Looking back -- 2015 and 2016

Since my last post here, there have been many events, activities, milestones that I've yet to record, more for myself to remember. I'm glad that Facebook has this Facebook Memories feature that reminds you of what you posted on the exact same date one, two or however many years ago since you joined FB (as long as you didn't delete the old posts).

Today, FB reminded me that two years ago on 4th January 2015, it was the first day of school.  This year, the school term started yesterday.

In 2014, Caitlin started her secondary education in a new school. It is actually what we call a 'learning centre', which is quite a common thing now in Malaysia. Learning centres are privately set up places that run like a school but on a smaller scale. These 'schools' offer private education -- international school curriculum, mostly the UK-based curriculum, although there are some which offer USA-based ones using various homeschooling curriculum, Australian-based or religious-based ones. Unlike full-fledged international schools that charge very high school fees, these learning centres are more affordable. They, however, do not come with expatriate teachers, fancy facilities like tennis courts, Olympic-size pools, large teaching and admin staff, broad spectrum of extra curricular activities and elective subjects. For parents who can't afford exorbitant school fees yet have decided to opt out of the public school system, they would either homeschool their children themselves at home (it has caught on and grown quickly here), or look to such learning centres for adequate coverage of academic subjects and extra-curricular activities without the fancy frills.

When C started in this learning centre for Year 7 in 2014, I was offered a teaching position in the pre-school section in June 2014. It was my first time going back to a full-time job after nine years of staying at home. As the assistant teacher to a class of 25 five-year-old children, it proved to be too much. The hours were long and the salary didn't match the work and stress involved, simply because the industry norms are such in this country. The class teacher I was assisting took advantage of having me as her assistant, the school despite not having a qualified special needs teacher, accepted a special needs student in that class. Needless to say, after two months, I decided to quit because I couldn't stand the stress -- more time was spent in trying to manage disruption, scolding, punishing, than providing a caring and conducive learning environment.

However, I remained as a subject teacher where I focused on teaching the children phonics reading on a one-on-one basis. That continued for a little over 1.5 years, until February 2016 when I decided it wasn't worth my time and energy traveling twice -- for my work and then to fetch C, as her school hours were different from mine.

My voluntary work at church, which I started in late 2013, was also taking up some of my time, in addition to the existing commitment of writing a fortnightly column since 2012.

Fast forward to the present, three years later....what took place in between has been shared mainly in this post. So now I'm sharing from where I left to fill in some gaps for 2015/6.

Highlights of 2015 and 2016 in pictures:

April 2015 was when Eugene turned 50. We had a family feast at home with his family.

My two nieces from USA came to Malaysia for a visit in June/July 2015. It was good spending time with them for some cousin bonding! Precious moments to cherish.

Thirty years after we left Form 5, our class organised a reunion in November 2015. About a third of the class made it for the reunion where we visited our old school and had hi-tea at the Majestic Hotel in Malacca.

Right after we graduated from university, four of us gal pals made a trip to Pulau Besar in Malacca. In November 2015, 20 years later, we decided to re-live our trip by getting together in Bentong for two nights of food and relaxation. It took some planning between the four of us busy bees to find a suitable date but we made it!

In December 2015, my church held is bi-annual Christmas Cantata. Caitlin and I participated in the one in 2013 but this time, only I took part, singing in the alto section.

Also in December 2015, Caitlin passed her Grade 3 drum exam with distinction, and performed in her music school's annual concert. Since then, she has moved on to Grade 5 and has also taken up the electric guitar.

In late 2015, Eugene and I attended the Alpha Parenting course at my church, culminating with the final session in Teluk Intan in January 2016 as my Pastor had been transfered there in December 2015. It was a good time of getting together with the fellow parents of this course, our children and a few other church members who came along to join us in visiting our pastor and playing tourist in Teluk Intan. This pictures show us at the leaning tower of Teluk Intan.

In February 2016, we celebrated Chinese New Year. Every year, we would have the reunion dinner and also spend the first day of CNY with Eugene's side of the family. On the second day, we went to my parents' home and feasted again.

In March 2016, Caitlin wanted to add on a cymbal to her drum kit, so we encouraged and helped her to raise funds for the purchase by baking and selling chocolate and coffee chip cookies. She did all the baking and I helped with advertising, packaging and delivery. After some sweat and agony of hard work, she made quite a fair bit of money, and with the pocket and angpow money she had saved, she managed to get what she wanted.

In March 2016, we went to Penang to attend Eugene's cousin's wedding. I decided to take the opportunity to meet up with old friends from my university days whom I had not seen for many years. Some of them bought Caitlin's cookies!

In April 2016, Caitlin participated in the 4 X 100m event in her school's Sports Day. Her team emerged with the silver medal.

In May 2016, Caitlin and I went to Malacca for my church Family Camp. We had a good time of learning and fun, which included a walking treasure hunt around the historical area.

During the June 2016 school holidays, Caitlin and I took a trip to Cherating, and left Eugene at home to toil in the office ;-p We made a pit stop in Kuantan for lunch before proceeding to Club Med. Before checking in, we visited the Turtle Sanctuary located beside the resort. we spent four days relaxing and participating in some of the activities. Caitlin joined the Teens' Club and made friends with other teens, participated in outdoor activities like archery and swinging (or rather falling!) on the trapeze. I enjoyed the open space, greenery, beach, a short hike up a hill, the nightly shows, the food and the long drive to and fro. We also went kayaking together.

June 2016 included the Chinese Dumpling Festival. We were invited to the home of a church member to join a few families in some fun, making the rice dumplings from scratch, and learning how to assemble, wrap and tie up the dumplings with leaves and strings. It was hard work trying to get them in the right shape and tying them up correctly.

 My dad celebrated his 77th birthday in August 2016. We didn't have a big party so it was just a small slice of cake and coffee one Sunday afternoon when he and mum visited us in KL.

We also made a trip to Ipoh in August 2016 to join the extended family of Eugene's mum in celebrating his aunt and uncle's 70th birthday. It was a big gathering of the clan and a reunion of sorts, as aunt and uncle came all the way from Seattle to celebrate with family. Other aunts, uncles and cousins also made the effort to come from Seattle, Japan, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur.

In September 2016, we joined my younger brother and his family on an impromptu visit to Legoland. It was our first time there so we had great fun at the theme park, on the rides, looking at all the marvelous Lego-built stuff and going on all the water slides repetitively.

In mid 2016, I began exploring other part-time jobs and found one in teaching a six-year-old how to read during his summer holidays. After seven weeks of reading with him daily on weekdays, he improved his reading skills and made me a thank-you card before he went back to school in September.

In October 2016, Caitlin turned 14. It was another party at home with family and the highlight was the pandan jelly cake from the famous bakery in Klang whose owner was the creator of this cake (that's been duplicated and sold by others over the years).

The picture below shows three good old friends who have known each other since they were eight. There are a few more of us in this 'gang' but they are currently living in other countries. We try to meet up at least once a year to catch up so we managed to do so in October 2016 at a coffee and cake place in The Atria, Damansara, chatting and exchanging notes about parenting our teenage and young-adult children.

Caitlin's school year, her third year (Year 9) at the learning centre, ended in November 2016 with the customary year-end concert to celebrate the students' achievements. Her class presented a song-and-dance performance. This picture is of her with her school mates singing an action song at the finale. This year, she enters Year 10 to start her IGCSE O Level studies until next year.....How quickly they grow up.....

The year-end school holidays in November 2016 began with us hosting two wonderful homeschooled children for a few days while their parents attended a conference away from home. We had lots of fun doing stuff together like baking cookies, making jelly, playing with Rusty, and best of all, forming a mini band to present a song to their mum as a birthday surprise. Children are fun to be with and they learn and adapt so quickly. Within a few practices, they got the song right.

December is always a busy month with church and family activities centred around Christmas. December 2016 was not any different as I conducted carolling practice at church for our carolling visits to members' homes and the Wesley Home for the old folk. The Ongs also continued with the family tradition of attending midnight mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Klang, followed by midnight supper of roast lamb and chicken before opening presents till the wee hours of the morning. The 2016 Christmas family photo theme was 'Christmas in white'; idea credit goes to Eugene.

In early December 2016, ACE made a trip to Penang to 'jalan jalan, cari makan'. It was four days of foodie adventure and we ate to our hearts' content. We also did the necessary street art tour and visited an upside down 'museum', featuring an upside down house where we could pose for silly shots.

Last but not least, I must not leave out my faithful and loyal boy, Rusty, our four-legged furkid who celebrated his 8th birthday on 1st November 2016. As  he gets older, he tends to have some skin problems every now and then so he's been rather clean shaven these days compared to the past. He continues to enjoy being by my side wherever I may be at home. If he is not snoozing, he would be nudging me for pats and food, of course.

And finally, we've come to the end of this post chronicling the highlights of 1.5 years' worth of our lives. It took me the entire morning, right into my lunch time to search for the pictures from my unorganised folders, mobile phone and Facebook to compile them chronologically here. I hope I'm better organised in 2017!!

After 10 years at home

This blog
I wrote the very first post in this blog on 20 March 2007, and up to the post before this one, there had been 797 others in the span of eight years. It covered a mish mash of topics, but mainly about things that matter to me i.e. my child, family, things we did, places we visited, my weird thoughts and feelings. In the early days of my blog, when my life was very focused on growing my toddler, I wrote several posts a day. As time passed and things changed, it was reduced to one post a day, one post a week, one post a fortnight, then one post a month and now, it looks like it's one post a year! One post a year is the very least I should do, so I'm writing one now as March appears to be a significant month when I left my 13-year career in corporate communication in March 2005, making it 10 years already now.

The past year, 2014, and present 2015
A few important and significant events and achievements I can remember off-hand right now:

Family Travels
During the March 2014 school holidays, we made a short trip to Ipoh. Besides enjoying Ipoh's yummy food, we visited Lost World of Tambun. The rides there were nothing to shout about, but we enjoyed its closeness to the limestone hills, and soaking in the hot spring.

We went on our very first cruise to Phuket and Krabi in May 2014 on Star Cruises. It was a fun and educational family holiday.

In November 2014, we spent a few days by the beach in Penang, savoured hawker fare, got C hooked on 'ice kacang', and attended a relative's wedding at the Blue Mansion. We drove on the Second 'Crooked' Bridge for the very first time, visited Penang Hill and the 3D Museum.

In February 2015, we travelled to Seremban and Melaka for Chinese New Year.

Caitlin
C switched to a new school in January 2014, and began her first secondary school year. It took off on a bad note with a class bully targeting her. It was a rough patch which tested our perseverance and wisdom as parents. After a few dramatic incidents and the dismissal of the student, the rest of the school year moved on generally well. She joined her school floorball team and participated in two tournaments, both with victory, considering the team was only less than two months old. She continues to attend training every week.

She also performed a solo 'Hairspray' number in the year-end school concert. She and her friends practised hard singing and dancing with the guidance of good teachers. She also won 'Best Achievement' awards for English (her favourite subject) and ICT.

C still plays the drums and is into her seventh year making a ruckus at home when she practises. She is into her second year playing in church two Sundays a month. She also started vocal lessons.

In November, C insisted on adopting a rescued pup from Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better, much against our desire for practical reasons. We relented hoping that she would learn to be less self-centred and more responsible. We are still hoping *grit teeth and grin*. She named the pup Mocha. Mocha is a thriving, up-to-mischief, active six-month-old now.

Eugene
E remains in his current job and continues to be the main breadwinner for our little family. He took up cycling seriously and had spent a considerable amount of time and money on this renewed interest, cycling with a group every weekend. He participated in his first 'century ride' (100 miles) in Trengganu. He has signed up for another century ride this May 2015 in Perak.

He is also exercising regularly by running on the treadmill, and for short distances with the dogs when he walks them in the evenings. Next, he would probably consider swimming...and the Ironman Triathlon, maybe?? As work and exercise take up most of his time, the rest is spent exercising his fingers on the TV remote, iPad or mobile phone....but he also spends a considerable amount of time picking up where I left off (the Cantonese would say 'mo ngan thai' or 'no eye see') in dealing with a strong-willed teenager, talking about stuff and giving pep talks at the dining table.

Anna
Ten years at home. And to say my oft-said phrase, time flies. In the span of 10 years, I have, and am still, raising a girl who is quite like me in some ways (strong-willed and opinionated to say the least); therefore I continue to struggle with constant battles of knowing when to release and when to pull in the kite strings. Parenthood is a treacherous yet weirdly fulfilling journey. All other responsibilities as a cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, administrator, nurse, teacher, gardener, laundrywoman, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, aunt, sister, etc., remain unchanged.

In 10 years, I have earned some supplementary income, mainly through writing and writing-related work. I tried making money by blogging and writing sponsored posts but discovered it just wasn't me to write stuff I wasn't interested in simply to earn some peanuts. It was different when I was in employment to do that. So I turned to writing about stuff I like. I had a fortnightly parenting column in a local daily for two years. Then I shifted to a different column under a pseudonym, and am still doing so. In between, I got random assignments to write interviews, website articles on parenting and educational subjects, transcribing and proofreading.

In June 2014, I was approached by C's principal to teach at their kindergarten. As I enjoyed being around children, and given the opportunity to teach them how to read, I accepted the offer. It started off quite uncomfortably with assisting a rather bossy co-worker, and other unexpected additional work, but progressed well with me becoming a part-time teacher, responsible for teaching reading only. As the timing and travel arrangements were not practical, I stopped teaching last month. Next month, I shall be helping a few kindergarten and primary school children in that school, guiding them with their homework in the afternoon. This arrangement would be better for me.

I am resuming my interest in reading books, not just articles on the internet. It is about time as I feel totally guilty hoarding books but never making the time to read them. So this month, being in-between jobs, I've managed to read three books and have started another one.

In the past three years, I've also become more active in my faith, by going to church every Sunday where possible, and serving in a few areas.

By God's grace and strength, I hope to continue doing everything I do with a joyful and generous heart. I have learned much in 10 years, too much to list out here.

2014 was a good year with many new things for us. May 2015 be as good, if not better.

Last but not least, another family member says, 'Hi!' Dear Rusty has been a good boy the past year. Unfortunately, he has not been getting as much attention since Mocha joined the family.

E's birthday

It's E's birthday today. Last night C made this birthday card for him. She traced the picture from one of her Calvin & Hobbes comic books and transferred it onto the paper. She then added in the finer details and colour and asked me to help write the greeting in cursive. Then she wrote the message in Calvin's speech bubble:

"Sometimes, it's just good to kick back and remember what (has) happened in your life so far."

Sometimes, I wonder what goes on in that mind of hers.

She signed it off with her own cursive "love, (her signature)" and asked me to sign it too, and she later added in the angelic heart picture. She asked me if her signature is nice so I said 'yes'. She said her friend told her it's ugly so I taught her the sayings "Each to his own" and "One man's meat is another man's poison".

Happy Birthday, Eugene/Daddy!

No title

The house is slowly getting into better shape. The third floor where our study is to be is still yet to be. The mosquito problem is slowly getting manageable...or are we getting used to it?

Rusty is still not as much attended to as I'd like it. He still has some skin problems and now lice too. This new neighbourhood has a high pet dog population. Most of the dogs look well-kept except for the two belonging to our neighbour two doors away. They are pretty much abused as working dogs in my mind - confined to a fenced area (although reasonably spacious), one is perpetually chained to the kennel while the other, a Rottie, roams free to scare possible intruders with his size and bark. I've not seen them let out or given a bath in the 1.5 months we've lived there. Possibly, they are the breeding ground for lice and ticks which crawl over to my place in search of new blood, literally....

Caitlin is enjoying her playroom, especially when she has friends and cousins over. School was out for the day yesterday as they had their annual sports day on Saturday (she and other green house classmates got a bronze trophy for the telematch they took part in and was very proud of it). She spent almost the entire morning playing alone in her make-believe world with her camping tent and fake firewood.

Sunday was Eugene's 44th birthday. We had both sides of the family over for lunch. We had too much food leftover, especially the pasta, while other dishes were doggy-bagged by the guests. I didn't get enough of my roasted pork ribs as I was too busy attending to this and that. Guess I'll have to make them again one day.

Need to find time to utilise my kitchen more as I've not been cooking as much as I want to.

Daddy's Poem

While slowly retrieving old files and deleting unwanted ones following the crash of the old hard disk and installation of a new one, I came across an old floppy disk (yup, the oldies are still lying around...) labelled 'Personal'. I found many files which contained thoughts, notes and information revolving around Caitlin who was a newborn then.

One little file was titled 'Daddy's poem'. Eugene, being a rather non-communicative homo sapien in character and personality, especially pertaining to emotions and detailed descriptions (the typical male I'd say!), actually wrote a poem! This is the one and only poem I've seen him write in my entire life of knowing him since 15+ years ago! Even when we were courting, I could only DREAM of receiving flowers, let alone love notes or poems from him!

But on 27 Oct 2002, the day Caitlin was born, some magical angel dust fell on him and here's what the 'E' of ACE wrote:

Caitlin

You are my special angel.
When I think of you,
I am filled with so much emotion,
it makes me want to cry.
You’re the best thing that’s come into my life,
I thank God for such a special gift.
I am not sure if I am worthy of something
so precious and special.

Daddy, Eugene
27 October 2002

Caitlin, one day old, 28 Oct 2002

And since that fateful day, there has yet to be another poem or something similar to it that has sprung forth from the 'E' of ACE!

Caitlin, only you have Daddy around your little finger. Daddy (and Mummy) love you very much!

Caitlin, 5 years 5 months, March 2008

Our big day seven years ago

Seven years ago today, on 10.11.01, Eugene and I got married at his family's church in Klang. What I remember about our wedding and the days leading up to it:

Our parents meeting for the first time over dinner at our reception venue and getting a preview of the place. It was a pleasant and cordial dinner with slight awkwardness which was to be expected. Eugene and I had fun playing 'intermediaries'. I remember wearing a black dress for the dinner.

Getting fitted for the wedding dress, getting trial make-up and hair do. Time-consuming yet exciting but I doubt I'd want to go through anything like that again! I'm not the type to sit in a salon for hours to get dolled up.

Getting caught in a terrible traffic jam in Klang's Little India on the way to church for the wedding rehearsal. It was at night on a weekday very near the Deepavali festival when the Indian community flocked there to shop. Upon arrival at the church, we found it locked and had to wait for it to be opened by the caretaker. The rehearsal ended later than expected with everyone hungry for dinner and we proceeded to 'sapu' (sweep up) all the 'bak kut teh' at a popular shop. My poor older brother who had just arrived the day before from the US tagged along and was probably bushed from that episode.

Irritating my close friends to the hilt by being over-anxious about the arrangements which they were helping me with. They didn't dare tell it to me in my face but I sensed it via body language. I appreciate their patience and help.

Dinner and a mini bridal shower among close friends at my place. Hmm, I wonder what happened to all the props and 'notes'. SE, if you are reading this, I remember you were in charge...

Waking up early that morning to get my face and hair done, walking out of my place accompanied by family, bridesmaid and best man to the bridal car for the drive to the church. Thankfully, it was early enough on a Saturday morning for me to avoid too many stares from neighbours and other residents of my apartment as I took the lift and walked out of the lobby to get into the car.

Arriving Klang a little too early and having to tell the driver to pull over and wait for a while before proceeding to the church. I felt so conscious as passing cars were just peering in to see what the bride looked like! I must admit I do that too sometimes when we pass a bridal car. Ha ha!

The cue for the processional music was given without checking if the priest was ready, or rather PRESENT upfront! So my bridesmaid, dad and I walked down the aisle confidently with happy smiles towards the front of the church only to notice the priest scrambling in from outside! Aiyo...

My dear friends MC (Michael Chan)the MC (hmm, how appropriate) and IC (I'Ching) the EC (event coordinator) pulled a brilliant job in getting the reception going with some fun, games and dancing.

The wedding cake, fruit cake with sugar-paste flowers, which we had frozen leftovers up to last year, I think...

My good friends who owned/ran a wine shop letting me down at the last hour by delivering one case short. You know who you are...but I forgive you lah.... only my poor guests didn't have enough to 'yum seng'!

My parents, whom I later found out would have prefered a grand dinner instead of a tea reception, commenting that guests didn't have enough to eat. The typical Chinese wedding involves a banquet of at least 8 courses to treat guests to their fullest with delicacies including shark's fin soup. Eugene and I didn't want the hassle of handling seating arrangements and felt that a dinner was just too passe for our liking. We wanted something casual and light minus the formalities. Later, I also heard over the grapevine that some colleagues of mine commented that they didn't have enough to eat. Oh well, we can't please everyone, especially those who are not open-minded or gracious enough to accept practices outside the norm or attend our wedding to share our joy instead of expecting to eat their angpow's worth (not that they were that generous). Food is featured very prominently at celebrations among Malaysians, that's the problem, and if food is below expectations quality- or quantity-wise, your event gets the thumbs down most times. We served wine, fruit punch, and Malaysian teatime favourites like satay, chicken, cake, samosas, mee siam, sandwiches, mini pies...

Our witnesses/sponsors arriving a bit late for the church ceremony. We didn't see them at the pews when the proceedings started and quickly turned around to check if they were there when the priest said it was time to sign the papers! A few seconds of uncertainty but relief took over when the dear couple and young son stood up from among the crowd and came forward. Hmm, you guys got us there for a bit.

Not having enough time to meet and chat with my old classmates, some of whom travelled from outstation. I got held-up being introduced to respected 'elder guests'.

Arriving late for the tea reception thanks to my make-up artist. He was supposed to only touch-up my make-up and change my hairstyle quickly but after I emerged with my dress for the reception, he was so inspired that he re-did my make-up entirely and spent ages perfecting my hairdo...

Returning to our Mandarin Oriental room to 'lepak' with some close friends of mine from my campus days. Some ended up watching 'Friends' the sitcom, probably releasing stress from putting up with me, while a few others were catching up with each other. Removing a great bunch of hairpins from my hairspray-crusted hair and then slathering like half a bottle of conditioner on my head before shampooing it, a good tip someone gave me for 'bride's hairdo syndrome'.

Feeling hungry at midnight and going out in the hotel's bedroom slippers (too lazy to go to the basement parking to get proper footwear out of our car) to Tengkat Tung Shin for the popular beef ball noodles.

Fast forward seven years, today has been pretty much like any other ordinary day. We received some well wishes via Facebook today, and had a simple cake cutting do with Eugene's family yesterday (parents' and all siblings' wedding anniversaries are within the first 10 days of November).

Our first official dance together

Happy anniversary Eugene. "Bubbles". That's our short code for "I love you". You must wonder why but that's another story which I may or may not tell here in this blog!

Abscess, Euro 2008 and writing

It was a busy week last week. The 'highlight' was Caitlin's follow-up visit to the dentist to repair an infected filling in one of her molars. The earlier filling somehow did not work properly and it became infected, creating an abscess in the tooth and gum. She had complained of pain in her gum two weeks ago and upon checking, I saw the swelling, took her to the dentist and got some antibiotic.

The first treatment involved cleaning up the re-opened cavity and placing a temporary filling. The following week, the temporary filling was replaced with a permanent one so that her milk-molar can last till it falls out when she's around 10. Upon checking her other teeth, the dentist found another cavity so that was done up too.

As usual, she is cool about going to the dentist so there was no problem. The only thing was the unexpected expense it created.

This week's highlight would be Caitlin's trip with her school to the Sunway Petting Zoo, in line with this month's 'Animal' theme at school.

As for Eugene, he's been burning the midnight oil...watching the Euro Cup! He stayed up Saturday night watching TV and waiting for the quarter-finals to start, ending his TV marathon around 5am Sunday.

And me? I'm behind in stockpiling some articles for the local daily I've been writing for since April...

A Father's Day tie for Eugene

It's Father's Day this Sunday. As usual, Caitlin's school had something planned and invited all dads to school this morning. Father and child had some fun making hand prints on a decorated cardboard frame. Caitlin also made and decorated a paper tie for dear daddy.



I wonder if Caitlin will insist that he wears the tie to work. She was very excited about the tie this morning and told Eugene that she made it yesterday. And when I picked her up from school this afternoon, she insisted that we drive to his office immediately to present it to him...


Luckily, it's Saturday tomorrow and maybe the weekend will help Caitlin forget about the tie come Monday morning when Eugene goes to work again. But if she still remembers and wants him to wear it, it may just work because it is the same colour as his corporate tie which he is required to wear every Monday, that's if he DARES to wear it!

Happy Father's Day to all dads!

Husband/father vs dishwasher

Eugene will be away in Borneo this weekend for work. I told Caitlin about it and this was her reaction: "Who's gonna wash the dishes?". No "I'll miss him, blah blah blah...". Eugene normally does the dishes every night because I'm allergic to soaps. So I told her I'll have to do them myself and she asked "What if your hands get itchy?". "I'll have to wear gloves" I said. Then she went back to playing in her imaginary world, talking to herself and her toys.

Maybe I should think of getting a dishwasher, the machine that all Americans rely on to do their dishes. It's such an American thing to me. Not that the American way is not good (although I think some elements have been so 'idolised' especially by Asians that it gets under my skin). But I think it's not too green, the dishwasher I mean. It uses more water and energy than necessary, and our family is a very small one...And I'm already being un-earth friendly using a dryer for our laundry because we live in a high-rise with hardly any space for outdoor drying.

It doesn't make sense too financially as a dishwasher is not a cheap item over here. I'd rather save the money for a holiday. I've not been on a REAL one since our last holiday sans kid six and a half years ago. A holiday with a kid and without one is just not the same. With a kid, you only do things that the kid enjoys, and when you don't, you tend to feel guilty. How did time fly? Certainly not on an airplane, speaking of which I've not been on one since then. Horrors! I don't even know what the security restrictions are now since 9-11. I guess it's the trade-off for leaving a steady income to be a SAHM. Ahh, now I know why they call us SAHMs...I view the term Stay-at-home with new light now!

The current low-cost airlines' fares battle between MAS and Air Asia doesn't mean a thing to me. Air Asia's "Now everyone can fly" tagline is still a dream for me although I always wonder if the maintenance of their planes is as up to par as they claim.

Going back to the dishwasher matter, do you think machines can replace a husband/father? ha ha...I don't think I can replace Eugene with a machine. If that happens, I'll have to find an alternative source of income!

New Year's Day Outing

ACE did two new things on 1 January 2008. First, we visited for the first time one of KL's latest malls, Pavilion. (It is built on the site where the old and famed Bukit Bintang Girls' School once stood. When the school was scheduled for demolition for this development, there was much hue and cry and protests to protect its honourable history).

Pavilion is the epitome of modern-city malls. It has wide open walk ways, lots of glass, contemporary design, and well-planned layout to cater to the (expensive) tastes of affluent KL-ites. You can find most designer-brand outlets there. The supermarket on its lower ground floor even has a designer-type name, Le Mercate while its food court, Food Republic, has earned my praise.

Food Republic caters to local and international taste buds, featuring a good spread of various countries' fare on one side, local fare in open 'islands' in the centre and restaurants and cafes on another side. Tables are aplenty. We managed to find one quite easily at peak lunch hour yesterday, a public holiday; while I noticed those who had to wait for others to vacate their table didn't have to wait too long. The place is clean and spacious. There seems to be enough workers to clear the tables efficiently as I did not see any table piled high with used bowls and plates or food scraps. Even our table was promptly cleared just before we got off our seats.

The main entrance of the mall descends via two deep flights of stairs into a grand concourse area which is currently decorated with a five-storey high Christmas tree-like centrepiece. A wind ensemble entertained shoppers-turned-spectators who sat on the steps to enjoy their a medley of Christmas and well-known tunes. Caitlin enjoyed the performance too.



After checking out the mall, we proceeded to Lake Titiwangsa where The Eye On Malaysia (a scaled down copy of London's Eye) is located. It costs RM15 per adult and RM8 per child (age 3-12) for a 20-minute ride in its air-conditioned gondola (which can seat up to eight people) for a view of the city skyline. While the cloudy weather helped us feel more comfortable (we got there in the afternoon), some of our photographs had to be compensated by the use of fill-in flash. We enjoyed the ride as it was Caitlin's first time on a ferris wheel and Eugene and my first time together on one. Here are some pictures.








Daddy, please, please, pleeease, may I have one balloon?



Mmmm, I guess my pleading worked and I got the most expensive (RM7!) one.