OSHICARE's blog

A Versatile Blouse

2012-02-13T02:16:00.000-08:00

Sew sew sew... that's what I'm doing recently. The light pink O' Necktie Sunblouse is the latest addition to the collections. If you observe closely, the both shirts were wrapped with different matching cotton bias tape. The other different is the chilli red one is a loose shirt whereas the other is a body fit type. So buddy, how do you find my creations? Very teacher look ehhh, or college student look ^_^ ?

A new shirt for me

2012-02-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

(picture by hubby, model by me)

I completed a new shirt for myself yesterday. I'm the kind that go for quality instead of quantity. As long as it look simple and comfortable on me, I don't mind having the same design in more than one piece. This is my O' necktie sunblouse. I prefer it with ruffled short sleeves - to be embedded with some vintage touch. yes. I love vintage.

This is something that I need and want - comfort that comes utmost in my lists in dresses that I'll put on myself for daily wear. Ever since I'm a stay-home-mom, I found those fashion lines in boutique stores doesn't suit me (with comfy and versatility) and way too pricey too. On the other end, the dresses that occasionally I buy from pasar malam, I never get to wear them more than once. For just a wash, it wrinkled up beyond an iron could fix.

(picture by hubby, model by me)

I enjoy looking at the mixture of fabrics that turn out to be the oohhh... and ahhhh... as a complete piece in the end result. It looks and works well, what you say?
There's another one in the making. I'll post a picture here once it's done.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

Here's to wish you a belated Happy New Year...
I was sooooo busy preparing stuff and getting ready for this festive season. I clean, I bake, cook and have almost no time to come to this blogspace.

There are a few pictures that I would like to share with you during our trip to Bukit Tinggi highland in Pahang recently.

(The Japanese Tea House)

(Performance at night in Colmar Tropicale; 'The fire-breath man' my sons call)

(At the Swan Lake)

(Swiflet nest in a hidden the parking bay)

(Run freely in Rabbit Farm)

a beautiful scenery is vital to soothe the soul.

May your holiday is well spend with your love ones. xox

Randomness

2012-01-12T01:26:00.000-08:00

(The above photos courtesy by big R)

The scene at home when the cake just came out from the oven, right after dinner. Just nice with a dollop of vanilla ais-cream.

I let the kids get the feel of applying nail polish onto their toenails under close supervision. We chose toenails so that there won't be any problem the next day when they go to school : P
'the kids said: "look at my rainbow toenails..." Dad said: "aiyerrr.... geli lah..." '

Besides that, I'm working on a new pair of dress for my sewing project, namely 'cheongsam' using a Japanese printed natural cotton. Design, pattern and fabric have been done and cut out, just need some time to sew all the pieces together. I'm not sure whether it will be ready by Chinese New Year, but it should be tentatively.

Cook with me...

2012-01-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

Wanna try out my version of clear and tasty soup, come let's cook this - Watercress fishball soup

You'll need:-
650ml chicken stock
150gm lean meat (thinly sliced, toss with 1tbs corn flour and pinch of pepper powder)
8pcs Sai toh fish ball
1packet fresh young corn
150gm watercress (xi1 yang2 chai4)
pinch of salt &
1tsp of soya sauce

Boil the chicken stock in advanced.
When the stock is ready, adjust the fire to medium, put in the lean meat lightly, boil it for another 3min.
Then, eventually put in the fish ball and young corn. Keep at the same fire.
When you've noticed the soup is mildly boiled, put in pinch of salt and soya sauce or to taste, then quickly put the watercress in the soup for 2min. you can now switch off the fire.
Let rest for another 5min.

Now, this super clear and fresh soup is ready for your weekend lunch/dinner with your love ones ^_^

If you have difficulty in cooking it, drop me a message. I'll be happy to assist you to get your soup cooked ; )

Hello year one

2011-12-28T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have one who started year one when school starts. Recalling when I first started to blog, it was also when they were so young and needed my attention fully. Time passes so quickly as both of them are in formal school, can dress themselves in style they want, paint their white shoes... oh gosh... they have grown up so much!

For readiness to school, I gave each of them the mama sewn pencil case. Little R gets his 'Hi Little Bear's case. He loves it and happy with his new pencil case.

a merrier Christmas

2011-12-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

I'm still getting my eldest son to complete this first handmade wall decoration done before Christmas hopefully...
'This is very fun, mummy asked me to do it...', he told his dad, I overheard it.

...and also would like to wish each and every reader that visits me here a Merry Christmas!

Belacan fried chicken in 3 steps

2011-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Today, I would like to share with you my recipe for belacan fried chicken which finished right before I get to take a picture of it ; )
I made this recently and gave some for my parents staying nearby. Mom says they ate that as snack during teabreak which are gone even before dinner.

Ingredients:
10pcs of chicken wings
60gm of belacan in 1tbl spoon of water (to dissolve the belacan paste)
1pc beaten egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tbl spoons tapioca flour
1 cup of cooking oil

note: *tbl means 'table'*

Suggested dipping sauce: - store bought thousand island / chilli sauce / tomato sauce (kids liking)

Directions:
1) Cleaned and chopped the market bought chicken wings into two pieces. (or asked the seller to do so.)
2) Marinate the above for at least an hour in advance before cooking time.
3) Heat up the oil first, then fried the wings till it turned golden brown. Serve immediately...

Go try it out and share with us your fried belacan chicken's experience...

Stay in the kitchen till the fire is set off

2011-12-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

We went to Penang Hill on the past weekend for the reason of wanna try to commute in its newly installed funicular train. The travel speed has indeed improved significantly which took only about 5min. to reach to top. The kids were very excited to travel in it and that's also their first time to be at the hill. I love this season as there are so many outdoor activities that can plan out.

I burned my crock pot literally... the other day, I wanted to re-heat the soup just when before I go to bed at around 12.30 in the middle of the night. After I set the fire on the stove, I quickly went to brush teeth while waiting for the soup to heat up and also thinking of want to be efficient. Right after I brushed my teeth, I had totally forgot of the fire in the kitchen. As kids were rushing me to accompany them to bed, I just 'tok...' switched off the light in the kitchen and straight away leave the place and went upstairs.

In the wee hour in the morning around 5.30, while still asleep I suddenly think of the soup that I was re-heating and immediately run downstairs to check on it, by the time I opened the bedroom door, I could smell some strong burnt smell. But that wasn't me that turned off the fire, it was my husband that wake up by around half past four to run to toilet and get some water for himself. In another words, in the middle of the night, I set the fire the stove on unattended for a continuous of 4 hours!

When I recalled the whole scenario, it will be very frightening if thing does not to be this lucky. So lesson learned: forgetful person should stay in the kitchen till the fire is set off !!!
Don't repeat my mistake...

Some sewing projects

2011-12-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

A few projects I can called it completed after so many hours of drawing, snipping, sewing, ripping and sewing again in finishing it. phew...
This blouse is my size of M/L. and again the fabric is a Japanese print cotton.

I ran to the shop for the wrap button service...

These are my younger son's knee length pants made of Japanese quality linen. His size is around 4-5 yo old one.

I chose and lined it with some matching colour fabric and it stand up surprisingly.

My husband called the pocket design a stylo-dymalo one! He loves it and asked me to make a pair for him as well ^_^

These pants pattern is deemed as one of the best that I've created so far. It fit excellent yet coupled with quality fabric being used, that should called it a perfect wear for the kids.

Baked fish

2011-11-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

If you're following my blog you will know that I'm a fish person that can't live without fish^_^
There are also many of fish dishes I can cook out be it deep fried, clear steam or cook with other spices and marinates.

Yesterday, I bought a ready made chilli paste and added with extra onion, curry flower and some sugar then baked this local mackerel in the oven. It's extremely delicious to eat with rice. Yum. Yum..

In another note, there's a mega bookfair held at Popular Bookstore and we managed to get a few titles, one of it is a short stories book that suits my little readers and being translated to "A little walkable house" originated from P.R.C. I hope they will read and stay put, because one already get an injured knee and the other with a wounded thumb. They keep play falling off from their bicycles that caused them easily get cut from corners and angles. I'm planning out more activities to keep them entertained in this long holiday.

A new pencil case

2011-11-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Year end school holiday is started. My younger son will be in junior elementary when school reopen by beginning of next year. I was overly concerned I guess for all the necessary preparation for his new schooling. These few days I've been started to plan what are the things I need to make to him and what he might need on his stationery, school uniform, school bag and so on... and without second thought , I had the urge to make a pencil case for him and within a few hours this is the thing I come out with... a metal zipper pencil case.
The end product is quite satisfying and look lovely to me, my kids love it. It is made of heavy fabric and lined with super cute Japanese print cotton. I believed this pencil case would last for some time and being user-friendly for even young kids.

Functioning woven bag

2011-11-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when my home is full of this woven bags, I don't know what to do with it especially when it is printed with some specific name of the event. It's kind of embarrassing if you carry it along right? So, my kids and I thought of this potato print project to transform this whole bag into a new functional yet artful shopping bag.

We measured the size of the printed logo on the woven bag, then cut a piece of plain fabric that will be used to cover the whole printing area. Then, we started to work on the fabric by geting the kids to paint some arcylic paint onto their cut potato or apple, then stamp it over the right side of the fabric that will also be used as the front pocket of the bag.

After the paint dried, I overedge sewn the fabric and hand stitched with arty saturday wording before actually machine sewn it onto the bag. Now, I would happily let my kids carry along this newly converted shopping bag whenever we go to shop ; )

Old and new

2011-11-16T02:29:00.000-08:00

I've got a new overedge sewing machine. Hubby says by running to craft shop for the overedge sewing service each time I needed is way too time consuming. He bought for me one : P and thus, I could sew more things and hopefully can sell at an online store.

Kids grow and grow, the pajama pants that my sons are wearing mostly are way too short for their height. While I still need to improve further on my sewing skills, the simple and loose pajama pants are the most practical stuff I can sew for them. And the most rewarding return is they like to wear mummy sewn clothes most. I involved Russell in the making of his pants, he decides on which fabric to put on for the pocket and how many pockets he needs.
Besides, the brown knee length pants are for my mother, who never ask me to sew anything for her. I choose my favourite colour - that's brown. But but... these pants are a little too tight for her and it end up to be mine :( May need another few days to get her new pants done.
What have you made or done for your love ones, you may share that with us... looking forward hearing from you...

Hopeless in the scene of today's education

2011-11-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

It is a saddening scene in our country's education. Literally it drives us nowhere. nowhere.
I'm saying this as a parent's point of view. Don't you remember that I have two school going kids who just started their Year One in SK (C) and the other one will be enrolling into it soon?.

From the changes of the education policy, we could know that we're not moving forward but backward. I'm not hopeful but crying hopelessly...
What about those kids that just started using Mandarin or Bahasa Malaysia in Year 1? What they will be when they are not exposed to English as much as others did during the school years? What's the use of studying Mathematics and Science either in Chinese language or Bahasa, what's the use of it, the use of it? and

Yes, yes, those rich and the policy maker's children all not in our school studying in homeland by using Chinese or Bahasa in those subjects. They are rich, they have been sent abroad to get a much much better education than our kids do. Who cares in what languages our school is teaching in, who cares... after all, it doesn't affect them at all...

It's a sad sad learning that I could see...

A historical day

2011-10-31T01:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend marked a historical day in my life, I get to meet one of my idols. Before planning our trip there, we're undecided. At last, we managed to get to the resort island and dine here.
I'm neither a politician nor a powerman in the house. I admire him as a general citizen would coz Tun Dr. Mahathir is an inspiring leader not only in our homeland but also a significant world leader.

And I think I need to thank my cousin for looking after my both kids while I was busy squeezing myself into the crowds. I would make a dress for her and would not reveal much now till the dress is completed.

My skirt

2011-10-17T03:39:00.000-07:00

We all need to update our wardrobe at least twice a year; which means in about 6 mos once in our just 1-season climate. Also, I don't want to bore my friends and people around by wearing the same set of clothing in and out throughout the year.

Looking at my collection of fabrics, I picked this cotton of Japanese print to make this simple skirt with a under layer and hidden zipper. Aunt is a dress maker staying a kilometer away, she gave me some tutorials and tips on how to make the skirt. Over the weekend, I had got it done - a new skirt for myself ^_^.
Also being sewn is my younger sister's skirt from the same pattern as mine, hers is pink. I'll upload her skirt here some other day because it's still in progress.
I think I like to make skirt : ) What have you sewn recently?

Another skirt

2011-09-19T03:01:00.000-07:00

I was too busy commuting between school and home. Despite all the routine and dullness, we managed to make friends amongst us parents, to have some fun and also not forget to create a better bond with teachers.

During the weekend we were invited for just another birthday party. It is her party. Then to put my creativity into action, I managed to create another kid's short skirt or mini skirt. It is made of my best like favorite fabrics with laces again.

The whole idea is to make them look beautiful and lovely.
This skirt is perfect to wear with leggings right below knee length; that I've always suggest to them.

Logos Hope

2011-09-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

When I was just a little kid, I could remember that my parents had brought us to one of the floating bookfair. In thinking that I should also do the same for my kids, and coincided with Raya Puasa holidays, we bring the kids to Logos Hope which is in Penang now.

Look at the queue before us...

and the queue behind us

It wasn't a wise decision to go on such a peak time as most of us, my kids inclusive of me were falling ill after the visit. The deck were so cramped with too many visitors at that time and without proper ventilation flow, everybody is just have to bear with the overly packed condition inside. But yes there are some interesting books and references that one could get there.

I snapped this picture of jelly-like colourful balls which my son has brought back from his kindergarten. I wasn't quite agreeable to let young children playing this sort of thing is because they might eat them if not being supervised closely. And thanked God that it was published in the newspaper just not long after we were getting it, these balls are a banned item. It could turn haphazardly dangerous to the little one.

Meg's Jolly Skirt

2011-08-14T03:34:00.000-07:00

Big R's friend invited him to her birthday. And I decided to make something for her. Looking at what I have in my stash of fabrics, we come out with something like this for her. It should suits her.

We get it packed and hope my son's friend will like it. Some ribbon and lace have been added onto it and it looked lovely. I've chosen this Japanese cotton to make this skirt and being named as Meg's Jolly Skirt.

I don't know how many of you would like to receive clothing as present, for me it is special and that's something new that we can try on. Why not? ^_^

Of good values and morals

2011-07-17T01:46:00.000-07:00

This happened on a congested road nearby big R's school.
The traffics were bumper to bumper and it was in a stand still position. I was stuck in the T-junction with big R in the car. After I've had waited for 2-3 minutes and the situation still not improving, I came down from car and direct the car which need to make a left-turn to move forward and to make sure it doesn't knock on mine. Then, the situation improved slightly at least 1 more direction is moving. And that car's driver left without saying or showing any sign of thankfulness.
Then my son says this: Mummy, then next time I also want to help others.
I say: No! Mummy is 'bad' enough, then only can help others.
In this part of the world, people are getting bad, very meaning, very selfish, what they have is only their - self. The kind-hearted act could easily turn into self-find-trouble if you don't know how to protect yourself and handle it.
It seems as we just lost all the good values and morals of living in a homogeneous community. Regardless of whether it was 30 years ago or in these ICT age, good values and to show respect to each others still remain vital in order to live in peace and harmony.

In nice clothes

2011-07-05T01:05:00.001-07:00

In between sending kids through and flo from school; home-schooling and my everyday monotonous morning marketing, it can be dull and boring sometimes. In order not to look boring each day, I try to wear better and being a little bit more fashionista can cheer up the people around and also to ourselves!
This is proven this morning and this is what I'm today.
With this attire, the moment I step into the market of this little town, friends and sellers most of them greeted me with their lovely smiles. Yeah, I know I wear better than the casual home attire today... ahem...... believe me or not, people would look at things that are pleasing to their eyes, what's more when we're wearing something in your favorite fabric. This sleeveless shirt still remained as one of my all time favorite.

This is a one-piece dress which had just completed. I asked hubby to snap a photo of me in a vintage metalwork belt (is that called belt?) passed down to me by my granny.

So, when you're not in good mood, try something nice to put on for yourself. It will change how you look dramatically. But there are times when you are really in good mood and you want to tell others of how you feel for the day, so you wear good.
er.. but then, just don't get me wrong the next time when you see me in nice attire, you thought that this gal must be in bad mood ...hope you get what I mean....
whatever it is, just be yourself. Enjoy your day... ; ))

Test and marks again

2011-07-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

When you're homeschooling your kids you will really understand their progress and learning milestone. My younger son's kindergarten principal asked me to let him go for school's tutoring program since his test scores were not satisfying (meaning that not all subjects get over 90 or 100 marks). In this case, I think she had advised the wrong person for the wrong program. Because I'm never a person who will just look at the marks... never...
Furthermore, when you look at the question worksheet that the teacher has had prepared, there's nothing excited to look forward what's more when come to learning... : (

With these type of calculus questions, how are you going to expect a six-year-old to put in the answer? The worksheet format at the bottom part in my solution towards the misery... I teach Russell the way to get the calculation done. When the kids are at school and do not learn from what has been taught in a class of 10 students or so, what can we say?

Pencils

2011-06-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Every night before bedtime, I'll check on my kids school bag to make sure if they have put in all the books and other necessary tools for the next day's timetable.

One problem that remains is the big R keeps losing his pencils. I think he has lost 5 mechanical pencils and countless of wood pencils started since January. Most of the mechanical pencils that has been lost were my favourite collectibles. I can have them for over 10 years, once let them use, it will never be seen again the next day! And now, I'm started to blame myself for being too generous to them. Can you imagine that everyday they come back from school with only 1 or 2 very short pencil that their small hand can't even hold instead of 3 to 4 long pencils which I've been put in every night thinking that they could comfortably write with.

So, I've decided not to let him has another new long pencil unless he could find back his lost pencil/pencils that has just went lost yesterday. I'm clueless as how to let this boy to know to appreciate his belongings and to get it back if others has taken it.

Holiday stopover

2011-06-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

It has been sometime we didn't venture out from the comfort of home. During this school holiday, we went to Cameron Highland.

It was packed with tourists at the hilltop; and everything is about strawberry mostly besides other green produce.

We were all spoilt for choices over the fresh vegetables available. It makes me feel hungry and wanted to munch them right away ; )
We were staying at the hotel, thus no kitchen for me to play with... we were just buy, eat, then off to other market and shop again...

This time around, we never missed the steamboat dinner again. It is satisfying to get something warm to savour at on the chilling night.

Madness of sleeveless

2011-05-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

Just want to share with you some fabric and design that I'm falling in love with; it's all about sleeveless..ness and be beautiful. These are all after some recreate.

from vintage Japanese fabric...

Teacher Appreciation Day

2011-05-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

A rose for you, teacher - my children's teacher to be specific.
The person who always nurture, teach and guide.
Happy Teacher's Day.

Promoting handmade

2011-04-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

Calling all mothers or homemaker,
If you have something handmade to offer online, do let me know.
I can help you to get it posted here and hopefully some transactions can be taken place.
It can be some craft items, food, or whatever service that you want to offer.

My intention is to empower the homemaker and who knows your item or service is really the thing that others want. All these could happen... just don't be shy.
Hope you get what I mean.

So, just give it a try.
Email me: sam.premiumlink@gmail.com

Best homemade pizza

2011-04-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

We baked mini pizzas over the weekend. I like my pizza with some sprinkles of fresh red chili, whereas my children's with added cheese and raisin for the toppings. Pizza is good, pizza is delicious! the little ones that make these... neither from pizza hut nor domino pizza.

I didn't sew much, most probably filling the stomach comes prior than the rest ; )
and much of readings.

A birthday present

2011-03-28T04:31:00.001-07:00

There was a fund raising charity event organised by Japanese who resides in Penang and as a die hard fan of Penang, I participated.
It's a jointly organised activity held by 6 organizations here. I'd made about 50cups of Soya and Longan Jelly cup as food donation. Apart from that, bought a few toys cars for my sons and a cookbook for myself during that junk sale too through donation.
I've spent more than a hundred ringgit just for this event which I've never been donated this much of money before ever since I'm a homemaker!

All the participants did incredibly well and a huge amount of a quarter of a million ringgit is being raised in just a day's charity sale.

And my birthday present just arrived a day before the charity event, it's a dream of every homemaker of having this Kitchen Aid's mixer in the kitchen place! I still can't believe that it sits in my kitchen. One thing that can be sured of is there will be more baking and cooking taking place soon ; )

New addition in the wardrobe

2011-03-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

One thing that I can tell is - me, obviously not a fashionista, but there's a little sewing nook and creativity hidden... I've started this project sometime ago, and it took me months to get it finished. phew...

And the shirt is on me because that is the only living model available on that particular time : ) ...

I will wear it on casual basis or just put a cardigan over to make it less exposed to go for a more official occasion.

There's a hidden zip on the left and I've added the buttons on to jazz it up a little...

I dare not say how many more that I can make to add some new addition to the wardrobe, but this pattern is really suits our dry and hot weather here all year long...

Be brave and persevere, to all Japanese people

2011-03-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

Reading news update from time to time, what has hit Japan is really saddening and heart breaking.
They were my ex-boss for 4 years in a Japanese machine maker branch office. They had treated me well and all the employees' benefits is at First Class, and as I'm part of them too.

From the bottom of my heart, I hope all the Japanese people will stay brave and persevere to overcome this hard time.

Between coping and making

2011-03-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

As I'm helping my son to cope with his new schooling, I'm also having done with more cooking projects in my kitchen. It is of between struggling and adapting, between hardwork and reward...

an extra oven that make most food cook fast and evenly - this one is from Teka.

My adoration towards bottles and jars...

Harvesting is the most rewarding moment after a long wait to savor the taste of your labour...

At school and get punished

2011-03-03T07:11:00.001-08:00

Here are a few note from my son after school...

bruises on the cheek, who can explain this???

Majority of his notes are: Mummy, mummy, teacher X beats me, 3 times hard, until my hand almost broken; or Mummy, mummy, teacher X beats me 7-8 times and I cry......

Teacher is to teach or guide or coach mahh... if students are just expect to perform in school, what's the point for sending them to school??? If they are born clever, no need to go to school to learn and to seek knowledge anymore....just expect them to be automatically know all things.

I feel that teachers who like to punish students should be a prison warden instead, not being called a teacher.

A scone for breakfast

2011-02-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Do you like scone? It got me hooked by scones offered from Coffee Bean outlet during our visit to the cafe. But, the homemade version is much more addictive than those store bought and it won't burn a big hole from your pocket. You can have your breakfast with scone and coffee too ; )

Kids craft of Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

Taking the advantage of celebrating February as the month of love; I introduced this craft activity - wall hanging deco. to children of my friends who are under my coach once in a week. And also trying to expose them with early start for Quotable Quotes, they would had to choose from a list of quotes which they like most and write it down on the strip of paper given. This is the sample of our work... so my assurance for them are there is hope and there is love around from family & friends. Happy Valentine's Day!

Capturing moments

2010-12-23T05:25:00.000-08:00

Photography is one of the little thing I practice on lately and put it into action almost instantly
: P and contributed some sought-after-moments of kids presenting during my sons' school's year-end concert.

wrong setting on the camera and caused this...people in the picture almost can't be seen!

trying to rectify with the help from some experts...

By the way, I captured this from a cafe platform by the sea in Pulau Langkawi. Imagine sitting by the sea sipping a cup of coffee... marvellous life moments!

The kitchen

2010-12-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

For those of you who still visit here, please excuse me for being away for so long.
During this long holiday, besides keeping kids at home we have more activities going on in the home. Getting them doing homework is another challenge

Besides that, I'd upgraded my kitchen and hope will fill up with more creative cooking and delicious dishes... this space is much needed because we eat home-cook mostly, even visiting guests are treated with a meal or two here. As Christmas is approaching, it's the best time to celebrate some moments in life with love ones and mine I started it from the kitchen.

Parenting challenge

2010-10-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Recently, I stick a note near to my children's writing table which read as 'finished is better than perfect'. and as you know, there's always a reason why I do this...

and not too long after Ryan read that (less than half a day), he turned it into 'unfinished is better than unperfect'... it's hilarious to discover the turnover from this little mind... so, who says parenting is easy nowadays?!

Cheese tart

2010-08-08T03:35:00.000-07:00

I like to make things. It's the satisfaction of being able to share things with love ones that count after a long hard work. Store bought tart is not as delicious as the homemade one, moreover the latter could yield more in quantity and everyone could enjoy as many as they want. I'll post the recipe soon in my home cook food collection.

Don't want to go to school...

2010-08-04T03:02:00.000-07:00

Started since last week, Ryan would refuse to go to school. The routine is, drags him into the car from house, then upon reaching school, he would start crying like a baby does not want to go in to school. It will need 2 teachers to stop him from running to me.

My child is a very active boy, and he always get punished by teachers, stand at a corner, sit on the last row in the classroom... According to one of his teacher, he said my son is very attentive and able to answer questions fast and precisely despite being 'naughty' sometimes...but certain younger teacher feel hard to tackle and handle him, it's a clash. And I really wish to hear something from them telling me what I should do, I mean from their professionalism point of view?... but too bad, none.

One rule of thumb is that, teacher need to have differentiated initiative to teach different types of students. A single style of teaching might not work in a classroom of 20-30 students.

Cap - modified

2010-07-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

It has been sometime I left my sewing machine unattended. With our all year long warm weather, we really need to get our head sheltered. At the same time, I wanted to be a little bit more creative, practically.
Look at this cap which you and I won't bother to take an additional look at ...

and see how it looked now... with two flappy dog's ears. This is more practical than the previous one isn't it? You can try to modify yours now.

Beautiful thing

2010-07-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

a do'er do all these...

we ate the most of fish heads... - Garoupa fish head curry Thai style, at least once a week ^_^
really delicious when served with a bowl of hot rice..

mom gave us a few bananas which she got it from the farm we couldn't finished it. then, I decided to make cake out of it - Banana cake

i enjoyed looking at things handmade. they are all very beautiful to me especially those natural wool pillows, they don't have to be very sophisticated. with this travel pillow, I wish I could travel to more places with kids and family...

Let's mov'in and start doing ...

weekending with pizza...

2010-07-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

We shop for grocery during weekends, then explore this homebake pizza...yum...yum...

more than a mom...

2010-06-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

I'm in the paper The Sunday Star. (3rd from right)
Ms. Lucille Dass is one of the big name in English teaching.
She is a super teacher! My inspiration.

Eating out

2010-06-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

I got my wisdom tooth pulled off, the gum was pain for many days and it was accompanied with fever... it wasn't that wise anyway to get it removed. anyway, it was gone now.

I'm getting better now and brought kids to eat out at a Hongkie restaurant. My son said the rice was delicious and he enjoyed the meal ^_^ They know how to enjoy good food and dining out is a luxury thing for them :D

and I like the drinking jar more than the food :P

It was Father's Day over the weekend - Happy Father's Day!

Job Vacancy - General Clerk / Administrator

2010-06-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

There is a vacancy available in a food manufacturing co. in Bayan Lepas, they are looking for general clerk/administrator. If you're interested, please email me or contact 012-5889101 for interview appointment.

Sewing project

2010-06-14T03:20:00.000-07:00

Kids pants. This is my latest sewing project - completed.
What have you up with recently?

Beg for the sake of children?

2010-06-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, there have been few cases whereby the mother who would bring along with 2 or 3 young children at the age of around few months old to 4 or 5 years old went around neighborhood to ask for money. They came to me as well. What I'll do usually is give them food like biscuits and packaged drink or instant noodles in the hope that those will fill their hunger. Instead, they will still ask for CASH.
They would said:"Satu hari tak makan dah..." and many more pleading words. Then, I handed a 10Ringgit note to her and asked her to get what she wanted to eat. I even suggested her go get a job for herself. One must work in order to fill hunger, not just keep 'stretch out hand' (ask for money/things). How long can you survive by just depending on mercy or donation from others? I asked her to come again in a-week time or so, if she come I'll refer her to local community service centre. They just needed help. Do watch out not to fall prey onto con syndicate.

Parent-teacher meeting

2010-06-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

We were called to attend a meeting session with teachers in my sons school. Meanwhile, it was also to collect their assessment result. On results, Ryan in Kindergarten 2, his English paper scored 96/100, Science 94/100, Mandarin 86/100 and a few more papers with 80-95 marks; whereas Russell who is in Kindergarten 1 scored between 65-90 marks in various subjects. Well, I'm not a marks obsessed person. And during this so called teacher-parent meeting session, the teacher had nothing else to say besides showing me their results and keep saying 'there's improvement'. But, I had something to say to them.

I told them not to write the answer on to their exercise book if my children not able to do it. Leave it blank and simply write a 'homework' in the page, I'll coach them at home. I would rather know the truth that my son was not able to do it than being fooled around that they were answered it well.

Another vital and important step they need to practice is trained their traffic warden to close the school gate and watch the students tight, not to let them run towards parent's vehicle approaching the school. I've had a few experiences that my children were running free towards my car in the middle of the road nearby the school. I had to stop my car in the middle of the road to let them in. There were many silent moments - just keep quiet. But whenever Sam says, it means serious! -after many chances given.

We were not only 'lebih-kurang' (more or less) type, also 'tidak apa' (it is okay ajelah) dengan banyak-nye......!

Sewing project

2010-06-03T02:15:00.000-07:00

In the mid of busy daily chores, I managed to squeeze some time to indulge in my favourite past time activity - sewing. I sewed a few pants for the kids, some given away to little nephew. My children are the model of my handsewn product :P
It is hard to make them sit still for photo shooting...

Here's a closer look at the design of the pants... it's a grey Japanese fabric which I found it from my mom's scrap fabric box. The fabric of the linings are of Japanese fabric bought from local fabric shop.

No matter how the pants look on them, they're always proud of it. I would like to sew more of this. It is fun and practical!

Sensitive eyes

2010-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have endless experiences dealing with my sensitive eyes and I tried to stay@minimum exposure to monitor screen. I'm now not even able to do the cooking, it was such an uncomfortable when eyes are exposed to cooking heat. If you encountered any effective remedy for irritating eyes, do let me know...

Martha Stewart is in Malaysia!

2010-05-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

On Thursday early morning, my son Ryan woke me up early in the morning shouting: "Mummy, mummy, Martha Stewart show is on Friday 9am on NTV7, ah.. your favourite show!" As usual, my respond is: "hahh... ok... Get ready for school now..." I didn't bother and never take what he said seriously. Guess what, when I switched on the TV at 9.40am whilst sweeping the floor, I saw this 'Live with Martha Stewart' on NTV7 'The Breakfast Show'. Then I realized that what kid said might be reliable in certain circumstances!

It's amazing to see this super icon to be in our country. We are so close to her. If have the chance, I would like to know what she likes best (food & living) during her stay here...

why Penang Tourism Board never invite her here, Penangnites and Penang food definitely are as fabulous if not more than those in KL, too bad laa.....

Kindergarten and nursery

2010-05-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a workshop on how to teach children better. It's part of my passion in giving back to the society by influencing people around that it's never too old to learn, what's more on young children - they are our future generation.

It's our responsibility to guide and coach, to mold and shape them to become what they want to be. As a parent, I'm always there when my children needed me. There will be moments where you feel proud of them seeing them progress well. If you are searching for preschool for your toddler or kids, here's another option which you can consider - Kiddyhouse.

Once in a blue mood...

2010-05-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

These are the things I've been doing - baking, sewing, teaching {when you met 1st-world-income-earner-parent-with-3rdworld-mentality, no matter how passionate you are, it won't be as excited anymore :( }
In order to compensate for the mental suffering, i wear better, eat better and sleep better.

This is my version of hotdog sausages buns ^_^ which likened by family and neighboring friends...

Kids munching away hot buns right from the oven...

Teacher's Day is on 16th this month, and I think I'll sew something like this to give away to some teacher friends...

Vintage sewing machine

2010-04-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

I search, buy and buy and keep buying everyday...and recently I'm the happy owner of this vintage sewing machine.ha..haa...happy! I am a sucker for vintage items...I've been looking for one years ago and finally found one...

The not-so-fun part is, this machine is not complete yet, the seller took away the bobbin which supposed to be there when I examined it before purchase. and it left me blank where to get the bobbin and its case for this vintage. I've asked my people to get them for me and hopefully I don't have to wait too long to get those bobbins and cases, and get my sewing kaki to sew together...

There will be more sewing projects coming up next...

Personal grooming

2010-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Recently, my friend and I went for a personal grooming workshop. She needed it more than I do because the way she dress really can go for pasar do marketing only and not to mention she is also the wife of a manufacturing boss. When I told her to improve on the way she carry herself, it doesn't has any impact on her. That's why I accompanied her to make the change.
I feel that every girl in college should have go through this kind of make up and grooming course before they come out to work. With good looking and proper attire, we will gain more confident and give better impression to others like able to impress potential business client, securing a dream job, and bla...bla...bla....
showing you the beautiful girl who is our coach... Evelyn

I bought some skincare products, our weather here needed this most - sunblock lotion. I won one as the lucky winner along with other products :D

Soothing drink

2010-04-10T02:45:00.000-07:00

Rain started to fall after a long dry spell. The atmosphere is cooling down and the same goes to the mood. Occasionally, brought kids for a dip in the pool.

the penguin float suits the younger one most...

My right eye was very irritating for the past two weeks. It had frequent itchiness which comes from behind the eyeball and experienced some swollen eye. I have a pair of troublesome eyes and they are irritable, uncomfortable from time to time. Really don't know what went wrong. I can only apply a warm towel onto it to soothe it besides taking some chinese medication for lungs heatiness. The lime essence tea definitely helps to get rid of body heat.

Learn more; not just study

2010-04-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

With recent released of our SPM results, my brother scored 9As out of 10 subjects with 7A+. Well, it does make everyone of us proud of his academic achievement. My words for him is further the study and go as far as he can go. Most importantly is choose the path that he has interest in.

Having said that, I think he will study for 2 more years in lower and upper six form before going for university. In my time, people asked me to study more in the hope to secure a 'better job' after completed the study. Abuthen... my words for the SPM school leavers are - "learn more for your ownselves betterment". Don't just study from books, learn from all your environment (society) and equip yourself in terms of skills (your capability) and those 'softskills'. We need to have both to survive in this competitive world. Cheers!

Plant more...

2010-03-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

It rained for the first time since Chinese New Year and we have a good nite sleep. Everyone is longing for more downpour since the dam water are running low. Since the weather turned extreme recently, one practical way to curb it is to plant more. We had visited to floral fair held at the entrance to Botanical Garden and bought lots of orchid plants and fruit trees for planting.

These plants are in my wish lists. The fair will be held again in June during mid-term school holidays. So, just keep an eye on it...

Pause for tot

2010-03-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

I read this article with interest "In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt" and the link is here.

These are some of the interesting points:
..."If these programs keep growing, you're going to wind up with more and more students who are graduating and can't find meaningful employment," said Rafael I. Pardo, a professor at Seattle University School of Law and an expert on educational finance. "They can't generate income needed to pay back their loans, and they're going to end up in financial distress."

For–profit trade schools have long drawn accusations that they overpromise and underdeliver, but the woeful economy has added to the industry's opportunities along with the risks to students, according to education experts. They say these schools have exploited the recession as a lucrative recruiting device while tapping a larger pool of federal student aid."

So, if you wish to read the full article, just click on the link I place above. It's good to broaden your view and perspective.

Endless of homework again!

2010-03-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

1st term school holiday started and my sons both have endless count of homework - it is writing to be precise! and if you wish to attend reading session, you need to pay 10bucks per day per student. Is that means during formal schooling hour they don't teach reading to kids??? what kind of schooling is this?

Camera battery has worn out, otherwise can snap more picture for you to see.

Parents, if you encounter the same kindergarten experience with me, do share. See what we can do at home to improve our child's learning.

Penang seafood and scenery by the sea

2010-03-06T03:30:00.001-08:00

In the midst of mundane housechores, it is a peace of mind when I do marketing by the sea, the scenery and the non-stop supply of seafood one can get here. This is Teluk Kumbar fishing village.

the sunset...

the little lover's bridge...

villagers' fishing boats...

fresh catches that everybody would craving for ...

this will be our dinner tonite...

would I not to love Penang...?!
not so possible.... just enjoy the little thing that you do.

Personality traits to admire

2010-02-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

Those beautiful people really would make an impact in our life. I love them all...
There's an article on "6 Personality traits to admire..", hope you will like it too.
Cheers!

3rd week in school

2010-01-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Russell, my 4yo+ son who is in kindergarten 1 told me that he went to school yesterday, so he does not need to go to school today... in fact, he says these every morning when I asked him to get ready for school... it's lucky that the eldest does not has this problem.

Instead of just asking them to write words and learn from books, I decided to teach him more often day and night from surrounding things like in the bedroom, in the house, what are those things. My intention is to eliminate his fears of papers and books. I want to encourage him to learn and eventually will pick up his favourites book to ready willingly. I'm proud to say that I've had achieved this with my eldest.

Homework blues...

2010-01-23T00:28:00.000-08:00

that's what they bring back from school everyday - homeworks...

endless writing of words...do you think they like and look forward towards this type of learning? I can say that even if you ask them to write the whole exercise book with the same words, they still cannot remember what have been written...why? because it's not effective and damn boring!!!

Kids now are exposed to tremendous type of multimedias such as computers, softwares, games, social activities where learning become alives. It's hard to make them sit and write tones and tones of words daily. It's a torture to them. It doesn't inspire creativity, thinking and problem solving, but to kill their interest towards learning. I don't encourage all these, frankly speaking. And I'm struggling to see all these. There are many other ways to teach that can excite our young learner.

For example, we can let them do exercises like these which I 'borrowed' others...

By doing these homework, my children will ask questions like:- "Mommy, how to do this?"; "Mommy, then?"; "Mommy, am I doing it right?"...

Being a dedicated parent/teacher is never been easy...

Dragonboat mishap sad to see this

2010-01-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

As a hardcore Penangnite, my heart sank and tears dropped down... a great loss of 5 bright students and a teacher over this unfortunate incident. Hopefully with this experience, those authorities involved will be more wise in planning out this kind of outdoor activities and put more care to our people and children especially. Life is precious.

Yes, we're ambitious sometimes in conquering greater challenges. But, are we ready for that? Are we ready for any emergency if it happens? If not, we're simply just risk their life and 'throw them to hell' as in Chinese proverb. It is sad to see all these. A lot of things can be prevented if one really cares...

Don't just wait thing to happen then only take action, it might be too late.

Read more here...

Happy New Year 2010

2009-12-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

Time flies... I can fondly remember the day 31st Dec 1999, people around the globe were panic of the so called 'Millennium Bug' right before we leap into year 2000. Now, we're at the end of a decade...

...year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-31T22:45:00.000-08:00

I would like to have a post on this last day of the year. Most of the time I missed it. But I don't again, to miss it. LOL!

Years back, usually I would prepared a well written new year resolutions. Then, come year end, I would examined if all the targets were met, if the resolutions are completed and if all the bad habits had changed?... I doubts if these method work for me?! What happen was, while you're preparing the resolution, it was still fresh and you had the aspiration. Come next month, I eventually started to forget what's in the paper... : P

So as I aged, instead of preparing new year resolution, I would recall what has been done for the past year, what are the things that need to be done in time to come... appreciate life and enjoying more beautiful things, perhaps...

Have a great year ahead.

Spending spree...

2009-12-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

I'm a big spender actually, can't deny that... when it's time to add new things or replace old things, my true self unleash...

While on a working cum shopping trip, we found this frame on sale by exhibitor from China. The word is Jia means 'Home/Family'. I've been searching for this type of big calligraphy for quite some time, I can't resist it, thus immediately bought it back. To me, every home should have one that could bring everybody home and keep us together...

Also, we got some new electronic item added to our home - a new LCD tv. The searching ended yesterday after few visits to electronic store Harvey Norman to hunt for the right purchase. It's a 42" Toshiba. Hubby could uses it for display and presentation to client as well instead of an OHP projector.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion & Penang Hawker

2009-12-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

Some family members from Ipoh came over to visit. Brought them to a few tourist spots, also not forget to bring them to savour some of local hawker food. My long time preference still pancake! It does comes in few 'version' of Penang pancakes. The picture above, Uncle Guan's pancake is located in Burmah Road. I bought because my kids would love to have something to munch on while going for a longer travel; not really my preference : P

Another discovery of Penang, it is Baba and Nyonya Peranakan Mansion located in the central of Georgetown. No doubt that I've been living here for more than 30 years, I haven't been to this place before. And again, it's the tourist that brought me here..lol...the entrance fee is RM10 per adult. Kids under the age of 6 is f.o.c. Sorry, no photo cos' no camera inside.

Kindergarten blues...who is right who is wrong?

2009-11-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

This is the time that I will usually evaluate the performance of my sons after a schooling year.

Sadly, my eldest, Ryan keep throwing words like: I headache to see you... more headache, no good bla...bla... I believed I didn't use these words, same goes to his dad. and that make me wondering is he picking up these from his teacher?! Then I started asking, did your teacher says this to you: "headache, more headaches"? He said: "Yes, whenever I cough." Because just these few days, yes he is coughing... (sigh)

...unlike Russell, I can catch a few new words here and there in his progress and his teacher is a better one who is a more senior. So, not much to worry about.

For me, being a teacher, the personal trait is very important. It is not smile or not smile (b'cos this can be pretended), but the wisdom within that eventually will be shown indirectly to the children in the class is important. Children tend to pick up value / charactor shown by either their teacher or parent indirectly.

As for me, the values that we need to instil to our young children should come first than merely knowing ABC and 123. As the saying goes: if you want to shape the bamboo tree, start it from the shoot.

So, should or shouldn't change the school? : P

Weekend Visit To The Aquarium

2009-11-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

After both my sons recovered from chicken pox, we still haven't really bring them out for activity. During the last weekend, we went to aquarium - Penang Aquarium and Marine Research Centre.

Daily Opening Hour: 10am-5pm
Closed on Wednesday
Notice: It is temporarily closed due to some upgrading work.

So, we only could see pool and koi fish pond nearby...

Chicken pox disease and more sewing

2009-10-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

Both my sons were down with chicken pox few weeks ago and the mader stayed up throughout the nights to give them medication and to sooth their itchiness... gosh! finally it was all over. For the past few weeks, their everyday food were my home cook, and I can't go anywhere besides cooking! Kind of like 'you eat what you cook'... sigh!

According to some old people, they can't take food which could cause itchiness for 4 months, that's a long way to go... But, I start to give them food like egg, some fishes like garoupa fish fillet, shark fillet, no chicken yet. So they switch between rice, porridge, glass noodles, rice noodles and instant noodles - this definitely make my life more easier : P

And i managed to squeeze some time out of the blue to make a few items out of the sewing machine, these are my sons' handkerchieves in Japanese print...

and a sun hat...
I'm a person fansy of hats, but seldom wear them. So, there will be more to come.

How to become a smarter credit card user?

2009-10-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

Money is hard to save, it is as hard as you earn it... agree with me?
Not to mention other people, there's one here : (
Sometimes, there are just so many wonderful things that make us tempted to buy, buy and buy; especially those online store..ayerr... itchy finger, can't resist the temptation, then take out the plastic and with just a few clicks and press on the button - there you go, money gone!

Here's one article in giving us some hints as well as tips to make us a smarter credit card user...

Grade yours on a 10-point scale.

Nobody's perfect. When it comes to our financial lives, we've all done things we later regretted -- whether it's getting slapped with a $3 fee for using an out-of-network ATM or going on a Las Vegas bender and losing the house on an overly aggressive poker bet.

The key is to understand the scale of the transgression. With credit card blunders, that's no easy task -- is it worse to take a cash advance or to pay a bill a day or two late? Experts graded a range of credit card mistakes on a scale from 1 (losing a few bucks to a cash machine) to 10 (losing the house). Find out which worry the pros most -- and which may (almost) get a free pass.

Paying Late
How bad is it? 6
The details: Credit card companies are notoriously prickly about late payments -- even a payment that's late by a few minutes can pile up fees, interest charges and other penalties. Depending on how late the payment is, your card issuer may also report the problem to any of the credit bureaus, which can wreak havoc on your credit score. The good news, says Stacy Francis, president of Francis Financial, is that the error may be reversible. "You do have the option of giving the credit card company a call and asking them not to report it," she says. "If you've generally been an on-time payer, they may waive the fees and not report it."

Paying Only the Minimum on Your Card
How bad is it? 4
The details: Credit card companies love it when you pay off your debt slowly, but you should loathe it. It won't necessarily affect your credit score, but that doesn't mean it's a good practice. Sending in only the minimum payment "is definitely going to keep you in debt longer, and you're going to pay a heck of a lot more in interest," says Francis. "You may be paying twice as much -- or more -- as you would by paying in cash."

Girly Print Mouth Cover

2009-09-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

I sew more face masks / mouth protectors over the past few days ... my non-cooperating younger son refused to be my model for the photo shoot. This is the best picture I got of girly print...

Also, I made a kid's tote bag to be given to my son's friend as her birthday present. Promised so earlier, so must keep the promise. I kinda loved this bag which is made from thick Japanese canvas, my creativity and idea with her name sewn... It's priceless!

Get packed and ready to be given out...
While I'm writing this post, I'm enjoying a cup of my favourite Penang coffee and this...you too, can sit back and relax :)

The World's Most Successful Dropouts

2009-09-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not discouraging you guys from going to school, but... we have some interesting facts and news circulating around in this financial turmoil...

For your reading pleasure...

More people are going back to college and taking on huge debt to do it, despite questions about what the degree is really worth - education bubble.

Last year, the amount borrowed by students and received by schools grew some 25% over the previous year, to $75.1 billion. That's a huge amount, especially with weak, low-paying job prospects for graduates in this economy.

As we've noted, all this student loan debt is crazy. Despite the desire to see more subsidization of college, we suspect there will be a collapse in student loan debt availability and desire to take on new debt.

The pop may be starting already. As Bloomberg reports, as many as one-third of all private colleges surveyed said they expected enrollment to drop in the next academic year. And almost 40 percent of those colleges said some of their students dropped out due to personal economic reasons and a quarter said full-time attendees switched to part time. Half said families had to cut back their expected contributions as the value of college savings plans dropped 21 percent last year. (article picked from Yahoo!)

They are some of the exceptional college dropouts...read here

Hurt caused by broken razor blade

2009-09-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, while hubby was doing beard shaving, suddenly the razor blade was broken. It had caused some hurt on his face...the cut was quite long and deep. We don't really understand how this could happened...

Hence, are these blades safe? you got your say... it's time to switch to the electronic motorized shaver...

One of my friend, Mei Li, she is sharing an old and practical method how his father and brothers doing their shaving job - that is take 2 x 10cents coin, put them together and pull off the growing hair of mustache and beard. This way, you can pluck away its hair root altogether. So, you won't have thickening hair growing the next batch... not bad isn't it this method of doing?!

How to prevent Swine Flu

2009-09-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

This is my community service message...

How to Prevent Swine Flu

Associated Press/Kin Cheung
A kindergartener in Hong Kong washes her hands before entering her classroom.

Swine flu is similar to seasonal flu in its method of transmission. It is spread from person to person (no swine is involved, so it's perfectly safe to eat pork) via the infected droplets from a cough or a sneeze. After an uncovered cough, the droplets of virus hang in the air, a phenomenon that happens more easily in winter, as a humid summer tends to weigh the droplets down so they fall. When the droplets do land, they are still infectious for up to eight hours [source: CDC].

To keep the infection from spreading, you should always cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough, and throw any used tissues away immediately. Wash your hands with soap and water often; alcohol-based hand cleansers will also take care of the germs. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth so that germy droplets left on objects and surfaces don't have a chance to get close. Most importantly, stay home if you're sick -- no work, no school, no errands, no trips other than the ones to your doctor. The CDC recommends staying home for seven days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer.

While you may have only very mild symptoms, it's important to understand that the H1N1 virus might affect the people around you more intensely. You could go to work and infect a male co-worker; he might have mild symptoms as well, but the disease could be immensely dangerous to his pregnant wife. This is one of the reasons why swine flu parties, in which participants gather around someone with a mild form of the disease, are discouraged by public health organizations.

As we've mentioned, the 2009 H1N1 virus may remain mild, or it may become deadly. It's important to maintain a middle ground between panic and complacency. While no one needs to head to their underground bunker, use this as an opportunity to create or revise your family preparedness plan and readiness kit. Such a kit should contain a two-week supply of water, non-perishable food and health supplies.

Sources from here

Washable Tiger Face Mask

2009-09-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, I've been letting my children wear face mask to school. Those that they used to wear is the disposable type which I purchased from medicinal shop cost between 50sen to 80sen each. A layman on the street like me really don't know how many ply it is for a piece of disposable face mask, what's more the merchandiser now really chopping head to make fast buck out of this swine flu outbreak.
I've been purchased a lot of this, some say it cost only RM12/box of 50pcs for a 3ply mask... it should cost only 24sen instead of 80sen each! If one really want to 'protect' himself from the virus, N95 mask is the suitable one. Others, remained little known.

Then, I decided to come out with our version of face mask - washable, durable and it has thick filter layer within...
I want to prohibit kids them from putting their little fingers into the mouth, that's why needed this face mask cum mouth protector...

Ryan's mask is bigger than of Russell...

Find out the reason why mosquito bites

2009-09-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

I would like to share this interesting and relevant article with you... simply because we're living with mosquitoes... : (

"The phenomenon that some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others is well documented. In the 1990s, chemist Ulrich Bernier, now at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, began looking for what he calls the "magic compounds" that attract mosquitoes. His research helped to show that mosquitoes are attracted to humans by blends of common chemicals such as carbon dioxide, released from the skin and by exhaling, and lactic acid, which is present on the skin, especially when we exercise. But none of the known attractant chemicals explained why mosquitoes preferred some people to others......

Misguided Mosquitoes

"The repellents were what made the difference," says Dr. Logan, who is interested in the study of how animals communicate using smell. These chemicals may cloud or mask the attractive chemicals, or may disable mosquitoes from being able to detect those attractive odors, he suggests.

Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes cause hundreds of millions of cases of disease each year. As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mosquitoes can also spread West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and other illnesses.

Blog - a good place to throw you temp.

2009-08-13T02:06:00.000-07:00

I like the idea of throwing out our frustration here over the blogging world...
I read one this morning from Chin Nee@demoments - brainless printing job, looks like now it's my turn... : (
This is such a powerful weapon that all bloggers own if you make them mad!

I met a moron that don't like to see the official quotation stated 'Terms: Advanced Bank Transfer' which I faxed over. He said to me: "those advanced bank transfer stuff I do not which hear... just tell me which bank and account number to bank-in..." Hey, what is an Official Quotation in the first place? and why scold people out of no reason? if you're agreeable to buy from us, you got to be adhered to the terms stated la, otherwise, go get from somebody else... all extended, and extended and extended and extend......services we've been extending to him FOC, what else you want???!

I summarized this type of people as - want to get the goods and services, yet don't want to pay! He is making things like whole world of people owing to him... the last thing that I wish I can say to him is if you want to buy you buy, you don't want, get lost.

If you want to be a professional, better act as an professional. Don't be a 'chicken'.

Seaside and seashells

2009-08-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

Ryan is craving for curry, he wanted me to cook some curry chicken for him as dipping for the homemade pau (dumpling) given by grandma. I usually buy village chicken which is more lean compared to the commercial-breed type. So, this is the treat he get...yummy...nothing beats homecook food...

Besides that, as a mom, I like to bring my kids for outdoor activities and to let them explore and appreciate nature. This is what we did over the weekend...

We saw this father and daughter team to search for some seashells for dinner...
It was a hi tide time as some fishing boats had returned to shore...

Samm's shopping bag

2009-07-21T03:23:00.000-07:00

Wanna know how my shopping bag look like? Sewn by Samm... I'll explain more in the coming post...

continue... I has been given away my shopping bag to MeiLee, a friend of mine who dropped by my place few days ago to hand me some chinese medicated powder from her father's chinese medicine shop.

Fridge door's holder

2009-07-21T03:11:00.000-07:00

I went to my parent's home which is not very far away from our home. And being a little bit more detail, found out that they need this... those that sold at the hypermart are of standard size which is slightly too small to fit into their fridge...

so, this is how it looks at their fridge...Samm can sew right?!..... ^_^

Hazy sky in Penang

2009-07-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

The sky is blanketed with thick haze these 2 days. Besides the cooking lesson - teaching him to fry an egg, we did some craft at home to avoid outdoor activity. Ryan was cooperative enough to do his work...

he colored and stick on the decorative cut out...

this one, he put on the cut out that I coloured...supposed should be done by Russell, end up to be the mader's craft...

Customizeable Shopping Bag - A Greener World

2009-07-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

It has been long time we don't play with colors and brushes. While still in the mood, I decided to be creative with the tote bag sewn recently along with No Plastic Bag campaign started recently.

In Penang, we declared Monday as a day without plastic bag - so, be a Plastic Bag Free person! I lauded the move, hope you will too. And to prove further more that I'm a pro-environmental person, I gave tote bags to my father, mother, sisters, brothers, sister-in-law....... and make sure they are reducing in using plastic bags.

This is our piece of art project this morning...

You can order this tote bag (without drawings) from me at a special 25% off from RM16 list price .
Please email to sam.premiumlink@gmail.com
and be as creative as you can be with your kids to have his/her own unique shopping bag...

Terms and conditions apply. Not for commercial purposes.

Bird Nest Soup, for you?

2009-07-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

When people talking about bird nest, the 1st thing that popped in my mind is the hi price of it. Izzit really so nutritious since this stuff is so expensive? Well, I don't think so..... sorry.

I did some survey on this bird nest soup lately. Got things that strike me to do so... get what I mean?! The conclusion is that, if you're pregnant, don't consume much of this. Remember!

Handsewn Bag

2009-07-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm always fancy about this type of little handy bag. the size isn't big, about 8" x 5" and again I bought a lot of fabric lately. This is how it look after putting some touch up on it...and then, I can proudly called it mine ^_^

Lovely Cases, Pillow and Bolster cases for sale

2009-06-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

I found some great fabric from textiles shop while shopping around during the weekend, and finally bought the whole lot to make some bedding sheets for kids. While they were still baby, I don't find time for shopping, don't even mentioned about sewing or tending to hobby. It's much better now, at least I can find time for myself.

These are the handcrafts that I made recently, suits my 4 and 5 years old...

It's available in 2 colors - green and pink and
difference sizes:- S for baby, M for 3 - 5 yo, and L for 5 yo & above

If you wish to purchase or custom make this to suit your pillow, email me: sam.premiumlink@gmail.com

Kerabu Timun

2009-06-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we seldom eat out and mostly I cook. Say in a week, we eat out maybe once or mostly twice, that's it. So, it's not easy being a cook, hah... you got to crack head plan ahead and get ready what you want to cook and have enough ingredients...

But it's much easier when kids are able to eat spicy food along with us. That's because hubby and I both love chilli food. Well I made kerabu timun for dinner yesterday, my eldest son loved it most. He likes cucumber and at the same time he don't want to miss the sensation of pungency in the food. but that accompanied by 2-3 cups of water, lol.....

Zoo Visit

2009-06-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

It was school holidays for the past 2 weeks.
We brought kids to Taiping Zoo.

The weather was hot and we took zoo pram to bring us around. We bought packets of popcorn and Ryan decided to share his food with fishes in the pond. They were mesmerised watching fishes snatched up all the popcorn in seconds. and that was the most joyous moment for them both. hmm... they should have those vending machine with fish food for young visitors who wish to feed those hungry fish, so that they don't have to be fed with popcorn...

And for me, this is something scary...

Helping hand by Good Samaritan

2009-06-03T01:33:00.000-07:00

Waited for Russell to wake up at 10am, we happily drove to morning market nearby (Batu Maung) to get something for makan... guess what, my old van broke down in the middle of the road while waiting for the green light. with 2 kids in the van, can't do anything besides asking them to help by waving hand to direct traffic to other lane while waiting for my father to come and fix it. don't know why it run out of electricity, something to do with the battery.

this is a new experience, some interesting discovery... well, as the place is very near to cargo airport, a lot of cargo trucks passing by very fast... some even asked me to switch on the double signal... I wished I were able to do so! some even waited behind and beeped me, those're really gong one..

then come a good samaritan that suddenly "zoom" stand beside my driving seat asking me to leave the vehicle as the traffic and trucks really drive in speed and accident might happen. without 2nd thought, i grabbed my 2 kids crossed the road to a nearby space to be waited there. while the good samaritan put some leaves on stick behind the vehicle indicating vehicle down with problem ... he even asked if need to call for mechanic if I haven't do so... then I noticed that he parked his truck somewhere 200m away and came to my aid.

Sometimes, we just need the ONE to come forward when we're in needy... I would like to say a big "Thank You" to him here.

Rants, rants, rants......

2009-05-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

The whole Saturday morning we spent at tm to get the blurdy SME package terminated after 1whole year subcription and only managed to get it done completely after more than 5 visits! stupid stupid stupid co. and staff. settled the bills which cost more than RM1200 in 5 months, another pain. can you imagine after 5 visits to the service centre get a fixed line terminated???!

just make sure that you all done fall into the trap of what what save package that bound you for 1 year, all these are just making fools of us. worst when come to their yellowp advert. and literrally couldn't be found easily from search engines... don't promote all these to me. I've had enough of all this. it's like being conned legally... sigh!

it was like making us mad when you bring along 2-restless-boy to wait for your turn. and i slapped russell twice while waiting... things are really upside down be it the systems or the people, really ugly. i cried for us malaysian.

Fatt Gou and Dumplings

2009-05-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

Mom gave me few of dumplings and fatt gou to celebrate dumplings festival. I gave some to my son's teacher too.

My kids love 'fatt gou' that my mother made as it's less sweet and more healthy without the plastic based that being used by commercial sellers. whenever it's 1st or 15th of lunar month, mom will make more as offerings..and she won't forget my portion as well : )

More of chinese calligraphy...

2009-05-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

My interest grew as I write with brush. I bought many of writing scripts and brushes these few day and to practice more often... my 'me gui' & 'bi'
practicing the writing really need the presents of soul besides mind and hand... this is a rare sight in the technology age...

Chinese Calligraphy

2009-05-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

As usual with a group of friends, we practice calligraphy writing and drawing once a week.
This one written by my friend,

here's mine, with the same version of writing which i just started practicing;

this is another version calligraphy writing - kai shu;

Grow Green

2009-04-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago, I visited to a fruit farm in Kamunting, Kedah. The farmers there grow a lot of tapioca of this type - red skin with yellow flesh of our local potato. My favourite.

Then, I asked for a few samples to grow at our little backyard. This is the results after planting it for more than 1-month. Still need 2 to 3 months in order to yield for harvest...

Another rustic find that I love very much...good for use to make eco-enzime ...

Home Schooling Programme

2009-04-02T02:29:00.000-07:00

Things moving slow or can say almost not moving, i mean business. Customer buy, then reject. Went to collect back those barcode ribbons to verify the actual problem. Who knows they asked for the wrong ribbons to be printed on paper stickers. need to return them the right ribbons roll afterward.

Everybody is cutting down in spending. But, some investment in educational stuff that we should be embraced by parents is ICT English. One can learn English at the convenient of your own time at home. It really save much of your time in travel by sending kids to tuition classes. Worth for a try.

Birthday

2009-03-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

22nd Mar, my birthday; 2203, 0322, 32 don't these number gorgeous? : ))
received a few birthday greetings from friends and relatives.
I wish to be happier and wiser year by year.