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.

Chinese New Year is coming so its out with the old and in with the new. Time to get new clothes, new shoes, new hairdo. Hmmm…. what hairdo?

To me there are only 4 basic styles. It’s either long and straight, short and straight, long and curly or short and curly with some variations in between like bob, boy cut, layered look etc. So which hairstyle? *Taps fingers*

It would seem that as you grow older and older, your hairstyles become more and more limited. It is limited to short or medium length and straight rather than curly or you would either look like an old lau hiau Ah Soh or an Ah Soh who is trying to look young.

Hmm…. how ar? Since I am always a young person locked inside a middle aged body, what hairstyle should I keep? Should I break tradition? Since I always tend to veer towards the long… hmm…. maybe long with curls…. maybe just color it will do… maybe very very straight (you know like in those glossy shampoo ads) …. maybe… oh I give up. I don’t know. Whatever it is, it always ends up in a mess, tied up in a messy half pony tail half bun. So it does not make any difference. Hehe.

What do you all think? Do you think middle aged women look better with certain hairstyles only?

I bought an old second hand house. I did not have the experience to look out for water stains that might indicate a roof leak and so we ended up with a house with a perpetual roof leaking problem.

We did some simple renovations before moving in. The contractor was told about the leaking roof. When the renovations were completed and we moved in, the roof continued to leak. We called the same contractor back to resolve it. He came a few times. Though we felt that he should not continue to charge us for fixing the roof (since he did not resolve it in the first place), nevertheless we continued to pay him to come, just so that he would come! Even then, after that, he stopped taking our calls.

We continued to live with the roof leak problem. Then we had a new neighbour who did extensive renovations before moving in. He extended his rooms, build new rooms etc. When he was done, we had new roof leaks near the area of his extension. This time it was worse than the roof leaks from other parts of our house previously. We had to prepare buckets when it rained.

We called in  his contractor to resolve it. He came a few times. Each time we had to wait, sometimes in vain for his workers to turn up. We had to reschedule our own appointments again and again to wait for the contractor. After that….It rained once. The roof did not leak. We were happy. It rained the second time. It leaked buckets again. We were back to square one. The contractor stopped taking our calls as well.

We called in a third contractor. He came and commented about how hopeless the previous contractor is.”He uses foreign workers not like us. We do the job ourselves. We will give you a guarantee and continue to come back until your roof leak problem is over. I will come tomorrow to start work.”

“Tomorrow” came and when I called him he was obviously somewhere else doing other work. “Oh its you. I can’t come today. Maybe next week.” So much for a guarantee! Hah! He can’t even turn up at the appointed time, just like the rest. And he had the gall to sound surprised when he took the phone call from me …. as though he never said that he was coming over “tomorrow” to start work!

All contractors are the same. They do not know the meaning of “punctuality”. 10 o’clock may mean 10 o’clock the next week to them. They do not know how to keep time. They don’t call you. You have to call them to chase them over and over again. They lie through their teeth. They do not respect the fact that other people have their own schedules too. Not only them.

They are very good at one thing though. They are very good at prioritising. Priority always goes to the job that brings in the most money. So, little jobs like fixing a roof leak should be postponed again and again without care about the customer or client. They can never be found when you need them because they always seem to be multi tasking, taking on many jobs at the same time with priority to the one that brings in the most $$$$$.

I am so annoyed! I have half a mind to go and buy a ladder, climb up the roof and fix it myself.

My spouse does not speak to me nicely. At least, that is what my daughter says. Hahaha. Yesterday, the kids wanted to pick some books to buy from a brochure. I told them that I will have to ask daddy for them first.

“No, let us ask.” the girl said. If we ask, daddy will tell us nicely. “No, you have too many books already…..” etc (she said in a gentle, patient voice) but if you ask…. daddy will grrrrr grrrrr growl growl. (makes imitation of how someone would sound like if replying in an irrate manner.)

She then went on to give her own assumption as to why daddy speaks like that to mummy. “Maybe it is because you have been speaking to him for too many years. We speak to him for only a few years.” Hahaha.

I just had to tell him what the girl said and we both had a good laugh about it.

So, what do you think? Does familiarity breed contempt? Have you forgotten how to speak to your spouse nicely? For the record, actually the spouse does speak to me nicely. He is also very polite and often thanks me, even if I am just bringing him a cup of water. Do you thank your spouse for little things? However, he does sometimes grunt and grumble a little when he is under stress or has a lot of things on his mind. Who doesn’t?

I reminded the kids that they can ask him but they must pick the right time to speak to him. They must ask him when he is free and not when he is in the middle of something. Similarly, when speaking to our spouse, I think we must pick the right time to speak, especially if it is to discuss some important issue. Otherwise, we will end up being growled at and we will be snarling back. lol.

We got a new toy recently. A GPS. With this toy, as you can imagine, we’ve been doing a lot of driving to faraway places recently. Haha. Just to test it out.

It asked us to turn right at a no right turn. It wanted to make us make a U-turn when we know roughly that the way to go is forward. It refused to take us to our destination. It kept on wanting us to turn back!

It took us to Jalan Hulu Kelang in Shah Alam when we really wanted to go to Ulu Kelang in Ampang. It wanted to take us to some other place called Taipan in Klang when we really wanted to go to Taipan in USJ Subang Jaya.

It led us round and round and round on a wild goose chase. Still, its really interesting and we like it. The verdict is… it helps some but you should still have a general idea of the place you want to go. You should also make sure that the map is taking you to right place as there are many similar street names.

When I was  young, I did not need a water heater. Our bathing water used to be contained in a huge container and we would scoop up the water from there and splash it over our bodies.

We never had a water heater in our home. We were so thrilled to be able to use a water heater in the hotels that we stayed in once in a blue moon when our family travelled back to our hometown. Yes, we were really backdated and backward back then!

Later on, after I grew up and eventually could afford the luxury of a water heater in my bathroom, I found that I could no longer live without it. I bathe using a water heater even in the heat of the mid afternoon sun. I just MUST, absolutely MUST have my water heater. Bathing in normal temperature water leaves me shivering in cold and discomfort. I wonder if everyone is like me.

Do you absolutely need your water heater for bathing or do you prefer to bathe with cold water. Perhaps cold water leaves you more refreshed afterwards? Cold water does not leave me refreshed. It only leaves me COLD!

I remember once we went to the Highlands for a holiday and there was no water heater. Worse still, the water was only a trickle. I can’t remember much about that trip anymore but I certainly remember the bath times. It was so cold and uncomfortable. At least if the water was more than a trickle I could quickly bathe as fast as I could. I can clearly remember the slow trickle of the cold water today even though that trip was years ago.

At the moment we are using the instant type of water heaters. We do not have a centralised water heater with tanks. That means we can only use it for bathing. I would really love it if I could have the water heater for my sink as well. It would be just great to wash my face with warm, warm water in the mornings instead of being splashed awake by a cold splash of water.

My girl friend who is living in the US is just like me. She would be delighted to know that she can click here to visit this website www.fastwaterheater.com  if she runs out of water or her tank is leaking. Like me, that is definitely a no no for her.

Well my dear, if you are reading this post, now you know where to get your San Francisco water heater replaced real fast so you don’t have to go brrrrrrrrr brrrrrrrrrr.

Last year, there was a fair in my girl’s school. There was all sorts of games and food at the fair. The kids had to purchase coupons and use them to play games.

When my girl came home that day, she brought along with her two little fish in a plastic bag. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Although I was amused but secretly horrified (what would I do with two little fish!), the little boy was delighted. He had been reading about pets and was thinking about keeping a fish as a pet. He immediately claimed one fish which his sister generously agreed to.

Their doting dad went out to buy a small tank to keep the two tiny fish. The tank is really small, just nice for two or three tiny fish.

We called the fish “Goldie” and something else I can’t remember. I think Goldie died a few days later. So daddy had to go to the pet store to buy two more little fish. They soon died one after another in the following weeks and were replaced by two guppy fish like the one in the picture.

So now we are the proud owners of three little fish. Goldie’s first partner plus his two new Guppy friends. These three are hardy. It has been a couple of months now and they are still well and alive. The guppy fish looks an ugly grey from far but upon closer inspection, they have lovely colourful tails like that of a peacock. Goldie’s original partner has also grown in size.

The kids feed the fish once a day during lunch. Fortunately, kakak helps to clean the tank, otherwise,  I would have thrown out the fish a long time ago.

You know, there is something about pets. At the end of the day, it is always the mum who has the last responsiblity of looking after the pet like picking out cat or dog hairs from the upholstery and rugs, cleaning the fish tank, making sure no one steps on animal poo, bathing the pets and the list goes on. Everyone loves pets but at the end of the day, it is not easy to look after pets. They are living things that require gentle care. So who is the nurturer at home who is good at giving gentle care? Mummy of course!

During the school holidays I allowed the kids to stay up later. When I was tired, I told them they could continue to chit chat after the lights were off. Listening to them really made me laugh.

First they decided what time they would chit chat till. “Lets chit chat till 11.20pm” said the older one. “What shall we chit chat about?” said the younger one.

They decided to chit chat about their day. “Today, we did……” They went on about their day till 11.20pm when the older one said it was time to end their chit chat.

They said their goodnights to each other which is a lengthy one as we usually do “Goodnight. I love  you. Have a Good Night’s Sleep. Goodnight, Sleep Tight. Happy.”

So they went “I love you.” said the small one and “I love you too.” said his older sister…..and then …. silence….

After a while, a small voice said “Cheh Cheh, Why don’t I love you?” followed by “Why do we always fight and argue?”

Cheh Cheh said “Yah, we always argue but then sometimes we are nice to each other too.” The small one said “Ok” and that was that. They both went to sleep while I had a hard time trying to stiffle my laughter.

Afterthought: I know the little one wishes that his sister would love him more. Once he said, “If I had a magic wand, I wish to have a nice cheh cheh who won’t argue with me so much.” It is because cheh cheh is a bit older, in primary school now and sometimes gets a bit impatient with him. They have different likes and dislikes and because of the gender difference as well, sometimes cheh cheh does not like to play the games he likes even though he keeps saying “Please cheh cheh” . However, my girl often laughs at the antics of her little brother. He can really amuse her and make her laugh with much amusement. When they do play games together, I can see that they really do have a lot of fun together.