Valentine's Day '09

14th February 2009 fell on a Saturday this year. Tis shud be our 13th Valentine together now, including those years which we couldn't spend together but this year's Valentine celebration is really one of the most different, among the most special we both ever had. Tonnes of thanks to our members of our cell group. All the us are married and blessed with a child or two, and on this saturday nite we all decided to celebrate together. The venue for our Valentine's celebration was no other than Casuarina, and both hubby & I were in charge of the food tat nite. MeiChing & Daniel were in charged of the event tat nite, whereas LingLing was in charge of our Valentine gifts. ;p

Before tat day, both hubby & I drafted out the menu for Valentine's dinner. We planned and budgeted the cost for our dinner, minding not to charge too much for the western cuisine tat nite. Part of the reason was we are intending to let our frens try out the dishes at Casuarina, and seeking for improvement comments. I mixed a special drink for all our guests tat nite, and two nites b4, i made a few glasses of my mixed drink and had hubby picked the one he likes best. It was really fun, having some creativity for a change and all the guests really love it. I called it my "Refreshing Lime Soda", and everyone said it was really refreshing n nice, and i shared with them my recipe. ;)) A fren even asked if i took hotel management course before, =)) but i told him tat it was merely juz my interest of making new dishes n drinks.


Preparation of the restaurant for the event tat nite.
Hubby & I decorated the restaurant for the event tat nite. We hung up teddies & bunnies in a heart-shaped ring a few nites before, and Jayden was the most excited of us all. He kept on pointing to all the red dangling soft toys, and said "oooww owww" (his baby language of expressing any dogs, cats, or animals...) =)) When his daddy hold him high up as if trying to touch the teddies, he'll chuckled loudly. Sigh..... how cute my Jayden is ...


All the guests except for the single photographer tat nite.
Tat nite we all dressed up nicely. By 7.30pm, all our guests had arrived. The dimly litted restaurant with flickers of tealight candles gave everyone a romantic feel. We were supposed to haf 5 couples tat nite, but there were only 9adults for ahPau's wife and baby Nathan are still in Sibu for confinement. I told him i'll lend him ahDen to be his date tat nite. =))

We started our dinner with the soup of the day, cream of mushroom soup. As we were having our dinner, the event for tat nite started. Daniel leaded the event session tat nite, and he started with each couple telling everyone how they met their other half and why they'd chosen to tie their knots. It was kinda funny and really touching hearing everyone sharing their experiences, and really a more 'get-to-know-one-another' opportunity.


Cream of mushroom soup & prawn cocktail salad
Halfway while sharing, the prawn cocktail salad and pasta were served. For the pasta, there were 5 plates of spaghetti bolognese and and penne carbonara each, meant for couple sharing. Having the opportunity where your spouse announces publicly why he/she picks you as the companion to walk down the road of marriage, as well as the type of support he/she provides you, was really priceless. With the romantic surrounding, once again u feel like u r still in your courtship moments, aahhh.... juz tat there are kids and babies around, making noises and both the parents needing to attend to them once in awhile.

While waiting for our main course tat nite, we had the peak of our event. Each pair of couple were told to bring our wedding rings tat nite, and everyone wondered wat we haf to do with tat. Once again we exchanged vows and then exchanged our wedding rings. It was juz like 2 years ago back in the church where we exchanged our vows. After tat, the gentleman will gif their wife a bouquet of flowers, followed by the wife presenting their beloved husband with a box of chocolate. Finally, the husband gave their wife a kiss in front of all the others, =)) and had their photos taken.

4 pairs of blessed wedding rings in the midst of litted candles, chocs & flowers.
It was a total rerun of our wedding when hubby & I exchanged our vows in our blurry mandarin. Part of it was funny but most of all it was touching and deeply felt. Daniel played the role as our minister tat nite, and we recite our vows following his guidance. The romantic environment really enhanced all tat was going on.

Exchanging vows

Putting the ring on hubby's finger

A kiss as a token of love

Our main course tat nite was a small portion of sirloin steaks and chicken chops. Daniel brought a bottle of Lambrusco red wine, and it was superb to go with the steaks. Thanks Daniel for owest wiling to share his red wine wid all of us. After the main course, we had fresh fruits as desserts. Everyone was full and satisfied with the meal tat nite, and the drinks were a blast where everyone had more than one serving. =)) The event tat nite lasted past 10pm, and the kids were really sleepy except for Jayden. We finished off all tat we could, and watever we couldn't we let our guests 'tapau' back home.

Photos of our main course of sirloin steak and chicken chops

Tat nite in our room, hubby & I recalled back wat everyone had shared at the dinner table. It seems to be tat for each & every couple, we tend to complement each other's weaknesses as well as sharing some similar prospects in life. For most of us, it is through God's blessings tat we haf each other and eventually became man & wife. We thank God for all his blessings all this while, and oso providing us with such a bunch of good frens in Christ, owest making us having this homely feeling whenever we gather although each of us is far away from our hometown.

Both hubby & I spent lots of Valentines together before, but we never spent one like this ever. We both agreed tat it was one of the most special we ever had, and as for my bouquet of flower, it was definately one of the best i ever had. Looking at the beautifully folded flowers using RM1 note, i was deeply impressed with sister LingLing's patience & love. She made a total of 5bouquets for every couple, and without love and patience, i'm sure she could never had done tat. Thanks to to ChangHe, LingLing's hubby, for buying us all the nice 'rochers' from Labuan and last but not least, we are all thankful to Daniel & MeiChing for chairing this wonderful event.

Hopefully in time to come, even with children on the way, both hubby & I will get to celebrate each and every Valentine together and of cuz being accompanied by our kids. It's true tat we could not celebrate it like those days back during our courtship, for at least another 20+years to come, but having the opportunity to celebrate Valentine wid ur kids around you is another form of God's grace. I truly cherish my family and Happy Valentine's Day to all!

My special bouquet of flowers and chocolates!

CNY 2009

Finally Chinese New Year is here, and now it's almost the end of the 15th-day of New Year. This New Year really juz seemed to be so unlike all the previous CNYs. Partly in Kuching it had been raining almost everyday, kinda felt gloomy and sunshine-less. So many friends i wished to meet but ended up i failed to meet up wid some of them. There's Shirley and her new baby which i really wished to visit, then ChiKeng and her new baby too, and not forgetting dearest PingSoo whom i hadn't seen in 2years time. Sigh!!! So sorry frens for not being able to make a reunion wid u guys.

On 22nd-24th Jan, we were back in Sibu town. We drove a long 5hrs ride there, stayed 2nites and drove another 5hrs long ride back. Really feel quite worn out, but it's worth the ride there. The main reason back there was to visit both hubby's grandmas. Hubby's 'nye-ma' (mother-side grandma) hadn't seen Jayden before, and hubby himself hadn't seen her for more than 5yrs! She wasn't in her best state of health, and we really can't expect her to come out to Kuching n pay us a visit instead. So it's only right for us as youngsters to take the initiative to pay her a visit.

As for hubby's 'ah ma' (father-side grandma), she was delighted to see Jayden. She told us tat she had wanted to see how much ahDen had grown. 'ah ma' forever loves hubby so much, tat she purposely cooked 'pek tin (8-chen) mee sua' for us. She'd been busy in the kitchen on the day we arrived. It was really quite heartache to see 'ah ma' going thru all the trouble preparing a nice meal for us. It had been raining and raining too back in Sibu then. But it was really worth the trip, seeing the elders so happy and delighted to see their great grandson. At least this is part of our responsibilities as parents, and hopefully we can plan another trip back to Marudi soon to visit my grandma. She hadn't seen Jayden before as well and hopefully we'll be able to find time to visit her soon.

On Chinese New Year eve, ahDen had fever. It must had been pretty tiring for him, flying back from KK to Kuching and then followed by a long car ride back to Sibu. He hadn't had enuf rest, and tat's part of the reason he fell sick. Luckily his fever resided after i gaf him his Dhamol syrup and he had a nite of good rest. All the loud noises of firecrackers & fireworks at 12am didn't make him stir even once! However around 1am on the 1stDay of NewYear, hubby rushed out to settled something and only coming back to rest around 3+am. So practically on the 1st Day of CNY, after going to my mum's house & my sis's house, we went back home around 2pm and let both the father and son nap. Tat nite we stayed in, better let ahDen take as much rest as he can. Moreover, mum & my youngest sis had departed for Penang. Sigh!!

On the 2nd Day of CNY, again it was drizzling. Piang called asking we will be able to join their visiting. Hmm... really wish i could, but then we had to go out to search for a bday cake for Amanda (hubby's niece). We'll be celebrating her bday tat nite, and most of the shops in town are still closed so hubby & I tot we better start hunting early. Thank God we managed to buy her a cake from Secret Recipe.... Chocolate Mud Cake. After tat we went over to hubby's 2nd sis's house, and had a wonderful meal there. There were so many nice food to eat and ahDen had a wonderful time there playing wid all his cousin sisters & brothers.

Around 4pm, I went out by myself to yeechee (ah ma)'s house to meet up wid all my PowerMoves' frens. Too bad PingSoo and ahKeng couldn't be there, but i met most of the others. Felt really happy seeing all of them, and although ah ma was super busy and we didn't had any time to chat at all, instead i was partly there helping her to serve her guests... haha... but i had a good time wid SiawTing, ahBian, and the rest. Wow... it had been so long since i meet up wid them, and i juz haf tis feeling of really missing those old times deep down in my heart. Around 5+pm, I really had to leave. Remembering we'll be celebrating Amanda's bday tat nite, so i really haf to excuse myself. Too bad didn't haf the opportunity to chat wid ah ma lor... she even wanted to gif me angpow, =))... but i felt 'pai sei' receiving it from her. She said we r all her 'sons & daughters' ... so touching... ;)) If i'd brought jayden there, then for sure i won't feel embarassed to get it from her. ;))

When i reached home, hubby & I, together wid ahDen rushed out to 'tapau' all the food for tat nite's bday party. It was already almost 6pm, and we rushed to Boulevard and 'tapau' sushi party pack n temaki's' from Sushi King & then pizzas from Pizza Hut. Then we rushed to Central Park McD and 'tapau' 10sets of Happy Meal and another set of McValue Meal especially for my brother. After making way to send the delivery meal to my brother, we rushed home wid all the children already eagerly waiting at the car porch. :))

On the 3rd Day of CNY, we had agreed to visit Seng's new house. I'd promised him before tat i'll try my best to visit his new house. We made plans wid ngeebang, piang, KC, yinpei & aiwei to go to 17th Mile. Around 2pm i called Piang and found out tat they were all still waiting for KC at Piang's house, so i told her we'll go to Seng's house first. When we reached 7th Mile, there was a terrible jam. Shud be a bad accident in front we presumed, and we used the old road avoiding the jam. When we reached 17th Mile, we juz went on hunting for Seng's house. Uncle Seng didn't answered my call, so we juz drove straight in and luckily we saw his car parked at one of the house. We went in and only to realised tat it was actually his dad's new house. ;)) We had a simple and nice meal of curry chicken and 'lo' duck and after tat we went over to Seng's new house.
Seng's new house is very nice and i must say his taste for the interior deco was quite similar to mine & SH. The colour matching was modern looking and though it wasn't really spacious but wid the bright lighting and the glossy floor tiles, it made the place looked bigger than it really was. The sofa set was uniquely green&white in colour, matching the dark green painted wall in front. And Seng sorry for ahDen's naughtiness of mixing ur cuttlefish wid the peanuts! Hahaha =)) so funny... ended up a new type of tidbits to serve ur guests.

Tat nite, we had a gathering wid our F5 Stampin friends at MJC Courtyard Sanctuary. We purposely left ahDen at hubby's eldest sis's house, and the 2 of us went to join our old frens. They organised a BBQ at CheeYong's house, and we had figured out wid ahDen around, for sure the both of us wont be able to eat in peace, so we decided not to bring him along. At the gathering, we met up wid some really old frens which we hadn't seen in ages. The funny part was there's tis moment of running thru all ur previous memories trying to search for a name when u see a familiar face. =)) It had been 10 long years since we last seen some of them! Really wid so much changes in everyone.... another heave of big sigh! This is a sigh of gratitude and happiness though... thank God for this opportunity and the still existing friendship between all of us.

On the 4th Day of CNY, it was a rainy day. It seemed so sad and gloomy, draining out all the NY mood in us. As usual ahDen was sound asleep past noon time, and though PingSoo tried to meet up wid me, really so sorry cox ahDen wasn't feeling so well again. He really played too much wid all his cousins and he ate too much mandarin oranges. So when he wanted to rest, i juz let him rest as much as he can. Around 4pm, some frens visited us - Colin, Wilson, CheeYong & his YingYing, & Gary. These guys although so grown up can sometime be so childish. Cheeyong's yingying gave ahDen an angpow... her first year giving out angpows, and can see she really loves kids. Better work hard now CheeYong! =)) Oh... okie, the childish part, this Colin & Wilson keep on playing wid each other's car wipers! When they were about to leave, Colin purposely lifted Wilson's car wiper, then Wilson playing even, came out of his car in the rain and lifted Colin's car wiper as well. Apalah... so big still wan to play like tat.... even ahDen amazed at wat all the UNCLEs r doing! Then Wilson's car alarm went "cuckoo", kept on ringing and ended up CheeYong had to get down from his car and helped him! =))

When the guys left, we waited for Piang and the rest to arrive. Piang came first, then ah yao, ngeebang and sockhui. Then we went over to Aiwei's house. No KC tat day cox he was stranded at his house, wid the roads around his house being flooded. After Aiwei's house, hubby, ahDen & me, went over to pick up my bro to haf dinner at SugarBun The Spring. Initially it was ngeebang or ahYao's idea of dining at SugarBun. Piang had to leave cox her mum prepared dinner for her. In the end ngeebang & ahYao couldn't make it to The Spring, so after dinner we sent my bro home. After tat, we headed for mek's house. Then we waited for quite awhile there for ngeebang & ahYao to arrive. I think by the time we left, it was almost 10pm. As usual ahDen was so busy at mek's house, and i was busy too helping her to childproof her house temporarily for the period ahDen was there. Any longer i think i'm going to faint!

On the 5th Day, everything seemed to be back to normal. Totally no more CNY mood liao, and we were out early morning to pay our car's road tax. The post office was so packed, partly oledi overflowing wid humans! Wat to do... tat's our last day in Kuching, and we had to settle all these stuff b4 going back to KK. Mum still not back from Penang yet, and ahMing sis only departed from Sibu tat afternoon. We left for KK tat nite, and tat's the end of CNY in Kuching. Really tis year's CNY was kinda dull, partly i guessed bcox of the weather, and partly bcox we had different priority this year, and partly oso bcox mum wasn't in Kch.

Missed out the opportunity to meet up wid some old frens. Hopefully we can arrange for other meetings somehow n somewhere if possible. No matter wat, still wish all of u Happy Chinese New Year!

LeVI'S

Hooray! I got my first pair of Levi's Jeans. On Thurs nite, 15/01/09, we went to Palm Square. I told hubby a few days ago tat how good it'll be if i can haf a pair of Levi's jeans. Since now i finally managed to slim down a little (only a little after so many hard work), but it'll be the best time for me to look good in it rather than after a few more years to go, when i gave birth to baby 2nd or 3rd, then tat time really so damn hard to slim down, all my dreams to ever look good in a pair of Levi's jeans will vanish!

It's something like the childhood dream piang mentioned, well, juz tat it's more like a teenager-hood dream. We owest have so many dreamssssss........ I remembered when shopping wid hiewming & yunnyi once, hiewming was telling us tat when we were in uni last time, we really hope to own a pair of Levi's. Then thinking we don't haf any income yet and still studying, we better not waste tat kind of money. When we started working, eventually we can afford a pair of Levi's but when tat time comes, we still find it far too much to spend on a pair of jeans. Ended up, we will never get a pair for ourself! Wonder if hiewming, yunnyi and the rest finally gotten their first pair of Levi's???

Yesterday i was telling piang, how 'hiaw' i was for letting SH spent RM200+ on a pair of Levi's for me. I tot of not jotting it in my blog here cox it seems kinda like bragging, but ended up piang convinced me to do so. Okie, perhaps sth memorable for myself and i really think partly bcox it's not my money but SH's, tat i really finally own a pair of Levi's. Yes, he spoils me sometimes and even he feel heartache to buy himself any new clothings for CNY, he'll still buy for Jayden and me.

If my sis read this and if mum knows about tis, for sure they'll nag me for spending unwisely. As for myself, yes, still a little heartache for spending so much on myself. On top of tat, I juz hope i can fit into my Levi's for a few more years to come. Can slim down somemore but definately cannot grow sideways anymore, unless of cuz if i get pregnant again, but hopefully after giving birth, then slim down again and can fit back into my pair of Levi's once more. =))

seaweed crackers for SALE!

;)) It is pretty funny tat ah Ying doing tis kinda stuff. Okie, before tis i planned to make some tidbits for CNY while i haf the time here in KK, then bring it back to Kuching. Cox we planned to go back to Sibu on the 22nd and come back the day before CNY eve, i figured out i wouldn't haf anytime back in Kuching to make the goodies i intended to.

When u haf a hubby tat loves to eat, yes, u'll try ur best to feed him. So hubby brought me to buy all the raw materials needed, and my first attempt was making the seaweed crackers. It turned out to be really successful, being super-crispy, cox the deep-fried part we asked the chef at the restaurant downstairs to do it for us, and deep frying using the big hob definately gives u a different outcome. So much better cox the oil was super hot, and the crackers super crispy than the ones i previously made at home.

Then hubby had tis idea. He said, to pack all the crackers i made into plastic containers and we can sell them at the hotel's counter. Worse come to worse if no one buy, then we bring back to Kuching as CNY goodies. Sounds interesting, and this is the kind of stuff my 'forever business-minded hubby' will do!

So he brought me to buy some lovely plastic containers, and it was pretty costly too. They were the better type cox once u press the red cover down, it's pretty hard to re-open unless u break the seal. Hmm... seems to be pretty secure, and i made labels to go wid the containers.

I told piang tat i'm planning to sell my seaweed crackers, and darling piang immediately said she'll be my first customer. ;)) *HUGS* Thanks darling for the support, i juz hope i won't receive any complaints from u. She didn't even asked how much i was selling per tub, oledi she ordered 2 cox she wanted to gif 1 to nb's dad. I told her she juz need to buy 1 from me, and as for nb, i planned to gif him 1 tub. All the previous years, nb owest gave me fresh tilapia fish for CNY, and i'd never given him anything back before. Hopefully he doesn't mind tis simple handmade gift from me. Wat to do... i don't earn my own dime now, so definately must save. =))

I think i sold 1 tub yesterday cox when we got back last nite, hubby noticed 1 tub missing from the counter. Yippee... at least one and better than none! Wahaha.... silly me being so happy rite! ;)) I oso made chicken floss rolls, but i don't plan to sell it lar. The rolls much more work and although i'm using chicken floss, really haf to mind the 'halal-ness' of my products lor, n i'm not sure if it's considered 'halal' so better not try to sell tat. I wonder how much i'll be able to earn... the raw materials all SH's money, and he said if can sell, then all the money earned wil go inside my pocket. =)) Pretty good deal, heh!

final week of 2008

U start off a good day wid a good breakfast! Tat's how i feel today. Before tis, i was kinda lazy to blog about life recently, and although i had lots of encounters, i juz feel lazy to start typing it away here in my blog. Tis morning, i really enjoyed my breakfast. We bought turkey ham last nite and hubby made yummy ham sandwiches for me tis morn. The turkey ham was heavenly, together wid crusty buttered toasts, lettuce, tomatoes as well as rich mayonnaise overflowing the ham. Wow... feel so full n energetic now.


On Xmas day, we went to church and we got big packets of tidbits. Ah den was so happy, when he saw all the gift packets at the church, til he exclaimed... "WAH!" Tis was ahDen's 2nd xmas and remembering on tis day last year, we juz came over from Kuching to KotaKinabalu wid ahDen. At night, we went to KK Specialist to visit ahPau n his wife and their newborn. A baby born on xmas day itself, how special... and i saw lots of other infants there. All so cute and adorable. They were so tiny and fragile, and i really feel so glad while looking at them. They are all so innocent and so sweet, all wrapped up in their blankets feeling warm and safe. Sigh... made me think back of how tiny ahDen used to be too!


On Saturday afternoon, i went to Brix Saloon at Lintas. At first i wanted to get a perm. Okie, yes... i juz had my perm back in Sept, but now the curls all seem to be out of place. So hubby dragged me to the saloon (cox i kept on complaining), and then he left wid ahDen. I told them i wanted to perm my hair. Then they look at my really dry hair and say i shouldn't perm it anymore, cox it's really dry. Somemore they say, i still haf my perm. It's juz tat i didn't styled it wid any mousse so it showed no curls at all. Hahaha.... I told them the last perm i had was digital perm.


Then they asked me, is it the type where they put cable into each and every rollers??? I replied "yes". I guessed digital perm wont leave ur hair as dried as mine, but tat's the problem wid my hair. I have really thick, black hair and dry as well. And the last perm i had, i asked for a 'lady's perm'. I think ladies perm are the type tat ur hair wont be tat curly, but juz wave and u'll haf to style it for the curls to show. My sis told me tat ladies perm wont make u look so 'auntie' lor, cox some curls really make u look so 'auntie'. =)) So in the end, they gave me a haircut, to make my hair lesser volume. After the haircut, (which i am definately most satisfied) the curls really came back. My hair are lesser and way much stylish now, so being the 'hiaw hiaw' me, i asked for my hair to be coloured. Yippee!!! Finally can dye my hair, for i had waited a long time to get my hair coloured. ;)) I spent RM200 for the haircut and hair colouring. It was pretty expensive, but now i really believe KK's haircut much better than Kuching cox the ppl here more stylish lor. Really dare to cut...


After i'm done, I called hubby to come to pick me up. I tot he was at home, but no, he brought ahDen out. Really keng! When they came, ahDen was in the front passenger seat, wid the safety belt strapped across him. Wah... my bb being such a good boy lor. No fuss at all! ;)) Then once SH saw me, he asked "u coloured ur hair?" ;)) Now i really feel pleased ("shuang") cox tat mean my colour obvious lor, cox SH oso can tell the difference. Hubby bought me 'bak pau' (meat buns) from Inanam cox i din haf any lunch, and yes it was delicious. When i reached home, while waiting to pick up ngeebang from the bus station, i had a short nap. After we all took our bath, we went out to pick up Uncle ngeebang.


Knowing nb will be here over the weekend, really cheered me up. As usual, we talked non-stop. After we picked him up from Plaza Wawasan, we went to 1Borneo and had dinner at NewYork NewYork. Tis time really can try the Giant Yankee Burger. Really so big til nb the 'tham chiak' eater oso cannot finish lor! But before the burger we ordered Pepperoni Pizza as well, then we had dessert called "Lake Chocolate". Both the dessert and the Giant Yankee Burger were labeled as "SUPER SINFUL", so nb & I said must try the super sinful one! =)) As for the dessert, it had strawberries and fried banana fritters in a plate of chocolate wid a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Hmm... okie.... a bit too sweet for me, but the banana fritters really nice. If for piang, the dessert sure heavenly liao!


As for Sunday, we didn't do much.... we had breakfast at "Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap" at Hilltop. The beef noodles nice, and the beef soup superb. I love the beef tripe, beef tendons, stew meat..... all wah.... i told nb must try the beef noodles there, cox appeared in tv before. ;)) Tat nite we ate at Beverly Hills, then after tat went to Warisan Square to shop. Nb saw Big Apple Donuts, then he immediately bought 3 doughnuts and chomp! chomp! chomp! Finish liao! We told him to enjoy all the doughnuts by himself, cox we can get it here anytime we want but then labuan no Big Apple lor. I managed to buy myself a dress while nb help me to babysit ahDen. ;)) When we headed for home, we went to Tanjung Aru Beach to 'ta pau' steamed sweetcorn, chicken wings and satays. Really pig out lor over the weekend.


Monday morn, a public holiday, so we went breakfast at Hilltop again but tis time we ate fish head meehoon. Nb had tomyam beehoon. After breakfast, we went to Wisma Merdeka then nb saw this new shop selling Japan Takoyaki. So he say he want to eat "tako tako". Okie... he ate again but only 1takoyaki per person, then passed a shop selling 'kuih-muih', he said he wanted to eat 'kuih'. Then i asked him buy some so can eat in the bus later. So he bought some, then while we window-shopped, he ate n ate the kuih until not much liao. Hahaha.... then i saw Dott's eggtarts. I told nb tat Dott's eggtarts are the best, so i 'ta pau' 2 eggtarts and 2 chicken puffs so he can eat in the bus later.


After shopping at Wisma Merdeka, we went to Sadong Jaya and sat in a coffeeshop while waiting for time to pass. Nb's bus timed at 1.30pm so when almost 1pm liao, we said juz go to the bus station lar... then wait there if the bus not depart yet. Luckily the bus station really near, when we went there, nb's bus start to depart liao. Tat time only 1.05pm... and he really chased after the bus. Luckily the bus waited for him, and somemore he got scolded lor. Aiyo.... b4 tis we were still making fun saying if he miss his bus, then he haf to stay in KK liao or SH haf to send him to Menumbok. Phew! Thinking of nb chasing after the bus, really quite funny lor but luckily he caught the bus! There r some passengers even later than nb, really missed the bus liao.


Tat afternoon came bek home, we watched dvd and slept. Really dunno wat else to do liao. If public holiday, sometimes can oso be very 'sien' and super bored! But i had an enjoyable weekend wid nb around, i guess it juz tat feeling 2008 will slip away soon tat makes me feel 'sien'! So fast time passed lor... but hor, i know i'm still young lar. =))

xmas around the corner!

The wonderful feeling of xmas is in the air, really nearing now, bringing 2008 to an end. Today i changed all my background music to a wonderful christmas song to share wid all of u. Besides tat, i posted a xmas banner sending xmas greetings to all my friends out there, wherever u are... far or near. The xmas song playing in the background is "WE ARE THE REASON", a very touching and really nice church xmas song. Whenever xmas is around the corner, i owest haf this wonderful song playing in my mind, bringing me back to the moment where we sung this song on stage in a choir!

Back in the year 2000, i think, we performed at Perdanasiswa back in UM (University of Malaya). Tat was a christmas celebration concert held by the Christian Society of UM, and we practiced weeks to perform perfectly on stage. If i hadn't remembered wrongly, there was a mime going on while we sung out this song on stage. It was so long ago, and all the memories about xmas back then was so vague. Tat time i had juz entered UM, and it was among one of the most memorable event for me back then.

The song is about how everyone in the world always hoping to receive xmas gift, but we never realised we all had been given the greatest gift of all - tat's the birth of Lord Jesus, and Him coming to this world to sacrifice for all of us. Many ppl around never understand why we celebrate xmas every year. Xmas itself is to celebrate Lord Jesus's bday, and it's kinda sad how xmas eventually bcame a different kind of celebration among youths today... things like binge-ing out in the pub n getting urself drunk! For me, i juz love the wonderful feeling of christmas. It juz gives u this peaceful feeling deep inside u, and also all the lovely decos around, it makes u feel like u r in wonderland.

Another funny memory to share, as i sit here typing out all these, i suddenly rememberd how all my sisters n bro used to hung up old socks in our bedroom on xmas eve. I couldn't remember how this trend eventually existed in our family. And as the years passed, sis Ming & I eventually became 'Santa Claus' instead of mum & dad. As elder sisters, every year we'll try to place goodies into our younger bro & sis's old socks, which they hung up in their bedroom. Then they'll wake up on xmas morn, feeling so excited n happy and rushed to find wat's in store for them in their socks! It was really happy seeing the smiles on their faces, juz how innocent n happy children can be!

Another sweet memory will be remembering how every year b4 dad was bedridden, he'll dragged in the big flower pot where mum planted a fir tree. Then we'll decorate the tree with beautiful ornaments and blinking lights, then every nite we'll juz switched off the living room light, and sit by the tree and gazed at it. =)) Underneath the tree, we'll place dozens of nicely wrapped up empty boxes. It was really beautiful and even now i'd grown up, all those are juz the wonderful childhood memories u'll forever haf in ur mind. How i missed all those sweet moments so so so much!

Dear frens, please take some time to indulge in the lyrics of this song We Are The Reason. A little xmas gift from me to all of u, and may the new year ahead brings nothing but happiness & blessings to all of u.

"As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys we knew we’d find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

*We were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love
All because of love

*Chorus

I finally found the reason for living
It’s in giving every part of my heart to Him
And all that I do every word that I say
I’ll be giving my all just for Him, for Him

We are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

He is my reason to live "

everytime

Last Saturday afternoon, i went for yoga class. I missed a number of classes tat week, so i better start replacing the classes i missed before the end of the month, else my timetable will be pretty pack. During the class tat afternoon, surprisingly all the songs Angela played are my favourites. Sometimes n somewhere in ur memories, u juz haf tis whole bunch of ur favourite songs. They can be like the songs u listen to when u r a teenager, when u r in university, when u started working.... there are juz these certain category of songs u used to listen to, according to the time they existed in ur life.

During the yoga workout, this wonderful n touching song was playing in the air... and i was cracking my head thinking wat the title of the song was. I know it's a song by Britney Spears cox i used to haf tis song back a few years ago, and the lyrics as well. Then i remembered Piang mentioned how she loves Britney in her blog, well... honestly i don love or hate her, but i juz love some of her songs and i love some of her dance moves. ;)) I'm not really particular, juz tat any nice songs i hear, suits my taste and my sense of music, then i will juz fall in love wid tat song.

Still thinking about the song, and actually i was singing the song out in my mind while working out. Well yes, sometimes when u r indulge in the music, u can perform better. But in yoga, u kinda lose ur balance, and my balancing really poor. Then i suddenly remembered the song title... Everytime. It was a really nice song, very sad and yes... if u see the music tv, even makes u feel like crying. Something to share, the lyrics for Everytime - Britney Spears:-

Notice me, take my hand Why are we strangers when Our love is strong Why carry on without me Everytime I try to fly, I fall Without my wings, I feel so small I guess I need you, baby And everytime I see you in my dreams I see your face, it's haunting me I guess I need you, baby I make believe that you are here It's the only way I see clear What have I done You seem to move on easy And everytime I try to fly, I fall Without my wings, I feel so small I guess I need you, baby And everytime I see you in my dreams I see your face, you're haunting me I guess I need you, baby I may have made it rain Please forgive me My weakness caused you pain And this song's my sorry At night I pray That soon your face will fade away And everytime I try to fly, I fall Without my wings, I feel so small I guess I need you, baby And everytime I see you in my dreams I see your face, you're haunting me I guess I need you, baby

If any of u r interested, can check out the music video at YouTube too.... juz click on the following link :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAXgGWY6X5E

Labuan & Kundasang Trip

Last few days were quite tiring, but we certainly had lots of fun. It's like a family trip since we haf little Jayden, and bringing him outing although tiring it was fascinating as well, cox he gets to see and learn new things. Uncle KingChing and family were here in KotaKinabalu for the past few days and we planned to travel by car to a few places. They reached here on Friday 28/11/08 around 3.30pm and after they checked in to our hotel, we drove them around town for a short trip. Tat nite, we drove to Gayang Seafood to haf our dinner. We had nice seafood for dinner, but i guess not for SiaoTing, my cousin sister. Poor darling... she juz doesn't dare to taste most of the weird shellfish which she'd never seen before. Luckily she still love the prawns and luckily too, Jason and Iris (ahTing's elder bro & sis) were enjoying their seafood meal. After our meal, we went to Giant Kolombong to get some tidbits. We'll haf a long trip the next day, heading for Labuan and sigh... i haven't even pack our bags yet!

Early the next morning, as early as 6.30am, we all squeezed into hubby's Ninja King. We need to reach the Menumbok Jetty before 9.30am. Although the ferry will depart at 10.30am, we need to check in an hour earlier and none of us had ever been to Menumbok before, so hubby said it's better we r off earlier so we can hunt for the place in case we got lost. He kinda haf an idea in mind where tis Menumbok is supposed to be, so off we all go on our way to Labuan. 2hrs drive and we reached the Menumbok Jetty. I tot we were early but the queue was already so long, so we queued our car and then went off to a stall on the opposite road to haf our breakfast. Hubby walked to the counter in front to check in first, and then we haf our breakfast wil waiting for time to pass. Our first time using the ferry, and it was really a not-so-nice experience.

We were stupid enuf, cox when the time came for us to board the ferry, then we all sit nicely in our car and while we were about to board the ferry, the man asked to see our passenger tickets. Okie.... none of us actually tot we need to get passenger tickets, somemore the check-in person at the counter didn't say anything at all. So my uncle & I rushed down to buy the passenger tickets, RM5 per person. The return ticket from Menumbok to Labuan for the car itself oledi costs RM116, so it's really not cheap.

Nvm... we bought our passengers ticket and after we parked our car, more like squeezed our car into the parking space (for we can only get down from one side)... then we went up the stairs to the passengers seating area. Oh My God... it was awfully packed! All the people there were so inconsiderate. Most of them didn't need tat much seats, but they were like putting their bags n plastic bags whole row across the seats from where they were seating. There were so many ppl wandering around, not having any seats at all. Imagine the management.... they juz hold out their palms, ask for money and not even providing the service they should be giving. First impression, Labuan Ferry Management sucks!

In the end, uncle paid for 3VIP seats in the lounge... which costs RM13 per person, so tat ahDen & me, ahTing and Iris can sit comfortably inside. The ferry only departed at 11.15am, imagined how much time they actually wasted from the actual departure 10.30am. So again, Labuan Ferry sucks! I remembered ngeebang telling me how 'lansi' ppl in Labuan can be. (Lansi - our term for describing snobbish & showoff ppl, 'berlagak' in BM, and 'ke leng ke si' in Hokkien) Yes, nb... i know for sure u'll be looking out for wat i'll be blogging about 'tu tu shua' . Previously, when nb was telling me about the 'lansi-ness' u can get there, i really disbelieved him, telling him it was him being sensitive. Now, i really believe him. The reason we could give was tat there weren't any competitions from other company, more like it's a monopoly kind of service. So their attitude eventually became snobbish, knowing tat u couldn't be getting similar service elsewhere, and in the end u'll still haf to go back to them!

Around 1.15pm i think, we reached Labuan. I really start to feel tired. Then everyone was rushing to get off the ferry. It was really hot in Labuan, and carrying ahDen, i really don't want him to be standing outside in the hot sun so we waited for hubby to move his car forward so we can get into the car. For his car was stuck in the middle, not having any space for us to board our car at all. Uncle KingChing, Aunt Catherine & Jason had oledi got off the ferry, and were waiting for us outside. We waited for the officer in charge of the traffic to ask hubby to move his car forward.

Finally when hubby drove his car forward, we got into the car. And then, the intolerable officer started shouting at us. He was like "u cannot board the car here. Why didn't get in juz now?" Hellooo.... mr. stupid officer, didn't u see how packed it was for us to even open our car doors.... how r we supposed to get into the car. Somemore i was carrying a baby and talking about being inconsiderate. If we weren't rushing, i'll be quarreling wid mr. stupid officer again, so after we all got into the car, meaning ahTing & Iris & ahDen & me, hubby sped off down the ferry for the officer behind was loudly shouting at us. Then another officer in front said, "Slow down, why the hurry??!!" Tis time i really couldn't hold back any longer... i rolled down my window and shouted back at him... i told him "the person behind was shouting at us, didn't u hear... so we hurried, and now, u said cannot hurry... need to slow down". For the 3rd time, LABUAN FERRY SUCKS!!!

I don't care whoever will be reading tis, but really i'm telling u all, the ferry service sucks. These are the ppl forever being stuck in small places, thinking their little island is the greatest place on earth. Try take a stroll out of ur little shell.... try looking at the world outside.... I tot Labuan is supposed to be a tourist destination too, but i am really surprised with the attitude u actually get from the ppl there. Talk about being friendly Malaysians.... talked about our culture of being 'berbudi-bahasa' , it was such a shameful thing! Where did tis virtue disappear to? We paid for ur service, and we didn't come all the way from Menumbok for free. And yet we didn't get the seats we were supposed to get onboard, but we tolerated, understanding it was profit and not customer's comfortability they are aiming for. At least, try giving first-timers there better impression of ur place.

We met up wid nb, and besides from bringing us around, he treated all of us to a great dinner at Restaurant Labuan. He actually booked the table 5days ago, knowing tat i'll be bringing my uncle n his family there to Labuan, and he said we all juz go out for a nice meal. He told me again, u need to book early, else there won't be any more tables left when u wan to dine there. Okie... u really haf to get use to the practice, "siapa cepat, dia dapat!" We had a magnificent meal, really paisei cox nb spent so much on us, but most of all was the companion we were getting. All my cousins and even my uncle & auntie enjoyed nb's jokes and laughters. My cousin sister, SiaoTing was busily asking us riddles and telling us jokes all thru our dinner, and nb was really entertaining her! =))

Oh ya, catching up on the things i missed out, tat afternoon, nb brought us to a duty free shop at Financial Park, and wow... the chocs there super cheap... and the beers, super-duper cheap! RM1 for one can, i was like okie.... even cheaper than Coke! Hahaha.... even cheaper than mineral water! Besides tat he oso brought us to the beach behind the Marine Museum. The beach was nice, and very funny cox hubby met a fren while we were strolling there.... and his fren suddenly called out "Hii Siew Hung" while we were walking face to face! Talk about Labuan being small... yes... small, then nb said hubby's fren Desmond, oso mek's fren.... then nb oso met him b4, i was like.... "WAH, Labuan super small!!" =))

So summary about Labuan, it's not such a bad place really... juz tat some ppl really 'lansi'! I rembered wat Piang wrote in her blog about the lady at the hosp giving her attitude, and how she felt no anger at all, til now i still salute her. Piang dearest forever so sweet, and honestly i m so different from her in terms of tempers. Summarize into one sentence, the nice things about Labuan... chocs, beers, beaches & TAN NGEE BANG! Tat's it... full-stop!


Photos of dearest hubby, ahDen & me at Labuan beach!
On Sunday, 1.30pm we board the ferry back to Menumbok. Tis time, smarter liao... went to queue earlier n even bought passenger tickets. ;)) While hubby, aunt & uncle went to get all the tickets, the rest of us went to tapau KFC. Then nb brought us to haf quick lunch at the most well-known chicken rice shop of Labuan, and we were really rushing. Really need to queue so long, but at least the service still okie. Sigh... why everything haf to queue n queue.... if u put KC in Labuan, i think he'll juz rot! =))

When we were back to KK, we rested one nite then the next day around 2.30pm we headed off for Kundasang. Wow... we r going to overnite at Kundasang. Uncle KingChing paid for our chalets at Mount Kinabalu Heritage or formerly Ko-Perkasa Hotel, and the view there was magnificent. Really surrounded by nature, and we had to cross a 'jambatan gantung' (suspension bridge) in order to reach our chalets. It was really cool and so refreshing, breathing in fresh air and you can even see butterflies fluttering around while we sit on the wooden bench on the verandah. Jayden was so amazed when he saw the butterflies... think it's his first time seeing butterfly. Tat nite, it was drizzling and the surrounding plus the chilling nature part, so heavenly. Although cold, but u actually enjoy the coldness. =))

@ the drawbridge leading to our chalets

Halfway to our chalets while carrying all our things up, we sat down n rest n eat buns!
When Jayden was in bed n floated to dreamland, hubby & I sneaked out to enjoy the view outside and the sound of the pitter-patter rain drops. Too bad no hot chocolate then... else really perfect! ;)) Early next morn, 6am+, we could see the clear view of Mount Kinabalu. Hubby said we were really lucky tat day, cox at times the mountain will be covered with clouds and fog and really cannot see at all. But tat morn, the whole mountain was so clear.... juz right in front of us! Wow.... really beautiful. My uncle juz keep on snapping, and snapping and snapping the photos. Hehehe.... til 800pcs+... *salute*

Magnificent view of Mt. KK!
After we checked out, we went to Ranau to haf breakfast and then off to Poring Hot Spring. My 1st time there and ah Den too, and oso uncle & his family. Little Jayden, wanted to get into the big bath tub there.... so my aunt said let him haf fun inside. I took off his long pants, let him dipped inside the water, then he started splashing. So we took off his shirt. Then, he wanted to sit down into the water... sigh.... so my aunt say better juz take off everything, and there goes his diaper and ahDen was naked in the big bath tub! =)) The funny part was when my aunt took off his diaper, he peed into the water. Hahahaha.... so the water, not only mixed with a little sulphur from the hot spring but oso ammonia from ahDen's urine! :p

@ Poring Hot Spring in the big bath tub!
Seeing Jayden enjoying himself so much, really makes me feel so happy during these few days' trip. We stayed awhile there, and then made our way down to KK, stopping at Tuaran around 2.30pm for lunch. Tuaran is famous for its noodle, and yes.... really nice. I wonder if partly bcox i'm hungry... but overall, the noodles really nice! ;)) Tat nite, we went shopping at 1Borneo. Then we tapau Big Apple Donuts, Sushi King & oso Pizza Hut and had a small feast in the family room upstairs. The next morning, only my uncle, auntie & Jason followed hubby out for breakfast and then to buy dried seafood at the market. The rest of us too tired and were still sleeping. Hahaha.... at 1.30pm, there were off to airport to board their plane back to Miri. Poor Jayden, he cried when they all drove off to airport. Sigh... he enjoyed himself too much these few days, now back to normal life liao... and lesser ppl to play wid him. Poor thing... ;))

Overall, we had such a wonderful time these past few days. Hopefully, we can make a trip back to Marudi soon, and i hope ngeebang will follow us back to Marudi too, cox my aunt say she'll introduce girlfren for him! =))

'new york new york'

Last nite, Saturday nite, we ate out at "New York New York". I was kinda thinking taking our dinner at home, but hubby suggested tat we haf a try at tis new restaurant at 1Borneo. Knowing tat it was weekend nite, and hubby as usual will bring us dine out. I remembered seeing tis shop quite a few times before always on our way out from the carpark, but we never tried dining there. We reached 1Borneo Hypermall around 7+pm, and the place was so big tat we had to look for a directory in order to locate where "New York New York" actually is.

Okie.... looking at the directory on the Gr Floor, past the Centre Atrium and 2 shops down from Starbucks Coffee. There were quite a number of ppl dining there, and the place deco was quite attractive. We wanted to try its Giant Yankee Burger (which is 8-inch wide and 4-inch high), the description printed in the menu but we figured out it'll be kinda HUGE for 2 person. However if we haf piang or nb around, we can order tat of cuz! ;)) But now no Piang & frens here, so cannot order GIANT burger! ;)) ;))

We decided to give it's Hawaii Teriyaki Burger and oso Caesar Chicken Pizza a try. When the burger came, it was really yummy.... nothing like those u get from those fastfood outlets. It's beef patty was fresh and juicy with grilled pineapple on top of the patty. The pizza was okie too, thin crust, but the only setback dining there was Jayden Hii.

Sigh! With him around, u can never eat in peace. He wanted to explore the place, wanted to walk around by himself. I was swallowing and gulping down my food, and in the end i juz feel tat i no longer haf any desire to eat anymore. It was so tiring. He couldn't sit still in the baby chair, and he wanted to climb down. Then he'll turned here and there, smiling and laughing at other customers at the nearby tables, and even wanted to rush over and play wid them! I was so tired, worrying tat he'll fall down if he ventured by himself at a unfamiliar place, as well as worrying tat he'll accidentally damage ppl's property. Sigh! Tis baby... arghhhh.... i feel like i juz wanna lock him up in my room and not bringing him out!

Okie... viewing it from another point of view, he's helping me dieting. Cannot eat in peace, then maybe i'll slim down faster. But really quite torturing lor.... sigh! So next time if wan to eat out, must bring along frens or family tat r wiling to help me babysit, like nb sure no problem. Can be ahDen's godfather liao.... ;))

Foochow MeeSua!!!

Last nite, after my usual aerobics class, i rushed home to take my shower. Tonite we'll be going over to Daniel's house to celebrate his bday. ;)) The day before, Sunday nite, we went to haf seafood dinner at Welcome Seafood Restaurant in Penampang. They mentioned the seafood price there is reasonable and tasty at the same time. At first we thought tat it was juz a usual dinner together wid frens, but in the end Daniel settled the bill. He said it was his treat tat nite, giving the reason tat it was his bday treat. ;)) His bday will be on the coming Thurs, 13th (same date as sister ahMing's bday), but he wouldn't be free tat nite, so he mentioned to treat us earlier. Then we told him but we din buy cake for the bday daddy... we thought of getting a cake then, and going over to his house to cut his bday cake, but it was nearly 8.30pm and baby Japheth(Daniel's son) was getting sleepy. So we planned to go over to his place on Mon nite then.

Luckily both hubby & I didn't have our dinner before we went over to his house. AhPau & wife bought Daniel a cake, and hubby got him a bottle of red wine. He's a wine lover, so we thought of getting a bottle of red wine to add to his collection! Hubby asked the chef downstairs to prepare some spaghetti bolognese and penne carbonara and we brought the pasta over to enjoy together wid frens. Then Daniel & wife oso prepared Foochow MeeSua for us. Wow.... i was so happy to see Foochow MeeSua, wid Foochow red wine somemore! I had quite a big bowl of meesua, and ahDen too... he was slurping the meesua and the chicken soup and keep on asking for more! The meesua/noodles was exactly like Swak's. So nice.... not like those packets one which u can buy over the shelf in supermarkets, but the original Swak meesua is so much nicer. They told us tat we can buy this Foochow meesua from a chinese drug store in Lido. Okie.... an additional useful info.

As for the Foochow red wine, yummy.... Daniel gave me a bottle to bring back home, cox he said they still haf a few bottles leftover from MeiChing's confinement. ;)) Feeling paisei lor, but feeling very happy too.... i owest wonder how to bring red wine over from Swak! So stupid, cox u can actually get it here if u know where to find. Actually there are quite alot of Foochows in KotaKinabalu too. I tried my meesua wid 'Wincarnis', but then i still prefer the taste of traditional red wine.

AhPau & wife offered to babysit ahDen while hubby & I ate. AhDen had finished eating then, and he was busy playing around so both hubby & I can enjoy our meal in peace. ;)) After dinner, we sang bday song and had a few slices of yummy bday cake. Daniel mixed whisky wid ice cream soda for us, hahaha.... but of cuz not for the 2 pregnant mummies. Then we juz laze around in his living room and chatting. When we got home, i slept like pig last nite. Must be the effect of the whisky, but still i was able to wake up to make milk for ahDen in the middle of the nite. Still feeling so contented over my bowl of chicken soup meesua lor....

HEROES s3 is back!

Wow! Yes!!! Heroes Season3 is finally here, back with Sylar on the move again, hunting for his next prey. Thursday nite, 10pm at StarWorld, Heroes, one of the most exciting series i've ever watched. Last nite, i was hoping Jayden would go to bed early, so i can enjoy my movie in peace. But sorry to say, no, he was up awake around tat time, and i tot tat it was going to be a one hour show, so we let him played around first.

When the 1st chapter was over, the 2nd one continued... hmm... meaning to say, it was actually a 2hour show. Okie.... we really got to miss part of the movie now, cox jayden really, really needed to go to bed for it was past 11pm! We switched off the tv and pretended to go to sleep, and finally the naughty 'monkey' reluctantly dozed off to sleep. Then we switched on the tv again, and continued watching.... then asking 'Why?! Why? How? How?! Who did tat?! Why??!!' All the question-marks popping up around our heads. Haha... =)) Perhaps tis is wat makes us really attracted to the movie... with all those questions playing in your mind, u r bound to search for an answer. And the answer awaits u, only if u continue watching. ;))

Tis time in Heroes, Sylar is back! The funny thing was he successfully gotten Claire, the cheerleader's, power without killing her. The reason he gave was tat Claire can never dies for she is different from the others. Then??? Why in the very first season everyone went thru all the trouble to save her??!! Remember... "Save the cheerleader, Save the world!". Then... "~DUH!~" ... she can never die, so why the trouble of having to save her? Hmm.... it can be quite conflicting at times. It really got ur brain working, okie... if Sylar had gotten Claire's power back in season1, then tat mean although Peter Petrelli failed to blow up New York City, Sylar could have done so. Hmmm.... perhaps then, it's more logical if u put it tis way.

Last Sunday, Heroes season2 Marathon was on StarWorld. We managed to catch up some of the chapters we missed in season2. And now, with season3 back, there'll be more to look forward to. I was determined to catch up part of the show i missed last nite. Checking for the time for a rerun, it'll be 12pm later. Okie... i'll be ready to tune in to StarWorld. The questions continues... "Why??! Why??? How???!" :-
- 'Why is Niki still alive after being blown up while trying to save Monica??'
- 'Why Peter from the future seems to be the bad guy? What happened to the future?'
- 'Why Angela Petrelli called Sylar(Gabriel Gray) her 'SON'?!?!?!
- 'How come Linderman is not dead? So all these heroes can never die??'

Wow... lots of question marks floating around me now. I still haf more questions in my mind, but am going to pen off... for my show is waiting. Gotta go!

@MOSHPERE

Wow! Today after church service, we went to a new place for lunch, a very popular place in Kota Kinabalu, n a bit embarassed to say it's our first time there. After church service, we waited awhile for ahPau, Daniel & ahMing to finish their meeting first before we went out for lunch. As usual ahDen was having so much fun at church, trying to venture here & there.

At first Daniel suggested all of us to go and try out a popular fish-head curry at one of the restaurant in Inanam. He was telling us the other day how tasty the fish-head curry was and the type of fish they use to cook tis dish are considered as expensive fish. However, the restaurant was closed today, so then he taught of bringing us to the only revolving restaurant in Borneo, @Mosphere restaurant.

The restaurant is situated at the Yayasan Sabah building on the 18th floor. It is my first time there at the Yayasan Sabah builidng. Once we stepped into the restaurant, immediately u can sensed how different the atmosphere there was. Really classy. No wonder they named it @Mosphere. ;)) It is also one of the famous restaurant for tourists. Then we started to realise tat the floor which we stood on was slightly moving. The view up there was magnificent, looking down at part of the sea with big vessels sailing, white beaches and clear blue sea, and the other side featuring part of KK town and the greeneries. Wow.... immediately we can sensed tat Jayden enjoyed himself there.

Prices of the food was like the place itself, classy... hahaha... meaning expensive. But the set lunch was priced reasonably. So we ordered a set of set lunch and since Daniel said the pasta there is well-known, can be labeled as the best in town, so ordered another plate of salmon penne pesto. For set lunch, we had fruit salad, baked boneless chicken wid potatoes, and finally a plate of yummy dessert together wid a cup of tea. If Piang was there, i'm pretty sure she'll be so satisfied wid the cakes. It is really yummy... not too sweet and a bite of if, makes u desire for a 2nd. ;)) Then the 2nd bite, makes u wanting for a 3rd... and so on.... =)) It was really an enjoyable afternoon, wid frens around dining at a classy and modern place. After lunch it was oledi past 2pm and the 2 babies are damn sleepy. So now, ahDen sleeping like pig in his cradle. Hahaha.... once in awhile, it's worth to enjoy and to pamper urself. Although we spent quite alot on our lunch today, but we all had an wonderful time. And now, time for a nap.


A snapshot of the yummy dessert, specially snapped for Piang to drool!


Photos of ahDen enjoying himself at @mosphere!

Happy Birthday 2 ME!

19th October 2008 - Today is my 28th birthday. A few days ago when i called ngeebang, i still joked with him tat i was only 27yrs old, and amazingly when i think back, i gave birth to ahDen when i'm only 26yrs old and 1mth after tat, i celebrated my 27th bday. Tis year ahDen juz celebrated his 1yr old bday 1mth ago, so now... today it's finally my 28th birthday. Wow... i feel so old now, haha... but yes, i'm still young at heart tho and am thankful with all tat i am! ;))

Few days ago ahDen fell sick. For the past 3 days, hubby and i didn't get enuf rest. Jayden will cry in the middle of the nite when he couldn't breathe bcox of his blocked nose, and he wants to be craddled rather than juz lying flat on our bed. Sigh! So tiring. Last nite, he seemed to be feeling better, and i tot i could get better rest. However, the same old thing happened, around 3.30am, he cried and cried. In the end, we threw him into his cradle net, and i was there cradling him while trying to catch some sleep at the same time. It really pissed me off, for i was so tired and yet ahDen was making a big fuss. I didn't want to disturb hubby bcox he had to get up early tis morning around 5.30am to pick up workers. So i better let him haf more rest.

I couldn't really sleep cox once i stop rocking ahDen's cradle, he'll start to cry. Sigh... i oso haf no idea when both ahDen and I fell deep into slumber. Around 5.30am, hubby went out. I tot i heard him closing the door, and saw tat he glanced back secretly to look at me before he went out, but i was too tired to pay attention to him. Around 6am, i rolled over to my right side, and i noticed a big box sitting beside me on my bed. My first impression in my mind was, wat was hubby looking for in our cupboard til he had to moved the boxes which i packed nicely inside our cupboard and then left it here on the bed without putting it back in place! Still feeling very tired, i fell back into slumber.

I slept for sometime, then opened my eyes again, and looked at the big box. There seemed to be something strange about tis box... hmm... the size of it, doesn't seem to be any of the boxes which i packed up nicely in our cupboard. Wait... there's something written on it. With my terrible short-sightedness, without my specs, everything is blurred. Still scrutinizing and trying to make out the wordings... finally i managed to read some of the words -> "Great MUM", then i saw some red hearts besides it as well... hahaha... ooh... so i finally realised tat it's my birthday gift from hubby. I was trying to figure out wat i could be, but once again, feeling so tired, i fell back into slumber.

I woke up again when hubby came back. I heard him opening the door, so i got up and point to my gift. He laughed and asked me if i tot he had forgotten my bday. I replied saying i know he didn't forget, juz tat i didn't expect to receive any gifts lor... He asked me to guess wat the gift was before i unwrapped it. I held my big present in my hands and it seems to be quite heavy. I guessed a lot of things, and among my lists, i did managed to get the correct answer. =)) But hubby didn't give me any response but juz asked me to continue unwrapping my gift.

Tis was how my bday gift looked like lying beside me on my bed!

Tis was my unwrapped gift! I asked hubby if he had bought me a new laptop, he replied saying he only asked for the box but the content was not a laptop. Hmm.. I was thinking if anyone wil be wiling to gif such a nice box if u don't buy a laptop from them. So i continue to see wat the content of this big box was and after taking out everything in the box, tis is wat i got!

Hmm... "how come no laptop ger??".... tis was wat i asked hubby. There's an optical mouse, a cleaning kit, and a notebook cooling pad but definately no laptop. Hubby answered, "I oledi told u not to be so happy first, cox my gift is actually tis cooling pad bcox u owest used my laptop for long hours and i think my laptop badly needed a cooling pad!" Hahaha... okie, i admit i really used his notebook like it belongs to me.

Then i think again... looking thru the things inside the box, there was a smaller box containing cables and oso a set of user manual. Hmm... doesn't make sense at all if u don't buy a laptop, they'll gif u the user manual, rite? So finally hubby answered, yes, i got u a new laptop, it's in the room somewhere, u try to find lor. Our room is so small so the only place it can be hidden will be inside the cupboard. I even tot of going inside the toilet to look for it, but no, it wasn't in the toilet. Finally i saw 2 laptop bags on the top shelf when i opened our cupboard. 1 belongs to hubby, so the other one must be my new laptop bag. Yippee!!! A new HP Notebook for my birthday. I was so surprised and started to switch it on. But i couldn't spend more time exploring it bcox we all need to get ready to go to church. Altough it's my bday, it's still a Sunday morning so we ought to go for the Sunday service.

I requested to haf dim-sum for breakfast so we went for Foo Phing DimSum. Had a really full and yummy breakfast. The place was oledi packed when we reached there at 8am. Wow! So early oledi so many ppl out for breakfast! After church service, we went for lunch wid a few church frens at KimFah Restaurant Donggongon. We are all a bunch of small families so normally we all haf lunch together once in awhile. After lunch, it was running real late. When we reached home, Jayden had fall asleep. I didn't wake him up to bathe him, but put him inside his cradle to let him continue sleeping. He must had been really tired.

It was around 1pm and i switched on my new laptop, trying to learn how to use the new Window Vista. Hubby then came into the room, bringing this...

and this...

I was deeply touched. Really very touched. The day before i told hubby tat my mummy will cook Foochow MeeSua wid hard-boiled egg for me on my bday. But tis year, i don't haf chance to taste the 'meesua' she cook. Hubby said when i told him tat the day b4, he had oledi bought packet meesua, mushroom, a packet of herbs to boil chicken soup, and oso fresh chicken from the market. He planned to start boiling the chicken soup in our slowcooker tat nite so i can haf chicken soup 'meesua' on my bday. *sob* *sob*... no wonder he went early downstairs around 10.30pm last nite while preparing to send workers back at 11pm.

Although the chicken soup and also the meesua tasted different from our usual Foochow RedWine chicken soup meesua, it tasted really yummy and sweet. There was even a hard-boiled egg for me, so touched. I really didn't expect hubby to do all tis for me. And my cake, i thought it came in a rather akward box. Then hubby said it's an ice cream cake which he purposely ordered from VedaBlu bcox i told him before tat i never tasted an ice cream cake before. The flavour of the cake was Belgium Choc with Yoghurt Forrestberries, i think and no wonder it needed a polystrene box to hold it.

My 1st ice cream bday cake!

Tonite we must really eat in. Hubby had spent too much for my bday, and i didn't want him to bring me out for expensive dinner. So we ordered Fish & Chips and oso Chicken Chop from the restaurant downstairs and oso we still haf a lot of meesua.

Our simple and yummy dinner!

My bday cake wid the candle lit!

Jayden celebrating mummy's bday!

My 1st bday celebration in KotaKinabalu and my sweet hubby did a lot to make me feel at home. Thanks for luving me so much my dearest hubby, and i really feel so loved.

Dearest hubby and me and cute little Jayden. Look at the way ahDen eyes the cake!

SiSterzzzzzz...

Wow! Tis morning when i sign in to Facebook, i found tis photo posted by one of my sis. She took tis during ah Den's bday party, and when i saw tis pic, i felt deeply touched. Seems like it'd been such a long time we took photos together dearest sistersssssss! Previously we owest do tat every CNY because tat's the only time for reunion. It's really so hard to haf everyone back in hometown and to take one decent family photo. Honestly the only decent family photo we took was when i was 8yrs old. Tat was 20years back!

Now wid all my siblings growing up, it's kinda hard too for a reunion, cox everyone is somewhere else; either working or studying or having a family (ahem... tis means me!). Dave is in Johor studying, ah Noi in Penang working, and me living in Kota Kinabalu. Now there's only ah Ming, ah Fang and ah Ni back in Kuching. Hmm... but soon my youngest sis ah Ni will be off to uni too, hopefully and may God bless, next year.

Tis time back to Kuching, ah Noi came back from Penang too. It'd been so long since we all last seen her, and of cuz wid all the sisters back, the camera never rested. I love to look at photos, but at times i am super lazy to bring it out wid me and even lazier to press the shutter down to take photos! Okie... to share our sisters photos 2008 version... TA DA!

6th Sept 2008 at The Banquet during ah Den's 1st Bday celebration.

All in tat order, from left to right - i mean (from the oldest to the youngest but of cuz only sisters cox my brother wasn't back in Kuching then! Moreover, i said SISTER photo... not SIBLING photo... haha) Now ah Ming and I are moms, we'd both expanded so much horizontally... but nevermind dearest ah Ming "che-che", we can owest diet and exercise and stay healthy. Hopefully the next sisters photo we take, we both can be "leng ma ma"! ;))

and this is our sisters photo shud be 2004 version... why i said shud be? It's because i kinda lost track of time when tis photo was actually taken. Kinda funny to look back at this photo now... haha... how much we'd all changed! Okie... hopefully in years to come, we'll owest haf chance to snap more photos together... and of cuz wid our beloved, dearest, 'wei-da' MUMMY and not forgetting our dearest brother too!

ReminisCence

Last nite i chatted wid yunnyi thru YM. Tis morning when i recalled back our conversation, it gave me a warmth feeling in my heart. We talked about hiewming, karhooi n seelee; about our old days back in uni and about our lives now. I really miss those gals a lotsss...
We had some laughters thinking back some funny things tat happened back in those old days. Uni days was so far back in our lives, but it will forever leave some precious memories to us. Back in those days, how all of us had owest struggle to get to class on time, not because we couldn't wake up, but because of transportation. I remembered how we owest need to plan ahead how we can get to our 'so far-a-way' faculty, situated on top of a hill. Comp Science faculty in UM really is located at a so faraway n isolated place. Sigh...

I still remembered how karhooi had walked to faculty thru the Intan Gate when she got no transport in the 1st year. I still remembered seeing her walking past my hostel Kolej Kediaman Ke-11 one sunny morning, while listening to music on her discman. It'd owest troubled me a lot when i haf to walk tat far in order to reach my fac to attend my course. Honestly I was deeply impressed with her determination. Tat time, we were still quite new, and i hadn't really known karhooi tat well.

Then there is yunnyi. Although yunnyi oso has no transport, but at least she's slightly better. She can hitchhike her housemate's motorbike whenever the courses were not of our major. But tat was too only for the first year. All the comp science students will attend a few courses together, despite our major. But of cuz when the time didn't match, she too had to think of her own ways to go to class n to get back home. Somemore she was staying outside campus, in Seksyen 17.

Hiewming previously stayed in Kolej Kediaman Ke-4 if not mistaken. And in her first year too, she need to walk to fac by herself... but hiewming, KK4 really is not too faraway from Comp Sc. Fac. Last but not least, the most fortunate among us is Seelee. She stayed in KK-10 which was juz opposite Comp Sc. Fac. Sigh.... those were the days back in our first year, when we had OWEST struggled to get to class. The buses system in UM back then was really terrible.... can never expect to depend on the buses. Tat was why so many UM students had their own transport last time.

As the first years passed, slowly our lives turned out to be better. Ppl say, even the toughest days will be over one day... juz hang on! Slowly karhooi, hiewming & yunnyi had their own transport to class. So eventually, my life turned out to be easier too. When i had to move out of campus and starts to live in Seksyen 17; they'll owest came over to 303 to pick me up to attend class. Oh yes, there was Szehau too who owest offered to pick me up or send me home whenever i had no transport. Of cuz there were certain time when no one could pick me up, i'll catch a bus to the bus stop outside uni, and walked all the way to faculty. It was still bearable bcox it was only once in awhile.

Maybe tat was how our bond as frens became stronger thru the years. Even after we graduated, we still keep in touch and til today, though we are so faraway from one another, we are still close. I miss you all alot... yunnyi made a joke last nite about how hiewming insisted to kill all the ants in her house before coming to pick us. With hiewming, slowly u'll get used to her persistence and 'principles'... and oso u'll get used to her 'punctuality'! =)) But tat is hiewming...
Karhooi, like myself is a mother now. But she's a much more successful carreer woman than i am.... n oso so much thinner and in shape than i am. Karhooi had owest been tall n slender, no matter how many meals i skipped, i'll never be like her... in shape! haha =))
Yunnyi le... my very first fren in UM. How i met her spontaneously during our registration process bek in KK-11. Til today, we still share quite similar thoughts at time, and oso our quite 'xiao jie' (feminine) attitude. Whenever i need a fren to turn to, no doubt she'll listen and provide u helpful advice. *HUGS*
Finally, there is Seelee. She is the least like us, she doesn't like to shop, doesn't like to 'pan leng leng'; if from tis aspect she is really very different. But she likes to sing and eat juz like the rest of us. =)) We'll go karaoke or steamboat together... and wid her, there'll owest be fun and laughter too. Kenix Chiang Yunnyi... do u still rem the time in our cafeteria when u wanted to kill a mosquito resting on seelee's arm n caused her to splash her drink onto her own face??!!??!! Seelee still said luckily it was only plain water n not teh tarik! =)) =)) =)) Even now when i'm typing out this, i couldn't hold back my laughters any longer.

Really miss u gals alot.... I feel so much happier now, although previously i'd have some burdens in my heart. I'm starting to chase back my life, which i felt as if I'd left behind purposely because of certain reason. I know i can be a survivor too... and when i start to find back my passion in things i like to do, I'm slowly coming back.
Gals... i miss u all alot alot alot. When there's a suitable time, I'll go KL n we can all haf a simple reunion okie. Luv u all!