PapiMami

Alone in Germany

2010-04-11T18:41:00.004+08:00

Here I am, sitting in the hotel room, with a cold 8 degree Celsius, windy and the sky gloomy. The weatherman said it's gonna rain today.

Ahh....wouldn't it be nice to be with Mami and Yiyi now. Mami by my side, sitting on our swimg in the garden, watching Yiyi running around, yelling in delight "Papi Mami! Watch me! Watch me!!".

Oh well...another 3 weeks to go....

So what am I doing here in Germany, you asked?
I am on an work assignment here in Mulheim, Germany. The company that I worked with is in partnership with a German company, based in Berlin. For the project I am working on, I have to be here in Mulheim for some system testings.

The weather here is crazy. April's weather, they say. You can get sun, rain, and snow all in 1 day. And it's bloody cold, especially when the wind is blowing. So how nice, if I am back home with Mami and Yiyi, having teh panas and banana leaf rice with kari ayam and dhal, some vege on the side, fried fish ....mmmhh....

3 more weeks....3 more weeks.........

Hello World, Again

2009-04-30T07:25:00.001+08:00

Hello? .....
Anyone there?? .........

Wow! Looked at the last post. It has been almost 2 years since I last posted here.

Hmm....maybe it's time to start again.....

Watching TV with Mom

2007-05-11T14:12:00.000+08:00

Papi : *channel surfing on Astro*

TV : *showing another Hong Kong gansta-cop movie*

Papi : hmmm... looks like a good movie.

Mom : Oh this one ah...I saw already.

Papi : Hmm...

Mom : This one got Cheung Pak Chi (Cecillia Cheung), the movie OK lar.

Papi : Yes ah?

Mom : Yeah, this Daniel Wu is a killer. Cheung Pak Chi is a 'chicken'.

Papi : Hmm...

Mom : This guy is a cop lar. That guy is also a cop.

Papi : Yes ah?

Mom : Yeah, later Daniel Wu will get beaten up, until his eyes so bloody and swollen.

Papi : Hmmm....

Mom : Yeah, but at the end, Daniel Wu died wan.

Papi : x_x

Yup, that's my mom. The last person you would want to watch a movie with.

Work Work Work

2007-05-09T08:34:00.000+08:00

It's my 5th working day today and I am doing pretty good. Adapting to the working life here.

The environment here is friendly. However, everyone's just super busy since they have got a few projects going on. I have yet to do any serious work, mainly because the project I am supposed to help out is already in advanced stage. So I guess it's difficult for my boss to slot me in. But every now and then, he would asked my opinion and experience on how things were done in my previous taking of projects. But one thing I dislike about the new company is it's location. It's twice as far as my previous company. Just yesterday, it took me almost an hour to reach home. Not to mention the toll I have to pay. But I guess I just have to adapt lor.

So what am I doing now? Reading manuals and blogs. LOL! Nothing to do mah, mah read blogs lor. But mostly technical blogs on Linux lar. Coz I'll be working with Linux a lot.

Just got a call yesterday from an ex-colleague of mine, asking for some info. So I asked him how he's doing.

"We got a pay cut", he said sadly.

"What?!". I was quite shock really. "When?"

"Just after you left".

Wow! Talk about timing. I was lucky to bail early. If not, that would really affect my package during negotiation.

Got to get back to ~~reading blogs~~ work. Ta-ta!

A New Start

2007-05-03T12:13:00.000+08:00

After resting and relaxing for more than 2 weeks, I started working today in a new company.

It's bigger than my previous company, more potential, and not to mention longer working hours and it's also further!.

On the phone ....

Mami : So what are you doing now?

Papi : Nothing lor, reading blogs hehehe....

Mami : Which way you go?

Papi : Highway lor. First day mah, must be punctual lor.

Mami : So what time you reach there?

Papi : Very early, 8am I reach already kekeke...

Mami : So early ah?! How much toll?

Papi : About RM4 something leh..expensive.

So what did we do during the 2 weeks break? Lots!! We went to Penang, Sitiawan, Ipoh, Kampung Kuantan in K.Selangor to see kelip kelip. And we went swimming almost everyday!
Will post about those trips later. :)

Puppies

2007-04-05T15:42:00.000+08:00

Boy : Mommy, mommy...

Mommy : Yes, boy.

Boy : Mommy ah...our neighbour's puppy very cute lar.

Mommy : Yes, do you like it?

Boy : Yes, Mommy....er... Mommy ah?

Mommy : Yes?

Boy : You give birth to many many puppies lar.

Mommy : Huh??

Boy : But I only want big puppies. So you give birth to many many big puppies for me, ok?

Mommy : *faint*

My nephew. LOL!

Under the weather

2007-03-28T13:40:00.000+08:00

Hou Yeet ah! Hou Kan Yu Yeet ah!!
So blardy hot today!!

It was raining cats and dogs just few days ago, which flooded Shah Alam and some other areas, and now it's so freaking hot!

And Yiyi fell sick again. It must be the fourth time this year. Ever since she started pre-school, she got sick quite often. Probably lots of germs in her kindy. Her classmates are the same as well. Every week, she'll come back and tell us that her friends got sick and didn't come to school.

Everytime she got fever, we got extra worried. I have a history of very high-fever. So we are worried she inherited that from me. The highest for her was 42 deg C. In the middle of the night.

But she got better this morning, and she's eager to get to school. She even went to school when she got the fever last week. Despite us telling her not to go, she 'insisted' she wanted to go. Luckily, the teacher told her she couldn't come even if it's just a lil' bit feverish.

So now she listen to everything the teacher says.

No more bats

2007-03-19T14:26:00.000+08:00

Yay!! Our house is now free of bats!!

There was a colony up there on the ceiling. The scratching, screeching and not to mention the smell and the droppings. Ewww... So, my dad and I went up there again. This time we were prepared. Armed with a long tongs/whadaya-call-that-long-forcep-to-pick-up-charcoal-for-bbq and a pail, we went up the hot and stuffy ceiling. While up there, I worked on some cabling for my Streamyx and my dad was responsible in catching those critters.

Using the long forcep, he picked the bats, one-by-one into the pail. But two escaped into the cracks of the roof tiles. FYI, bats can't fly off the ground, like birds. They have to fly by dropping off an edge. Who says you don't learn anything from Astro.

Bats for Pets , anyone?

He then put up some nets around the perimeter to prevent them from coming back. And he nearly fell through the ceiling because he lost his balance and his footing. I must say that my dad, although at 60, is a pretty agile guy. He's ok, but I ended up with a hole on my ceiling.

We released the bats in a field far away from our house, worried that they'll find their way back. But that night, the two bats that got away came back. And they were really pissed off!! It was so noisy that we couldn't sleep a wink!

Anyway, my dad came back the next day to check, and true enough, those two buggers were still there. I think they found another way in. And yes, this time, they still managed to get away. And yes, for the second time, my dad broke my ceiling again. So I ended up with two holes on my ceiling.

So, yesterday, we spent the whole day fixing the ceiling and cleaning up the bats dropping. Really tiring work. So now, we could sleep peacefully again. :)

Peter and Jane

2007-03-14T10:43:00.000+08:00

Your kids either like them or hate them.

But Yiyi loves them. Every morning, the moment she wakes up, she'll talk to them. Every night, before going to sleep, she'll chat with them again.

Peter and Jane are actually the main characters in the series of books known as Ladybird's Key Words Reading Scheme.

(Photo from here)

The first book was published in 1964 and was designed to teach small kids to read and write. The system was devised by teacher William Murray, which uses a system of key phrases and words. From his research (together with Prof. Joe McNally), Murray realised that only 12 words account for a quarter (1/4), 100 words account for a half (1/2) and 300 words account for three quarter (3/4) of the words we normally used in our conversation, reading and writing of the English language.

(Photo from here)

There 12 sets in the series. Each set consists of 3 books/grades: a, b and c (i.e. 1a, 1b, 1c.....2a, 2b, 2c.....). As you moved from one series to another, more words are introduced to the reader. The fonts will gradually become smaller and smaller, and the sentence structure becomes more complex. The text is usually on the left, while the illustration is on the facing right page.

Yiyi and "Peter and Jane" (as it is popularly known) are inseparable. Whenever she goes, she will bring them along. To grandpa's house, to my in-laws, even when we went for a holiday, she'll bring it along. She's now reading 3a and 3b at (pre) school but she's also reading 4a at home. She has been doing quite well, and according to her teacher, she's progressing very very fast.

She's also learning how to write on her own! She would ask Mami how to spell certain words and by checking on her ABC book, she would try to write it out. The first word she wrote on her own is Mami's name.

Now, let me get her to write my name pulak.

Strawberry

2007-03-07T16:21:00.000+08:00

Last night....in the toilet....

Yiyi : mmmmm......mmmmm......

Papi : Are you OK, Yiyi? Got 'ta pian' or not?

Yiyi : Yes, Papi. Like strawberry..

Papi : Huh? Like strawberry?? Let me see..

Yiyi : Yeah, smell like strawberry lar.

Papi : sniff...sniff...hmmm...yeah Mami, smell like strawberry. Come and smell it.

Mami : I don't want...uwekk!!

Papi : Come lar, like strawberry wan, come lar...

Mami : UWEK!!

Actually it didn't smell like strawberry, it smelt like sh*t.

ta pian : Mandarin for faeces or passing motion.

A small step..

2007-03-06T11:49:00.000+08:00

Last week was a major crosspoint for me. I tendered my resignation to my company.

My manager was shocked but not really surprised. We had a chat, a good chat, which further emphasized my decision. They are losing focus and they are trying to steer away from our core business. But the problem is they don't have a goal or plan on what to do next.

Better 'cabut' early.

So, I have a job offer already in the bag. And I am still talking to another company, which I think will be able to provide me with a better offer. There are also some other people who got to know of my resignation and started to approach me on some partnerships. So I am keeping my options open, for the time being.

Special thanks to MamaBok for providing me with some info on tax in Canada. Really appreciate it.

cabut : malay for run away

Explosion in Shah Alam

2007-03-01T09:48:00.000+08:00

I came to work this morning and was alerted by the news of BIG explosion in Shah Alam (or Batu Tiga) area around 5am. It was felt all the way in USJ and PutraHeights as reported by forumers in usj.com.my and lowyat.net. How come I didn't feel a thing??

A dude managed to capture videos from his house and posted online. Talk about how fast information travels. And our news media has yet to break any news. From the video, it looked quite serious.

Check out the video here. Submitted by jackyflc of LYN. Great job, dude!

Read about it here and here.

There are lots of factory there near the USJ/Shah Alam border, being an industry area.

Updated:

It's on YouTube!

There's still nothing on The Star online and NST. But I think it's already on TV3 and RTM news.

Looks like a factory caught fire in Section 26, Shah Alam, near the Proton factory. And the fire spread to two nearby factories! But the great news is there is no fatality.

UPDATE 2!!

A new video on YouTube.

I was sitting in front of the TV to catch the 8pm news but strangely, none of the TV stations mentioned this on prime time news. Our online media also nothing wor. Why ah??

Holy Batman!!

2007-02-28T12:45:00.000+08:00

We have bats in the house.

When we first moved in, there were bats up on the ceiling. But after the second nights, they were gone. Probably got scared by us moving in.

Then a couple of years back, they came back for a few days and then gone.

This time, they came back again and seems to refuse to leave. Aiyo...how ah? The noise is disturbing our sleep and it's beginning to smell too.

Over the weekend, my dad and I decided to climb up onto our ceiling and paid them a visit. There were more than 10, some still young. And the stench from the droppings were terrible. Despite our banging and prodding and a can of Ridsect, they just simply refuse to leave.

Mami : How ah?

My dad : I think I'll go up again and try to catch them.

Papi : I think you'll need gloves. If they bite you, you'll become a vampire.

Mami : Ha ha no lar, you watched too much 'kiong see' movie already. What can we put to scare them ah?

Papi : I know!!

Mami : What?

Papi : Garlic!!

Mami : Garlic? Can meh?

Papi : Can!! You see those dracula movies or not. They usually hang garlic around their neck and in the house, so the dracula won't hurt them. Dracula scared of garlic wan!!

Mami : LOL!! Aiya!! You ah...

Talk about 'Ng Fook Lam Mun' but this 'Fook' (bats) is causing us sleepless nights!! *sigh*

p.s. Garlic won't work on bats.

CNY eve

2007-02-26T14:53:00.000+08:00

Back to work today. sigh..

So, what did we have for tuan-nien lunch?

Kampung 'white' (steamed) chicken...

..and hainanese chicken rice.

Braised mutton

Mixed vege

Butter Prawn, cooked by yours truly :)

Stuffed Chilli ala Yong Tau Foo (this is authentic hakka style with fish, prawn, meat and salty fish, yummy!)

Stuffed mushroom

And the star of the day...

Steamed lobster!

And some sauces to go with it. On the left is hainanese chilly sauce while on the right is onion with soy sauce, hakka style.

At night we went to FGS Dong Zen temple in Jenjarom, Kuala Langat, Selangor for their lantern and flora festival. It was the first day and the lotus was not even 'blossomed' yet, to reveal the sitting buddha inside. Officials were seen busy with the opening ceremony of the Lotus Pagoda.

Lanterns

More lanterns

Yiyi and Little Buddha

If you planned to go to the FGS Dong Zen CNY lantern and flora festival, remember, parking is free there. There's a huge parking space just next to the temple (on the left of the temple). Ignore those thugs that seems to direct you to their parking space, and then charged you RM5. These thugs were trying to make a quick buck and were trying to block traffic leading to temple. While we were there, 2 groups tried to block our car, and I simply ignore them. Follow the RELA officials and they will direct you to their free car parks. I even made a complaint to the RELA official, and when we left, we saw the police taking the thugs for a little 'talk'. hehehe...

For CNY, we went to Sitiawan and Taiping, but that's another entry.

Rejected

2007-02-16T14:33:00.000+08:00

I think the white envelope came in yesterday. It was in our mailbox this morning. Mami was out fetching Yiyi to her kindy.

I took it out from the mailbox, along with a CNY greeting card and some junk flyers. In front of the letter read "Private and Confidential", addressed to Mami. It was from the company she went for an interview more than 3 weeks ago.

Bad news. It was a reject letter.

Mami was really hopeful on this one. Really looking forward to it. When I passed the letter to her, immediately she knew what it's about. And I can see she was really dissapointed. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she kept it in.

I think part of the rejection is because of her experience. It was a junior position, and they are looking for fresh graduates. Although Mami has agreed to the pay cut (and a big one too), I guessed they just weren't comfortable with it. Furthermore it was also a job of a different industry. A completely different industry. So it's difficult to match her experience with their requirements. The only reason why she tried it was because there's a friend working in there and her department was looking for someone to help her. So she'll be happy if Mami could join her and help her. But I guessed, the boss didn't think so.

Don't worry, Mami. Sometime we'll run, sometime we'll walk and then, sometime, we'll fall.
That's life. We just pick ourselves up, and move on. Life goes on.

If we couldn't get this one, we'll get the next one.

A better one.

I promise :)

Dong Dong Chiang!!

2007-02-15T14:01:00.000+08:00

Oh boy, oh boy!!

3 more days to Chinese New Year. Yay!! But it's not the new year day itself I am looking forward too, but the eve. This year, Chinese New Year's eve is on Saturday, 17 Feb 2007.

If you don't know already, the Chinese New Year's eve is the reunion day and the day we'll have the tuan-nian dinner (or brunch, lunch, supper...) . On this day, my mom will cook the bestest, yummy dishes. There's chicken, fish, prawns, vege, authentic hakka yong tau foo, and of course, hainanese chicken rice! I'm Hainanese mah. Thinking of the chicken rice makes me droolll...

We normally started the day early. Being the only cook in the house (and no daughter to help her hehehe..), my mom will prepare all the dishes. My brother, Mami and I will help her and at the same time help her with the house chores.

We normally eat around 2pm. My dad normally comes home around noon from his shop. He works half-day on this day. The rest of the day is just resting and relaxing, watching TV. This year, we'll probably go jalan-jalan at some shopping or to some temples to see lanterns and flowers.

At night, we'll give angpows (yak-sui money) to each other. I still gave to my parents, Mami and of course, to Yiyi. And my brother too. (Oii!! Cepat kahwin lar!!) . Then more TV watching, and snacking (keropok, BBQ meat, Coke, kacang, crispy honeycomb cookie, cheese tart, chocolate, mandarin oranges......)

Then midnight.......Happy New Year!! Kong Hey Fatt Choy!!!

Another offer

2007-02-14T11:23:00.000+08:00

Thank you! Thank you all for the advices and tips!

I must say your comments really made me re-think the whole thing. Of course, Mami was there too. So, I have responded to the offer and I have put in a good package since they have asked me for my expectation. If it worked out, then great lar. If it didn't, then I don't lose anything.

And then, there's the second call. This time from another company, our competitor. Actually my ex-supervisor is there now and thanks to him, he had gave me a rave review to his boss there. His boss and I spoke on the phone for a few minutes, the usual hello-are-you-interested-to-come-over chat. We have fixed an appointment after CNY to take this further.

Wow, 2 opportunities in a week. And it's gonna be tough, coz they are both something I wanted to do. Really hope this turns out positively.

And oh yeah...Happy Valentine's Day!!

To go or not to go

2007-02-09T14:15:00.000+08:00

Yeah, that is the question.

I just received a call for an ex-employee of my current company. Apparently his big multinational company is looking for someone and he wanted me to join him. The pay will be good, and I think the benefit would be very attractive, but the work will be very hard. And lots of traveling too.

Aih....decision...decision.

Lately, my company is going off-course, a lil' bit, and they are losing focus on the core business. Actually, one of the main reason this company was started a few years ago was to break away from a parent company and to mainly concentrate on this particular business that we are in. At that time, we felt that we need to be more focus and to take away all other (unperforming) business that was bagging us down. Thus this company was born.

But now, looks like they are going the opposite way and going backwards. Going back to the old ways, trying to take on something that is totally unrelated to our field. And the worst is, they started to neglect the core business, causing some lost opportunities along the way.

But on the other hand, this company has been treating me real good. And there is a sense of belongings and familiarity that makes it a difficult decision to leave. And step into a world of unknown.

Maybe I should take the step? Or not?

Mami has a simpler thought. "If the pay is good, go lar!", she said over the phone.

Aiyo, how lar....

So I don't really what to make of this offer that came this morning. Is this good news?

To go or Not to go leh?

Lauya Pencil

2007-02-05T12:03:00.000+08:00

Yiyi : Mami, Mami!!

Mami : Yes, dear.

Yiyi : Mami! This pencil is not good.

Mami : Why?

Yiyi : Spoiled already, cannot use. Lauya pencil lar.

Mami : Come, let Mami have a look.

Yiyi : Spoiled already lar, lauya wan.

Mami : *check pencil* Ok ak? The pencil is ok mah.

Yiyi : No lar, when I draw with it, it will draw outside the line wan. It doesn't follow the line wor. No good lar, spoiled already.

Papi : LOL!! That wan not pencil lauya lar, your hand lauya lar. kih kih kih...

Yiyi : No lar, the pencil lauya lar.

Kids do have a really interesting perspective.

She proceeded to show me how 'lauya' the pencil is. hahaha... She is showing some improvement in holding pencils, drawing and writing. Her hands are getting stronger and she has better control of the hands.

lauya : lousy.

Teacher Yiyi

2007-02-02T14:45:00.000+08:00

Yiyi : Okay, everybody!

Papi, Mami : *chat chat*

Yiyi : Be quiet!

Papi, Mami : ...

Yiyi : Now, what is this?

Papi : I don't know, what is that?

Yiyi : This is a purple dolphin. Everybody say "purple dolphin"

Papi, Mami : Purple dolphin!!

Yiyi : Good. Okay, everybody say "A - Apple".

Papi, Mami : A - Apple!!

Yiyi : Good!! *clap clap*

Job Interview

2007-01-24T10:26:00.000+08:00

As you might have read in the previous post, Mami has decided to work again. She has been really bored at home, and itchy to be working again. Also there are also some other rea$on$. hehee..

So we contacted a few friends and ex-colleagues, and I went through the newspapers. A good friend recommended a position in her company in Shah Alam. Mami sent in her resume and before you know it, she was called for her first interview.

One thing about a job interview, is that, it is actually a two-way traffic. Beside the employer evaluating the candidates, at the same time, the candidates will also be evaluating the employer. So how a company handles an interview, tells a lot about the company, especially time-management.

Mami got an appointment at 1.15 pm for a job interview on a Friday. As Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu, and everyone else know, it is lunch time and it's Friday's prayer for the Muslims. We also got to know the interviewer is a Muslim. Despite our numerous call to confirm the time, the HR still maintained that the time was correct, and requested Mami to be punctual.

And the first thing the HR officer said when she walked into their office at 1.15pm,

"Wait ah. It's lunch time, and the interviewer just went out for lunch."

And she waited a full 2 hours before her turn. That's why I got so much time and went looking for the pisang goreng and managed to finish my Mary Higgins Clark's novel.

Despite that, she really likes the job and is hoping of getting it. Wish her luck, ya?

Pisang Goreng

2007-01-23T14:09:00.000+08:00

Ever queued just to buy pisang goreng? And I mean really, really long queue?

Taken with my lousy camere phone.

Last Friday, Mami had a job interview in Shah Alam. Yeah, she's thinking of working again, since she's really bored at home. But tell you about that later.

I wasn't working that day, so I decided to give her a lift. And went food hunting! I read about this pisang goreng near Shah Alam Komuter station in Section 15 (more like in Section 19) and decided why not!

The stall is really difficult to spot. It is near Komuter station, but not visible from the main road. Exiting from the Komuter station, go straight until you reached a left junction turning into a residential area. The stall (with BIG MPSA sign) is after this junction.

And the queue is unbelievable! I was lucky there were only 8 person ahead of me, but the people keep coming, and coming, and coming....

Azmi Pisang Goreng was operated by a few malay youngsters, with loads of pre-cut pisang, ready to be fried. And they have 8 big woks frying these banana fritters.

So is this 'best goreng pisang in town' good? It's actually quite nice, the bananas (pisang awak-awak as stated in the menu) are cut into smaller pieces, lightly battered and fried. It was really crispy, and the banana is sweet and soft. A bit oily though. But I also think it is good because it is served hot, fresh from the wok, since it is snapped up quickly the minute it is removed from the wok. So you get hot pisang goreng everytime.

It costs 10 cents per piece. I bought RM2, and I think I got about 24 pieces in the bag. There is also a container where they poured all the leftover crispy bits (I love these!), and you can scoop all you want! The makcik in front of me even took her own sweet time choosing the bigger pieces! She walked away with 2 big bags of these. Oi makcik! kalo free pun, takanlar sampai berbag-bag! Ingatlah orang kat blakang nie oi.

There's even a branch in USJ10 Taipan, maybe I'll try there next time.

Sick

2007-01-22T11:02:00.000+08:00

It has been a tiring weekend!

Yiyi has been sick since last Thursday. She came back from kindy and was having a fever. Her temperature went up to 40 degree C!! On Friday, it was worst. 41 degree C. The paracetamol that the doctor gave wasn't effective, so we went back to the doctor on Saturday.

Her fever still persisted on Saturday, and the doctor began to suspect it's dengue. But her blood report came back negative. phew.... The doctor put her on Bifen (ibuprofen) and antibiotic.

By Sunday, her fever had come down, but she was having diarrhea. But the fever came back at night. *sigh*

So today, she's still resting at home, with Mami caring for her and putting up with her whinning, and 'manja-ing'.

I think it's the 'sick season'. I was feeling under the weather the whole of last week, Mami was down too earlier. My mom was sick last Saturday and the whole family of my neighbour was down, including their 1 y.o. baby. And then there are James and Suzanne.

So take care everyone.

Run, Yiyi, Run!

2007-01-17T14:24:00.000+08:00

*sigh*

She does run in a weird way.
Sort of a gallopy-kind of run. And her hands moves too much, and closer to her chest. Like she's holding some oranges with both her hands and her chest, and running at the same time.

But she's only 3.

According to the teacher, her motor skills are related to her legs and her hands. She's also having problem with her writing and holding a pencil properly. So we are training her on her writing, and it would also help if her legs are strong.

Oh well..so I guessed we'll have run with her more. I could use some exercise myself.

Running

2007-01-16T14:02:00.000+08:00

Today...

Mami : Papi ah..

Papi : Yes?

Mami : The teacher said hor, Yiyi is not running properly.

Papi : Huh? What do you mean she is not running properly?

Mami : The teacher said her motor skill, especially her legs, is not fully developed yet. So she need to run more.

Papi : Huh? So how?

Mami : So, we have to bring her out to the playground more frequent lor. Train her legs a bit.

Papi : Ooo...so she can exercise more lar.

Mami : Yalor.

Papi : But she is active what? Running here and there, jumping like a monkey. We have a lawn for her to run also. How come the motor skill not developed? Looks OK to me.

Mami : Dunno leh....

Papi : I think the teacher indirectly ask you to go exercise more often lar *muahahaha* (Warning: Don't try this at home!)

Mami : NO Lar!!! Eee-yer!! I think the teacher was referring to you lar!! hahaha....

Papi : OK lar, OK lar, we both go lar.

Come to think of it, I think Yiyi's doing just fine. I mean, I've seen her running , and it looks OK to me. Well, she does gallop here and there, like riding an imaginary horse, when she's being playful. Maybe today, she galloped, thinking it was a game they were playing. And the teacher thought she was running in a weird way.

I think I'll test her today.

How low can you go..

2007-01-05T15:11:00.000+08:00

Wow!! This ought to send ~~MAS~~ some people jumping!!

Via The Star n Bernama:

Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) today launched AirAsiaX, the long-haul budget airline which is expected to begin operations from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) low-cost terminal in July this year.

Oh...July only start. That means cannot spend CNY there lor.

Fares to London will start as low as RM9.99, excluding tax and surcharges.

Wah?! RM9.99 ah? Like that fly to London yamcha also can lor.

The flights will have two classes - super economy and economy. In-flight entertainment and food will be available for purchase onboard.

Super Economy? Like this ah?

LOL! Just kidding.

Whatever it is, and no matter how low the fares are, passengers' safety should be the top priority. And the aircraft must be in tip-top condition and well-maintained lar. Don't lar because of the low fares and prices, safety is being compromised. Right?

Hmmm...I think it's time to plan for a holiday. ;)

Festive Greetings

2006-12-25T15:32:00.000+08:00

"We wish you a Merry Christmas..
We wish you a Merry Christmas...
We wish you a Merry Christmas....
And a Happy New Year!!! "

from Papi, Mami and Yiyi.

New Rims

2006-12-21T15:41:00.000+08:00

Got a new rim for our Mini. The old tyre rim was actually pretty ugly (hey, that's an oxymoron!). Some don't-know-what brand, with lots of spoke wan. Not to mention, difficult to clean. And rusty somemore.

So when my dad called me to say someone's (potong shop lor) selling a set of 12-inch standard Minilite rims (aka pisang rim), immediately I said "Yes!".

Happy only.

So, had a friend sprayed some metalic paints over it, clear-coat (chrome too expensive), brought to a tyre shop to fix it.

"Boss, cannot lar. This one need special nuts wan".

"Hah? Why? Cannot ah?". *sweat*

"Yalar, sumore the screws all so short wan. You see, the screw hole on the rim ah, very big you know. Normal nuts cannot wan. You need to get this special nut lor".

"Aiyo....".

Die.

Asked around a few shops, some friends, all say don't have. Sin Tong Bee shop said must order from UK, which would cost me around Rm25-30 per piece. And I needed 16.
Double Aiyo.

So ended up manufactured it locally.

The rims cost us RM400. The nuts, RM300!!

Lesson of the day: Make sure you check and ensure the screws and the nuts are available, before you buy new rims.

Sin Tong Bee is a classic car accessories shop located in Jln Pudu. Expensive.

Curse of the Golden Flower

2006-12-20T09:29:00.000+08:00

Mami : Wah, that movie seems nice wor.

Papi : Which one?

Mami : Neh, Curse of the Golden Flower lor. Got Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, and Jay Zhou.

Papi : Yalor. Zhang Yi Mou's movie wor.

Mami : The trailer looks very nice wor. Sumore, all very 'keng' wan.

Papi : What very 'keng'?

Mami : All nen-nen very 'keng' lar. All push-ups wan. Got this girl, like want to 'terkeluar' like that.

Papi : Yes ah? Let's go and watch lor.

Some production photos I 'ripped' from Yahoo Movies.

Chow Yun Fat

Gong Li

Jay Zhou

Liu Ye checking Li Man out!

I'm not a big fan of Jay Zhou, but this guy really has some music talent. Looking his Curse of the Golden Flower song? Click here. (Aiyo, doesn't work on my Firefow leh, so fire up your IE lor)

So, are you going to watch ~~Li Man~~ the movie?

Boyish?

2006-12-15T10:30:00.000+08:00

Mami : So, how is she doing?

Teacher : She's doing just fine.

Mami : Good.

Teacher : But she's a bit boyish. She's quite active compared to other girls.

Mami : Oh really?

What? Boyish? My little girl boyish??
She's not boyish, just a little active girl. That's normal, isn't it?

Well, I admit. She doesn't sit down still when watching TV. She would run here and there, climbing and jumping on the couch. That's not boyish.

Going for shopping, she would jump and run excitedly, instead of walking. But that's not boyish.

At the playground, she would choose the most challenging and dangerous equipment to play with. Climbing, crawling, sliding down at top speed. That's not boyish, right?

Right??

Well, maybe a little.
But she's still our little girl.

Only when she's 4..

2006-12-07T11:37:00.000+08:00

Mami : Yiyi, why do you cry when you go to school?

Yiyi : Because I want you to accompany me.

Mami : When will you stop crying?

Yiyi : When I am 4 years old, Mami.

For the past 3 days, Mami was having no problem sending her to school. But when I sent her today, she cried again. Manja me lor.

She gave all kind of excuses to delay us. The teacher held her, while I went for the door. She was kicking and screaming. I went out and closed the door, and stood there peeking through the glass pane on the door.

Slowly, she calmed down, but still tried to look for me through the glass pane. I stood there, waving at her, letting her know I'm there. But slowly, I stand further and further, and until she was completely distracted by her friends, teachers and toys, I left.

Tomorrow will be her last day.

First Day at School

2006-12-04T11:59:00.000+08:00

Last week was Yiyi's first day at 'school'. Pre-school to be exact.

Well, it's actually a holiday programme for two weeks, not the real semester yet, but we signed her up just to get her started. We wanted her to get used to the environment of her new pre-school.

Yay!! I am going to school!!

She was getting really bored at home. Watch TV, playing with her toys and talking to her GrandMa. When she started to talk like GrandMa, we decided it's time to send her to pre-school.

The first 3 days was OK. She was really happy and excited. She even brought back stuffs that she made at school, and talked about her day at school and her friends. But on the 4th day(Thursday) and onwards, she started to cry and ask for Mami and me.

So over the weekend, we have been trying to 'brainwash' her. Telling her the good things about her school, her friends, stuff they get to do, like dancing, singing etc. She was really excited and promised she won't cry.

But today, she cried again when I dropped her at the school.

I guessed it's gonna take some time for her to get herself comfortable and to trust the teachers there. Let see how the rest of this week goes.

Happy girl!

Friends

2006-11-17T18:15:00.000+08:00

"Eh? Why the two of you speaking in Mandarin ah?", Mami asked me earlier.
"Yahor, why ah?"

He is a good friend of ours, our classmate back in college days. I am a 'banana', I don't read or write Chinese, and I only started speaking Mandarin seriously when I got to know Mami. While he went to a Chinese school up to Standard 6, I think he gave it all back to his teachers when he left. So he speaks very very little Mandarin. He speaks English (really good English) almost all the time, and Hokkien or FooZhou with family, relatives and close friends. But somehow, when we first met, we started conversing in Mandarin. And it stuck till today.

I got a call from him today. He came back recently from abroad, after accepting an oversea job offer almost 3 years ago. On the phone, it was obvious he was struggling with his Mandarin. Haha... 3 years never speaks Mandarin wor. Sure struggle wan.

So we meeting up tomorrow, with a bunch of friends from college. To catch up on the latest gossips and news. Like who's getting married next year, who's having kid, who's tummy is bigger. You know, the ~~pak-kua~~ normal stuff. :)

A lil update

2006-10-31T14:12:00.000+08:00

Aiyoo....so long never update.

I have been really busy, with work and some other things. A 'lil update, OK?

Mami is doing real fine. Her disease seems to have stabilised. Her reports all came back showing good recovery. All readings are normal. Although she's still on medication to control her disease, the dosage has decrease tremendously. She's now a housewife, taking care of household chores. But she's been bugging me about wanting to work again. Kih kih kih... But I told her to have some rests and relax.

"Aiya, very boring lar. At home nothing to do leh.", she complained.

"Can watch TV mah, Hokkien dramas, can cook good food for me also...hehehe...", I countered.

"Can lar, can lar, if not work, where got money."

"Nope. Don't argue. Rest first. We'll talk about this next year."

"Hah? Next year ah? That means I can work next year lar."

"No. I said we'll talk again next year. Not next year can work. OK?"

:(

hehehe...it's for her own good lar. Rest for a couple of months first, OK, Mami?

She really enjoy driving around in her Mini. If you see a lady in a blue Mini (in USJ area), remember to say Hi! :)

Yiyi is growing up just fine. In fact she has put on a lot of weight. She now weights 13kg! That's heavy, especially for our hands. Try carrying her for 5 minutes in Mid Valley, and you'll know what I mean. :) She also has the habit of repeating what we say.

Just last night, I was checking the rear lights of Mami's Mini...

Papi : Which one to unscrew?

YehYeh : The bottom two..

Papi : The dua biji down there ah?

YehYeh : Yeah.

Yiyi : The dua biji down there! The dua biji down there!!!

Papi, YehYeh : *gasp*!! LOL!!

I have to be really careful of what I said.

As for me, I am still the same. Minus a few kilos, hehehe... Thanks to Mami's extra healthy, low fat, low salt, low cholesterol home-cooked meal. :) I lost a few kilos, much to the amazement of my colleagues.

Colleagues : Wah, how you lose weight ah? Magic pills? Super Belt? i-Horse? Tell lar, tell lar.

Papi : No lar. Simply eat healthy, less fat, and exercise more.

Colleagues : Oh. That. *walk away*

Sorry guys, not to dissapoint you, but there's no easy way but exercise, exercise and more exercise!

Cheerio!

Mami's New Ride

2006-10-16T12:17:00.000+08:00

It's a Mini!

We have been thinking of getting a car for her. Since she's not working anymore, she'll need transport to go to market, shopping etc. Furthermore, we are planning to send Yiyi to pre-school pretty soon. So a 2nd car would make things easier.

Actually I have been thinking of getting one myself. The classic one, not the new one. My family already owns another Mini. But my dad and my brother have been maintaining it, and I didn't like what they did to it. You might recognised her as the Mini in 'Seksis' music video.

I wanted to maintain it's classic look, and not modified it too much. You know, retaining the originality of Mini.

So, when I got to know this baby was on sale, I snapped it up immediately!

I am really thankful that the previous owner (a lady owner) didn't do much on it, thus retaining it's originality. But she did a great job maintaining it. The body is beautiful and more importantly, it's a full body. Not the 'potong' type. Many Minis out there are the 'potong-type'. It's a 1000 c.c. Auto transmission, sutable for lady drivers :)

Yiyi 'test-driving'. Vroom vroommm....

50 Movies Hidden in a Painting

2006-09-22T10:34:00.000+08:00

It's a flash puzzle game where you have to guess the 50 movie titles (Dark movies aka horror movies) hidden as visual clues in the painting. It's a promo for M&M's Dark Chocolate. Can you find all 50 titles?

Some are pretty obvious, while some take a while to guess, and some don't really make sense.

I managed to get all 50, thanks to Google and years of movie-watching. If you need help, simply highlight the area between the brackets [ ] below.

Answers:
[
1) Twin Peak, 2) War of the Worlds, 3) Clockwork Orange
4) Invisible Man, 5) Candyman, 6) Eraserhead
7) Twelve monkeys, 8) Jaws, 9) Howling
10) House of Wax, 11) Child's Play, 12) Rosemary's Baby
13) Dark Water, 14) The Ring, 15) Birds
16) Butterfly Effect, 17) Alien, 18) Saw
19) Leprechaun, 20) Blade, 21) Silence of the Lambs
22) Nightmare on Elm Street, 23) The Fly, 24) Friday the 13th
25) The Crow, 26) The Hill have Eyes, 27) The Omen
28) Piranha, 29) Halloween, 30) Scream
31) Seven, 32) Children of the Corns, 33) The Village
34) Pumpkin Head, 35) Sixth Sense, 36) The Shining
37) 39 Steps, 38) Psycho, 39) Wickerman
40) The Grudge, 41) Texas Chainsaw Masacre, 42) Dead Zone
43) Creature from the Black Lagoon, 44) Lost Boys
45) The mummy, 46) Beetle Juice, 47) The Signs
48) Blue Velvet, 49) Pitch Black, 50) Rear Window
]

Hairy

2006-09-20T10:28:00.000+08:00

Papi : Yiyi! Come and take your bath!

Yiyi : I don't want!

Papi : It's late already, quick, go take your bath. Mami waiting for you in the bathroom.

Yiyi : I don't want. I want to play.

Papi : If you don't take bath, hair will grow on your body.

Yiyi : ......

Papi : You see this *grab Three Little Pigs book*. Hair will grow on your body and you'll become a wolf. Then you have to live alone in the jungle.

Yiyi : Big Bad Wolf ah?

Papi : Ya, come, let Papi see your back.

Yiyi : *walk over, show back*

Papi : Hah! Hair is beginning to grow at your back.

Yiyi : Change to Big Bad Wolf ah?

Papi : Yeah. Quick, go take your bath.

Yiyi : See, see. *point to Papi's hand* Just like your hand!! Hairy!

Papi : :P

Mami : LOLOLOLOL!!

Tension...tension...

2006-09-18T10:35:00.000+08:00

Last month....

Doctor : *pump pump pump*

Papi : *steady steady*

Doctor : WAH!!

Papi : What?!

Doctor : Wait...wait... *pump pump pump*

Papi : hmmm....

Doctor : Fuiyo!!!

Papi : What??!!! What's wrong?

Doctor : Your blood pressure is very very high! You could pop anytime!

Papi : Huh?! But I don't feel anything.

Doctor : You better take care blah blah blah.... You know that Malay artist just collapsed...yada yada yada...You take this pill, 1 in the morning after meal.

Papi : OK, OK...

Mami : You see, I told you already to take care ....blah blah blah...never listen wan..yada yada....

Papi : OK, OK.......

2 weeks later.....

*pump pump pump...*

Doctor : It's still high la.

Papi : But I just measured from home, it was in the normal range leh?

Doctor : You sure ah? Next time bring your machine here, we'll do a cross check.

Papi : OK, OK :)

Then...

Papi : Doc, I brought my machine. let's do it together! hehehehe....

Doctor : *pump pump pump left hand*

Machine : *pump pump pump right hand*

Doctor : OK, don't tell me the reading yet, let's do it again.

*pump pump pump*

Papi : Hey, they matched. So my machine is accurate.

Doctor : So, that means you are having white-coat hypertension. Hypertension caused by anxiety when seeing the doctor.

Papi : phew... I took readings at home and it was normal, everytime.

Doctor : Yeah, but still you have to monitor it for me at home. Take readings at different time and record it down. Come back to see me in 2 weeks. I want to see the report.

Papi : ok, ok....

On the way back.....

Mami : Why when you go see doctor, your blood pressure went up ah?

Papi : Don't know. White coat hypertension wor.

Mami : You like the doctor, is it? Excited, is it?

Papi : Nonsense lar...

Mami : kih kih kih...just kidding only.

Pulau Pangkor

2006-08-30T09:59:00.000+08:00

Hey, I'm back! I have been real busy for the past month, on the road most of the time, due to work. Thus was unable to update this. This post has been sitting on my laptop for quite sometime.

It was Mami's birthday and we went to Pulau Pangkor to celebrate and to relax. If you don't know already, Pulau Pangkor was where it all started for us.

First stop, Teluk Intan. We have never been there, and I have always wanted to see the leaning tower.

Impressive.

We spent a few hours here in Teluk Intan. Not knowing the place, we drove around to look for food. But in the end, we decided to drive to Sitiawan. But by the time we got to Sitiawan, it's way pass lunch time, and most of the restaurants were closed. Found a shop by the road side. Food was so-so.

We also tried to look for the famous hock-chew peah (FuChow biscuit), thanks to Teckiee of (Eat First ~~Die~~ Think Later) and Viewtru. Found the shops but they were closed.

Then it was off to Lumut!

Lumut Pier

Lumut has really changed alot. There's a multi storey carpark now, and the pier has been upgraded. Really surprise to see the development there, and I really like what they have done with the area. Almost felt like I was in Barcelona.

At the pier, the ferries were parked one next to each other. So to get to your ferry, you'll have to pass thru a few ferries before getting on the outer one, that will be leaving for Pulau Pangkor.

The big yellow ferry.

The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes. At Pulau Pangkor, we got on a taxi/van (cost RM18) and headed straight to the hotel, Pangkor Island Beach Resort (formerly known as Pan Pacific Resort Pangkor).

A word of advice. Book your rooms through their website. Much, much cheaper. And you don't have to listen to 'robotic' staff that makes you feel you have just interrupted her sleep.

Four-poster bed! Nice...

That's our room at the Pacific Wing. It has a balcony facing the more quiet Pacific Wing swimming pool.

Yiyi : Papi, Papi...that lady shame shame...

Papi : Where?! Where?!!!

Mami : Oi!!

The first thing we did was to get our transportation. A 'kapcai'. Got one from 'outside' (not from hotel) for RM45 for 3 days (inclusive of RM5 petrol). But getting the motorcycle from outside means you cannot ride it into the hotel compound. That means everytime you come back to the hotel, you'll need to leave it outside the compound, at the guard house, wihch is about 600meters from the hotel building. And that really sucks. But they do provide a cart to transport you in, but you'll need to wait for it.

Wish you were here...

Lush greenery....

Nice pool.....

Beautiful......

Wah...got hornbills sumore.......

"Wah....so nice ah?! I want to come again!"

The hotel is really a nice place to relax. It's beautiful and has lots of excellent facilities if you are bored. One thing is that it is very far from town. So you'll need your transportation or you could simply call a cab.

There is actually a pier near the hotel, but the schedule is less compared to the main one in town. We decided not to go to town and took our ferry here.

On the way back, we did managed to get the hock chiew peah. From both shops, Cheong Chia and Sin Lay, as suggested by Viewtru. We both like the one from Cheong Chia and the onion version.

An update on Mami. She is doing fine and resting at home. Her medical report seems to suggest that she's responding to the medication. It will take some time for her to fully recover but we are just glad she is getting better. Take care, Mami.

And oh yeah, Happy Birthday Malaysia!
Selamat Hari Merdeka!!

Quick Update

2006-07-30T00:04:00.000+08:00

Thank you all for the well wishes.

Mami is doing well. I think she is responding to the medications. But at the same time, the drugs are making her weak. She's going back to the doc the week after next to see how she's doing.

She have also tendered her resignation. We have discussed about this and we think it is best that she rests at home, concentrating on getting her health back up again. She is now staying with my parents and Yiyi, since I am away on some assignments.

Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes. I will not be able to update this for quite some time. Will keep you updated when I find the time (and internet connection).

Mami Update 2

2006-07-22T09:42:00.000+08:00

The kidney biopsy report is out. It's Lupus Nephritis classified by WHO as Class IV. Advanced Stage.

Lupus Nephritis is a type of kidney disease occurs in SLE patient. About one-third of chance. Some of the early signs are edema (swelling) and weight gain.

Strangely, all her other reports (blood, urine, 24-hour urine sample) came out rather normal. But the good news is that her kidney is still OK. It's still funtioning normally.

The doctor already started treatment. We can choose between oral medication, or drips, which need to be administered at the hospital. Since she's completely paranoid about needles (and injections), we opted for the slightly more expensive and new oral drugs.

Her doctor will monitor her situation for a couple of weeks. It's going to be a long term treatment (about 5 years). Possibly a lifelong medication as well. But as long as it can bring her condition under control, we'll do that.

Get well soon, Mami.

Mami Update

2006-07-18T09:59:00.000+08:00

She has been discharged. So now she's resting at home. She is feeling fine but a bit drowsy, probably due to her medication and not enough of sleep in the hospital.

The report will be out probably tomorrow or the day after. She is going back for a follow-up check on Friday. During her stay, her tests came out OK, some of the readings are normal while a few were out of range. But nothing serious. And her kidney functions are OK. Let's hope the report will turn out OK as well.

On the bright side of this, she lost almost 8 kgs! All water in her. And I can see she's very happy with this. LOL! Girls and their weights.

Yesterday, she called her new boss on this, just to update him and to remind him on outstanding tasks:

Mami : Hello, Boss.

Boss : Hey, how are you? So, did the doctors detected cancer in you?

Some people really have bad mouth.

Warded

2006-07-16T13:44:00.000+08:00

Mami has been admitted to the hospital for some kidney problems. Her Mixed Connective Tissue disease, commonly known as SLE, flares up again.

It started when her legs swelled up. Then her stomach. So we went to our doctor which quickly refered us to her specialist. We went to the specialist (a rheumotologist), and immediately she suggested a biopsy on the kidneys.

The biopsy was done on Friday and now we are waiting for the report, which should be out by Tuesday. It was done through her lower back, her kidney cell samples were taken for further test.

She has been warded for 3 days now, mainly to monitor her situation, as well as for some medications. I accompanied her everyday at the hospital, only coming home to take care of things. Yiyi seems to know something's wrong with Mami. When she visited Mami on the first day, she was extremely quiet, but kept asking Mami what's wrong. We simply told her Mami's sick. On the second day, she's back to her normal self.

The doctor wanted to monitor her for another day, to check on her kidney functions. Everything seems normal, except for her swollen legs. She can walk, eat, sleep, but she goes to the toilet frequently due to her medications. The doc says it's probably due to kidney infection, and she'll release Mami to go back on Monday.

Now we'll just wait for the report and the doctors will discussed the next course of action. I am just praying hard and hope it's nothing serious.

Vulgar Durian

2006-06-28T15:17:00.000+08:00

Wow, what a great idea. A durian chart.
Perfect for rookies like me. Simply point and choose.

In The Star today, a durian seller has created a 'durian chart' to make it easier for his customer to choose. The chart is based on the popularity of the durian.

The chart is actually a four-tier wooden rack at his stall, with the chart-topper at top and the less popular at the bottom.

So this year, the champions are Raja Kunyit, Kulit Hijau No.15 and ... Lan Ciau Yuan.

What?

Lan Ciau Yuan.

Is this some kind of a joke? A typo maybe? Is that really the name of the durian?

In the busy, noisy restaurant...

Customer : Towkay ah! Lan Ciau Yuan je ke.

Towkay : Huh? Sa mi ah? (What?)

Customer : Lan Ciau Yuan je ke lar! (Louder)

Towkay : Huh??! Loo ai sa mi?? (What do you want?)

Customer : Lan Ciau lar, Lan Ciau lar!! (LOUDER!)

China Customers : *ears drop*

Life..

2006-06-19T16:45:00.000+08:00

It was late morning when Mami received the SMS. We were still in bed, with Yiyi. She slept quite late the night before, thus waking up slightly late.

Mami was still on bed playing with Yiyi, so I went to pick her phone up.

3 messages. 2 from Maxis, 1 from an unknown number.

"En R (from X Dept) passed away at 6.45pm on Friday......"

"Oh my god, I think you better read this.", I said, passing the phone to Mami.

"What? What's wrong?..... Oh no..."

It was her colleague.

"It must be the football match.", She said.

"Football match?"

"Yeah, a group of my colleagues was gathering for futsal, you know, with the World Cup and all, and they were suppose to have a game or two after work on Friday."

"You sure?", I asked.

"Yeah, I remember he was raving about him playing football. How good he was and how he would show them his skill.", Mami flashing back.

"I can still remember clearly the last time I spoke to him. I was coming out of the restroom and he was standing in front of the pantry. His shirt was lifted up to his chest and he was scratching his tummy. 'What are you doing?', I shouted at him. 'Garu, gatal', he said. He had always been the joker. But he was quite fit and healthy."

A phone call to another colleague confirmed this. He was playing for about 30 minutes before taking a break. He complained he was tired. He went to his car to rest, and that's the last they saw him. A heart attack, apparently. When the rest of the guys missed him (for about 10 minutes), they went searching for him, only to find him lifeless at the seat of his car.

We spent the whole day talking about this. How life is so fragile. How one minute you are there, and then the next minute you are gone. We really feel sad for his family. Mami said, I cannot 'go' before her, because she won't be able to take it and she can't live without me.
I'll try, Mami, I'll try.

Our deepest condolences to his family.

Office Politics

2006-06-15T12:11:00.000+08:00

**Sigh**

If you just work and do not interfere in office politics, you will be fine.

Not.

Mami has been working in her new company for more than 6 months now. She's a dedicated worker, who would put 100% effort to complete whatever tasks handed to her. The company is a big multinational company, reporting to the asia-pac headquater in Singapore.

You see, Singapore's office looks highly on her and realise the potential that she has. So in a short one month after she joined, she was transferred to handle a more critical role in the company. She had praises from both her previous supervisor and current superior, and even the colleagues are happy that she's around, because things actually get done pretty quickly.

But the GM of the company didn't think so and seems to have a different idea. He seems to see her as a threat. This guy has been putting in a team that are on his side. Cronies. His own gang. So that no one would dispute or argue any decisions that he made. No matter wrong or right that decision is. And since she's really close with Singapore, she is seen as a 'spy' and a threat.

Mami has been building relationships with existing customers. Being new in the field, she has put in a lot of effort into it. And I am proud to say, she has been quite successful with the customers. But sadly, one by one, these customers were transfered to the cronies. When she was about to close a deal, she was asked to hand the accounts out to the cronies. She was mad.

But today, the GM showed his real intention. He told Mami that the company has the intention to transer her again, back to her initial position, a more office-bound, paper-work job. She voiced out her dissapointment, and anger, of course. But there is no more meaning to continue on.

Sometime, we just want to make a living, work 100% for the company and contribute 100% to the company. All we expect is the payment at the end of the month and a little appreciation to our job. That's all. But some people seems to have their own agenda.

Mami, don't worry about anything. I am 100% behind you and whatever you decide to do, I'll fully support you.

All the best Mami, good luck.

Prison Escape

2006-06-09T11:02:00.000+08:00

Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield have been giving us really really late nights.

Who?

The two brothers in the TV show Prison Break.

Michael : I am getting you out.

Lincoln : That's impossible.

Michael : Not if you design it.

....

Lincoln : You have seen the blueprint?

Michael : I have got it on me. *show fully tattoed body*

....

After reading from the doc, I decided to get myself a copy *ahem* thanks to Streamyx. It's about a genius, Michael Scofield, who staged a bank robbery, only to get into the same prison as his brother. Lincoln Burrows, Scofield's brother, was framed with murdering the vice president's brother and was sentenced to the death. Scofield was the designer of the prison and he tattoed the encrypted blueprint and other information onto his body, that he could use to rescue his brother and escape from the prison.

12.30am.....

Prison Break Chapter 8 : *end*

Mami : Aiya! Quick quick, another chapter, another chapter.

Papi : Huh?? 12.30am already you know, tomorrow need to work leh.

Mami : Just a bit lar, very 'kan cheong' lar.

Papi : Tired leh...

Mami : aiya....hmmm....ok lar, ok lar....

Mami more kancheong than me.

Taman Negara - Day 3

2006-05-29T13:46:00.000+08:00

Day 3. Our last day. The travel-back-day that they included it in so that they can call it 3-days-2-nights, rather than 2-days-2-nights.

After a hearty breakfast at the floating restaurant, we took boats and travelled downstream of Sg. Tembeling to Tembeling Jetty. It's a 2 hours of easy ride on the long boat, enjoying the scenery.

After an hour of this..

..and this...

..and this....

..and this.....

..and this......

...I fell asleep. The breeze, the warm sun, the gently rocking of the boat, the humming of the diesel engine....ahhh...I woke up only when we were about to reach the Tembeling Jetty.

Then we continued on from the jetty on bus, stopping at the Jerantut rest house for lunch. After that it's journey back home. Bye bye Taman Negara.

The whole package was arranged by NKS travel. I think they did a great job, and willing to go extra mile to make sure you are comfortable and happy. Their guides are also very knowledgeable and are willing to share information about Taman Negara with you. They also use every opportunity to educate everyone about the importance of conserving and respecting the environment, particularly the national park, which I think is important. I think everyone should go to Taman Negara, at least once, to experience yourself the life, flora and fauna of our national park. We came back bruised, and blue-blacked, but happy.

Updated:
Testing a new feature in PhotoBucket. Video Uploading! Cool!

Taman Negara - Day 2

2006-05-26T11:58:00.000+08:00

With aching body and feet, and very wet shoes, we walked to the floating restaurant for breakfast. A simple nasi lemak panas and very very sweet teh tarik.

Floating restaurants at Kuala Tahan.

After breakfast, our itinery began with a walk on the world's longest canopy walkway. 460 meters long and 40 meters above ground.

To get there, it's about 5 minutes ride on the long boat, upstream of Sg. Tembeling from Kuala Tahan. Then from there, it's about 10 minutes 'hiking' on man-made steel stair.

The canopy walkway opens at 9am to 2pm, depending on weather condition. It's actually made up of a few smaller walkways, the longest I think is about 40 - 50 meters. Each walkway is connected by a platform, which was actually built on trees. The platforms allow you to rest, and to enjoy the scenery.

The canopy walkway

Only 4 persons are allowed on each walkway and the platforms, and you have to be at least 5 meters away from each other while on the walkway. There are markers to let you know the distance between you and the person in front.

View from the platform of the canopy walkway.

The walkway is built with wooden planks, steel cables and ropes. These cables and ropes are tied around the trees, with no nails being driven into the trees.

It took us about 1 hour to complete the walkway, walking slowly, enjoying the scenary. Then it was time to climb Bukit Terisek. At 344 meters above sea level, it provides a view of Gunung Tahan at the top of the hill. The climb up is without any proper trails or tracks. It was really slippery at a certain slope and it's really tough if you are not fit enough. Luckily Mami opted not to climb.

When we got to the top, we were unlucky, because fog had covered Gunung Tahan. Oh, well, just for the experience.

Notice that the log has no rings to tell you the age of the tree. This is because Malaysia do not have 4 seasons. It's really difficult to see the rings with naked eyes. They normally have to put it under the microscope, according to our guide.

Coming down from Bukit Terisek, lots of people already started complaining about body ache and tired. A few even had cramps and one who sprained his knee real bad. We had a short rest at the resort, and then came out for our next itinery! A visit to an orang asli settlement, the Bateq.

A Bateq kid

They are normadic and is the only tribe allowed by the government to live and to use the resources of Taman Negara. But not for commercial use lar. They live in one place for a few months (or until something happened, like death in the family) and then they move on to another area.

The Bateq hut

While we were there, they demonstrated to us how to make fire the natural way, as well as their most popular weapon, the sumpit (blowpipe).

That's the chief and his son demonstrating how to start a fire.

He stepped on a piece of Cengal wood, with a hole in it where they put some bamboo or wood dust, and with a string made of nipah palm leave, he saw the wood. The heat from it made fire! Everyone 'wooo' and 'woahhh!" and clap clap clap. The chief kembang.

Next, he demonstrated how they use the blow pipe to hunt. Both the chief and the son demonstrated the correct way to use the blow pipe, and then they let us try.

I wanted to shoot the chicken that was running around, but the chief said that's their dinner. So I shot the piece of paper they put about 5 meters away as target. I missed.

Leaving the orang asli settlement, we got ready to get wet and go for the 7 rapid shooting and then went mandi sungai!.

This has to be the most fun part. There were 4-5 long boats, we were quite a big group. They raced and tried to out-run each other. And at the same time, splashed water to the other boats. Sometime the boat will purposely stop to allow the other group to come and splashed us, using the paddles, shoes, milo tin, mangkuk, anything we could find. Feel like a Thai Songkran (Water Festival) but with boats!

Upstream, we stopped and went mandi-sungai. It was teh fun!

At night, we had BBQ dinner and Thomas Cup. Then it was straight back to resort. Dead tired.

The Da Vinci Code review

2006-05-25T15:54:00.000+08:00

As I posted earlier, we watched The Da Vinci Code last night. Our first movie of 2006 LOL!!

Mami managed to get the couple seats. I didn't like the normal seats, it's not comfortable, especially if u have a stranger at your side, trying to get hold of the arm-rest. The only drawback is that the couple seats are located at the back of the cinema. So, you have to climb up the stairs to the top, and then you will be looking down to the screen, instead of looking up.

As usual, the 6pm movie started at 6.20pm. We bought lots of food in there; hotdogs, sweet corn, popcorn, soda, and cheezel. They allow hotdogs nowadays in the cinema?

I am actually not good in reviewing a movie. Any movie is a good movie to me. I can watch The Last Action Hero over and over and over again and still say it's good. I can watch P.Ramlee over and over and over again, and still laugh at the joke. Heck, sometime I even laugh even before the joke is executed.

But this movie is an OK movie. Not really excellent, not really awesome, just OK. But not bad either. You can't feel the fast paced, page-turner action thriller in this movie, as in the book. In the book I always wanted to know what going to happen next and to solve the next puzzle. It's not here in the movie. Maybe because I have already read the book, so I already know what's going to happen. Maybe. It's more like a complement to the book, like the Illustrated version of the book. It helps you to visualise the events in the book.

All in all, it's average. A 'B'. A 2.5 out of 5. I was actually hoping for a more intelligent-looking Sophie Noveu.

Updated: I was really impressed that the movie was shown in it's entirety i.e. not cuts by the censorship board. Can see bare butt (Silas's) also wor.

Taman Negara - Day 1

2006-05-25T14:00:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks back, we went for a 'holiday' in Taman Negara. It was a company-trip organised by Mami's company. She wasn't really into adventure type of holiday, you know, jungle trekking, hill climbing, so I tagged along.

Taman Negara, which means 'National Park' in malay, is the world oldest tropical rainforest, at 130 million years old. It spans three states: Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, with the Taman Negara Pahang covering the largest area, followed by Kelantan, and Terengganu. It was initially known as 'King George V National Park' when it was established in 1938, and then renamed to Taman Negara after the Independence in 1957.

130 million year old, wow!

We departed in the morning, making our way towards Jerantut, through Karak Highway. There were two buses, a big one and a smaller one. We stopped a couple of times on the highway, for a toilet breaks. By lunch time we reached the rest house in Jerantut.

Had lunch here

After lunch, it was another 1 hour of drive on smaller and narrow roads to reach our resort in Kuala Tahan, the RainForest Resort.

This is where we stayed.

From Kuala Tahan Jetty, Taman Negara is just across the Tembeling river. There are many floating restaurants here, which also serve as a jetty.

Kuala Tahan

The first itinery was cave exploration. We took a boat to get to the entry point, and then walk for about 45 minutes to get to the cave. 10 minutes into walking, it started to rain.

"Wah raining lar", someone said.
"Of course lar, it's the rainforest what?", the other answered.

What we thought to be a simple stroll in a cave, like Batu Cave, turned out to be a caving activity in ~~Lobang~~ Gua Telinga or Ear Cave.

Lobang Telinga

If you have phobia of tight spaces, darkness, snakes, bats, reptiles, this is not for you. We have to climb, crawl, squeeze through tight spaces, dive under water, and at the same time withstand the smell of bat droppings. These bats are all over the caves, hanging only inches from your head. You can simply reach out your hand and touch them. They are that close! The torch lights that they asked us to bring along has little use, simply because you need both of your hands to climb and crawl. A headlamp would be more suitable.

By the time we got out on the other side, we all smelt like bat droppings. Yuck! But all in all, it was fun. The cave, I think, is not too hard, probably suitable for caving beginners.

The most important transport is the long boat. The long boats can sit up to 12 persons. This is the mode of transport we used for travelling up and down the river, to get to various places in Taman Negara.

Long Boat

That's one of our guides in front of the boat

After caving, we went back to the resort to clean up. Then came out for lunch at the floating restaurant, and then head to Mutiara Resort, just across the river, to watch a video presentation of the national park. After the video, we went for Night Walk.

Most of the animal are active at night. We saw a couple of wild boars, insects and dears. But according to the guide, it's really difficult to see them because they will normally run away before we could even get near them.

Thick jungle

We then headed back to the resort, all exhausted and tired. We were so tired, we crashed on the bed hoping to get enough rest for Day 2.

Going to the movie

2006-05-24T17:02:00.000+08:00

Mami is on her way to the cinema to get some tickets for our first movie (in a cinema) in 2006. In fact, it's gonna be the first movie in a cinema since 2 years. I hope she could get The DaVinci Code tickets. I have also asked her to get the 'couple seats' *wink wink*

I have read the book and I think nothing will beat the experience of reading the book. It's not gonna be the same, seeing it on the silver screen and reading the book. But I hope she will enjoy it.

The show is on 6pm. So I think I'll ~~sneak out~~ leave around 5.15pm. :)

UPDATE: Yup!! She got it!
We are going to the movie! We are going to the movie! *dance dance*

Late Bonus

2006-05-22T17:28:00.000+08:00

Wow! I have been really busy for the past 2 weeks, with multiple projects running at the same time. No time for reading blogs, no time for writing blog, no time for anything, except work, work work. *sigh* My apology.

Just wanted to share with you something that happened to me a week ago.

Last week, I was at the ATM machine wanted to check my very very small account balance. I am one of those people who don't believe in Internet Banking, or Phone-Banking. There I was, standing in front of the machine, punched a few numbers, chose a few menu options, expected to see the familiar 'not-so-much' amount.

I was stunned by what I saw!

My account was 5 times more than the amount I expected.

I just stood there, not believing my eyes, stared at those numbers.

"It can't be true. There must be some sort of a mistake. Is this the right account? Did I remember correctly my account balance? It can't be that much? Is this a joke?"

The ATM started to beep, telling me to do something. It has timeout waiting for an action from me.

"OK, let me check again. Maybe this time, it'll show the correct amount", I thought.

The second time, it still showed the same amount.

"Well, it can't be my salary. It's the middle of the month! And my company don't bank-in directly. I received my salary in cheques."

I told Mami about it, and she suggested maybe my company has bank-in a sum of money. Like a late bonus. A very late bonus.

It turned out to be true. The company has made some money from one of the projects that I was involved in, and decided to share it's profit with it's employees.

This is exactly one of the reasons why I was still with them for 8 years!

p.s. Mami and I went to Taman Negara a couple of weeks back, and I have yet to download my photos! Arrgghhh....got to find time to do it! Will share with u guys in my next post. Hopefully. :)

Clever

2006-05-04T14:52:00.000+08:00

2 nights ago..

Yiyi : Yeh Yeh...

Yeh Yeh : Yes...

Yiyi : Yeh Yeh, Yiyi good girl wor.

Yeh Yeh : Yes, Yiyi.

Yiyi : Papi don't buy Snow White for Yiyi.

Yeh Yeh : Don't worry, Papi don't wanna buy, Yeh Yeh buy for you, sayang...

Last night...

Yiyi : Mami....

Mami : Yes, dear.

Yiyi : Yiyi good girl wor..

Mami : Yes .

Yiyi : Yiyi good girl, Mami buy Snow White for Yiyi ah?

Mami : OK.

A few days ago, she was naughty and I told her if she doesn't behave, I won't buy her the Snow White Happy Meal toy from McDonalds. Mami and Yeh Yeh didn't know it, and promised her they'll get the toy for her. She remembered it for days and 'manja' Mami and Yeh Yeh to get her the toy. Now she knows who to go to, if she wanted something. hehehehe....

Lost

2006-04-26T09:33:00.000+08:00

Some people really suck at giving direction.

Colleague1 : The junction in front, left or right?

Colleague2 : Left..

Colleague1 : OK.

Colleague2: No, no...right.

Colleague1 : ...

Colleague2 : no..left...errr...right.....left....nooo....right....left, left...

Colleague1 : ??

Colleague2 : ...right....left.....err....right........left......Nooo!...right!.....left left!!...

Papi : hehehee.....

Earlier, he directed us to another location with a hand-drawn map, which was completely wrong. heheh....

The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google

2006-04-25T10:37:00.000+08:00

Nothing to do? Why not give your brain a little exercise.

The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google was created by a team of Google engineers, including Wei-Hua Huang, a 4-time World Puzzle Championship Individual Winner, in cooperation with Sony Pictures, before the release of the movie The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks, in May 2006. They managed to create a whopping 12358 puzzles to be solved. And if you are a resident of the US (or UK?), and you managed to get to the Final Challenge and become the winner, there will be a prize!

Too bad there's no prize for the others around the world. We don't even have a proper selection menu to proceed in the main page. (Only US, UK or AU for country selection). I clicked on UK just to play the puzzle.

Being a puzzle lover junkie, I find myself sitting in front of the computer, trying to get to the next level. Arghh...there goes my project deadline! Most hints and clues can be found in The Da Vinci Code movie site.

So, can you crack the code?

A day at 1U

2006-04-24T10:11:00.000+08:00

We went jalan-jalan at 1U over the weekend. Yiyi's was extremely excited about it.

1Utama is the only shopping mall that I could lose my way in it. It's huge, and the structure is really confusing. And most of the time, I could only cover about 50% of the shops before my legs complained.

'That's Yiyi with Barney and friends"

She wanted to get on this Barney ride, but when Mami put in a coin, she wanted to get off. LOL!! Scared wor.

But once she got the hang of it, she started drifting!

"Screeccchhh..........."

Went to Hakkakaya for lunch (Dun ask me where it it, coz I have no idea. It' next to Chicken Rice Shop). No photos though, too busy eating mah. Their Chicken Curry is a must try, goes well with their steamed rice. Mami had porridge and Yiyi had 2 half-boiled eggs, yummy!

We walked around a little, windows shopping. That's when Yiyi found her twin.

She knows it was her in the mirror, and she knows how a mirror works. But when I showed her the shots I took on the digicam, she was confused. hehehe...

"Papi, why got 2 Yiyi?"

"That's you in the mirror."

"2 Yiyi, One Yiyi here, one in the mirror""

Looking at her with the mirror, really put a smile on my face. :)

I want to be...

2006-04-17T09:04:00.000+08:00

Yesterday...

Mami : Yiyi, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Yiyi : I want to be a liar!

Mami : Huh? A what?

Yiyi : A Liar!!

Mami : *scratch head* ??

Yiyi : A LIAR!!

Papi : I think she meant a lawyer.

Mami : Ohh.... you want to be a lawyer ah?

Yiyi : Yes, a liar.

:P

Help!!

2006-04-04T12:41:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, while my father (and Yiyi) was having a chat with the immediate neighbour, he asked,
"Yiyi, why do you yell 'Help, Help!' in the morning? Did GrandPa beat you ah? You must be naughty leh"

Since she was about 1 year and a half, we teach her to yell for help, if she's in a dangerous situation. For example, like when she got her hand stuck in-between chairs, or when she fell into some gaps and couldn't get out. Or even when someone tries to hurt her. We want her to learn to protect herself and yell for help. Loud.

But she seems to be applying it whenever she couldn't get certain things her way. Like when she couldn't manoeuvre her bike out a tight spot. Or when she couldn't get her stuck favourite teddy bear out of her toy box. Or when she wants to get down from her baby-chair but no one's around to carry her down.

And when she yell, she'll make sure the whole neighbourhood hears it.

"HELP!!!! HELP ME!!!!!"

That morning, the neighbour might have heard her when she couldn't get her bike out. They might have thought that she's being abused or something. LOL!! But we explained to them that she's actually yelling for her grandma to help her get her bike.

I think we have to tell her to yell for help only in emergency. :)

Many Legs

2006-04-03T09:41:00.000+08:00

One day, while Yiyi was helping Mami hanging up her laundry to dry...

Yiyi : Mami, Mami...

Mami : Yes, dear.

Yiyi : Mami, how many legs does Papi have?

Mami : Huh?

Yiyi : Why did Papi wear soooooo many socks?

Mami : hehe...

Yiyi : Does Papi have more than two legs?

Mami later told her that Papi is not an alien and has only two legs. There were many socks because the laundry was done once a week.

Nowadays, she is curious about everything. Why this, why that. Sometime her questions are really funny and difficult to answer. She also have some really weird ideas in her head.

Just yesterday, she burped and told Mami that there were 3 frogs inside her tummy. When asked what will happened to the frogs, she said she'll give birth to them!! When asked how she's gonna give birth, she said through her "you-know-where"!!

I wonder where did that come from?

Cheaper Cars. Yay?!

2006-03-23T09:16:00.000+08:00

Why is it when the price goes up, it's effective immediately, but when tbe price goes down, they will need time to clear existing stocks?

Via The Star:

PUTRAJAYA: Prices of cars, both fully imported and locally assembled, are expected to be lowered soon, after the Government slashed taxes under the National Automotive Policy (NAP) announced yesterday.

The new tax structure took effect yesterday but car prices may not fall immediately as car companies may need to clear existing stocks.

Another major move is to establish only two national manufacturers. Looks like Mahathir got his wish.

Does your 2 y.o ask say this to you?

2006-03-17T09:17:00.000+08:00

While preparing to go out...

Papi : Yiyi, Yiyi, quick. Papi is going out already.

Yiyi : You don't have to call me lar, I will come out on my own.

--------------------------------------

While reading a story book for her....

Mami : Mami read you The Princess and The Pea, ok?

Yiyi : Mami, the Princess "fang phiee" ah? (fang phiee = farted)

---------------------------------------

While helping her with her cloths...

Mami : Yiyi, don't move, ok?

Yiyi : Mami......where do I come from?

Mami : Errr......ask your Papi. :P

----------------------------------------

While we were watching TV ....

Yiyi : Papi, I want to work and get lots of money.

Papi : Why do you want to work?

Yiyi : I want to buy this car for you. (point to TV ads)

(hehehe.....I putting this here so I could show her when she's working.)

HFM Disease 2

2006-03-14T09:48:00.000+08:00

The HFM disease has claimed another life; an 8-month old infant.

The boy is the 7th victim of the HFM outbreak in Sarawak. There are now a total of 4278 cases.

In 1997, 29 children died in The HFM outbreak in Sarawak. And 10 years later, it looks like we didn't learn anything from the 1997 outbreak.

And today we read that 15 children have been diagnosed with HFM disease in Kedah! Although it is reported to be the first case in the Peninsular, but i doubted that.

I think the Health Ministry has to take a stricter action in controlling the outbreak. Children travelling to and fro Sarawak should be ban, to contain the outbreak. With the current school holiday season, it's gonna get worse. The medias should be used to educate the public about the disease. Since there's no specific remedy, prevention is really important. Cleanliness and personal hygiene is the key.

I remember during the early 80s, there were these public service TV programs on Dengue, each about 5 mins long. They would show how the Aedes mosquito breed, how to make sure the house and surrounding is clean, etc. It's very informative and it leaves a lasting impression on me. I still remember the video till this day, as well as another Dadah ads. So I think these similar programs should be used to educate the public on the HFM disease. Use the TV and radio to reachout to the Public. Send health officers to rural areas to talk and educate the rural folks, since I think most of them rely on rivers as their source of water. And the Rejang is believed to be the source of the outbreak.

For parents, do look out for signs of HFM such as mouth ulcers, skin lesions and rashes on hands and legs. Early detection is really important.

What the fook?

2006-03-13T09:57:00.000+08:00

Last weekend....

Yiyi : Papi, Papi...

Papi : Yes, Yiyi?

Yiyi : Papi said fook!

Papi : Huh?

Yiyi : You said fook!

Papi : What did you say? Papi said what?

Yiyi : Fook!

Papi : Fook? When?

Yiyi : Just now.

Papi : How did Papi say it?

Yiyi : Fffffooooooookkkkk....

Papi : Huh? *blur*

Yiyi : Ppfffffff....

I have no idea what she was saying. LOL!! And no, I don't say 'fook' in our house, especially with Yiyi around. :)

The day I got sledge-hammered - Part 3

2006-03-10T17:03:00.000+08:00

Of course, I tried to hide, pretending I am not home. Stuck in the jam or something. Mami was laughing but at the same time worried for me. And Yiyi thought we are playing hide and seek!

My dad went out to greet him. At the same time, I thought it's too late for us to do anything, I would have to go through it somehow. So I went out too.

The old man came into the house, and demonstrated how to lie down and how he'll whacked the wood plank. He was really excited.

"Just now, the moment I saw your son, I know he's having back-ache. I already know it by looking at the way he walked.", he told my dad, assuring him that he knows what he's doing and everything's gonna be ok.

At least, he knows what he's doing and he has done it before. I was relieved in some way to hear that.

For a short while.

So I got myself ready, put a thin matress on the floor in the living room. And I lay down.

"Eh? It is you?" the old man asked, looking confused.

"Yeah", I said, sensing something was wrong.

"Your back ache?", he asked me again, then he looked at my brother.

*Gulp!* "Yeaaaahh...". The 'son' he saw and the one he thought having problem was my brother.

While I was lying there, I can really see the worried face of my parents, and Mami. My brother was trying hard not to laugh. Yiyi thought we are playing a game. I looked at Mami, then Yiyi. If anything happened to me (gone cookoo or something), it will be the last time I saw their face. :(

I lay there, trying to do as he told, loosen up my body and relax, with my feet close together. My brother helped with the wood plank, holding it upright against the base of my feet, as if I was stepping on the plank. The old man got into putting position like in a game of golf, at the bed of my feet. Except that he was not holding a putter, but a 10-pound sledgehammer!

I braced myself for impact. He raised his sledgehammer 45 degrees to his right. With all his might, and I can see it through his eyes, he ~~swinged~~ swung. My brother closed his eyes.

Wham!!

"Are you ok?", Mami asked me.

I kept silent, bracing myself for the second shot. A quick adjustment with my toes to avoid the nails on the plank.

"Ready....", the old man commanded. He swinged again.

WHAM!!

OK, now the third and the final shot. Mami was holding Yiyi closed. The sound of the impact must have scared Yiyi.

"Ready..........."

My brother changed hand quickly. Obviously his other hand was trembling from the shockwave caused by the first two impacts to the wooden plank.

WHAM!!!!

Yiyi closed her ears. The plank broke into two.

"Are you ok? Are you ok?", everyone's asked.

"I'm ok, err...I think", I said. I felt exactly how you would feel being whacked by a sledgehammer.

Actually for a moment, the pain did dissapear. I actually felt better. But I don't think it's the whacking. It's the adrenalin rush.

So we cleaned up, and thanked the old man (Pa, Ma, you thanked a man who whacked your son with a sledge-hammer?). And we had a great laugh over dinner.

And yeah, my back still hurts.

The end.

Note 1:
Pls do not try this at home.
I have tried this strange and weird-chinese-remedy and it doesn't work. LOL!!

Note 2:
The old man is actually a nice chap, probably around 65yrs old, who migrated from China to live with his sons here. Someone who have seen the good and the bad of life. I think he was just trying to help and share his knowledge. There was this empty land near his house where the municipal couldn't be bother to maintain, but he turned it into a small farm, with bananas, papayas, and other vegetations, which he normally distribute to other people. He's a good friend of my father, and he speaks a strange Mandarin accent who only my father understands. Anyway, thanks Uncle.

The day i got sledge-hammered - Part 2

2006-03-10T12:44:00.000+08:00

When they told me over dinner about the old China man and his remedy for back-ache, I didn't want any part of it.

"No way I'm gonna lie there and got whacked by a hammer.", I made my stand.

"Just give it a try, he cured another neighbour you know.", they argued.

"Nope! I'm not gonna do it. There are nerves down at your foot. What if one of them was hit, and I went cookoo?"

"No lar, I'll hit slowly, not very hard wan", my dad trying to get me into it.

"Yalar, I think I remember this method when I was little. I heard people doing it in my kampung.", my mom followed.

Yeah mom, why not you lie down? hehehe...of course I didn't say it lar. They didn't say anything after that and I thought I escaped!

Boy, how wrong was I.

So, when I saw the old China man last night, standing in front of the auto-gate, with wood plank with nails on it, on one hand, and a HUGE 10-pound sledgehammer on another, I know I had no where to run......

[to be continued]

The day I got sledge-hammered - Part 1

2006-03-10T12:30:00.000+08:00

I had a bizarre experience last night.

For the past few days, I have been having a nagging back pain. Probably due to fatique, stress or that long distant drive to Singapore last weekend.

So the day before yesterday, my parents were having a chat with a neighbour, an old chinese man from China, who seems to have a bit knowledge in home remedies, herbs etc. Of course, their chat touched on my condition, and guess what?! He has the perfect remedy for back ache. And he claimed to have cured another neighbour, who has look high and low for a cure for his back ache problem for years.

The method is simple. You simply lie down flat on the floor, loosen up your body and relax. He'll bring a piece of wood plank, and a hammer. Put the plank at the bottom of your feet (as if you are stepping on it), and then whacked the wood plank as hard as he could, 3 times. The impact is believed to be able to send a shockwave that will 'straighten' your spine and cure the back-ache problem! Walah!

"Do you have a hammer?", the old man asked, in his Mandarin with funny accent.

"Yes, I have the normal hammer for nails", my dad replied.

"No! No! You need a 10 pound sledgehammer!"

*Gulp!* I didn't like the sound of it.

[to be continued] Goto Part 2

Subang Storm

2006-03-10T09:35:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, around 3pm, a freak storm hit Subang Jaya and it's surrounding areas. Trees were uprooted, lamp posts toppled, signboards fell, roof tiles flew and traffic was chaotic.

Via The Star:

The worst-hit areas were SS14, SS17 and SS18, where the residents described the blustery weather conditions that started at 3pm yesterday as “nothing like they had ever seen before.”
...
Besides houses and property ravaged by the storm, hundreds of cars were also damaged by flying debris and falling trees and branches. No one was injured.

The Meteorological Department, when contacted, was unable to explain the phenomenon.

LOL!! Now, why wasn't I surprised by the Meteorological Department statement.

My dad's neighbour's car had a near missed. Parked under a huge old tree, a big tree branch fell just inches from the car.

Check out this video of the Subang Storm.

HFM Disease

2006-03-07T09:59:00.000+08:00

The Hand, Foot and Mouth disease seems to be at a alarming state currently in Sarawak. For the last 3 days, there were 601 new cases being reported.

Parents are advised to follow all medical advice given and to stop bringing their children to kindergartens.

But if you think Peninsular Malaysia is free from the disease, think again. I personally know a child (Mami's relative) in Malacca who was down with the disease last week. But the child has recovered and discharged. Although I am not sure how's the status in Peninsular Malaysia or whether the disease is under-control here, but I am not taking any risk. So no shopping, playground or public areas for Yiyi for the next few weeks.

And remember to ensure your child is always clean.

Handsome

2006-02-21T11:02:00.000+08:00

In the office today...

Papi : *type type type*

Colleague : Eh, just now the girl asked who's that tall, dark, handsome guy?

Papi : Who?

Colleague : You lar.

Papi : Huh? Which girl?

Colleague : The one that passed by a moment ago.

Papi : Oh! I just smiled to her only ler.

Colleague : She asked me lar, who's the handsome guy sitting there.

Papi : hehe...*kembang* Who is she?

Colleague : Oh, she's from the insurance company. She's an insurance agent.

Well, that explains it. :P

Cuti Cuti

2006-02-17T11:40:00.000+08:00

Look at those fares!!

Makes you just wanna forget everything, pack your bags and go!!

I am looking at these:

Bali Free & Easy 5D4N RM1066.
Bangkok Free & Easy 3D2N RM557.
Taipei Free & Easy 4D3N RM1819. (I wonder I'll bumped into Lin Chi Lin. Mami : HAIP!!)
Beijing Free & Easy 4D3N RM1395.

Sent to Mami thru IM -
Mami : cannot lah...no budget after buying that apartment....

Oh well...look only lor...
:)

Happy Valentine's Day

2006-02-14T12:09:00.000+08:00

Fuiyo!! Did you see that huge teddy bear on The Star? One lucky woman will be getting this one-and-only-in-Malaysia 1.17m Luscinia bear later today and it costs the guy RM960!! I am sure the guy will see some actions tonite, eh? *wink wink*

And then there is the kissing florist. Other than flowers and chocolates, you can actually order "kisses" and romantic phrases to be read out when they deliver the gifts. I wonder whether "french kiss" is available. Imagine some strangers went up to your wife or girlfriend, gave her a kiss and said "You're my love, my everything". And then how do we know for sure the delivery guy is really a florist and not a pervert. hhmmmm....

For us, is just another day. We have our days of expensive flowers and dinners, but now we are celebrating it nice and simple. Probably a stroll in pasar malam tonite, looking for my favourite kuih udang, and popiah. Gonna go back early too to look for Yiyi and spend some time with her. Then probably going back a bit early and retire early *wink wink*. hehehe....

Happy Valentine's Day!

KungFu Girl

2006-02-13T10:55:00.000+08:00

Signs that your kid watched too much "Fearless".

"Everything must be in-sync, yin and yang, hands and legs, head and body"

"Kapow!! That's Thousand Catty Fist of Might!!

"I can even hit you with my eyes closed, you villain!"

Amazing

2006-02-09T13:43:00.000+08:00

Something really amazing happened last week.

My father-in-law passed away before Yiyi was born due to cancer. When he was still around, he told this to my mother-in-law.

"One day, when I am not around, and you see the house number of that neighbour, Ah-Seng, came out in 4D first prize, you go and buy their car plat number."

So when the neighbour, Ah-Seng's house number came out first prize in one of the draw last week, my MIL didn't think twice.

No prize for guessing what happened next.

The car plat number really came out in the next draw, and my MIL won... let's just say, a lot of money.

Amazing.

FGS Dong Zen

2006-02-08T11:33:00.000+08:00

We visited the FGS Dong Zen temple over the weekend. We have been hearing it on TV and from friends and relatives about the place in Jenjarom having a Flower and Lantern Festival. I think it's an annual event, normally during chinese new year, and the event really put Jenjarom on the map of Malaysia.

The best time to visit is around 5pm. Enough time for you to stroll and admire all the beautiful flowers, plants and gardens. The lanterns and light displays start around 7pm.

Little Buddha

Flowers..

More flowers..

and more flowers...

...and more flowers...

There are a lot of activities organised, such as lion dance, dragon dance, performers on stilts etc. But the day we went, there was none. The most interesting 'performance' we saw was people swarming to follow these statue of buddhas, to get blessing in the form of sprayed water.

These buddhas (one is Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin) are actually statues that were put on a rail around the compound, and it will went around and stopped at certain point. Then it will turn to face the crowd and spray water.

I think there should be an event calendar in their website, but since it's in Mandarin....and I'm a banana mah.

The festival is still on till Feb 19, 2006. Go ahead and visit the temple. To go there, from Kesas towards Pulau Indah, exit at Banting Intersection. Turn left to head to Banting. It's about 15km from there, with road signs guiding you.

There's also a photography contest going on. It has an Indoor Flower exhibition, books on buddhism, sculptures as well as a couple of other contests. It also has an area selling vegetarian foodstuff. But the price is a bit pricy. But then again, the entrance is free.

Indoor Flower Exhibition.

Nien Monster

2006-02-06T13:09:00.000+08:00

Yiyi : *yell yell yell* Mami!! MAMI!!!!

Mami : *patience patience*

Yiyi : Mami!!! Mami!! *kick this...throw that*

Mami : *shaking....shaking.....*

Yiyi : *shout shout* MAMMMMI!!! MAMMMII!!!! MAMI!!!!!

Mami : *eyes turn yellow.....body turning green*

Yiyi : *climb here....jump there....dash dash...*

Mami : *muscle pumping up.... cloth koyak....leaving only undergarments...growl*

Yiyi : MAMI!! MAMIIII!!!! MAMI!!!!

Mami : *growl...turning into monster...ROAR!!! ROAR!!!!!*

*piak! piak!! piak!!!*

Last weekend, Yiyi has become really really naughty and difficult to control. Want this, want that, demand this, demand that. And she only wants Mami to 'serve' her. I think because of the holidays lar. She suddenly become so 'free' mah. Can eat freely (no thanks to GrandPa), can play with cousins, can stay up late watch TV.

So while feeding her lunch, she suddenly threw a tantrum and 'karate' her lunch, spilling all her porridge on the floor and poor Mami. Mami lost her cool and gave her little leg a 'little slap'. hehehe... Mami beh tahan.

So how's our CNY holiday?
Tiring. :)

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2006-01-28T09:52:00.000+08:00

Today's the last day of the Rooster Year, and tomorrow will be the first day of the New Dog Year.

We'll spend our Chinese New Year here in Klang Valley. Today we'll be going back to YehYeh's and MarMar's (my parents) house for the tuan-nien dinner. Normally my mom will wake up early in the morning to go to the market to get some fresh fruits, and vegetables. And my dad normally works half-day today, family business lor.

In the morning, we'll prepare the altar for some simple ceremony, mostly fruits and vegetables as offering. My mom, being the only cook in the house, will prepare dishes enough for 20 people. LOL!! The dishes must be at least 8 types, and must be a lot, so that there'll be leftovers. Normally we have steam fish, steam chicken with her delicious authentic Hainanese chicken rice, fried vege, chicken soup, fried chicke00n, yong tau foo (stuffed chilly), fried prawns, and many many more. But this year, she wanted to have something different. She'll be cooking mutton curry. (??)

At night, we normally go to shopping complex, window shopping ler. But this year, I need to do some last minute shopping. We have forgotten to get Yiyi her shoes! Aiyo, this Papi and Mami too busy already lar.

For those celebrating Chinese New Year, we wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year. For our muslim friends, Selamat Awal Muharam.

GONG XI FA CAI !!
ANG POW NA LAI !!

Investment

2006-01-23T14:56:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, we have just added another 'debt'.

We bought another property in Puchong. :)

Actually we paid the downpayment and booked the unit that we are interested, and we have 14 days to sort out the bank loan and settle the remaining 10%. Ouch! Looks like we really have to plan our financial status carefully.

So no more jalan-jalan cari makan, no more oversea trips, no more expensive dining. hehehe.....OK lar, maybe once in a while lar. ;)

It's a little investment actually. It's a middle class apartment, with basic facilities, located at a hill top in Puchong. And the view is...remarkable! I actually fall in love with the view, thus the decision to buy it.

Yiyi was really excited. I think she can sense the excitement in the adults.

Yiyi : Papi, you going to buy house?

Papi : Yes, Yiyi.

Yiyi : Buy for Yiyi ah.

Papi : OK, Yes, dear.

Let's hope nothing major will come our way in the year ahead. And more importantly, let's hope my company can 'tahan'. *pray pray*

Promotion

2006-01-18T16:27:00.000+08:00

Last night, at SS13 pasar malam....

Mami : Auntie, Give me 2 bak chang.

Auntie : 2, OK.

Mami : RM3.50 per piece, right?

Auntie : Rm3.

Mami : Eh? Last week I bought RM3.50?

Auntie : Err...this week promotion mah. heh heh heh....RM3.

Kih kih kih..... Last week Mami became a 'Sui Yee'

pasar malam - Malay meaning night market.
Sui Yee - Cantonese meaning a gullible person.
bak chang - Hokkien meaning rice dumpling.

Pengsan

2006-01-16T16:46:00.000+08:00

Yiyi loves Snow White. She has a book full of Snow White stickers which we got from pasar malam. She have seen the DVD and sang Hai-Ho! when the dwarves appear. And she likes to play this game with Mami.

It's a simple game actually. Mami will give her an imaginary apple, where she'll pretend to eat it. And then she'll pretend to faint by slumping onto the sofa. Then Mami will come to the rescue by kissing her to wake her up from the "Sleep of Death".

And it comes handy when you need some peace and quiet. hehehe...

While we were watching TV last night, Yiyi began to ask for this and that, just to get our attention. Mami was feeling a bit tired, so...

Yiyi : MAMI!! PAPI!! MAMI!!! PAPIII!!!!!!

Mami : Yiyi, come. Nah, give you an apple.

Yiyi : *munch munch...pengsan*

Mami : ok, go to the sofa there, pengsan there.

Yiyi : Mami, rescue me...kiss kiss...

Mami : Ask Papi to rescue you.

Yiyi : Papi, Papi...rescue me....kiss...

Papi : Yiyi, you pengsan already, cannot talk one. Papi busy ler. Lie there first...*evil Papi*

Yiyi : *lie there motionless* Mami , Mami, rescue me...

Mami : Later, Mami rescue you, you lie there for a while ...

...a few moments later...

Yiyi : Yeh Yeh, rescue me...kiss kiss....

Yeh Yeh : Come, come, Yeh Yeh kiss kiss, sayang....

It was YehYeh to the rescue...hehehe...and yeah, we did have a moment of peace and quiet. :)

pengsan - Malay meaning fainted

Attempted Break-Ins

2006-01-16T13:40:00.000+08:00

My mom stopped 2 attempted burglaries in 3 days apart! And it was the same house. My dad's immediate neighbour's house.

It was a Friday noon, when 2 guys on a motorcycle, forced open the outer gate. While one stood guard outside, the other guy went in to work on the grilled door. The neighbour was away outstation attending a wedding.

My mom heard some knocking and hacking from next door, and decided to check it out. The guy who stood guard outside, saw my mom, immediately signalled his friend to make a move. The guy dashed out, hopped on to the bike and sped off, covering the plate number with his hands.

Then, 3 days later, another gang striked. This time, it was a bigger team and more daring.

Came in an SUV, they forced open the outer gate, by ramming it hard. While the rest of the team stayed inside the vehicle, one guy tried to force the wooden door open. The neighbour was still away. My mom was outside when she heard the gate crashing into the side wall. Suspecting something amiss, she decided to check it out. She went back in to the house and observed from inside. She saw one guy at the door, while the rest stayed in the SUV, trying to hide their faces. When she asked the guy on the outside what they were doing, the guy coolly replied they were looking for "Ah Meng who was into renovation business".

But there are no Ah Mengs staying next door, and the neighbour is not into renovation business.

The guy then coolly walked to the vehicle, and sped away, knocking the rubbish bin in the process.

Although nothing happened, I still feared for the safety for my mom and Yiyi. Yiyi was with her when it happened. With the festive season around the corner, crooks are out to 'cari makan'. So be really careful, make sure all doors and windows are locked at all time, een when you are at home, and do invest in a good security system. But best of all, get to know and be nice to your neighbours. They are the best people to look out for you if you are not at home.

Take care :)

First Post in 2006

2006-01-04T00:43:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

Been quite sometime since I updated my blog, thought I post a 'lil update on us.

Mami started working with her new employer about 2 weeks ago. She is still adjusting to life in a multinational company. After working her head off in a small company for 4 years, where you virtually have to do everything, it looks like her new job is much more relax. Although she's capable of doing a lot more, she's taking it easy, and just let it flow. I think she'll do just fine.

Yiyi is also doing fine and has grown pretty good. She's still the petit but very active. Not to mention very talkative. She's just 2 years and 3 months, but she can already count from 1 - 20, recognised 70% of the alphabet, recognised her own written name in English, and be able to tell you what TVB drama is currently on TV. She can also tell you what ads was it after hearing the intro. She's also started asking for stuff, like what brand of milk formula she wanted, and which cloths to wear for shopping.

Just yesterday, we were having dinner at a food court in Klang, when she was playing with a 7-months baby from the next table. I was chewing on my spring roll, when she turned to me and said "Papi, Papi, I want a didi to play with." LOL!!! (Papi : Mami...ehem, *wink wink*)

For me, I am pretty much the same. Still busy with my work, due to some changes in the organisation. I spent less time in the office nowadays, and more at the client's place. But things will ease up after Chinese New Year, I hope.

That's all for now. We wished Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all Muslim friends out there.

Snow White

2005-12-26T01:23:00.000+08:00

Yiyi loves Snow White. Every night, before she went to sleep, she must listen to the story. Poor Mami would have to repeat it 5 times, before she slept.

So when she saw "Snow White" in Ikano, she wanted to take a picture with 'her'.

"Mami, Mami, I want to be like Snow White..."

"Hmm..OK...I just hold my hand....like this..."

"Cheeeeeeeseeee......."

Chrismas Eve in Mid Valley

2005-12-26T00:51:00.000+08:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas....
We wish you a Merry Christmas.....
We wish you a Merry Christmas.........

And a Happy NewYear

Been quite sometime since I posted. Been busy, me with projects, and Mami with her new work place. I'll post an update when I got the time, ok?

We went to Mid Valley to check out the deco there. Very impressive, and beautiful. It really felt like it's a white christmas in Mid Valley.

There were lots of people, everyone in a holiday mood. Christmas carols were playing in the background, Santa was making his rounds, with two Santarinas. But poor Santa was swarmed with people, for a photo opportunity.

I like the deco in the centre court. So beautiful, with a touch of Lothlorien/Narnia feel to it.

Dazzling lights

Santa and the Snowman

View from the top.

If you ask Yiyi about Christmas, she'll go "ting ting ting, ting ting ting, ting ting ting ting ting" (Jingle Bell).

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Happy New Year!

I also want cheese..

2005-12-05T17:14:00.000+08:00

One night, while lying on bed...

Mami : Did you read James's "I want cheese"

Papi : No, I haven't been reading blogs for a long, long time. Too busy ler. What's it about?

Mami : James wanted a second child, but Mae's not ready.

Papi : ee..hmm....

Mami : So they agreed to try only when Jesse can say "I want cheese".

Papi : Oh.. is it? Hahahaha...

Mami : Yeah, the problem is, Jesse have difficulity pronouncing "Cheese".

Papi : Oh no... hahahaha.....poor James...hahaha...

Mami : Hahaha.....

Silent.......

Papi : *rollover* So, ...do you want cheese?

Mami : No, I want sleep.

:P

Pau Wow

2005-12-05T15:22:00.000+08:00

One day at pasar malam:

Papi, Mami : *walk walk see see*

Papi : Eh? you want that? *point point*

Mami : Errr....OK.

Papi : How many?

Mami : One enough lor. But you go buy, I malu lar.

Papi : Why malu? Nothing what?

Mami : Aiya, you go buy lar.

Papi : OK lar, OK lar.

*Walk over*

Papi : Boss! Yip Chi-Mei Big Pau! One!

Pau Boss : OK!

Papi : Give me nice one ah...I don't want the leaking Pau.

Pau Boss : OK OK..

That's the monster Pau on our 12-inch plate. Enough to feed two.

It has chicken, pork, turnip and some other ingredients inside.

A pau businessman probably came up with this idea of a big pau after a Cat 3 Hong Kong movies marathon. So at the end of the movie marathon, he probably felt hungry and while eating his normal-sized pau, he wished it was Amy Yip's "pau" he was holding. Eureka!! LOL!! So Yip Chi Mei Dai Pau was born.

Pasar Malam: Night Market found in Malaysia

Pau : Chinese Buns

Cat 3: Hong Kong movie rating system; Adults only.

I want...

2005-11-17T16:02:00.000+08:00

During dinner ...

Papi, Mami : *eat eat munch munch*

GrandPa, GrandMa : *eat eat munch munch*

Yiyi : I WANT DI DI!

Everyone : Huh??! *blur*

Yiyi : I want DI DI!!!

Papi : You want what?

Yiyi : I want Di Di.

Mami : Say again, Yiyi, what do you want?

Yiyi : I want Di Di.

She wants Didi, in Mandarin meaning she wants a little brother. LOL!! And it has been going on for 3 straight days.
I am pretty sure someone has been teaching her that. But who?

Sniff...snif...

2005-11-15T17:48:00.000+08:00

While driving back from Kuantan, Mami sat behind with Yiyi, while me on the driver seat.

Mami : Oooh!

Papi : What?!

Mami : I just realised I like the smell of Yiyi's armpit.

Papi : You what?

Mami : Her armpit! She's a bit sweaty, and strangely I like the smell! It's a bit salty, mixed with the scent of her talcum powder. hmmmm.....

Papi : .....

Mami : Yiyi, come here, let Mami smell your armpit again... *grab Yiyi*

Yiyi : hehehe...*giggle giggle*

Mami : SNIFFFFFF.....SNNIIIIIIFFFFFFFF.......

Papi : eww!!!

Mami : You want to smell?

Papi : Noooo....eewwwww!!!

And I thought James, who thinks Jesse's dirty diapers smelt like KFC, was weird. LOL!!

Trip to Kuantan

2005-11-15T12:02:00.000+08:00

After reading Belacan's (aka Buaya69) and Twinsmom's trip to Kuantan, we also feel gatal already. So, over the week long Deepa-Raya holiday, we took the opportunity to take a break and drove to Kuantan for a 2D1N stay.

Initially, we made a last minute booking in one of the resort in Cherating. But thanks to Twinsmom, and some bad reviews I found on the net, we decided to cancel that, and went for Swiss Garden Resort and Spa Kuantan instead.

The resort is beautiful and clean. The rooms are big and spacious, and most importantly, clean. We were upgraded to a bigger room, thanks to the manager. Getting there can be quite tricky though, if you don't know your way around Kuantan. If you plan to go there, make sure you have the maps (downloadable from their website). To make things worst, the only Swiss Garden signboard you will see is the one 500 meters away from the resort. And only if you are coming from the Kuantan. If you have the map, note the main intersections name: namely Persimpangan Bunga Cengkih and Persimpangan Berlian.

The drive to Kuantan took us almost 3 and a half hours, with a lunch stop in Bentong. Being Deepavali, traffic was smooth. We reached the resort around 2pm and after checking in, we headed out to 'cari makan'!! :)

As we normally do, we went looking for 'kuih' in villages. Cheap and delicious. We found a few Ramadan Bazaars, got ourselves some kuihs and went cruising around town.

When it's not too hot, we went back to the resort and hit the beach! Yiyi really had some great fun at the beach.

See, how happy she was.

She also had some fun building sand castles..

...and at the kids pool.

Dinner time was a bit dissapointing. While driving around town, we came across a restaurant named Pak Su seafood restaurant. I am not sure how the name came about but the operator is chinese. From outside , it looks good, so we decided to give it a try.

And we regretted it.

We arrived around 8pm and chose our table. No one came to clean or setup our table, nor to take our orders. I have to frantically waved at an auntie to get her attention, only to be told "wait ah, wait ah". After ordering, no one came to get us cutlery nor plates. And the food only came 1 hour 45 minutes later. :(

Well I am a very patience and understanding person. I can really understand that there was a crowd and the kitchen might be understaff, and it would take my food longer to be prepared. But when those people who came later than us and started to eat and leave, I could not take it. Despite numerous requests to them to check on our order, we only got a standard reply.

"Coming ah, coming already".

Yiyi was really tired of waiting and started to cry. At one point, I decided to leave and only pay for our drinks, when finally we got our food. One by one, slowly.

Stuffed crab

The taste? So so. The only dish we enjoyed was the spinach soup. Settling the bill was another long wait. And when the bill came, we were billed for things we didn't order. Real teruk.

The next day we hit the pool again. The kid's pool is only about 2 feet deep. Yiyi was able to walk in the pool without assistance. But she thought she was actually swimming. She said "Mami, Mami..Yiyi swimming!" Both Mami and I also took turn at the outdoor jacuzzi, and accompanied Yiyi at the pool.

Overall, it was a relaxing and fun trip. Most importantly, Yiyi had a great time, and we had a great time as well.

"Papi Mami, can we come here again?"

Leaving

2005-11-10T15:13:00.000+08:00

tsk..tsk..

Mami will be leaving me.......

I will be alone..........all alone.......

In the office.

LOL!! :)

She has just got an offer from a multinational company she's eyeing for quite some time. A good friend pulled some strings, and last month an interview was arranged. The soon-to-be her boss was impressed with her experience, which fits nicely into the new job.

And today, they offered her the job. :) Congrats Mami.

We have been working together for almost 4 years, in different departments. There are pros and cons for a husband and wife to be working in the same company. The good side, you get to see each other all the time, and you can help each other out. The bad side, you will get involved in the other's work, whether you want it or not. And if the company is financially not stable, both will be affected. I am sure you have heard of the guy who put all his eggs in one basket.

Do you know the one thing she'll miss most if she left?

No...not me lar. LOL! The roti canai in the Level 2 food court!! HAHAHAH!!

Of course, starting again in a new place can be quite daunting. You'll worry whether your performance is up to expectation. You'll worry about how your new office mate will receive you. You'll worry about this and that. But Mami, I think you are going to be just fine. :)

All the best, Mami!

Holiday!!

2005-10-31T19:00:00.000+08:00

Mami's boss : Hey, how's thing?

Papi : Aiyo, no good ler, still not working.

M Boss : hehehe... eh? u guys on leave ah?

Papi : Yalor, From Tuesday, Wednesday company have declared a half day off, right?

M Boss : Yalor, half day only. People come half day, where got productive wan. Surf net for a while, drink some coffee, read newspaper already half day.

Papi : Hehehe...

M Boss : Better take leave, stay at home better. Can sleep late some more. I don't understand, why need to come to work half day? Wasting only. Take leave, rest at home mah.

Papi : hehee... Err...so you on leave also lar?

M Boss : No.

Papi : Huh? You are coming to work?

M Boss : Ya.

Papi : Got something to do meh?

M Boss : Don't know lar. I also don't know come for what.

Papi : ???

LOL! I also don't know he come for what. hehehe...

HAPPY DEEPA-RAYA, EVERYBODY!! :)

Near Miss

2005-10-27T10:37:00.000+08:00

It has been sometime since I blogged. With work commitment, and not to mention the holidays just around the corner, it's difficult to find the time to sit down and blog. But a bit free today, coz the system is not working and our project are stuck. LOL! So I am taking some time off to relax ler.

Anyway, just want to share something that happened yesterday which could turn out pretty bad.

We were driving back to the office after lunch and the rain had reduced to a drizzle. We approached a residential area and, as I always do, I slowed down. We noticed there was a car on the opposite side of the road, in front of some houses, and there was a girl in front of the car. They were about 100 meters from us. The girl, about 5-6 years old, seemed wanted to cross the road.

I slowed down, even more. 50 meters. I checked the rear view mirror. No cars. No traffic in front as well.

She looked left and right, then ran acrossed the road, and stood there. Now, she was on my side of the road.

20 meters.

She was still standing there, looking at the car.

10 meters.

Still there, looking at the car across the road.

5 meters.

Suddenly, she crossed the road. She didn't look at our direction, nor the opposite direction, her eyes were fixed to the car. It was as if our car were not there.

This really caught us by surprised. Mami screamed! I jam-braked to a stop.

Fortunately, she managed to cross the road safely to the parked car on the opposite side. One adult immediately came out from the car, and apologised profusely to me. I think it's her father.

If she had crossed the road later, I would have hit her. If I travelled faster, I would have hit her. If my brakes were not working, with the slippery wet road, I would have hit her.

As we left them, I saw the girl getting onto the backseat of the car. I am pretty sure, her father was real glad that we could stop in time. Why she crossed the road in the first place? I am not sure.

So, it's never too much to be extra careful with your children, especially if they are on the road. And that goes for both the pedestrians and drivers. Often, we saw kids playing near the roads, cycling, playing football, badminton. And kids, when they got too excited, they tend to forget their surroundings. So as drivers, we should always slow down whenever we approached residential areas or if you see kids on the side of the road. Coz, you'll never know what they'll do next.

So, drive safely this festive season. Happy Deepa-Raya!!

Deepest Condolence

2005-10-20T09:59:00.000+08:00

This morning, we woke up to a sad day.

We would like to express our deepest condolence to our beloved Prime Minister and his family, on the demise of his wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, this morning.

The Fugitive

2005-10-15T00:44:00.000+08:00

Oh -NO!!

I worked through the hunt for the Hitz.FM Fugitive!! The whole nation was looking for this guy, and I missed it. *sigh*

I was so busy, that I missed the ads on radio, TV and the newspaper. I only got to know about it 3 days ago, when I stumbled upon the ads on a discarded newspaper in a trash can. But too late, I got work to do, so cannot go hunting.

Wow! Some of the winners got RM10,000!! Fuiyo. *envy envy*

Last year, I went hunting but he was elusive. Oh well, maybe next year lar.

A Day in Bulan Puasa

2005-10-10T19:03:00.000+08:00

The 'Pak Guard' circled the mamak shop twice.

First, to make sure the coast was clear. Second, to make his move. I was sitting at a corner, observing....

He approached the Mamak cautiously, stealing quick glances towards the exit stair and the main entrance. He saw me, but he was determined.

The mamak stall is a small shoplot/stall about 6 by 4 feet. In front, was a table for cutlery and plates, as well as a plactic rack for displaying various breads and cakes. The Mamak was standing inside his shop, facing the roti canai counter and his hotplate, working on the dough.

He went near the table, checking out a tupperware full of 'vadai' But he was not interested in these. Oh, no. He already knew what he wanted. Oh yes, he knew...

"Mamak..", he whispered. "Kasi roti canai satu, milo ais satu".

"Wokay! Bungkus ah?, Mamak, playing dumb.

"Ya ya.."

Then he walked away, knowing it'll be ready in no time.

I quickly finished my mee goreng, but decided to stick around to watch him.

Sure enough, he came back later to check out his 'goods'. Unfortunately, it was not ready. The Mamak was still waiting for the water to boil. Damn! He had no choice but to stick around. Waiting nervously, he kept rushing the Mamak.

"Mamak, cepat sikit lar.", he said, impatiently.
"Nanti, nanti ah..manyak cepat.", the Mamak replied.

While he was waiting, his eyes caught something out of the corner. He turned to look and then pretended he didn't see it. It was someone he knew....the parking attendance.

"Pak Cik!! Apa lu buat sini?!!", the guy shouted from the Main Entrance, some 20 feet from the Mamak stall. Everyone turned to look.

He pretended he didn't hear it and looked elsewhere. He wanted to go, and leave his 'precious' but the Mamak was already tying his Milo ais pack.

"Pak Cik, TAK PUASA kah!! Tangkap tau!!", the guy still shouting, pulling Pak Guard's leg.

"PAKCIK!! Nanti Kena Tangkap Tau!! TAK PUASA yeh???!". Some ladies nearby were giggling.

"Cepat mari tangkap! Ada orang tak puasa!! Cepat!! HAHAHA!"

His face was all red. Not amused at all. As soon as his food was ready, he flee, making his way to some hidden corner to enjoy his roti and milo.

Busy

2005-10-06T12:29:00.000+08:00

Boy!

Past few weeks have been pretty hectic. I am working my head off, putting in 12-13 hours per day. One of my colleague decided to quit, and I am left to handle all by myself. It's not really within my pool of skill and knowledge. But anyway, I am taking it as a challenge.

Some deadlines were missed, and the client is chasing us like mad to deliver the system. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we couldn't get it to work. Compatibility problems, the most common problem in IT. With so many vendors, platforms, architectures, 'standards' and what-not, it's really tough to get things to work as a whole.

And because of that, I have been unable to blog. *sigh* And read blogs. And reply your comments. And to check and reply to my personal and blog emails. But I'll come to it.

My apology if you are waiting for an email reply from me. I'll take some time to go thru my emails and comments. And I'll reply to you guys and gals asap. : )

Oh ya, special thanks for all the birthday wishes to Yiyi. : )

She's two!

2005-10-05T10:27:00.000+08:00

Wow! Two years have passed since she came into our lives and turned it upside down. Haha...

Happy birthday, girl. :)

Grandpa and grandma brought her to choose her birthday cake at a nearby cake house, yesterday. Few weeks ago she wanted to have a cake with turtle on it. I think it was the ninja turtle cake that she saw.

Grandpa : Yiyi, what cake do you want for your birthday?

Yiyi : I want turtle.

Grandpa : Hah??!! Turtle? Birthday cake, cannot have turtle wan. Choose another one.

Yiyi : I want turtle.

Grandpa : ha ha ha..

But yesterday, she chose a pandan layer cake with teddy bear on it. hehehe...

So what are we getting for her? hmmm......

She has been asking for a tricycle or a toy car she can ride on. But we have looking up and down for one, and found none suitable for her. It's either too big or too small. I think I have to go and look for it again today.

Kaki Lang

2005-09-27T10:37:00.000+08:00

Today I met a 'kaki lang'. He was Mami's university-mate, studying in the same course. We met him again a few months ago, he is working in the same building.

But this morning, while having breakfast with him, I found out he's a Hainanese as well!

And the first thing, a Hainanese will asks another Hainanese (at least in Malaysia) is ....

"Do you speak Hainanese?"

Unfortunately, neither of us do. LOL!

I never got to learn the Hainanese dialect when I was a kid. My dad speaks Cantonese with my mom, who's a Hakka, and to me and my brother. At family gatherings, the elders used to 'taruk' me for not knowing the dialect, like my other cousins. So I was never the favourite grandchild. I tried learning by listening to my dad's conversation with his siblings. But as years went by, with no one to practice with, the skills just vanished. However, I managed to 'keep' a few 'useful' phrases.

Mong Kang - "Stupid"
L@m P@h - hehehe...u guessed it.
Who There - "Where are you going?"
Chiak Bui - loosely translated 'Eat rice' or "having a meal".
Bo Bat - "Don't know".
Bat Dit Dit - "Know a bit".
Siang Yak - "Taking a bath"

As Hainanese speakers are getting less and less, we didn't really want to lose the Hainanese dialect, and lose our 'root'. A language is the root of an ethnic group or race. So I am getting my dad to teach Yiyi the dialect, and hopefully she could bring it down to her generation. :)

Kaki Lang - Hokkien meaning "own people" or "of the same ethnic or race"

110 Fahrenheit

2005-09-23T11:29:00.000+08:00

I am begining to suspect that Yiyi's day-dreaming/seizure could be from me.

When I was in the secondary school, I had a series of high fevers. I remember one time my dad brought me to the clinic and the doctor said my temperature was 110 Fahrenheit. That's 43 degree celsius!!

I don't really know why I wasn't sent to the hospital, but the doctor just asked us to go back home and rest. And to put some ice on my forehead.

I remember at home, I took some pills, ice pack on my forehead and lied down. My body was hot all over. Then I remember drifting to sleep.....

When I woke up, I was sitting on the sofa and my dad was applying medicated oil to my legs. And my mom was standing there, watching us, looking terrified. And I kept mumbling, "My leg hurts, my leg hurts...", although it is not. And my neighbours were there too.

Later I found out that, to quote my mom, "the high fever fried my brain". I was hallucinating and was not myself. According to my mom, I was sleeping, when suddenly I jumped up and shouted "Superman!! Superman!!" (Superman's my idol hero that time hehehe...). I ran back and forth the house, and climbed up the stairs and tried to jump! All the while shouting "Superman!!".

Immediately my mom cried for help, and my neighbours came over to hold me. Yeah, I was much bigger than my mom, and she's a bit small size. You can imagine her fear when I ran amok. LOL!! Poor mom.

Then she called my dad at the factory nearby, he rushed home immediately. He came back and calmed me down. Put some minyak kapak on my forehead, and I kept saying my leg hurt, so he massaged my legs. It was at this point, I started to 'wake up'. It's like just waking up from sleep, but talking rubbish and moving, and struggling at the same time.

I have no memory on what happened during that period of an hour or so. All I know was I went to sleep and had a nightmare. A very scary nightmare, and hurt my leg. After that first time, my parent were worried everytime I got a fever. And if my fever was very high, my dad would took time off to be at home, because he knew my mom won't be able to handle me. Of course, it happened a few more times, with fever as high as 110 fahrenheit. But luckily, I turned out OK.

So, everytime Yiyi is having a fever, Mami and I will be extra worried and have sleepless nights. Since I have a history of very high fever, I need to be extra careful with Yiyi as well.

Seizure

2005-09-21T14:30:00.000+08:00

We brought Yiyi to see the paed and to get her 2nd dose of JE jab. There, we asked the doc about Yiyi daydreaming.

Shocked, the doc told us it could be a case of Yiyi having a fit!

Although he can't say for certain whether it's a minor case of seizure or just a staring spell, he recommended an EEG (Electroencephalogram).

He went on to say that it's not really dangerous, as Yiyi is still a toddler and is always in the presence of adults. However, when she's older, there is a possibility of losing consciousness in the middle of something, say, crossing the street, which could be dangerous. He also added if it's really a seizure, then it can be controlled through medication.

We are planning to get an advice from Mami's uncle, a doctor himself. Then only we'll plan our next move. We are now doing some reading on epilepsy and seizures. When people talked about seizures, normally we would imagine tongue-biting, violent fits. I suspect it's probably Absence Seizure, but we hope it's nothing.

And yes, it tends to run in the family, probably from my side. :(