Annie the athlete

So Annie is growing up to be quite the athlete. It helps that she followed Hubby's side of the family, height-wise! Also her many years of ballet and taekwondo lessons must have contributed to her overall fitness and stamina.

She went for the inter-school meet for field events for 11 and 12 year olds. It was held at cousin Ally and Michelle's school, Chung Hua No.5. Around 10 of them represented Lodge School at the meet and most of them (Annie included) came in first in their respective events. Thus they were selected to go on to represent our district in the upcoming inter-district sports meet. (All this 'district, district' talk is reminding me of 'The Hunger Games'! lol!)

Anyway, Annie was chosen for the shot putt event and Cousin Allyson was also chosen for the 4 x 100m! They will both be competing in the inter-district sports meet next month!  

May the odds be ever in your favour! ;)

Annie & netball

Annie loves her netball. She started playing more than a year ago I think, when a new sports teacher joined the school and introduced the sport.

Last year, Annie and her friends tried out for the school netball team, but didn't make it, as they had only started playing. The team members were all chosen from the national school side, as they had already been playing for quite a while.

 

So this year, after more practice, a few of them made it onto the team and went on to play at the inter-school netball competition (Zone A) for the girls under 12 category.  It was held at SMK Tabuan Jaya.

They trained very hard, putting in a lot of time and effort. It also helped that quite a few of them, Annie included, are very tall for their age, thus giving them a very obvious physical advantage. Truth be told, at the basket, when the girls were passing the ball between team members and the opponents were jumping up and down trying to intercept, it was like watching them play 'monkey'! :)

So it was quite easy for the girls to get through the initial rounds. They won by big margins and were one of the favourites to win.

During the finals they met with another favourite, SJK Chung Hua No.1, and this time it was a little harder to get ahead. The first half was nerve wracking to watch, but they got their act  together by the second half and went on to become the champion!

Winning is always an amazing feeling and it was great to see the joy in all the girls' faces when their hard work paid off!

Annie and many of her team mates were selected to represent Zone A in the upcoming inter-zone netball competition. This one will be held in Lundu, a 2 hour drive away from Kuching.

Proud to be in the papers!

Sports Day 2013

 So today was the kids' school sports day. Everyone was up early. Purple house was very determined to retain their title as best house, for the third year running! They trained very hard for today, and their efforts paid off when they once again won that title!

This is Eva's first time competing and she was reserve for the 50m event. Unfortunately she did not get the chance to run, but had a good time nonetheless.

Cousin Amanda also participated in the shot putt event for her age group.

Annie grabbed the gold medal for the shot putt event and will be representing her school tomorrow at the inter-school meet.

She also won silver for the other three events she participated in; namely, the 4 x 100m, 4 x 200m and the high jump!

Everyone did a great job and contributed to their Purple House's overall win!

Full House!

I have 8 kids! Lol!

Sis no.2 and Hubby are in Taiwan on a holiday adventure; involving hiking, cycling and backpacker hostels! (Not my cuppa tea...)

So their kids are here with me, all except for Alaena who is bunking at Sis no.3's place.

The kids are having a blast and enjoying the company of their respective BFFs!

Square

So the other morning, this mummy just realized kid no.4 was having his first Chinese spelling test later at school!

With no time to learn, I figured getting one out of four correct would be good enough; better than a big fat zero! :)

So one of the words was "kou", meaning mouth. "Kou" is the simplest to write, as it is basically just a square.


So in the car on the way to school;

Mummy: When teacher say "kou" you just draw a square okay??

Solomon: Okay.

Mummy: Remember, "kou" is a square okay?

Solomon: Okay.

Mummy: If you don't know the rest, just leave it blank.

Solomon: Okay.


Then, after school;

Mummy: So how was the spelling test?

Solomon: Okay.

Mummy: Did you draw a square for "kou"?

Solomon: I don't know where is the square.

!!!

I think I should've just told him to draw four squares! Guaranteed one correct at least! Lol!

Another chapter closes

So it's official! I'll be closing my pharmacy shop in two months time!

It's kinda sad, because I've had this shop for ten years! The kids practically grew up there! It was like a second home then. (My car has taken over that title now!)

On the other hand, it is also liberating, to be finally free of such a huge responsibility.

The pharmacy is making money, not much, but not operating at a loss. I could make more if I worked for someone else, but then I would be tied down. With my pharmacy it is practically like I am not working, because I'm almost never at the shop!

It bugged me that I could not give the shop the attention it needed to flourish, because I believe if you want to do something, you'd better do it right, else don't do it at all!

I've been thinking of closing for a while now. When I chopped the shop into half, it was a compromise between closing and trudging on!

I thought since it didn't take up so much of my time, might as well let it run. I could provide work for my staff and order medicines for family and friends. I do love helping people with medical advice and having the chance to do some charity when the opportunity arises...

But one thing I especially detest is dealing with staff who have poor attitudes. I have had many good people working for me, and many of the kind who make you want to pull out your hair as well!

Also the whole pharmacy profession in this country is &$@*^% up. In Malaysia, unlike every other profession, pharmacists do not have an exclusive role. Thus we have to break the law every day by selling group B drugs without prescription just to survive. Just doing my job makes me feel like a criminal every day! That does not sit well with me. I'm not the law breaking kind of person! Yet what choice do I have?

Then we have the enforcement officers to contend with. Their surprise checks make us feel like drug pushers being put under scrutiny.

Also, drug prices are not regulated and small players are discriminated and bullied with higher cost prices for the same drug. I know all this unfairness is just part of the dog eat dog business world. I suppose I'm not cut out for it then. I prefer a world of rainbows and butterflies! Something like Care-A-Lot, where the Carebears live! Lol!

And to add insult to injury, now a big shot is interested in the retail pharmacy industry!! The economy in Malaysia, as we know, is monopolized by well connected big shots. This particular big shot is now using his Cosway business to invade the retail sector of the pharmacy industry. With their money and political clout, what chance do we small fish have?! Rules are being conveniently changed to their advantage and laws which only tighten the noose around our necks are being proposed.

Well anyway, all these frustrating issues aside, the main reason I chose to finally close the shop was to spend more quality, un-rushed time with the kids. That's all, in the end.

Chinese New Year 2013

The much delayed Chinese New Year pics!

CNY eve lunch at Kung Kung Titus'

 Watching the firecrackers go off before lunch begins...

After being creeped out by a "CNY pak lo duck filled with maggots story", we decided to cook all the dishes fresh ourselves! We had spring rolls, pork leg, pak lo duck, prawns... the works!

After lunch was of course the "ang pow line-up"!

Next was CNY eve dinner at kung kung Paul's, with more firecrackers to kick start the meal!

"Fireworks display" later that night!

This year's ammo...

I can't imagine Chinese New Year without the racket of firecrackers, the smell of the surely toxic smoke and the beautiful way the fireworks light up the sky! I remember going back to Sibu one Chinese New Year when I was very young and firecrackers had not yet been banned (not that the ban stops anyone in Kuching anyway...). The fireworks went on throughout the night on CNY eve, culminating to warfare proportions at midnight and dying off somewhere around 4 am! We woke up to smoke choked air, much like the worst haze we ever had...

The kids were treated to a magic show by "Magic Uncle"!

Blackjack; the compulsory CNY activity...

 On CNY morning, we always go to my Dad's house first. This year, Little Brother came back for the festivities.

That afternoon, it was off to Miri to visit cousin Hughie!

It was a 3-in-1 visit, for Chinese New Year, Hughie's birthday, and also house-warming!

 The next day, we drove across the border to have yummy sushi in Brunei!

 A traditional lion dance troupe came to perform during the house-warming cum birthday party!

 Look! They left lucky poop!! Lol!

Jamming session!

Kids enjoying the playground at the boat club...

.. especially the zip rope!

A family photo before heading home!

Managed to visit Sis no.2, before school started, for a gambling lesson from Uncle Polycarp!!

Also met up with some ex-classmates who were back for the holiday!

Shandy, keropok and acar. No Chinese New Year is complete without these three essential ingredients! :)

Dad's big 77

 Dad also celebrated his 77th birthday with his Lion and Lioness friends! ;)

Look at the giant 'ang pow' they gave him!

His Chinese birthday falls on 'Chap Goh Meh'...

2013 early birthdays

Here are the 2013 birthdays so far! All the beginning-of-the-year babies!

First up was Marc who turned 9!

Next, it was Alaena, who turned 8!

Home-cooked seafood for Kung Kung's birthday...

He turned 77 this year!

Hughie celebrated his 4th birthday in Miri when we were there for Chinese New Year!

Little Brother also celebrated his in Singapore, in February. He's 10 years younger than me, so that make him 26 this year!

The years are flying by....