Just wanna post images/photos of our Noche Buena and Christmas Brunch.
Malaysia is not really big on noche buenas (Christmas eve meal) but I like to carry on the tradition in my family even if it means it's just us. At exactly 12 midnight, USJ 19 mall in front of our housing area did some fireworks. The kids got so excited to see the fireworks.
We had sushis for Noche Buena. LOL. I know it does sound weird. But ham and cheese could wait the next day, for brunch.
The family usually have dinner on Christmas Day itself but since we were invited for a birthday dinner that day, we hosted brunch for the family. And as expected, brunch was at 2pm (instead of the proposed 11 a.m. It's always a bummer for me. I know I have to adjust to it... but...
I made up my mind so our day and my mood won't be affected. We celebrated Christmas at brunch with my immediate family, said a word of thanksgiving for Jesus Christ. After all, He is the essence of Christmas.
My in-laws came only at 2pm. I guess next time I invite them for a brunch, I should say it's going to be at 8am. Then if they come at 11 we can do it on time. LOL.
Well, anyways... at least I did the necessary with my family on Christmas day. It is really important that kids know the meaning of Christmas.
I hope everybody had a blast celebrating Jesus' birth.
Archive for December 2010
Our friend who picked us up from the KL Central station was telling us about his dog giving birth to puppies and did we want a puppy for ourselves? I though about it. I was glad the kids didn't hear the question, actually. Otherwise, they would be jumping up and down and pressure me to take the offer.
Actually there are just too many things to consider when you have pets. For our family, we travel a lot. We don't want to hassle people by just taking care of our dogs when we go out station. And also, what if nobody's around to take care of the dogs? We'll just decide not to go? That would be a KJ (kill joy) move already.
Also, we have to think about the food, dog medicine, comfort, etc. I am not even sure if we're required to do dog dna testing (?).
Dogs also need time. You have to walk them outside the house in certain time. I already have enough in taking the kids out for the park.
And so, to take or not to take a pet dog? I am definitely sure not to take the offer. But of course, I appreciate the gesture of thinking about offering it to us first.
image from: http://www.how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com/cartoon-puppy.html
Schenker started liking Thomas and Friends trains when he was 3 years old. So when we celebrated his 4th birthday, I did a Thomas and Friends themed party. Now that he's already 6 years old, you'd think that he already outgrew the train friends. But no, he's loving 'em even more.
He's got different dvd's of the Thomand and Friends stories. He's got different types of trains. Some of which he already disassembled, re-assembled, disassembled again. Some of the parts are probably lost. But he's still as fascinated as ever with the trains.
He got a collector's item recently. I hope he won't ask to collect them all. LOL.
Last month, when we sent my boy for a 3-day VBS (Vacation Bible School) or camp at one of the churches we knew, we decided to take her to a movie we knew she would love: Tangled. It's a story about Rapunzel, actually... the fairytale kind of story. It was so fun. We didn't watch the 3D version because I would usually get dizzy if I used the 3D glasses. We bought the couple seat or the love seat for the theater seating so Samantha had enough space for her to sit on.
The scene where there was light festival towards the end was hair raising. I had goosebumps galore. If you haven't seen the movie, you may want to do it now. It's worth watching. I would watch it again and again if I can.
I took this shot of Hatyai skyline from the 32nd floor of Lee Gardens Plaza. It's amazing to see most part of Hatyai from the top. This was the Hatyai where a couple of months ago, the water rose until 2 meters high. I wonder if there are a lot of metal buildings here, they would be rusted by now?
Nevertheless, this is to say that Hatyai has been one of those unforgettable places for me. I have shed buckets of tears during my first 3 months in Hatyai. I did struggle a lot, emotionally and financially. It was the most challenging time for me, to be in Hatyai with less support emotionally and financially. But in Hatyai, I saw how God never leaves His people. He just started pouring out blessings like never before. Like I always say, God's blessings come in mysterious ways. Sometimes, we have to wait... but He's never too late.
Everytime I go to Hatyai, I am always reminded by His faithfulness. I remember I made a deal with Him one morning when I was literally down on my face, crying out to Him. I had to apologize to Him a few years later after that. Whatever I said was out of desperation. But His will prevails.
God is amazing.
Today is boxing day. We met up with a friend named Fiona. But before that, we told the kids we were going to meet Aunty Fiona. Samantha asked whether Uncle Shrek was going to be there, too. LOL. It truly cracked me up.
Well, it seems like Malaysia is not really observing boxing day. There's not a lot of sale going on. Hehehe. Anyways, we didn't really plan to shop after we met with my friend. I was just curious. I guess in some other countries where they do boxing day sale, Baldwin hardware would be on sale too?
Anyways, the rest of boxing day we just spent in MPH bookstore where Schenker read one book and my girl got herself another Barbie drawing set.
I didn't really plan in doing something for noche buena (Christmas eve meal) but while we were shopping for our Christmas brunch (yes, I will be hosting a Christmas brunch for the family), I saw some sushis and craved for them. So I bought some and reserved it for noche buena.
I also didn't plan on decorating the house for Christmas but the kids had been urging me to do so. They even started decorating the house themselves. And so... I went ahead with it. Schenker was so happy. He'd always say: I always like the house decorated. Thanks Mommy!
And so, I am glad the kids forced me to decorate the house. Otherwise it would be plain brunch tomorrow.
So what's the menu for my Christmas brunch? Here's my list:
- English roast ham
- Roast beef
- eggs (sunny side up, omelet with mozzarella, scrambled eggs - depending on what my guests order)
- cheese ( cheddar, danish brie, jack pesto cheese, string cheese)
- garlic bread
- wholemeal toasted bread with peanut butter (for the boy) and chocolate (for the girl)
- fruits (apples, grapes, strawberries, oranges)
- (this reminds me I forgot to buy carrots and cucumber - arg!)
- unshelled walnuts (gives me a reason to use my nutcracker I bought at a 1 Dollar shop in the US early this year.
- fruit juice (malee pineapple juice, tangerine orange juice and tomato juice)
- English tea
- Vietnamese coffee
- a clean and cozy house. :) this explains the late night blogging.
With Christmas being commercialized nowadays, not everybody knows the real meaning of Christmas. There's a lot who miss out the essence of Christmas. And so many people associate Christmas with Santa Claus , gift-giving, shopping, family gathering, singing carols alone. Some of these are acts to commemorate Christmas. But sometimes, we can get too focused on the way of celebration than the why of the celebration.
And so, the full Christmas story is found in the Bible. But to make it easier for you, my beloved readers, here's the Full Christmas Story:
Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), God sent the angel Gabriel to a young women who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl's name was Mary and she was engaged to marry Joseph.
The angel Gabriel said to Mary: 'Peace be with you! God has blessed you and is pleased with you.' Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant. The angel said to her 'Don't be afraid, God has been very kind to you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will call him Jesus. He will be God's own Son and his kingdom will never end.' Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. 'Let it happen as God chooses.' She replied to the angel. Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth who everyone thought was too old to have children, would have a baby boy whom God had chosen to prepare the way for Jesus.
Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. Elizabeth was very happy to see Mary. She knew that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son. An angel had already told Zechariah that Elizabeth's baby would prepare people to welcome Jesus. He was to be called John. Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home to Nazareth.
Read the Full Christmas Story here:
When I opened my computer today, I noticed that my skype wasn't connecting. It's usually the first one to connect. So i thought I had a problem with my connected. I re-booted my wi-fi modem. But my skype wasn't connecting still.
When I opened my browser, it got connected to the internet because I could open pages. One of my friends in FB complained about skype. Then I realized it wasn't my connection that had problem but with skype.
They said skype is having an outage problem. The good news is that engineers at skype are creating new meganodes that would solve the problem. It's not that I am a regular user of skype. I don't use it much because my microphone is not working. I use it when my husband travels and we chat there.
Well, for all of you who are wondering what's happening with skype today, with the new meganodes being created as of now by skype engineers, the skype connection would go back to normal in a few hours time. Hang in there!
Everybody's setting goals for 2011. I haven't sat down and think about mine yet. We've been traveling the past couple of weeks. It has been a great family trip, doing Christmas parties for the less fortunate folks, putting smiles on the faces, visiting old places we knew before, meeting old friend and creating new ones. It truly was a great trip.
And now that we're home, it's time to sit down and reflect on what has transpired the whole year. Were expectations for 2010 met? What were our disappointments? What were the things that need improvements? So many thinks to ponder about for the year 2010.
And of course, for the year 2011, we need to set goals again. It's always great to have something to look forward to. Is setting up a business in one of those goals we have for 2011? Maybe, yes. Maybe, not. It won't be easy to set up a business. You need to think a lot of things. You would have to register your business and make Business Logo Design. These and more of things to do in order to set up a business. Then there's feasibility studies to do. Would it work? What's the target audience? Gaaahhh... just thinking about it overwhelms me already.
But one thing for sure, when we make a goal, make sure it is feasible and reachable. I may have to stay at home with kids when the hubs go for his trips or go with the husband and leave kids at home. Well, let us see. All I know is that we're making another big trip before year 2011 year ends.
One of the highlights my boy enjoyed doing while in the south of Thailand was to feed an elephant in Phuket. We didn't plan to do so but when we drove going to Karon Hillview Point, we passed by an elephant camp. We got so excited to see elephants so we stopped and one of our friends bought food for the elephant. My boy tried feeding the elephant and he was sooo happy.
After all the parties we did in Ranong for the Mokiens, we drove down to Phuket for a couple of days to just chill out with our friends. We were planning to just relax in Phuket so the spa thingy came up and was suggested. Our hotel was in the center of Hatyai town and along our block was Kim's Massage place. We checked it out and found it was cheap to do a 3-hour spa. Package A that included body scrub, aromatherapy oil massage and honey-cucumber facial treatment was only worth 1,350Baht (that's about 45US$), was worth going for so we went for it.
I like going for all these beauty treatment stuff and it's been a long time since I did my last one. I admit that in one point of my life, I thought of doing this kind of business.
Do you buy electrical or mechanical parts online? I guess with our technology nowadays, you can do that. I guess it would be convenient if you have an array of available parts that you can purchase online. It's good too because online shops is easy to find. And when you need to repair parts i.e. briggs parts, you can return to them and they can either replace or repair for you. I have read that they can even ship the parts on the same business day. You may contact customer service from 8:00 in the morning til midnight for 7 days a week.
My husband has been trying to contact this guy who rents a car. The guy has only Toyota Vios to spare. So I guess we're going to go around Phuket with a Vios car. :D Anyways, here in Phuket, it's easy to drive around. Gosh... I am so excited that once again, we can do this. It's actually quite cheap to rent that car. We only need to pay 1,200 Baht per day. That's about 40$. We only need to make sure it has car insurance and a full tank of gas and off we go!
I remember so well on how we spent time driving around when I was still living here and my boyfriend-then-husband-now would drive the jeep. It was quite exciting to use a jeep and cheaper too. But now with friends and kids, I guess we can't do that.
We have booked our hotel stay at Crystal Inn here in Phuket. My husband usually stays (along with the teams he would bring here) in this hotel that has contemporary furniture everytime he comes here. It's very cheap but they don't serve breakfast. It's okay though. Restaurants are everywhere. Just go outside and walking alongside the road, and just walk in to any Thai restaurant you can see and you can have a good Thai breakfast. Hmmmm.... what is a good Thai breakfast? I guess if it's Kanom Jin, it's good. Hehehe.
Anyways, we're staying here for a couple more nights. Today, our line up of things to do in Phuket is quite long. Our friends our excited. I just needed to come and check my online work in the lobby and off we go to... Phuket tourist spots!
I just got back to Phuket from Ranong. We are staying at Crystal Inn and the sad news is that, they don't have wi-fi internet access. And so I have to come down to the lobby and use their computer to check my facebook, my email and my online work. Notice the priority? LOL. I can actually use my laptop here. Just connect it to their network and I can access the internet. But I guess I don't want to do that.
Anyways, I have to use public computer for my work. I wish though that I have a real spy gear that I can use while I am using public computer. I don't want others to be monitoring my online activities. And if they do, I want to be able to know whether I am being spied on.
Anyways, it's always nice to be feeling safe while you're using the internet. One is always vulnerable to hackers even he is using private computer or private internet services. It's always best to safeguard your online activities by installing security camera or real spy gear.
It's also good to install some camera security for kids. You know when you're out of town and you leave your kids to nannies, it's good to have nanny cam, too. I have seen a lot of things some nanny does to kids these days being posted on youtube. I guess if you're into protecting your family and your privacy, it would be good to have all these.
We had to take a 2.5 hour-boat ride to Ko Phayam where the other sea gypsies live. We had to take a ferry ride to Ko Payam at first because of some complications with the arrangements but had to take the boat ride from Ko Phayam all the way straight to Ranong to go back to our ministry home base.
The boat was small. I really prayed for good weather. Traveling on a small boat for 2.5 hours with kids is different than when they're not with you. Thank God for the smooth weather. There were not a lot of waves. Oh well, we did check some insurance quotes for us... so why worry? LOL. Anyways, I should say, God was with us, why fear? I guess that's more like it.
Samantha slept halfway through. Schenker was really enjoying the boat ride he didn't give in to a wink.
The Mokens are a sea gypsies of Thailand. Well, they're sea farers but over the years, they have settled on the Andaman islands. After the tsunami hit in 2004, there has been a community development among them by Christian organizations. Before the tsunami, they were very adversed to the people trying to help them.
Now, you can see a lot of developments within the community. My husband overseas a community development project for them. He goes in once a month. This time, because the kids are on school vacation, we decided to come with my husband.
We did Christmas parties on 2 different islands, on Ko Rhao and Ko Phayam. It's just so priceless to see the smiles on their faces.
When you get to the island, you would wonder what they would care. They live in such a simple lives. While we people who live on a mainland, developed and developing places, we busy ourselves with trying to do more and get more and even get the best life insurance online while these sea gypsies are just trying to live their lives one day at a time.
We were talking about it yesterday, how simple their lives are and how we're so "fortunate" to living our lives the way we do... and if these people are less happier than us. I didn't think so. They might not have everything but they also don't know they can have a lot of things. They don't miss anything.
But it's just great to see the smile on their faces when we did the Christmas program for them.
When my Samantha was still a toddler, at around 2 and 3 years of age, she didn't like wearing skirts and dresses. She would always want to wear pants and short pants. I almost got worried about it. And to think that I was too excited to buy her pretty dresses but she wouldn't wear them. But just before she turned 4, she started liking dresses. I am happy coz I see a lot of nice dresses to buy for her.
I know, from younger time, she would do her own mixing and matching of clothes. I guess she's just into fashion as she knows which dress to match which shoes. LOL. Either she would make a good fashion designer or fashion consultant, of not a fashion model. LOL. I am though she would get into more serious career like being doctor, or a Mesothelioma lawyer, or an engineer or even an architect. But like what I always, whatever career she would get into in the future, I'll be here giving all my support. It goes the same with my boy.
I received another media launch invite and this time it's from Robot Sushi. Apparently, they are opening their branch in One Utama mall where you can also find point of purchase displays. I had to give the media launch invite because I am still out of the country. I wished they had their opening when I am in Malaysia. But having all my experience here in Thailand, doing Christmas parties for the Moken group of people make it all worthy to miss other important stuff.
I hope to get more media invites next year. It's really fun to attend one as they usually have free goodies to give away to media people.
I have a new phone and I am excited! What happened to my htc desire hd my friend gave me a few months ago? Well, I didn't know but it just turned blank and I couldn't use it anymore. I went to a service center and they told me I'd have to pay 500RM (about 150$US) to get it fixed. But no, thanks, I thought. It's really not worth fixing it with that much amount. So, again, I didn't have phone for many months now.
My husband bought a cheap phone last month because the battery of his phone died off and he had to have a phone for emergency use. But after a week, he changed the battery so now, I am the new owner of that cheap phone. And I am using it while in Thailand, with my own Thai contact number. Isn't that cool? No? Oh well... LOL.
We took a van to Ranong from Phuket. We usually rent a van just to send us to Ranong. It would be difficult for us take a public transportation as we usually carry so many things from Malaysia to give out to people. It's not cheap to rent a van... but what do we expect. It's 5 hours away from Phuket. I wonder how much it would cost if we rent Polaris ATV instead? LOL.
Anyways, when we get back to Phuket, we're going to rent another car to take us around Phuket Island. I am excited for this trip as this is going to be Samantha's first time to visit and go around Phuket.
I am already thinking on what to eat while in Phuket.
Kanom jin, perhaps? Or maybe, kanom jin? What about Kanom jin? LOL. Can you tell I like Kanom jin so much? Kanom jin is a rice noodles that would go with nam yaa (fish sauce) It's quite spicy but since I love it, I just prepare cold drinks to ease the burning sensation.
Oh well, since this post is all about transportation, I'm not going to post a photo of kanom jin. Maybe, on the next post I will. It will surely make you drool.
We started telling our kids we would go with daddy for one of his Thailand trip, to visit the Mokens after their birthday celebrations. We kept it before their parties so that they would get a different excitement for the trip.
And when we told them, they asked us how we're going there. So we told them we're going to fly. It has been a long time since they haven't been in a plane so they were very excited. They chose what they wore on that day. I guess if they had dereon they would wear it too.
When we landed in Phuket, that was on Monday, we waited quite a bit for our ride to Ranong. But my husband bought them some games to play with so they entertained themselves with the puzzle game while waiting.
I am so happy that I can, again, wear my old and yet my favorite sari. The blouse had been too tight for me after the preggy days and had been impossible to wear the last couple of years.
And so, upon learning that my husband's cousin was going to get married at the end of the year, I decided on wearing a sari. My first sari which my brother-in-law bought for me from Indian (worth 30RM only), and has been my favorite sari came into my mind. I though if I could wear that sari on the wedding ceremony, I would be happy.
And so while others were probably using md clear to clear their faces of acne, I started using South Beach diet plan (which my friend Josiet so willingly shared) one week before the wedding. And I am happy enough to see the result:
Me wearing my favorite red sari with my girl wearing her first ever purple Lengha:
I have posted recently about our cousin's wedding, which will be on Saturday. My husband, as a first cousin, first son, first grandson in the family, was asked to propose a toast for the dinner.
So now, we're trying to prepare a speech for the toast.
How do you actually propose a toast?
I have been to many functions and see how people propose a toast. The best toasts I have heard so far are those that are brief, witty, sincere, and to the point.
I guess when you make a toast, you have to make sure you get everybody's attention. But I also believe that in wedding dinners, especially here in Malaysia, the emcee would announce the wedding toast so you don't need, as a toastee, to do that.
Steps on proposing a toast:
1. You may stand up, briefly introduce yourself, how you're related to the honoree.
2. You may say a line or two, just to say something about the honoree. Make it witty or funny, or dramatic... depending on you, what you want to achieve: Do you want to make a speech that can make people teary-eyed? Or do you want them to laugh? It's all yours.
3. Make sure your speech doesn't include personal jokes, even if you're very close to the person.
4. Raise your glass and make 3 wishes. If possible, make it easy for the guests to follow the wishes.
5. Sip the wine... and don't drink it at once!
6. In Chinese culture, everybody will say... Yammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... Sennnnnnnnggggggg!!!!! The longer you can say that, the better.
7. Enjoy the rest of the time clinking and clanking your wine glasses!
If you are so into photography, you would know that Canon has a range of lens that you can use. With the Christmas season fast approaching, we just want to preserve memories with the people we love. And what's better way to do it than by taking photographs of that moment?
Every photograph has a story to tell. And so when you're a photographer, you make sure that you capture all those special moments and take them in different perspectives and angles as well.
You can add more effect by changing your lens. When you change your lens, you change the story as well.
Check out this Canon EF lens range:
Our cousin who is getting married on Saturday just called my husband, asking a favor if Samantha could walk and carry something for the bride, please? I am excited with the idea... but I am also panicky.
We don't have a proper dress for that occasion for her yet. And we haven't told her yet. I am not sure whether she could do it.
Anyways, we went to Klang this afternoon to look for e Lengga for her. Glad we found one on our first stop. It's quite cute on her, actually. I bought some accessories for her too. :D
Me? I'll stick to the old fashioned saree costume. I love it. I don't mind wearing sari in any occasion.
I may have written about this but one can never write often enough, especially when it comes to health awareness. There has been cases of Mesothelioma and the number one cause for it is the exposure to asbestos fiber. The tricky part is that the signs and symptoms of mesothelioma only appear a few years later. So if you're out of your previous job which exposed you to asbestos fibers, it would be hard to pinpoint the cause.
And also, exposure to asbestos is quite bad as it can affect even those who are washing your clothes (that's also been exposed to that type of fiber). Really, it would have been nice if the people were fore-warned. Then they would have a choice take on the job.
But of course, there are companies outthere that could help you solve that problem. You just need to do a research and people will come to help you out, especially to claim a lawsuit against exposure to asbestos.
But really, since there are many people that are already affected by it, I hope that they would stop using asbestos fiber in the manufacturing companies. Or better yet, ban those companies that operate with asbestos.
Peter at Universal Studious in Hollywood, LA, California.I watched “My Best Friend’s Wedding” like a zillion times.!!! I absolutely loved the movie. Loved the Julia Robert’s wittiness. When Janet & I were walking on the streets of LA, we were hoping we would bump into her. We actually saw the location the movie was filmed. You would remember, in the opening scene, Julia walks into a hotel for crème Brule tasting, I think it was on Rodeo Street – we saw the hotel where the movie was filmed. We got so excited, and took lots of photos on that street. I enjoyed her personality in the movie. She was a food critic journalist .
Funny, we were visiting Universal Studios, and Janet saw a poster of her, and quickly got me to pose a photo with her. We even took a photo of her ‘star’ at the Walk of Fame!
Janet at Rodeo Drive
I am a coffee drinker and I like going to Starbucks and/or Coffee Bean. I love the environment and the drinks, of course. I would usually go for the frapuccinos. I love the sandwiches in Coffee Bean.
Starbuck’s tagline intrigues me – “CREATE COMMUNITY. MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE’S DAY”. It’s interesting to know that their goal is to create environments that connect people together so significantly that it has the power of changing the quality of our lives.
It’s amazing how a simple commodity like coffee can promote connections!
Wish life is a STARBUCKS experience everyday, where people would find time to connect and love.
Indeed building relationships is like investing in gold. There's always treasure in it good relationships.
And speaking of investing in gold, when you buy gold coins now, it's the best time to do so while there is still economic breakdown. Since the beginning of time, men has had an affinity for gold or silver bullion. I guess investing in gold is practiced because of its attribute to preserving men's wealth and purchasing power.
Invest in gold. Create a community. Make a difference in someone's life today.
I was looking at some photos in my friend's photo album in facebook with my girl when we spotted some photos with snow. In other countries, it already started snowing. When Samantha saw the photos, she looked me in the eye and asked: Mamu, can I go to the snow too? Those asking eyes...
And so, I told her she can, just start praying God will send us again somewhere there's snow. And suddenly, it occurred to me we could actually experience snow in Genting Highlands where they set up one big roomfull of snow.
It's just funny that a few of my friends on facebook are publicly wishing for toro snowblower to make it easy for them to go outside.
Anyways, one of the days, if my husband won't be too busy, we will take the kids to Genting Highlands to experience snow again.
My sister and I were chatting and I casually mentioned that I wanted to do zen, not literally though. She commented that it's a challenge to de-clutter ones mind. Actually, when I said zen, I just wanted to de-clutter my house. I guess when everything in your environment is organized, you would feel at peace and relaxed, too. And so, for me, zen starts from de-cluttering your home environment.
I started clearing up our store room no. 1. It was truly a success. Today, I started clearing and cleaning the store room no. 2. It's not actually a store room, it's just a vacant room downstairs and because it's vacant, I tended to dump things inside until things started piling up.
This reminds me to check whole house water filter because the last few days, I've been noticing a discoloration on our water. I guess we need to replace our filter system already.
And so, tomorrow, I'll continue on with my project: Zen.
This is my second day of my South Beach Diet. I am feeling good, so far. I always feel full. I wonder why. I was expecting to feel light-headed for the first three days at least. But today is my second day of the diet and I still feel so energetic... too energetic I end up cleaning the house almost the whole day. :) So what's on my dinner plate tonight?
I roasted beef (well done) with black pepper sauce (of which I bought from weight watchers' aisle in Carrefour), baked cauliflower and broccoli with cheese on top, fresh raw lettuce and cucumber sticks. I am loving my dinner. It's so healthy. That's one thing we need to invest to.. to have healthy body and healthy lifestyle.
It's like investing in gold bullion. You can surely use it on rainy days. In fact, it has been used for ages to preserve wealth and purchasing power. And so, people would invest on precious metals like gold and/or silver.
My previous post about posting cartoon character on your profile made me reminisce my childhood years. We didn't start watching TV until I was 8 years old... Even then we didn't own one. We would go to our neighbor's house to watch TV. I would remember standing outside our neighbor's house, peeking through their window just to watch TV. I guess we only had TV later when I was 10 years old.
My father could have afforded it earlier, but he's such a music freak. The first thing he bought us was a 4-speaker National stereo. Ha! It was the talk of the town then. My father would lend it for the company's events. So we would do disco dancing for our barangay's (village) events using our stereo system. Hehehe.
And so, back to our tv time, before we owned one, I would spend my time playing outside. And even if we already owned one... I could still have time to do my favorite childhood activities:
Playing in the rain.
Climbing trees. I was caught once by my teacher and I got spanking after that.
Running on a grassfield going home time after school.
Bathing in the river - usually with family and friends.
Playing pretend games. I would usually pretend play to be a nun. Yes, I know, shocking, right? LOL.
Play hide and seek, catch me if you can, Chinese garter, etc.
And so when you ask me who's my favorite childhood cartoon character, I am so sorry but I couldn't come up, not even one.
Of course, with my children, it's different now. Samantha would probably say she likes Barbie. Schenker would say he likes Ben 10. But it doesn't mean they spend all their time watching TV. I make sure they get to experience being children. I let them play in the rain. We go swimming - although not in a river (we went river swimming once in Hulu Langat though) but in a pool. We go to the park and let them play and run there. I would let Schenker visit his best friend in the afternoon after his nap and encourage his friends to come and visit us too.
I love my childhood days. It warms my heart to reminisce those times.
I hope my kids would say the same thing when they grow up too.
