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To be sung to I had a bad dayyyy….

Yup, there’s such a thing called an off day.

Actually, there is such a thing as an off-day cooking, off-day restaurant visit and heck even off-day casting! And all that can happen in a day.

Allow me….

We went to Ala Thai on Saturday to redeem our voucher. You could say  almost all our meals are voucher based, lol. Usually our experience have been a real good one (coz let’s face it, some restaurants take part in group discount sites to get in customers, hoping you would return to them again) except for this restaurant called Ala Thai in Solaris Dutamas.

First off cock waiter lied and said some sessions were fully booked making us to settle for the 12.30pm slot. We get there at 1pm (coz we’re rebels like that) only to find the restaurant half empty anyway. As soon as we whip out our voucher, you could see the waiter’s face change. True we paid RM9.90 each for a four course meal but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get proper treatment right? Anyway, service was slow, had to raise our hands up for the longest time before we got any service. The restaurant wasn’t even that huge for us to go unnoticed. And then when I asked for an empty plate, it never came!! The pineapple fried rice I had was horrible. Even the soup and dessert that came with it was so bloody off, it was beyond tasteless and watered down. Husband had better luck with his Pad Thai and dessert, to give them some credit.

The heck kinda service is this?? Ponders baby girl…

I should add the prawns in my rice was stale and old!

Anyway, will we be their return customer? Of course not.

After hanging around Publika,  we took the little one for a casting after lunch and my pedicure She was to be casted as a ‘fair urban malay’ toddler. I never knew people could be described that way, lol. We got there to find alot of people waiting for their turn. It would be a minimum wait of 1 hour I thought. But lo and behold our name got called within 5 minutes of our arrival! I was happy with the VIP treatment (of course later it dawned to me the lady had mixed up the papers and reached for mine first). It was also close to the little one’s sleeping time so I was afraid she’d get cranky and true enough……….all she did in that casting room was cry cry cry her head off. Would have been perfect if that was for a Cry Baby ad I’m sure.  She didn’t want to pose, kept hiding behind my leg and calling out to me – she was afraid of the casting director. Infact I had to tell him if it was okay for his lady assistant to take her photos and video. We had better luck, but she still was slighty uncooperative. Castings are definitely best attended in the morning me thinks :)  Sairah knocked off for 1.5 hours that evening though

Then I thought it would be nice to cook Indian food for a change for dinner that night. You know, to make the Indian husband happy. A nice EASY Garam Masala Curry I thought. Heck, even the recipe said it was EASY! Easy my foot coz the curry just went all wrong. I stood there for the longest time wondering what I should add in more and even resorted to using Tandoori Masala powder and yogurt even when the recipe didn’t call for it just to balance out the taste and spiciness. In the end it was the husband who came to the rescue to make it taste better – something about adding lime to cut down the spiciness he said, whatever.

I am not destined to be a good cook where Indian food esp curries are concerned. Period. The spices involved are a whole lot more trickier than rocket science! Swear he’s in charge of making curries in the future. But if anyone has a good curry recipe then share pleaseee.

I did have better luck where the vegs were concerned so maybe Indian vegetables dishes could be my thing. I got the recipe from here but instead of baking it, I fried it after boiling the potatoes and it was super yummy. Threw in some taufoo too just coz the packet was lying around.

Looks like a smiley face! A good end to the day that was pretty off I reckon. And the cherry on top was seeing my little one sleep throughout the night like a log coz she was exhausted from all that swimming in the evening.

Guess it wasn’t that bad of an off day afterall eh?!

Sorry for the lack of creativity on the header part

Okay just sharing some of my recent finds for Sairah. Mothers with baby girls – heads up ladies Actually mothers with baby boys can check out this site too.

This is my third time now purchasing clothes from BBluvsme.com and that site never fails to excite me everytime I receive an email about their updates. I could be wrong but I think they are probably the same people responsible for Thepoplook.com – also another site that I diligently check out and never fail to buy from every other update.

Seriously, for just RM93 (including postage), I managed to get 4 items for the little one. This time around I decided to buy sizes meant for a 3 year old for maximum usage Plus on the days when my mother feeds her too much RICE, I reckon these would fit just nice

This is SUCH an adorable combo in my opinion. Where can I get black boots for her??

I love the quality on these tops despite paying less than RM24 for each. The designs are sweet enough and can be easily paired with black leggins and even a tutu skirt for a dash of girly girl!

All three pretty tees in a row…though I have to say, for someone who loves black, the black tee appeals to me the most

Oooo mine!!

And then the other day I came across this cute little jeggings from Jusco in MV and couldn’t resist it. After a 10% discount, got this baby for RM9.50! Major score yo. I love the lace and ruched design at the bottom. Who ever said dressing a kid can be an expensive affair? It’s not if you look hard enough and keep a look out for a good sale.  If mommies have their fav go-to places for baby clothes, do recommend and share okie.

Now I’m having a huge headache what sort of shoes to get coz I”ve never been a shoe type of person and can never find affordable fashionable shoes in the store.

Oh and I’m waiting for this gorgeous baby to arrive from the US. I only paid less than RM50 (shipping included!)

And quite randomly, these two boys were Sairah’s playdate for the weekend! They were so sweet to bring Sairah a gift too. And yes, 3 kids in one tiny room = havoc, check out all the toys all over the place. It was a war zone in there.  Me having 3 kids in the future? I dont think so, swear my back would give way from picking up all the toys It is a rather colorful sight though.

And just when I was hoping Sairah would behave herself and enjoy her playdate, she seemed to be disturbed that they were 2 boys in her room playing with her toys.  She was one uncooperative kid that day which was odd because she usually loves kids. I do think baby girl is fast become quite territorial now that she’s bigger. Like Dhash puts it, kids are sooo unpredictable! Hopefully more playdates would fix the problem But we still had fun and she even planted a kiss on Nikhil AFTER playing hard to get. Maybe that’s why he looks extra happy in this photo

I love this photo because the parents are busy posing for the the camera while the little ones are busy with their toys!

To plenty more playdates Dhash! She has been reading my blog for some time now and we for most parts email each other almost every other day. Contrary to ‘dont meet people from the internet’ I have made friends with some people that way and you’d be suprise how nice and sincere they are – that’s how I like my friends to be btw

And iIf anyone wants to join us in the future, just let me know Boys, girls of all shapes, sizes and race are most welcome

The little one seems to be getting naughtier by the day! NO and gimme gimme are her favorite words. Whether she understands them or not, that’s a different story.

Gimme susu-milk, gimme maam maam, gimme book, gimme gimme while pointing to random objects…….and no matter how many times I emphasis the PLEASE, it goes on with a deaf ear. She only uses the P word if I hold back whatever she wants but sometimes that doesn’t work coz then she’ll go on a screaming spree and whatever I say after that is like pouring water on a duck’s backside! Sometimes she tries the coy sly way of planting a kiss to my lips before asking for something.

Bath time is also almost impossible; she hates water on her hair. Changing and blow drying her hair can also be a challenging feat. God knows what she’s hiding under that mop at the rate she’s so protective over it.

She doesn’t listen to us anymore…..she insist in walking by her own showing so much hatred for her stroller. Sometimes when she runs off to wherever her legs wants her to go, and when we call out to her to follow us, she looks straight past us and walks wherever she wants to go! Grocery shopping with her around has become an impossible task.

Run run run…that’s all she wants to do. She has however mastered the art of breaking her fall by quickly putting out her hands first. I told the husband at least she knows how to protect that cute face, lol.

Out of all the rooms in the apartment, she wants to go to the kitchen! Every single time. Maybe coz she knows there’s a whole lot of maam maam in there? And we close off the kitchen door, she proceeds to bang it and finds ways for us to open it. Despite warning her that the kitchen is off limits, she insist in hanging around there while I cook.

Lord please help us and let this Terrible Two phase go by quickly!! Yea she’s not even 20 months yet and she’s already showing these traits.

So I came across this article the other day about putting toddlers as young as one for time-outs.

Sure, it’s a very western concept but I was skeptical. Coz how the heck do you get a 1-2 year old toddler to listen to you and stay put? As it is, they don’t understand you most of the time, what more listen to your instructions? Some parents too did comment and say time-outs don’t work for kids under 3 but of course I wanted to check it out myself

The idea of Time-out is to get them to face the wall by sitting on a chair where they can’t reach the floor for a good 2 minutes to ‘reflect’ what they have done. I thought the chair bit would be dangerous coz my naughty monkey would just jump off it anyway.

So I asked her to stand with her hands up on the wall, lol. Instead of reflecting, she thought this was a game.

She stood like this for a few seconds. Then she realized this was actually fun!

Oooo light….

Oooo fingers….

Oooo photo frame….seriously short attention span just like her father!!

Uh oh mom’s staring at me, let me just stare back and give her my I’m-cool look

Har har mom, I iz defeating your orders by enjoying this game.

Run run run….

Manja face with mom. Just when I thought that perhaps it might have worked a little….

She goes and does this despite telling her not to go close to the TV! It’s not a touch-screen device for god’s sake. YUP in conclusion Time-Outs dont work for toddlers at all!! At least not for the naughty ones.

And this was the very next day after her time-out. She insist on standing in front of me while I change and put on my makeup thesedays. She watches closely and tries to mimic whatever I do. For the past one month it’s been mommy mommy mommy,  I have no idea why she’s extra clingy thesedays. 

So with access to my wardrobe, she did this. Oh hai, I am Little Red Riding Hood. Currently her favorite book btw

And then last night, for the first time ever she thought it was be ‘cool’ to bite and leave her teeth mark on our coffee table!!! I was wondering why the hell she was squatting down by the table when I saw the marks on the table. Why baby girl, whyyyy??!

Incase you’re wondering, YES toddlers have bloody strong teeth like a brick, how I know? Coz one fine night out of boredom I thought it would be funny to put my finger in her mouth and that kid bit the heck out of my fingers leaving her fang prints on it. She thought it was funny and proceeded to laugh her head off.

Hey I never once claimed to be wise so….:D

Grrrrrr, stop blaming me for shit I didn’t do old lady. For the record, I actually told her to give me her angry face hence this photo. There are days she tries that look on us and I tell her not to play around with the god damn person who invented that look in the first place.

Sigh. Terrible Twos……..sho sho, please go away. I want my angelic lil baby girl back.

P.s: Time out sucks! I think they only work for white kids or something. Our asian kids are just too hyper. Husband blames it on the milk. I blame it on him for sending a naughty trooper if you get what I mean

Today children, we shall learn about the various cultures in Sarawak! Its one of the things that intrigues us wherever we go……we are always keen to know what’s the culture like in that particular city, how people live,  what they do for money, what they eat and the list goes on.

Sarawak Cultural Village or SCV is located about 30-40 minutes drive from Kuching city.

First, we start the day by giving the little one lots and lots of kisses!

Then we feed her with a yummy Mee Kolok meal for lunch. Baby approved. So now we can start our journey…

Ah yes, then MOMMY entertained the naughty toddler for a good 40 minutes in the car. The car didn’t come with a car seat so…..

I am SOOO naughty today! She kept throwing herself backwards like that. Things I have to put up with.

The drive was quite scenic, though not as scenic as our drive to Mount Kinabalu in KK. We finally arrived and then realized this is where the annual Rainforest World Music Festival usually takes place. Cool! Entrance is RM60 a pop, which is VERY pricey in my opinion. Half the price of our airflight tickets yo! It breaks down to RM10 per house that you will visit in there. When the guy asked if we were Malaysians, I really thought we’d be given a discount but NOPE. Guess I should stop being  a typical Malaysian who always expects discounts? Heh

Ah yes hence the hubby’s look, lol. Would have been a waste to turn back after that long drive so we pressed on.

Lo and behold, the gorgeous Mount Santubong which kinda looks like uneven titties to me

We had justtt started to commence our tour when a bunch of kids came up to Sairah and hugged her. The little one of course got excited and kept turning back to get more hugs. Such a hippie this one.

First stop the Chinese house.

Fun Fact: The chinese farm house are built on  ground level with floors made of trodden earth and walls made of sawn timber. The roofs are built high up as it’s much cooler. Most of the Chinese people here are likely to be of Hakka or Foochow descent. One third of the state’s population is actually Chinese.

And based on my own experience here, the chinese people were the most friendliest to us during our trip here.

Second stop, The Malay house

Fun Fact: Like all local houses, it is built of wood. Malay houses are generally also built on stilts.  A visitor approaching from the front comes up a staircase. He announces his presence before he reaches the verandah. This may be quite small, or lead along the front of the house; it permits a stranger to wait until somebody welcomes him in. 

Geez this reminds me of some Indian relatives who like to pop by without calling first, grrr.

They were also making malay cookies in that house which were up for sale. Fattie in me bought a few packets

I love how spacious this house is.

My favorite pastime back in school.

Third house was the Melanau house, which was my favorite house.

Fun Fact: Melanau people make up 5.8% of Sarawak’s population now mostly living in the central coastal region. Melanaus differ from most because they eat sago in preference to rice. Sago palms originally grew wild in the coastal swamps, and they are cultivated. They traditionally lived near the sea within reach of the pirates. The Melanaus built massive houses forty feet above the ground.

Now how awesome is that? The house is so massive and regal looking, like a mean ass monster truck.

Ready for our Melanau exploration…

The Bomoh area….should have requested for the bomoh to ‘pukau’ my husband into buying me more bags and loving me longgg time

Said awesome unique stairs.

They is also a much longer one which was kinda fun and dangerous to walk on. Big feet you see.

One family usually occupies one room. And the lady explained to us while some Melanaus are muslims now, they still can live in harmony with the Christians in the long house. They just cook separately, for obvious reasons.

But seriously, I can’t imagine one whole family occupying ONE room! They also offer home-stay in each house, just incase you might be keen. Think I would most definitely pass on that.

Sago goodies for sale.

Melanau folks. Pretty good lookers eh? I’m guessing they stay so slim coz of the sago they eat. New diet plan!

Next up, Orang Ulu house. Never knew they existed.

Fun Fact: Orang Ulu, or ‘up-river dwellers’ is a useful if vague term to describe the Central Borneo people living in Sarawak. They comprise of the Penan, the Kayan and Kenyah living in the middle and upper reaches of Sarawak’s rivers. Orang Ulu were famous in the region as sword-smiths.  Each longhouse was built to last.

And yes only one photo coz we didn’t really go in to check out coz I saw the amount of stairs to climb and freaked out. The weather was SUPER hot and we were sweating like a rain shower at this point I just wanted to end the tour. Stupid crappy weather!

Walked along and found a Penan House, if one could even call it a house.

Fun Fact: The shy nomadic people of the jungle live in the dense jungles of Central Boreno, among some of the State’s most valuable timber resources. Penan shelters are constructed to last for a few weeks of months. They are sitted near a good stand of wild sago trees, their staple food and after this has been used up, the family moves on. They are also fond of using blow pipes.

I seriously doubt the ’shy’ part coz do check out their outfits yo. Just a loin cloth to cover those modest bits. Wonder why the cloth is so long though, hmmm

5th stop was the Iban house. Weather was getting unbearable at this point I might add.

Fun fact: The Iban house is built to last 15-20 years or until the farm land in the surrounding area was exhausted. About 1/3 of all Sarawakians are Ibans; while some of them live in towns or houses, a large number still prefer longhouses.

Getting our ‘passport’ stamped. It’s a little book with information in it. That’s how I got the ‘fun facts’ for this post, LOL.

The traditional costume. Little one was afraid of the dude.

Last and final stop, woot – The Bidayuh House

Fun Fact: Bidayuhs account for 8.4% of the population and live within the catchment of the Sarawak and Sadong rivers. They built their houses in mountain fastnesses, tacked to a steep hillside like a gigantic staircase. This was to protect them against enemies and also for access to pure fresh water.

I think this shot is pretty awesome but that’s just me

Sweaty sweaty smelly people. And yes we actually drove back all the way to hotel after that just to shower again before heading to the mall.

The end of our tour. Class dismissed!

Oh, and here’s a photo of the far far away Damai Beach which we didn’t get to go closer coz of the stinky weather.

The end of our Sarawak Cultural Village tour. Despite the weather, we still enjoyed every bit of our education. So hope you enjoyed the little tour, you better…..coz I just saved you RM60, heh Thank me by commenting, ciao!

My husband’s grandmother passed away the week before we left to Kuching. She was all of 102. .Personally I wouldn’t want to live that long. Her body was extremely frail and she’d spend the days in her room. Not to mention she was also senile. She is in a better place now for sure.

I used to tell the husband I have an inkling that I would drop by the time I hit 50 because of all the stress he gives me my grandfather passed away around that age and my uncle (dad’s eldest and only bro) died at the age of 45 so somehow I am convinced that’s the age I would kick the bucket.

Then I realized why the heck should I let the other half ‘enjoy’ my EPF benefits so I decided to up the age to 57. 2 years is enough to spend all that money and tour the world I reckon

Then of course Sairah came and now I really don’t know when is the best time to leave. That said, it’s all written up there and not something we can decide on obviously.

The funeral brought back memories of my own grandmother’s funeral many years ago. I was only 22 when she had to be hospitalized for a month. I remember the trips we used to make to the hospital, especially during the tail end when she had to go on the ventilator to keep her breathing. I still remember very vividly the moment she left us, we were all by her bedside and the machine kept making that horrible sound showing us that she was leaving. I remember her looking up and shaking her said saying no….I know she didn’t want to go for sure because it was always her dream to see me get married first. And when the body came back to our parent’s place, it was such a devastating sight, I felt like my whole world had shattered.

They say when you’re close to someone who has passed on; they will come to you in your dream on the third day. I remember dreaming of her, it felt so real. She kept hugging me and crying saying she was sorry she had to leave. I was truly affected by my loss for about a year. That was then I decided to become a vegetarian, a vow I took on so that she would have a good afterlife in heaven. Somehow and miraculously my vegetarian phase and vow became 2 years and I really didn’t even crave for meat. Not even that once.

During the 31^st day prayer, I wrote something for her in the book we were handing out to those who attended the prayers. Just thought of sharing it here, to keep the memories of her alive. It has been 9 years since losing her, yet I do think of her everyday.

I was 22 years when I wrote this.

Losing you has been the most painful experience and I have never thought of losing someone so dear, so precious, and so beautiful for good. It never occurred to me that this day would come. But it did. And I lost a part of me, the day you went away. Yet, many loving memories of you that are fresh and embedded in my mind, heart and soul will never cease to exist. You have taught me life’s valuable lessons. Best of all, you moulded me to be just like you which was your greatest gift to me above anything else. You showered and spoiled us and even protected us with your undying love. You were more than a grandmother to us, you were like our mother and for that we called you Amma (mother).

I remember the days where you’d take the school bus together with me just to make sure I was not afraid and lonely. Also the times when you used to buy us breakfast every weekend – nasi lemak and roti canai being our favorite from the stall down the road. And who could ever forget the nagging whether we have eaten a million times where I would reply with a hiss ‘ Yesss Amaaa, I’ve told you a thousand times, I’m on the phone, sssh’. But a friend once told me, upon hearing countless conversations like that with her that I was lucky to have a grandmother who sincerely cared and loved me and how my friend had wished that she too had a grandmother like mine.

 I told her my grandmother was not up for sale.

It’s amazing to know that for someone who has not even met you, could just see all the kindness and love that you have been showering me. Much of my ‘studying’ time were spent watching television in your room without daddy and mummy’s knowledge while eating chocolates, even though you were not supposed to indulge in any. But for you, I kept them a secret away from my parents, just like you did with my ‘little’ secrets. You were the most popular and friendliest grandmother in the neighborhood, constantly waving your hands and talking to all familiar faces that go by the road. The day you left, the road just seemed so empty.

I miss running up the stairs after school, just to see you and shout out your name. Worse of all, I miss having to say good night to you before I go to bed.

One of the memories that I will always cherish will definitely be the days you get your pension. You would always make sure we got our fair share from it, together with the little extras like boxed Milo, chocolates, sweets and anything else that our heart desired, which most of the time desired a lot. You always seemed to get excited and would count the days for pension so that you could buy us anything we wanted. Amma, the memories of you do not just come to an end here. I have too many great ones to be stated in one little humble book. The rest of the memories are stored and kept safely in my heart.

You were such an amazing woman, and because of that I am proud to say that I am your grand-daughter. You fought for your life till the end to be with us. A fighting spirit she had, everyone said. I was there by your side when God decided to take you to Him before my very own eyes, and that made it more difficult and painful for me, to lose the person I hold closet to my heart. But God made the decision; He wanted to have you with Him, like how I wanted to have you with me. He must have wanted to have His share of love and kindness from you. No doubt He won and I am left with the deepest wound in my heart that will never heal. But I am sure that He will take good care of you, showering you with all His love like you have with us. He must have loved you even more for HE could not bear to see you suffer, and the only way to end all the suffering was to take you away. And with that, He reunited you with Him and your loved ones.

It has been extremely difficult for me to write everything in past tense because it just feels like you are still with me and it’s difficult to grasp the reality of it all. That I won’t be able to see you, touch you, hug you and kiss you. I know that one day we will be reunited again, and when that day comes Amma, I want to hold and embrace you and never let you go. You will be deeply missed and forever loved.

May God Bless Your Soul.

Fond memories of her still remains intact and forever will.