Dylan n Me

VERY IMPORTANT: New blog

2009-09-30T15:24:00.000+08:00

i have been having some difficulties using the account for quite some time now..

am getting quite frustrated about it...

hence, i am deciding to move over to wordpress...

so ...i would appreciate it and would like to thank you in advance to pls link me at my new blog at:

http://yenfen.wordpress.com

hope to have a more active blog here...i m too lazeee to figure out how to auto-direct this page to the new blog...so sorreeeee... :) see u guys at my new blog soon...:) THANKSSSS!!!

big boy now

2009-09-29T14:27:00.002+08:00

There are days, when both Ooi and I will be awed by how our baby boy has grown…sometimes, the two of us would be around the room, packing and arranging things and then we would stop down at the same time to admire our son sitting quietly watching his cartoon programs on TV…he would smile or clap whenever something amuses him...it is moments like this, tat make me feel proud to be a mummy

So last week, Dylan turned 14 months old..time flies so quickly, when you least notice it…and one of the most notable milestones achieved by Dylan is his ability to walk independently now…hehehe…he looks so adorable when he walks….

And now that he can walk, both Ooi and I wanted to bring him to those kids play places so that he can improve his gross motor skills and also develop some social skills with other children

My sis-in-law recommended the Gymboree in Bangsar Shopping Village…frankly speaking, I was quite disappointed with the set up there..and it was not cheap either…and there were also not many children in the centre..

so I decided to bring him to the Kizsports and Gym in Bangsar Shopping Village 2 instead…I was quite happy with the outcome because Dylan was so happy walking and playing. The set up there was also much more as there were many slides, colorful balls, cars, tunnels, etc…Also, there were also many children Dylan’s age playing around…the only negative comment I would have is not about the place, but just that most of the children were there with their maids instead…and the children were playing on their own and there was not much interaction, whilst the maids were all chit chatting with their fellow peers…

So, I decided to give the Kizsports and Gym in the Old One Utama Wing a chance…BINGO…its much bigger than the one in Bangsar…and they have even more facilities and a bigger area for Dylan to play with ..and the children there were mostly with their parents who were quite friendly…

So now you know where I will be frequenting more often from now on….i hope Dylan will make more new friends soon..and I also hope to be able to make some mummy friends too…so the next time u all happen to see us there, dun forget to say hi to us!!

Taking care of the mummies, too :)

2009-09-18T16:05:00.000+08:00

today, work was rather slow due to the fact that it's FRIDAY and that Hari Raya holidays officially starts AFTER WORK..hahahaha....

so i was doing a lot of bloghopping and reading...and i came across one mummy's blog (it was my first time) and this mummy wrote a very short insightful piece saying something around the line that says that all mummies should put in some time and effort on their appearances and all...

i couldn't agree more with this...it is true that as long as you are a mummy (be it a full time or a working one), we tend to OVER-focus so much on our kids, we neglect to take care of ourselves (and sometimes our significant other half)

i know i am guilty of this too..ever since i have my dylan in my life, the comments that i keep getting from people around me tend to be "Your eye bags are so bad", " Your skin is very dry", "You look so tired", "You look older now"..and to be honest, I am not happy about it...and though I keep moaning about it, i really did not do anything about it...

until last week, my younger sis convinced me to go to a VIP sale at Luxasia...hehe..i spent RM500 on stuff just for my face!!!! aikkssss....i got myself eye cream, face moisturers, facial wash, face primer, lip gloss and eye shadows...though everything was a steal (like the La Prairie Eye Cream which usually costs RM600 + ..i got it at RM120!!! hehehe), but i must admit, i felt heart broken to have spent so much...Ooi and i are not rich and we really need to be careful with our spending...but i am hoping all these products will help me restore my *once youthful* skin again..hahaha..it better work cos i really dun wan to look like i am older than Ooi either..hahah...

so...to all mummies out there...do remember to take care of yourselves too...beauty (restoration) products are just so damn expensive now!!!

bangun pagi, gosok gigi....

2009-09-07T14:51:00.002+08:00

now that dylan's eating more types of (solid) foods, i have decided to teach him how to brush his teeth...

this morning i used the First Teeth® Baby Toothpaste with the apple banana flavor...the toothpaste has natural enzymes that are safe enough to be swallowed and is without detergents, artificial flavours, dyes, saccharin or preservatives...baby dylan can swallow the toothpaste since i haven't been successful in teaching him to gurgle and to to spit out the water and toothpaste :(

i must say, i was really satisfied with the result...dylan generally took the whole exercise well..he even held the toothbrush himself and imitated me as i showed him how to brush his teeth...

does he look like he's had lots of experiences brushing his teeth from the following pics? hehehe

The Outdoors!!

2009-09-02T21:07:00.012+08:00

dylan's now 13 months 2 weeks old.....

as dylan is growing, we are seeing more and more of his personality...he's really quite one active boy...those who knows me will quickly jump at saying "just like his mummy la"...haha..i dun know whether to be proud of this statement for now...haha..while i lurve tat him being an active boy, it can really be darn tiring for his mummy and daddy leh....

With all the H1N1 going on, both Ooi and I have run out of ideas where we can bring our active lil one....so in the end, daddy decided we bring him somewhere in the open, where it is not crowded with people...and hence, last week we decided on and went to the Cyberjaya Lake...where there have a nice children's playground too and also almost pollution-free...following are some pics we took on tat day:

A picnic with aunty and uncle

mummy in the tunnel chasing after dylan

mummy teaching dylan how to cross a bridge

no matter how much we played in the playground, dylan was never tired...so on the way home, we decided to stop by in Putrajaya...and here are some more of the pics:

at the Putrajaya Ramadhan Pasar

outside the Putrajaya Mosque

another playground in Putrajaya

however, despite after all the above great outdoor adventure in one afternoon....my baby boy was still not tired...whereas both me and ooi were exhausted beyond words...sigh...go figure :)

Mr.TV Addict

2009-08-16T21:34:00.013+08:00

dylan's recently just turned one...tat's not the only thing he turned into...he's also turned into Mr.TV addict...check out the following pics and u'll see wat i mean...

the only reason why i am letting him continue to watch so much of TV is because he looks so darn cute whenever he tries to dance or imitate the TV shows....

can u blame me after seeing his cute smile in this following picture? hehehe...i just cannot resist it...sighh..i m a lousy mum ;)

updates :)

2009-07-07T11:47:00.004+08:00

dylan's been really cheeky recently...

last weekend, Ooi and i decided to bring him to the KLCC park during the evening to see the symphony water fountains...haha....it was no surprise to us tat Dylan was engrossed and so enjoyed watching the water fountains....he even wanted to 'grab' the water fountain:

but wat surprised us was when we attempted to take a family pic of the 3 of us with my handphone....watch this:

Attempt 1: Dylan not looking at the camera

Attempt 2: Dylan not exactly looking at the camera , but at least has a sorta happy expression (alamak)

Attempt 3: Dylan again not looking at the camera

Final attempt: *slap hand on forehead*..alas, we gave up

I wish.......

2009-06-23T09:44:00.004+08:00

i wish i could be a stay-at-home mummy...

spending time caring, disciplining, loving and educating my baby boy...

but i need to work....

and the reasons to work seem to outweigh the reasons NOT to work:

The first reason: My mum will kill me if i dun work..hahaha...u may ask why this is my any of my mum's problem..well..my mum's kinda like a feminist ...she believes tat all women should work and should not rely entirely on her husband's finances...tat is why (she said) she ensures her daughters are all well-educated and has a university degree..so tat they can all have their own jobs...hehe...and i am stil scared of my mum..so if she say i must work, then i must work..

The second reason is because i need to help ooi to relief his financial burden too...we have too many bills to pay every month...house loan, utilities bills, credit card bills, grocery bills, diapers to buy, milk powder to buy, dylan's injections to pay, insurance bills, maid's wages, etc etc..and these can amount to a very significant figure....therefore, if Ooi was to carry this burden alone..then he'll be very stressed and not enjoy a proper family life..

The third reason is for our indulgence purposes..not only do i need more money to indulge in major shopping sprees..but i need more money to indulge in good food..and there is nothing i love than eating a yummy spread of taste-buds tantalizing gourmet food :)and we all know good, yummy food does not come cheap nowadays..

I mean there are really many, many, many more reasons why i should work...the list just goes on and on...

but really....if money was not an issue, i would really choose to be a stay-at-home mum to spend time with my boy...time can never be recovered when lost....my boy is suddenly growing so fast...my heart breaks everytime when the weekend ends...it breaks every morning when i have to leave for work..it breaks every time when i am in the office working, knowing he's spending more time with the maid than with me...i dun think i have ever had my heart broken so many times before i had him....

i lurve my boy so much and i know he lurves me too...i hope he understands why mummy has to work and i hope he'll continue to love me as much as i love him

Happy Dylan and mummy...

Dylan..the Headstrong boy

2009-06-22T14:33:00.019+08:00

so...dylan is going to be 11 months old in a few days time.. overall, i m quite satisfied with his development..he's taking his solid foods quite well, is quite strong physically and always is curious about his surroundings....

however, the one development tat i was not quite prepared for was the signes he's been giving to both me n papa signs of what his character is gonna be like...and yup, u guessed it...he's developing to be one headstrong boy....

there have been many, many incidents where dylan has shown his strong determination in the things he wants (which sometimes, i must confess can drive me up the wall)...when he wants something, nothing can stop him...and just yesterday, this was what happened...

we tried several times to remove dylan from the laptop area...but alas,all fails...he eventually made his way back to the laptop area...

hence, papa had to take out a rosak already laptop to 'trick' him....dylan ended up pulling out all the alphabets on the keypad...luckily not on our working laptop ah....so....do i dare ask where he got his headstrong character from? the mama or papa? hehehe...i dun think i wanna know what u all say....

Dylan's fav TV show

2009-06-19T15:02:00.002+08:00

i know i should not be letting dylan watch tv at such a young age...but every morning, Dylan wakes up the same time as both me and Ooi ...then, Ooi and i would usually take turns to shower..while one showers, the other one accompanies or monitors Dylan while he is playing on his play-mat with his toys...

but every morning, they'll be a short point in time, where i would have to stand in front of the mirror to do my make-up/ blow my hair dry, while ooi needs to quickly iron out the wrinkles on his work clothes...so this will be the time when i need dylan to sit still or be at least sitting on his play mat independently without moving too much around...and ...well..u know..babies are babies...they rarely can sit still in one place for too long...he'll usually end up crawling somewhere else or to me to carry him...

so, i will usually put him in his chair and switch on the TV to keep him busy for a while..and it so happens, this always happens at 7.30 am when his favourite TV show comes on....which is Disney Channel's THE LITTLE EINSTEINS

hahaha...actually Dylan only likes the Theme Song of this song...and i usually cannot resist carrying him to dance, sing, and spin him around to the song...he'll usually shriek and scream with absolute glee whenever i do tat...and then in every episode of the show, they'll also be a part where the little einsteins will pat and raise their hands so that they can blast off in their rocket ship (ya..u'll have to watch this to know what i m talking abt)...then i will hold dylan's hand to imitate them..he so loves it when i do it...

we've been doing this for some time now..and now sometimes, when i am picking Dylan up from my in-laws' house after work in the evening, if the song suddenly comes on in the TV (they do a repeat of the show at 6.30pm), he'll get all excited and be quickly crawling his way to me to so that i will pick him up to dance..hahah..such a clever boy ah :)

heheh..so again, when dylan is happy, mummy is happy :) cos mummy *heart* Dylan so so much..MUAAAKKKSSSS

compulsory day for maids off: part 2

2009-06-19T08:56:00.001+08:00

so..ooi has decided to voice his opinion on the above matter on his facebook status..he is of the view that if we were to give our maids day off once per week, well..then places like KLCC will be filled with all of them...

i mean...this is already the case as u all know..tat if u go to KL during public holidays, u will really see a lot of the foreign workers all in the city hanging out...and when tat happens, i feel as though i am in a foreign land, rather than Malaysia

ok...but tat is not the point or the motivation to me posting another blog entry on this matter...wat really prompted me were the comments some of our frens made...(not mentioning names here..u all know who u are..haha)..

the way they make out of the whole matter is tat, we are the inconsiderate ppl who are refusing to give our maids days 0ff..this is the part tat really ticked me off...

it's not that i cannot live without my maid...nope..my maid has an off-day once every month..she'll go out on saturday and come back on sunday evening...

we do not mind doing this once a month...but to be doing it every week is outrageous...both ooi and i are working parents...ooi has to work on alternative weeks for 6 days...and there are weeks where he works 7 days a week straight...whereas for me: on saturdays, i have to bring my son to a music class he is enrolled to..on sundays, i bring him to church to mix with other babies...

with all these things to do, in between we need to make sure everyone is clean and well-fed..it is quite a bit of work to do...tat is why we hire a maid..to help us to do all the small, nitty things like getting our meals ready and keeping the house clean...and my maid does not clean the house on a daily basis becos during week days when we are working, we send our maid to our nearby in-law's house with dylan..my in-law has their own maid..so my maid does not need to do any house work there either...think how free she actually is? and even with the little work she has to do, she does half of it wrongly..

my hubby and i are working our assess off day in and day out (hehe..soree..but am really getting heated as i am writing this)...the government has never proposed anything productive or helpful to help out working parents like us...and we are the country's own citizens!! and i have not even delved into deeper issues such as our maids being influenced by other maids, or opportunities for them to know other men, etc etc...

and now they have the audacity to propose such a ruling...tell me...why am i not happy? better yet, give me a reason to be happy about the ruling? go to work stress, come home also stress...tell me now, why again should i be proud of my government..just one issue is really enuff to make me pi**ed off..

the thing is..i hired a maid so tat me and hubby can get more financial support to give the whole family a better and higher living standard...otherwise, trust me...i can live without a maid...i'll just have to quit my job to be a full time housewife...and with the reduced income, we cannot live the way we do...better education, better food, better clothes, better entertainment will all just have to be completely out of the picture..tat's all..and we will just live a very mediocre, calculative, "buy what is only needed" kind of live...tell me...wat is the meaning of life if everyday we live like tat

i really surrender my case :( pls just spare me from the 'oh..i m just such a humanitarian' kind of talk

compulsory day off for maids?

2009-06-17T20:32:00.003+08:00

i started off the day, rushing to drop dylan at my in-laws' house and then zooming off in the predictable yet horrendous jam to work...

after i parked my car in the open car park, i hurried past my office lobby, into the lift and quickly made my way to my office seat...as i dumped my bag, logged in my password for the computer..little was i prepared to see the headline in the newpaper which i set as my default homepage...

urghh...yup...u guessed it...my lovely government has once again done it...once again, they have 'cleverly' implemented some stupid regulation before even bothering to get any form of feedback from the ACTUAL affected parties(for more info: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/17/nation/4132651&sec=nation)

...sighh...i really, really have no more faith in my government...countless times, instead of being proactive they have decided to be reactive...and i am pretty confident this has got to do with the recent abuse maid case..

to be very frank, i have a lot of things i can say abt this...but i am choosing not to waste my time lamenting abt it over the internet..it is just pointless..i just know i am very unhappy and dissatisfied with my government right now...with tat, i end.

like papa, like son

2009-06-15T20:14:00.005+08:00

dylan is indeed ooi's baby boy..not tat there was any doubt about this in the first place...hahaha

i've been observing them for a while and the following are just the top 5 similarities i found with the two of them:

No.1: the two of them have the same level of curiosity...always easily amused by anything..but yet, they would always try to look otherwise and act all cool abt it..haha..but i know, when they think u are not looking at them, they'll be busy checking out wat's happening :)

No.2: the two of them have a unique sense of humor..haha..i find it cute becos they will burst out laffing at the least suspecting thing...often, i catch them laffing by themselves at something..hahaha..no..they are not wierd...just tat i think they see things differently from us sometimes :)

No.3: The two of them are tall for their respective ages...ooi is easily at 160 cm...and while i do not have dylan's exact measurement, many ppl have commented that dylan looks long..and ooi actually measured dylan when he laying down right beside me...ooi reckons he's already more than half of me!!!

No.4: the two of them loves to eat!!!they'll eat just abt anything...hahah..and coupled with their high level of curiosity (remember point No.1?), they'lll especially love to eat what is on other people's plates..haha...the both of them will almost always literally stretch their necks to see and find out wat others around them are eating...

and finally,

No.5: they both lurve to sleep ......on their BELLIES....!!!! yes, its true...see below for urself :)

so, there u have it...dun u think they are both papa and son to each other ?? :)

Baby High Chair

2009-06-11T12:04:00.007+08:00

When our baby was 6 month old and starting his first semi-solids, i got for him this really cool Nano Bloom baby high chair (http://www.bloombaby.com/) from Mamours in One Utama. They were having an opening promotion so we got it at RM199 instead of RM599. I tot it was a good deal as Ooi and I have surveyed that high chairs generally were quite pricey..even the brandless ones in Jusco ...hahaa..The Nano Bloom baby high chair was so cool and even had leather as its seat..i even purposely chose a henna brown coloured one, to match the leather sofas i had at home :)

As soon as i reached home, i put baby Dylan into his new chair and he looked so cute in it..And i even remembered seeing him sit in his new chair quietly, as he was munching on his baby biscuits...I was so proud of myself then and thinking wat a good mummy i was...such good taste Dylan's mummy has..hahahah

However, as the months progressed and as Dylan grew older and become much more curious in his surroundings, he would move and fidget a lot in his chair...he would keep turning around to see what's going on behind him..but because the back of his chair is quite high, he would not be able to see what's behind..so he would lean out on his side to achieve his objective..sometimes, during the proess of moving around, he would even end up biting the sides of his chair!!! this would continue several times, and it is especially the most tiring when i am trying to feed him...

i was really starting to regret and having second thoughts abt the chair...not that it was not comfortable cos i can sometimes see him leaning back his chair and relaxing...but it was really tedious whenever there was any distraction around him...and i did not want to get a second chair as they are really expensive...!

until...both me and Ooi realised one thing one day..we were in Canton-i and noticed that Dylan was especially more well-behaved whenever we put him in those high-chair that most restaurants have...yup..those simple, very basic looking Ikea high chair...becos in that chair, he could see everything around him!!! and he could swing his legs down there too!! hahaha...so both me and ooi gave in last weekend and drove to Ikea to get him the chair...the chair was not only much lighter (making it easy for me to move/carry it around the house) but it was more importantly, much CHEAPER at RM49...

now not only is Dylan a happy boy...mummy is also a happy mummy

vs.

Lesson learnt here: Next time, Mummy should not buy things just becos it looks cool and nice...becos sometimes, simple (and cheaper) things are just as good and sufficient , if not better :)

My fun little weekend :)

2009-06-01T12:06:00.004+08:00

It’s Monday again….how quickly my weekend came and left..again

I had such a good weekend with my baby boy and ooi…

Yesterday afternoon, my lil family headed over to Toys R’ Us with my sister…

We were actually looking for a new and *very affordable* (means super the cheap) car seat for my baby boy…cos he is on the verge of outgrowing the one I have in my car…I thought to get a cheap one cos I do not usually fetch Dylan in my car…usually he’ll be in Ooi’s car..but still, there were several occasions I need to fetch him when Ooi has to work, or stay back at work late, etc…
We saw one car seat tat Dylan really, really liked…but it was not exactly what we have in mind…if u see what I mean (in the pictures below)….

Hehehee….anyway, he really loved it..he was holding the steering wheel as if he was really driving and hitting the honk excitedly….we pushed him in the car for a while since he really enjoyed it...

I really wished I have bought the above car for Dylan..but it was just so EXPENSIVE…costs close to RM400….WAY beyond mummy’s budget…hmmm…dun worreee Dylan…mummy will buy you other things ok…give mummy time to find and make more money ya...

if only money was not an issue, it would then be a perfect weekend for us all..hahaha..nevertheless, we all had fun :)

my baby is a BOY...

2009-05-26T16:47:00.000+08:00

hehe...i know it sounds funny when u all read the title of this blog entry..

but seriously...recently both ooi and i have people asking us if our baby is a gal or boy...

and when i asked them to guess, quite a handful says "GIRL"...

so i will proceed by asking them why they think dylan's a gal..they would all say cos he looks so fair and all...hahaha

so conclusion: BEING FAIR = A GIRL?

i told my colleague abt this, and she told me "if tat's the case, old ppl say ur next kid will be a gal then"...i was like ??????

All Well's ends well :)

2009-05-22T11:11:00.002+08:00

It has been a tiring week for both me and ooi…dylan came down with a fever which then later became a flu…he had lots of phlegm inside him and was coughing constantly..he refused to take his medicine and vomited everything he could if we forced the medicine down his throat…

he’s been veree ‘manja’ to me throughout this episode..i had to carry him, hug him and kiss him constantly to make him feel better…so, it has been physically, mentally and emotionally changing..but I m glad he is well now… :) He’s back to being the cheeky, active lil’munkey I know..i lurveee him so much

Dylan looking like an innocent lil China boy

UPDATES!!!

2009-05-11T11:32:00.005+08:00

haha...it's obvious wat i am going to be blogging abt today...

here's an update on the major areas of my life:

Baby Dylan - He's now 9 months and 3 weeks old...wohoo!!! so glad!! now he's eating a variety of things...from veggies, fruits to fish and chicken porridge...occassionally, i will give into temptation and let him eat a bit of watever i am having...hahah..even ice-cream...dylan obviously has mummy's DNA..cos he's a very eager EATER :) i m so proud of him

My cheeky lil' munkay!

My hubby - Ooi is now even more MAN to me..hahah..i know, i know...if my sister Sharon was reading this, she'll probably ask me to gag her or she'll probably vomit...haha..My ooi's now his company's Head of the Laboratory Department!! yay!!! while i m equally envious tat he's climbing up so fast the career path, i truly am happy..cos he's making more money than me!! hehe...he just blessed me with a new Nokia E71...so changgih u know :) Ooi makes more money and buys me gifts to make me feel good :) perfect combo

Church - I am so so so so in love with my cell grp..even though just multiplied, i am so glad tat i have made such wonderful friends over the months...they are such fun, sporting, and friendly la...love them so much.. :) hugssssss and flying kissesssss to them...Cell grp is now a part of my life tat i so look forward to every week...i wanna make God proud of me!!!

Career - Not bad ..actually i just got my bonus...lesser than last year (due to the current economic conditions) but definitely beyond my expectations!! now i can fulfil my pledge to the church's war chest!!! yay yay!!!! Opportunities are still popping up in terms of my career but am now praying to God for new roads to come in...am interested in pursuing a new line of career path or business ventures...the time will come soon :)

For the past few months, i've been stretching myself a lot ...physically in particular...always having not enuff sleep...but it's all good..i find tat my life's good and much more meaningful and balanced...challenges will always come and go...but i'm glad tat i have all my love ones with me as i overcome these challenges :) i still MISS a lot of my family members and frens tat i cannot seem to find enuff time to spend with yet...but i am really working on it..so guys...pls be patient and forgive me for neglecting you all for some time :) i'll be back SOON

Dylan's First Semi-Solids

2009-02-19T16:30:00.001+08:00

At 4 months, i remembered Dylan was already displaying a lot of signs of interest at eating what we were eating...i remember him moving his mouth whenever he saw us having our meals...

but both Ooi and I decided to endure and that we would wait til when he was 6 months old tat we would then feed our baby his first semi-solids...a lot of our friends told us it was alright to feed at 4 months, but we decided to stick to our peaditrician's advice to do otherwise...

i was panicking as Dylan was approaching his 6 months...went on an internet frenzy search for articles on how and what to feed baby their first semi solids..then started buying his bibs, bowls and spoons...

when the day came, i remembered feeding Dylan baby rice as his first semi solids...haha...being so inexperienced, you can imagine the amount of mess i caused around Dylan's face...but it was good fun...i had even more fun than baby....

over a course of a few weeks, i discovered tat baby is more of a veggie eater than a fruit one...and tat he loves sweet potatoes and spinach...i m experimenting him with more foods and also being more creative with the kind of food i blend for him...let's see...i've tried the following veggies: sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach, siew bak choy, french beans and pumpkin...fruit-wise, i've been less experimental...we tried apples, bananas, avacado and honey dews...most time for the veggies, i do mix-and-match with the different veggies and blend it together either with his baby rice or porridge, adding a bit of milk too, to it...he seems to like his food :) i m a happy mum when i see my baby eager to eat his food :)

Dylan's first semi-solid meal..Messy messy :)

Separation Anxiety….~~!!!

2008-12-31T10:41:00.004+08:00

Wat the……?? Haha..tat’s a pretty huge word for some people…

I know I have never come across tat word before I had Dylan….

According to emedicinehealth.com, separation anxiety is a fairly common anxiety disorder that affects children and young adolescents. This anxiety results from separation or impending separation from the child’s attachment figure, for example, the primary caregiver or close family member.

Notice that the definition says that its fairly common and that it affects children. In my case, however, I think I am THE one feeling separation anxiety every time I am away from Dylan. It’s terrible. And the feeling intensifies especially if I have spent more than one full whole day with Dylan. For instance, during the weekends, I would usually spend time throughout the whole weekend playing with Dylan, sleeping with him, feeding him, bathing him, and all. So when Monday comes, I’ll feel really sad and misses him terribly much more than I would during my week days when I go to work.

Dylan has not displayed any signs of separation anxiety from me yet…nope…but I am growing increasingly worried that he might possibly feel that from my maid instead….

She spends so much time with him as compared to me….perhaps this is my maternal instincts acting up...i really don’t know….i must admit that I do feel jealous and veree heart broken whenever I see her carrying or playing with my son….but I am also unhappy with my maid sometimes….when I am spending my time with my kid, she’ll stand right there, calling him too and trying to get his attention…so when I am playing with my son, she’ll be at the corner calling his name….every time she walks by us, she’ll be calling his name….it’s been happening for a while now…I really do not like it…but I do not want to say anything to her…cos I am afraid she may take it the wrong way…

It’s getting harder now, cos my son now laughs when she plays with him…and he doesn’t laugh as often when we do….i really do hate the situation I am in….it’s starting to eat me up....ahhhhh…..i really am doubting my parenting skill…sigh……

Great Weekend ~!!

2008-12-29T21:03:00.003+08:00

Today is a Monday and also a public holiday here in Malaysia...which meant we all had a long weekend..

It was actually a pretty busy weekend for both me and ooi...

on Friday after work, we had to meet up with our great buddy who came back from Melbourne, for dinner....it was such a great dinner....did a lot of catching up and all.. both me and Ooi always miss Hon Kit for his wit..

on Saturday, we spent our day time with Dylan..then at night, we had to a attend a meteting in Church for all working adults...tat was a really, really good meeting....got me to start thinking seriously abt making really good resolutions for the upcoming year...and keeping to it!!

after the meeting, we went to meet up with some of our old uni frens, and also Lynette...who came down from Spore... :) we all talked abt Wai Yee's and Ah Lun's wedding plans and all ...seriously, there are more n more of our frens getting ready for the next level...

then on Sunday, we had Dylan's baby dedication day in Church..he was so so adorable....my lil boy was so attracted to the huge projector screen in Church..he tot it was a huge TV!! but it was a truly meaningful day for both me and Ooi...it was us, as parents to Dylan, dedicating ourselves to God to raise Dylan in His ways :) God has big plans for Dylan...i know it...He'll be a great testimony to many ppl in days to come :)

after tat, we had to attend Kong Fei and Zoe's wedding!!! hehehe...it was so so super fun...cos we got to see these two finally get married....and both Lynette and Hon Kit were there too...we all saw a couple of our old Monash frens..which we had not seen for 5 years now...wow....

and finally today, monday....we saw Lynette off...so quickly she came, and now she's gone back to spore...i'm gonna miss her....we brought Dylan for her to see...hahah..she was so happy :) if only Dylan was not sleepy.....

nope...my day did not end there...another one more of our frens, Ben....was back from Spore...met with us for lunch and hung out at our house...followed both me and ooi to do our household shopping ...hehe..poor him...we used him as our free labour to carry the stuff we bought....

after tat....both me and Ooi left for KL to meet with my sis for dinner.........

ah........tat was my weekend....i truly enjoyed it...spent time with my son and with my friends....i love them all... :) I am truly blessed I have these ppl in my life :)

5 Months Old :)

2008-12-24T10:17:00.002+08:00

Dylan’s finally FIVE months old today…wow…it seems so much more longer than tat…..

A few of my frens have commented how innocent dylan looks in his pictures..hahaha...do not be deceived, man...this boy...hehehehe....He’s been rather naughty lately…blowing bubbles with his saliva, spitting water, grabbing everything within his reach and then stuffing it to his mouth, demanding to be carried, seeking for our attention…..

But nevertheless, he’s a good baby….we can tell he loves both me and ooi a lot…cos he’s always bursting in a smile whenever he sees us home from work, or in the morning when he wakes up….

I truly love Dylan a lot….He’s truly my precious little boy..HuGsSsssss

Priorities....

2008-12-17T08:59:00.004+08:00

vs.

recently, i discovered wat my priorities in life are ....
hahah...yea..you would think i always knew...
i m talking abt the career vs. a family life...

i am one of those great advocates of striving a balanced life...
but then again, it is once again one of those 'easier said than done' scenarios....

so back to my main point....
i was presented with an opportunity for a great career ahead at one of the largest, international banks there is...but guess wat...when the interviewer asked if i was willing to work OT and weekends...i actually said No...despite the great opportunities ahead of me if i had the job...it was exactly wat i was looking for to expand my job portfolio and experience....sigh...

my headhunter called me up and asked if i would reconsider after the interview...
she mentioned that the company thought (and i quote) that i was such a perfect fit to wat they were looking for except for my reluctance to work longer hours and during weekends...

i stood my ground (and i cannot say that i dun feel a slight bit tinge of regret then)...but when i was looking at my ooi and baby dylan...i knew i made the right choice...
i did not think i want to come home late at night to see my son already asleep and when i leave in the morning for work he's still sleeping...or that when i am back from work i m too tired to talk or have a conversation with my husband....nor do i like to imagine myself not being able to spend some time at home, or at church, or just shopping with both ooi and dylan...nah...this was not wat i would have signed up for....

money...we can always find for more...

however, TIME...once it's lost, we can never recover it....

so, the conclusion for me is this...i do not think it is possible for me to strike a perfect balanced life..it will always be slightly tilted to either our work or our family...i m also still happy at my current job...and am still doing my best to excel at my present company....

from wat u read, i m sure you all know now where my priorities in life is... i believe tat there will be more opportunities for me to pursue a great career (keeping my fingers crossed)..hehe

Mummy Woes~!

2008-12-04T10:29:00.004+08:00

Life as a mummy is no bed of roses…

Life as a NEW mummy is us walking and tripping and landing ourselves on the thorns of the roses sometimes….

Since being a new mummy, I’ve discovered several things about Dylan which I find challenging and at times, frustrating….

No. 1:
I find it really difficult putting Dylan to sleep…he’s the kind who does not fall asleep on his own in his baby cot..nope…instead…we’ve got to carry him (and for the past 3 -4 months) I had to walk up and down the stairs for half and hour every time when he wants to sleep…many ppl have advised us to just let him cry to sleep or say tat if he’s overly tired, he’ll sleep on his own…hahhahaa…if only they were in my shoes…Dylan shouts and cries louder and louder the moment you put him on his cot if he wants to sleep…even when you are carrying him, he’ll be rubbing his eyes and face, but he’ll still refuse to sleep until you start walking the stairs……

No.2:
Dylan’s sleeping hours……aaahhhh…he still wanna wakes up several times per night….he loves napping in the daytime…If he’s overly tired, he will be cranky the whole day and will just be crying, so I just let him sleep as much as he wants and requires…unfortunately, tat means he’s getting up more often in the night time…I do not know how to sleep train him otherwise..hahaha…

No.3:
It’s really challenging feeding Dylan too….though he’s slightly more than 4 months, he refuses to have big feeds…he only wants 3 or 4 ounces of his milk at a 2 hour interval!!! Only our maid can get him to drink this much….when either me or Ooi feeds him, he sometimes only drinks one 1 ounce…cos he just wants to play when he sees the two of us…and he’s really strong for a baby…he’ll try to wiggle or pull the bottle away from him….

No.4:
Giving Dylan water to drink requires quite a bit of skill and tons of patience…one person would have to hold him, whilst the other has to feed his water using a spoon...despite being just 4 months old, he’s already mastered spitting the water out of his mouth…he does not drink water from the bottle either…he’s a tricky one…he’ll pretend to be moving his mouth and drinking the water, but if you were to check the bottle, you’ll know he did not drink the water at all…

No.5:
Dylan’s got sensitive skin….he gets rashes when he’s hot….so we got to constantly wipe his face with wet cotton balls to keep his face and neck area cool….sigh…..i’ve been switching several brands of baby baths now…and I think I finally found the perfect baby bath..haha..the Eubos baby oil bath…ahhh….God’s gift from heaven to us....it’s quite good…you can instantly feel your baby’s skin feeling smoother and supple after a bath with it…

No.6:
Dylan refuses to be in the baby stroller when we bring him out…and he cannot be in the car seat for too long either…aiksss…….tat can be quite challenging..as carrying him is also becoming more difficult as he is growing…haha…my arms are now quite muscular in fact :)

Yea…the list seems short to some of you….but trust me…it’s more than enough to drain one’s energy and emotions dry…hahha…Ooi and i can no longer just go out as and when we like...in fact, many at times, we've missed out certain events or functions just to stay back home to soothe or take care of dylan...

So once again I’ll say…Life as a mummy or a parent is no bed of roses…. There’ll definitely be some tears shed when we land ourselves on the thorns sometimes …..but then again, we got to always remind ourselves to pick ourselves up to smell and enjoy the beauty of the roses again….

When I see Dylan smile…ahhhh….it’s all worth it…..i love him so much…kekeke…

Dylan with his necklace of biscuits to mark him being a 4-month old baby :)

Random babbling....

2008-11-14T16:16:00.002+08:00

A child is one of God’s most magnificent creations :)

Dylan is a really blessing to both Ooi and me…we are constantly surprised by him…We feel so enriched having him in our lives….

He’s no angel sometimes…tat we admit…screaming for our attention, crying for us to carry him…but still…we love him for everything that he is…

He’s now 3 and a half months…putting everything he grabs into his mouth….drooling….curious….ahhhh….i just love him so much

below is one the latest pics we took of him...hehehe..look at that face...hehe....how can i not love him when he looks so adorable to me

New Luv~!!

2008-09-23T21:44:00.006+08:00

i am finally back for work after my 2-month long maternity leave...

i thought i would feel glad to be back at work, u know....be the all-rounder-mum: have a wonderful husband, have the most adorable baby boy, have a great career, great frens and colleagues, go to church and all....

but i never realised how much i can miss my son the second i turn my back to him after kissing him to leave for work...i felt i could leave everything else behind just to spend every moment with my lil dylan boy...sigh....

i miss his lil coo-ing sounds that he makes when i play with him..
i miss his lil fists flying all, his legs kicking non stop when he gets happy and over-excited....

i miss his cheeky lil smile when he thinks we have given up trying to make him finish his milk...

i miss the way he tries to find the right spot on my shoulder to sleep on when i carry him....

i miss the smell he leaves on my clothes after i carry him...

i miss the way he would grasp on to my shirt when i try to put him down to sleep on his cot...

i miss the sound of him smacking his lips when he sees me....

i miss the way he tries to stick out his toungue when he sees his dad (ooi taught him to do so)...

i miss the way his head feels against my cheeks when i am carrying him on my shoulder....

is this normal..to miss someone so much....to be thinking non-stop of the little moments we share together...or is this just a post-maternity leave kind of hype...

is it possible to feel this much of love for such a tiny being tat i have just known...hahaha...

i truly have never felt so much love bloom out of me..its as if my spirit is so overflown with too much of love...ahhh...i love my baby boy too much...i love my ooi so much too for loving dylan so much.....

The two most important men in my life now :)

A new mummy's life ~!!

2008-09-05T17:00:00.008+08:00

I am beginning to sink into my mummy's role and taking up responsibilities to help out my Ooi...going to buy milk powder, buy diapers...but at the same time, i am also able to relax a little because Ooi's lovely grandma has been around to help me look after my precious Dylan when i m out doing all these things :)

Dylan's been a happy little baby recently, having his great grandma feed him and talking to him... she loves him lots....I am glad Dylan's got someone like her in his life...she has a lot to teach about love and giving :)

Also, ooi and i have been buying lots of baby stuff for dylan...besides clothes (he really have tons of it!!), a car seat, a playpen/baby cot...this week alone, we bought him a really cool musical mobile which has light..and a new baby stroller!!!

my shopping list is now comprised entirely of buying stuff for dylan..hahaha..i really need to make more money for him....anyway...for your viewing delight, i enclose below here pics of my lil boy in his car seat for the first time!!!

Hope these pics brought a smile to your faces....it never fails to bring one to mine :)

til then.......have a great day!

It's Party Time~!!

2008-08-20T13:45:00.007+08:00

How quickly time flies....Both me and Ooi have already spent one month of waking up every 2-3 hours in the middle of night feeding baby dylan, changing his diapers, trying to calm down his almost incosolable crying...it's been and still is challenging to both of us ...and fortunately, this saturday both ooi and i will be having baby dylan's full moon celebration at our humble little abode....we will be having all our closest friends and relatives here with us then....but more importantly, i can't wait to wash my hair!!!! Finally!!!

My parents will also be coming down from Brunei to join us during this joyous event...even my aunt from Singapore is also coming down...Frankly speaking, I am ecstatic abt this weekend...all my loved ones will be with me!!! hehehe...i have my parents, my sister, my husband and my baby...ah..... total bliss :)

now gotta plan....plan wat to wear for both me and baby dylan..haha...i got to wear something to conceal my still-bulging stomach....baby dylan's got to wear something to show off his handsome-ness..hahaha....

can't wait to post some photos later abt this wonderful event...stay posted :)

What would you do~~???

2008-08-14T09:30:00.002+08:00

Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you had more space? but yet at the same time, ironically, wish you had more ppl to care for you? The questions sound contradictory..i know....you must be wondering...ok..so you wanna be alone or not then?? hahaha...

This is how i felt for the past 2 weeks....since having baby dylan... family members are the worst...they blot us new mothers out of the picture completely and put their focus on the baby completely...while i understand the baby is the star now, but it would certainly be nice if they could at least ask me once how i was doing...

being in this predicament, has been emotionally whelming for me...i missed my own mum and dad so much tat my heart aches so badly and tears would keep coming out of me....i wish they weren't so far from me....i am indeed tempted to go back to Brunei to stay with them...but i have an obligation to my husband and his family to be here instead...

u must be wondering how bad the situation can be...hahaha..trust me...bad enuff for me to think i can make my life into an interesting, 'addictive to viewers' kind of drama or movie on tv... moreover, i have these ppl pushing themselves into my baby dylan's life...i can understand they want to have an active part in moulding his character...however, they have had their chances being mums to several of their own children...shouldn't baby dylan be mine and ooi's to mould and to shape? He's after all my baby boy...my first born....

i was just telling ooi and my sister that i think i may currently be suffering from post-natal depression..they are the 2 closest persons i have right now with me..to give me the mental support i need...i've been praying hard...for more strength and wisdom and it pains me to know that i'm weakening as time pass by...feeling more n more irritated with all these intrusive ppl...am i supposed to be grateful that they are all veree excited and concerned over my baby boy? i really dunno...i know i m not jealous of my baby boy..becos i wan nothing but the best for him...i just wan to spend as much time as i can with him during this maternity leave of mine....so, wat would you do??

Baby Matters~~!!

2008-08-13T13:18:00.004+08:00

I always wanted kids you know....Everytime i go somewhere and when i see those little tykes scrambling around, i will always feel a wave of tenderness and love for them....and i would always tell myself that someday i will have one of mine to play with, to hug, to kiss and to be with...

i got my wish as of 24th july 2008...my little dylan entered into this world, and i remembered clearly how much i panicked when i pushed the him out and there was no crying sound...i was frantically asking Ooi why there was no sound and then looking at the doctor as the nurses all carried my little dylan away from her to put her on the heated cot to clean her...my dr. was like "cos they have not cleared his airways yet darling"...and as soon as i heard that, a sharp and loud cry filled up the delivery room..it was the first sound and cry of my baby boy...it was only then i breathed a sigh of relief and realised that "I am now a mummy!!"

Ah...how i love him..looking at him aches my heart....he was just so tiny...and he looked so innocent and helpless..i could see him kicking and waving his hands everywhere as the nurses cleaned him up...

he's been home now with us and is now more than 2 weeks old, fast approaching 3-week...eekk..the challenges....i remembered how awkward i felt carrying him...and feeling a little disappointed at myself for not having that instant maternal instinct or skill...feeding him is still challenging...my dylan boy would shout so loud that i am kinda worried my neighbours might soon move away...kekeke....sometimes, when we are trying to get the milk to him, he would cry til there's no sound....(now that really scares me) ...and changing his diapers...phew....even the nurses in the hospital commented wat a strong little man dylan is...his legs can really kick..!!

it's been a rollercoaster ride of feelings for me since the day dylan was born...one moment you love him, want to care for him..but the next moment, you are scared of him and want to run away and cry...it is indeed true that it's not easy being a mum... i remember reading a quote not so long ago which is truly applicable which goes something like this "when a child is born, a mother is also born. for a woman is not a mother until a child is born"

This is going to be a long journey for both me and ooi...He's been so great during this whole process...so willing to learn and to play such an active role in both dylan and my lives..Dylan and I still got a lot we can also learn from Ooi.. :) i am glad my son has Ooi as his father..He'll be a great influence to our son's life...ahh...at the end of the day, despite all the difficulties i am having with dylan, i am glad thath Ooi is here with me all the way....so continue to pray for my little family, to those dear frens who are reading this....pray that our dylan will be an easy baby to take care of...and that both me and Ooi will be good parents for this fine, young man :)

I am a Mummy Now~!!

2008-08-11T08:24:00.013+08:00

hi hi...

I'm back...haha...i can finally update my blog now that i am under my 60-days maternity leave...
yup...i am now a mummy to a cheeky little boy...my baby Dylan...

Behold, this is my baby boy...hehehe...he's now slightly more than 2 weeks old but would you just look at him...heheh..full of playful and cheeky facial expressions.. :) i love him so much!!!

but it had not been an easy journey...i had a pretty traumatic episode during the delivery..i was not able to really push him out and the doctor had to use a ventouse to suck him out...so poor baby dylan had to be monitored for a few days in the hospital and was also put on drip...poor baby...and when he came back home, he was readmitted again in the hospital for another 2 days due to jaundice...

as for me...i was not only tired but had quite a bit of stitching done on me...could not sit properly even til now....but at least its bearable now :)

as for other problems (sigh), confinement ladies...there are those who are good and those who are alright ..and then (with my kind of luck) there are those who are a real pain in the a**. Sigh...a word of advice to anyone out there who is expecting or who intends to have a child in the future..."Never hire your own relative as your confinement lady"...not only am i paying my aunt a market price but i have to listen to her endless bouts of complaints...no exaggerations here at all..from the day she arrived...my God...that mouth of hers...she complained abt the house, the frying wok, the plates in my house, the maid, the baby clothes, the bath tub, the food, etc etc etc...to make matters worse, she's been cooking me wrong food...aiks....pls take this word of advice dear expectant mothers out there....besides spinach or broccoli, pls do not take other kinds of vegetables during your confinement period...it'll give you tons of wind and constipation problems...especially if you have a sensitive stomach...my aunt was too ignorant to pay heed to this despite my mum's endless advice...now i am having major stomach discomforts daily.

But praise God..because during this whirlwind of problems, there is my Ooi who has been consistently by my side...listening to me release my daily stress....and also playing an active father role by feeding him in the middle of the night...changing diapers..rocking him to sleep, heating up the milk, cleaning the bottles, etc...hehehe...and then he'll get the maid to look after the baby for a while and sneak me out of the house once in a while so tat i can have a breather....ah......

God's been good to me..blessing me with baby Dylan and my ooi...I'll readily admit that I have not been easy to be around with recently due to the stress i am having with many things..in fact, i finally understand what post-natal depression is all about...but I believe very soon, I'll be better and be a even better mom and wife to my 2 men... :) Parenthood....there's no backing out now...hahaha

My birthday~!!

2008-04-23T08:45:00.002+08:00

Ah…..yes….my birthday which happened to be on the 19th….

This year, I really wanna thank those for making this birthday of mine a wonderful and sweet memory…. i must confess that I was not exactly excited over my birthday initially… being so bogged up with work, my pregnancy woes and challenges and other stuff initially….

But praise God, I have wonderful ppl around me…I received my first birthday gift one day before my actual birthday..hehe..it was from my lovely Ooi…hahaha…sent this really cute basket of roses, love-shaped balloons and a teddy bear to my office…tat was good…I was really happy and felt really loved :) i am a sucker for roses..haha…I know…so typical of a girl..hahha….

anyway, my cell group members also celebrated my birthday for me that night too…haha…they tried to con me by giving me a McChicken burger (with fries dipped in ketchup stuck on top of the burger!!!) as my birthday cake…haha…anyway…thank goodness, they had a real cake (with my name spelled wrongly though!! YUN FEN…eeeekkk)….

Anyway, to sum things up, the following are gifts I got this year:
a) A pretty dress from my CG members and Carmen’s mum!!
b) A cute furry hear-shaped jewelry box – also from my CG members
c) A baby stroller – from my parents-in-law (was so excited watching ooi assemble it…even whirled it around the house once it was done ..hehe)
d) A set of baby clothes: lady-bird themed with mittens, shoes and all from Kah Chun
e) A Coach wallet- from my lovely sister (Thanks again Sharon!!)
f) Ang Pau (yay!!! Can still get ang pau despite being married now) – from Ooi’s grandma
g) Jelly cake from Ooi’s sisters…tat was kinda yummy and fun to eat..haha
h) A fat toy hippo which I love from Amy
i) A set of massage oil, shampoo, etc from Julie

So many gifts leh…hahah…I always say gifts make the birthday more beautiful and special…haha…how terrible…

Anyway..so I m now officially 27 years old....i know there will be more challenges coming my way….but I know I am able to rise above all these challenges and conquer all…with all my loved ones beside me and God on my side, nothing can stand against me..heheh…There you go...I am now a year older but I am also a year bolder and a year wiser..Amen..hehe

Dedicated to Hogan and Synthia~!!

2008-04-17T07:59:00.002+08:00

Last nite, i received a pleasant call from one of my oldest buddy in the world..hahah..he actually called me to wish me congrats after reading my blog i guess and finding out abt my pregnancy..

anyway...i was happy to receive his call...but tat was not all..his next news was wat woke me up instantly....haha..i never tot he would do this ...but yup....he had decided to take the plunge(!!!) and proposed to his girlfren, synthia :)

but it was the way he told me abt his proposal tat stuck to my head..haha...hogan- being the typical him and full of macho-ism...This is how he told me abt his proposal:

Hogan: So..umm....i bought a ring for synthia......

tat's all...but anyway, he is one lucky chap to have such an intelligent fren like mua (i love to indulge in self praise at every/any opportunity i get..haha...so bear with me)....i did not drill him for details or anything...i knew he was kinda shy to inform me the news..hehe..so i just congrated him immediately, instead of the usual teasing....and oh ya...asked him to have his wedding reception as soon as possible....so that i may go visit them in brisbane soon!! heheh...i'll drill him for the details soon....like how he proposed, where he proposed, etc etc...haha (so, you better prepare yourself k hogan!!)

so, once again, Hogan....Synthia....CONGRATULATIONS to the both of you...i hope the engagement is not a secret since i am babbling it out to the whole world here :) Here's wishing the two of you a great journey ahead...things are not going to be easier...but it will definitely be more meaningful.... :) Love you guys

Hi hi...I'm back~!!

2008-04-14T08:25:00.001+08:00

Wow…It’s been forever since I last updated my blog..i m so soreee for playing MIA…have been busy since then (isn’t that always the typical excuse?)

So many things have happened sicne my last blog entry..let’s see..
a) I am now in my job at the new dept for more than 5 months now…
b) Christmas came and left…
c) The new year came…
d) Chinese new year was here….was back in brunei for nearly 2 weeks then…
e) I even spent Valentine’s day in Brunei..haha..with my Ooi ..and my parents..hehe..it was really enjoyable…
f) The Malaysian general elections came and left….this was my first time voting..hehehe…
g) And now …well..it’s already April….

So…as I said, it’s been more than 5 months since I am posted at my new department in the company…the work load is definitely much more..i have to work longer hours and have no more time to surf the net in between…but despite all this, I am enjoying myself more than ever…I find myself waking up daily and looking forward to go to work….work is now definitely more challenging now but I am more excited than ever being at my new place…I have fantastic dept mates….we laugh everyday…I believe this is one of the most contributing factors to me being so happy at my current place....

Another reason why I have been keeping quiet for so long..hehehe….some of you already know this….but there are also a lot of you frens of mine who dun know abt this at all…

The thing is……I m now pregnant…hehehe….YUP….i am now in my 23rd week…according to my doctor, my baby’s expected due date is on 8 August….Ooi and I are both really excited…I m kinda scared, truth be told…but it’s still a happy kind of scared feeling..haha..i dun even know wat I m talking abt…we are taking everything one step at a time preparing for the arrival of our little one and our new roles…most ppl have been kind enuff to share a lot of their experiences with us…while this can sometimes be a bit mind-boggling to us, we are still very grateful for all the well wishes and advice from everyone…

Anyway…I shall try to update my blog more often…I will try my best to put time aside to do so..haha...so til then…have a blessed day

A new journey...

2007-10-25T12:14:00.001+08:00

Today is my last day at my current job..at my current department...
And even though it is the my last day here, I feel it’s a new beginning ahead of me…
After today, I will be on my way to go on a short holiday to Pangkor with my Ooi for a short and relaxing holiday…
And when I come back on the 1st of November, I will be reporting to my new boss at my new department…

A lot of my colleagues are slowly finding out about my transfer..and not surprisingly, a lot of ppl are showing me a lot of support and are sharing my happiness...

My current boss has been treating me, as if I have some invisibility powers….though I do feel slightly hurt with her behaviour, I choose to focus more on what my future lies ahead of me…i am truly excited and cannot wait to start my new job functions at the new department…I believe I will be able to contribute more to the company, and also to my self with this path I am taking…

For the past few weeks, I have been quite free…I am finally done packing my things…my new department colleagues have shown positive reaction and enthusiasm..they even packed up my newly assigned place at their dept and invited me up for a preview yesterday…they’re so sweet…I can’t wait :)

Back to square one??

2007-10-08T07:55:00.000+08:00

ever wondered how funny life can be sometimes....

u think you want something...u are sure you want that something...u go and hype yourself up and pursue that something...only to find out that after you achieved that something, something else came up...and now you found out that you may not have really wanted that something in the first place... ????....wat is that, you may ask...hahaha...well for those of you who knows me well ,it will come as a non-surprise to you that i once again, found myself in such a predicament...
*taking a deep breath*............

ok...so i had planned to resign from my current job...and i did managed to tender in my resignation letter last monday...haha...my immediate supervisor was all ok abt it..Tat kinda surprised me cos i have been working for her for slightly more than 3 years and you would think she would try to encourage you to stay...considering how much i did contribute to her department and all....but well, she did not ( i wonder if it was my imagination that she looked pleased instead...hahahha)

Anyway.... so, i went on to pass my letter to my head of department...now again, i was in for another surprise...becos he's only been my HOD for 3 months (company restructure)...and yet, he immediately asked if he could make me change my mind...and what was more amazing was that, after he saw me, i saw him walking straight to look for my CEO...and within half an hour, i was called to see my CEO...and she too asked me to reconsider and even gave me a better option to continue my work here in the company....

i was so shocked ...i never thought that ppl knew or even appreciated my contribution to this company :) wat more my HOD and CEO...wow.....!!! anyway...after serious consideration, i have decided to stay on here at my current company :) i truly love this place and i strongly believe that i can contribute so much more to the company :) i'm going to have a different boss though (yay!), learn new things and expand my knowledge on the company and industry further...things are going be in a more structured manner (finally!) i believe things are going to be better..

looking back the past week, i was wondering how this could have happened...this is definitely not on my own efforts...i know this has got to be from God :) our God definitely has a unique sense of humor...hahaha...making me go round in circles, only to come back to not only my place, but at a better situation :)

I m a chicken

2007-09-28T10:34:00.000+08:00

hahaha..i officially found out wat a coward i can be...

was supposed to tender in my resignation letter but chickened out the last minute....

can't do it today becos my boss is on leave...

got to do it on monday...bummerrr......

*sigh* i dont know wat else i can say except......"cluck, cluck, cluck..."

moving on.........

2007-09-26T08:01:00.001+08:00

hi hi...ok ....after weeks of serious consideration, i have finally decided i will move on.... in fact, today i will be officially accepting the offer from the new company and tomorrow, i will tender in my resignation letter to my current boss....

this was definitely not an easy decision to make.... i really love my current company..i'm really going to miss my colleagues here...i have already told some of my closer colleagues abt my plans and they were very sad and yet, surprised at the same time....surprised becos they tot things were already going my way.... i know my work well..others know i know my work...i always seem to enjoy my work...i have great bonuses, increments and even promotion...so why else am i leaving...hahaha...trust me...i have asked myself the same questions countless times over the last few weeks... :)

however, after ding-dong-ing between leaving and not leaving, i decided it is best i leave...thanks to the sermon i heard from my pastor over the weekend...He said sometimes in order to be a winner, you must need to give up something else so tat you can move forward...and that it is important you do not quit at the moment when things are not right..but you only quit when things are no longer right....

after that service, i began to start thinking abt wat he said...i had to be brutally honest with myself with wat i was getting out from my current job besides the great monetary benefits...

...i wanted to go out there to develop myself further...step out of my comfort zone...learn new things..be around new ppl ( i really need this!!! haha...for those of you who know me well, u know who i m referring to :)) ...new challenges...see whether i am adaptable to different situations...

so far.. i have no regrets with my decision...in fact, i feel free-er....wierd...hahah...i m really excited!!!! hehehe...it's another exciting chapter in my life :) so do keep me in prayers :) hehehehe

Perseverance is the key to life (forever)

2007-09-05T09:18:00.000+08:00

Hi hi..today i decided to share the above cartoon with you..it was sent to me this morning by my colleague...

For some of you, you might find the above cartoon a bit hilarous...yet, behind the humour of all tat lies a reality that most of us can relate with...we all have a tendency to whine/ complain when things are a bit tough...for those of us who are believers, we also tend to have a penchant in asking God to take away our troubles..haha...always looking for a quick, easy, and painless way out of our challenges....

but as you can see from the above illutration...there are reasons why God lets us go through the challenges we have...and it is always for a far, greater purpose that He has in store for us... ah...isn't our God such a creative and awesome creator...so friends, let's continue to persevere in our life no matter what happens ya..God bless

I Love You

2007-09-03T15:06:00.001+08:00

He never stopped loving me, you know… Despite my horrendous temper..He never stopped loving me…He never distanced himself from me… There are times when I thought I was not good enough for Him…but He would always be there to tell me how much I mean to Him and that He would give me his everything just so that I may be able to be with him forever… Even though I know He loves me, I would sometimes go on for days..and even weeks…not talking to Him, not thinking of Him…I know how much it must really hurt him, for me to be so uncaring after all that he has done for me…and yet, I still do it…After all, He has always helped me out during all my difficult times and would always provide me words of comfort, words of wisdom, and words of assurance and ways to get me out of the troubles I have…and yet, I sometimes don’t even bother to say thank you to Him…but yet, whenever I need help He will always be there… He’s my solid rock…

Actions speak louder than words...His actions definitely spoke louder than words…He loved me way before I even knew him…He also loves me in a way no one else does…He loves my imperfection…it is in my imperfections, where he makes me feel whole again…Yet, sometimes I feel ashamed of Him being a part of my life…but yet, he has never blamed me for being such a coward…instead, he just stood by me from a distance,..giving me the space I need and yet, still be near me and always protecting me …never intrusive…but just supportive..waiting for me to come back to him and to run back into His warm embrace…

Today, I am writing this letter of apology to Him here…I’m so sorry that I have taken your love for granted…I am so sorry for being so selfish, thinking of myself only…I am so sorry for being so insensitive…I am so sorry for being so worldly….always worried what others may think instead…so silly of me…
I know that I will most likely repeat the things above to you again soon…but this time, I hope it doesn’t take this long for me to realize how amazing your mercy and love is…how precious it is to me…and that I really should hold on to your love so close to me….and that I shouldn’t let it slip away from me..not even for a second…Father God, I pray that you will forgive me of my sins and transgressions…and that I learn not to worry what others think of me and You but rather concentrate on how I can get to know you more…how I can be closer to you…Father God, you are my all.. You make me who I am today..you gave me all that I have today…without you, I am and have nothing….From the bottom of my heart and in from my mind, Father God , let me say I love you…I love you Father God, forever and ever. Amen

Seasons of Change?

2007-08-29T08:22:00.000+08:00

Today, i decided not to focus on food for a change...hahaahaha...today i'm going to write abt my work...!!! urghh....for those of you who know me, u would know that since i graduated, i've been working at my present company til today..that means i have been here for more than 3 years now..for obvious reasons, i will not mention which company it is...

anyway...when i first joined...i came here with a very enthusiastic attitude ...i wanted to be the most hardworking and efficient employee for the company...there was a deep sense of loyalty i developed for the company..it was a classic "Live Company X, Die Company X" attitude i had...i quickly learnt the things needed, and also discovered how much of self satisfaction i could derive from the work place....over time, however tat enthusiasm slowly died down...work soon became ..work...my boss and i constantly could not see each other eye-to-eye when it comes to official work matters...i wanted to be quick, to the point and accurate...she wanted more than necessary, and often missing deadlines kind of attitude (how ironic coming from a boss, right?)...however, i always ended being on the receiving end whenever other ppl wanted to complain abt the missed deadlines and having to process more than necessary...

But that was not wat drove me over the edge to want to leave the company..what was worse were the physchological/ mental games my boss loves to have with me..one moment she's nice to you, next moment she ignores you completely...one moment you are her wing person, next moment you are just indifferent to her...one moment she says you are to do work of your level (as a Senior Exec), next moment she gives you menial, administrative work to do..urghh...it's not that i want to complain for doing these work..but worse, you end up doing everything in the department..instead of compensating you, she tells you we work not for money but for interest...hahaha....how silly is that..we all work for money (no matter how religious you are!!)...otherwise, what do i feed on...Grass?? Air??

It's not liek i havent tried to discuss all this with my boss..but u know..it's just not the same...i feel like saddam in the cartoon below(which describes perfectly how i feel when i am talking to my boss)...haha...

anyway, i wanted to leave the company...i was just not really happy...working more on an auto pilot mode...but i was also afraid to step out from my comfort zone...i'm already familiar with my work here...familiar with ppl here...and if i really endure all these for another, say 5 years, things might change and my boss will by then have retired....haha...

but after thinking through..i think its time for a change of environment...perhaps go out there and expand my abilities and skills more...it's scary though..so, do help by praying for me...that more windows of opportunity will open up to me..and that i have the wisdom, strength and courage to take up a new challenge!!

PoooFF now u see me....

2007-08-23T16:05:00.000+08:00

hi ..i know i've been missing in action for some time now...its been 2 months since my last entry...
as i m writing this, there's a feeling of guilt creeping up to me....sorry for not responding some of u for asking where i m or how i've been...

truth be told..a lot has happened during these 2 months....actually it felt longer than tat..i lost my grandma whom i love so dearly...i also recently just lost something that i really love too...working has been more stressful too due to a change in management...having lots of work and financial challenges all at the same time...

but these problems all seem so much more simpler when i putting them down in words...funny, how i felt so alone and depressed when i was going thru all those moments...sometimes, i feel like no one in this world cares for me..no one bothers to ask if i'm alrite...no one even notices tat i'm not alrite...but praise God...Ooi was the only one who really did notice...when i was sad, he'd always try to pick up my spirits by being very positive and patient with me...he'd write me emails daily..send me sms-es while at work..call me ...bring me to new places for dinner...take time off work to spend more time with me...he's amazing...:) and i truly thank God for that...

having said that, i realised too, how important it is to have someone who loves you be with you...i know that because of Ooi and i hope and pray for all my friends, that they too will find someone who loves them, be near them..be with them...through good times and bad times... :) God bless..

Yummy places... :)

2007-06-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

Another "YAY" for all you food lovers out there...

i promised to put in more pics on my food journey..so here it is..

ok...for those of you who are not from KL..but have been down here in KL to do some cheap shopping, you definitely would have gone to the famous Sg. Wang Plaza...ok....now...i dunno how many of you here have discovered this cute little place tat i m gonna be writing abt here..but if u have been there..GOOD for you!! if not, you definitely should drop by this place...they have a lot of set meals..comes with an iced lemon tea, a main dish, then dessert..and then coffee or tea...now...it is the dessert that u DEFINITELY MUST (extra emphasis here) TRY!!! which is their chocolate banana cake with vanilla ice-cream..(**saliva drooling here**)..the name of this little eatery is kinda cute too..doesnt match the place though...haha...but it doesnt matter...anyway, before i go out of topic...this little place is called the WEST 57th ST. CAFE...and its hidden inside the Plaza...just outside the Malaysian Designers shops..

Sharon tried the Spicy Chicken pasta..sounds wierd but it tastes pretty alrite ..i had some mushroom thingy with rice...the little salad they have at the side of each dish has a very tangy, fresh kind of taste that can be addictive..hhehe...but again, pls remember to have the yummylicious banana chocolate cake..yummsss...

Following that...3 weeks ago, Ooi and i decided to have breakfast at Coffee Bean after some work stuff he had to do...we went over to KLCC and ...wa...they have BREAKFAST SETS!!! haha...ok ok ..i know..so wat if they have breakfast sets...but i love breakfast sets...especially those english-style kind of breakfast set...haha..i had the salmon scramble breakfast set..ooi ..hmm..i cant remember wat the name of the set he ordered..but hell, it looked good...and our food really tastes as good as it looks...haha..so ppl...Head over to coffee bean..i think its an all-day breakfast set thing...hahaha...so u dun have to worry abt having to wake up early to order this...but if u order before 11 am, u get a refillable tea/ coffee...haha...anyway....2 THUMBS up and a HIP-HIP HOORAY JUMP for Coffee Bean's yummylicious food...yummmmssssssss........

SNEAK PREVIEW OF WAT's UP NEXT: I'm going to be putting up a post on my impromptu "looking for new food" trip to KUALA SELANGOR soon...so...stay tuned for more food updates..hehe...get ready some tissue papers to wipe your drools....kidding kidding :)

Updates..more food!!

2007-06-11T14:31:00.000+08:00

Hi hi…
Haven’t got time to blog recently...am real sorry abt tat ....but just to make sure those of you who drop by my blog DON'T think tat I have disappeared off the face of this earth, I tot to leave you all some of the stuff that I had during the previous month…I know some of the foods here were featured earlier, but bear with me til I have the time to load newer pics…

This is me at Piccolo Mondo in Mid Valley, with ooi…A nice Italian restaurant…nice ambience and all..but ohhhh..u reallee should try the Tuscany Shake…it’s a chocolate milkshake with oozes of chocolate sauce..topped off with a piece of yummy Oreo…slurrpppsss up for tat!! The Spaghetti Cabonara is also worth a mention here...if u are a safe eater like me (tat means, you are not typically adventurous and dun wanna risk / regret eating something tat tastes wierd ..haha)

Following that, Delicious by Ms Read….according to Sharon (my sister), this was started by a lady and her daughters who so loved to cook that they decided to set up this chain of eateries…now u can see Delicious at Bangsar and at One U…I dunno if they have any other branches anywhere else, but tat doesn’t matter since I m usually only at these 2 areas anyway..hehe…but definitely a nice eatery to be at…nice atmosphere…waiters are nice too …it is my personal opinion when waiters at any restaurants are nice, they make your eating experience so much more enjoyable..

Next, we have the Robert Harris café…also in One U…I love going there…cos its location is just situated in the middle of the mall itself…I love this place becos they have quite a wide variety of food and drinks choices..and the prices are pretty decent…I was there with Sharon, Bryan and ooi..as u can tell, we each had a bit of each other’s food…yummmssssss….not bad at all..a definite place to visit when u are in One U…

And lastly, my own concoction…I made this Creamy Chicken Pasta myself…hehe…pretty yummy if I do say so myself…though not much of a looker..hahaha…

Ok..i promise to load more pics and update more stuff later…haha..for now, I hope I got your mouths watering…til then, have a nice day ahead..

Keeping My Weight off??

2007-05-28T07:52:00.000+08:00

It's already been 6 months I have been enjoying my life as a Mrs...though they have been challenges along the way, nothing beats the challenge of me keeping the weight that i managed to lose for the wedding dinner earlier during the year...*sigh*

It is at this moment now, i am afraid i have to admit that i have crumble to the pressures of staying fit...yesterday, i dragged my feet and braved myself to the weighing machine..and to my horror, i have already put on 4 kgs!!!! 4 kgs!!!

i wish i could say that all those extra kilos were due to water-retention...but i have got to face the facts...on the exterior, everyone says i look more or less the same..but i know that though i may be able to fool others, i m not able to fool myself...i can see my tummy fat bulging out of my skirt...haha..and i can feel my tummy trying to break itself free from my skirts..hahahaha...

anyway...it serves me right anyway...i've been eating out so much lately...below are just some of the places i went to over the weekends during the month of May..

following that, these are some of the foods that i (yes..ME...without Ooi sharing) had...feast your eyes on this:

Yes..i am not proud to say this..but i think i now am officially declared as the Human Food Disposal machine... :) Why are there just so many good foods around here in Malaysia...*double sigh*... :)

Cravings~~!!

2007-05-25T16:04:00.001+08:00

urghh...this is one of those "spur-of-the moment' entries i just have to jot down...

At this very instant, i am having a major craving for the toasted bread with butter and condensed milk...and it has to be the one from the OldTown Kopitiam eatery...i can almost picture myself sitting at one of thier tables in their shop..the one in USJ...near the True Fitness gym...

I think they have one of the best toasted bread in the whole of M'sia..and not only that, it looks different from the other toasted bread i have tasted..this one's brown in color..!! Yummsssss.....in fact, i've a picture of one of the bread i had some time ago when i was there in OldTown Kopitiam....

I have another 1.5 hours til work ends...and i am practially staring at the time shown at the bottom right hand side of my computer screen, every minute it changes...hahaha...talk abt being exagerrating

hope it has the same saliva-generating effect on you, as it had on me..and oh ya..haha..the bite mark on the bread is from yours truly.. ^-^

Vvrroommm...(life zooming by...)

2007-05-23T08:25:00.000+08:00

Life’s been a blur to me recently…since coming back from Brunei, I’ve been occupied mainly with work…for instance, yesterday I had to leave work only at 7.45 pm…to most of you, you’ll probably say “ok wa…still consider early”..however, to me this is definitely not the norm…i arrive at the office every morning at 7.30 am…and then I would start my work day all the way til 5.45 pm or 6 pm the latest…it takes me around another half an hour to 45 minutes to get home in the kind of traffic Malaysia has…and I would need to prepare dinner…by the time I eat my dinner, it’s really kind of late…and then I need to shower, unwind..and before you know it, it’s time to sleep..occassionally, I do get a bit of time to go out to do some grocery shopping..can’t do it during the weekends because supermarkets are all packed tight then..the carpark’s full, the lines at the counters are long, you’re packed in a sea of human beings, etc etc…

It’s tough living in Malaysia..everything you want to do, you wanna do it quick so tat you strive that balanced kind of lifestyle that you always fantasize abt..you wanna have a balanced work life, a good pay, the ability to spend time with your family, the ability to spend time with your friends, be in touch with what’s happening around you, be in touch with what’s happening in the world too, be able to play some sports to stay healthy and fit, be able to watch movies occasionally, be able to go traveling overseas, be able to go to church, do some charity work…etc etc….the list goes on….however, with work taking up more than half of your waking life, you cannot help wonder how that fantasy life is attainable…haha…

Enuff of hopeless, aimless complaints…I started my day thinking i wanna write abt my company's annual dinner that was held last Sunday...at the Sunway Convention Centre and this year, we had a Japanese theme..not that any of us (besides the decorations or ushers) were dressed in anything close to that…but nevertheless, I still had fun…threw on an old dress…put on some make up..haha...thank goodness my frens tot i looked alrite..haha...

It was indeed a huge (with 4000 ppl!!!), merry and colourful event…i had to wait at the lift for a good 15 minutes before i could take it to go up to the convention centre...after months of preparations from the company, and the anticipation, I am glad I did enjoy the event …there were so many vibrant colours...the dancers, singers, and even models...anyway..i did not take much pics..but i'll still leave you with a few of the pics tat i took that nite..enjoy!!

My parents ^.^

2007-05-18T16:51:00.000+08:00

So..i just got back on Tuesday nite because...i finally did go back to Brunei to see both my parents..took an afternoon flight on Saturday and arrived there in the evening at around 6 pm…I could see my dad standing from inside at the immigration counter when I arrived at the arrival terminal in the airport.. I could see him standing and squinting his mini eyes, trying to see me…At that moment when I was looking at him..i had such a mixture of emotions..my face was portraying a really happy and excited face, but my heart, surprising, had a very deep and sad feeling…I realize how much I love him at that moment…both him and my mum…

My parents are wonderful people, u know...When I was young..oh…I used to feel so ‘controlled’..My parents never allowed me to do anything…!! Haha..at least tat’s wat I felt when I was young…I couldn’t go out with my frens..it doesn’t matter where, why or how..but my parents just didn’t allow me to do so…compared to my peers, I felt I was always the last to have the latest, coolest stuff..like having cable TV, having a PC, having a pair of rollerblades, and even a pair of jeans!!! (mum loves dressing me in puffy-sleeves dresses…even though I was in secondary school!! Yikes!!!)..i had huge, plastic-framed glasses on my face , always a bad, bad haircut ..u know the typical long black hair, coupled with a real short and thick fringe..bbbrrrrr…That really sent some chills to my spine!! Haha..my parents never imparted any knowledge of fashion to me..haha…they were just simple people, u know…working hard..making ends meet...i really used to envy all my frens back in younger days… looking back tat was so silly..haha

Now..being 26 yrs of age..(bummer) ..and married…(hahah.yet to discover whether that is a bummer…JUST KIDDING ooi…), I realized how wonderful my parents were and still are…these ppl really ah…eat more salt than we eat rice..hahaha…they really are amazing …despite being a really geeky and gawky looking girl then…everything else, my parents gave me the best in everything they could afford...or even more than they could afford... I was so loved by my parents..every Sunday, my dad would bring me and my sis out to dim sum…they would bring us grocery shopping with them…if dad was working on weekends, he’ll ask if we wanna follow him..and he’ll always buy us yummy food for being good…Mum always rushes home from work to cook lunch and dinner for us..we were clothed in nice clothes..not trendy..but nice and decent…no expenses were ever spared when it came to our education …I was in the best school in Brunei (St.Andrew’s School rawkksss!!)…had tuition classes for practically every subject…both my mum n dad had to ferry me around between school and tuition classes...ahhh..the list goes on endlessly…

Anyway…I managed to therefore, celebrate Mum’s Day with my mummy…she was so happy…face beaming with love and joy….Dad ate more than half the cake I bought!!

I managed to bring my dad on Tuesday to another hospital and another doctor to view his X-ray..they say there were no signs of a lung infection..nor him having tuberculosis (TB), as diagnosed by the govt healthcare centre…Poor daddy..went through such a physchological trauma…it was heart-breaking seeing him go through his previous days..He separated all his utensils and crockery from us..afraid that the initial reports were true…He looked so despondent then…Now..at least he has the peace of mind that he is healthy..we just have to now wait for the govervment office to come back with their decision (which has been delayed too)…until now, do continue to keep my family in your prayers..and once again, I wanna thanks to all your words of encouragement..

My parents…they are my heroes..i truly love them and miss them so much

Updates on my dad …again

2007-05-11T10:33:00.000+08:00

So my dad actually took the x-ray that he took at the government health centre (a pre-requesite in order to renew your work visa in Brunei), to a private clinic to have a second opinion..the Dr. there said that well there is nothing he sees and that even if there was a hardening, it ws due to the previous operation my dad had…well the thing is..i m really relieved to hear tat my dad’s ok (but do wanna get another opinion later, just in case)…but there is another problem..

Unfortunately, other doctors’ opinions are not allowed to supersede or even be taken into consideration by the final diagnosis of the government doctors…how ridiculous is that?!! In other words, if the government hospital thinks that my dad indeed has a lung infection (which they diagnosed) then they are going to reject my dad’s work permit renewal..and that means, my dad and mum will have to leave the country and their business immediately..longest being one month…

So right now, my dad has to wait for their final ruling ..which is supposed to be this Saturday..that means, tomorrow…I am so scared for them and I know they are even more scared than me…what are they going to do?? Its easy to say that they can come live with me..but they have been in Brunei for more than 30 years…even if they were to come back here, it requires a lot of decisions and planning..not in this kind of circumstance..

Nevertheless…I am planning to see if I can go back and see them this weekend…pls continue to pray for my family k….and I thank you all in advance for all your words of encouragement

Poor daddy

2007-05-09T12:12:00.000+08:00

Went back to the hospital yesterday for further check-ups as instructed to do so the day before..when he arrived, the peoples-in-charge were not there..they told him to him to come back the next day…urghh…and you call doctors professionals??

Hence, another day of ordeal for the family again…I am waiting for evening to come right now because I know by then, he should be back from the tests today…urghh..but time seems to be ticking mightily slow today….

So while I wait, I just want to say thank you so much to all of you who offered such sweet words of comfort…I truly appreciate it.. do continue to pray for my pa pa….

My dad

2007-05-08T10:20:00.000+08:00

Yesterday evening, I decided to give my mum a call just to see how she’s going and all..as usual, mum will always be all cheery when u call her out of the blue…we talked for about 5 minutes or so, until she said, “Hey your dad just got back. Talk to him for a while”…

So dad sounded cheer-ier than usual…I asked him where he just got back from …He told me he had to go to the immigration for his yearly renewal of his work permit…therefore, he has to go and have an X-ray as part of the procedure…but it was wat he said next, that really affected me since then til now.he said “Fen fen ah…they said that my lungs are a bit hard”..instantly, I felt cold and my heart boke…and then he went on to say “well…the thing is they don’t know what it is…they are worried that it may be contagious or something like tat..therefore, I need to go back for further tests. If they find anything not good, I’ll have to stop my business and leave Brunei”..

I felt such a rush of mixed emotions…just didn’t know how to react…I tot to God…Oh no..not again…My parents really don’t deserve this kind of life…it’s been one difficult challenge after another constantly…I am not trying to blame God…but sometimes you come to a point where you can do nothing but just be angry or depend entirely on God…Angry because all those ppl I truly love and care for around me, do not have such a blessed life…Deep inside me, I always habor this guilt of not being a filial daughter..not being near them..not taking care of them…instead spending time with my in-laws on every single mother’s day or father’s day or their birthdays for the past 10 years, and yet never a single time with my own parents due to the distance..

I know my parents do not blame me..but one cannot help having these feelings..and now with this kind of news…hmm..i guess I m really scared…when I put down the phone, I immediately searched the internet to see what it means…nothing positive came out…all saying it was some form of lung cancer and incurable..but I know when I was in primary six my dad had a lung surgery and I believe that is may be this instead of something serious like cancer…so now, I know it is not a time to be angry with God..no..it is a time I should trust God even more..and know that He will heal my daddy by His power and mercy…so pray for me guys…as for me, I’ll have to wait for his other test results..and continue to pray for him…and also my mum…so that she may have the wisdom and strength to support my dad…I really love them and miss them so much..i really wish I could do more

5 reasons

2007-05-04T11:14:00.000+08:00

Ok..so I know this is a bit late..but unfortunately, I’ve been busy recently and when I was not busy, I was busy feeling lazy *blushing*.. but now…I got to get this guilt out of my system…cc tagged me on my birthday…on my birthday!! ..haha..and now I have to crank up my mind to list 5 reasons why I blog..hahah…(thanks a lot cc)…oh by the way, if u guys have time do drop by her blog..it’s fantastically interesting..whenever I need a breather in the office, I would drop by her site…ok ok..now before I deviate from my mission any longer…here goes…5 reasons why I blog:

Most obviously, to let out the little attention seeker in me to the world..haha..

To keep my frens updated with my life..sometimes, I am again too busy, or lazy (or broke!!) to meet up with them…

To release some form of stress that is embedded in my head.. to complain abt stuff and not having to worry abt someone asking me to shut up..haha..

I just love bugging ppl with my babblings..whether in person or on the internet..hehehe…

and finally, I blog just for fun…I’ll do anything just for fun ^-^ or for money(like little calvin below)…but money comes later, in this case..haha…

There you have it…and now..should I actually tag someone else…
Hmm…maybe later… but it was an interesting task being tagged…til then, ciao.

New Look ^o^

2007-05-04T07:41:00.000+08:00

YAY!!!!! ok..i had to get tat out of my system first thing in the morning..it's finally FRIDAY!!! and oh..i finally have a new look for my blog!! all pinky and girly..hehe.. it was no easy challenge for me to change it since i m really technology-dumb... but still i think it looks ok ya? i shall give myself a pat on my back now..hehe..^-^

phew...so anyway...wat a week it's been...we only had to work 3 days this week becos of the public holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday..this is definitely my ideal week for the rest of my working life...unfortunately it doesnt happen to often...nevertheless, i did not spend a single moment wasting my holidays...ooi and i did an impromptu thing on Tuesday...after our yummy-licious lunch at italiannes (thanks Ooi for the treat!!), we decided to drive all the way up to Bukit Tinggi where we stopped at the Colmar Tropicale..it was not bad u know...we din have our cameras with us though since we did not plan to go there in the first place...we went round...exploring...hehe..it was good fun basically...

on wednesday, we went grocery shopping together so tat i could cook for him for dinner...finally bought my ginger wine!! yay!! so i could cook wat i was craving so badly recently..my favourite Ginger Wine Chicken!!! yummmsss....i even added an extra dose of Dom into my dish...it was near-perfect!! not bad for my first time cooking the dish, if i do say so myself..hehe.. thinking abt it now makes my mouth water..

anyway..so now..it's Friday..a whole weekend rite ahead of me..i've got so many things to do this month...particularly, catching up with my buddies (yes, sue!! it's already a new month..we have to meet very soon)...plan for mother's day (now i've got 2 mummies to plan for)...and i can't wait for my bonus (keeping my fingers crossed here!!)

My Ooi HugssSSss

2007-04-23T12:02:00.000+08:00

He is my best friend
He is my shopping companion
He is my eating buddy
He is my travel mate
He is my muse
He is my badminton partner
He is my ping pong challenger
__________________________________

He is my significant other
He is my intercessor

He is my support
He is my best pal
He is my chummy chum
He is my soul mate
He is my other half

__________________________________

He makes me want to be a better person
He makes me want to think for others
He makes me want to smile
He makes me want to cry
He makes me want to win
He makes me want to lose (weight)..hahah…
He makes me want to talk
He also makes me not want to talk but just listen

__________________________________

He gives me his time
He gives me his attention
He gives me his listening ear
He gives me his shoulder to cry on

He gives me love

He gives me joy

He gives me happiness

He gives me money too (true!!)

He gives me presents

He gives me dreams

__________________________________

He calls me on the phone daily

He emails me every morning

He sms-es me every afternoon after lunch

He calls me again when he works late

He waits at the door at home if he comes home early

He drives me everywhere i want to go

He packs supper for me

He cooks breakfast on weekends for me

He watches sappy Korean dramas with me

He dances goof-ily for me

__________________________________

Just who is this wonderful man…

He is Ooi
He is my HUSBAND and I LUV him very much~!!

p/s: This entry is dedicated to my ooi..who has planned so many things for my birthday…even sent me to a spa over the weekend to have a nice relaxing massage at Subang Holiday Villa..it was my first and definitely one of the most blissful experiences I had in my life so far…heheh…

Not only that, he even booked a room at the Swiss Garden hotel in KL for the two of us to stay…*grin*…wat more could a wife ask for …

Updates..updates!!!

2007-04-20T10:19:00.000+08:00

Hi hi..it’s been a while now since I last blogged.. my life’s been a whirlwind recently…I was so emotionally and mentally drained from work basically… so much so that most days when I am back home, I just rush to have a quick shower and then plonk myself on my bed and slip into a temporary coma.

Anyway…wat prompted me to update my blog was becos I noticed in my little msg box down here tat my fren, sue anne, had dropped me a msg asking how I m and tat it’s been a while since I did any updates… after tat, I told myself I must take time out no matter wat to actually jot something abt my life..no matter how simple or boring it may be…after all, tat was the whole reason why I started this blog, rite…hehehe…

But there is also another reason why I decided to update my blog today…cos yesterday was my Birthday!!! hahaha…(the previous reason is used to disguise my real intention of updating this ^*^

last weekend, ooi decided to give me an early birthday present and treated me to a wonderful, fun-filled and yet, relaxing dinner at the Hard Rock Café in KL…we ate so much tat day…I had this yummy grilled salmon with pasta (a two-thumbs up!!) while ooi had a sirloin steak...it was so yummy-licios…it was so filling becos of the huge portions served…but we were both in such a care-free mode, tat we decided to push our stomachs and appetites one notch higher…we continued to order a Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae for dessert!!! Tat really, really was pushing the limits!!

To cut the long story short, we had so much fun…not only tat..when we reached home, ooi have me 2 more presents…2 books !!! haha..on pregnancy…this is really a man of faith, friends..becos I m not even pregnant yet and he is already proclaiming tat I am going to be soon and is even playing the role already!!! Hahaha…typical ooi….

But tat’s not the end of my bday celebration..becos last nite, me, ooi, Sharon and shie ping continued to celebrate my bday at Redbox karoke…!! It was so good…we sang, we ate, and then we sang again and again and again..hehe…and then when we dropped shie ping back home, ooi’s parents and shie siang were waiting and singing out aloud a birthday song..with a bright yellow birthday cake!! Hahaha….ah..it was all good…a nice yummy mango cake .. too beautiful to be eaten, if u reallee asked me..but it reallee did taste as good as it looked..

So there you go…my latest update…hehe..shall try to be back more often.. HuGgsss..

p/s: oh ya…and I wanna thank all those wonderful frens of mine for wishing me and texting bday wishes to me … realleee appreciate it…!! Love u guys all so much…MuakkkKKSSsss!

Money matters

2007-04-04T12:00:00.000+08:00

A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished (Proverbs 28: 20).

Recently, Ooi and I have been discussing about our financial situation more often than I would like..As you all know, we both just married…we not only spent all that we had in our wedding…we thought everything would be alright once the wedding dinner was over…we thought we could then resume to starting to save our monies once again to prepare later for other things (such as having a baby)…

Little did we know, after the wedding dinner, so many things that required money kept popping into our lives…first of all, we had to go back to Brunei for CNY and the air-tickets cost a bomb, even though it was already discounted (costing around RM800 each!)…then, we had to give out ang paus (in Brunei Dollars!! And also double portion due to the status of being newly-weds)…and then when I came back to Msia, my car road tax, insurance and my half-yearly insurance premiums were all due!!!

We also had many birthdays keep popping up too…birthday lunches/ dinners don’t come cheap anymore…and I also had guests coming down from overseas...frens who wanna meet up to catch up…etc…therefore, the usual belanja-ing took place….we have our relatives and frens’ weddings coming up too…urghhh….

And the list goes on…we still have our house loan, car loan, electricity bills, water bills, telephone bills, credit card bills, bills, bills, bills….hahaha…

One thing I know is that despite all the above, I must still give and sow into God’s house..Many at times, I consider looking for another job..one with a better pay..but then, I remember what the Lord says in the Bible..tat if you hasten to be rich, you will not go unpunished…if I leave my current job for one that pays more, I may no longer have the time to spend with my friends..i may no longer be able to attend cell groups…I may no longer be able to have timely dinners with my Ooi…etc etc…

I am not looking for an excuse to why I am in my current situation…I know that I am not financially tight because I have to pay my tithes and offerings…No..I know I am financially tight because my expenses are too high and that I mostly have no courage (and maybe too much pride) to admit to my friends and relatives that I cannot afford to bless them as much or as often as I like..this is something I need to overcome…and I need to overcome it soon!!!...heheh….However, I know I have to keep being faithful in my giving to God because I know He will abound me with blessings!! Not just financial blessings..but also great health and wisdom to enjoy my financial blessings with my loved ones..

~end~

EASTER CELEBRATION 2007: He Overcomes!

2007-04-03T10:28:00.000+08:00

f Hi Hi...

A bit of shout-out here...

This weekend, all over the world Christians are coming together to celebrate the wonderful Easter event to remember what God has done for us by sending his son, Jesus Christ to die for us and our sins...More significantly, this is the season for us to also remember that Christ still lives as He rose again from death, after conquering hell...

Using what we have (in this case, the Internet technology), i would like to stretch my faith a bit further this year and wanna invite all of you out there to put a little time aside this weekend to come to my church and celebrate this wonderful event... Don't worry if you are not yet a believer...just drop by for a great day..there is going to be a great play on titled "He Overcomes!" ..

For more info, log unto the website at: http://www.chc.org.my

If u are too lazy to do tat (heheh...), our church address is at:

City Harvest ChurchNo. 8, SS 13/6,47500 Selangor, Malaysia

I have also taken the extra liberty here to put the map for your easy, effortless reference:

And, if you are worried tat you do not know anyone there, you can always look me up....email me and we shall meet up... hehe..i promise i won't bite!

A new addiction…

2007-04-03T09:41:00.000+08:00

I have a new addiction…hahah…TV series!!!

When I was back for Chinese New Year in Brunei, I managed to get myself the Season 1 DVDs of the popular series, HEROES…I finally got a chance to start watching the series over the weekend…and I am so HOOKED to it now..Managed to finish 10 episodes and still have a few more to go…and here I am in the office, thinking abt wat the next episode is going to be about…

Recently, I am just so hooked onto some of the series that they have on TV..My lovely sister, Sharon, knew how much I also love the also-pretty-new TV series, titled UGLY BETTY..but..urghh...i seem to always not be able to catch it due to my 'busy' schedule..so Sharon bought me the whole season 1 DVD set last Sunday!!! Yea..now, I dun have to always feel sad abt missing my shows becos I can watch them all at my own pace…

Is my new addiction a sign of me slowly evolving into a typical wife of a household?? Hehehe…Only time can tell :)

Fen Fen is injured :(

2007-04-02T11:13:00.000+08:00

Hahah..i am a bit embarrassed to actually admit this but yea..i am injured..i sprained both my left wrist and ankle…due to a FUTSAL game..hahaha…I never thought I am this …fragile..haha..the words ‘fragile’ and ‘yen fen’ definitely do not usually go together ..*shudder*…

But I m afraid tat’s true..i had such fun playing (or attempting) to play futsal with my cell grp members last Friday…I ran and sweated a lot…hahah…i even scored 2 GOALS!!! yay!!

But alas… now, my ankle’s all wrapped up …I am limping myself everywhere at work and at home..on the plus side, my wrist’s not so bad now, due to ooi’s super maid’s skill of ‘urut-ing’..hehe…

So yea…there u go..wat a way to start a Monday blog entry…

You'll feel great after reading this ^-^

2007-03-30T09:28:00.000+08:00

So, yesterday I blogged about the mind-blowing conference by Pasor Pat Mesiti in my church just recently. Most of the things that he preached on those 4 days are still fresh in my mind…I can’t remember the last time I felt this blessed by anyone….

Hence, I would like to also bless others too with what I have jotted in my notebook some of my favourite quotes from Pastor Pat:

a) You must have a dream in your heart, a plan in your head and a seed in your hand for you dreams to become a reality.
b) God responds to seeds and faith. He responds to belief, and not emotions. You need to sow in good soil.
c) A seed is a potential future. Sometimes, the small seeds can bring a huge harvest.
d) Seed Sowers are committed people.
e) Failure is a result of broken focus.
f) Your net worth is linked to your self worth.
g) You cannot fail without your permission. You cannot succeed without your participation.
h) Education is not expensive. Ignorance is! We must never ignore the Word of God.
i) Giving is God’s way of raising children, not raising money.
j) Money makes a great servant, but not a great master.
k) Money does not make the man, but it magnifies what the man already is.
l) If your believing is wrong, then your giving is hindered.
m) Money has no power except how you give it.
n) Our God is not a God into scarcity. He is a God of abundance.
o) Money is not the root of all evils, but the love of money is the root of all evils.
p) Prosperity is a mindset. You need to shift from negative to positive, from doubt to belief.
q) He who wins souls, is wise.
r) The plans of the diligent will prosper.
s) Where your focus is, there your future is.
t) God wants us to build our assets first, before our expenses.
u) Sowing seeds are harder than reaping your harvest. Even receiving can be harder than giving.
v) It is not experience that gives wisdom, but learned/ applied/ evaluated experience is.
w) With prosperity, there is responsibility to help others.
x) We must know not just the Lord, but the ways of the Lord.
y) The Lord will provide in the place of the Lord (the place of vision). You must be in position, for God to do the provision, to achieve the vision!
z) When vision and sacrifice meets together, that is when the Lord becomes Jehovah Jireh (a provider!).

There you have it. I may not have everything jotted down because I was just so caught up listening to Pastor Pat, having not enough time to write down everything. However, I believe the above quotes up there are enough to stir your thinking and your spirit. Hope you are all blessed!

SOWING INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR A LIFE OF PROSPERITY

2007-03-29T10:26:00.000+08:00

First of all, I must apologise for not updating my blog for a weeks now…as usual, life’s been hectic at the work place…my boss just informed me of a new project that I am to undertake and at top priority, as this was the request from our Deputy CEO…so not only am I short handed at work, but I have more work, at work..hahaha…however, praise God that I was given the task at hand..i’ve been praying for the Lord to give both me and my boss favour in the eyes of our Senior Management…and here, opportunity is knocking at my door again…

God has truly been real and good to me…particularly the past 4 days, when my church had this amazing speaker from Australia..Pastor Pat Mesiti..this amazing man of God has blessed me with his preaching throughout…His energy and excitement from God was just so refreshing and at the same time, so contagious…I just wanted to sit there and just drown in the revelations that was revealed…

(Picture taken from: http://www.chc.org.my)

Also, we were challenged by Pastor Pat to give, every single day he preached…I must admit that I wanted to skip the last day of his conference because I thought to myself “Could I afford any more to attend? I have already given so much! To make matter worse, I just got my April’s salary last week and now, I have almost emptied it…and it’s not even the month of April YET!!!”.. But then, neither could I handle the thought of not being able to listen to what God’s plans for my prosperity were …I had to be there no matter what…so I just mustered up all my courage and faith and went…and made sure I sat as near as possible to the front so that I can see this man of God preaching!!!

I was truly blessed and have no regrets at all going to listen to Pastor Pat for 4 DAYS consecutively…one thing he said last night, which will shift my thinking forever when it comes to giving my tithes and offerings to the Lord..He said:

Most times, sowing is not the most difficult part…Reaping your harvest it!!

Wow….~!! That truly blew me away…it is true…we are always so consumed with the “what do I need to give to God”, the “How much to give?” and the “Why to give?”..this is because most of us are doubtful on whether God will bless us back later….

However, we should always continue to have faith in our God that He has only plans of prosperity for us and shall make us the head and not the tail...It is our obedience that God seeks in us…when we return back the 10% tithe which is his, and when we give offerings into His house so that more can be done…tat’s when God cannot wait to bless us back with so much that we would have problem figuring how to best maximize the returns!!!

(Picture taken from: http://www.chc.org.my)

So to myself, and also to all those out there reading this..i hope u are motivated and on fire to continue to sow into the wonderful Kingdom of God!! Let us pray together in one accord, for the courage, determination and faith to Give more and more and more to our Father God!! And can I get an Amen with that? Hehehe….AMEN!!!

Hungry Morning...

2007-03-15T08:38:00.000+08:00

it's not even 9 am yet and i am already planning wat to have for lunch later...my stomach is already growling fiercely despite having a bowl of porridge earlier...

urghh..i've got so much work piled up on my desk...so sick of work....just one thing after another.....

why does Friday look so near and yet so far.....guess i m in a pretty grouchy, complaining mood....how am i going to survive this day.. *sigh* someone..pls help me..

finally uploaded!!

2007-03-14T21:58:00.000+08:00

Hi hi...ok...so...I finally figured out how to transfer all the photos that have been stored in my handphone to the laptop...hahah...ok ok ..i know some of you are laughing out there and wondering in disbelief wat a dinosaur yen fen is..haha..i can't help it...its just tat previously i did not see a need to use the pics i took anywhere except being stored up in my handphone..haha..

anyway...i tot of posting some recent cute pics which i have taken over some time here ....so enjoy...

This was taken in Subang Parade over Chirstmas....the reindeer was just too cute to resist... :)

This was a pic taken by Ooi when i was home helping his with some stuff....serious nya...hehe

This was a pic of me and ooi with ny dear sis-in-law...all of us posing for a gift she got for our wedding from Phuket...

My cousin Thompson and i ...both reviving our childhood scenes in Genting.. yay!

and finally, a pic of Khan and Ooi which was taken last nite...Khan's our old fren from Gippsland..who is next in line to get married...in this coming AUGUST!!! congrats Khan...hope i can con Ooi to sponsor me there ...hehehe...

And with the above post, i wish good night to u all ^_^ zzzzzzzz....................................

Smile...

2007-03-14T07:52:00.000+08:00

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile

Author Unknown

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles
George Eliot

Ever wondered why some people smile as if it is costing them their lives...haha...smiles have become such a rare commodity nowadays in our societies...ppl are becoming more and more stingy giving out their smiles to others...

a few days ago, ..i was nearly ran down by the despatch guy in my office when i was walking into a corner...naturally we laughed about how lucky we were not have physically bump into each other cos it would have definitely hurt at the speed we were both walking...as i turned to walk away after tat, he continued to call out to me and the next thing he said was, "you are always smiling, you know"...i was like "oh, is it..hehee" and later, just brushed the comment aside...

the past few weeks has been hectic and very tiring for me, particularly at work..and when i m not at work, i am at home cleaning up...moreover, last nite i had to meet up with a couple of my frens to meet up with our old fren (Khan) from Gippsland...i must admit i was kinda dreading the thought of going out on a Tuesday night, knowing that i will definitely be home late and also knowing tat i have to go to work the following day...however, i decided to bursh away those feelings and mustered up all my energy to put on my smiling face when i see my frens...and later when all my frens arrived, greeting me with their smiling faces, all those negative and tiring feelings disappeared in an instant...and before you know it, i was again the most animated, noisy person you have ever seen.. we all had such a great fellowship time together..no wonder i love hanging out with my frens most of the times...

so ppl...the next time you want to try a new look, perhaps try wearing a smile first..it's a sure fool proof plan that will indeed get others to notice you and also to compliment you...for it is also true that i've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful...and with that, i leave you a few pics of my favourite moments with some of the most beautiful people in my life...all smiling..my favourite pics are always those tat show a bit of teeth..haha..

Continue to have faith in God.. ~!!

2007-03-09T08:02:00.000+08:00

Wow wow...it's finally Friday today... wat a tremendous week it has been this week for me...on Monday, I was all prepared to start packing and then shifting down to KL by the end of the week for work...also, this Friday was also my only other colleague's last day with us...I tot to myself on Sunday tat i could handle this..after all, i did have a few couple of months to prepare mentally...

come Tuesday afternoon and my boss informed me that we were not to shift..a wave of reflief came on me instantly...i was so happy when i heard the news...i tot to myself...yeah...God is so good, u know...i no longer have to worry abt making it on time for Cell Group on Fridays, missing out on CG outings on weekdays, no more increased travel costs, traffic jams, parking problems..etc...yea...but then the joy was short-lived...my regular lunch partners, both julie and vincent, still had to move down to KL...tat triggered another wave of emotions...

as they were all leaving yesterday for the new place, i couldnt help but feel more sad than happy that i was staying back here...moreover, today is my colleague's last day here too...i cannot remember the last time i felt so miserable...but then, i wanna continue to have faith in my God..i know that He has a great plan for me ahead...He always does and He proved Himself once again in my dear fren, Sue Anne's life just yesterday..so i shall continue to hang unto His promises..i truly can't wait to unravel wat He has in store for me..Hallelujah!

My first time hosting a BBQ gathering...

2007-03-06T20:27:00.000+08:00

This year, me and ooi hosted our first BBQ gathering for a pre-chap goh mei celebration...it's really great to finally have your own house becos you are allowed to host watever party u wan, and call whoever u wanted..so, both ooi and i decided to call a few of our closest frens and family members....we just knew who to call instantly the moment we decided to have such a gathering...naturally, we tot of ying chao, zheat huei, yee mui, byran, sue anne and melanie...unfortunately, yee mui had a prior engagement and couldnt make it (thanks to me and ooi's last minute planning)..hahah...

anyway..so ooi and i went out to get our 'BBQ set', food and all..we basically had no idea wat to buy or even how much to buy..sharon contributed to some ideas too...like having marshmallows (which we never did eat in the end), lamb, and stuff...ooi made his famous "BANANA BOMB"..hahah...which is basically banana with a piece of chocolate wrapped in aluminium tin foil and put over the fire...it may not really be a looker, but its pretty yummy...hehee..he also bought some kerangs too to be BBQ...i discovered that most of my frens love kerangs..hehehe...

i really was so great to have my father-in-law at our BBQ...he patiently helped us started the fire...and also brought some marinated fish and sting ray for us to barbeque...he helped us to barbeque most of the food...

anyway, to cut a long story short...i had such a great time with my family along with mel, sue and ying chao...it was really a great way to mark the end of CNY...i'll definitely do something like this again in the future becos CNY should be a time celebrated with all your frens and family members...though i wished that my parents would also have been there, but i know tat there will come a time veree soon where we shall be able to celebrate this wonderful season all together as one big happy family!!

Moving down to KL....sigh

2007-03-02T10:57:00.000+08:00

hmm...today is Friday and yet, i can't help but feel a bit down..

must be becos the day for my department to move down to KL is becoming a reality soon...

it's funny how when i first came to my company for an interview here in the current building in Sri Damansara..my first impression of the place was so not exactly favorable...it was a buiding set in the industrial zone areas...coming to work was a challenge...you have to brave yourself against the constant speeding X-tra huge lorries and trucks and crater-sized pot holes (hehe...ok..i'm exaggerating here)...but after a while, you kinda get used to the place and there were many positive points staying here...first of all, due to the number of heavy vehicles on the roads, my driving skills improved tremendously...i was no longer so intimadated by their presence around my little mini kelisa...next, i found a lot of new eateries...there is a huge variety of eating places here...watever you wan, u name it..and all at a pretty reasonable price....and also, driving to and away from work was always a breeze due to the opposite traffic conditions...i could always reach home within 20 minutes....and finally, and most important of all, parking at my current premises was FREE!!!

next week onwards, i have to start either driving down to KL or start taking the LRT...urghhh...i have to pay a daily per entry fee of RM6 for parking...and if i take the NPE home, tat's another RM3.60....tat makes it a total of RM9.60 per day travelling expenses excluding the mileage/ petrol...though situated at the metropolitan city area, but the expenses incurred are definitely burning a hole in my pockets....and the traffic jams that I'll probably have to be stuck in...moreover, i dun even know where to have lunch at my new place..haha...hope there are some good eateries to offset all the inconveniences involved in the shift...i sure hope tat things will become better becos currently, everything looks rather bleak for me ..haha..so pray for me guys and wish me all the best...

Back to Work.. sob..

2007-02-28T21:33:00.001+08:00

REMINISCING MY CNY CELEBRATIONS~~!!!

Yup...it's back to work again...dun woree..this is not an entry abt me lamenting abt my job or work conditions...the CNY mood is still as fresh as ever for me...could be tat my lovely frens and colleagues are still excitedly running to me or calling me up to ask for their ang paus from me..haha...as much as that hurts both mine and Ooi's pockets, but we are actually both really excited to be able to bless others with our little red packets...

I was real tired since returning from Brunei that I did not managed to have anytime to blog abt how truly enjoyable my CNY celebrations were for me this time...

We spent so much quality time with our parents ...it was so wonderful seeing how well Ooi fits into my family....check out our CNY family photo on the left...my mum's as cute as ever...i reallee dunno how she does it but she always seem to look so good in her pictures...my dad..as usual, he is trying to look cool..haha...he's afraid to smile too much becos he thinks it makes his eyes disappear when he does that...my lil sister, Sharon on the most left...always looking confident in the way she dresses (i wish i have half that)...looking confident is one thing, but she still manages to look good...i truly salute to her...and finally, me and my ooi..looking good as a newly-weds (i hope..hehe)...

anyway, at the end of the one week back home, i think the person who had the most fun was Ooi....wanna know why? haha....was it becos my parents treated him well? of cos...but it was something else...was it becos there was a lot of food to eat EVERYDAY? yea...tat too...but wat was the thing that made him happier than the rest of us??.......

Hahhaa...ok ok ...it was discovering that we could play fireworks legally in Brunei ...and knowing that his father-in-law sells them...haaha...have a look at the following pics....

anyway..so, as you would have probably guessed..yea..ooi, shar, my parents and i all took turns experimenting and playing with the fireworks...all our inner-child characteristics were all revealed to one another...which made CNY so perfect...becos we all found out we could all freely, just be ourselves..or not even be ourselves..in front of one another...what more can i ask of from this great family.

I'm Back :)

2007-02-25T22:32:00.000+08:00

Finally, i'm back from my Chinese New Year celebrations back at home in Brunei...this year, CNY proved to be rather challenging the moment we stepped out from the plane...the lugagge which contained all of my and Ooi's clothes was missing..we had to rush to the nearest departmental store to buy underwear !!!...but luckily, i had one of Sharon's dress to wear for the first day of CNY whereas Ooi bought for himself one decent shirt...

however, the most challenging thing for me was the ability to resist all those great, yummy-licious, mum's home-cooked meals~~!!! and i am afraid to say i failed miserably in resisting or controlling myelf from over-stuffing myself...sometimes, i think if my mum ever wants to look for a new job, she should apply for the post of a cook in an army base camp...this woman cooks like there is no tomorrow...hahaha..

anyway, as you all probably would have guessed: yes, i put on weight...particularly around my face, arms and tummy...but i do not really regret pounding in all those yummy food into myself...after all, how often do i get to eat such yummy food...hehehe...but now, it's payback time..i've got to start dieting again...urghh..i keep asking myself if there is indeed no end to this misery..haha..so wish me luck ppl..

Gong Xi Gong Xi~~!!

2007-02-17T15:16:00.000+08:00

It's Chinese New Year Eve today..I have less than an hour til I leave for the airport with my Ooi and my sis to the airport for Brunei... we should be reaching our desitination at around 9 pm..just in time to have a 'slightly late' reunion dinner with my parents...YAY~!!!

this year CNY is going to be slightly different from me...not only am I going back as a Mrs..but this year, i have to be on the giving end of ang paus...instead of the receiving end...i must admit that this act of giving ang paus actually does involve a bit of strength and faith...the past few nights, Ooi and I have been discusssing on how much to give to all our frens and family members...and it has indeed been a major eye-opener...i never realised how much of money it reallee involved....hahaha...i know a lot of married couples (especially our parents) are laughing and saying "Now, you know"...but yea...now i truly appreciated all those ang paus i have been receiving for the past 25 years of my life...but in the end, we did our best and well...we are really looking forward to passing out the ang paus to all our frens and family members...

anyway...so...I shall be back in Brunei for a week...wont be able to blog or even go on the internet when i m there..hahah..sounds like a week's vacation from total civilisation...but i m truly excited to be home to see my lovely mummy and daddy...cant wait to have all the yummy home-cooked meal by my mum ...

so to everyone out there..here's a loud and happy shout-out to you all:

GONG HEI , GONG HEI !!!(cantonese frens)

GONG XI, GONG XI !!!! (mandarin frens)

GONG HEE, GONG HEE !!! (Hakka frens)

KIONG HEE, KIONG HEE!!! (Hokkien frens)

A VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (to all non-Chinese speaking frens)!!!!!!!

The 'Traditional' Bride??

2007-02-15T11:42:00.000+08:00

The 1st of January of 2007 was, with no doubt, one the happiest day of my life. I finally married my Ooi. It’s been nearly two months after our wedding day and the feeling of being a newly-wed is still as fresh as ever…everyday I feel I love Ooi more and more..he makes it all so easy for one to feel that..yesterday, he took leave so that he was able to come to my office to have lunch with me..as if tat was not enuff, he had red roses (my fav!!) delivered to my office…I was having such a rough day in the office initially but all those problems just faded away as soon as he turned up with his planned surprises..

Anyway, before I side-track…so after being married for 2 months, we finally got back our wedding photos that were all taken on that day..from the morning tea-ceremony..to the Holy Matrimony in church…and, to the wedding dinner..so when we got our photos, we couldn’t wait to show it to our frens…everyone was as excited as we were and we got a lot of positive and favorable comments abt the pics…

However, during this time, I also found out a lot of my frens had a lot of misconceptions abt me and Ooi being Christians…The typical misconceptions I got were:
a) Eh.. you all Christian can have tea ceremony one meh?
b) Eh…you all Christian can do all this ‘putting on the veil by your parents’ process and have all the coconuts, pillows, red umbrella, dowry-kind-of-things one ah?
And finally (though not wedding related..)
c) Eh…you all can dun celebrate Chinese New Year one, right?

Pls know that I was never offended when my frens asked me all these questions…after all, they really did not know..but it did break my heart in some way, to know that most of them had such a misconception about being a Christian and also to know that, they definitely were not the only ones having the same misconception…

Well…frens..pls know that Christians are not like that…we are not that out of the world…after all, we were not praying to another God..and at the same time, both me and Ooi understood that we wanted to honour all our parents and our senior relatives, by sticking to the Chinese traditions that have been passed down for generations…let us not mistaken celebrating Chinese New Year for being exclusively for Buddhists..instead remember, it is a celebration for all Chinese..

Ooi and I had so much fun doing all the Chinese traditional wedding customs…it definitely made the wedding so much more meaningful and full of extra beautiful memories for us both to cherish

Anyway..with that, I’m going to leave you some pics that were taken on that day…Enjoy

Things to Shout on a Wednesday~~!!!

2007-02-14T08:08:00.000+08:00

The only abnormality is the incapacity to love

Anais Nin

I guess there are typically nothing to shout abt on Wednesday mornings becos it's usually one of the worse days of any week...being in the middle where you are past Mondays and Tuesdays but yet still not so quite near the weekend yet...

but this week...this Wednesday...it's going to be slightly different for me...due to the following reasons:

a) It's a Valentine's Day ~!!!

b) It's both me and Ooi's 10th anniversary being together as a couple

c) The days to CNY are getting shorter (Super YAY~~!!)..I'm going

back to Brunei for CNY this Saturday (first time as a Mrs. with my

hubby!!)

d) I finally have my house phone line in my new house set up!! Praise God becos very soon, i will have my internet connection and stuff also set up...haha..then i shall have more time to blog...(yes..i m reallee getting the hang of blogging)..i'll be able to load

more stuff, pics and all finally...

e) I am having dinner tonight not only with my Ooi, but two of my

bestest friends in the world, Hon Kit and Ying Chao

You may be wondering why i am having dinner with other ppl (besides my own other half) when it's Valentine's Day..but truth is, i now believe tat the whole Valentine's Day thing, is about love itself..and i dun think I can possibly limit the definition of love just to my Ooi..there are so many other ppl whom

i care for and love so much too, to ever exclude them during this special day...

it's abt being able to give to the ones you love ...and so this year, i shall try to

do sthg slightly different...i shall give my time to these 2 frens of mine..and

definitely not out of pity..but out of LOVE..the true meaning of a Valentine's Day celebration...

So to the rest of the world who may be reading this now..A Very Happy valentine's Day to you and may you celebrate this special day with someone you love and care for deeply (and tat includes your frens and family members)...

Eating Fest~!!!

2007-02-12T13:39:00.000+08:00

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we diet." -

Wendy Morgan

Not long ago, my colleague in the office told me she came across to my profile on Friendster..i was like oh ok..nothing peculiar abt tat..but wat she said next stuck on unto me for the last couple of days..she told me she showed her mum my pics..u know to let her know wat her colleague looks like, etc…her mum saw and commented how funny I was becos I seem to always be taking pictures with foods, or drinks or at some eateries…

It was only then, I realized...oh my..tat is true…all I did was just looked thru the pics I currently have with me in my PC and thumbdrive here in the office..and see wat I found..!!! scary isn’t it…and most of these pics are those I took after my wedding~!!! Hahaha..hope u guys found this as amusing as I did

My Valentine Day celebration

2007-02-12T07:50:00.000+08:00

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It's the only thing that there's just too little of

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,

No not just for some but for everyone.

Many years ago, on a Valentine's Day (the year 1998), a boy asked a girl to be his girlfren...the girl hesitated but decided to give it a try...after all, she was still young, just 16...in addition to that, she had known the guy for a while then and he seemed like a nice guy...now 9 years later down the road, the two are happily married..hahah.. as most of u would would know, this is a really super summarised version of me and my Ooi...

Anyway, i just got back from a great weekend...Ooi planned a surprised early Valentine's Day celebration for the 2 of us becos we did not want a repeat of last year's Valentine..last year, he arranged for a nice, romantic dinner in KL in a quaint little restaurant in Changkat Bukit Bintang..but it took us forever to get there (to be precise, we reached at 10 pm!!!!) due to massive, unpredictable traffic jams...

In addition to that, this was going to be the 10th anniversary of our Valentine's Day..so Ooi said
he wanted it to be special..and indeed, it was...we had a dinner on a boat cruise on the Putrajaya lakes!!!!the food was great...all prepared by Shangri-la Hotel...

i particularly love the appetizer which was a seafood salad thing..just thinking abt it makes my mouth water...hahah...the service was really good..i was quite impressed with how attentive the waiters were...i had barbequed fish, whereas ooi had grilled beef tenderloin..but wat reallee won me over was the unlimited flow of ice-cream we were allowed to have!!!! Yeah~~!!!!! we were also lucky enuff to be one the same boat cruise with another small group who was there to celebrate a bday...and they treated all other guests on the boat to a free CHEESE cake...yumsss....

The view at the Putrajaya lakes was breath-taking..contrary to wat many may think, I dun think I have ever seen Malaysia looking so serene and beautiful...there are indeed so many places we can go to in Malaysia....the lights on the different bridges in Putrajaya are definitely note-worthy..

Anyway, to cut things short...I was really touched at the amount of effort Ooi put into planning this special day for me and also for keeping it all a secret (i am serious...i din even know where i was going til i reached the place) ...

din think it was possible..but i think i m more and more loving my Ooi each day!!

FrienDs ^_^

2007-02-09T11:35:00.000+08:00

It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help
Epricurus
Today since my boss is on leave, I have some extra time to jot in more stuff on the things that has been swirling in my brain for the last couple of weeks…I have decided to dedicate this blog entry to a few of my friends..but before I start, I need to point out that these group of ppl really deserve much more than I can write in here…

I am sure that if you read my few previous blog entries, you would have realized there was a common pattern in the way I write my stuff…and that is everything is abt the things that have happened after/ or are related to my recent union with my better-half, my Ooi ... The reason for this is becos I believe tat this is a really significant step up in my life, where everything I do or think, may now have a profound effect not only to myself, but to my Ooi, his family, my family, his friends, my friends, and most definitely, to our future kids…

During our wedding planning process, both myself and Ooi wanted to make sure that all our close frens were present during our wedding…we just wanted them to be there to enjoy themselves..Ooi and I were very determined to do everything on our own, bearing in mind that we did not want to trouble any of our family members and frens by asking them for help…it was all alrite in the beginning..some of our frens and relatives were constantly offering their services to us but we were still head strong and gently declined their help… but to my horror, as we were approaching a month to our actual wedding day, both me and ooi realized we could no longer do everything on our own…~~!!! But praise God, we knew at the top of our minds, who we could call to help and tat they would surely help without any hesitation...we had Sue, Ying Chao, Lynette, Melanie, Ben, Timothy, Alex, Zheat-Huei, Joanna, Bryan, Wai Yee and Ah Lun who came over to ‘rescue’ us… I also had my beloved sister-in-law, Shie Ching..who is the bestest sis-in-law one could ever have...

I am truly amazed at their loyalty and their never-ending contributions for making my wedding such a beautiful one…They all made it such a breeze for me to ask for their help…I did not have to worry abt them not being able to turn up or to help out…In fact, after the wedding, I now see much more clearly how wonderful these ppl are..and tat I really should put in much more effort to stay connected to them and not take their friendship for granted

A guy once said that “One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible”. Boy, am I glad he was so wrong in my case

It's FRIDAY and Valentine's Day is cominngggg.....

2007-02-09T08:55:00.000+08:00

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Lao Tzu

Today, I came to work feeling so happy…several reasons:
1) It’s FRIDAY~~!!! ( I think tat itself is enough to make me happy for the whole day.. hehe)
2) My boss is on leave!!!!!!!! (Tat means I can go for a slightly longer lunch, leave for home on the dot, and most importantly, do a bit of personal net-surfing….)
3) I had a yummy Ramly burger for breakfast..i know it’s a bit heavy for a morning meal but Ooi bought this one for me last night when I was asleep, so that I’ll have sthg to eat in the morning…****sheepish grin****
4) I had a good rest last nite…went home, no one was back yet (Ooi was working night shift)..put on my hair mask, face mask, had a cup of iced honey with my magazines, watching comedy sitcoms on my TV at the same time..and later, went to bed early at 10.30 pm…

As if the above was not enuff, when I came into the office to check my emails, there was a lovely Hallmark e-card from my Ooi, sitting in my inbox ...asking me to be his valentine :) hahaha...

I truly am blessed tremendously by God for putting Ooi into my life...after close to 10 years of being together, he has still found ways to always make not only me smile, but more importantly, my heart smile...If it was not for him, I would not believe that God truly existed..for God is love, and it is love that puts both me and Ooi together..me and Ooi are definitely the 'most opposite' kind of couple you can get (BOTH PHYSICALLY AND PERSONALITY-wise) and yet, we are both able to find a strong, common love for each other :) this is definitely God's work if you ask me.. :)

anyway, Ooi..if u are reading this, i just want you to know: thanks for making my day and I LUV ya... :)

Losing Weight...

2007-02-08T10:25:00.000+08:00

"The tongue has the power of life and death "
Psalms 18:12

Have you ever had encounter incidents where someone said something that actually hurts your feelings but then, because of your own pride (or stupidity, in my case), you choose to mask that hurt with a laugh..or worse, you forced yourself to agree with what was said to you…

Ok, let me be a bit more specific…as most of u all know, I recently just got married…right after my Ooi proposed to me, tons of my own frens asked me to “Please lose some weight”..i knew they din mean it in a bad way but then again, it still hurt my feelings..of cos, I din tell them tat I was hurt…instead, I laughed along with them…over the past few months, I reallee worked hard to lose the weight which was so, so, so difficult to come off…I must admit, it felt great to lose some weight…Everyone around me started to comment on how good I look and tat I should have been like this all along…hahah…and whenever anyone I knew saw me, they would ask me wat my secret was, I would told them basically I exercised and cut down eating rice…of cos, stress did contribute to the weight loss…but tat was the easy part ... wat I din tell them was tat everytime, I ran on the threadmill or when I wanted to put rice in my mouth, i constantly felt a wave of emotions slamming at me…

fear tat I was going to put on weight everytime I eat sometime..
fear tat I was not able to shed any kilos....
anger tat I was not able to resist the temptation to eat…
anger tat I was not able to lose weight any faster…
disappointment at myself for putting on so much weight in the first place…

but I tot, hey…these feelings would all disappear once the wedding is over..so it’s all just temporary..the words, the feelings and all…

boy, was I ever so wrong…it’s been almost a month and a half since ooi and I got married…and well, now I find tat my feelings are still there…the words tat were said to me (tat hurt my feelings) were all still intact in my head….i dunno why but the fear of putting on weight seems to be intensifying..recently, I have been invited to lots of dinners consecutively…naturally, I would eat the sumptuous food put in front of me…there was no more reason to restrict myself the way I did before the wedding..and hence, I must admit I did put on a bit of weight…but the amt of feedback I got..woooww…hai…

I am reallee at a loss wat to do…the pressure to lose weight is indeed a very real and scary journey..i wish I could advice those who have the same problem as me..but I really can’t…I dun have any solution either…I just wish ppl would be more careful with wat they say to us…to them, it’s nothing..doesn’t cost them anything to make comments on others…but to us…we carry the words in our heart and mind …for a very long time, if not forever…thank God, my Ooi loves me the same no matter wat I m…He said tat he’ll be happy with wat I m happy abt…I guess the challenge now is tat I just got to learn to love myself first...

and with that, i leave you all some before and after pics... (to humor you and myself :)

The end of every tunnel is LIGHT~!!

2007-02-07T14:23:00.000+08:00

A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve.

That was what John Maxwell, a former pastor and now a CEO of his own company, said. Simply put, only you can determine your own victory or defeat in every challenge that you come across. And in order to do that, we need to discover who we really are deep inside ourselves, and then we need to develop ourselves (personality-wise, character wise and most importantly, our spirituality). For if not, how could we then know what we want in life or know how to love and live for love.

Take me for instance…work has always been tough for me…I m kinda underpaid for the kind of work I do.. i end up taking the blame for the errors that others have done…u know..the list goes on…and well..there are days I reallee do wanna just quit..but then again, i would always remind myself tat if I were to do tat, it would mean tat I quit the challenge that was put before me…tat most likely would have made me a better person…hence, by quitting, I would not have the chance to learnt to be better but instead, I become nothing except a quitter…and I dun think I can stomach tat kind of label on myself….and well, to be brutally honest, if tat doesn’t convince me to endure the difficulties I faced at work, I just remind myself tat i need the money to survive!!

Hence, I always have the faith the faith that God is a good God and that He has nothing but good plans and a future of hope for me…and also, I have a great husband who is always waiting to cheer me up and help me forget wat ever problems I may have..I have friends both at and outside work who are always empathizing with me with watever work challenges i have...a beautiful house to go back home to..So friends, if ever you have a difficult time, pls remember not to give up ..Just Hang in there…you will soon find the purpose why the challenge was put before you

Just married...~!!!

2007-02-06T15:23:00.000+08:00

Once you are married, there is nothing for you, not even suicide, but to be good.

Robert Louis Stevenson

What a way to start my first blog entry...Those who do not know me may be symphatizing with me and wondering what kind of marriage i entered into...haha..but those who know me (and i mean those who really know me) are definitely scratching their poor little head and wondering if i am speaking on behalf of my now-husband..my Ooi..hehe...

Well.. truth be told, the above quote truly mirrors my thoughts...it is indeed true that once you are married, that all you seek to do is be good...be good to your husband..be good to your in-laws..be good to your friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc (otherwise, your in-laws would think you are horrible and tat their son deserved some one better..heheh)...be good to your future children...be good to your future grandchildren...well..u get the idea...you just got to be good..otherwise, well, you'll pretty much have a tarnished reputation that will last for eternity..The Japanese has a proverb which accurately protrays what i am trying to say here.. They say that 'The reputation of thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour"...hence, one foul up..tat's all it takes..and ppl remember it for a longgggggggggg time..so be careful what u do..be conscious of wat u say, especially after you get married.. :) truly boggles the mind why i got married in the first place, doesn't it..well, Love can be blind sometimes :)

p.s. to my frens...few points for u guys to take note of:

a) "i really dunno how to start my first blog entry"...just writing watever popped into my mind first..

b) tot tat a blog would be a great way to release stress when i m at work...

c) best way i can think of keeping you guys all abt the happenings in my dull, little life/ brain...

d) well..they say ppl who blog are looking for attention..well, i guess i kinda fall in that category..but dun we all...hehe

e) i would love to see how long i can keep this blog..haha..since i get bored of everything ever so quickly... :) wish me luck ya~!