Toy management

With one kid....

Before bed, every night after playing with Bea1...
1. I made sure every of those tiny abc, 1,2,3 pieces (don't know how to describe it but it is some cheap toys, some sort of foam cuts) in their place...even the dots of the i and j.

2. Stacking rings were all neatly stacked.

3. All books on the shelf.

4. All colour pencils were gathered, colour pens were capped and kept in a proper place.

5. All toys put in the big container. The container then pushed to a corner, waiting for the next play time!

With 2 kids...

1. Tiny piece of v was found in the washing machine, w under the bed, p under the tv etc....

2. I had to look all over the apartment to get the complete set..poor Bea2, started on stacking rings a bit late.

3. Books are everywhere, I mean that includes torn pieces of pages...

4. We had a huge black mark on the sofa, as papa22beas sat on a black colour pen, uncapped (we agreed that we had made the right choice of getting one of the cheapest sofa, anyway...that time also got no money, just spent all in Japan;)).

5. Toys strewn all over their play room, containers without the contents serve as 'horses' that the girls can ride on...anyway, it was indeed one of the best decision I've ever made: turning the guestroom into their playroom. Now, less cursing for tripping over toys on the floor in the living!

Managing their toys is a tiresome task...for the kids, it is like a game. The messier the house, the happier they are!
Can't imagine how it is going to be like when the 3rd one arrives...*sigh*

Obsession with dragonfruits

Think I'd seen dragonfruit a long time ago, somewhere but I first tested it about a few months ago. I used to work in a lab, and one day we received boxes of dragonfruits. Words had it that some people from the orchard were interested to do some analytical studies using our equipments but nothing really happened till I left the job. It was nothing really special about it, tested like kiwis (ok la, I can say a bit better) and never really thought about buying it.

Then, about 2 months ago, the babysitter gave me a piece. The first time I saw it, the flesh was red, but this time it was white. She said the kids were crazy about it. It was not really a surprise as Bea1 loves fruit of any kind, so does Bea2 except that she is a bit choosy as she does not have that many teeth yet, kind of slow in that department. But the soft flesh is just nice to her.

So, I thought of buying some and that was when it begun. My kids was just crazy about them. It is now a routine, the first thing when we reach home everyday, one or both of them stands near the fridge. Bea1 normally says "Mama, nak dragonfruit (and yeah, she pronouce it right!)", Bea2 "Ma, unfut!". Bea1 knows where they are located in the supermarket and makes sure that we have enough stock!

They can finish one each in just minutes. The first time I bought it, it cost RM2.00 each, then later RM3.00 depending on the store. So if RM3 x 30 days = RM90...*gulp* that really is equivalent to their monthly diaper money! And I'm talking about one fruit per day. And they must have it everyday now, as a snack before dinner.

Luckily, the price goes down to about RM1.50 each now. Saw they put a signage "Taiwan Dragonfruit", so I though it was all imported, that's why the high price. Thought, the ones planted here are still being studied and not in the market yet. But last night, hubby said they have it in Johor and it is also Pitaya or Thang Loy.

Did some reading from the net, it is actually from a cacti family, and said to be loaded with some sort of antioxidants and minerals. Thought, ok lah...since it is good fruit, nevermind about the kids' obsession about it.




But one thing drives me crazy sometimes is the seed. The fruit comes with tiny black seeds that are just so sticky!



We have those black seeds everywhere, on the sofa, on the floor, on remote control, on toys, on towels! Before dragonfruit-days, cleaning up before bed only involved cleaning the kids' bottoms and teeth, but now we have to insert our fingers in the skin fold under Bea2's chin. And they are stuck to their towels, which brings them on the bed (luckily, the seeds never invited ants into our bedroom), on our prayer mat. They also escape in the kids' hairs. I found one on my cheek in the office's toilet, must be from one of the girls's hair, got stuck there when I kissed them that morning! Even Bea1 got irritated when she can't remove them from her hands.

Anyway, the kids really love it, and after having it a few more times, I love it,too (luckily, papa22beas is not really keen, so less fighting;)). Will have to deal with the seeds, or just learn to ignore them!

Added: Found this while googling for dragonfruit. As expected, 5xmom beats me to it;).

Would my kid ask the Q?

We are having a seminar on Seismic Hazards in our department for a week. Yesterday, I had a friend came to listen to the talk. In my group of friends, I mean the ones who graduated from U, the most popular topic discussed during our meetings is mainly on how to earn more money, who is doing what job, who drives bigger car or again basically it is about money. So, this topic is also a favourite to my friend.

Something he said is really disturbing to me, that I just got to blog it. But before that, let me just explain a bit about my job: I'm a lecturer, holds a PhD. Not only teaching, I do research. I chose the job (as I'm sure I would love doing it forever, or at least till I retire), and worked hard to get this job, had a hard times but overall enjoyed every bit of the journey before getting here. It gives me flexible working time, which make it possible for me to be with my kids in between works. And I love my job. But for a lot of people, the salary sucks!
Anyway, over here it is flexible, there are oppurtunities to do consultation job to earn more (money), but off course you have to work more. It is all up to individual. While I sometimes wish to own bigger of everything (I mean house, cars...) most of the time I'm just happy as at the moment we have a roof over our heads, and more often than not, more than enough food to eat.

So, the conversation started with our jobs. This friend started giving me suggestions to improve (or basically to earn more money and recognition). I was fine with it, inspirational. I did mention that eventhough I'm ambitious, being a mother and a wife, I really have to think carefully before making any commitments which may take more time away from my family. Here, we got into a little argument. He insisted that as parents, we must show our kids how to be successful, the kids observe what we do and will understand and respect us for good examples that we show them. I agree with that, but insisted that if 'succesful' here means more time is taken away from them, I may chose not to go ahead with it. Argument went on, but he surprised me with this question:

How would you feel when your daughter grows up and understand your situation, asks you "Mama, why ah...that time when you are a associate Prof. or Professor, you had this oppurtunity to make a lot of money, you did not take it?" Would you feel sad, or would you regret it if you can't provide the 'best' for your kids.

So, that's the golden Q...and for a few seconds, I was speechless. Taking a deep breath, I told him, if I sense (through the Q) my kid's interest with my money, there is something wrong somewhere with my parenting. Thinking that it was going nowhere, I chose to end the conversation. But before that, I reminded him to be grateful to have his wife (she got retrenched some time ago, and the husband once complaint of having to be sole-breadwinner) at home taking care of their daughter.

On the way back, I related the conversation with hubby (also a friend to my friend). He just smiled and said that I should have asked my friend if he ever asked the question to his parents.

Back home, looking at my Bea1 playing with a flower that she picked from the grass, I thought would she one day ask me why I could not afford to send her to further her studies in a uni. of her choice. And would she ask why I don't work harder to make us rich. Still a long way to go, but I strongly feel it will depend on how I raise her.

She came up to me and showed me how she moved the stem of the little flower in between two fingers and said "look, ma...it's a helicopter!" She is so precious, the responsibility to raise her, to instill good values in her sometimes gives me a shudder!

Seismic Hazards Awareness Week:Earthquake and Tsunami

This may come a bit late, and I was not sure of announcing it over my blog. But the response is so not encouraging. We thought there should be somebody from the press to cover the story but none came, neither during the official launching nor today as scheduled. Must be some mistake some where. This is the least I can do at the moment, though I'm aware of the 'unpopularity' of my blog.

The seminar is open to all and one of the main objectives is to educate the public about earthquake and tsunami. It's been on for 3 days already. Today we had people from Bahagian Keselamatan Negara, Meteorological Dept, Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat, Malaysian Centre for Remate Sensing. It is actually targetted to the audience from the public, but like I said the response is really upsetting!

Anyway, for tomorrow (23rd June): Forum & Dialog with Geoscientist experts
Saturday (25th June): Seminar on Earthquake & Tsunami by a few experts
In between that, we have presentation of posters and video shows. Come and bring your family.

More info from this link
or call 03-7967 4203.

Good therapies

Before

7.15 pm: on Federal Highway, with 31/2 and 11/2-year-olds strapped in their carseats at the backseat. Knew I was in deep trouble as I could see cars not moving as far as my eyes could see. Cars moved inch by inch, girls got restless.
7.45 pm: we moved only for about 2 km. Bea2 started to scream, Bea1 started wailing.
8.00 pm: Bea2 screamed at the top of her lungs, Bea1 insisted to get out of the car. Prayed that everything would be ok, I unbuckled both of them. Bea2 looked for her ultimate comfort, having no choice I lifted my blouse and for the first time in my life: with one hand on the steering, the other arm held Bea2, I drove while nursing my baby! Bea1 was calmer and sat in the middle of backseat.
8.15 pm: Bea2 turned to playful mood, jumped to front passenger's seat. Took everything out from the glove compartment to distract her, Bea1 also wanted to join her sister there. One hand on steering, streached the other arm to prevent them from falling.
8.30 pm: Yelled at both to stay at the seats, Bea2 cried and asked for nen-nen again. Again, nurse while driving.
8.45 pm: Drove passed a long lorry carrying long pieces of steel, parked at the emergency lane and a policeman was there. Knew right away, that was the culprit. Traffic was smooth after that. A bit relieved, and moving towards the toll. But damn, forgot about to reload the Touch n Go. Took cash lane, stopped at the booth and had to pull Bea2 away (and 'dumped' her on the front passenger's seat) to look for coins. She screamed again! Pulled over by the road side, buckled both girls in their carseats, a struggle but managed to do it. Drove on amidst their wailing and screams. A drive that normally take us 15 minutes turned to be 2 hours!

After
9.05 pm: Arrived at papa22beas' office. Not much word was exchanged but he has one kind of calming effect in his voice and look. Decided to go to nearest place to eat. Ended up in USJ, the first restaurant we saw and it was a steamboat place.
9.30 pm: Took the order, Bea1 was all excited to see a pot in front of her, on the table. Then we realised it was the first steamboat experience for both girls (but think for Bea2, it did not make a difference!). Food came, I went all mushy seeing beautiful father-daughter moments in front of me. Bea1 said she wanted to cook, papa22beas carefully let her place the food in the pot. He said, at home mama would never allow her near the stove. He taught her to use chopstick, also a first-time event! We clapped when she managed to lift a fishball with it. She was delighted.
I still got to run after both of them after that, while letting papa22beas to eat. Watching them play with those horse rides nearby the restaurant was still tiresome task, and having to gobble down my food like a mad cow was still not an idea for good dining but happiness was all around and the scene at the Federal Highway was all behind me.
11.00 pm: Arrived home, both girls 'pengsan' already. Just used wipes to clean them, and put on clean diapers! A quick shower for both of us and off to the zzzzzland in each other's arms.

So, no matter how bad any situation is...look for some therapies. End the day with something good, we will have no qualm (or less qualm ;)) to begin another (in my case, even if it still involves Federal Highway!).

To papa22beas and all fathers out there!

In between posters that I have to prepare for a seminar next week, I play with Freehand to create this (I know it is messy a bit, but got no time already):



"We normally do not celebrate, but for the last 2 Mother's Day, I received meaningful gifts from him: time away with my girlfriends to distribute gifts to mothers in a hospital, for a charity project. So thought wantt o do something for the Father's Day"

And to all fathers out there, Happy Father's Day ...you know you are the greatest to your kiddos!

p/s: thanks to 5xmom for the caroon sketches!

On being me (part 1)

I got the inspiration to blog this while going through my external examiner's report of my thesis. I received it more than a year ago after completing the thesis and have been flipping the pages many times, but this guy, a Canadian earth scientist was really generous in giving me suggestions/advises/comments which will be helpful in many years to come, I mean if I choose to continue with my research. Each time I read it, I find something new, something to think about and explore.

And while alone in this room, I realise that given time and money (I'm praying to get good grants), there is still a wide world out there waiting for me. I used to think that way when I was young, single and free, but kind of not really think about it after being contented with the marriage and kids. Now that I'm back in the office again, and I'm given the oppurtunity to move again, I just can't wait to get back to what I had left behind for more than a year ago.

I'm in a male-dominated field. Currently there are only 4 female academic staffs in this department from about 25. Sometimes I wonder, with my role as wife and mother, how do I compete with them? But wait, I'm not competing with anybody, I'm doing this merely because I love it while earning some money.

But I'd love to compare myself with my male counterparts. A geologist needs to travel a lot for fieldtrips, and the job in the field can be tough sometimes. So, here's some comparisons:

1. While they can just leave the job of taking care of their kids to the wives, I normally plan to bring along the kids or if it is not possible, try to make it a day trip. Not that I don't trust papa22beas, but my kids need me all the time!

2. When they are sick, they have their wives to "nurse them back to good health" (I really like the way lrong mentioned it), and up on the feet again, they will. What about me....well as far as I'm concerned, I can't afford to get sick! And I'm grateful for the good health that I have, and that includes all 3 easy pregnancies which allow me to go the field up to during the last trimester.

3. While they can just pack their stuffs and off they go in the department's 4-WD vehicle to the fields, I normally took a deep breath looking at the heavy corer, the huge hammer a lot of other stuffs, and also rock samples that have to be brought back. Then, a discussion had to be made with my very effecient field assistant cum engineer cum photographer cum 'kuli angkat batu' cum everything (by the way, that's my husband;)), as when he can take leaves from his office etc. Anyway, off course I'm grateful to have him.

4. And how about that kind of oh-a-lady-geologist? look that we occasionally get.

That's part of it, but I'm not complaining and just very happy with the roles that I play!

My chances to go to hell

I got this from lazy bone who got it from msau. I'd seen it once or twice from other blogger(s). I had done the test, and tried to be as honest as possible and I proudly think I have the lowest chance to go to hell, so far...hehe!

Your Deadly Sins

Envy: 40%

Gluttony: 20%

Lust: 20%

Pride: 20%

Greed: 0%

Sloth: 0%

Wrath: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 14%

You will die in a duel.

How Sinful Are You?

Choosing a car is a headache!

While I thought that we are not in a hurry to get an MPV, papa22beas thinks that we are REALLY in a hurry to get rid of the Wira. A few months ago, we are toying with an idea that since we plan to have more addition to the family, we also need a MPV. But we were not in a hurry, and took our time to just at least be aware of what's new in the market, people's review and nothing serious like hopping in and out of showrooms etc. Then, this little baby in my tummy makes the 'surprise' and here we go again talking about MPV. Still, I don't think we are in a hurry till our Wira does not seem to cooperate well with us.

So, for the past 3 days we were in and out of 3 showrooms, and today I went to two.

1. Hyundei on Saturday - since the need to get rid of Wira, and no urgent need for a MPV, we thought we go for something smaller than MPV but bigger than Wira. We were thinking about the Matrix. But looking at the current rate on the increase number in the family, thought we better seriously go for at least a 6-seater.

2. Toyota showroom on Sunday - no except for only ONE sales person there, and she was really busy attending to one costumer. Maybe they have reached their quota since I heard the very overwhelming response. Nevermind, papa22beas was not interested anyway...and me after learning about their ridiculous waiting queu, bye bye Innova...betul spoil mood, as I'd been waiting for the launch.

3. The thought to try out of those used imported cars brought us to one used car dealer on Monday. They have a quite a decent selection of Estima, Gaia, Ipsum, Grandis and a few other models. We were interested on the Gaia, but most that I'd seen (except) for Estima came with only 6 seatbelts.

4. The good review I read about Nabira brought me to one showroom on Tuesday - I was greeted by the salesman. He was very helpful, and showed no sign of being irritated entertaining my questions for almost an hour. I asked him to evaluate my Wira that I want to trade in. After a few phone calls, he came out with a figure, 31k. He also mentioned that for trading in the old car, I will also get RM2000 from Hicomobil and the price of the car can be reduced with that amount. I was happy and already had a plan to come back again for a test drive with the family later. But just before I left, a man from the used car dealer arrived, after talking for a few minutes, he learned from the salesman that the other two dealers quoted 31k for my Wira, he was not happy with that and later said he decided that RM2000 will be included in that 31k for my Wira (meaning now no discount for the new car).
It is a matter of 1 or 2 k, but I was pissed off. That brought me to Chevy dealer no. 2

5. Chevy showroom 2 - I went straight to my point, and knowing that he has a competitor, the salesman there offered to help me a bit. The discussion brought us to a conclusion that I will save 1 k compared to previous dealer, plus a few other goodies.
This salesman is rather friendly, after we had done with the discussion on car, he invited me for a conversation. So we talked about jobs, kids etc. He said he regret it that he did not finish his studies, I mentioned about how a Malaysian academician has made it big in Japan and how it was all started (actually I'm really impressed with this guy, thanks 5xmom for the link). He talked a bit about his wife, their plan to have a baby. After days of talking only about cars, having someone (I mean a stranger) to easily talk to me about his life was kind of nice.

He said test-drive could be done on Saturday, but later that evening, papa22beas said he just could not wait. We went back again, the salesman were doing a prayer somewhere but because of us, he and the wife had to drive back to the showroom. According to him, it was the first day of the 5th month of Chinese calender when special prayer is normally done. Did our test-drive, we were quite happy with it and I decided to let the couple have their dinner.

We are realy inclining towards the Nabira, but I have not fixed the kids' carseats (must do this to see how much space do we have) yet...will do it soon. And after only 6 trips to car showrooms, I really feel 'loya' now but I'm talking getting something that hopefully would be with us for at least 10 years (and till we reach our quota of having 5 kids). Till then I just hope I don't have to hop in and out of car showrooms anymore!

Alamak! I got tagged

5xmom tagged me with this blog challenge and it is about books. My first thought, it is going to be embarassing as for the past few years my reading material is only confined to geology. As a small kid and later, teeager I used to indulge in reading, it was me and the book and totally unaware of what was going on outside my room, till mom had to bang on my door to get me to eat. I really miss that and I've been yearning to have more variety of books but after reading whole day at work, I normally don't have the mood to read at home. Anyway, let's play then, nothing to show off and I will try my best.

1) Total number of books I've owned:
Uncountable, and they are scattered in my room in the office, storeroom at my parents' place and in my apartment. I got a glimpse of my old books during recent 'balik kampung' trip, saw a few novels that I rented but never returned. From my childhood I was fascinated with Wuthering Height by Emily Bronte (it does not matter how much I could comprehend, then), series from Hans Christian Anderson especially The Little Match Girl, which still has a certain kind of effect till now. As a teenager, I read novels from Sydney Sheldon and Ian Fleming and a few other. I was a librarian in primary school and spent a lot of time reading, then but I can't remember most of the books. Since about 13 years ago, I read a lot of journal especially the ones from Nature and Elsevier Science, other than that it is National Geographic.

2) The last book I bought:
That would be my kids books but I guess it does not count here. It must be some geological books, can't remember which one but they are somewhere in this office. It is hubby who buys books now, and the latest reading material that he brought home that he loves to share with me are "Kekeramatan 99 wali-wali Allah" and a long article on the Prophet Solomon (pbuh) by Harun Yahya.

3) The last book I read
Non-geological one would be Who moved my cheese - can't remember the author, and it is somewhere among my geological stuffs. Suggested by a friend who tried to get me into Multi Level Marketing. Something I did in half an hour.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me
a) Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology - Derek C. Ford and Paul Williams
I would never finish my PhD thesis without this book.

b) Imam - Abdullah Hussein
A refreshing thought on the practise of Islam in typical Malay community.

c) New Direction in Karst: Proceedings of the Anglo-French Symposium - Paterson, K and Sweeting, M. M.
Another indispensable reference during my studying days

d) Dating Methods in Quartenary Studies - a Users Guide - Smart, P. L and Francis, P. D.
Can't think of anything non-geological, this one is really an important introductory to my field of studies

e) The Characteristics and origin of the Tropical Limestone Karst in Sungai Perak Basin, West Malaysia
That's my PhD thesis, done through pure passion, sheer determination, a lot of moments of frustration. I'm proud of it! Hope it counts here.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their blogs.
Well, I guess I got to find people who read my blog, I hope none of them had been tagged by the same topic.

1. lazy bone - being a working mother with a hectic lifestyle, I'd really love to know what she reads
2. Mr B - he writes well, must be some influence from books that he reads
3. twinsmom - see what a stay-at-home mom with a pair of twins reads during her time-out
4. manju - another mom with an interesting blog
5. mumsgather - let's here more from her!

Happiness is.....

Happiness is....

1. ...when the baby kicks when I least expect it. I was being upset over an argument with papa22beas, alone in my room in the office. Suddenly the kicks, strong and disticnt as if she/he was saying "hey, mama...don't be so sad, I'm here! About papa, you remember you still have his credit card in your wallet, use it while you can"...ok, ok the last part I only imagined it!.

2. ...having Bea1 in my arms during lunchtime. She said she loved me, we read a book and again she willingly let me go again.

3. ...seeing that they actually fixed the bay windows in the living and master bedroom in our unit. The new apartment means travelling time to work (to and fro) will be reduced from at least 21/2 hours to 15 minutes, and with LRT in a walking distance, papa22beas can easily take the train and commuter to his office ;).

4. ...what is almost the cost of a maternity blouse in Motherclub gave me a nice, doesn't-look-cheap-at-all blouse, and two maternity pants at the Jusco (and they are not even on sale...wish I'd known about it when I was carrying the two girls)...and no, I did not use papa22beas credit card for that! Must ask first, a good wife, I am.

5. ...having a plan to bake cookies, using the pre-mix stuffs (thx to 5xmom) with Bea1 this weekend.

Gee...I have a lot of reasons to be happy today, and I'm not even finished yet...Alhamdulillah for all the above and everything!.

BTW, I got tagged by 5xmom. My first thought...what do I do? It is going to be embarassing...anyway, give me some time. Will get back on Monday!

One way to save money on toys

James wrote this in one of his entries, regarding his son's playthings:
"Think of all the money we could have saved"

And I'm inspired to blog about how I have saved at least a couple of hundreds ringgits on toys. Hopefully, some stingy or smart (or just plain poor, like me) parents will benefit from it.

Even before Bea1 turned 3 years old, I was really eager to get her one of those kitchen set. I even imagined a corner in the kitchen where I wanted it to be. She could play there on her own without harrasing me (I should also mention here that, I'm a full time working mom without a helper at home, and it is by choice). However, the price of one of those things really made me thought a trillionth time would it be worth it for me to part with my money (as papa22beas had made it clear that he would not have anything to do with it). Besides that, when Bea1 turned 3, Bea2 turned 1 when smaller parts in those kitchen may pose choking hazards for her.

I'd decided to wait for awhile, maybe for a day that I'm in stress and used that excuse to buy anything that comes to mind. In the meantime, I let Bea1 to just continue 'harassing' me in the kitchen. Initially, I used to be stressed up with her wanting to touch everything. She uses a stool to reach the counter, and she used to drop something almost every few minutes and asked me to pick it up for her. Papa22 beas just could not get her away from the kitchen. Having no choice, I just let her be there and tried to think of ways to make it pleasant for both of us (while making sure that the cooking is done). She loves onions and garlic, she can just stand there for half an hour to peel, and peel them. I was worried that some juice of the onion might get into her eyes, but on second thought she would learn something from it, but not from those dummies from the kitchen set toys. She loves cutting french beans to small pieces, and tear the cabbage leaves. I remember vividly the excitement on her face the first time I let her play with the squids, and I taught her the different names/parts of fish.

Last night, she hold a piece of chicken ribs and said "this is the mouth, this is the cheek...and over here is the eyes" I was about to laugh but thought, she was using her imagination (ok lah...did not have the time to explain as we never had a whole chicken at home, I will sort it out later).

And before anyone thinks that I'm too stingy, wait till you see the kids playroom. They have a castle-like tent, a table set, an activity table, tricycle and lots of other small stuffs mostly from IKEA. Well some of my kitchen stuffs ended up in there, too. Last night, Bea1 came up to me with a metal container in her hands, showing me a drawing that she just did on it. I was ecstatic, saying "wahhhh, pandainya anak mama..."

Anyway, now with a kid who loves the kitchen so much, there is also a challenge. She has been pestering me to bake cookies, arg...I'm not in the mood. Anyway, will think of something this weekend.

So, now do I really need the kitchen set?. At the moment, think we are ok with what we have in the kitchen....but who knows when the year end bonus comes;).

Added: Did I mention that no matter how badly she wanted us to buy certain toys, she would get tired of them after some time, but with the real kitchen at home ...she plays in there eveyday, and almost every cooking time...even Playhouse Disney Channel won't keep her away!

Had a great loooong weekend!

Papa22beas and me took 3 days leave on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for some much-awaited programmes: Star Wars (yup, while the fever is easing down on others, we just got started) and balik kampung!

Thursday: After a huge fried meehoon breakfast, we drove the kids to the babysitter's. Got our tickets, managed to browse the shopping mall for maternity wears and watched the 12.00 pm show. It was great, but I could not help it, I just giggled at the sight of the mask being fixed on Darth Vader's face. And so, that's how it happened, I thought!
Had a late lunch, did a bit of shopping. 5.00 pm off to balik kampung.
The kids behaved well in their carseats, but was eager to arrive. Arrived at 11.00 pm. Kids got excited and only went to bed at 2 am.

Friday: Kids played with their cousins, happy with new environment. As usual, balik kampung means a lot of chat with mom and sisters, and off course indulge in mom's cooking.

Saturday: Afternoon, brought the kids to Tok Bali...Bea1 was so excited with the beach but we decided not to touch the water. For the first time Bea1 was interested with the seashells and collected some. Bought a lot of yummy otak-otak, or Kelantanese call it 'sata'. Went to my cousin's place, she just gave birth to a baby boy. Was dissapointed to know that she had given up breastfeeding!
11 pm off to KL, reached home at 5.30 am.

Sunday: Got to catch up on sleep. Had a simple brunch, and off we went to Alamanda, let the kids play at the playground and had our dinner there.

Glad that everything went well, except for the kids had a bit of running nose...maybe being too long in the aircond. in the car.