I haven't been posting for Pink Friday nowadays. It's just so hard to find an image with pink in it. Gone are my pink days for a long time now. I have been into red since 2 years ago. But anyways, I was looking for some watches online and found some pink Polar watches. This is my favorite:The good thing with it is that it shows your heart rate. This is really good when you do exercises as it shows your heart rate. It's very pretty, isn't it?

Hubby is going to Thailand for work today. The kids are still sick. I am a bit anxious. I hope the kids will truly get well soon. Such a wrong timing to get sick. Oh well... I'm talking as if there's a good timing to get sick. Anyways... this is the time when I think learning how to drive is a must.

I can't be too dependent, can I? Anyways, I have the things we need for the next 8 days. 7/11 convenient store is just a kilometer walk from where we are. The school is just a 200-meter walk. Everything should be okay. It's just that the kids are still sick. If they don't get well by Sunday night, I won't send them to school on Monday.

Probably when hubby comes back, I would be needing another holiday. Hehehe. Hmmm... that reminds me to check out some nice places to go and stay like Outer Banks. For the meantime, I need to have my breakfast now. Happy weekend friends.

I was chatting with a friend just now over skype. We were talking about paid to blog companies and she asked me whether I took the opp about cheap lingerie. I didn't see it was available for me but I told her if it was, I don't mind writing about it. Anyways, I just thank God for writing assignments coming my way. I just need to finish my assignments before hubby goes off to Thailand on weekend. He's gonna be gone for 8 days. That means it's me and kids only for 8 days. I just hope the kids get well soon. They have been sick lately.

The good thing about not having hubby for a few days is that I have more time doing my assignments. Hehehe. Oh... I have a book in the queue as well. I'm looking forward to reading it next week. Looks like I'd be busier then.

Yesterday I had some friends over. It was nice having them. The guys did my garden and they did it so well... like the work of professionals. I so love my garden now. The ladies, however came into the kitchen and cleaned my kitchen. Although I don't feel comfortable having somebody does my kitchen, I was still grateful coz I couldn't have done it. Of course, I took care of my living room. I realized that I need to re-upholster my couch set and I'm needing a new set of Discount Blinds. I say discount coz I need a discount for the blinds that I saw last time. Apparently, wooden blinds are expensive compared to the plastic ones. I prefer it wooden. Coupled with yellow lights give it a cozy look.

Anyways, I am thankful to these thoughtful friends. I just invited them for a barbecue at my house but they they came early and decided to help me clean up! What blessing God bestowed on us.

I finally bought a new pair of running shoes for me. The old one I have was already too run down... and yes, torn. I have to buy a new pair, especially because I need a good quality one for my forthcoming trip... next month. Gosh... if it's not for that trip, I wouldn't think of buying a new pair of running shoes! It was on sale so I quickly grabbed it. Rebok shoes. Very lightweight. I love the tinge of red on it, too.

Welcome the the 11th edition of our Yummy Sunday. My entry is from Nando's: Quarter Chicken meal. We go to Nando's at least twice in a month. Hubby usually orders the one below: quarter chicken extra hot (always the leg part), coleslaw and peri chips. I always order the wing part of chicken, Mediterranean rice and Fresco salad.

Please write your name and yummy sunday url below when your post is up. Don't forget to visit other entries as well. Gong Xi fa Cai to our Chinese friends!

We have finally started sending our boy to a drama school called Helen O'Grady Drama Academy. We've been planning to send him there the moment he was born. Oh... I think we did the moment I got pregnant. That's how determined we were. Of course, we wanna send him to a lot of "schools" for exposure. We don't mean to impose it on him. We thought we would try and if he's not interested, then we'd stop sending him. But my oh my... he's indeed a drama boy! LOL. It's obvious the acting thingy runs through his veins. He's the youngest in the class by the way but he's doing really well.

Today is his third session. The image above was taken on his second session. Apparently, they are given a situation. Then they would act on a situation, with facial expressions. They are taught how to speak loudly and clearly without sounding like they're screaming.

Of course, the sister is exposed to it as well. She imitates her brother a lot. She has a long time to wait for her turn though.

Or Gong Xi Fa Chai to our dearest Chinese friends and family. Chinese New Year or CNY has been a grand celebration for Chinese people. All married couples are expected to be giving ang paos (red envelope with money inside, of course) to the children and to the single ones in their family. One thing I like about CNY is the coming of mandarin oranges which is... available only during CNY season. I just love mandarin oranges. I make sure that I buy boxes of them especially this season. And I also discovered my girls loves it too. So now I have somebody to share the madarin oranges with. Anyways, lots of food will be served during CNY. We (me and family) are usually invited by friends for dinners. So this time, I know I'd be stuffed. And to think that I have started with my diet already. Hmmm... it's probably where these weight loss pills can come in handy. Hehehe. Or probably I can start my diet again after CNY. LOL. Anyways, to all our Chinese friends...

Gong Xi Fa Chai!!!

One of my favorite coffee shops in Phuket, Thailand is the Black Canyon Coffee. A taste of paradise, available on earth: that's their tag line. It where Peter and I would usually go for coffee and "talk" when he used to visit me in Phuket. On our recent trip there, however, we saw that Black Canyon was also available in Central Festival Mall. We didn't know they closed the one near Robinson's. We wanted to go to the one near Robinson's because we wanted to just relive our memories there. Only to be disappointed coz it's no longer there. Anyway, there was another coffee shop nearby called Coffee Lovers so I had that good cappuccino there. I was just amazed that more and more good coffee makers are existing in Phuket. Anyway, Phuket is becoming more and more commercialized and touristy. It was good to be able to go to an Island for an escapade.

Hello Yummy Sunday joiners! This is our 10th episode and I would like to thank you all for participating! My entries for this week are prepared by my mom-in-law in celebration of my dad-in-law's 63rd birthday:

Shepherd's Pie

fried chicken

and chicken curry.

If you are joining Yummy Sunday and your post is up, please leave your name and link below. And don't forget to visit other entries as well. Thank you!

We all went to Banting today... spent an afternoon with my parents-in-law. Dad celebrated his 62nd birthday. Mom cooked. And as usual, I brought my juicer with me plus carrots, green and red apples and watermelon. It's always nice to drink fresh fruit juice. It's a bit pricy compared to buying boxed juices, but it's worth it. I don't like drinking from the boxed juices because it can easily make me gain weight. Coke doesn't. So if there's no fresh fruit juice, I would rather drink coke than bottled or boxed juices. I don't make sense, I know. But that's how my body works! Anyways, kids had a great time in Banting. Banting has improved so much. There's a lot of new shops and there's even a mall just built-up. I saw Secret Recipe while driving... and I was thrilled. Secret Recipe has really great cakes and brownies. I think they have the best cakes and brownies in Malaysia. There are of course more clothes shops, door hardware shops, fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonalds. The old, shaggy Banting town is now blooming. We came home rather late. That's always the case when we visit the kids' grandparents in Banting. The kids had fun with the dogs, too. The girl now is trying to touch Clumsy... the boy can play with her already. Great exposure to animals as they used to be scared of dogs.

Two years, I had a shock when I learned that my uncle's wife gave birth to a baby with a cerebral palsy. It is characterized by abnormal muscle tone, reflexes, or motor development and coordinator. The cause is largely due to lacking of oxygen in pregnancy, birth trauma, central nervous systems infection, water in the brain or certain infections in the mother during and before birth. It's quite sad because if a baby has a cerebral palsy, he cannot survive long. I have read once that there is no cure for CP patients... but of course, there are therapies that can help the patient function and live more effectively. Sad to say that only people who have money can do this. The poor CP patients are left to die early.

I know some people make fun of people doing new year's resolution. They said you can only keep it for the first few weeks, or days, at worst. But I do have my new year's resolution... everytime. If I can only keep it for a few weeks, at least I have a yardstick when I do my reflections at year-end. Hubby and I always do our year end reflections... just to see what we achieved for the past year... the challenges that we faced, the successes we achieved, etc. What really transpire, usually, in my new year's resolution is the financial area. We always do poorly in this area... year by year... we promise to be a better steward... but year by year, we end up asking God for forgiveness on the way we spend our money. This year, we're going to try our best, again, in managing our finances well... probably get a key man insurance to do our insurance? Hmmm...

What about you? Do you have your Year 2009 Resolution? After 17 days, are you still keeping them?

The thing with living in Malaysia is that we experience a lot of holidays in one year. We have 3 major people groups in Malaysia and for each major group, we respect and celebrate their special holidays. We have Christmas for Christians, Hari raya for Muslims, Diwali for Hindus and Chinese New Year for Chinese. We just celebrated Christmas and now Chinese New Year is approaching. Some members of our family are Chinese... so I know a bit about Chinese New Year. Also, I noticed that malls have started their CNY decorations... right after Christmas. You can see that Flowering trees like cherries are already appearing as part of CNY decorations. Pretty site to behold, indeed.

Went to TGIF for hubby's and my birthdays. My boy said he wanted to take us there for my birthday because he liked the part where the staff and the crew come and sing birthday song (and make fun of the celebrants). He's a thoughtful boy, indeed.

I had barbecue beef ribs

Hubby had Jack Daniel steak, medium rare. It was so tender and juicy.

Dessert at swensen's. Had banana split. courtesy of my sister-in-law.

Do you have a home that's inviting? There are a lot of houses that are beautiful and yet when you come inside, it doesn't feel like the house is inviting or cozy. Some people hire professional interior designer just to make the house lovely and cozy. Actually, if you want a cozy looking home, all you need to do is use the right home lighting.

I have found a website that offers a lot of products for your home, may it be your new home or an old home that needs improvement in terms of decorations and such. They offer the things you need for interior accessories. They offer products like wood carvings that would include crown molding, decorative hardware, ceiling decor, wall decor, home furnishing, shutters, and more.

They even give you some decorating tips, which I like the most. Sometimes, we think we're doing the right thing but actually when you check with the professionals, we're doing the opposite thing. At Inviting Home, they believe that our home is a source of unlimited potential. Why not, if we can get a good good interior decors that's just perfect for our house, no wonder Inviting Home lives to its name, making every house a home. Thus, making our home not just a home, an inviting home at that as well.

Happy New Year everyone! This is our first yummy sunday for this year. Thanks for being a part of Yummy Sunday. (and thx to Josiet for reminding me it's time to put up our yummy sunday today). I'm still feeling a bit groggy from our holiday. Hehehe.

This is tomyum, a famous Thai delicacy. It is so spicy you'd cry when eating this one. LOL. But it surely is good.

Our Christmas celebration was on the first day of Christmas itself... Had roast turkey on my dinner table (mom-in-law prepared it). Hope everybody had a grand time celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ!