I had finally settled the hotel reservations in Bali; being such a cheap skate after lots (and I mean LOTS) of hunting around, comparing locations, prices, checking out reviews, we’d finally settled for 2 small properties, Ellie’s in Nusa Dua and Barong Resort & Spa in Ubud. Not sure if it’s such a good idea not staying in those big reputable resorts, especially with Zara, but I like smaller places (not having to compete with big tour groups), we shall see.

(Thanks to those who had suggested places to stay in my last post)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, I invited my side of the family over for tea and dinner. We ate out for dinner but for tea, I baked some scones.

Simple recipe of mixing everything in the food processor, cutting the dough up, and then baking it.

Nothing beats fresh from the oven scones with a dollop of whipped cream and strawberry jam.

I baked about 30, and at the end of it, we have about 6 left for today’s breakfast. 9 of us took 24 scones!! But they are pretty small though.

As for Zara, since her 1st birthday, she’d never seen so many people in our house before. She had fun, playing with her cousins, going to the park with them, and best of all, getting to see her youngest cousin, baby Tasha (her inspiration to become a baby) again!

Playing with Norman Ko-ko; getting ready to go out for dinner; giving Tasha a big hug (almost suffocating her in the process); Tasha giving us a rare smile (she’s grown so much, compared to older photos).

In the car, while on our way to home after dinner, I asked her, “Zara happy or not? So many people came to Zara’s house to play with Zara?” She said, “Happy! *pointed to her chest* Zara.”

These few days have been busy with some issues at work, and then all my spare time I’d spent on looking for cheap deals suitable hotels in Bali (on the net) for our upcoming holiday.

Will not be updating my blog until the above 2 are settled.

I’d been to Bali twice, once a company trip and the other joining a tour, and everything had been organised so I didn’t have to plan for anything. This time, we are going on our own, and it’s Zara’s first trip overseas so I’ll have to plan well. If you have recently been to Bali and have some hotels, restaurants or locations to recommend for a visit, please drop me a comment.

Hope blogging will resume next week.

Birthday Party

Zara attended her first birthday party get-together on Saturday. Daddy went to clean the ancestor’s grave with FIL, so I took Zara to Sandy’s place on my own for lunch. It was Sandy’s daughter, Yen Mae’s 4th birthday.It was a small affair with only 3 kids (including Zara) and one 3 month old baby. Zara was happy playing with Yen Mae’s toys, but she won’t or don’t know how to play with the other 2 kids. I guess at this age, she still doesn’t know how to socialise with younger kids yet, although she likes to hang around bigger kids (because they normally give her lots of attention).

Birthday girl in green. Zara in her ‘sessy’ Aunty Jesslyn’s dress.

Dinner with PIL
Daddy is the type who needs to see his parents at least fortnightly (or he’ll miss them, although he won’t admit). He suggested dinner with them on Sunday.

We had dinner in Bibik Chik, SS2. This is one place which we can have Zara sit through the whole meal because there’s an inhouse entertainer who plays the guitar and sings some oldies.

Zara’s eyes were constantly fixed on the entertainer. Dancing occasionally, swaying her arms, and if it’s the end of a nice catchy song, she would be clapping her hands shouting, “Bah-Voh”. I think it really made made the entertainer’s day having such an ardent fan. In return, he sang Zara the Do-re-mi song which made Zara so happy!

Woot!
And the highlight of the weekend…… Daddy set up the wireless router in the house. So we have gone wireless!

There was a little package sent to me on Thursday, my very first post addressed to me! When Kakak opened it, out came 2 beautiful dresses! Since Kakak do not know much English, I used simple words like, “Wear baju (Malay: Clothes)” to tell her I want to wear those beautiful dresses!

Kaka put one on for one, and then the other, I love them so much. I twirled around, turning turning turning turning, until my head started spinning, and Kakak had to hold me still so that I don’t fall. She then took the clothes off from me even though I held on to the hem. I wanted to tell her “Please don’t take it off, I want to wear it for the rest of the day” but I think Kakak won’t understand such complex English.

On Friday, mummy worked from home. Yippie! During lunch time, Mummy took out those dresses again, she told me these are from Aunty Jesslyn, who had personally sewn them for me. I went “Wah” upon hearing that. She asked Kakak to put them on for me, and she went to take out the mean looking camera. Ah, who cares about the camera, the dresses are lovely. “Pretty Baju” I told them. Again, I turned round and round and round. I thought it looked like some ballet moves, but mummy said, “Stop turning Zara, you look like you are mabuk (Malay: Drunk)!”

The dress is so comfortable; the baby doll one has beautiful lace at the hem, and an embroidered top. And it’s the same colour as Mr Blue! I was enjoying walking about, playing with my glass pebbles when mummy started asking me to do all the faces I know how to pull, and put the mean looking camera near my face. I had to quickly follow her instructions, or she won’t put away the mean thing.

Ah.. I was exhausted after all these, I went to my pram, announced, “tired, lie down, rest” and hope mummy will leave me alone in my beautiful dress.

Thank you Aunty Jesslyn, for such lovely dresses. Next time if I have chocolate and sweets, I’ll share with Wien jiejie and Lyon ok? HUG HUG! *MUAK*

PS Aunty Jesslyn, too bad I can’t go to the post office myself, or else, I can send Lyon and Wien jie-jie those boring, err I mean interesting, Sesame Streets, Bob The Builder VCDs mummy is ‘forcing’ me to watch.

I was invited to go to a blog meet organised by Lin Peh, sponsored by 9393. My SIL, King’s Wife, was Lin Peh‘s favourite Si-lai (Cantonese : desperate Housewife) for this month, so I was given the honor to accompany her to this meeting.

We had dinner down in KL, in a private room. Sounds very fishy isn’t it (If I was going on my own, I would definitely chicken out, knowing what the Yamade King is capable of). Lin Peh, Wingz and May were already there when Seng Kor, King’s Wife and I arrived together. Followed by GBYeow, KL Podcast, Siao Cha Bor and then Cock-a-doodle (who did a Lin Peh’s jig trying to convince us he was Lin Peh, but his moustache was a dead give away). 9394 was the last, and had a tough time guessing who was who.

Every body was warming up to each other, joking, laughing; when I whipped out my camera, fingers started pointing, “No photos! We agreed!” (Er, Did I?). Agreeing not to offend some people who prefer to remain anonymous, I’ll just post some jigsaw pieces here.

Is the smiling eyes nicer, or the smiling moustache?

“*Sob Sob* King’s Wife isn’t anything like what I thought she’d look like!”

Straight to the meet after the bank heist.

Hands-a-roaming.

Fishing buddies’ hugs ala Broke Back Mountain

I think there’s just too much Cantonese swearing here, I’d better call backup.

I need to capture evidence here.

I had a good time, laughing until my ribs hurt; if you read their blogs, you know what a bunch of funny people these folks are.
However, at the back of my mind I was worrying about Zara at home, as this was the very first time I went out without Zara in the night

Now back home :
My plan was to stay over at King’s Wife together with Zara and Tuyam; Zara will have my nieces to play with, and will not miss me so much. But Daddy called me at 5pm telling me he’ll miss Zara and would like to pick them up from King’s Wife after work. I reminded him, “This means you have to look after her, give her her night feed, tuck her to bed. You sure you can do it?” “Of course I can” so Daddy claimed.

(updated by Tuyam)
Daddy said he would watch over Zara while Tuyam was busy at the kitchen. Instead, Daddy read his newspaper, and Zara was walking about, playing on her own. Then she whined, and ran to Tuyam. Tuyam found white sticky stuff in Zara’s mouth, and had to dig them out. Apparently Zara had gotten hold of my niece’s glue stick, and bitten half the glue out. (Daddy -20points)Daddy said he would feed Zara. His feeding technique, “Zara, nah, Daddy drink 1 sip (from the bottle), you drink 1 sip ok?” Daddy pretended to suck on the bottle, and then passed on to Zara. Zara found it too hilarious and giggled, only air went in to her stomach, no milk. Tuyam took over the bottle, and coaxed Zara to drink, while Daddy went to have his bath. (Daddy +2points for entertaining Zara, -10points for not being able to feed Zara)

Daddy tried to tuck Zara in, Zara whined and asked for mummy. Daddy passed the responsibility to Tuyam, and went to read his books while Tuyam patted Zara, calmed Zara down, and finally had Zara drifted off to sleep. (Daddy -20points).

And what did he say? He will LOOK AFTER ZARA, GIVE ZARA HER NIGHT FEED, TUCK ZARA TO BED. *sigh*

(Read here, here, here, here, here, here and here for more photos and posts about the meet)

So a lot of people are interested in knowing how Helen, Helen’s husband, Samm, Sengkor, King’s Wife look like.

I’ll do every one a favour and put up their photo here… Helen, Samm, plesae don’t kill me ok?

There was this warning I read some where, when you see or face a person for a long period of time, you will slowly look alike.. I guess it happened in our Ipoh meet, 3~4hours later, this is how every body looks like.

From left to right : Helen’s husband, Helen, King’s Wife, Samm, Me, Sengkor.

King’s Wife and Seng kor will also be posting the photos taken by them in their sites… go check out if you are interested.

Thanks to Sengkor for his photoshop skill (see, he’s not just soft spoken, has a nice bod, he’s good in photoshop too)

Over the weekend, we drove up to Ipoh for a friend’s wedding. It was a simple affair in a local restaurant. The bride, Liew, did not even wear a gown for her wedding, but just a simple dress. Daddy said, “Which is perfectly fine”. I said, “But you only get to be a bride once in a life time, I would at least want a gown.” But then, Liew is a simple, down to earth person; which is why Daddy is very fond of her, and which is also why he didn’t mind driving all the way up for her wedding.Zara was cranky the whole night. Probably because she only napped for 1hr the whole day. Daddy and I had to take turns to bring her out for walks. Not that there’s much to walk about or see, but she was happier than being seated for a long 4hrs.

Clockwise : The bride and groom; Zara finally fulfilled her wish, sitting on a motorbike; Zara didn’t want to sit on Daddy’s lap (see Daddy’s frown?); Jesse, my friend’s 8mth old, sat through the dinner without a single whine

We spent the night in Ipoh, and the following morning after breakfast in the hotel, we went to town for a walkabout. Both Daddy and I always like visiting local markets, so when we saw a building with a sign reading Pasar Besar Ipoh (Malay: Ipoh Big Market), we quickly parked our car and headed there.

I just love markets, not the filth, but it’s always interesting to look at the local produce. We saw a fish monger selling about 10 different types of prawns (very reasonably priced), we would have bought some if we had a big ice box. We bought a bell shaped pumpkin which we do not get in KL (not the imported butter squash, but locally grown). And then the sight of a lady selling beansprout really caught my interest (I actually walked back to the car to get the camera to take the below shots).
Ipoh is famous for beansprouts, and it’s no wonder you get ‘specialists’ only selling beansprouts in the market. Big plastic barrels used to sprout the beans (they looked like huge alfafa sprouts) were next to the stall. I didn’t see how they were harvested but I saw the stall owner washed the sprout in a cement cylinder (I don’t know what that thing is called) and scooped up the amount customers wanted into bags. She was a good sport, and told me I was welcome to take her photos.

What is a visit to Ipoh without meeting up with the local bloggers? King’s Wife even drove up with Seng Kor for a day trip to join the fun. It was a small and intimate meeting. We had lunch with Helen and Hubby, Samm and Gordon, followed by coffee.

With a smaller crowd, and so much time, you get to have a more decent conversation, and able get to know each other better. I’m not supposed to review too much here, but I must say they do live up to the personalities they portray in their blogs. *grin* (Note : Seng Kor did go to the toilet, but I’m not sure if it was to do what Helen mentioned here)

Again, Zara fussed a lot, while sweet little Gordon, spent the whole time seated and amusing himself with tissues and toothpicks. *Sigh*

Clockwise : Daddy keeping an eye on Zara in a local coffee place while I ran back to the market to photograph the beansprout lady; Walking in the town centre; Zara couldn’t sit still, while Gordon didn’t even fuss throughout.

After more than 2 weeks, Daddy finally came home yesterday. I’d been preparing Zara for his arrival, telling her Daddy was coming home, asking her to shout “Daddy” loud loud, and give Daddy a big “BOO” with her monster face when Daddy arrives. I even made her practice a few times to see if she knew what she was supposed to do.

It was dinner time and I was having a tough time feeding her the fish we cooked (freshwater fish with very strong ‘earthy’ taste). She spit out every mouth full I gave her, and said “Don’t Want” (her favourite word now). I had to resort to opening a bottle of baby food, and still progress of feeding her was slow, as she was refusing to open her mouth.

When a car stopped at the front gate, she got all excited, and kept pointing outside and claimed, “Daddy. Daddy.” I brought her out to greet Daddy. All the earlier practices gone wasted; the minute Daddy held her at the gate, she just laid her head on his shoulder, not calling him, not looking at him, but just stayed there, holding on to Daddy.

It took us a while to persuade her to let Daddy put her down (all the time she just refused to lift her head up from his shoulder). After which, I told her to show how clever she was to Daddy by finishing her food, and she cooperated, opening her mouth wide while I spooned her the food from the bottle, eager to impress Daddy. The little one sure miss Daddy, in her own ways.

Daddy bought me a Bree bag (a wee bit too big for me I would say, but then, I shouldn’t complain), and 2 pairs of slip ons from the Birkenstock company. Zara didn’t have any apparels but Daddy bought her some biscuits.

Here’s Zara checking out the bag.

And then, trying on the slip ons.

Disclaimer : This has nothing to do with my daugther, which the blog is about.

This is a story started by Lin Peh, the rules are written here. They are all rated 18SX (except mine probably), and the story is fictionous. Do not proceed if you find profanity offensive, and explicit sex scene disgusting.

Chapter 1 – Lin Peh
Chapter 2 – PJ
Chapter 3 – Lilian (password chapter3)
Chapter 4 – Cocka Doodle
Chapter 5 – Ah Pek
Chapter 6 – Helen

My beloved leng-jeh Helen passed me the baton to do Chapter 7. After such a steamy chapter she’s written, it’s actually very difficult for me to continue, but I have to oblidge..

Lin Dynasty – Chapter 7

There is something familiar about Horsey, Liong Sek was thinking to himself. While Horsey was tending to Swan’s friends, Liong Sek stole a few glances at Horsey, who had a mask over his face. All these while, Dr Horsey chatted amiably to Liong Sek, about the weather, about the posh Star Mountain Gallery, where his little back room practice was.

One after another, the men shamelessly dropped their pants to show Dr Horsey their privatest organs. The man whose name was Big Bird definitely didn’t have what it takes to be one. And Barney? Wow, his thing looks purple. Leong Sek observed. After giving the men an MMR (Male Miracle Remedy) jab here, some barrier cream there, he told them they could go home and rest. Their disease would be cured in a few days. The men eagerly left, all except Liong Sek.

Just then, there was a creak at the door. 2 pairs of eyes turned towards the source of the sound. A slender leg appeared, trying to back into the room, followed by a half naked back. A lady was struggling to enter the doorway, her blouse lifted to expose her smooth creamy back. She has the longest legs; there was something she was carrying in her arms, covered in a white cloth. The men swallowed their saliva, anxiously awaiting the lady to turn to face them and expose more of her. The lady turned. What was that she’s cradling, which was stuck to her front??

“Oh Shit!” The lady muttered, when she saw the gawking men. “This is not the nursing room?” The men shook their heads in union. She quickly adjusted her blouse, and straightened her bundle, which was actually a beautiful baby. “I’m so sorry, little Zara here is too hungry, and I didn’t really check the sign board at the door” The woman left hastily.

“Nursing room here? She siao or what?” Horsey exclaimed, sweeping off the beads of sweat from his forhead.

To break the silence, Horsey took a pie out from his bag, and asked Liong Sek. “Chic Pie?”

“Sure, Horsey. Chic Pie”. Liong Sek replied, still stealing glances at Horsey.

“Call me Seng Kor, Leong Sek.” Horsey removed his mask deftly, and sunk his teeth into the Chick Pie. He spitted it out immediately, “Ta Ma De! Chick Pie, I said Chick Pie! And what did she give me? Tuna Chic Pie!”

Liong Sek could not believe what he was looking at; the man who was coughing out Tuna Chick Pie looked exactly like him, except for the big hairy mole. “Who are you?” he almost shouted to Horsey. “No wonder he had to wear a mask, that mole is hideous” was another voice coming from within.

“I’m your twin brother. Liong Seng. Didn’t that bloody father of yours tell you?” Seng Kor a.k.a Horsey wiped his mouth and spitted out the last few words.

Liong Sek shook his head in disbelieve. Didn’t Unke Lin just tell him the other day that he was fathered by a Mr Tua, and his name was Lam Pah?

“But I’m not his real son, my real sir name is Tua, he just told us the other day” Liong Sek replied indignantly.

“Tua your Ka Cheng! He was too embarrassed to tell you the truth!” Seng Kor tossed the rest of the Tuna Chic Pie in the bin in anger.

“He fooled with his sister Lin Chin Sia, and she died giving birth to both of us! He thought I was bad luck, because I had this mole that reminded him of our mother. He gave me away!”

“But..” Liong Sek tried to interrupt.

“What do you think Auntie Helen is doing in Italy? To receive a Pukilitzer Prize?” Seng Kor snorted. “She’s meeting up with Albieno Ipodro, the man who adopted me! Liong Sek, look, I had been waiting for this moment. To meet up with you, to tell you the truth, so that we can avenge our mother’s death.”

Chaos ran through Liong Sek’s mind. Albieno Ipodro? The Italian mafia who was made famous smuggling cocaine stuffed in figs and condoms? What was Auntie Helen doing meeting up with him? Never mind the two of them, what is happening to him? So much has taken place the last few days, what with the frequent visits to Lilian; his knees weakened, he couldn’t think straight. Who is telling the truth? Unke Lin? The self claimed twin brother Seng Kor who looks exactly like him except for the hideous mole? Oh, he just wanted to be back into the arms of Lilian.

… cheng cheng cheng….and I passed the baton to my favourite sister in law, King’s Wife.

Egghead, and Fantasyflier tagged me on this to find out which era I was from, here is the content of the tag

1. Name one of the actor of the old days that you missed the most
~ Danny Chan (???)

2. Name a cartoon of the old old days
~ Smurf!!

3. Name a singer/group of the old days
~ Liu Wen Zheng (???)

4. Band of the old days
~ Anzenchitai (????).
~ When I started listening to English songs, I just love Depeche Mode (still do).

5.TV Series of the old days
~ ????? (Xin Xin Zhi Wo Xing – some sob stories), ???(Man In the Net – Chow Yuen Fat debut!). Used to watch with my mum, dabbing our tears occassionally, and sometimes she got so carried away, she totally forgotten about preparing dinner!

6. Actress of Old Days
~ Cherie Chung Chor-Hong (???)

7. Fashion of Old Days that you miss the most
~ I remembered the beggers out fit, the shoulder pads, but I don’t really miss them, I think they were ugly (although back then, I too wore them to be fashionable).

8. Movie of Old Days
~ An Autumn’s Tale (?????)

9. Music Video of Old Days
~ Must be Micheal Jackson’s Thriller, I guess. MTV wasn’t popular for Chinese songs yet.

10. Coolest Song of Old Days
~ That’s What Friends Are For (Elton John and Friends)

Come to think of it, I was so Chinese huh? In fact, I was so Chinese that my siblings teased me and called me a communist (They were all sent to English schools while I went to a Chinese school).

I’ll have to list 3 people to pass this tag on (you are not obligated, just do it if you feel like it).
– Twin (must be very young huh you, even though you have 2 kids?)
– Mr Cocka Doodle (which cockeral era did you come from)
– YL (you must be very very young)

Normally I will tag Helen but I’ll spare her so that she can concentrate on finding out the true identity of this man.