Should we? Should we?

Our family is growing, and with it means that we are looking for a bigger car to drive all of us around.

I had not planned for a change of car since I got mine some 3 years ago. I had originally thought that it would last us a good 10 years or something.

Obviously now, with the anticipated arrival of the little one, we would have to consider a bigger car which can accommodate the additional car seat.

My original thought was a Toyota Wish or a Mazda or even a Chevrolet, but my hubby decided that those were not big enough. No, no, he is not thinking of something like the Ford F-150! That would be quite a bit of a trouble for me if there was a need to go to an auto shop!

He was actually thinking of the Estima. While I quite like the idea, it would also mean that the monthly commitment is much much higher than now. And I heard that the maintenance is not cheap either. And I have not seen many workshops where they can check engine light easily!

Can you imagine if anything goes wrong and I am stuck with the kids? It would be like I am looking for a San Diego auto repair shop!! Err, scary!

But anyway, we are not in a hurry though, we are merely looking around to see where the best deals are so that we are prepared when the time comes and we really really need a car.

So, you guys have any ideas on what is a good 7-seater to consider? Low maintenance and reasonable prices are key to us.

Happy Father's Day

Last Sunday was Father's Day and we went back to PD for a change instead of getting my folks up to KL. We intended to have breakfast on Sunday but instead became brunch. My mum said that their house in PD is a recuperation centre, everyone who goes back there sleeps exceptionally well!

Between Avillion and The Thistle, we decided on The Thistle, mainly because it is new in town. You can see below how nice the environment is from the lobby to the poolside to the garden.




We went to its Glass restaurant. We had called earlier and was told that the buffet ends at 11am. We reached at 9.45am. However, upon reaching, we were told that the buffet table will close at 10.15am! What a disappointment! But wanting to celebrate anyway, we went to get as much food as possible and then sat down to enjoy it.

Needless to say, we were all so stuffed with food that nobody really wanted to walk, much less in the sun. But Ryan was so excited about flying his kite at the beach that we all had to go with him. It was actually quite windy - luckily!

We spent close to 2 hours by the beach watching Ryan and his daddy fly kite and play in the sand, Megan was nursing and sleeping quite a bit despite the heat. We even undressed her to give her a quick shower, she was happy! We also bought some ice-cream and it was melting faster than we can lap it up! Although we were all ready to go, I think Ryan felt a little heavy hearted.

We left at about 1pm and came back all tired and happy.

It was my dad's 35th year of celebrating Father's Day and only the 4th for my hubby. May we all have many more Father's Day to come!

You sick, I sick, everybody sick!

This is horrible. WSL remarked that I am allergic to work, hence I always fall sick whenever I am at work .... true to her hypothesis, I am sick - again!

This time however, Ryan fell sick first, then I got it and then hubby got it. Yesterday, Megan developed phelgm and a slight cough. Last Friday, Megan developed a fungus in her mouth.

Within a span of 5 days, we have been to the doctor's twice to see Megan's ills and once for mine. Ryan's visit was last week and hubby is stubbornly refusing any doctor's visits.

Anyway, hopefully after the medication, we will all get better. I cannot bear when my babies get sick, heck, I cannot bear getting sick either! Arghh ... hope to get better tomorrow.

Today we signed the S&P!!

I am darn tired now, but just want to get it on records that today we signed the S&P to our new house!!! We paid the remaining 7% and the legal fees .... and we are officially more indebted now!!

But I am still as happy as ever!!

I am so happy

I am so happy. I could not stop smiling. I am just so delirious.

Ever since we became more indebted yesterday, I am just so so happy. I began planning the house in my sleep yesterday and I could not stop thinking about the mags I will get to help me set up the house that I have been wanting.

When hubby bought our current house, he pretty much did up the entire place and it was indeed a job well done. All I had to do was move in and put in some feminine touch to it and voila, a house became a home.

Now, I want to take the lead in decorating the house ... because I want it to be a home from the start. Hubby just told me his ideas about the house - practical as usual. No doubt, it will be another well done job, but I want to be part of it.

I am supposed to start mortgage shopping today, but I was still high from the excitement, I cannot think properly today .... so have to start tomorrow.

Was telling a friend ... I waited 2 years for this, worse than waiting for Mr. Right!! It's true ... I really did wait so long. Won't you be as delirious as I am too?

We bought a house!!

Today is a very happy day for us in the family - we finally bought our landed house to fit the needs of our growing family.

We had actually gone to see this property since 2 years ago and then decided it was just too expensive. 2 years on, and the price has actually gone up! Thinking that it was going to be difficult to get a decent price, we stumbled upon a seller who was willing to sell it at the price we asked for.

It was quite lucky of us because when we brought the feng shui master to see the houses, he already warned us that it is possible to see all the houses and still, not able to find one good one because he had seen the place before.

However, I was convinced that that was the place to be and so, insisted that he comes and help us. We shorlisted 2 houses of which one was a better one. We negotiated for a good 2-3 weeks and finally viewed it today. After about an hour and a bit more, we wrote the cheque and became the proud owners of a wonderful 2 1/ 2 storey house.

I am so tired with all the excitement of the day, will update more later.

Kicking in China

We have been getting SMS and calls from my parents since last Friday when they took off to China.
Everyday, their SMS will tell us about the wonderful time they had and the wonderful sights they experienced.
And everyday, they will update us on the money they have spent buying things which we do not have in KL.
My brother is convinced they are conned .... but they said they are not. They are just happy to have been able to go there and spend money on things which will benefit us.
And so I believe that I inherited my compulsive shopping behaviour from them .....

China, here I come

My parents left for China yesterday, despite the quakes in Sichuan. They are now in Shanghai and going to tour the surrounding areas.

My dad has been talking about this trip for a while now and we did not think that he was serious about it. So, when he declared that he had booked this trip, me and my brother were like "Really ah?". We could not think why anyone would really want to go to China, especially my mum who is like a hygiene inspector walking around.

Anyway, the big day was in sight and I was a little nervous about them going off on their own. Yeah, I think it is my mother instinct kicking in, I was worried that they would be a little lost without us round. Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, it is just that they have never gone on a plane and went so far without me or my brother, so I guess, it deserved some worry.

The night before, we were planning to surprise them at the airport before they departed. We reached at about 6am .... and there was already a sea of people at the airport. It took us some time before we found them amidst a group of people. For a couple of people in their 60's, they sure looked good. Dad has a red backpack on him, looking like a school boy eager to go on his adventure and mum looked cool as ever with her coloured specs and neat hair.

After some last minut checks, the tour guide came and gave them a briefing. It was really amusing for us to see them the oldest amongst the group of 25. The tour guide had more rings and earings than 10 girls put together!

We stood with them waiting to check-in for 30 minutes and before long, they were ready to go through customs and we stood looking at their backs. I felt proud that my parents were off on their adventure, that they were able to enjoy their golden years together, that they were laughing together. My mum told me that she is ver fortunate - no matter where she goes, she always has my father to take care of the directions, the logistics etc. or she will have us to take care of things for her. How fortunate. And I wonder where will I be in my 60's.

Theie plane was scheduled at 8.10am .... and dad was calling us to see if we had reached home at 8.15am!! The plane was a little delayed. By 1.30pm, they had landed. "Landed safely" was dad's message. As of last night, we were told that they had a good half day's tour and had a good dinner and the hotel was a god 4 star. Bro said "Good that it all worked out ok".

Right now, I am thinking that they are on a bus on another day's adventure. I can feel that they are enjoying themselves. And I look forward to another sms from dad. And I look forward to see them next Friday when they return.

My parents are growing up!!

My parents are on the NET!!!

I am typing this entry in my parents' house!
This is so exciting.

Decades ago, when we first had internet access in the house, it was on some Pentium 75 computer with a mega huge screen and CPU and DIAL-UP!!! And it was deemed a luxury then in my household.

Decades later (and after many years of lapsed usage), my parents finally got hooked on the NET again - this time on broadband!!! And guess what?! they have unlimited hours on the net - as opposed to me and my miserable 60 hours a month.

Just now my old man asked about having a blog of his own = )

Parents

When we were in primary school, our teachers used to ask us to compose about our family, or my mother, or my father, or my grand parents etc.

I believe we all wrote about how their day is (from our eyes) and how they helped us and how they cared for us. However, I do not think that we really value them, nor do we really know how much they cared for us, nor do I believe that we really understood their plight, situation, conditions etc. Things which we ourselves go through now, be it in our personal or family life.

For e.g. did we really understand their situation where giving better food for us kids meant that they could not get the quality of food that they desire? Did we understand that giving us better clothes meant that they could not buy that evening gown or the khakis they wanted? Could we understand that buying us toys meant that they could not go on that fancy meal or the holiday they so long for? Could we really understand that giving us all the love meant draining them emotionally, well at least to some extent since we all know that parents are just oozing with love all the time? Granted, I am actually talking about parents who are in the middle and lover classes. I think the higher end parents would have it easier ...

I must admit that before I became a mother, I always took all these things for granted. I used to think that being a parent was easy, being the child (in my narrow opinion) was the difficult part. I mean, we had to deal with peer pressure, school, teachers, EXAMS, latest trend in town, latest TV drama series, latest crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, puppy love, EXAMS, parties, PARENTS!!!

Which kid have you met that said "I truly understand my parents and believe that they have the toughest job of all" Who? Who has actually said that being a child? Even now, I have some friends who still think that their parents are old fashioned, bothersome, naggy, horrid, unfair etc. It breaks my heart to hear them say these things, but then I thought, they have to go through this stage in order to better appreciate their parents when they themselves become parents.

Growing up as the elder in the family, my parents always had expectations on me "You are the older one, give in" "You are the older one, set a good example" "You must study hard" "You must go to the university and get a good job" etc. etc. the list goes on. As a child I used to think that I did not asked to be the first one and so I should not be subjected to these expectations and so thought of it as being unfair. However, having gone through it and now having Ryan, I begin to see my parents point of view and their many actions which I now seem to think is reasonable. I mean, I am the older one, if I do not set a good example, how will they teach the younger one right? And if I do not give in, how is the younger one going to learn manners and thus the setting of the good example. And studying hard and getting a sound education seems to make sense now. Althought I am sure Robert Kiyosaki will not agree to the part about going to university and getting a degree! Somehow all these things seem to make sense when I became a mother - am I stupid and inconsiderate all these while? Or am I on the path to maturity - which make me old! Gasp!!

Nett nett, I guess all I am trying to say is that we should take a moment everyday and think about what our parents have given to us and how their love and care have shaped us. Of course they will not be perfect, but at least they have tried their best to provide us with a better life.

I hope that someday Ryan will read this and think of me and his dad as being the best parents there ever were ....

My grandparents

I have never seen my grandparents (from my dad's side) in real life.
Sure, I have heard stories about them, but not enough to really know them. I think it is such a pity not really knowing about them.

Today, we went to visit my grandma's grave in Seremban. We went to exhume her bones as my parents have bought a place in one of the memorial centres for her to rest in peace. Some time last year, we exhumed my grandpa's bones from Penang and had him placed at the memorial park already. Today, they have been placed together after so many years apart.

The entire ceremony from the time we arrived to the grave till the completion of burining of the after life papers was pretty long. It started in the morning where we had a prayer ritual at her grave. We were told that we had to wait for 2 hours before we could gather her bones, so we went to have breakfast.

After an hour, it was ready. My dad, bro and cousins went to see the bones being collected. I was too chicken to go, so I stayed at the foot hill with mum. The bones were brought to the foothill where it was burnt for about an hour till it was brittle and then it was filled into an urn. The urn was then transported back to the memorial centre.

There, we had more prayers and then after like 2 hours, my grandma's urn is put into the unit where my grandpa was. Then we had more prayers and then finally we burnt our paper offerings to them.

At each step before we move the urn, we had to "ask" for her permission to go into the urn. The monk had to throw a "sing pui" where it supposedly shows if the spirit will say Yes or No to our proposal. This is actually 2 shell-like item where one is supposed to face up and the other down when the monk throws it on the table. When it shows this, the spirit is deemed agreeable to our proposal ... in this case of moving her from Seremban to the memorial centre and later into the unit where she will rest with grandpa. Luckily, the "sing pui" showed her concurrence ... it is deemed to be a good sign.

I think now my dad is at peace knowing that his parents are finally together and this is something he feels strongly about. For us, it means that we do not have to scale the hills to find their graves and no more dirty shoes for me .... and no more scratch marks on my legs!!!

May they rest in peace.