Those were the days.......

Just watched a Taiwanese variety show in which (sorry, can't think of English equivalent right now) 失恋的人去游乐场打地鼠 (you know, the little buggers pop their heads out of the machine & you try to bang on them with the stick provided).

Brought back memories of my working days: we used to get so frustrated abt work, the whole gang of us (well, actually there's less than 6 of us in the whole group) would go off aft OT (yes, one of the reasons we're frustrated) to play the 打地鼠 machine. It was a great way to vent one's anger! Sometimes we would all play together, using our bare hands!

Another fav was the basketball machine. You get to think of nothing else but concentrate on the game for those few minutes, and aft 2 games, the arms are so tired, a good night's sleep is almost guaranteed!

Our fav place was in one of the shopping centres in Batam, where we had to go frequently. For one thing, playing there only costs half the amount in Singapore. We went so frequently, we actually accumulated enough prize tokens to exchange for some prizes!

Another reason was, most of Singapore's game centres didn't stock such machines by that time, it wasn't the 'in' game then. Now, if only I can remember where we went to play........I only remember going there for supper simply so that we can relax in this manner..........

Sam has recovered!

Sam has finally fully recovered from whatever it was that hit him last week! Now back to his usual playful, energetic self. Below is clip of Sam playing with my hairband yesterday: was trying to use it to cover his eyes & mouth, which he had managed to do so before I got my hands on my hp......

His appetite has also returned fully, and today seems perfectly fine aft his fav yogurt drink, so I guess it'll be safe to put him back on his usual meaty diet from tomorrow onwards.

Got a lot of fattening to do, see how thin he has become in a week!! :(

Penang holiday: Day 3 - Penang Hill

The only part of Penang hill we saw: the furnicular train station at the bottom of the hill! This was the most frustrating, & most amusing, part of our trip........

We had signed up for a tour in our hotel, cos thought it will be more convenient this way to visit the Kek Lok Si temple (极乐寺). Turns out that the 'tour' is simply our own private driver in a sedan car! Still, it's still a cheaper way @ RM55/person (for the 4 hr tour) than the hotel taxi we took on day 1 (@ RM20/hr).
*Yes, I know there're cheaper methods of transportation, but with a toddler & no car of our own, taxi's the fastest & most convenient way to go. I don't wanna spend my vacation travelling!*

Anyway, though we hadn't planned to go up Penang hill, we thought there was no harm in it, since it was part of the package, even though we have to pay for the train tickets separately.

It was fortunate (I thought at that time) the tour operator got the 10 am train ticket for us the day before, cos by the time we reached the station at 9am, the ticket counter showed the tickets were sold out all the way to the 12:30pm train! So we whiled away the waiting time watching Sam play with other children outside the station.

The joke was when we went into the station at 9:50am to catch the train. There's already a long queue ahead of us, all for the 10am train. And right in front of the waiting furnicular, people holding the 9:30am train tickets!

And only half the 10am group managed to squeeze into the train. Yes, squeeze. There were no seats, everyone was standing, so it's a matter of how many people were willing to squeeze their way into not-so-new-looking furnicular train cabins.

Having sat in comfortable versions of the vernicular in Europe, this Penang version is a total letdown! As I watched the 10am train leave the station, my aching arms (from carrying Sam, had not expected this problem, so didn't bring carrier!) & sweating body told me it's enough!

Why waste time on a destination we had not really wanted to go to in the 1st place anyway???? Luckily the train tickets costs 'only' RM8 for 2 adults, else it would really have been a heartbreaking experience!

Only Wanna Blog!

Now only in the mood to blog, or rather, to make changes to my blog.

Don't feel like replying my emails or go Facebook. Not even in the mood to watch my YouTube subscriptions or read my fav entertainment news!

Why? Don't really know. The mood just hits me, I guess.

Am thinking, maybe also cos the blog is mine, my own creation. Feels a bit like my work, my responsibility.

Best of all, not only can I work on it whenever I want to, I can change my mind abt it as often as I want to, without anyone breathing down my neck! ;)

Penang holiday: Day 2 - The Blue Mansion

A cute, albeit slightly disgusting, pose of Sam, playing excitedly with garden stones outside the Blue Mansion.

We arrived at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (more famously known as the Blue Mansion) just as the free tour started at 3 pm. Had to park the pram & carry Sam since tour continued up on the 2nd storey.

Lucky for us, Sam was relatively well behaved that day: though he was bored with us standing around listening to the guide, he didn't cry or scream. We ended up taking turns to listen to the tour while the other carry Sam around to see more 'interesting' items & stuff him with biscuits.

I really quite like the Blue Mansion. Thought it was very well restored. Definitely need to take the tour, especially for an ignorant woman like me (hubby claims he knew most of the stuff the guide talked abt!). Feels good to know a bit abt the mix of Chinese & Western architecture during the British settlement era......

Only 'regret' is that only the centre court of the mansion is open to the public, the 2 wings being converted to B&B guestrooms, & are thus out of bounds to protect the privacy of the guests.

After the 1 hr tour, hubby practised his photography on the outside of the mansion (no photography allowed inside the house. Guess they need to earn from the postcards!) This was possible cos once again, Sam was happily engaged playing with the stones lining the perimeter of the garden.

Recalling that, I sometimes wonder why I bother spending money on toys for Sam! A few stones from a garden/aquarium seems to suffice for him!!!!!

Sam Fell Sick

Finally have the mood to blog.

Sam fell sick on Tues night. Wed afternoon vomited, by night time had diarrhea, & fever up to 39.5 degC, his highest ever. We got so worried of our little darling we went on to A&E that night.

Thus spending our 4th wedding anniversary night sitting in Gleneagles' A&E waiting for blood test results. Thank goodness Sam didn't have dengue fever!

By now, his fever is still fluctuating, still had diarrhea this afternoon. He must have picked up something from the ground & ate it, else wouldn't have gotten so sick!

It was really heartbreaking to see him throw up all the breastmilk, and very worrying abt dehydration with all this diarrhea. He's lost so much weight, he seems to be one size smaller now.

And I still have to worry abt things like: whether his watery poop on the bedsheets can be washed off. And pray that his diaper will hold the poop while I carry him to the bathtub to hose him down.

Luckily now he seems to be getting better, at least now he has the mood to play, will babble a little, will smile at us, and most importantly, will ask to eat what we're eating!

It's such a torture telling Sam he can't eat the rice or the oily meat, we ended up cooking macaroni for dinner, only to find that he wasn't interested in eating the macaroni at all! Finally gave in & given him 2 small bites of the meatballs.

Now hoping very, very hard he wouldn't have diarrhea again tonight because of the meatballs........

How I Welcomed the Year 2008

How I prepared for the year 2008......

I fell asleep in the evening of 31st Dec 2007 after putting Sam to bed.
So I didn't get to do anything.

How I knew it was the year 2008......

Sam got woken up by the celebration fireworks at KLCC (opposite our place) and climbed onto my tummy, waking me up.

How I welcomed the year 2008......
I craddled Sam in my arms to put him back to sleep, all the while listening to the din from the 5 min fireworks display. Didn't even catch a single glimpse from the bedroom window, having drawn the curtains to keep out the city lights.

Never have I felt a more pathetic way to start a new year!
Hope I'll have a better Chinese New Year!