What a turn off

How many times have you walked into a public/shopping mall/restaurant toilet and thought to yourself "YAYY! it's clean!"

And when you put the cover of the toilet bowl down and you see this!

HAIYA! Have to go to the next cubicle ...

and hope that it doesn't have footsteps on it.

WHY OH WHY??!! Must people step on it? What a turn off..

What makes a good meal?

Great company!

Naturally, I don't get to "socialize" a lot (Getting updates on FB & Twitter don't count), since I'm a working mum. (OK, can't say that, some working mums get to socialize more often than I do.) Let's just say, after work, I'd prefer to just be with my son. I feel guilty for not being able to spend much time with him. (And also the fact that I'll get an earful from my mum if I don't come back earlier. Can't blame her, my son's at terrible-troublesome 2.5yo stage.)

However, I do occasionally (depending on my mum's mood and condition on that day) try to get out there and hang out with my friends.

So such rare moments are precious to me. Not only good food is required but great company! (Well, I enjoy all of my friend's company.. if I don't , I wouldn't even spend time with them.)

I had good food..
(I can't remember the names of the dishes..sorry.)

This pasta is spicy but YUMMY! It's done the Olio way.

Scallop wrapped with Pork Bacon.

More pasta! :D

Pulled Pork Burger!

And more pork burger..

This is a chinese dish... those who love the layers of fat.. would love this! ;D

So much pork!! Well, of course... we went to S.Wine Cafe. :D

S.Wine Cafe Deli at Ben's Independent Grocer,

Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur.

You can read more about S.Wine Cafe Deli here.

After eating so much food, we gained MUSCLES! 

If only such lean muscles can be produced by just eating. :O

That's actually the arm of a good friend who I always enjoy dining with. ;D 

Cikumuffin don't get to chat much with friends if she brings her son along to her outings because her son seeks for her attention whenever she starts talking to someone else with him around. *faint*

Turning 2.5 years old

My adorable monster will be 2.5years old next week. He's still a terrible two but he's beginning to have a little mixture of the troublesome three. :O

I'm usually gentle towards him but these days, my neighbours can hear a lot of my voice. (One of my neighbours actually commented that my house is so quiet as though there isn't a child in it... I believe she won't say the same now.)

His crocodile tears has worsen! All fake and I exclaim.. "Go ahead and cry!"  He just continues "Ehh Ehhh Ehh.." without tears. *faint*

However, the other day I realized that I won't be able to have him stay this age for long. Everyone grows up. I won't have him hugging me every morning and night. Won't have him giving me a big fat kiss every day. Won't have him telling me "I love you" out of a sudden every day. Won't have him screaming for me every day. When he grows older to become a teenager and a young adult.

So even though he's now a terrible-troublesome 2.5 year old kiddo, I love him to bits and pieces and still wish I have more hours in a day to be with him.

Here's him, wearing a scarf that says BRAVO!

 I know I know, he looks a lot more like my hubby now.

I shall wait patiently for my features to appear. *hummmmmmm*

Yup, he's one cool adorable monster!

His favourite: KETCHUP! Fries is just the "side dish".

These are the moments that I know I will miss. 

<3

Share the Softness

It's always nice to be receiving free goodies. (Yes, I'm a Malaysian!)

So guess what popped into my mailbox?

A packet of tissue from Kleenex!! 

You must be thinking, one packet of tissue also so happy but hey! you don't realize how often people ask for tissues (especially from ladies). So a packet could have saved me from having to buy another packet. :D *cheapskate*

 They are really soft and come in super handy when I need to wipe my son's mouth/hands/shirt/body. (He's a toddler, naturally messy.)

Share this softness and send it to a friend.
Just go to http://www.facebook.com/Kleenex, click on the Share the Softness Link, fill in your details and your friends details.

Cikumuffin sent this to herself. Felt weird to have the letter written "Dear WOO YI LEI.... WOO YI LEI decided to Share the Softness with you.." *shy*

It's deadline not dateline

I find myself telling many people that it's "deadline" not "dateline" when they are refering to a date that we need to hand in something.

My command of English is not all that great. I went through difficult times when I was growing up. My late father forced me to repeat my sentences over and over again when I don't get it right. Of course, my mind is a lot more stubborn than his determination for me to get it right. So I end up speaking mediocre English.

Having said that, I do tend to correct people when they are wrong. (I have my late father to blame. Since he loves correcting me.)
I do hope people don't get irritated or feel as though I'm so "SUPER" whenever I correct them.
(I don't mind you correcting me.I've gone through so much throughout my childhood, I'm really fine with it. We all learn something new every day.)

So it's deadline not dateline.
and
it's reply and not revert when you are expecting a reply.

Cikumuffin wonders if she have such patience to guide her child(ren) to speak fluent English like how her dad does. God guide me.

Chocolate House

I was "spring cleaning" my fridge (Well not much to spring clean, only to throw out whatever that is expired and ignored) and I found SO MANY CHOCOLATES!

Here's our collection of chocolates..

Dark Chocolate with Almonds and without.

Dark Chocolate Teddies for the young one.

 One of my bestie just gave us more chocolates from Melbourne.

I just found out that hubby enjoys eating Snickers. He bought a pack just for himself from the airport after our trip to Kuala Terengganu.

These chocolates are for hubby & son. I'm watching what I eat so I don't really snack on them..

But I know how to make chocolate cake for people to enjoy. :D

This is a Dark Chocolate Honey Cake.

Well, I do get my chocolate fix..

..in a form of meal replacement.. -_-

Desperate for some chocolate and company? Feel free to pop by my Chocolate House. :P 

Cikumuffin has two chocolate monsters at home and both are boys. ;)

What's cooking in my kitchen?

I've started a new blog to update what's cooking in my kitchen.

Click Cikumuffin's Kitchen to find out more! :D

Go ahead and try the recipes that will be posted up! Enjoy!

Cheers to all Mothers

As a mother, I would say,being a mum is not the easiest role on earth but it is certainly the most fulfilling one.

My son chooses me to be the one making his milk, clean him up, do most things for him, sit with him, play with him, you name it.. it has to be me.

So it's not easy to be me but it's fulfilling because at the end of the day, he gives me a HUGE hug , BIG kiss, tell me that he loves me and says "THIS IS MY MUMMY!"
(Hubby don't get such treatment on a daily basis.kekekeke..)

As a daughter, my mum didn't have it easy too. (Of course, I sure hope she finds it fulfilling to have brought up my sister & I and still standing by us.)

My mum stayed strong when she lost her lifetime partner 3 years ago. She had her emotional ride but she stayed strong to take care of my son and the rest is history. She is still the care taker of my son (of course I have to listen to her nag and complain but well, you can't have the best of everything). I'm very thankful to have her around. As they always say, there's no one like your own mum. No matter what misunderstanding you have  in between, they are the first to forgive and forget.

As a daughter-in-law, it hasn't been really difficult for me. My mum-in-law as a mother didn't have it easy after listening to her stories. I salute her for having gone through so much and still stayed so strong.

As an adult, I find a lot of mothers (friends & friends' mum) worthy of my praise. I learn a lot from all of them and I conclude that women are born as survivors and REALLY BRAVE!

So to all mums...

You are the sunshine of your child's life.

 (My son made this at his play school. Although I know his teacher helped him but it was still nice to have received this from him. :) )

On a personal note, I summoned hubby to get a cup of Latte from Starbucks and he went ahead without complaining. Got me my Latte and this key chain as Mother's Day gift. I'm easily satisfied. haha.. :P

Cheers to all Mothers and soon-to-be Mothers! Happy Mother's Day! :D

My ancestor came to see me

When I was younger (I'm still young.. ahem), my mum would always tell me that my ancestor came for a visit when there's an unusual insect (grasshoppers, praying mantis, moth) in the house or the garden.

Of course I was too young to question her. I wasn't a kid that question what my parents say. My mum is a "tiger" when we go against her. So you get what I mean.

Back to the insects, we were not allowed to do any "harm" to it since it's believed to be my ancestor. So my sister and I use to just watch it and made sure that it stays where it is til it's bed time. Well, we are girls, there's always a fear of the insects landing on us.

Today, I found this insect on my kitchen window.

I asked hubby if it was a grasshopper or a praying mantis (I'm not that great in recognizing insects) and he said it's neither and that it's in the same family. So anyone knows what's the name of this insect?

I only know that my ancestor paid us a visit. :P

Cikumuffin does not believe that her ancestor came. I believe it's a good way to stop kids from harming these little creatures.

Gadget Boy

Our boy loves to play with what we have. When we take photos, he would want to take our camera/phone and try to take a photo.  With our laptop/computer, he would pretend as though he's typing. With the iPad, of course, he would have his "Favourite List" and some educational application just to keep him entertained before bed time and while he's doing his "big business".

Here's him using my sister's phone to "take a picture"..

And here's his first attempt in using my camera to take a picture of my sister..

...and then his skills improved and here's a clearer shot of my mum..

Here's him watching Pingu on the iPad before bed time. [I know I know, what happen to story telling before bed time.. it's one of the things that I have to try harder and get to it. My fault. :( ]

I won't deny, we can't run away from technology. Thank God my mum (his Mon-Fri care taker) is strict and doesn't allow him to use the iPad too much throughout the day.

Cikumuffin loves the educational Apps on the iPad especially the flash cards and "memory game".

DOMS

I've been experiencing Delayed Onset Muscles Soreness since Friday and it's not that nice anymore to be going through so many days of it.

I usually love that feeling after a good work out but it won't usually last that long.

I guess I have to keep thinking that it's fat that I'm burning and I actually did work my muscles so it's helping me in losing weight.

I will survive! (Just hope that my clients won't start wondering why I am walking funny?:P)

Breakfast on weekends

I try my best to cook some meals on weekends cause my hubby don't get any home cooked food from Monday-Friday due to his career commitment.

As most people would agree, breakfast is the most important meal and on weekends, I choose to put in some effort to make something special.

Stumbled upon a blog (I'll blog more about this in my next post) and found her recipes interesting.

So here's to the not so traditional breakfast.. (well at least not so traditional for us?)

Breakfast on Saturday:

Grilled Chocolate + Brie + Strawberries Sandwich

 Don't you think its healthy?? I have Carbs (Wheatbread) + Protein (Cheese) + Fiber (Strawberries) + Dark Chocolate (Err.. Dark Chocolate contains antioxidants that is good for your heart.).. all in one.. :P

Breakfast on Sunday: 

Quinoa + Strawberries + Mixed Nuts (Pine Nuts, Hazelnuts, Macademia & Peanuts)

Cikumuffin finds it fun to try different recipes but hubby thinks I'm too "western" when it comes to cooking. Shall find some "asian touch" as I explore recipes.

Disconnected from the boarderless world

Yesterday I had a double blow.

1) UNIFI Router KO-ed
- We had no choice but to change it cause the router was apparently struck by lightning (according to the UNIFI technician). Thank God the technicians responded quite fast and we manage to "reconnect" to the internet after 20hours.
- Hubby had something urgent to send out last night. So he had no choice but to head over to our neighbour's to send it. Thank God for friendly and kind neighbours. God bless them.

2) My Digi SIM Card KO-ed
- My office handphone line decided to "give me a break" and somehow stopped working. I switched it to another phone and it says "Invalid SIM Card". I should probably be thankful that it only went off at night after working hours.I have yet to get it fixed.Phone calls/SMS.. will have to wait? (I think I can hear my boss saying "GET IT FIXED NOW!!". Haha. don't worry, it'll be done today.)

Well, without these two form of connection, we were very much depending on hubby's phone and I can't imagine how much his phone bill would be if we didn't get the UNIFI solved. :O

Cikumuffin realize that these things would usually happen just when you NEED it!

The Land of Sea Turtles

We recently brought our boy to Tanjung Jara Resort, Kuala Terengganu for a short trip.

We flew there. So far, he's quite good when it comes to flying.

He will either fall asleep....

...or fool around at his seat.



He loves the beach but only the sand. We tried to convince him to swim in the sea but he's just so afraid of it. I guess it's the sound of the waves that scares him.

Here's him telling us to bring him to the beach..every morning and evening..

Having some fun time with his daddy..

He got so comfortable at the beach, he started doing this...

and even when we are at the swimming pool, he wants to play with the toys that was meant to be played at the beach..

We find it weird that he doesn't like to go into the swimming pool even though he goes for a swim with my hubby every weekend. Only towards the end of the trip, he stepped into the kids pool and played. Perhaps some warm up time is required in new swimming pools?

Throughout this trip, our boy got too..

 Bathe in a bath tub (cause we don't have one at home)

Enjoy iced water...(see how happy he is? haha..)

Have watermelon almost every meal til a waitress brought us complimentary watermelons during dinner cause he asked for it..

 Feed fishes every morning and evening..

 Chase beach lizards..

 Watch tv before he calls it a day..

 

Chill with his daddy.

I think hubby and I did a great job in tiring him out. He knocked off before dinner on our first day. So we had no choice but to let him sleep on the chairs at the restaurant. :O

We went to the land of sea turtles but we didn't see any sea turtles. Well, that's because we didn't go to the place where the sea turtles are. :P

Cikumuffin came back with a tanned skin. *waves goodbye to fair skin*

Doing what's best

When would you know that you are doing what's best? For your own sanity and for people that you love?

I guess we all just have to make the best decision that we think is best and pray that it'll be the best.

Wow! Bet you can tell that I've been doing a lot of thinking.

Yup I am and every day I pray that I've done what's best for my own and my family especially my man and my boy...