As I have posted earlier, my friend invited me for a 2-day holiday break. She has a condo unit in Mont Kiara and it's really a nice place. I remember we used to go to Mont Kiara just to hang out.

My friend's husband was out of the country for a week and so my friend was feeling rather lonely. So she called and asked whether we could hang out. Now, I have blogged about this friend last time. She and the husband gave me my digital camera I've been using for my images in my posts in my blogs. And I have mentioned that everytime they invited us to their place, we would surely come home and looking like we've gone shopping. They would probably give us Branson tickets if they had. That's how generous this couple is.

So yesterday, after sending the kids to school, we drove to their place. And she took me shopping. I saw a nice pair of sandals that I really liked but when I saw how much, I left it and walked away. My friend asked me whether I liked it. I said yes... but never mind, there's no need to buy. And so she said, come back, show me again. I wanna buy for you. Ugghhh... I hesitated so much. But she also insisted so much. So now I have a new pair of nice sandals. I just recently bought a new pair of cute slippers. *Grin*

Anyways, I bought some new clothes for myself. And she did too. It's really been a long time since I didn't shop for myself. I usually shop for my kids and hubby. Glad to be able to shop without distractions.

Anyways... I had a good break. I appreciated the time spent with a friend.

I wanna do a rack card printing for my photos. But looks like I have to sort them out first. I have a thousand photos in my file and I'm sure I'll have a hard time choosing which ones to print and which one deserved to be thrown into the recycle bin. Now I am thinking whether it would be cheaper to have them printed in the shop or do my own printing. The ink and the paper are kind of expensive to buy. Hmmm... Let me go and check how much they charge in the shop and how much exactly the ink and the paper would cost. Then I will decided. For now, I'm off to dreamland. Ciao!

I stayed overnight in a friend's place. I usually pack light. So I used my backpack bag to put my things inside, laptop included. When the hubby picked me up from my friend's place, I was gonna put back the laptop in my bag when suddenly, the zipper snapped. I was so sad... that bag only lasted for a year. Wished I bought a Kipling instead. It's always good if we buy a good quality bag... but with the amount I paid for that bag, I thought it would last us for years to use it. Or maybe, we just overused it. Sigh. Need to buy a new one coz the hubby usually use that bag everytime he has a short-term out of town/country trip.

I thought I was in the mood for a movie tonight. But after putting the kids to sleep, I came down to have something to munch. I found almonds and pistachio nuts given by friend from Thailand. It was already finishing coz the kids just love to eat nuts. My hubby asked me to choose which movie and he was about to turn on the KVM switch when I started talking about how my 2-day break with a girl-friend went. So we just talked and decided the movie can wait. Better idea, right?

Nando's chicken is my favorite. It comes with two side dishes. I usually order fresco salad and Middeteranian rice to go with my lemon and herb flavored grilled quarter chicken. Dip it in garlic sauce and it's soooo to die for. Everytime we have guests, we take them here... either in Subang Parade outlet or Sunway Pyramid outlet. Every time we go there, it makes a happy me; it could be an anti wrinkle serum for me. LOL. Kidding aside, this photo was taken last Thursday when Renel came over to stay for a night before going back to the Philippines.

I made a mistake. I sometimes do my make up in front of my daughter. And so, she has learned that girls do ear make up and since she's a girl, she can do it too. I told her it's only for big girls. And she said, I'm a big girl too, what? LOL. And so, yes, sometimes, she would sneak on me and put on a lipstick.



I don't want to say no to her so much. For her, the more I say no, the more she wants to do it. So I use reverse psychology. I let her put on a lipstick. And later, I touched her lips and asked her...

"What's happening to your lips my girl?"

"Why mommy?"

"It is so dry and the skin is peeling off. I think next time, there's no need to put lipstick because it is spoiling your skin."

"Okay Mommy."

LOL. Success. I hope. LOL. Anyways, it's not good for kids to wear make up at such a young age. It could be harmful to their skin. The mothers usually get the blame if some things happen to their skin. Hmm... Actually, http://www.hormonalacne.org tells more about skin and skin care. Go ahead and check.


Here, she's putting on lipstick on our house guest (my friend Renel)... And she felt so grown up doing this. Hehehe. :D

Here's me and my son. Do you know where we were? This shot was taken in Genting Highlands, while we were on top... on the Ferris Wheel. LOL. Yep, I did have a dizzy spell when we took this ride. My son said he had it too. It's quite obvious in this picture. I closed my eyes so the dizziness wouldn't get worse.

Anyways, the kiddos enjoyed their time in Gentings so much. And I had a headache all throughout. It's probably due to lack of sleep. I don't usually get dizzy easily.

And so when we came home from Genting Highlands, I slept early. I was hoping to finish some things but I just couldn't. Anyways, I need to make up for a lot of sleepless nights. Sleep is a good treatment for a lot of things. I wonder if it's good for treatment for blackheads too? Maybe not. Blackheads require some other stuff for treatment. But generally speaking enough sleep has a lot of health benefits.

I'm not really sure what's the name of this coconut thingy. It tasted like it was a young coconut juice made into jelly, put back there, and closed it again with the cut part. I called it coconut jelly because of it. Since I love eating young coconut flesh and milk, I appreciated this one. Hub's uncle gave this to us, along with 10 others. LOL. It seemed like I had more than ten because it really filled up my fridge.

It was good. Not good for diet though. I really wished that this belonged to

foods that burn fat, but that's a wishful thinking. It doesn't burn fat. It produces them. I am so glad I only had 10... Otherwise, I wouldn't stop eating... and gaining more pounds as a result.

But really, it's a good dessert. I don't mind having it again.

I have a list of things to do while hubby is away. He's only coming back next week so I have an ample time to do everything. Here's my list:

1. Finish the book I just started reading.

2. Do up my garden a little bit more. I have hired a grass-cutter yesterday to trim the grass in our lawn but I think it's not enough. My plants all look so pathetic already. I haven't starting spraying anti-worms on my vegetables in our backyard. I need to start doing it.

3. Fold all the clothes. I have a mountain-load of them, in our room. I should have done it before our friends came over but I procrastinated so I hid them in my room. :D

5. Do a spring cleaning. Wash the curtains in my living room. Now, it just reminded me... where are my wood blinds? I used to have them hanging around the previous house but now I don't know here I have stored them. Need to find it soon. It's a good alternative especially when washing my cloth curtains.

6. Etc.

During our trip to the US, we were so blessed to be able to stay in Hollywood and had an awesome host. He took us around Los Angeles, sent us to Universal Studios, Rodeo Drive, and Kodak Theater at Hollywood and Highlands Mall. Kodak Theater is where the Oscar Academy Award is usually held. And our host explained to us how they close down the street just for the famous Red Carpet walk.

The excited me took a red carpet walk... just to to see how it felt when a celebrity did it. Well, how did I feel? Of course, I felt it's just one of those ordinary walks. The difference when the celebrities walk is the cameras are on them and people gawking on them. Well, two cameras were on me too and people were watching me and the two men trying to take photo of this celebrity-red-carpet-pretend-walk. Well, the difference is that... mine is real and theirs is a fantasy. Or is it the other way around? LOL. Of course the obvious difference is that I wasn't wearing a gown... and I wasn't famous. How did I even compare myself with them? LOL. Shame.

Our host was a chaplain of the LA Veteran's Hospital and he jokingly said:

I think I sensed that you are called to LA.

LOL.

It reminded me of the joke I made when I was with a team in the mountains of Debabawon tribe in the Philippines... and while bathing in a narrow stream, I blurted out. "I realized that I am called indeed... called to be in New York!" LOL. That joke became classic. I even heard a team mate using that as a joke.

Anyways, if there's a chance to go back to the US, I pray that the kids could go along too. We could probably get one of those Outer Banks vacation rentals. I really look forward to that. Next year, there is yet another conference in Atlanta. I am not sure yet whether they would still invite/sponsor us. I hope they will. I hope they will.

I don't always serve this kind of food on the table... but sometimes, there are situations where I can't avoid and I resort to preparing Maggie Mee or Mamee Mee for my family. My kids love it a lot. Who wouldn't. I can eat it every day for the rest of my life. LOL. Anyways, I know it doesn't sound good, especially if you're a health buff. I just thought that once in a while of doing things can't hurt. But I think that's just an excuse for being too lazy to cook. Well, if you wanna learn more about good diet and stuff like that, you may click here to learn more.

Now, where's my can of soda? LOL.

Oh actually, for kids, I just took out the powdered flavor, put a pinch of salt to the cooked noodles and top it with beaten raw egg. And sometimes, when I boil the water, I add in some vegetables before putting the noodles inside. I think it's not so bad at all.

I think I need to definitely start doing a book reading now. I have resolved to read a book a month... but it looks like it's only a resolution and no action. I have started with Beth Moore. I stopped. I saw and bought a book for women from the Glad Sounds bookstore. I started reading. I haven't finished Chapter 1 and I stopped. I have to start. Again.

My grammar is getting worse. I have assignments that kept bouncing back because of grammar errors. And it's annoying the heck out of me. Pardon me for my words. But it's really true. It's irritating that I have to resubmit assignments a couple of times.

Anyways, reading a book or any reading materials can help with personal development. Not only you get to learn about life, you learn about new terms as well. i.e. bariatric surgery. Okay. There. I know I got you. So what is bariatric? According to my greatest source of word definition, wikipedia, Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity.

Same goes with Spiritual development. If you wanna grow up in your walk with the Lord, keep on reading the Bible. There are promises there that aren't discovered and claimed until you read it.

When we were in Hatyai, three of us ladies went to my favorite salon and did hair treatment. As I was flipping through the salon's type of service and the price, I was so amazed to see that it's very cheap to do hair treatment. We all tried it.



This is my friend Raya, enjoying her hair wash.

I love the salon services in Thailand. When they wash your hair, you get to have a head massage and a shoulder massage. It's quite relaxing. And the best part is, you don't pay extra for the extra service. Amazing Thailand.



So these are the ladies (I wasn't in the photo coz I took this shot) after the hair treatment, all smiles. I think we have to do this regularly, if not in the salon, then you can do it yourself, sans the equipment. My friend Litlit gave me something to use for hot oil treatment. I used to do hot oil treatment with my hair a lot and I know I have to get back into that routine now that I am suffering from hair loss. Is there vitamins for hair loss? If there is, I would like to take some.

Oh, by the way, this is me and my shiny hair, after the hair treatment. Love my hair!

One of the things we do as a family for fun is to stay at home and wash the car. The kids love it. For one, they can play with water as much as they could. Another thing is, they can spray the water all over the car. I love it when we do that. Not only we have fun doing things together, we can save money too. Sending the car for snow wash or any kind of washing is not much... but if you do it regularly, it can accumulate much. And so we wash the car and polish it too.

For now, the kids think it's for fun and not real work. I think when they grow and and be able to find a job of their own, they won't appreciate car washing anymore. Except of course if they have their own family and wanna do it with their kids just for fun. It would be a family legacy then.

The other night, I couldn't sleep just monitoring the news about the tsunami in Hawaii. With the history of tsunami hitting places and killing thousands of people, one can't help but be worried, especially if you have a family member living in the coastal area. I opened the satellite map of Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean from Google, opened the updated news of Hawaii Tsunami alert and left the internet open the whole night. I could probably use some wrinkle creams of worrying too much. But I can't help it really. I was so worried my knees were shaking. But after I called my sister, I was glad to hear her voice. They evacuated to the hotel she was working at. Thank God.

I saw this tea set from the movie Sherlock Holmes and thought it was a beautiful set. I saw something like this in Living Quarters in Sunway Pyramid, but not as beautiful... but it's really very expensive. I think beautiful and good tea sets are normally expensive. But of course, it doesn't change the taste. That's something to ponder about.

In the Sherlock movie scene, Watson asked the Lady to bring Sherlock to cheer him up. She brought tea. It speaks volume about the tea. It did cheer him up indeed. I wonder if tea has acne solutions as well? It does bring a lot of benefits. I'm sure it's good for the skin, too. Hmmm. I need to find it out.

And so I really maximized my time when the kids were with their grandparents. I did all sorts of things in the house, watched movies with my hubby in the house and in Sunway Pyramid, dined at Nando's and enjoyed my favorit 1/4 quarter meal.

The best of all was I was able to dig my spa material and discovered I still have some essential oils I bought from The Body Shop. I opened one of my books on D-I-Y spas, dig my kitchen for some ingredients. Yes, most of the ingredients of spas can be found in the kitchen... and did a d-i-y body scrub and body wrap -- these at the comfort of my own bathroom and my own time.

What else did I do?

I did a foot spa!

I told you I really used my me-time to the brim.

And of course, I went online, did my work, surfed the net about Newport Beach real estate. Who knows I would get into that business one day.

It was very refreshing to have a me-time. We moms/wives don't get that chance every day. And so while we can... we should somehow maximize our time and do things we don't normally do when the kids are around.