Redang, 8-11 August 2010

The three of us went to Redang with my sister's family for a short break. It's always good to be away from work and KL once in a while to recharge and refresh ourselves. It was my third time there but the first for both hubby and Ethan. At first I thought 3 nights are more than enough since there are nothing much we can do there other than swimming. How wrong was I. Wish I could stay longer.

Practically, what we did everyday was eat, swim and sleep. Ethan was of course couldn't be happier when we told him that we are going to the hotel. To him, hotel means swimming pool with a slide and he has been asking everyday (practically) to go to the hotel ever since we brought him to the Palace of the Golden Horses for a 2-night stay, like 6 months ago. Everyday, when I pick him up from school, he will say "Mummy, I want to go to hotel." The frequency was daily and went down slowly to once a week 3-4 months later. Luckily, he didn't ask for hotel again after the Redang trip. Probably he was so scared with the sea now.

I enjoyed the beautiful beach and the crystal clear water but not under the blazing hot sun. I will definitely not soak in the hot sun like the 'mat salleh'. I saw a few of them turned golden brown. When I was younger, I like the sea a lot. Now, sun = pigmentation....therefore I avoid it as much as possible.

The first day we arrived, we went straight to the beach after dumping our luggage in the room. It was still hot at around 5p.m. but we couldn't be bothered. Yeah, not even me. I brought Ethan to the sea and he was a bit scared with the waves. After warming up, he was better and can enjoy playing with the waves but still he preferred to play with the sand.

The second day, we went out for snorkelling. He was a bit tensed during the boat ride and he said "Mummy, come I hold your hand, later you fall down." Then, when we arrived at the snorkelling spot, he refused to go down. I asked hubby to go first while I waited with Ethan on the boat hoping that he will be ok after seeing everybody in the sea. Actually, hubby was not feeling well but I think no one would want to miss the chance. So, off he went. After hubby came up, I brought Ethan down. He held on to me very tightly until I couldn't breath. The moment I push away from the boat, he started to shout "THE BOAT....THE BOAT". Everyone in the vicinity could hear him and I was so 'paiseh' so I quickly brought him up the boat. After that, no amount of talking could make him touch the water. He even said that he's scared that the fishes will bite him. At one point, he was so angry that I talked to him non-stop about going down again, he scratched my hand. Ok, so I stop talking and took turn with hubby to snorkel. We left the place after 1 hour. Ethan was the happiest person the moment I said we're going back to the hotel.

Since the snorkelling trip, he refused to go to the beach anymore. Everytime I brought him to the sea, he swill scream "HELP ME". He preferred to play sand and swim in the pool. Overall, it was a very relaxing trip and I hope we can go back there every 2 years.

1st day's Photos:

The flight was delayed for 1 hour. So glad that it took off.

Time for landing

Paid for RM5/pax for the conservation programme.

Welcoming drinks at the reception.

Dumped everything in the room and headed straight to the beach.

2nd day's photos:

We had a little visitor at the balcony.


Waited at the deck for the snorkelling trip.


View from the deck.


Choosing their mask.


Looking tense when we arrived at the snorkelling spot.


Cloudy day and I like it.


He sat there for more than half an hour looking like this after a short dip.


The colourful fishes we saw from the boat.


Finally, he can smile when we headed back to the hotel.


Approaching the hotel.


Crystal clear water.


White sandy beach.


Ethan loves to play with the sand.


Had a blasting good time.


Another sand playing session.

3rd day's photos:

Took this pic while hiding under the shade. Sis went kayaking
with family and Ethan was playing sand, again.


Snacking in between swimming sessions.


Lovely beach.


Fish everywhere.


A sunset view.


Feeding the fishes. The feed is sold at the diving centre.


Didn't get to ride this. Just posing.

4 day's photos:

Chilling out in the room.

Last dip in the tub. No time to swim in the pool.


Attacked by the sand flies.


The big wooden swing.


A tanned look. Waiting for the lunch before leaving the hotel.


Waiting for our flight home. It was very hot & humid.


Bye Bye Redang.


Some scenery shots:

Electrical Thermos Pot-Is It SAFE?

For the sake of convenience, I bought a Kenwood electrical thermos pot around 3 years ago. It has been serving us faithfully all these years and I only switched it off occasionally for cleaning. Otherwise, it's running 24/7. One thing I like about this thermos is that it doesn't reheat automatically. It keeps the water warm and only boils when water is added into it.

Few months back, I noticed a screw on the cover came off. It fell into the pot but the screw cap was trapped inside the cover. I left it as it is because it is still functioning like normal. Then, I noticed sometimes there were white particles inside the pot. Everytime I spotted them, I scooped them up but in my heart I felt uncomfortable because I don't know how much of the thing has been dissolved in the water and how much of it has gone into our body.

Two days back, I told hubby about it and I showed him what I scooped up from the thermos. We then decided to buy a conventional flask/thermos instead of an electrical one. The next evening, while I was trying to take the thermos by its handle, this happened..

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The whole cover came off.


See the missing screw and the plastic chipping off?



The white particles

So, I wonder is it safe to use the same type of thermos again? My hubby said he wants the same thing because it is very convenient. We still need to make milk for Ethan (when he wakes up in the morning and before he sleeps at night) and hubby likes to drink chinese tea after dinner.

Reading in Mandarin

49 months & 3 days old.....

Ethan can read in Mandarin pretty good now. He brought back a book from school one day (that was few months back) and started to read to me. I was very very surprised that he can read in Mandarin. Although he understands Mandarin, he speak very little Mandarin. At that time, I wasn't sure if he memorise the words or he can really recognise them. So, I write some of the words (the simple ones) on a piece of paper and asked him what they were. I'm happy that he can tell me the words. It means he can recognise them.

I'm so glad he picks up Mandarin quite well at school now as I intend to send him to a Chinese primary school later. I always got scolding from people for not teaching him. How to teach lar when my Mandarin is so lousy and I don't even know some of the words in his books. Yesterday, he brought a new book (same series with the first one he brought back but this one is higher level). I quickly took a video of that so that I can post it here. I took a video too the first time he read in Mandarin but I couldn't find it now :-(

His Art Book

4 years, 2 weeks & 3 days old.....

Ethan likes to colour and draw. I normally buy him colouring books and for his drawing, I gave him a diary instead of papers because I don't know where to keep the loose sheets. He also uses the diary as a sticker and stamping book.

He likes to draw some simple shapes on the book and colour them. Sometimes, he will ask us to draw things like sun, moon, car, etc. Last Sunday, while I was watching tv, he found a pen from our working table and got so excited about it. We don't normally give him pen coz he has 3 or 4 sets of colour pencils and crayons. He immediately went to look for his art book and started drawing.

I continued watching tv and then, he said to me excitedly "Mummy look, Ultraman." I said "Where?". He said "Neh....(pointing to his drawing)"..........

This is his Ultraman.

I was so surprised to see the Ultraman as it was the first time he drew something so complete. After that he asked me what else to draw so I said "monster". This is what he drew.

The monster with sharp teeth

The book has become his art book now and I think I will keep it for him to see when he grows up.

Ethan and his masterpiece

His 4th Birthday

21 May (Friday)

As requested, we ordered a 'big' Ben-10 cake for his little party at school on Friday (21 May). I was outstation so hubby went to collect the cake on Thursday evening. I asked him to MMS the pic to me. When I looked at the pic, I found that the Ben10 print was a little too small from what I have expected but when I asked Ethan, he said he likes it and was very excited about his little party at school. So, it's ok lor.

Initially, I planned to take leave and go to the school with the cake and to take some photos. Unfortunately, I had to go to Penang for 3 days so I asked hubby how? I said maybe we can give our camera to the teacher and ask the teacher to help us to take some photos. Man being man, he said no need to take photo lar. So, no photos lor. Luckily I asked him to MMS the photo me, otherwise, I don't even know how the cake looks like.

The only shot of the cake.

I arrived home on Friday evening. Hubby and Ethan picked me up at the KLIA. Ethan was so happy to see me and the moment he saw me, he called out "MUMMY" and ran to me and gave me a big hug. I asked him "Do you miss me?" he said "I miss you". I'm not sure if he understand what that means but I don't care. He said what I wanted to hear...haha!! I asked him about the party again, he said he was happy and his friend sang birthday song to him and his friends and teacher ate his birthday cake.


22 May (Saturday) - The Actual Day

The next morning, we woke up around 9+. We planned to go out and look for his bicycle in the afternoon and later go out for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Mum called at around 11a.m. and said she wanted to join us with my youngest sis and my niece (her mum, i.e. my another sis is in confinement). Initially, mum said they can't join us so I thought only the 3 of us will celebrate his birthday. Since they are joining us, we changed the plan to celebrate his birthday during lunch and buy his bicycle later. We went to the Curve and had lunch at The Garden. We went to the place to celebrate new year and I like the ambience, decor and food there. Ethan liked their watercress soup and finished almost the whole bowl when we were there the first time. I ordered the same soup but he doesn't like it that much on that day. He was having a bit of my Aglio Olio Shrimp Spaghetti (my new favourite) and pineapple fried rice.

After lunch, we did some shopping and cake hunting there. I wanted to buy cup cakes but couldn't find any. Saw the shop that is selling jelly cake (the place we bought a cake for his 2nd birthday) but the ready made ones are not interesting. In the end, we got a vanilla ice-cream chocolate cake (paid by sis) from Baskin Robbins for him. Actually, it was more for me coz I'm very into ice-cream lately :-P. We went home and had a little cake-cutting session. I really enjoyed the cake but not sure about the others...hehe. After that, we rested for a while and went out for a simple dinner.

He ran to the rides and happily climbed on
it without asking for permission.

The 2 kiddos

The yummy ice-cream cake

23 May (Sunday)

I bought him a Spiderman bag few weeks ago for his birthday. We saw this bag and he wanted me to buy for him. I told him, I will buy it later. After some shopping, I have forgotten about it and when we were on the way back, he asked for it again. So, I told him to wait in the car with Daddy and I will buy the bag. I bought it, hid it in the car boot and told him the stall has closed. He was so disappointed and shed some tears, knowing that he didn't get the bag. He has asked for the same bag a few times after that and I gave some excuses that we can't get it.

I wrapped it up nicely and intend to give it to him after we cut his birthday cake on Saturday. Somehow, we were too exhausted and forgotten about it. So, I gave it to him on Sunday morning and when he opened up the gift, he was soooo happy to see the bag. He said he wanted to bring the bag to school. He also insisted to carry the bag to attend Darren's birthday party. We just let him lar.

His present from Mummy

After opening up the present, we headed to the party venue and met up with Darren's and Terry's family. The boys were having fun. They couldn't remember each other of course but they warmed up pretty fast and were playing together happily. The lucky boy also received presents from Darren's and Terry's mummies. Thanks to these 2 lovely ladies.

More presents. He wanted to open
them immediately.

The birthday boy and the cake admirer

Enjoying the cake

A rare shot of the 3 boys together

After the birthday party, we went to buy his bicycle. It's a birthday present from Daddy and I top it up with a helmet. Got what we want and we promised to bring him to the park to cycle in the evening. As the bike is pretty big for him, he could not cycle properly at first. His legs were barely touching the ground when he tiptoe, but after a few rounds of practice, he was cycling pretty well. He also learn how to use the brake instead of his shoes to stop the bike.

He insisted to put on the helmet even though
he was sweating badly. He said the guard will
catch him if he doesn't put it on.

The happy boy


I love this pic.

Happenings in May

3 years, 11 months, 2 weeks & 6 days old.....

On Ethan:

His Birthday:
He's turning 4 next Saturday. This year, it will be the simplest celebration. It gets simpler and simpler every year. We will buy a cake for his small little party at school on Friday. He told me months ago that he wanted a "BIG....Ben-10 cake" for his birthday. I asked him "must be big? cannot buy a small one?". He said cannot, his friends do not like small cake. Kids nowadays are so demanding. I don't know how big is big and how small is small. Whatever it is, it has to be Ben-10 la. Then, the three of us will celebrate his birthday on Saturday. Mum and sis can't join coz sis just had a baby girl and mum is helping out, so no celebration for them wor. Probably just dinner with a candle blowing session and a present. We're thinking of a bicycle. I want it to be a surprise for him but don't know where to hide the bike and when to buy it. Furthermore, I have to go outstation next Wednesday to Friday. We have to figure this out.

Sleeping on his own:
We have planned to move him into his own room but every time we discussed that, he got all teary and upset. Hubby said wait until end of the year wor...

Diaperless:
Some updates from the previous posts, he is diaperless now, day and night. The first few weeks were difficult as we had to bring him to the toilet in the middle of the night. There will be 3-4 'accidents' in a week in the beginning but it reduced week by week. I think it took him around 3-4 months to be totally 'accident-free'. We still have to make sure that he has his last round of milk one hour before bed time and clear his bladder before sleep. Otherwise, we have to bring him to the toilet in the middle of the night.

Brought him to watch Toy Story I & II on 25 April 2010.
The movies lasted for 3 hours and the cinema was
freezingly cold. My fingers were all numb
after the movie ended.

A video of him doing his silly dance

On Mummy:
I have just completed the 2nd semester of my study. It has been almost a year since I "dig this big hole and jumped into it". Hopefully I can complete it by end of this year or latest by mid of next year. I presented my proposal to the examiner on 7th May and the preparation was tough. I have 3 supervisors and each of them has different opinions. I can't fulfill everything they asked me to do but just did what I thought was right. I arranged for a mock presentation on 6th May, a day before the actual day and 2 of the supervisors were present. I got shot by them left, right and centre. That made me very down. It seemed like whatever I have done was rubbish. I went home and corrected my presentation, read up whatever I need to read, went through the slides again and again and pray for the best. Still, I couldn't slept well that night as I was too nervous and worried that I couldn't answer the examiners' questions. Went to bed after 1 a.m. that night, rolled around for at least another 30 minutes and woke up at 6a.m., before the alarm went off. I arrived at the campus one hour before the presentation starts and went through the slides again in the car for another 30 minutes.

While I was going through the slides, mum called and told me sis has just delivered a baby girl by C-sec. She was overdue by a week and I was happy to hear that both mum and baby are safe. After the phone call, I went up to the meeting room and waited anxiously for the presentation to start. I was the 2nd presenter. All my 3 supervisors said they will come and they didn't turn up until the first presentation started. I tried to relax and listened to what the first presenter had to say but the more I listened the more nervous I got, so I looked away, kept my mind blank and and tried to think of other things.

My time came, so I did what I had to do. Each of us were given 30 minutes for the presentation and Q&A. The first presenter stood up during the whole presentation but I knew I had to sit down coz my legs will be wobbly. If they ask me to stand, I will tell them frankly that I will be more stable sitting down. I think I finished my presentation within 15 minutes. After countless questions, I looked at my watch and there was still 10 minutes to go. Gosh, that moment seemed like forever. The examiners asked so many questions and gave some not so important comments. There was a question, which I couldn't really answer. Thank God, one of my supervisors backed me up but in the end, the 3 of them were arguing among themselves on my research. I still think I was lucky because all of them showed their support and turned up. I noticed most of the supervisors were not there and their students had to fend for themselves.

After the presentation at 10 a.m., I had a long discussion with my supervisors. Two of them left after 1 hour and I continued with the other one until 1 p.m. I had initially plan to go for a pampering session after the presentation but my head was pounding by noon, so I decided to go home and rest. Went home to sleep and less than 15 minutes in dreamland, hubby called and woke me up. After that, I couldn't sleep anymore and decided to pick mum up and visit sis at the hospital. We were greeted by this little cutie pie....

My 'just arrived' niece