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FAVOURITE ICE CREAM

For a longggg time, the only ice cream i liked is Solero Sling. You know the frozen lime outside with vanilla inside?

That was until my dad bought a packet of this jelly ice cream and i was like, "OMG, what else have i been missing out on?" hahaha

But i forgot what's the name of the ice cream. Everytime i ate it, it was in the darkness of my room with Tufeil asleep behind me. I searched for it high and low at Cold Storage, NTUC, to no avail. Ieven tried to search for it online. I went to Nestle's, Solero's website, nothing. Sheikh Google disappointed me.

Sekali rupa2nya... (Well actually) it's available at the provision shop nearest my house!


PADDLE POP's Hip Hop Jelly
Apple & peach Flavoured Ice Confection.


This blog entry is solely for the purpose of my remembering/filing the name of this lovely ice cream. I shan't forget you no more, dear darling.

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Lateeeee Night Outing.

Sat 26th June 10,

Tufeil had a total of 4.5hours in 2 day naps. I was really worried if he won't sleep that night. Had an idea to follow mum & sis to the airport to send somebody off.

We went out at 9.30pm and only reached at 10pm.


Tufeil & Syifaa' playing ball while waiting to meet the rest of my sis's in-laws.
Sekejap dah besar lah budak ni! Look at his wobbly run and hear his babbles.

Later, we joined the rest of the group and there were many children. They were playing with the same ball too and Tufeil followed around albeit lagging behind. But it heartened me so to witness such a cute scene. I love that he could mingle with the other kids. Like, finally! I think? It's the adults that scare him, i would say. Can't wait to enrol him to playgroup!


The visitor finally went in pass the security at 11.30pm! And the kids were still as alive as ever! But, i started to put T in his stroller in the hopes that he could fall asleep in it and we could have supper in peace. No such luck. His eyes continued to roam around the brightly lit airport. And when we found another kid's playing area at the viewing mall at Terminal 3, he got down and played!


Shortly after, we stopped by at Coffee Bean cos they all havent had dinner yet. Although i already busted my $10/day budget, i felt that Tufeil would get cranky anytime soon and armed myself with a mudpie @ $5.50 *faint* Again, no such luck. He was eating the pasta well but by the time the mudpie came, he got restless and cried. I only got a few mouthfuls before i had to run over to this one very dark corner nearby next to the MRT to feed him to sleep. He quicky fell asleep in less than 5min. It was 1am. A BIG record for T.

We reached home 1.30am. And at 2am, i changed his diaper with little commotion! He rolled around in bed a bit but he didn't actually wake. THAT, my friend, is MIRACULOUS! Given Tufeil's history of waking with the slightest kiss/whisper by his well-meaning Titi (Ash) or even just turning on the lights.


Lesson learnt: get your child tired out before putting him to bed. (Warning: may not be applicable to ALL babies.)

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Tufeil's Refusing eBM

Ever since that time when he got sick then i got sick and only worked 1 day in a week, Tufeil has been refusing most of his eBM. This was some 2 weeks ago.

The week after that, he went out with his cousin a lot during the day so we didn't really worry about the much decreased milk intake. But last week, it got really worrying. He pushed away his bottles vehemently.

I suggested for Mum to use the Fast Flow teat i bought or maybe try FM. But mum said that he cant even look at the bottle. So maybe give in a cup? Nah, mum said, she's terrified (geli?) of milk.

So i tried to google some answers. It was difficult to find the same scenario online. Mostly the babies are <12months whereas Tufeil is 15months now. What i've found quite applicable are:

  1. Change bottle / teats to the most natural one
  2. Change to SIPPY CUP. Big boys dont drink from bottle anymore <<-- but i hafta disagree cos my niece Syifaa' still drinks from bottle.
  3. Decrease his Solid intake.

I already bought him a new bottle and Tommy Tippee's teat as well as Mothercare's Sippy Cup. Alhamdulillah he took to the latter very well. He had another sippy cup, you know the one with a thick spout to suck from but it was too much for him. This cup is not non-spill and is very flat and narrow so it was easy for him to drink from it. But so far i've used this for drinking water.

It so happened that last friday, we really ran out of food for both Adults and baby. No bread no rice no nothing. I was on leave but had an appointment for awhile and was supposed to buy Tufeil's lunch. Unfortunately, i got delayed and wasn't back for almost 2 hours. Tufeil at home must have gotten real hungry and finally drank his milk!! YIPPEEEEE!!

Yesterday was Monday and Mum reported that he didn't drink ANY of his milk either but that he slept a total of 3hours worth of nap. I didnt ask about how much food he had. I assumed he ate a lot.

Should I worry about this? I wanted to wean him off BM anyways. Maybe I'll get mum to make Formula milk in that new bottle or sippy cup. HMMMM....

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Rainbow & Me.

I am generally aversed to any forms of house cleaning. Ok simply put: I'm Lazy with a capital L. That is, until i met Rainbow and my inhibitions evaporated. As of now.


One of the 11 Bestfriends referred me to Rainbow. She said R is very good. It took me a looooooong while to finally have him over at home. I cancelled him a couple of times fearing betrayal and misrepresentation and whatever, ya know.

Until the fateful day, My mum warned me not to do anything foolish. I reckon i had a perfect getaway excuse: i had another appointment at 2pm (That's you, Nan). Alas, I caved in. I couldn't deny that R is very good.....

Fri, I took leave to receive R with a warm welcome. We all need to get to know R better.

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Everyone, meet RAINBOW.



What? What did you think I was talking about? *wink*


Shhh DO NOT refer to it as a mere Vacuum. Rainbow gets very offended when you do that. It's actually a Medical Equipment. It sucks down Dustmites 10 inches deep (read: mattresses) and store them in a bowl of water underneath it like this:






This is how you fix the bowl on to the wheels



Water is spinned at donno what speed to keep the dust down and clean air up. This feature is better than your conventional vacuum with a dustbag because the dust you collected are able to escape thru some airholes. Worse is when we dont change the bag often, the things in there (prolly food) get decomposed to become maggots and they CAN come out!


Sales guy explaining that one hose is for DRY vacuuming only and the petrol pump-like hose is for dry AND wet. Wait. Or is it the other way around?


And this is how you pack all the accessories in one long box.


The sales guy made his pitch just weeks after i was given a pamphlet by KKHospital about Allergic Rhinitis. It said that minimising DUSTMITES will help to reduce the irritation of Tufeil's and my sensitive noses. Told me that i might wanna consider investing in a vacuum with HEPA (High efficiency particulate) filter vacuums.


He proposed a couple of installment plans via credit cards but i was not comfortable with them. In the end, he suggested POSB LoanAssist. The actual price of the unit is $3,200. Loan of $4,000 will be applied. The balance could be used for monthly repayment, and then after 6 months, Rainbow will give a CashBack covering the "interest" charged by the bank, and that can be used for the repayment of the next 6 months. So in effect, i won't hafta pay for the first year. and Monthly would cost me about $140.

My face lit up and that made me signed the deal. I was thinking that by then, my edu loan will be finished and then can be replaced by this. The tenor for this loan is 36months, altho i don really hafta pay for the first 12mths. He took almost 45min to close me.


We went to the bank the following business day. And i was disappointed to know that:
  1. There are some charges and Insurance fee after the $4,000 so the balance is lesser and could only cover for prolly 4 months?
  2. I am not able to pay IN ADVANCE during the first year as I had intended to put all the balance in that account so i wont use it. BAH



My mother, when she knew i bought this vacuum, got speechless. Almost like saying, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO BUY THIS THING, RIGHT?" Later i found out, it's because that we had once bought a supposedly "GOOD" vacuum from an uncle too at over $2,000 only to have it broke down quickly and besides it was too heavy and inconvenient to use. However, when she actually saw the thing, she said, "Oh. This is the one like Mak Long's which we had ever borrowed before to clean the carpet." Phew~ I felt so relieved she approved, finally.

We had a good fortune that my aunty who helped to clean the house once a week used to have this Rainbow and believed in it whole heartedly. So at least, i feel secured that she would not refuse to use this new cleaning equipment citing heavy-weight and cumbersome.



While i feel good about the purchase, I can't help doubting myself. Because there are also another school of thought that you should expose your children to germs so that they could get immune to it when they grow up. If they stay in a sterile condition for so long, the moment they hit a "dirty" environment (which is mostly everywhere), they could get sick easily.

*Shrug* What's done is done anyways. Let's just utilise it.

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Bankrupt!

I was sooo astonished yesterday when i realised that after paying all my monthly bills, i am left with less than $400 for food for the rest of the month! *FAINT*

So i swear to myself that i shall allocate only $10 of spending a day which is to cover for Bfast, Lunch, Dinner. Meaning to say that if mummy doesn't pack Bfast for me or cook dinner, i shall starve. BUT if i managed to spend less on one day, i can bring forward the balance to the next day to have a bigger lunch or even shop for Tufeil. And me. *BEAM*

And i'm proud to say that i only spent $3 yesterday on lunch ($1 Indian Karipap + 3 for $2 pastries). Looks like its Amoy St for me for the next 4 weeks.

Now, what exactly did i spend my money on????

  1. Mummy = $***
  2. Starhub Mobile = $72
  3. AIA Ins (mine)= $57.26
  4. Prudential (Mine)= $93.95
  5. Manulife (Tufeil's)= $100
  6. TCC Edu Loan = $211
  7. Citibank = $200
  8. Diners = $100
  9. Standchart = $150

Ahhhhhh That's it. Standchart is where I OVERSPENT. Hmm i paid in FULL when its not even DUE yet. cos i dont wanna pay no interest. So there's some virtue in that. hahahahaha Anyway i spent it on my mum so that's well-intentioned and totally forgiveable if not commendable. Right? Please, i'm trying to justify my shopping.

What to do next, to curb my spending?

  1. Call Citibank to waive annual fee
  2. Call UOB to waive late payment charges amounting to $160. (I TOTALLY FORGOT about this CashPlus account bcos its NOT a Credit card)
  3. Cancel my plan for a NEW phone. Guess i hafta live with typo ERRORS. and that means YOU hafta decipher my text / msn messages yourselves!
  4. I NEED TO COLLECT $90 from a certain jerk! If you're reading this: PAY UP OR ELSE I SHALL GET YOU EVICTED! (Look up what that means, SOB) I'm TOTALLY DONE BEING NICE TO YOU.

There's a big disadvantage that my variable bonus falls on April each year. It used to be July and it'd be cun cun (nicely paced) 6 months after the last bonus. Now between April - Dec, there's no EXTRA funds coming in...

OH! But thank god for GST money! Unfortunately or fortunately, that's already allocated for Batam Day!


Really, i didn't use to be such a spendthrift! What happened to me???

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My Weekend

A colleague just asked me how was my weekend. And i had to admit, it was mighty BORING!


Let's see...


Sat 19th Jun


I got a Rainbow salesman over to my place and i bought this "medical device". Will blog more about this when the thing comes.


Now a bit of excitement: my parents sent me to 'Ainul's place to see her newborn! Picked up Nan on the way.

Baby Aqil Naufal born on 10th June 2010.


Cantik or what the birthdate. PLUS my sis named him World Cup Baby.

The Host entertaining his guest


Playing with Guest No 2

Surprisingly, Tufeil was very well behaved. Usually he's clingy but that day he was happy to explore the toys and walk around on his own. In between mouthfuls of Puteri Salat.

Back home by 6.30pm. Then Parents went to class and i was stuck at home alone. By 8pm, I sent Tufeil to bed.


Sun, 20th Jun

I had a dental appointment at 11.30am, went grocery shopping and then i was stuck at home again alone. Thankfully Tufeil had an extra long nap from 12nn - 3pm. Managed to finish my Megaplex Madness game.

When he woke up, fed him carrot cake and that was my lunch too, gave him a quick shower and we joked around for a bit on the bed... and then i really had no more idea, much less energy, what to do.

So i ended up lying on the sofa in front of the TV, and T nursed while he watched cartoons lying ON TOP of me. And i tido tido ayam (caught a wink) for a bit.

Parents came home just before maghrib. But by then we were busy settling into sleep: ie dinner, shower/change diaper, nursing. T was down by 8.30pm.

How more mundane can my life be? HELP!!!! I need something exciting to spice up my life.

I especially fear being home alone with a toddler. Im not confident in taking him out on my own lest he cries in train and demands to be carried or worse, NURSED! The most i can do is Causeway Point and Civic centre which are within walking distance. hahaha

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Airport "Garden"

Sunday, 6th June 10.

Mum said she saw a friend of hers took a picture of a new "Garden" at the airport. So we all went in search of this garden at Terminal 2.


Turned out its just a small arrangement display of flowers like they always have. Poor mummy.

But it was a good excuse for us to go out anyways. Was soooo bored at home!


It was Day 3 of Tufeil's bout of flu and he wasn't eating well. But he sure likes his baby biscuit.


Then, we loitered around at the Viewing Mall. Hey! It's been ages since i last been here and it's sooooo nice and cozy now! Carpetted and everything. But i still hate the obscured vision due to the extension of the level below so its even farther now to see out and it's now a just 1/3 of the length it used to be. Shame, really.



What are you pointing at, my baby?


The ladder thingy?

Oh the Airplane! (Yup he can say Airplane)



And he was saying Truck Truck at this wall painting. OKlah can lah. Hehe

We walked back to Terminal 3 where we parked our car thru the MRT bridge ie not taking the skytrain. It was nice to "exercise" and Tufeil likes to sleep while i worked the stroller.

Before going home, we got something from Popeye's. That was when i almost exploded in sheer frustration!

See, there were 3 counters open. All with at least 10 persons in line. So i just took the nearest one to me. But it seemed that this counter was sooooooooooooooooooo extremely slow! After 15min of waiting, i was still like the 6th person! Other people who came after me at the other counters already got their food.

After Mummy came to join me in the queue, i thought enough was enough and approached the Manager. he was pouring gravy into mashed potatoes. I asked, "Are you the Manager?" Yes, he said. "Can you get somebody to help this counter?! Because i've been waiting for so long but i'm still so far away!" At this stage, i was shivering and stuttering in anger. He simply said ok and got a girl who was helping another counter to assist ours.

And then Mummy heard that the 3 teenagers in front of us sniggered at me, "She just came and already complain complain". They were prolly being defensive because they were 3 of them and ordered separately and hogged the queue. But No, really the server was too damn slow and working alone.

After the assistant came, it was a real breeeeze. When it was my turn, i didnt take out my anger at her as she would have expected. Then when i left, i sensed people next in line behind me looking and mentally thanking me. LOL

I felt good afterwards at having asserted myself. Not an easy feat for normally timid me. So there.

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Wana's in Town!

Fri, 4th June 10.

I took leave to meet with Wana who's in town from KHI and the rest of the SWPH.

Initially we wanted to meet at my house and i wanted to make Keema Malay version. But Wana was not feeling well, so we switched to her place instead so she doesnt hafta go out. Just as well. Cos i took leave and get to go out! Wheee


PotLuck consisted of:


Mochi (Jap) and Muah Chee (Chinese) courtesy of Nisa the Paki

I totally dig the muah chee but unfortunately im not a huge fan of red bean. *sheepish grin*

I brought Roti John


Also unfortunately, Mummy made them. I know how to but i was trying to get T down for a nap before we go out.




Wana's specialty: Curry puffs =)


LOL we wanted to meet at 12. At 1:10pm then i left. I took the cab but i was still 45min earlier that the next one to arrive. Tufeil even managed to fall asleep first. But it was raining something fierce with thunder and all so not 30min later, he woke up already.


He just started having cough that day and was very clingy to me. But after awhile, he started playing:



Some soccer thingy he also kepo wanted to press press.


The circle is not some effect i photoshopped but actually my casing came off slightly obscuring the camera lens a bit. HAH


Now This is a shocking pose!


Tufeil has NEVER climbed onto somebody else's lap! Well somebody other than family members under one roof anyways.


At the end of the day: a Group Photo


Honestly, when i first stepped into her house, i was totally thrown aback by her voice. Not that anything was wrong with it, just that i had never associated any sound to her picture. LOL. I've only ever talked to her once on the phone when she called me from Pak at the hosp just after I gave birth.


Wana did not bring a lot of cloth materials this year, but instead several diff kinds of instant food packets and some Guys kurtas. Fara was the big spender of the day buying, i dont know 4 - 5 of them?

We went home after 6pm! Fortunately for me, Nisa's husband picked her up and she said they could give me a ride home too. Save my cab fare plus 35% surcharge. Thank you Mr & Mrs Sheikh.

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Tufeil Sujud? & Other developments

Tufeil sujud ke kiss letter?

Masya'Allah. At 14months, He's at a stage where mimicry is the IN thing to do. He's always repeating what we say. His vocab has expanded so so much.

It is the nicest feeling in the world to hear when he woke up and said "Mummy." Yes he can say my name now. Also, his favourite phrase is, "Nak Susu" (Want milk). Even in the middle of the night if he came awake, he would say nak susu very clearly. LOL my mum say, "Your voice is soo gentle/sweet/soft. please stay that way."

Even words that we used to say but havent done so recently, he suddenly uttered them. Meaning to say that he may seem not to know something, but at the back of his head, the brain is storing information indiscriminately. Hafta keep reminding myself that we can't say or do unfavourable things we don't want him to do.

He's sick the whole of last week. At KK, he weighed in at 8.6kg. That's almost half a kg less than a month ago when he was sick last. He hasnt been eating well and he has been coughing A LOT A LOT! Even after 5 days of Vasican Syrup doesn't ease it. Right now, i've halted the meds. I'm thinking that the syrup is making him cough more than usual cos it sounds dry as opposed to phlegmy. *shrug*.

In any case, we have a KK follow up check up tmrw (Mon). So we'll ask them how to manage his cough.

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Woodlands WaterFront & Singgah Selalu

Sunday, 30th May 2010.


Wah today was a Jalan-jalan day.


In the morning, we went for Breakfast at KFC then visited Tufeil's Great Grandmother. Unfortunately, didn't get to snap pictures. Then we went home for a 2hr nap.


At 6pm, we went out again to see the newly opened Woodlands WaterFront.


Tufeil's outfit for this evening.


That's Malaysia across the sea


An L-Shaped Jetty.

The park looks new and clean.


Me & Mummy

Tufeil wants to fish?


We took so long walking up and down the Jetty, we didn't have enough time to explore the playground. But i saw a Hanging wood & rope bridge, so i deduce its very much for bigger kids anyways.



So off we went across the Causeway for dinner @ Singgah Selalu. Mummy checked my passport and the last time i went to JB was in Aug last year! Even Tufeil has been there twice before this year alone! Cheh.

Getting ready to Eat!


High chair has no buckle so all night i had to rest my left hand in front of Tufeil.


Appetiser: Otak2!


It's been a long time i had Otak2 even though Woodlands has a night bazaar every other month cos it's wayyy too expensive at 5 for $2, i think? These 10 pcs here cost just RM5 about S$2 - $2.50.



Mummy got what she's been craving for.
Ice Kacang without milk.

My Nasi Goreng Daging Merah (Meat w Red Sauce)


Mummy's Cantonese Noodles.
No difference than Mee Hong Kong i felt. Just saltIER.

Oh YUMMY my Bandung + Grass Jelly drink.


Ayah's Bubur Kampung.

Tufeil was supposed to eat this porridge for dinner. But resisted it so much so i fed him my fried rice instead without the hot sauce of course. Then when he saw me have spoonfuls of the Noodle, he wanted some too. LOL *shake head* Tufeil... Tufeil...


Dessert: Pancakes + Choc Ice cream. Not nice.


As usual, after awhile, Tufeil got restless. Even the food didn't hold anymore charm. So Ayah came to the rescue:

Kid's Corner


Hmmm... It seemed like it hadn't been clean in a very long while, though! Not to mention the peeling "wallpaper". *Shudder*

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So our Vesak Day Long Weekend was yet another fulfilling one.

On Friday we didn't go out but rested at home.

And on saturday, me and Tufeil went out for lunch @ Cafe Galilee at the library. then went out with my parents again at night for dinner @ East Coast.

As a result, Tufeil slept really well at 10.30pm. Giving me at least 2 hours of own time before he woke up again. I want to try this theory on Weekdays too but it's too tiring to entertain him till 10pm and it also depends on what time he woke up from his last nap which varies from 2 - 5pm! Wah piang ey

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Career Crossroad

Honestly, I dont see myself in this industry for long.

You see, i'm handling two processing portfolios: Underwriting (premium collection stuffs) and Claims.

The top of the career for the former is to become an underwriter yourself, that is to get the business, get clients through brokers, etc. That requires a lot of entertaining, and I'm definitely not into that wine & dining business.

The latter is quite the opposite. Entertainment almost equals to some sort of unethical favours. BUT claimant will usually hound you for urgent surveys, immediate payment, curse you up and down if anything is inaccurate. I doubt very much my gentle soul can take such a beating.

But wouldn't it be a waste of my 7 years experience in this industry? Thena gain I'm still young and maybe it's still not too late to switch. I've always wanted to do accounting but never did cos Ash is already one and i thought it wouldn't do for my parents to have two daughters of the same profession. Me & my stupid "balanced" theories. Also, will the Entry level match my current salary?

And then there are times when i feel very much like a Jack of All Trade but a Master of NONE! I used to be very good in Malay Language in Sec 1 and 2 and decided i wanted to be a translator. Suddenly in Sec 3 and 4 i aced my maths and definitely wanted to do a number job. Got rather tired of words and letters.

I continued feeling confident about numbers until this year when the seed of doubt was planted into me by all the confusing additions and substractions. Who take how much from who? Then give to who what? It was never clear to me in the very beginning. I had hoped that some courses would enlighten me on that, but to no avail as each accounts vary from case to case. Surely there is some sort of Framework to base on, right? I thought. But I still cannot find the answer.

"So what am i really good at?" I asked myself. Words. Or Numbers?

What do I do with regards to my career? Stay and get bored and dull? What else is out there? I have no clue. Is there a career consultant anywhere?

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