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Monday, February 26, 2007

Weekend Bulletin

Friday Night
Hubby took us out for JAPANESE!!! It's been a while since I had Jap with hubby (since he totally hates Jap food!) and he was nice enough to take us out - after much pleading & whining!

Next, was deciding which Jap food outlet we should go to. Of course, if you ask me - I'd say "Equatorial Kampachi" ANYTIME!!! But that would be beyond our budget for this month. So we decided to try out "Sakae Sushi" @ Subang Parade!


This place is quite hi-tech...it has a monitor at each table where you can click on the mouse to order your food. Then they also have a Hot Water Tap for you to re-fill as much green tea as you want.

Seriously if you really want to be stingy or on a highly tight budget you order 1 Green Tea and refill until your drink doesn't turn GREEN anymore!!! hahahhaha

So I was content with the sushi selection on the conveyor belt (Just like Sushi King but tastier) while Hubby and my bro ordered their portions. I would have enjoyed and eaten more (especially since I was HUNGRY and CRAVING! >>Ladies you'd know that this is a very BAD combination!!) but I had to be the dutiful mother to Aemir and keep watch that he doesn't slide underneath the table (no baby chair!!sob sob) or his fingers don't get stuck at the conveyor belt or that he's not picking every plastic cover on each plate and poking at the contents, and he wasn't pouring soy sauce on himself, or playing with the wooden chopsticks and throwing them on the floor!!

AARRRGGHHH....that was exactly what I was struggling to prevent but FAILED!! AS you know kids are to quick with their hands.....so the tempura sauce spilled, the ice for Hubby's drink spilled, my tea cup almost broke and chopsticks were flying all over the table! At the same time I was trying to eat my sushi peacefully ...... but you can IMAGINE!!!

One hand holding Aemir (who's struggling to get free), and the other hand eating with chopsticks, mouth chewing, leg pressing against the diaper bag so that it won't fall, etc. ALL MY ABLE LIMBS WAS ON ALERT!!

In the end I gave up and waited for Hubby and bro to finish eating so SOMEONE can takeover from me. I think both were incredibly tired and gobbling away...while I watched (SIGH)!! To say the least I was finishing up the leftovers......POOR ME!!! :)

Then, my bro was kind enough to take the bill while Hubby & Aemir wandered off - either to MPH or ToysRUs!!


Saturday
It was a very very NORMAL day for us! Sat at home and struggled to solve the RUBIK'S CUBE!

Yeah you know that 6 sided cube with different colours on each side? I'm sure every household had them at 1 stage when it was THE CRAZE!!!! If you didn't own one, you'd have either held one or played with someone else's.....


This was all inspired by Will Smith's latest Movie "The Pursuit of HappyNess".

There we sat and tried and tried but when we were almost done, the next move will cause us to JUMBLE up the colours again!! It's quite frustrating.

Hubby said that when he was little he managed to solve the puzzle and so he was trying to prove his point. I recalled that I tried colouring the squares to look as though I did solve it or peeling the coloured stickers and placing them where I wanted it to be - AT THE CORRECT SIDE WITH THE CORRECT COLOURS!!!!
I gave up UNTIL I saw Hubby with a print out of the SoLution! Yeah....that's the wonders of the Internet. He printed out the methods of changing the cubes in order and so we tried AGAIN!!!!

The instructions weren't EASY.....very comprehensive....but we kept trying anyway!

At 5pm we visited the RYAN TWINS! So small still and Aemir was absolutely curious who these tiny beings were. But he also tried to play Big Brother to them - trying to give them their pacifiers when they cried and helped out Liz when she was changing their pampers!!
Sunday
Aemir had Gymboree!! He was very excited from the moment he got up and his favourite word is now "Pampers" (pronounced as : pam-pursh). I love listening to him say that word and everything is "Pampers" now - even if you ask him his name he'll reply "Pampers" (with a grin)!!!

So off we sped to Gymboree and that's the beginning of Mama's Exercise Session. It's very tiring running after him, singing and then encouraging him to do all the tasks, then carrying him and flinging him about. Thank God this time Papa was around!!!

It was Hubby's first time attending Gymboree and he was a bit BLUR!!! But soon came in sync with the programme! HE WAS SWEATING!!!

Aemir kept climbing here and there and even attempted sliding down HEAD FIRST!! Hmmm....a bit too brave!!! But all in all he always enjoyed 'Parachute Time' and "Bubble Time"!!! I love it too because I get to sit down!

By the time PLaytime was over, we were all knackered and THIRSTY!!! Had a drink and Starbucks and went back!

Aemir was fast asleep when we arrived home......and both hubby and I continued with our Rubik's. When Aemir got up at 3.30pm, had his Late Lunch and thereafter we went
to TESCO Shah Alam. IT WAS CROWDED!!!!

We took whatever we wanted, paid and left!!

On the way back we detoured to the carwash. This would be Aemir's first time in the car while it was being SNOW WASHED!!! IT was a great experience for him and you can tell that he was totally amazed from the expression on his face! Everytime the guy sprayed water on the window, Aemir will squint his eyes - as though the water hit him!!! hahahhaha...

After dinner, we sat down to solve our Rubik's again and Hubby finally solved it (2nd time round)! So I got some tutorials from him and tried doing it myself. It took me about 2hrs to solve it and I WAS HAPPY!!!

By then the Carling Cup Final was on....Arsenal v Chelsea......Results speak for itself on espnstar.com!!


That was our weekend....very fulfilling one and I wish there were more of such meaningful and useful weekends to come!!!
QUALITY TIME IS VERY IMPORTANT WITHIN FAMILY
SPEND TIME WITH LOVED ONES EVERY TIME YOU CAN!!!

Friday, February 23, 2007

Legalising FireWorks

For the benefit of those who had no time to read yesterday's papers, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA) pleads to the Government to legalise fireworks and fire crackers only during the festive periods!

His reason being:- it's a mockery of the legislation because there is no such enforcement in place!

I personally feel that this is an attempt to increase the death tolls during the festive periods. Already, the Police are doing the best to catch roadusers that are breaking the laws with Ops Sikap, in an attempt to reduce the number of road accidents during the festive periods. Now one fella decides to legalise burning of firecrackers.....might as well legalise drunk-driving during the festive periods too!

Indeed firecrackers are symbolic during festive seasons and to celebrate a joyful year ahead and it creates a better festive mood, especially during Chinese New Year. But has this fella thought about the consequences of burning fireworks and firecrackers?

Aren't the reports about children losing their fingers and toes and scarring their faces, and even houses flaring up in flames as a result of irresponsible use of fireworks, a deterrent to legalise such activities?

Honestly, what is he thinking? Even labels to warn adults/parents of responsible burning of these fireworks are not enough. Sometimes even through no fault of the parents/users of fireworks, the item itself can self-explode (due to unforeseen circumstances). In a word - Fireworks are HAZARDOUS!!!

This should be thought of thoroughly before allow Legalisation of Fireworks!! The Government must have had a very good reason for the ban of Fireworks (PUBLIC SAFETY!!!)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Introducing "The LOVE Bear"


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!


If you haven't noticed, this whole month has been about "Love" and "Prosperity" - all in conjunction with Chinese New Year (which is around the corner)!


But TODAY, it is of course, due to crude over-commercialisation of 14th February, is indeed Valentine's Day! I dare say that many people have been brain-washed by the Valentine's Day commercials that they think that they must go out for romantic dinners & romantic getaways, be showered with hundreds of red roses, receive boxes of chocolates, have champagne/wine with strawberries dipped in chocolate (I wonder who'll have THAT today.....) etc...just to show their love and affection for their partners/spouse!!!


Every since I got married, I can fully vouch that our lives, love and commitment are no longer measured by any of the above. For those hopeless romantics (let's not deny there aren't any out there) who still thinks that receiving 100 red roses from your partner on this ONE DAY means he will love, honour and cherish you through bad hair days, mood swings, stretchmarks, babies, toddler tantrums, horrendous traffic, pimples, sagging boobs and demanding careers is sadly mistaken!!


Honestly, don't you think that it would be a pretty sad state of affairs if we only took ONE day out of 365 days in a year to declare our love and commitment?!! So what happened to the rest of 364 days? Just be content with what you have and any declaration of love need not happen because you think you partner can read your mind? I'm afraid NOT!!!


In reality, we ALWAYS want some declaration of love and gratitude for every act we perform - be it - cooking for your partner, filling up petrol, doing the laundry, putting your child to sleep, doing the household chores, taking out the garbage......It doesn't matter what you do, I bet you need some encouragement from your partner for doing such a thing. A "Thank You so Much, Darling" or "That's very kind of you!" or "Oh how wonderful..." would be enough as a sign of love and gratitude from your partner, wouldn't it?


But, unfortunately, we sometimes FORGET that people, our loved ones, need such exclaimations once in a while for them to feel that they have a purpose on Earth! And that what they do have not been taken for granted and all that they have done have been appreciated by all receivers. Certainly, the issue of sincere and insincere exclaimations ought to be considered. Let's save that for another BLOG!


Today We Celebrate Our Love.......(rings in my ears)

This morning I was humming to the tunes of "Now and Forever", "I Will Always Love You", "End of the Road", "Saving all My Love for You", "Because I Love You"........


and to be Greeted by Tatty Teddy on my Desktop!




Tatty Bear from the "Me to You" Collection has always been about LOVE. I've always thought this cute grey-coloured and adorable-looking bear has all the expression, mood, emotion and pose for every occassion. And its figurines, cards and products are almost always very personal......Too bad I hardly find Tatty Teddies around Malaysia (except maybe Hallmark) unlike in UK where every Carlton Cards or H.M. Samuel Shops would have a section dedicated for this "Love Bear".

So for those thinking of expressing their declaration of Love to their partners/spouse, do so with a Tatty Teddy!

Click on http://www.tatty-teddy.net/index.php to find more Me To You products.

Have a Wonderful Valentine's Day!!

To my Dear Hubby,

See You Tonight!!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

House-Husbands

In Today's conversation, we sat and had a women's forum on House Husbands. Do you mind that your Husband stays at home minding the household chores and the kids? Do you think that in a traditional Muslim home with traditional Muslim values this is achieveable?
Does this picture seem wrong to you?
How about this?

And this??

Coming from a family with everything TRADITIONAL, I certainly would find it strange if my husband were to be seen doing the chores that I (as a wife) should be doing.

Certainly, we do sit down and complain about our husbands not lending a helping hand in the kitchen, or with the household chores, or changing the nappies, or minding the kids; but when they start controlling everything that we're so used to doing, wouldn't you feel out of place?

I definitely wouldn't mind my husband helping out at home with the chores....ONCE IN A WHILE and I certainly would be THE HAPPIEST WOMAN if he decides to do EVERYTHING! BUT I wouldn't feel the same way after 1 month of that happening. To me, it just seems wrong!

Stereotypically, the MAN is THE PROVIDER of the Family and the WOMAN is HOUSE MANAGER for the entire part of the marriage. Now women have gone out into the corporate world and have decided to be at par with the men. Most women would think that: Why can't I do what the Man can do?

Yes. I am one of them. Although I do complain and I'd love to taste some GENDER EQUALITY in my life, but in reality, this can NEVER HAPPEN! WHY?

Well, women are born with maternal instincts for a reason. Women are made to have own assets as huge as mountain and to have wombs to hold a 3-4kg foetus and to have genitals which look like 2 pieces of squashed bun put together (just use your imagination) - all these for a reason. And for that same reason, men were born with paternal instincts (if they have any), to have hairy chests and legs (err....perhaps this may apply to some women), to have facial hair as thick as the Amazon forest, and genitals the shape of pisang emas!

God made us DIFFERENT and we have different roles to play in our lives as well!

You certainly cannot expect your Man to work during the day and come back to do the household chores (cook, clean, iron and take care of the kids). Although women have a knack for doing all these chores after work, Men (sad to say) just do not have that capability!! They may in fact "Work Smart" in the corporate world but Women (proud to say) are the Champions at dividing their roles and responsibilities both at work and at home! Thus, wouldn't it suffice to say that Women should get better privileges and benefits from their employees for being excellent at their Jobs!!

Anyway, back to the issue - expecting your Man to do the household chores after work is really asking for too much from the fella. It's enough if both of you do the chores together but you cannot expect him to be doing it everyday - especially if only the husband works!

You'd be amazed at how many women these days who are stay-at-home wives/mothers and they do NOTHING except take care of themselves (i.e. go for spas, facials, salons, manicures and pedis). I call them Tai-Tais!!

Tai-Tais are women of leisure. They spend on their husband's hard-earned cash and all day long they'll spend their time beautifying themselves, having hi-teas with their friends, shopping, or perhaps just sitting at home and gossiping with their friends (over tea or on the phone)! But usually these ladies are about 40 and above (where their husbands are CEOs of multinationals and millionaires or billionaires already). However, these days we have the Wannabe Tai-Tais!!! These are the 20 somethings wannabes.....who go around spending, spending, spending without a care in this world!

So wat happens to the household chores and the kids? Errrmmmm....MAIDS!!! Yes they are God's (being their husbands) Gift to these Tai-Tais!! Some demand for Maids so that they can go through their daily routines without having to care about cooking, cleaning, ironing and (to a certain extent) the kids! They'll DIE without the Maid!

Who'll do the dishes? Who'll do the cooking, the ironing, the cleaning? And for those extremists, who's changing the diapers?

AAARRRGGGHHH.... Just frustrates me that these women gets away with ordering their husbands to PROVIDE PROVIDE PROVIDE! And what do they give their husbands in return? For most, they'll devote their attention to the husband when he's around (attending to his EVERY NEEDS)...but for some, this is their answer:

"I'm tired. All day I've been stuck at home - Take me out!"

"I've already given you kids"

"I want more...I want this and that ..."

(amongst the ones I can think of)

Just notice how ungrateful these women can be. Don't they understand that they too have a role to play while the husbands at work?

Oh well....All I can say is that husbands with such wives should voice out their concerns. Do not be afraid to say "No" to your wives (I can THAT ALL THE TIME!!hehehhe...) Lay all your problems on the table, give her the full picture of how hard it is to PROVIDE these days....Not everything is about HER!

Hmmm..........have I gone on a diversion and swayed away from the TOPIC?


Friday, February 02, 2007

Home Alone

Day by day I'm beginning to realise that Aemir's getting naughtier and more mischeivious and NOBODY CAN CONTROL HIM!!!!

I know what you're going to say - "We pamper him too much" - Perhaps we're partly to blame for his attitude at the moment but I'd rather blame it on Latch-Key Syndrome.

I do envy parents (mothers) who do not have to work and become a stay-at-home mother to their children. At least they get to spend more quality time with their kids and monitor the kid's progress. They also get to instil some discipline at home, teaching them right from wrong, and to listen to instructions (orders). Mothering is indeed a full-time job for some mothers and I do wish I get to spend more time with Aemir.

At the moment, instilling some discipline at home is tough. We're only home at nights and perhaps 2 hours from the time he wakes up in the morning (or even less). So by the time we return from work, around 7pm, he starts his fussing, crying and tantrums - basically seeking our FULL attention (until his Bedtime)!

To say NO and scold him is kinda UNFAIR. The child wants some quality time and perhaps wants to show-off his new tricks to his parents, but all they can do is sit watch news, read papers and/or sleep. Sometimes all our energy have been used up on work and there's just not enough to go around entertaining him (which means running after him, carry him (12kg now!!), teasing him, playing with him).

I don't blame him for throwing tantrums when we don't give him attention. He's been stuck at home the whole day with 2 maids (whom he sees EVERYDAY - perhaps he's gotten TIRED of looking at them), no where to go except downstairs (to the playground or around the park - if the weather permits), limited space in the condo for him to explore and this goes on 5 days in a week!

If I was him, I'd be throwing tantrums as well!

But you'd be amazed at what sort of tricks he can show you every day. Once it was somersaulting from the back of our Japanese chair, head first and rolling up front. Next it was switching on and off the computer, the TV and the light switch. Another day it will be "I'm a Doctor" Day, he'll put on his stethescope and check everyone's heartbeat or come out with a cotton bud in his hand to put ointment on your toe (bec he's got a cut on his and that's what we do to him), or he'll take a torch-light and check your ears (just like his doctor would).

Or he'll run around the dining table, hoping you'll notice him and play Catch with him!

It's saddening to see him cry and struggle when you leave for work and when you return home, he'll run to you and give you a BIG BIG HUG, salam and kiss! Awww....

These are the times when I wish I'm a stay-at-home Mother!