What my little boy wants for Christmas

Last week, my parents brought Ryan to the church for a Christmas party. Initially, he was reluctant to go because he did not want to go without me (I was too big and the weather was too hot for me). And so he said “I already have one Christmas party in school, I don’t want another one.”

Just now, I was putting him to bed and said that he needs to sleep early because Santa will only come when he is asleep. His remark? “I already have one Santa from school and he already gave me a present, I don’t need another present.”

I am pretty proud with him right now. I am glad he is not greedy, well, at least not at this point in time.

And oh yes, he did go to the party eventually and he did enjoy himself. And I did get him a Christmas present and it will sit under the tree tomorrow greeting him in the morning.

And what does he really want for Christmas? His sister!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Paying more for Hollywood movies

In today's papers, there was an article saying that movie goers may have to pay RM20 for a Hollywood movie versus RM12 for a local production.

The reason? To protect the local film industry. The Malaysian Film Producers Association thinks that by hiking the prices, Malaysians will then go watch the local films. And apparently all the 6 locally produced movies released during the school holidays under performed because they had to compete with Hollywood blockbusters.

Don't you just find this hilarious?? We are comparing movies like Wayang, Selamat Pagi Cinta, Antoo Fighter, Los & Faun, Cicakman 2: Planet Hitam and Histeria against Hollywood big-budget movies such as The Day The Earth Stood Still, Bolt, Twilight and Madagascar 2. Now, really, is there any comparison??

And to a question on why not decrease the ticket prices of local movies instead - it was deemed to be unfair wor. And someone from the association thinks that this move is timely because "... some of today's locally-made movies are on par with foreign movies in terms of quality." Haha ... really ah?

For me, I would NEVER pay even RM2 for a local production. I once went to one for FREE and walked out 30 minutes later. The standards are just not the same and they think that we will switch over once we have to pay RM20 for a Hollywood blockbuster?

Now, don't mistake me for bashing up the local film industry, I am all for the support of the local guys. And there has been some better ones made in recent years. It's just that I find it ridiculous for people to come out and say "let's hike the prices so that the movie goers will come watch us!" I mean, really? Will you go and watch Cicak Man instead of Bolt if you were made to pay RM20 for Bolt? I know I won't.

What I will probably do is to head down to the nearest DVD joint and get one copy for a fraction of the price and then get me and the family some popcorn and drinks and shut the lights and behold! a little cinema for ourselves, minus the insult these guys are trying to inflict onto me.

Another Jusco related post ...

Ok, I am not sure if they will remove/ ammend this link, but at the moment, it is hilarious. Click here to see what I mean.

I was trying to see what I could redeem with 10,000 points seeing that they will expire by the end of the year and I found that their item descriptions do not match the picture.

So, what they have done is to call an item 15kg Chrome Dumbell Set for 12,000 points, but showed a picture of a pink hair dryer. And another item called VALENTINO Ladies Handbag w/Purse but is a picture of a cordless phone.

Now, you would have read about my ordeal with them, plus something from Shopping & Sales Queen and now, I found out that even their website is stupid.

Honestly, someone should whack some sense into them about upkeeping their image perception because at the moment it sounds something like this - slow staff, silly policies, incompetent, badly managed website etc.

Hmm ... should I still venture to their store in an attempt to exchange my points? Wonder what stupid policies/ treatment will I be subjected to??

My Christmas week

This week, I will be at my mum's place. It's Christmas week and I thought that it will be fun to stick around. My parents have a big Christmas tree that Ryan will have fun with - and that does not necessarily mean decorating it.

From the time we arrived last night till now, half the ornaments are missing. And all the streamers are on the floor - Ryan had used it to dance to the Christmas music!

I always enjoy myself here because mum usually takes care of the cooking and so, I do not need to think much. Besides, here I can really rest because I am not allowed to do much housework. I usually want to throw things away and hence, mum says "Stop!"

I also have additional pair of hands/ ears for Ryan and that is great since I am not the only who gets asked "Why? Why? Why?"

Hubby was a dear again for sending us to my mum's despite being tired from work last night. He has since left for home and he will be without us for the week. I am not sure if Ryan will start to whine for his daddy tonight like he usually does.But I take it as a sign that he is getting closer to his dad. It is great to see that although the whining can sometimes be too much to bear.

Anyway, after this week at my mum's, I will be back home with another 2 weeks to go before the new baby arrives. In that 2 weeks, we will have to finish all the cleaning, attend Ryan's orientation session and send him to his first day at KG4. A trip to the dentist is also scheduled, besides visits to the gynae. Phew, still so much to do!

Thank you dear

Ryan was crying to go to the pool for many days now. I have told him that I cannot bring him because I am too big and also, I have been too tired.

This morning, his cries turned to wails. And it was heart breaking, although I did ignore him. I told hubby to come home earlier so that he can bring him to the pool. Ryan's wailing did not despite me explaining to him that it is dangerous for me to go to the pool, I might slip and fall. His response was that I can hold on to the raillings and then walk carefully. So sweet, but I was still reluctant to go.

I was counting on hubby to come back, usually he does not, because of various commitments and customers etc. However, today, he made it home in time for the little boy. Ryan was full of happiness and I am sure he enjoyed it very much.

Seeing the happiness they both had was just touching for a mother like me, esp. in my current pregnant state. Thank you dear for doing that for Ryan, for me.

What a baby looks like to a 3 year old

WSL just got a niece and she was saying that they look alike when D was a baby.

I showed it to Ryan and his immediate reaction was "My sister will also look like that?" When I said yes, he said "Looks like a tiny rat, ya? My sister will look like a tiny rat, ya?"

So there, to a 3 year old, a baby looks like a tiny, little rat.

And I am still laughing ....

Things Ryan cares about

There are some things which Ryan say which are very funny. I have termed them as things he cares about simply because he keeps talking about it:

1) Whether his poo poo is going to be hard or soft when he is eating certain kind of food. He dreads getting hard poo, so this is his main question whenever he eats something.

2) Whether he/ the sister is growing well.

3) Whether watching TV/ computer will spoil his "beautiful eyes" - that is how he has termed it.

4) Whether his milk bottle has remnants of milk powder - he hates it. I used to love it when I was young, wonder why he has that reaction.

5) Whether the Halloween ball (this is a small soft toys which has some scary Halloween face on it) will become bigger (because I told him he has to behave, else this ball will become big).

6) Whether today is a school day or not.

7) Whether it is sleep/ nap time.

8) Whether his mouth will have worms/ bacteria after eating ice-cream/ chocolates etc.

9) Whether his food contains animals.

10) Whether he is a big ko-ko or not.

For each of these situations, his actions will depend on the answers provided. Most times it is funny how he reacts but I am happy with these few things that he is particular about. He has come a long way since he was a baby. I am looking forward to many more days of his development.

Reply from Jaya Jusco

Jusco replied to my mail which was sent yesterday after my unpleasant experience. Read here for the previous day's incidence.

Their reply was standard and it goes like this ...

Dear Sir/Mdm,

Thank you for contacting AEON Careline.

We have receive your email and we appreaciate for the suggestion/feedback.

With regards to the matter that you highlighted, on behalf of Jusco Mid Valley we sincerely apologise for the inconvinience caused.

Pleased be assured that the relavent department will look into this matter, and to ensure such incident would not be repeated again.

We appreciate if you could furnish us with a few details as required below in order for us to assist you better in future. 1) Contact Number 2) JCard (If any)

Rest assured that your best interest is our utmost priority.

For futher enquiries, please contact us at feedback@jusco.com.my or 1-300-80-3535.
We looking forward to serving you better. Thank You.

See, the Engrand also wrong. My boy can speak better tenses than that.
I have already given them my contact number and JCard number ... let's see what they do about it.

And apparently, our best interest is ther utmost priority. Does that explain why I was told to go to their HQ to apply for a supplementary card for my husband??

Melman's spot

Today, I not only look like a hippo to my son, but he also asked why I have Melman's spots on my face.

I think I will stop him from watching anymore Madagascar so that he will not remember the lines!!!

I am sending this to Jaya Jusco

I had met with a friend for lunch just now and then proceeded to pick up some stuff at Jusco.

I have to say that when Jusco began its operations, the perception was that it was a mid to high end brand, what with being Japanese and all. Some even said that it was an expensive brand.

However, I thought that it was worth going there despite the reputation in exchange for a wider choice of products and brands. I was also convinced that the customer service was better.

Through the years, they have evolved to being a more mass brand. They even have their own house labels and the prices of these items, esp. the kids' PJs were good. Some of the promotions they ran were at prices cheaper than Carrefour or Giant. Great, all these savings are great for us consumers. But then the service standards also dropped.

Just now at the Mid Valley branch, the Jusco was a circus. First I went to the fruits section. There were 2 guards standing in front of the mango shelf. I was standing like half a foot from them attempting to choose my fruits. They did not even looked at me and proceeded to talk and talk, until I said "Excuse Me" and then, only did they got their fat bum away. Really, I am not sure if being thick skin and blind are criterias which were used to employ them.

And then I went to the supermarket and did my shopping in less than 30 mins. However, when I hit the queue section, I was shocked. How can there be such a long queue at 4.30pm? There were an average of 5-6 loaded carts at each of the 5 opened lanes. And the cashiers were taking their own sweet time to charge and bagged the stuff. On lanes with one person working was even more ridiculous. I am not sure if that is the fastest they were trained to work, or they just do not care.

At this particular Jusco, they have a PRIORITY LANE for the pregnant, wheel chair bound and the elderly folks. But there were a huge crowd there which DID NOT fulfill any of these criterias. And here I am queuing with the rest of the folks who really did not gave a damn about these priority lanes.

When I questioned why they cannot open more lanes (and it was clear that there were sufficient staff to operate them since they were hanging around their closed lanes), the person there just shrugged! And then I also asked why the priority lane is not serving its rightful customers ... the person told me that "Kita sudah ada papan tanda, tapi semua orang masih pergi sana." OMG, I almost smacked her - "Of course la, you have to enforce it ma, else what is the point of having a priority lane??" And the cashier there, together with another more senior looking cashier, just looked at me - without a note of apology or explanation!!!

Ok, I can accept that Malaysians are sometimes rude, illiterate and downright selfish, but that does not stop a company like Jusco to tick them off and only get the appropriate people in the priority lane!

Then I went to the kids section to buy some PJs for Ryan. When I asked where the boys' PJs are, this Malay sales girl just waved her hand, indicating it is somewhere at the end, near the cashier. I asked again if it was right, since I did not see it earlier ... she sighed loudly and then went to show it to me. Besides walking too fast, she actually took me a round - because she did not actually know, she had to ask. And this is despite her working at the kids' section.

And when I did see the PJs, it was in a total mess. All sizes and age groups were mixed up and we had to dig all of it up to get the sizes we want. It was pretty dusty too, so imagine what this will do to someone with a sinus problem?? And the queue at the counter is another story altogether ....

I think Jusco needs to do something to beat their staff in the right place. Cashiers who are sullen looking, working like they just started to handle a plastic bag or those who don't know where things are should be re-trained. Jusco has to know that there are plenty of choices today for us consumers and something like this will turn people away.

I know I will not go to Jusco again unless their diapers are dirt cheap, else I would be glad to pay a premium and shop at places like Isetan, Village Grocer, Jaya 33 etc. where the crowd is thinner and prices are slightly higher, but at least their customer service is relatively better. Also, I will not be subjected to a fictitious priority lane which does not work.