Tinki Talks

I Jump, You Jump... Except When Skydiving, Ok?

2013-05-21T23:54:00.000+08:00

While watching ASTRO just two minutes ago,
a skydiving feature or advertisement appeared.

Pam Song: *turns to The Husband* Would you go skydiving?

The Husband: *thoughtfully* I would.

Pam Song: Wah. Really?? Not scared meh?

The Husband: Tandem ok lah.

Pam Song: Ooo... With who? =D =D =D

The Husband: *blinks* The coach lah!

Pam Song: -______-''' CHEHHH... I thought with me!!

The Husband: ... ... ... *matter-of-factly* We'll both die.

*crickets*

A New Era Has Begun

2013-05-21T22:18:00.003+08:00

Hello, pasty purée and mushy mash! I'm so not ready for a life you yet. But YET! Here we are. Face to face. Or should I say face to fruit and food? *snort* Anyhew... Today is but Day 1 and already, I miss the super convenience of exclusive breast feeding. Bleh.

As you can see from the pictures above, I put the avocado I feed my baby, JZ, through a mini sieve with a metal spoon. Why the low-tech method, you ask? Well, cos I just discovered today that my online-purchased Baby Bullet is a lousy fake and is therefore not suitable for use. UGH.

Firstly, the blender doesn't fit well and plastic shavings actually come off when I try to screw on the blade. @_@ Like, WTH kind of quality is that!? Secondly, the "bullets" smell super strongly of plastic so I highly doubt that they are BPA-free at all. That means I can't even use them for storage even if I decide to ditch the blender. RAWR. Dang you, DealMates!!

So this Baby-Bullet thing makes me a wee bit angry. Plus, I'm also a little emo about beginning this moving-on-to-solids journey, too. Sigh. I can't believe that my son will turn 6-months-old in four days. Where did my baby's infant days go?? How did they fly by so quickly?! How dare Time go by without my consent?? I'm not emotionally ready to start the weaning process yet!!! Boo hoo... T_T

Ok, enough with the ranting. Now, it's time

to be the proud parent and show off. Haha.

JZ scoffed down the avocado like a champ! With no mess, too! Planned on giving him one tablespoon only but he wanted more so I ended up giving him a little over two tablespoons altogether. Almost a quarter of the whole avocado! Haha. So tham jiak! If he continues eating like this – fingers crossed – I don't think we'll have a problem with baby mealtimes. =p

And Again

2013-05-17T11:18:00.000+08:00

D.I.Y. pancakes.

...only more this time. =p

Breakfast Of The D.I.Y. Kind

2013-05-16T12:51:00.003+08:00

Felt like having fluffy pancakes for breakfast this morning

so... fluffy pancakes for breakfast, I made! =)

I didn't make an obscene lot of batter this time around (only one small cup of flour!) but even after making FIVE medium-sized pancakes for breakfast, there's still a little bit of batter left over. It's stuffed into the fridge for now but... I guess that means I'm having fluffy pancakes for tea later, too! Haha.

Yesterday's Sunset

2013-05-16T11:33:00.001+08:00

Been a long while since I've had the time

to take in the beauty of a sunset.

Yesterday was no different, of course. -_-

Snapped that picture you see up there in half a second. Between my bajillion baby chores, with a baby in a soiled diaper in one hand, and a camera set to Intelligent Auto in the other. Nowadays, this momma's just got to take what she can get. :-/

A Pack Of Memories At Only RM1.50

2013-05-16T11:17:00.002+08:00

Found it at the local fruit store that I frequent. Still so good after... what... 20 years??? So long since I've had it until I also cannot remember liao. And still so cheap, too! Only RM1.50!! Score la! It shall be my personal el cheapo treat each time I do my fruit shopping for the family from now on. =)

Nobody else seems to like eating it anyways. Offered one to my maid and she ate it, like, suuuuper sloooowly. I thought maybe savouring it lah, right? So, when she was done, I asked if she wanted another. Mana tau, the girl hesitate for a bit, then say, "Urm... It's ok, ma'am. You eat."

BWAHAHAHAHA. Mai suak!

(English Translation: "Don't want, done!")

Lunch!

2013-05-14T13:57:00.001+08:00

Laksa from Nibong Tebal.

A day old but still soooo good.

Happy Mother's Day

2013-05-12T23:52:00.000+08:00

...to me! HAHAHA.

Picture taken during Sunday-cum-Mother's Day Celebration Service

at TOP this morning while I fed my son.

And to all you other mothers out there

who read Tinki Talks also la, of course. =p

Let's Talk About Hair

2013-05-09T00:41:00.000+08:00

Here's a spot of trivia

for all you mothers-to-be:

You'll sport the best hair of your life – healthy-looking, smooth, thick, silky, shiny tresses that don't break or split no matter how you treat them – during your pregnancy. (Good-hair-day every day, yay! =D) You'll also lose the most hair in your life a few months after you pop. T_T

I, personally, started losing my hair in massive chunks four months after my son was born. Almost to the day. (Oddly, it appears that most mothers report the same problem when their babies turn four-months-old, too.) Well, it's been about a month-and-a-half since then and to my ultimate horror, it appears that my body isn't done with shocking me yet, and there is still more hair to lose daily. Look!

What came off and dropped to the floor as I ran a comb

through my post-pregnancy head of hair this morning.

-_-'''

And mind you, that's not even close to

what comes off whenever I wash my hair, ok. Sigh.

(No pictures of this cos it just looks too disgusting.)

Breakfast This Morning

2013-05-08T23:53:00.002+08:00

Perak Road Hokkien Mee.

Why does cholesterol have to

taste so good... but be so bad? :-/

pH Fun

2013-05-08T13:05:00.001+08:00

An alkaline water salesman came over today and tried selling me the idea of drinking alkaline water. Good for health, he says. Higher antioxidants, he swore. Live longer and heal faster, he claims. Uh huh. Well, sorry la, Uncle, but I don't buy it. Haha. Trust me when I say that I had waaay more fun watching the water change colour than listening to what he had to say. =p

From L-R: Kononnya "super good" alkaline water with new filter,

alkaline water with an old alkaline filter that needs to be changed,

tap water, and finally, super acidic and "poisonous" 100 Plus.

Brings me back to the good ol' days in school

when I used to terrorise Mr Kang's Chemistry class. =p

A Pinterest Surprise

2013-05-07T22:27:00.000+08:00

Today, I decided to check out my blog stats and see who's been popping by my blog and find out how they ended up here. (Been aaages since I've done that.) To my surprise, I stumbled upon this pin on Pinterest and did a double take:

Click here to view from source.

@_@

Wait a minute... I know that visual quote!

I was the one who whipped it up! Haha.

A long, long time ago. Back when LDR

was still a big reality in my life.

I lingered around on Pinterest for a bit, checking out that girl's board and then I somehow ended up on a page that just made my heart stop. In a good way. Look!

"Pins from Tinkitalks.blogspot.com"

Wow.

It's actually quite humbling to see and realise that something so personal and meaningful to me has meant enough to so many other strangers that they felt it worthy enough to be pinned. But I guess it's because human emotion is universal. No matter where we're from, or what we look like. Inside, we're all the same. We all laugh and cry. We all love and miss.

---------------

Dental Drama

2013-05-07T20:28:00.001+08:00

I've always had pretty good teeth. And I was pretty vigilant with my 6-month to 1-year check-ups for the longest time. Even used to have a toothbrush, some toothpaste and a roll of dental floss stuffed in my top drawer at MCKL for whenever I felt I needed a brushing or flossing mid-day... or midnight, for that matter. -_-'

But then Life got in the way. I quit my job at MCKL, moved back to Penang, went on a 3-month holiday in Australia, got engaged whilst I was there, came back to Malaysia, started a new job at KRPG in Penang, planned a wedding, got married, turned 27, relocated back to KL, started freelancing for MCKL, and then got pregnant... all in less than 2 years. @_@

So, yes. As you can see, Life really got in the way back then. Haha. I don't know when it happened but I began to sideline my dental appointments – sacrificing them for precious meet-ups with the folks, family and friends whenever I find myself back in Penang with a little free time on my hands. I mean, come on. I'd rather be sitting down enjoying a hearty breakfast with people I love and care about rather than sitting in a waiting room at a dental clinic, waiting to sit in a dentist's chair. Wouldn't you?

When I heard that pregnancy could take a toll on dental health, I didn't know how true it would be until I actually experienced it myself. My teeth really went to hell after my pregnancy la, I tell you. I don't think breast feeding is helping much either. Remember that mysterious nightly toothache I had back in October last year? Well, turns out it wasn't nothing. The dentist just couldn't do anything for me at the time cos I was pregnant. -_-'''

After my son was born and I was done with my confinement, I decided to pop over to Penang Dental Surgery to get my teeth sorted out. I no longer suffered from toothaches but I was dealing with a lot of sensitivity. I assumed it was cos of all the vomiting I did, beginning from my first trimester, right up to the Week 18 of my pregnancy. T_T #morningsicknessucks

This time around, they could finally take an x-ray of that molar that was bothering me last year. And that's when I got the tragic news. Because I was pregnant then and had to put off treatment for a good 4 months, it's now too late to save that tooth. I needed a root canal!! -_-''' What??? Me?! A root canal!? At 28?! NooOOooOoOooooOooo!! T_____T

So, no choice. The dentist gave me two big-ass LA jabs, installed the dental dam and got to work. Or at least she tried to. My tooth just wouldn't numb up! I could feel everything she was doing! So she said she just couldn't proceed and suggested I see an endodontist (i.e. a root canal specialist) and get a root canal done by specialists and under sedation instead. But guess what. There aren't any endodontists in Penang. WTH. -_-'''

She suggested that I see Dr Jac Lam at Wisma Perintis (contact below) and gave me a super ugly, temporary filling to cover up the gaping hole she had put in my molar. :-/ But, me being the professional procrastinator that I am, I ding-dong-ed and dilly-dallied for a couple of months (I wasn't in any pain ma) before I finally made the call. And then I was told I could only see him a month later. So all in, by the time I managed to see Dr Jac Lam, it was already three months from the time my tooth was opened up.

In the mean time, I decided to see another dentist in Penang – Dr Andy at SmileBay Dental Surgery (contact below) – for a second opinion. To my surprise, I ended up really liking his service. He was very pleasant, personable, and knowledgable. Puts a lot of thought into his work, if you ask me. He also ended up finding FOUR cavities (other than that root canal) that he needed to work on. -_-' Told him I needed a breast-feeding friendly LA if he's going to be doing any deep drilling and that's when he said:

Dr Andy: Ahhh... You vomited a lot during pregnancy issit?

Pam Song: *nods slowly* Uh huh...

Dr Andy: Eat in the middle of the night then too tired to brush teeth issit?

Pam Song: *shamefully* Urm... yeah.

Dr Andy: That's why your teeth are so sensitive and you've got cavities now! Quite normal, actually. A lot of my patients also suffer from this after pregnancy. Make sure you take Calcium.

-_-'''

So, now you know. If you plan to get pregnant or are already pregnant, make sure you gurgle with mouth wash each time after you vomit, brush your teeth in the middle of the night even if you're tired, and supplement your diet with Calcium even if swallowing pills makes you want to puke some more. Don't make the same mistake I did. Sigh. =(

Anyway, I got my 4 fillings sorted out with Dr Andy that day – I highly recommend him! – and left the root canal work for the professional. Time went by and before I knew it, my appointment with Dr Jac Lam had arrived. And I must say that after having seen him, I am more than pleased with his work. He was kind, gentle and very professional. His gadgets were really cool and high-tech, too. Haha. Oh, and he was so good at his job that he managed to perform my root canal WITHOUT the use of any sedatives. Only LA. Woo hoo!

Post-root canal x-ray to ensure that the job was well done. The tooth

he worked on is the one that's standing on bright, white roots.

Yay for me, that x-ray showed that Dr Jac Lam did a good job with the root canal. Unfortunately for me, that x-ray also shows a cavity in the tooth next to it. -_-''' HAIH! One thing after another! Rawr! Thing is, Dr Jac Lam doesn't do fillings, or crowns, or any other piece-of-cake dental work like that. To easy for him. Endodontists only work on the heavy-weight stuff. Haha.

So... I went back to Dr Andy's dental chair in Penang a week later, to get my mouth moulded for the crown and that molar next to it drilled, cleaned and filled up. That was last Saturday. Dr Andy was kind enough to rush my crown out for me – in case I leave for KL earlier than planned – so I had it fitted in this Monday morning. That was yesterday.

My new crown.

Well, 5 fillings, 1 root canal and 1 crown later, The Husband is over RM4,000 poorer (T_T) but I'm glad that my dental health is now back on track, my toothache troubles are over, my tooth restorative work is complete and I can finally begin to enjoy going to the dentist again. Phew! What a rough journey. I haven't had this many fillings or this much dental work done since like... ever, man! I tell you ah... my next pregnancy – if there ever is another one – had better be different. I cannot take going through this horror again!

---------------------------------------
JAC LAM ENDODONTIC PRACTICE
---------------------------------------
Suite 4-07 Wisma Perintis,
47 Jalan Dungun,
Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2094 2860

Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday: 9am to 5:30pm
Saturday: 9am to 2pm, Sunday: Closed

p/s: I highly recommend Dr Jac Lam if you need any hardcore dental work done. He's VERY expensive (my root canal cost RM2,000 – without a crown!!!) but he's worth every penny you spend. Apparently, there are only 4 endodontists in the whole of Malaysia – 3 in KL and 1 in Johor. If you're looking for an endodontist, it might as well be him.

---------------------------------
SMILEBAY DENTAL SURGERY
---------------------------------

NOTE: They have many outlets in Penang. (See website.) I've only been to two out of the five and both times, I saw Dr Andy. I know for sure that he shuffles between the following two outlets so if it's him you want to see, I'd suggest going to either one of these two outlets:

TANJUNG BUNGAH (HILLSIDE) OUTLET:

No. 1-A, Jalan Tanjung Bungah,

Tanjung Bungah,

11200 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel: +604 899 3800

Consultation Hours:

Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm

Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

ISLAND PLAZA OUTLET:

118-M-06, Island Plaza,

Jalan Tanjung Tokong,

Tanjung Tokong,

10470 Penang, Malaysia.

Tel: +604-8900 600

Consultation Hours:

Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm

Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

Website: http://smilebaydental.com

p/s: I actually prefer Dr Andy to any of the dentists I've seen at Penang Dental Surgery. Their prices are competitive anyways. Plus, you never really have to wait long at his clinic, or wait weeks/months to schedule an appointment with him. Having said that, I've decided to jump ship and go to him for all my dental work from now on. You guys should give him a try if you're looking for a regular dentist.

M.B.A.

2013-05-06T14:15:00.000+08:00

Overheard a 50-something-year-old man talking to his friends about the GE13 results at a coffee shop here in Penang this morning when the subject of a certain Malaysian political leader's education (or the lack thereof) came up. But wait, I'm not here to talk about politicians, politics or about how disappointing the electoral results turned out to be. We were talking about that 50-something-year-old man. And at the end of their discussion, the old man very proudly said:

Old Man: Even I got M.B.A., man.

Friend: Eh, you have meh??

Old Man: Got! My M.B.A. is "Married But Available"!

-_-'

I really can't decide who's worse.

Him, or the man he was b*tching about.

Sigh.

What is this land and its people coming to?

Taiwan, April '13: Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), Sogo, Zhongxiao Fuxing Station

2013-05-05T14:44:00.002+08:00

Woke up the next morning and had Chinese porridge with salted egg for breakfast. The wonderful thing about Taiwan is that their rice is just so "kiu kiu" (i.e. bouncy?) that it makes whatever dish it's used for amazing. Even plain porridge. And their salted egg? Wowza! I wish I had a picture to show you but... aiyah, none.

NOTE: You'll notice there are a lot of missing photos this trip. Either cos I can't show you the people who are in the photo, or cos I had my hands full with the baby so I couldn't take any pictures to begin with. =( Sorry. Oh yes, and cos this was a Chinese place and I'm banana, although I promise to try, I probably can't tell you where I went and what the place is called either. -_-''' #failedblogger

Anyway, back to Day 2 of our trip to Taiwan. We got the baby bundled up and off we went to catch an MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station via the Brown Line.

Public transportation in Taipei is very much first-world standard, if you ask me. For instance, you always stand on the right on escalators to make way for others to walk on the left. (Just like London!) Priority seats are available for the elderly, the handicapped, pregnant women, as well as for those with babies. (Just like Singapore!) People actually get up to let you have their seat if you fall into any one of those categories, too. Oh, and you don't talk, laugh or answer calls loudly in the MRT either. So considerate la, these Taiwanese! I like!

Less intricate than the London Underground but still

waaay more effective and travel-friendly than our local

rail systems (i.e. KTM, LRT and KL Monorail).

A short ride later and... TADAAAA!

DIN. TAI. FUNG. TAIWAN, BAY-BEH!

The DTF mascot with a XLB head! Haha!

But... as is to be expected at any popular eatery during lunch hour, we had to take a number and wait. So, take a number we did! But wait, we didn't. Haha. Instead, my poor 15yo cousin-in-law, Celine, had to wait alone on our behalf while the rest of us went to check out the mall with Aunty Mee as our guide. We went merayau-rayau everywhere. Checked out the food court (my favourite item from said food court in another post, ok) and the local supermarket, too!

That grey bump you see on the right

is my son's butt in his sling. =p

Guess what. THEY SELL DURIANS!! Haha. Most surprisingly, the durians sold there did NOT smell AT ALL. In fact, we didn't even know they were selling durians until we saw the spiky mound! How come ah? Fake wan issit? Less superior than the durians we get locally? Hmmm... I wonder.

There was also a florist somewhere in Sogo so

I ended up sneaking in some more plant/flower shots.

The orchids here are really pretty. So perfect to the point that they look fake! A million times nicer than the orchids you find in Singapore, to be honest. Haha. These should have been Taiwan's national flower instead. =p

And then, we got the call. To head back to DTF for lunch? No. We wished. Instead, Celine called cos – guess what – they gave our seats away to another group!! NoooOOOoOoOOoOOOoo!!! -_-''' Said we weren't all there and couldn't order so we didn't deserve the place or something like that. Big time boo!

So, we all got our butts back to DTF ASAP and Aunty Mee tried to reason with the ladies at the reception. Thankfully, she managed to get us all in without having to wait a second round. Woo hoo! But yes, now you know. Whole group must wait there, ok? Cannot merayau-rayau. :-/

Now, for the food...

Fried Rice with Prawns.

My portion. Check out the rice. Every grain, so "kiu kiu" and nice!

Shrimp & Pork Shao Mai.

And... urm... that's all the pics

I have of the food we ate there.

Bwahahaha.

Sorry la, guys. Not easy balancing a feeding baby, a camera and my food/chopsticks/spoon at the same time, okayyy. -_- But don't you worry. We ordered three or four varieties of the world famous Xiao Long Bao (小籠包). =D Having said that, I'm not a very big fan of XLBs. I don't very much fancy dim sum of any sort either. HAHA. So... the DTF XLB's greatness is lost on me. I did LOVE the fried rice, though. So tasty! And the rice... oh the rice! BIG TIME LOVE for Taiwanese rice.

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Related Posts
----------------

Taiwan, April '13: Murphy's Law [Saturday, April 20, 2013]
Taiwan, April '13: The Long Way There [Monday, April 29, 2013]

Standing At The Brink Of History

2013-05-05T10:30:00.000+08:00

...with a blue pointer finger. =p

It's GE13, bay-beh!!!

Today's Malaysian Google doodle.

At long last, D-Day has comeeee!!!

This is my second time voting and I must say that the atmosphere is entirely different than it was the last time I voted. Back in 2008, there was hardly anybody at my polling station and I even ended up being the LONE RANGER assigned to my room. This time around? WAH! Cars parked in every available corner and the whole school was jammed packed with people sweating like stinky sardines in a can! Even so, it was very friendly, very happy, very organised chaos, if you ask me. Haha.

At the end of the day, I have zero complaints even though I left looking flushed and feeling very sweaty. The Little Man was super well-behaved throughout and didn't complain once either in spite of the crowd and supreme Penang heat! #littlepatriot #proudmom I think he was the only infant/baby/child at the polling station while we were there so he was a real hit with the aunties and – very surprisingly – the 20-something-year-old men. @_@ #newagemasculinity

Yours Truly with Mee, Dee and Baby.

Anyhew, it's so thrilling to be a part
of this exciting time in history when the fate

of Malaysia could change forever.

Is this the kali? We'll see! =D

Now, to get that damned indelible ink off my finger.

Happy Labour Day!

2013-05-01T11:13:00.002+08:00

Kick off your shoes, sit back, relax

and have a great day off, you guys!!

Taiwan, April '13: The Long Way There

2013-04-29T16:25:00.000+08:00

So you already know all the drama that happened on my way to Taiwan last week. Now, with Photoshop re-installed on my MBP, you get to see snapshots of it. =)

Finally up in the air and on our way out of KL after a long delay.

Feeding my son on the way up in an effort to protect

his eardrums. Also very kiasi hence the mask-wearing

to make sure we don't catch anything while travelling.

Got a bassinet seat but decided to do away with the

Cathay Pacific bassinet. It didn't look very sanitary. :-/

The great thing about travelling with an infant is that you get priority in queues. Don't bother lining up to board the plane, ok. Just go straight to the front of the line and shove your kid in the stewardess' face. They'll let you through. Same goes at Immigration. Just go straight to the Priority Lane. (This applies to every airport I've been to so far – even when I was pregnant – EXCEPT KLIA. -_-''' Lousy place got no Priority Lane wan. Lame-ass third-world country airport we have la, I tell you.)

Finally at Hong Kong International Airport

on one of their many super long escalators.

Anyway, we had a little extra time to waste in Hong Kong cos we missed our intended flight no thanks to the delay at KLIA so we ended up with some time to go look for food. (Food is of utmost importance whenever we travel with my FIL. =p) Went up to the food court and ate some very expensive Koay Teow Soup there. Over RM100 for four small bowls! Tsk tsk. Really ridiculous, man. -_-'''

Flight path as seen in the plane before take-off at Hong Kong.

Taipei City is 807km away. That's 807km

for me to keep my baby happy... and quiet.

Arriving at Taipei Tao-Yuan Airport.

And then, over 12 whole hours after we started

our journey, we finally touched down on Taiwan soil.

TAIPEI, BAY-BEH!!!

Semua kiassiiiiii!!! Say 'NO' to H7N9!

Newly renovated portion of the airport! I don't know
what it was about this sight but it stopped me in my tracks.

There's always something special about

symmetry and repeated patterns.

My baby and I are finally in Taiwan! Wheee!!!

And then the horror of missing luggage hits. -_-'''

And after all that drama, we f-i-n-a-l-l-y made it out of the airport and saw the darkening Taipei sky. Boo. We were supposed to arrive after lunch! When it was still bright and sunny! Drats. There goes one day. Sigh. Thankfully, my aunt-in-law (MIL's youngest sister) was there to meet us at the Arrival Hall. And she's a real big ball of sunshine to be around. Always have been from the first time I met her over a whole decade ago. =)

My aunt-in-law looking very, very, very happy while

carrying my son. She's the best host in all the land!

She brought us back to her home in the city and The Husband and I quickly got our son bathed and cleaned up. In her laundry basket. With no soap. (Like the rest of our luggage, his inflatable bathtub and toiletries did not arrive when we did. -_-''') I mandi-kerbau-ed after that and had no choice but to put on my 15-year-old cousin-sister-in-law's clothes. AND SO DID THE HUSBAND. BWHAHAHAHA.

While I put my son to sleep, The Husband shamelessly took some time to tour the house on his own. (The rest had gone out for dinner.) And my oh my, did he fall in love with her place. Cosy, comfortable, well ID-ed with quality fittings and finishings – he loved it! And when I had the time to check it out for myself, I could see why. It was such a nice place to call Home! I didn't take any pictures of her place but I did snap away when it came to her flowers. =p

REAL flowers leh! So pretty, right???

After that, the rest came home, The Husband and I ate a quick dinner they tapau-ed for us from a shop near by (LOVED the stir-fried cabbage!), and then promptly hit the sack after. Zzz... It was a looong day. But hey, at least we made it to Taiwan in one piece. =)

p/s: You'll notice with this series that I won't have as many pictures as I usually have because (1) I'm carrying my son so holding and camera and taking pictures becomes a real chore, and (2) most of the pictures I take include people I am expected to censor so... you don't get to see them anyways. Boo. =(

---------------
Related Post
---------------

Taiwan, April '13: Murphy's Law [Saturday, April 20, 2013]

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended

2013-04-28T15:37:00.005+08:00

Have been severely handicapped the last couple of weeks since I deauthorised Photoshop CS4 on my old comp to upgrade to a new one with Mountain Lion OSX because I couldn't find a suitable replacement photo-editing software that would run on the newer platform. Until today.

Hello, dear Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended! =)

With you, my life is complete.

And now, real blogging can finally resume! =D

Taiwan, April '13: Murphy's Law

2013-04-20T22:16:00.001+08:00

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

------------

So, like it always seems to be whenever I find myself traveling to a holiday destination via airplane, dear ol' Murphy just had to come along for the ride. Sigh. A simple 4.5-hour flight to Taiwan ended up taking all of 12 hours and everything that could have gone wrong, did. We were supposed to arrive in Taiwan by the afternoon, with ample time to freshen up and rest before dinner out in the town. But by the time we actually got out to the Arrival Hall, the sun had already gone down and it was already dark. =(

Flight delayed. Flight missed.
Baggages "lost" in transit.

We just had to experience them ALL lah
on my son's maiden trip abroad.
Come one, come all. Suey suey sai lang semua. -_-

See, we decided to fly Cathay Pacific this time around cos we figured that traveling on a full service airline would be easier with an infant. Summore first time flying far far with him, right? Better just be safe rather than sorry lah. Short flights with a short transit in between better. Nanti kelam-kabut in mid air then hailat liao. @_@ But still bad move la. Maybe should have just gone with Air Asia and flown direct from KL to Taiwan.

Cos, as fate would have it, although my son travelled like a total pro and didn't make a single scene throughout our 12-hour journey from beginning to end (so proud of him for being so well-behaved!) "uneventful" would so not be the way I'd describe our trip here. :-/ Our first flight out of KLIA was delayed by over an hour so we missed our connecting flight during our transit in Hong Kong and were put on a later flight. Because of that, our baggages ended up on a different flight and did not arrive in Taiwan when we did. -_-'

And I tell you ah, although we checked in our baggages at the very. same. time. as the other members of our family who are traveling with us with three other luggages, only OUR two luggages didn't arrive. >( Super WTH, right?! Suey or not, I ask you??? Sigh. Ended up having to wear a 15-year-old relative's clothes for the night and bathing my son in a laundry basket without any soap. -_-

Thankfully, I always have a spare change of clothes for him and extra diapers in his baby bag so we could still get him out of his dirty travel clothes and into bed even without his luggage bag. Oh, and I'm also super thankful he's breast-fed so no problems with his milk either. Or else I really dunno how liao. :-/

Anyway, the trip's nice so far. Persistent wet weather is the only damper but that's only to be expected during springtime in Taiwan, I suppose. :-/ Still, I hope the rain clouds ease up and the sun decides to play nice the next few days while we're here so we can do some real sightseeing. Anyhoo, Sun Moon Lake tomorrow, followed by Alishan the day after. Woo hoo! =D

Lah

2013-04-16T21:33:00.000+08:00

Was in the car with our maid sometime last week – she sits in the back with my son while I drive – when I overheard her comfort my son with a very Malaysian:

"Ok la, ok la."

@_@

"OK LA?????" WTH!?!

I thought we hired a Filipino!

So I turned around and asked:

Pam Song: You all use "Lah" in the Philippines, too??

Maid: No, ma'am.

Pam Song: Then how come you can say, "Ok LA?"

Maid: Haha. Cos I hear you use, ma'am.

Pam Song: You know where to put the "Lah" or not?

Maid: Yes, ma'am.

Pam Song: Where?

Maid: At the end, ma'am.

Hahaha. Not bad, huh? And she's only been with us for a couple of months. That said, I think she's settling in with us just fine. But I really can't blame her for generalising that "Lah" should always be at the end of the sentence lah. Cos that's the same way I use the Indonesian "Dong", too. HAHA. Just hentam and plonk it down at the end of every sentence nia. =p

Anyway, wait till she discovers

the less famous siblings of "Lah"

– "Meh", "Leh", "Wei", "Hor" and "Lor".

See if she pusing kepala then. =p

The Death-In-This-Order Agreement

2013-04-05T17:29:00.000+08:00

The Husband and I have been talking a lot about dying lately. Morbid, I know. But Good Friday and Easter Sunday just passed, plus we just did our health checks, so it all just came up very naturally. Well, after 27 seconds of intense discussion, it was decided that the members of our little family will die in this order:

Me first.
Him second.
Our son ~~never~~ last.

In that order!! End of discussion.

The Emo-ness Of It All

2013-03-30T22:33:00.001+08:00

I miss my parents. I miss the careless abandon of being the baby of the family. A daughter and child to parents who love me selflessly. I miss living my days without the overshadowing responsibility of being the dutiful wife and doting mother to the respective members of the little family I have to call my own now.

I miss having a proper job. One that pays well enough to (almost) justify working me to the bone. I miss earning a living for myself. I miss having a paycheck to look forward to every month. I miss looking to my right or left and seeing an actual person working on a comp next to me instead of having to Skype or FaceTime. And I miss having colleagues I can talk to face to face and have lunch with.

I miss having friends. I miss spending time with them. I miss chill-out sessions and girly hangouts over cakes and cups of tea. Shopping and gossiping like we shouldn't, while laughing and creating memories like we totally should.

I miss shopping. Real shopping. Without a deadline or a budget. Without a shopping trolley alongside rows and rows of toilet paper, floor cleaner, cereal or organic vegetables, too. I miss shopping with both hands free to pick out clothes and try them on. I miss hitting the malls before lunch and going home after dinner.

I miss wearing clothes that fit and flatter. As opposed to always having to resort to loose tops that serve no purpose other than to keep me covered up well enough to also be able to uncover in a flash and breastfeed my son whenever he so demands.

I miss sleeping soundly through the night. To just relax my body and mind for more than a couple of hours' stretch at a time. To sleep without having to wake up at the slightest whimper, stir or cry. To be able to stretch out my arms and toss and turn and do somersaults in bed without worrying that I could unknowingly crush and flatten my sleeping 4-month-old lying next to me.

I miss waking up feeling refreshed and recharged to face a brand new day. Instead of feeling sluggish and fatigued like I usually wake up feeling so very often these days. I miss snuggling under the covers and snoozing just a couple of minutes, and yet a couple of minutes more, after I first open my eyes, to begin with.

I miss having time to blog. Whenever about whatever. I miss sharing my thoughts, telling random tales, and logging my days. I miss reading comments from my regulars and replying those comments as quickly as they come in. I miss the closeness of the online community I once enjoyed and was once a part of.

So. Much. Laundry.

2013-03-27T13:21:00.002+08:00

Mind you, what you see here are just TWO days' worth

of face towels that we use to wipe my son's face

and clean up his ever-flowing drool. -_-'''

Renewed And Ready To Go!

2013-03-25T11:26:00.001+08:00

I don't know what it was about

last week but it was just bruuutaaaaal. -_-'''

Sleep training has been tiring as hell and I'm guess it's all cos of rotten timing – a teething baby just isn't very cooperative to begin with. T_T It's difficult times like these that I miss blogging on Tinki Talks more. Wish I had more time on my hands to rant and rave about my situation but even that is hard to come by nowadays. Sigh. Oh well, for those of you who still bother dropping by, here's a simple cheater-blog-filler post for you to remember me by. Haha.

New pic on the left, old pic on the right.

Forgive my vanity but, in spite of everything,

I think motherhood looks good on me. HAHA.

p/s: I can't wait for April to roll by cos that's when we're bringing our son on his maiden trip abroad!! Wheee! I'm a mad mix of anxious and excited at the moment!

p/s/s: Too many exclamation marks in a p.s.!!! =D