Welcoming 2009

Another year, another milestone.
This year, I plumbed the depths of depression, and grudgingly accepted help to get me out of it. SF and the chest physician must have spotted things not right with me. Psychologist Paul J's help was invaluable.
This year, Kayrin turned five. And I have yet to give her a sibling. I alternate between telling myself to give up and to seek medical help before it's too late.
This year, she started kindy full time. Snagged herself her first boyfriend. And caught hand, foot and mouth disease (not from him).
This year, SF and I started our breakfast dates. Friday morning, with wantan mee and tea, we talked without the interference of a 5-year-old who must know everything.
This year, SF fulfilled his pledge to take his kid to Disneyland. We holidayed in Hong Kong, Kijal/Terengganu, Melaka and Penang. I realized then that home is best.
This year, we committed to the biggest debt we've taken on -- a new home.
This year, I marked the second anniversary of Woan's passing, and realized that I could still cry when I think of her.
This year, I resolved to be nicer to my mom. And stayed thankful for all my sisters.
This year, I had a new boss at work, and started thinking about cutting back on working hours. (No fault of the boss!).
This year, I learned to post photos from my mobile phone to blog, and how to touch up pix.
This year, SF and I fought hard. And loved each other to greater depths. Or at least I know I have.
This year, we ate more at home than ever because SF re-discovered the joys of cooking.
This year, we became brave enough to use our pressure cooker for the first time. First time since we bought it in Singapore in March 2005.
This year, I worked out resolutely at the gym and cut my cholesterol level to the lowest in three years. And I ate oat every day. Almost.
This year is coming to an end. In nine hours or less.
Next year, I want to nudge SF a bit harder to get to the gym, be a more-relaxed, lots-more-fun mummy and be happy!
Happy New Year, all.

Carousel

Carousel
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin's favourite ride is at the IOI Mall. We hardly allow her to have kiddy rides but at this place, SF indulges her. For 2 ringgit, she gets quite a few rounds on this carousel that seems like something out of the movies.

Another Flat

21/12/08
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

When it rains, it pours. About a month after a big gash on one of the back tyres, I had another puncture. This time, I was at the office. A kind soul left this note on my car windscreen. Had I not seen this, I would have driven out of the office carpark. The tyre on the driver's side was flat as a pancake. Last round it was the other side's. AAM came to the rescue because the last round's tyre-changer was in a meeting. There was quite some heated exchanges between us because I was aghast that I had to find my way home after dropping the car at the workshop past 8 p.m. SF turned up in the end.
And thankfully, too, this time it didn't cost me the 1,031.90 ringgit like the previous incident.
It was a mere 32.55 ringgit, to patch what a screw had damaged. The amount had also included a 15 ringgit car wash, so all in, not too painful on my pocket during these recession-hit times.

No Sweat

Some ladies at the gym head off after their yoga classes without showers. I've always had to have a shower, no matter how late I am in getting back to work. With sweat dripping down at every class, how was I to just "dry-clean" this body and put the office attire on. Today, I broke with routine. I traipsed into a different instructor's class and Cedric isn't the kind to drive you through yoga as if it's a cardio session. He instead tells you to "meld your heart", "lengthen the sides of your chest."
Mind you, it was quite difficult to do that. Got to focus on every bit of your body to know what to do. But it was a sweat-less session for me. So, after washing the hands, applying some deodorant and combing the hair, I was back at work ;)
Certainly not as gratifying as a yoga class that makes me sweat, but still good enough to keep me from nodding off at the desk.

Concert

Concert
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin's first concert. Held at the Sri KL private school's hall, we had a good laugh seeing kids gyrating to the Ketchup song on stage.

KLCC Park

KLCC Park
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin and I had our girls' day out on Nov. 26, 2008, and she decided she wanted to go to the KLCC Park, her favourite in this city. The place was full of kids as it was the year-end school hols. This was taken via my Nokia N78, and posted via Flickr. Trying to get a bit tech-savvy here, as you can see. This isn't the original photo. It's been tinkered with, using Picnik.

Ogres

This morning, I started calling Kayrin 'ogre ogre.' What about mommy?, I asked. Mommy ogre, she replied. And daddy, I asked. 'Bad ogre.'

Tyres and Trains

It takes being on the other side of the pasture to realize that your side is often greener. Today, I had to take the train in to work after dropping the car at the workshop, following a tyre puncture last night, and boy, was I unhappy in the RapidKL two-carriage coaches. A lady kept coughing and snifling hard, right into my left ear. The snorting noise made by the young lady in her 20s was driving me crazy. I certainly didn't fancy catching a cold from her. What's worse, she was standing close to me and refusing to get the hint from my stares that she moves away because on the other side was a man. Now I appreciate my personal airspace in the A-class. And to think, I was grumbling each day about having to drive myself to and from work.
The car passenger side's back tyre took on a big gash last night. Must have been the pothole along the Bukit Jalil Highway. Damn DBKL. If I had more time, I'd be claiming the costs of the two 16-inch Continental 195/55 treads from them. Joe from Cycle & Carriage just rang. That would be 800 ringgit. Well, could have been worse. I could have been stranded, could have driven off the road.
Thank goodness there was Shaw Feng at home. I wouldn't fancy being the damsel in distress at the road side at 7:30 p.m., waiting for help on tyre change. I totally have no idea how to change a tyre. OK, I do. A bit. Jack the car up and remove the tyre and plug on a new one. I've never done it. May be there's a course I can go to. May be I should read the manual. Thankfully, Shaw Feng knows how. I know how to call for help. I rang the Mercedes breakdown service. But they couldn't come! Thank goodness for Shaw Feng. The poor fella, who had to work in the drizzle on the car porch last night, deserves a big hug. Or a big bowl of Hokkien mee.

HTC-Less But With Loads of Supplements

I lost my three-month-old HTC Diamond phone on Oct. 31, a nightmare. I inadvertently left it behind in my haste to get out of the gym. Realising my loss 3 minutes later didn't help. The phone had been switched off by the time I rushed back to the gym. But I didn't dare go on and on about it at home. It was, after all, a present from Shaw Feng. Normally, my way of getting through such stuff is to talk it to death. You know, where I berate myself, curse the thief, wonder how I could be so careless, thump my fist at the dishonesty of some people, then scold myself somemore, etc. You get the point. That's pretty cathartic. It exorcises the pain. This time, I kept quiet, telling myself that Paul the psychologist would ask me to ponder changing my actions. I thought it worked quite well. And then a weekend after the incident, Shaw Feng sarcastically remarked that my loss didn't seem to hurt me. Aha! He's so used to my nagging, talking self that a change like that seemed to indicate I wasn't upset with the loss.
Anyway, amidst the handphone loss, which happened in the gym, I won a prize for being one of the top three gym-goers for September and October. The prize -- loads of Blackmores supplements. Supplements are no replacement for a lost phone but at least it's some form of consolation. Now, time to get used to using a Nokia again.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Kayrin caught HFMD over the long Deepavali weekend and what agony it was for the little girl. My heart breaks. Ulcers lined the inner sides of her cheeks, dotted her tongue and were on her upper and lower lips. She cried out in pain everytime water came in contact with her.
It all started with Kayrin telling me over the phone, as I was driving home, that she was feeling sick. She threw up as soon as I arrived home at about 8 p.m. We brought her to a pediatrician's clinic (not her regular one), and she threw up twice more at the clinic. Suspecting it was stomach flu, the doc noted that she has lots of ulcers in her mouth plus quite a high temperature of about 39 Celsius. But with no spots on her hands or feet, he said it wasn't HFMD.
On Saturday, when showering her, I cleaned her tongue. Kayrin screamed in pain. That was really awful. Her fever seems to have abated that day. But by Sunday morning, she was in such agony that we brought her into the A&E at Sunway Hospital. The doc gave OralAid, a lignocaine mouth drip, paracetamol and told us to give her warm salt gargle. Wrong thing when her ulcers were so huge. Poor Kayrin didn't want anymore of the rise after I forced it on her twice. By Sunday evening, she had refused all food and drink. Her grandmother made her way home to feed Kayrin. That night, reading on the Web about HFMD, I realized that dehydration was the biggest enemy.
To feed Kayrin water, which she refused to even sip, we used a plastic syringe and `pumped' water into her mouth throughout the night. Deepavali (a Monday) was spent at home, catching up on sleep. By then, Kayrin was scratching her toes a second night.
Come Tuesday morning, I drove Kayrin to her usual pediatrician, Dr. Wong May Foong, who immediately diagnosed Kayrin as having HFMD and pointed out the spots/vesicles on her fingers and toes.
At the clinic was also Kayrin's classmate, Law Yen Kay, who also complained of pain in the mouth. The two of them were among the three who have caught HFMD in the class of Sakura B at Tadika Prima Ceria.
I've gone really paranoid as a result of Kayrin catching HFMD. I asked Ida the maid to wipe all doorknobs with soap, constantly clean the fridge handle, especially after Shaw Feng showed me an article on dirty hands and door handles.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Kayrin started asking for food again. A good sign. And she was ordering me to scold her daddy for being a bad guy. I shouldn't have married a bad guy, she said.

Overcoming Cough

Very happy that I'm almost winning the battle with this cough in a short period. Two weeks. Short for me because I've often battled cough for months. And this round, what works? I can't quite tell, but here's a list of what I did, with much encouragement, or scolding ;), from Shaw Feng.
1) Gargle warm salt water, more than three times a day during the worst of the cough.
2) Use Sterimar nasal spray morning and night.
3) Eat no deepfried food, no pears and no chicken and eggs. All advice from the TCM doctor. And yes, eat no vegetables during dinner.
4) Take garlic pearls, on the advice of colleague Ryan.
5) Get lots of sleep.
6) Avoid travel to Singapore for crazy weekend party (best decision made for me by SF this round).
7) Continue with gym routine as per usual. Actually, I stepped up my exercise quota, going for a second yoga class in a week.

Thank God for this quick recovery. And I avoided Singulair too. whoo-hoo!

Blast From the Past

Bruce Springsteen's `Dancing in the Dark' came on air this morning and I resolved to look up the lyrics when I drove into the office. That means going onto Google, typing `Dancing in the Dark lyrics', and pop here they are.
But I remember the days when I wanted lyrics. It means playing the cassette on dad's Aiwa player, with pen and paper ready, and fingers quick enough to go on the stop/pause-rewind-play button! Stop to write, then replay for bits I've missed or couldn't catch, then play again.
And if I wanted to listen to a song, it means calling in to Double RB the Australian radio station broadcasting out of Telok Air Tawar in Butterworth, or writing to Janet Ambrose of Radio Four or Blue Channel before that.
These days, it's not even about buying the CDs. It's "Sweetheart, please download for me" or You-tubing it.
What a change two decades made.

To Exercise or Not

When a cold strikes, I lie low. No exercising. No hitting the gym. Just meander around in the office and feel miserable.
This round, I've decided to try otherwise. That means still crawling to the gym, sweating it out on the cardio machines for about 20 minutes, my usual. OK, may be I've cut back a bit on the weights. Let's see how I fare this round. A longer recovery? A shorter one?
What do you do when you catch a cold? Break from your usual routine?

Short Break

Melaka always seemed a boring place to me. Too commercialized. Recently, however, I've been wanting to see Melaka again. I haven't explored enough. We took the opportunity to do that on Oct. 1-2, the Raya weekend. It coincided with Heng Hou and Ai Wei being in Melaka too. Ai Wei, whom we met for the first time, is a Malaccan and gamely took us to Amy's for Nyonya food and to Min Sheng Hygienic Ice Cream.
Amy's served up wonderful chicken pong-teh, we were told but they'd run out by the time we got there for lunch at about 1 p.m. Only complaint was that food was slow in being served. Kayrin kept asking for the arrival of food, a rarity.
Min Sheng's cendol was a real nice one to tuck into on a hot day. I'd say it's the best cendol I'd gotten in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia.
Being in Melaka when a quarter of Malaysia and half of Singapore descended on it could be quite taxing if you aren't from KL. well, KL-ites have seen worse. What's worse than being stuck in a 500 meter underground tunnel leading from the KLCC carpark for an hour?
Kayrin, after many hours of enduring me pointing out ancient buildings and monuments to her, had this to say about Melaka: Why is everything so old in Melaka?

Princess for a Day

Kayrin saw a temporary studio at the lobby of the Giant hypermarket one weekend last month, when we were out shopping. She was adamant she had her glamour shots taken! We had to make our way back to that studio as it was too long a queue that day. Heck, I wouldn't be dragged into such shots as a kid. Well, my one and only time doing such shots were for the wedding in 2001. I must say I had fun. Now, to figure out how to upload those shots into digital beings and get them up here.
In the meantime, here's Kayrin playing princess. Shaw Feng and I were thoroughly amused she was so game at sitting through the experience.

Crocs

Kayrin got her first pair of Crocs from Singapore in 2005, before they were launched in Malaysia. Her pair, in fuchsia pink, didn't last her very long as she outgrew them quite fast. But that was the start of her love affair with Crocs. We've bought her no other shoes since then. Getting her second pair, the turquoise ones in Penang's Komtar, and the subsequent red Mary Janes in Isetan, we've gone on to accumulate pairs and pairs from her from Hong Kong, when I travelled there for my team meeting in 2007 and discovered that they are at least 30% cheaper there.
Crocs are great for kids. They are washable, and seeing how quickly kids dirty their shoes, they are a wonder. And there's no need to wear socks too. As a parent, that's a jump in glee for me. No need to struggle with finding a pair of socks and making the kid stick her feet out calmly while I'm already running late.

Kayrin's Retort

Last night, after a tense evening of making Kayrin memorise the five words for her weekly spelling (moth, fish, ship, shop, thin), the little girl told me over the phone that there was no test today.
"Told you no need to practise," she said.

Headstand

I went onto my first headstand at yoga class today! Woo-hoooo. And to think, that after more than a year of practising yoga, I'd never be able to do that. I did it twice too. Very invigorating. Must try again tomorrow! Of course, it's not a pure headstand. I had to have the wall to lend me some support. ;)
Still. My achievement for the day, the week.
Now, if only I can go into the full-wheel pose.

Zimbabwe, Myanmar...Malaysia

The Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia has decided it has to be up there in the ranks witb Myanmar and Zimbabwe, stifling voices of dissent with draconian laws. Malaysians were dismayed when a journalist, a blogger and an opposition MP were arrested on Sept. 12 under the ISA, which allows for detention without trial for up to two years.
The anger from the ground comes from the government speak that this was done on the wishes of the majority, as the home minister attests to.
We're mere citizens, going about our lives, but we don't want to be treated as idiots. We don't want to be hoodwinked into thinking there is racial tension when it's cracks within the ruling political parties that the current government wants to mask. Let our voices be heard. Let the anger seethe. Let us not forget. Let us stand united.

Lying to a 5-Year-Old

I can no longer lie very much to Kayrin, who's all of 5 years and 7 months now. Snippets of our conversation in the past month:

In the car..
me: Kayrin, look over there..see those policemen and the guys they've stopped. Do you know why? It's because they won't put on their seat belts.
Kayrin: Motorbikes don't have seat belts.
(Great, those two mat rempits were on a kapchai)

In the bathroom, while I was brushing my teeth and Kayrin was standing on the covered toilet bowl.
me: Kayrin, please don't play with daddy's shaving foam. He'll be furious.
Kayrin: But what does it say here? How do we use it?
me: I don't know. I don't shave.
Kayrin: But you do. You shave your armpits.
(Next time I'd better do all that in the privacy of the office loo).

Awana Kijal

Awana Kijal in Terengganu was fun. The fine, pristine sandy beach a pleasure to be on in the evenings. (Too hot to even venture there after 10 a.m.). The turtle-release event that was part of turtle conservation was a real treat for Kayrin. It was done at about 8:30 p.m. the night we arrived, Aug. 20. In pitch dark, it was difficult to see much but what a mini-adventure it was for Kayrin to be traipsing on the beach without much lighting, except for daddy's cell phone light.
I'd say Awana Kijal is worth venturing out to, despite the almost five-hour journey which includes a lunch stop in Kuantan.
There were two Chinese restaurants and a KFC outlet within a 5-minute walk from the resort and that made mealtimes very easy. Our lunch and dinner ranges between 35 ringgit and 50 ringgit each. Not bad. The kind of price we pay in KL.
Great four-day break in Awana. Total cost, a bit below 1,000 ringgit for a room with a roll-away bed and buffet breakfasts for all three of us.
The point of holidays, as I re-discover, is how nice the home is. Nothing beats having..
1) Air-cond thermostat that needs no fiddling
2) Pillow with just the right firmness
3) Lighting that doesn't need you to wake up in total darkness
4) And knowing which side of the bed to roll out from.
Welcome home!

Terengganu

Ahh, the beach at Terengganu, here we come! We haven't had a beach holiday for so long. The last one must have been in Penang, and that was almost two years ago. Wow. We went to Cameron Highlands this time last year, went to Hong Kong in March. Finally, the seaside again. It will be the Awana Kijal. Looks pretty from its Web site. And it has the Taman Sari spa. Oooh..that's more important than any food outlets. It's a branch of the Taman Sari under Mustika Ratu in Jakarta. I'm a big fan of the Taman Sari in the Indonesian capital. Yes, I even memorised how to tell the cab driver to get there: Jalan Wahid Hasyim, menghala Tanah Abang.
That's how big a fan I am. Used to religiously go when I was travelling to Jakarta. These days, I can't even find time to go to Phillip Wain at Jalan Raja Chulan for a massage. Then again, these days I have a 5-year-old to keep me floored with her antics.

Weak in the Presence of Beauty

This Alison Moyet song makes me close my eyes, and right away I get transported into the 80s. It's not corny like Duran Duran's The Reflex (that's sure to get me blasted by fans of Simon LeBon, Andy Taylor, et al. Try listening to this Moyet song again if you haven't heard it awhile. Could even bring tears to your eyes. May be I'm just old and sentimental.

Three As and Three Es

I'm making this my mantra for now, where SF is concerned. It was given by Paul J, someone I go to to reflect on my doings, my behaviour, myself. Paul says:
Increase the 3 As:
Action
Attention
Affection
..and reduce the 3 Es:
Ego
Expectations
Emergency (or urgency).
These should make me a better partner. I crave attention but am I giving the same? The not-so-nice bit about me is that, I also have huge expectations when I give affection or attention. If I remember these 3 As and 3 Es, I'd be better to live with, I hope. So let me report back on this two or three months down the road. That's how long before I forget my resolve, based on the frequency of rows at home!

The Clever One at Home

When it comes to numbers, I win at home. So far, anyway. I know my mathematics. But when it gets to survival, SF wins handsdown.
Food: SF whips up lunches and dinners when he's home. When he's not, Kayrin has to eat tuna-in-rice for both meals.
Baby: SF kept Kayrin and I well fed, after my mom left for home following a six-week stay with us in Singapore following Kayrin's arrival. He single-handedly did the marketing, cooking and washing. All I could do then was profer my breasts to Kayrin. I always consider the 13-month breastfeeding part to be my biggest achievement.
Baby-food: SF cooked all of Kayrin's lunch as she was weaned off milk full time. All I could do was squeeze breastmilk into a cup of cereal the one time I was at home with her alone. Well, at least it was fresh and warm. I didn't have time to warm up the breastmilk from the fridge after having to bathe her that morning.
And yesterday, SF stunned me once more. I've been working on pairing my Bluetooth earpiece with the HTC Diamond phone he gave me for my birthday. I tried it at work, tried it at home. I really did try!
SF took over, and within 2 minutes, managed to make it happen. My hero! Ya, anyone reading this is going to think me a tech idiot. Don't think I am but my spouse just happens to be smarter, of course.
He ties knots really well too. Me, well, I couldn't even name the one I use to tie up shopping bags.

Your Spouse, Your Friend

Do you see your spouse as your friend? We all started as friends, but how many, after grandly and happily signing on the dotted line, think of the other half as the best friend?
It's a nice, warm feeling inside when we first get to use "my husband" or "my wife" in conversations. Then it all gets too ingrained in us all. And so the friend faded into the background as our role as the husband or wife comes to fore.
Here's for you:

A friend's message gets promptly replied,
My text messages fly out of sight;
A friend's birthday greetings makes you pleasantly surprised,
Mine -- I wasn't even sure it arrived;

A hotel's birthday cake was a delight; worth a mention to all alike,
Mine, the night before, was perhaps a little too slight;
While waiting to get onto the clouds, you update the world on your whereabouts,
But to let me know, that's a chore you'd prefer to do without;
It's fun to comment on pictures of friends' hotels and holiday meals,
Yet too much to ask about my daily 59-minute traffic ordeal.

So here's a plea,
Perhaps you could reach for me
upon waking,
And not pick up the super-duper phone
to know what's buzzing;

Cos I'm a friend when we're biking around,
Perhaps I can still stay one now
We laughed, and each moment was treasured
as an ode to a best friend found.

New Member

We're about to welcome a new addition to the family. Right now, under our roof on weekdays, there's Kayrin's grandparents, the maid, Shaw Feng and myself. Soon, there will be Kuaci Ham-Ham, the name Kayrin has picked. I'm trying to figure out the breed. It could be a Russian dwarf hamster or a Roborovski.
I was quite adamant on getting a pair for Kayrin but thank goodness the sensible one at home (yes, SF is sometimes the less-emotional one) said one for a start is good. They can live solitary lives, these hamsters. I'm envisioning a little thing scurrying about on weekends, tree shavings all over the floor and a certain smell permeating the living room.
Now we've got to worry about Kuaci's diet (no fruits as it may get diabetes), check out where the nearest vet is (for emergencies), and having to comfort Kayrin when she loses her pet, either through death or when it runs out of the home.
So, welcome Kuaci, and may Kayrin learn responsibilities! We've already convinced her that for a hamster to want to come and live with her, there has to be no binky in sight. She still misses the pacifier, weeks after bravely giving it up on July 20, at the ripe old age of 5 1/3 years. In return for a Nintendo DS. And yes, I paid 830 ringgit to swipe that binky!

More Common Than a Proton on the Road

Here's a dootzy one for you: What's more common than a Proton on the road these days? A Vios? A City?
A Food Blog!
They are aplenty. Everyone eats, so now everyone shoots what they eat and put together strings of words to tell us what they've eaten. (Yours truly included, except I don't lug the Nikon around very much, so I don't do many food reviews). Some great blogs I've stumbled upon are: Ms. CK Lam's What2See: The Best of Penang Food (which has a friendly writer to boot), Penang Tuapui, and out of KL, A Whiff of Lemongrass (whose picture-perfect shots are enough to make me green).

Kayrin's Dream

"I had a dream last night," Kayrin told me over the phone today. "A hippopotamus ate daddy. Luckily he escaped."
Thank goodness daddy's not in a hippo-infested area. He's just in Hanoi this week.

Skin Care

As I age, the search for effective skin care becomes more pressing. Since last year, I've been using Renova. It's tretinoin, 0.05% strength. It's one of those creams, as KK my friend said, we can't recommend to everyone. Once you start, you go through the "it gets worse before getting better" phase.
There's the flaking of my skin initially. Yes, it can seem quite awful. Skin near my nose and my mouth could be easily rubbed off my face if i scrub too hard. Shaw Feng, at one point, remarked that I looked like hadn't cleaned my face properly in the morning. Eeeek.
But wait, tretinoin does exfoliate the skin or something like that. Supposed to help with acne too. And reading reviews on SmartSkinCare.com helps. It's a good site in that the articles are written in a very objective manner. Any questions I have on the latest treatment I read about in magazines, I come to this site for details and assessments. IPL, dermabrasion..they've got it covered.

July

July is a month filled with sadness and happiness. A bit oxymoronic. July 6 marked Woan's second anniversary in heaven, and we placed flowers for her at Nilai Memorial Park, where her remains are kept, on July 5. Khoon Eng and Ivan made their way there on July 6, a Sunday. It was especially hard in the days leading up to the anniversary. I kept thinking about her last days with us two years ago. Well, she's not suffering now, as Shaw Feng said.
July 12 came along and Shaw Feng was very sweet to arrange a dinner at IOI Marriott's Japanese restaurant, Midori, for all nine of us! Whoa...it was fun doing a buffett with the family, where you get to peek at what others on the table are eating. Kayrin had lots of fun with Ivan around.
And my birthday present? a HTC Touch Diamond! So, after 1 Ericsson, 4 Nokias, I've now abandoned the main brands..Thanks to the lovely, terrific gift from Shaw Feng. I promise I'll one day be posting lots of pix on this blg ;)
And July hasn't endd. There's more to come. July 31 is when Shaw Feng turns 38. Scratching my head now trying to find a place for dinner. Somewhere he, Kayrin and I can eat good food and have some fun. Any suggestions?

The Good and the Bad

I was mulling this entry for the past two days and had wanted to write solely about how awful weekends can be just before SF travels. He gets stressed and I get worked up about his not helping, and we end up having rows or simply ignoring each other. Well, it did go that way this past weekend. We snapped at dinner on Saturday. The crappy food pretending to be Penang favourites didn't help either. That was at Simply Penang at Bandar Puteri Puchong. I'm not going there a second time, that's for sure.
Today, it dawned on me that SF is one who's always there with me for family gatherings. He comes along without complaint. If this was a piece only about how awful my husband is, I'd probably get labelled a witch then!
He cooks for us most weekends. His latest venture: Tofu in minced pork, laced with Shaoxing wine. Oooh, superb!
In the previous few weeks, it was braised pork in soy sauce, with hard-boiled eggs.
As you can tell, pork is very favoured by SF.
Thanks sweetie, and Happy Birthday!

Extra Mandarin

Kayrin started her extra Mandarin classes this month. That's an additional 1/2 an hour a day, which brings her schooling hours to 12 p.m. from 11:30 a.m.
So far, the little one is enjoying it. What a relief for me! I was initially against lengthening her hours. Why torture a kid, right? But being a kiasu mom, I was also worried she wouldn't adjust to Mandarin-medium classes next year, so after speaking to the headmistress, we're doing a one-month trial. I'll speak to the little girl at the end of the month to see if she wants to continue with the classes.
She's caught on that there is some difference with the additional class.
"In class I speak English, but during pou chup (tuition), I speak Mandarin," she told me two days ago.
She's having fun so far, she said.
I am an anxious mom, ya? I worry about overloading her. I worry I'm not giving her enough lessons.
And oh, now, our evening past-time is reading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. We've finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Now, it's Prince Caspian.

Viral Fever -- Losing 3 Nights' Sleep

Kayrin developed a fever on June 24, and I no longer remember when I discovered it. It's a bit of a blur now. How can anyone blame me for my not-too-great memory when I lost three straight nights of sleep after that.
She saw Dr. Wong on June 25, I still went back to work that day. But two more nights of being awake after that, I had to call in and ask the boss for a day off. Thank goodness boss is a nice fella and I got my day off to recuperate. I slept and kayrin slept the afternoon away too after we got Augmentin, dhasalone and Piriton from Dr. Wong. What a big difference the medicine did!
So on Saturday, June 28, we went to thank Dr. Wong and her staff with a box of Belgian chocolates. All for giving mummy back her sleep!

Contact Dermatitis

I've got another theory for my cold sores -- contact dermatitis. Last week, I was rinsing my mouth twice a day with Bactidol. On the rare occassions when I use it, at SF's urgings when I complain of a sore throat, I'd get tingling sensations on the tongue. Since SF dismisses my complaints, I thought that may be it was natural to get these sensations. So last week, I just overdid it with Bactidol..and voila, here's the cold sores in full-blown stage, at least 4 lacerations on the tip of my tongue, and three more on the insides of my cheek. And 2 on the frontal part of my gums. No more Bactidol for me. People with eczema are more prone to contact dermatitis, which is an allergic reaction of sorts.

Cold Sores

Apparently I can't blame Kayrin's teacher meeting or the boss or Shaw feng for my cold sores. Not entirely, anyway. Some food trigger a breakout and most times, you inherit from your parents the tendency to develop them. I know for sure that my mom has them from time to time. Mouth ulcers are also triggered by food such as cheese and nuts.
Guess what..on Friday the 13th, I couldn't stomach the lamb served at the office lunch, so I had yoghurt with crackers smashed into them. And when that wasn't sufficient, I had my second slice of cheddar cheese with bread! That was two slices in a day after months and months of not having any cheese.
Now I'm really suffering.

Stress and Mouth Ulcers

The stress of having the boss in town, the nightly dinners with colleagues and Kayrin's parent-teacher meeting must have gotten to me. Over the weekend, I woke up with a mouth full of ulcers! Yikes. Tongue was so swollen I couldn't talk properly. There was a cold sore on my gums, on the insides of my cheeks. Wah, I haven't had it so bad for so long. This is really torture. That plus the cheese, the Jacob oatmeal crackers on Friday must have done it. Uggggghh. I'll have to try meditation to destress.

Meet the Teacher

I'm going to my first parent-teacher meeting at Kayrin's kindy tomorrow. It's quite unnerving for me. One, it means I'm really the adult here now, with someone to be responsible for apart from offering her my breast when she used to cry. So if it didn't sink in during birth that I'm now someone's mommy, if it didn't register when the Tumble Tots teacher called me "Kayrin's mum," then this could be it.
I'm anxious because it means that instead of telling the teacher how I want my daughter taught and what I want her to learn, I could be the one under the microscope for my failure as a parent.
What if measured against other parents, I'm always not there for her? What if measured against Nicodamus' mummy, I had failed to teach my cheeky one how to write? What if up against Aliyah's emak, I didn't spend enough time showing my daughter how to draw? I've always been a failure at drawing, anyway. Oh yikes, I need some sort of hand-holding at the meeting tomorrow.
And adding to my distress is Shaw Feng having to scoot off to Hanoi yesterday after my arranging for weeks for him to come along. Boy, oh boy :)
Kayrin's headmistress must have sensed my anxiety when I rang this morning, hoping I'd dreamt all this up.
"Oh, it would be good for both parents to come, not just the mom or dad," Miss Cheng said. I muttered some sort of reply about being there early.
I guess doing this is just like giving birth, no? I just have to go through the experience on my own. It's great that Shaw Feng was there to hold my hand throughout. For that, I'm so very proud of him. There are the doctors and nurses to urge you on but guess who pooped the baby out. Breathe, let the air out of the lungs, unclench the teeth. And pray for me!

A Peck on the Cheek..

A peck on the cheek
A hug for the day
A warm word to get me on my way
on this I count on to keep nerves from being frayed

A smile as a greet
A touch of the hand
A loving look makes the day end
on a sweet note, just like how we were when we began.

Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!

Gasoline Surges 41%

And so the day begins with a 41 percent jump in gasoline prices to 2.70 ringgit a liter, for the 97-RON grade. 41 percent. Ouch.
If you had been pumping 50 ringgit of gasoline into your car till yesterday, today that same amount of the liquid gold would cost you 70 ringgit.
If you had been paying 70 ringgit each time, now it's 100 ringgit.
Now, does that hurt or what.
We shouldn't be so furious, I'd say. After all, we'd been shielded from a fuel-price increase in the past two years. In Australia, prices for the drivers have surged 60 percent in the past year.
In Singapore, the 95-RON is going to S$2.186 a liter (latest info from May 23). That's 5 ringgit. So phew, we are such lucky Malaysians.
But wait, no! Just a minute. What gets my goat is the lack of options! In Singapore and Australia, one could take the train, the bus.
At the Raffles Place MRT station, changing trains mean crossing the platform, or taking the escalators to another level of the station.
Anyone been to the Masjid Jamek interchange lately? To change trains, cross the road at your own peril. Sure, there's a zebra crossing but it's not even sheltered. When it rains, I can't even cross that road without getting into puddles that are at least a few inches deep.
And taking the train means I have to rely on SF to drop me off at the station in the morning. Reasons:
(1) not safe to leave my car at the carpark if I drive there. Car could be gone when I return.
(2) not safe for me to walk alone in the carpark at 6+ a.m. or at 7+ p.m.

And not safe to take the cab on my own to head home from the train station.
So, tell me, oh wonderful ministers, have you ever had a day of commuting to work on public transportation in the Klang Valley?

Shoe Horn

We got a free shoe horn when Shaw Feng bought a pair of shoes over the weekend. Curious as a child is, Kayrin wanted to know what it's for. Aha! A chance to keep her occupied for a while, I thought. So I cleverly asked SF to show her what it's for. Five minutes passed, and having learned how the 2-footer long stick works, she goes around lightly smacking SF and I with it.
She was chanting as she did it: ``Horny, horny.''

Hong Kong

A holiday in Hong Kong in March was truly fun. Great time to be there, as the weather was cool enough to walk around without breaking into a sweat: 22 degrees Celsius during the day is what I term perfect. Kayrin had a good time, and savoured her flight and hotel stay. Thank goodness for inflight entertainment.

Here In My Home - Malaysian Artistes For Unity

A Hankering for Japanese Food

Usually it's Shaw Feng who has this desire to have Japanese food. This round, I began thinking of sushi being dipped into wasabe-laced sauce before the weekend started. And the kind dear took me out to a nice dinner at IOI Marriott's Midori to placate me. Having arrived early, we almost had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Food selection isn't as extensive as Jogoya. But I rate this a much better restaurant. There was sukiyaki with rather tender beef. The beef could have been sliced thinner though. Sushi selection was moderate. I tried the soft-shell crab sushi, and spotted at least five other types. Sashimi slices were small but fresh, Shaw Feng said. Oysters didn't give him any tummy ache the following day. There was also the tempura section, the teppanyaki section but we didn't venture there, as the both of us were still on antibiotics for our throats. Kayrin had fun munching on edamame and the dried papaya that was laid out at the dessert corner. The crowd started filtering in when were were almost done. So, it is quite popular. The cost for the two of us: about $180 ringgit. That's without any alcoholic beverage.

Would I go back? Yes, and soon, I hope!

Deworming

I used to have to take deworming medicine in primary school. I remember what it was like. We all queue up when a nurse from a nearby clinic arrives. Every student then talks about how yucky the medicine is, how difficult it is to swallow the yellow concoction. And the nurse just spoons it into the student's mouth, without changing the spoon or cleaning it!! That's the disgusting part.
Two days ago, Kayrin had hers. She's luckier. We got her a glass bottle dosage of 10 ml from her paediatrician and no spoon was involved.

YouTubing

The things we get on the Internet are amazing. Now we know who's friends of who, who's travelled the world, who's playing what games. You may like Facebook, others vote for Blogger, or Google. What's the one thing on the Web that make you say: Thank goodness someone invented that? Tell me! I say today that I'm simply happy to have..ta-dah..YouTube!
I go there and find videos of songs, listen to them about a dozen times, and if I like what's on offer, then go in search of the CD. That means asking Shaw Feng to get them for me.
It's wonderful what I've discovered. There's R.E.M.'s At My Most Beautiful. Sure to put some warmth in the cockles of your heart when you see the video.

On another note, this is being recorded for propensity, of course..
Shaw Feng, who when leaving a hotel room to check out, will scan the room thoroughly, flap the duvet, peer into the safe-deposit box, this time walked out of his Hanoi hotel room with his notebook left on the writing table! So untypical of him. Guess a month of working on a bid non-stop is taking its toll on him. Poor fella. Thank goodness he's back for some TLC now. The usual nagging from me at home and the normal dinner-time rows with Kayrin ;)

And Kayrin, this morning, upon seeing me cuddle up to Shaw Feng in bed before I go through my motions of getting ready for work (on a Sunday, ugh), started to protest. Then she caught herself.
"Oh, OK, you can make baby."

Too Busy for Mommy

I called the 5-year-old at noon to see how school was and she said:
``Stop, mommy, stop. I can't talk now. Call me back after my nap.''

I Can't Spell

Shaw Feng sent along this test. All the way from Hanoi. Try it, he said. A spelling test? Me, an editor being tested on something so trivial? Ha, I'll ace it. Or so I thought Turned out to be a humbling experience. I only mustered a 68 percent score! Go ahead, try it. Don't pause too long on each question. Good luck.

Assignment

My latest assignment from the psychologist. Write 20 sentences a day, starting with "I am." So here's part of my list for the first day..
1) I'm anal retentive
2)I'm not friendly to strangers
3) I'm very afraid of getting a terminal disease
4) I'm trying very hard to stay healthy
5) I'm worrying too much about money
6) I hate traffic snarls on the way to work and on the way home
7) I love coming to work and knowing I'm in control
8) I love having my own space, my own PC at work
9) I love yakking away with Shaw Feng on the phone
10) I love the hugs and kisses my daughter gives me every night.
11)

The Radio

Daddy: Kayrin, please switch on the radio?
Kayrin: (breaking into a song) C is for cookie.. Cookie, cookie, cookie..
Daddy: The radio. please?
Kayrin: Bzzzzz, gerrrrr, bsssssss..(radio static)

Drama Queen Conversation: Part II

Kayrin: What's that? (pointing to a bottle sitting on the sink)
Me: That's daddy's face wash
Kayrin: Ohhh..hhh..that reminds me of him. I miss him so much (and turn to crawl into her bed).

The Drama Queen

Shaw Feng's in Hanoi for a month or so, starting March 26. And about three days after he's gone, Kayrin sat moping on her bed.
"My heart broke, because I miss daddy so much."

Michael Franti -- One Step Closer to You

This acoustic version is beautiful. Take a listen. Discovered it while going through the Yoga Journal, a terrific site for yoga poses.
I've been down for far too long
Till my faith was nearly gone
I never knew somebody just like you
Could be a friend i could call my own

Till i let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart
I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery
And i believe in the miracles
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one i love

& take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
Even when i've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you

I never meant to hurt you, no
And you never meant to hurt me to
But it seems like you always do
And even though i'm scared sometimes
If ever see you fallen down
I will be the one that's there for you

So i let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart
[One Step Closer To You lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery
And i believe in the miracles
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one i love
& take one step closer to you

I just take one step closer to you
Even when i've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you

I just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you

I keep on walking to you, i'm walking
I keep on walking to you, i'm walking
I keep on walking to you, i'm walking
And i'm never going to stop

Even when i've fallen down
My heart says follow through
I'll take one step closer
I'll take two steps closer

Just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you

Penangites Rock!

Penang has terrific food. There's the delicious, juicy "or-chien" (oyster in omelette) from New World Park, ordered as soon as we got off the plane on March 8.
This island also has some old shops that transport you back to the 70's if you just stand there and stare at it.


And of course, there are the wonderful Penang friends. Heng Hou said we should get up there more often. He's right. We'll make time to be there for weekend visits. Making time is what we can do and we'll do that.


But the best has to be Penangites. They turned up at polling stations on March 8 and booted Barisan Nasional out of the island! I take my hat off to you, Penangites.

Go, Malaysians, Go

What an astounding message for the ruling coalition: We don't want your style of rule!
This, I dedicate to you. Go, Malaysians, go.

We want you to know
That we saw through your show
You failed to heed
Our pleas, our needs
So we sent you a message
Your cover we will blow

Gone are the days
When you could take it slow
Treated us as reeds
Ignored protests in the streets
And you sure are no sage
To have been blind to all that's on show.

No corruption, more security please
And our family's safety we don't kid
Our deeds
Will be recorded for all to read.

Indelible Ink Not

We Malaysians are a lucky lot. We can change our minds any time. And so it was with the Elections Commission. Those people there, being Malaysians, backpedaled on a long-thought-out decision to mark our pretty fingers with ink on polling day. All of four days before the big day too, and after spending 2.4 million ringgit on the ink imported from India. If it costs 40,000 ringgit (based on my very-smart spouse's estimate) to build a low-cost home, that's homes for 60 poor families.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Kayrin was brought by her paternal grandmother to a TCM physician for the first time yesterday, to see if there's a better treatment for her cough apart from taking steroid-laced puffs. Here's the little girl's account of what happened. All related over the phone to me.
"I went to see the Chinese doctor today. He's very old. He didn't give me a jab. He didn't poke my bum-bum (read: no suppository was inserted!). He's really old."
And what did he do?
"He took my hand and put it on a cloth."

When I Wear

the IWC Pilot watch,
I don't stick my left hand to rummage in my bag;
I don't wash my hands (in order to preserve the crocodile strap);
I can't stick my hand under the desk
And in the train
I hold it very close to my chest!
If only I could keep the beauty at home
But oh no, it needs to stay on my wrist
Just so it continues to tick.

Return on Investments

I gave a watch to Shaw Feng and less than a week later, I got one in return. That's amazing. It does make me feel a bit guilty that he's had to blow a paycheck on one. Thank you, Sweetheart, and you really shouldn't have.
I am feeling simply very happy I managed to find the one watch you wanted so much. Well, if these things boomerang back to me, I should show more of my love then! Wouldn't it be great what I'd get back? ;)

Objects of Desire

Kayrin's in the throes of her first infatuation.
"I'm going to love Seng Hong forever and ever," she said two evenings ago. "I'm going to marry him. I'm going to have his baby."
To that, Shaw Feng had this to say, "CHOI!"
It's pretty hilarious. But for now, Daddy and I are keeping straight faces and advising Kayrin not to commit herself too early and to please bring him home to meet us.
And as for Shaw Feng, his object of desire is not live. Not cheap, too. Here it is:

Very nice, I must say. But oh-so-out-of-reach! Can't locate a single unit anywhere among the retailers of "fine watches" in Kuala Lumpur

From the Pits to Ecstasy

This week started out fairly usual. Monday, a day to troop off to work, mentally psyching myself for the first five-day week in weeks as I drive through heavy traffic. Too many holidays peppered across the first quarter of this year does get one down!
By Tuesday, I was quite ill. The cough that started with a sore throat on Dec. 31 hasn't gone away but on Feb. 12, it was back with a vengeance. Looking back, it must have been a stressed-out me that made me just keep goading Shaw Feng about his Facebook life, something I only found out last week. By Tuesday morning, he was not a happy camper. Neither was I. The cough made me irritable and the more agitated I was, the more I went for a fight.
A big row I got all right. Heart thumping, fingers tensed, jaw clenched, I was a real pain. Shaw Feng wasn't far off when he called me mad. This is only what I'd admit on hindsight. I was so self-centred that I didn't apologise for subjecting him to what I deem a necessity. I was so obsessed in finding the causes of our miscarriage, of staying healthy, that I only got myself into a downward spiral. And so I hurt him for months. My apology is here, Sweetie. I'm ashamed of myself.
I was relieved when we managed to at least come face-to-face to agree on being in a row. Next stop, after making my way to Cyberjaya to do that, I went off the the doctor's.
This was where it really hit me. After taking the prescribed medication (a cocktail of steroids and antibiotic), I drove away and within minutes was wondering what it'd be like to just careen off the railings while taking a sharp corner. It wasn't a thought that says: I want to kill myself.
It was simply, what if just twist the steering wheel to the right while taking a corner to the left.
I was more than a little shell-shocked. Driving into a housing area, I parked the car by the road side and called Shaw Feng. Just what he needed! After a whole morning of dealing with a stalker of a wife, he's now hearing me say I'm depressed. I felt like I was not in my own body. Telling me to go shopping and my replying that I couldn't must have driven home the point to him that I was not myself. Look, I'm a sworn shopaholic! I shop when I'm down, I shop when I'm overworked, stressed and I splurge when I'm happy.
That poor husband of mine had to spend more than an hour speaking to me over the phone after losing sleep the night before, dealing with my numerous calls in the morning. He deserves better. Actually, no, sweetie. You have enough on your hands with me than to look around, don't you? ;)
The happy part, I must report, was that I became more ill. I get to be home then. It was time spent talking more to my spouse, listening to him when he speaks. Hugs for Kayrin also worked wonders in mending my relationships.
With a minimum of 10 hours at work a day (more often than not, its 11 hours), and two hours of commute, I'm left with little to bring home to Shaw Feng and Kayrin. That means, coming home to them and reminding him to file his letters, pay the bills (hey, I have my share too), supervise the maid, entertain baby and inspect her homework (another big source of stress for me when the year started). And for her, I was anything but a playmate. Snapping turtle of a mom was more like it.
Yak, yak, yak (Shaw Feng reads 'nag, nag, nag').
Withe being ill, I mentally tried to slow down. Holding back my retorts when Shaw Feng speaks means I actually found that the man does have great ideas and solutions! I pride myself on being very independent but that doesn't mean I always have to be the one on top! What a relevation.
And we even spent a whole day with each other: Breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall kind of coffee shop, tea/coffee at Starbucks (knowing how cheap I am, that's a pretty rare occurrence), shopping for a very expensive timepiece (which we haven't gotten our hands on), catching a movie, enjoying lunch and best of all, holding hands and not taking a single call on the phones. Wow. What a way to celebrate our 20th Valentine's Day.
What's more, the nights were more fun too, with, ermmm, lots more activity. Oh, we're just an *old* married couple. Familiarity can lead to some extended excitement! I'd better stop here before this gets rated.
This is a reminder and a wake-up call to me, at the end of the day. Channelling too much of myself to my job (which I love to bits, I must say) can only kill me by hurting the very ones I thought I'm working so hard for: Shaw Feng and Kayrin.
There will be days when the shadow is all we see. But if there weren't any cast around, how are we to see how beautiful sunlight is.

Xin Nian Quai Le

Wishing most people much happiness and good health this year of the rat. Well, I do have a few people I wouldn't convey nice greetings upon ;)
The lunar new year started off well enough, with Shaw Feng and I staying loving during the first four days. And then today, it went a little awry. I offended my other half. All just days before Valentine's Day arrives too, as he had reminded me yesterday evening.
It all started during a CNY gathering, at a friend's place. Lo and behold, I found out that my spouse is an avid Facebooker. What? I was a little sad. There's a secret life that he has that I know not about. Haven't I pledged to keep abreast of his interest? What the heck happened? Was I too engrossed with my daughter's kindergarten homework? Am I too old to know what's going on in this real world? Better stop reading those car magazines! Gotta learn up Wordpress, Photoshop or find out what Mark Zuckerberg is up to. Larry Page's romance is passe, no? Or may be I'll have to read Valleywag everyday on top of The Electric New Paper. May be I'm just paranoid, like I always am. But I sure didn't like being left out. I may not be the hippiest and most happening around but I've got to be in the know. A busybody, no doubt.

Kayrin's 5

The little girl turned 5 on Feb. 4 and that day being a school day, Shaw Feng and I dropped her off at school and then went for breakfast on our own to celebrate. Yes, eating by ourselves, having no kid to interrupt every sentence is a rare occassion. Then, we trooped to kindy with the birthday cake. A novel way for me to celebrate. In the past, she's had one party (when she turned four) and three other `celebrations' at home (read: no party cos mommy's lazy).
I like this kindy party. Nothing for me to clean up. There's some preparation. But nothing Shaw Feng and I can't deal with. He printed invites to the party, and we then put together party packs (a box of raisins, a pack of ribena drink, some biscuits, a bar of kit-kat and a yo-yo). Turned out quite fun.
As all mothers do, I got a bit melancholic but not too much, remembering the day she popped out into this world and staring into the strange face of someone I know I'd love, someone I felt I've known for months, yet am only starting to get to find out all about her. Someone so very amazing because she knows how to suckle without being taught. Happy 5th Birthday, mommy's darling Kayrin!

Kindy, Stress, Illness

Kindy was a stressful start to the year. Stressful for me! No surprise for anyone reading this really but thank God, Kayrin now loves kindy..or Tadika Prima Ceria, to be exact. Gosh. What a relief. What happiness. For me. Sleep come easy. I can taste food again.
And that stress prior to that must have been my downfall. I came down with my twice-a-year upper respiratory tract infection. In simpler words, a sore throat that turned into incessant cough that turned into hacking cough and chest pain that keep me awake and made me more ill than ever.
The silver lining was the weight loss. I didn't weigh myself. But I got back into my B70 brassieres instead of hunting around for B75 or C70 ones. That's how I know I've lost a kilo or two.

Flu and Baby

Have left this site untouched for a while because, I've been busy. Mmm, busy trying to make baby! I've been dreading this bonking schedule that comes with my taking the first round (and I pray my only round) of Clomid (clomisphene citrate), afraid that it'd get too tedious for both SF and I. But surprisingly, we've been having fun! I have been anxious but there you go, something to look forward to every alternate day, as ordered by the doctors. Muahahaha.
And the flu bit. Yea, I caught Kayrin's flu. So I've been down with a bad throat and we've had to cancel our planned trip to Penang. Poor SF had to be brewing soup and steaming fish to feed Kayrin and I while we coughed our lungs out. And that's right after his working trip home from Jakarta. Prior to his travelling, I had warned and warned him not to fall ill. And guess who did.

Happier New Year

Well, it's a new year all right. Happy? I am and I'm glad that I'm happy. This year, Kayrin starts kindy for real. She's had two false starts..last year, when she was not-yet-four, we sent her to Krista across the road. It lasted for all but a few days. And it cost daddy more than 500 ringgit.
In 2004, I signed her up for Siglap CC's nursery classes. That lasted for just about a week too. Wasn't too expensive but can't recall how much now. Then later that year, we sent her to Gymboree at Siglap, for Saturday morning. That ended with her crying throughout. Now I know why I'm anxious and nervous about this school term! I'm off tomorrow and day after to take her to school. Pray that I make it through this all right!
Another reason to be happy is that SF and I are going through a tough time, health-related, but we seem to be sticking with each other so far. That at least comforts me. Having your partner stay by you through tough times is one of the best presents in this life.
May this year be a happier one than it's ever been for you, me and everyone else on earth.