Life post Sophie Olivia

We haven't been able to do things we used to do BS (before Sophie). We haven't been going out for late night suppers, movies, karaokes, steamboats and a lot other things. It required a lot of patience, discipline and negotiations with Isaac but I think we did pretty well. So recently, we decided to slowly introduce her to our life BS lol.

We started to do a bit more traveling. And goddamn, it has been soooo much fun! 

Last month, we were at Rembau for a friend's daughter's akikah and hubs decided to just drive down to Malacca and spend a night. 

 The usual walk at Jonker Street. It was a lil too hot for Sophie though so we needed to cut it short and we came back at night for Pasar Malam but then it was too crowded to walk pulak -_-

The famous Klebang Coconut Shake. I wasn't really pleased. It was just okay. I felt like the coconut was too old and hard. Hubs said, it was really good. So maybe its just me. 

Durian cendol. Pheww, to die for I tell you. Sooooo good!

And during the long weekend of Labor Day, we went for our first proper family holiday at Langkawi. The beach was so beautiful. We had a perfect holiday despite some crazy hiccups (will save it for another post, if I have the time that is).

 Sunset at Chenang Beach.

We were a bit worried for Sophie as this was her first time at the beach. This girl sweats a lot and when she does, she gets irritated and cry. But thank the heaven, she had a blast at the beach. We were there for 3 days and she didn't show any discomfort at all. Such a darling!

This was my second time in Langkawi. The first time I came here was, when I was in elementary school, with my family. And I honestly didn't have high hope when hubs chose Langkawi for our family holiday. Well, I am not really a fan of our local beaches, mainly because of all the restrictions set by the locals. It is such a turn off, despite crazy beautiful beaches we have. So I have set my mind to just try to enjoy spending time with my family and don't expect it to be like our other beach holidays. But boy, wrong I was. We had so much fun. The locals were surprisingly so welcoming and I honestly didn't feed judged at all. The beaches were beautiful and clean. The sky was blue. And the food was so delicious and cheap!

Last week, we went back to visit my grandmother. As usual, going back to Kelantan means, food galore! Managed to eat almost everything I craved for - nasi kerabu, nasi berlauk, nasi kapit, pengat pisang, local kuehs.

Pengat Pisang by my aunt.

Apart from food, the only other thing I can vouch for is that Kelantan is probably the hottest state in Malaysia. It was crazy hot, we needed to put Sophie in the freezer to cool down hehe. I swear those people living there are crazy tough to survive the days without aircond and all.

And this week, we are going to Janda Baik for my high school reunion. Cannot wait to meet my friends. It has been so many years since I last met some of them.

A family affair

Some pictures from hubs' birthday dinner at Marmalade Cafe, Bangsar Village II. Totally recommended for families who are looking for a children friendly cafe/restaurant. They have a small play area so hubs and I managed to squeeze some romantic time (haha) and we managed to actually eat at the same time (we usually take turns to hold Sophie) and finished our food! What more could we ask for? :)

 All in all, it was a great dinner, just the four of us. 

Good job!

Isaac keeps saying "Mummy is so clever" nowadays and everything mummy does will receive a firm "Good job, Mummy!". And he has turned into this sweetheart who hugs and kisses all the time, anywhere, without any specific reason. He will just come to hug us and kiss us whenever he feels like it. Can't be more grateful than I am now.

My lil Isaac

Have been trying to write, to update on Isaac for coupla times but I guess a long post will never happen anytime soon so here a quick update.

Time flies.

Isaac can now read and count. And did I tell you he speaks Mandarin too now? A lil, but enough to impress Mummy & Daddy whom can barely survive around Chinese educated people lol

He dances. He sings. He plays piano. He starts to swim. He asks questions.

He is a big boy :)

I love you, baby.

Happy 5th birthday, my son!

Dear my precious son,

Today is your birthday. You are 5 years old and obviously you are a big boy now. Oh dear, sometimes I can't accept the fact that you are growing so fast. Who will listen to me talking rubbish when you have grown old enough to understand that what I share with you is nothing but rubbish?

It's been a while since I last wrote you a letter. I guess work has been occupying me. And I do realise that I spend less time with you for these past months. I often leave you with Daddy. I am so sorry. I really am. I thought that I needed to do all this so that you can have your favourite food, nice branded outfits and a fancy birthday party. Although, I still think that it is true.

Dear Isaac,

Today, I actually do not know what to write but I must write something. So that when you are able to read all these letters that I write to you, you will smile and come to me to give me a warm hug and nice kiss. I like it when you do that.

Like last night after I finished reading you bedtime story and you hugged me so tight and kissed me on my lips. I'd trade everything in to have that moment every night before sleep.

There are a lot of things that I learnt from onyang (your late great grandmother) when I was growing up which I want to pass on to you. And those are the things that keep me going and giving me strength to raise you up to become a good person. Like how I became (at least I do feel that I am a good person, by heart no matter what people might think about what type of person I have grew up to become).

Dear Isaac,

I want so many things for you. Everyday, I pray to God that He will make things easier for you in your life.

I want you to live with hospitality so that you will learn how to fight. To fight for yourself. To fight for the people that you care. And to fight for the people that are around you.

I want you to live with tolerance so that you will learn to be more patient. At least, to be more patient than me. Patience is very important my son. It makes you appreciate things that you've achieved after the effort you made.

I want you to live with encouragement. So that you will become confident. These past weeks, you keep telling people who tell you not to talk too much that the reason you talk a lot is because you want to become a lawyer. Like my Mummy, you said. And when people tell you that lawyers can not make a lot of money, you will encounter them back "then how come my mummy has so much money?". How adorable. See, that's what I meant by confident. You are always so confident even when others are not. But, remember my son. You can be confident but never over confident. That will kill our confidence and leave us with nothing.

I want you to live with praise so that you will learn to appreciate. Believe me, my son, this is very important.

I want you to live with approval so that you will learn to like yourself.

I want you to live with acceptance so that you will learn to find love in this world. Oh by the way, I just learnt last night that love isn't a feeling. Love is an ability and Auntie Bwooie says that love is also a choice. That, you will learn in couple more years.

Dear Isaac,

Mummy wants you to live with sharing so that you will learn to be generous.

I want you to live with honesty and fairness so that you will learn what truth and justice are. After all, lawyer is what you want to become, right?

I want you to live with security so that you will learn to have faith in yourself and in those around you. And to answer your question this morning, no there is no ghost my darling. Really.

I want you to live in friendliness so that you will learn that world is a nice place to live.

I want you live with serenity so that you will learn to have peace of mind.

These are what I want for you. Now tell me what do you want apart from the expensive kiddo laptop?

Love,
Mummy.

My understatement

I tend to worry about too many things. I get worried too easily. I worry about everything around me. So I thought it was okay when I got very moody for one tiny thing and then started crying for nothing. It prolonged for few months until I realised that I might suffer from post-natal depression. It was bad. It was the worse time in my life. I was young and I was not ready. But no one could be as lucky as I was. I had one thing that others didn't have. My husband.

I have the most perfect husband on this whole planet earth. He has always been there for me. Even when I started shouting at him for something that I did wrong, he will just swallow his saliva and smiled weakly at me. I was angry all the time. I was sure that it was just because of tiredness, only to discover that I needed help.

It's been few years now. I hope that when we are both ready to get pregnant again, I won't need to start worrying about this all over again. God bless us.

Annoying lil' creature

Isaac is so annoying nowadays!

Everytime Honey kisses me, he will come and give his cheeks to be kissed too and when Honey refused, he will annoyingly ask "Daddy only love Mummy? Daddy doesn't love Boy?"

Ah, annoying lil' creature! :P

Happy Mother's Day!

Isaac made me two beautiful cards for Mother's Day.

I could not help not to cry *happiness*

This is my fifth time celebrating Mother's Day, for real! I never celebrated with my mum.

He knows me very well that he made me two adorable cards;

1. Rabbit / Bunny Card

2. Floral Dress Card

....I am contemplating

MIL invites us for some dinner party at her sister's house this Saturday night. Which we cant bring Isaac along.

I really want to go. But who's going to take care of him? This has always been our issue. There are few occasions that we cant bring him along (because of few reasons that only parents understand) therefore we always have to pass the invitations :(

Who can we trust to babysit him for a while?

*scratching head*

....I am contemplating. Should we get a maid? I feel like wasting money since we dont need a maid unless during times like this :S

Letter to our precious son

Dear my precious Isaac,

We have sent you to your new school this morning. We woke up early, daddy helped you to shower, and then daddy prepared breakfast for you while Mummy getting ready. You were all excited when we mentioned that you are going to a new school, you put on the clothes on your own and had your breakfast while watching TV. We left home at about 7.45 am. Stuck in major traffic jam, arrived school 15 minutes late.

There at your new school, you suddenly realised that it was real that you started crying. You did try not to cry (Mummy knows that, baby) because Daddy said you are a boy and only girl can cry but you still burst into tears.

Dear Isaac,

All we want to do is to bring you up to be a confident, responsible, independent, fun loving, compassionate, caring, creative and imaginative child. Mummy and daddy are totally devoted to provide you everything that you need. This new school will provide you a strong foundation before you start your primary school another 1 and half years.

Please enjoy your day time at school. Explore, discover and learn anything you can. You will make soooOOoo many friends that you will look forward to come to school everyday.

It was never easy for Mummy and daddy to leave you at kindie or day care or even at Grandma's house when we need to go to work but we do what we have to do, my darling baby.

Mummy felt a little reluctant to leave you there to come to work today but seeing that your new friends were kind enough to guide you into the group, it was easier for us (to run quickly to car before you realise that).

Take care, my precious. Mummy and daddy will see you after work.

Lots lots of love,
Mummy (who is very pretty).

Changing Isaac's School

We are considering to change Isaac's school.

He is now at one kindergarten which is far from good. They don't practise what they put in syllabus i.e English as first language. So we are looking for another one which only communicates in English. Mandarin class availability would be an advantage. Also, it would be good if they provide some extra classes like music or swimming classes; just some other sweet advantages.

Also, it would be better if the kindergarten is combined with a day care. So we no need to fetch him during lunch hour to another day care. It is tiring for him and us.

Oh yea, he is now 4yo turning 5yo :D

Please let me know if you guys happened to know any good kindergarten+day care nearby Section 17 & 14, PJ or any nearby places. We really appreciate this.

Little Precious

My loving sister has finally given birth to a loud, precious and gorgeous baby girl at 11:10pm last night at Ampang Hospital. We waited for her to give birth until got chased off by security guard. It's hospital's policy not to allow visitors after visiting hours :(

She gave birth when we already got home so we will wait until off work to go and shower the baby girl with kisses and of course to snap hundreds of pictures ;)

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of Isaac and my brother Avele Adam;

Wonder Pets!

"Wonder Pets! Wonder Pets! Kami datang! Membantu anak kambing dalan kesusahan. Kami tak besar. Dan kami tak kuat. Bila bekerjasama semua jadi mudah!
Hei, Wonder Pets! Yey!"

"Wonder Pets! Wonder Pets! We're on our way. To help a baby goat and save the day. We're not too big. And we're not too tough. But when we work together we've got the right stuff!
Go, Wonder Pets! Yay!"

(Heee, that's one of son's favorite songs. Sorry :P)

He likes it so much he hates it when either one of us try to sing together. lol.

Anyway, last night at One Utama, Honey pointed at one small boy with blonde hair. Chinese kid to be precised. It was obvious that the parents colored his hair to which Honey responded;

"Crazy ah? Damaging the kid's hair like that. If me, hell no I will do that to Boy. He has the most perfect silky soft hair ever. And nice skin too"

To which I countered;

"Yea, I asked him the other day if I can exchange skin with him. And he said "NO!!""

Happy weekend everybody! I am so excited for weekends. Lotsa house cleaning, packing and renovation to do!

I miss my loud loving grandma.

My late grandma screamed, shouted and yelled. But with love. Don't ask me on what basis do I categories the screaming, yelling and shouting as loving. Cause I never knew. I just felt it. She had two daughters. My aunt and my mother. Two girls who grew up watching her screaming with love. Both of them grew up to be deeply affected by this habit.

My aunt was born to be the most perfect mother on earth who will shout and then hug her kids.

My mother, on the other hand, yells, shouts, screams, shrieks and everything. Then she will say harsh words that often make us feel like we are the shit unlucky kids. Followed by sticks or hangers on our bodies. It is all identical to me. She will just throw stuffs like plates, pots, or anything near her when she's angry (she claims that she gets that from her mother which is my late grandma). I last received this after high school. And now, my youngest brother is her current victim.

Thankfully, I don't shout. And I am very loving. Let's hope I don't get the 'shouting' genetic from them as I grow older. If I do, let's hope it's from grandma or aunt.

I miss my loud loving grandma.

I can't wait

I can't wait for so many things to come into places. Can't wait for end of this month. Can't wait to withdraw the money. Can't wait to start shopping for house stuffs. Can't wait to start planning for the many house-fixing appointments. Can't wait to start packing and unpacking. Can't wait to buy the red sexy carpets. Can't wait to sit down with the architect to finalise the house designs. Can't wait to step into the long-awaited dream house. Can't wait to see the result of our very own sketch. Can't wait to shop for furniture. Can't wait to tick off the to-do list. Can't wait for loving sister to give birth. Can't wait to hold the surely gorgeous baby girl. Can't wait for so many things. Ah, this kills.

I am so excited. Like a mad cow.

Ovulation Calculator

Based on my ovulation answers, I'm likely to be most fertile from Thursday, February 19, 2009 to Tuesday, February 24, 2009. If I were to get pregnant during that time, my due date would be Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Hmm, anyway these are the dates (fertile days) that you do not want to call me out at nights cause I will be busy having sex. If I am home and not traveling lah!

So if I want the due date to be similar or close to my birthday, I should do it on May 14, 2009 to May 19, 2009 . If I want my due date to be same like or around our wedding anniversary and Isaac's birthday, we should do it last week (which we did) lol.

Fertile days	Resulting due date
March 19, 2009 - March 24, 2009	December 13, 2009
April 16, 2009 - April 21, 2009	January 10, 2010
May 14, 2009 - May 19, 2009	February 7, 2010
June 11, 2009 - June 16, 2009	March 7, 2010
July 9, 2009 - July 14, 2009	April 4, 2010
August 6, 2009 - August 11, 2009	May 2, 2010

Have a good weekend folks!

He has always made us proud

Everyone is amazed when Isaac says "please" and thank you". And sometimes when he greets people "Hello", "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Happy New Year".

We, as parents feel more than proud. Proud that we managed to set a good example and proud that we have managed to encourage him to do so. Oh, maybe this will only be understood by parents. Perhaps for some people it's nothing. But you will really be surprised that it is not easy to do this. Believe me. It took us a lot of effort, examples and praises. I have been to places where I saw other kids having trouble saying "thank you" when receiving gifts or something from other people even when the parents try by saying "so, what's the magic word?" or "what should you say?".

When we first taught him, we used this type of approach too. We asked him "hey, what should you say to Uncle Choo?" or "what's the magic word, baby?". We also told him, that people will like him more and give more stuffs if he says "thank you" and "please". He likes the idea. So after a while, he picked up and now he is very good at it. He can say "thank you" and "please" without us need to ask him to say these magical words.

And by showing good example, it really helps a lot. Honey and I show our love. We love each other and we express the feeling. When he is going out, even to downstairs to pick up something from car, we kiss each other and say "I love you". That shows Isaac that it's a beautiful thing to do because everytime we do that, he will also repeat the same thing. He will come to me and say "okay Mummy, I am following Daddy yea. I love you".

When I ask for his help, I will say "please". So that he knows everyone should say "please" not only him. In fact, he has been advising his aunt who is my elder sister to say "please" when she asks anything from him. That is just adorable, right?

We praise him a lot. We make it as practice to praise him everytime he does something good. We will say "Aw Isaac, you are such a smart and good boy. Mummy and Daddy love you so much".

Most important (beautiful to me) is whenever he thinks he has done something wrong. He will quickly say "sorry" even if it was really not his fault. In one occasion, Isaac accidentally knocked his head over mine while playing "boxing", so he said "sorry Mummy. Boy loves Mummy". I mean, isn't that wonderful to hear your baby say "sorry" to you without being forced to, like many other kids? I know many parents who will force the kids to say "sorry" whenever the kids misbehave in front of others because they (the parents) feel embarrassed. But I personally think it's not right. The kids will learn that they must say "sorry" because they are forced to. Not because they should.

"It's far more important to teach empathy than to force a child to parrot hollow words"~Brown Braun

I am just sharing my beautiful life so I hope I don't offend anybody by this writing.

God bless.

Kuih Bom

When I was small, grandma used to make this. And I have always liked it. It's one of my favorite kuih (deserts). So today I made it, myself. Got the recipe from the powerful internet :)

Ingredients:

Glutinous flour - 240g (1cup)

Flour -1 tbsp

Lime-water - 1 tsp

Water- 200 ml

Sugar- 4 tbsp (original recipe says 10 tbsp)

A bit of salt - sesame seeds (to coat the dough)

Filling:

Mung bean (green beans) - soaked for 6 hrs and boiled till soft

Sugar - 60-80 grams

Fresh coconut - 30 grams (shredded)

Flour - 2 tbsp

Instruction:

1. In a bowl, mix flour, glutinous flour, lime-water, salt and sugar.
2. Pour in water, little by little while kneading it. The dough should be a bit sticky and soft. Add more water if you have to.
3. Make a small rounded dough and fill with mung bean filling (makesure the filling is not watery)
4. Roll the small dough on the bowl full with sesame seed. Makesure it is well coated.
5. deep-fry in the medium heat oil.

Tips : By adding sugar in the dough will prevent the kuih bom from explode in the frying pan. Don't try not to put any sugar at all. Kuih bom best eaten when it is cold. Hot Kuih Bom is crunchy and has potential to burn your tongue. Bon Appétit!

Just stop being self-denial, cause I am happier than you

This new year has been rather good. I mean the Ox year, and of course 2009 is being good too :)

I cooked for new year eve. We had simple dinner with Diana around, she just came back from Sydney for a short holiday.

Diana & I went for some nightlife session that I have been promising her if she's back home. We too went shopping, movies and lots more :)

Today that she's back to her grandma's place, hubby took me to some pailin sessions. It was good. We definitely are enjoying this holiday.

My new-ox-year resolution:

1. To make more good friends - I can hardly count how many real friends I have
2. To make much more money
3. To learn to cook more Chinese food
4. To grow my hair back

I think that's enough.

God, I love everything I have. Thanks Honey!

P.S Honey will appear as my guest blogger anytime soon.

To Do List

I made this list this morning. It looks as if I am really having hard time leave.

This is just a random list I could think of this morning. There's a lot more I want to do. A lot more.

We stopped writing emails to each other. He rather forward porn to his friends and write long emails to char his staffs.

We some sort of stopped watching movies at cinemas for the past two or three months: No need to explain no more why.

We do chat with each other but sometimes we tend to chat with other people more often: cause we talk to each other most of the time.

We don't sms so much anymore cause he is just two rooms away from me. And next to me most of the time after office hour.

I do pinch his nipples all the time but I feel that it's not enough. I want to pinch and tickle until he doesn't feel ticklish anymore.

I have stopped laughing at his hairy tummy.

I still cook for him but most of the time, I will end up screaming at him cause he is too cute at kitchen.

On a lighter note:

We just bought a condo. For us. For our future big family.

That's us trying hard to control our jumping-type-of-happiness
while signing the documentations :)

Yeap, we signed this and broke our fingers!

Note: Honey will probably needs to pack our stuffs and shift to our new place first when I am in Bangladesh :(