Archive for January, 2010

Today I shall be having my final piano class but it is of course not the end of playing the piano for me. I have learned enough to self learn from now on. Now that the boy has started to learn as well, I no longer have the time to learn myself as well as help two kids with their practises. Besides it is very expensive to have 3 people in the house all learning at the same time.

Piano Teacher has asked me to memorise my “Moonlight Sonata” and improve on “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”. She also gave me two new songs to learn last week. “Souvenir D’enfance” and “Les Fleurs Sauvages”. All for a half hour class. This is a very tall order indeed!

With that I wrap up 2 1/2 years of learning the piano. Yahoo! From now on I can just play for fun. No more practising for lessons or concerts though I shall miss playing together with my girl. We managed to “perform” at two of the piano school’s “concert” and it was a very nice experience to be playing with her.

Below is Richard Clayderman’s Les Fleurs Sauvages as played by HeartBtrue on YouTube. I wish I could play like that!

I have a friend who has trouble staying asleep. She has no problem falling asleep but she would get up in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning and have difficulty going back to sleep or if she does go back to sleep she feels that her sleep is light. She does not feel rested in the morning and sometimes feel very sleepy and tired during the day.

I used to have imsomnia too when I was younger. I think it was due to my own unhealthy sleep patterns. Sometimes I could not sleep till about 4-5am in the morning. However, I no longer have sleep problems now. Usually I fall asleep easily and I stay asleep unless the spouse or the children wake me up!

My friend can fall asleep easily but she has trouble staying asleep. I wonder has anyone experienced this type of imsomnia? Apart from going to see the doctor to have a thorough health check and evaluation, I hope to hear from anyone who has trouble sleeping and how they deal with it.

These days we no longer feel safe in the streets. In fact, we are beggining to feel unsafe even in our own homes. We moved house 2 years ago. The first thing we did when we were doing house renovations was to search for a Home Security System. We were told that it is a good thing to do this during renovations in case you need to hack the wall for internal wiring etc. Someone suggested ADT. There were also many roadshows by ADT at the various House and Ownership Fairs that we attended.

We couldn’t make up our minds. We could not decide between a DIY Home Security System or an ADT Security System. The difference between a DIY Home Security System and an ADT Security System is Monitoring. The ADT Security System is a Monitored Security System. That means that your home will be monitored by safety professionals 24 hours in a day. When an alarm is triggered at your home, ADT will then call up the authorities in your area to send emergency services to your home. I also learned a bit about how ADT Security works by seaching in HomeSecurityTeam.com.  

I am currently using a DIY type of Security System and the problem is it always keeps on giving me false alarms! I don’t feel 100 percent safe because there is no one monitoring my home from a monitoring center. I also think it would be a good thing if there is a call center for me to call up in case of any problems with my alarm or security system. Is anyone out there using an ADT Security System? Can you share with me what you think about it?

Yesterday, when I was out buying breakfast and newspapers, my usual newspaper vendor got me to try some Chinese New Year cookies. They were delicious so I ordered some. That means cookie buying is settled. Yahoo! I told the kids about it and they were very happy looking forward to eating those Chinese New Year cookies and delicacies that they remembered.

I don’t normally plan my cookie buying very well. Usually, I just grab whatever I can last minute from the supermarket. That usually leaves me undesirables. So, I am happy to be able to order some in advance this year. Hopefully, they taste as good as the samples. Usually I just get the standard fare like in the picture. Those were from last year if I am not mistaken. I would get just 4-5 varieties at the most. Otherwise, if they are not finished, guess who has to finish them? Yeah, me and my expanding waistline.

I wrote on my Parenting Times blog that I am trying to create excitement for my kids for Chinese New Year. In doing so, I find that, not only the kids but I too am feeling some building excitement. lol.

I’ve never worn size S before. However I wore M when I was in my 20s and shifted to L in my late 30s. Sob.

Then horror of horrors, post pregnancy, I ballooned to XXL! Much to my dismay it stayed that way for a long time! I had to take drastic action. I ate like a bird. I exercised. After 6 months, I returned to L or occassionally XL.

I hope never to go to XXL again. Though I’m still stuck at L and I suspect I will never fit into M again, it is much better than XXL!

As for my shoe size, it has grown from 6 to 8 and it will never come down again. No amount of dieting will make it shrink after pregnancy.

So there it is. I am L with a shoe size 8. Big hor? As they say. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

What size are you? Anybody in size XS out there? You’ll look like a dwarf beside this giant. lol.

Yesterday we had water disruption so we could not cook dinner. We had received the McD brochure earlier on about its Prosperity Family Feast. We thought the size of the meal was just right for us so we decided to call for Delivery.

In the brochure it said Only 38.80. Regular Price 47.81. That sounds like a bargain right? Well, not actually. In the fine fine print it says prices subject to 5% goverment tax. Oh, and we must not forget about the 3.00 delivery charge must we. (which is also in very fine print in another part of the leaflet). At the end of the day, the price (plus rounding up) came up to 43.75. Hmm….

Oh well, one should always read the fine fine print. Anyway, the meal included a Chicken Burger. I wanted to cut that up into 2 for the kids to share. However when I tried to cut, the knife could not slice through the meat pattie. I had to rip it apart with my hands. It was so thin and hard! Definitely unedible. The nuggets and curly fries look a little fried too but at least those were edible.

I called up this morning to make a complaint. I think the outlet manager of the outlet concerned should be made aware. I felt anything but “prospering” after that meal. Thumbs down. Anyway this is our first bad experience. We’ve taken McD for years with no bad feelings accept to our pocket and guilt for taking food less healthy.

I have a very young voice over the phone. That is not a compliment because I sound really young over the phone. Young as in like a little girl young and not young as in a sexy young lady young.

My good friend Serene, says that I sound like Daisy Duck. Quack! Quack!

Once, I called up my credit card company with an enquiry and the gentleman on the other end asked me “Are you calling on your own behalf?” When I said yes, he told me “I have to check because you sound very young. I have to make sure that it is not a child making a prank call.” A child!!!

The other day I was lamenting in FB about being called “Silai”, then I was happy for a moment because the gas delivery man had called me “Amoy”. As it turned out, he only called me “Amoy” because I was speaking to him over the phone and not face to face. Hmm…… not happy about that.

Tell me my friends, how do you sound like over the phone? Do you bark, growl, whine or quack like Daisy Duck or Minnie Mouse like me? Do you have a low sexy purr, a large growl of a voice or a tiny weeny soft one like me when you speak over the phone? Do you think your telephone voice matches your real one or  your looks and personality?

Travelling with baby is not easy at all especially if you are a new parent travelling with baby for the first time! Don’t be surprised if baby’s luggage is bigger than yours. lol. Even going out for a short visit to the mall requires a little “luggage” of sorts with extra diapers, pacifiers, extra clothing, baby’s favourite blankie or toy etc.

What more when you are travelling with baby out of town. I find that most hotels are not baby friendly at all. It is not safe to have baby on a big adult baby or asleep in our arms. Baby may fall off the bed or from our arms during the night.

It is during times like this that an eddie bauer infant travel bed comes in handy. It is collapsible with side pockets for extra storage. The fact that it is collapsible makes it easier to bring along. It is padded for baby’s comfort and it is made of material that you can easily wipe clean. This is a must for anything to do with baby. Just perfect for travelling or even for an afternoon out to your friend’s or relative’s house. It is just nice for baby to have a short nap in.

Last weekend we made an impromptu visit to Zoo Negara. Dad was with us. Usually when we ask him whether he wants to go out or stay in, he would say “Don’t know”, “You Decide” or “Anything”. This time he said “I want to go out. I’m bored.” So we took him to the Zoo.

Naturally the kids were thrilled. Kong Kong going to the Zoo with them. That is surely a treat. Since it was the first weekend after school going kids went back to school, I had expected it to be quiet. I was wrong. The carpark was full.

I think Kong Kong has not been to the Zoo in years! Luckily there was the tram to ride in. For RM4 per ride, we could ride in the cool breeze so it would not be so hard on Kong Kong to do a walkabout. I enjoyed the tram ride because it was very cooling. We were crazy enough to go in the hot afternoon sun at about 12.00pm. We all enjoyed some hand held cone ice-cream too at RM6 each! Kakak was amazed and excited because she had not seen so many wild animals before accept in books and TV.

We made it a very short visit so that Kong Kong would not get too tired. I think the kids “tak puas”. (was not very satisfied). They pouted a little bit but cheered up when daddy said he will take them again the next time mummy goes out with her sisters. So far this is their 3rd visit to the Zoo. The first two times was when mummy went out with her sisters. Daddy took them on their own. Kakak was not with us yet at the time. He is very brave indeed to handle two young kids on at outing to the zoo all by himself. Kudos to daddy!

I wonder if anyone knows whether a Sauna can help you to burn calories and lose weight? I remember some years ago I used to go for saunas right after a workout. I am not sure whether it helped me lose weight but it sure felt relaxing and really, really good.

After a workout, the whole body feels tired. However a workout PLUS a sauna makes me feel extremely relaxed. Then a vigorating shower and I feel good all over. I used to go to a fitness centre for this fix of workout, sauna and shower but now I can’t do it anymore because I no longer have the luxury of time. I wish I could do it in my own home.

I think that a sauna can aid in some way in the weight reduction process because you sweat and sweating is good for you. However, I think that if you want to seriously lose weight, you have to work for it. You have to do a combination of dieting, exercising and use saunas as an aid to your weight management process. Just dieting alone is not good, neither is mere exercising or just saunas. You have to make use of all these processes in totality or as a whole. Then and only then will you see serious and long lasting results.

Whatever it is, if you wish to go on a strict diet, start an exercise program or use saunas to help you lose weight, you should always consult your doctor first.