Year 2007

In a few days time 2007 will come to an end and another chapter of my life will be closed.

2007 has been a year of change for me. My lifestyle had to change cos of the new addition in the family. I moved twice and hope will never need to move again. I left my job of seven years and joined a new set-up backed by a large local conglomerate. And….watch out this space for more blessings of 2007.

I have been blessed with abundant life in 2007 and pray that 2008 will be even more so.

Happy New Year and God Bless, Everyone!

God is Good

Woke up with this song in my mind this morning :

God is good all the time
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time
In the darkest night
His light will shine
God is good, God is good all the time.

And truly He is good all the time

Tergendala

I have not been feeling well lately. I think must be the weather. It’s so hot, just feel so lethargic. My brain cells seems not to be working this week. So this blog will “tergendala” for a few days.

Women don’t mean what they said

That was this morning’s topic of “He says She says” on Mix FM. Every morning on the way to work I will tune in to the Mix FM morning breakfast show with Ika, Serena C and Pietro. At 8.30 a.m. they will normally announce the topic for the morning where men and women are encouraged to call in to say if they agree or disagree.

The first caller was a guy and he totally agreed, complaining that women will say one thing but mean another, for example when a guy goes shopping with a girl, and wants to buy something for her, she will say “its ok, I don’t need it” but the next day her friend would say “ahyah she really wanted it, why you din buy for her??”. Pietro cracked up laughing while Ika & Serena C just gave their usual remarks showing their disagreement.

The next caller was a woman. She agreed to the statement but she gave a valid reason for it. That we women are considerate. Ha ha ha…way to go woman! For example, she wanted to go shopping after dinner one day but when she told her husband about her plans, he just gave her a blank look. So that night after dinner, when her husband asked if she wants to go shopping, being considerate she just said “its ok, we go home”. Pietro just could not take it and said his mind is going to blow. Here is a woman giving a good excuse for something which women are supposed to be doing wrong…cool man.

Well, my view – I totally agree with the statement. On one hand, yes we are just considerate towards our men, on the other hand, we want to test if our men is considerate enough to think of us. So even though we say “no need”, they should just do or get it cos even though we say “no need”, we mean “yes please”…So guys take note…J

Arrival of a Precious Gift

Today is Arielle’s actual birthday. She was born one year ago via C-Sect at about 2 something in the afternoon. She was supposed to be born the day before but I could not dilate even with induction. So in hope that I will give birth naturally, I asked my gynae if he could delay one day. He had already booked the operating theatre at 4 p.m. that evening and seeing my cervix relaxed a bit he allowed my request with an awry smile. However, Arielle’s heartbeat had to be monitored the whole night as the water level was already low, so he was a bit concerned. The next day, 29 November 2006, at about 6 a.m., I was put on drip again. Felt contractions but dilated only 1 cm. Gynae came on his rounds and broke my water bag at about 10.30 a.m.. Wah…from then onwards the contractions came like the tsunami…fast and furious! I had to grab on to Jon Jon so hard and had to start banging the side of the bed at each contraction. The look on Jon Jon’s face seeing me go through such pain was unforgettable…so pitiful. At about noon, the nurse checked (I really detest those checks) and I was disappointingly only dilating 1.5 cm. I really could not tahan anymore, so I told Jon Jon to call gynae. He came rushing in and on checking found that Arielle had already poo pooed in the womb. So C- Sect was unavoidable. Gorgeous Arielle came into the world that afternoon.

Ever since Arielle’s arrival, there have been many tears of joy and sadness. But the joy of having her just outweighs the sadness and Jon Jon and I just thank God for this precious gift of life. With Him nothing is impossible.

In one year, Arielle has 6 teeth and 2 on the way. She can stand on her own and walks with aid. She crawls faster than any others and can climb stairs really quickly. She will definitely be a jungle trekker. Happy la Jon Jon!

Arielle, Papa & Mama wish you a blessed Birthday and may your life be as enriching as ours right now with you in our lives.

Happy Birthday WY!!!

Just wanna wish a very good friend of mine HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We have known each other for more than 10 years. Imagine time flies. She is honest, frank and you definitely can rely on her to tell you when you are not going on the right path. That is a very hard trait to find in a friend and we all need that. She is thoughtful, generous and just helps out her mates whenever she can. 2ann and ponytales can testify to that.

I want to take this opportunity to thank WY for :
-making my wedding ring pillow (I had view of it again while unpacking)
-bathing baby during my confinement (even though she had to bear some conflicts within the household)
-making the most yummiest chicken essence for me (can do again ar..when the next batch of kampong kai comes from Marudi?)
-giving me so many baby stuff that really saved me a lot
-giving me household items when I moved out of my family home
-taking care of baby when needed
-and..for many other thoughtful things

She bakes the best cheesecakes at such reasonable prices. Hey people, let me know if there are any orders.

WY, may God bless you & your family always!!

My Jon Jon

Ever since I started my blog, I have been wanting to write about my hubby, Jon jon. He is really God sent. I never in my wildest dreams expect to settle down, have a kid, and now have a house of our own but God has been good to me. Yes, Jon jon is the kampong boy which I am married to. He is from a village just outside of Miri called Marudi. It takes about 2 hours by boat and only 15 mins by flight. There is a new route by road but its madness driving through the jungle. It’s like the 4WD adventure.

Back to Jon jon…he is just such a great guy…always there for me and putting up with my nonsense (well not only mine but nonsense from my side of the family as well) at times. He is not the argumentative type at all. When I get agitated, he will just keep quiet and listen. When needed only advise accordingly.

He has been working very hard lately to get the house ready for us to move in. He is the electrician, the plumber, the handyman, the painter, you name it, and he will be it. Every evening after work for the last few months, he will be at the new house. Although I know he has been extremely tired, still when he comes home he will take time to play with baby. Only after baby go to bed, he will start doing his work. It is because of him that we are able to move in just on time to celebrate baby’s birthday.

Many people may not be able to connect with him as he is really a man of few words especially with people he is not familiar with. But he is a really good friend who will extend his helping hand anytime to any friend in need.

Jon jon, Arielle and I love you heaps!!

You’re one, Arielle!

Time just flies and Arielle is gonna be 1 on 29 Nov 2007. In line with the general thought that it is better to celebrate a birthday earlier rather than later, jon jon and I decided to hold a small high tea party for baby yesterday, 25 Nov 2007. It was also an opportunity for our close friends to visit our new place.

Invited about 30 people but only about 20 turned up…with 6 babies and 2 angels. It was such a cool sight seeing all the babies together. There was Baby Jonathan, Christopher, Timothy, Cynthia, Zoe & Isaac. 2 of Arielle’s friends could not make it…Baby Choe Den and baby Ashley. Imagine if all were to come there’ll be 9 babies altogether under one roof including Arielle.

Arielle was in ok mood throughout the day although she slept very little. There were a few incidences about her that I thought was pretty cute. First, was her reaction towards balloons when jon jon blew them up. She reversed backwards and refused to touch them. Second, when baby Christopher was lying on the mattress, she crawled up to him and held his hand. I was afraid she was going to pull it out since he is still fragile at abt 2.5 months. When I pulled away her hand, she did it again. I think she likes babies. And the third was, when I was holding baby Jonathan, I think she got envious. She crawled towards me, started tugging at my legs and whining away.

Arielle’s birthday cake was baked by WY. The marble cheese cake was really yummy. Luckily I still have some in the fridge as I only had one piece yesterday.




There were heaps of food…I think we fried too much nuggets and fries and I over ordered the nasi lemak. Thank goodness some of my friends helped by packing some back else jon jon and I will be eating the same food for the whole week and it’ll be cold food. Have no equipment to heat up the food as yet. Thanks to WY for helping to prepare coleslaw and sandwiches. To my ex-staff who so kindly make the agar agar for me when I just asked her for the recipe.

We had a good time and hope everyone had a good time too. Happy Birthday Arielle and God Bless you always!

Discovery Days

Every year my church will have a 2-day children’s programme called Discovery Days – normally during the last weekend of November. As I am part of the team of Sunday School teachers, I have always been involved in helping out this event for the last few years. I would always take leave on the first day (which is always a Friday) for the event. However this year, I have decided not to be involved in the operations but just managing the accounts. I have just started a new job and do not have sufficient leave to take the day off. Furthermore I have been real busy with all aspects of my life that I didn’t think I could have the time to attend meetings after meetings. Today is the first day of DD 2007 and feel kind of guilty not being part of it. Kind of sad as well as this year my favourite kid, WY's angel no. 1, is attending the fun event.

Normally during the first day, the kids will go through a programme of worship, ice-breakers, games, crafts, workshops etc. Kids will learn about God’s word by going through a series of stations. During the second day, the kids will go for an outing. In the past few years, I have been to Petrosains, Sunway Petting Zoo, and the Science Centre (if I can remember correctly). During the Science Centre outing, I remember, one of the kids under my care injured his finger when playing with one of the experiments. I felt bad that I did not ‘jaga’ him ‘baik-baik’. Apologised to his mum who was also a Sunday School teacher. This year I really cannot remember where they are going but to somewhere with a weird name. Well am looking forward to sending Arielle to a DD event when she is bigger. Then che che Alyssa can ‘jaga-jaga’…

Violence against children

Yesterday morning I heard over MixFM that two teachers in Thailand had been arrested over gang raping a group of girls aged between 6 to 8 years old. Really saddens me when such things happen to little kids especially now I have a little girl. What is worse is that the crime has been committed by teachers, people whom we parents are supposed to trust to educate our children and not to harm them.

Violence against little girls is increasing at an alarming rate and the perpetrators have not been caught. Malaysians are still in shock over the Nurin Jazlin case where the little girl, 8, was abducted and one month later her body was found stuffed in a sports bag, sexually assaulted. Then there is the case where Preeshena Varshiny, 9, whose body was found sprawled on the ground floor of a guarded condominium. She was also sexually assaulted and apparently pushed of from one of the units. The sad thing is she was only left at home alone for only two hours.

Even though my little darling Arielle is still young and with us all the time, I worry about her safety in the future. The world is getting cruel and violence against children has increased. I pray and ask the Lord everyday to protect her, to lead her all the way and that she will always be in safe hands in whatever activities she joins. Arielle, Papa & Mama leave you in God’s hands always.

Snoozing at the Wheel

These few days, I find myself falling asleep at the wheel, to & from work especially with the longer journey I have to make and the jams I have to go through. I guess I have not caught up with the weekend sleep lost and I have been waking up really early to do some unpacking before going to work.

Falling asleep at the wheel is extremely dangerous. Two people whom I knew in Perth died when the vehicles they were in veered off the road because of snoozing at the wheel. A friend’s sister was driving back along the freeway past midnight and hit a divider when she fell asleep. Not sure, but I think she died instantly. Then a church mate’s mum got thrown out of the car when his dad fell asleep and the vehicle went off track while they were travelling out of town. I think she also died instantly. It was extremely sad. His dad felt really guilty. She was a great mum and wife.

I fell asleep a couple of times while driving but thank God nothing has happened to me. It was during my younger days when I went out clubbing and only returned home at about 2 to 3 a.m. in the morning. The roads were clear so I thought I’ll take a short snooze while letting the vehicle move on. After all, it’s a straight road. I guess God woke me up a few seconds later when the car was cutting into the next lane. Quite scary.

Now what I do is to make sure my eyelids are kept open each time I feel sleepy. Once I close my eyes, that’s it…Ill just sleep. Imagine toothpicks propping my eyelids. On the radio loudly and keep my mind active.

Those who cannot tahan, please park your car legally somewhere and take a short snooze first. Take care!

Fragility of Life

Yesterday, my boss reminded us that life is indeed fragile. The spouses of two of her acquaintances passed away suddenly over the weekend, one due to a fall leading to a brain haemorrage while the other had some illness. Over the weekend I also received news that my ex-boss from the club which I used to work had also suddenly passed away at the beginning of the month due to a brain haemorrage. He had a heart by-pass before, so I thought it was because of a heart attack but his wife informed that he had an aneurysm of the main blood vessel of the brain and had a bad headache before he collapsed while at the club. He was about 55. It was shocking news to me as we still remained good friends after I left the club though we do not meet often. I messaged him to convey deepavali and birthday wishes just this month but instead got a reply from his wife. She is still in shock and so am I.

Many of us don’t realize how fragile life is. Although we are made superior beings, there are uncontrollable forces that are greater than us – forces of nature & forces against our body systems – both are equally fearful.

Remember the tsunami in December 2003 that took thousands of life across several continents, the 1970 and the recent cyclone-hit Bangladesh, bush fires, flooding and the list continues. These events are fearful and I cannot imagine if any of these hit Malaysia in its full fury.

Then there are the silent killers – viruses & bacteria in the air that attacks and paralyses our immune system, the undetected malfunctioning of our body system and freak accidents. The angkasawan’s brother, 32, passed away recently due to a freak accident where no one actually knows what happened.

Though we cannot do much about the forces of nature, we can try to beat the silent killers. Stay healthy and be careful in whatever you do.

The Big Move!

Woke up at 5.15 a.m. early Saturday morning and finished off some packing. Baby was still asleep so can do more stuff. Bb sitter offered to take care of baby until 2 p.m.. Thank you Belinda…you are such a darling. Well, packing is no problem but moving from a 5th floor walk-up –apartment is a problem. How to encounter the gruelling task of walking up each time you bring stuff down. Well it’s the mind thing…concentrate and you’ll make it. It’s the same technique that I employ when I go trekking with dino d jungle and friends. Otherwise if you just rely on physical strength, you may not make it or you’ll make it with much difficulty. Anyway it’s better than moving into a 5th floor walk-up apartment.

That day itself hubby and myself walked up and down at least twenty times each. It was like we were training for our trek up Mt Kinabalu. Thank God that we were moving into a house as unloading was so much easier and took half the time. By mid-day, our new place looked like it has been hit by a tornado. Picked baby at about 2 p.m…went back and started unpacking some stuff. Baby was confined with me in the master bedroom as the rest of the house was dusty. Being “lau hai siew” (itchy hands) she was thrilled with so many stuff on the floor to touch. As usual she went for those sticker items like price tags and sticky tapes. She likes to investigate small spots on the floor too. Really cute, my darling Arielle.

We had a wedding dinner that night..was really exhausted but had to go as we RSVP-ed. But as usual I made us late. Imagine the bride had to call us twice, the second time just to inform us that the dinner will start first. So embarrassing! The food was good though. Maybe because we have not had a decent meal all day.

Snoozed at 3 a.m.

Moving Finally!

We are finally going to move into our new place this weekend after months of climbing 5 storeys everyday before we reach home. Not forgetting with baby Arielle who is getting heavier by the day. Thank God she has been pretty small else we would have really big arms by now. A few months ago, we decided that staying in a house is much better so we went house shopping and wa lah ended up with this almost ten year old house which I must say has pretty good layout and pretty good price. The house was handed over to us in Sept and we have been working on it till now.

We did some minor reno at the back. My hubby’s uncle who is a contractor was imported fr his hometown of Marudi to carry out the works. Cost much less than if we were to appoint a contractor here. That lasted for 2.5 weeks. Thereafter with the help of my brother-in-law and his girlfriend, we did the painting and other repair and maintenance works required. Done only during the weekends (that’s why it has taken months to complete).

I must say setting up a house is no easy task. So many things to do yet so little time. So many vendors to call for various works required and decisions to be made as to which is the best. Water filter la, mosquito nettings la, alarm system la etc. etc.

Few weeks ago, our worse fears came true….leaking roofs! One right smack in the front of our entrance and the other in the back room downstairs. Our hearts just sank. Thank God the one in the front was just a temporary one…hubby climbed the roof and found that water was flowing through the Astro wire which was leading into the roof tiles. After that was removed, the problem went away altogether. Yippee!!!. Then the back room…for a couple of weeks we thought the water was coming from the water tank area when it rains heavily as the leak was realized during one of the rainy days. But on monitoring during rainy days, the area was still damped but not much water seems to be flowing down the side wall. However recently when I washed the back bathroom upstairs with lots of water being poured , lo behold water was just flowing..so we concluded that it’s a waterproofing problem. Well, after many years of dealing with leakage problems at my parents’ place, I was actually really stressed so I just decided to pray about it. On the same day, found an ad in the Star about waterproofing without hacking of tiles. It’s a technology from US. A representative came for inspection and told us that it was due to cracked tiles but guess what? He gave a quote of RM1k for waterproofing only. We still have to get other contractor to hack and replace the broken tiles first…sigh…Though that vendor did not work out,I still thank God for letting us know the problem. That has not be settled..but move in first la …J…anyone one know a good contractor that can do waterproofing at a low price?? I already have two quotes - one below RM1,000 and the other about RM1,200.