Christmas

Me: It's Christmas tomorrow. Have you been good all year?
Kayrin: Not really...but MOSTLY! I'm naughty but nice.

For this Christmas, I'm getting Kayrin a Lego set. Another one to add to her dozens of Lego assemblies. I'm amazed that she hasn't gotten tired of Lego after years of playing with them. SF is also feeding that addiction by supplying her all sorts of things that can be assembled with those little coloured bricks. He's probably reliving his childhood days.
As for SF, he's getting something `very useful' this year. I bought myself a present too and I can't wait to get started on it. Canvas and acrylic paint. I'm going to start painting. Let's see what the painting will turn out to be.

Changi

Changi
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

For the year-end school holidays of 2010, we made our way down south to Singapore for the company's annual gathering, staying at the Fullerton, and then moving to Kayrin's godparents' place. It was great fun catching up with that very kind and generous couple. They are so loving that it's an inspiration to me. Not the cloying kind of love but just a lot of adoration n respect for each other. We also caught up with another family, good friends stationed in the Middle East, on our trip to Universal Studios. The theme park seems fun but with Kayrin still not daring enough to take the rides, and the heat overpowering and the rain just too drenching, we didn't do very much except wander around in good company. Kayrin and the S-boys had lots of fun together and she simply enjoyed having them to play with.
After four days there, we flew on to Kota Kinabalu on Dec. 1. Hyatt Regency was very convenient a location as it was downtown, just a 10 ringgit tax ride away to the best seafood we've had -- at Sedco complex. Next to the hotel are the travel agents that provide tours to the Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park and to the beautiful Kinabalu Park. SF likes the park for being left very much in its original state. Poring Hot Springs was adventurous enough for us, with Kayrin braving the drizzle to hike up to the canopy walk and taking on the canopy without any fuss.
Kundasang seems promising too though we didn't stop there. The place is the Cameron Highlands of Sabah.
SF also minded Kayrin, taking her snorkelling while I get to make two dives at the marine park.
Headed home on Dec. 4, Wei, Lyan, Patrick, Khoon Eng, SF and I then proceeded to take ma to Port Dickson on Dec. 6. Avillion Admiral Cove is still nice on a second visit but I'd definitely avoid the Vista Wing in future. Much too dark for Kayrin's liking!
By the time we were done with our trips, I was getting disorientated with where I was when waking in the middle of the night. And poor old SF had to have chiropractic treatment from all that walking.
*This pix was of Kayrin at Changi's Terminal 3 en route to Kota Kinabalu from Singapore.

KLCC

KLCC
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Somehow, the photos I took that have grabbed people's attention are those snapped on my iPhone. Not to say that the phone has a great camera, but when I spot something, pictures should just be taken right away. They make some of the most amazing ones in my collection, Here's one taken above the lobby of the Petronas Twin Towers, when SF, Kayrin and I attended a Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra performance in the season ended June 2010.
The chandeliers that were lit made the swirls on the floor even more amazing. And the two figures there just added a new dimension to the picture.

Raya Open Houses

Raya Open Houses
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Kayrin's arm being beautifully painted by a very talented artiste at Aireen Hana's birthday party and Raya open house. After years of being uninvited, this year, we went to two Raya open houses in one day! Aireen's was big and beautiful, while Jacq's was warm and cosy, with lots of laughs discovered along the way.

Hari Raya

Hari Raya
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

The Sept. 10-11 Hari Raya break saw us making our way to Port Dickson for a short break, this time via Lukut to eat the massive chicken-curry-within-a-bun. Three other families -- the Tans, Wongs and Liews -- made for an entourage of eight kids and eight adults.

Port Dickson

Port Dickson
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

At Port Dickson, we stayed at the Avillion Admiral Cove. While the resort is without a beach that we can wade into, the pool was wonderful for the kids. The studio room, or is it apartment?, was new, with a large king-sized bed and a day bed big enough for SF. Yes, the poor fella who's been paying for our holidays never get to go on the main bed. Kayrin hogs her side of the bed and I get the other half. After PD (yes, we shorten all our places to acronyms in Malaysia: KL, KB, KK, JB), it was a very long drive home: We detoured to the boondocks of Banting, for one of the two famous beggar chicken dishes. The highlight there turned out to be pig maw pepper soup. Lashings of pepper corn made it a very tummy-warming slurp all the way through.

Lang Tengah

Lang Tengah
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Together with the Wong and Tan families, we made our way to Pulau Lang Tengah off the coast of Terengganu on Malaysia's eastern shores. The amazing blue sea I've only eyed on television is here. Deep blue waters, clear blue skies, a rustic resort and great company made for one of our best holidays ever!
Kayrin made new friends, with Ee Llynn and Yu Shen, and Ee Theng and Yu How, and had a frolicking good time splashing in the pool. SF was relaxed, the food was decent and the beach and restaurant were right at our doorstep.
Perhaps what marred the trip a little was the water-supply disruption, reminding me of our Taman Negara trip. Then again, what can we expect when this is a little island far, far away from the maddening crowd.
My biggest achievement this trip was donning the mask, doing a refresher course that allowed me to finally clear the mask of flooded water convincingly and making my first Scuba dive in more than eight years! First shore dive too. And a `personal' divemaster to boot.

Clouds Over Nilai

clouds over Nilai
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

It's been four years since Woan left us. We went to Nilai to place flowers for her on July 4, remembering the love she spread when she was around. I guess the clouds over our hearts won't ever leave since she passed on, but at least we know that beyond the clouds, far away above, she's in a better place.
This cloud formation was what we saw while driving on the Kajang-Seremban expressway back to KL.

Turning 40

Big stars like Ringo Starr get interviewed for their birthdays. I'm so often on the other end, asking the questions and grilling others. So, I'm putting the questions to myself and pondering the answers:

What does it mean to you to reach the big four-zero?
I used to think like most people do, that "no, I don't want to age another year" but this year, while thinking about my late sister Woan, it dawned on me I should be very thankful for being given the chance to celebrate this milestone. My sister didn't even make it to her 34th birthday. I'm very blessed to be here.

What are your achievements these past four decades?
Having my daughter, breastfeeding her fully for 13 months. That of course, came with loads of help from the person who contributed to making her, my husband Shaw Feng. I'm still torn, since the day Kayrin was born seven years ago, that I'm not doing enough for her, not dedicating enough of my time to her.

What do you hope to accomplish in the next forty years?
I'm not thinking that far, not that presumptuous. But I know what I want to do. I want to promote conservation. Of natural resources, our heritage -- everything from old buildings to memoribilias. Looking back, I've always wanted to be someone very involved in environmental issues. When I was 24, and just out in the working world, I wrote on environmental issues. Perhaps, I will return to my roots someday. In the meantime, I'm trying to make compost in my own little patch of a garden, and trying to see if earthworms will survive alongside me.

You've often admitted to being bossy but get irked when others don't take the lead. What does this mean for your family?

(to be continued)

Four Years On

It's been four years since we last talked to you face to face, Woan. Time seems to fly sometimes, in that it's been such a long time since you were gone. But it still feels like yesterday when we think of you. Guess that means you aren't far from our hearts. We miss you a lot. I take comfort in that you're now in a better place and we'll see you again someday. Ivan has grown a lot, and that, I'm sure, makes you very proud to see. Happy anniversary in heaven, Woan!

Celebrating 10 at Taman Negara

Taman Negara
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

We finally made it to Taman Negara. I've always wanted to go since missing the chance in 1994, right after finishing university. Now that Kayrin's all of seven, and gets around without a stroller, we found ourselves there during the drought in this 130 million-year-old rainforest. Kayrin managed to trek along in the jungle, walked on the tree-top canopy walkway that's 40 meters above ground, and eat in the Malay-food-only hotel cafe.
Three days and two nights was fun, the adventure being the water rationing at the Rainforest Resort, but they were kind enough to cut the daily rate by 50 ringgit to just about 150 ringgit a night. With just a three-hour drive, if we had gotten our route correctly, Taman Negara sure is worth another visit. May be on our 20th wedding anniversary, on June 17?

Charitable

Kayrin was on the phone with me two days ago. This came from her lips:
"Why did you marry him, mommy?"
My reply: "Ya, hmmmmppph.." was countered with "Let's donate him away."

Destructive

I had an awful weekend. Visiting the bed-ridden grandmother started a chain of events that turned me into a monster. Grandma had an awful bedsore and I made the decision to get her into a hospital. That led to a whole night spent in the hospital A&E. All Saturday night. By the time I got home past midnight, I had snapped at my mom, SF and the little one at home, cleaned a sore bigger than my hand, helped a nurse insert a urine tube, listened to a lady wretch her guts out in the next bed, saw a man being prodded and smelled rotting flesh.
On Sunday morning, my one attempt at being civil got a rather unfriendly answer from SF, and there it went -- I flipped.
The quarrel lasted into the day and SF, the destructive one at home, got a taste of what it's like to see things destroyed. I broke his thermometer. The sad part is, I've been very destructive of late, breaking the little girl's pencil, throwing her books away and now, onto SF's possession.
This is quite scary. Frightening to me because I wanted to show my anger. I can't hold it in. Therapy must come from within me. Learning to tell myself what NOT to do before I do it isn't so easy. May be I should meditate.
I'm also a bossy person and many times, people don't want to be dictated to. SF included. If I learn to just do it on my own, perhaps I'll anger fewer people. I'll try to Nike more often then.

Kuaci

Kuaci, our little hamster, died overnight after more than two years with us. She came to us from our neighbour in February 2008, and we estimated that she was then half a year old. That means she died at the age of 2 3/4 years old. That's 137.5 human years, based on Dr. Agas' words that one hamster year equals 50 human ones. Goodbye, Kuaci. You've amused us, bit our fingers and kept Kayrin happy. May you make others happy in heaven.

Casio

Casio
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

I had my first watch when I was about nine. Pa bought me the metal-strapped, gold-faced watch from Island Emporium in Penang. I'd have to wind it before wearing it everyday. It came in a little red PVC pouch. Since then, I've moved on to Orient during my university days, to Swatch after SF bought me my Scuba colourful one. Then, there's the Tag Heuer SF got for our wedding. And the IWC Schaffhausen SF got me in 2008. Goes to show I haven't bought one for myself in ages. This list just goes to show who shops for watches for the family, doesn't it?

But over the weekend, I got a Casio. For all of 35 ringgit. And it feels easy wearing this. I don't hesitate when I plunge my hand into the handbag. Not that I don't appreciate watches SF bought me. It's just exactly that. They are special to me. So special that it's always with trepidation when I wear them out the first few months. I don't want them scratched on the surface, don't want them wet when I wash my hands for the zillionth time.

This first watch I bought myself in years, well, it's OK if I scratch the plastics a bit ;) Best of all, with the onset of presbyopia, the print is B-I-G enough to see!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Customer service is something I shudder to deal with. They are mostly bad. Mostly difficult to deal with. But there are gems too. Here's a list of what I can recall enduring, scaring, threatening:

Let's start with 'The Ugly':
1) Oakley's Malaysia distributor, Revelstoke
My, weren't they a pain. SF's Oakley glasses (his sixth pair? ninth?) broke while we were in Penang and when we sought a replacement part, was told that wasn't available anymore. No further explanation. Probed further, we figure it's because that frame wasn't the best they made, hence it was discontinued. Revelstoke would only go as far as giving us a 200 ringgit credit for a new pair of frame. That was an almost new pair, may be about a year old. Why should I fork out more than 800 ringgit to get a 1,000 ringgit Oakley frame and still pay for prescription lenses? That got me furious. It was a battle threatened with complaints to the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
Revelstoke relented in the end, and gave SF a new frame onto which he could still attach his existing Rx glasses.

2) Ipa-nima's Malaysian distributor, CarmenZ
I bought a leather handbag from them, the second in my Ipa-nima collection, for a little less than 1,000 ringgit, and discovered the silk inner lining was frayed along the stitching. I called CarmenZ's Hazel, and was told I should just get it fixed on my own. This is a brand new bag, and I'm not even asking for a replacement, just for a fixing. I called the Consumer Claims Tribunal and was told I have a case against them if I choose to file an official complaint.
I chose to write to Ipa-nima's founder, Christina Yu, in Hanoi and she was simply helpful, arranging for me to send my bag to CarmenZ for fixes. Bag came back good as new.
I've, of course, sworn off CarmenZ but the lure of Ipa-nima bags made me go back for more. I don't know why I bother. After all, SF was basically living every weekday in Hanoi at one point. Ipa-nima bags are one of a kind and I have five in my collection now! The first a gift from SF, and the rest my gifts to myself ;)

The Bad
1) Car Distributor
Actually, this isn't so bad. It could even go under "good." The experience started right after I took delivery of the car. A dent on the door made me curse the sales manager for dismissing my complaint with the excuse that my car's fully imported, hence the company can't do much for me. He trapped himself with that reasoning. I had my dent sprayed on his account.
There was also the air recirculator problem. First Mercedes Benz Malaysia (or Daimler then) refused to entertain my requests for a re-programming. Did I write to Stuttgart, Germany? May be I did. Or may be I threatened. It was re-programmed, in a hurry too, and after the work was done, I was told I owed them 150 ringgit or so for inspecting the electronic connections. Not being told of this costs earlier, I told them they can hold my car ransom.
More came when the car central locking failed, after three years and a bit of owning the car. Pretty shocking. But CCB's great service advisor pulled me through this, when from a 50% liability absorption, Mercedes Benz Malaysia went on to take up the full costs.

The Good
1) For something totally inexpensive, this comes as one of the best, if not the best! I own Cocoons' OveRx sunglasses since 2006, and the case was frayed from the inside since I had it. Never bothered me till lately, when the bag won't shut. I wrote to Cocoons in the U.S. No response for days. Then an e-mail arrived. No trouble, I was told..just go to the place I bought it from and get a replacement. Easy as that. Wow! Hats off to Cocoons for great customer service.

Dhall Curry

Dhall Curry
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

I love dhall curry and finally made the effort to cook my first bowl. More like a pot, actually. Here's the recipe. Simple, but a bit time-consuming.
Ingredients:
Dhall, tumeric powder, garlic, jintan manis
Fish curry powder, biji sawi, lots of fresh curry leaves, dried chilli, shallots, salt to taste.
Potato, tomato, carrots
Method:
Boil dhall, add potato, tumeric powder, jintan manis.
In a wok, fry biji sawi with minced shallots, curry leaves and some fish curry powder. I added some anchovies.
Pour mixture from wok into pot of boiling dhall.
Towards the end, add tomato and carrots.

Recipe courtesy of Rahimah. Really yummy. I've frozen two containers for my office lunch.

Earthworms Galore

Earthworms
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

On Sunday morning, right after a night of rain, Kayrin, Shaw Feng and I made our way to the playground. Instead of playing badminton, we ended up collecting earthworms that flooded the basketball court. The sight of the worms made me very happy. When was the last time we've seen so many of them. So I turned into a worm-transporting aunty and hauled the lot of them back home into our garden. I hope they like their new home as much as I like them in our compound! I've been thinking of breeding earthworms and this is such a pleasant find.

Drained

Things aren't so smooth for Kayrin at school after all. After a good first week, it has degenerated into a nightmarish second and third week, with tantrums that led to her being spanked by daddy and me. May be being absent for two days, when she had a cold and cough, triggered it. She then became weepy over the thought of going to school. She'd go to bed crying, wake up weeping, return home unhappy. She'd tell the maid she doesn't want to go to school. I daren't even ask that of my parents, that I didn't want to go to school, if it was OK by them.
What have I done wrong in her upbringing? SF, time and again, reminded me that I'm responsible for any wayward behaviour down the road because I am too lax with her now. But she's now so very adamant about having her own way, so what have I done wrong in the past? Left the MIL to manage her? I've taken to driving her to school for a week now. The crying has lessened but hasn't stopped. That and the battling of traffic to get to work before a daily morning conference call and the mad hustle to get home to bathe and feed her has totally drained me. I feel a failure of a parent. I dare not push her at school now but I have no compassion for a wimp. I can't stand clingy behaviour. But that's my child. I'm plain exhausted. I know not what to do with her, for her.

Sedaya

Sedaya
Originally uploaded by leechingshen

Exactly a month to being 7 and Kayrin started her first day at Sri Sedaya school. Jan. 4 started well: She awoke at about 5 a.m., insisted on having her milk from a cup (instead of the bottle), showered, dressed up in her uniform of a blouse, a skirt and a tie without kicking up a fuss, and gamely waited for the school van in the pouring rain. Van arrived at 6:45 a.m. and she got off in the school compound at 7: 20 a.m.
I accompanied her the entire day, where she ate her snack and her lunch along with the 50 odd kids from Primary 1. Didn't see any kid bawling his or her eyes out on the first day. Pretty amazing. Unlike the days of old, when kids would go running out of class to mommy or daddy outside the class.
Instead, I spent the entire school day, till 3:30 p.m. hanging around in the school compound and intermittently peeping into her classroom.
It's been a big relief for me, to see her adjusting well, on her way to greater independence. Not having her grandma with her full time means Kayrin doesn't have grandma pandering to her every whim and fancy but so far she's coped, making new friends along the way as she and her kindy friend Jia Ler keep each other company.