La vie est comme ça

Lost in space

2009-07-03T18:24:00.006+08:00

What happened? I was lost in space.... This happens a lot to me lately; too many things to do with too little time.

1) I was caught up with the repair work in the house which was finally completed sometime in March. Then there's that clearing up to do which by the way is still piled up in one corner of the house.

2) My family and I went for two weeks holiday in May which of course was another excuse to be 'spaced out' prior to the holiday; then the recovery period after the holiday!! Not to mention having to spend one Saturday night at the hospital for swine flu observation!!

3) There's still that addictive Mafia Wars to level up! It takes so long to wait for energy regain (I should probably just quit this game all together...)

In a blink of an eye, it is now JULY! What happened to all the days that just zoomed past me? Today is a good day for me to take stock of those days bygone..

Having said that, these definitely falls under the URGENTLY TO DO list:

(a) complete and pass up that assignment before Aug 1st
(b) finish painting that old looking stairway wall
(c) hang all the pictures that's on the floor right now
(d) get rid of that pile of old documents stacked up in the corner
(e) spring clean the wardrobes
................the list could go on and I will be overwhelmed and might just returns to space city...

P.s. I am still mourning the loss of the world's King of Pop! Michael Jackson, I love you!!!

Rescue me....

2009-02-19T14:00:00.000+08:00

Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world.
The Talmud, Mishna. Sanhedrin

Last Thursday about midnight, I heard this most pitiful whimpering sound. Through my windows with just enough lighting from the streetlights, I could barely see this tiny pup trapped in the monsoon drain located at the back of the house. I spent the night agonizing the little pup's helplessness. I didn't have enough courage to go retrieve the pup in the middle of the night but I did it as soon as it was conducive to do so. It took me almost an hour to coax the frightened pup to trust me to carry it to safety. I took it home, gave it a good bath, fed it with milk and called it Rescue. As I know its mother roams the backlane, I kept the little pup at the backyard. I have every intention of adopting this female pup however, coming home later in the afternoon, I discovered that it had somehow managed to squeeze through the chain link fencing. We saw Rescue happilly trotting around reunited with the mother. That's a relieve but my girls were very disappointed. They refused to believe that I had nothing to do with the little pup's escape.

Rescue frightened and hungry, after I bath her.

The chain link fence which Rescue managed to squeeze through.

I had to climbed down the ladder to reach Rescue and carry it up to safety.

Coincidentally, three days ago, I found another puppy; right outside my front gate! Its a stray male pup, playful and adorable! I went around the neighbours checking if the puppy belongs to anybody. Having established that it is indeed homeless, I took it home, bath it and fed it. This time, I kept little Rascal at the front yard, leashed and installed some kind of reinforcement on the main gate. I do not want my girls to go through another disappointment of losing a dog.

The first two nights Rascal kept some neighbours awake with his ruckus! Luckily the neighbours are very understanding people (having dogs of their own) and that this is just temporary . Soon enough Rascal got used to being leashed at night. He's now behaving well and only cries when he needs attention.

I am proud to say that Rascal has now become the latest addition to our family.

Rascal looking rather handsome and adorable :)

Why do I love my husband (tagged by Dora)

2009-02-06T12:01:00.000+08:00

A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.
Dave Meurer, "Daze of Our Wives"

I was tagged by Dora on this subject; hers was "Why/How do I love my husband". My first reaction was OMG!...this is quite personal. I wasn't keen to 'participate' but I don't want to be kill-joy at the same time. What the heck... so here goes:

There are many reasons as to why but I'm going to limit them to ten*(in random order); and I am not going to the "How" lest I cause many to blush!!! Shush!!

Why I love my husband? Its because*:

he's cheeky when he's tipsy :)
can still make me blush
praise my cooking although we all know that his mum's cooking is his favourite
understand my needs for shopping, movies and girls night out
tolerate my short comings and lets me rant when I'm having PMS
acknowledge my intelligence when it comes to electronic/electrical gadgets
of his sense of humour and the silly games he still plays with our girls
he's resigned to the fact that I'm an FB (Face Book) addict
of his commitment to the family and
he still makes time for little chats with God

There you have it, a little peek to my personal life. In view of the coming Valentine's I will now then tag Phil, Joyce and Nina Diane to share their bits of information.

Cheers!

Quotable quotes

2009-02-05T11:56:00.000+08:00

I love quotes. I think there are fabulous quotes that just suits the right occasion to quote. Though I love quotes, I don't actually go around talking in quotes.. that would be very weird. I might add a quote in my card to you or simply send you quotes once in a while but really, I don't speak in quotes.

Talking about quotes, I am going to post here something that I found written in one of my old address books of which I think is quote-worthy. I can't remember the source of this particular quote but I think that it is awesomely inspiring.

"The Road to Success is not straight,
There is a Curve called Failure,
A loop called Confusion,
Speed bumps called Friends,
Red Lights called Enemies,
Caution lights called Family;

You will have flats called Jobs
But, if you have a spare
called Determination
an engine called Perseverance
insurance called Faith
A driver called JESUS
YOU will make it to a place called SUCCESS!"

Cheers to all.

The grass is always greener on the other side...

2009-01-19T17:37:00.000+08:00

This little yellow bird comes knocking on my glass windows everyday without fail. Some days I'll sit by the window and watch this bird try 'flying' through the glass. It must be wondering why couldn't it crossover to the other 'realm' that is so close yet so far... I guess its the reflection of the outside 'world' on the window that prompts this poor little bird to repeat its daily routine.

Lately, there are days when I'm done with the chores and spent, I am contented to just sit by the window and let the world go by... and (also) watch the antics of my little yellow bird. Many thoughts come to mind, contemplation and ideas of what to do next. Mental notes of these ideas fly out the window the moment I get up from that rocking chair! I am wishing dearly that somehow my thoughts could be transmitted to a 'hard disk' so that I can refer to it later. Great ideas comes to me when I'm idling away.... Alas! most of these contemplations remain just that! The old adage of "mind willing but body not" is certainly an apt description...

One of the things I want to complete sometime this year would be my scrapbook. I've got the idea of doing this "Project365" from Becky's blog. It seems easy when others write how they're doing it and how its looking artfully creative too... I'm that little yellow birdie, looking at another person's project and thinking "wow..."

Still, ending on a different note, Chinese New Year is coming and yet another round of merriment. Though we don't celebrate it at home, one particular company never fails to send us a CNY card since we bought our first carpet floor from them.

A book in a bag is always a good thing

2009-01-06T16:00:00.000+08:00

Books may well be the only true magic.
Alice Hoffman

We have all experienced at least once where we have to wait somewhere for hours with nothing else to do. When that happens, don't we start to think of all the things that we could have accomplished in that very hour! Recently, I had to spend a lot of time waiting on two occasions that involves my daughters.

On new year's eve day, I thought it was a good idea to get my daughters' international passports renewed as supposedly it would be less crowded that day. Bad idea! Although we got our queue numbers at 11.15am, we only got back the passports (renewed to year 2014) after 4pm. That's a lot of time wasted at one place! In between the waiting and lunch, I had to buy two tabloid magazines to keep Alex and Ashley off the complaining streak. Lucky for me, I had my book.

Our friend Michelle sent us two tickets to watch Mama Mia the musical on 2 January at the Istana Budaya theatre. My daughters had just watched the movie and they really wanted to watch the musical so I let them have those tickets. I did try to get a ticket for myself too but the one seat available cost way too much, over RM500. Since there's no Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep or Collin Firth in that musical, why bother. I drove my kids to the place, got a nice parking spot and waited till they got into the theatre. I've probably reached the age where one can no longer be bothered shuttling back and forth in the crazy traffic, plus there's a decent enough cafetaria in the building. I wish I could say that I had enjoyed the long wait (3 hours) but there were some very persistent mosquitoes that kept buzzing near me! I was earlier seated indoors but it got too cold in my sleeveless blouse so I opted to sit at the patio. Thank goodness, I had my faithful book with me.

Yesterday, our 15yr old Philips television reached its use by date! We were halfway watching rerun of "Bad Boys" when it just went blank. There's no running to Harvey Norman in a jiffy coz dear hubby says "due to the global economic situation we are now scalling down on all extravangant expenditure". I guess we're back to watching tv on the old 14inch telly for now.

This clearly gives credence to my point of carrying a book in my bag, almost everywhere I go.

Happy New Year ...

2009-01-01T13:32:00.000+08:00

"Do something every day that you don't want to do;
this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain." Mark Twain

What a year 2008 has been! We have so much to thank for and yet so much to want for in 2009! Isn't that typical of us mere mortals?.....

The year 2008 saw the death of a distinguished uncle (Lloyd) in February whilst the following months brought good tidings of health recoveries by another uncle (Cyril) and a close family friend (uncle LA). It was especially wonderful that my family from Sabah came to visit more regularly. We also bade bon voyage to our good friend, Michelle and her family who emigrated to Sydney, Australia last December. Emotion will ride high yet again for today is the day that my bro-in-law and family will emigrate to Melbourne, Australia. It was also a proud moment and elation of emotion for us that our daughter Alex scored straight As in her PMR exam.

The year 2009 is yet another year full of hopes. We hope that the good Lord will continue to bless us with good health, wisdom and tolerance to take on this year.

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Mark Twain

Rested, relaxed and now... rejuvenated!

2008-12-27T15:39:00.000+08:00

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

2008-12-19T09:18:00.001+08:00

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?

2008-12-08T15:13:00.000+08:00

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

2008-11-26T08:42:00.000+08:00

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

2008-11-11T20:43:00.000+08:00

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....

2008-11-04T12:02:00.000+08:00

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!