Holiday Activities

It's not just Abang who has holiday activities, Mummy's got some too!

I finally made another batch of mini cupcakes, similar to the ones I attempted earlier. Unfortunately I didn't have time to do the icing so I added chocolate chips instead to make them a little more interesting. We were going to my auntie's house in Gombak so I thought it would be nice to bring a 'buah tangan'. Plus, when I mentioned to her that I'm making cupcakes she said that's my uncle's "favourite".

They turned out ok, not great, but apparently her maids were really having a go at the cupcakes! Even Abang and Adik had to be restrained in the car because of the cake smell.

"No, no, you can't eat that, it's a present for Wan Teh and Tok Teh!"

I made some extra ones for Daddy, Abang and Adik but instead of chocolate chips I put colourful sprinkles. Abang was so pleased about it he kept saying, "Thanks mom, for making me the special cupcakes!"

Speaking of Abang, he was given a train-making kit as a Christmas present and he was so keen to do it. Daddy helped him mix the plaster of paris and pour it in the mould. A few days later, when it was completely dry, I helped him paint it.

I had to really restrain myself from helping him too much and trying to make sure it looks "nice" and instead just let him do as he wanted to. It turned out very, uh, colourful and he was quite happy with the results.

Alor Setar, Here We Come!

The four of us and Ant J managed a trip up north to Alor Setar (or as they say there, "Alor Setaq") over the weekend. We went to visit Tok Bah and Tok Ma and I have to say, I think both boys did marvellously during the whole trip (except Adik was a little overexcited).

The drive there was very smooth. Nothing but blue skies and clear highways, save for a few 'hotspots', and it took us only 5 hours to reach the hotel (my father-in-law's house is a little small). Along the way, Adik caught a 1.5 hour nap, Abang a 1 hour nap and both at the same time so that was nice. In between we kept them busy with various storybook readings, one episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a variety of snacks and the usual car trip games. Abang liked to play What Does That Cloud Look Like by holding his make-believe binoculars around his eyes. Adik tried to copy that pose but he looked more like doing a double salute.

We had a pit stop at the Sg Perak rest area which was chock full of people and now has escalators going up from the car park! I guess it's been awhile since we've driven up north. Besides snapping photos, Mummy was busy trying to eat the chocolate cake without being spotted by the boys.

We arrived around 4pm and immediately checked in and dumped our bags in the room. As luck would have it, the road surrounding the hotel was used for some futsal street party type thing so we had to go another way around plus park on the road as the hotel car park was full. We then made our way to Tok Bah's house.

As soon as we arrived, Adik in his naturally friendly way waved, "Hi Tok Bah, hi Tok Ma!" even though this was his first time meeting them. Good thing we prepped him during the trip telling him we were going to visit Tok Bah and Tok Ma so he knew whom to expect. Abang had met them before but I think in this respect he takes Adik's cue and warmed up to them pretty quickly (quicker than if Adik wasn't around). Plus he's much bigger now so he's a little more sociable.

Dinner was way too stressful caused by Adik being overly tired and therefore hyperactive. Abang has been a real star the past week, minding his P's and Q's, being sociable, well-behaved ... he would even thank us for helping him take his shirt off! Before bedtime, Abang enjoyed a nice, quiet game of Uno with Daddy while Adik sat doing his colouring. Later we put the boys to bed and then Daddy transferred Abang to Ant J's room because the king bed in our room was a standard king, not an oversized king and it was a little too small for the four of us.

The three of us didn't sleep well, unfortunately. Adik was prone to 'mengigau' and kept crying/ whining, saying, "Noooo.... Number 4, Number 7!" (must be from the Uno game he observed). Our room was also right near the lift lobby so all those NOISY people waiting for the lift were, you know, NOISY. Plus our air-cond rattled.

Breakfast was very pleasant - the food was pretty good and I only had Adik to chase around because Abang was nicely having his breakfast while playing Daddy's handheld game. After checking out we headed to Tok Bah's house to hang out. The boys discovered a foot massage machine thingy and Tok Bah was only too happy to switch it on for them to have a go.

Remember, grandchildren are allowed to do anything - even destroy - their grandparents' stuff and "it's ok". (It must be in The Grandparents' Guide to Having Grandchildren.) After awhile the boys looked like they were abusing the foot massager and I asked Tok Bah about it and he said, "No no, it's ok, it's ok."

Aahhh ... I remember when we were kids and whenever we visited our grandparents at the kampung, my brother, sister and I would ride our grandfather's Raleigh bicycle all around the kampung land. It's pretty big and situated on a long slope, so there are many bumps and little hills to really give the bicycle a good thrashing and have fun at the same time. When we were much older my dad told us that after every visit, my grandfather had to take the bicycle to be repaired.

I wonder if Tok Bah's foot massager is back from the shop yet.

The drive home was absolutely horrendous. We left Tok Bah's house at 3:15pm and only dropped Ant J off at 10:45pm and we arrived home at 11:15pm. We wished the highways were like the outgoing trip:

But it was actually more like this (although not as bad as our drive to Janda Baik):

And the rest areas loooked like a scene from outside a KL nightclub:


Anyway, like I always say, it could have been a lot worse. It could have rained, making traffic a whole lot worse. The car could have given problems - there were cars littered along the shoulder of the highway with the bonnet up. The boys could have acted up but they were real champions despite being strapped in their car seats for 8 hours. Adik just got a bit cranky yet hyper (as hyper as one can get in a child's car seat) and started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the top of his voice. Once they were both asleep it was just the traffic to contend with.

And that one, nobody can do anything about.

Another Excursion

This time to the Children's Library at the Islamic Arts Museum. I wanted to take the boys and Cuz, but Adik was a little unwell the night before and didn't get a good rest so I left him at Atok's house and took Abang and Cuz. The plan was for Adik to have a nice, quiet time with Atok and Cikgai, then lunch, then nap.

I love having Cuz around, he's such a well-mannered boy, highly knowlegable and responsible to boot. Of course I have to remember that he's just 10 years old, so it's not fair to expect too much and as an active 10-year-old, I do have to restrain him sometimes. But it's ok, it's part and parcel of watching a boy of that age.

The other thing I really enjoy is hearing Abang chat with Cuz. Amongst others, Cuz asked Abang, "What is your favourite animal?"

And Abang replied, "Harun." So cute!

Anyway, the library is very nice. It has all sorts of children's books, not just Islamic-themed ones, lots of tables and chairs for the little ones to sit quietly and read or do drawing/ colouring (material can be borrowed from the librarian), a little stage presumably for plays, and a section displaying arts and crafts done by the children who attend the storytelling / arts and crafts session. In fact, there's a sign there that says something like "Dear Visitors, The arts and crafts pieces displayed here were made with pride by the children who attended the storytelling and arts and crafts session. Therefore, if you must handle it please do so with care." I thought that's pretty cool.

So the boys sat down and did some colouring and drawing, nice quiet time for me, after which we looked for lunch. The museum restaurant looked like "fine dining" type (with prices to match) and didn't seem very appropriate for us. Since we were in the Lake Gardens area, we just hopped into the car and headed to the restaurant at the Bird Park! The food is so-so, i.e. not bad for a touristy area but not great - but the restaurant is full; a mixture of locals and tourists.

As we were looking at the menu, Abang asked for a pen and piece of paper and asked me how to spell 'spaghetti' and 'fries'. After writing it, he passed me the paper and said, "Here you go, mom. You can give this to the Uncle Waiter. That's all I want for lunch." While waiting for the food, Cuz started making little origami pieces.

Amazing that I could have a nice peaceful lunch while having 2 boys with me, but it's true, both boys were very well behaved. It must be because that whole trip wasn't very stressful at all for me. And "stress level" after the excursion is usually a good way to know if the boys were well behaved or not. After we got home I shot off an sms to his mother to let her know how well behaved he was because I know a) she would appreciate it, and b) she would heap the praise on Cuz and so he would appreciate it too.

Next time I plan to take various grandparents so we can go and see the museum proper.

P/S. Speaking of grandparents, remember the plan was for Adik to "have a nice, quiet time with Atok and Cikgai, then lunch, then nap"? Well, it turns out he didn't nap and probably was more tired than if I had taken him with me. Ah well ...

An Eye for Detail

This is going to be a quick post because I need to go catch on some rest so that this darn cough will go away.

We went up the Eye on Malaysia over the weekend. We arrived there bright and early at 9:45am and went in with the group we booked with. It was nice, although I thought the ride itself was a bit too long, going 5 rounds in total.

And Mummy was ready to freak out and bang on the doors, "Let me out! Let me out!" because I don't like heights very much. Not at all, in fact.

Poor Abang must have caught Mummy's Freaking Out vibes because whenever we got to the top he would freeze, hold on really tightly to Daddy's hands and insist that we make Adik sit down and not walk about the gondola. (That was what made the gondola sway and freak Abang out.)

By the way, from way up high we also saw a (dead) big fish floating in the lake!

Nice ride, but I'd probably only do it that one time. Still, there are other things to explore at Lake Titiwangsa so I'm sure we'll be back.

Semua Pun Demam

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but we've all been a little under the weather. Technically, we're not all feverish, but 3 out of 5 people in our house counts as "semua" and ill can, in my books, be considered as "demam".

I started with a really bad sore throat last Wednesday which I thought had gone away but it seems to be lingering and today it got worse. And I seem to be coughing too.

Wan started coughing a little, but mostly she's lost her voice. Not entirely, but it certainly is difficult to understand her. Plus now I can't tell if she's cranky or not.

Abang has been having a fever off and on since Sunday morning. In fact, for most of Sunday he was very lethargic and hardly had any appetite. Then on Monday morning, the fever was gone and he was bright and chirpy but we made him "promise Daddy" that he would nap in the afternoon. Here it is, as proof that I actually did get him to take a nap, although it took an hour of persuading, threatening, hugging, smacking, tepuk, garu, jentik and gosok belakang before it happened:

He went for his e.nopi class soon after a 2 hour nap and when I fetched him he looked very tired. That night, he complained of pain in his ear. We feared an ear infection but decided to see how it went throughout the night. Worst case, it's a trip to the ER in the middle of the night (nothing we've not done before).

The next day, he wasn't feverish and we didn't hear anymore complaints of pain in his ear. Unfortunately, that evening he complained that his mouth hurt.

After a trip to his paediatrician this morning, it turns out that Abang has tonsilitis. And based on his medical records, this is the 4th occurrence this year which is not good news. The doctor reckons if this pattern continues next year then we ought to consider having Abang's tonsils removed.

So far, Adik and Daddy are ok but it's probably just a matter of time before they succumb and join The Dark Side. Adik was happily colouring and scribbling away at Nenek's house last week.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Grandmas Day Out

Yes, it's "Grandmas" not "Grandma's" because Ant J - bless her - took both Nenek and Wan to the Curve to run after both boys. Initially the plan was for me to go too but since I wasn't feeling well I sent Wan and the boys to Nenek's house and then came home to rest while Ant J - bless her - took the troops to the Curve.

From the pictures, I can see that they (the boys) had a ball of a time, running around and checking out the Christmas decorations which I shall also go and see sometime during the school holidays. The grandmas, on the other hand, got more exercise than they would have liked.

It's nice for them to have some Christmas exposure even if a lot of it centres around snow! Well, it'll be awhile before they get to experience real snow so they'll have to make do with cotton or styrofoam or whatever is used to make fake snow.

Anyway, after a few hours at Curve, followed by Tesco and then back to Nenek's house, this is what 2 tired little boys look like:

And it's also time for Mummy to turn in!

Mmmm, I Love!

That's been Adik's motto lately. I'm not too sure where he picked it up from, but whenever he eats something he really likes - rarely will he eat anything he doesn't - then he looks up, his face shining with delight and exclaims, "Mmmm, I love!"

Today he practically fed himself his entire dinner, and when he had the soup, he said out loud, "Mmmm, Adik I like toop!" (Yes, he can't pronounce "s" sounds yet. Just like Abang at this age. Even Daddy sometimes needs an interpreter around.)

Awhile back, I did teach him to say, "Mmmm, yummy!" whenever he ate anything that was, well, yummy. Except that he says, "Mmmm, nummy!" instead.

Adik just loves eating nasi more than any other food. Unlike Abang who has a slightly more Mat Salleh tongue and enjoys his spaghetti and pasta, Adik will take nasi and lauk any day. With the exception of McDonalds, of course. That one will be accepted wholeheartedly by both the boys.

Not that I'm complaining, because after all, Mmmm, I love my boys!

Our Pet Cicak

There's a little baby cicak that's been living in our bathroom for about a week now. Initially I didn't think anything of it, as little cicaks come and go in the bathroom, but this one seems to have survived.

In fact, it looks like it's thriving.

Presumably it's been eating (or feasting on, rather) the little agas flies that like to hang out in the shower stall especially at night. But lately, Daddy and I have noticed that our Pet Cicak is getting larger while those pesky agas flies are getting fewer.

Here it is attempting to escape a crazy blogger trying to capture a photo of it:

I find it rather cute although I am generally very geli when it comes to cicaks. Could be from the time when we were schooling and my sister had a little baby cicak jump into her shirt as she shook the curtains (back in Atok's house). Yes, pretty gross eh. You can imagine the squeals of horror that pierced through that not-so-peaceful-anymore afternoon.

Anyway, she grabbed hold of her shirt right around where she thought the little guy landed and headed for the bathroom. She then stood over the bathtub and shook her shirt like her life depended on it.

A leg dropped out. Then the rest of the cicak.

AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!!!!!