Solomon the stud

Yo, yo, yo homies! Ya think these shades gonna score me some chicks?

Kids drop-off

Last weekend, we went to Mommy's favourite place again. The children's 'art station' at The Spring.






I discovered an even better activity; painting clay figurines. It's 'even better' because the kids take longer to paint, compared to sand art. Moreover, after painting, they have to wait for the paint to dry! So, we're talking about say, 1 hour of no-kids-in-your-hair-time!! Is that great or what?



Now if I could, I would love to make some suggestions to the proprietor of this fabulous place:

1. cage up the area to keep kids from wandering off.

2. hire a couple of babysitters to mind the kids for longer durations.

3. allow parents to drop kids off and tag the kids with numbers then give correspondingly numbered tickets to corresponding parents.

4. charge RM20 to mind said kid for the length of a movie.

5. parents claim kids using given tickets (like the baggage counter at supermarkets)!

6. everybody is happy!!

I would most definitely use this service...

see Daddy 'goyang kaki' at Coffee Bean 10 feet away...
(the new cinema is also very enticingly only 10 feet away in the other direction)

Diaper cake

Sis no.3 ordered a cake today. This cake is quite different from the other cakes which I tend to make, mainly due to the fact that this one is not edible!




This is a baby diaper cake which she wanted as a gift for a friend who had just given birth. Obviously is was a girl, hence the 'pink'ness...



Pretty cute eh?

Farnee...

Here's a funny email sent by Sis no.3:


Life only boils down to 1 question:


Should I have a dog...




or kids??



Tough one...

Cute accident?!

Cute accident. These two words shouldn't go together right? But yesterday, that was exactly what I saw, a cute accident!

Have you ever seen one of these cars on the road? It's a two-seater called Smart right? It's so tiny and adorable, it looks like a rechargeable toy car!

Anyway, yesterday, while I was sending Annie and Amanda for Kumon class, we saw an overturned Smart. And when I say overturned, I mean it was totally upside down, resting on it's roof (think; turtle on it's back with legs flailing in the air)!

I guess since it had just started raining, the road was real slippery. It also must have been a self accident, as there were no other dented cars in sight! Moreover, the little car landed neatly by the side of the road in such a way that if it wasn't upside down, you would have thought it was deliberately parked by the roadside!

All in all, if it wasn't so tragic, it would've been a seriously hilarious sight! I was torn between pity and mirth! (no, there were no casualties)

I wanted to take a photo on the way back, but just as I was about to snap, a man (yes, only one man, I think) pushed it so that it tipped and landed on it's side with a metallic crash. So, all I got was the Smart ass :)


So, for your viewing pleasure, I shall attempt to recreate the 'overturned tortoise' accident scene:


(drumroll...)

Hehehe.... see what I mean?

G-Force

The kids are on a long Hari Raya school holiday. So, last Saturday, Sis no.3 and I brought them to watch the new Disney's guinea pig action movie, 'G Force'.

With Kuching being the small town that it is, we Kuchingites crave for anything new or different. This explains the human-sardine-situation at the new cinema, MBO, which recently opened at The Spring Shopping Mall.


Since we would rather go home and sleep than push and shove a mob aside for our 7 kids in tow, we decided instead to check out the cineplex at the Riverside Hotel/ shopping centre. It has been rather run-down, but recently they've changed management and it's now run by Lotus Five Star.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the cineplexes were now nice and new and even better, there were plenty of parking spaces available! The cineplex was less than half full, so we were nicely spaced out and did not have to encounter the 'guy-with-the-extra-long-neck-who-just-had-to sit-in-front-of-you' or the 'irritating-guy-on-the-handphone-sitting-next-to-you'!


This was Claire and Eva's first time at the cinema and I warned them beforehand that they had to sit quietly throughout the movie and leaving halfway was not an option! Claire was very well behaved throughout the movie, whereas Eva didn't bother much with the show and was very busy instead, having a loud discussion with her cousin Marc regarding the different drinks we had bought! Halfway through the movie she had me bring her to the loo for the big one!

Anyways, I thought G-Force was pretty good, maybe because I wasn't expecting much from it. The critters were really cute and amazingly well-animated. It was definitely not as boring as 'Up'.

So now that I know Claire and Eva can more or less sit through a movie, we have another activity option on the agenda for weekends and holidays!

Travel, travel, travel...

*Sigh*

I'm not looking forward to the months ahead... hubby's going to be racking up the frequent flyer miles for the next two, maybe three months! So I'm going to be left behind on my own to hold up the fort!!

Yippe kai yay! (see the enthusiasm oozing out me ears?)

Hubby just got back from Singapore, and now, as we speak, he's with grandpa at the big "C" in the sky ("C" is for casino), on a quest for their much beloved adrenaline kicks.



I believe buried inside every Chinese male lies the gambler who believes he will strike it rich one day! Some are just less 'buried' than others! :) It must be genetic. Did you watch "Kung Fu Panda"? They just had to make a reference to the innate gambling trait in the Chinese, with that part where his dad tells him the noodle shop was inherited by him from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who inherited it in turn from his father, who won it in a game of mahjong! Typical...

So anyway, after this trip, it'll be all work. With only days in between, hubby will be off to Bintulu for about a week, then to Papua New Guinea for only God knows how long. That's the part I don't like; not knowing when he'll be back. The last time he was there, he missed Chinese New Year for the first time ever! This time, he'll definitely miss my birthday and maybe his own, plus a family trip to KL which I planned eons ago and maybe even Christmas! Let's just hope it'll be a short trip.

It doesn't help either, that the only thing I know about PNG, besides the fact that there's sea cucumbers aplenty, is that it is the world's third most dangerous city to live in, after Moscow and Johannesburg! So I'm imagining big, bad gangster street fights and muggings and drive-by shootings, you know what I mean?

Oh yes, there's also the recent health crisis, where a triple outbreak of seasonal influenza, cholera and thyphoid (was it?) is burdening their already inferior healthcare system! Throw in the risk of contracting malaria and the world-wide H1N1 epidemic, and we have ourselves a virus convention! Rest assured I'll be sending hubby off with half of my pharmacy's stock of medication and supplements!

A lot of people don't even know where Papua New Guinea is. The last time hubby was there, I called my handphone service provider's customer call centre to check the rates for calls from Malaysia to PNG and can you believe it, she's never heard of the place, let alone know where it is! I spelled it out for her and she had to call me back after checking Google Earth or her Primary 5 geography textbook or something! Oh yes and FYI, calls to PNG cost a bomb, so I'll be Skyping the next few months away...

(it's the biggest yellow bit, in case you too were sleeping in geography class...)

Anyhoo, poker chips and sea cucumbers aside, I guess I had better brace myself for a looong month or two ahead. So, if, in the next couple of months, you don't hear from me for too long, don a bullet-proof vest and come rescue me please...

Cupcake ice-creams!

Here's a real easy-peasy kitchen project you can let kids dig into. There's even no baking or cooking required! Got your attention? Okay, here's what you'll need:



For 10 ice-creams:
10 cup-shaped ice-cream wafer cones
10 store bought muffins, any flavour
plenty of chocolate coated peanut candies
some jam, any flavour
whipped fresh cream, may be tinted to desired colour

Step 1:
fill cones till almost full with candy.



Step 2:
cut cupcakes into half sideways and spread jam on cut surface before sticking back the two halves together.



Step 3:
spread some cream onto the top of cupcake and place upside down on cone.




Step 4:
cover cupcake with cream and pile more cream on top to make it look like soft serve ice-cream. Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands and... enjoy! Yum...

WARNING: This has 'through-the-ceiling' sugar content. Thus, be prepared for sugar-high kids 'ricochet'ing around the house. (Notice our kids are in swim suits, ready to expend their energy harmlessly in the pool after fuelling up with sugar. *pat pat* clever mums...)

PHD injection II

Today Annie says her BCD injection still hurts...

BCD: buoyancy control device

PHD injection.

Annie just told me her PHD injection site still hurts. No, don't get all excited, it's not a new a drug from Pfizer which, when injected, makes your child's brain develop exponentially, hence enabling said child to obtain a PhD sometime after the third booster shot. Nope, quite unfortunately, there's no such thing on the pharmaceutical market yet...

Well, allow me to explain then.

A couple of weeks ago Annie got her BCG shot. She needed this because the shot she got when she was a baby did not result in a prominent enough scar. This means she still hasn't developed enough antibodies to fight the disease, hence another painful shot to the arm... poor thing.

Also, in school, her teachers have been teaching them about the different levels of academic qualifications, Eg. diploma, degree, and yes, PhD. Thus, ladies and gentlemen, the 'PHD injection' was concieved.

Anyway, after telling her, no, it's called BCG, not PHD, she then went on to ask me what the injection was for. I told her BCG was to prevent her from getting a sickness called TB (I think).

So, I'm not going to be surprised if she tells me tomorrow, "Mum, my TBG still hurts!" :)

Then I guess I'ld just have to sit her down and give her some TLC and maybe a BLT? and hopefully one day, she will bring home a PhD!


KEY:

TB : tuberculosis
BCG: boy chase girl
TLC: tender, loving care
BLT: bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich
PhD: parents spend a lot of money

Sand art

On Saturday, I brought kids no. 1, 2 and 3 plus cousin Alaena to The Spring to kill some time. They have a sand art stall there which the kids love. Sand art is where they peel off pre-cut sticker paper pieces in stages and pour different coloured sand onto the exposed parts to create a picture.

For 5 bucks a kid, you can enjoy glorious peace and quiet for about half and hour, while sipping a cup of coffee at Coffee Bean, because the Coffee Bean is conveniently located right in front of the sand art station! Brilliant! A genius mother must have designed the lay-out of the place!

However, being the paranoid mum that I am, I chose instead to hover over the kids, keeping tabs on each and every one, lest a deranged, psycho, sociopath who just so happens to be passing by, decides to make off with one of them! You never know, okay?


Anyways, we later had lunch at Kim Bay, a new'ish' restaurant hawking Macau/HK style cuisine. The food was satisfactory, although the chicken chop Annie had was a bit burnt. They get extra points though, for having banana split on the menu! Yay!

Oh yeah, we also met a 'polar bear' who was real friendly, but looked terribly in need of a bath! :)

Wise King Solomon

Here's an example of Solomon's usual serious, far-away look. He is very much unlike his sister Claire who was a really happy baby and would smile and laugh at just about anything.

Hubby and I are wondering whether this sober demeanor has anything to do with the name we have given him. Solomon, according to the Bible was a wise king and I guess wise kings must look serious and, I don't know... wise?

As proud parents, we of course would like to imagine that our little wise king has the weight of the world on his shoulders and is pondering on the current economic and political situation of the world, or perhaps mulling over theology, philosophy and the fate of mankind?

But honestly, I'll bet what's really going through his mind would be something more like this:
I'll say, that rubber ball was really tasty, don't you think? Darn... now I can't decide which to put on the top of my 'yummy list'; should it be the rubber ball or the tv remote? Rubber ball or tv remote? Rubber ball or tv remote? Rubber ball or tv remote? Although, come to think of it, mum's handphone tastes pretty good too...

Beach fun

2 weekends ago, we managed to squeeze in some beach fun between the Swine Flu and the Hand Foot and Mouth attacks! Thankfully the weather was great and the kids had a blast!


This was Solomon's first introduction to sand. After getting over the 'yuck factor', he dug right in and had fun with the rest.


Digging holes and building sand castles...



The swimming pool was a hit with the kids. They especially loved the water slides.

Fifteen grandkids

Here's a proud and handsome Grandpa with his fifteen Grandkids! The photographer had to work hard for his money! :) Analisa, the little baby on the right was fast asleep so he had to do some cut and paste!

Ramadhan market

Every year during the month of Ramadhan, plenty of stalls crop up; selling all kinds of delicious food for those of the muslim faith to break their fast. Of course the non-muslim greedy pigs like us are also welcome! :)

So last weekend, hubby and I went to see what goodies were up for offer. There were stalls aplenty though many were selling the same things. I love spicy Malay/Indian food and if I were to have bought everything I wanted without practicing any restraint, we would have needed a truck to ship it all home!

The festive atmosphere of these markets always makes the food seem even more appetizing! Their abundance and myriad of colours also add to the appeal. It's always a sensory treat to visit the Ramadhan market.

Anyway, there were basically these groups of dishes:

rice or noodles and their accompaniments,


grilled fish or meat,


sticky, sweet treats,

super sweet, psychedellic drinks,

and of course, the Ramadhan staple; dates.