Something New

Hubby (Fiance at that time) and I bought our first car when we started working in Johor. We had some savings that we brought back from working part-time in UK. It was quite substantial for fresh graduates like us after converting those British Pounds to Malaysian Ringgit. So we were able to buy a new car even before we got our first paycheck.

Our first car, Proton Wira

For 10 years, we used this car to cart us to and fro our workplaces, outings (Cameron Highlands, KL, Melaka, Pahang, Singapore) and occasionally our plantation. We did not really take good care of this car except scheduled servicing. Car washing was never a priority.

After 10 years of usage, the car began showing its age with more and more repairs needed and the amount for repair/ service was increasing each time. Our family was expanding. From two of us as a couple to two girls and one baby on the way. Using saloon car was not feasible anymore because I insisted our girls must sit on booster seat with seat belt and baby would need to be in car seat. Two booster seats and a car seat would not be able to fit into a saloon car. After much consideration, the solution was
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to purchase a 7-seater car.

Since January, we are able to enjoy more space in the car. I look forward to more outings as a family of 5 after my confinement in March.

Accidents in young children. Are they preventable?

I read a very heart wrenching news yesterday in the newspaper. A 1 year old plus toddler was thrown out off a car that he was travelling with his parents when collided with a vehicle. Another vehicle coming from the other side of the road could not stop in time and crushed the boy to death. The incident left the parents in shock and they were unable to provide any information required by the police after that.

I pity the family but one question that popped out in my mind was, 'Why was the 1 year old boy not safely strapped in a car seat?' That would have prevented the boy from being flung out of the car when the accident happened.

Many parents will think that car seat is only needed when there is nobody in the car helping to hold a baby. When they are other adults in the car to supervise/ carry the toddler/ baby, why bother with the car seat?

Of course I would think differently because I have had a few minor accidents before (who won't if you stay at JB and people are driving at a speed as if rushing for re-birth) and once with my 4 yo in the car and luckily she was strapped to her booster seat although I was just fetching her home from her pre-school.

I am the one who will insist to strap my kids properly at the car park even with drivers waiting impatiently to park at our space. It takes time as I have 2 kids to strap but if people want our parking space, they just have to wait patiently, right? If we need to travel using another car, I will insist to take our car seat (for our 2 yo) and booster seat (for our 4 yo) from our car to another car that we will be using. I will only forgo car-seats and booster seats when we are travelling to another state and I can only pray for our safety.

Conclusion: Use car-seats/ booster seats whenever possible because we are not able to predict accidents.

Stay focused!

I am trying my best to stay focused with my most important task a the moment. That is to compile all necessary receipts, cash bills and documentations for 2010 Inland Revenue submission for hubby's business. There seem a lot of details to confirm and documents to dig out. Although there are still 2 months left but I plan to complete early and submit to the company dealing with taxes so that they will have enough time to review. There are 2 weeks holidays in June so I am sure I won't be able to get much done during that time. I keep telling myself not to surf net so much, watch movies or tidy up the house (I always like to tidy up or clean my house when I have more important stuff to attend to. Denial, maybe?).

I am back from Kuching!

I am back from my Kuching trip since Monday but I have been really busy settling down my kids to our routine. I am also catching up with my work as I did not touch my laptop for almost 6 days eventhough I brought my laptop back to Kuching.

It is month end. I need to process salary payment for employees and hubby asked me to settle his foreign worker application with their agent as soon as possible.

I wish I can blog properly soon and share what we have been doing in Kuching.

What is your occupation?

This is the question that I find most difficult to answer and hate most.

Until last year, it had been 1) QA Engineer 2) PA (Program Administrator) or Planner

Since I have resigned from my job last year, I always hesitated before giving an answer.

I can't reply, 'Not working' (seems like doing nothing) as I am helping my hubby in managing administrative side of his business. I filled my position as 'Finance and Admin Executive' in KWSP Borang A when I submit EPF for our employees. However, I feel that I am exaggerating if I tell people I am a Finance and Admin Executive and what if they ask me which company I am attached to. Certainly it will be an anti-climax if I answer, 'I work at home for my husband's company'. Haha.

I don't like to inform people I am self-employed although I have my own registered company. It is only generating a meagre income from some inconsistent trading business.

My friends say to tell people I am 'Sau Nai Nai' (Lady of Leisure) but I think it is far from it. I work like a bull and I don't even have time to stop at cafe for a cup of tea when I am running errands outside. Lady of Leisure must have a lot of free time to have high tea, go shopping, do facials etc.

So I begin to answer this question depending on situations. Credit card agents will get answer that I am working for my husbands company so that it is easier to get the credit cards. When I meet my old colleagues, I would tell them I am assisting my hubby in his business. When I meet people that make small talk with me, I would tell them I am a SAHM.

Who am I?

Second Trip to Desaru Beach

We went to Desaru Beach (again) on the Sunday after Christmas as MIL requested to bring SIL and her sons for the outing. I was quite apprehensive because it would not be easy to take care of 4 kids (some demanding, some whiny, some naughty etc). Another reason that I was quite reluctant to go was that I needed to drive a separate car to fetch SIL and her sons.

As expected, I heard a lot of, 'Are we there yet?' and whining, which did not spoil my mood as much as what happened on the way back.

We reached beach and the weather was awesome. Clear skies and beautiful waves! The kids were having a great time.

We had lots of foods (mostly prepared by MIL) and ice-cream bought from the ice-cream vendor. My girls enjoyed the sands more than the sea though.

On the way back, I was driving ahead of hubby although I was not very familiar with the road but I thought I could follow the road sign like normally when I drive alone. But I left out one factor. Demanding kids! Within 10 minutes after we left a petrol station for a toilet break, I heard a request for toilet again. For goodness sake!! I needed to take note of a correct right turn but the 7 yo requested for a stop at a petrol station which would be on the left side. I told him to wait while I search for petrol station and he started making angry hissing sound and mumbled words under his breath. Obviously, I missed the right turn home and I had no choice but to drive ahead for a petrol station. Luckily for me, the kid went to the toilet and I managed to make a U-turn and proceeded to the correct junction.

I was annoyed (seething with anger, to be exact) and decided to end the day early. I called hubby to go directly to a restaurant for dinner instead of going home, bath kids etc and going out again.

The 7 yo said, 'I want to go home and take bath first' due to he wetted his pants a bit when holding his urine. I told him to bear with it as we were only having a quick dinner and would go home straight away. He began to cry. Luckily, there was a spare shorts otherwise I thought I would be requested to make a turn back home. Phew!

Have you been in similar situation above? You are not the mum but still need to persuade the kid to behave and listen to elders. It would have been a lot easier if it was my kid. A smack would have settled it all.

I could not say my kids were on their best behaviour either. Tian accidentally kicked a whole lump of sand into a container of half eaten 'fried bee hoon'. I was not there to witness this so I could only reprimand her when she told me what happened. If I were there and the adults had warned her not to kick the sands but she still did, she would definitely be smacked.

Sharing

I was at KFC with Tian, MIL, SIL and her 7 yo and 4 yo sons. I promised them a treat at KFC to stop them from whining all the time when we were trying to shop.

I ordered a large french fries among other foods and divided them among the 3 kids. Then I saw Tian leaving most of her fries on her plate, I asked her if she was full and to share some with her cousins. She said OK. I took most of her fries and put them on the 4 yo's plate, expecting them to share out. The 7 yo began to grab from the plate and 4 yo refused to share with him. The fighting began!

To our surprise, Tian took all the leftover fries from her plate and gave them to her cousins. I just love her attitute. Either she is really caring or she has enough confidence that we will provide her enough when she needs anything.

Earlier when we were shopping, the 4 yo was whining and Tian simply took a brochure from our trolley to 'entertain' him. She was imitating what we did when our 1 yo Tao was crying. The way she did was cute. She took the brochure for her 4 yo cousin and said, 'Neh! Give you to see. See, this is pretty etc.' Imagine a 3 yo consoling a 4 yo. I am so proud of her.

Seaching for Extinct Hardware

As mentioned in my previous post, I have to submit PCB (Potongan Cukai Berjadual or Monthly Tax Deductions) to LHDN (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri) for employees. I have to key in information of employees into provided software and output into a diskette (We have stopped using diskette eons ago!!) and bring to the bank for payment.

Last month, I submitted the cheque and completed form by post to LHDN in KL as advised by the staff that we had to do manual submission for the first time. Early this month, I began to hunting for below 'dinosaur' at shops selling computer hardware.

The owner of the shop thought I was a teacher as she mentioned only schools were still using diskette drive

I did not managed to buy diskettes from the computer shop as the owner mentioned that their supplier does not supply them anymore. Luckily I managed to get a good friend of mine to get me two diskettes. Thanks, you know who you are :)

My only 2 diskettes for PCB submission purpose

No easy way to earn money

I have been investing in mutual funds on regular basis. Not a lot but I have a few funds that I will top up (a couple of hundreds ringgit just for savings sake) whenever I see the prices dropping in order to capture lower buying price.

The problem is whenever I top up the funds, the fund prices will start to drop so I will ignore them for a while. When I begin to study the prices again, I have missed the good prices to consider selling those funds that I should be able to make some money. Hmmph!!

I guess I can only earn money through hard work. No easy money for me.

Confinement Preparations

For my first confinement, I did not prepare anything for myself and just let my MIL and my mum buy all the necessities like Chinese herbs, wine etc and I let them plan with my confinement lady regarding my meals. Those dishes were really nice and I could polish off every last grain of rice and last drop of soup.

During my second pregnancy, I became very interested in Chinese herbs and I studied each type of confinement meals to know the benefits of each type of foods like turmeric chicken, kacang-ma chicken, pig trotter in vinegar etc. I bought many types of Chinese herbs and labelled them properly so that my confinement lady would know which types should be consumed during first half of confinement and some to be consumed after 14 days.

Some of Chinese herbs bought for my second confinement like Chong Chau-Cordyceps, Dang Shen-Codonopsis Roots, Kao Li Shen-Korean Ginseng, Pao Shen-American Ginseng, Ren Shen-Ginseng, Yi Mu Chau-Herbal Leonuri or Kacang Ma for Sarawakians, Chuan Xiong-Rhizoma Chuan Xiong, Du Zhong-Eucommia Bark, Dang Kui-Chinese Angelica Root, He Shou Wu-Polygonum, Yu Zhu-Polygonatum, Kei Chee-Wolfberries, Bei Qi-Astragalus Root.

Additional stuff: Dried Longans, Red Dates, Black Dates, Wu Jin Wan, So Ho Wan, Sesame Oil, Sweet Vinegar, Rice Wine, Ginger Wine, Yellow Wine, Red Yeast Wine (Foochow Style), Martell, Dome, Black Beans. (Due to breastfeeding, I would ensure my confinement lady steamed the wines long enough to ensure no alcohol left in my dishes, soups and double boiled chicken essence)

Ingredients for afternoon tea-time: Red beans, glutinous rice, tangerine peel, brown sugar, black sesame (to be ground).

Rice were all replaced and alternate between millet rice, brown rice and multi-grain rice to ensure more nutrition and less starch (ie. fattening).

For bath, I bought pre-packed herbs from Chinese Shop and requested my confinement lady to add lemongrass, ginger and eucalyptus oil. Kiasu, I admit. I also bought 2 types of pre-packed herbs for baby, first type to be used during the first few days to prevent jaundice and second type to be used after that to prevent heatiness in baby.

When I referred to my list of things to buy (yes, I am a hoarder), it seemed like I had bought a lot but I finished most of the herbs because I had confinement food for 40 days and more. I love confinement food and that was why I could happily polish off whatever my confinement lady cooked and she said she seldom saw new mum who would always finish her meals. No wonder my colleagues were shocked to know what I have consumed during my confinement period. I will post more pictures of my meals in coming posts.

How would you choose names for your children?

Choosing a name for an unborn baby is very important to every parents. For me, at least. It is not just a matter of choosing good sounding name with good meaning but for me, I have to ensure the number of strokes in the combination of characters reflects a good hidden meaning as well.

Most people will scoff at this practice but I just want to ensure everything that is within my control will bring the best for my children. I heard from my BIL mentioning most of his colleagues in Singapore will also practise this when choosing names for their babies. I am not the only 'kiasu' one here.

I will only check on the hidden meanings from books. If it is good enough, I will use the names. However, I know some people will wait until the birth of the child to get the year, month, day and time of birth (ba zhi) for a naming expert/ fortune teller/ medium to choose a name. I am not that extreme yet.

I heard that there is a lady expert in choosing names in my hometown who is able to tell a person's characters by just studying the names. It is so accurate that even the most skeptical person would be amazed. Normally her 'story' regarding the person's life will coincide with the prediction of the ba zhi. So I come out with the conclusion that when we think of a name for our baby, the destiny is fixed and it will affect the time the baby is born, ba zhi. Or we can say the other way round. After the baby is born, the parents will use the ba zhi for choosing names. The names chosen will then reflect whatever contains in the ba zhi. However, some people believe that if the ba zhi for the child is not that favorable, choosing a name with good meaning with rectify the ba zhi a bit. Simply choosing a name might magnify the negativity.

This lady mentioned that when parents choose certain name for their children, the children's character will be moulded to fit the hidden meaning behind the names. However, I do not deny the importance of upbringing by the parents as well. I have not met this lady yet so I am not able to judge her accuracy yet. Hopefully I am able to meet her one day and hear the 'story' behind my name.

No matter there is truth in this or not, choosing a good name is better than deliberately challenging destiny by choosing names with less than favorable meaning. Don't you think so?

* This post is only a reflection of my opinion regarding above mentioned title and it is not intended to offend anyone who thinks otherwise.

Donating Stuff to Orphanage

I went for breakfast on Sunday with my girls and hubby and there was a small sized road show for parents and kids. There were singing competition, colouring competition, story telling etc. I noticed there was an area for recycling organized by an orphanage nearby. I did not even know there was an orphanage near my house and I had never heard my friends talking about it as well. It showed how uncaring this society had become.

After lunch, I gathered my bags of old clothes and boxes of old magazines and asked hubby to fetch me to pass my stuff to the recycling committee. When I reached there, they told me it was only until 12:00pm and gave me the address to pass my stuff directly to the orphanage. It took me more than half an hour to find it.

I passed my old clothes and magazines to them. They thanked me and I had to resist the temptation to check my stuff again to ensure I really do not need them anymore. I told myself, 'For Goodness Sake! You packed these stuff more than 1 year ago and never needed to retrieve any item. Just let go and you will find space for newer things to come.'

So I said good bye to them and left, feeling good about myself. I educated Tian about orphanage and how lucky she was to have mum and dad who loved and cared about her.

I plan to do more spring cleaning and de-cluttering these coming weeks.

Decision on Pre-school

After discussion with hubby, I went to pay for RM1000 deposit for Tian's pre-school next year. We decided to let her go to a different pre-school, G as mentioned in my previous post.

When I went to the pre-school to make payment yesterday around 12:00pm, I saw all the cars driven to fetch the children were imported cars like Toyota Estima, Toyota Wish, Vios, Honda Accord etc. It made me think, 'Do these parents send their children to that pre-school because they can easily afford the school fees or they really understand the need to expose their children to better learning environment to prepare them better for Primary School?' But of course the rich had more choices than the rest of us.

However, the pricipal did tell me before that parents who plan to send their children to a popular private primary school starting with letter 'O' will send their children to this pre-school.

We are not well off but we are just willing to invest in children's education. Hubby says we can go to 'Tea Garden' less and go to coffee shop more for breakfast in future. I tell him the most realistic way is to earn money 'fast fast'.

I have succumbed to nutritional supplements

I have never bought nutritional supplements because I do not trust the claims regarding the products. I do not feed my kids with nutritional supplements because I am worried some might be harmful to their liver.

Since Tian started pre-school, she started having flu and took forever to recover. Then the virus spreads to Tao who is always very cranky if she is not feeling well. Since last week, my MIL has been suggesting for me to buy some 'cod's liver oil' for the kids. I am doubtful about the ingredients used since most companies are profit-oriented and will not be so ethical to ensure quality and safety of ingredients used. However, I told her I will get something for the kids today.

This morning, I went to the shop selling organic products that I usually go to buy phytomilk powder and foods for the kids and bought RM309 worth of products! I think my hubby will faint when I tell him tonight.

I bought 2 bottles of Liquid Multivitamin (from Salus-Haus, Germany) for the kids (cheaper to buy 2). The shop owner recommended for me to buy Oligo Cal-Plus, Oligo Enzyme (from Oasis Herbs) and Natural C (from NHF) due to I am having phlemy flu for many days that I am not able to smell anymore.

I hope the kids will get flu and cough lesser after taking this multivitamins and will not spread to me anymore so that we do not have to depend on supplements. I still prefer to eat natural foods anytime. I will update on the results after taking these supplements.

Feeling of Emptiness

I am not feeling exactly happy this weekend. Not angry, not resentful, just a feeling of void.

I know I should be contented. I do not face problems some people are facing about losing jobs, financial problem, family problems. I have an attentive husband (despite my moodiness this weekend) and an adorable daughter who is always the centre of my attention.

Maybe it is because I am taking weekends for granted. I let it passes by every week without making the effort to do something meaningful. Except that we brought 'Tian'to McDonald's yesterday and she had a great time!!

Since I will be having a 5 days holidays this Hari Raya Puasa (a festival celebrated by Muslims in Malaysia after fasting from morning to evening for 30 days), I hope to use this time to relax and reflect what I should in my life. Another thing that makes me jealous is that my husband is having 2 weeks Hari Raya Puasa holidays in a row. Huh!

First Blog

Hi All,
Finally, I have managed to start a blog. I have been comtemplating with this idea for a long time but did not have the initiative to really sit down and create one. Today is a good day to start one, though. According to Lunar Calender, today is Mooncake Festival as well as my ROM anniversary 4 years back. Happy 4th ROM Anniversary, LK! You have been a perfect partner as well as a confidant to me.