Party Preparation - Part 3

On the day of the party, everyone was tasked to do their parts ...my part was to do the shoppings - party hats, banner, balloons, bits and bobs ...as well as the milk powder (Snow & Dupro!) and disposable diapers ...it was the second day of raya, and most shops were closed...i planned to get the ballons from Balloon Planets - but it was closed! Luckily i got everything I wanted (or rather from the list given to me) in four different places - BDC, Batu 7, Batu 10 and Tabuan Jaya...ended up like this! I had to carry all these things by myself ...


My bother was told to do his bit of shopping - for fruits, drinks and other miscellaneous items, while my sister cleaned the house ....my mum supervised the cleaning and cooking (my cousi's wife did the cooking), while my dad entertained the kids ...hehehehe this is the photo of the birthday boy in the morning of his birthday ..wearing a t-shirt bought by aunty Elena in Japan ...


other than that, my cousin was tasked to do the decorations ....and the results was ...


My cousin relaxing after dealing with the balloons ..hehehe


We also found time to play around ... playing with bubbles!!! ... and still got the preparation done before 7.30pm when the first group of guests arrived ....

Virus Attack

the week before raya, my office computer was attacked by the virus...i can't do anything coz it sort of disabled my mouse etc ...and had to bring my own laptop to the office..otherwise i can't get any work done. Thankfully we have great technicians there ...who always came when I called ..i called for one but two of them came hehehehe they said the office was rather quiet ...


They spent half a day to get my computer fixed ... which made me happy. I hate to carry my laptop to the office coz it would be troublesome to carry it around when i do stop for groceries on the way home. I wouldn't leave the laptop in my car coz have heard so many stories of car windows being smashed, laptop thefts from parked cars etc etc ....

Party Preparation Part 2

Two days before the party - we (my siblings and I) were nagged my our know-it-all mom...we planned to go back to our kampung that day, but were told to cancel the trip...the simple reason given was - you guys must go to the shops today and buy the presents and other stuffs needed for the party ...hehehe a direct order that we just couldn't ignore ... otherwise mum would sulk and it is very difficult to get back into her good book ...


So, off we went (the day before raya!) shopping ..surprisingly the malls were not crowded ..not many last minute shoppers..i went with Al, Dom and my dad ...first destination was The Spring ...but we didn't get much there ..the toy that i wanted to get for Airell was out of stock ...only got table cloth (with happy birthday wording) there ....


Second destination was Boulevard .... also didn't get much ...coz it was crowded and we didn't want to push ourselves in the crowd ...but i got the presents here ..at the World of Cartoon hehehe ...just couldn't get the party hats, balloons and banners ....

by the time we got home, it was already 8pm ...and looked like another shopping trip was needed ..as mum had another lists of things to get and to do ..*sigh all around the house heheheh

Handy Manny in the House

My nephews - both of them! are really into cartoons. They watched Channel 613 almost from the moment they wake up till their bedtime ...their favourites include Dibo the Gift Dragon, Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, Word World, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny ...

Al imitated Handy Manny recently when I gave him a colouring book and a box of colour pencils ...a pencil tucked behind his ear...handy manny's trademark!


and he also loves to measure things ..using aki's wooden ruler ....


and our own Mr Loppart ...hehehehe ...

being a kid ...

Now that Raya is round the corner, my neighbours and their kids have been playing sparkles (bunga api) and firecracker rather frequently ...especially the last few nights. My nephew was restless coz he is so fascinated with the sounds and bright lights emanating from the sparkles...he even stood at the gate just to watch the other kids playing ...the picture below is a bit blurry ..but you can see his shadow - standing at the gate ...so kesian i tengok!


so i bought him this small firecracker - can it be called that? - i mean it just make a sound when thrown against a surface ... of well, i got him 2 boxes of this ...it only cost 80 cents per box hehehe ....


as well as a bunch of sparkles...


and tonight we had had fun playing with the sparkles!!! yeay!!! it was a great experince for him ...i think! Fear not, i still got another 46 sparkles left hehehee ....

Mother and sons

This is what we have been doing since Jane left for Saudi Arabia ...when she is not working, and when I am at home, we will be talking via videocam ...the boys will be doing their stuffs...laughing, crying, playing, watching tv or even sleeping ..and mummy is content just watching them ..sometimes, we can't talk coz the line/connection was bad...but mummy is still content just to watch the silent videos of her boys ....i know she misses them too much ..and i also know al misses her too! in the meantime, thank god we have msm chat and yahoo chat ....


Here is a glimpse of Riyadh ...a picture of mummy's window ....

Gardening time

Since we have kids in the house, our flowers and plants have been neglected ..very unfortunate, but we don't seem to have time to take care of the plants - apart for watering ...as a result, weeds can be seen competing with the plant ...the case of survival of the fittest!


and this was the "after" picture ....



I always have this habit, when I am doing something ..i tend to overdo it hehehe ...so, i ended up re-potting my mum's other cacti ...i had to replant some of them in the same pot coz i was running out of cactus soil at the time....

Party Preparation - Part 1

Airell first birthday is about a week away ..that's more or less 9 days before the BIG day ...we plan to have a thanksgiving party - and it's just for families...on both sides. At the last count we have more than 30 peoples in the list already (both kids and adult). His grandma & aunty from Betong will be coming as well as his other aunties in Kuching...and from our side, we invited my cousins, my uncles and aunties as well ...

So, the planning has been ongoing since a few weeks ago...mummy said she'll sponsor the food, while daddy will take care of the other stuff..as for my part - i am the party planner - arranging for catering, ordering the cake, planning the menus and the invitations ...

Today, i put the things in motion - went to Taiwan Cake House (which is highly recommended by Elena & Haslina) to put an order for the birthday cake ...i hope it turns out alright on the day!


Then I went to Batu 7 with dad to get some mats (tikar) ...dad wants to get a rattan mat ...and it was a successful shopping trip ...we ended up with 2 mats instead! it was on sale ...who can resist the sales, right? Anyway, one of the mat (pictured below) is actually made by Penan (from Baram) according to the shop owner ...dad loves it coz it uses rattan, as big as my index fingers!

And the last thing that i sorted today was re-confirming the catering orders ...as well as giving out direction to the house ...am happy that at least i got these three things sorted!

Bantal Busuk ....

Hahahaha i was laughing while typing this entry...i guess everyone can understand the significance of a bantal busuk (direct translation: smelly pillow) especially those who have kids ...and perhaps there are those who actually remembered their own bantal busuk with the fondest of memory! hehehehe I, for one, is not one of them. According to my mum, I am the only one of my siblings who did not have a bantal busuk ...how good was that!!!!????

Anyway, both my nephews have their own special pillows that they carry wherever they go ...coz without it they will cry or wouldn't be able to sleep ...the funny thing is that my eldest nephew had more than one bantal bucuk!!! And he is so not picky (or rather in desperate situation) that he is willing to take adik's bantal bucuk if he couldn't find his own! Much to my chargin!!!

This is Aai (the youngest one) whe he was one month old ...the pillow is still new!

Al with one of his "newer" pillow - my mum made a new cover for one of the really stinky pillow last month!

See - he takes it everywhere....this was last Dec when Al & Jane checked in at the airport

And coz Al is sleeping with me, we would have this ritual of looking for his pillow before going upstairs to bed ...we always have to look for his pillow coz it can be anywhere ...coz he drops it anywhere and everywhere!!!

The downside of having this habit i.e. having a bantal busuk is that they, the kids, are so dependent on it ..and the parents or guardian will be having nightmarish time if the pillow is missing or misplaced!

Household stuffs are FUN!

I guess all kids love exploring ..trying new stuffs, exploring the possibilities, enjoying new toys and so on ....my nephews are no exception ...Alistair, in particular, loves playing with household things ...anything that catches his fancy ...as evidenced in these pictures:

Yes, we have this one huge pail ...and he can sit inside the pail ...and sometimes ask my dad to carry him round the house!

then, there was this laundry basket ...positioned strategically in front of the telly!


and the box ...which can conveniently be transformed into a hiding place ....


and dad's bonsai sprayer ...is such a fun thing! and why not wash mama's dirty car with it, huh Al?

Third trip to the saloon in a week!

like the heading said, i went to the saloon again for the third time in a week today ...the first time was last weds, when i cut my hair and do a bit of hair treatment...

then i went again on thursday (24 hours after the haircut!) to straigthen my hair hehehe ...i cant stand my frizzy hair especially in humid conditions! and this morning (saturday) i went to the same saloon again ..but fear not, it's not me who needs the haircut and trim ...it was my mum and my sister! mum needs to get her hair cut and does not want to go alone to the saloon. hence, explaining why she waited till i am free to take her ... my sister tumpang sekaki ...she didnt plan to get any treatment ...but while she was there, she decided to have a hair trim ...


Before the hair trim ...


but after some experiments with Anna, the hairstylist, she may be tempted to go to the saloon again either later this afternoon or tomorrow ...she wants to get her hair straighten ...not super straight like mine ...but with more natural curls...watch this space!

My Scottish-mum

A very close friend of mine called me all the way from Newcastle last weekend. We are so closed when I was in Newcastle that she considered herself as my other-mum ...or my Scottish mum. Her eldest daughter is of the same age as me by the way.

Looking back, Morag has always been there for me, when I came to think of it...when I was down, feeling blue and depressed, she would came over to my flat, and took me sightseeing or just went for a quiet walk ..or shopping ..or just took me back home with her. She would pampered me like I was her own daughter ...when I am down with flu or cold, she would drop by after work carrying bags of groceries for me! I remembered her specialities - canned vegetable soup & wholemeal bun from M&S, with my fav white choc cookies and yogurt! All bought of course, coz she is a typical career womon who believes chicken should come from a packet in the supermarket, already cleaned and cut to perfection!

i even had my own room in her house! Her childrens are really great too - took me in as part of their family!

I miss her, her wit, her accent, her nagging (that goes without saying as she can be as bad as my own mother when it comes to nagging!), her pampering, and of course her company. I hope one of these days I can visit her again ...in the meantime, we are only communicating through emails, letters and, rarely, by phones.