We were walking by the Elle Boutique at Subang Parade when my eyes darted towards a pair of red stilettos. They look exactly like the ones on the image on the left (which is a Nina by the way).

And so I gave my husband a certain kind of look - a look I usually give him everytime I get a crush on some things.

He then wondered out loud: what is this with women and shoes? hahaha. I guess men can never understand this side of women.

And so, when I went inside the Elle boutique just to check it out, my Samantha said: but Mommy, you already have red shoes, what?!?!

Hahaha. Both are my fashion critiques by the way. And so, both know what's in my wardrobe.

So I just decided to let it go. I am not really pushy when it comes to shopping for myself. I window shop, wish I have some coupons with me everytime I spot things I like... and then most likely, I leave without buying anything. I have a good control when it comes to shopping.

Now, I can hear my husband saying: Yeah, right!

There are just things we do for the sake of beauty. My friend started drinking slimming coffee to lose weight. But later, she found out that some ingredients could cause harm to the overall health. After the discovery, she stopped drinking it. And I just asked her to throw the remaining coffee to me. Hahaha.

Anyways, some would do any thing to get to their goal. Some would use Lipofuze to lose weight. What about you? Do you have a diet plan that's not too risky for the health?

I guess at the end of the day, the best diet program is to have a regular exercise, eat healthy, get enough sleep and drink lots of water.

I always wonder why people would love to wear boots in a tropical country like Malaysia. I mean it's not like it's a muck boots that you can wear on rainy days. They're like leather boots! I guess, if you're so much into trends and fashion, you would wear anything regardless of the climate and weather.

People normally wear leather boots when the weather gets too cold. It does protect the legs from getting cold so you can walk properly. I always dream that I could wear a pair... And I only got a chance to wear 'em when we went to London and it was autumn and to the US when it was winter.

I wonder when I can wear them again and feel comfortable wearing them.

When we went to Brunei last year, we met this guy who was a Mr. Malaysia before. I just couldn't remember which year. But now he's based in Brunei. But he's actually from East Malaysia. And so why am I talking about him?

He's a muscle endowed guy. He used to do a lot of weight lifting before. And I just found out that if you have built muscles, you have to maintain it... otherwise, the muscles will turn into fats. And so some people would take hgh supplement just to maintain their muscles.

It's quite a hard work, to build and maintain muscles. But then again, like I always say, beauty comes with a price.

My kids love to instant noodles, preferably maggi mee. I am not keen on giving them each time they ask me. So what I do is make chicken stock out from chicken carcass. And then I use that stock instead of adding in the maggi mee flavorings. I believe it's a healthy alternative. So now, I don't really mind giving them instant noodles soup but with homemade chicken stock instead.

But today, we ran out of groceries. We haven't gone shopping yet since the hubby came back from South Africa. We were planning on eating out but my husband slept in. So I had to cook some thing. And there were only instant noodles in my cupboard. I just minimized the flavorings and just added raw eggs in each bowl. They did enjoy it.

I don't mind eating instant noodles everyday, mind you. If not for health reasons, I would. But then, if I use chicken stock instead, it's really okay. I just thought that it can make you fat easily... but what's the use of cheap diet pills, right? Hahaha. I can have some cheeky thoughts sometimes.

Anyways, today we're going on grocery shopping spree. Wee!

I guess I have now come to point when I am so desperate to get back into my exercise routine. JM or Jillian Michaels workout really did me good last time. And I keep kicking myself for stopping it. Now I am desperate to start it all over again.

I have, once again, re-gained what I lost when I was doing a regular workout and diet program. Maybe I should start searching for healthy diet plans again. I have read from nutrisystem review that sometimes, we forget that drinking lots of water remains to be an integral part in losing weight. And I'm like... if only I like the taste of water.

But anyways... I will have to start all over again. It pains me to think that once, I did my exercises and actually getting satisfaction from there. And now I have to start all over again. But we always deserve second chances, don't we? So yeah... the battle continues.

Last week, a friend told me she was seeing a pr2 on this blog. I quickly checked and true enough, I saw a green on my pr tool bar. I was so surprised because I didn't expect this blog to get its pr again.

But when I came to think of it, this domain has never had a pr. It used to have a pr2 when it was still under the free blogger domain. But after I bought it's own domain... that was like 3 years ago or so, it never had it's pr. PR by the way is an acronym for page relevance in the google world.

Before, we used to strive so much to get a high pr. But there came a time that bloggers didn't care for pr's anymore, except of course, those who are still working for pr-sensitive-pay-you-to-blog-companies. And so they'd usually do manual directory submission, do a lot of seo (search engine optimization) stuff just to get a higher page relevance. But like I said, there came a time when some of us contented ourselves with a white pr toolbar. :)

And so, when my pr2 appeared... I was happy... but I guess the feeling would be different if I was still aiming for it. Now, a green in our pr toolbar is just a status quo.

Both my kids love God.

One day, Schenker and I had a conversation.

Schenker: I wanna go to heaven because I want to see Jesus.

Me: Not now, boy. When the right time comes, you will see Jesus.

Schenker: But I really want to go to heaven now. I really want to see Jesus.

Me: Then we won't have anymore Schenker.

Schenker: Nevermind, we all can go together and be in heaven together.

Hehehe. This conversation happened a few months ago.

Last night, on bedtime, my Samantha just blurted out:

Samantha: Mommy, I am thinking about God.

Me: What are you thinking about God?

Samantha: I am thinking... I wanna sayang God; I wanna love God; I wanna hug God; I wanna listen to God.

Me: (speechless and heart swelling with joy I almost cried)

Samantha: But Mommy, why God can see us and we cannot see Him? I want to see God.

Here is the heart of a small girl and a boy. That's why God loves children. They do have a heart of a real worshiper.

According to Matthew 19:14 - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

I pray they'll continue to have hearts like these until they grow up... until they finally see Jesus, face to face.

Here's Samantha singing Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God song, I took this video last month.

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


My friend asked me over facebook how I cope up with Peter being away most of the time. I believe that it's not my own energy and effort that keeps me going. What keeps me going is God's grace. Through His grace, I am coping. I can't say coping well coz sometimes, I do break down, too. But I guess it's God-given strength that I am able to stand up and go on.

Psalm 23, the whole chapter, is my favorite chapter in the Bible. It gives me so much assurance. I can totally expound on it from my own perspective but it will be very long. Maybe next time, when I have more time, I will do.

For now, I am thanking God for His special grace bestowed on me and my kids. I may look like I am deserving some trophies and awards for coping well... but in reality, I can only depend on God. He is my refuge. He is my strength.

He is my Shepherd.

Yes, it is confirmed. We are moving out of this house and move back to our own apartment. We have notified both parties already, the owner of this house and our tenants. Last month, we took the kids for a visit in our apartment and we asked them whether they liked it there.

Honestly, I like the comfort this house gives us but it's a bit run down. So I don't really mind going back to our apartment.

But I noticed that our apartment needs re-painting. Our kitchen sink and counter top needs fixing too. I am thinking of drywalling some parts of our apartment. I saw from EmeraldStateDrywall.com that when remodeling or building new homes, we should keep drywalling in mind as it offers treatment to bring out culture and theme into your place. My kids do know how to appreciate good ambiance. I am sure they will appreciate it. I guess with the walls and ceiling drywalled, it would make such a huge difference.

With Seattle Drywall, you can do that for remodeling, new construction, addition, steel stud framing, sheetrock installation, taping and mudding, wall finishing, and or priming. With our community services in mind, one can't help but support those companies that supports community, like that of Emerald State Drywall.

I actually took the image (below) from their website. Gosh. My kids would truly love to have a room like this. For now, it is a dream because our apartment is not that big to do a kids' room like this. What we can do is maximize what we have. Now that I am thinking about it, i can't wait to do up our apartment.

I wrote this on my status update the other day. I added another phrase: Absence makes the heart grow weary. I guess I'm just missing my husband so much.

Little did I know my boy took a peek on my facebook. Today, he casually asked me:

Mommy, when you say distance makes the heart grow fonder, is it because even though we are far, our hearts are still together?

Hehehe.

My boy.

He's only turning 6 in a few days time.

He's such a cool boy.

Proud of him.

I was just talking about my birth when I remember the challenge I had to face the first few months after giving birth. Before I gave birth to my son, I already prepared milk bottles for him. I knew that I would be breastfeeding him but I didn't know that I would do it exclusively.

After giving birth, I discovered about the benefits of breastfeeding. I googled everything about it that I got convinced of giving my son breastmilk exclusively. It was really hard. And to think that I should rest and recover, there I was waking up every two hours just to feed him. I fed on demand. I didn't set the schedule. My baby did.

And so, it went like this for 3 months. I would be feeding him once in two hours. The first time I slept for 4 hours, it felt like a luxury for me. And the bed never felt so comfortable.

I guess the lack of sleep just made me blue. Okay I admit, I really think I had a mild depression. Every time I saw women pregnant, all I could think of was pity on them... then I would add... they didn't know what they're going into. :(

This went on for a year. Thank God I came out from that post natal blues. Some moms do go through depression after giving birth. Sometimes it gets so bad they have to take acetyl l carnitine to treat them from depression. I am just so glad that after a year (looking through a glass half full here), I was healed. Only then I welcomed the thought of having another child.

And God has honored our desire and blessed us with another one. The second one came out exactly 2 years and 1 month later (after my son's birth).

Seeing this medical computer carts online just reminds me of my labor time in SJMC (Subang Jaya Medical Center) for my first baby. While I was on labor, they strapped me on the bed. No. Kidding. They actually put a strap around my tummy to determine the strength of my contraction and the time interval. I remember fully well how I didn't wanna be touched during contraction. And I would just close my eyes. I had a very quiet labor for my first baby. Hehehe.

But it was interesting to see the chart of my contractions. All these are made possible by computers. Nowadays, everything is computerized... which can be very convenient. The downside is... it makes a lazier us, too. :D

It's not a new movie. I guess it came out a few months ago. But I just recently watched it with the hubs. I loved the movie. I was wondering at first why they were wearing sunglasses. In fact, I thought they were glacier sunglasses but it's the opposite. They were really sunglasses to protect their eyes from the UV rays. They could get blind by just removing their sunglasses. So the movie revolved around the guy who wanted to get the Bible to the south. Hahaha. It's just so hard to follow the movie. There was a huge twist towards the end of the story. It was unbelievable.

And so this guy was carrying the Bible. And he was like going straight but there were a lot of hindrances but he was very determined to take the Bible to its destination. And so, he was kind of reading the Bible everyday.

The huge twist is that, in the end, it was revealed that he was blind. He was reading the Braille Bible! But since he was reading it for 3 years, he somehow memorized the whole Bible. There was one point that the Bible was taken away from him because there were others who wanted it for personal gain. But he went on to his destination, even without the Bible.

The final destination was a library. There's only one lacking book they wanted and it was the Bible. Since he didn't have the Bible anymore, he recited it while the other typed it.

Such great determination to fulfill his destination. The movie was such an encouragement. It has reminded me of the verses I posted recently, about Psalm 23...

though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me

The movie is a must watch. I want to see it again.

My husband and I are planning to go on a breakaway when he comes back from South Africa. We haven't decided where to yet. I can only imagine going to Florida and get orlando car rental so we can drive around the area, and maybe visit Disneyland too. But it's just a dream for now.

Maybe we can go to a cool place like Genting Highlands, or maybe Cameron Highlands. Wherever. I just know that we need to go somewhere else for a break. I am pretty sure we will have a very busy end-of-the-year holiday as we're planning to move out before the new year 2011 starts.

Well, I can just cross my fingers.

Do i still wanna lose weight? It seems that I have stopped trying already. Or maybe I still do but I lack the motivation to go on with it. What is wrong with me? I was doing really very well with Jillian Michaels workouts.

I need to bring back the momentum. Really. I can't go on like this.

I have a waist trimmer belt I won from uKimono media event I joined at a couple of months back. I know. I have started using it already. But I get one kind of tummy pain after doing it for 2 days. I am not sure whether it's from the belt or it's just an ordinary tummy ache. I didn't do today because of the pain. Will try again tomorrow and see if I still feel the pain in my tummy part.

Image: Belinda Chee handing me the uKimono waist trimmer belt.

I used to be an e-bay costumer. I have bought quite good buys. I bought a very good dining set for 45RM. The set included 8 of each dining plates, soup plates, cups and saucers and dessert plates. And the design was simple and yet elegant. Althought they're used, but still, they worth the buy.

Another good buy was the coffee table, made of teak wood. It was so heavy. I bought it for 250RM, only. I mean any furniture made of teak wood would be very expensive, right? And the funny thing was, upon check out, I realized that those two products I bid on and won had the same owner. Hehehe.

There were other things I bought but these two products were my favorite e-bay products.

It is so good that you can actually buy from online these days. You avoid the hassle of going around looking for the things that you like. Some would probably go to an online electronic cigarette store just to avoid the inconvenience of looking around for it, by car and foot. Hey, you only use your fingers and eyes, then voila! You can buy whatever you like, online!

But when I started getting broke because of my e-bay buying addiction, I had to stop. Since then, I only bought one item... which was a few months ago, a used book. I haven't read it yet. Gaaahh!

I do have a lot of scars on my face. When I was a teenager, I had a lot of breakouts that led to acne, that led to acne scars. You can definitely see the scars on my face. I didn't do any acne treatments back then. I was still a student and every penny I got would end up in school.

When I started using clinique products for my skin, somehow it made my skin smoother. But not totally smooth. The scars were still very much visible, especially when I didn't wear make up (foundation, concealer, etc).

Last month, when I went for a facial treatment, the beautician gave me a scar serum. That means I have been using it for almost a month now. But still, my scars are visible. Hmmm... Not sure whether it's really working. Will have to wait until I finish the scar serum to go back to my beautician for a follow up.

Holiday season is coming. It's going to be my kids' school vacation, (Thanksgiving for our American friends), Christmas, New Year and birthdays... The kids are asking me when we can put up our christmas decor again. But I guess with our plan to move out of this house, we will delay doing it. We're not sure yet when we can move house but I am sure it's going to be pretty soon. We need to move out before the next school year starts. That would be in January. It would be good to have the kids settled before going to school again.

So while others are busy getting ready for the holiday season, we are getting ready to move out.

But of course, I will make sure we still have a merry holiday season this year. :D

These past few days had been very very warm. I am not complaining though. In some parts of Asia, it's been raining cats and dogs. I mean I don't dislike rain, too. It's just that if it rains too much, then it can make you so immobile. That goes especially for me as I don't drive.

I am feeling sorry for my friend who is experiencing a flood in Lopburi, Thailand now. I really hope and pray the flood will subside soon.

Anyways, back to feeling warm... even with air conditioner on, it still feels warm. I was checking my travel photos and saw this photo of me while we did a short trip in South Korea.



Actually, we didn't plan to do so. We had to transit in South Korea on our flight from US to Malaysia. It was going to be a 10-hour transit. At the airport, we saw an advertisement for a 5-hour transit tour.

So instead of staying and resting -nevermind about the dark circles, we could find eye cream for dark circles later - we went for a 25$ 5-hour tour in Seoul, South Korea. And since we didn't experience snow in the US - I was quite disappointed with that because it only snowed the day after we left Atlanta - I was ecstatic with the idea of going out and experience snow in South Korea.

And now that I am feeling so warm, I wish I can go back to South Korea and experience yet again, the snow.

I guess when looking for supplements for diet, you should be able to know what you want first. Do you want to lose weight? Or do you want to build a muscle? Because two must be done differently.

You can't lose weight if you want to build muscles. In fact, you could use the best whey protein powder to build muscles. And if you do take that when you want to lose weight. Then there's a bad news for you. You definitely isn't going to lose any.

And so, if you want to lose weight, of course doing exercises (it goes without saying) and calorie reduction is good for you. If you want to build muscles, doing exercises plus certain types of food can be good for you.

I want to lose weight. But i also want a toned arm and tummy. Jillian Micheals workout and diet plans work the best for me. If only I am not too lazy to do them. :(

Do you have a wish you can get this Christmas? Some have already written their wish list. I don't have one yet. But if you asked me, do I want something luxury christmas gift for women? I may want to but I guess it won't make it to my top list.

My top list would include an island escapade. Alone or with friends. I know that I just need to go on a break. I have been juggling with work and kids and home stuff these days. I feel it's time to slow down a bit and get a breather.

An island escapade. Koh Lipe. Snorkeling. Book reading by the beach. Ahhhh... I hope to do that soon.

My son just graduated from kindergarten! I am so proud of him. Here's the video of him getting his certificate of completion from Q-Dees. What can I say? He's an accomplished boy, indeed.



Here's the Indian dance his class performed during the Q-Dees Concert 2010:



Congratulations, Schenker, for a job well done. No, excellently done. :D We, your dad and mom and sister Samantha love you and proud of you!

All the best on your new stage in life: your primary years.

In Malaysia, school year starts at the beginning of the year, January, and ends in October. My son has been going to kindergarten for 3 years now. We haven't regretted any moment of it. He has learned so much from kindy. He can now read books for juniors. If my memory serves me right, when I was his age now, I just started to learn how to read. My boy is such a good reader. I am so proud of him. He is also very good in Mathematics. Samantha hasn't been interested in reading. She's into drawing and writing. My boy hates writing. Hahaha!

Anyways, today is Q-dees Concert day... which means my son also will get his certificate of kindergarten completion.

At eleven months old. we entered him in a baby competition and he won the most energetic baby award. On his first year in kindergarten, he was chosen to do the class presentation speech (because he could talk) for the concert and he wasn't even 4 years old yet. And he likes to invent stuff by using some things in the house.

Now he's going to finish his kindergarten. Gosh... Soon I'm going to have a primary student in my house. I'm kind of nervous because they say education in Malaysia is quite tough. But thinking of where we're sending our boy for primary school calms my nerves.

I mean, when we send our kids to school, we don't only think of academic stuff for them, do we? We also think of their moral behavior and stuff like that. In an environment where it's easy to get peer pressure, all we could think of is sending him to a school where they emphasize simplicity.


Schenker @ 7 weeks - when he said his first "da." Did I tell you he can talk? LOL. He's unstoppable since then.

Schenker at 3 years 11 months (almost 4) doing his class presentation speech for Q-Dees Annual Concert.

The proud family.

Gosh. That was 2 years ago. Now he's leaving his kindergarten/prep years and entering his primary years. I am not sure whether it's worth getting something like Blue Cross Blue Shield NC for him. We haven't even gotten an educational plan for him yet. But of course, we have a life where we live one day at a time. I know his education is insured by the Father we serve. Amen.

Lord, I just thank you for being faithful to Schenker. Thank you for providing for all his needs all these years. And thank you for providing for his primary school education needs. I speak in faith. And Lord, may you continue to get the glory in my son's life till we all see you face to face. In Jesus' name. Amen!