Offbeat stories that tickled us pink

I read with amusement over some of the following when I read today's Star newspaper. i tried looking for the link but couldn't find it online, so I am copying some of it and reproducing it here:

>> Anti-corruption officials in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu found a way to literally stop airport workers from pocketing bribes. They issued them with pocketless trousers. :-)

>> A Norwegian man landed himself in hot water when police caught him having sex with his girlfriend as he raced at over 130km an hour through a 100kph zone on a highway near Oslo. ;-)

>> Old technology came to the aid of the new in a Brazilian prison, when guards found that inmates were getting mobile phones flown in to them strapped to carrier pigeons. :-D

>> An 11-month old boy accidentally dialled an emergency number while playing with a house telephone in the Canadian province of Brither Columbia. When police arrived, they arredted his father, who was growing marijuana plants in his home. :-p

>> Farmers who pay individual attention to their cows, notably by giving them names, are rewarded with higher milk production, a team in Newscastle University in England said, quoting the results of a poll. :-o

>> Tired of seeing his parishioners give weird and wonderful names to their offspring, a Catholic priest in Croatia offered monetary rewards worth around EUR135 (MYR667) to anyone who chose good old fashioned monikers such as Lana, Petra, Luka or Karlo. :-D

Well... I hope you had a good laugh after reading this blog.. :-)

Verdict of Success & Happiness Day 1

Ok, yesterday I said I was gonna follow what Andre Matthews said about Success and Happiness, which is to look for GOOD things in every situation for 24 hours.

Well, sad to say, I failed. I distinctly remember failing on at least 3 occassions, and I only realised my mistake after I became annoyed and agitated. Bad habits are hard to change, sigh.. should I try another day?

When I tried to follow the 24 hour strategy, I came across numerous situation where I contemplated what to do and feel... for example does looking for good things in every situation equal to giving in in all situations? Does it mean I have to swallow every incident that happens and take everything as it comes? Or am I allowed to have my normal feelings and reaction but try to look at the positive side of things, i.e. eventhough I am unhappy with the situation, try to look for the silver lining in each situation?

Day 2 lesson is sitting in my inbox but I have not read it yet. I think I should continue with the 24 hour challenge until I succeed. If one can always look at things from a positive angle, one should most definitely feel happier, isn't it?

Success & Happiness

I have always liked books by Andrew Matthews, in fact I think I have almost all his books, and have at least read them twice.

I like how it is easy to read and understand, and of course I believe what he says make perfect sense.. I went in search for his website today, and noticed that he has this Free 7 days to Greater Happiness email course and signed up for it. Not because I am unhappy, but because I want to be happier. For those who have ever been unhapppy, or are depressed right now, do sign up for it, or better still go buy his books and read them, I am sure you will feel and think differently after that.

Well, anyway, I have just received the Day 1 newsletter, and it is to "Look for GOOD things", and my mission for the next 24 hours is to look for GOOD things in every situation that I am in. No negative comments, only look for good and positive things in all the situation that I am in.

Sounds interesting, and I always like a good challenge.. so yes I am ON for the challenge! Will let you know how it goes tomorrow, and whether I feel any different by thinking GOOD...

Watch this space....!

My Precious

Time flies, in a blink of an eye, my baby is already 6 weeks old...

You can literally see her "grow" vertically, she is longer now and heavier too, though I don't see her putting on much weight.

It is a joy to see her smile, I even like it when she cries... hehe.. guess every mum feels the same way. I eagerly awaits the day when she is able to call me "mummy".. hmm.. when will that day come?

鸡和鸭讲

公说公有理，婆说婆有理，但是起码婆肯听公的道理， 公却从不听婆的理由， 还强词夺理， 但你却拿他没办法因为你说不赢他。所有的不开心唯有闷在心里。闷闷不乐的心情又有谁懂？

别认为我说的是孩子话或开玩笑， 当忍无可忍的时候，我就不会再忍了。到时才来觉悟， 已经后悔莫及了。

Conspiracy Theory related to Confinement

I just thought of a theory, and am beginning to be more convinced about it the more I think of it..

Confinement period is a conspiracy thought up by someone or some group (must be by a male because they don't have to go through this, either that or some lunatic woman) to help/ force/ aid her in losing off all the pregnancy weight. If you are going " what......?" hahaha read on first..

Theory & Hypothesis: Confinement rituals make you feel miserable, and when you feel miserable you eat less, or have less appetite to eat other food, you lose weight.

Evidences:
1. Making you eat the same food everyday, it becomes mundane and you do not look forward to meal times. Also, you will chew slowly, and food becomes more easily digested and absorbed by your body, hence less burden on your stomach.
2. Prohibiting personal hygiene routine such as washing of hair and shower so that one feels miserable and depressed. You are so busy scratching your itchy hair that you forget about hunger.
3. Loads of herbs and dark colour looking medicine and soups to ward off your appetite..
4. Prevent you from going out of the house so that you are not tempted by variety of food available in the outside world.

Kekeke.. I am thinking: those who are not going through confinement right now must be laughing at this theory, and thinking that I have gone nuts.. true, I might be going nuts because of the rules I have to follow during confinement. But nevertheless, this is my theory.. at least until my confinement period is over... (it doesn't feel like it is going to be over right now)...

Back from hospital and.... a mummy now

Actually this post is a little late because I am back home since 3 days ago, and have started my confinement.

My happiest moment is of course when doctor declared that although my baby princess has a tinge of jaundice, she is allowed to come home with us, but she has to go back to the paeds for check up tomorrow morning, but I can't go with her because I am supposed to stay at home during confinement.. sigh..

I can just watch my baby princess fall sleep for hours, and wish that I can always hold her in my hand and just watch her every movement. I know I sound like any other typical parent, but yeah you have to be a parent to know the feeling..

Well, for those who wants to know how the c-sec went... mmm... there is nothing much to tell actually. I did have some jitter moments before they came to my ward to wheel me out to the OT. I was a little uneasy when they told me to wave bye bye to my hubby outside the OT, because from then onwards I was all alone... then the anaesthecian came to give me the jabs. I must say, thanks to him I was calmer, and of course the spinal jab took effect almost immediately and I was numbed from waist downwards. My blanket was folded to cover my vision of the surgery, and I didn't know when my doctor walked in and when he started operating on me. I only felt a tight pull mid way through the surgery, didn't feel anything when the doctor stitch me back too. Oh, doctor also cut away some fibroids while he was in there, and I had no idea all this was going on. I was in quite a good mood after I heard baby's cry and saw her for the first time, and the 5 minutes or so that they put her on my chest, I totally forgot about everything, well, not that I felt anything else anyway.

And before I knew it, true to the doctor's words, I was wheeled out of OT in 1 hour, and half hour after that I was back in my ward. I was in good spirit the whole day, and had quite a handful of visitors who came and visit me. Thank you to those who made the effort to come see me and baby.

I had to stay in bed for the next 1.5 days or so, and was eagerly waiting for them to unplug all the drips and other stuff from me so that I can walk to the nursery to see my baby. Walking to the nursery to see her was my biggest motivation to get out of bed, although I was just operated on 24 hours before!

Oh well... to sum up my c-sec experience, it was really not as scary as people put it to be, and definitely not as painful as what they claim. True, post natal recovery takes a longer time, and I can still feel the wound and slight pain surrounding it, but then again, natural birth will also have post delivery pain as well?

Baby princess is now safely back home, watching her every movement is a pleasure. She feels so tiny and helpless that you just feel that you want to protect her from all harm, and give her everything that she needs. Hahaha... guess I sound like every other mum in this world.

Alrighty... tired now... night night...

Fishy Dinner

Oh, I almost forgot to blog about this funny tale which happened yesterday.

Hubby sent me an email yesterday, showing me what dinner mum was going to prepare for yesterday night. It was a picture of a fish, which he has also measured, and it was about 40cm long, including the head and tail. He also told me not to eat too full after 3pm, and save some stomach space for dinner, in anticipation of the huge fish, and 6-8 prawns that were lying beneath the fish..

I laughed so hard when I read that email, because it sounded hilarious, and then when I realised how big the fish actually is (I tried estimating 40cm), then I wasn't laughing as loudly anymore.. I shared hubby's concern, and was wondering how mum was going to cook the fish. If it was swarmed with lemongrass you can be sure that I will not eat it at all.. Somehow I just don't fancy the taste of lemongrass..

Anyway, in the end, to our relief, mum only fried half of the fish, even then we couldn't finish it.. mum was keeping the second half for another dinner session. Erm... I hope she don't keep it too long..

Are you curious about the size of fish, and what photo hubby sent me? Of course I won't let you down, it is attached right below...

The Big Fish...

Feeling bored at work..

Oh well, I wanted to share a joke with all today, but for some reason I can't cut and paste the joke so can't share the joke with you..

Last Friday when I was with Pyramid with my colleagues, 2 Chinese girls (students from either China or Taiwan) approached us and told us that they are doing a project. They are supposed to give a present to a stranger, and record the receiver's reactions, and asked if we were willing to accept the gift. My first impression was that I shouldn't because I was wary of the authenticity of their intention. So we actually rejected their offer, I felt a little bad about it but I would still reject the offer if I have to choose again.

Big day next week... today is officially my last working day before I go off, and start on my maternity leave.. time flies huh...?

Watch out for photos of my baby next week...!

Looks like C-sec it is..

Ha.. are you one of those who came to my blog recently to follow up on whether I am going for c-sec?

Well, went to the gynae on Saturday, and the verdict is: Baby has not turned... so looks like we have to accept the fact that I will be going for C-sec. Date: the week of 19th October. Doctor will see me one more time on 19th Oct to determine the exact date that he wants to perform the surgery.

Although we have almost resigned ourselves to the fate of c-sec, we are going for second opinoin next week. Just to be sure...

Things is certainly not turning out the way we imagined it to be..

Watch this space...

C-sec verdict to be out soon...

2 days... 2 days is all my baby have to turn.. otherwise doctor will discuss with me the procedure of having a C-sec this Saturday..

After learning a bit more about c-sec, I am even more determined not to go for c-sec, cos of the post natal recovery and also because of the epidural which will be inserted for the surgery.

So, turn baby turn....!

Sleepless Nights

3 consecutive sleepless nights can make anyone depress and cranky.. what more when you are already depressed to start with.. plus, my sorethroat is killing me. It has been getting worse since 2-3 days ago, and I think I developed an ulcer too. I guess lacking of sleep does do great harm to your body.. but what to do? Body is willing to sleep, but mind is not..

I just realised that since tomorrow is mid autumn festival, today is my lunar birthday. Been so depressed that I don't even remember that anymore.. and it is no longer special and as important. Not like anyone will remember.. a week ago things were different, and now... sigh..

Happy Birthday to me...!

Sad Day...

I am just in a lousy mood today, no mood for work and anything else. Things are definitely looking down right now, and I can see no light at end of tunnel..

Lord help me get through this please...

Cute "bajus" for lil' one...

One of my looong time friend gave me some baby outfits for my new born, and boy are they cute! She has so many cute outfits that I had trouble choosing them, in the end I only took those for new born... will go back for more next time... haha...

Cute pink rompers

Thank you Aunty GCCC!!

亲情与家庭

亲情与家庭

如果两者之间你必须选一，你会选那一样？

你可能觉得这问题很无聊，也可能觉得你两者都掌握得很好；所以这不会发生在你身上。你可有想过， 其实你每天的动作， 反应， 谈吐，以及种种已显示出你的选择了？你的另一半永远都不会是你生命中最重要的人物。每当有情形发生时，她的处境， 感受都不在你考虑的范围中，其他人的想法都比较重要。你会豪不考虑的为他人着想， 可不会为她花多一点点心思。。。

试想，她怎样不会感到心淡呢？她也觉得自己不属于这个家， 没有她的存在可能必较好。真的，有她存在的必要吗？不。。。他依然会生存的很好， 也不必为她的事而烦恼。所以，离开是适当的选择。。。？

:-((((((((((((

Veal Varding... ( what?)

If the title make no sense to you, and you are left wondering "what & who" is Veal Varding.. fear not.. Veal Varding is not someone/ something famous that one should automatically know.

Veal Varding is the name of someone/ something that I dream about 2 nights ago.. the name kept repeating itself, so much so that I remembered it after I woke up.

The first thing that I did after I woke up was to Google for it, but apparently there is no one by the name of Veal Varding.. so I just left it as that. But still, I felt that I should blog this down, in case this name does repeat itself in future, in whatever way...

Oh, another thing that I think should be blogged about is: My mum went to the night market last night, and she bought 60 oranges, 10 pears and 10 apples. 60 oranges!!! There are only 3 of us eating the fruits, and she bought 60 oranges? How on earth does she expect us to finish the oranges? Sigh... mum will never listen..

Update after recent doctor's visit

2 weeks ago, my doctor warned that my amniotic fluid level is borderline low, and if it dropped further he would have to curtail my activities, i.e. confine to bed. Needless to say, I was worried sick over the last 2 weeks, and was googling for ways to increase amniotic fluid level. Unfortunately, there is nothing much that I can do, since at this stage, the production of amniotic fluid is entirely my baby's effort.

So last Saturday, we went for the checkup, and was so relieved when doctor said that my amniotic fluid level has increased slightly. Although it is still lower than what he would like it to be, but at least it is an improvement.. We are hoping for this improvement to continue and soon, the amniotic fluid level to rise to normal level..

Keeping our fingers crossed......

Water Retention

Well, if it's not one thing, then it's another.. I seem to have all the symptoms a pregnant lady can have... from morning sickness to cramps to water retention, you name it, I've had it. Well... still having the water retention. I just started getting it 2 days ago!

My legs were so swollen that it felt tense when I touch them, and it is slightly painful to actually walk or squat. So at night when I sleep I need to put a pillow at my feet to elevate them. It is supposed to help reduce the water retention effect. I've tried it for 2 nights, it works.. in the morning my calves are not as swollen anymore, but during the course of the day, it will slowly build up and by evening it will be swollen again... sigh...

But my husband has been very sweet and supportive... Knowing that I do not get enough sleep every night now, he has tried to be very quiet around me when I fall asleep at night. He will be careful not to move me or disturb me, less I wake up and can't go back to sleep again. Last night, he even resorted to sleeping on the floow so that he does not wake me up.. I was so touched by that... It is true that husband's support is very important during one's pregnancy.. and I can testify to it.. Having my husband's support has certainly helped..

Thank you Lou Gong... lova ya!

Backache.... and sleepless nights....!

I don't know what was it I ate, but I went to toilet 3 times yesterday, everytime after stomach upset. I was drained of energy by bed time..

Anyway, my streaks of sleepless nights continued, with me waking up 5 times last night, 1am, 3am, 4am, 6am, & 7am. It is just quite tiring waking up so many times at night, just to go toilet and toss around in bed. I don't know how long this will continue, and I have respect for pregnant ladies.. being pregnant for 9 months is certainly no easy feat.

I suffer from backache constantly now.. at work I fidget and change position every so often because my back hurts from sitting in one position too long. At home, even lying in bed, I feel that my pillows are not providing enough support for my back. When watching tv at the sofa, I can't sit for long without being restless and fidgety too... sigh... the joys of motherhood...

Random updates

Hi hi... I know I have been absence for a long long time...
Truth is, I don't know what to update... There are lotsa stuff to update but as I procrastinate, I don't know which one I should update.. alright, enough of explanation. Let's update!

a) I am now 7 months pregnant, in case you don't know... yes... I am seven months pregnant already. Just the last trimester left. Motherhood is not easy man.. the happiest thing about being pregnant is when I feel my baby kick, and I can't wait to see my baby when she comes to this world. I have not bought all the essential items needed yet, but getting there.. baby stuff are just so cute you can't resist getting them.. but at the same time, they are also very expensive! My hubby and I have already spent a bomb on baby stuff, before the arrival of baby, and that is with a lot of hand me downs! I remember I once said that one should never do 3 things together (or a combination of them), which are get married, change job or buy a house. I should add having a baby to the list because it is also an expensive experience haha.. but one that I would not trade..

b) In anticipation of the arrival of baby, I have sold off my car, and traded it in for a family car. Yes, those 7 seater car because we anticipate that we will need to bring the stroller, maid, in laws and others and a normal sedan car just would not fit the requirement. So I bought the Nissan Grand Livina 1.8cc. I like my car, just that I find that the first passenger row at the back is not very spacious so if 3 people sit there it would be quite cramp for them. Well, what is bought is bought... just started paying the installment, and it's another long 7 years of loan to go..

c) We are going to hire a maid, also because of the baby... We have decided on Indon maid, because my in laws will be able to communicate with her better. Trouble is, we have not found the right maid. We are not fussy people, we just want one maid who can take care of the baby and do some household chores. We actually interviewed and hired one, but we sent her back after 2 days because she took too long to do the housechores (2 hours to mop the floor, and 20 minutes to iron one shirt), and fell sick after one day of working. So now we are still waiting for the next batch of maid to come for interview and selection.

Alright, I will just update the above only, gotta go have lunch now.. more later ok?

Yee Sang or Lou Sang

Traditionally Chinese will have the Yee Sang or Lou Sang during CNY, for my hubby's family they will make their own Lou Sang on the 7th day of CNY. Yes, they make their own Lou Sang from scratch! It is not easy feat as all the raw materials have to be fresh and prepared on the very morning itself.

I will not show you the entire process, will only show you the final product. For first timer, it may not be tantalising to taste bud, one may not even like it, but make no mistake you will look for it again once you get the hang of it. In fact, you will definitely crave for it!

Wihout further ado, let me introduce you to the very delicious Lou Sang:

The almost finished yee sang

After adding plum source, alcohol, sesame seed and peanuts

The taste? Wonderfully tasty!

Ooo... See what I found underneath this car?

I was out meeting some friends the other night for a drink, and we saw these "creatures" crawling about daringly nibbling on plastic bags, and decided to take photos to show you how big these creatures are.

Best part is, no one moved nor screamed, most of us just observed the rats cooly while sipping our drinks, and conitnue chatting..

The pics are a bit dark, not sure if you can see them clearly, there are two of them in the second pic. Oh by the way this is at one of the mamak in Damansara Utama, near Wisma Atria.

Cheong Ko Meen (Hakka Noodles)

If the title is confusing you in anyway, don't fret.. it's cantonese pronunciation of a certain noodle shop that we patronise on weekends. My husband's family is very loyal to this shop because they have started eating this noodle since young from Kuala Lipis. When they found out that this noodle owner has moved to KL and is operating from Cheras area, they have been heading there for breakfast on most Sundays.

If you ask me, I am ok with the noodles. I mean, I won't die not eating the noodles for a couple of months.. But what I like about the noodle is that eventhough the dish is simple, no fancy curry or dark sauces, the taste is still there. Not too salty, not too oily, just nice. I don't have a photograph of the store front, nor the address (apologies.. will try to snap it the next time I am there).

I couldn't get the image to be tilted or rotated.. but never mind lah.. I am sure you can tell how good the noodle taste just by looking at the above photos..