NEW Pet

Some friends of a friend from Japan will be coming over for a holiday in Sabah next week and are eager to learn our Malay language. Our friend asked us to assist in looking for a book for them to refer to and they'll be meeting up with us during their very brief stopover in KK.

Seeing that our girl is recovering from her bout of flu, fever and cough I decided to bring her along to shop for the book at Popular Bookstore, City Mall.

We were lucky to get the best parking spot.... right next to the entrance into the mall at the basement car park. I put her in her stroller and off we went!

I managed to find a great set for Conversational Malay which includes a CD, phrase book (with English and Chinese translation) and a pocket dictionary. This should be handy for them since Japanese do know Chinese scripts. And then I noticed something... the set is in pink colour! Takako would have loved this.

Anyway, I took our girl for a stroll around City Mall in her stroller and soon it was time to go home.

As expected, she was not happy. She was crying (with mucus flowing out of her nose and into her mouth!) and trying hard to "talk" to me (as if I could understand what she was saying). I had to pee so I took her out of her seat and went back into the mall to use their washroom.

After the washroom, I let our girl walk around the podium area and like a woman on a mission, she headed straight to a stall selling dog balloon thingy.

So this was what she wanted. She must have eyed that dog when I was pushing her around in her stroller earlier. Look at that, as if she's taking a real dog out for a walk. The other patrons around the podium area were just smiling and making way for her!

Walking back to our car is another thing. Me holding her hand, she pulling her "NEW pet" on a leash. I wonder if anyone saw and laughed at us.

And once we're home:

She was so eager to show her dog its new home.

First, need to check on the leash (she learnt this from Elmo!)

OK doggie, let's go!

Trying to teach her dog to stand on its hind legs?!

We have 1 happy child.

She woke up really early this morning and cried, wanting to go down to play with her pet. It was still dark and I wanted to sleep. Oh well.

Errr... Roll over doggie?!

Been busy with our NEW baby

Hold on to your panties... I havent' given birth yet! But we do have a NEW baby..

tadaaaaa... A Panasonic Lumix-FZ100.

We got this camera mainly because of its SUPERZOOM and Full HD Video features... super handy for our holidays! Its not quite a compact camera, neither is it a DSLR. Its an in-between I'd say. And the size is not so intimidating... it can easily fit into my bag. We got it at a really special price, thanks to my husband's brother who is a Panasonic authorised dealer ;)

My husband brought it home late one evening and by the time the battery got charged for the camera's maiden shooting session, the main model and photographer fell asleep!

Photo taken by the husband!

Anyway, I've been busy trying out the camera this past couple of weeks. Here are just some of the pictures taken (untouched) using the iA (Intelligent Auto mode):

She was so happy that I put on her Elmo DVD on.

An afternoon walk outdoors.

It's a jungle out there. Hmmmm, need to tend to the garden

This past week has been horrible. Our little model has been battling with constipation. That's her trying hard to poo poo.

Then, she was (and still is) down with flu, fever and cough.

Yummmmy.... banana cake topped with peanut butter

A Happy NEW Year

Our new year started off with some minor bumps...

Mia woke up minutes before the stroke of midnight of the new year and did not go back to sleep until around 5am in the morning. No, she wasn't celebrating, she was restless because of her blocked nose. I had to stay up with her watching DVDs... Toy Story, Tinker Bell, Winnie the Pooh.

We wanted to attend my cousin's wedding reception later in the afternoon, but husband and Mia are still not 100% fit, and so we decided we'd better not go. :(

But I'm so excited anticipating this what's going to happen this NEW year.

I have a NEW buddy to enjoy Japanese food. Just look at how fast she gobbles up a spoonful of food! And she won't let go off the spoon.

Her favourite for now is Unagi with rice and chawan mushi. Unagi has lots of little bones and I only give her bits of the flesh but she LOVES the sauce on rice.

There will be lots of NEW things to come, NEW places to visit but the biggest NEW for us us would be......


Our NEW baby boy!!!! Yes, we're expecting this bundle of joy (hopefully with a bit more hair!) this March. Mia's gonna be a big sister soon.

Gotta start shopping for our boy's NEW things soon. You see, my husband would not allow me to let him wear any pink things of Mia's.

Ushering in 2011

Today the last day of 2010. And what a year it has been. I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster with moments of excitement, anxiety, anger, sadness, relief, and happiness.

In the past I used to usher in the new year with my family and friends. At the stroke of midnight, my late father used to take out his gun and fire into the sky to "announce" the arrival of the new year while my brothers, cousins and friends would splash each other with water with whatever means they can - water hose, pail, bottles. I guess this wouldn't be happening this year. My dad passed away in May this year and this has been a big cloud over my head and in my heart, and it's not going away.

I hope I don't get any midnight calls to wish "Happy New Year" because it gives me the creeps. I got a late night call from my brother moments before my father passed away and to me, out of hours calls are a no no now.... unless of course its an emergency or work related. I think its just part of phone etiquette.

When I entered my 30's, my new year celebrations were celebrated with my best friend Janet... clubbing... and then with her family as her brothers would always have superb fireworks action to welcome the new year. It's hilarious watching her dogs getting scared of the noise and of course her nephew would hide! I won't be there tonight. Janet is married now and this year (as in last year) she is celebrating her new year in Canada with her husband Magdy. I'm sure they'll be having great time together there.

But wherever I've been during those hours or minutes before the coming of the new year... be it in the night clubs, at home with my family, or with Janet and her family.... one thing is for sure - there's always bbq-ed chicken wings to enjoy.

There's no loud music, relatives or hoards of strangers around us hugging and wishing everyone happy new year, water fiesta, fireworks or even a bbq for us at home tonight. But guess what, there is (or shall I say "was" now) chicken wings!

Husband and I went to "tapau" bbq chicken wings from a stall near our home. We gobbled each of these flap-flaps just now!

So to all of you out there, I hope you are having a wonderful time ushering the new year... however and whatever way you choose to celebrate.

Yes, mine is gonna be quiet but that's the way I wanted it to be this year. I wish for all of us good health and greater successes in 2011.

My camera vibrates!

For nearly 3 years, my camera has been my loyal companion. It was a gift from my husband as I lost the camera I had before. Just a couple of days before Christmas, my camera showed off its new found feature.... vibration mode! It does this every time I slide the lens cover down. How is that possible? Did my snappy happy fingers exhaust the camera so much that its acting like a little old lady with wobbly hands and knees?

As such, I haven't been able to take much pictures over this Christmas. At my grandma's traditional family Christmas eve re-union dinner, I didn't bother take the camera out at all because I'd have to wait for the camera to stop vibrating then I can take pictures. Imagine me asking the family all ready for group photos... "Wait..... My camera has to stop vibrating 1st!" And I also just left the camera at home while we attended our church's Christmas service/lunch reception.

I love this camera not only because of its sentimental value, but also because it's compact and is able to take pretty good pictures. After all, I'm no pro and I certainly don't have space in my bag for those huge DSLR cameras. I don't want to carry an extra bag just for a camera... My back may give way! Although I must say I love the picture quality and features of a DSLR camera. If only there are compact DSLR cameras.... or are there?

I'm going to hold on to my CyberShot DSC-T50 for as long as I can but in the meantime, I'll have to do research on our next camera purchase. We don't want to miss capturing precious moments after all!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Truly simple decorating this year. I'm simply not up to it! Hopefully next year I'll be motivated (and energised) to do a little more.

Our Christmas tree nearly got covered by all the presents. If I put ALL the presents here, we wouldn't be able to see the tree. LOL! Husband sent out nearly half the presents earlier this month. Most of the presents here belong to Mia, lucky girl.

Her photos got "framed" for the season

My quiet, coffee sipping area out on the porch has a centrepiece

Mr & Mr Claus and reindeer lights for our dining table

My nephew says my angel looks like a drag queen! LOL!

We must remember, Jesus is the reason for the season.

Sometimes Mia is good and is friends with Santa

Other times she's cheeky and never ever want to wear her Santa hat. So, I put her nappy on top of her head.

Merry Christmas!

Liew Family Getaway 2010

Now this is a first.... The Liew Family Getaway.

The Liew family went away for just 1 night to let the cousins have their fun and stay in a hotel together.

This is where we went: Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort. (Photo taken from their official site!)

Someone is really "Rasa Ria" (feeling joyful)!

Not a very good picture... some are not facing the camera, but it'll do! That's the family there sans 1 person this time round.

This is where we had our buffet dinner and breakfast the next morning... The Coffee Terrace. (Photo from the hotel's official site)

Just some of the food I had from the buffet spread. The buffet costs RM110 per person. Children under 12 years of age eat for free. Pricey but then again, it is at a resort.

A favourite among the kids... chocolate fountain. That's Jake up there... one of the cousins.

One of my favourites... the bread section. Yum!

One of my husband's favourite... Blue cheese.

While we were enjoying our coffee, bread and cheese... these 2 went for a stroll outside!

All the Liew grandkids with their grandparents

After breakfast the next morning, Mia decided to crawl onto the stage to play with some traditional musical instruments

"I'm taking you home with me!" LOL!

Joyce (Jake's sister) with the gorgeous flower display in the hotel lobby

One final photo before going into the car for home sweet home

Bye bye now!

No accident

Santa got knocked off his "throne" by an angry elf and all because I wouldn't let her take a present from under the Christmas tree.

Christmas Caroling 2010

What a night we had last night. First it was to Cinda's boy, Jacob's birthday party then it was off to Christmas caroling with our church members.

Mia had a great time "exploring" Cinda's place. She was enjoying Jacob's attention (he was trying to feed her with rice and chicken wing!).

And Cinda.... I can't believe that woman! She was cooking up a storm in the kitchen for the party... fried noodles, chicken wings, fresh green salad, special rice, pita bread, chicken sausages, and there was a rack of lamb in the oven! I could never pull that off, not in this lifetime anyway. It was such a shame that I forgot to bring my camera with me to take shots of Cinda's beautiful food, homey home and gorgeous kids.

We had to leave the party before it really kicked off cos we had Christmas caroling visitations with our church. Oh... there was an incident with the "flying food" and paper cups at the party. Main thing is, Mia had fun with Jacob.

That's our group (sans Kevin the leader & guitarist cos he's the one taking this picture!)

There's Kevin (on the extreme right, holding his guitar)

I spent most of the night running after our little runaway caroller. See how she makes herself at home here... she just conveniently slip away to "explore" as soon as we get started.
Overall, I think Mia enjoyed herself the most. She seems to be able to find something to keep her occupied in every one of the 4 houses we visited. Especially so at the last house, it was like "Toys R Us" there.