How often do you give your kids money to buy food from the canteen?

When tiredness and laziness get the better of me, there will be no lunch boxes for Alycia and Sherilyn. I will give them RM2 each to buy food from the canteen during recess. 

Alycia and Sherilyn are not simple girls who would accept  anything that is packed into their lunch boxes.  Due to time constraint, I can only prepare simple snacks like bread with strawberry jam, marmalade jam,  kaya, nutella or peanut butter chocolate jam.  These are the only jams that Alycia and Sherilyn have approved and they would not accept any other types of jams.  Sherilyn loves seaweed slices with her bread too.

Besides bread with jam, biscuits and cookies go into their lunch box.  Occasionally, edamame beans make a place in their lunch box, but that will depend on their mood. Alycia does not want edamame beans as she says she does not have enough time to eat them, duh! 

I have other easy to prepare snacks in my mind, which I used to give them when they were in pre-school. They are cut fresh fruits, bananas,  steamed sweet corn kernels, steamed sweet potato and hard-boiled eggs but the 2 fussy pots say that they do not have enough time to finish these kind of snacks. Hard-boiled eggs are messy and dry, that's what they said.

I know they would be delighted to have nuggets, sausages, SPAM meat and fries but in my house, these are forbidden food.

So, this means that besides bread with jam on Mondays, biscuits or cookies on Tuesdays, buns on Thursdays, Wednesdays and Fridays would be canteen food day. Sometimes when they tell me that they are sick of bread, bun and biscuits, they get money to buy canteen food for 3-4 times in a week. This makes all of us happier! :)

How often do you give your kids money to buy food from the canteen? And how much?

Sherilyn's Birthday Lunch at iCook Italian Gastonomia @ Plaza Damas

After turning the little social butterfly's plea to have a birthday party at home, she finally accepted a birthday lunch out of home, with her 3 besties.

The choice of restaurant was however her daddy's as he's heard good reviews and ravings on iCook Italian Gastronomia @ Plaza Damas.

Picture of the girls, all fresh before they ate, played and sweat...



Here's what the hubster ordered. We first started off with mushroom soup, pumpkin soup and an authentic Italian beef soup with fresh mushrooms and veggie. But no picture was taken. I was busy serving the girls.

We were served this very tasty flat Italian herbs bread, to dip with olive oil and vinegar, as appetizer. 
 

Then came the salad with buffalo cheese garlic toast and tomatoes.


Two types of pizzas. The one shown below is the mushrooms and sausage pizza, topped with a raw egg in the centre.

 

Grilled pork ribs with big onions and fresh mushrooms, which was super delish and stood out among all the dishes that we ordered.  Still can't get this out of my head. Will definitely order this dish again in our next visit.



Clamps tomato soup.
 
 
Not sure what this unusual dish is called.  It is fresh rockmelon wrapped with smoked bacon.


Seafood pasta.


Squid Ink Tagliatelle with seafood. The pasta there is made fresh. 

As you can see, all the dishes were very authentic Italian, cooked by an Italian chef, who is the owner of the restaurant.   For those of you foodies who are keen to know the prices of the dishes, I have included the bill here for your viewing. I have no freaking idea what the dishes in Italian names are called in English.



Overall, the food was good and definitely worthy for another visit to try other dishes on their menu.

iCook Italian Gastronomia
Plaza Damas
3 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1,
Kuala Lumpur
+60 3-6211 4000

Thoughtful Sweetie-Pie

Cass has always shown a maturity level above her age.  The things that she says and how she thinks are way above that of a 5-YO girl. 

Yesterday, as I was going through my kids apparel supplier's website, I could not resist those pretty dresses and wanted to buy a few for Cass.

Me - Baby, come and see these dresses. (showing her the pix on the website). Do you like this one?

Cass - NO!

Me - what about this one?

Cass - NO!

Me - this one leh?

Cass - yes!  But... I think you better not buy.  I have too many clothes.  You better not waste your money ok. I don't want any more new clothes. I have enough clothes to wear.

Awww, isn't she thoughtful? Not only is she a brave little soldier, she is also very thoughtful and sweet.  Throughout dinner yesterday, she peeled crabs and put the crab meat into my mouth coz she knew that I don't like to peel crabs as this makes my hands smelly.  I am totally awed by this sweetie-pie :)

Paying For December Pre-School Fees. Norm or Overboard?

Towards the end of October last year, all the parents were asked to pay RM340 to the pre-school that Cass goes to.  That amount was for purchase of books for the first half of year 2014.

In January this year, at the start of the new school term, we parents had to pay RM1,060 for the following items:
1) January 2014 fees
2) Snacks for half the year
3) Insurance
4) Concert fees
5) Class photo
6) December 2014 fees - this is a new item to pay effective 2014. Previously, I never had to pay for December fees! Never during Alycia and Sherilyn's time at this kindy.

When I saw item no. 6, which is fees for December 2014, I was shocked. I called up the principal to get a clarification as to why I had to pay for December 2014 when (1) it is the school holidays and the child would not attend a single school day in December and (2) Cass would never have to return to the pre-school again as she will be going to Primary 1 next year.

The principal cum school owner replied me by saying that all the students MUST pay the December 2014 fees to help her pay the teachers' salaries and the rental of the school building!  Some of the teachers would still have to work to teach and care for children sent to the school's daycare program.  "But Cassandra will not return to your kindy anymore. She will go to Primary 1 next year. Do I still have to pay??" I asked.  Yes, all the parents have to pay.  At that moment, I felt like I was held ransom, with a gun at my neck and forced to pay.  I could not change kindy as Cass has been going to this kindy for 2 years already and this is her third year. She is happy at this kindy, she likes her friends and all her teachers and classmates know her health issue.  So I felt like I was forced at point blank to pay the principal.

For your information, come June, which is the third semester, we parents would have to pay in advance the fees for November.  In November, students only need to attend school for half a month, after which the 6-week long school holidays would commence.  This practice has been in place ever since Alycia attended this pre-school in 2007.  This practice serves to 'tie up' the parents and child to the kindy, so that they are unable to switch pre-school. Well, you still can switch but the November fees is non-refundable.

My question to all my dear readers -- is this practice of compelling the parents to pay the fees for December a norm?   IMHO, I think that it is still quite acceptable if the child is continuing attendance at the pre-school the following year. But for kids who will be starting Primary 1, I find this totally unacceptable.


What say you?

Detox

A girl in Cass' kindy really needs a detox of her body and mind from the iPad. She goes to school on most mornings crying and feeling sleepy. According to the teacher, the girl's parents are unable to control her. She is an only child, and very much loved and pampered. As they are both busy working parents, the girl is left at home with the grandparents, who uses the iPad to keep her entertained. When the iPad is taken away from her, all hell breaks loose. On most nights, she will play with the iPad till the wee hours. In the morning, she will have trouble waking up. This happened last year. I hope that by now, this girl is totally detoxed and weaned off the iPad. Some people may need an oxy detox. For electrical gadgets addiction, you can detox by killing the gadgets and engage yourself in something else.

Sweet Talks

Cass - I love you very much mummy. Thank you for all that you have done for me.  Thank you for doing all that you could to save my life.  When I grow up, I will also do the same thing for you. I will also do all that I can to save you. (like I am going to be very sickly when I am old lol!)

Me - you have to help yourself too. You have to do your exercises and try hard to help yourself ok?

Cass - when I grow up, I don't want to get married. I want to live with you. I will buy a bungalow and we will live together.  You will cook for me everyday.


This was one endearing conversation with Cass today :)

Cass at 5 years 10 months

Down The Happy Memory Lane

I was playing with some new photo apps installed in my new Samsung Note 3 and was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a Gallery which showcases all the pictures in my Picasa gallery dated way back to 2007. Looking at the pictures brought me back to memory lane, when I was a newly turned stay-at-home-mom with Alycia and Sherilyn who were 3YO and 1.5YO respectively. I really do miss those days when my life wasn't that stress as I had a very capable and good live-in maid - kakak Su. I left the entire household to her to handle, with me giving her minor supervision. Plus I had only 2 kids then and I did not have any online business to run back then.  My online assignments got me lucrative pocket money until the global economy disaster towards the end of 2007.

Anyway...

My hands got itchy and I transferred the pictures to my computer and then did photo collages using this new app called Fotor on my new desktop computer running on Microsoft 8.

My 2 babies - cute moe?  And the cute things that they did -- plastering daddy's body with stickers, trying to eat flowers and lots more. And I miss those daily evening or morning walks and play time in the playground with them and kakak Su.  Back then, I made sure that they exercised every single day. I was a staunch believer of Glenn Doman who extols the benefits of exercise for kids.  And oh yes, those 3-4x a day of reading homemade flash cards! I actually had so much time to make flash cards and to flash the cards to them 3-4x a day to my 2 babies!

   

 I so miss Alycia and Sherilyn's baby and toddler days very, very much!

Bahasa Malaysia for 6-Year Olds

This is what Cass is learning in pre-school now.  She is going to turn 6 in April and this year will be her last year in kindy.



 Her kindy stresses the importance of  being able to read in Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia by the time the child is 5 and 6 year old. Some of the kids in this kindy could read very well when they were only 3 years old.   Cass only got the hang of reading late last year, at a little over 5 years old.  In her kindy, this is considered 'late bloomer'.

Some of the syllabus for 6-year olds in this kindy are similar to what Primary 2 SJKC pupils are learning.  I found out when I was doing revision with Alycia and Sherilyn three years ago. Both of them were learning the same thing! Alycia was then in Primary 2 (8YO) and Sherilyn was 6YO, doing her last year in kindy.

Some parents would say that this is too tough and too much for a 6YO kid to handle. For me, I think it is good as the pre-school is preparing the child for Primary 1.  I remember that when Alycia and Sherilyn went to Primary 1, they kind of breezed through that year as they had already learned most of the things when they were in kindy.

Lovable Girls

Here's a picture of my Charlie's Angels with their cutie cousin, Raelyne.  Raelyne is my eldest brother's only daughter. This picture was taken during CNY in Ipoh at my parents. My girls dot on their baby cousin, especially Cass, who treats her like a life doll.

It's funny that my 3 daughters and their baby cousin all have looks of their own and have very little or no resemblance  at all. Tell me, do you spot any resemblance in them? Hair color and skin color do not count ok. Only facial features ;)



I forgot to mention that my daughters' trademark are their dimples!  Both Alycia and Sherilyn have dimples on both sides of their cheeks and Cass has one on her left cheek. I have none and I am forever thankful to God for making my dream come true by bestowing my three daughters with to-die-for dimples! I was obsessed with dimples when I was young and still wish that I was born with seductive dimples like my daughters teehee...

2nd Day Of CNY - Train Back To Ipoh

For the first time ever, we took a train back to Ipoh on the 2nd day of CNY this year. We would normally drive back and for several years already, we had not gone back to Ipoh to my parents during CNY.

Our train ride was at 9am.  I woke up at 4:45am as usual to get some chores done and to get the girls ready. The taxi came at 8:30am to bring us to KL Sentral to catch the ETS.

Burgers for breakfast in the train...




Cass playing with the iPad during the train ride...




Finally reached Ipoh and waiting for my brother to fetch us to my parents for a mega reunion with my dad's siblings, my cousins and their kids before adjourning to the restaurant for lunch.

 

Cheezy Omelette By Sherilyn

Lately, Sherilyn is into whipping up fanciful omelettes for us. Whenever there is a holiday or during the weekend, she will wake up early in a cheery mood, all ready to fire up in the kitchen. With a little hint that she will be dishing up an omelette dish for us, she will then proceed to the kitchen to fish out a cucumber, tomatoes, some small and big onions and eggs. She will do everything on her own, telling me "mu-um, I will do everything myself. You don't have to help me. I will wash everything up too!"

Today, she added shredded cheddar cheese into the omelette. While patiently peeling, chopping and cutting onions, cucumbers and tomatoes, she sang away happily in the kitchen.  I am starting to fall in love with this girl all over again!

This is Sherilyn's yummy cheezy omelette today, which composed of 1 tomato, 1 cucumber, 1 big onion, several small onions, mixed herbs, fresh milk, pepper, shredded cheddar cheese and 4 eggs.



Today is the eve of CNY. We will be having our reunion dinner at hubs' uncle's house. Thank goodness we do not have to cook up a storm at home. Our part-time maids are unable to come for the next few days but it's A-OK. Since it's CNY, I am pretty much free to roll up my sleeves to slog like a dog. Nehmind, it's just a once-yearly affair ;)

Famous Tangkak Beef Noodles

During our trip to Singapore in December last year, we made a pit-stop at Tangkak, Johor for brunch to savor the famous Tangkak Beef Noodles.  With practically nothing in our tum tums, we were famished!  The noodles were served pretty quickly and I walloped down half a bowl of vermicelli and almost a bowl of yummy beef balls and tender beef meat.

The amount of beef served on each bowl of noodles was very generous.  I forgot to tell the stall owner that I eat no cow's spare parts, thus they were wasted. 

The meat was tender and juicy and beef balls were, well, very beefy!  What made the noodles stand out were the very flavorful beefy soup and the generous portion of meat served in each bowl.




Check out the amount of beef and spare parts used to prepare this big pot of beef soup.  Just typing this post is already making my tum tum growl!



     




If we ever go to Johor or Singapore again, this will definitely be the place for us to stop to fill up our tummies. Highly recommended!  

The Promising Young Chef!

For two days in a row, Sherilyn has been dishing out this cucumber onion omelette dish for breakfast for everyone and man I tell you, it was really delish! Even Alycia, who has always been critical of Sherilyn praised her for whipping up this delish omelette dish. There is no special ingredient used but the concoction of cucumber + onions in the egg mixture just made this simple egg dish very flavorful.





Ingredients that Sherilyn used:
1) Eggs
2) Cherry tomatoes
3) Small onions
4) Japanese cucumber
5) Fresh milk
6) Salt
7) Pepper
8) Mixed herbs
9) Cooking oil


Initially I was skeptical that she could handle everything on her own in the kitchen. But I have been really busy the past two weeks and had no time to supervise her in the kitchen, so I said yes to her when she asked me if she could make a special omlette dish for us. During my MIL's four-month long absence recently, Sherilyn has shown keen interest in learning the ropes of cooking. Whenever I cooked, she would stand next to me, observing. Sometimes I let her help me at the stove when my hands were all tied to something else.

 

Sherilyn is a very promising chef, despite her clumsiness. Thank God she did not cut her fingers while chopping the onions and cucumbers and did not burn her hands on the stove. All I can say is practice makes perfect!  Good job Sherilyn!

Finally, Alycia Is Accepting PINK!

Lately, my not-so-girlish eldest daughter started to like wearing pink!  And from the little girl with frumpish taste in fashion, she is starting to accept what I chose for her.  In this picture, she is wearing a Padini Kids tri-colored short pants -- the back of the pants are pastel yellow and pastel pink on each side. When I first showed her the pants at the mall, she gave me a disgusted look, like "I ain't gonna wear that!!" but after some encouragement from her grand-aunt and me, she finally agreed to try the pants and said "OK" to her dad paying for it. I was like, WTF, what kind of world is this where a mother has to plead with her daughter to try on new clothes and to buy them?!! *roll eyes*!!  Well, this never happened during my time. I was always the one pleading and pestering my mum to buy me new clothes!  Always!

In this picture, Alycia also wore a pair of flip flops with a FLOWER on top.  Yeah, she finally accepted FLOWERS  muahahaha!!  And of course, I was so happy that she likes this PINK color ribbon Minnie tee from HK Disneyland!

I am still working on getting her to accessorize her hair and to wear skirts and dresses. I know it's a tall order to change someone's character and preference but I think it can be done.    This girl will morph into a beautiful young lady who loves dresses, heels and all things feminine. Yes she will.   Just give me a little time to brainwash her ;)

Our Prophet Muhammad Public Holiday - 14 January 2014

The hubs bought Sherilyn a bicycle for her 6th birthday three years ago but you know what? The bicycle has been collecting dust and rust in the shed of our condo basement since the day the bicycle arrived. When hubs bought the bicycle for Sherilyn, he also bought one for himself but as usual, we are too often bogged down with busyness and laziness, thus his bicycle has also been long neglected.

Today being a public holiday, he finally moved his butt and took the girls cycling at the tennis court of our condo, with him cycling along with them. But they had to shower their bicycles before they could ride on them as the bicycles were coated with a thick layer of dust icing *eeeuuuuuueee*



While they cycled in the tennis court, I worked out in the gym before our next pigging out session in the afternoon haha!

Awesome Food Panda Food Delivery Service

My princess wannabe has been bugging me to throw her a princess party for her 9th birthday next month. For most of her birthdays, the dates fell during the first few days of Chinese New Year, which made it difficult for us to invite her friends to a party. This year though, it will be just after Chinese New Year. We may organize a birthday party for her, to be held at the pool-side, as that is what she requested for – a party by the pool with her bunch of besties from school and tuition centre.

If Sherilyn gets a final nod of approval from her daddy for a pool-side birthday party, I may try out Food Panda, a food delivery service which my friend recommended to me. She used Food Panda’s food delivery service during her daughter’s birthday party recently, so there was no stress of having to prepare the food. She ordered from A&W and Papa John’s and only paid a small delivery fee to Food Panda for sending the food to her house.  Food is often the biggest stress when it comes to organizing a party. With the help of a food delivery service company, we can focus on other aspects of the party :)

Happy Camper

Cass was a very happy camper on Sunday when the birthday girl's mummy gave her this bunch of balloons to bring home after the party. With 3 angels, I have gone through over 10 years of balloon craze days with them. I love those moments seeing how balloons had brought twinkle to my daughters' eyes and a big smile to their faces. I guess this year will be the last year I have to deal with the nuisance of having balloons in my house. When Cass goes to Primary 1 next year, that will be the end of her baby days. It will be the start of a brand new journey for her.

The thought of coming home to a quiet house devoid of toys and kids chattering is already making me sentimental. But no no, I ain't going to consider having a fourth baby. No way!!



Cass is so in love with this bunch of helium-filled balloons. What am I going to do with them? I think I have to shop for some spring mounts and attach it to the wall to hold the balloons in place.

Best Drug Rehabilitation

When you or a loved one has finally acknowledged that there is indeed a drug addiction problem going on, the next hardest step is determining how to get help. Outpatient drug rehab and inpatient drug rehab are both options, as are self-directed therapy programs. When determining the best type of help to get for a drug problem, it's best to begin with a traditional drug rehab center. These centers are staffed by experienced and compassionate professionals who can help you assess the extent and severity of your drug problem, and make recommendations as to the best treatment options to pursue.

 Choosing a potential drug rehab center can be an overwhelming prospect, especially if you have never had any experience with this particular situation. Whether the addiction is yours or a loved one's, it can be hard to initially cope with the shock of the newfound knowledge. But, it's important to take a deep breath, and know that you can only do one thing at a time. The first course of action is to find the best drug rehabilitation center.

When looking at centers, consider one of the most important aspects of seeking this type of treatment: how much is it going to cost, and will any present health insurance benefits cover the cost? Sometimes it's best to call your health insurance company directly and ask them for a list of covered rehab facilities. More and more insurance companies are providing coverage for addictions, so you can expect to speak with a representative who is both knowledgeable and sensitive to your situation.
 
If your health insurance company provides full coverage for a drug rehab, or if the cost is not something that is a potential stumbling block, consider a rehab facility that does not take the cookie cutter approach to providing treatment for drug addictions. A customized approach can help if you have other needs, such as alcohol addiction or mental health concerns. By picking a rehab facility that can offer personalized treatments that are based on your needs, you are much more likely to succeed and not go back to becoming dependent on drugs or even alcohol. 

Most drug rehab centers will invite you to check out their center directly, take a tour, and meet with the director and perhaps a few therapists prior to making a decision as to whether or not you will enroll there. This is a good way to go through a list of potential drug centers and find out what services each one offers. Some may require that you are admitted into an inpatient treatment center, while others may offer outpatient treatment, or a mixture of inpatient and outpatient treatment (inpatient for one to two weeks, then outpatient services for several months). When meeting with rehab center staff you'll have the opportunity to ask questions, so be sure to bring a pen and paper with you so you can write down thoughts as they come to you.

Remember that your own sense of comfort and security will play a large role in how successful you are at completing the requirements of a drug treatment center. While you can expect there to be some physical discomfort and emotional upheaval as you wean off of the drugs and progress into therapy, you should also feel comfortable with your room and other accommodations at a drug treatment center, and the staff should make you feel welcome, respected, and not judged for the position that you are in.

Chinese New Year Deco At China Town KL

Last Sunday we dropped by one of the shops that sell CNY decor and paraphernalia in China Town after our lunch at Pik Wah (MABA House) Restaurant.  We intended to get some CNY decor to decorate the X'mas tree after I saw how nice my friend had decorated her X'mas tree.  Decorating the X'mas tree with CNY decor is a good way of making full use of the X'mas tree and also to delay dismantling it, wrapping it and storing it :D

But our plans did not materialize. The shop was flooded with humans - I was brushing my shoulders and butt with women and men. I did not even know who to go to for help for checking on the price.  And the queue to pay was very long too.  It was crazily packed like sardines inside the shop.

       

So we left the shop empty-handed.  Perhaps we will go there this Sunday if the hubs is willing to take us there again :)


 

Math Lover

Cass who is 5YO is a Math lover. She brings Math workbooks with her when we go out and works on them while waiting for the food to arrive. I am glad that she loves Math coz I never really did enjoy Math. Well actually I did not mind doing Math but my introduction to Additional Math in Form 4 suffocated my interest in Math totally.  Well, I still managed to scrape through with a credit for Additional Math in my SPM but you know what, I never really had to apply Add. Math in my real life situation, hah! 

Anyway, being proficient in Math is definitely a plus point and if Cass can capitalize on her strengths and turns out to be a Math genius, I'll be the happiest mummy ever *day dreams* LOL!