99 days To Go....

The Olympics in Beijing is just 99 days away.

My H is incredible. Well at least I think so. :)

He does not watch any sports on TV. No ball games, wrestling. Nada !

So, in 99 days I will be the one catching most of the games on TV without any fight for it from him.

Yippee !!!!

A Blistering Hot Day

Yesterday, I went to Pearl Center in Chinatown to settle the payment for my June vacation. Once that was settle I wandered around and came across this prominent landmark/building in Chinatown.


The Majestic - an old theater built in the 20's. Located between Chinatown Complex and Yue Hwa Store, along Eu Tong Sen Street. It used to hold Cantonese Operas and later on movies.
It soon closed and was turned into a mall.

But I was surprised to see that it had shut down. So, I kaypoh a bit and asked the vendors beside this mall. They told me that someone bought over the whole building and have some plans for it.

From there I was being in a 'walking mood'. Decided to walk all the way to Armenian Street and pay a visit to the newly opened Peranakan Museum. When I made that decision it was slightly cloudy. But soon the sun decided to turn into a blistering one.

Every time I hit a bus stop along my route I will tell myself - "It is only a few more stops away, not that far...". And so I continued on. By the time I reached my destination I was perspiring +++++ and wishing I had took the bus instead.

A long queue greeted me at the the museum.

I told myself - " Forget about it ! ". I don't feel like standing in the queue after that walk.

So, where shall I go next ? Somewhere with a good air conditioning. The nearest was Raffles City. Made myself walked a few more blocks. At last I am able to escape from the sun.

With five-foot-ways such as this, it made my stroll much easier. As I was strolling along here it suddenly hit me that I should snap a picture. Before that it was too bloody hot to stop and take any pictures. Which is why there is no picture of this building; Stamford House or any between Chinatown and here.

Those large glass window displays remind me so much of those in London. Even the arch is decorated.

The lamps and beautiful carvings a long the top of the windows.

The building next to it is Capitol Building.

The Capitol Building - once a cinema turn retail outlet. They have large window display too. This building is at a cross road. While waiting to cross over to Raffles City, under shade of a tree I quickly snapped this shot.

Once I entered Raffles City the air-conditioning there was a huge welcome after the blistering heat outside. Wandered around the mall, enjoying the air-conditioning while window shopping.

Soon I my eyes spied on to this pair of walking shoes from Hush Puppies. Of course before that I had tried on many other shoes too.

Maybe just because after my long and hot trek from Chinatown I just wanted to pamper my aching feet - I bought it.

It looks red but it is suppose to be orange.


But before that I had bought this :-

Another Lumix digital camera - DMC TZ15.

It comes with a 9.1 mega pixels, compare to my FX01 which only had 6.

This camera has a 28mm wide angle lens and a long zoom - 10X (my previous one was only 3X)

Now do you see the reason why I bought it. It is compact, has a slim body even though it has such a long zoom.

Perfect for my coming trip.

By the way those earlier pictures were taken with my old camera. Only the shoes were taken with the new camera, after I had charged the battery.

Do you notice I am now shopping for things with my coming vacation in mind ?
Don't you think it is a good excuse to shop ? :)

PhotoHunt - Unique/Funny Signs

This week PhotoHunt's theme - unique/ funny signs.

I took this picture from our local 'kopi stall' /cafe - Yakun.

Locally the coffee shops here prepare their coffee with a sock (the thing the guy is holding on the left, in the poster). It is not really a sock those that we wear on our feet,but it is made from cotton. The coffee grounds are place in the sock and hot water is pour over it. It is then left to brew in a pot ( the coffee pot the guy is holding on the left, in the poster).

This method had been in use long before Starbucks ever invaded our shores.

Happy Bithday !

Today I am 40!!!!!!

I am in my 40's............Gwad..............

Where have all the years gone to ????

How did I reach here ?

Happy Birthday To Me !

My birthday wish - I hope I will be able to celebrate my next birthday with you all again.

(Pictures taken on my first Birthday).

Danger Strives In Still Water

This is part of the Dengue commercial which is on going at the moment.

Today a representative from the National Environment Agency (NEA) visited my home. They are on the look out for any Aedes larva lurking around in our home.
All this is because there has been a rise in Dengue recently. NEA is stepping up effort to curb the rising dengue cases

For those who do not know, those larva will turn into Aedes mosquitoes. And once you receive a bite from them one might end up with Dengue fever or worst Dengue Hemorrhagic fever.

NEA had put up these banners/posters around the neighbourhoods :-

Sorry no pictures of my own here because I never thought I will blogging about this at all.

When the guy came in to my flat he saw the garden in my balcony and had a double look.
He looked resign like he had a lot more work to do that just walk around and checking for any stagnant water lying around.

Anyway he went to my little garden and started poking around the pots and the plates. Luckily I cleared the water yesterday after watering them. Or else he would be taking water samples here and there. If he had come later there will be water a plenty everywhere !

After nosing around the garden he went to the bathrooms and he had that look again because there were plants in both bathrooms too. And the kitchen.....


Last year, after the discovery of a large amount of the Aedes larva in one of the nearby fishing pond in our neighbourhood. They left a black coloured container among the plants outside my door. We were not informed that it had been placed there. Quarter of it was filled with water and has this little net just over the water level.


Well, they did not inform us and I did not notice it until my boys came and told me there were water all over the floor. They had been playing football outside the house and as usual my plants were not spared. Not surprisingly they knocked the container down. I was going to blast them for wetting the floor. Because they know better than to play with water right outside the flat. It leaves behind dirty water marks on the floor and it is not fair to our neighbour too.

Anyway back to the container.....H just refilled it with tap water and left it where it was. A few days later it was gone. If they had wanted to checked for any Aedes larva it won't be accurate.

Another time, during that same period again they came knocking on the door. That time I just finished mopping the floor (still slightly wet). I opened the door for him to enter. He came in saw the slightly wet floor and did not walk in any further. He saw my balcony too but he just advised me about the danger of stagnant water...........


The point is they are not really doing their job well.

Thought Of The Day

This is a poem which I saw in one of the K dramas; My Name is Kim Sam Soon. It is from the scene where she saw this poem at the bus stop.

Here it is :-


Dance like no one is watching,

Love like you've never been hurt,

Sing like no one is listening,

Work like you don't need the money,

Live life every day as if it were your last.




Not that easy to achieve as we are so bound by the restriction of society's expectation.

Random Thoughts

On this cloudy Sunday afternoon I am sitting in front of the PC wondering what shall I blog about today. Can't think of any really interesting topic, so I am just going to write what comes in to my mind

First, yesterday while I was out about in town, wandering around the wine section of Carrefour. I noticed the price tag for this liqueur - Moutai. It comes with a price tag of $100.

What !!!!! And here we are thinking that it smells like sewer water. Really, it does. The first time we broke the seal and opened up the bottle our first impression of it was it stinks ! It has a mild sourish taste to it too.
This bottle of Moutai was bought by Father during one of his trip to China. I must asked him how much it cost the next time I see him ?
If you checked with Google, Moutai is one of the three world famed spirits and was used to entertained a US president once.

Frankly I do not know what the fuss is all about because it stinks of the 'longkang', sewer.

Next, my wandering around town brought me to Sungei Road. A street famed for it second hands goods. Notice what I saw in the over crowded fish tank ?

A potty ! Does anyone want a second hand potty ?





That was yesterday. Today I will show you how much my grey matter has degress since I became a SAHM.



This is the novel I am reading at the moment.

My boy's novel which he got from the bookstore recently.

Why am I reading that ? Because it is lying around the house and I am in the mood to read something other than my romance novels. Plus I paid good money for it. So I figure that I have the right to read it too. A book is a book isn't it ???

This here is a piece of work I had just finished recently. The letter M with three monkeys clinging all over it. That describe me perfectly. I too have three monkeys all over me. Second, my name starts with the letter M. Third, my three are just as banana crazy as those three monkeys. #1 always up to some tricks, #2 with his rounded tummy after a meal of chicken rice (his favourite) and #3 still clinging to my legs when he want to act cute. Plus according to the Chinese zodiac I am also a monkey. :)


Lastly, my ramblings brings me to the K drama I am now following :- The Legend / The Story of the First King’s Four Gods.
The DVD came out sometime ago but it came with Mandarin subtitles. After waiting for some months, at last I found one with English subtitles.
I did checked the net and I can't find any on-line movie/drama watching sites that comes with English subtitles. So I bought the DVD. H said if I am a bit more patient I will soon be watching it on line. But then I am never that patient.

The drama has Bae Yong Jun as the lead actor. I am not a big fan of him but some how I am hooked on this drama. It is a period drama with 24 episodes with lots of special effects. A rather good drama and it is not because of that Bae dude. Its theme song is nice.

So here are my ramblings for this weekend. Thank you for trudging along with me when I am sure you have other better sites to go to.

Have a great weekend.

Photo Hunt - Thirteen

Thirteen of us from various parts of Malaysia. The 13th person being behind the camera. For most of us, meeting for the first time in this foreign land, forging a friendship in an old colonial hostel that lasted 20 years.

I can't think of any thing for this weeks theme. Dug out an old picture taken during one of my carefree days in 1989.

This is another one of my favourite picture from those bygone years. I am still in contact with most of the girls. One have left us for good and three others are working overseas.

20 years..... come to think of it longer than I have been in Malaysia.

Why Pay More ????

This was one of the head lines it today's' papers. " Why pay more ? "

In fact if you had been following the news in Asia, the price of rice have gone up and up and up in the recent weeks. It has been reported that it is due to the increase in the world's demand for rice, poor harvest and rising cost of production. The price increase and the fear of shortage of rice had lead to the consumers rushing to buy rice.

It was also reported in the papers that with the increase price or not, "Singaporeans do not seem to mind paying for what they regard as superior rice" ; quote from the papers. They also put up a column in the next page to compare the price of four famous Chicken Rice outlets.

One of them mentioned was Chatterbox in Meritus Mandarin.

(Courtesy from Google)

I must really ' Thank you ' H for bringing me to sample Chatterbox's Chicken Rice long, long ago. During one of our dates. I must say that the Chicken Rice then was real good.

Because of the present price tag - $21.50 on weekdays and $23.50 on weekends. GST (tax) and service not included.
H will not set foot in to that restaurant again. When he can get the same version at a much cheaper rate in our neighbourhood. Less than $10 for that set of Chicken Rice.

You see, the Chatterbox's ex chef (Chicken Rice expert) was retrenched many moons ago. He opened a stall at the food center in our neighbourhood. Just a few minutes away from our place.

The question is , which one will you choose ?

Chatterbox with it's nice ambience's and good service or chicken rice from a neighbourhood food center. By the way it is located in Downtown East.

We have tried the Chicken Rice from the food center and H commented that it was as good as Chatterbox's. I said it was so, so. Maybe that day there was a long queue at that stall and they did not prepare the rice up to standard. Anyway that was my opinion because the next time I tried it it was good (no queue).

H said we are fooled by the ambience's. Comparing the ambiance and service at a 5 star hotel and a food center.

His advice is to 'tah pau' (take away) from the food center and stick two candles at your home dining table, a bottle of wine or coke ( for the boys) from the supermarket and you have your ambiance.

So, will you pay more for your Chicken Rice fix ????????


Another article from the today's papers caught H's attention.

Big Sue - a painting of a large sized sleeping woman by Lucien Freud. It is being auction by Christie's in New York. And it is likely to fetch millions. Not that we have that amount of money to spare. Do you really want that picture hanging around your house ? But then if you are trying to lose weight 'Big Sue' can be a motivation.

H mentioned that I will look like that if I have too much Chicken Rice or if I don't watch out !!!!.

Nice.......

Jokes

This was from my email and I would like to share with you all.

This story is a about a guy who goes to a police station to make a report and here is the beginning of the story

Man:- Hi sir, I would like to complain about one of your police officer, who have assaulted me at the cafe.
Sergeant:- Can I have your name please ?
Man:- Batman.
Sergeant:- Batman ?
Man:- Yes, Batman.
Sergeant:- You trying to be funny is it ?
Man:- No.
Sergeant:- Than what is your father's name ?
Man:- Superman
Sergeant:- Hey,you trying to be funny is it ?
Man:- No.
Sergeant:- You are telling me that you are BATMAN, the son of SUPERMAN ?
Man:- Yes.
Sergeant:- You really too much you know, I can charge you for this offence for lying your name to an officer. Show me your IC ( Identity Card ).

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By the way I have booked our trip to Siem Reap departing on 8th June. We will be flying on a budget airline; JetStar. H's reasoning was " no point paying nearly double what we are paying for when the journey is only for two hours". The ever practical and cost saving H.

Angkor Wat. I Am Coming.....

Do know what I was doing the whole evening ????

I was surfing the www for info on Angkor Wat.

Yes, Yes, Yes.....My long awaited holiday destination !!!!

Hopefully after my holiday my pictures will turn out as good as the one you see here (courtesy of Google). I am already counting the number of memory cards I need for this trip. I am sure there will be lots of pictures, good and bad ones. Don't want to spoilt the holiday with not enough space in my memory cards do I ? :)

H and I will be going to the travel agent tomorrow morning to find out the details and if it is OK .... book our holiday !

We will be bringing #1 along since he did quite well in his PLSE last year. A promise I made with him that we will bring him somewhere on a plane if he does well in his exams.
Note :- he did not specify the location when he agreed to our bride.
So I chose the spot where I want to go the most (within our budget that is).
Yup, I am a very devious Mum.

Anyway this year, in Sec 1 the Asian Civilization is in his history books. Jayavarman or something. See I can still remember some of the contents from my Secondary school history books. Really, no cheating here. I did not look into his books or I got this from the www.

Since my history teacher introduced us to the Khmer's civilization (years ago ) I have been fascinated by Angkor Wat. A lost city found deep in the jungle. Hmmm...it is not really in a jungle anymore. It is right smack next to modern civilization now.

Although I found it real boring that time trying to memorize all those dead Kings/rulers that have nothing to do with me. I remembered she told us the trick to master history is to read it as if it is a story book. I remembered she mentioned Mills & Boons. That was what most of us girls (especially me) were interested in then. Not those long ago dead guys in those dry, boring history books.

H and I plan to pay a visit during this mid year school holidays. Of course the plan includes a babysitter for the other two which we are not bringing along.
Roped in Mother. She agreed but I need to inform her early. I tell you, this lady has a calendar which is filled with more appointments than mine.

Now, you are wondering why we are not bringing the other two boys along. So pour thing left behind, right ?

Well, the reasons are :-

• #2 is a real fussy eater. No spicy or seafood or any weird or out of ordinary looking food. Plus I bride him with something else for his PLSE. Hopefully he will work towards it.
• #3 is still young and he won't really comprehend all those cultural exploration that we are going to do. Although he is not fussy with his food, he eats like a bird and take ages to finish up his smaller than smaller portion of food.

Excuses, excuses.......

Actually H and I just want a second honeymoon. It had been ages since we've been anywhere just the two of us. Honeymoon with a kid along ? Well, I did promise #1 a trip. Must always keep our promises made to them. One of those bringing up kids thingy that counselors always advises parents.

When we told the boys about our decision and plans for this coming holiday, #2 went 'Yeah !', once he heard that his grandfather will be here. That means he will be stuffed with noodles and fried rice as much as he wants. #3 said he will be able to play on the computer the whole day. H replied that he will bring the modem along on our trip. "No, lah you are only joking. Really ????"

Now I can't wait to finalise our bookings. And start all those climbing in and out and examining the bas relif of Angkor Wat.

Er..... I read that there are lots of mosquitoes around too. Looks like insect repellents are the next thing on my to buy list.

Swensens With My Boys

Brought the boys to Swensens for their ice cream fix. Ahem...of course mine too. :)

Another sinful delight of mine.

My three monkeys waiting for their ice cream. Why can't they ever pose for a good picture ? Most of the time they are real camera shy - hiding behind the menu. Other times they will do monkey faces and laugh their head off.

Only #3 was willing to pose.
#1 deciding on what flavours to have on their Earthquake.
#2 - Please stop !!! No pictures.
Here comes the EarthQuake - eight scoops of assorted flavours in a big bowl. Yum, yum....

Heart On Fire

What a surprise H gave me on our anniversary. Other than bringing back two bottles of wine. He gave me what I had been longing for.

A diamond ring ! Yeah at last ! I was so surprised that I was speechless. Gave him a big, big hug and kiss. Not a one carat stone (we will be eating air if he had bought that).

A 0.03 carat Hearts On Fire, solitaire from Tianpo. So, how does it looks on my finger ? Do not resemble the size of a 'pei zee', eh ? In other words it is not that small that I need to squint to look at it.

It came with a cert, a description of the diamond and so on. See here to find out why my heart is on fire.

I have always want a solitaire from him. Every time we pass by a gem store I will be drawn to their big window display. And every time I will look longingly at them. Of course I have diamond rings and earrings. Most of them were given to me by my Mother or Grandmother. Personally I have bought one or two items with my own savings but nothing as big as that. Actually I was waiting for him to buy me one. With me dropping lots of hints thorough out the 16 years.

His reply will always be - it is a waste of money, can't jolly eat them, what's so fascinating about a piece of carbon or wait until we are more financially sound. A practical man, my H. And I am not unreasonable if I don't have the rock I want. I know how he is and what our situation is like. But I had told myself once we reach our 20th anniversary, by hook or by crook I will drag him into a gem store.

After all the ooh.... and ahhh... and all the kisses and hugs he told me this was is most smallest and most expensive item he had ever purchased.

Love you, H.

PhotoHUnt - Glass

For this week's theme I chose the glasses I use to drink Maotai or Soju. They use to belong to my Mother's and now it grace my glass cabinet.

Nothing fanciful. Just plain old glass with some sentimental value to them.

Couple Time

Being married, we as a couple have many things to consider. With the arrival of the boys, couple time has been cut from half to quarter to one eighth.

So today/ tonight I am going to spend some time with my significant other. ^_^

Happy 16th Anniversary to us.

P.S. - No need lacy, sexy lingerie.

My Grandfather's House

This is my paternal Grandfather. He came from China to seek his fortune and built his home in one of the settlements in the Kinta Vally, Perak.

This was his house in Menglembu. Father and I paid a visit last year.

Father brought me there before. Many many years ago. That time we walked around the house and did not enter it. Since it is now residence to some employees or other. I still remember he said it was not nice to intrude into their home. Other times we will drive pass by the house when we drived down to Menglembu.

But this time I asked him if we are able to enter and surprisingly he nodded his head. I did not expect him to agree.

I think he too wants to see the inside of the house he grew up in. There were two ferocious looking dogs barking at us as we approached the front of the house. An Indian man came out a and greeted us. Father explain to him the purpose of our visit.

The house is a typical house built during the colonial era. Three halls, rooms up stairs and many more rooms at the back of the house. Kitchen and bathrooms away from the main house and rooms.

After viewing the slide you can see that the house is in a very sorry state.

The tenant had put up partitions in the main hall. Looks like a family is staying there. The man who greeted us is the guy who showed us a round. Lets call him the 'house keeper' since he had the keys to all the doors.

The rest of the rooms behind the main house ( still part of the main house ) are occupied by others, mostly single males. Up stairs and the second hall is unoccupied.

There is a man staying what used to be the ancestor hall. We wanted to go further into the third hall but it was locked. By then the 'house keeper' had opened the side door to the second hall. The lock to this door was so rusty. No one must have opened it for ages.

I don't know what to expect behind those doors. Once the door was opened it was total darkness. Took us a while for us to adjust to the darkness and all those dust that were flying around when the door was opened. You can see some spots on the pictures taken in the second hall. Those were the dust flying about. The doors to the main and third hall is locked/blocked.

We hesitated to go in but not my boys. They were excited. A new place for them to explore. I remember one of them wondering if there are any spiders around. They ran up the stairs in darkness. Disturbing the dust again.

The housekeeper came back with a torch when he saw that we wanted to go in. Our parents slowly made their way up those stairs. Surprisingly the stairs are still in good condition. The steps are solid, firm with no creaks or any loose boards anywhere. By the time I accompanied our parents up my boys were already running from room to room.

Once we reach upstairs it was not as dark as down stairs. Our guide opened the windows for us. He told us it used to house some employees too but not now. Father told us that the ladies of the house and one of his brother and his family used to stay upstairs.

In one of the rooms we saw a carcass and some seeds littering the floor. One of the rooms had a bar across the door. I guess it is not safe to enter. Another room has a big board over a section of the floor. The guide stamped his feet on it and told us not to be afraid.

Soon we made our way downstairs with the boys running ahead of us again. To reach the back of the house we need to walk outside the house to get to the back. There is a small stream behind the house. Father calls it a stream. It looks like a longkang (drain ) to us. It is littered with rubbish. There used to be a stone bridge but it had been replaced by a metal grill.

The condition at the back of the house looks more pleasing to the eye. The dinning hall is here, an opend place that used to accommodate three big tables with a long table (buffet style dinning) and a grandfather clock which disappeared after the war. The roof here has a big hole in it. Father also pointed out the porch where lessons were held for them.

The male quarters was where our grandfather and his sons stayed. (His wives will come to the old man from upstairs). ^_^

This section is better maintained and clean maybe because there are families staying there. Father showed us his room and who and who slept here and there. His father's room is just opposite his (better to keep watch on him, I think). Again the exit to the kitchen are blocked from here.

Next we walked to the the kitchens and bathrooms. They are located together. I forgot to asked where the toilet is. Anyway there are a bathroom each for the opposite sex - male and female, with the kitchen in the center.

That's the end of the tour. All of us were quiet except for the boys.

While walking back Father suddenly told us our Grandfather's funeral wake was held there (see the slides). The actual grounds are much bigger than what we saw now. The wall you see the in pictures was not there. It was put up after some of the land had been sold off. There was a big garden in front and back of the house. What we see now is just a faction of the actual size.

So, Sis, what do you think ? Sad isn't it ?

Our Grandfather built this house so that his whole family and their next generation and so on will continue to stay there. I don't think he ever dreamed it will come to this state.

According to the guide we are the only ones who had paid a visit to the house. The house still belongs to the now defunct estate.

After all this time I can still remember clearly the condition of the house. I wonder how does Father sees it. I bet he still sees it as a grand house filled with family members and servants. To me I see it as an abandon house, forgotten by it 's family members.

New Car

Not ours but our parents.
Just received the news from Father. They have bought a new car which was delivered today. He paid RM48K for it after trading in the old car.




A Proton Waja Campro 1.6.
Dark blue in colour.
Amblanstant complained why of all colours he chose that colour. It looks black and dust can been seen clearly on it !!!
He actually bought the car last month but had to wait for its delivery. Why ??
Knowing him he will just grab any car with any number available at the moment.
The reason for the wait was because CH bought Father to the car dealer and choose a beautiful number for him.
AGK 7898.