Archive for the 'Life Observation' Category

Where can I buy Massimo Bread?

No worries, it will hit your regular bread vendors very soon. I got mine at my usual newspaper vendor who sells bread as well. You will probably have seen the advertisements for Massimo Bread in the local newspapers. So what is the big deal?

Well, to me the big deal is, at last we have got more competition within the bread industry. Yahoo! Previously whenever Gardenia raised bread prices, I had to swallow my complaints along with my bread because there weren’t many other brands out there accept for High 5 bread.

How does Massimo bread compare to Gardenia bread in taste?

What about taste? How does the Massimo Bread taste like? To me, the Massimo bread wheatgerm variety (in green packaging) which was priced at RM2.50 during the introductory period (till end July if I am not mistaken) loses out to the Gardenia wholemeal which seems more wholesome although the Massimo probably turned out better in terms of taste.

Both are the same height but one is cut into 12 pieces the other into 14 pieces

As for the Massimo white bread which is in a blue packaging, I think it tastes better than the Gardenia white bread. The price is the same. RM2.40. Massimo bread tastes better because it is more fluffy and fuller in taste. I don’t think the fact that the white loaf is cut into 12 pieces while the Gardenia one is cut into 14 pieces has anything to do with it either. They’re both of the same height and size exactly apart from the different number of pieces. So you essentially get the same amount, just different number of slices. Unfortunately you can’t see that in my picture as I forgot to take it before we ate some.

Which bread will I buy?

Massimo or Gardenia or High 5? I’ve never gotten used to High 5 since it has always been Gardenia for me. I guess I will buy both Massimo and Gardenia now that I have a choice. Each week we eat about 3 loaves of bread. 1 long loaf and 2 small loaves. I’m just happy that now I have more choices.

Let us face it. Our children are now living in the digital age where everything moves at a faster speed and is less tangible than before.  When before we need only be concerned with telephone usage and tv time, now we have to worry about iphones, iPads, twitter, sms, many other handheld gaming devices and Facebook. All of these things are addictive and though fb etc are social media, they sometimes bring out the anti-social in us. “I’ll update you on my fb. Bye….” I couldn’t agree with this article on social networking and  poor grades more.

Which brings me to my question. When should kids start having a facebook account? What age is appropriate? Should a preteen have a facebook account?

My 9 year old has asked about facebook several times. FB has a above 13 year old age requirement ruling and yet most of her classmates have an account, some from as early as 7 and with several hundred “friends”. The other day, she asked me “Mummy, can I have one of those things, you know like you have, where you write and people write to you?” I think she meant my blog.

So far, my answer to her has been “No.” I  don’t think that telling her “No” at this age is restricting her or keeping her in the dark in this digital age. Some people say that you should not restrict your child because what one should do is to allow them to explore because it is inevitable. They say how will they learn if you don’t give them the freedom to try? They say if you prohibit it then the child will sneak behind your back which is worse. I agree with the fact that it is inevitable and with allowing children the freedom to explore but I don’t think the time is right for it now, at least not in my home. This decision is personal and this is how I feel about it though I know that many people feel differently. In time my girl (and my boy who hasn’t asked yet, he is 7) will have a facebook account and tweet and may even blog but not now.

To me, now is the time for her to learn other social skills and other forms of communication. Now is the time for her to learn to read and draw and run around kicking balls and skipping and play imaginary games when she has the time rather than spent it hunched in front of the pc updating status and looking for more “friends”. Social media can wait. There is plenty of time for that and she will not be a “katak di bawak tempurung” (backward) for being later than her peers. Afterall, she will have me as her teacher and her guide. In time, I will teach and guide her along but for now, even I do not have the time to guide her. (We are much too busy with homework and piano work alone).

Since I do not have the time to guide her, I cannot risk allowing her to explore on her own. (even though all she may do is logon and play games and chat with classmates.) She will only be allowed to explore once, she is taught about the good and the bad of it, about privacy etc and only when I have the time to supervise AND when she is older and more mature. At the moment, homework fills up all of my time and hers! It is hard to even find the time to make sure she gets some exercise and sleep. Why should I have to worry about facebook in our limited time!

“But mummy, my friends say fb has a lot of games. They play a lot of games on fb.” And we all know how addictive those games are don’t we? So, “No.” My girl will not be backward or left out or behind her peers simply because I say “No” to social media now. She may miss out a little and she may be a bit left out when her classmates share on fb but she will not have to deal with bullying and being left out on facebook itself. (like writing mean things on the wall or defriending or blocking etc). I have seen how some kids can be rather nasty online. If she wants to talk to her friends she can talk to them face to face. She sees them daily in school. As for relatives, a phone call is more personal and better. She will catch up in due time, easily and very quickly too and I am not afraid that restricting her now will make her rebellious. I will also not give in just because everyone is doing it or has it.

I think she does not need facebook in her life now and she will be better off without it and I have better things to do than checking her facebook regularly to monitor her friends and other activities but the time will come, the time will come ……. only it is not now.

Yesterday we were denied entry at Pizza Hut, Mid Valley Megamall by the Shift Manager because dad was on a wheelchair. Imagine that! This is what happened.

There were 7 of us. My sister and I, my two kids, dad on his wheelchair, a maid and dad’s nurse. It was about 2.30 to 3pm. Initially we had gone to Dominos. However we decided to go to Pizza Hut instead because we thought that the Dominos place was a bit small and we would be a bit more comfortable at Pizza Hut. When we got to Pizza Hut, we were happy to find two tables for 4 each which could be joined together. Just nice for our party of 8.

Sister and I and the kids were walking ahead looking for a place to sit. I turned round to gesture to the nurse to show her which table we were at but she was gesturing something to me so I went over to her at the entrance. She said that they were not allowed to go in because of dad’s wheelchair. The lady who had denied my dad, the nurse and the maid entry confirmed it. She said that the wheelchair was too big and it would take up space and make it difficult for people to move about. It was just an ordinary wheelchair, not very bulky.

Now, we have taken dad to many places to eat before. We have been to more crowded places, like a crowded mamak shop during peak hours where the place was very hard to move about and all the staff did was help us move the tables around to make dad more comfortable. It is as simple as that. Usually, all we had to do is remove one chair from the table and push dad right up to it.

Yesterday, we were there AFTER peak hours. The lunch crowd had left. We had found a table. There were several other empty tables. Though the place was small, we would not have been blocking any other diners because it was no longer packed. But that is besides the point. The point is this lady, who is supposed to be the shift “manager” turned dad away, a senior citizen on a wheelchair. She was not in the least apologetic about it either. She pointed to a group of diners and said “Look, we have no space, even that has to be at left at the side”. At first I thought she was talking about a shopping trolley but I turned to see that she had pointed at a pram. How ridiculous is that! It is also ridiculous of her to deny us entry even after peak hours just because of dad’s wheelchair.

We were terribly annoyed. We gave her a piece of our mind and left. Perhaps we could have made more of a fuss and got a place to sit eventually. However, we were late and everyone was hungry and I no longer had any desire to have my meal there, even if it is for free. Worse still, I no longer wish to part with my money for lunch there! So we left. We went back to Dominos and sat ourselves down promptly without any fuss.

I thought that dad who has dementia and is sometimes a bit blur may not have noticed what was happening but he did. He started telling a story about how his friend used to frequent a place for his birthday and how they went to the place and could sit anywhere they want because they had money. Poor dad. No one wants to be wheelchair bound and being turned away from an eatery because of it is worse.

I was upset, I dreamed about it again in my sleep last night.

Updated: I have spoken to the Restaurant Manager who was most apologetic and kind when she heard that we were refused entry because of dad’s wheelchair. She said that they would normally place wheelchair users at the front of the restaurant for more ease and mobility. She said that we could call her personal number anytime we want to go and she will reserve a place for us. Ok. At least I know that this discrimination is not a policy of the restaurant. I hope that she will have a word with the staff with the wrong attitude. Thats settled then.

It can  be a very funny scene indeed if you could see what went on behind closed doors in the ladies public toilets . Fortunately most public toilets these days have hooks behind the doors to hang handbags, otherwise, some has to clutch on to their handbag while…….. (some ladies do some of the below or ALL of the below)

• wiping the toilet seat
• wrapping the toilet seat with toilet paper carefully
• if no toilet paper is available some clamber onto the toilet seat and squat there
• some balance on their feet and slowly lower their bum like doing a ballerina plie.
• some with kids have to do all of the above a few times ie for themselves and for the kids
• if the kid is young, some carry the kids in their arms and ask them to aim into the toilet bowl

Its an ugly scene I tell you, quite funny too if you think about it but what to do? Some of the toilets are so dirty. The other day I visited Empire Subang and was pleased to find toilet seat wipes. I think it would help if toilets had them. Quite often, I find toilet paper all over the floor after someone has arranged it to cover the toilet seat before sitting on it. Some of the toilet paper is covered with urine. Ewwww…

Ahhh… public toilets. How I hate them.

The other day during my son’s orientation, I met the grandmother of one of his kindy classmate. I know her well because I see her around often. She sends and picks up the child and she is the one who collects the report cards and attends the school concerts etc. I hardly see the parents. They did not collect the report card, nor did they attend the year end concert.

So it was no surprise to me that it was the grandmother, yet again who was the one to attend the orientation. I do not know their circumstances but it is sad.

The grandmother was relieved to see me because she needed help to fill in the many forms that needed to be completed and submitted on Orientation Day. She sat beside me in the hall and I helped her to fill up the forms. She obviously did not know how to complete the forms.

The grandmother said the parents were busy……. again?……. on a public holiday? The grandmother often drives rather fast with a small frown on her face. She tells me that she can’t send the child anymore because this school is far and she has another small grandchild to look after. I can understand why she looks harrased.

I did not meet them on the first day of school but on the second day of school, it was again the grandmother who was there to make sure the child knows how to board the right school bus for her transport home.

Sometimes during school parties, the child comes to school not in a pretty little frock like all the pampered little princesses of today but in a school uniform because someone forgot to dress her up in party clothes. Once, she cried and told my son that her dress was not nice during a party.

Poor child. Poor grandmother. I really do not know the circumstances of the family so I do not wish to criticise anyone but what I know is, it is better not to have children if you can’t find the time for them.

In another case, once I saw a father come to the school to see his daughter. The teachers were at a loss about what to do. They had received strict instructions from the mother not to allow the father to see the girl. The man begged. “I am on leave today. I only want to surprise her.” The teachers were really at a loss. For safety and security they could not allow the man to see the girl. The man insisted that he is no stranger there to kidnap the girl. “I just want to see her.” He went and hugged the girl and left soon after full of apologies. How sad.

Again, I do not know the full circumstances. Neither do the teachers and they have a job to ensure the safety of the kids but what I do know is when adults quarrel, they should try their best not to involve the child.