Food, Mom and Gift…

As expected, the power cut-off happened again. Luckily, it happened during lunch time. Therefore, I don’t have to go through another free sauna session…hehe…

Instead of having lunch at the coffee shop downstairs like usual, I braved the scorching midday sun. Having the same food, same taste for a week straight will sure make anyone sick, no matter how good it taste. Since it is the only kedai makan in my office area and I was discouraged by the blazing sun, I forced myself to consumed the same food! Sedih oh kan?! :)

Hmmm, how good it is if I could go home and enjoys mom’s cooking. Doesn’t matter la if lunch means steamed, plain white rice with kangkung belacan and salted fish and a pinch of nonsom (pickled) bambangan *drool*. Don’t know about you, but I certainly, don’t mind having these dishes for my daily meals. * smile*

Hey,Mother's Day is Coming Up! If you are still looking for ideas on the perfect gift for your mom, you are not alone…:). Hopefully, we’ll found the right gift before that special day. *wink*

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I thought it won’t happen but…

Yesterday I ranted about my office turning into sauna, today it’s more or less the same story. Just before the clock struck 9am, I saved all my work and waited for the power disruption…Nope, nothing happen. Half past 9am and still everything is normal. Phew! Finally, the SESB were done with their upgrading exercise I thought. I happily went blog-hopping in between my work…then….$@*t !!! The power went off at exactly 10:30am. Cilaka!!

I dragged my chair near the window to get some light and air. Tried to do some reading to kill-off some time, but reading in a sauna is impossible, it made me sleepy instead. :) “Go la duduk-duduk at the kedai kopi downstairs, have some Teh C ping”, the devil in me said. I was tempted… but in the same time, I thought about having to explain my absence from my desk to the boss. *roll eyes* I’m too malas to do that. So, once again, terpaksa la go thru free sauna session lagi. The power came back @ 11:30am but it felt like eternity.

Will it happen again tomorrow??? *sigh*

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bla,bla,bla...

I’ve been trying to type something for my post today. But I can barely make a sentence. I tried to read the paper, but it seems like ‘masuk telinga kiri, keluar telinga kanan’. After reading an article, I was like ‘Huh? What was it all about??” I can’t remember anything I read after 5 minutes. I’m having a hard time focusing. Don’t know what’s wrong with me today. Is something bothering me? I don’t think so. Then, what??? *sigh*

Hmm, it got to be the early morning blackout. I came in the office today in a cheery mood, …no Monday blues whatsoever…:). Checked my e-mail, scanned some documents…then suddenly…POOF! Every thing that operates on electric went dead! Arrrgh…no electricity again! *sigh* This frustrating incident has been occurring in Donggongon area everyday since last week. Same old story, power interruption is due to some upgrading exercise by SESB. It lasts for at least one hour. I hate blackout, the power interruption is not only bad for the electrical appliances, it is also damn irritating. Betul2 bikin panas…bcos without the air-cond, it felt like sauna in the office. Anybody want to experience sauna? Most likely here will be another blackout tomorrow. Jus drop-by around 9am. Free session some more…hehe…

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Natural teething pain remedy

Daughter Vanessa is cutting-tooth again. Looks like she’ll be getting her first molars anytime soon. Because of their large size and double edge, they are twice as hard to cut as incisors. Hence, the discomfort is at least twice as much as with other teethes. Kesian her…I can imagine how painful it is. :(

She was down with fever for 3 days, loss her appetite to eat and drink her milk, woke-up frequently at night, crying … :( Difficult for both of us to get some sleep at night. Had to give her paracetamol syrup to relief the pain. I don’t want rely too much on paracetamol though.

I thought of rubbing the popular topical ointment, Bonjela on her gums but this scares me. My Mom, as always, asked around for natural remedies. One of her friend, suggested to use this plant, niinipon . Ah, that’s the common name in Kadazan. If this plant has any other name, I absolutely have no idea what…. :)

Niinipon on the left. Don't know the name of the plant on the right, but the plant is diuretic. Good for cleansing the urinary system, so I was told.

The aunty swears by it. According to her, niinipon is effective and she has always used it on her children (when they were young) and grandchildren. Luckily, this plant can be found easily. There are plenty at our backyard.

Thank God Vanessa is feeling much better now. The fever is gone; appetite is improving progressively and less waking-up a night. I’m not too sure how effective the niinipon is but Vanessa’s mood has improved, not so cranky anymore. :) She enjoys biting chilled watermelon chunk. The cool juice soothes her gums. So we let her enjoy it but NOT without supervision.

Okay, here’s some info on how to process the niinipon, if you want to experiment with it. Pull the whole plant (with roots intact). Wash it. Put into a mug and pour in hot water. Leave it soaked for a minute. The water will turn into pale yellowish color and it tastes a bit fishy. Remember, do not let it over-soaked. It’ll make the water taste bitter. Take out and discard the plant. Let the water cool to lukewarm before drinking. Continue drinking a few times. :)

Have you ever heard of necklace as teething remedy? This is one interesting teething remedy I found in the Net. A necklace made from the bark of an elder tree (Sambucus nigra) can relieve teething pain among children. What’s elder tree in BM ?? hehe....

But on top of all, love is the best teething remedy! Shower your child with lotsa love and attention, introducing a new experience can also help distract him/her from the teething pain. *smile*

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Caring for the environment

“We do not inherit the Earth from our Forefathers; we borrowed it from our Children” It is an ancient Native American proverb that I first heard from one of my lecturer back in the Uni, Prof Ahmad Makmom, if I’m not mistaken. This proverb really opened up my eyes towards caring for and appreciating Mother Earth.

Call me naïve or ignorant or anything, but I didn’t know or care much about the environment before I went to the Uni. In fact, I didn’t really know what drove me to enlist the Environment in my choice of study :). It wasn’t my first option for sure. When I was offered the course, I was like “Huh? Apalah mau study pasal environment ni? Can I find work after I finished my study? “ But I accepted it anyway…thinking, I can always switch to other course if this one doesn’t suit me…never mind la if I wasted one semester...

But, after one sem, I found that the course was NOT boring after all. In fact, it was the opposite. It was interesting. So the issue of switching to other field of study no longer exists. I was glad that I accepted the offer. I enjoyed my study! Of course, there are subjects that I dislike, but what to do? Have to take also, compulsory ma…*roll eyes*

Studying the environment, both in theory and practical, really gave me a chance to know more about the environment, the issues related to it and the mitigation measures to minimize the damage etc. It inspired me to be more aware and caring towards the environment. I guess, I will always be grateful for taking up the course. Even though now I no longer work in environment-related field, I can still show my support in creating a better environment to live in. Never mind la if it is only a small, tiny gesture, e.g. bringing my own reusable grocery bag, recycling used paper or plastic bags or switching off the lights/fan if it is not in use. Hehe...our support should be continuous, not only once or twice a year during the Earth Day or Earth Hour . *smile*

In case, you don already know :) . I’ll gladly reiterate here that today is Earth Day. The organizer of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network launched the Green Generation Campaign, a 2-year initiative that will culminate in the 40th year anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. The main focus of this campaign is towards renewable energy-solar, wind and geothermal to preserve the resources for the next generation.

Plus, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Malaysia) has embarked on a campaign to bag 40,000 signatures in support of preserving the beleaguered turtle eggs, seeking support to regulate laws o ban the sale and consumption of turtle eggs nationwide and establish comprehensive and holistic federal legislation to conserve marine turtles. The signing-up for the campaign starts today until September 30. So, have you pledge that you won’t eat turtle eggs anymore? Well, I already did mine…not that I eat them anyway..hehe… :)

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Veritas

The first episode of CSI : NY Season 5 is airing at 11pm tonight on AXN, Channel 701. Can’t wait to see how the bank-heist-gone-wrong ends. I know, some of you might think, “If can’t wait, why not download the whole episodes from the Internet?” Believe me, I have had the urge to do so. But still, I kinda enjoy the thrills, the suspense in waiting in anticipation for one whole week to watch the next episode..hehehe...

Hmm, you barely remember what happened on Season 4 finale? No worries, you can catch the recap tonight at 10pm. That would refresh your mind. Happy watching guys!

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Cat-nap

Thank God Monday is over. I’m referring to the working hours ya *wink*. How’s your day? Mine was the usual, typical Monday, work, work and some more work *roll eyes* How NOT exciting!!!

As I was typing, I can’t help but wonder..how nice it was if I was home right now, catching an afternoon nap like Mew-Mew here?

This is one of my pet cats in his daily routine. He spends most of his time sleeping on the sofa… sampai my mum use her old sarung to cover it to avoid the furs sticking on the cushion.Normally, Mew-Mew would curl himself into a ball but yesterday he did a different sleeping position. It was funny to find him all stretch-out, truly enjoying the moment…until my little girl woke him with the squeaking sound of her rubber ducky. LOL! Kesian si Mew-Mew..takajut bah dia dingar tu bunyi... Now where did my little Vanessa get that wicked idea? Well, she got it from her mommy! LOL!

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VOTE FOR ME : SUPERMUMMY AMAZING BLOGGER AWARD

One fine day, Supermummy dropped-by and left a comment - “Nominate yourself for The First Supermummy Amazing Blogger Award (SABA)!” How nice of her… :) As usual, I always return a visit to any visitors on my blog. I went on to check-out her blog and I decided to try my luck. Yup, I, Mama Mia nominated myself shamelessly…hehe…Kinda like, masuk bakul angkat sendiri…;P

Yesterday, I got another visit from Supermummy and …I’m in the list. Mama Mia is in the running for the first SABA. Who knows? Lady Luck might just happen to be on my side. *smile* Of course, I can’t do it on my own. That’s why I’m asking you a favor. PLS VOTE FOR ME. Click on the SABA icon on top of my sidebar and your vote is cast. It’s that simple… :)

Hmm, I would be lying if I say I do not wish to win any of those fabulous prizes. Of course, I would lurrve to bag home one of the prize..hehe. It’ll sure make the upcoming Mother’s Day even more memorable to me. *smile*

Btw, the clicks counting have started yesterday, but it’s not too late to give your support as the counting will continue until 30 April 2009. So, what are you waiting for? Exercise your fingers, click on the SABA icon! Hehe...thank you guys! Muahhhs…

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Gardening in the morning...

Yey, daughter Vanessa is in her usual self again. She is back to her morning routine. Tailing her Grandma (Mama) at her mini vege garden…hehe. Copying her Mama every move…checking for snails, weeding and loosening the soil around the eggplant trees. Obviously, she is feeling much better now that her fever has subsided *smile*. Like any other 18mths old toddler, she was given immunizations, DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) and OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine) during her last visit to the clinic on Wednesday.



She was in a good mood during her visit. She obeyed to stand properly on the scale and had her weight and height measured. She now weighed 10.7kg and 78cm tall. It was a totally different story during her previous visit where she refused to be measured. We had to sit her on the infant scale to weigh her and roughly estimated her height…agak-agak only la since she refused to lie or stand still… :)

This time, Vanessa was a good girl. She didn’t protest when given two drips of OPV. When the nurse asked her to open her mouth, to my surprise, she did so obediently, no fuss whatsoever. Even smile sweetly to the nurse :) . How nice of her! Unlike at home where she’ll only have her medicine after a long persuasion and the running around. Penatnya, kadang-kadang sampai habis modal bah mau pujuk baru dia surrender….hahaha….

Then came the jabbing part. I was worried right from the start. Worried that she’ll put up a struggle, run or anything to avoid that jab on the thigh. But once again, surprise, surprise! Not only did she sit kuai-kuai on my lap, she didn’t even cry out loud when she was jabbed with the DPT shot. Well, she did shed a few tears but only for a sec. She was back to smiling and waving and blowing kisses to the nurses when the whole process was over. Making all the nurses gerigitan…hahaha…Yup,that’s my little brave girl! :)

Btw, it is always good for us parents to have some knowledge on our children’s immunizations. Info Sihat is an excellent place where we can get educated about it. Info Sihat is the Health Education Division of our own Ministry of Health. Of course, the infos are not limited to children’s immunization only. At Info Sihat, there are information from A – Z on various diseases that affects both adult and children complete with the treatment/prevention measures.

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How could I live without you...

This is one long overdue award cum tag from Mouren…only now am I doing it. Jangan mara ar Mouren… *wink*

1. My family
2. My friends
3. My handphone
4. Wallet & everything inside… :)
5. Books...mystery/adventure :)
6. My desktop…since I don’t have a laptop :(
7. Internet

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Easter Reflections

On this Easter, I would like to share this beautiful poem, Easter Reflections by Helen Steiner Rice with you all. Happy Easter to fellow Christians!

With OUR EYES we see

The beauty of Easter

As the earth awakens once more...

With OUR EARS we hear

THe birds sing sweetly

To tell us Spring again is here...

With OUR HANDS we pick

The golden daffodils

And the fragrant hyacinths...

But only with OUR HEARTS

Can we feel the MIRACLE of GOD'S LOVE

Which redeems all men...

And only with OUR SOUL

Can we make our 'pilgrimage to God'

And inherit His Easter Gift of ETERNAL LIFE.

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Get paid for blogging

Your blog is more than 30 days old? You update your blog regularly? Why not turn your favourite pass time into quick money generator? Don’t you just love to have the extra cash to go shopping on eBay? Well, I certainly love both...blogging and shopping. Then again, who doesn’t? :)

Okay, there are quite a number of get-paid-for-blogging site out there. One of them is Blogvertise. This is where thousands of Advertisers looks for bloggers like you and me to help promote their products and services. We only need to talk about them in our post/entry in 100 words or more.

In return for our effort, we’ll get some cool cash from blogvertise for each approved task. Please bear in mind that the payout rates will vary based on popularity/traffic of our blog as measured by independent third parties.

The registration process is quick and easy, no fuss whatsoever. Once we registered an account, we’ll then need to add our blogs for review and approval. However, it is the sole discretion of the Blogvertise Administrator to whether approve or disapprove our blog for any reason. :)

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Have you seen her ?

I stumbled upon this poster pasted on a pillar outside a photo shop in Donggongon yesterday evening. No, I don’t have any relation to this girl. I am merely helping to spread the words. Who knows one of us may know the whereabouts of this missing girl.
In case, the pic failed to give a clear info, I’d taken the liberty to repeat what was written on it. According to the poster, the girl, Stella @ Isabell went missing on the night of 20th March. The number to call is : 014-953 5017. There was no name of the contact person though.

If you can see, below the word “LOST” , there was $2000 written. Hmm, am not too sure about the reward though as it appears to be deliberately added by somebody with itchy fingers?

So, if you have seen this girl or have any info that may help to locate her, kindly call the contact number. Am sure her parents/family will be grateful for your assistance….:)

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Curly-wirly hair...

As I mentioned in my last post, we moved to a nearby budget hotel on our last night in KL. We stayed at the Replica Inn Bukit Bintang. In terms of location, it is strategic, within walking distance to major shopping centers. Walk out the door and there you are, Chinese food everywhere. Non-halal some more *wink*.

True to its “no-frills-just-thrills” philosophy, the room is equipped with only the basic necessities. There was no kettle in the room. You can help yourself with hot and cold water from the water dispenser in the corridor outside the room. The room rates suits well with what they offered. I have no complain about the premise /room cleanliness.

But there is something that I am NOT satisfied about. I’m not going to rant about how noisy the traffic was or how hard it was to catch some good sleep, okay *smile*.

It is the hygiene of the bathroom towels that I want to share. Upon check-in, there were three fresh, white, cleaned towel stacked on the bathroom rack. Well, at least it appears to be clean. But when I took one of it and looked a bit closer….Eeuwwww..can’t believe what I just saw on one of the towel! I almost threw it on the floor! Lucky I didn’t use it right away, otherwise……*faint*

There it was, stuck in between the thread, a curly-wirly hair. Not the hair on top of your head, mind you. It’s the hair down there. IT WAS A PUBIC HAIR!!! OMG!!! Now, you tell me, disgusting or not??!! I was too disgusted to snap a pic of it. Furthermore, I think it’ll be a bit obscene and inappropriate to post the pic here.

After what I saw, I was phobia to use all the towels. I put aside the ‘dirty’ towel and have a thorough check at the other two. Only used it after satisfied with its hygiene, no hidden ‘treasure’ on it. But still it is hard to forget the earlier incident. In fact, the hair incident made me paranoid that the bed sheets and blanket might contain somebody’s pubic hair… uwekks!!!

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4D3N - Part 2

Woke up early in the morning of 30/03. After having breakfast (same variety of food as the day before) hubby decided to switch to another hotel nearby. Err, well, not exactly a hotel, the Replica Inn. It looks quite new and the room rate is suitable for the room/amenities they offered. But, there was one disgusting experience during our stay. Ah, that’s another story to tell. I’ll save it for the next post. *wink*

We went for an outing at the Colmar Tropicale Bukit Tinggi Resort. Good thing that Just and hubby were willing to loan their car to us for the day. Otherwise, we won’t be able to visit Colmar Tropicale. Thanks to Just & hubby.

It was a very long journey to Bukit Tinggi that we almost give-up and thought of turning back to KL in the mid journey. * sigh * We got lost! That’s why it took us half a day to reach there. I rather not talked about this sesat-sesat thingy. Bikin panas saja…

We finally reached Bukit Tinggi in the late afternoon. We only spent half an hour there. Looked around the place, snapped a few pics here and there. The place sure is beautiful. Rasa macam berada di negara urang putih pulak…hehe… Hubby thought of trying the food at one of the restaurant but I had to forget it. As it was getting late, it’ll be even harder to drive at night. I can’t bear the thought of getting lost again on the way back…*wink* Furthermore, I was late for my meet-up with Just and KadusMama.

When we reached the City Centre, it was raining mad! Almost impossible to get a good look at the signboard. Once again, we made the wrong turn. DAMN! Ntah jalan apa suda tu kami termasuk...forgot the name liao! Lucky there was not many car passing-by, hubby managed to make an illegal turn. Hopefully there was no hidden camera there…inda pasal-pasal kana saman kereta si Just. *wink*

We reached KLCC around 8 something. We parked the car near a bus-stop then walked our way to the KLCC Burger King, the venue of our mini gathering. KadusMama and Just was already munching their burgers and fries when we joined them. There are some pics and story here and here *smile*

It was the first time daughter Vanessa meeting with her mommy’s old friends. Being a friendly kid, she was not intimidated by the present of these new faces, instead she smiled cheekily to these hot mamas *smile* I know, she is at the stage where everyone is interesting. She smiles, put out her hand and wave bye-bye to strangers in the airport and commuter. Hmm, it is good that she is friendly but in the same time, we’re concern about her friendliness. Can’t help it though…tau-tau saja la kan sekarang ni banyak kes culik budak. Touch wood…

Sayang sekali that we, the blogger-mamas have only a little time to spend. Otherwise, we could have brought down the KLCC with our chat and laughs. LOL! We bid our good-byes when KadusMama’s hubby came to fetch her. Just and hubby was kind enough to send us back to the hotel. Thanks again guys!

Before depart to the airport, we went for a quick tour at the Aquaria KLCC. It was packed with ppl and kids. Some kindergarten pupils came for a visit. There was about 30-40 of kids with their teachers trying their best to keep them in order. It was not an easy job to keep these curious kids under control. That is why I never dreamed of being a kindergarten teacher! Hehe….mau urus satu budak pun susah, apa lagi berpuluh-puluh budak..pengsan!

We spent the half of our journey back to KK sleeping. The last thing I remembered was the stewardess preparing for the safety demo. When I woke-up, it was an hour before landing. LOL! Vanessa was fast asleep too due to the fever meds we gave her earlier. So, that's the story of our cuti-cuti in KL. :)

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4D3N - Part 1

Now I’m back in the office and in the blogsphere as well. Hehe...I'll be blog-hopping soon, watch-out ya! This post was supposed to came up yesterday but was unable to do so as there were a few out-standing works waiting for me during my absence. *sigh*

I was back in town on last Tuesday but only came back to work yesterday. It was a good thing that I took an extra leave on April Fool’s Day as daughter Vanessa was having a mild fever. Her fever started on the last day we’re in KL. As the day goes by, her fever subsided. Thank God! But she was very cranky and grumpy and extra manja. Sikit-sikit mommy, sikit-sikit daddy....aduii..

Just as I expected, she has become too attached to mommy and daddy. This morning, she was okay a bit compared to yesterday. It was almost impossible to leave for work. She was crying her heart out….whining for her mommy and daddy. Btw, now at 18mths, she can pronounce “mommy”, “daddy” fluently :), no more "meh" or "deh". Another milestone reached. It breaks my heart to see/hear her crying, but still, we need to go work L. Does that make me a bad mommy? :(

Okay, here’s some story on our trip. On 28/03, we arrived with Air Asia at LCCT, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. My BFF, Chenli & fiancé were supposed to fetch us at the airport. When after 5 minutes looking out for each other at the arrival hall, we’re still unable to find each other. I had a bad feeling that there was something wrong somewhere. Just as I thought, we were at two different locations. She & fiancé were waiting for us at Subang Airport! * sigh* Miscommunication.

Waiting for them to get to LCCT was obviously not a good idea due to the distance and traffic jam. Therefore, we took the Air Asia Skybus @ RM9 to KL Sentral instead. The ride was so boring that we all fell asleep as soon as the bus started to move. Oh, the cool breeze from the air-cond definitely expedites the process of dozing-off to la-la land! Hehehe...

Chenli & fiancé picked us at KL Sentral and sent us to Radius International Hotel. Our room was situated on the 14h flr with a view of the city. After having dinner, we all waited patiently for the clock to strike 8.30pm, the Earth Hour. From the dark of our room, we were able to see that the major shopping complexes and hotels had their lights-off for Mother Earth e.g. the JW Marriott, the Royale Bintang, Lot 10, Starhill, Low Yat Plaza, Berjaya Times Square etc. The hawkers stalls along Jalan Alor was operating like usual…probably they didn’t want to take the risk of losing business or worse have their goods stolen…hehe…

The next day, buffet breakfast was served at 7.30am to 10.30am. We were quite excited to see what they have to offer. Well, there were varieties of food served to suits everybody’s taste. There were fried kuey teow, nasi lemak, bread, bun, egg omelets, Coco Crunch Cereal, coffee, tea, juices, fruits etc. Well, the food was edible but the fried kuey teow at one of the stall out there was a lot better. :)

We spent the entire day, jalan-jalan. Our first stop was the Berjaya Times Square. Hehe..it was more of window-shopping than shopping itself. But I did grab a shorts and tops and a few books by James Patterson and Steve Berry at the Borders Book Store. I’m a book fetish…if only I have all the money; I would probably end-up buying the whole rack of mystery/adventure books!

We were joined by Chenli and fiancé later in the afternoon. Our second stop was Sg. Wang Plaza. Here, we bought some more clothes, T-shirt and dress for daughter. I was checking-out the shoe stores for a pair of sandals but my search was halted when daughter became grumpy. Ah, that’s the cue to end the day’s activity. After having dinner at one of the kedai kopi along Jalan Alor, we headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from the jalan-jalan that we fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillows. :)

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