Back on Malaysian soil

My flight left Paris at 12.00 noon on Sept 26, Wednesday, Parisian time. But why Paris, you may ask? Weren't you in Amsterdam? Well yeah, I was attending a conference in Amsterdam which ended last Friday. I then took a train to Brussels, spent a day in the capital of Europe, before heading to Paris for three days. I figured that since I've already traveled that far, might as well make the most of my trip by visiting places I've not been before. And it turned out that my return flight from Paris cost less than if I'd flown home from Amsterdam, which worked very well in my favour as I needn't have to take a train back to Amsterdam to catch my flight back to KL.

Lunch was served soon after take-off and since it was still sun shiny bright outside and I wasn't sleepy, I tuned in to the TV on Demand channel and voila, there were 10 episodes of the latest season of Dr. House, which is currently airing on Astro AXN. I've been a fan of the moody and rude doctor, and marveled at his ingenuity in diagnosing difficult cases. I was looking forward to the latest season on Astro but I missed the first two episodes since the 3rd season premiered on Sept 17. I was planning to catch a few episodes and then settle for some sleep for we were scheduled to arrive in KL at 6.30am on Sept 27. However, there is an interesting side plot that weaves itself across the episodes and I was anxious to find out how this would turn out. I ended up watching all 10 episodes at one go, which meant that I didn't sleep at all throughout the 12 hour flight as breakfast was served shortly after I finished the final episode.

Anyhow, the flight touched down in KLIA as scheduled. I had wanted to ask hubby not to send Yiu Yiu to the babysitter as I took half day leave and wanted to spend some time with her before going back to the office in the afternoon. However, hubby couldn't wait till I reached home as that would mean he'd be late for work. I reached home at about 8.00am, unpacked, took a long shower, and had a short one hour nap before heading to the babysitter's to see my darling before going to work.

And here I am, in front of my laptop trying to catch up on some blog surfing at 3.00am. It's amazing that I had been awake for more than 36 hours and I'm still functioning reasonably well. But my oh my, I think I'm gonna crash big time over the weekend.

Watch this space for more tales of my trip. I will try to post them as soon as I can. In the meantime, have some fun matching these photos to the correct city.

Amsterdam

This is my second trip to Amsterdam. The first was back in 2003, while on a transit from Barcelona. I was attending a meeting in Barcelona then and flew with Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM. Back then, KLM allowed its passengers a stopover in the city at no extra cost so I extended my trip a couple of days to explore Amsterdam. This time round, I'm attending a conference in Amsterdam itself.

I left KL on Friday night, on flight MH16 which was supposed to depart at 2355. And as expected, the flight was delayed but luckily not my much, just over 30 minutes as we had to wait our turn on the runway. The reason why flights have been frequently delayed from KLIA these past few months is because one of the runways is closed for renovation, to widen it to accommodate the new Air Bus.

I conked out soon after take off, couldn't even stay awake long enough for supper to be served. I didn't sleep very well though, and kept waking up every now and then. Seven hours into the flight, I was awoken by the sound of cutleries clanking against one another. It was the Muslims passengers being served their sahur meal, as we were flying over the Middle East and it was time for sahur on the ground. As I couldn't get back to sleep, I caught two movies on the Movies on Demand entertainment channel – Shrek and Anna and the King. Old movies, but nonetheless, my first time watching them.

Breakfast was served about three hours before landing, and I opted for nasi lemak, since I'd have to be contented with Continental breakfast over the next ten over days. The plane landed at Schipol Airport, Amsterdam at about 6.30am, Sept 15, Saturday, local time.

Mummy is not home again!

I suspected something amiss when mummy brought out her big suitcase and started packing her clothes, toiletries, etc. And true enough, last Friday night, a tall and burly Uncle in white uniform pulled up at our gates at about 9.15pm in his black car, which I now know is the airport limo. Papa helped mummy bring her big suitcase out and placed it in the trunk of the car, while mummy carried me out. Mummy kept kissing me until papa took me in his arms. Initially I refused to let go of mummy but papa said mummy was going to work. Strange! How come mummy goes to work so late at night? Anyway, I obliging let go of mummy, which I normally would not, watched her getting into the car and watched the car moving away. I think I behaved very well, at least I didn't make mummy feel bad for going so far away. Papa said mummy is going to this city far far away, whereby a large part of the city is below sea level, with lots of canals to regulate the flow of water. Can you guess where mummy is by looking at this photo? I am now home alone with papa, and mummy will only be back in two weeks.

Another wet weekend

Last weekend was again spent in some water – this time, in the pool in elder sis's apartment. Mum and Yihao came to stay with me since last Thursday as younger sis traveled to Hong Kong on a company trip. Since elder sis's apartment is just a stone's throw away from my house, we took the kids to the pool in the late afternoon. All four of us went into the kiddie pool. While Yihao was happily enjoying himself walking around and playing in the shallow water, for some reasons, Yiu Yiu held on to me for a good 15 – 20 minutes despite having her floaters on. She refused to be left on her own, despite my numerous attempts to convince her that she'll be safe by pulling her feet down to touch the bottom of the pool, just so she'd know that the water would only reach her shoulder level. Eventually she felt safe enough to let go but still wanted me to be by her side. By the time she started to enjoy herself, it started to drizzle so we had to quickly get them out from the pool.

Clockwise from top left: Oh, I really can stand, I can even walk, with Yihao and Yiyi, how do I shoot

Wet weekend - Part 2

Last Sunday was hubby's company's Family Day at Sunway Lagoon. We reached Sunway Lagoon at about 8.30am and hubby promptly registered and got the necessary tickets and meal vouchers. There were two other organizations having their Family Day on the same day: Pejabat Tanah Negeri Selangor and Pejabat DYMM Sultan Selangor. We were assembled at the huge Pergola C which had been reserved for the event, as there were more than 1000 staff and family members present. Breakfast was distributed nasi lemak/fried meehoon and a muffin, doughnut and pear. There was a Vico and Indocafe van providing free beverages as well. There were many activities to keep the children occupied, such as balloon artists twisting balloons into little swords, flowers, dogs, and hearts; face painting and sand art.

The day started at 9.30am with a short address by the CEO who officiated the opening of the Family Day. This was followed by some telematches for children and adults alike. However, by then, many people already started enjoying themselves in the water at Jeffrey's Bay, the world's largest man-made surf wave pool. But of course only the mildest of waves were switched on (for lack of a better word!) and the people just enjoyed themselves dipping in the pool. My little fussy pot, seeing so many children in the water, wanted to join in the fun as well but again, needed some coaxing before she felt comfortable and started enjoying herself in the water. I even managed to persuade her to try the water slide, with her on my lap of course. We took a break from the water after a while and replenished her energy with some grapes, corn-in-cup, sausages and a small cup of iced Vico. Papa kept watch on her while mummy went to explore other parts of the park.


Mummy found the other side of the water park had more interesting attractions for children. For example, we could ride in a tube along the Zambezi River, while Little Zimbabwe and Kalahari Kids are built especially for children below the age of seven. There were also more exciting rides for adults such as the Congo Challenge, a six-lane thrill where you lie prone and slide down head first. I tried that and it was pretty fun. I also wanted to try the African Pythons where riders are spun around in loops before being propelled out, and the Cameroon Climb, the first-in-the world ride that steeply drops riders from as high as fifteen metres, and shoots them up again to a height of eight metres. Unfortunately, both are tube rides for two and I had no partner with whom to ride them with.

Top left (African Pythons), top right (Congo Challenge), bottom (Kalahari Kids)

I made my way back to Pergola C and told hubby that we should move over to the other side so that Yiu Yiu can enjoy the kiddo attractions there. Anyhow, since we were supposed to be free at leisure after lunch, we decided to let her play in the water at Jeffrey's Bay a little more while waiting for lunch to be served. It began to rain as we were having lunch and we were hoping that it would stop so that Yiu Yiu can enjoy herself at Kalahari Kids. I was also hoping that it would stop raining as I was eyeing the numerous rides in the World of Adventure and Wild Wild West such as the Niagara Falls Flume Ride, Grand Canyon River Rapids, and the 360-degree swings of the Tomahawk. Yiu Yiu fell asleep shortly after lunch and as the rain didn’t show any sign of abating, we decided to call it a day and left at about 2pm.

Wet weekend - Part 1

We went back to Kuantan for the long Merdeka weekend. As mentioned here, whenever we are back in Kuantan, we never fail to take a stroll at the beautiful beach of Teluk Chempedak but we always forget to pack the necessary items for Yiu Yiu to play in the sea.

Few weeks ago, papa bought a set of beach toys alongside the baby doll set in anticipation of our trip back to Kuantan. After enjoying our usual keropok lekor at Taman Gelora, we made our way to the beach at about 5.30pm. My oh my, I've never seen the beach so crowded before. Nevertheless, there was still ample space on the long stretch of beach and we parked ourselves near the water. Yiu Yiu immediately got down to the sand and started enjoying herself digging the sand with her toys, and making animal shapes. This was in contrast to the earlier trip where the little fussy pot refused to step on the sand. Mummy tempted her several times to play in the water but she was too engrossed with the toys.

Happy playing with her beach toys

All of a sudden, she pointed to the water and said "Swimming". Mummy was just waiting for this moment and quickly led her to the sea. She approached the water warily and refused to let go of mummy's hands. Just as she was getting accustomed to the sea, a rather tall wave splashed on her face resulting in her swallowing some water. Immediately she wanted out! Despite numerous attempts to coax her, she clung on to mummy like a baby koala and refused to be lowered into the water. We didn't want to force her and brought her back to the shore to play with her beach toys.

Top - Lets go swimming; Bottom left - Approaching the water cautiously; Bottom right - After being hit by the wave

Back on safer grounds

A moment later, we tried coaxing her again and surprisingly, she was game! This time round, mummy got a little smarter and held her with mummy's back to the sea. That way, the waves would not hit her directly. She enjoyed herself tremendously, so much so that she even dared to stand in the water by herself.

Top - Still wary of the water; Bottom - Enjoying herself thereafter

We left the beach at about 7pm, just as the weather was turning chilly due to the evening breeze.

Shopping online for furniture

I love shopping for furnitures. When we were preparing to move into our house early this year, hubby and I, with Yiu Yiu in tow, spent almost all weekends browsing around at furniture malls and galleries. We didn't mind the hassle and traveling as we could get ideas on how to place the furniture in our home too.

Now that we've almost of the biggie in place, we needn't spend all our weekend hunting furniture. I can now do it in a more leisurely pace by visiting online furniture galleries such as Furniture From Home. The site is well organized and I can choose to browse furniture by style, colour or rooms such as bedroom furniture or living room furniture. I particularly like this two toned white corner desk in the home office furniture section. It comes with a partner desk for computer and matches the predominant colour scheme of my house, which is white.

22-month old

Mummy was too busy to update my 21-month development, AGAIN! Naughty naughty mummy! I don't want to risk mummy skipping my development update again this month so I decided to take matters into my own hands. So here I am, telling you about what I've achieved and how I'd behaved over the last two months.

Mummy finally took the initiative to find out the terms of my teeth. Turns out the four front teeth on my upper and lower jaws are known as central and lateral incisors. All my four molars are called first molars. I'm having lots of sleepless nights and discomfort lately because my canine or cuspid, are cutting out. Mind you, all four of them are erupting at the same time so you can imagine how grumpy I've been! Mummy is patiently putting up with my obnoxious behaviour. Maybe she knows that I'm not misbehaving for no reasons. Once these four canines come out completely, I'll have to go through another round of when my set of second molars erupt, which I think won’t be so soon.

I can walk up and down the stairs like a pro. But hor…few weeks ago, I tumbled down several flights of stairs. My fault actually, for being kaypohchee. Papa was walking me up and as usual, I didn't want him to hold me. As I reached the mid span of the stairs, I turned back, and leaned forward to call on mummy, who was still in the kitchen. And that was when I lost my balance and tumbled down. Papa couldn't respond fast enough to catch me, so I ended up head down at the bottom of the stairs, with the stairs gate breaking my fall. Luckily apart from the obvious pain from the fall and being petrified for a while, I was fine.

I constantly surprise mummy with the repertoire of new words that I can now pronounce. For the longest time, I understand words like fork, spoon, straw, bread, cup, drink, dirty, yummy, etc but I just couldn't comprehend how mummy says such words. Recently, I found myself uttering these words with ease. I can even pronounce three syllabic words like Baby Bop, banana, papaya and pineapple. I can also string two to three words together to make simple phrases. I can say things like "put back", "pick up", "fall down", "fish ball", "hair band" and "good night". I think I can say a lot more than these but my mind is blank at the moment and I just cannot recall what other things I have said in the past weeks.

I'm getting very headstrong nowadays, and won't hesitate to throw a tantrum when I don't get my way. Sometimes, I even hit mummy and papa when they don't give me what I want. Mummy complains that terrible two comes early for me but I don't get it…can someone tell me what does she mean by that. But one thing I know is mummy doesn't like it when I behave that way, coz she'll give me that dagger stare, which gives me the creeps.

I have been diaperless during daytime at Auntie's house, but two weeks ago, for the first time, I had an accident. I peed on the floor. I don't know what got into me, maybe I was too engrossed with playing that I forgot to tell auntie that I needed to shh shh. The best part was, the small kor kor stepped on my urine, and the dismayed look on his face was priceless! But mummy still put me on diapers during weekends…I think she's just lazy! But then again, I never tell her or papa when I want to shh shh or ng ng when I'm at home, so maybe it's my fault also.


Mummy didn't take much photos for me the past two months so I could only managed to choose just this one to share with you. Hai! Must get her to take more photos from now on, otherwise I'll have difficulty choosing some nice ones to share with all the uncles, aunties, che che and ko ko here.

OK, I think that's all for now. I need to go and catch some beauty sleep. So long everyone…I hoped you've enjoyed reading my post. I hope mummy will let me do more of this next time. It's quite fun really, maybe next time I'll have my own blog. Then I don't have to tumpang mummy's one.

Adjustable bed mattress

Despite having moved into our house over six months ago, we are still adding bits and pieces of furnishings and decorative items on an ongoing basis. One piece of furniture that we are still trying to find is an adjustable bed/couch to be placed in the master bedroom. Reason being hubby is planning to buy a TV and put it in the bedroom and he's looking for a comfortable chair in which he can lounge in while watching his favorite shows. For me, I love catching up on my reading and working on my laptop on the bed. But since Yiu Yiu shares our king size bed and she rolls all over the place in her sleep, I've had to resort to sitting on the floor with her kiddie table as my work station. We've already had the study area set up but I still prefer to work in the cozy master bedroom if I'm just working on my laptop.

We contemplated whether to get a massage chair but it would only serve his purpose but not mine. Anyway, they are just way too expensive and we probably don't need such luxury. What would work very well for both of us is an adjustable bed such as that sold by Gallery Furniture.


The Hästens Naturally Adjustable bed carried by this Houston furniture outlet is just the perfect addition to our bedroom. Its mattress, made from cotton/wool, flax, genuine horsehair and Hästens’ new unique patented spring system work together to make Hästens Naturally Adjustable ultra-comfortable. The blend of horsehair and a cotton/wool mixture has the unbelievable ability to wick away moisture, perfect for our humid country. The flax mats have sound insulating properties that keep sound levels to a minimum, and flax also has excellent anti-static properties. The pocket spring system in Hästens Naturally Adjustable makes sure that every spring does its job of relieving pressure from every part of your body. This will be just the perfect furniture that hubby can put his feet up while watching TV, and I can use it to work comfortably since there's enough space to accommodate my laptop and working documents at the same time. We can also use it as an extra bed if there's any guest staying overnight at our humble abode.