Alycia Is Learning Ballet

We have just returned from a free trial ballet class at the dance center...... and have signed up Alycia for ballet impromptu! I did not intend to let Alycia learn ballet so soon but she loved it. Maybe it was because her little 5-year old aunty, Wei Wei is also there and she has company. I shall upload the pictures that I have taken at the dance center and post it in my blogs tomorrow. So stay tuned.....

What's She Thinking About?

Just what is Sherilyn thinking about so deeply here... with her arms up behind her head? Sherilyn is always full of funny ideas and poses. Read more about her here.

Fun On The Trampoline

That’s Alycia and Sherilyn jumping on the trampoline. The three of us really enjoy jumping on the trampoline together but we have not been doing this exercise for the last 9 months. I can’t wait to be able to start my exercise regimen again but I would have to wait for at least another 3 to 4 more months. What I would really love to get for the kids is a children-friendly trampoline with enclosure and W-shaped leg bases. The W-shaped leg bases make the trampoline more stable and the kids will not fall off the trampoline with the safety net. I have not seen this type of trampoline here before but have seen them at trampolinepartsandsupply.com. I know my kids will love this new trampoline and I can even allow them to jump on their own with the new safety features.

In A Dilemma

My maid agent has promised to give me a replacement temp maid to exchange with my super slow Cambodian maid by this week. The new replacement temp maid will be another rejected maid, this time an Indonesian maid. Whilst part of me really want to try out another maid, the other part of me is worried that the new temp maid will be worse off than my current Cambodian maid. Besides, I am really very tired of training the new temp maid all over again. Based on my experience with 5 Indon maids, I find Indon maids more cunning than Cambodian maids. Though my current Cambodian maid is super slow, blur and at times appear really dumb, I think I rather keep this type of maid than a cunning maid who has tricks and mischief up their sleeves. On the other hand, my assumption may be wrong. Who knows maybe this new temp Indon maid will turn out well? I'm really in a dilemma now. I have to make a decision by this Friday.

Kids Say The Darnest Things

My 2 brats can really make my day with the things that they say. A couple of mornings ago, I told Alycia and Sherilyn that I have an appointment with the gynae in the afternoon. Alycia who always seems to be on top of things and knows very well what's going on though I never tell her things directly asked me "mummy, are you going to see Dr Jason today?" I wonder how she knows I am going to see Dr Jason coz I have been seeing Dr Chung (my fertility specialist) and Dr Patrick (the fetal specialist) all the while. Alycia knows why I have to see 3 different doctors and she knows where their clinics are too.

Later as I was dressing up to go out, Sherilyn asked me "mummy, are you going to see the doctor to take out baby now?" "Mummy stay in hospital. Daddy bring us to see you in hospital" . When I heard that, I burst out laughing. The gals seem to know that mummy is going to deliver the baby soon. At the hospital, Sherilyn saw a woman on a wheelchair and she kept asking me why the woman was in the wheelchair. I then explained to her that the woman had a surgery on her stomach and now she can't walk. When she came home, she kept saying this to me "after doctor take out baby from your stomach, I will push mummy on the wheelchair, ok?" Sometimes, my gals can really say things that touches my heart.

Disney Swimsuit

Daddy bought us a new Disney swimsuit with a picture of Minnie Mouse together with a pair of goggles and a matching swimming cap with Minnie Mouse on it last week. Mummy said no need to wear swimming cap as it would make us look old but daddy was very insistent in getting us a cap so that the goggles would fit nicely on our heads without our hair everywhere on our face.

Daddy did not like us to wear bikinis when we swim as he said bikinis are cute but not wind-proof and he didn't want us to catch a cold. So he bought us each a Disney swimsuit though they were very costly. We really love daddy as he is always so cool and willing to buy us anything that we want..... but mummy is not too happy as he feels daddy is a tad extravagant and spoiling us rotten.



Mummy thinks the Disney swimsuit with frilly skirt looks like a professional skater's costume. She even feels we can wear the swimsuit to the shopping mall as it looks like a dress. Do you like our Disney swimsuits?


I had a fall and a bandage on my forehead, so mummy said I can't pose with the swimming cap on.

Pregnancy At Week 31+

That's my big baby belly at week 31+. The 2 gals still love to hug and kiss my belly, especially Sherilyn. Baby is very active and is moving, squirming and kicking mummy all the time. She's also very prone to hiccups. The tightenings and Braxton Hicks contractions are very frequent and I get them throughout the day. They are more frequent when I need to pee, when I move too much, when the baby moves and stretches, when my tummy is being touched or pressed (especially during ultrasound scans) and after every meal. That's the reason why I can't eat much these days. My guts are now all squeezed by the enlarging uterus to a point where I hardly feel hungry these days.

Alycia Can Finally Write

Yes she can and I am so proud of her. During my mum's 10-day stay with me, she has been coaching Alycia with her writing for 1-2 hours everyday and now, she can finally write all the numbers from 0 to 10. She can also write her own name, though at times the letter 'c' will be written the other way round. Anyway, it's already a big achievement for her since she had missed attending pre-school for more than half a year last year.



Notice the remarks in red from her class teacher?

More Rantings On My Super Blur Maid

I really need to rant and rave about my super blur and dreamy Cambodian maid again. I don't fancy most of the posts in my blog to focus on my maid but I really need to rant out the silly things that she did that really drive me nuts..... everyday without fail. I really don't understand how her brain functions and just can't believe she is so terribly forgetful. Last night, I had given her specific instructions to remove the pork from the freezer early this morning to prepare soup.
This morning, when she wanted to throw the pork into the basin of hot water to clean them, I just had a guts feeling that she had taken the wrong bag of pork. So I asked her to read out to me the 'identification label' I had pasted on the plastic bag. She then read the label.... "pork for frying".... then gave me her usual silly / guilty smile again and gave me a silly excuse. I was really mad with her coz not only had she taken out the wrong type of pork again but she also took out 2 packets of pork instead of 1 packet. I told her that it would defeat the purpose for me to label the meat if she doesn't read the labels. She has been working for us for more than 1 month and she's been doing this almost everyday yet she can go wrong. I was mad coz now the meat was already half defrost and it is not advisable to re-freeze them again. Also, she had to defrost the correct bag of pork now to make the soup and more time will be wasted.

I wonder why she's so terribly forgetful, careless and blur. When she works, she gives me a blank look, as if her mind is not with her. Sometimes, I feel like giving her a good shake on the shoulders to wake her up.

Kids Need To Exercise

On Friday, my mum and I finally had the time to bring Alycia and Sherilyn to the playground to let them release all their pent up energy. I have not brought the gals to the playground for ages as evenings were normally spent coaching Alycia in her heavy load of homework from pre-school. The gals were really happy the moment they reached the playground, like puppies that have just been released from the cage. I strongly believe that kids should be given more time to play and exercise, preferably everyday. Their little brains need all the oxygen to function optimally too and being cooped up at home and indoors all the time is quite unhealthy for a growing child.



Alycia has piled up some pounds lately resulting from lack of exercise. I used to bring the gals to the park and for evening / morning walks almost everyday last year. I really should start the gals on an exercise regime once agian.

Sweet Potato Omelette

My Cambodian maid's cooking has slightly improved. She used to overcook the food or had them partially burnt. After some guidance from my mum and me, she can now prepare a decent meal of fried rice, fried vermicelli and omelette. She still cannot make a pot of good soup though.

This sweet potato and spring onion omelette was cooked by her, all by herself and it was by far one of the best dishes she has prepared for us in her one month stay with us.

Ingenuity Or Primitive?

I seem to have a pet peeve with my Cambodian maid. Sorry, just bear with my maid stories. Like what Sweet Jasmine has commented, I can even write a book on interesting maid stories, LOL! Guess what I saw my maid doing today? After she had cooked some noodles to eat with the fried chicken that we had bought her last night, she poured the noodles and chicken into a melamine bowl. She then sat on a stool to eat her bowl of noodles.... slurping the noodles away loudly and obviously enjoying her meal. Beneath the bowl was a dried mandarin orange peel / skin. She had used the mandarin orange skin as coaster to protect her hand from the heat. I really find this lady hilarious. On one hand, I think she was being ingenious to have thought of such an idea but on the other hand, it is really primitive of her to do such a thing at this day and age. I can't blame her as she told me she is from a real 'ulu' village where people there still use charcoal to cook and boil water.

I Feel Really Heavy

As my tummy is getting bigger, I feel really heavy. I find it hard to walk fast and extremely difficult to get up when I am in a sitting, squatting or lying down position. My baby should be around 2kg by now. When I get up from a lying down position to an upright position, I even have to lift my tummy with both my hands, otherwise my tummy will tighten or harden again. I am only 31 weeks+ preggers and I am sure I will find it even harder to move about as my pregnancy progresses. I can't imagine how difficult it is for women carrying twins, triplets or more babies to move about during their pregnancy. Chin Nee, all the best to you!

Blog Rush Again

I am on a blog rush again. This time, I am trying to clear off most of my assignments before my mum goes back to Ipoh on Sunday. Once my mum's gone, I know I will not have so much time on the computer. My maid is really quite hopeless, terribly forgetful and I can't rely on her to do much. I still have 10 more outstanding assignments and I know I won't be able to complete them before my mum leaves. I may even have to let some of the offers expire or only work on them at the eleventh hour, which is something which I hate.

If I have not visited your blog yet, my apologies. I am really running out of time and I will try to find some time to visit your blog real soon.

Seoul Korea Korean Restaurant

Daddy had wanted to bring us to a Korean restaurant to celebrate Sherilyn's 3rd birthday but we had a last-minute change of plan and went to a Chinese restaurant instead. Since we all still wanted to eat Korean food, daddy brought us to Seoul Korea Korean restaurant @ Taman Desa the next day. The food was really good as the chef is the owner's mother and all the food are cooked by her.

There will be a wide selection of over 10 types of delicious starters on the house (replenishable) if you order a set dish from the menu. Set dishes can be steamboat or BBQ. The starters / appetisers alone are enough to fill you up.



The Korean BBQ beef set, which was really tasty.

Some of the appetisers / starters that we had :

Deep fried cuttlefish with special sauce - very tasty.


Steam egg in hot pot, which was Alycia and Sherilyn's favorite.





The kim chi soup which was very appetising.

We also ordered a Korean steamboat set and a Korean soup noodles with pork. Check out my other blog to view more pix.

Total bill came out to around RM130 for 4 adults and 2 kids. We enjoyed the food very much and will definitely patronize this restaurant again.

Farewell Jeff and Shir Lin

Sunday School will never be the same again without Jeff Kor Kor and Shir Lin Cheh Cheh as they will be moving to Singapore soon. Jeff and Shir Lin are Alycia and Sherilyn's Sunday School teachers. What motivates Alycia and Sherilyn to go to church every Sunday are these 2 very dedicated teachers. All the kids will surely miss Jeff Kor Kor and Shir Lin Cheh Cheh.



The kids from Sunday School celebrating the farewell of Jeff and Shir Lin.


Shir Lin -- If you are reading this, all the best to you and Jeff in Singapore. Take care of yourself and your little one too!

Braxton Hicks Contractions

I've been getting quite a bit of Braxton Hicks contractions and tightenings on my tummy lately. I am 31 weeks preggers today. I hope this is not a sign of preterm labor. I've also experienced these contractions and tightenings for both my previous pregnancies but thank God, I did not go into preterm labor. When I was carrying Alycia though, I had to be on partial bed-rest when my cervix started to shorten at week 20+ of my pregnancy.

Really Frustrating

I have just published a paid post in my blog but I have problem submitting the post to the advertiser. I keep getting a message stating that the link is not properly placed in my post. I have copied and pasted the codes to the link countless times from the advertiser's website to my blog post and have even switched the mode to Edit Html but still kept getting the error message. This is really driving me crazy and I have many posts with deadline expiring today and tomorrow.

Practise Makes Perfect

Alycia finally knows how to write her name and all the numbers from 0 through 10, though some strokes are not correct and some are quite out of shape. I must thank my mum for being so patient coaching her everyday. The heavy load of homework from her pre-school also helps as there have been lots of exercises on writing from school everyday. While her writing has improved, she really needs to get down to do some exercise in the evening. Her evenings are now bogged down rushing to complete the homework from school which is quite unhealthy for a 4-year old toddler. I may ask her teacher to reduce the homework so that she has time to play and exercise in the playground.

Malnourishment Or Plain Lazy To Remember?

I am talking about my Cambodian maid. I just can't believe her forgetfulness. I wonder if her terribly poor memory resulted from malnourishment as a child in Cambodia or she's just plain lazy to remember things. I have lost count on the number of times she has forgotten to close the kettle cover after pouring hot water into the kettle. In my house, after the water is boiled using the electric kettle, the hot water will be poured into another kettle for it to cool down. From day one till today, she has forgotten to close the kettle cover - twice a day. Last night, she left the kettle uncovered and water exposed throughout the night. This morning when she woke up, this blur sotong did not even notice that she did not close the cover until I saw it and reprimanded her for her forgetfulness. From today onwards, I am going to list down the number of times she forgets things and will threaten to show the list to the maid agent, which I will. I hope this will bring her presence of mind back and make her buckle up.