We Love DisneyLAND

8-10 Oct 2009, Hong Kong

Our trip to Hong Kong was originally scheduled for early May 2009. Unfortunately, due to the H1N! outbreak, we decided to postpone it as we wanted to be socially responsible. The 5-year old was a little disappointed but accepted the decision very maturely.

Finally, the day for departure drew closer. The 5-year old was so excited that she couldn't go to bed the night before. We set off for the airport at 5am that morning for the 6.30am flight via Jetstar, the budget airline. It was a 3.5hours flight and I was a little bored since there was no inflight entertainment. Can't complain much if we are paying budget price. Seated in front of me, was a Swiss man, very tall... he had his seat declined throughout the entire journey and I felt like a squashed pumpkin. Fortunately, he was pretty good looking so my frustration eased a bit.

When I tried to get up from my seat, I had to do a little hop and felt my knee caps cracking.

Note: Do not fly budget if you have aches & pains or if you are a senior citizen...

Finally, we arrived in Hong Kong... The plane was parked outside the airport so we had to walk down a flight of stairs and then hopped onto a bus for transfer to the main immigration arrival hall. Weather was fine & cool. Thank god. Wasting no time, we got into a taxi and off we went to Disney Hollywood Hotel (located 5mins away from Disneyland via shuttle bus).

The taxi fare turned out to be cheaper than a MTR ride. We were surprised! And we didn't have to lug our luggages around the train station. The taxi took us right to Hotel doorstep and we enjoyed comfort.

Ah... we felt good (to be continued...)

Downunder

10 - 14 August 2009, Sydney

MOTH has been travelling frequently this year due to work and the family has spent lesser time together & taken lesser vacations as compared to previous years.

It took me by surprise when MOTH suggested that we travel to Sydney with him. Unfortunately, he had to be at work all week while in Sydney while the 5-year old and I took a R&R, mother-and-child bonding week. The week passed by quickly with me regretting not packing the right clothes for the weather. It was cold in Sydney with rain & wind so a normal jacket will not suffice.

I had to buy a thick jacket with fur hood for the 5-year old to keep her warm. The entire trip was dedicated to the 5-year old. We spent nearly the whole afternoon at the Aquarium, we took a day trip via ferry to the Taronga Zoo, spent more time at the Wildlife Park... I didn't rush her. Just allowed her to take her time to explore the sights, the animals, the marine life... On the other hand, she cooperated by carrying her little haversack and walked on her own despite the tiredness and dragging her feet uphill every evening as we head back to Hotel Intercon. I knew how happy she was as she wakes up every morning smiling, greeting us "good morning" and hugging us very tightly with kisses telling us she loves us.

It was a great feeling to be able to spend so much time together without any other interruptions. Though, I had very little time for myself that week, I felt it was all worth it.

Despite the temperature, the sunny days warm up my cold bones. It was nice to sit out there at the park, taking in the sun. It was very easy to get around Sydney by public transport and by foot. We took the train, the light rail, the ferries, taxis and walked a lot. People were very friendly and willing to show us the way. I love the visit to the ROCKS where we spotted old brick houses left by the early settlers and I love the way old architectures have been kept and now blended in nicely with modern buildings.

Nothin In P@rtiCul@r

Spotted our kitty, Raggie, making herself cozy and using my shoes as pillow. She was rolled up like a fur ball, rubbing herself and licking my shoes. This is a nice sight.

We had a wonderful time @ cousin d's home warming last Saturday evening (18 Jul). I had hell a good time playing with the children and I saw my childhood come alive through the eyes of these children. Boys teasing gals, gals fighting back, gals taking sides and standing up for each other. How I miss those days. Here the 5 year old and her cousin taking a lollipop break by the pool side. They are so adorable, taking care of each other & fending off "bullies".

Tune in for more updates on our next holiday plan: SYDNEY, DOWNUNDER AUSTRALIA. Can't wait!

Challenging Months

6 months of Year 2009 had passed by with so much challenges, and changes for me. As I made a decision to have a job change this year, I found myself having to work harder to prove myself, taking less holidays, enjoying less perks than before. I could have stayed on my previous position, remain cozy and rosy, with 24 days of annual leave, drifting on & losing my focus at work... but revisiting my decision, a change is a must for me. One must move on, adapt to changes and progress in life.

Facing regular "tough work in the office", I find myself often returning home to feel vexed by our new maid's performance. Imagine hiring a maid who cannot perform basic house chores such as hovering, mopping, ironing etc. I often imagine that I will make a better maid than the new filipinas recruits. Nevertheless, we never gave up, we continued motivating our new maid and guiding her in the basics. We can see that our effort is nearly paying off as she's reacting positively and has built friendship with our 5-year old.

The best news as I am writing this blog is that despite my crazy, hectic lifestyle, I found the time for my family, with the people I love, to continue painting and loving myself.

I am thrilled by the thought that we are all set to depart for a family holiday in Tioman this Friday morning. We can't wait to spend time with each other, being surrounded by beautiful nature, snorkelling with lots of fishes. We last visited Tioman in July 2006 when our child was only 2 years old. We stayed on the island for 5 days, enjoying the famous ABC dessert daily and doing nothing except relaxing by the beach. It will be wonderful to revisit this beautiful island again in the company of the family.

Hopefully, I get to travel more towards the end of this year.

Love for Baking

We had registered the 5-year old for a baking class sometime back and paid nearly S$50. As she

had high fever for a week and bronchitis, we nearly missed the baking class. Fortunately, I checked my email at the 11th hour and screamed.

The baking class was to commence in 1 hour's time. So we made a dash to change, and dashed to UE2 via taxi. It was pretty comical. But the 5-year old really enjoyed herself and immersed herself in the baking. She told me that she has to bake seriously so the whole family will get to eat. There she was, sifting the flour, mixing the butter, sugar, egg & then blending it... finally add the flour it, blend it and roll it to become a dough. She took the tasks seriously and used cookie cutters to make shapes of animals. She even knows that she has to flatten the dough so that the cookies will not require a longer time to bake.

When the cookies were freshly baked out from the oven, she took a moment to relax and started sampling them. Munch, yum! She was very happy with her "creation".

Overall, I feel it's worth the money as the little one has interest in baking, truly enjoyed herself and it's a different exposure baking in a professional kitchen with other little children. Of course, she will continue her little baking adventures at home with her daddy dearest.

Our beautiful family

Photos taken on 7 Feb 2009, Singapore Zoo, celebrating the 5-year old birthday. The photo of my niece & her reminds me of my relationship with my sister when we were little. We had similar pictures taken during our outing at the bird park, van cleef aquarium, etc. It was a wonderful sunny day, complete with lunch & a tom-and-jerry birthday cake.

Maid from Hell

There you go, to satisfy your curiosity, here's the maid from hell (in orange)!

Operation REPAT!

We had fights over the MAID from HELL. Moth thinks she's normal as he compares her to his ex-construction foreign workers. Come on, a FDW and a FCW have completely different job scopes. A FDW stays in our home, share our food, plays with our child. How can anyone think they are the same?

I don't give a heck. I want her out. I want her away from our home. I don't feel good leaving my child and my home under her care.

I spent the past 2 weeks sourcing for alternative. Finally, I made the decision to hire another maid and will repatriate the MAID from HELL back to her hellish lying agency tomorrow. This is what I call Operation REPAT!

I like to see if she can still SMILE tomorrow when I send her packing to her hell. \\{^ ^}//
Her favourite reaction is to SMILE when she gets a telling off or questions.

Maybe I will be BEAMING & SMILING back to her tomorrow instead. Maybe I should put on my Little Miss Smiley Tee too.

I'll be so glad to see the last of her!

Hello 2009

It has been such a long time since I blogged. So long that I've been forgotten my blogspot address. Hello 2009, it's nearly one quarter gone. After May left us for good, we departed for our year-end holiday in Vietnam and we welcomed the new year by giving ourselves a wonderful treat at the Changi Village Hotel enjoying the spread of seafood.

After weeks of waiting, well seems like decades, the new maid finally arrived 1 week before the lunar new year. I was so happy, I could dance... When we picked her up at the agency on a Saturday afternoon, she told me "Madam, I've worked in Singapore for 8 month before. And actually, I am married. Is it ok?" Thoughts raced through my mind. Ok, what's going on? She's supposed to be the "perfect" maid, we interviewed her over the telephone... she sounded mature & serious & had 4 years of work experience in Kuwait but why did she "purposely" omitted her work experience in Singapore and her marital status. Is it OK??? Of course, it's not OK!!! She's a liar. Had I wanted to hire a ex-SIN, I have tons of other candidates to select from. Then she arrived at our home, demanding to have rice all 3 meals for the day and she declared that she disliked cats & plants.

For close friends who have been to our home, you will know that we're into gardening and our cat. Our main priority for the maid is to care for our child, now 5 years old.

But na-na, the new maid (aka MAID FROM HELL) is uncommunicative to children, acts as if she's boss, speaks in the loudest pitch irritating voice, smiles only when I tell her off, can't even perform the single housechores properly. OMG, I felt so irritated & unsettled with her behaviour that when MOTH travels, I will lock my bedroom door when we are sleeping. There's a fear that she might ATTACK ME or US!

The final straw came when we had a bunch of kittens coming to our flat regularly. The MAID from HELL told my 5-year old that they could splash hot water on the kittens so the skin could come off. I was horrified to hear that! Thank goodness, the 5-year old knows what's the right thing to do! She told the MAID from HELL that it is not a good idea but the MAID from HELL said "if you don't tell, and I don't tell... nobody will know. we do this all the time in the Philippines".

How can anyone be so cruel? Even if you are starving, living in tough conditions, and a bunch of kittens come along, I doubt any of us would have the heart to splash hot water on the tiny, defenceless kittens. I mean these are kittens, they are lions or tigers or some wild beast who will rip your kitchen apart and steal your rice.