Category: Et-cetera

My desktop computer crashed on Friday when someone turned off the main switch to the computer.  I know that shutting down a computer the improper way will cause harm to the computer but I never knew that the problem can be so severe.  The CPU has  been admitted and I can only get it back tomorrow.  Some important programs were corrupted when it was running and the power turned off abruptly. This morning, I realized that I am seeing cob webs in my blogs and I better do something about it though I am very very busy.  I have 13 ads to complete and a huge pile of stock lying in the living room of my house waiting to be packed and sent out.  I was not able to sort them out as all my customers’ data are stored in the hard drive of my desktop PC.

My parents came last week for a few days and left yesterday.  My mil will be leaving for HK today and she will spend a few months in New Zealand.  I think she will be away for over half a year this time.  My sil from Singapore is now in KL and will be here for over 2 weeks.   Good thing she’s around as she can help me babysit my girls and coach them in their Mandarin homework.

I have taken some pix with my brand new Canon IXUS (which my hubs gave it to me for my birthday 🙂 ) but do not have the time to upload them yet. The resolution and quality of the pix taken with this camera is WAY BETTER than my old Olympus digital camera.  So this blog will be without pix for another 1 to 2 days until my desktop PC is back.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

No. of times viewed = 212

2 weeks after CNY ended, we removed the cash from all the ang pow packets that the girls had collected to have them banked into their Savings Accounts.

Daddy in full concentration counting the cash while Baby in full concentration looks on in awe…

The girls collected about RM500+ each and we topped up another RM1k each for them, making a total of RM1,500 for each of them in their Savings Account…

By the time they graduate from secondary school, I am pretty sure that the money in their Savings Account will be enough for a year of their college fee…. while the hubs and I have to continue working hard like dogs to keep topping up our bank accounts for their university fees!

No. of times viewed = 309

There is a big toyogo box in the storeroom which I have been keeping Sherilyn’s unused XXL diapers ever since she stopped wearing diapers to sleep at night over a year ago. The other day, I decided to use them on Baby but upon taking a closer look, I saw yellowish brownish stains all over the diapers…. not on 1 or 2 pieces but on all the diapers! Not wanting to take any chances of Baby getting a UTI attack from the possibly fungus on the diapers, I threw all the unused diapers into the bin… with a heavy heart. Those XXL diapers cost over RM1 each and I threw over 30 of them!!!

Luckily the XXL pull-up pants still looked white and nice and I let Baby use them immediately, though the diaper is oversized on her (the waist band is almost reaching her chest LOL!!!).

Check out those brownish stains.  Would you let your child wear stained unused diapers?

No. of times viewed = 627

I had witnessed this scene at the gym of my condo several times. First scenario. The man was working out in the gym and he was the first to step inside the gym in the morning, followed by me. He switched on the air-conditioner as he prefers a cold room when he works out. I am fine with it as I prefer the air-cond turned on too. Moments later, a lady walked in and immediately switched off the air-cond. She told the man that he should open up the windows and breathe in fresh air. She told him that he should sweat it out without the air-cond, which defeats the purpose of sweating. The man was fuming mad, so mad I could see lava spewing out from his head! He felt insulted and was cheesed off with the lady’s bossiness. There was a war of words throwing around in the gym and I was dragged into the war by the man. I just smiled and did not say a word. After a 15-minute or so of war of words, the man stomped out of the gym with lava spewed all over the gym. Later he walked into the gym again when the woman left and was cursing the lady to me.

Second scenario. A woman was working out on the Air Walker. The air-cond in the gym was not turned on. Another woman walked in and she turned on the air-cond in the gym room, to which the woman on the Air Walker said this “excuse me, can you turn off the air-cond? I don’t like the air-cond.” The woman who just walked into the gym reluctantly went to switch off the air-cond. When she walked nearer to the woman on the Air Walker, the woman on the Air Walker added “sorry, I don’t want the air cond as I want to sweat it out. I don’t like the air-cond”. The other lady looked really pissed off and I could see that she wanted to blurt this out : “why do I need to listen to you? The gym belongs to all the residents and not you alone. I am paying RM300 – RM400 a month to use the facilities, so why do I need to listen to you.  If you want to sweat it out, wear a jacket!!?” but she fought back the words and looked really angry as she worked out on the other unit of Air Walker.  As a matter of fact, all gyms in the world are fitted with an an air-cond and the air-cond is always switched on when the gym is open for use.  Whoever wants to sweat it out can wear a long sleeved jacket and long pants.

Sitting on the fence, who should have the right to have the air-cond turned on or turned off in both scenarios? All the residents pay between RM300 – RM400+ a month for maintenance fee and they have every right to enjoy all the facilities in the condo equally. Sometimes I feel quite stressed out, when I work out in the gym because of the idiot box air-cond in the gym.  Instead of bringing together the residents, it has caused tension and unhappiness.

No. of times viewed = 297

For the past few days, Alycia has been worried sick. One of her classmates told her that there will be a huge earthquake in the year 2012 (next year) that will eat up the world. She asked me if it’s true. She told me that her classmate was told by her mum of this. I told her I’m not sure but it’s indeed written in the Bible that the world will come to an end one day.  This will be revealed through natural disasters everywhere.  Co-incidentally, my friends in Facebook have also been talking about this early this week.  When she heard that, she kept badgering me with questions like “why does God want to take the world back?”, “where can we hide to be saved?”, “what can we do to be saved?” and all the wheres, whys and whens. Truth is, I want to know too and there’s nothing we can do but to pray. Alycia looked really worried over dinner yesterday and she expressed her extreme fear to me. On the other hand, Sherilyn who was also scared tried to put up a brave front. Over dinner last night, she told me this “mummy, God talked to me. Just now I closed my eyes and God told me not to be worried…” I laughed at what she had said and I wondered if it was indeed God who spoke to her or was it all just her self consolation. Now, during our nightly prayers to God, our pleas to God to save this world is included.

No. of times viewed = 337

My mil bought some California rolls (aka hand rolls) from Jaya Jusco for the girls for lunch the other day. But when we wanted to eat the rolls, we were stumped.  The plastic sheet that was wrapped round the California roll was wrapped in such a complicated way that none of us could solve the ‘puzzle’ on how to unwrap it. Though there were diagrams to show how to unwrap the rolls, I think only the person who created the diagrams know how to read them himself/herself.

Rascal #2 trying to unwrap the wrapper…

Even my mil couldn’t solve the mysteriously wrapped California roll. And we had to unwrap the plastic wrapper by snipping it off with a pair of scissors.

There must be a key to unwrapping the plastic sheet which we must have overlooked. We saw a flap and tried to pull it but made a big mess when the roll sort of disintegrated haha! Anyone encountered this too? Gosh, it was steressssful eating the California rolls!

Do check out Old And New Stuff For Sale for my weekly new collections. Now, there’s even cute apparels for kids at reasonable prices!

No. of times viewed = 315

I ran past the market-on-van the other morning and this chunk of siew yoke (roast pork belly) hanging on the van caught my eyes. I thought the most it would cost me was RM10 but when the seller told me the price, I almost flipped!  Anyway, cost aside, this piece of siew yoke was really delish.  The meat was very tender and juicy.  It’s a piece of roast pork belly (siew larm) and the meat wasn’t tough or rough at all.  My mil cut the siew yoke into smaller pieces and stir-fried them with garlic, soy sauce, sugar and chinese cooking wine, YUMS!

How much do you think this chunk of siew yoke cost me?

No. of times viewed = 416

Can anyone guess what these are?

I saw these for sale at a mini market near where I stay. These are only available for sale before and during CNY. Some markets in PJ sell them too. Initially I thought they were some cheapskate chocolates made in China.  Even at a closer look, they look very much like chocolate coated nuts but they are no where near that.

These are NUTS! The packet of nuts comes with a special metal nut opener for you to price open the shell.   These nuts are crunchy, has a very nutty taste, very delicious, quite expensive and high in calories too. Do you know what nut this is?

No. of times viewed = 365

When hubby stepped out of the bathroom the other day, he smelled different. He didn’t smell of any of the body shampoos that were in our bathroom. I was too busy to find out from him why he smelled different. Later when I went inside the bathroom, I saw this :

For a moment, I didn’t know what this piece of wierd looking block is.  Upon taking a closer look, I realized that it’s a piece of soap with flowers and grass inside. 

Hubby had bought this bar of soap from the organic shop.  It smells really pleasant and cost RM5+ a bar.  I actually love the smell of it and  don’t mind buying it again.

No. of times viewed = 388

People always say that cheap things equal cheesy quality but I beg to differ, well, sometimes. Ever since I left the corporate world and lost my financial freedom, I have stopped buying branded stuff. I used to shop till I drop and would buy things for myself and for the girls without any second thoughts, but not after I became a SAHM. I am now much more prudent in my spending. I never took a second look at Tesco-made, Carrefour-made or Guardian-made toiletries and baby stuff but now, I am buying them by the loads!

Tesco-made panty liners and wet tissues are cheap and nice to use too! I even buy the Tesco brand of disposable baby diapers and the quality is just as good as Drypers or Pet Pet. Errmm, Baby C is allergic to the Tesco wet tissues and her bum will get all red after I used the Tesco wet tissues on her bum. I only use these wet tissues on my 2 older girls or to wipe the kids’ toys and other things.

Have you tried the Tesco-made and Guardian-made brand of toothbrush for kids? They are really cheap and no-frills and I buy them for Aly and Sher since I change their toothbrush very often, like once a month. I find them just as good as other branded toothbrush, minus the cute cartoons on the handle of the toothbrush.

So cheap things can also be good to use!  That’s how I stretch my ringgit to the max…. by buying cheap toiletries!

No. of times viewed = 307

Each time I am at the pediatric department of Hospital UKM, which is a government hospital, I tell myself that I am really blessed with 3 normal beautiful gals.  Though Baby C has a kidney reflux on her right kidney, it is still not as bad as those parents I’d seen at the hospital with kids who are plagued with more severe and life threatening problems. 

Some of the parents I’d seen at the pediatric department have kids stricken with leukemia, some parents came in with kids who were born totally abnormal – with a bloated and disfigured head and abnormal facial features, one mother came in with a cute and adorable baby girl who has a hole in her heart, another mother came in with her teenage son who appeared to be mentally retarded, some had kids with Thalassemia  and I also saw a few mothers who came in with their child who appeared really floppy and severely retarded mentally (and pushed on a specially designed pram) stricken with cerebral palsy.  When I see these kids, I really feel for the parents.  Yet, these parents appear cheerful and strong emotionally. 

So to all parents out there who have normal and healthy kids, count your blessings and thank God for them.  Never mind if they drive you up the wall all the time. It’s a blessing that they are capable of being hyperactive and mischievous to drive you bonkers.  Just imagine the lives of the parents with kids born mentally and physically retarded or stricken with a severe ailment.

No. of times viewed = 447