My Two Girls – All About Zara and Zaria

Miss me? Miss my girls?

I have been so busy it’s crazy!!

Here’s some glimpses of what I’d been doing.

Can you recognise this face? Or the cap?
Yes! I’m the first, I’m the first to meet Simple American!!
We did some soul ‘linguistic’ searching, he finally knew what the real meaning of PIAK is, or how to pronounce ‘Roti Canai’ and ‘Nasi Lemak’.

Visited a place with a fake miniature Statue Of Liberty.

And then this place with this dense skyline.

As for the girls, this is what they are saying..

She and her icy cold stare.

The manja Zaria is always asking me to ‘come’ or ‘carry’.

Juicy details will come later!

Got some sample packs of sunscreen (from UVA/UVB) from Screen Inc (a Made In USA product) the other day. I tried them on Daddy, the girls, Jelly and of course on myself.

Screen Inc sunblock comes in 4 varieties (makes life interesting):
1) tweenyscreen – for kids
2) manscreen – for men
3) chicscreen – for anybody who’s chic
4) teenscreen – for youngsters

It’s meant for the neck up, safe even on the lips.

Screen Inc mantra is “Screen: Make It Your Routine”, that’s why they’d make their cream so light weight and does not feel like a sunscreen at all.

I love the non-greasy and smooth texture of the sunscreen, I don’t get a layer of white residue on my face after applying, and it doesn’t have any chemical smell that comes with most sunblock. It feels very much like wearing an expensive facial sun protection cream.

All the cream is unscented except for tweenyscreen which comes lightly scented, probably to appeal to the little ones. Zara says it smells like fruit, and she makes it her routine to put it on her face in the morning before she goes to school. It helps to protect children’s delicate skin from the harmful rays of sunlight, especially she plays outdoor a lot.

Hmm, I’ll have to hunt this tweenyscreen down next time I go for another work trip overseas.

I’d turned blue screen….. busy…..

Be back after all this mad rush is over.

My dad gave us a treat to Krabi, Thailand over the weekend. He paid for flight and accomodation, we paid for all other expenses. It was a family holiday, 15 of us.

Zara has been looking forward to the trip. The night before we left, she chickened out though.
Zara : Mummy, I don’t want Sam jie-jie, Norman kor-kor, Ah Kim and Yi Yi they all to go to Krabi with us.
Me : But why? It’ll be so much fun to go with them. I thought you like them.
Zara : I like them, but I don’t want them to go to Krabi with us. Because, the hotel only have 2 beds, where is Fifi and I going to sleep?
Haha, she thought we’re all going to squeeze into 1 room.

We stayed in Pakasai Resort at Ao Nang Beach, and we took 5 rooms. There’s no beach though in the hotel, the beach is across the road, but then, it’s not a fantastic stretch of beach, so we didn’t even bother walking over.

Check out the troops, without the parents.

Upon arrival, it was just rest and relax. Napped, shopped, swam and of course ate. Food is really good and reasonably priced.

Shopping at Ao Nang is like shopping in Patong Beach 15years ago, a bit more laid back. I didn’t get much, just 3 pairs of fake Billabong shorts and a pair of slippers because the strap on my Croc Cleo snapped!

We travelled in motorbike powered taxi around Ao Nang.

We wanted to do island hopping on the 2nd day. 1,200 Baht to charter a long tail boat for the whole day and we can choose to stop over at 4 islands. We took 2 boats and we didn’t go beyond the 1st island, Koh Poda. We were expecting a dry ride and probably champagne served on board, but throughout the 30mins journey, sea water kept splashing at us. We were all drenched when we arrived Koh Poda, where you get beautiful white sand, and clear blue sea.

Children having fun at the beach.

Sam bringing Zara out for a swim. Had to give her a neck float too, double protection.

After that, it was another 30mins wet ride back to Ao Nang. Brrrrrrrr!

The kids spent lots of time at the pool, getting burnt!

On the 3rd day, we chartered a van to bring us to Krabi town.

There’s a small night market in Krabi, where you can get all kinds of street food and fruits.

And then the driver brought us to a very nice local restaurant (but I forgot the name! Haih), with big garden, a stream, and even a windmill and an unused ferris wheels. When we arrived, we actually screamed in delight! Like some dungus (Malay : fools)!

Children hanging around at the big spacious garden.

(this shot is a bit blur, but I like the warmth of it)

I love these 2 shots of my dad fussing over Zara. Wiping her sweat, and fanning her because she’s always drenched in sweat.

And guess who is the tiredess of all? Zaria of course!

Zara too was so keen in playing that she shortened her nap and sleep time in Krabi; when we got back, she slept till 11am the following morning! Her latest ever!

I went to Beijing for work for a week from 4th May to 10th May. This is my 2nd trip to Beijing, the last round was 5 years ago in 2003, where I spent the first 10days touring before starting the week’s work trip. There are more high rises and the Hutongs (胡同) are no where to be found (I heard only a few selected ones were kept and turned into tourist attraction). I’d not seen any one spitting and smoking in public places is now banned (that doesn’t mean people can’t smoke in restaurants though but there’s dedicated smoking area). The air is thick with dust and exhaust fumes, making me cough every time when I walked the 10minutes journey.

We finished work most days between 7:30pm to 8:30pm. I have another 2 colleagues who also went along from Singapore and Hong Kong, and we spent our after work hours shopping, dining and chi chatting. This round, I only managed to do a little shopping because shops including supermarkets close at 9:30pm in most places.

As usual, I took a lot of photos of food which we ate for lunch and dinner. I have to say, Beijing food is rather good and cheaper compared to Malaysia.

Here are the photos…

Tian An Men, the imposing Mao’s portrait.

Tian An Men square from a far.

Around Tian An Men. The soldier is not doing a friendly wave, it fact, he was saying “NO” to my camera.. but too late.

Dishes from 渝乡人家 (Yu Xiang Ren Jia), a Sichuan restaurant; where we had our first dinner organised by the Chinese colleagues, and lunch where my users from my previous program treated me. Pics : fried glutinous rice cake; steam dumpling made with glutinous rice flour; fried flat bread; the spicy but delicious dishes we had for lunch.

On the 2nd night, we had the nicest roast duck in 大董烤鸭店(团结湖店) (Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant). It’s way better than the overly commercialised 全聚德(Quan Ju De). We found the size of the menu ridiculous though. Look at this.. (notice my watch at the lower right bottom)

The beautiful and delicious dishes : Asparagus Soup with sea urchin; Orange soup; Calamari in salt and pepper; Fried winter bamboo shoot.

Bean curd; Cod fish with vege; Fried millet (done like fried rice); duck soup

And the best Beijng Roast Duck. All these for RM230.

Group lunch dishes in 娃哈哈 (Wa Ha Ha). Stuff lotus root; shredded bean curd; cold vege; duck soup (so delicious).

Lunch at 中发宏 (Zhong Fa Hong) : Stir fried vege; Jelly with chili oil (凉粉辣油); Salted egg fried pumpkin; Red bean pan cake.

Lunch at 中发宏 was so good and reasonably priced, we went again on our last day. Duck stew; chicken fried with green chili (Yums!)

This is the view around the office. Decorated compressor; Rush Hour cyclists; The unfinished CCTV building; Buildings around Chao Yang District (朝阳区).

On our last day we had dinner at a nice restaurant in an old house with a court yard. Inside 那家小馆 (Na Jia Xiao Guan)

Roast Duck cold dish; Crispy prawns; Steam sweetened Shanyao (山药); Stir Fried chives, black fungus and egg.

Fried vege; cod and mango with goose liver sauce; spicy fish pot; and some Dianxin (点心).

And if all this good food doesn’t appeal to you, you can check out the Olympic food from the stalls in WangFuJin (王府井)…..
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Deep fried Sea Horse and Scorpions

Deep fried Star Fish

Deep fried Scorpions, crickets, silk worms, and lizards

I didn’t bought or try any, and got scolded, “你买不买啊？？你不买就走开” (Are you buying, if you are not buying get lost). Your cup of tea?

Before I was a mother, I’d never known I was able to love and be loved unconditionally, twice all the same.
I’d never known I could hug a sweaty and smelly person, and still feel so much love.
I’d never known I could wipe poop, or pick someone else’ nose so willingly.

Before I was a mother, I’d never known the girls’ achievements meant more to me than my own,
That a hug from a little person could feel so warm, on a tired and stressful day.
That a wet and smelly kiss can be such great pick me ups.

Before I was a mother, I’d never known being a mother is so much work,
That I’ll have less time for myself and my time belongs to the kids’,
And still, I’d do it all over again, if I was given a choice.

♥Happy Mother’s Day to All Mothers and Mothers-to-be!♥

Zaria turned 16 month last week. I captured some of the moments which happened during her 15th month.

She said her first 4 syllabus word = Nani nani (frangipani). She can recognise the flower, and she’ll point to it and say “Nani nani”

Although she’s saying words in abbreviation, i.e. Nana for Banana, Raff for Giraffe, Bra for Zebra, Pard for Leopard. She is beginning to say some of the words in full rather than the short cut version. i.e. Papaya as papaya and not Papa any more.

She starts talking in phrases, e.g.“Take doll doll.” “Give cock-con (pop corn).”

She discovered sugar sachet. Once sucking on it, the pack ripped off and she tasted sugar. “Weet, weet. (sweet sweet)”, and she tried sucking harder to get to the sugar.

She is singing and the tune and words are more ‘audible’.
Old Mac Donalds sounds like “Cow, Eeeya-eeya Yo. Moo there, moo there”
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sounds like “Ker Ker Star. Up up up up high”
Somewhere Over The Rainbow sounds like “(Some)where..Oh(ver)..(the rain)Bow”

She starts being able to identify a person is masculine of feminine, old or young. Pointing to small girls “Jiejie”, small boys, “korkor”, adult female “Ah-tie (Auntie)”, adult male “Ah-Ker (Uncle)”, elderly lady “Poh Poh”.

She knows how to say some of our names.
“What is Mummy’s name?”
“Neck-Nurse”
“What’s Auntie’s name?”
“Yeh-Lee”
And of course her own “Zah-yah” and Zara’s “Zah-wah”

She can recognise and knows how to address all the family members.
My sister as Yi-yi
My PIL as Yeh-yeh, Ma-ma
My brother and SIL as Ah-Ku and Ah-Tim (Ah Kim)

She started saying “No”.
Zara : “Give jiejie back her Fifi.”
Zaria : “No”

Her vocabulary is pretty extensive, knowing most of the animals, objects at home, differentiating rice, bread, noodle. etc.

She’s very ‘manja’
When she falls or hurt herself, she’ll come over and ask for a hug. “Pain Pain” “Hug Hug”
When I raised my voice on her, she’ll also come over and ask for a hug, “Mummy. Hug Hug.”

She’s becoming very clingy now, preferring me over most people, sometimes even daddy. But still, she’s more of a daddy’s girl than Zara.

Our weekends mornings are normally filled with activities, i.e. we need to do our marketting, Zara needs to attend class.

Yesterday, a public holiday, we didn’t have anything on in the mornings so we went out for breakfast, and brought the girls to a big field near our place. Zara has this fascination about plucking flowers from the fields, park, anywhere, so this is really for her.

Zaria checking out a big decorative pots in the restaurant we had our breakfast.

Zaria loves patting flowers, like the character Mr Night, in her book titled Good Night, Mr. Night.

Zara just loves plucking weeds flowers.

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After that, we went to a farm near our place too (you can imagine how ‘ulu’ our place is). This is more for Zaria, to see the cows, turkeys, goats, ducks etc. Zara almost puke because of the stentch from the cow dung. So she stayed with me near the car, while Daddy brought Zaria near the farm. No photos, since I was holding the camera.
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In the evening, we brought them swimming. It has been a while since they last swam. Zaria was clinging on to me, refusing to float on her own. The moment I let her hands go, she’ll be calling “Mummy.. Mummy.”

See the expression on her face, she’s not comfortable when I let her go.

Zara on the other hand, just swam about on her own, of course staying near to Sam, her favourite cousin.

Zaria was afraid to be on her own, but she still enjoyed herself. Constantly showing the ‘good’ sign.

Sam, my niece, splashing down the slide.

Zara followed suit.

Weeeeeee…………

Splash!!
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After that, it’s off for some ice cream.

Fun day for the kids, tired day for the parents.

We went to the Taman Tun park on Saturday. Zaria was very excited and eager to get down from her stroller to walk when we arrived.

We could see she was walking a bit like a drunkard (unstable),  probably because she missed her second nap, and wasn’t as alert as she normally is. When she was walking on the tar path, she just tripped and fell, landed on the right side of her face. It happened so quickly, nobody could have dashed to her to catch her in time.

When we picked her up, being a toughie, she cried a bit, pointed to her face and said, “Face.. pain-pain.” She scratched her face, and knocked her forehead, luckily it wasn’t a very deep cut. “Mummy, hug-hug.”, she asked for hugs from every one, and then after that she was ok and playing again.

See the scratch, in the morning after…

If you are wondering what happened to the patch at her lower lip, that’s caused by her saliva constantly soaking that part. She is teething, her lower right molar fully sprouted, and she was salivating a lot from the right corner of her mouth. Then now her upper left and right molars are sprouting, so the salivating hasn’t ended.

I chatted with Zara after Zaria’s accident : Zaria is so brave right?
Zara : I’m also brave wut.
Me : Zaria fell down, such a big scratch on her face, she just cried a little. But if you fall down, even a very small cut, or no cut at all, you will also cry and cry and cry.
Zara : You know or not, my skin is so sensative ma, that’s why I cry. o.O

Zaria is showing behaviour that we’d never seen in Zara. The I-don’t-care-you-better-give-me-what-I-want-or-I’ll-cry behaviour.

Don’t let this angel looking face fool you

When she wants something, and doesn’t get it, she wails, as though she has fallen down or hurt herself.
Sometimes going on all fours, but now being more clever, she’ll just slap her hands on the floor, but not her head.

She immediately switches to a smile the minute what she wanted was given to her. These days, we’ll just distract her with something else or ignore her cry until she stops.

2 days ago, when I was reading to Zara, she moved her buttocks to my lap and tried to push Zara away. Zara was very patient, she just moved aside while I handled Zaria.
Me : Zaria, mummy reading to jiejie. You go and play with your toys.
Zaria : EHHH! Boo-book. (she put her book on top of Zara’s).
Me : Mummy already read so many books to you, now jiejie’s turn (I took her book away and asked Zara to sit back on my lap)
Zaria : Ehh!!! (she slapped Zara’s book)
Me : You sit on mummy’s lap, we read together then.
Zaria : Ehh! (she tore Zara’s book)
Very quickly, I lifted her up, and told her, “Cannot tear book book! You yai-yai (Chinese : naughty). Mummy read to jiejie why you tear jie-jie’s book book? You go to naughty corner then.” Then I put her in her cot and walked back to Zara.

She cried and wailed and screamed. And I just finished reading to Zara, ignoring her. Zara kept throwing glances at Zaria, but didn’t say anything. 3 minutes later, when I’d finished reading to Zara, I picked Zaria up. Immediately, Zaria smiled. *roll eyes*

Me : What happened just now?.
Zaria : Yai yai! (referring to herself) Beat!
Me : No, mummy didn’t beat you. Mummy put you in naughty corner. Why? Because you tear jiejie’s book
Zaria : (she pointed to her cot) (cor)Ner!
Me : Next time cannot tear Jiejie’s book ok?
Zaria : Ten-not (Cannot)
Me : Promise? (I reached out my hand)
Zaria : (she beat it with hers, our way of ‘promising’) (pro)Miss
Now it was Zara’s turn to speak, Say sorry to jiejie.
Zaria : Soyee
To me : Mummy, say sorry to Zaria (for making her cry)
Me : Sorry meimei

Following day, I asked Zaria.
Me : Meimei, remember what happened yesterday?
Zaria : (remem)Ber
Me : You tore jiejie’s book, what did mummy do?
Zaria : (Naughty Cor)Ner! (ha, she remembered!)
Me : Where is your naughty corner
Zaria : Cot. (clever)
Me : Can tear book book or not?
Zaria : Ten-not (Cannot). (pro)Miss (she slapped her hand on mine)

Good, looks like she learnt her lesson. 😛