How come you don't know

There were some roadworks being carried out near our house, the place where we usually dine out.

1st time we passed by the place
Lynn: Mommy, what is people doing here?
Me: There are some roadworks being carried out.
Lynn: Why they want to do the roadworks?
Me: To make it better.
Lynn: Why want to make it better?
Me: To make it better for us.

2nd time we passed by the place the next day
Lynn: Mommy, why are they still doing work?
Me: Not yet finished.
Lynn: Why not yet finish?
Me: Sometimes it takes time to work.
Lynn: Why take so long time?
Me: Err I don't know. I'm not the expert.

The following week the roadworks still not yet finish.
Lynn: Mommy, how come still not finish yet?
Me: I don't know.
Lynn: When it finish?
Me: I don't know.
Lynn: Mommy how come you don't know?
Me: Because I'm not the expert......

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The kids like to see our wedding photos.
Lynn: Mommy, why you married 3 times?
Me and hb were shocked.
Me: Huh? 3 times? No, mommy and papa married one time only.
Hb: Yeah, we get married once only.
Lynn: But why mommy wear different nice nice dress one.
Me: Oh because mommy wants to look pretty. :)
Wah, one dress = married once??!!!

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Some of the many nights when we reached home.
Lynn: Mommy, is papa's friend (referring to one of the Neighbour) sleep already?
Me: (look at the clock - 8pm) I don't think so.

On another night, we reached home late around 10pm.
Lynn: Mommy is papa's friend sleep already?
Me: I don't know. Maybe.
Lynn: How come you don't know?
Me: Because I cannot see them......

Another night
Lynn: Mommy, is papa's friend sleep already?
Me: I don't know.
Lynn: No more light, I think sleep already.
Lynn: How come they sleep so early one?
Me: It was not even 8pm. I think maybe they are not at home.
Lynn: Where they go?
Me: I don't know.
Lynn: How come you don't know?

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I was going to meet my friends and taking the kids with me.
Lynn: Mommy, have I met your friends before?
Me: No, you have not.
Lynn: How come I never met her before.
Lynn: Your friend had bb or not?
Lynn: Where is your friend house? Is it near near or far far?
Lynn: Why you don't know how to go your friend house?

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Mini toads-in-the-hole

Made this the other day and a friend has requested for the recipe. Since I got it from recipe book and need to type it out, I thought might as well share it here for everyone. :)

It's very easy to make actually since I got it from Kids' cookbook. I normally use a 12-hole tartlet tin to make this. Original recipe is for making about 4. So I have slightly modified the recipe for my own convenient.

Mini toads-in-the-hole

The toads in this dish are little sausages, while the holes are made in a batter.

Time to cook: 20 minutes
Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients (for making about 12)

• plain flour, 180ml/12 tbsp
• salt, a pinch
• eggs, 3
• milk, 180ml/12 tbsp
• cocktail sausages, 12 (original recipe is using 3 chipolata sausages)
• vegetable oil, 5ml/1 tsp 
• baked beans and steamed green beans, to serve  

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt. 
2. Make a well (hole) in the centre. Whisk the egg and add to the well. Gradually whisk in the milk, beating until a smooth batter is formed. Pour into a jug.
3. Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F/Gas 7.
4. Brush the 12-hole tartlet tin with oil. Add one sausage to each, put in the oven and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Remove the tin from the oven and immediately pour in the batter. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until risen and golden. 
6. Remove from oven. Loosen the edges. Serve with baked beans and green beans. But we actually just eat it without the bean as breakfast. :) 

Tips: To make sure you get lights, well-risen batter it is important that the batter is added to a very hot tin and then returned to the oven as quickly and carefully as possible. It is also necessary to avoid opening the oven during the cooking time.

I reckon it is best served warm. So I usually wake up much earlier if I'm making this for breakfast for the day. It's actually nothing to shout about but kids love it (yeah they love the sausages actually. Hehehe.) but it's something quick and easy to make (which is good for me.) And 12 of them will be gone is just one morning. ^_^ Sometimes if I have I will add some sliced mushroom and cheese to it too. You also can try make it a large one, using 8in pie tin and put fruits (e.g. strawberry , banana) on it. But of course, that one should call a different name. :)

Losing her first baby teeth

*Back-dated post*

Date: Nov 3, 2011

Few days back, Lynn was complaining to me about her teeth "Mommy, my teeth is broken!". First thing that come to my mind was cavity. As this girl of mine does not like to brush her teeth. She would tell me she has brushed her teeth but in actual fact she did not. So I answered her right away "See, don't want to brush your teeth." But then when she told me her teeth was getting very loose, I was wondering is it time for her baby teeth started to drop?

I was not very sure of the age when the child would start to lose their baby teeth. So I Google it and found that, a child's baby teeth starts to loosen and fall out on their own to make room for permanent teeth at about age 6. And girls generally lose baby teeth earlier than do boys. Alright, so that explains what happen to Lynn and it's normal. Phew, not cavity! :D

I could not remember at what age my baby teeth started to fall out but I do remember for some of the baby teeth that were so "stubborn" to fall out, I had to get some help from my brother to get them out. We had tried tying thread to the loose tooth to door knob, then push the door to pull out the teeth; removed the loose tooth with a quick twist; and even using pliers when all other methods were not working! Alright back to Lynn, I told her not to play around with her loose tooth. I also gave her a small clean plastic bag to school, so if the tooth drop off she can put it inside the plastic bag and bring home for me.

2 days later, when I picked her up from school, she excitedly told me her tooth had fallen out. But as her friends requested her to show them her tooth, in the process of showing around, she lost the fallen tooth. I was kind of disappointed as I wanted to collect her baby teeth. But now it won't be complete anymore.

About a week later, I could see the new teeth is erupting. Told her she has to take good care of the permanent teeth as there would be no more new teeth after that. I hope she has a good set of teeth like me. *Keep my fingers crossed*

She was so excited about the teeth......

Kids' First Hike to Gasing Hill

 The 2 cheeky fellow!

2 weeks ago, we went to hike Gasing Hill. It was actually suggested by a friend who was running a Weight Loss Challenge, who wanted to organize some outdoor activities for the contestants to encourage them. It can consider as first hiking for the kids. We went to Sarawak 2 years ago and we went for something like jungle trek during that time. But Hao was just merely 1 years old so I was actually carried him on my sling throughout the whole journey. While Lynn was half walking and half being carried by hb during that time. But on that morning at Gasing Hill, both Lynn and Hao were actually walk with us all the way.

We woke up at 6am, I made an energy drink for all of us. I even bathed myself and the kids to minimize the chances of getting mosquito bite. We left the house at 7am to Gasing Hill. We met up with the others at the entrance. There were many people there. Roadside was full of cars parked by those that also went there for hiking. I remember it was not that popular when I went there few years back. But it always good to see that people are getting more health conscious nowadays.

The weather was good and the trail was not very wet. We took Trail 1. For parts that are too high for Hao as he is not very tall at the age of 3, hb would carry him. But most of the time he walked himself. After completing Trail 1, we rested for a while before continue Trail 2. The kids were enjoying themselves throughout the whole journey. Hao was running, skipping, and hopping around, enjoying the freedom. He even made the "Whoa" "Whoa" sounds, and "doi" "doi" when hopping down the steps. LOL! Other people who walked along the line with us, was commenting how can he be so energetic, shouting and running and jumping there while they have to stop talking to reserve the energy. Hahahaha! And guess what, after we finished hiking, the kids even went to play at the playground nearby! Yeah, they just have too much energy to spend! But as soon as they stepped into the car, both of them went to the La la land. LOL!

The kids requested to go Gasing Hill again last Sunday. So we went there again. And this time, we did not stopped after trail 1. We hiked all the way from the main entrance until we finished trail 2, and then took a slow walk back to where we parked the car near the entrance. I'm not too sure the distance of both trail 1 and 2, but the whole hiking (plus walking back to the car) will take slightly more than 1 hour if we did not take any long break. We are actually a little slow due to the kids. Gasing Hill is an easy place for hiking actually. You don't get very tired from it, and yet you get to sweat a lot. It's a good place for people just started to hike. From young children to old people, as long as you have a pair of good shoe that have good grip is sufficient. We have decided to make it every Sunday is the family exercise day, everyone get to exercise together. :) If the trail is wet due to rain, we will go jogging at the park. Me and hb like to exercise. And I feel happy that both kids like to exercise like us (I hope so)! 

Toilet training - Completed!

Hao is toilet trained since 2 years old + and since then he's off diaper during day time. But at night I still let him wear diaper to sleep. Occasionally he would tell me he did not want to wear diaper to sleep. But most of the time his diaper was full in the morning, so I thought he's not ready for it yet. It's not very easy to toilet train him. I could never imagine how am I going to train him go diaper-less at night. But I told myself to worry about it later.

About 2 months ago, during one of the night Hao woke me up from sleep, telling me he wanted to go toilet. I was surprised but I woke up anyway. I helped him to take off his diaper, switched on the light of the toilet for him. And after he was done, I put back the diaper on him and he went back to sleep after that. It happened twice in a week. Then I also noticed that in the morning when i checked his diaper, most of the time it was dry!

After monitoring for about one week plus, with dry diaper on every morning, I told myself that he's ready to go diaper-less at night. So I told him, that he's big boy now, no need to wear diaper to sleep. And asked him to wake me up when he wants to go toilet at night (he would like me to switch on the light for him). So from that day onwards, Hao no more wear diaper to sleep at night. Even when we went to Ipoh during Hari Raya break, I let him go diaper-less too and he would wake up himself to go toilet.

It's been about 2 months already, so far he has wet his bed twice. Most of the time he sleeps through the night. If he needs to go toilet he will wake me up. I'm glad that finally I don't have to spend money on getting diaper now. I remember when I tried yo get Lynn go diaper-less at night last time, I would wake her up in the middle of the night to go toilet. And I did it for quite a while. Thus I never thought of to let him go diaper-less at night can be such easy and hassle free! Well done, Hao!

Random and Updates

Wow I have not been writing for more than a month! And this post has been sitting in the Draft for a month too! So what have I been doing all these while?

First of all my own schedule is changing. I have to find how I can write or blog with the new schedule. I also have been thinking a lot nowadays, especially on the people side. I met some new people; I also get to know some friends better. Due to some past experience, I actually don't trust people easily. I thought by doing this I can keep myself protected, not getting hurt by any friends. However now I realize that, no matter how careful I am, no matter how I protect myself, I will still get hurt as long as I treat them as friend because they meant something to me. I'm a very soft hearted person. I can do things for others if they request me to do it even though it may not be something that I would like to do, as long as it is within my capability. Because I find it's difficult to say no. But not when doing others a favor made myself not happy. It's kind of stupid to do something for others and at the end it does not make me happy right? Unfortunately some people are selfish enough that they don't care what you feel, they only concern on their own benefits. Due to this, I was feeling down for more than a month. I was shock, angry, sad, hurt, and disappointed.

During this one month, I also witness some unpleasant things happen due to some childish adult. I find it hard to believe some adults, even already becoming a parent, will whine and blame others when met with difficulties and challenges. Some people get jealous easily when they think others are doing better than them. Instead of working hard, they started to attack or condemn others. But talking without actions will not make them become better. People can see themselves who is a leader and who is not. Time will tell.

I also met some nice people lately. Friendly, helpful and willing to share. So life is not that bad after all. :) I also have started do some baking for the family. So far I have tried making muffin, cream puff and my latest challenge is focaccia bread. Just want to add more varieties to our breakfast menu instead of having whole meal bread most of the time. :) Hb has a crazy working schedule since early Sept. He has been working 7 days a week, coming home after 12am every night. Whenever possible, I will try to arrange to meet up with hb for dinner. At least kids get to see him more.

We went for a family trip to Ipoh during the Hari Raya holidays. On Oct 1, I went for the Octoberfest for the very first time. And of course I won't miss the BBWS last week. Oh there are so much that I have not blogged about it! >.<

I guess that's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Buffet dinner at Italiannies Pasta Pizza & Vino, The Gardens

Last Sunday, we went to Italiannies Pasta Pizza & Vino at The Gardens Mid Valley for a family occasion. The first time I came to this restaurant was for family occasion too, last year. Immediately I like the ambiance of this restaurant, not to mention the food is good with reasonable price too. Now, they are having this buffet in the evening.

The buffet is for appetizer and dessert only, excluding main course. However you can top up RM20 to add a main course dish at your choice from a list. For us, we did not add any main course. In fact, all of us including the small one were so full from all the delicious food being served. :)

3 different choices of crostinis - tomato basil pesto, tuna and grilled chicken pesto.

Any mushroom lover? The stuffed mushroom was great! The tart tasted much like egg tart, and very rich in "milk". If you like Portuguese egg tart, you probably will like this too.

Wide selections of salads and the salad dressings.

Yum yum! I love the olive. :)

Bread with butter and strawberry jam.

There were 2 choices of pizza available. And mushroom soup. 

The mushroom soup tasted heavenly (alright, I admit I'm a mushroom lover. :D). It was rich and creamy. And it was definitely not from those instant soup powder if you know what I mean.

Selections of cakes and kuih for the desserts. As I was so full, I only tasted the Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake. It was very rich, and sweet too. :)

3 choices of fruits - water melon, honey dew and seedless grape.

Free flow of rose cordial and soya bean, with cincao and sago for you to add into the drink.

There was no seafood available, however with the price charged I think it was fair. And the staffs did a great job replenishing the food. As soon as the food was almost emptied, the staff would quickly replenish it. We had a good time there. Lynn was a little picky and wanted to choose her own food but Hao just walloped everything that I served him. Everyone was so full that there was no room for the birthday cake. 

As far as I know, the buffet is only available for dinner. And advance booking is recommended.

Location:

Lot S209, Second Floor, The Gardens
Mid Valley city, Lingkara Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2283 3675
http://www.italiannies.com.my/

NOTE: This is not a paid post. This is solely my personal experience dining in this restaurant and it may not represent the truth.

My Big Book of Bible Stories by Phil A. Smouse

Title:        My Big Book of Bible Stories SubTitle:  Bible Stories! Rhyming Fun! Timless Truth for Everyone! Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc. Imprint:    Barbour Books Pub Date: 10/01/2011 ISBN:       9781616262372 Author:     Phil A. Smouse If your kids love Dr. Seuss, they’re sure to enjoy My BIG Book of Bible Stories—17 favorite stories, featuring hilarious rhymes and bright, fun illustrations, for preschoolers through early readers. Brand-new from award-winning author and illustrator Phil A. Smouse, My BIG Book of Bible Stories includes clever retellings of key scriptures, from Creation, Adam and Eve, and Jonah through the New Testament stories of the Good Samaritan, Jesus and Nicodemus, and Peter. My BIG Book of Bible Stories is perfect for reading to younger children, while early readers will enjoy working through the brightly-colored pages all by themselves. About the author Phil Smouse has written and illustrated numerous books for children, including Jesus Wants All of Me, an award‐winning adaptation of My Utmost for his Highest. But, he says, “Despite my best efforts to fabricate an impressive résumé, other than the books, etc., I’m just Daddy.” Phil and his wife have two children and live in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

This is a paperback book with 256 pages. I would say each story is given sufficient attention and details that it is not too brief and yet not too much for the little one to understand the full story. Each story rhymes. So it is easy to read. I like the illustration in this book, big and clear picture with vibrant color. Usually half or 2/3 of the page is filled with picture. And yet the text is not too small. I enjoy reading it to my kids at night before bedtime. And they love the story too and fascinated by beautiful illustration. It is a good gift book to give to young children.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.


Note: I receive the ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Gallery. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

OMG Pancakes!

Do you like pancake? It was not my favorite until I met my hb and after we have got married. Pancake is not really one of my mom's menu in her kitchen so I seldom eat it. But after tasting the pancake that hb made for our breakfast, I started to love it. Hb was a scout. And he is the type that cannot go hungry. So die die also he would cook something whenever he went camping with the scout team. And the easiest thing to cook when you were camping? Pancake. That's how he started to cook pancake. And since he can make good pancake, why should I bother to learn to make, right? *Wink* (I'm sure you know what I mean, LOL!)

We used to have pancake for our breakfast every weekend. But not so frequent anymore. Our kids do love pancake. Sometimes hb will add raisins to the pancake; sometimes we eat with peanut butter and jam; and sometimes we just eat the plain pancake by itself. And since pancake is selling so expensive outside (I cannot understand a simple food made with the cheapest ingredient with just flour, egg, milk, sugar and some butter can cost so much?), we hardly buy the pancake to eat. I still love the soft yummy pancake made by hb. :)

And when I come across this book from Net Galley, I could not resist not to request it. I have never expect it can be so much fun making pancake!

Title:         OMG Pancakes! SubTitle:   75 Cool Creations Your Kids Will Love Publisher:  Penguin Group (USA) Imprint:     Avery Pub Date:  10/04/2011 ISBN:       9781583334430 Author:     Jim Belosic When Jim Belosic started making pancakes in unusual designs, he was just trying to earn some cool cred with his daughter, Allie. Little did he know how happy he’d make her—and the millions of fans who eagerly await his latest creations on the Internet. Pancake unicorns, beehives, and even bridges, ferris wheels, and construction cranes have all risen to life through Jim’s artful use of squeeze bottles, tasty and nutritious coloring and flavor techniques, and fearless creativity. Now—with a little help from Jim—everyone can turn breakfast into art. Filled with delicious recipes, four-color photos, and step-by-step techniques, OMG Pancakes! will be devoured by families and crafty foodies alike.

Note: The images taken are from the uncorrected advance proof for reviewing purposes and author may make changes on the final printed book.

The book covers the tools required for making pancake.

Recipes for making standard pancake and other types of pancake, for example pumpkin pancakes, banana pancakes. It also tells the natural food coloring used for the pancake.

 The author also shares the tips and tricks, on adding juice coloring to the batter, how to draw with the squeeze bottle, guidelines on cooking etc.

For each recipe, it shows the preparation  needed, step-by-step how to create the pancake shape, and how to fit those pancakes into the plate for the intended shape.

The author has divided the recipes into 5 categories:

• Animals (Real and imagined), Insects, and Ocean Life (e.g. alligator, lion, caterpillar, crab)
• Pancake Food (e.g. bacon 'n' eggs, spaghetti, ice cream cone, hotdog)
• Holiday Themed Pancakes (e.g. pierced heart for Valentine's Day, Easter chick, ghost and pumpkin for Halloween)
• Activities and Adventure (e.g. kite, football, tic-tac-toe, wand)
• Just for Fun (e.g. balloons, earrings and bracelet, flower pot)

I think this book is a must for those dads and moms that love to cook for their little one at home. I'm sure kids going to enjoy eating those pancakes! And you can use your own imagination and creation to come out more pancake recipes for yourself! As for me, I'm going to ask hb to make some pancakes from this book this weekend. :D



Additional info about the Author

Jim Belosic is an advertising and marketing specialist and founder of Belosic, ADG, a boutique advertising firm in Reno, Nevada, where he lives with his wife and two children.

• www.JimsPancakes.com has 25,000 Facebook fans and has received more than two million views there and on YouTube

• Jim and his pancakes have been featured on Rachel Ray

• The perfect gift for the winter holidays and Father’s Day

Note: Note: I receive the ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Gallery. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Removing Stitches

After the accident, Lynn was behaving well for quite a while. I did not let her go to school. Doctor said we should not touch the wound, and keep it dry at all time before removing the stitches. She should not do any sports for now too. We know most children are very curious. Instead of worrying her friends at school may want to touch her wound, pushing around while playing etc, I do not want to burden the teacher to look after her at school. So before removing the stitches, I took leave to stay at home with Lynn. She was very good girl for that few days. We spent some time watching TV in the morning, then I made sure she took a nap in the afternoon after lunch. She complained her hand was pain from the needle. So I did not really get her to do any writing. Just want her to relax and rest at home. She also did not touch the wound as being told by the doctor. (But for that week only! *facepalm*)

Soon 5 days had past and I needed to take her back to hospital to remove the stitches. We reached there slightly past 9am but the parking lots were full already. I parked at the side, waited for more than 30minutes for a parking lot. Since we were not waiting for seeing doctor, we did not need to wait long for getting the stitches to be removed.

I took a picture after the nurse had removed the plaster, but before removing the stitches

Lynn cried seeing the nurse holding a scissor. After the stitches were removed, the nurse put a new plaster on it. And this one she said let it comes off by itself. The plaster is water proof too so less worry when washing her hair.

The wound bled a bit after the stitches were removed. But there is no infection. She told me it is not pain anymore. Her next appointment with the plastic surgical clinic is January next year. Lynn has back to school as usual, but I still refrains her from joining the sports activities until her wound is fully healed. Until today the plaster still has not come off yet.

Many thanks for everyone concern! I do hope her wound is fully healed soon.

A Trip to ER

Since young, Lynn always has this tendency to show interest to do things by her self. Thus when she shows the sign to learn, Hb and I always teach her and let her do things herself. Before 2 years old, she can eat by herself, wear her own shoes. Before 3 years old, she can change her own clothes, bath herself, and even help me to feed Hao eating porridge. Since then, she and Hao have been bathing together. While I apply soap for Hao and she applies soap for herself. If not mistaken approaching end of last year, or maybe early this year, Lynn requested to bath by herself. And I think maybe it's time to separate them from taking bath together. However as she is not tall enough to turn on the water from the water heater, so I will make few trips to the bathroom to check on her as well as turn on and turn off the water for her.

The weekend before last, after I have bathed Hao, it was Lynn's turn to shower. As usual, I went to check if she had finished apply shampoo and soap. And seeing her still applying soap to her body, I came out. Within few minutes, I heard a loud "bang" and followed by a loud cry. I dashed to the bathroom, and to my horror, I saw a very big cut right above her eye brown and blood flowing out like pipe water. I quickly called hb for help. I was actually panic not sure what to do with her. She was standing there with whole body full of soap and blood on the floor. Hb quickly gave her a hug to calm her down. Then I quickly wash away the soap and shampoo for her. I dared not touch the wound. It was very deep cut. I did not take a picture; do not want to take a picture also. Trust me; you won't want to look at it. It is as big as her eye, exactly same size. She told me she fell down and hit the tile edge below the shower screen. (Later she admitted that she was twisting there and thus explained the fall.) Hao was frightened seeing so much blood. 

After cleaning up Lynn, hb tied a tower over her head, trying to stop the blood. Seeing Lynn in this condition, I did not want Hao to distract us in the hospital. Luckily our neighbor was at home and they were willing to help us looked after Hao for us while we attended the gal. It was past six o'clock in the evening. Traffic was smooth. We did not take long to reach the hospital. We went straight to the Emergency.

At ER, Lynn was attended immediately. The medical officers put a bandage on Lynn's head to stop the blood. Then a nurse came to take her blood for testing. The doctor said the cut was very deep until can see the bone. Thus they wanted to do an x-ray on her skull. I was very worried and prayed it was nothing serious. I also want to thank the friends who were praying for us too. I could not think of anything besides praying for her safety. Right before going to the x-ray theater, the cut was bleeding again. And thus another round of wound cleaning and bandaging.

Lynn while waiting for x-ray to be taken. She has stopped crying before we left the house. 

See the needle on her hand? Poor gal, she was poked twice (one on each hand) as the first one, the needle was out of position after the nurse took the blood, thus the injection did not get through. 

They took 2 x-rays in total. One from the back view and one side view. After the x-ray, we back to ER to wait. Not too long after that, the doctor came told us the x-ray results. Thank god nothing happen to her skull, so they were arranging Plastic Surgery doctor to come over ER to do stitches on her cut. We felt a little relief upon hearing this but still we were worrying. It breaks our heart when we thought about the nasty fall. Hb said the amount of blood that Lynn had lost was equal to the amount of blood that I lost during giving birth. 

Due to Lynn's young age, they wanted to sedate Lynn for the stitching process. Unfortunately, this gal has strong will and fight to fall asleep. Eventually she did not sleep at all throughout the whole stitching process. They wanted me to accompany her at her side. For the first time in my life, I watched how a stitching done on human skin, on my daughter some more, right in front of me. And how I wish Lynn does not have to go through this kind of pain. The plastic surgery doctor first stitched the inner layer, using absorb-able thread. And then he stitched the outer layer with not absorb-able thread. I did not count and did not ask how many stitches were done for the inner layer. But there were 10 stitches for the outer layer. Since Lynn did not sleep at all, she knew something was done to her. But she could not see it. I asked her to close her eyes; the doctor also put a paper to cover her face and head leaving only the forehead visible for him. There were moments where she complained pain and at one time, she even lifted up her arm trying to stop the doctor but we managed to grab her arm and calm her down. Whenever she was complaining, I would talk to her trying to sooth her. Despite some complain of pain, she did not cry at all and did not struggle or give any hard time to the doctor. I should feel proud of her for giving full cooperation to the doctor. But my heart was so heavy at that time. I really wish this whole thing never happen. :( If I did not let her bath herself, then this won't happen. But then, should I take away her wish to be independent? This is so contradicting. I remember my mom stopped bath for me before I reaching 5 years old. And I did warn both Lynn and Hao that they should not play inside the bathroom with wet floor. It is dangerous. That is another reason I separate them from bathing together because they tend to play together while bathing.

Waiting to go home after the stitches. Doctor put back the bandage as there was a vein at the wound (which explain why she bleeds so much), the bandage is to help to stop the blood.

This was taken the next day after removing the bandage. I have to take good care of the wound. Cannot touch it and cannot make it get wet too. 

Doctor gave antibiotics for one whole week and fever medicine to stand by. The antibiotics do not have nice smell and after 1 day, Lynn started rejecting it. She would stare at the medicine for very long time before having the courage to swallow it. At one time she even threw away the medicine and told me she had taken it. But I did not get cheated by her. I told her that it is very important for her to finish the antibiotics. Since then she obediently finished all antibiotics, and I also make sure she took it in front of me giving her no chance to cheat. 

We spent total of less than 4 hours in ER and it costs us RM 55. We are required to go back to hospital to remove the stitches after 5 days. And there will be a follow up appointment with the plastic surgery clinic 6 months later.


Next post: Removing stitches

Are you a risk taker?

** This post is solely personal thoughts and not directing to anyone.


Just now during lunch time, when I was taking the lift I overheard 2 Chinese men talking loudly inside the lift. Not too sure what exactly the things they were talking about, but related to buying things. One man was saying he has no money. The other man was saying sometimes we have to take risk. Buy first, after that think of getting more money. For example the property value has increased lately; those people who bought the second property few years ago are making money now. The first man replying his friend saying it is not possible for him as he's a coward. He won't think of getting a house if he can't afford it.

When talking about spending money, I'm a coward too. Buying things out of my capability definitely is not my style at all. And I'm glad that is not my hb's style at all too. When come to buying things, both of us definitely will budget for it. And we don't spend if not necessary. For example, both of our old hand phones that we bought more than 4 years ago had been giving us problem for months. So we thought of it was time for us to get a new phone. We spent months on researching what phone we wanted to buy, comparing prices, features, phone plan etc. We wanted to get a phone that we can enjoy and yet within our budget. And I never regret getting a smart phone as I fully utilize it to track my monthly expenses, my monthly cycle, checking email, accessing social networking websites, create and track my To Do List, appointments and more frequently, I use it to read eBooks. Unlike most other people, I don't really play games using my phone. I also don't allow my kids to touch my phone to minimize any risk the kids may spoil it. As I intend to use the phone for a couple more years to come. However those do not know us well thought we are one of those people who follow the trend of high-tech gadget and always spend money on getting the latest gadget in the market.

We don't buy things on an impulse. We plan and we work hard on it. Both I and hb are not from wealthy family background. We practice thrifty lifestyle. We believe spend within our capability. Whatever that we are enjoying now is all from our hard work. We seldom go shopping. Since I have to take off my shoe in the office, so there is no reason I need multiple pairs of shoes to match with my clothes. Thus I only buy a pair of shoe a year. I rarely buy new clothes for myself, not to mention any accessories. I can go to work wearing jeans and t-shirt. So I save a lot from buying different sets of clothes for leisure and for office wear. Ever since I give birth to my first child, I have stopped visiting beauty saloon. I also only visit the hair saloon once or twice a year to get my hair cut. I also don't buy expensive toy and clothes for children.  We desire for a family trip but we have been holding back of it. The only thing that we are more willing to spend is spending on good food when there is any celebration with the parents. But those are budgeted as well.

Once I read from a Financial planning section in a parenting magazine, it is strongly recommended that we should have cash reserve that can support at least 6 months expenses on stand by, in case anything happen. While we are still working hard on building the case reserve, early of this year we had been hit real hard on it. I'm really glad that we manage to survive this long without asking money from family and friends, or getting personal loan from bank. Although at times both me and hb are feeling very stress and worry over the financial issue as our reserve are depleting month by month.

While we did not ask for any money, do not mean we have extra cash to lend or make any investment. Despite hb got a new job and steady monthly income, but we are depending on his single income now which barely enough to cover our monthly expenses. Though we did not ask money from anyone, but I also do not expect some of them who know about our situation, approach us asking us to lend money to them.

Both hubby and I are the type that prefers to rely on ourselves than borrow money from family or friends. If we want to start any business, we prefer to get our own capital from our savings, or get a loan from bank, instead of asking family and friends. I'm sure everyone save some money for the rainy days, to standby. How many of us really have the surplus to lend money to others? Like my case here, I really cannot imagine what if we have lend our cash reserve to others, how we going to survive in this half year. Sometimes I just wish people stop thinking that we are rich. 

When come to money, I'm definitely NOT a risk taker. How about you?

My Happy Boy is turning 3!

I always telling myself and telling people that Hao is a gift from God to me. He came earlier than we have expected. He came when I was not expecting a baby during that time. He is the one who made me believe things happen for a reason. He accompanies me going through the worst time in my life. He made me strong. He made me grow. However he himself does not have an "easy" life when he's still inside my stomach and at the infant stage which I'm not proud of it at all.

Hao at birth.

I was having depression when I was pregnant with Hao. I was worried if that will leave some side effects on him. Instead, Hao was a happy baby. He always made me smile; he gave me strength to come out from the depression. Despite I have experienced breastfeeding Lynn that does not make my breastfeeding journey with Hao much easier. I still remember I had to nurse him every hourly and sometimes every half hourly during second month and it drained all my energy. Even my mental state was at the weakness too as I was very much stressed up and depressed during that time. I almost gave up breastfeeding him. The thoughts came into my mind several times but as I feared I may regret later, I did not give up at the end. And I'm glad I did not give up.

Guess probably this is the only photo I was breastfeeing Hao..... Hao was 7 months old.

I have the most un-forgetful confinement month with Hao, a month full of pain. Before giving birth, baby was pressing at my perineum, causing much pain, even when I was not walking. After giving birth, the pain did not go away immediately. The pain remained with me for another one week, causing me difficult to go up and down the bed, not to mention walking and climbing up stairs. Before I was discharged from the hospital, I was tested super low on iron and the fastest way to boost up the iron in my body was to take the venofer. In total, I had to travel to the hospital 5 times for the dripping. I'm not a person who is scare of needle and injection, but let me tell you to let them poke the back of your hand with a 2 inches long needle into the blood vein is not fun at all. In fact, it was very painful. Especially if the dripping did not flow into the blood vein and the nurse had to poke and poke again to get it right. Each time after the dripping, the back of my hand would be swollen. So after 5 dripping sessions, both the back of my hand were swollen for many days. Each dripping session was about 1 hour, plus the traveling so I would be away from home for at least 2 hours. Since I was fully breastfeeding Hao, I had no choice but to take him along to the hospital if I was expected to nurse him soon. I feel blessed that I received no complain from the confinement lady. She accompanied me to the hospital, helped to take care the boy when I was not required to nurse him.

Hao @ 1 year old.

But I guess whatever pain that I had gone through, cannot compare to his pain when he was merely 2 months old. He scared the hell of all of us when we found out his femur bone was fractured. I would not forget the 4 days spent in the hospital with him. The interrogations from the doctors and nurses; numeral tests that Hao had to go through; and the sleepless night in the super cold hospital ward was like a nightmare to me. I could not imagine the pain he had to go through and he was just a baby. Regardless what's the cause (it's not caused by us or the babysitter), I feel grateful that Hao is healthy and normal now. It did not seem to have left any side effects to him. Although he started walking late, but he can run and jump as other normal children.

Hao @ 2 years old.

Unlike Lynn, Hao did not have a very good babysitter (not in my eye). Hao was not a very friendly baby at the beginning. He would cry when I brought him back to my parents' house. His social skills get improved after I sent him to child care after having enough dissatisfaction with his babysitter during that time. Now Hao is extremely friendly with any adult, to the stage that I got very worry and we have to constantly remind him not to talk to any adults that are not papa and mama's friends. On the contrary, he's friendly to selective children only. He is quite protective when any children get near him.

Hao @ 3 years old.

He likes to smile, but recently he also likes to cry for small little thing. *roll eyes* When come to doing things, like wearing socks by himself, he always lack of confident and require us to give him lots of encouragement and pushing. He's still mostly converse in English but can understand Mandarin and Cantonese very well. He can eat quite a lot if he's in good mood. He loves to jump, always jumping around. He loves to read book, and will repeat the words after me. Of course there will be times he has his moments and will make me start pulling my hair. Anyhow, I just wish he will remain healthy and happy!

Homemade Yogurt

Many years back, one of my Indian colleagues during that time taught me how to make yogurt at home. But I did not make it very often until recently, after all these "no added-sugar" awareness from those formula milk companies. Besides, it is cheaper to make it myself too. :) Both hb and Lynn are huge fans of yogurt.

It is very easy to make yogurt at home.
What you need: -

1. Fresh milk (low fat or full cream also can). Or if you can use milk powder also.
2. Plain yogurt - any brand.
3. Soup bowl, or whatever size that you prefer depending on how much yogurt that you want to make. 

 Steps: -

1.  Pour out the fresh milk, with the amount of about 2/3 of the soup bowl (about 400-500ml), to a small cooking pot. Heat up the cold fresh milk using small fire. No need to wait until the milk is boiled, just make sure it is not cold.  **If you want the yogurt to have some sweetness, you may add some sugar into the milk.
2. Transfer the milk from the small pot into a bowl. If the milk is hot, leave it there for a while until the milk is at room temperature. If you are using milk powder, you can directly mix the milk powder with warm water in the bowl.
3. Add one tablespoon of the plain yogurt into the milk. Cover it and leave it overnight (about 8 hours) at the counter.
4. The next morning, the milk now becomes yogurt. The texture should be something like tofu fa. If it is still watery like milk, leave it at the counter for longer hours. Once you are happy with the yogurt, keep it inside the fridge. The longer hours you leave it at the counter, the more sour it becomes.
5. Scoop up one tablespoon of yogurt to keep it for your next round of yogurt making.
6. Before you serve, add some fresh fruits to the yogurt for flavor and sweetness. We found that banana and mango are the best. If you don't have fresh fruits, you can add some honey and raisins, or Ribena into it.

This is the bowl that I use to make yogurt. This is a little too much milk actually.(This picture is actually showing the milk has already become yogurt. But the level of milk won't increase or decrease after becoming yogurt.)

This is after becoming yogurt with tofu fa texture.

Fresh mango cut into cube. For the amount of yogurt that I made, a medium-large size mango will do.

This is after adding the mango into the yogurt. It's too full, that's why I said I have used a little too much milk here. :) Serve it on cup or small bowl and keep the rest back to the fridge.

This one is with mashed banana and raisins.

It can last for days inside the fridge. But so far I have not kept it for more than a week. Usually we finish it within 3 to 5 days.

Hope you enjoy the homemade yogurt as much as we do. :) 

Early Father's Day Celebration at Han Lim Seafood Restaurant

This Sunday is Father's Day. However since my parents have to attend a wedding dinner on this Sunday, we decided to have the celebration last Sunday. My SIL brought us to this seafood restaurant in Cheras.

We reached there about 7.30pm. And I was surprised to see the restaurant already full house, with some people waiting for the table too. We waited half an hour for a table for 10 of us (6 adults and 4 children).

There are various type of fish, prawn, squids, crabs available. Choose what you want to eat from here. Put your selection into the basket available. Can you see how big is that garoupa fish?

After that get your selection to be weighted. And tell them how you would like it to be cooked.

We waited one hour for our food to arrive. These are what my parents and my SIL had ordered.

Steam crabs. My parents are not eating crabs, so they ordered 3 crabs only. 600g here and cost us RM27.

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Curry fish head, with long beans and brinjals. The Garoupa fish head weighted 2.5kg and it cost RM113. It tasted very good and not very spicy. The kids had been asking for it non-stop.

Steam ikan bawal (dou dai chong). It was a little over cooked. Rm35 for 500g.

Squid stir fry with salt and pepper. The taste was not bad but a little tough for the kids. RM18 for 500g.

Steam tiger prawns. The prawns were Very fresh prawn and not over cooked. Too bad only 4 tiger prawn left if not we would get more. I like this dish most. RM81 for 900g. Expensive?

Steam garoupa (the belly part) with bean sauce. RM28 for 500g. The sauce is a little too salty for me.

Fish ball soup. My mom wanted the la la soup but no more la la. So she just ordered this for the kids. I think Hao drank the most of it. Hahaha. RM12 for the soup, which can serve about 10 small bowls.

Stir fry choy sum. I like it very much. All young leaves. RM10 for this one.

We were very hungry after waiting for long. Plus the food was tasted good. We eventually finished all the food above, including that big pot of curry fish head. Hao had a very good appetite that night and kept on asking fish from me. Lynn was not picky on the food too and she ate quite a lot. Despite long wait, we were satisfied with the food. Everyone went home with tummy full and a smile on their face. :)


Han Lim Seafood Restaurant
No. 12, Jalan Midah 12,
Taman Midah, Cheras,
56000 Kuala Lumpur.

Happy Father's Day!