Friday, October 28, 2005
Balik Kampung!!It's been a long time since we last paid a visit to J's parents' place in Skudai, Johor Baru. Little Skywalker seems to be the best excuse for defending my laziness of driving 4 hours down South. Since his birth, my PIL had been coming to KL to visit us instead. Being a good SIL, we even install additional air-conditioning at our guest room recently to make their stay as comfortable as possible. They normally came with three of J's nieces whom they are taking care for J's aunty. So you can imagine how lively and noisy our house be every time they come down. Little Skywalker would not need to go to my parents' as he can stay at home and play with J's nieces.
Oh! Back to my topic. In reference to the upcoming DeepaRaya holidays, J and I had taken the whole of next week off (except next Saturday as J ran out of leave). We will be spending the festive season at Skudai (and maybe to Singapore to gate crash Earthtone's place). Yes, I don't think I will be blogging for that period as I don't think many of us are. On our way to JB, we will be dropping by at my old university campus at Malacca (where I spent my first two years stint) to visit a recovered "sick" friend. He promised to belanja me a ten-course meal because I have compiled all of the photos from our Kepong Bloggers Gathering from various sources into a CD for him. Let's hope he will keep to his word :P
All my holiday plan well until my pointy-haired boss call a last minute meeting to drop a ten-tonne job on me and expect me to finish it and show it to him after the holidays. He'd even expect me to cancel my leave that has been approved few weeks earlier. Well, I am NOT about to sacrifice my holiday plans because of work though. Since I normally do not have much to do in JB, I've decided to bring my work (in a notebook instead of my PS2... SIGH!) with me and finish it there if possible. I guess my boss would just have to accept this :P
I also wish to take this opportunity to wish everyone a "Happy Deepavali" and "Selamat Hari Raya"!
p/s: please drive safely as I hope to see you blogging after the holidays! and try not to get caught by traffic police for speeding!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/28/2005 11:46:00 AM :: and invited 15 Blah(s):
15 Blah(s) by: Buaya69, LHS, shiaulin, Sue, domesticgoddess, Annie, King's wife, Willwolf, ZMM, , Loc Kee, , , Egghead, 1+2mom, Share
摩登n字经 (Rap版本)
记得小时候, 由於蛋头我的父母是接受西方教育, 再上一辈的又是文盲, 所以我根本就不知道何为"三字经". 上小学之前, 我所阅读的书籍都是以英语书写, 唱的童谣也是鬼佬的杰作. 我第一次听到"三字经"是当我去我女朋友(也是现任的妻子)家拜访的某一次. 当时, J的表妹们在客厅里念念有词... "人之初, 性本善, 性相近, 习相远...". 我听了过后还误以为是我岳父在教她们念"佛经", 便请教了J. 善解人意的J拿了一本"三字经"给我阅读. 那已是几年前的事了...
我阅读了"三字经"好几遍, 好不容易才了解了其中的意义, 当然不能说是完全了解. 回想起来, 当初J的表妹也只不过是二至七岁, 难道她们真的了解其中的含义吗? 这种教学方法就好比教导幼稚园和小学生唱国歌一般, 难道他们又会真正了解其歌词的意义吗? J目前也正在寻找各式各样的英语童谣来教'小行空者', 近来他越来越会唱歌了.
今天早上驾车来工作的时候, 收音机就播放了一首我认为十分适合小孩子的摩登n字经. 这首歌好比"三字经"耐唱和耐听多了. 等小'行空者'懂得说一口流利华语(加一点福建语)和英语的时候, 我就会教他'烈朴' (rap) 吧!
摩登n字经 - 子曰 (卜学亮主唱) - 蛋头稍微改编
孔子的中心思想是个仁
仁的表现是 己欲立而立人 己欲达而达人
己所不欲 他勿施于人
如以仁为本体 表现在具体的行为上
Come on everybody 一起来
对父母为孝 对兄弟为悌
对朋友为信 对国家为忠
对人则有爱心
我~老子的中心思想是个Why
Why的表现是搞不懂就问人
搞得懂就答人 没有人懂
还可以问神
如以Why为本体
表现在具体的生活上
Come on everybody 一起来
要懂得推理 要心存怀疑
要充满好奇 要钜细靡遗
要打破砂锅问到底
Oh! My God
我听不懂 看不懂 学不懂 都不懂
究竟谁对谁错 人生多美 爱情多痛
Please Tell Me Please
生命有太多疑惑
Help Me Help Me Babe Oh!
不要让我自己去摸索
有了车子 想要房子 有了妻子 想要马子
有了银子 想要位子 有了位子 拿了架子
搞了圈子 使了性子 铁了胆子 忘了老子!
什么原因 谁人会知 (这句以福建语唱)
先管面子 再管里子 先填肚子 再补脑子
先端架子 再A 银子 先兜圈子 再想点子
先捅篓子 再找路子 先出乱子 再闪条子!
这款人生 敢有未来 (这句以福建语唱)
搞栋房子 搞一辈子 停个车子 一推单子
挑个担子 叫破嗓子 凡夫俗子 没有法子
卷起袖子 迈开步子 半个傻子 一条汉子!
何必怨叹 这个时代 (这句以福建语唱)
撇撇轮子 串串门子上上馆子 补补身子
碰碰钉子 找找乐子 想想法子 混混日子
照照镜子 刮刮胡子 打打拍子 哼哼曲子!
阮嘛共款 逍遥自在 (这句以福建语唱)
一间房子 两床被子 三面窗子 四张椅子
收起爪子 拉开帘子 嗑嗑瓜子 想想点子
打着拍子 唱着曲子 两把刷子 好过日子!
轻轻松松 笑笑咳咳 (这句以福建语唱)
先打底子 再摆摊子 先看例子 再拿耗子
先照镜子 再讲面子 先插旗子 再给样子
不管汉子 还是鬼子 不管老子 还是小子!
脚踏实地 才有未来 (这句以福建语唱)
孔子孟子 老子庄子 男子女子 黑子白子
游子浪子 胖子瘦子 正人君子 梁上君子
天王老子 毛头小子 天之骄子 孤臣孽子!
大家共款 拢是人才 (这句以福建语唱)
不当俗子 不做判子 不干头子 不当痞子
不充胖子 不装样子 不耍性子 不搞圈子
不扣帽子 不抬轿子 不卖关子 不碰钉子!
欢乐人生 逍遥自在 (这句以福建语唱)
- 歌词来源
如何? 押韵搭配也不错吧! 旧时代已去, 新时代已来. 是时候更新下一代的思想了!
来吧! 爸爸妈妈站起来! 大家一起跟我(和阿亮)一起 RAP!
p/s: 你可按此处观赏 Flash 版本的以上歌曲 (超级慢!), 或点此处下载mp3版本 (利用 Save Target As... 方式下载)
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/28/2005 09:45:00 AM :: and invited 6 Blah(s):
6 Blah(s) by: domesticgoddess, LHS, Sue, shiaulin, Allyfeel, , Share
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Shame On The Society!!I read this, and subsequently it lead me to this on the newspaper. After that, I felt truly ashamed of being a part of our local society (yeah! sad to say that you are part of it as well). No offence to Muslims readers and their religion (especially it is the Holy month now), I am appalled by the so-called "moral guardians" as well as our local police force who is trying to do everything in their might to humiliate the said young woman.
Nobody is a Saint here! Everyone makes their own mistakes. Some mistakes are bound to be serious than others, and some lead to unforeseen birth of innocent child (as the above case). Religion laws aside, but aren't we forgetting who is the biggest victim here? It is not the society values, it is not the poor young lady, IT IS THE BABY!!
The baby being born out of wedlock is still a baby. She has no idea that she was born "illegally". She did not choose to be born into an ugly society like ours. And she definitely did not deserved to be looked down upon by hypocrites like us! She is a child, a blessing from God to anyone lucky enough to have one. If her mother cannot afford to give her ample care and love, I am sure someone out there are willing to do so. The little soul does not have to bear the consequences of some mistake committed by her parents (or in this case her parent and a complete coward). The little soul does not have to live in shame among the society just because she did not have a father's name on her birth certificate. And more importantly, the little one deserves love and care just like anyone else!
I think we need to take a moment to reflect on our own conscience. Have we ever make mistakes throughout our lives? Just because our mistakes is not as serious as hers (that is another hypercritic comparison), does it gives us the right to cast the first stone?
It is not the KLIA, KL Tower or even the KLCC that bring our country towards a developed nation. It is not how much academic performance or how many Nobel prizes awarded to our people that show we are indeed developed people. There is great shame in claiming "Developed Nation" when our society are judgmental, unforgiving and hypocrites!
This post was done out of rage after reading the above two links. I meant not to offend anyone or any religion for that matter, but to remind everyone that we are human after all, we make mistakes from time to time. It is the ability to forgive that seperates us from animals and make us great!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/27/2005 11:38:00 AM :: and invited 7 Blah(s):
7 Blah(s) by: Willwolf, , Buaya69, , jazzmint, ZMM, Egghead, Share
A Not So Proud Member!!
As you all might (most probably not) noticed, I have added a new logo to my side bar as agreed upon joining that club. Although I am "not so proud" of it, but I am binded by "legal" contract to do it when I signed the application form :P
A little background, the club or clan or gangster group or whatever you call it was founded by that ham sap fella I came to know a few months back (after get attracted to some sexy photos of whom I thought was his wife!). It is an exclusive club and membership is based on invitation or recommendation by a fellow board member only. However, we do "look the other way" occasionally if you are willing to "convince" us with certain gifts (preferably cash, playboy magazines, posters of baywatch models etc). You'd even have go go through a few stages of exams in order to qualify for a FULL membership! It's members are currently comprised of perverted but married guys (most of them already has kids) and still has a passion for sexy
The board members (including myself, him, him and him) just had our first meeting yesterday (via MSN to save cost). The
You can see this as a marketing stint for a new club in town! Since you (and I meant all you SAHM and working mummies, including some young adults) gave your comments heavily in entries such as this and this. I
For all the dadies who happen to catch this (I meant only those who are of the same nature), you can forward your application to me or anyone of the board members mentioned above. We will review your applications (as well as your contributions to the club) and give you a reply within 14 working days. Please don't bother to apply if you do not have any contributions or if you are gay :P
Remember our club's moto: NO LAUBEHHIUT... NO TALK!
p/s: the minutes of the board meeting baru posted by Buaya this morning... and he forgot to include the timetable pulak :P
p/s 2: now only I realized that I am known as octopus (can raba here and there one wor) pulak... shit!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/27/2005 10:08:00 AM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
10 Blah(s) by: Buaya69, Loc Kee, Willwolf, Wingz, Sue, , ZMM, Jason Lioh, Egghead, Babysmooches, Share
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
PD Trip - The Other PoolWe had a good night sleep after all the beach walking and swimming throughout the whole evening. Since our room was furnished with two single beds, we had to merge them together so that Little Skywalker doesn't fall off the bed while doing his 360 degrees turn in his sleep. The air conditioning was extremely efficient throughout the entire suite. We had to put on thick blankets all through the night. (Little Skywalker even had to move into the closet to escape the winter attack!)
The first activity we did when we woke up was head down to the games room. It is located at the ground floor next to the gym. We wanted to go in after dinner the night before but it was already closed (the caretaker decided that he wanted to leave 30 minutes earlier). The pool table was of particular interest to me (and Little Skywalker). It cost RM2 per game, which was RM1 cheaper than the place I normally played (at the basement of that Grand Season Hotel which served bad food to a mouth picky blogger I know).
The kakak (or she preferred to be called nenek since she is already had 2 grandchildren) who is taking care of the games room liked Little Skywalker very much. She even carried him and sit in front of an arcade machine. She handled our son very well and taught him how to play on the arcade without putting in coins. They spend some time together with J watching by the side, while I concentrated on the pool table.
After 15 minutes of "playing with myself", there was only the black eight ball left on the table. I carried Little Skywalker and put him on the table. Then I taught him to play pool by pushing the last ball down the pocket. Below is a step-by-step illustration on teaching a one year old to play pool. Maybe you should teach your babies, but don't get them addicted, as it is a costly game :P
The first activity we did when we woke up was head down to the games room. It is located at the ground floor next to the gym. We wanted to go in after dinner the night before but it was already closed (the caretaker decided that he wanted to leave 30 minutes earlier). The pool table was of particular interest to me (and Little Skywalker). It cost RM2 per game, which was RM1 cheaper than the place I normally played (at the basement of that Grand Season Hotel which served bad food to a mouth picky blogger I know).
The kakak (or she preferred to be called nenek since she is already had 2 grandchildren) who is taking care of the games room liked Little Skywalker very much. She even carried him and sit in front of an arcade machine. She handled our son very well and taught him how to play on the arcade without putting in coins. They spend some time together with J watching by the side, while I concentrated on the pool table.
After 15 minutes of "playing with myself", there was only the black eight ball left on the table. I carried Little Skywalker and put him on the table. Then I taught him to play pool by pushing the last ball down the pocket. Below is a step-by-step illustration on teaching a one year old to play pool. Maybe you should teach your babies, but don't get them addicted, as it is a costly game :P
Step 1: Height check, unless your one year old is 4-5 feet tall, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Sit him on the table, align the ball nicely, take aim!
Step 3: Shoot, pull back, and wait for the impact!
Step 4: Make sure all the balls (screw the rules!) make the pocket!
Step 5: Raise the cue stick, look at the camera and say "Jedi Rules!"
Or, you could just...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/26/2005 04:17:00 PM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
10 Blah(s) by: , Babysmooches, , Willwolf, Sue, littlegirl, domesticgoddess, Nancy, ZMM, Egghead, Share
PD Trip - The Pool
Since Little Skywalker did not like the sea very much, the only place where he could dip himself in water was obviously the swimming pool. While we were walking about the beach, we went into Guoman Resort to have a look at our honeymoon spot 3 years ago. As we were approaching the swimming pool area, Little Skywalker asked to be put on his feet. Since he rarely asked for that, J let him down. As soon as he "touched down", he ran quickly towards the swimming pool and nearly jumped into it if we had not got hold on him in time. I guess it shows how desperate is he trying to convince his parents that he needs water!
After his surprise act, we took him back and changed him into his swimming underpants and headed to the pool at TNB Resort. The swimming pool we had was quite a disappointment because the children's pool was at 2.5 feet. Since Little Skywalker was only about 75cm tall, he could not play in the pool without someone carrying him. The water level of the usual pool that we brought him swimming at Seri Puri apartment was only up to his waist line. Hence, he could walk about in the pool and fall down without choking on water.
Anyway, J brought Little Skywalker into the pool while I take a few shots. He was ecstatic as soon as he hits the pool (如鱼得水). He was shouting and laughing all the way. Since he could not stand in the pool without getting his head under water, J hold him and played him as if he was a speed boat on the water. They also kept themselves at the side of the swimming pool in case Little Skywalker managed to get loose.
There is a wide separation ground between the adult and the children swimming pool, and it has like 2cm of water over it. Little Skywalker would climb up to that area and run about before jumping into the water again. It took J a lot of strength and effort to catch Little Skywalker in time, so that he could enjoy the jump as well as landing safely in her arms. He resisted any attempts to wear floats on his arms as well as using a round one around him. Sigh! Money went down the drain again...
There was also a mini slide (with water flowing) located at one end of the children's pool. There were a couple of kids playing on the slides and got Little Skywalker's attention. He climbed up the stairs (with J behind him of course) like the other kids to get to the top. However, he did not come sliding down the other end where I was standing by with the camera. Instead, his attention was caught by the pipe that was shooting out water into the slide. Before you know it, he wanted to drink from that pipe! J tried to "push" him down the slide to no avail. In the end, she had to let him get a few sip before he could be distracted. Talk about a weird kid!
I jumped in later to join them after snapping a few photos. We spend almost an hour in the water playing with an inflatable ball before we head back up for a shower. It was already 8pm when Little Skywalker finished his bath and he was showing signs of fatigue. He did not get his afternoon nap as planned because he was too excited to see his parents arrival. J nurse him to bed within minutes and the rest of the gang had to wait another hour before we went out for dinner.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/26/2005 08:55:00 AM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
10 Blah(s) by: jazzmint, Lazymama, Sue, Buaya69, ZMM, , , Annie, , Egghead, Share
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
HOT Stuff On The BeachWhen J and I were taking Little Skywalker to walk along the beach on the 9th mile, we could see a lot of stuff being washed up to the shores by the strong waves. Among the stuff we saw were bottles, tree logs, branches, plastic bags, slippers, plastic toys etc. Unfortunately, I am too stingy to waste any space in my memory card by snapping photos of them. However, I did took a picture (click on picture to have a clearer view) of something which is most peculiar to be washed up by the waves. I told J it either came from a cruise ship, or we might have missed some hot action on the beach the previous night (or even day)!
p/s: I heard Buaya69 was at PD the same time we were there... maybe he got lucky!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/25/2005 02:13:00 PM :: and invited 13 Blah(s):
13 Blah(s) by: ZMM, Lazymama, Annie, Babysmooches, Sue, , Peek@BoOoh, Egghead, jazzmint, Buaya69, , Willwolf, Egghead, Share
Monday, October 24, 2005
PD Trip - The BeachBy the time we arrived at TNB Resort, my parents were trying to nurse Little Skywalker to nap (since he already went down to the swimming pool in the morning). However, he is too excited to see his parents joining him and couldn't sleep at all after that. J tried her "bare breast" technique to help him sleep but failed as well. Instead, he was walking about the suite and asking us to follow him. It is as if he is trying to show us around, like a host. He even tried to show off his newly picked up skill - walking up and down the 3-steps staircase on himself (while holding the side handles).
Since the main reason that we came was to join Little Skywalker is so that we do not miss his first time on the beach, we decided to bring him to have a walk along the beach. As soon as he heard the words "gai gai" (mandarin for going for a walk), he walked to the front door and waited for us to help him with his shoes. J took him back into the room to change him before going down. He immediately started yelling and yelling, as if we tried to bluff him.
I brought Little Skywalker down to the lobby area first as J needed to pack some stuff. There is a slope (wheelchair friendly type) next to some stairs leading to the beach. It seems that Little Skywalker picked up another new skill and tried to show off (again!) to his father. He kept walking up and down the slope without holding to the side bars. The faster he came down running down the slope, the shorter my life-span get shortened worrying he might fell on his head. Since he is laughing all the way, I didn't wanted to "potong stim" (spoil his fun).
Before we went to the beach, we stopped by at the children's playground. Little Skywalker wanted to have some fun on the slides as he kept walking towards that direction. We had no choice but to adhere to his majesty's wishes. He went up and down the slides with J's help while I snap a few photos of him enjoying himself. I guess he really likes the slides, he seems to be enjoying himself the same way like when we went to Genting.
We continue walking to the beach when J joined us at the lobby. As soon as we step foot on the sandy beach, Little Skywalker let go of our hands and wanted to walk around on his own. It is as if he was already very familiar with the place, and wanted to show off to his parents again. We asked him to enjoy the incoming wave that is splashing off the shore lines. Funny thing happened, he was pointing at the sea and kept mumbling and mumbling something we could not comprehend. From the tone of it, it is as if he is trying to
Since he is walking closer and closer to the water, the next thing we did was to help him take off his shoes, so that he could feel the sandy beach on his feet. When we put him down on his feet, he gave us the
No choice... we cleaned his leg a bit and put him back on his shoes. When he saw the sands sticking on his shoes (due to sea water), he began to complaint that his shoes were dirty pulak. J and I were scratching our heads trying to figure out who did this to him! We had to take turns to carry him on his "dirty" shoes, and the sands were sticking to our shirts as well when he started kicking about. What a way of walking the beach with 8kg on your hands!
Soon, we came to a spot where someone had drew a big heart shape on the sands. J asked to put Little Skywalker down so that he can also draw on the sands. I found a little stick that is just nice for Little Skywalker's hand and let him scribble on the sands. J, however, tried to write our son's name inside the heart shape drawing. Little did she knew that she miscalculated the length of our son's name and did not managed to get his name inside the heart. I was laughing at the side while accompanying our son to "write" some stuff. We spent like 10 minutes writing on the sands before we started heading back to the resort.
On our way back, I tried to teach Little Skywalker to pick up little stones and throw it into the water. And guess what he said when he managed to hold a stone on his hand, "Dirty!", and dropped it again. Sigh! We also met a few visitors flying kites and stop to let our son enjoy the view. He was sitting on my shoulders, hence had a clearer view of the kites. After that, we headed back to the swimming pool for an evening swim.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/24/2005 04:20:00 PM :: and invited 12 Blah(s):
12 Blah(s) by: Che-Cheh, ZMM, jazzmint, Sue, , Egghead, Lazymama, , LHS, , Egghead, YBrat, Share
PD Trip - The Accomodation
As I have said earlier, Little Skywalker went with my parents to PD upon invitation from my uncle, who works for Tenaga University. J and I went to join them later as we wanted to be there when our son go to the beach for his first time. After deciphering J's intention, I went ahead pack my stuff into the half-full bag filled with J's stuff. I've even packed our ultimate weapon against mosquitoes (just in case I need to give some shock treatment to the my son to make him behave). After all the packing, I picked J up from her office and we headed straight to PD!
My uncle booked himself a family suite at the TNB Condominium Resort, which is located at the 9th mile, next to Berjaya's Guoman Resort (where J and I spent our honeymoon due to SARS). The TNB Condominium (to my understanding) are only meant for TNB personnel. Before this resort was built, TNB owned a bungalow chalet next to the current resort. My uncle used to invite our whole family to join him whenever he managed to book the place. I guess the visitors to that place was too overwhelming consider the size of the corporation.
When J and I arrived at the designated accommodation, we were quite thrown off by the entrance to the TNB Resort. It was a one-way single narrow lane with longkang at one side and wild bushes on the other. It was a big contrast compared to Guoman Resort (as well as those highway roads that I have driven for the past an hour or so) where there are two wide lanes going in and two more coming out with a guard house in between. Anyway, I slowly and carefully maneuvered my junk car through the "dangerous" road.
J called my parents to inform them of our
We pressed the door bell, my dad open the door with Little Skywalker standing behind the entrance. As we went it, we saw the biggest family suite we've ever been to. You'll be amazed to if you are one of those poor wage-earners like J and I. The place is frigging huge and is divided into a few sections namely kitchen, dining area, living room. It has a 3 steps staircase separating the living room and dinning area. It even have a big balcony with some chairs and table specially catered for smokers who want to enjoy a puff. There is a big "Thank you for not smoking in the room" sigh everywhere. Since not a single soul in our family smokes, there is no problem at all.
The living room it self is very spacious and all the furniture are pointing towards the big screen TV. My brother remembered to bring the PS2 I loan to him on his birthday and it was already hooked onto the TV before we arrived. And guess what? The room comes with a few Astro channels as well, including HBO and Sports! Everyone was enjoying some Christmas movies when we arrived. J joined them while I continue snapping photos around the suite.
The suite came with
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/24/2005 01:50:00 PM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
8 Blah(s) by: shiaulin, , Buaya69, Lazymama, LHS, ZMM, Sue, Egghead, Share
Jason Is Sick!!
This is a blogsphere community message...
I just received the following SMS from that mumbling Jason while I was blogging about my PD trip:
Help me blog this... (followed by username and password)... I'm sick, seriously sick. no blogging until I have recover and back 2 Malacca.
After reading this... I, together with Twinsmom's help, did this as a favour to him!
I am guessing he is having "stomach overloading" syndrome from all the food he consumed throughout his few days stay at KL last week. I liked to say "Told you so!", but I think he already got the message by now :P
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/24/2005 01:40:00 PM :: and invited 5 Blah(s):
5 Blah(s) by: , , ZMM, Unknown, Egghead, Share
Why We Went...
Since I need quite some time to read through all your weekend posts, I'll be writing mine later. Meanwhile, hope you enjoy this photo of Little Skywalker, which is the main reason why we sort of "decided" to join him at PD. It's another First in his list of milestones.
Check back later for a detail account of our PD trip!!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/24/2005 08:55:00 AM :: and invited 3 Blah(s):
3 Blah(s) by: , ZMM, Egghead, Share
Saturday, October 22, 2005
There Is Something About HerWell, it's another one of those days that's hard to come by. As most of you might have guessed or suggested, J and I "went to bed" very early (before 8pm!). But before that, I threw a suggestion to J on the way we would spend the weekend - maybe we could head down to PD after J's half day in the office today. Normally I would make the call on decisions like this (since I am the driver and all). However, I hand over the decision making baton over to her for a change.
After "that", I was quite sound asleep. I got up (probably from a mosquito bite) a while later and found that my wife is missing. Not something you discover everyday, huh? The lights outside the room was on, I figure that she went to the toilet for her night pee. Checked the bathroom, she was not there either. However, I heard some "woooooooo.." sound coming from downstairs (where the lights were on as well). Only then I figured that she was vacuuming the floor.
As a "caring and loving" husband, I went down to see what's going on. As soon as I saw her, "So, are we going or not?", she asked. I guess all you women (or maybe it's just her) do the same thing when asked to make a decision, right? She pushed me to decide so that she can pack the luggage before going to work today morning. Well, you might think that I took the bait. But I didn't. I still left it up to her to decide. I went back to bed after that.
This morning, I went to pee (this thing is contagious, I never pee when I sleep before I got married) around 5am. After coming out of the bathroom, I jump back up to the bed, hoping to caress her a bit before I started to snore again. And guess what? She was not there! Oh man! This is starting to get frightening! I was also starving since we did not eat any supper the night before. As I was walking down the stairs, I heard noises coming from the TV! You know, the "eeeeeee..." sound you hear when you TV was switched on but the Astro was not.
I saw her expressing milk (using the pump) in front of some guys playing tennis on TV. "So are we going?", there's that question again! I held it in and told her to decide on this. Then I asked her to make me coffee so that I can have a snack. We continued watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" after that. Throughout the show, I have been shot at with the same question over and over again. But, I still shielded myself :P
It was almost 7am. J went up to pack her stuff after my slight intervention. I told her to pack anyway as it wouldn't hurt to be prepared, just in case she "decides" to go ahead with the PD plan. She ran happily up stairs, pack her stuff, pack even more inflatable stuff for Little Skywalker, pack the cameras and pack our swim suits as well. The only thing she didn't do, was to actually decide whether we are going or not.
I guess that "simple and yet rocket science question" must be frying J's little brain out. She kept reminding me to pack my stuff before I dragged her up the car so that we can go for breakfast before she is late to office. She complained about being tired in the car (with the no-sleep and all) and I asked her, "Why didn't you ask for a MC and we will be at PD already!". She replied, "Why didn't you said it earlier, I could have stayed up all night so that the doctor will believe me!". (FYI, she slept from 10pm to some time before 5am) Even as we headed back to the car after our quick breakfast, she tried restlessly to pull open the door of another car (similar car and paint color, but different car plate number, DUH!), while I was walking to our car parked a few parking lots away!
Let's analyse this. Since I throw in the suggestion of "joining our son at PD's plan" yesterday, J has tidied up and vacuumed the house. Those are the chores that I
A bright and good-looking (*ahem) husband like me, are made to see through her decision. You see, women are not used to making decisions (oh! maybe is just her). I don't blame her for that, as she is good with managing our family finances, made sure that I have clothes to wear to work, made sure Little Skywalker poops everyday. But when it comes to "BIG" decisions like this, they try to make our (man) life miserable by asking us to decipher their action and words.
Although she has not officially made up her mind, I guess I have to go back and pack my stuff! My good bet is, we should be at beaches playing with Little Skywalker by this evening. So, expect more of our pictures on Monday folks!
p/s: "Is there a rabbit farm there? or was it a ostrich farm?" - the latest question from her. Go crack the code, guys!!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/22/2005 09:22:00 AM :: and invited 11 Blah(s):
11 Blah(s) by: sqkiki, , Sue, mama2jojo, , , Loc Kee, Lazymama, ZMM, Buaya69, Egghead, Share
Friday, October 21, 2005
The Dead and The LivingWith demise of our first lady, I begin to reflect on my life as well. In fact, I always reflect on my life whenever there is a death in my family or someone I know. The same conclusion that I always come to is that life is getting more and more fragile with the advancement of mankind. As far as I can see, there are far more ways we can get ourselves killed than a few hundred years ago, when people are living off fire wood, eating natural unprocessed food and treating the ill with herbs and prayers. Since we can practically do nothing much about it, we might as well live with it and cherish ourselves and our loved ones while everyone is still alive.
Since our first lady died of breast cancer, I think I will write a bit on the disease. I've even watched a talk show on TV yesterday evening, with a couple of oncologist and tumor specialist as guest speaker, answering public enquiries on the said disease as well as cervix (uterus) cancer. Talking about efficiency huh?
According to the second report of the national cancer registry on cancer incidence in Malaysia throughout the year of 2003, female breast (31%) and cervix uteri (12.9%) are the top two most frequent cancer diagnoses in Malaysian females. Both diseases actually contributed to half of all female cancer patients in the whole country. On a side note, lung cancer (13.8%) is the most common cancer among males in the country. A further analysis based on ethnic variation shows that females from all races are equally (30%) vulnerable to breast cancer. Chinese females are relatively more (14.3%) vulnerable to cervix uteri cancer as compared to Indian (11.5%) and Malay (9.8%) females.
From the age analysis, we will see that females suffering from breast cancer are mainly from the 15-49 (38.9%) and 50-69 (31.5). As you can see, breast cancer attacks females from teenagers to elderly. They account for almost 70% (or 3467 reported cases) of all cancer incidence that was diagnosed for Malaysian females in 2003 alone. As for cervix uteri cancer among females, the numbers are about a third of breast cancer.
FYI, there are various ways to detect breast cancer. As a common guideline, woman should perform a breast self-examination (BSE) at least once a month. If you do not already know how to do it, you can consult your doctor, nurse or mammography technician. Otherwise, his multimedia demonstration of BSE will provide step-by-step instruction in BSE using animation and voice-over audio clips. All mothers and female readers are encouraged to learn about this.
If the result of BSE reveals any abnormalities, you might be advised by doctor to undergo a mammogram, which is a special x-ray picture of the breast. A specially trained physician called a radiologist reads the mammogram to see if any suspicious areas exist. Routine mammography screening appears to reduce breast cancer mortality by approximately 25%. You can read more about breast cancer here.
Since J and I became parents, we are more concerned about our health as well as Little Skywalker's health. While we may concentrate more on our son's health condition, we did not forget our own healthy as well. As a habit, I encourage J to take blood test at least once a year to check for abnormality even though we are not showing symptoms of any kind of illness. Apart from that, I also
We mourn the death, we move on, and concentrate on the living...
This
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/21/2005 12:30:00 PM :: and invited 6 Blah(s):
6 Blah(s) by: ZMM, Babysmooches, ZMM, Sue, , Egghead, Share
And Off He Goes Again...
About a month ago, Little Skywalker went to Genting with my parents for three days. It was the his longest separation from his parents. He managed to cope with everyone very well and did not make any unnecessary fuss throughout the entire trip. In fact, he did not need to suck on anything but a few sip of water before he goes to bed. The same cannot be said when he is back with us.
Yesterday evening, my parents told me that they like to bring Little Skywalker with them to yet another trip. They will be heading to Port Dickson this time around. It seems that my uncle (a Professor at Tenaga University), had booked some rooms at the TNB Condominium resort and have invited my parents (along with Little Skywalker) to go along. J and I have given it some thoughts before we agreed. Since J is working on Saturday (but she is having a public holiday today) and I am working today, we cannot accompany him along. Sigh!
Since his useless parents (with stingy bosses that only allocate 14 days of annual leave) cannot bring him to have some beach fun, I guess we should not deprive him of having some fun himself. J and I actually had our honeymoon at Guoman Port Dickson Resort (our Perth trip got postponed due to SARS outbreak) a few years back. The TNB Condominium resort is located just next to Guoman (or should I say adjoining since everyone can see everyone through a fence). The private beach (at 9th mile) there is very clean and nice. Sands are soft and the water is sky blue. How we wished to have follow Little Skywalker there.
Anyway, Little Skywalker will be leaving with my parents this afternoon. He won't be back until Sunday afternoon. J and I will be having the whole weekend to ourselves. However, if we cannot stand the separation, we might head to PD on Saturday afternoon, after J's office hour.
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/21/2005 09:40:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
8 Blah(s) by: ZMM, , Babysmooches, , shiaulin, King's wife, Sue, , Share
Thursday, October 20, 2005
May Endon Rest In Peace!This is a national service announcement!
Our dear first lady, Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood has passed away this morning at 7.55am, according to Bernama.
May God bless her soul...
Updated..
If anyone wishes to post their takziah to Pak Lah's family, you can do so here.
Go to Jeff Ooi's site for further update on her funeral...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/20/2005 09:09:00 AM :: and invited 5 Blah(s):
5 Blah(s) by: ZMM, , King's wife, , Egghead, Share
Shocked!
As we were watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" on DVDs yesterday, Little Skywalker was happily strolling about the house looking for new "stuff" to play with. J and I will not chase after him unless he went somewhere out of sight or climbed up the staircase. We think a little bit of controlled freedom will be better for him. Or else he will feel like a prisoner at his own house as compared to my parents'.
Suddenly (as you might have seen it coming), he was walking towards J in tears, with both his hands up held high in the air. I was still in the dark on what happened as he was playing in the living room, 1-2 meters away from where I
Don't be too surprised, as he loves to play with switches. However, we are not stupid enough to let him stick his fingers into one. He actually got a tiny dose of electrical shock from the electric racket thingy that I bought when I declared an all out war against mosquitoes a month ago. He must have pressed the button while having one of his finger on the "net" and stung himself.
You'd also be surprise this is not his first time getting shock treatment from the weapon against mosquitoes. He kena before some time ago at my parents' place. I guess he must have forgotten about it already. He was showing us his fingers (since he can't figure out which one) and
It was partly my fault as I left the "weapon" on the cushion so that I can reach it easily once I spot any blood suckers flying about. Normally I would have left it at a higher place that is not accessible to Little Skywalker, but I was in a hunting mode and was waiting for those suckers to reappear again after they disappeared from my sight when I went looking for the "weapon.
Lesson learnt... for Little Skywalker and his dumb parent!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/20/2005 08:54:00 AM :: and invited 13 Blah(s):
13 Blah(s) by: Sue, Lazymama, ZMM, domesticgoddess, , Jason Lioh, , Unknown, , jazzmint, shiaulin, Peek@BoOoh, Egghead, Share
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
How Ramadan Changes Me...As most of you already know (duh!), almost the whole of October is Ramadan month. To the Muslims, eating, drinking and sexual intercourse are prohibited between dawn and sunset. During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, backbiting, and are meant to try to get along with each other better than normal. To me, it is a whole different story...
You may recall my daily routine that I wrote not long ago, I run my life as boring as possible so that I do not need to pause and make decisions on petty stuff like what to wear, what to eat, where to eat etc. However fine tuned my routine is, it still suffered major impact due to the month of Ramadan.
Due to the super traffic in the evening, J need to drive my mother's car to work. This is good for me, as I do not need to fetch her to and back from her office. Hence, I can pick whatever route which I think would be less jam, less pot holes and crazy drivers doing their stunts on the road.
Then it comes to lunch time, my usual lunch venue is operated by Malay Muslims. It is closed throughout the entire month of Ramadan, probably because most of their customers are Muslims as well. Hence, I had to change my lunch place to alternative food stalls, and trust me, it's a tough decision. As for now, my gang and I are doing alternative between two Chinese stalls, which the food is not as delicious. Imagine I have to settle for chicken rice instead of fried stuff :P
Catering for special occasion in office is also off the menu for obvious reason. To me, it means no free food for a whole month. Our office organizes many meetings and jamuan every month (for birthdays or farewells) and I get to enjoy the food although I didn't attend most of them. So extra budget for my lunch this month :(
Driving back from office has been a nightmare during Ramadan. The traffic (OMG!) is many times worse than normal condition. Although I leave on the dot, I still get caught in the traffic for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour (worse if it rains cats and dogs) before I arrive. I am thinking that the early release of students from school that is causing the crazy jam every where in town. Otherwise, the jam will only starts at 6pm.
I nearly fell asleep a few times while trying to drive at 2 meters per 10 minutes. And this is happening even though I pick the fastest route (in terms of time) since J is driving. Imagine I had to take the Jalan Kuching (which is undergoing some stupid upgrade works that is causing a massive jam already before) to J's office before heading home. Someone please sue Samy Vellu and Chan Kong Choy for me!!
A silver lining that comes out of everything is that J and I can choose from more variety of food during the weekends. Many instant stalls are opening up near our house by Muslims as part of their buka puasa feast. Otherwise, I might have to bang my head against my steering wheel everyday so that an ambulance or police car can take me home through the jam!
Anyway... "Selamat Berpuasa" to all my Muslim friends and readers!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/19/2005 12:35:00 PM :: and invited 13 Blah(s):
13 Blah(s) by: jazzmint, 5xmom.com, Loc Kee, mom2ashley, Lazymama, LHS, ZMM, , King's wife, Sue, Egghead, Lazymama, Egghead, Share
Say Cheeseee....!!
Although I said I was taking a day off from blogging yesterday, but I ended up spending most of the day uploading the photos taken at our gathering. The worse part is that I need to rotate most of them one-by-one.
Anyway, I kepy my promise and finished my task by 5pm yesterday. You can check out the photos by click here. You'll have to know the answer to the following question for the password:
- What kind of
endangeredrare fishes was kept in the aquarium at Milwaukee Steak Corner? (answer in singular, answer can be found throughout last week's blog)
Sorry everyone... please bear with it since I cannot find a photo hosting service with a better interface that is FREE for now. No pain no gain huh??
p/s: please do not compare my Panasonic FX7 quality with Willwolf's SLR :P
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/19/2005 07:26:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
8 Blah(s) by: Sue, Lazymama, ZMM, Unknown, Loc Kee, ZMM, Peek@BoOoh, Egghead, Share
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Day OffI am taking today and maybe tomorrow as day off
Meanwhile, I will try to find a photo hosting site to upload the photos taken during the Bloggers Gathering last Saturday. Will put up the URL later!
You might want to check out here, here, here, here and of course here for a better account of the bloggers gathering.
Check back later!
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/18/2005 09:14:00 AM :: and invited 8 Blah(s):
8 Blah(s) by: ZMM, Jason Lioh, Babysmooches, jazzmint, Mumsgather, King's wife, Egghead, , Share
Monday, October 17, 2005
An Evening To Remember...Due to the "House" curse, we arrived at Milwaukee Steak Corner at 6.30pm. I dropped my passengers off and managed to find a parking nearby as someone was vacating his spot. From some distance, I can see Jason had already arrived, and found out later he was the only one. I guess the rest of our guest will be running a bit late due to the weather which makes the traffic jam worse.
After some small talk (which most of it surrounded how tall and 'strong-looking' Jason was :P), I proceeded to calling up the rest of the co-organizers. I found out that they will only arrive an hour later, as someone has yet to take his bath yet, and he is the driver for another. Sigh! I guess it will just be me and Jason then, to run the show (撑大局) for now!
The first guest who arrived was Sue, with her little Ivan and her maid. And guess what? She is pregnant (due early next year) as well! OMG! I guess J will need to be impregnated soon so that we will not be left out of the current trend! Sue was a bit shy and say she is quite "new" to the blogsphere. Well, guess what? I have only started blogging since July, so I am as "new" as she is as well! Furthermore, this is my first big bloggers' gathering also!
Peekaboooh arrived a few minutes later. Man! Am I so wrong about her! Since I've only heard of her few days before the gathering when she left a comment saying that she will be coming, I didn't had enough time to read her blog. At first, I thought she was a he! She mentioned she is a "mid age lady" later in another comment. I was told later that she is Suzette's sister as well! To all you single guys out there, go date her even it is for a minute! I tell you, she is beautiful and friendly. Oh yeah! I swear I have met her before during my secondary school days as well (I never forget a face, but the same cannot be said about names), but until now I am still having trouble recalling when and where. Since I am not in the privileged of publishing her gorgeous photos here, you guys will just have to contact her yourself. BTW, you might wanna go by her sister first :P
The next guest to arrive was Twinsmom and her family. I am happy that Twinsdad could make it as well, along with the two belles and Twinsmom's SIL. I quickly introduced myself after she called me egghead. Her twins are so adorable! Hmmm... I wonder Little Skywalker has any chance? (oops... sorry Sweet Sweet :P). This is the first time I met Twinsmom, but it's like I knew her for ages already. FYI, she is a very cheerful person, I don't think there is a single instance throughout the evening where I did not see or hear her laughing. Little did she know that we planned a big surprise for her, in order to make her cry instead!
Next, Willwolf and his son arrived with his new SLR (err.. not SLK OK?). I recognized him at first glance as he looks exactly like his picture posted on his blog. It's nice to meet a BIG taukeh who actually looked like a taukeh! He has a "beer stomach" and a cool hair style to go with his SLR. We talked for a while, and he went on to hunt with his SLR later throughout the evening. He already posted up all the high-quality photos for the evening here! However, there's a catch though, it's password protected. You can get the password from reading his account of the evening.
MSAU, 1+2mom, Zara's mama and Young Brat arrived later. MSAU was sitting at the same table as us. We got to discuss about our children as well as her pregnancy. Most of the talk was done by J since I am never gonna get "a parasite growing inside me" (as said by Dr House). I didn't get much chance to talk to 1+2mom and Zara's mama though, as Little Skywalker's mushroom soup was already here and I was already feeding him. Anyway, I am happy that they could make it and brought their families along. We will always chat online, right?
My other two co-organizers, namely Loc Kee and Milly arrived around 7.30pm (an hour late). I guess it must be Loc Kee's work project that delayed him (so he is forgiven :P). Hence, I can sit down and let them run the rest of the evening. It was only then that I had the time to start taking photos using my camera. Suzette and her family came later as she had a whole evening full of programmes. She even need to attend a full-moon party after the gathering as well. Anyway, I am glad she can spare some time out of her busy schedule to come and meet us.
The highlight of the evening was of course the "surprise" that we planned for Twinsmom. We brought out the cake while she went to the 'little girl's room'. We had trouble lighting up the only candle since the weather was quite windy after the rain (gee... luckily we did not asked for 38 ones). The restaurant owner was cooperative as well as they play the "Happy Birthday" song while the rest of us sing along.
I can see that twinsmom was really surprised and happy with the birthday bash we threw for her. If fact, she was speechless! Milly also presented her with a handmade birthday card that carried the signatures and wishes of everyone that was present there. It's too bad twinsmom didn't cry there, Did anyone see her crying in the washroom? :P
The gathering ended around 9.30pm as all the children are either showing signs of restless or "sleepy-head" already. Most of them gathered around the small river with many fishes as well as the two children ride located in front of the restaurant throughout the evening. As for our Little Skywalker, we forgot to bring his shoes at first, but my sister's friend managed to bring them later from our my parents'. He was running about most of the time and happily mingling with the other kids. I think this is the first time he is among so many of his peers.
Jason, Milly, MSAU, Loc Kee and I even went on to "Yum Cha" at 记得吃 after the big dinner. OMG! You'll be amazed how big Jason's appetite was. I even asked him whether he is human afterall upon listening to all his multiple orders. He even asked me later for places to find good food at Kepong, can you believe it? I guess all the restaurant and food stall owners will be happy to have him around. I mean others will join in too after looking at how Jason eats.
We said goodbye as MSAU husband came to pick her and Siao Qing home around 10.30pm. As soon as we reach home, Little Skywalker was already yawning and wanted to go to bed. He was already half asleep in the car on our way back. Unfortunately, J and I still wanted to see a few episodes of "House" before we go to bed. Hence, we nurse him to sleep in front of the TV.
All in all, I am glad that we get to meet so many bloggers (especially parents) at this gathering. We got the chance to get to know more about the person behind the keyboard. I hope we can do more of such gathering in time to come, and hopefully more bloggers will join the party!
p/s: If anyone felt that any of my photos are offensive of their (or their children) privacy, please leave a comment so that I can remove them ASAP... thanks
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 10/17/2005 10:32:00 AM :: and invited 18 Blah(s):
18 Blah(s) by: sqkiki, Lazymama, domesticgoddess, , YBrat, Willwolf, Mumsgather, King's wife, 1+2mom, Loc Kee, LHS, ZMM, Peek@BoOoh, Unknown, Sue, Egghead, Peek@BoOoh, Egghead, Share