Happy New Year

Another year wraps up. I took a tumble early on New Year's eve. Didn't need to raise my glass to bid auld lang syne to 2009 before I was on my knees. It all happened on my way to the gym for the last time this year. I lost my concentration the split second I was about to step down a flight of five steps. Next I know, I had landed on my butt and an officer in charge of more than 100 people who must have heard me moaned was asking if "ma'am's all right?" Yes, I'm fine and happy new year, I chirpirly replied. The butt now hurts. Especially the left butt cheek, for landing right on the edge of a marble step.
What's a tumble compared with the troubles of 2009! This year is marked by troubles at home. Tumultous times between the father-in-law and mother-in-law. Bad enough that Kayrin was left to be sent to school by her teacher after having her grandfather ferry her for about 1 1/2 years. The squabble spread, splitting the family in many ways. It also made me realize that there wasn't much I could have done to keep my own parents together when trouble brewed between them when I was in my early-20s. As an adult in the late 30s, I couldn't even patch up the divide between MIL and FIL. For all my efforts, I became MIL's public enemy No. 1.
A thud on the butt is a good reminder as any that in the coming year, I'll take charge of my family, because no one is able to keep my marriage in good shape if not for SF and myself. Happy New Year!

School

"I like my school," Kayrin told me today after her orientation at Sri Sedaya, which she went to with Daddy.
Best words I've heard in weeks! After months and months of agonising over which school to send Kayrin to, which type of school she goes to (Chinese-medium versus the National-type-in-a private-school), she seems happy with what we've picked.
I thought it was hard to choose which brand of milk formula to give her after I stopped breastfeeding. This is a lot tougher!
I hope her fondness for school remains. I don't particularly remember liking the five schools I had attended all my life, except for may be Sekolah Menengah Convent Butterworth. I spent five years there, the longest I'd been in a school, so that probably explained my affinity for it.
There was Sekolah Kebangsaan Baling, SKB. The kids called it sekolah kandang babi. Never felt like I belonged there. I was the only Chinese kid there till Woan and Lyan started school. Then there was three of us Chinese kids in a school of Malays. And a handful of Indians and Thais.
In 1980, we moved to Butterworth. SRK Convent Butterworth was fun, especially its library of Enid Blyton books. Sure did inspire me to read. Mrs. Wong the librarian was the best in inspiring us to devour those story books.
Then there was Sekolah Menengah Convent for five years, with teachers who inspire me to write. Puan Lee Mee Lin, in Form 1, allowed us to write and dedicated time to us asking silly questions . We could remain anonymous by dropping questions into a box placed in class. One student asked what VD was! Anothr asked how we could mourn the death of the Challenger astronauts.
Then, I got sent to Sekolah Menengah Tinggi Bukit Mertajam for Form 6. Didn't last more than three months at HSBM but through the people there, I met, fell in love and married a true-blue HSBM alumni.
Sekolah Menengah Datuk Onn was the nearest school to home I ever had. I'd walked there and home.
May Kayrin have a great time at Sri Sedaya, make friends she remembers and be inspired to live life fully because of her experience there. Happy schooling, darling.

Mother, Only by Law

Life at home has been chaotic since the middle of this year. This time, I must say, I have not much of a hand in it in the first place. Now, it seems to me that I'm the central, focus point of this family trouble that started with the mother-in-law and father-in-law having a fight over money.
When the rows began, I tried to stay neutral, patch them together. I assumed that I could help. Right-ho, the first thing I always say about assuming is this -- making an ass out of you and me. If I had wondered why I didn't do enough to patch my parents together way back in the 1990s, those anguish were sort of put to rest after what I attempted with the in-laws. I tried talking to the mother-in-law, all in vain. Actually not. It turned me into her public enemy No. 1. She's caused SF to stop talking to his dad, and now she's wont on worsening relations in my home.
I'm sinking into a big hole of unhappiness. I'm one to talk things through. Even when SF and I fight, we trashed things out. We may raise our voices, but we talk things over and we get through it. But how does one discuss the issues at hand, that mother-in-law has only bad things to say about me behind my back, without making the old lady put on a show of being the world's most victimised person? She does fainting spells when things don't go her way.
Her anger is seen by all around her. Her unhappiness is well known. My only prayer is not to go down her path. Not to internalize all these angst and years later, implode and accuse SF of not taking up my case. I need to see things from a different view. But wait, the view's blocked because she's impeding it.
I need to de-stress. Poor Kayrin has already been the brunt of my unbridled temper lately and can't understand why I won't speak to her grandmother over the phone.
I'm sure one day I'll come back to this and read this post and no longer want to scream myself hoarse. May be one day I'll stop having pretend conversations with the old lady where she is civil and agree nicely that she will stop making me out as the evil one.
Not everyone thinks highly of me. If SF and Kayrin do, I guess that should be sufficient.
How apt that this was on the Daily Bible Verse today.
"A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating." Proverbs 18:6

A Win

On Aug. 5, SF and I took the day off to go look at some private schools for Kayrin. A day for running errands and for some time together. We dropped the S40 off for some tire alignment off. After half a day of running around in the rain, we returned to pick up the car, test-drove the new XC60. I was given the Volvo summer contest form after SF settled the bill. I hurriedly wrote up a slogan. Knowing how if I brought home the form I'd never wander back to drop it off, a 15-word slogan was conjured up while I stood on the counter. And now I've got my name up in lights! Wow. It's my biggest win ever.
I've won, with Yee's help on the answers, a KFC meal for the entire family including Ah Kong (grandpa) at the one and only KFC outlet in Butterworth when I was a teenager. Later, there was an Avon gift basket. But I don't think I've been prolific since then. Wei has had quite a few wins.

http://www.volvocars.com/my/salesandservices/promotions/Pages/SummerXL.aspx


2nd Prize :
RM5,000 voucher redeemable for Volvo accessories plus a
Portable Navigation System worth RM2,650
Winner :
Jane Lee Ching Shen
I/C Number :
xxxxxx-xx-5142

A couple of weeks back, there was also the good news of a 70K-ringgit rebate from the developer for the new house. These are things cheering SF and I up amidst all these craziness we have to deal with on the old folks' end.

A Sale, Nothing Less

escada
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

You know the Malaysian Mega Sale has come around again when words like `The Best Deals', `Unbelievable Offers' and `Amazing Grabs' fly past your eyes every few pages in the newspapers. But nothing beats this ad. You and I must make a beeline there.
There are items with discounts of up to 90%. And you get an extra 10% if you're the cardholder of a certain distinctive bank. Add this up, and I read a giveaway!

Rain in KL

Rain in Kl
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

The past two weeks in KL have been a time of bad air quality. The annual slash-and-burn took place in Indonesian forests and even in some Malaysian plantations. The smog got so bad, again, and the media gave it not much coverage anymore.
Amidst all this, the skies darkened on the political side too. A life was lost. A 30-year-old father-to-be. Tremendously sad when he was in custody at that time. We will remember,

Three Years

Three Years
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

It's been three years since you left us, Woan. I'm sure one day I'll cross a bridge as well, and we'll be seeing each other again. We missed you a lot. Ivan's growing up fast, and cheeky and naughty though he sometimes is, we've got no complaints. You've got a kid you'd surely be proud of.
You're happy in heaven, we trust. It must be a lot more beautiful there. No more of the suffering you had to endure a bit more than three years ago.
We miss you a lot.

Kuching

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin and I took our first flight this year, to Kuching. I surprised myself with how infrequent I now fly. From a couple of times a month in 2000/2001, I'm now down to one flying trip a year. Kayrin loved being on a plane..especially when Malaysia Airlines served up Baskin-Robbins ice-cream on the flight out to Kuching.
Kuching was wonderful, as we did nothing but wandered down Carpenter Street for food, lazed by the pool every evening after the afternoon nap. Night time meant more walking around for food and the waterfront.
This was Kayrin and SF waiting for the flight home to KL. We had three nights there but with an extra early flight out at 8:15 a.m. on June 9 and a late out home at 6:50 p.m. on June 12, we had four whole days. Sufficient for Kuching town. Next destination, Kota Kinabalu.

Nine

Nine years ago, we weren't family. Nine years ago, we pledged to start a life together. That didn't come naturally. Or easily. It took me years and lots of tears to see I would have to give up part of myself to have an us. Once I got through that stage, I was afraid for what I could lose now that I was a part of us. Now that I've looked back, no one said, `Welcome to an easy life now that you're hitched.'
Nine years -- or 20 if you start counting when we first met -- you stood by me, accepted my flaws, gritted your teeth and stuck up for me. You let me be me. Thank you and happy anniversary, Sweetie.

Toothless

iphone_pic
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Almost six years to the day after her first tooth came out, Kayrin lost her two lower ones. Here's the toothless girl, still looking pretty toothy. Pix taken from my new phone..the iPhone 3G. I went hunting for a Nokia to replace the missing Nokia. Frustrated at 2 days of unfruitful search for the perfect Nokia, I settled on this baby. More reviews coming up!

Phone Lost

There must be a home for lost phones. Just like the Lost Boys in Peter Pan. They were boys lost by their nannies.

I lost my mobile phone on May 2, while shopping at Tesco Puchong for the first time in months. That was my second phone lost in about seven months. No fun, indeed, when I was getting used to using the Nokia N78 after losing the HTC Touch in October. The N78 was great in that I could send pictures directly to the Web. And the camera was a 3.2-megapixel Carl Zeiss one. That has spoiled me a bit. Who wants a 2-megapixel camera even though the iPhone is one cool piece.

A pattern has emerged, I noticed. The last time I lost my phone, Kayrin had come down with hand, foot and mouth disease, and I was walking around in a daze after losing sleep. I was trying to lobby her kindy to shut and prevent the spread when I lost the phone.

This time, it's the lack of sleep after Kayrin had her worst stomach-related viral infection. She threw up six straight days and was recovering, but on the day that I lost my phone, she threw up some of her breakfast.

So maybe when I lose sleep over my child's health, I should hang the phone around my neck. If you happen to chance upon me with a phone swinging from my neck, don't mouth SHOW OFF, OK? It's just one sleep-deprived mommy with a tendency to lose her shoe-phone.

On a Mission - Part II

I've got my police report. Not too bad an experience. I had to make the report in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur because that's where the incident happened. Now I know there's a police station next to Empire Tower (or now known as Intermark), along Jalan Tun Razak. I typed my own report and told the officer I didn't need an investigating officer on my case. No fees paid. Wonderful. Next task, snap pictures of the place of incident. Now, that's tricky, as I might be in trouble for snapping away in the embassy area. Will have to explain to the police guarding the vicinity of the embassies and high commissions what I'm up to! The only other time I got shouted at snapping pictures was along Penang's Gurney Drive, while doing my photo-journalism paper. Must have been 1992/3. I had positioned myself on to take a picture of the promenade when this lady in her 60s, dressed for a run, started hurling abuses at me for snapping her pix, supposedly. My regret was not to shout back at her.

On a Mission

My car bonnet had a dent, thanks to some flying pebbles from our very well-maintained roads. I'm now bent on getting the city council of Kuala Lumpur to cover, if not all, part of the costs of the fixing and re-painting job. I've always gone off the rails at the shoddy workmanship of the contractors which dig up our roads. This time, I'm taking action.
It's just the start, but already I've made about 20 phone calls over two days. I rang DBKL yesterday, got passed to Jabatan Kerja Awam (Public Works Department), given the run-around. And today, I got through to a legal adviser, who instructed me to file a notice of claim with a long list of a copy each of the following..
-IC
-driver's licence
-car insurance
-car registration card
-adjustor's report
-original bills
-police report
All's do-able, until I got to the bottom. To file a police report, where do I go? The nearest police station, you'd say. Doesn't work this way here. So that was why there were at least 20 calls made. More to come in this adventure. Stay tuned.

Eng Tay Exhibition

Eng Tay Exhibition
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin makes it a point to visit Galeri Petronas in Suria KLCC when we go for our month Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra performance. This month, New York-based, Malaysian-born Eng Tay was having his sculpture and paintings exhibited there. His round figures remind me of Botero's. The Brazilian artist's exhibition was the only one I made my way to in Singapore during my years of living there. Rushed there after work, before a company dinner, one Friday because that's a day when the Singapore gallery opens up to the public free of charge. Cheap me. I'm glad Kayrin's enjoying the art exhibits here. She knows she shouldn't touch them.

Pangkor Holiday

02/04/2009
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

(left to right: Lukas, Kayrin, Yau-Yau and his mommy Fong Siew)

This March school holiday we took a short jaunt to Pangkor Island. The Pangkor Island Beach Resort was wonderful for having a stretch of beach not shared with other hotels, giving us privacy. With a little cove, it was well protected. Trees lined the beach, and the pools, next to the beach, were clean. Much cleaner than what we experienced during our August 2008 break at Awana Kijal. Pangkor island doesn't serve up great food, so if we ever make our way back to this one, we'll definitely sign up for the hotel meals in advance. We had the company of two families, and with six adults and three kids, it didn't cost much to charter a van for a 50-ringgit return ride to Pasir Bogak. Kayrin enjoyed having the two little boys, Lukas and Yau-Yau, as company. The highlight of this three-day, two-night trip was the seafood lunch at a shack that we had at Kampung Koh. Hai Tien Di served wonderfully fresh seafood. Let's see if we can find our way back there. Would I go back to Pangkor Island Beach Resort? Definitely.

Preparation

Kayrin and I have been playing the "fishing" game with a deck of cards in the evenings. It's the one, where we flip two cards and try to find matching pairs. Last night, she prepared the cards, laying them out nicely on her mattress while waiting to play with me as I quickly had dinner and showered after my return from work.
Half way through, I notice the little girl easily getting her pairs. As it turns out, she was paving the way to her being the winner by setting up the pairs next to each other! The conniving one ;)

Three-Hour Journey

A three-hour trip out of Kuala Lumpur could take you quite far. Seremban for sure, Melaka too, and even Singapore at the speed that SF drives. From Penang, three hours in a car would take you to Ipoh and beyond.
The three-hour journey of mine started in KLCC at a bit after 6 p.m. yesterday. Back up a little, to about 4:30 p.m., when dark clouds rolling in from the Titiwangsa mountain range drenched the downtown area.
So, the rain brought floods and disrupted train services. I ended up walking along Jalan Ampang to get to a monorail station to try and find my way to KL Sentral, which would normally take me all of 10 mins and 5 stops on the train. Instead, I had to walk 20 mins, overtaking cars and buses in a bumper-to-bumper crawl. There was no proper pavement all the way and where there was a pavement to walk on, puddles formed, and pedestrians had to jump out to the path of traffic. It's quite an act. Jump out, swing bag(s) away from any potential snatch thief, avoid being hit by motorcyclist, and then deftly skip back to the so-called pavement while trying to avoid knocking into fellow pedestrians.
Then, upon arriving at destination, I looked up and saw where I'm supposed to head. Near but thanks to a lack of consideration for people who have to take public transportation, that means meandering through Brickfields' former railway depot (after darting into and out of traffic on the mainroad of Jalan Tun Sambanthan), and wandering through the bus and taxi stand in the gutter of KL Sentral. No signs to guide you. No fun. Some of our city planners should be down here with us.
I reached my destination. To a spouse whose face was as dark as the looming clouds at 5 p.m. Because he's had to wait for three hours in a hotel lobby. Nothing to keep him entertained except for his notebook. For me, another day spent battling my way home after work. The life of a worker bee in KL city.

And sore gluteal muscles (I call it butt muscle) I've now got. From walking on a slanted pavement.

Not Unhappy, Not Crazy

I haven't written for a while. I've been busy dealing with issues relating to a new home, to Kayrin not coping well with her Mandarin lessons at kindy. May be that's why I'm again battling another coughing fit. I've gone back and realized that I tend to fall ill in February and August. Is that when the weather changes? Is that when I get stressed out by changes in routine? Or just that I'm not getting enough rest at those times of the year?
I haven't written because I haven't been really mad or angry, or ecstatically happy. But that doesn't mean life is not great. In fact, life is good. I'm pottering on. SF was away last week, in Hanoi, and Kayrin and I appreciate his being home even more since then. He's a great parent. He participates in everything to do with Kayrin. OK, I still complain that he doesn't get up often enough to pull the duvet over her. He's an easier person to live with these days. When he gets angry with me, he stays angry for a much shorter period. That's something I really appreciate. I'm the kind to want to talk things through. And he keeps mum. So, you can imagine the stress when I want to talk AFTER a fight and he wants to stay quiet. Yup, it gets us into another fight. So, I'm trying not to talk right away. Not right then. And he bounces back faster, talking to me normally. That really eases the tension, because after a while of talking about other things, I don't feel the urgency to be the psychoanalyst in our relationship.
I'm happy with things now. I try not to think too far. I'm a worrier. Big time. But I'll try to manage with worrying about nothing for the moment. May your day have spots of worry-free time too.

Year of the Ox

31/01/2009
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Here's Kayrin with our neighbour and her favourite little fella, Lukas. She adores him, thinks the 2-year-old is partly hers.

Kayrin's First Poem

The lunar new year started on Jan. 26, and I had a whole week and more to spend at home. It was a wonderful break, spent at home watching movies including "Ip Man," "Vicky, Christina, Barcelona," eating lots of yummy siew yoke (roast pork) and watching SF and Kayrin prancing around, wildly swinging their arms. The Nintendo Wii found its way into the home as Kayrin's birthday present.
The highlight of this relaxing week at home was discovering Kayrin's talent. She wrote a poem. She made it up as we were playing. It goes like this.
On a hot summer's day,
She played and played
Till her hands are gray
Then it rained
And she quickly hopped onto a train.

I helped her with the last line but to be writing a poem before she's even 6. Wow. I'm beaming with **pride**.

Pork Noodles

06/01/2009
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Best pork noodles in the Klang Valley, SF and I says, is at the Hao Wan coffeeshop in Kuchai Lama. This bowl, filled to the brim with minced meat and lean meat, comes at just 4 ringgit. We've been going to this kopitiam for pork noodles for a whole decade. The coffeeshop doesn't look that great. Broken tiles and dirty drains outside. But for this bowl of kuey teow, SF and I will put up with the surroundings. We sneaked there for our breakfast after dropping Kayrin off at the kindy on the first day of school and she didn't bawl her eyes out.