm not one of those freaky people who thrive under pressure, I just need to be forced to use my brains sometimes.

An example of my procastinating nature - I keep meaning to update my blog but will always tell myself there's still the next day and the next and the next ... you get my drift. Until friends threaten never to visit my blog again because it's never updated.

Nowadays I hardly get a chance to even procastinate properly. The trouble is I don't have enough hours in one day to finish everything that I was supposed to do. Weird huh. I had so much time before and I don't have any time now. Half my time is taken up by legitimate work and the other half is spent pandering to the whims and fancies as well as all sorts of funny ideas that people up there have. 'Do this, no, no scratch that do it another way. What? You've done all the work for it? Doesn't matter, do it this way now! Why?? Because I SAY SO!!' No wonder I'm always so tired at the end of the day. And I would still have not finished half of what I was supposed to do. SIGH! What do I do? Come to work at 7 am and leave at 9?? I'm sure that even if I did that I would still find more things that have to be done.

So you see, all this rushing about is no good for me. My brain is constantly under pressure to work. It does not even have enough rest so don't talk about functioning properly!

That's why the weekends have become so precious to me. I do not go to work on Saturdays unless it is mandatory and it has been made clear that I have to be present. I'm a simple person, I like things to be stated clearly. Perhaps it is because I have no initiative or motivation to turn up otherwise. Or maybe it's just because I'm not out to CARRY ***s. So I'm quite upset with the things that have been said lately and the attempt of some people to rationalise them. Don't know if I'm making sense here. Don't want to say too much or it will definitely be used against me. I just want to make the point that I like things CLEAR and TRANSPARENT. If you want me to be there JUST SAY SO!! Don't pretend to be giving me an OPTION when there isn't actually one. Humphh!

I seem to be in a complaining mood today. I am also sick and tired of work-related people calling outside work hours. I give you my phone number not so that you can call me at all times of the day and night. I may still be asleep at 7 am. I am with my family at 8.30 pm and I would still be with my family at 9.30 pm. I do not call you as and when I please to tell you things that could very well be talked about at a reasonable time. I do not call you just to ask you inane questions that you could have probably answered yourself if you had any common sense, which you probably do not possess. I gave you my number for your convenience in case there are any URGENT matters that need my attention for example if you were dying at 10 pm then I would excuse your call. I would even wish you all the best, that's how understanding I am. I am SICK OF YOU!! But what can I do, I have to be on my best behaviour no matter what. What a liar I am. I don't even have the guts to say I'll call them back at a more suitable time. Bah! What's the use of complaining about things that I have no power to change.

After watching Desperate Housewives today, Bree's prayer stuck in my mind ... Grant me the serenity to accept things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Well, I suppose we don't have to look at it as a prayer but as words of wisdom or something because there are just so many things in life that are beyond our ability to change. Either we can sit and gripe about it and get all worked up and unhappy (and get more grey hairs) or we can just get on with our lives. For me, I will gripe about it first (what's another grey hair or two) and then I'll get on with it ... heh heh, what to do I AM WOMAN after all.

Batam Diaries Part II

Here it is ... Batam Part II. I was so not looking forward to this trip considering the hotel fiasco the other time. Moreover this was a working trip (the legitimate kind!! What are you all thinking?!) so BORING!! But I must say that I was pleasantly surprised! The hotel was not up to the standards of some (I overheard some grumblings) but to me .. it was FANTASTIC! Don't believe me .. take a look at the pics. We had a pool view from the meeting room aka torture chamber, it's located at the top left hand corner of the picture, the one with the blinds. And most memorable of all was that we were entertained by no other than the hunks from Il Divo!! No, they did not have a concert in Batam especially for us, we watched their VCD and most of the ladies were drooling by the end of one song. More, more!! Me no understand what you singing but me don't mind watching!!

The great thing about our room was that it opens out to the garden. Pretty right .. I took the pics above and below from our patio.

And what's a stay in a hotel without ordering room service right?? We had pizza and fruit. The pizza had a nice thin and crispy crust. Even the fruit was delicious and this coming from a person who hardly eats any fruits. We also went for a spa treatment. Oh what bliss, the masseuse was tiny but her hands were like steel. First they washed your feet in some aromatheraphy water then you get to lie down for the rest of the hour while she massages your body. It was great. By the time she finished, I was so reluctant to get off the bed and I felt so floaty and dreamy! Next time I will definitely try the spa package and let them pamper me for 3 whole hours!!

So my time in Batam this time was not totally wasted. Madam L was talking about coming back during the Sept hols. I'll join you babe! Anyone else out there want to make it a great big happy family of friends outing??

The Batam Diaries Part I

I mentioned that I would be going to Batam twice this month. The first time was last Friday. It was raining the whole morning before we left. Needless to say that the sea was very choppy. We were bobbing up and down in the ferry. Luckily I am not prone to seasickness, otherwise I would have thrown up my breakfast. Niyaz was happily munching on his prawn crackers before he fell asleep. Maybe all the up and down movements reminded him of his 'buai' (sarong cradle)!

The ferry trip was remarkably short luckily since try as I might, I can never fall asleep easily. The hotel was such a disappointment. One child in the hotel mini bus remarked, "How come the hotel is becoming old?" This is a literal transalation. Just moments before his remark, I was thinking, "Omigod, am I actually staying at this old thing! I wanna go home!!!!!"

When we stepped into the lobby, things didn't much improve. The signs of the years, 20 to be exact, were clearly visible. And my Dearest Hubby had to confirm that this was indeed the hotel that he stayed at with his family when he was 10!!! I am not kidding you. Can you beat that! And he pointed out the exact spot where he had taken a photo. I really thought then that we should just pick up our bags and escape from this historical monument.



This picture was taken from our room (we didn't run away after all). It must have been the 'in' thing in the 80s but it definitely looks decrepit to me. If you look closely, one of the fish on the roof of the pool house seems to have commited suicide. Even Dear Hubby said, "What have you gotten us into?" And he is the least fussy person I know. The most fussy person I know would have hightailed it out of there and checked herself in somewhere else. Believe me, I tried getting myself somewhere else but our trip was last minute and this was the ONLY place I could get. I know now the reason why. At least I'm wiser now.

But it wasn't all bad though. Although the exterior leaves a lot to be desired, the room was surprisingly okay. And the view was fantastic! Hard to believe, but it's true!



I'm having a little trouble uploading the pics, so that's all for now ... More to come!

This and That

1. I hate the World Cup
I do not understand the game and do not appreciate it AT ALL!
It's a waste of my time. It is boring. I do not see the point in it. The players earn more than I will in my entire lifetime. Most of them are not even eye candy. No entertainment value. I must wait for a game to finish before we can go out. Thanks to you know who.


2. I will be going to Batam twice this month
Why Batam of all places?? Before you think I have a sideline there, I went once for a holiday and tomorrow against my will. And I have to get up insanely early since it's a school trip.


3. The holidays are ending and I have not done ANYTHING!
But you probably know this if you read my previous entry.


4. The last book that I read was a total waste of my time
It's called The Diary of an American Au Pair - read it only if you want to be bored to tears or if you have a lot of time to waste. The ending was oh so predictable. Will I get sued for saying
this?


5. It's raining all the time and I cannot finish doing laundry
Self-explanatory but I hope I have decent clean underwear to bring to Batam ... its not what you think, you know my roomate might see them in my bag or something. It's not nice to expose those that have gone patchy with other colours in the washing machine! Anyone got a dryer to loan me?


6. My baby girl finally grew her 1st tooth!
Hooray! Now she can bite me ... Ouch! Very strong that one tooth of hers!


7. I have spent tons of money shopping
I blame the Great Singapore Sale. Some bargains were just too irresistable!


8. I blog mostly on Wednesdays
Looking through my earlier entries, I noticed that nearly ALL the entries were written on Wednesdays. Hmmmm, I wonder if I'm more creative on Wednesdays ...


9. My son is toilet trained!
Finally, he can say when he needs to go to the toilet. He must have diapers on only at night and when we go on long trips. This will shut his playgroup teacher up. Every parent-teacher meeting she's going on and on about him being still in diapers. If she's so good at it, do it herself then!! Sheesh, he's not even 3! And more than half the class are still in diapers anyway.

It's Been A Long Time

It's been a while since I posted anything. I've been meaning to do it and my friends are complaining, but well, there a thousand other things that I need to do. It's the 3rd week of the holidays and I still feel that I have not done anything yet! Time flies doesn't it. How come it didn't go by this fast when I was a student? I could spend hours hibernating in my room and still have plenty of time left for other stuff. Maybe it's just my perception. Or maybe I didn't have so many responsibilities then. Oh well...

Last week I sat down and wrote a "To-Do" list. Yeah I'm sure you know them. I love these lists. They get me organized, give me a sense of order and purpose as well as a sense of achievement when I cross something off. It makes me feel like such an efficient person when I manage to do everything that I wrote down. But I cheat, yes I am ashamed to admit it, but I do cheat. Sometimes, nothing gets crossed out for weeks, so I make a new list with a new date so that I don't feel like such a failure. Sometimes I add in things that I've already done just so that I can cross them out so that I can say, "Hey, I did something today, good job!"

Last week my list was 15 items long. I crossed out 5 things last week and I haven't looked at it since. I keep putting it off and telling myself that they can wait till term starts. And when term starts, I'm going to look back and say "I should have done them during the holidays!" What a viscious cycle! Aarrggggg! (One of the items was update my blog so I can cross that out now. That makes it 6 things that I've accomplished!) At the rate I'm going I wonder if I'll ever get ANYTHING done! Do you feel like that sometimes or am I the only one? (I even efficiently bought a Strawberry Shortcake notebook to write my lists in. Grow up you say? But they were sooooo CUTE! And PINK! And on SALE! I'm in a pink phase right now.)

But one of the things that I actually did (which was not in THE list), was to convert my baby girl's cot into a junior bed for my son. It was high time I did it. I thought I could pass on the manual labour jobs to My Darling Hub, but it was not to be. It seems that I'm the HANDYWOMAN around the house. And I am very proud of myself! I disassembled the entire thing and put it back together again without dropping anything on my feet! Take a look ...



The little bed is next to ours now. With Pooh Bear bedsheets. Niyaz was so excited when I was assembling the bed. He kept asking, "This is abang's bed?" The minute I finished, he jumped up and down and pretended to go to sleep. Awwww ... he can be so adorable! Luckily the whole thing didn't collapse. Not bad huh, my handywoman skills! I even tested it myself. But it was a chore getting him to stay in his bed at night. Well, separation anxiety and all that I suppose. I had to hold his hand till he fell asleep. And in the middle of the night, guess what, I woke up and felt a familiar third person in the bed as usual. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow. But for now, I get to put this on my list and then cross it out! That makes it 7 things I've done so far! Heh, heh ... so efficient am I not?

A Holiday At Last

April and May are great months. Every other week there's a Public Holiday. First it was Good Friday. Next month it will be Labour Day, followed by Vesak Day. I just love these holidays, especially when all the 3 holidays I've mentioned fall on a Friday or a Monday. Hooray!! Long weekends!!

Over the Good Friday holidays, we decided to stay at Orchid Country Club. No overseas holiday for us yet unless the Grandma, Grandpa and Co. decide to tag along. The more the merrier - more people to help look after the kiddies while me and Darling Hub enjoy ourselves! Hahaha ..

The location was chosen after much consideration, two things top the list - a playground and a pool so that the kids will be entertained and we won't go crazy! What's great about this place is that it has an outdoor and an INDOOR playground - endless entertainment. As it happened to rain and they couldn't run around outside, the indoor playground was indeed a blessing. Needless to say they were so tired after all that playing that they slept like little piggies.

Here we are at the Funpool. It was fantastic and huge! The kiddies had the time of their life. Don't tell anyone but I'm sure they provided the 'p' in the 'ool'! Sorry folks! I can't control their bladder and they can't possibly swim wearing diapers.

The best part was that the place wasn't even crowded even though it was a holiday weekend. I suppose everyone else had gone for a short trip overseas and we had the whole place nearly to ourselves. But if you are fussy about the furnishings in the room and such, I would not recommend that you stay here. It's a great place though for families - there's so many things to do here. And they provide baby cots too! It's a proper sized cot, not like some flimsy and tiny kinds that I've encountered in other hotels. The only setback was that we had to drive out for dinner. Then again I mnaged to do a spot of hurried shopping at Northpoint, couldn't pass up the chance!

I must put in a good word for the guy at the reception. He was so sweet. And wearing more make up than I was! But he was very nice when he attended to us.

So people, the next holiday will be here soon and if you don't want to spend a bomb and need a short break, this is the place for you. Any recommendations on where we could go next?

Dirty Talk

Last Tuesday I finally posted off the application for my kids' passports. What a relief! I've been postponing it for ages. Now that the entire family is in possession of passports, a whole new world of possibilities have opened up. We can go overseas! Yay! But this brings me to one of my pet peeves - having clean toilets to pee in.

I refrain from going across the causeway for 2 (people say they are irrational) reasons. The first
is the fear of walking back to the carpark and discovering that the car has been stolen. The other one is the near impossible task of finding a clean restroom. I shudder even now when I recall the less than desirable loos that I have encountered there. And I am not even talking about coffeeshop type of loos.

I have been to a shopping centre where the stink of the toilet was so bad I considered holding my pee till I got home. And mind you, I have not not even seen the toilet yet. But the situation was rather desperate, I really had to go .. so I thought never mind, just hold my breath. Then I turned the corner and finally saw the state of thet loo. It was FLOODED! And the other ladies (locals I presume) were nonchalantly wading in the foot deep water. First it was STINKY and then it was FLOODED and god only knows what mysterious contents await in the water! So I forgoed the toilet expedition and held my pee till I found a erm more conducive surroundings.

Then there was the time that I went to this beach. It was about a 2 hours drive away. We had loads of fun there, with all my cousins. When the time came to change, I headed for the changing rooms, these really cute little huts. I didn't need to use the toilet, so I was safe .. or so I thought. There was a funny smell when I entered the changing room. And after a closer inspection I noticed this strange looking mound in the corner. It was a pile of POO! Mind you this is not a toilet, it's a changing room, for you to change in .. not for shitting in! Some people are just way too disgusting. I changed in the car after that.

That's not the end of my toilet woes. I believe in giving people second or even third chances. A couple of years ago, my 2 darling pals and myself decided to have a really yummy lunch at this hotel. We had everything planned out. We took a cab so that no cars were stolen while we were enjoying the truly delicious dim sum buffet (and therefore I could eat in peace). But there was a problem I did not foresee. Lunch meant drinking water. And that leads to my 2nd worry ... clean restrooms. But you might say, it's a hotel for goodness sake! Well, I sent in the two ladies with me since they were not so fussy or maybe they just had to go very badly .. you know what they say 'When you got to go, you got to GO!'. Anyway, they reported back less than satisfactory conditions. And mind you, this is in a HOTEL for goodness sake! If you can't find clean toilets in a hotel, you won't find them ANYWHERE!

Now it looks like we'll be over for a vistit soon. Maybe the conditions have improved tremendously since I last visited. But, I'll make sure I don't drink a single drop of water. Or I'll just hold it in ... as usual. Good bladder exercise eh ... will get to strengthen all those muscles down there!