Drying Monster

Somehow, Sam has never stand/sit still sedately & let me dry him off after his shower. Except for the times when I've given him a big scolding of course! Usually, I end up having to chase him around on our queen size bed, torn between wanting to just give up & let him play around naked till he's consented to the clothes & diapers, and worrying about him catching a cold with his still-wet hair (esp. with Mummy's & MIL's warnings in my ears).

So had invented a few games to keep Sam happy & gives me the chance to dry him off, fun style. Well, it doesn't help with getting the clothes on yet, but at least he'll be properly dry.........

This time, I'm the "Drying Monster", chasing Sam with the big towel while he squeals in laughter & run around letting me chase him - ya, if I don't chase him he'll go "come, come"! I'll mention each body part I'm drying, and Sam will try to cover those areas with his little hands, and yes, squealing in laughter as he's doing so.

Wonder how long he'll find this game fun before he loses interest again............

My Fav 2008 Christmas Trees

This year haven't seen much large X'mas trees in the shopping malls, partly cos not convenient to bring Sam to go shopping in town, partly cos a lot shopping malls scaled down the X'mas deco due to the economic downturn.

So just have 3 trees that I like this year:

Left: Elf in tree, Ground floor of VivoCity. I went past this one on 2 separate occasions, both times viewing it from the 2nd level only, didn't have chance to go see it face-to-face!

Centre: the soft toy tree in Suntec Convention Centre, in aid of charity.

Right: am so glad Takashimaya Shopping Centre have their usual tree, this year with my fav gold & red colour combo! This year, they used solar panels to power LED lighting on the tree, thus reducing plenty of electricity usage & helped keeping the earth a little greener.

Sam's 1st 'Painting'

Decided it's high time to expose Sam to some arts & crafts, since he hasn't attended school for nearly 2 months now. So let him tried the painting at the Creative Art Corner in West Mall, level 2. Chose a helicopter design for him, since there wasn't a car-related one. This small-sized picture costs $5, but the lady-in-charge was very nice.

Initially, my mum insisted I not waste the money, as Sam is 'too young' to paint. But by then Sam was excited about getting his own 'copter', so I thought just to let him try & see how fine his motor skills are.

Surprisingly, Sam allowed the lady-in-charge to hold his hand and guide him on squeezing out the coloured paints and filling up the voids with a toothpick. He refused to let me do the guiding!

10min & 4 colours later, Sam had picked up the concept of squeezing the paint, to the extent we had to keep stopping him from flooding the entire picture with the same colour!

The lady-in-charge helped cleaned up the picture to give a pretty final presentation. After heating in the oven, the paint dried to a rubbery finish:

The helicopter now resides on Sam's bedroom wall, ready to be joined by Sam's future efforts, especially since the chain has promotion: collect 9 stamps (1 for each $5 or $8 picture) and get one $5 picture free. It's just opened a new outlet in the Jurong Point extension, level 3, so now there's somewhere more meaningful to spend Sam's time instead of just wondering around the shops.

The chain's 3rd outlet is in Causeway Point.

Sam Threading Beads

I had been a bit worried about Sam's fine motor skills. So today bought him a box of wooden numerical bead for him to play with. After about 10 min of trying & demonstration, he could thread a whole string of beads all by himself:

His choice of colours a trifle funny: he went for the black zeros 1st (I guess they resemble his fav wheels), then the light green number 8s. The reds & oranges lay untouched........

Perhaps I should have just splurged & gotten the $20 branded box of animal beads in Toy 'R' Us, instead of this $13 Made-in-China box that I'm still wondering if the paint is toxic-free. Then perhaps the zeros & eights will have their holes in the centre, and the holes for threading would be smooth, & won't keep snagging on the shoe strings that came with the box. But then, after Sam mastered the skill of threading he'll probably lose interest in the new toy, so..........

Sam showing off his masterpieces:

I'm not an imaginative person.......wearing the threaded beads like a belt, around the neck like a necklace & carrying them around like a bag are about the only uses I can think of for the finished strings of beads. Dunno how long Sam will find that entertaining...............

2-Word & 3-Word Phrases Now....

Sam has finally begun to speak 2-word English phrases (2 words spoken rather accurately & naturally one after the other, and not having unwanted pauses in between). It's rather exasperating to find out that despite all our efforts to encourage him to say things like "Open please", he picks up phrases like "taxi stand" & "car park" almost immediately after I speak those phrases to him in passing! What is it about cars that keeps so much of his attention?????

His 1st 3-word phrase???

"la la tang" - in Mandarin, meaning: spicy sweets.

It came out when we were going home in our car. I suppose he was trying to tell us what he wants to eat, but I have absolutely no idea what his "la la tang" is. Who on earth would give a child spicy sweets?????

I'm still wondering what was it that he wanted to eat.............

Wonderful Neighbourhood Hair Salon for Kids!

My mum suggested I try this hair salon near her place after she heard about my disastrous attempt to cut Sam's hair at the one near mine. I was very doubtful initially about her recommendations (based on years of experience), but this time, I'm so glad I took her advice!

The hair salon in question looked just like any old small salon in a neighbourhood centre, but it's filled with toys to entertain its young customers - cars, dolls, electronic moving & singing mobiles etc. The owner even has a containerful of lollipops to coax children with!

And the 2 hairdressers are obviously experienced with dealing with children. They are deft & quick with the haircut, gentle when coaxing the children, and knows when my son has reached his limit and not to insist on the finer points of the hair style.

So for the 1st time in Sam's 2.5 yrs of life, my son actually has a hair style instead of just an all-head shave!

Yes, Sam is still sucking on his lollipop after the haircut!

And it only costs me S$6!!! The hair salon near my place who couldn't even get Sam to wear the plastic cover around the neck wanted to charge me $16!

Thanks a lot, Uncle! I'll definitely be back!

Gg Unisex Hair Salon
Blk 166, Bt Batok West Ave 8, #01-248.

How I Spent My Birthday

For the benefit of my sis, I've decided to blog how I spent my yesterday:

Got woken up by Sam at abt 7.:45 am as usual.
Ham & cheese sandwich for breakfast. Took me one whole hour to get Sam to eat his.
Sam got me angry overturning all the clothes my MIL was folding on the sofa. Smacked his arm so hard the red mark stayed for half the day.

Brought Sam down to the playground downstairs to play at 10.20am. Kena a class of what looks like K1 or K2 students from the NTUC Childcare centre downstairs. Those children shoved my son, knocked into him on the slide (not on purpose, but no apologies from any of them) and generally didn't seem to know how to treat a younger child at the playground at all. And none of the 3 teachers overseeing them did anything!

So when one of the boys stopped my Sam from crossing the 'bridge' the 3rd time, & even pushed him away, I told him off (and not politely, I must admit). Only then did one of the teachers came over to tell the boy to give way to the "di-di".

After this episode I'm damn glad there's no vacancy for Sam at the NTUC Childcare downstairs!!!! I don't wanna my son to spend so much of his time in a place where they don't seem to teach manners!!!!!!!!

Anyway, after letting Sam play at the playground for abt 20 min, I took him away (I had enough of the children there). He then ran around the void decks for a further 15 min, after which I got him upstairs.

Then I surfed the net for abt 45 min while FIL watched TV with Sam.
Lunch was fried noodles, courtesy of my MIL.
Sam pooped, I showered him, got him to nap at 1.45pm.

Only managed to watch half of the Taiwanese variety show 王牌大贱谍 guest starring my fav singer 周华建 (promoting his concert. Thanks to Sam I'm in no position to go), before Sam woke up from his nap at 3:30pm.

Fed Sam, kept him entertained from in-laws watched the dunno-which-hundredth episode of 意难忘.
Ikea delivery & assembly of our bookcase, so thereafter started re-packing some of Sam's cars into the new plastic containers, easier for Sam to take & keep his own toys.

Showered. Tried new pumice scrub & foot rub lotion, a birthday present from MJ.
Dinner of fried rice (courtesy of MIL again).
Watched half hour TV, then started bedtime routine of Sam at 8:30pm.

Hubby came back in the midst of the storytelling.
I nipped off for a piece of choco I asked hubby to help buy (to help ease my bad mood on the 1st day of period) while hubby did the before-bedtime toilet training for Sam. Hubby had 2 boxes of choco, I opened the most convenient one (the unwrapped one), which was Lindt's milk chocolates, which was way too milky for me, so I returned to Sam in an even worse mood.

Got Sam asleep by 9:45pm. Opened the wrapped box of chocolates, hubby's attempt of birthday present amidst his long working hours (even had to take cab home to be in time to see Sam awake) - Lindt's champange truffles. These were good.
After eating 4 of those in succession my bad mood abated somewhat.

Watched last episode of the Taiwanese idol drama 不良笑花 on internet. Will miss the comedy love story between Rainie Yang & Wilbur Pan and the lovely ending theme song (带我走 by 杨丞林). Fortunately, Channel U will be screening it from next Monday at 7pm, so still can watch the trailers on TV.

So that was how I spent my 32nd birthday.

Finally, an End to Breastfeeding!

After 2.5 yrs, I think I can finally say that I've finally stop breastfeeding Sam! He hasn't asked me for milk for >2 weeks now, even when I'm cuddling him.

Thanks in part to the house moving, and all the shopping in Orchard for the past month, which tired Sam out sufficiently for him to nap by himself in the afternoons without me holding him in my arms, now I can finally try to find time to go myself some new 'normal' bras to fit my fat self.

Yes, none of my old bras from before pregnancy fits now, since I've gotten from M to L size for clothes. ;P Had been using my nursing bras with the help of extension hooks for the past 1.5 yrs in fact!!

So now's the time to buy some new ones while there's the X'mas sale going on...........

Sam's 1st Imaginary Human Adventure

Sam's imaginary games until now have been solely limited to, what else, CARS. It started with him mimicking our family car's reverse sensor, then he mimicked us locking his Trunki with any key he got his hands on, and recently his Madagascar figurines stomping on & around his toy cars (I introduced him to that).

So I was both relieved & amused yesterday morning to find him acting out a new drama with only his ELC fireman:

Fireman figurine moving quickly along the sofa.

Sam: "Run."

Fireman tips forward. Sam picks up the figurine, point at it & says to me mournfully: "Pain pain!"

Then, "ban-ditch!" - Sam's way of saying 'bandage'.

So I picked up a torn sticker & gave it to Sam, who then solemnly stuck in on the fireman's arm.

Ha! Sam was re-enacting his episode of falling down while visiting his maternal granny & scraped his knee, causing me to spend the next 2 weeks putting bandages on his knee.

I guess this not only means that my little devil is growing older, it also means he's not forgetting this painful episode in a hurry. ;P

Sam Playing with his Mattress

Sam playing with his mattress, while we were (still are, by the way) busy trying to tidy up the flat to make it possible for Sam's mattress to fit in.

After 8 days since our sea freight arrived, now our master bedroom is nearly done. Tomorrow need to try to organise Sam's 6 toy boxes, & possibly the bookshelfs in his new bedroom, so that can fit in his mattress, and re-start the long, tedious process of getting Sam used to sleeping in the new room.

Then I'll have to catalog my unwanted VCDs & try to pass them on, and try to sell off our 2 sheepskin rugs, foldable playpen & Quinny pram complete with car seat, all of which are filling the storeroom to the brim. Also need to find a place to keep the baby cot (dunno why hubby wants to keep that).

Nearly forgot: need to sort through our boxes of decorations, including one whole box of souvenirs I bought while training in Japan (box already collected plenty of dust from KL stay). Most probably need to make another trip to Ikea & get a display cabinet (if study room still has space for it) and some shelves to display all our souvenirs from our stay in Europe, including 2nd cuckoo clock, all my Starbucks mugs, numerous drawings, 1 bagful of Hard Rock Cafe pins, my entire music box collection, the Dutch clogs, etc, etc, etc............

Am still thinking how to get the 3 boxes of unwanted items that are too sinful to throw away to the Salvation Army without a car............

Getting tired just thinking about it...............

Complain, Complain, Complain!!!

Have only been gone from Singapore for 3.5 yrs, and the service level of everything seems to have dropped!!!!!!!

The Singtel 1626 screwed up my simple re-activation of hp line. Luckily the stuff at the Ngee Ann City hello! shop are still helpful & knowledgable, else my 3 trips there over the past 2 weeks would have gotten more white hairs on my head! Just hope their account manager who's supposed to fix the problem really did so when they resume work tomorrow, else I'll have to make a 4th trip there........

No one in Singapore ever mentioned to me that you need to submit my income tax assessment form in order to employ a maid. I mean, we've been overseas for the past 3.5 yrs, how to present direct proof that hubby has been earning > S$30k a year????? The agency even solemnly promised me the initial application will definitely be rejected without the damn assessment form, & if they didn't manage the appeal with all the pay slips, employment letter & such, we would have to appeal to our MP to get the maid! Hell! After all the effort I went through to bring my son back for education in Singapore now I can't employ a maid to help with the housework????

Worst of all is Borneo Motors!!!! 6 yrs ago we got our 1st car from them with absolutely no trouble at all. Now, we've already lowered our expectations to make do with the silver Toyota Wish (hubby had wanted the grey one, but that won't be available till Feb 09) so that we can get the car within this month. Then, the company didn't make the COE bid for us this month, when the price of the COE plunged so much!! The agent said the car shipment won't be in till Dec, so no point getting the COE now anyway! So hubby now lamenting the potential lost of nearly $3k on the COE, while I fret the possibility Borneo Motors failed the next COE bid in Dec, and delay our car delivery!!!

I was so angry to hear the news this morning, I contemplated bringing Sam down to the showroom & let him loose on a rampage on the cars on display, esp. those that are specified "SOLD"!! Car showrooms are often crowded on a Sunday, how about letting Sam play driver on the Toyota Wish in the showroom, so that other potential customers won't get to view the car properly? How would the company like that, huh????? After all, my son didn't get to sit in the family car, so there's nothing wrong with letting him stand on the showroom cars, play with the wiper switches and bang the car doors! ;P Better still if I lament on the poor company service & scare off other customers, then there'll be less competition & I have higher chance to get the car next month, huh??????

Still fuming mad!!!!!!!!!

Sam Driving a Toyota Camry

We went to the Toyato Showroom today to buy the Toyota Wish. And while hubby is settling all the paperwork, I had to keep Sam occupied, which is basically following him around while he tries out all the cars in the showroom! His fav - the Toyota Camry:

Sam will pretend to drive the car, and would ask me to sit beside him, made sure I closed the door, and even tried to put on the safety belt!

"Gong Gong" Sam

Sam wearing a pair of his cousin's toy specs.......he seems to enjoy it & kept wanting to put it on even though it's a trifle too small for him!

Guess he thought this makes him more like his Daddy & Mummy.......I just hope he won't have to wear any real glasses when he grows up!

My Fav Christmas Tree

It's X'mas time again, and this year, I get to see my fav X'mas tree in Ngee Ann City the day it's fully set up! Yeh!!

Always loved the X'mas tree in Ngee Ann City...........so warm & lovely feeling just looking at it. Think it must be a Jap thing - the X'mas trees I saw in Japan were wonderful too.

This year's tree is pink (balls) & white (snowflakes) with twinkling golden lights. Lovely!!! But Sam didn't like it, silly boy! ;P

Things I Regretted Not Doing in KL

1. Not applying the J-card upon moving to KL
Jusco offers such a good selection of good & cheap children's clothing (eg. RM10 for a set of long-sleeved pyjamas), and its supermarket has such a good range of fresh, reasonably priced fish & vegetables and ready-cooked japanese bento sets, and its bakery is quite acceptable...........

I should have just applied for the discount card without thinking too much, and then I could have enjoyed the shopping there much much more!

Why did it take us such a long time to find the driving route to MidValley???????

2. Not visiting Sunway Petting Zoo
We only got to Sunway last month when my parents visited, and hence only knew about the petting zoo then.

Thought it would be wonderful for Sam to be exposed to all the different animals (not just the usual pets, but also monkeys, snakes etc) in a controlled environment......

But the place is only open at 11 am, too near Sam's nap time, and it's such a hassle to drive there through all the toll gates, hubby wasn't keen to repeat the trip, and there weren't many weekends left for us by that time anyway......

3. Not visiting Petrosains Discovery Centre early enough
Had I known how fun & large the place is, and that it's designed such that you can only follow through the exhibits in the destinated pathway (ie. you can't jump to the last exhibit without passing the 1st), I would have brought Sam along earlier.

As it was, we only had time to cover half the centre in 2 hrs, then we had to leave for lunch & Sam's nap..............and we never got to enjoy the latter half of the discovery centre. :(

A&W for Two

Yesterday after finally sending off the packers, we had the rare chance of having lunch together, since Sam was still in school. ;)

But with only 20 min for lunch, our 'romantic rendevous' ended up in the fast food opposite our place in KLCC: A&W!


All my old favorites - coney dog, curly fries and root beer (no float, didn't dare afford the extra calories!)

Hee, I even chose to sit at a high table with bar stools, simply because it's some place we never can sit at if Sam was around!

Best Hair Conditioner I've Used

We've finally packed our sea freight stuff & terminated the telephone & internet service. Now I seem to be getting a hang on our rental Toyota Cambry & while the one-bedroom suite The Ascott Residence is currently a mess cos of all the laundry I just did yesterday night, I cheer myself up looking forward to my evening shower with the lovely L'occitane toiletries provided by the service apartment:


I've thought the Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries in the Pangkor Laut Resort was good, but this L'Occitane set is wonderful!

While it doesn't smell as nice as the C&E Le Source set, the hair conditioner is terrific! I've never had my hair so smooth after the shower! Doesn't matter if I blow dry or let the hair dry naturally, it's still smooth & flowy!

And the shower gel........the smell seems a little strange at first, but it's also strangely refreshing & uplifting. I feel great after using it!

Must get a job back in Singapore so I can earn plenty to buy my own L'occitane toiletries!!!!!

Holiday in The Venetian, Macao.

Just got back from a 5D4N holiday in Macao, and since we were staying in The Venetian, we spent most of our time there.

Sam loved the gondola boats in the 3 man-made canals distributed around The Grand Canal Shoppes (level 3 of the complex). We took a ride in one on our 1st evening there, while we waited 2 hrs for our non-smoking room to be ready for check-in.

Our boatman was an entertaining fellow, chatting freely with us throughout the 15 min ride. He had a fine voice too: it was fun to hear his Italian song end with a flourish & a bow while we waited for the other gondola to pass us on the narrow Marco Polo canal.

The show at St Mark's Square was a bit of a disappointment. It was hard to see the performers surrounded by throngs of camera-clicking tourists, since half of the performance was done on ground level instead of the 2-step-high mini stage. We did manage a photo with one of the entertainers on another day though.

For such a big complex, there is only one baby room, which I did not have the occasion to use, since we stayed in the hotel upstairs. On hindsight, I should have explored the room - perhaps there's some mini playground in there. As it was, there's no play area to entertain Sam while we tried to shop there.

We managed to buy something from ecco, simply because the sales assistants were nice (& wise) enough to help entertain Sam, so we could try the shoes & handbags to our satisfaction. It must be the 1st time Sam had someone helped him try on as many girls' shoes on display as he wanted!

On hindsight, we really should have taken the advice of a fellow traveller in the TripAdvisor: it was really inconvenient to bring a young child to a casino-affiliated hotel. Though the suite was large & nicely, newly furnished, & there's all the shopping downstairs without having to go out into the blazing hot sun, it was kinda troublesome having to travel along the "family-friendly" route on level 3 before going down to level 1 for the taxis/buses/restaurants, just so to avoid going through the casino.

If I ever travel to Macao again, I'll much rather get a hotel on Macao itself where I can visit the World Heritage sights more conveniently, then spend a day visiting the splendid-looking Venetian.

Lengthy blog of the restaurants in The Venetian here.

Photos of Sam's Hospital Stay

Just realised hubby had photos of Sam while in hospital late last month:

Left: Sam in his cot bed, next to the messy covers of the hospital bed I slept on.

Right: Sam taking his 15 min nebulizer (to clear his airways) every 4~6 hrs. He was a fairly good boy most of the time, though he prefers me to hold the mask. This photo is taken at the only time I tried to use the elastic band.

Bottom: No, Sam did not injure his hand. A tube was inserted into his right hand when hospitalisation was decided, for ease of blood samples withdrawal (only once at admission) & subsequent antibiotics injection (thrice daily).

The original white bandages got so dirty & torn after 1 day, the stopper to the tube got loose & Sam's blood flowed out of the tube all over his hand & me! The nurse then added the more durable cloth bandage on Day 2.

Big

It still amazes me how big Sam is getting now.

Not 'big' as in size. 'Big' as in his knowledge of the world around him.

Yesterday he pointed to my mineral water bottle & said "big, big".

I thought: it's a water bottle, what 'big'???!!!! Hurry up & drink your strawberry milk!

Then, Sam pointed at his own straw water bottle next to mine: "small".

Hey, he understands the opposites big & small now!!!!!

Of course, his pronounciation of the word 'small' is inaccurate, just sufficient for me to recognize the word.

But wow! Opposites! And he's not even 2 & a half yrs yet!

No wonder his school starts teaching the alphabet from 30 mths old!!!!

Yet Another Blog

Dunno why, kept wanting to start new blogs, even though I am barely updating this one!

The latest, "Eating Out With Kids", is mainly a record of the places I've brought Sam to eat.

Had been regretting not taking photos of the beautiful baby chairs Sam's used when we were travelling in Europe, esp. France.

So now am taking photos of the baby chairs & even booster seats Sam is using now. Hopefully this craze of mine will last long. ;)

Anyway, had thought will be more likely to continue this record of child-friendly eating places than my current Musing blog after we move back to Singapore...........

{Oh, by the way, we'll be moving back to Singapore on 1 Nov! Hubby received the notification a few days ago just when Sam was sick, so forgot to inform everyone.....}

Anyway, one good thing about starting the Eating Out blog is, now I'm more sensitive when choosing seats in a restaurant: not only checking out size of table & position of aircon, now I'm also noticing the restaurant's deco more, in the hope of finding something in the surroundings to entertain Sam during the meal.

Ha! Can't imagine the future blog post when bringing Sam to eat in the hawker centres back in Singapore!!!!!!!!

Hospital Stay is Finally Over!

Last few days had been hell...............

Sam's mucus turned green last Tues evening, but doc not open on Wed, so only brought him in on Thurs.

At that time, he only had low fever, ~ 37.5 degC, so he went home with a big bag of medicine (again).

That very evening, his fever went up to 38 degC. By Fri noon, it was 39 degC. So I started the antibiotics that very evening.

But his fever never went down past 38.5 degC. By Sat afternoon, it hit 40 degC. So I dragged hubby & Sam off to the A&E at Gleneagles Intan, hoping for something to bring down the fever.

Turns out the X-ray shows Sam's developing early pneumonia! Lucky we found out early! Was I glad I was being paranoid & didn't wait another day for the antibiotics to work!

So Sam was admitted to hospital that Sat night. I had to stay with him overnight too.

The following 3 nights are terrible! Though it was good that I didn't have to worry about the meals & medicine dosage when in the hospital, it was near impossible to have a good sleep there.

The 1st night, the nurses had to monitor Sam's temperature every 2 hrs. Which means we got woken up every 2 hrs.

2nd night the nurse couldn't get a good reading, & actually switched on the lights in the room to take the temperature!

3rd night, Sam wasn't given the night dose till 10:30pm. The nurse had the audacity to say she didn't dare to come in in case we were asleep already!!!!

So poor Sam didn't sleep till 11pm, & next morning, at 7:30am, another nurse actually wanted to give Sam his shot of antibiotics while he was still asleep?????? I had to ask here to come back later so that Sam can have enough rest!

Oh, did I mention I was awaken in the middle of the 3rd night to enquire what Sam had eaten for dinner that night??????

So now that Sam's fever has gone down, he's allowed home with another cart of medicine for the next one week: 3 different types to be taken thrice daily, 2 types taken once daily, his antibiotics (once daily), & some probiotics (once daily).

So now, on top of worrying what food to prepare for Sam, I have to continue the barrage of medicine for another week, with a very high unhappy possibility that Sam wouldn't recover in time for the start of school on Monday.

About the consolation I have right now is that I can watch my fav drama shows at home, since I only had ~1.5 hrs free time for the past few days to travel home - snack for max 10 min - shower - travel back to hospital, while Sam cried the whole time (for the 1st 2 days) & hubby kept calling me to tell me to hurry back.

Oh, & luckily hubby is had taken leave initially for our trip back to Singapore. So now instead he's taking his 'holiday' here in KL feeding medicine to his precious son...................

Feeding Session in Butterfly Park

Visited the Butterfly Park in the Lake Gardens today. Entrance fee was RM8 per adult Malaysian, use of cameras will cost additional RM1.

Only when we saw the charge did we realised we forgot to bring our camera! So the photos (link to album in sidebar) seen are a bit blurred, cos taken with my handphone......

The park is beautifully landscaped, much bigger & better than the one we saw in the Cameron Highlands. But then, the entrance fee was cheaper there (RM3), so I guess the money really went somewhere worthwhile.

The butterflies here not so concentrated. So in a way, it was lucky Sam visited the Cameron one before, where there were so many butterflies in the small area quite a number were dead on the ground. At least he's learnt what a butterfly is, and could look out for one.

And because there are butterflies crowding before his eyes to distract him, Sam found the tortoise pond & fish ponds more interesting this time round.

And this time, we've bought a RM1 fish food to feed the hungry fishes. Turns out that the tortoises were very hungry as well, never before have I seen tortoises clamour over each other for food!



About the only thing I don't like about visiting the Lake Gardens is: I don't know where to go after that for lunch! So we always ended up eating near our place...................

Bloody Lousy TNB!!!

We got yet another power failure tonight again!!!!!

Luckily, this time it only last for abt 1 hr 20 min. If it took as long as the last time (see previous post) I'll go berserk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it was still bloody irritating to have the lights go out & the aircon stop suddenly, just as I was contemplating how to enjoy the remaining night after Sam fell asleep.

And the power failures are so frequent! It's not even 2 months since the switchboard got fried in July, what went wrong again?????

And to think the country is preparing to celebrate its 51 yrs of Independence this Sunday. What kind of silly place is this when they can't even get the electricity running properly in their own capital, barely 1 km away from their precious Towers, in a street where resides an embassy & a Sultanate residence????????

Sam's Botak Again!

Brought Sam for his overdued haircut today.

Initially he was quite excited about the trip: went 'hair, hair, hair' the entire time it took us to reach the Michael & Guys salon in Berjaya Times Square.

But when I approached the salon & he realised where it was, he literally ran away!

It took a Cloud9 sweet (leftover from the Optical 88 visit for my new specs) to get him into the salon & onto my lap.

After the razor was started, it took another promise of a new toy car to keep him sitted throughout the entire shave. And he wailed (no, not crying, cos no tears) the whole time too.

And since he refused to have the towel tied around his neck, we ended up with his hair all over us. Luckily I remembered past experience & brought a change of clothes for him. Next time, I'll also bring a change of clothing for myself too!

But this time I made a mistake, should have asked for the No. 2 shave instead of No. 1, so now my Sam looks like he's ready for the army! ;P

Blog Diary: April ~ July 08

30 July 08
Removed the BabelFish translator widget.
Adding badge link to my Facebook photos.

15 June 08
No more new topics of "Drama Mama".
Future blogging on fav drama serials will be logged in my new blog, The Drama Mama Diaries.

9 April 08
Have joined the Mom Blog Network to read other mothers' blogs, hence added the badge.

8 April 08
New label "Sleep Issues", to record Sam's sleeping issues.
Hopefully this will help me tackle the problem......

Another Week of Hell......

Sam will be starting school again come Tuesday. Was finally looking forward to the end of 2 weeks of facing him 24/7, when I'm dropped another bombshell:

Hubby will be off on business trip to Australia come Monday!

This means not only can we not travel anywhere this long weekend, I'll also be stuck alone with Sam for a further 9 days!

Urgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Child-friendly Tony Roma's

Had a very good lunch today. Well, as good a lunch any mum can get when she's alone with a tired & hungry male toddler.

Brought Sam to Tony Roma's at Midvalley Megamall, cos saw they were having a promotion: children <12 yrs can eat for free on Mon ~ Wed, provided the adult ordered a main entree, of course. So, I tried my luck, and I'm definitely going back again, even if I have to pay the next time!

Firstly, they have both baby high chairs & booster seats for older children. Then, they provide crayons & an activity sheet (colouring, maze, puzzles) for the kid to play. Sam, being his 1st exposure to crayons, scared me to death by putting the crayon in his mouth!! Luckily I got it out before he bit it!!!

The starters for the kid's menu is carrot & celery sticks with dip. The waiter very wisely served this when I was still going through the menu & Sam was going "mum-mum-mum". And when I was scrambling for a wet wipe to clean Sam's not-so-clean hands, they promptly provided a wet wipe for the task!

And they didn't hurry me to order drinks or anything like that, just let me take my own time to read the usual menu after I've order fish & chips (RM$16.90) for Sam.

When I've decided on their set lunch, fish & chips too (great value at RM$19.90, includes soup, coleslaw & drink), the manager even reminded me I've already ordered a juice for Sam, so do I want the extra drink?? Wow! I'll gladly give them the extra business just for this kind of service!!!!

The fries were good, makes me feel a bit less guilty abt letting Sam eat them cos they still have the potato skins on. And the fish were really, truly lightly battered! Cos picky Sam doesn't like to eat the batter, I usually have to spend a lot of effort scraping off the batter (& usually end up eating it myself) at other restaurants before I can feed it to Sam. But Tony Roma's version had a very thin batter layer, which Sam barely noticed through all the fish, so I could spend the time eating my own delicious fish instead. Great!

I felt bad not finishing the dessert (Dirt Cup = choco pudding + Oreo crumbs) from the kids' menu. But silly Sam refused to take even a single bite, and I was feeling full & fat after eating half the dessert, so..........next time then!

When we were done, they served up another 2 warm wet wipes, one for me, 1 for Sam. Never have I been offered a wet wipe for the child before! The feeling was wonderful!

I'll definitely bring Sam back there again! Maybe next time let him try the Cheezy Pizza or the Chicken Strips while I enjoy a proper steak.............

Surviving 2nd week of Sam's School Holidays

Today is the 3rd time I brought Sam along to my physiotherapy session.

Now he no longer cries at the sight of my physiotherapist (goodness knows why he did so in the 1st place!). In fact, he remembers the routine now: asked for his car to play with the moment we stepped inside the room, looked for the exercise ball to throw with, wants to wash his hands at the basin!

This session the physiotherapist was fully occupied, & I had to wait for 10 min for a bed to be vacated. And Sam surprised me by knowing the routine! The other woman had barely left the bed when Sam started pulling me towards it. I had to hold him off while the assistant does the cleaning up!

Then he petted the area where I'm supposed to rest my head, & indicated that I should take off my shoes & keep my bag on the rack. Wow!

Unfortunately, his enthusiasm only lasted till the end of the ultrasound treatment. After that, I had to spend the electro treatment, the exercise regiment & the icing routine entertaining him & explaining to him that "no, mummy's not finished yet, cannot go yet".

When we were leaving, he amazed me again with his long term memory: he remembered the cashier had an interesting pencil (even I myself can't remember which animal it was in the shape of now!) which she let him see last Thursday. But poor little fellow, the cashier didn't bring the pencil today, so he left for his promised treat on the musical car.

Weekend in Bt Tinggi

What a poorly maintained place the Colmar Tropicale is!

The photos all look so good, then it turns out that only the front facade (which most photos feature), is the only well-kept area. The back & basements of the resort are so............urgh! paint peeling off, lifts a bit smelly..........& our hotel room's furniture: the sofa seats are all sunken in, dust visible on the top of the 4 poster canopy bed..........aren't we glad we only stayed for one night!!!!!!

And we were very unlucky: the rain started only after Sam woke up from his afternoon nap on Sat. So after we wasted 2 hrs sitting on the not-so-comfortable-now sofa reading & chatting while Sam napped, there was no where else we could go in the rain after Sam was fully energised & ready to go.

So yes, we ended up in the Children's Playroom for Sam to tire out sufficiently for bedtime, while we parents ended up taking photos of anything remotely interesting in, & viewable, from the Playroom! Proof of complaint:

For more photos of the trip see: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37451&l=78ac9&id=682608180

Otherwise, the trip seems to be most enjoyable for Sam, who loved the Rabbit Farm:

For (2) more videos of Sam in the Berjaya Hills Resort see: http://www.youtube.com/tanhui2

The front facade of the Colmar Tropicale is frankly speaking, pretty good. Really very much like stepping back into Europe:

I guess I'll probably enjoy it more if we hadn't visited similar places before during our Dutch posting. But still, the 'pasar malam' kind of stalls along the street really spoils the European feel the front facade suggests.

The only impressive part of the whole resort was the Japanese Village, partly cos I didn't know it was really situated in the forest. We had to go through a number of slopes & steps to reach the 1st Jap Tea House, & the feeling of the place was wonderful, most serene! I can fully understand why they charge so much for the Tatami Spa situated there! Even the crew delivering the towels had to go through the trails through the forest to access the spa!

Oh, if only Sam was around, we would be able to enjoy the onsen & massage there! Maybe even stay in the traditional Jap Tatami Suite??!!!!!

Surviving Day 2 of Sam's School Holidays

Was surprised to see the promotion at the House of Sundanese Food in Suria KLCC, RM$19.90++ for a set meal! And they have a kids' menu too! If the promotion holds true, must go try it 1 of these days........

But then, why do I bother with a kids' menu at all????? Sam certainly doesn't seem to be appreciating my efforts to feed him:

I was enjoying my fav Stir-fried Lemongrass Beef Rice bowl with a wonderfully delicious Dragonfruit salad at Bongsen, but Sam totally didn't eat a single mouthful of his Beefball Pho soup noodle. The beefballs he took only one bite! I mean, ya, it's not as good as his fav pork meatballs from Isetan supermarket, but there's no need to be so picky right???

So it was RM$18 down the drain as Sam drank only half his fresh apple juice & ate all the rainbow sprinkles of the ice cream (he hasn't learnt the joys of ice cream yet. The sweet & crunchy sprinkles are a love at 1st try though).............

Why am I stil wondering about the kids' menu in Tony Roma's????????

Surviving Day 1 of School Holidays

Lunch at Ichiban Boshi in Pavillion, ordered udon soup for Sam, which he refused to eat!

Ended up giving him 4 out of 5 of my tempura prawns. And since Sam doesn't like the tempura batter, I have to spend time scraping out the prawns for him, then eat the batter myself to go with the rice.

Talk about being a mother!!!!

High Tea at Carcossa Seri Negara

Sam had fell asleep in the car on the way back home from Ikea, and I've made a wrong turn, so we thought might as well go explore the Lake Gardens & find out where the Butterfly Park is, so that next time we can drive there easily.

Well, we found the Butterfly Park. Then we found the Bird Park. Then hubby wanted to find this hotel on the other side of the Lake Gardens which is supposed to have good traditional British high tea.

We were happily on our way there following the instructions on the GPS when Sam woke up crying, to our consternation. We had thought Sam would nap for about 1.5 hrs as he does at home!

So we ended up sharing the RM$60 pp high tea (since we were still full from a German 6-sausage lunch) instead of going back another day as originally planned. Since we didn't make any reservations we couldn't have the indoor tables. Sam was delighted with the outdoor arrangement though, trying in vain to catch the pigeons out in the garden.

Hubby got an earful from me for letting Sam play under the hot afternoon sun, & spent the rest of tea time entertaining the little bugger with toy cars instead.

Picky Sam refused all the sandwiches, ate half the brownie & tasted 2 other savories. He had his 1st taste of Strawberry & Kiwi tea and Pai Mu Tan tea. After all the playing he accepted some of the scones, though he rejected the wonderfully delicious jams, silly boy. Then, of all the things in the world, he pooped!

So I ended up cleaning the stinky toddler in the air-conditioned toilet on the vanity top, not the most dignified exit out the boutique hotel!

The End of Sam's 1st Summer Camp

Sam's last 4 handicrafts for his holiday camp: a photo frame, a paper lantern, 3 greeting cards (with envelopes), & the hand painting of an (I think) angel.

Hubby & I had a good laugh at Sam's photo in the frame: he looked so "脸臭臭" when he's not smiling! Ha! Must keep the photo to show him when he's older!!!! ;P

The greeting cards are surprisingly quite presentable. Will probably send them to his grandparents.............hmmm, for what occasion????????

The lantern has become Sam's "ball-on-a-stick&string". He finds it so fun to bounce the lantern up & down holding the stick, the pictures on 2 of the sides had fallen off. Now I wonder if the lantern can survive till Mooncake Festival..................

Some "freebies" from the holiday camp, though for the price we paid, it's not 'free' in any way! More like, I was surprised to receive these additional stuff:

the handicrafts (except for the lantern) were nicely packed in the Winnie the Pooh bag, which is just the right size for Sam's age. (The girls got a pink version.)

Also included were a pencil, 2 notepads of different sizes, & 2 sheets of stickers (fishes, Sam's fav). I'm keeping these on hold till (1) his current drawing pads are exhausted, (2) he's older & not likely to try to eat the pencil, and (3) I buy a sticker book to teach him the pretty stickers are supposed to go on the book, & not on the wheels of his cars, or the table etc.

Now in dread of the coming 2 weeks of holidays.....................headache just thinking about it............... :(

Sam's Holiday Camp - 1st 3 days

This is the 1st week of Sam's 3 week long summer school holiday. Fortunately for me, hubby decided to let Sam experience the school's offering of holiday camp (since no such thing in Singapore's usual nursery), so I won't have to face the prospect of being stuck with Sam all day long for another whole week.

Well, after 3 days of art & crafts in the camp, I was presented with these:

So now we're clear where the money for the RM100/day holiday camp went to: all the materials & the teachers' labour cost in assembling the finished articles!

Of the (1) bear pencil holder, (2) cotton puff puppy, (3) elephant memo clip, (4) sponge printing notebook cover, (5) T-shirt printing, (6) butter cookies, (7) name plate, (8) necklace:

both hubby & I agree only the name plate (made of flour & salt) is of a useful & lasting nature, & we look forward to putting it in his own room in the near future. Although I'm still not sure what Sam contributed to the making of the name plate!

The butter cookies we've already eaten all 4 pieces of it. If by tomorrow none of us had any diarrhea, I'll say hubby's worries that Sam's fingers had been up his nose just before he cut out the cookies were totally misplaced. ;P

The T-shirt, though not exactly pretty, I think I'll let Sam wear it at least once. Maybe as the "just-in-case" clothes I carry around in the diaper bag. The notebook cover I'll probably preserve it somewhere & let Sam demolish the rest of the notebook.

As for the necklace, though the teachers say it's by the children for their mummies, I still don't see how I can fit it over my head..........not to mention the fact Sam finds the pieces (which he also cut out) resembling the butter cookies & tried to bite them!

Sam in Fancy Glasses

Was washing my face after waking up this morning to be greeted by this:

He got the toy specs as part of a classmate's birthday party bag quite some time ago, and at that time, he didn't dare to put it on his face.

But now the big boy actually thought it fun to wear glasses like his daddy & mummy!

Well, as long as it's only toy glasses and not the real thing........

My 1st Parent-Teacher Meeting

Got a shock today when Sam's school teacher asked to have a meeting with me today. Initially thought Sam bit a classmate or something equally naughty!

Then remembered I haven't had any formal discussions with the teachers since Sam started school in Feb. So this "2 month" report had delayed to become a "half year" report:

Gosh! Wish he's so well-behaved at home!!!!

Teething Sam is Very Picky

Sam is teething: top right 2nd molar, and bottom left 2nd molar.

This means that he's not sleeping well at night. :(

And his appetite has dropped.

Not to mention the sudden fussiness to food. Rice isn't always a welcome carbohydrate at mealtimes. Prawns are a sudden favourite, to the exclusion to everything else, sometimes. Cereals are no longer welcome to the tummy, though he's willing to submit it to the mouth & saliva before spitting it out all over the sofa & table & floor...............

Hurry up & finish teething!!!!!!!!

Why Do I Even Bother to Cook for Sam When He Doesn't Eat It???

Why did I bother to cook a balanced meal of brocolli & egg fried rice for Sam when he doesn't appreciate it??????

Next time I'll just stick to buying him outside food for lunch & save my effort on cutting, cooking & washing up!!!!!!!!!

Little Einsteins Craze

Me very sick & tired of watching the 2 Little Einsteins vcds we have at home.

Sam is in a Little Einsteins craze: except for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he refused to watch any of the other usual programs on the Playhouse Disney channel in the afternoons. Kept asking for the 'pet, pet, pet', his way of saying the Little Einsteins.

Thanks to the Astro gold card crisis 2 months ago, when we couldn't access our tv programs for 3 days, Sam has learnt that it is possible for the dvd player to screen shows on demand. And now he's demanded 3 days in a row to watch Little Einsteins!

If this goes on, I'll be able to memorise the 5 episodes on the 2 vcds!!

The only consolation is that, Sam does seem to be adsorbing the content: yesterday he was booming along the beginning of the theme for the bad orge in the Firebird episode, & he's showing great interest when the Quincy character drums.

But for me personally, I'm gonna try grab hold of another dvd of the Little Einsteins this weekend during the megasale. I need some variety even if Sam doesn't!!!!

The Incident in the Bathtub

Yes, the dreaded thing I've read in other mothers' blog had happened to me!

Sam pooped in the bathtub during his bath!!!

Was bathing Sam when I noticed his release of smelly gas. Since he hadn't pooped for nearly 2 days, I just asked him off the top of my head whether he wants to poo-poo.

To my surprise, he nodded, then squatted, and in less than 30 seconds, out came the poo!!!!!!!

There was still water & his bath toys in the tub after he did his deed! Luckily I broke out of my horror trance quickly enough to fish out the toys before the contaminated water spread........

Then have to fish out Sam & wash him clean again, all the while stopping him trying to reach into the baby bathtub to touch & splash water on the poop!

And of course, after drying & clothing Sam, have to clean out the tub, barely 6 hrs after the maid had scrubbed it!

My only consolation: thank goodness Sam's poop that day was a good long solid piece & not a soft squashy mess!!!!!!!! ;P

大爷吃饭的样子

Sam having lunch in the Chinese restaurant behind PNB Darby Park hotel. It was our fav restaurant when we 1st arrived in KL & were staying in the hotel. About the only complaint there is it's halal & hence serves no pork.

Anyway, we were telling the friendly waitress Sam's our 'little emperor'. So when later the waitress noticed Sam sitting like this, she jokingly commented on the "大爷" pose. And the fact that luckily he's a boy to be sitting so freely!

Sam Injured His Finger!

Naughty Sam was supposed to be scribbling with pen on paper, but he decided to explore poking the pen on the paper instead, despite his father's urgings not to.

Before long, not only did he managed to pockmark the table top (ie. we'll be forced to pay for that piece of furniture at the end of rental), he's also drove the pen tip into his finger nail, drawing blood.

So mummy stopped watching her fav tv show to the sudden loud urgings of panicky & angry daddy, & arrived at the scene of crime to see daddy putting pressure on the wound of sobbing & bewildered Sam.

Mummy fetched cotton pads to soak up the drops of blood, and applied Dettol cream to the wound. Sam cried in the process, but I think it's more a reaction to my continuous stream of "serve-you-right". ;P

Anyway, after covering the fingertip with band-aid, Sam consciously moved around with his left forefinger raised, but was otherwise his old self again:

Can see the white dots on the poor wooden tea table???????

P.S. Band-aid dropped off the next day after his bath. Finger tip still a bit red (from the wound) & blue (from the pen ink), but Sam is using his finger like nothing had happened. Though he still remembered the incident & still 'talking' about it.........

An Pee & Poo Incident in Nursing Room

Had a don't-know-how-to-describe-it time at the nursing room in Isetan KLCC yesterday. Halfway through the shopping, Sam started frantically pulling on his diaper, & even agreed to a diaper change. I thought he's complaining his diaper is too tight or wet, so I took my own sweet time, went to toilet myself 1st, then brought him to the nursing room's diaper change station.

After I took the very wet diaper off Sam, he proceeded to squat down on the diaper station & look at his little 'chick'. I didn't want him to start touching it, so offered him a drink of water in the paper cup, which he accepted & asked for refill.

Then while I was getting the refill, he peed on the diaper station! I gave a little scream of shock, then had to tell Sam what a good boy he was for peeing, since didn't want him to think peeing is a wrong thing to do. And when I was gathering paper towels to clean up the pee, he peed again, this time a great long pee, emptying his bladder (or so I thought then).

So after utilizing tons of paper towels & wet wipes to clean up the diaper station, I thought I could finally put a new diaper on Sam. But no, he was still in the squatting position, this time a concentrated look on his face. So I stuffed the new diaper under him & started making "em-em" sounds to encourage him to poo.

Which he did!!! And of course, not all the poo fell on the diaper, so I ended up having to clean poo off the diaper station too. Then, while I was wiping Sam's backside clean (with him standing up, since he isn't always willing to lie down for diaper change), he peed again!

After cleaning up the same diaper station 4 times in a row, I was glad to be able to leave the place!! Am I grateful for the well-kept nursing room!!!!!

Looks like I better start thinking seriously about toilet training Sam..........but he seems to poo better squatting down than sitting on the toilet seat! Looks like more research needed.........

Weekday Getaway a.k.a. The Great 28 hr Electric Breakdown

Just had a most tiring 28 hrs: our home had been without electricity for 28 long hours!!!!!!!

The problem started on Sunday night 8:30pm. Sam had already fallen asleep, so when the aircon had stopped, I ended up fanning him manually, since he was in long sleeves pyjamas.

In an attempt to get some breeze into our home, we opened all the windows. Then we realised belatedly this was an open invitation to mosquitoes! And to our dismay, while the solid-based mosquito repellents we use smell strongly of citronella, the mosquitoes still happily buzzed around our ears through the night. Of course, we had no chance to test our Baygon electric mosquito repellent. ;P

I ended up using the small battery operated fan bought for Sam's pram on him for the night. Unfortunately, the spinning lights of the fan kept Sam awake, & each set of 2 AA batteries only lasted for about 3 hrs, meaning I had to perform a battery change involving screwdriver by a night light at 4:30 am in the morning!

By Monday morning, I had black panda eyes, Sam & hubby were obviously suffering from lack of sleep. Not to mention all 3 of us were covered in mosquito bites! But still there was no electricity, so no hot coffee or milo for our breakfast. We were told the substation's transformer & switchboard were burnt out, & the spare parts will only arrive after 1pm that day.

After Sam got off playschool, I brought him to KLCC's baby room for his nap, since the house would be like a furnace without aircon. He ended with only 30 min sleep there, thanks to the play of other children.

Then he had the time of his life, playing in Isetan's kid section & squeezing on Thomas the Train with 3 other children (all whom rather share the train than get off it), all the time having my full attention since I had no other agenda for the day!

After dinner at 7pm, there was STILL no electricity. I refused to go through another night in the house, so we packed an overnighter (by torchlight again) & went off to Mandarin Oriental for a weekday getaway!

Finally, this morning, found out the electricity was restored since last night, or rather, at 12:30 am this Tues. So it was checkout (after a good buffet breakfast of course!) & end of the getaway!!!!!

This is the 2nd time the substation broke down during our 1 yr plus stay here! Last time if occurred in the daytime, & they fixed the problem in half the day. This occurance is the longest breakdown ever! I hope we won't kena another one in our remaining time here. I can't tahan a city life without electricity or clean water!!!!!!!!

Sam Back To School!

Sam finally well enough to go back to school!!!!! Ya!!!!!

Me so stretched out with him at home these few days, I got VERY short tempered: this morning, got irritated by the pram he left blocking the walkway, I pushed the pram hard to vent my anger, & it knocked into the standing fan, causing the fan to fall & the blade to break!

Luckily the blade was plastic, so no harm caused..................

Hope my temper will cool down soon................

Sick Sam = Tired Mummy

Very sleepy now, but still couldn't get Sam to nap.
Don't understand why he's still not sleepy after taking the medicine!!!!!

This time Sam got "early pneumonia", according to Dr Lee. Got a shot of antibiotics at the clinic, plus 6 days worth to consume at home. And a letter for the A&E in case his situation got worse over the weekend. Costs RM$388 this time round. Lucky can claim!

Lucky now his fever seems to have dropped. Yesterday night when his fever went up to 39 degC I nearly wanted to bring him to the A&E as instructed by the doctor. Luckily hubby was too sleepy to get up, & the fever went down after I turned up the aircon.

So I didn't sleep much last night: whenever Sam tossed in the bed till he's wedged next to a pillow, I have to get up & push him back to the centre of the bed, so that his body heat doesn't accumulate.

Now worrying abt his decreased appetite. He's already a round thinner at the waist, with obviously loose diapers.

And also worrying about how to get him to eat his next round of flu med, phlegm med & fever med. Still nursing a headache from getting Sam to eat his antibiotics just now...............

Sam Peeing

These few days have been trying to toilet train Sam to do his big business on his toilet seat before his bath. In the past he seemed only interested in stuffing toilet paper down the front into the toilet bowl.

Past 2 days, however, he seems to have gotten the hang of............doing his little business instead!

Just now was going through the bedtime ritual when he started tugging on his diapers. I thought it was too uncomfortable for him, so took it off, but he still continued to stoop & look down at his 'mini sam', so I asked if he wanted to 'poo poo'. He nodded, so I carted him off to the toilet seat.

Where he promptly peed, water gun style, all over the toilet floor & on the freshly laundered mats! And I couldn't scold him, still have to smile & say 'good boy', & give him some toilet paper to stuff as a reward, all the time lamenting in my heart on the additional work!!!!!!

And it seems that it my dismay to notice where all the pee went, I forgot to drill into him that the act of peeing is called "shi-shi". Tried telling him aft the incident to let me know in future when he wants to 'shi-shi', & Sam looked at me blankly. Looks like he thought the act is called 'poo-poo'!!!!!!

More mothering work to do man!!!!!! And gonna get some easy-dry toilet mats this weekend!!!!!

Feeling Worse :(

Felt worse today..........the phlegm settled in the throat, so started coughing to get it out. Looks like have to go see doctor tomorrow...........

All thanks to Sam lor, haven't had a good night's sleep for the past 2 nights, even the afternoon naps were insufficient to supplement my rest! I can understand his frequent wakes for milk, since he's sick, but dunno why he kept tossing & turning in his sleep.

Ever since he fell off the bed during one of his tosses the night before, I've not been able to sleep well at all, waking up fully whenever he moves to make sure he's still within the safe confines of the bed, & that the pillow 'walls' haven't been kicked out of place. Hopefully tonight will be better............

Oh, a recommendation: the brand 'BOH' has great camomile tea! Since I'm still breastfeeding, can't eat a lot of the flu medicine, so had resorted to a cup of camomile tea in the afternoons.

And 'BOH''s is perfect with some honey!!! It's not too bitter like Twinning's or the other brands I've had before, so now am looking forward to the daily cuppa!

What to Do When There's No Playhouse Disney on TV?

No tv programs in the house!!!!!

Since yesterday afternoon, hasn't been able to watch tv, cos the old Astro card has apparently expired, & we have not received the new one yet!

Turns out that our landlord passed the new Astro gold card to the management office while we were back in Singapore, but the card was placed in the wrong mail box. So now the management office is hunting for the misplaced card, while we pray & hope that whichever neighbour who got the card didn't throw it away, else it would be weeks before we get a new one from Astro!

In the meantime, me filling Sam's days with various vcds: Barney, Sesame Street, Baby Songs..........turns out that Sam is afraid to watch Finding Nemo!!!! He seems to be afraid of the sudden appearance of the sharks & divers, and the frantic calls of Nemo & his dad didn't help either.

Then in the evening before bedtime, as a reward for drinking his medicine, I introduced him to the Playhouse Disney website, where he listened & watched 2 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stories unfold.

Poor little guy, he missed his fav show so much: when I mentioned the words "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" he quickly sat properly on the sofa in front of the tv in eager anticipation, and was so puzzled when I brought him to the computer instead. The website's version didn't include the show's opening theme, which Sam missed & asked for, but luckily the stories still ended with the Hot Dog Dance.

Tomorrow will let Sam watch the Little Einsteins stories......hopefully the website version includes his fav "Pat, Pat, Pat" activity..............

Sick Again!

:( Got flu again!!!!!

This time, must have caught it from hubby, whose 1-week-old flu took a downturn last Thursday & felt so bad he went to see the doctor. I succumbed to it yesterday with a sore throat. Today, all the fever & blocked nose came full blast.

Just now before bed, realised Sam got fever too. Must have caught it from us.

Looks like it's pork & fish for a few days again..............

Sam In HOME

Shopping in Pavillion yesterday, Sam followed another girl onto the letter 'O' of the exhibit 'HOME'.

And he rather have his picture taken than go look for his daddy!

Malaysia's KFC Breakfast

1st time tried KFC's breakfast in Malaysia this morning in KLCC.

Had originally thought of having only mashed potato, cos the KFC breakfast in Singapore was really quite lousy (well, it was bad 3 yrs ago. Dunno if they've improved since then.). But saw the menu & changed my mind. Ended up trying the Egg Wrap set @ RM$6.20, which is basically a drink (i got orange juice) & chicken strips + egg mayo + a little lettuce in a wrap. Surprisingly not bad; it's not good good, but I definitely won't mind eating it again, unlike those offered in Singapore.

And the breakfast menu is so much better over in Malaysia! The nasi lemak is expected, but I didn't expect the chicken noodles. And the cheesy chicken muffin looks much more sensible with a fried chicken patty, not a MacDonald copy like in Singapore. Even the kid's menu looks reasonable with sausages & eggs & milo.

Definitely will rather have breakfast in KFC than the Burger King opposite!!!!!!

Bad Mood Again!

Why am I in a bad mood again???????????????????????????

Now feeling very sleepy, but not in a good mood, so don't really wanna sleep.

But if I don't have enough sleep, I'll be in an even worse mood tomorrow.

None of my fav shows are complete enough for me to watch. Those I'm chasing on YouTube taking a long time to buffer recently, so spending 2 hrs to finish a 70min show!

Don't dare to binge on food to ease my mood either, even though just bought a can of Pringles this morning for the purpose: I'll probably put on even more weight........I don't wanna hit the 70kg mark!!!!!!

So here I am, ending up with most Singaporeans' fav past time: complaining!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Gee, it does feel better to complain! ;)

Finally Blogging Again!

Haven't been in the mood to blog for ages!!!!!!

Had been feeling down for a long, long time, so have been drowning my sorrows in my fav drama serials. Unfortunately, had a tough time getting my hands on the latest episodes, so it worsened my bad mood!!!!!

Yesterday aft reading my sister's blog, I'm inspired to blog again! Am now planning to capture a video of Sam's antics on his potty, as my "revenge" on the little bugger! ;P Ha! wait till he grows up and understands 羞耻心！;P

Was inspired during my bad mood period to blog abt something else besides my mothering life. So started a new blog to record my drama serial watching! Welcome to The Drama Mama Diaries if you're interested in knowing what asian drama serials I'm hooked onto now!

Sam's Photo of Me

This is a photo Sam took of me when he was playing with my hp yesterday.

He loves playing with our camera phones: he's learnt that the screen kept changing images, & that pressing on the centre joystick would create a "ka-cha" sound, which always makes him squeal in delight.

Anyway, I've taken the hp from him just after this pic was taken, & I showed Sam his handiwork. He pointed to my partial image and said: "Maa........Mee......"

I was elated!!!!! 1st time I heard him call me Mummy clearly!!!!!!!!! And all this for a photo in which I can't even see my facial features!!!!!!

Bath Toy of the Day

Past few days Sam has been bringing a toy car for his bath. I would tell him "it's time to 'bong bong'", and he'll go pick up a particular car & bring it into the bathtub, & it would follow him all the way till he's fully dried & dressed.

Today, the favoured car is from MegaBlock's Counting Bus collection:
This wasn't a very good choice, though, cos the blocks kept falling apart when Sam tries to use his car to scoop up water, & the blocks can't be reattached when they're full of water.

Of course, Sam didn't understand this, so he understandably got rather short-tempered with his uncooperative toy. Mummy here had to help put back the blocks thrice during the 15 min affair.

And yes, one of the blocks must be jutting out of the car base as shown in the photo. Doesn't matter if it's the green or the yellow block, but the relative positions must be maintained. Yes, Sam has reached that particular stage of his life...................

Showers are Not to be Taken For Granted

I've had an audience of at least 1 to my shower 'show' 6 times this week: that's 5 full attendance & 2 half attendance, ie. my Sam left the bathroom before I've finished my daily ritual.

It's really very irritating, not to have the bathroom to myself for just 30 min a day. All I'm asking for is some time to R&R while cleaning myself, & perhaps beauty up a bit. Is that too much to ask for????

The bathroom isn't that big after all, with only a single entrance. Sam takes his bath there too. Where on earth does he think I'm gonna disappear to????????? Why must he make such a big hu-ha the moment I declare my intention to take my shower? After all, he's been fed & napped, he doesn't really need me. And if I sneak off to shower while his attention is distracted by the tv or his play, the results' even worse: he'll come crying his head off to the bathroom & refuse to leave thereafter.

Today, he actually came into the bathroom while I was undressing, then proceeded to close the door behind him. When his daddy attempted to come get him, he pushed the door back close before it was 2 inches wide! So my hubby gave up & left him with me, instead of risking Sam's (& his own) fingers in the bathroom door tug-a-war.

Hence, I spent the 1st 5 min of my shower keeping my eye of the toddler babbling on the bathroom mat, while I worry my usual worries:

- will Sam slide open the shower screen door?
- will he play with the toilet paper roll & make a mess on the floor?
- will he pick the hair off the floor, or worse, some unknown item off the bathroom mat, & put it in his mouth again?
- will he finally succeed in poking his finger into the toilet bowl, and.........(nightmare scenario) put the finger in his mouth?????????????

Today after 5 min my temper went. Lucky Sam seemed to be in a good mood then, he was a good boy & left the bathroom (finally!!!) to play in the bedroom outside, only coming in later to check on me when he heard the water stop running.

Kinda miss the old days, when my showers are only restricted by how tired I am after work to pamper myself...............

Ok, well, I don't really miss those times that much............still, it is much better to have the bathroom to oneself!

The Painting Saga Continues......

Sam's painting saga continues in his 1st week back in playschool:

Green watermelon on 10th April 2008.

The Consequences of Not Eating Lunch?

Sam hadn't napped well for 2 days already. Today he only managed abt 40 min.

Wonder if it's because he didn't eat any lunch in school, & hence was too hungry nap for long.

As a result, he was dead tired by evening, & made a big hoo-haa when I tried to take my shower. He cried & hung on to me & won't let go. I resorted to slipping from under him (literally) while he was trying to sit on my lap, then ran to the bathroom, with Sam crying & chasing after me. In the end, I provided a showering show for Sam, who stood in the bathroom the whole time waiting for me to finish! I had the quickest shower I've ever made, cos didn't know when Sam would get bored & started playing with the toilet bowl or the toilet mat!

Poor hubby tried to entice Sam to follow him out the bathroom with his fav toy car, but Sam only took the car & pushed his daddy away!!

Blog Diary - March 2008

26 March 08
Edited the Facebook profile badge on the sidebar, so that can display my latest photos in Facebook.

13 March 08
Backposted my 12/3/08 blog on "My 1st Nail Art". Had been too lazy to transfer photos from hp to computer........ ;P

4 March 08
Back posted my 28/2/08 Drama Mama blog on "Coffee Prince". Took a @#&*$% long time to find a suitable YouTube video.......

1 March 08
Changed the titles "My Links" & "Websites I Go To" to "My Life on the Net" & "My Daily Cuppa" respectively. Thought this looks more 'cool'! ;)

Logs from Jan & Feb 08 are posted to the blog.

Another Bad Night

One of those 'hellish' nights yesterday: Sam woke up every 2 hrs for milk.

Irritating thing is, sometimes he didn't indicate he wanted milk, so I spent several frustrating minutes trying to cajole him to sleep by holding his hand, by which time he got irritated & started kicking & crying. That got me angry, having to deal with a screaming toddler in the middle of the night, so ended up slapping his kicking legs. Sam will then whimper, whimper & cuddle up to me, and then he'll indicate he wants milk (by pressing his hand on my breast).

Why couldn't he have done that in the 1st place?????????!!!!!!!!!

Tonight plan to banish hubby to the guestroom. King size bed is still too d#$%$^& small for co-sleeping with Sam in between us, I now have a stiff right shoulder from having < 1 pillow width space for sleeping last night!

School Started Finally!

Have finally survived the 2.5 weeks of school holidays, during which hubby was on business trip half the time, which means I was the only one stuck with him all this time!

Well, ok, I got the part time maid to baby sit him for an hr everyday for the last week, so that I could shower with peace of mind. Not that it worked for the 1st day: he still opened the bathroom door while I was showering, & it was quite embarrassing for the babysitter to have to come to the door to grab the crying Sam.

Luckily, by the end of the week, Sam was familiar enough with the routine to be willing to play with Ada at home, instead of having her bring the crying boy outdoors to see the birds & squirrels.

Anyway, as expected, Sam cried through his 1st day back at school. Didn't eat anything in school either, not even the yogurt drink I prepared for him.

Sigh! Think it'll take the rest of this week for Sam to get use to the new routine again.......

Sleeping Sam

Sam so tired from his trip to Great Eastern Mall, he fell asleep in his car seat (a first!) on the 20min ride home.

Didn't even budge after I switched off the engine & closed the car door!

Sam with His Pram

Made the mistake of going to Toy City (Great Eastern Mall branch) to find a non-car kind of toy for Sam. Though ended up getting a musical toy piano & a puzzle race track with battery operated car (yes, I know, still cars. Thought the puzzle track would be something different for Sam, turns out he's more interested in the On/Off switch on the car), Sam refused to leave the shop, was happily playing with all the tricycles there.

So I resigned myself to buying a pink double sitter doll's pram at RM$35.90 for Sam to push around. Had wanted to get one of those doll's shopping trolleys, but the shop no longer stocked the item.

So little boy Sam happily did pushed his pram, into & out the lift, across the shopping mall, around the O'Briens while I ordered, and even fussily made sure I folded & kept the pram near him when we sat & ate our lunch!



Now the pram is in the boot of our car, ready for its next job when we bring Sam out shopping.......

Macaroni Attacked!!!

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I don't believe it!!!!!!!!!

I've got bugs alive & flying in my raw macaroni!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never have I known that dried pasta like macaroni can breed bugs too!!!!!!!!!!


Attack No. 2: ants found their way into my yet-to-be-opened packet of 冬瓜干!!!!!!!!!!

So had to throw away that too!

URGH!!!!!!! Miserable day!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam in Kidzsports

Brought Sam to another paid indoor playground this morning, Kidzsports & Gym in Great Eastern Mall. Irritating drive there, cos cannot turn into the carpark directly from the main road opposite, had to make a U-turn 5 min down the road. And since the Jln Ampang is always so @#$%^& busy even on a weekend, basically had to waste additional 10 min just to reach the mall opposite!!!!!

Anyway, the Kidzsports on level 2 is smaller than the Megakidz, but the place is newer & looks cleaner. Entrance fee more expensive, RM$10 per entry on weekends. Socks also required for both child & parent; luckily this time I came prepared with my own socks. :)

The toddler play area is much smaller than the Megakidz one, but the entire playground is more padded & safer for Sam's age, partly cos there're lots of personnel around to look after the children.

Food there also not very healthy, though they have more child-size portions, so not so wasteful. Got sausages & fries for Sam, sandwiches for myself. While waiting, Sam started eyeing the pair of children at the next table eating popcorn. The Filipino maid in charge of the kids was very friendly, offered Sam the popcorn, which he promptly took!

Turns out Sam loved the popcorn! He kept taking the proffered food, in the end, came back on his own to ask for more when he finished the portion in his mouth!!! He hor....................need I say more???????