Facebook Manners & You

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Goodbye to 2 great icons

Being a late riser and even later news reader, I found out about the deaths of 2 icons of the entertainment world quite late. And the person who informed me of all people was our old cable guy who translated the news in Chinese to Malay for me.

While the world was pouring tremendous grief for the loss of Michael Jackson, I was equally stunned by the the original Charlie's Angels, my style icon of the late 70's, early 80's - Farah Fawcett. She lost her battle to cancer at the age of 62.

I still remember during my early years how I longed to have her haircut. You know what I mean, the trademark look which was fluffy with lots of flip and was created with hot rollers.
At the time, I didn't know what hot rollers meant, but I knew the hairdryer. I tried in vain to blowdry my hair so that it resembled Farah's hair. It was a lost cause though. My mum was still hanging on to her idol and cut our hair like her cool style icon - The Beatles.

And I still tried to do the Farah Fawcett. Failed.

And it didn't end there. This attachment of my mum continues today with the 2nd generation in our family.

My niece, Marianne (Anne Anne)

Hmmm, when Poppy "pops" out of me, I'll have to leave STRICT instructions with my mum that when she's babysitting NOT to cut Poppy's hair.

The sudden death of Michael Jackson at age 50 due to cardiac arrest shocked the world and overshadowed Farah Fawcett's death. He was suppose to perform at a final string of 50 concerts in London starting next month. Hmmm, 5050 - there's a number for those 4-digit addicts out there.

My growing up years in Plymouth, England were filled with his hits Billy Jean, Beat It, Bad, and Thriller. I remember that all we could talk about in school was if we saw his latest video on Top of the Pops, did we tape his video on tv, how cool was his dance move, let's try out some of his moves, did anyone buy his tape yet, how great it would be to have a red jacket like his, do you think he has a girlfriend.
Through the 80's, 90's and new millennium, we've seen how his music has evolved from rebellious, that of horror to messages of peace and care for our world.

The later part of his life was filled with scandals and questionable behaviours. There was also the issue of his own evolution with all the plastic surgeries to make him look "different", the drugs and treatments he's been taking to drown his loneliness, pain and sorrow.

It really didn't matter whether he was a controversial figure or not, psychologically troubled or not, black or white, there is no doubt that the King of Pop continued to have followers worldwide. His contribution to both the music and entertainment industry is historical and shall remain so.

Never thought I could.

But I did.

As I was nursing my bad back ache over old episodes of SATC, it occurred to me that I am lucky in a way in that I haven't put on tremendous weight for this pregnancy. Yet.

Sure, I lost a few kgs due to my horrid mourning sickness. But I also gained 2kgs in the past month. My last weigh in was 56kg at 17 weeks pregnancy. Seeing that I was 61 kg this time last year (not pregnant then, just chubby!), I think I'm doing pretty well.

As I was watching the ladies of SATC bitching about their love lives or lack of it, I suddenly remembered the tub of ice-cream in the freezer that my husband bought the other night.

I hit the pause button on the DVD remote and made my way to the fridge. I surprised myself at how quickly I was able to pick myself off the sofa in spite of the pain in my back. I then waddled back to the sofa to continue the big drama on TV.

Soon, shock replaced my pride because in just over 5 minutes, I gobbled a whole tub of Baskins & Robbins Very Berry Strawberry!Ooops, soooory darling. Your ice-creams finished. Poppy needed something to eat. (Easy to blame the kid!)

It's just so hilarious!

I was on facebook this morning and my cousin Viola shared a video file of a Korean Boy singing "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey. Out of curiosity, I searched for other files on Youtube for his performances and found these. Enjoy:

We Went!

Just a very short post this time. Oh YES! We went to the 3rd KK Jazz Festival and loved it! Janet (extreme left) and I went for both nights (Fri & Sat), whereas Amy and Rosie (centre) went for the 1st night only. (Thanks Rosie for the photo!)

Overall, the festival was great. I liked Jonathan Tse, Six2Eight, Double Take, Youn Sun Nah.

Poppy was kicking away in my belly that evening... or was that bogie-ing away? At least we know Poppy was wide awake for the music!

We managed to bump into JCI KK and Intan friends there, plus my ex Informatics students and ex classmates. It was so nice to catch up with them even though only for a brief period. Will we be going again next year? Most probably yes.

Right now, we're planning to find ways to attend the KK International Folklore Festival next week. Oh yes, our little Poppy is gonna be "cultured". He he he!

Life is but full of challenges!

During the last school holidays, my 7 year old nephew Adam spoke to me about the many challenges that we have to go through in life. Amongst the challenges he had just gone through he said were:

• he just got his jab (injection) in school
• cuts and bruises from his falls
• having to deal with his naughty sister (Avie), because of whom I pulled out from allowing any of them to play at Boo Boo Land in 1Borneo

Then he said, all these challenges are given to us by God. And that we must face these challenges so that we'd be stronger to handle bigger challenges later on in life. Hmmm, wise words from a young fella.

When he returned to Sandakan last week, his father went to pick up his (Adam's) report card for his recent exam. When the father came back, Adam excitedly ask his father, "Did I get No 1?!!"

The father turned to him and said, "Adam, you got No 40." No 40 out of 50 in class! Needless to say, Adam was shocked, disappointed and screamed as if it was the end of the world.

Later on, I called him to try and console him. After all, I knew his results were not that bad. Yes, he failed 1 subject but he also scored A and Bs for all his other subjects.

By the end of our talk, Adam said, it's ok because there's going to be another big exam before Christmas and vowed to work even harder to make sure that he'll bounce to the top 5 in class. Good for him.

Now, if I can only find a way to explain to him that rankings are not so important. It's more important to learn and understand better, and to improve on the grades.

Can we?

It's on again this year. Yeah! I attended the 1st jazz festival back in 2007, but missed out on the 2nd one last year because I was overseas.

So how about it this year? It all depends if hubby gets tickets. Hint hint darling: it would be nice to go!

Tickets are RM50 (free seating) or RM100 (designated seating). Both type of tickets allow for 2 nights access to the festival.

The programme for the two nights are:

Day 1 programme – Friday 19 June 2009
7.30 – 8.10 pm : SIA Jazz Syndicate (Kota Kinabalu)
8.20 – 9.00 pm : Jonathan Tse (Kota Kinabalu)
9.10 – 9.50 pm : Six2Eight (Kuala Lumpur)
10.00 – 10.40 pm : Son2nos (United Kingdom)

Day 2 programme – Saturday 20 June 2009
7.30 – 8.00 pm : SIA Kudos (Kota Kinabalu)
8.10 – 8.40 pm : Rimba (Kota Kinabalu)
8.50 – 9.30 pm : Double Take (Kota Kinabalu)
9.40 – 10.30 pm : Nah Youn Sun (Korea)
10.40 – 11.20 pm : Jun Kung and the Junk Unit featuring Eugene Pao (Hong Kong)

Poppy's Hiding Something

So I just came back from my doc's appointment.

Again, my nightmare replayed in my mind as I was waiting for my turn.

Finally my name was called and my doctor was there waiting for me with his cheerful smile.

Blood pressure: 110/70 (Good)
Weight: 56kg (Up 2 kg in the last 4 weeks. Good)

Next, the scan. Hmmm, Poppy has grown - remember the "balloon" he/she was in, now it's nearly full! We can see long legs, long chubby arms, big head, heart beating.

Then my question to my doctor. Can we tell if Poppy's a girl or boy? Doc say, actually yes. But, it all depends on the baby's mood. Well, I can tell you that today, Poppy's mood is this:

In the mood to hide his/her "thingy". Today of all days!

Presenting Mada

So this is Mada, another of my nephew's latest birthday present.

It was given to Adam on his 7th birthday by my brother's friend. Adam was so happy to receive the bunny. I asked him what he was going to name it and he said, "Wait, I'm going to think about it first." Moment's later he came up to me and said, "Mada." I asked him why, I mean it's such a weird name. Adam said he liked it.

Next morning, I realised a possible reason. I approached Adam and asked, "Is it because MADA is ADAM reversed?". To which Adam, "Uiyooooo, pandai oh Tity Yummy! Yes!!!!"

Yes.

Unfortunately, Mada couldn't be brought back to Sandakan with Adam because the cage was too big and it was a long journey by road. So, who gets to be caretaker here? U-huh, Adam's grandparents!

I'm Having TWINS?!

I had a really weird dream last night.

I've been very excited about meeting my obstetrician for my checkup and have another look at Poppy.

I entered the clinic and my Doc asks me to lie down as he takes a scan of my ever expanding belly. Excitedly, I asks him if we can find out if Poppy's a girl or a boy.

My Doc looks at me and say, "Hmmm, I think you'd be more excited with what I'm about to tell you. It looks like you're having twins!"

WHAT?! I look at the screen and yes, there were two figures there. Can't really make them out, but definitely 2 babies. I asked the doctor to print out the scan as I wanted to show to my husband later on. This is what the printout looked like:
I asked the doctor for another print out because I wanted the full figures, not just the eyes. So here's what came out:Haaaaa?! Two monkeys hanging out?!

It was then I heard my husband call out, "Darling, get up. Time to go upstairs." I've fallen asleep on the sofa in our living room. As I walked up the staircase to our bedroom, I kept on thinking where I saw the image before. Oh yeah, it was in one of our corporate training slides. I searched my computer, and sure enough, it was there alright:
Reminder to self: Do not look or observe at funny/weird photos too much.

Of Kaamatan & School Holidays

Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) this year was pretty much the same as previous years coinciding with the school holidays and all. There was the birthday celebrations of our little May monsters ie nieces and nephews on 30th May at my parents home. This year we celebrated birthdays with a barbeque for:

1. Jimi Adam (turned 7 on 30th May)
2. Jill Avie (turned 6 on 20th May)
3. Jayro Abel (turned 2 on 17th May)
4. Melissa (turned 1 on 22nd May)

Then on 31st May, we joined our family reunion/Kaamatan celebration for our families in Kinarut (Matangkas family). This year it was held inside the church hall. Cousin Stephen Jinius J. received an incentive for his SPM 2008 performance (6 A's = RM180)!

When we arrived at the hall we were greeted by cousin Chairmaine Menson who was all dressed up for the Ratu Fesyen Kanak-Kanak (a mini version of the Unduk Ngadau competition):Jill Avie with her "Auntie Ah-men"

Charmaine has really grown. I still can't get over how she surprised us all when she went on stage with this big beautiful smile during the competition. Here are just a couple of pictures that Jill Avie took of her Auntie:Ah-men got 3rd place in this year's competition but she was happy with her win: RM60, a bouquet of flowers, and a chance to compete again next year!

The following week was fun. I took the lil' monsters - Adam, Avie & Anne Anne swimming at Penampang Sports Complex & Waterworld @ Bukit Padang. Mind you, Waterworld is pricey during the school holidays (double the price of a normal weekday ie RM10 per pax). Seeing how the lil' monsters were enjoying themselves in the pool and waterslides made it worthwhile though. There were moments I had to hold my breath as Adam and Avie decided to go for the high slides. Gotta hand it to them though, they're real daredevils, at least we know they're not afraid of heights!
We also manged to fit in time to go to Citymall for SandArt sessions. As usual, I got duped into allowing Adam and Avie do 2 Sand Arts each! I just felt so sorry for them because they'd be leaving to go back to Sandakan in a few days. Plus, they've been behaving very well on that day.
On 6 June, we celebrated my mum's 55th birthday at Kg Nelayan. It was a good thing we booked the VIP room as having 7 kiddies/toddlers was quite a handful. Overall, it was an interesting yet wild evening:

• There was Abel hitting Adam's face to the point his (Adam's) nose bled a bit. That was before dinner even started.
  
• Avie was playing paparazzi with her mum's camera.
• Adam was playing paparazzi with my camera.
• Adam and Abel wanted to be superheros with napkins.
• Avie and Anne wanted to be fashionistas with napkins.
• Melissa wanted grandparents' attention.
• Then the kiddies were fighting over who gets to cut grandma's cake.
• Adam licked the birthday cake knife immediately after cutting grandma's cake.
• Group photo - forget it! While arranging the grandchildren, Abel and Avie were having a punching session which ended up with Abel crying.

Our cameras were hijacked by Adam and Avie, and here are the pictures taken:

Morning or Mourning?

They say that 80% of women who are pregnant will be experiencing morning sickness. However, the condition will most likely subside and disappear after the 1st trimester ie 3 months (around 12 weeks).

I'm in Week 15 now, and hello.... still vomiting. I spoke to some experienced relatives and friends and they told me that some women have this condition throughout their pregnancy. Palis palis jauh jauh... touch wood, pls don't let this happen to me!

And why on earth do they call it morning sickness when it happens all day long? There are just so many things which trigger my vomiting. These are just some:

1. Food (any food). There was a time I turned "anorexic" and feared food because of what follows everytime I consume food. Basically, what goes in, must come out. Even my favourite Mr Potato Chips is a no no for me. Somehow Mr Potato will come out like flour. Now, I'm just so used to it, I'll just eat and then let my crazy hormones do its job.
   
2. The smell of leather (aaaaahhhhhh, I used to love the smell of leather. I even have this disgusting habit of smelling my leather handbags and get a certain high from it! Walking into LV stores was just like heaven. I used to love lounging on our leather sofa while watching tv. And now, huuuuuhhhhhhh.....)
3. B.O: Body odour
4. Lux shower gel. I've switched to using Dettol shower gel now.
   
5. Dove shampoo smell. I'm trying out Clear shampoo now.
   
6. Trojan laundry detergent. I thinking of changing to Dynamo.
   
7. The hot sun (the dry spell we've been experiencing is not much help).
8. The smell of rubber mats.
   
9. Talking a lot (that's why I've resorted to going into hiding from people on most occassions).
   
10. The latest is oil, cooking oil, any oil. Even Johnson's baby oil.

I'd normally drag myself and lie down everytime I've done the deed. While I lie down, I'd turn into this sorry state and think "woe is me". There are just so many things I can't do as I like now. There are so many things I have to say bye bye to (temporarily I hope). And then sometimes, even crying happens. Which then makes me wonder, maybe the wise person who came up with the idea of naming this condition morning sickness made a spelling error and really meant MOURNING SICKNESS.

I admit that the vomiting is getting lesser now (from a high of 22 times a day to about 5 - 8 times a day now). The feeling after each vomit though is still as bad. It leaves a certain sour-ish, sweetish yet yucky feeling in my mouth. Even though I'm done, I'd still be standing with my jaw wide open over the toilet bowl wondering whether there'd still be vomit coming out. Euggghhhhhh!

On the upside though my face have turned a little sharper. He he he. Not so round anymore! Weight wise, 54kg. Down from 58kg when we returned from our honeymoon. Yeah, I need to pack on some weight for Poppy' sake.

And while all this vomiting is happening, I wonder what Poppy is doing inside there. Maybe he/she is doing some acrobatic acts, swimming, hanging out. Maybe he/she is thinking that there's a bungee cord attached to him/her and hence just jumping around there. Hope all is well in there though.