Gifts from HK Disneyland

While we took Kyra to Langkawi Island for a short break, her grandma (my mother-in-law, Kyra's full-time nanny) and her aunt were actually having their vacation in Hong Kong at the same time. Ya, ya, grandma went to HK Disneyland while Kyra got to visit some historical and cultural places.

But, she was given so many gifts from her grandma and aunt when they returned. Guess they felt guilty of not bringing her along huh? LOL!


Kyra is Mickey's and Minnie's big fan ( i think practically every kid is their fans). She has a unique way of calling Mickey, it's "Mi-Mao" (without the "key" and the "s" sound of the mouse), kind of cute huh?!


I like this T-shirt, it has almost all famous Disney characters in one shirt, no need to buy several which have only one character each, save $$, haha!


Kyra just came to know this character when her cousin sister passed her a Toy Story VCD. Well, Mr Buzz Lightyear over here is actually a popcorn container!

After pouring out all these presents from the luggage and with Kyra hopping around of joyfulness, my mother-in-law said to me:" You are bringing her to HK Disneyland next year!"

Okay, okay, will consider about it...

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Part 3

This post is about our last vacation of year 2008. We finally made it as planned to Langkawi Island last weekend. There were several "first" things happened during this trip, to summarize:-

1. First trio trip (Daddy, Mommy & Kyra, we were being accompanied by my mother-in-law in the past few trips)
2. Kyra's first fly experience! (though it was just half an hour flight)
3. Kyra's third visit to an aquarium but first time seeing penguins live!
4. Kyra's first night out at the hotel lounge! (her orange juice cost more than her dad's beer!)
5. Kyra's first time seeing crocodiles live!
6. Kyra's first time splashing water at the pool by her own!

and this is going to be my first long post (in terms of pictures, haha!)

Waiting excitedly for the plane to take off. Mommy, i am scared yet can't wait for the plane to fly!


Phew! We landed safely and Kyra showing no uncomfortableness during the 30 minutes flight. What a relief!


We spent 2 nights at Awana Porto Malai Langkawi Hotel, 4 star hotel with splendid seaview.

A sunrise view from our hotel room.

One of the major activities in Langkawi Island is island hopping and snorkeling. However we excluded this activity as Kyra is still small and can't swim yet. Anyway, we had a great time swimming in the hotel pool.


She used to be quite afraid of water and would hold on me very tight, but this time she just enjoyed playing with water by herself!


Well, we let her have the big, soft, comfy bed during her daytime nap. At night, she was being sandwiched in the middle by hubby and me. I did not sleep well for those two nights as she streched and kicked me most of the time!


It was not the first time Kyra been to an aquarium. Her first visit was to Penang Aquarium ( a small aquarium at hometown), her second was to KLCC Aquaria (world-class) and now The Underwater World Langkawi.

Both mommy and Kyra were so excited to see penguins live!

It took us about thirty minutes drive from our hotel to the Crocodile Farm. Can you see the crocodiles at the back?


We were lucky to reach the farm at the right timing where we got to watch the show and crocodile feeding.

Kyra posing at the Petronas Quay.

Mommy and Kyra posing in front of the giant eagle statue at Dataran Lang.
Kyra:" Mommy, the eagle is not going to fly away?"
Mommy:" No, dear, this is her home."

Daddy and Kyra on their way up to the waterfall at Seven Wells. We didn't manage to climb up to the seven wells (45 minutes of this steepish staircase!), just compromised with the small waterfall in 10 minutes walk.

Kyra posing with her jumbo lollipop.

Kyra's first night out at the hotel lounge. She loved the singing and her drink as well. Her glass of orange juice cost more than her dad's Heineken! (Langkawi Island is a duty free island, beers and liquor is normally cheaper than juices and mineral water, haha!)

Mommy and Kyra posing at the Porto Malai pier.

Daddy and Kyra strolling leisurely at the Porto Malai pier.

Being a "Couch Potato" lately...

I used to be a "couch potato", it's just that i wasn't overweight, and never lied on the couch with a bowl of potato chips :-) I watched all sorts of TV programs and movies: sitcoms, series, game shows, Hong Kong series, Japanese series, Taiwanese series & ...



Then, i started to have lesser and lesser of time to enjoy this~ get married, changed job, pregnant, babysitting and etc etc, spending much of the time in readjusting my life between a happy married woman and a busy working mom.



I couldn't imagine i actually missed out the last two seasons of "Friends", watched only a few episodes of "SATC" and "Desperate Housewives". But recently, i am back to catch up with all those "can't miss" series.



So now, should i finish "Friends" and complete "SATC and "DH"??

Latest Christmas Carol

My colleague forwarded this to me during work the other day. It saved me a few minutes of relaxation from those "x files" that i had on my desk. I could not help but hummed the song to myself, it was humorous, yet it was so true and sad. This is going to be the saddest Christmas song ever...

(For those who want to try sing this, well, it works perfectly on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" tune)

Latest Christmas carol for 2008,

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It's hitting you once,
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's safe when you've got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

Love it?! Hate it?!

Well, anybody out there having the same feeling? Love it because of the features and at the same time hate it because it eats up most of our time!!!

When i first joined, i was quite embarrassed of the number of my friends. Then the number slowly increases and my social network expands, from friends, family members, colleagues, schoolmates (primary & high school), course mates and even strangers!

I feel connected to the world. I keep up with my friends without writing a lengthy email (sometimes just a short message, uploading photos and video, share links, send a poke &...). I get back in touch with long lost friends (can't believe i can still have those guys sitting around me in first grade in my friend list!). I make new friends who share the same hobbies ( blogger group, parenting group, philatelist group &...)

Everyday there must be something you do with your facebook, either you add friends, upload photos and videos, change profile photo, share links, send messages, add comments to friend's photos, play games & quizzes, chat with friends, send flowers, gifts, hugs, bears, coffee, designer bags, cookies, keep a pet, keep an aquarium, keep a garden & bla bla bla... zillions of them. That's why hours being spent.

And guess what, my optician is also in my friend list, and i just ordered my contact lenses by sending him a facebook message, it's that convenient, LOL!

So, haven't got a facebook account? Get one! Want more friends? Click on the above facebook logo and add me!

Come, bake with mom...

I have been planning some activities that i wish to do with Kyra, for example: kids yoga, play piano, craft, cook and bake. But she is just 2+, maybe it's still too early to let her explore all these, right?

One fine afternoon, i planned to bake banana muffin (for the very first time). While i was getting ready for the ingredients, Kyra was beside following in and out, staring and asking me "mommy, what are you doing?"

So, i put her on her baby chair and let her watch. She is never that quiet when she is on her baby chair, never even when she is eating. She looked curious and interested. Seeing that, i let her help me clean the utensils, pour the ingredients into the mixer and place the muffin cups. Hey, she was helpful indeed!

When it was done, she counted the number of muffins on the table, "1, 2, 3.....10", "mommy, 10!" but actually there were 14 of them. Apparently, she only learned until 10, haha!

DH in the kitchen...

Sometimes, my hubby has the "mood" to go inside the kitchen and make us some special meals, particularly seafood.

Today, he went out to hunt for some crabs and made us some "roast crabs".

Well, the whole kitchen was covered by the 'roast=yummy' smell during his cooking, and we were already waited eagerly by the dining table.

The meal was perfect, though we should have bought more crabs...

Transformation of Lanterns

Ever wonder what a Chinese lantern can be turned into?

Chinese accordion lanterns, made by paper and water colours, lit with candles.

During my childhood, i played a lot with this type of lantern. Made by transparent coloured paper and poster colours, still lit with candles.

Now, my daughter plays with this type of lantern. No longer paper-based, no longer lit with candles and furthermore it can move and sing!

Durian & Mooncake

During the third trimester of my pregnancy, it was durian season. Being a durian lover, you could not have imagined how much durians have i eaten until my doctor gave me a STOP sign. I was ballooned and gained about 25kg!

Kyra loves durians just like her mommy does. She can swallow two pieces (provided the durian is good = "branded") I wanted to stop her from taking too much due to its sweetness and heat but her dad just kept buying. The whole house is durian craze!

Last week, Kyra explored a new type of food ~ Mooncake. At first she was attracted to the colourful packaging and when she saw the cakes, she requested one. Frankly, i am not into sweet stuff and mooncake is no exception. So, my eyes were like gold fish by the time she finished a quarter! Kids eat mooncakes?! I think i'm going to self-introduce her to some ad agents for mooncake advertisement next year, haha!

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Part 2

Enchanting view from Sungai Palas Tea Centre

Our second destination was Cameron Highlands, Pahang. Although we had brought Kyra to CH before (Sept,2007) but we decided to revisit this place as we just loved the lower temperature, fresher air, calmer atmosphere & ...an ideal place for rest,relax and recharge.

During this visit Kyra could pronounce Cameron Highlands, ate lots of strawberries, plucked strawberries by herself and...oh yes, walked on the tea plantation, flower farm and strawberry farm by herself! (she was still at crawling stage during her first visit)

We will continue our Cuti-cuti Malaysia plan at Pulau Langkawi, probably end of this year. Other destinations in mind are Sungkai Hot Spring and A Famosa. Any other good suggestion?

Kyra's first experience of plucking strawberries

This basket of strawberries cost RM25 (not including labour cost yet!) :-)

Yummy!

Kyra's cousin brother - Ming Ray

I'm not a good swimmer, just know how to swim backstroke. Luckily, my husband can swim better. So, we always want Kyra to start her swimming lesson early. But hey, look at her cousin brother, Ming Ray, he was actually snorkeling already!

Ray is two years older than Kyra. He was being thrown into the pool when he was about seven or eight month old, and since then he swims with his parents almost every week.

This video was taken when they went snorkeling at Pulau Redang in July. It was amazing to see Ray snorkeling alone, what a brave boy! I think he is our future Malaysian Michael Phelps, don't you think so?!

Enjoy the video...

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Part 1

My husband and i love travelling and we have not been doing so for almost two years ever since little Kyra was borned. So, we decided to go Cuti-cuti Malaysia with our little princess this year. The reasons for travelling within Malaysia was partly due to the recent dramatic hike of oil price (which has caused inflationary effects on so many things!) and more importantly, i always think that being a Malaysian, it's always good to know the beauty of our own country better than other countries first.

Our first destination was Genting Highlands, Pahang. Kyra was still asleep and enjoyed her sweet dreams when we took off early in the morning. She woke up two hours later and was surprised that we were in the car and having a long car journey. We were worrying that she might not be comfortable in a long journey but it turned out to be okay, she just enjoyed singing the nursery songs while looking at the scenery from the window!

Kyra at Genting Highlands

Kyra was almost shouting at me when she saw the merry-go-round, at the minute i held her on the horse, she was scared and wanted to go down. Of course i didn't let her, we had paid for it, girl!

Kyra & Cindy were merrying-go-round

Kyra actions in Genting:-

Gee, mom, give me a hand...

Looking out from the caterpillar train

Kyra & Mickey

Mother's Day ...

After a sumptuous dinner at a Thai restaurant, we continued our Mother's Day celebration at one of our favourite spots ~ H*agen D*zs. Both mommy and daughter love ice-cream very much, and when daddy said:"Let's go for ice-cream," we were sure that we were going to "HD" brand ice-cream kiosk :-)

Last year Mother's Day, Kyra was about ten-month old, could only call Mama and eat ice-cream but this year, she said "Happy Mother's Day, mommy!" and "H*agen D*zs". I wonder what she can do for next Mother's Day, probably a hand made card with some help from her daddy?? (Daddy, get my hint or not??)