my cheeky boy

My cheeky boy likes to climb into this position in his highchair. He calls it the 'stuck' position.

We then tickle his backside and he laughs.....happy to be tickled.

Then he'll say, "somebody please come and help me!"

tooth no more

I visited a friend's dental clinic yesterday to have my tooth extracted. Yes, even dentists need extractions.

That's my tooth.....clean, caries-free, perfectly-sound.

Adult human beings have 32 teeth. Or are supposed to have. I happen to be one of those whose jaw is just not large enough to fit all my large teeth. With one lower lateral incisor congenitally missing, I only had to have 3 good premolars extracted for orthodontic treatment. That was completed way back in 1993.

Unfortunately, I also have impacted lower wisdom teeth. Yup, two of them. So after much hesitation, I finally braved myself to have the right one removed by a lecturer when I was a dental student in my third year. I had a horrible post-op experience when I took Ibuprofen for the first time and discovered to my horror that I'm allergic to it. My eyes swelled to the size of golf balls in half an hour. It took a visit to the A&E, a steroid jab and 4 days for the swelling to subside.

A year later, the upper wisdom tooth overerupted and was biting on my lower gums. Another extraction followed.

I kept putting off the surgery for the left side.....until I was about to leave the civil service. I got a friend of mine brave enough to have me as a patient, and the tooth came out in several pieces. That was in July 2006, I think.

Over the past year, the upper right wisdom tooth has again slowly but surely been overerupting. In the last couple of days, it had been causing much pain every time I bite. Looking into my mouth, I could see the indentation of the tooth on my gums.

No choice.....have to take it out even though I'm about 5.5 months pregnant.

Dr Jean is a very gentle and competent dentist friend. It was a rather painless procedure. In fact, her topical anesthetic was so effective, it even numbed my lips and tongue.

So now, I have only 24 teeth left (all caries-free, restoration-free). Joseph has 20 teeth. That's not a huge difference is it?

2 dinners and a winner

Monday night, darling and I decided to go out for our usual date. It had been postponed from the week before because of my stomachache. Izzi's Restaurant @ Damansara Utama was having a fantastic promotion - 75% discount off food for HSBC credit card holders. Being the kiasu people that we are, we decided to dine there. We arrived there at about 7.30pm and was shocked to find a big crowd waiting outside. Not wanting to wait, we eventually ended up at Champ's in Centerpoint Bandar Utama.

I tried the much-talked-about 'Damn Shiok Hokkien Mee' (RM18.90) while darling had the Ipoh Sar Hor Fun (RM16.90). The hokkien mee did live up to it's name. The soup was really damn shiok - sweet, tasty and slightly spicy. The pork ribs were very tender and the meat easily fell off the bone. Prawns were huge and other ingredients were generous.

The Ipoh Sar Hor Fun however was not what we expected. Sar Hor Fun, as we know it, is like the local Wah Tan Hor. This was more like Kuay Teow Theng. Nevertheless, darling thought it was really good. Tasty soup, smooth chicken, naked prawns (that's what it says on the menu) and very smooth hor fun.

The next day, darling had a pleasant surprise when he was announced the winner of this year's Monash University Pro-Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research.

The prize is a RM10 000.00 research grant. Yeah, it's only for his research. Not for my shopping pleasure.

my winner!

Feeling in a celebrative mood, we decided to try Izzi's again. It was also the last day of their fantastic promotion. So this time, we arrived there at about 6pm. No crowd outside, but inside was already full house. The waitress took down my name and told me we'd have to wait about 30minutes.

Just before 6.30pm, they called for us. With rumbling tummies, we (darling, me, my mother and Joe) made our way inside, sat down and quickly placed our order : Izzi Dough Ball (RM6..80), Izzi's Chicken Wings in teriyaki sauce(RM11.80), Caesar Salad with chicken (RM22.60), 2 orders of Spaghetti Carbonara (RM15.80), Pollo Tropicale pizza (RM24.80) and Tofu in Ginger Sauce (RM10.80).

The service was pretty efficient and the food came quickly. The Izzi Dough Ball arrived first. It was soft, fluffly and warm, served with garlic butter.

Next came the Izzi's Chicken wings. Juicy and tender enough. Caesar Salad was also pretty good.

Then came the Spaghetti Carbonara which is our all-time favourite. Joe also liked it very much. He enjoyed feeding himself.

The pizza was so-so. I prefer the crispy thin-crust ones from Domino's. In our excitement, I forgot to take pictures of the food until we were half way thru eating.

clockwise from top right : spaghetti carbonara, Izzi's chicken wings, pizza pollo tropicale, another spaghetti carbonara, Caesar's salad.

The tofu arrived last and I remembered to take a picture of it. This was japanese tofu, fried and drenched in sweet sour ginger sauce. Pretty good.

I was thinking that we might have to tar pau whatever we couldn't finish. But we did finish everything! Yup, everything! And the most satisfying part.....we paid a grand total of only RM28.46 after the fantastic discount!

Pregnancy and Kids

This is me now...22 weeks pregnant, 55kg and starting to feel like a beached whale again. I'm expecting to deliver my second child (gynae says looks like a girl!!!) in mid-January 2008, about 2 weeks before I turn 30. Yup...the big 3-0 looms just ahead. It's a major milestone in any woman's life. Firstly, you'll no longer be in your twenties. Thirties is when you start to have problems maintaining your weight, wrinkles creep up where you don't want them and you start to feel...well, not-so-young anymore.

Eversince I was young, I've had a 'plan' for my life - married by 25, kids before 30. A career however has never been a big priority. I always knew I'd rather be home with my kids than in a power suit, jet-setting across the globe earning big bucks.

By God's grace, I married a wonderful man 3 months before my 25th birthday. I had my first kid at 27 years of age and I'm looking forward to celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this coming November, before welcoming our daughter in January.

I still get comments that I'm so young la when people ask if I'm expecting my first child and I tell them Joseph is already 29months old. It's weird....when I'm with my chinese friends, I do feel a wee bit young. Most of my peers are expecting their first child or getting married. But when I'm with my malay friends, I certainly feel that I'm running behind time.

For example, my friend Dr M ( a fellow dentist) got married in 2003, about half a year after me. She already has a boy and a girl, the younger one being about a year old already.

Another friend, Dr R (also a dentist) got married in Sept 2004, conceived 3 months after marriage and had her first child in Aug 2005. Her second child is due anytime now.

Yet another friend, Dr A (another dentist...what to do...got plenty of dentist friends) got married in 2005, had a boy in May 2006 and is expecting a girl next month (Oct 2007).

Children are indeed blessings from God. I'm of the opinion that if you want kids, then you shouldn't wait too long because the older we are, the less energy we have to run and jump and tumble with them. I'm sure there are those who disagree, with the opinion that having kids later in life will mean more financial stability, and the ability to give their kids the best.

Then again, what does giving your best to your kids mean? Is it the best baby cot? the most expensive milk? the most hi-tech stroller? the most fantastic encyclopedias? expensive toys? Indeed...there is a wide array of gadgets and gizmos out there to make parents part with their hard-earned money, believing that they are giving the best to their kids.

I on the other hand, feel that giving my best to my kids mean strolling in the park, reading to him, giving him piggy-back rides, playing hide-and-seek...all of which means giving him time.

We now realize that if we were to wait till we feel ready to have kids, we might never have kids. In fact, if our parents had waited till they felt fully ready, we might not exist! I don't think we will ever find ourselves at a stage when we feel we have enough money, or enough time to have kids. Human beings are greedy. We always want more.

We've learnt to manage what God gives, and trust his providence. After all, He is Jehovah Jireh. He always provides. His blessings are never ending.

Happy 28th Birthday Ah Ku

Ah Ku turned 28 years old on 11 September. Yes, he has a very easily-remembered birthdate thanks to a bunch of terrorists 6 years ago. 9/11. Well, I wasn't born yet then so ignorance is bliss.

We celebrated Ah Ku's birthday last night. Papa took me to Domino's to tar pau pizza. I enjoy seeing the uncle make the pizza and putting it in the oven. Mama bought KFC mash potatoes for me and also a cute little cake for Ah Ku.

Here's we are with Ah Ku's cake... That's che-che Joanne on my left.

And another pic with Nana and Kong Kong as well.

See I'm trying to help Ah Ku blow out his candles. There were so many that Ah Ku had a hard time blowing them out all by himself.

Finally we cut the cake. It was so yummy we finished it all up. Sorry yee yee...none left for you.

more Yong Peng action

There's so much space in Yong Peng. No need to be cooped up in a 'pigeon hole' like in KL. Joe went cycling with his daddy.

He also enjoyed playing with water, just like Fireman Sam (Astro channel 24). In being helpful with watering the grass, he managed to flood a small area because he only sprayed water on one area.

Here we have koh teow teaching Joe and Bran to aim properly at the grass.

Of course, there's also tv time with Brandon. They have totally different styles of watching tv. Joe will watch quietly, 100% focused. Brandon on the other hand gives a running commentary on the show, complete with sound effects.

They have so much fun entertaining each other. It really gives me some time to rest and relax too.

Now...I'm happy

Joe made my heart melt last night.

I was lying down on the bed, kinda incapacitated from the pain in my stomach (I had been having bad gastric and diarrhoea for the past 2 days) while he was rolling and jumping around playing with nana. Then nana took him to make milk - his much-needed 'opium' before sleeping. He came back to the room carrying his bottle of milk and tugged at me saying, "Mama, get up. Feed me". So I muttered something asking him to let nana feed him. But he insisted, "Mama feed me". I dragged myself up and took him on my lap. Joe said, "Now I'm happy".

Yeah.....mama's happy too.

Joe checks out school in Yong Peng

We arrived in Yong Peng early this morning. Yup, reallllll early - we started our journey from KL at 5.00am and arrived here at 7.20am. Joseph slept the whole journey here and only woke up when we parked in the porch.

He spent the entire morning playing (and messing up the room) with Brandon. Then when school started at about 1pm, he joined them to work up a sweat.

Here he poses with Brandon. He's almost the same height as Brandon now....shorter by just about an inch.

I still made him take his afternoon nap. More so because I needed it. And after he woke up refreshed, he joined Brandon's class in their English phonics lesson.

More photos tomorrow...

the impossible hair cut

Joseph is just not very cooperative when it comes to his personal grooming. He hates hair cuts, he won't let me brush his teeth, he doesn't want his nose to be wiped, he won't let me clean his ears and he only lets me wash his backside because he can't stand the thought of faeces on him.

So, I have no choice but to wait till he's fast asleep before I embark on my grooming business. Last night, I decided it was time for another hair cut.

The first 5 minutes was very fruitful. I managed to cut from the left side till more than half way across the back. After that, he just started to wriggle and scratch his head. At one point, he opened his eyes, looked at me and said, "off light" before he went back to sleep. Thereafter, it was impossible to get anything done. So I gave up and went to sleep. I'll have to continue tonight.

This side, cut already.

This side, not yet cut.

Do I look like I care???? Of course not! I look good anyhow, hair or no hair!

cheap thrills for joe

Remember the 2 empty cardboard boxes that we lugged home from 1Utama? Well, it's another new toy now. I turned the boxes upside down and drew train tracks on them. I also made little coconut trees using straw and paper and my mother made a cardboard house for a station.

Joe will take his Thomas the tank engine and move it along those tracks following every turn.

See how engrossed he is with his 'new toy'.

Joys and tribulations of parenting

Today I stumbled upon this blog by a lady named Dawn who has a pack of 6 kids between the ages of 1 and 12. I couldn't help laughing (like everyone else) while reading through her entries. It has certainly helped to put my parenting experience in perspective.

I thought Joseph was a hyperactive handful. But compared to her Spaz, Joseph is an angel. For instance this morning while we were in church, he said shee shee about half a dozen times over a duration of less than 2 hours (so I had to walk back and forth from the loo half a dozen times), shook the box of milk so that the contents sprayed all over the chairs and the people behind, threw his Barney bolster on the floor and then rolled on the floor and under the chairs while whining "I want to go home".

At home, he likes to feed himself which isn't a bad thing. But halfway through eating a banana, he will put the banana to his ear and say, "hello yee yee. Ok bye bye yee yee". And then he mashes the banana with his hand and rubs banana puree all over his face and hair. He does the same with fried rice, papaya, kiwi fruit, dragon fruit and anything else he gets on his hands. Well, I guess it's not that hard to just shower the kid as compared to washing yoghurt off the tv screen or butter off the carpet (which is why I don't use carpets).

Indeed, parenting....the days are long but the years are short!

Papa's art

Joe says :

Last Monday while we were in church for morning prayer, Mama forgot to bring my toy cars to keep me entertained and quiet. So Papa tried to entertain me with his drawings. He drew this....and asked me what it is.

I took one look at the long nose and said, "elephant". Mama burst out laughing. Apparently papa tried to draw Mickey Mouse. Mama thinks it looks more like Mickey Mouse has been telling a lot of lies.

Then papa drew this...

That thing on the left....I said it's a dog. Papa said, "no, it's a tiger". And I said again, "no....it's a dog".

Mama says that Papa was never a very artistic nor creative person. He didn't score As for art when he was a kid in school.

Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I still love my papa. He takes me to the park and the playground. He takes me swimming. He's my 'horse' when we have fun on the bed and he buys yummy mash potato from KFC for me. He may not be the most artistic dad but he's my dad. Papa, you're da best!

Bye Bye at the airport

While mama and papa went to work yesterday, Joe went to KLIA with nana, kong kong, yee yee and ah ku.

I was told that he walked up to Ronald McDonald and said, "take photo". He had mushroom soup, bread and pasta at Delifrance for lunch. And he learned to say the words printed on his shirt - Somebody in Texas loves me!

Bye bye yee yee.... see you again....soon I hope.

Yee Yee goes home

It's been a very hectic past one month for me and also for Joe. There were countless days of all-day shopping at 1-Utama, The Curve/Ikano/Ikea and Midvalley Megamall. With Yee Yee back home, Joe had a new playmate. Everyday, it's "yee yee, come play with me" and "yee yee, where are you?".

Playing with Yee yee the first time she came back in December 2005.

Playing with Yee yee now at 2 years plus.

Yee yee flies back to Dallas today. I think Joe will miss her as much as she's gonna miss him.

Yee yee carrying Joe at 8months.

Joe's such a big boy now!

sugar fix

We were at Chili's last night for dinner. Joe was a very good boy. He fed himself the chicken-mushroom soup while I fed him fish and mashed potatoes. I like looking at him when his cheeks are full and puffy with food and he looks like he is really enjoying his food.

After we were all full and stuffed, we decided to share a hi and mighty pie. Joe decided he would also share our dessert.

Now, children can get very hyper and 'high' when they've had a dose of sugar. In Joe's case, he will keep shaking his head (like one high on estacy) with a silly smile on his face and babbling nonsense while running all over the place in circles, knocking into everyone and everything in his path.

Nevertheless he had his fair share of dessert while making a mess of the place and his face.

Mmmm....this is soooo yummy! Yummy in my tummy!

Yeah....this is good!

So good....finger-lickin good.....you want some?

Oh ohhhh....I think I'm a bit mabuk. Somebody catch me quick!

free fun for kids

I'm one who is of the opinion that kids do not need expensive toys.....regardless of the impressive labels and instructions on fancy packaging of exorbitantly-priced toys. Ask any mother and you'll probably be told that their kids' favourite toys are handphones or empty boxes and container, eating utensils or the tv remote control.

Last Monday, my sister and I were shopping for her shoes at 1-Utama. In the Scholl shop, there were a few big boxes of shoes just delivered by the supplier. Joe took the liberty to start taking out the shoe boxes, one by one, out of the big cardboard box. When we stopped him, he climbed onto the huge box with all the smaller shoe boxes. So I sheepishly asked the lady in the store if they had any empty boxes that they would be throwing away soon.

The very nice lady took the trouble to empty those cardboard boxes, fold and tie them up neatly for me to take home.

Joe has been enjoying his new 'toys' at home. He climbs in and out and really exercises his imagination. I found a round plastic cover and made a 'steering wheel' for him. One minute the box is a train. And he'll say, "choo chooo.....chuga chuga. Oh oh...no wheels. How to move?". The next minute it's a boat.

Then he makes it his secret hideaway. "I go in....close the door", he says. We then pretend we can't find him, and he'll jump out and say, "here I am!"

peekaboo!

weekend in Pangkor

Edwin and I spent last weekend in Pangkor Island and the lovely Pangkor Island Beach Resort (former Pan-Pac). It was a much needed break and for once, I had almost no complains about the entire place.

We placed our booking with the official hotel website because that offered the best deal. Our Ocean Wing room was lovely and very clean.

The bed was soft but firm and the sheets were spotless. The bathroom which had separate bathtub and shower cubicle was also huge and spick and span with plenty of fresh towels.

Sitting on the daybed in the above picture offers you this magnificent view of the well-manicured gardens surrounding the pool and the beach and ocean beyond. It was lovely to just sit and hear the ocean.

This picture isn't very clear because it was drizzling slightly when I took it on Saturday morning.

We had our meals at the Hornbill Restaurant which is adjacent to the pool and offers stunning (when it's not too cloudy) sunset views at dinner time.

The food was palatable enough with good variety. I do think it is overpriced so it's better to pre-pay (We paid RM80nett per person, per day for buffet breakfast and dinner) for it when placing your hotel booking. Walk-ins would be charged RM65++ per person for International-themed buffet dinner on Friday nights and RM75++ per person for BBQ buffet dinner on Saturday nights.

Hornbill Restaurant is probably named because of the many hornbills that flock to that area. There's a hornbill feeding station where the hotel places plates of fruit during the daytime for the birds to feed on. It's quite an attraction for hotel guests.





We were quite happy to just laze around in the room and in the pool. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded for a weekend.
The private 1.2km beach is clean if you enjoy swimming in salt water. Tucked in a little bay, the waves are not too strong. Lucky for me, hubby is my kind of specie...we enjoy looking at the beach and hearing the waves break on the shore but no thanks to swimming in the sea. Hence the nearest we came to the ocean was just walking around near the beach. Sunday came all too soon and we headed home. I wasn't too sad to leave because I was missed Joseph so much and couldn't help wondering if he was alright all weekend.

For those interested in spending a weekend there...here are some travel info...

The drive from KL to Lumut took us 3 hours. We headed to Shah Alam on the Federal Highway and used the Guthrie Corridor Expressway to reach Kuala Selangor. From there, roadsigns will lead you to Tanjong Karang, Sekinchan, Sabak Bernam, Teluk Intan and on to Lumut. The road is not too bad. Bumpy at some parts and too bad if you get stuck behind a huge lorry. But most parts are 2-lanes so overtaking is not a problem. It's scenic with lots of coconut trees and paddy fields along the way. Total amount of toll paid was RM3.90 each way.

At Lumut, we parked at the Majlis Perbandaran Manjung multi-storey covered carpark. It's RM6.90 per 24hours for weekdays and RM10 per 24hours on weekends. What we liked was that the car was not burning hot when we got back and it does look safer (compared to open air private carparks).

We took a private ferry which goes direct to Jetty 2 on Pangkor Island (there are 2 jetties on Pangkor Island). It costs RM16 return per person and took merely 30minutes to reach Pangkor Island. The ferry was large and we sat in air-conditioned comfort. The upper deck has an open-air section for those who like the breeze in their hair. Jetty 2 is mainly for guests of Pangkor Island Beach Resort and Teluk Dalam Resort. The shuttle from the ferry to the hotel is free and takes no more than 3 minutes.

If you can afford it, opt for the Ocean Wing room. The other room categories are Garden Wing (far from beach and supposedly not so nice), Pacific Wing (I think partial seaview) and the villas. The villas are chalets on stilts are just at the ocean edge. It's quite a walk to the lobby/restaurant/pool areas but perfect if you just want to hibernate with lots of privacy.

View of Ocean Wing rooms from pool area.

Pangkor Island Beach Resort is pretty secluded and there are no nearby restaurants/shops so unless you're prepared to take a cab out to town, you've got to eat in the hotel.

We anticipated that drinking water would be expensive so we brought four 1.5L bottles of mineral water. Otherwise you can boil tap water or try being a camel and drink lots of juice at breakfast and plain water from the restaurant at dinner.

All in, we paid exactly RM800 for 3D2N accomodation in an Ocean Wing room with daily buffet breakfast and dinner for 2 pax. I'd say it was worth the money and would definitely do it again if time and finances permit.