We will not visit Cameron Highlands

Not until after five years, at least.

In love with the cool and fresh air, Mom and Dad decided to take the kids to the tea highland again. Our second trip there in two years.

This was the fourth trip for Hoe and the third for Wyng since the last six years, if my memory doesn't fail me. So seasoned are we about the highland that the kids can almost tell what the next activity was as we hopped from one spot to another.

Our usual first stop, Cameron Valley Tea House, where we savoured some cakes and drank the famous tea.

The sign speaks for itself

Lemongrass tea for Dad and the conventional teh tarik for Mom

The strawberry cheesecake and marble cake were yummy that each of us had our own piece.

To break the routine a little, this time we didn't go up to Gunung Brinchang, which we normally do.  Instead of snapping pictures amidst those tea trees, we opted to do so at  the second Cameron Valley Tea House at Bharat tea plantation on the way to Brinchang.

While waiting for the kids to explore the plantation, Mom relaxed at the tea house

Too sunny..

Who's that behind me?

Obliging for the camera

What can you do at Cameron Highlands?

How to help your kid to earn some pocket money?

Since it's school holidays and they don't go to school, hence no pocket money for them. We can easily give them pocket money to spend but wait a minute.  Why not make them contribute some of their young and abundant energy to some good cause, at least at home?

Make them do your housework for you. During schooldays, with homework and extra-curricular activities, they may not have time to even wash their own dishes, not to mention to help out Mom in other housework. So, assign them housework which they don't normally have the time to do.  Pay them their pocket money right after they complete their task.  This way, they can feel the instant gratification.

I made Hoe cook lunch that day, with my close guidance and supervision. The menu was my steam chicken and potato. Today, he was pretty left on his own to cook fried rice, except for some pointers and reminders.

He was also made to wash my car.  It was done so quickly, so don't expect a clean car such as that washed by the 'professional' car washer.  Another task he helped me was to tidy up and tie the stacks of old books to be given away to the underpriviliged for recycling.

Hoe will never say 'No' as he needs the money to top up his Hotlinks.

Is it easy to say No to your kids?

It's easy to give the kids what they ask for, saying 'NO' to them is difficult.

When you give them the green light, it opens up their eyes almost instantly, a wide smile too. You may see them vanish in split second, right to their computer (kids' all-time favourite in this IT era), without any sign of gratitude for saying 'Yes' to them.

If you object to their demands, groans and moans will follow.  Hostile stares and frowning faces are expected.  After all the facial protests, next come the verbal ones, of course.  The 'whys' will be showered to me.  Not that they want to know the real reasons for depriving them of their pleasures, all they are after is indulgence in their favourite pastime.

More headache will come when they start to bombard Mom with questions or remarks which sometimes can pierce you through the heart.

"You are a bad mother,"
"You always don't let me..."

Wyng can't hold his tears if he is forbidden to do something he yearns to, for instance, iPad-ing or playing on Dad's tablet or smart phone.

Yet, someone hard-headed like me will not give in.  Or to put it crudely, it takes a black heart mom to say No when the kids demand relentlessly.

So, it's really not easy.

Crazy about Ninja Warrior

Concave warped wall

Similar to the Wipeout obstacle show, this current programme on channel 617 is the kids' current craze.  Wyng is so hooked on this show that it replaces his favourite anime show.

Now, this programme is always their first choice whenever the TV is turned on.  Without sitting down in front of the TV to watch, this show used to be quite annoying to Mom as the narrator rattles throughout the show in lightning speed, in a language alien to me. But, when you care to seat yourself watching the super-lean contestants battle against each other in the obstacle course, you will find yourself attracted to their resilience.
I was in for a surprise when I watched Paul Hamm, an American Olympic gold gymnast, fought against time to complete the obstacle course.

Steely determination and robust stamina and strength rule the game!

Another trip to Langkawi again

My other half, still hasn't had enough of Langkawi yet, suggested going to this mystical island this coming holiday.

Again! In the same year?? 

I'm sure there are other more attractive places to visit in our country.  Although there are a few spots we have yet to explore, I am not in favour of going through hours of land and sea travel to get to the same place within the same year.

The kids don't really mind but I think the money should be well-spent on a totally new place.  Even if we have to go to the same destination, it should be on another year.  

First Robotics class

For someone who loves to assemble robots, Transformers or aeroplanes and what not, Robotics is just right for him.

It got me thinking and looking for a while the kind of activities that Wyng may like. I finally found something which I think will be his cup of tea.  When I introduced the concept of using a computer software to assemble robots, Wyng jumped to the idea.  And he actually waited for more than a month before he finally managed to lay his hands, for the first time, on those small pieces of Lego parts.

It was quite a memorable first day at the class as we were late. Actually, we would not have been late if not for the slow service at the eatery at Summit where the centre is. While waiting for our lunch and in order to maximise our time, we actually hurried to the centre and registered Wyng.  Registration was a breeze, no hassle at all.

Hurrying through his lunch but didn't finish it, Wyng started the class 15 minutes late.  Every child has a computer in front of them and fortunately a seat seemed to be deliberately left vacant for Wyng.  We were convinced that Wyng had only missed a small part of the session.  After making sure that Wyng was all ready for the session we left the centre.

Looking patiently for the right parts 

6cm, 10cm, where are you?

When we went back to fetch Wyng after about 1 hour and 45 minutes (it's a 2-hour session),  most of the kids had their robot models successfully assembled.  Wyng was seen still busy scampering but in really serious mode between his workstation and the boxes of Lego parts on the floor, searching for the right parts.

As it was about time to round up the session, a teenage boy was seen helping Wyng with the getting the parts and assembly.  In just a while, Wyng was asked to be at the competition board.  He, just like the other kids, was given a time span to shoot the targets.  Alas! He managed to score -60 because he also shot down a police which gave him a demerit!

Done, finally!

Wyng's first robot assembly, with some guidance.  To make sure that Wyng is able enough to handle the course, I went to enquire the reason for his 'slowness'.   I was told that the mission (robot assembly) on that day was slightly on the tough side and being his first class, Wyng faced some difficulties.

Here's the masterpiece!

Some kids who had completed assembling their robots first were competing in some kind of shooting competition on the floor.  Here, it was Wyng's turn with his shooting mission. Not that successful but it was all about fun.  Somehow, his name was announced as the recipient of an excellence award. Anyway, it's a good way just to get the kid's enthusiasm going.  The reward is a little 'achievement' sticker in his record.

I made him cook lunch

I think this is the most productive things he had done throughout the short break from the moment his PMR was over til today.

Trying to make him contributing to something at home and not just sit himself for hours in front of the idiot box and computer, I made him prepare lunch.  It doesn't matter if it's just simple lunch.  He was under my close supervision.  Standing next to him in our kitchen, he was directed step by step patiently how to cook steam chicken with potatoes, my first even menu and the best thing, the kids' favourite. 

Well, to motivate him to do this more willingly, I promised him a reward, a monetary reward. Well, as a student and an owner of a mobile phone, he needs to find a source to get money to top up his communcative device. So, earning a small allowance during the holidays is one of the ways to sustain his 'lifestyle' ie of having the luxury to use a mobile phone.

Where to go during the holidays?

It's a pleasure to be able to go on vacation but it can be a headache to decide where to go especially when you have a budget constraint as well as the factor of time.

I was toying with the idea of getting closer to nature at Titi Eco Farm. But, it will also be opening myself to the threat of these blood-sucking creatures.  In fact, I had this idea since about two years ago, but I still haven't got the guts to face brave this nightmare yet.  But, it's a really good opportunity for the kids to appreciate mother nature.  Ideal for relaxation too, for the older ones especially.

The hyped Legoland should be every child's dream.  Already Hoe was telling me how thrilling the rollercoaster is, according to his friend.

Singapore's Universal Studio was suggested a few months ago.  The kids would die to go.  Maybe next year.  Though this is not comparable to our Legoland, I prefer visiting the latter first.  The currency pinch is also something we have to consider.

Genting Highlands?? No! We will be greeted with throngs of enthusiasts, gamblers and holiday makers wanting to have a ball at their upgraded theme parks. There isn't even space to move around comfortably in the indoor parks.  The kids must be loathing me for rejecting this again.

The people you love hurt you the most

Why do people you love hurt you the most?  

Because what they say, don't say, do or don't do matter to you more than anything else.

Do you care when people insignificant to you say or do something? 

No, because only the ones you love matter.

Just my thought that I want to share with viewers of my blog, as I brave the journey of motherhood.

Dinosaurs Live in Malaysia

A close encounter with 'real' dinosaurs.

They are as good as real. With wagging tail, some are roaring, flying or moving. They are live-sized!

Stegosaurus

Deinonychus

Ankylosaurus

Triceratops

Tyrannasaurus-rex

Pachycephalosaurus

Utahraptor

Sarcosuchus

The names of these dinosaurs are provided by courtesy of Wyng. For those rarer ones, we googled and even referred to his 'Know The World of Dinosaurs' book.

He made his own milk

This was posted on 2 April 2009 in my previous blog.  Here is a reposting.

While I was busy engaged in my home office, I heard Wyng screaming something and asking for milk. As I couldn't make myself available to rush to the kitchen, I told him to give me a minute.

"I made already", he replied.

After about 15 minutes or so,I managed to finish what I was doing and proceeded to the living room. I almost got the shock of my life when I saw his empty milk bottle on the table. He had, apparently made the milk himself and obviously, drank the entire bottle. He was lying on the sofa, taking his ever needed nap. There is no trail of milk powder or untidiness in the kitchen when I went in to examine. Everything seemed to be in proper place. I really can't imagine how he knew the amount of warm water to mix with cool water. The milk is within easy reach as it is already in a milk dispenser.

Good thing is he napped without my constant reminder and his independence in getting what he want without the help of mummy. Bad thing is he could hurt himself handling the flask while attempting to prepare his needed drug.

Oh! He was 5 years and 7 months old then.

Am I doing too much for my kid?

Tomorrow is the last day of the PMR exam.  After tomorrow, it will be havoc for our home as Hoe will be declared 'free' from the major exam, for at least another year.

Wyng's last day of the final year exam will be on Tuesday. So, which means Tuesday afternoon will spell a topsy turvy home come afternoon when Wyng reaches home from school.  Hoe will be off on Tuesday as he doesn't need to sit for the Chinese Paper.

As of now when I'm blogging this, I've just completed a marathon of downloading and scanning sets of questions for Hoe to do.  It was a last-minute thing to do as I notice Hoe wasn't very strong in this Living Skills paper.  And, I've just discovered (after he told me yesterday) that he does not have any model papers except for the sets of questions from his school.  From what I gather, he doesn't seem to be able to achieve A for each set of papers he completes.

It was only yesterday that he requested me to download answers to a few sets of the other states' previous years' trial sets.  After a few unsuccessful attempts, I gave up.  His teacher gave the students questions without answers! So, instead of continuing the fruitless attempts, I volunteered to download the current year's trial papers of other states for him to do.  All in, I've downloaded questions from five states for him.  Sigh..each set took about half an hour to do, excluding downloading time.

Even Hoe said I'm too enthusiastic and diligent downloading the papers.  I hope Mom is not too overly diligent in this case as Hoe is the one sitting for the exam.  I told him he had deprived me of my weekend relaxing.  "Sorry, sorry.." Hoe kind of murmured apologetically.   " I just want hard work from you, not a sorry." was all I could say.

Oriental cravings

Pork Ribs in XO sauce

Salted fish and pork

Lotus Roots,minced meat and vegetables

Oriental Cravings at One Utama

Another satisfying weekend meal for us, this time at 1Utama.  As usual, Hoe loves the pork ribs and pork.  Wyng, almost just had white rice.  He was 'forced' to have some pork, that was also stuffed into his throat (almost literally) by Mom.

These dishes are really rich and tasty.  The serving is a little too small, though. Not that cheap, the bill came to about RM100 including rice and chinese tea.

Our first vegetarian dinner

It's the first time we had vegetarian dinner ever since Wyng was born.

This restaurant is located at Taman Maluri, along Jalan Jejaka, can't miss this.  It sells a fusion of Japanese and Chinese food.

Wyng's choice, his favourite sushi.

Vegetarian sushi

This traditional home-styles french beans is yummy. The minced meat tastes really rich.

French beans and minced meat

Hoe's favourite for this dinner meal was the Thai styled bean curd and french beans.  Good things are always not enough.  We couldn't get enough of these two dishes.

Thai style bean curd

Pork ribs..the taste if not bad but the texture is not porky, though.

Pork ribs

Similarly for this chicken dish.  The lemon sauce is okay, but again the texture is not so much of chicken meat.

Lemon chicken

Overall, we enjoyed this vegetarian meal.  Hoe even asked to come back for a second time. 

Mom gets stung everywhere she goes

I get stung wherever I go, at home.  By the blood sucking creatures.

In the living room whilst I am watching television. In the study room while I am surfing or at my PC.  I'm not even spared when I shower in my bathroom. Yes! there are mosquitoes even in my bathroom. While washing the dishes or cooking in the kitchen, I get stung too.  At the car porch, they stalk me while I hang or collect the clothes.

So, what's the solution? I seldom get bitten by these blood suckers in my bedroom ever since I have the electronic mosquito repellant.  Once in a while, I spot one or two in my room. But somehow, they don't really bother me.  So, the repellant works, in a way.

I used to dab a little repellant cream on my leg and hand while watching TV. During the daytime, I despise any stickiness on my hands or legs. Moreover, applying anything on the hands when I need to cook is definitely not a hygienic thing to do. So, I'm kind of vulnerable to these creatures during the daytime.  

Now, lately I resort to this Antimos mosquito repellant which seems to work. I've been using this for the past one week.  It's tidy and handy.  I take it almost wherever I go except to the kitchen and bathroom.  I may have to get more of these repellants as the only one I have is given to me by my sister.

At the point of blogging this, there are already a few red swollen spots on my legs. 

Stop disturbing the insect

Wyng, still in his uniform after school, intrigued by the insect

Wyng always can't resist leaving those insects alone.  He'll be preocuppied with them for a while most of the time.

Here, before he even stepped into the house, he was already trying to get the grasshopper away from the bamboo plant.  He used the water spray to shoo it away.  

The next day, the grasshopper ended up in my toilet.  Well, I wonder if this was the same one which Wyng harassed the day before.  

He got a warning from Mommy not to disturb any creature and let them stay in their habitat peacefully.  Dig me, Wyng!

Mom chose Thai food at Flying Chillies

To celebrate Mom's birthday, this time Thai food was the choice.  Mindful that we had to order some food which suit the kids especially Wyng, we ended with quite a tableful.  Two dishes to satisfy Wyng, pandan chicken and the fish cake, but he only took the Pandan chicken and scrambled egg (not pictured).

After this sour and spicy Thai meal, Daddy and Mom sort of decided we won't be having tomyam soup for our meals anymore. It's too sour for our stomach to take. Moreover, with the serving here, we practically got drowned with the soup.  Hoe, for one, couldn't take too much, just about half a bowl.

The restaurant was at Mid-Valley's Flying Chillies.  Our rating for the food is probably 6 out of 10. Service is so-so only.  No major complaints about them, not that efficient, as usual, what do you expect of Malaysian customer service?

A must-have Thai dish as appetizer, mango kerabu

Spicy and sour, tom yam seafood soup

Pandan chicken, always the smallest portion, was walloped in no time.

The family's favourite, pandan chicken

Fish cake, kind of  a 'let-down'

Sweet and sour fish

If only we could have a bigger and meatier fish.

Japanese food, again

I know it's so untimely to post something about Father's Day. I missed posting this last time, so this is to make up for it and also to share the photos with visitors.  This time, we had our Japanese savouring at a sort of high-end Japanese restaurant, Kiku-Zakura.  It's was my suggestion. Ouch... so painful on my pocket.  I regretted the decision, not because of the food but the price tag.

Daddy's the king for the day, so naturally, he picked his favourite and pricey one from the menu.

The most expensive menu on the table, Bento, Daddy's favourite

Hoe can't resist rice and he picked this curry chicken rice

Hoe's curry chicken choice

 As allllllways, Mom chose Teriyaki Chicken rice.

Mom's choice of Teriyaki Chicken rice

 Since Mom was footing the bill, she had another side order to satisfy her 'tuna' pangs, Tuna Californian roll.

Not something that could satisfy Wyng's appetite, he shared Mom's Teriyaki chicken rice as well.

Wyng's 'nugget' dish

How to change the administrator's password?

Hoe told me excitedly he has learnt how to change my desktop's log-in password without having to log in.  In disbelief and scepticism, I asked him to show to me right away on the desktop.

Sure enough, he demonstrated to me how he did it before the log-in screen comes.  It was done while the PC was in the booting stage, in the operating system booting.  Not really certain how and where he learnt it although he said he learnt it through one of his IT lessons at school, I cautioned him not to attempt to try this anymore. Even if he has done it, his act will soon be discovered as changing the password means the administrator will notice once she logs in.

Although I didn't react very well to this discovery, this guy has some kind of intelligence if he really wants something.  He can think of ways to get round something.  Sigh...if only he could put this intelligence of his on something more useful. I'm talking about his academics, of course. 

What kids do nowadays

Three kids in a family. An iPad each!

So, this is the common scene now at public places.  At almost every single table in WIFI eateries, you can see the indispensable smart machines, either a smart phone, a tablet or an I-pad.

Three kids in the family, father and mother.  4 I-pads, at the table! And another smart phone. The equation is perfect. 5 in the family with 5 intelligent machines. Except for their maid who was free, the entire family was busy. Not talking, mind you but touching away and pressing, their I-gadgets.

Only the table on both sides of this table (including our table) were aware of their obsession.  We couldn't help but gazed at them a few times whilst savouring our dinner. Well, the parents were least disturbed by their kids' behaviour at the table.   The other table was occupied by an elderly couple who seemed clueless with why the kids were so engrossed in the square machines.

As for me, I was bold enough to snap their pictures for me to post in this blog.

Not wanting to be a sour grape, I'm glad I don't own an iPad or iPhone though my kids are crazy about them.  Whenever we frequent shopping malls, the first place they head for is any IT shop which sells Apple products. And they will be stuck there for a while until Mom and Dad come shooing them out of the store.  That's all the iPadding they can enjoy.  No complaints at all about this! In fact, I'm glad they are iPad free, at least at home.

Wyng and his drawing book

After dinner, Wyng was allowed to play at one of the stores

Whilst the kids beside us were iPadding away, Wyng was busy reading the words on the disposable paper table liner in front of him.  The history of some Thai Gods were depicted on the paper liner. Before dinner was served, he was engrossed in drawing his pictures.  Yeah, he brought his drawing book along that night.

We shared thoughts about those things written apart from commenting about the other customers in the restaurants whose hands were also occupied with their intelligent machines. It was an observation started by Wyng and Hoe as they scanned the entire restaurant and deduced the preoccupation of people with iPads or smart phones.  I was speechless!

Why have a date in a restaurant when they could just iPad at home?  Mothers are supposed to be communicating with their kids to share their thoughts and not allow them to get unnecessarily attached to these machines.  Such is the sorry state of family communication.  Who's at fault? But, does anyone care or realise the damage it is causing in the first place?

Mothers especially, it's time to weigh what's best for your kids! A lot of lessons can be learnt in raising kids in this new but challenging era.