Getting A Chance To Blog Again

My Malaysian trip has been so very busy.


Since the day I arrived, almost 2 weeks ago, I have not gotten a chance to access the internet via my laptop.


My sister has just gone back yesterday and today is a free day... no appointments with any friends. So, I am at Starbucks Cafe doing some email and blogging. I had to buy a cup of coffee for RM13.80 (THB138 / USD4). I didn't feel comfortable hanging out here without buying anything.

My Sister Has Returned Home

My sister has returned home to Australia since yesterday night.


We had a good time together... thought not a lot of alone time because of her commitments towards her in-laws.... I understood that. Some time is better than no time.


I am not sure when we will meet again... Me in Bangkok and she in Australia. Anyway...

Grandparents and the Grandchildren

My sister's family, my family, my parents and my grandmother

My cute little niece, J.A.

Cute little feet of J.A. I love this little feet. Reminds me of my children when they were young

Day Out With SH & Joanna

I met SH yesterday for a Bah Kut Teh eating session ;-)

I know Tang you are missing SH & Joanna, so I purposely loading some photos for you. Since this is not my computer, I am having some difficulty loading the photos. I am loading a few for you ...

We had food, shopping, fellowship and loads of fun day out!

See you back in Bangkok, SH!

I have not been able to get to an internet access for the last few days. So, I have not been able to blog much.


I have been really busy catching up with friends. Almost every night I have been back home after 12am.


The children have gone to their paternal Grandparent's home since Thursday 10 July.


Its tiring having such an active social life! But really enjoying the company of old friends....

Arrived Safely

The children and I have arrived safely in Malaysia since 7 July 08, Monday.

The flight was on time, food was good, flight attendants were pleasant and friendly. No, I am not paid to advertise for Thai Airways. The children enjoyed the flights anyway. They each had a can of Coca-cola. Small little things do bring a lot of joy... especially to children.

At Suvarnabhumi Airport.... having to leave Daddy behind...

In the Suvarnabhumi Airport, this lollipop attracted Ethaniel. He wanted to purchase this THB340.00 lollipop! Its huge!

After my Mom picked me up from the airport we went back to our old Condo which is currently void of tenant. We have not stayed there for almost 2.5 years. Sad to say, the condition is not like how it looked when we left it.

We spent hours cleaning and washing the place. Joel and Ethaniel did their share of helping.

Joel and Ethaniel mopping the floor and cleaning the toilet, respectively.

Mom was busy having her lunch... all the fruits I brought back from Thailand

After all the cleaning up and washing, we went over to my in-laws and thereafter to my Sister.

The day ended beautifully at a hawker centre full of my favorite food. We had Wan tan mee, char kueh teow, satay, clay pot rice, ABC, mee rebus, yin yong noodles... Burp! That was good.

More stories coming up when I get the chance...

Children Says the Darndest Things

The thing about Ethaniel, his feet sweats especially after a long day of walking. So, whenever he takes out his sandals in the car, the smell often kills us.


So I have decided to purchase a pair of Geox snickers for Ethaniel... "The shoe that breathes".


He was very excited to wear the snicker to church. After the church, as usual, we always go for lunch. Whilst at lunch, Ethaniel took off his snickers. I was puzzled, so, I asked him...


Me: Hey, Ethaniel, how come you took out your Geox snickers.


Ethaniel: Its hot.


Me: Its not suppose to be hot, its "The shoe that breathes"



Joel without hesitating a moment and responded, "That's why its dying!"

A Hand Massager

I purchased this wooden porcupine looking thingy a few weeks back.


Its suppose to be a hand massager.


You know what? It works great.


I use it anytime I feel tired and anytime I want. Its great!!! Try one.

This wooden massager fits nicely into the palm and squeeze it

Meeting Up With My Sister

My one and only sister is back to Malaysia due to some family matters with her in-laws.


I have not seen her for two years now. She seldom comes back to Malaysia and I seldom go to Australia.


But we are meeting up next week....in Malaysia. Hurray!!!


I am looking forward to catching up with her again... We always have a good time together... laughing, eating, talking, chatting, joking and just hanging out together.


I will be going back with the children...

Relaxing Day at the Spa

A few days ago, I spend the whole day with a bunch of ladies... . Eventhough they accompanied their hubbies to Bangkok because of a conference, while the hubbies (including mine) are busy at the conference, we were busy boosting the economy of Thailand. It's an important job, you know.


I was playing tour guide.


The plan.... Shopping. Spa. Eating. And some more shopping....


Spa is like the "in thing" for people all over Thailand. Their hotels and resorts everywhere provides this service. I have stayed in Bangkok for 2.3 years but have just gone for a spa treatment, once. A few months ago.


All of us were very excited and was really looking forward to this new package of spa treatment which I purchased recently. It includes a body scrub, body mask, sauna, jacuzzi and a Swedish massage. Ooooohhh. Being treated like a queen for 2 hours. Like Cleopatra. Hmm... nice.


All of us had our individual rooms with a lady masseur. It began with a scrub then shower and then a body mask & sauna, then jacuzzi, shower and ended with a nice Swedish massage.


All of us went in tensed but after the treatment, EVERYONE looked fresh and FELT fresh.


This spa thingy, I think its something that I can get used to ;-)

Keep Quiet

"Keep quiet!", shouts Joel.


This is something Ethaniel has not mastered.


Keeping quiet, is not something he is good at.


In fact, I think he struggles with it ....


What makes me think so?


Well...the constant interruptions when we do Wisdom Booklet together, asking questions irrelevant to the topic discussed in the Wisdom Booklet...


Humming while in the car, showering in the bathroom, while walking....


While he does his writing.... he talks....


While he does his reading... he talks in between sentences .....


Yesterday, he talked so much while his older brother was doing his project that Joel had difficulty concentrating. After some frustrated effort of trying to finish his project, Joel came over and said ...


Joel: "Mom, if I didn't have self control, I would have punched Ethaniel!"


Me: "I am glad you exercised self-control"


Joel: "The only reason I used self-control is because I am afraid of you... what you will do to me if I punched him!"


Me: "Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom - its in the bible"


Joel: "Fear of YOU stopped me from punching him... not God!"


Me: :-/


When children are young, parents are representatives of God. They cannot see God but seeing their parents, they can visualize what God is like. If parents are loving, fair, firm and etc. That's how they see God.


Struggles.... don't we all have them? Some struggles with trying to keep quiet, some with self-control and the rest of us with everything else.

Caught on camera: Joel 'torturing' his younger brother by flipping his finger to his earlobe. Note the cheeky smile on his face. He didn't know I was taking his photo by zooming the camera from afar.

Training Together with Other Mothers

The one very fun thing during my training in Singapore... are the Mothers. They are one hilarious bunch of women!!!!


As I mentioned earlier, it was really a brain-drain training. There were times when I was so tired and sleepy that I knew even coffee was not going to help.


Cecilia, one of the mothers started cracking jokes about her experiences as a swimming coach. I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. She is one funny joker!!! There were Elizabeth too. Another funny joker!

When Mothers come together, they know how to have a good laugh. Anyway, homeschoolers need to know how to laugh, if not, we would have gone crazy!!! Either that or our children would have gone crazy...


Cheers to you ladies who gave me great laughs during the training!!!!

How The Children Coped While Mummy Was Away?

The children coped much better than my previous trip to Jordan / Israel.


Joel didn't cry his eyeballs out! That's a good sign.


They had Daddy at home....


They had their pillows....


They had their bolsters .....


They had their bed .....


They had their toys .....


They had their familiar surroundings of the home .....


They had their familiar food ....


Amazingly, they did their assigned homework.



So, they coped well but Joel suggested that I don't do this too regularly :-/

Catching Up with Friends in Singapore

I have known Paul since we were 15 years old. After high school he moved away and we have just re-connected this year via Facebook. What do you know?


He and his wife works in Singapore.


It was great to have managed to catch up with him. According to his wife, with people whom he is not familiar, he is usually quiet. Obviously he is VERY familiar with me ;-)


We had a great time chatting and I was really encouraged by the many things he shared to me from his own bible reading revelations.


The church I currently attend encourages us to finish reading the bible in one year. So, I am all for reading the bible. What more, I have just purchased 2 bibles from Singapore - New Living Translation (NLT). Very easy to read and understand. Obviously suitable for both my sons. I am using it for the moment....

*****************************

Kevin on the other hand is a new friend whom I met whilst on tour in Israel in April 08.


We had a great time dining at an Airport Chinese restaurant and then dessert at Swensen's.


Since I was suppose to hang loose, Kevin was just the ideal person to "hang" with. He is just so funny. Great sense of humor and did crack some crappy jokes which both of us understood and laughed about.


I don't have enough friends with such crazy sense of humor. Life is just too serious.


Thanks Kevin for those great laughs! Let's hang out when you come to Bangkok.

Shot of Kevin at Jericho, Israel

What Do You Do During Rainy Season?

I will never know what the children do during rainy days.... till I go out of the house and see this.


What is it?


How do you build one of this?


A steel table, a large piece of canvass and 2 very adventurous and creative boys....

Joel & Ethaniel peeking out of their "hut"

Is it fun?

You bet!!!

Mommy's Day Out to Singapore

After the 3 days intense training, I had a lot of time to hang loose.... The feeling is awkward because it has been ages... A VERY LONG TIME AGO.... when I traveled alone. I usually travel either with the children or hubby. Even if I travel by myself, it not more than 2 or 3 days. But now, I have 11 days by myself.... Hmm... what do I do?


I didn't really have any planned itinerary. For once, I wanted to play-by-ear. Meaning, do whatever I want, whenever I want it without a planned schedule. To my surprise, it worked out pretty well. On some days, I just slept late and others, I stayed up late. No curfew except for the MRT or last bus service.


The efficiency of the MRT and buses were exceptional and I traveled everywhere with either one of the services except to and from the airport. I used the taxi. It was too difficult to carry my heavy luggage all by myself.

Snippets of my trip to Singapore:

Boarding pass

Vivo city. I think it's a very new shopping centre in Singapore.

Char Kueh Teow at Vivo City. Very yummy. Cost SGD4.00 (RM10/THB100) per plate.

A mobile pre-paid card by Starhub in Singapore

I had a very good break. It was a very pleasant time hanging out with some very very old friends from school days and new friends too. I had a great time laughing, socializing and eating... I really believe that having a break is good for the soul. I highly recommend to all you stay-at-home Mummies.

Home Sweet Home

I have returned home to Bangkok since 26 June 08, Thursday.


Its good to be back home. I missed the children like crazy and of course, Thai food.


Its good to be using my own laptop, sleeping on my own bed, hugging my own bolster, lying on my own pillow ......


Nothing like home....

Training

I have been going through a very intensive homeschooling training from the ACE curriculum for the last 3 days.


I must admit that I was not prepared to undergo the training in such a manner. Let me explain... We were required to sit at a desk which is called "office" for the last 3 days, doing worksheet based assignment. Meaning, read some information and fill in the blanks. The information is required to be checked, corrected and re-checked. And eventually we had to take a test.


There were memorization of scripture, merit and demerit points depending on good or bad character behaviour and etc.


To sum it up, I am now brain-dead! When I return home to Bangkok, Thailand, I will be more gracious to my son. I can emphatize with him.... having to sit down and do the work requireds A LOT of concentration, focus and energy.


Anyway, I am glad the training is over.... It will take me a few days to recover and rest.

Happenings & Observations While in Singapore

I thought I will give a brief update about my trip...


16 June 2008, Monday


I arrived in Singapore at about 5pm on Thai Airways. Since my friend was busy, I volunteered to take a taxi.


I waited a the taxi queue and it was a short wait... no queue :-)


A taxi driver opened his boot. Since I had 2 baggage, one light and the other heavy, I lugged the small one into the truck of the car, silently expecting the taxi driver to assist me with the heavier one. He just stood there and stared at me. Fine. I struggled with the heavier baggage. After my third try and still could not get that heavy luggage into the trunk, he suddenly realised that he might have to stand there all night staring if he does not help. At last, he decided to help. Wow! Smart fellow.


This is my unforgettable "warm" welcome to Singapore.... which gave me chills.

******************

The same evening, we went out for dinner at a foodcourt nearby my friend's place. I had "Mee Rebus", Hokkien Mee, Mee Suah with pig liver and Bah kut teh. After the "warm" welcome at the airport, I feel comforted by the familiar Malaysian food.

Mother's Day Out

I have enrolled myself in a homeschooling training organised by Teach Asia in Singapore. Their program is ACE curriculum which I have heard about but never really seen or attended their training. This is my first time attending a training organised by them.


Both the children, Joel & Ethaniel is at home with the maid & Dad for two weeks. My first time leaving home without them or hubby. My Israel trip in April 08 paved the way for me... and them getting used to me going away. I recently read a book that said "Motherhood is a temporary job and not an identity". I laughed! Its time I learn to let go... but they are just 6 and 11 years old.... Anyway.


I must say that it feels awfully strange sitting on the flight without knowing the person beside me. Usually its my little Ethaniel or Joel. A good looking Indian guy sat beside me and I said "Hi". That was the conversation for the whole 2 hours trip. His body odour cum cologne was killing me!!


I called the children at home and spoke to them for almost 20 mins.... just checking on what they are doing... Its nice to hear their voice.


Not only children goes through stages in their lives... so does Mothers.

Emotional & Physical Pain

Yesterday I was watching a documentary on TV. There is a couple in UK who experiments the effects of the brain when experiencing the pain of rejection and actual physical pain.

Are there any difference to the brain?

Apparently not.

When a person experiences emotional rejection, a part of the brain is triggered. The same part of the brain is triggered when a physical pain is inflicted.

So, the next time we see someone in a state of rejection, eventhough there are no physical bandages, the emotional pain is similar to someone with a broken arm or leg. We should try to be kind, sensitive and compassionate.

Interesting eh?