Since I've been back - My Family

Sept / October 2008


I came back from USA in Sept '08 and trying to be the good daugther (I act like a rebellious daugther - hehehe just to "torture" my mom and dad! but really I am good at heart), I decided to spend my quality time with my parents.


So, I took them for a "Rendevous in KL". I did not want to go far and exploring KL is something that my parents don't do often either. Their world is confined to PJ, PJ and PJ. So, I booked a night at Westin KL.



Don't my parents look like they are enjoying their stay?? My dad is not really into relaxing at these places but I think he enjoyed himself though I know he would prefer to stay home anytime!

We went for Dim Sum at Shang Palace which got my dad saying why is the dim sum so expensive?? :)

But, he is a food lover so he was pleased with the food though he would have preferred a cheaper place then he would feel better if he ate more.

As part of my "Rendezvous in KL" itinerary, I included a 3 hour spa for mom. Ahem! She was extremely pleased.

Look at how grumpy my dad looked! He just don't understand why women would pay for someone to press on their bodies. Therefore, spa was definitely not for him.

Instead, I took him to Pavilion shopping. Not that shopping is his kind of thing at all but I told him that Pavilion is new and he should explore a place and see how people spend money on expensive branded items. I think he was quite pleased with himself cos the next day, he told my mom that he can take and show her around in Pavilion!

All in all, it was a fun outing in KL with my parents. I don't think city life is their kind of thing but at least they got to enjoy the KL life.

Next destination was obviously Singapore! To see my naughty girl Nicole and see how much Daniel has grown. Miss them much while I was away and it was great to know how much they missed their Ku-ku too.

Daniel has grown up so much, very boyish and cheeky. And my oh my, does he have an appetite. He is a eating machine, put anything in his mouth and he will gobble it down! Total opposite from his skinny sister.

As for Nicole, she is as naughty as ever :) , mischievous and absolutely love High School Musical!! Can't believe she is 6 already.

Here, she is pretending to be a mermaid, in her SEA kingdom!

She is very artistic, often drawing visuals of what's happening around her.

Look at what she drew........ Nicole and daddy sending Ku-ku off to the airport. My niece is the cutest!!

I had a wonderful time with my family.

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And then there were 3........

From 1 to 3, I am stepping up my baby sitting skills.........niece who is 4, 2 cousins..one 13, another 17. It was a girls slumber party no doubt.

Since Shen Leng and Hwee Leng are on school holidays and I thot it was good to get Nicole some new companions, they both came over my house for a slumber party.



So 4 girls crashed in my room and had a jolly fun time.




I took Shen and Hwee Leng bowling and shopping the next day. Nicole was a good girl as I told her to stay home to sleep in the afternoon. Nicole is used to taking a nap in the afternoon at 2pm and I knew if we went out, she would be too tired. She agreed to stay home and was a really good girl as she slept till 5pm.

As a treat, Nicole had a big big bowl of ice kacang :) Looking at her cheeky face

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3 weddings and a happy girl

I delivered my promise to Nicole. Infact I overdelivered. I told Nicole that I will be taking her to 2 weddings if she followed me to KL but I took her to 3 weddings.

1)Pang May - Seremban friend 2)Wei Pin - P&G Collegue 3) Yee Ling - cousin



First weekend on Saturday , I drove up to Seremban with some friends and Nicole. We witnessed and obviously participated in the "get the bride" ceremony. The groom and his "heng tai" were really un -cooperative, did not do anything we want them to do and infact, pushed thru the door. First time I encountered such an unsporting bunch. But Nicole had fun running around with us and as usual she get overly excited with all the fun games.



The same night, there was a wedding dinner at Hyatt Saujana, and I brought Nicole for her famous "yam seng" session.





The next day on Sunday, we went to Palace of the Golden Horses for a (it's Princess Jasmine's castle to Nicole) garden wedding and luncheon. Unfortunately, we were a little late and the ceremony was over and we proceeded for the luncheon. It was a beautiful place so we had fun taking photos especially the one with Nicole on the couple's "becca".






Nicole found a new friend Kyrene and they were inseparable. They were dancing, running, hugging etc. Infact, after we left, Nicole asked me if we can go to Kyrene house?? I guess I had to tell a little white lie so I said Kyrene stays really far away. So Nicole asked "we have to take aeroplane there is it??" I said "No, no, must drive only. Then she said " Well then that is not far right??!!!" Arrrr....I rest my case..... she is too smart for me!




Then the next Saturday.... it is Yee Leng's wedding. We all went to her house for the morning "get the bride ceremony".



Unfortunately, Miss Nicole decided to throw a tantrum when she first entered the house. This is something that I can't figure about her. She takes a loooong time to warm up, so usually when she meets people, she will pull long face, keep quiet, make a sad sad face and will not do anything you ask her to do. Sometimes, she will even refuse to go in to the place we are going. For whatever reason, she was in her "mood" and decided that she is not happy and started to cry in a pitiful way. I took her in to the kitchen and asked to stop it and go back out to greet everyone. She refused and ended up, my dad had accompany her for more than 1 hour in the kitchen. Even though she mood has improved and she is playing in the kitchen but she still refused to come out. But once she did, she was just playing and running around like crazy.





The night dinner was good and she definitely enjoyed herself playing with Yin Ping and Roei. I think she likes the "Cheong family". She like Jeh and his sisters very much and they also like her a lot....hmmmm must be chemistry...

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KC is here

KC is back from the Dallas. In time for his sister's wedding next week. He arrived mid afternoon today and droppped by my house in the evening. I saw him a month ago when I was in Dallas. I think that his father is really looking forward and will spend maximum time with him next 10 days. Well...it is a busy busy week for me...so many people visiting......Ed, Jason and KC from Dallas and of course Ms Nicole from Singapore who is taking up allllll my time.

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Jesus Loves Me...

5th day.....wow! I guess it must be quite an achievement for Nicole and me. Infact, she threw a little ranting and crying in the middle of the night which kinda got me thinking about a few things.

Nicole is really not the easiest person to take care.
Nicole could have really insisted she wanted to go home.
Nicole does have a few traits that makes her difficult to be handled
But with proper guidance and training and definitely the right way to handle, she can be most adorable.
However, with kids you never really know cos they are really unpredictable so Thank God that she and I survived our 5th day.

Nicole seem to really like this song, captured her rendition on the way to KL Pavillion.

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Rock a bye b..aa.b........Zzzzzz

Oh no! Bedtime stories is making me go to sleep. But I am the one telling the bedtime stories and the little rascal Nicole is still wide awake and asking for more.... Here is the Go to Sleep routine with Nicole.

Brush teeth
Go shhh shhhh
Off the main room light and turn on bedside light
Open nursery rhyme book and read to her
Then put book down and tell her a fairy tale story
She will ask for another so will have to make up a story
(Have told her Uncle Jeh & Ku-ku story and also Uncle KC and Auntie Tina story - next she wants Yeh yeh and Ah Ma's story)
Then she want me to sing song - her favourite now is Sing a Song of Sixpence.....but then I will have to sing Twinkle twinkle, row Row, Doe a deer, London Bridge, One Two Buckle my Shoe....the list goes on

Last nite, I was so so sleepy..I don't know what I was singing...... all songs ended halfway and then I woke up again to continue. Nicole was quite irritated that I was sleeping at every song and I got all the word jumbled up. For eg. Mary's lamb became a sheep....and Nicole kept telling me it is Lamb!!! Also I ended up singing Reo Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling...believe it or not?

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She aint heavy ..she is my niece

Believe it or not, Nicole is up with me in KL. This is the first time she is technically away from her parents and staying with others. She was reluctant at first, after all she is daddy and mommy's girl but after some convincing ( taking her to weddings - she is a sucker for weddings), I guess she plucked up her courage and told her parents that she want to follow Ku-ku (that's me) to KL.

My bro and Lynn were shocked and I could see their reluctance. he he he...eventually they relented, they figured it is time for Nicole to be independant too.

So now...and for the next 2 weeks...I am her official "mother". Oh my such a huge responsibility. I have to plan her day, plan her meals, feed her, bath her, change her, read her nursery rhymes, read her story books, tell her fairy tales, make sure she sleeps, make sure her is covered with blankie, make sure she drinks water etc etc....

My whole schedule revolves around her. No time to talk to Jeh even...he he my hubby is feeling neglected :)

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Singapore with Daniel

It has really been travelling here and there since my wedding in July. Went to Dallas after the wedding, then it was to Ho Chi Minh and then Kobe and then Bangkok and then Dallas again..wow! and then it was to Singapore to see my baby nephew.

Daniel Alexander Sam....he is a big big boy but nevertheless still sleeping most of the time like a baby.

Mom and Dad were in Singapore too so we were one big happy family. Even though it was just for 2 days, it was a good trip especially when a little rascal decided to follow us up to KL. :)

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Dallas to see my hubby

3.5 months since I last saw my hubby in Dallas after the wedding. Sad but true :(

But on Nov 6th..boarded Korean Airlines direct to Dallas. Hurray! It was either this only short 10 days trip or a longer one in December but we opted for this Nov trip primarily due to the US immigration application procedures. Landed in Dallas at nearly 9am on Thursday morning and immediately got the application procedure done. Hurray...now for 10 days of lazy holiday and playing housewife!!

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With mom in Bangkok

Ok ok...I decided to be a good mommy's girl, took her together with me on my business trip to Bangkok. This trip was a little last minute, I did not really intend to go in the first place but well it's needed for work so I went. Now, I know my mom would love it if I invited her, well since she did not come with me to Japan last month (mainly because I took her on a good vacation in Japan 3 years ago), BKK would just be nice for me. Also, my guilty conscience caught with me too cos I kinda promised her a holiday to Korea which eventually did not work out cos I did not expect it to be so expensive and furthermore I just don't have the time this year.



Well anyway, there I was....redeemed a Bangkok flight for my mom with my Enrich miles.....had to pay over RM300 anyway on taxes. Well...better than paying full amount...think positive!!





The good thing about it, was I stayed in a really posh hotel The Peninsula Bangkok so I am kinda glad my mom got to enjoy it. Since I needed to work, I sent her on a 1/2 day tour on her own...thank god she survived and got back safe!!






I was kinda working for 3 days...but I did manage to take her to Chinatown. The first time I was in Bangkok, my pet bro Simon took me to this shop, he sells Kway teow like noodles in hot pepper soup and topped with roasted pork.







Yumyum yummmmmm the combination is fantastic. I loveeee the pepper soup (if you don't know already I love every soup that gives me a tingling feeling in my throat) and whatmore my favourite roasted porky pork. Yum yum. 2 years back when I came to Bangkok, I remember I came looking for the shop and wah la...I found it. And this time around, I was rather skeptical but I was determined to find it and truly I found it. Amazing, I still remember the uncle. Nice chubby looking fella with rosy cheeks. I finished the soup and asked for more! Yum!







All in all it was a good trip, not with some squabbles with mom - sigh, that's the mom and daugther relationship we have....but I am sure my mom enjoyed herself.

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Daniel Alexander Sam

Yes yes....he is finally here!! I have a baby nephew! Brought into this world just 3 hours ago. Mom and baby are well. Dad sounded a little stressed infact he was sounding a tiny bit emotional just before his wife was wheeled in. Lynn did a C-section. So glad that everything is well. A girl and now a boy. Just perfect! Good that Nicole have someone to play with now. Hope she will be a good big sister. She is extermely naughty nowadays. 4 years old. Growing pains.... but my little princess nevertheless.

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I met the cutest boy

I enjoyed my weekend in Singapore. Filled with work and personal at the perfect balance. From a work standpoint it was purposeful, did what I intended and it went on well. On a personal note it was great! new discoveries, new emotions, and importantly time spent with my beloved niece Nicole.

Her birthdate 3/3/03, she just turned 4. Naughty to bits but yet adorable all at the same time. I surprised her at the restaurant Globe Trotters with my presence on Sat, bought her a cake and gave her another present. She came over to the Hilton hotel (where I am staying) the next day and she was just gleefully jumping around on the bed. Then we went for lunch at Chinese restaurant at the Intercon. At night, went over to JB and we celebrated at TGIF with her 3 cousins Matthew 11, Esther 9, and Moses 5. Moses or affectionately called Mo Mo is just the cutest boy. He is a little plump, with the droopiest eyes and he eats like a cookie monster. Simply adorable! And the 4 of them playing together.....they are so happy, so carefree, so noisy, so much energy and really simply puts a smile on my face.

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