Christa's many faces!

Christa shows us her reserved side, monkey face, pursed lips and snarling tiger face. All done during her play in the swimming pool!

Swiss-Garden Golf Resort & Spa Damai Laut

Grandpa took all of us for a holiday at Swiss-Garden Golf Resort & Spa Damai Laut last weekend. We were kinda sorry we could not bring Benedict along but we had our hands full taking care of Clarissa and Christa.

We started off from Kuala Lumpur at 2.30pm and took the coastal roads via Meru, Kapar, Teluk Intan, Sitiawan and finally, reaching our destination.

What did we do?
1. We visited the pasar tani next to Giant Hypermarket (1 hour).
2. Took off to the beach the next morning for a long walk while looking for clam and hermit crab shells (1 1/2 hours)
3. The girls spent sometime in the pool splashing the water all over (1 hour)
4. Went shopping at Giant and had KFC XXL Burger and Original Recipe Dinner Plate
5. Visited Teluk Batik and had coconut water there!
6. Ate at Lido Restaurant and Oasis Restaurant - for delicious Oyster Omelette and Mee Suah!

We brought along some insect repellant for the sandfly on the beach but forgot to bring sunscreen lotion. Christa had a mild fever due to prolonged exposure to the sun but the cocunut water at Teluk Batik helped.

Useful links:
Getting there and Map

Mommy spots a new look

Now that she has booked her new car Mommy gets a new look! "How do I look", asked Mommy. I forgot to be nice and told her the truth. "Not nice! What happened to your long hair?", I answered. Anyway, like some guys I would prefer her shoulder length hair. But that's just no way to talk to the most important woman in my life.

"I thought you'd like the change", she said. Hmmmm,.... thinking about it now,... maybe the change would be good. But,... I still prefer the straight long hair! So,... I shall have to wait for another few months unless she decides to cut it even shorter. Hehe! Wait till I have my haircut!!!

Interesting links:
The hairstyler
Visual Makeover
UK Hairdressers
How to style hair

Awakening

Benedict seems to have his biological clock set off an alarm for feeding at 6.00am every morning. It has become almost second nature to me to just pop into his room to check out whether he is hungry, wet or stuck in an uncomfortable position. At least, I am quite happy that he doesn't empty his bowels first thing in the morning like Christa.

After changing his diapers, he doesn't seem to want to sleep anymore even after his first feed. He goes along making sounds trying to communicate with Mommy and I (if we managed to sleep well the night before) and looks like he has no problems at all in life. It's a really good cheer for the morning for all of us (even the girls, Clarissa and Christa started to wake up earlier to have a small chat with him!).

Photo: Benedict sitting quietly waiting for Mommy to send him to the baby-sitter

Malaysia Decides: 2008 General Elections

This 8th of March will be the 3rd time I will fulfill my duty as a responsible citizen of my beloved country, Malaysia. I find it quite interesting that I have been voting at different polling stations in different places of the country each time.

1st: Gelang Patah, Johor (1999)
2nd: Somewhere near Kukup, Johor (2004)
3rd: Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur (2008)

Where are you registered?

Better check out earlier if you have not. I checked as I wanted to find out whether I would still be voting in Johor which I didn't mind. It would give me an excuse to visit my Pontian friends. You can check out your polling station at http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/.

Why vote?

I was surprised that some of my colleagues have never voted in their lives. They didn't think their votes would count?!!! I suppose they shouldn't complain about how the country is run if they didn't cast their votes. Besides, my grandfather voted when he was in his seventies and had difficulty walking. So there's really no excuse not to vote. So, let's make that one vote count! Clarissa (see photo) would say,.... "Daddy, do the right thing!".

If you want to get reliable news on the elections, try this news blog.



Interesting links:
Election Process in Malaysia
Election Act and Regulations
Latest Election News from the Star
US Elections 2008
Political Polarisation

Chinese New Year with my nieces

Grandpa brought us all to Genki-Sushi with my brother-in-law, my sister and her 2 girls. The girls did everything as a group while grinning at each other. Clarissa and Nadia shared an Udon while Christa ate Sushi (without the wasabi sauce). After some time all the children grew horns (see photo) and did their own thing.









The wooden swing at Home Fix-it was very useful as the children were all exhausted and had to rest their aching limbs. Nothing beats the old fashioned swing while enjoying some Ribena and Jackfruit cuts.

Did anyone notice Clarissa and Christa's new shoes? Mommy and I got them from the Padini Outlet at the Curve. Seemed to fit pretty well and looked beautiful in those feet!

Chinese New Year Decorations 2008

Eggs and Toast for Breakfast

Both Clarissa (4+yrs) and Christa (2+yrs) will never refuse half-boiled eggs with toast during breakfast. It would put them in a good mood for the rest of the day in case we are planning for a 'marathon' shopping at One Utama or Midvalley Megamall. Just make sure the egg shell is clean and they don't overcook the yolk or undercook the egg (see Salmonella).

We keep the beverage drink (e.g. milo or tea) till the end and just offer them their drinking water. This would ensure that they would eat and not just fill up their stomach with drink. They love 'Ipoh white coffee' but we try not to allow them to take more than a sip or two.

Interesting Links:
American Egg Board
Egg Recipes

Happy Valentine's Day Mommy!

It's 1 am last night and we were awake taking a peek at Christa and Clarissa to ensure that they are comfortably asleep. Valentine's Day to me means that I would need to know that it's love that would keep us strong together as a family. And love overcomes all things and supports the weaker partner in times of disheartenment or discouragement. Love makes all things happen! I love you Mommy!

Jumper: Anywhere is possible

I took leave to take my my Citroen Picasso for routine 15,000km service at Brooklands. The mechanics did a good job completing the service by 2pm and I thought I'd just see whether the movie "Jumper" was featuring today in my favourite cinema, Damansara Cathay Cineleisure. Mommy and I got Grandma to babysit Clarissa, Christa and Benedict for the night and set our pre-Valentine's Day mood. Finally, we got to watch the movie we were waiting for, alone!

The movie was about a 'normal' teenager called David Rice who had a crush on his classmate, Millie. He decided to surprise her with a crystal ball gift and was apprehended by a bully who snatched it away from him. To his dismay, the bully threw it onto a frozen river by the school. Despite the persuasion of his friends, David walked down the frozen lake to retrieve the ball. As he was returning, the frozen ice gave way sending David spiralling into the icy waters. He tried in desparation to reach the surface but he could not break the ice. Suddenly, he found himself in the alley of Ann-Arbor Library (he had jumped or teleported). After returning home late due to the distance he had to walk home, his drunken father went into a rage. He then 'jumped' himself back into the library to escape his father only to 'jump' home shortly. It was then that he decided to leave his dad in his mother's footsteps (His mother, Mary, left home when he was 5 years old).

Curious with what he could do, he decided to perfect his teleporting skills inluding visiting various tourist attractions, entering into bank vaults illegally and going shopping (to pay for his bills). His 'jumps' were followed closely by Roland who was after 'jumpers'. He even had to fight off Roland despite being stunned by futuristic Tazer guns.

After 8 years, he decided to look for his first love, Millie and found her working as a bar-hostess. He swept her off to Rome where they had an intimate moment (sexually explicit). During the unauthorised visit to the Colesseum, David met another 'jumper' called Griffin. Griffin educated him about 'Jumpers' (a special being with powers to teleport themselves) and 'Paladins' (a breed of cunning, religious extremists whose main passion is to see 'jumpers' dead). Griffin ends up killing two 'paladins' who came to kill them. A tourist guide witnessed the killing and alerts the police. David was caught and interrogated by the police. He soon frees himself from the police and gets Millie onto the plane back to Detroit.

Roland decides to kill David's father and kidnap Millie. Upon finding out that his father is dead, David urges Griffin to team up with him to kill Roland. Sensing that they would be ambushed if they tried to rescue her, Griffin refused. In a fight to change his mind, Griffin ends up getting trapped in an electricity grid.

Sure enough the love-struck David returned to save his girlfriend only to be struck by multiple Tazer nets trapped to the wall and ceiling.

You need to watch this movie to find out how it ends. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loved the Matrix or Highlander. You'll find it just as special effects entertaining although some critics say there isn't much of a story line. I believe there could be a sequel to it too!


Rating: U (although there are some action violence, some language and brief sexuality)
Running time: 1Hour 29 minutes
Starring: Hayden Christensen (David); Jamie Bell (Griffin); Rachel Bilson (Millie); Diane Lane (Mary); Samuel L. Jackson (Roland).
Directed by: Doug Liman; written by David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls and Simon Kinberg, based on the novel by Steven Gould; photographed by Barry Peterson; edited by Don Zimmerman, Dean Zimmerman and Saar Klein; music by John Powell; production design by Oliver Scholl; visual effects supervised by Joel Hynek; produced by Kinberg, Arnon Milchan, Lucas Foster and Jay Sanders.

Lion Dance at JW Marriot Kuala Lumpur

We were at the JW Marriot Kuala Lumpur yesterday and the children had an exciting time watching the Lion Dance performance at the grand entrance. VVIPs were ushered in by the whole staff of the hotel with a big "Gong Xi Fa Cai". We too had the opportunity of being treated with the special touch of JW Marriot hospitality.


Clarissa was afraid of the 'lion' as the sound of wooden drums and brass cymbals resounded in the whole vicinity to usher in the 'good-fortune'. Christa shook the hands of the masked performers with a chinese fan and even touched the head of the 'lion'. No Chinese New Year could be complete without the lion dance!

Yee Sang to usher in the Year of the Rat!

This year's Chinese New Year reunion dinner was different and somewhat special. Both Mommy and I had difficulty keeping ourselves awake as we were busy attending to Benedict the previous night. We had my brother and his wife join us. Grandma had a part-time domestic helper to help clean up the house and even assist in preparing the sumptuous meal. I did almost nothing.

One of the highlights of the reunion dinner was the Yee-Sang. I thought it looked different as we had jelly-fish instead of salmon. I was quite happy to stir up the 'words of encouragement' as we wished everyone in the family a happier and more successful year! I must say that I missed my sister and her family members.

Grandpa was a superb head of the house and host as he dished out the refreshments, coffee and finger food. I wish we had more times like these to catch up with each other while listening to some words of wisdom from Grandpa and Grandma.

Crime-Free Chinese New Year?

I picked this up from the Star today and thought those who are staying in Petaling Jaya could use the information. After what happened to Mommy last year, I am in the mood to prevent crime along with my neighbours. I am sure we're all more careful when we go to the bank to collect 'new' notes for the 'Ang-Pow'. Those who are hosting open houses would probably get some help from RELA or security companies to ensure that there are no attempts to rob the host and guests. Meanwhile, we will be hoping that the security guards at our condominium are attentive and faithfully guarding our apartments.

Some of my tips if you are leaving home for 'balik-kampung' are:
1. Cancel your newspaper deliveries
2. Have a automated timer device to on the house lights, radio or TV in the night
3. Inform your neighbours and the neigbourhood police station to keep a look-out
4. Have your neighbour or friend (trusworthy) come over to check on your house and feed your dog! (and as for me it's the fish in my aquarium!)
5. Call your neighbour to check on your house from time to time
6. Check your doors and gates to ensure that they are locked before leaving
7. Ensure that your alarm systems (ADT) and CCTV are activated and in working order.

The Rakan Cop Hotline is 03-2052 9999 or SMS POLISSEL to 32728.

We have to help each other to prevent crime and not expect the police to be doing all the crime-watch for us. We are thankful to the government that they are beefing up the police force with more staff, better training and more stations and beat-bases.

Interesting links:
Royal Malaysian Police Website
Prevention of Break-Ins (Pecah Rumah)