Sketches of Life

I have a few backdated post in my head.

I wanna write about my lady boss deceased mother who visited them during CNY.

Blog about my Malay neighbour who refused the road in front of his house to be resurfaced to prove his loyalty to PAS.

Blog about the snake (ular hitam dunno what’s the name in English) who came into our kitchen few weeks back and saw another bigger one outside the kitchen area recently.

Blog about the day I started on Usana Essential again in my quest to get rid of my Sinus. Now I can’t remember when I started swallowing the pills.

Blog about my coming holiday trip to Tiara Beach Resort. It is confirmed!

How to earn and save RM2000 a month??? I wanna buy my Persona by January 2009!

I am so lazy right now to compose all of the above. Got pill to cure laziness or not?

Are you all for blinds? Well, honestly only the windows in the living hall are covered with Wood Blinds, the rest of the windows my house is naked except the windows in the bedrooms which are covered with curtains.

It is quite costly to have our window clothe with blinds but they are very durable. When we started our Internet Café business, we were not allowed to tint the glass and our other option was to use the Vinyl Shutter for the main entrance and the Mini Blinds for hubby’s office.

So we waited for good bargain to come by.

If ShadesShuttersBlinds.com is here, I would have ordered my blinds from them. They are having Sale now!!!

Salt Lamp is known to produce negative ions to neutralize the bad ions that are produced by the computers and other office equipment. We have one in our internet café, a gift from my supplier.

Anyhow, after reading about the benefit of water fountain, it is so much better that the salt lamp. It not only produces negative ions which help to improve our mood and increase alertness but also cools down the room with its flowing water.

Hubby is thinking of adding another unit of air-cond but after I told him about the water fountain, he said that it is a good idea. Besides cooling down the internet cafe, it also gives a nice, refreshing ambiance. It looks stunning too.

I hope when our customers feel more alert and relax in our internet cafe, they will play longer hours and we will earn more! Hubby will also feel more alert and not grumpy to his customer when he has to work there the whole day.

After a week of full day at work, we wind up at the cinema watching The Forbidden Kingdom after a quick bite at McD. It took us less than 15 mins to swallow a Big Mac (hubby’s), A Quarter Pounder (mine) and a small French Fries.

If you like Kung Fu, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, this movie is a must to watch. No spoiler here. hehehe.

Let’s rewind and let me share what happened before the movie.

Sunday, no skipping church this week because we managed to wake up early.

I woke up around 7.10am, request the maid to cook rice immediately, chop a carrot and an onion and take out my minced Char Siew to defrost for me to fry rice. Then back to bed! Children still sleeping mah. Woke up again an hour later and start frying my rice. Then pack some snacks for my children for church. This time I brought Honeydew, Choc Chip Cookies, Mixture of Coco Crunch, Banana Crunch, and Honey Stars, Kisses Chocolate and 2 packets of Swiss Roll. Don’t worry, they didn’t finish them all.

After church, I forced my children to nap because they wanted to watch their daddy play football. No playing football with girls this time.

After the game we came home and feed and bathe the children. Left them behind to go for dinner. We head to Dataran Pahlawan; unfortunately the Hongkong Restaurant closed down. We decided to go for a movie instead after a quick bite. Our time shows that it is already 8.50pm so we quickly walk over to Mahkota Parade to check out the movie time. It’s 9.15pm. The fastest way to get food in our tummy is of course from fast food restaurant.

That’s my Sunday.

What I am trying to show is that the above durian is BIG. I am no photographer, so that is the best I can do.

The biggest durian that we have been always eyeing for and praying that the squirrel won’t get to be before it drops.

This time our durian tree comes in batches. Even though some has started to fall; if I’m not mistaken 3 already, there are many others which are still baby durians.

I hope that more big ones will come from the 2nd batch.

A chandelier is not like those normal lighting fixtures that we can just unscrew, bring it down and wipe them clean. You have to clean it right where it is hanging down. Want to have nice house, got to make extra effort to maintain it. Anyway, those who can afford to have chandeliers in their home, I am sure you will have at least 2 house keepers/maids/servants.

When asking them to clean your chandelier, make sure you tell them to do the following:

1. Make a diagram to guide them to where any removable parts go after cleaning is completed. Better still if you can take photo of it.

2. Switch off the light first! Never clean the chandelier with the lights on.

3. Place a thick comforter or drop cloth on the ground directly below to catch any possible falling pieces.

4. While cleaning the fixture make sure to keep it stationary. Do not turn or twist it.

5. Use a light cleaning mixture (like mild dish soap and water) or special chandelier cleaning solution.

6. Use warm water; the warmer the water the less spots that will be left.

7. Let the chandelier dry overnight to insure it is fully dried before turning its power back on.

Unless you DIY at home.

We (my children, my mom and yours truly) went to Muara Sg. Duyong for Ikan Bakar to meet Jess to pass to her the Satay Celup Paste, her daughter’s birthday gift and Chooi Peng storybooks that she bought from Leah.

I forgot that it is Saturday, I took the Coastal Road and it took me 45 minutes to arrive the restaurant which on weekdays, the drive will only take 20 minutes. When we arrived, the place was packed and Jess and her family is almost done eating. We managed to get a table under the stars and the unseen moon.

The service is slow or maybe my girls are too hungry, begging me for food. I got to request them to send the Nasi Lemak fast. The fish was not fresh and someone ate my Sotong Fritters before it reaches my table.

I don’t think my memory is that bad. I remembered clearly that the man weigh 4 huge Sotong. But I got 5 Sotong heads instead of 4 and tiny pieces of the Sotong body. I don’t think the Sotong can shrink that much after frying.

Anyway, since there are lots of people and everyone is hungry, we dig in only lar. No time to make a fuss of it. Anyway, I think they won’t entertain me too. They have good crowds daily, who am I compared to the tour buses and big shot that come to dine there.

I was “forced” to sit under the hot scorching sun on Sunday to watch hubby play football with a group of Indonesian girls!!!

I is smart. I brought along an umbrella and all the girls squeeze under it!

Can spot my hubby and the ball?

I is jealous so I did not snap any picture of the girls playing ball with my hubby and of course with the rest of the guys. (does this sentence sounded wrong? hahahaha)

Anyway, as expected, there was so much giggling and high pitch screaming and the guys dare not go near them! The girls scored 1 goal!

Did I join them? NO WAY! This sport is too rough for me and too much running for a lazy bum like me. hehehe Furthermore, I don’t like to play a game that there is chances that I would not have the chance to play. If no one kicks the ball to me and I don’t like the idea of snatching other’s belonging, no game for me then.

My game is Softball; my utmost favorite. As I watch them play, I was wishing and hoping that I can afford to buy or someone can sponsor the whole set of Softball equipment. I will then teach and train the girls to play. It would be sooooo much fun that chasing one stupid ball.

When I see the above picture, I regretted not joining them. They really laugh with no cares in the world. If the patients in the drug rehabilitation centre can laugh like them, no need other medication.

I don’t know whether I can really laugh like them. When seeing them laugh, I just smile and snap away. Sad isn’t it. I was thinking, “Oh, they are just kids, they have nothing to worry about, they can behave like that etc.”

Being a mother of 3, I kinda think that I must carry myself well. You cannot open you mouth and laugh loud loud in the public. It is not proper. No more the care free me. But then life would be miserable right? Maybe I would join them this weekend and see whether I can LOL!

If we were to build an attached bathroom in our bedroom, I would want a vessel sink to be the center piece in my bathroom instead of the normal traditional sink. Unlike the conventional sink, vessel sinks adds the touch of luxury even though it look simple. Many are going for vessel sinks nowadays. Almost every newly renovated restaurant and hotels are using the vessel sinks now.

For luxurious unique vessel sinks, you can visit Trade Winds Imports. They have a wide variety of unique vanities including unique sinks are perfect upgrade for your bathroom. They have so many types of material for you to choose from; Granite, Marble, Onyx, Travertine, Glass, Wood and Metal. As for me, I would definitely choose the Marble sink. It shines!

Now I got to work harder to save more so that my dream of having our very own bathroom will come true.

In the office just now, one of my colleagues intercom me. “Michelle, did you bring your camera today?” The first thing that came to my mind was , “I wonder what’s the problem now.” Normally they need my camera when they have problem with the packaging materials and ready products.

10 minutes later my colleague handed me a bottle with a beetle in it. “Can you please take photo of it?”

Can you see a face?

I have seen this before; those natives’ mask and on the totem pole. I have seen this kinda beetle too, on National Geographic. So privilege to see one live.

So now I know how the natives got the idea to make their mask.

“Welcome to the Hotel of California”. The famous lyric from the song “Hotel California”. Personally, I like the tune and rhythm of that song but I don’t like the message that the song is trying to put forward. Sounds eerie to stay in Hotel California. However, accomodation should not be a problem if you want to stay in California. There are many beautiful homes that are worth buying. Just find the house that you like and check out the California Mortgage Rates that suits your needs. Don’t forget to look at California Jumbo Loan or even San Francisco Home Loans and compare the rates.

It is easy if you know where to look for when you need to finance your real estate purchase. Just make sure that you don’t rush into any loans but consider carefully the rates and long term payments that you have to pay. It is always wise to be prudent in financial matters. Having said that, I wonder whether the Hotel California mentioned in the song still exist. I don’t think I want to stay in it if ever I got the opportunity to visit California. Maybe I’ll just enjoy myself at the beautiful sandy beaches.

This is my average blog traffic.

Visits

Total …………………… 8,256
Average per Day …………….. 47
Average Visit Length ………. 1:59
This Week …………………. 332

Page Views

Total ………………….. 15,316
Average per Day …………….. 76
Average per Visit ………….. 1.6
This Week …………………. 529

This is my blog traffic last week. Almost doubled and the highest visit was on the 16th April.

Visits

Total …………………… 8,897
Average per Day …………….. 91
Average Visit Length ………. 1:30
This Week …………………. 637

Page Views

Total ………………….. 16,299
Average per Day ……………. 143
Average per Visit ………….. 1.6
This Week ……………….. 1,003

No! I did not post my sexy, naked picture on that day.

I blog about Pontianak in Pulau Gadong. When writing that, I have no intention of getting more traffic like what some of the, I call them “Adsense” blogger did. If I wanted too, I would use the word “Pontianak” instead of “Lady-in-White” repeatedly in my recent post.

It just that the incident happened so near my place and I use the bridge very frequent. Kinda scary passing the bridge at night now. hehehehe.

With a maid around, our compound is super clean. Ok lar I am exaggerating a lil bit. But it is much cleaner than before, not much leaves and weeds on the ground. Our compound looks much bigger when it is free from weeds. It would be nice if we can afford to build a small hut and place a nice outdoor furniture like below.

With the evening breeze, I think I could nap for hours on that soft cushion. I just hope that the chicken, the dogs and the squirrels don’t join me. Hmmm…sounds like I am living in the jungle like that! hahahaha.

The above outdoor furniture is from a high end line of All Weather Outdoor Wicker Furniture from PatioProductions.com. It is Woven from top quality UV treated PE resin strands around weather proof aluminum frames, so you can be assure of it’s durability. Wanna buy it for me??? Visit the website puhlease.

During worship and also feeding time, I managed to have a short chat with an Indonesia lady who is married to our local Portuguese man. Her daughter is very pretty and fair. When asked whether she keeps her hubby’s pic in her purse (me kaypoh, wanna know how handsome is her hubby…hehehe), she told me that she does not carry any purse, not even the Pacsafe anti-theft handbag. With a baby and a 5yo, a handbag is not practical. All we carry now is our baby bag filled with thermos, water, milk, diapers, baby wipes, panties, t-shirt and snacks.

Sunday after Sunday going to church is just about fellowshipping with other mommies in the mother’s room. I hardly get to listen to the sermon. But last Sunday, I made an effort to listen as much as I could because my hubby was the preacher. He preached about How To Receive God’s Blessing. Wanna know how? Just click on the link.

I even video tape 7 minutes of his preaching but I can’t load it to my computer. So it is stuck in my digital camera.

This is only the 2nd time he preaches in the church that we are currently attending. Hope to see him up there more often.

Am supposed to be at Pulau Gadong bridge now snapping away. Not the “lady in white” but the “not so clever people” who thought that the “lady in white” would perform for them again. So that I can post their picture here and blog about it.

According to my future BIL, last night around 12 something midnight he saw lots of people waiting there. He on the way home after returning his friend’s box cutter. From the young to the Pakcik and Makcik, they flocked the bridge. If I were the “lady in white”, I also scared to come out. Nervous mah, so many people. Not that I am used to performing in front of so many people.

Why I am not there? Because I too chicken to go drive there all by myself. Because hubby is preaching in 10 hours time and he wants to sleep.

I have to sleep early too because I have to get the children ready before time, not in time. Can’t be late for church as always because hubby is the preacher this time.

What does it comes to your mind when you see the above title? 4Cs. Cash, Credit Card, Condominium and Car. Am I correct? The 4Cs that man must have in order to woo money minded girls. Simple girl like me don’t go after those 4Cs. Furthermore, I have my own cash, my own car, my own credit cards and my own apartment (can’t afford condo lar), so no need to trouble the man lar. hehehe

Anyway, man need to learn about the 4Cs of ideal cut diamonds. I am sure you could impress any woman if you know all these. Of course you have to buy one for her.

The 4Cs are…Cut - Carat Weight - Color - Clarity.

Btw, I am still waiting for my diamond! No heart to ask him to buy for me. So expensive. Maybe one day when he has more money to spare. By then I think, we would rather give than indulge ourselves in luxury.

Being a Doctors or Pharmacists is getting easier now. With laptops, they don’t need the thick medical references book to carry around when they do home visit. But that is still not so convenience as laptop is still heavy and bulky. Company like Epocrates, Inc. is smart enough to invent medical PDA software since most doctors have PDA or smartphone. So now they can carry their medical reference in their lab coats. With the Epocrates’ drug guide loaded on their PDA or smartphone, clinicians can immediately access the information needed to make prescribing decisions such as drug dosing, side effects and health plan coverage within seconds.

“This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.”

Yes! I eat pork. I am a Chinese.

Blame my “Malay” hubby that I am denied of this privilege.

A few times when I ordered Pork Porridge, with hubby in my presence, I was served Fish Porridge instead of pork.

Normally, the meat will be at the bottom. So gua makan lar. Makan punya makan, how come this pork white colour one? Texture also like fish. Ei! Memang pun FISH!!! Where is my PORK??? Gua mo Bubur Babi!!!

When I eat porridge, that also means that I am not feeling well so I don’t make a fuss out of it.

So now, when we eat at Chinese Food Court, I will purposely order a bowl of Pork Intestine Soup or Bak Kut Teh. They can’t switch it to fish. Mwahahahahaha.

You see lar, Chinese are nice people and they do respect the Muslim religion, even though the “Malay” wanna eat pork also they won’t give.

That is a common question when I go makan (eat) at Chinese food court or hawker stalls with hubby. All because hubby looks very much like Malay.

How come they never use their common sense one??? Malay will want to eat at non-halal Chinese food court meh? In KL maybe but not in Malacca. I heard there are Malays that eat pork here but normally they will ask their Chinese colleagues or friend to “tapau” for them. Their favorite is Wantan Mee and Char Siew Rice, that’s what I heard from a friend.

Back to me…

I look so Chinese some more. Hubby being asked the same question is very common. Will a convert wear short pants and go to Chinese food court when they miss their pork? I don’t think so right? Normally new converts will be very alim (religious) one.

I think I should print a t-shirt for myself that says, “Wo Shi Hua Ren” and wear it when I go look for Chinese food. I can’t print it in English, “I am Chinese” because most of them don’t read and don’t understand English.

Since I myself dunno Chinese (blame my dad for not forcing me to go to Chinese school) I will usually order in English first. If they don’t understand, I will order in Malay and if they still don’t understand, either I point-point or thicken my face and order in broken Mandarin.

Partly my fault also lar for not knowing how to speak Chinese.

Living in a kampung (village), my children got themselves dirty from head to toe almost everyday. The tough part is having a girl that sucks her finger! No matter how many times I reminded her to wash her fingers before sucking, she failed to do that. Once she got hold of her smelly pillow (bantal busuk) she will suck away along with the dirts on her finger! That really freaks me out. When she was younger, she often got mouth infection. Now, Praise God, she is immune to them. But that does not mean I ignore teaching them about personal hygiene and cleaning themselves.

Thanks to Huggies® Cleanteam®, cleaning is going to be more fun. Can’t wait to try their cleaning products.

Well, there was misunderstandings on the free one night stay in Tiara Beach Resort. There isn’t any. The free voucher is for Duta Hacienda Riviera Resort, part of Palm Springs Resort City. The resort sounds so grand but when I did some Google search on it, the resort is such a disappointment. Reviews has it that the resort was poorly managed and maintained. No intercom in the room! You have to use your own cell phone to call the receptionist! I wonder whether their shower faucets are rusted or not. And the children’s pool is always out of service and greenish in colour. That is a big NO to me.

The reason for this trip is for my children to have fun in the pool. So I rather pay extra and go for Tiara Beach Resort. Furthermore, my mom is coming along too. Trying to make this short holiday trip as pleasant as possible for her.

So far MariMari is giving the lowest rate for the Family Suite in Tiara Beach Resort. Have not make my reservation though. Hoping to find cheaper rate.

I watched the Pulau Gadong Pontianak video last night!

Remember I blog about the Pontianak in Pulau Gadong not long ago? A few days after that my mom told me that someone caught the scary scene on handphone and my sister got the video in hers.

I didn’t bother to watch it as I guess it must be a hoax. Who is daring enough to stand there listening to the crying ghost and videotaping the whole scene?

I watched it anyway; last night.

A white figure was crying and then it flew away. The camera did not move throughout the scene. He does have very stable hand, I guess. And the background of the scene is quite dark like using the home theater lighting only. Those who always passes the bridge know that the top of the bridge is well lighted.

To me, it is a hoax. Someone EFNTD acted the scene out.

Oh ya, the Pulau Gadong Pontianak Video is featured in The Star yesterday.

Anyone want to watch it? Try searching for it in YouTube. Someone already upload it there.

I like the sound of rushing waters. Especially the sound of the water fall. If I have a bungalow, I would love to have a mini water fall in my study room. If not, water fountains would be great too. Besides cooling down the room, the sounds of flowing water would definitely soothe down my soul after a tough day at work.

In the office that I am working at, we have wall fountain too. A huge one behind the reception table. Since the company is producing lubricants, instead of water, they replaced it with base oil. It is a very beautiful sight. Anyway that is too cost for our home.

If you are interested to own one, at Discount Fountains you will find everything from large indoor fountains to small decorative waterfalls for your desk or bedside tables. All their products come from the top indoor fountain suppliers around the world and are made of the highest grade materials on earth. You will surely be satisfied by their guaranteed quality.

BIL called saying that he is giving the free voucher for a night stay in Tiara Beach Resort but we have to utilize it before June. Meaning we have to go earlier than planned.

My plan was to celebrate my son’s birthday there in June. Now, we will be celebrating my eldest girl birthday there in May instead. And my mom agrees to come along. Thank God for that. I really need the extra hands to handle 3 children in the water park.

I just sent an email to Tiara Beach Resort asking how much will it cost to upgrade the room to 2 bedrooms instead of only one. I hope it will be lesser than to book another studio room.

Unless someone has another almost expired voucher, have no time to go and willing to pass it to me for free. *wink, wink*. I know I thick skin. hahahaha

I need to find more money now, as much as possible, something like enough for me to buy Branson condo because my eldest girl only wants to eat in clean restaurant.

Meaning, no hawker stalls, no old run down restaurant even though the food is nice and “Longkang” food near Madam King is totally out of the question.

I wonder who put that idea in her head. I will sure strangle that person if I find who he/she is!!!

Most of us will have our own home one day. I am waiting for my turn. Can’t wait to decorate my own home with my kind furniture. I am currently living with my MIL so there is a mixture of all kinds of furniture in this house. If I have my own house I would love to decorate it with one theme like Asian style furniture, Oriental furniture or Japanese furniture.

I like wood furniture because it looks sturdy and definitely it will last longer if you get the teak wood furniture.

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I am crying as I am typing this.

You wanna know why?

Because I am VERY VERY VERY VERY sad.

My 2nd girl will have to start wearing glasses come this Monday.

Her power is over 400 on one side of her eyes! And the right side has Astigmatism as high as 200!

And she is only 3 years and 4 months old.

If only I watch my diet when I was carrying her.

If only I eat!!!

I was so selfish!

It’s all my fault…

I wish I can turn back time. If only…

Mommy is very very very sorry, Clarissa.

Whenever I plan to go places like for a vacation, birthday celebration or even 2nd honeymoon, I don’t keep a secret about it. I will usually announce it to the world. Thank to my big mouth, I got bloggers informing me about promotional voucher for the recent vacation to Genting Highland, I got free room voucher from my SIL for a night stay in Port Dickson to celebrate my son’s 2nd birthday and for my 2nd honeymoon, I got free one night stay in one of the hotels locally. In a way, all my trips are partly sponsored. I really praise God for His blessing.

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