My busy day

Today is the first day that I do not have to go to work.
Nevertheless, it is still as busy.

I first sent Ryan to nanny's, then went to Public Bank to take my cheque books. They were not ready yet and I had to come back later in the evening.

Then, I went to close my Time Deposits and paid some of my credit card balance. After that, I went to open an online CDS account - cause I was told the brokerage fee is lower, not that I trade much anyway, just wanted to "own" one.

I then drove into town to get a copy of my SPA from my lawyer. I have this great plan of withdrawing from EPF to repay my housing loan you see. Next, a drive to pick up my colleagues (ex-colleagues) for lunch at Sg. wang. I needed to eat, collect my altered pants and buy a hard disk. After walking around, we left and I was rather disappointed cause I did not find any accessories that I liked.

The traffic was light and so, after dropping them back to the office, I took a longer drive to go Old Town. There, I paid a visit to PBB and HSBC. Arghhh ..... I had to wait a while in both banks.
By the time I finished, the time was already 4pm. EPF was closed. Arghh!!!!!

Then I drove back to the PBB branch near my house to collect my cheque book, thinking that I can make it for my beauty session at 5pm. Wow! I was stunned that the traffic going into Mid Valley was EXTREMELY jammed!!! I gave up and did a U-turn.

Then I thought, maybe I should pay a visit to Lake Fields ... and I did. The houses were very nice and the access roads were good. Even before the whole development is completed, I can already envisioned the beauty of the place. I am even more determined to buy one here, hmm ... need more convincing power for hubby.

Phew! Home at last at about 5.30pm, I got home. I bought myself a Drumstick and stuck my legs up watching Friends.

There goes my day after quitting for a day.
Very busy indeed .... and I am so sleepy now.

Good night people!!

My last day

Today is my last day.

There did not seem much to do until today when I am leaving.
Sigh, I may have under estimated the time I needed to get things done or I may have over estimated the speed of my work, I do not know.
What I do know is that I am excited about joining my new place and am looking forward to see how I can help improve things.

Am busy packing now, but still have to finish some slides ... hopefully I can get it done by 5pm.

I am being ambitious, am thinking of getting my colleague to help in bringing my stuff down to the car and then up to the new place.

Hmm .... I'd better continue packing now.

Books and more books

Every time I walk into a book store, I swear that I will not buy another book, I would just browse and then walk out. Well, what do you know? I almost ALWAYS end up buying a book, or worse, 2 or more books!!!

Last week, I was so proud of myself cause I walked into Border's and managed to leave without a single purchase. The next day, I went to MPH and ended up buying 2 books for myself, 1 for my friend and a CD for little Ryan!!! Wah, everytime I buy books, it will easily cost me RM100+, there goes my credit limit!!

The bookshelf at home is already bursting with books and magazines. It is really amazing that I can still find any space to fit in any additional books at all! So in order not to clutter my house too much, I have resorted to keep some books at my office. And so as I am packing now, this begins to be a headache for me. I have to pack them in boxes and then unpack them again in my new office. And these boxes are really heavy!!

Aiya, I really have to stop buying leh, if only people stop writing/ people stop publishings .... that would really save me a lot of money!

My last week

Time really flew by.
This is my last week in my current company.
Next Tuesday, I will be starting at a new company with new colleagues, new boss and new work environment.
I have been looking forward to this for quite some time now and I am still feeling excited about it.

As I approach this new event, I reflect upon my previous jobs. My first job lasted me for 6 years. People in that company were starting to call me an antique cause I am like one of those faces who always seem to be around! However, I truly enjoyed my work there and am forever grateful to the people whom I have worked with - for the good times, and the bad ones of course. I have also met many kind souls who have shaped my working life and some have transformed into good friends. We still meet occasionally and it brings a lot of joy to me.

My second job only lasted 5 months, so let's not talk about that one!

My third job is in my current company. I lasted 2 years and 4 months. It's a great place to work, plenty of nice people and enjoyable work space. My decision to leave has been a difficult one. I will miss all those nice people I know and all the happy faces I meet everyday. However, when it is time to move, one have to move.

So, here's to a wish for a positive work experience for me as I move into a new year with a new job.
Have a blast!!

MILLIONAIRES are from a different PLANNET!

The above book is written by Azizi Ali.

I was introduced to this author and have since read 2 of his books.
For you who do not know, Azizi Ali is a commercial pilot turned millionaire. Hence this book is written.

Basically this book talks about how one can take control of one's finances and set one's money to work and live a happier life. It is all about managing personal finance and how this in turn will set you on a road to a brighter and better financial future.

Books of this sort are usually written in a technical way and can be quite dry. However, Azizi Ali has successfully turned this subject of managing personal finances into quite an interesting read. I have even managed to squeeze in a laugh or two in some of the funnier chapters.

This book is most suitable for me when I am stuck in a jam as it is a light read and does not require me to punch in numbers while balancing the book and the steering wheel!

It has received quite a fair bit of positive reviews, so no harm buying it for some light reading on managing money to become a millionaire.

Fascination with balls

Ryan is crazy about balls, no matter what colour, size or texture, he will chase after them.

If you take him to the play centre, he is even more facinated and he will be running after every ball that crosses his path.

"Ball" is one of his first words, now that I think about it. He got the word when I was busy watching World Cup this year. This is his only 3 word phrase he can speak well - "Kick the ball!"

This photo was taken at the play centre where my colleague held his son's birthday bash. In the midst of it all, Ryan has even managed to make a few friends. As it was very near Ryan's sleep time, his eyes were half closing but he still continued to play with the balls.

Mummy is amused, but still cannot understand why balls are such fascinating items.

Aiyo ... what to do, what to do?!

Lately Ryan has learnt the art of howling, real howling.
Every timee he cannot get his way, he howls and howls and howls. Really.

The funny thing is that he can STOP immediately when he gets his way, and I mean IMMEDIATELY. However, once he feels that what we give him is not really what he wanted, he will continue howling!

Aiyo, it is driving hubby nuts. And hubby was silly. He tried to warn Ryan to stop, otherwise, daddy will "ta-ta". Worse, Ryan howled louder than ever. Yesterday hubby decided to implement his threats, wah lau, Ryan not only howled, he also screamed his head off!! Wah, I cannot ah, I had to separate my 2 men from each other. They are driving each other up the wall.

Sigh, I do not know what to do. I cannot spank Ryan cause he is my little darling and he won't know anyway. Hubby is EXTREMELY irritated by people who cry (me included) and Ryan is not helping here anyway.

In the mean time, I have to keep Ryan happy all the while especially when hubby is around so that one does not start howling and the other is not irritated.

I read with envy people who have perfectly zen husbands who can cope with howls and screams and cries.

Ice-cream cravings

Hmm...delicious.
Last Saturday, I was craving for ice-cream.
The original plan was just to get a tub of Wall's from the mini market and that's it.
But then I was also craving to get out of the house and not having to look at my notes.
Hubby came back from work and took us out to 1-Utama.
We passed by Baskin & Robbins and decided we did not like the seating arrangement.
And so we headed straight to Haagen-Daaz.

There we were shown the menu and was recommended this steamboat look-a-like complete with its own chocolate bar. Hmmm .... sinful. We like it. It has 4 flavours of ice-cream, each has 4 little balls of it, some fruits, wafers, cookies and cakes. The chocolate pot is constantly heated with a little candle and there are some crushed nuts by its side.

The waiter there said that it is meant for 2-6 people. Well, we have only 2+1, but we managed to finish it without much problems!

It cost about RM63, but if you have Citibank Clear card, it is cheaper by 10%, althought it is still pricey!

Go try it if you have a huge craving for good ice-cream.

Trip down memory lane

I needed to get to an ATM machine.
And the nearest one to me at that time was the one at Puduraya.
I walked up the steel stair case in my heels .. click clock click clock I went.

I was half expecting the beggars to be on the bridge, there was only one.
I remembered it was quite a scary sight when I used to go Puduraya to catch a bus home when I was studying in KL. There were beggars of all kinds, scary.

The scenario on the first floor did not change over the past 7 years, the same shops, the same things sold. There were so many people, I was worried about security. Funny, 7 years back, I was not at all afraid, it did not even cross my mind that people would come harrased me or pick my pockets. Things are different now, not that I am loaded, just the general feel of security is different. It did not help that I did not dressed like the crowd.

There were families waitting for the bus, kids running around, babies sleeping in their mother's hand, old people, injured people etc. I could not imagine myself bringing Ryan to this place, I would have been petrified. Hubby would probably think I am paranoid again ...

It took me 10 mins to get to the machine and out of Puduraya, but the short walk brought back memories, memories which make me smile.

Good old Puduraya.

No 50 Jalan P***

This morning I was at a medical centre.
I wanted to get a third opinion about my gall stone problem and was refered to this medical centre in the centre of KL.

All this while when I pass through this place, I wondered about the kind of doctors who were there, the kind of patients who will visit this place and the kind of money one was charged.

I have never ever dreamed that I would be one of the patients walking through its doors (some more it was the back door). As I enter the medical centre, it felt like I was transformed into another day and age. While I was standing in front of the lift, it sort of felt a little creepy.

Once I was on the doctor's floor, I got out of the lift and still felt like I was in another time zone.

I was there actually for my gall stones, but decided to check out the eye doctor too since I suspected there was a fragment of contact lense still stuck in my eye.

The eye doctor was a short wait. I opened the door and there, sat in front of me, a elderly man with his spectacles and immediately had me thinking about whether this was a mistake. But I was pleasantly surprised with his knowledge and skills, especially when he was operating the computer and camera and then having my eye images playing back to me, explaining how my eyes were "beautiful", "no problems at all". Great, cost me RM100 for him to tell me that. Reassurance to me nontheless.

Then I waited for a while for the general surgeon who came highly recommended. I entered his clinic, same look and feel. Same old man sitting behind the table. This time, it was even more impressive cause he was talking and explaining with great detail. No rush, no hurry, just plain clarity. He felt my gall bladder, nodded his head, looked at my scans, exclaimed a little (in the course also frightened me a little), nodded more, beckoned me to sit and continued explaning my condition.

Although it is of no worry, he was saying that he thinks a surgery is needed and hence we had the date confirmed and the procedure was explained carefully. He was even concerned about how Ryan would cope when I am at the hospital etc. Such sweet man.

Both the doctors' clinic had a different feel to the regular ones we always go in to. Their office is full of medical journals, no space sparred. The furniture old, but still sturdy. The equipment nicely protected ... the keyboard for the computer is still nicely wrapped with its original plastic. The doctors here take great pride in their service. Many of them have passed their stage where money is the drive for coming to work. Some I heard have been there for so long, their medical certs are missing.

Versus what we usually have. The modern look of a clinic, a medical centre, a private hospital. Where fees are high and the doctors are not really interested in how you feel, what you go through, just hmm-i see-take this pill-you will feel better kind of service. No emphaty, no sense of achievement, no pride. I have been to clinics where there are like 10 different doctors there in the same clinic at different times of the day (or week) ... and nobody takes accountability of what was prescribed to you, blaiming the previous doctor for giving you "something I would not have given" and hence you did not get well!

Here at No 50 Jalan P***, things are a little different, things are from the yester-years.
Would I go again for other problems?

Hmm ... maybe I will actually.
Oh ya, they do not accept credit cards. Be forewarn.

My weekend

Yesterday was my exam.

I was super stress and extremely nervous about it.
Hubby was a dear and drove me to the exam hall.
Mum and dad arrived in the morning to help take care of Ryan. Everyone was a dear.

The exam was over in a jiff, 2 hours of mind boggling questions and I felt so free after that.
I didn't know that the exam was giving me so much of pressure sub-consciously.

And what did I do after that?
Shopping! I left Ryan with hubby and went on retail theraphy with mum and dad.
Ever since I had Ryan, my time with mum and dad has been minimum, and so I thought I owe this to them.

We had a fun time in Metrojaya Mid Valley picking out Christmas trees and trimmings. Mum went overboard and got themselves a 6 feet pine tree and some gold trimmings. It was fun. I went overboard too and got a really nice gift for hubby and some for my team mates and the dear secretary.

As usual, it felt good to be able to give more than to receive. So I only got myself 3 bottles of ginger honey which is supposedly good for health. That's all.

And oh ya, after that we gathered at a vegie place in OKR and ate like pigs ... Ryan included.

It was a great weekend and oh ya, a contribution to the economy too.

My little Ryan

These are some developments of little Ryan ....

About 1 week ago, Ryan has been able to swallow some water and spit it out when I brush his teeth. Of course, he is still swallowing most of it down, but still it is an achievement.

A couple of weeks back, we brought him to watch Happy Feet. Now he is able to understand what a penguin is and how a penguin walks. He even imitates it! I bought him a book on Penguins and now he will turn the pages and point out "Penguin egg ... mumm mumm!" and he will pretend to "eat" it! He even points to Mumble and say "Baby penguin".

In Happy Feet, Mumble was the funny little penguin who did not have a heart song, but was able to dance really well. Little Ryan now imitates Mumble and proclaim that "Penguin dancing!".

Last Saturday night, we had a little Christmas party amongst our condo community and there were competitions and dancing. Little ryan and I joined a game called "Paper Chase" and we won! we also had a dancing session and Ryan was shaking his butt off, although he was reluctant to go on stage. He was dancing on the floor and attracted an "older" lady to dance with him as well. Ryan then led her to the playground! This little dance of his lasted for a good 30 mins until mummy got tired just by watching him.

We have been trying to get Ryan to sleep on his bed for quite a while now. Last Sunday, he finally slept on his little cot during his afternoon nap. However, he shook his little head when it was night time and refused to get on his bed. Yesterday his daddy tried to put him to sleep in his bed and voila! Ryan finally slept there. Of course he got up in the middle of the night and wanted "Milk Milk", so we had to bring him up to our bed. An achievement nonetheless.

Today, I saw little Ryan actually jumping! What an achievement! He has been attempting this for quite a while but never really got his feet off the ground. Today he did it. I am so proud of him.

Hmm ... that is all for now.

Little Ryan ... when you can read this, know that mummy and daddy are so proud of every one of your achievements.

Christmas presents

MixFM asked this morning ...
What can you buy for under RM20?
And the golden question - what would the recipient think of you when you give them a gift for under RM20?

Hmm ... for the last 2-3 years, I have been giving out Christmas presents to close friends, family and certain colleagues. And every year, without fail, this has caused quite a dent to my pockets.
Now, I am not saying that I always give expensive gifts. Rather, small amounts on their own when added up together will certainly be quite a size!!

Christmas shopping begins very early for me cause I take a lot of time hunting for nice things that people will normally like. So far, I have not heard a complaint against my gifts.

Folks, it's the time of the year again when lists are drawn up and money is drawn out. But in the end, it is the smile of joy that really matters, not to mention the growth spurt in the economy too!

Have a great Christmas shopping folks!

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

The above is a book written by James Patterson.

My friend recommended it as a must-read and lo and behold, it is truly a must-read book.

It tells of a story of a young woman discovering secrets to her lover's past. Secrets so painful that it will bring tears to your eyes as you reach the end of the book. A powerful novel about family, loss and new found love.

I am not a fan of love stories, but this is of a different kind. A mother's love. A mother's love for her son and her hopes for him. And the beginning of another life.

Read this novel, it is truly a must-read.

Violence in the household

In the last 2 weeks, Ryan has develop this violent behaviour - he throws things around and kicks people.

When he first did it, I already warned him not to do it to me. So, he knows he cannot hit nor kick mummy. But when he gets really upset with me, he will find the nearest wall and start knocking his head on it!!! It was really funny cause he will knock so hard that it is painful and he will start to cry.

Anyway, it is quite a task trying to help him outgrow this behaviour. People around me are suggesting that I spank him, but then he is only 21 months old .... he won't know why we have spanked him anyway. So, I will still try my reasoning approach. So far it has worked very well for me.

Hopefully he will outgrow this phase very quickly.

mumm mumm, baby chair?

I am so proud this morning, so very happy actually.

I told Ryan that we will be going out for dinner tonight.
He gave me a look of comprehension and said "Mumm mumm .... baby chair .... cho cho?"
Translated ..... "Sit on baby chair when eating outside?"

Wah, I was bursting with pride.

My little darling, learning so well and progressing everyday.

Sarung anyone?

People, beware!

Apparently, if you wear sarung too often, you will be mistaken to be a Muslim.

Hmm .... not exactly something you would like given that you are a foreigner thinking of making Malaysia your Second Home.

Haha ... beware I say! Now, where is my sarung??

10 Things for Christmas that money cannot buy

1 .... 36-24-36 vital stats
2 .... Clean air
3 .... A raise
4 .... Power of prediction
5 .... Less work
6 .... More sleep
7 .... A more sensitive husband
8 .... More public holidays
9 .... No more toll raises
10 ... Lower petrol prices

What is yours?

Ryan in 21 month old today

My little darling is 21 month old today.
I am so proud of him!

Ryan is getting more and more mischevious by the day and he certainly has a bad temper!
My mum said what can I expect since both me and hubby are hot tempered ourselves.

Ryan to date has grown so much. We meaasured his height yesterday and he is now at 83cm, what a tall boy! He is also outgrowing his clothes and his shoes and I just cannot stop buying things for him.

Ryan understands most of what I say now although he may not always respond verbally. Most of the time he will nod in agreement or he will shake his head to signal disagreement. However, beware! when he does not like certain things, he will mutter a string of "words" which I truly do not understand ... but that does not stop him from saying it! He is also able to convey his needs through single words and lately he has progressed to stringing 2 words together. The only 3 word phrase he now says is "Kick the ball" .... as a result of mummy's interest in the World Cup no doubt. He has a real facination with balls ... hmm, maybe he will watch the next World Cup with me ... his daddy cannot understand the thrill of having 22 men chasing the ball across the 100m long field...sigh.

Although he is not even 2 years old yet, he has formed quite a character. For sure he is determined, nothing can stop this little fella when he wants to do something. He is also easily irritable, so please do not irritate him for no reason, he will scream the house down. BTW, his daddy likes to irritate him just to hear him scream....I know, it is annoying. He is also quite an eater, he will eat almost anything, although it is in small quantities. We now could not longer fool him with his "(S)picy food" ... cause he will sapu it anyway! Ryan is a loving boy too ... he will always come and look at me intently before he cups my face and give me a big fat kiss on my cheeks/ forehead/ nose .... lately this has extended to giving you a huge bite too!

Oh dear, I am missing him as I write this. Can't wait to get home to get another one of his big kisses!

Mega Bookworm

This morning there was a talk on MixFM on when we started reading, which book do we remember from our childhood days and how it all started.

For me, it all started from home. Yup, my mum instilled this in me and my brother. I cannot, however, remember exactly how she instilled it, but I remember my first books - there was a children's Bible, a Ladybird book, The Ugly Duckling (I can still remember the cover of this book) and then there was the Three Little Pigs (still remember the cover). I also had the encyclopedia - although this was a little boring.

I also remember my mum made me learn the spelling on the Ladybird books for a page before I was allowed to move on to the next page. It was not very fun but it helped build my vocabulary.

As I grew older, I began to read Enid Blyton - The Secret Seven, The Famous Five and The Five Find-Outers. Then there was the Wishing Chair series, The Naughtiest Girl in School series etc. After Enid Blyton, I began to read Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and also Alfred Hitchcock's Trio (*blush* cannot remember their names).

And so these were my first books. Since then I have read almost all sorts of books .... however, there are 3 types of books which I do not read. Horror, science fictions/ fantasy stories and romance novels. For the life of me I cannot imagine why people want to read something to scare the living daylights out of themselves and I certainly do not intend to complicate my mind with science fictions/ fantasy stories. These are best left to the big screens. And I really cannot understand what is the point of reading fairy tale ending romance stories only to be drastically disappointed in real life. I say stick to the real romance of this world and forget about the mushy mushy stuff please.

My collection of books are growing out of hand. I am very willing to invest in books and I make sure that they are all wrapped and kept with care. Recently I have grown a huge collection of magazines too ... and they are also getting out of hand.

Do I read all of them? Well, most magazines are read end to end, whereas books are bought at a rate faster than I read. But I will read them nonetheless.

I hope I can instill this great habit in Ryan. I have begun buying him books and he now have quite a few too. He knows where they are kept and knows which to pull out for me to read to him or to talk about the pictures. It is really lovely being able to share books and knowledge.

Which good book have you been reading lately?

Marriage Stress

I came across this posting on Mumsgather (http://mumsgather.blogspot.com/) and thought that I should blog about it.

Before we had Ryan, our marriage life was good. We stayed out of each other's hair, we have our own circle of friends and our own things to do. We'd get together for an outing/ movie in the weekends and life was pretty much easy. We couldn't believe that we were married at that time!

However, we learnt the true meaning of marriage and what it stands for when we had Ryan. The last 2 years saw us having many fights, endless arguments, our worst selves actually.
There were many times when I thought about how my marriage has gone from bliss to this terrible shouting game. Many times I have asked myself it this is what I had agreed to when I said "I DO". Our arguments were petty and it had a lot to do with our differences in raising kids, handling finances, outlook on life etc.

When we were courting, we were drawn to each other's differences and so thought "Opposites attract". But when you are married and decisions need to be made, the "Opposites" do not really attract anymore!

However, having said all that, we are still having more good times than bad, so that has got to say something!

Here's to a better tomorrow!

Murder in my neighbourhood

People are crazy!

Last weekend, I read from the newspapers that there was this couple who poisoned their 3 sons and then attempted suicide on themselves. Apparently this was due to their unfortunate situation with Ah Longs.

I was bloody angry when I read this piece of news. It also stated that the parents actually survived their plight and the father says that "He has no regrets". Wah Lau! If I ever see him I would have slapped him hard and kicked him in his b**ls! Such idiots!!!

I felt such pity for the kids .... but then again with parents like these ... sigh.
For the entire day, I felt really sad, sad for the kids, sad for the existence of such people on earth, sad for mankind.

Oh how I wished the kids had a better option in life ...

Mock exam

I am a little nervous now.
My mock exam is tomorrow and I am not even well prepared yet!

This is my 4th paper and I have 2 more to go assuming I get through this one.
For those of you who do not know ... I am taking CFP - Certified Financial Planning.

I took this up 2 years ago at the spur of the moment without much thought, but I am glad I did it cause it is really interesting and it is very relevant to my daily life.

And so here I am, 2 more weeks to go and I am still not very prepared.
Hope I will get through this and somehow manage to pass it.... else it will be a waste of my precious money.

My 4th anniversary

Exactly a week ago, we celebrated our 4th anniversary.
It is diffucult to believe that 4 years have passed since we exchanged our vows.

24th November 2002.
I can still remember that day very well.
The night before we had the traditional custom of "Shiong Tau" where my mum combed my hair and presented me with 3 wishes - for us to have a long lasting marriage, for us to have plenty of decendants and the last one for us to have good like and health. It was very late and I had still not finished preparing the gifts for the guests to our dinner.
Thank goodness I had my 2 friends with me to help out with the wrapping of my Ferrero Roches and the laces and the ribbons etc.

The next morning, we had to wake up early to prepare for the arrival of my husband. I remember all the chaos that took place and the games my bridesmaids played on him and his friends. Nothing too mean, just proclaiming of his love, having him identify which lipstick mark is mine, reasons for marrying me and also an agreement to a list of my demands .... one of which is no housework!!! Yeah, right.

Before my husband arrived, my father came into my room to put the veil onto my head. It was a poignant moment for us. I had felt like I was leaving for good! The wedding planner was very good and he did his part of the "Tai Kam Che" very well.

After all the prayers were done, we had to "Cham Cha" (Tea Ceremony) for my parents and my brother had to do it to us too. The exchange of the tea with the jewellery my parents gave me was very touching. My father broke down and my mum was in tears. It was a very memorable moment for me and I guess I only realised then how much I would miss them.

The ride to KL was a long one. I imagined how my parents were feeling, I also thought about how life would change for me as a wife. I finally reached in the end and after all the customary stuff has been carried out, we sat down for a meal as a family - me and my in-laws.

After what felt like an eternity of being something on exhibition, we finally went to our new home. Our home which we had spent close to 2 years preparing. Steven, the wedding planner made my husband carried me into the house and into the bedroom. My husband actually heaved a sigh of relief when he finally put me down. I was actually thankful he did not drop me!

We spent the rest of the day preparing the dinner which we were having at the poolside. It was a beautiful place and till today, I still remember what it was like. One worry which we had was the weather. It was raining the whole week prior to that day. If history proves right, it will also rain on that night. And true enough it did! At about 4pm, the rain was turning into a storm and my husband was getting a little nervous.

We waited and then it stopped and then the guests arrived. All 200 of them. It was a bliss. We were nervous all througout the night, wondering when it will rain again. The entire night flew by. I remember I was so nervous, I barely ate. The guests had enough and some even managed to bring some food home. Steven was a dear, he helped "saved" a whole cake for us. The remaining 2 tiers of the cake was gone in a jiffy. My blueberry cake. The whole buffet dinner by the poolside was a great idea. Nobody fell into the pool that night - otherwise, we would have had quite a splash.

Everyone left by 12midnight. We went back to the poolside and sat for a while. Life has just begun for us .....

..... that was 4 years ago. We celebrated this year's anniversary by going out for dinner at Modesto's in Sri Hartamas and later to 1-U to watch Daniel Craig as James Boond 007. It was one of the longest dinner I ever had after Ryan was born, and it brought back lots of fond memories.

Looking forward to next year's ....

My New Blog

Today is my first day on this web page.
I have toyed around with the idea to start a blog on blogger for weeks now.

The reason?
1) I find this neater in a way, not too many distractions, if you may. There also seem to be more things to play around, although I may not use all the given functions; AND

2) I wanted to consolidate my blogs. Previously I had 2 on MSN - one for myself and one for little Ryan. I figured it would be so much easier for me to keep this running journal if I just need to log in on one site.

Thus, this new site is born!

Welcome to my journal, these are my stories ....