Rested, relaxed and now... rejuvenated!

There are 12 days of Christmas and technically, its alright to wish people "Merry christmas". City folks however tends to be more politically correct, after the 25th its "Compliments of the season" whilst Kampung folks are more gay, (no, not that!) and don't care nuts if everybody just wish everyone "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", all 12 days of Christmas.....

Though we're not giving nor getting presents for all the 12 days of Christmas, folks at home are happy with whatever they got. Many thanks for all the gifts to my girls especially to Leonard and Andrew for the "angpows", auntie Flo for the anklets; and also to grandma, Audrey, Jerry, Amelia, Genevieve and Glen for all the wonderfully thought lovely gifts. This Christmas Alfred finally decided that our daughter Alex is 'old' enough to have contact lenses. It was all good and dandy until the day she had to put it on. It took us almost two hours with the optometrist getting Alex to learn how to put on the lens and to remove it. The following day when she had to put it on by herself, it was hilarious that almost turned into a nightmare!!... and we haven't covered removing it yet!! She's taking it in stride though, getting the hang of it... and soon I might not have to nominate her for the "longest time taken putting on contact lenses"...

On Christmas day, we had our usual Sinhalese breakfast at Alf's mum's place. She had kiribath, sodhi, seeni sambol, string hoppers and chicken curry prepared. After breakfast and the exchange of Christmas gifts, we left for our annual Christmas getaway at the Avillion Resort, Port Dickson.

Some of the food served at the dinner

The theme for this year's annual Christmas dinner was casual. It was a gathering of the Fernandos with the Siberts and friends, at a private beach within the hotel premise. There were plenty of food, drinking, dancing and an hour of Christmas carols from the hotel Filipino singers. Children enjoyed themselves the most, one for obvious reason; being barefooted. Halfway through dinner, the rain came down heavily and everyone ran helter-skelter. Gratefully, there were some huts nearby where we could wait till the rain ceased. After that, it was back to the party!!


This year is also special for us because after a long time, Alf's mum is happy to come along and not stay home during the Christmas week holding 'open house'. This is also a very special Christmas that my mum-in-law spends with her grandchildren Genevieve and Glen prior to them moving to Melbourne with their parents at the end of the year.

On boxing day, whilst the kids and the dads were busy at the pool, I quietly got myself a treat at the Avi spa.... a full body scrub! It was a first for me (honest!) and the therapeutic smell of juniper oil and roses.......... sigh.... My 'spa therapist', Junnah is a bajau lady from Likas who used to work at "Jari-jari", Tg Beach hotel. Now, wouldn't it be nice to have a personal 'spa therapist'?.....

The party setting prior to the dinner

... then came the rain

Some of us taking shelter from the rain

Guinea pigs and 'one ear' rabbit at the animal farm

hotel guests are allowed to pet and feed the animals only during the feeding session

traditional foot wash at every corner for the comfort of hotel guests

the newly constructed Avi spa centre

Festive season

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la... Its that time of the year again where we Christians celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is also a time of gathering of the clan (for most) and merriment with family and friends . We had the annual Christmas dinner and dance party with our Church parishioners on 14 December.

The gathering was partly sponsored by Church of Our Lady of Fatima (OLF) which saw some 50 tables fully taken. Unlike previous years, this time the gathering is meant only for the OLF parishioners. The usual entertainment includes carollers, stand up comedians, singers, lucky draws and of course plenty of food.





This wonderful fellowship and togetherness is what we look forward to always. Outside the church, the shopping malls are pretty much decked with colourful decorations which never fails to entice one to purchase more ornaments than needed. At home, the gifts purchased, wrapped and left under the christmas tree...

And now I wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!!

What???? You want to be a teacher?

Teacher: Helen Keller Famous Quotes
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

The other day at a dinner party, someone asked my 15 and 14 year old daughters about their ambitions. Alex the 15 year old said something vague whilst without hesitation, Ashley said that she would like to be a teacher. The lady who had asked said in the most condescending manner that teaching job is so very appropriate for women. I must say that I was flabbergasted at her patronizing air but then again perhaps not as she has three sons! Having three strapping boys must have made her lose her marbles. I have plenty to say about that to her but diplomacy calls for tact being that it was her party we were at....

Isn't it true then that people tend to make a lot of assumptions where the young ones are concerned? Common sense tells us that children cannot know for sure what their ambition is prior to finishing high school. Many times I have casually asked the young ones what they want to be when they grow up; most likely answers, they all want to be like mummy or daddy!

My lady friend didn't bother to find out why Ashley said she wanted to be a teacher. Otherwise she would have found out that earlier that day, my daughters and I had been discussing about teachers in general. Lately, the local papers have been highlighting a lot of issues concerning the teaching profession which portrays many local teachers being somewhat incompetent. Perhaps still feeling passionate about the subject made Ashley say that she wanted to be a teacher.


Anyway, which parents wouldn't want to see their children becoming top class surgeon or world class lawyer or genius mathematician etc. etc.... As for my daughters, they are still young and yet to know what they really want to be when they grow up..........

Click Here For More Funny Pictures

Birthdays in the family

There is nothing better than birthday cake. It's like a slice of concentrated love with buttercream frosting.
Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

November 14th is always a special day in my family. Its my husband Alfred's and our second daughter Ashley's birthday. Eversince the kids turned double digit, they dont want to have anymore 'birthday parties'. Nowadays, birthdays are celebrated mainly dinner with family and a few close family friends. This year, Ashley picked Souled Out, one of our favourite restaurants. A table with an outdoor seating arrangement was pre-booked with everyone looking forward to a wonderful evening... As usual, aunty Melein baked the cake as she always does since my kids were 1yr old!!!

Alas the weather that night was not cooperative; it rained cats and dogs. It was disappointing since everyone loves the ambience of outdoor seating. Nevertheless, we had to relent and reluctantly moved indoor. We were however pleasantly surprised that the cosy ambience of dining indoors was what were much needed after all.....

Predictably most diners with tables reserved for outdoor dining had to be relocated indoors which meant having to wait for quite a while for a table. Whilst waiting for our table we ordered a couple of appetizers; cheese nachos and fried ikan bilis; which were very tasty.

We had our table ready an hour later and some of us decided to scale down on the main course after the appetizers. The food at Souled Out were as always nicely presented and appertizing.

As evidenced from some of the food we had that night, one thing is for sure, local cuisine still ranks high with us...

Kill two birds with one stone

That's a famous saying which means, "To solve two problems at once".

How many times have we all thought about that. Countless times perhaps in whatever it is that we are doing. I am sure almost everybody loves shortcuts; if we can accomplish two things at one go, why not! More time to go shopping, golfing, meet with friends for that very much needed cuppa, surf the net, play computer games, do this and do that. Basically it adds a little more time to our hectic life. How wonderful it is if we can always "kill two birds with one stone".

Nay! "Kill two birds with one stone" does not work the way we intended it to all the time. Especially when it involves teenagers! Sometimes we go out with friends who have teenage kids, hoping that our kids will somehow hit it off and be pals like their parents. Honestly, c'mon! we want to chat and drink in peace... we were hoping you kids will click and amuse yourselves.. pi main jauh-jauh! No, they are not amused; At all! The trouble is, teenagers doesn't believe in the concept of "kill two birds with one stone" or to achieve two objectives with a single effort i.e. parents having fun and kids get to know new friends. Our kids chides us everytime this happens. They tell us thank you, but they are quite capable of meeting friends on their own. It was much easier when kids were aged 5 and below... they look forward to playdates! Now they want to be left alone with their ipods, their handphones and their laptops.

What can we say.... kids grow up and then they have their own lives to live... Alas, life is like that....la vie est comme ça....

What is in a name?


Plenty! Hi.. my name is EMILY OCTAVIA. Some friends know me as Mary. How is that so? My daughters ask me that same question everytime friends from my hometown calls me Mary.


It probably started the day I was born. I believe that my mom when asked what the baby’s name was had said “Emily” with that heavy Kadazan accent which came out as “Ih miree”. Thus Mary was born!


I come from a family of six, two boys and four girls. Safe for the two youngest siblings, we all grew up calling each other nicknames like ako basal, ako kici, Al and Didi. During my childhood, I remember being always called Mary or at home, Didi. Not until I was twelve did I find out that I am actually, EMILY OCTAVIA… now ain’t that swell?


How did I find out? My standard 6 class teacher had to fill an official form for students taking the standard 6 exam. Everybody had to bring along their birth certificates for verification. I remember reading the birth cert and wondering why there isn’t Mary mentioned anywhere. Then Ms Catherine called me up.


She asked me “What is your name?”.
I said “Mary”.
She said “Why do you say that is your name?”.
I said “Because that’s what everyone calls me”.
She said, “You are not Mary! You have a beautiful name, EMILY OCTAVIA. Use it from now on!”.


Thus how I discovered my beautiful name…


People tend to give neighbours and friends nicknames whether they like it or not. I know mum doesn’t like the name that people calls her behind her back! Of course there are nicknames given to a person that personifies that person’s character and it is endearing to some degree. Nevertheless it is time to stop giving silly nicknames and use that persons actual name, don’t you think?.... there are many people whose nicknames stuck to them like gum and nobody remembers the actual names anymore.

Growing up in a village has its ups and downs and having that familiarity is a blessing and a curse. Sad, but that’s how life is; La vie est comme ça!