Bowling Nite

My arm is sore from lifting and rolling the 10kg ball 40 times last night. Thats more than what I do in a regular gym session.

We had an Inter family Tournament at Sutera Strikers that looked more like a practise session than a competition with prizes to grab.Some bowled for the first time in their lives.

But competition it was. We made 4 categories and the winners are :

Men Senior (the daddys) - brother inlaw (my elder sis' hubby)
Men Junior  - nephew (another elder sis' son)
Women Senior a.k.a The Big Momma - sister in law (my late brother's wife)
Women Junior - niece (eldest bro's daughter)

Meaning me, my younger brother and younger sis didn't win anything for our family. The elders rule. Well they had bigger and stronger kids. (bah, sour grape).

We exit the alley at 11.00 pm after photo session and prize giving and then adjourned for supper across the road till midnight.

That was a fun get-together do.

mini holiday

we got a room voucher to claim at mt kinabalu heritage before it expires so that was where we at on the weekend. we wanted to extend at another place and were lucky to find 2 connecting rooms available without prebooking at another resort the next night. its the start of CNY holiday, the place is full of Bruneians and West Malaysians on vacation.

the kids suggest we go climb the mountain. i dont think so. my eldest son has started coming to the gym with me, which pleases me, i got company now. he might be ready for mountain, but i'm pretty sure i'm gonna have to carry helmi on my back. not that i think i can muster climbing myself or planning to in the near future (or any future). just hypothetically speaking. V and S, please stop me if ever i go that crazy.

moving on. the kids enjoyed feeding the rabbits at the Rabbit House and strolling (running) up and down the resort driveway feeling the cool breeze. note - i need to work out more to keep up with their energy. sometimes i want to press 'pause' on these kids. they are growing up much too fast for me.

ok, enjoy the pics.

 Helmi impatiently waiting for feeding time

 room view

 we found some friendly squirrels in the woods at timpohon station.

and then i found my slipper at Kundasang shop.

Gong Xi Fa Cai. Enjoy your holidays.

Introducing new maid

Finally i have a maid. After searching high and low (as if). No I haven't really. The truth is, i didn't try hard , i'm getting quite comfortable with no maid. Tiring yes but satisfying, i set my own standards and sometimes the kids chip in where they can. I am managing fine. Hubby is the one concerned about me getting tired and stressed out.

Ok, maybe the biggest downside, i do get stressed out over a particular chore - cooking. I over think about cleaning up after, which i truly hate, which sees me opting for boring simple no mess meals. And then i stressed myself further trying to get creative, time efficient, energy saving and so on.

Righ, enough blabbering, i digress.

So meet Fitriyani. Just that, no surname. Nickname Nani. Compared to previous maids, this one is XL (ok call me mean, i'm just saying). But her face is cute. She's comel, that's the exact impression. Her record is good, she stays long with employer, not a job-hopper.

I hope i dont jinx the record by announcing this news.

Ok, till later, wish me luck with this one.

The Weeks That Were

These are backlogs of the 2 weeks prior to last post :-

1. I exhausted myself cooking for hubby's birthday party. Not that it was grand or anything but you know, maidless made it very tiring. Note to self - next time use paper plates. Why I never is beyond me. I just like doing things the hard way. Anyway, we received a surprise home made durian cake from unexpected guest/ friend which was so delicious and instantly became famous.

2.  The next day, we played (or rather the boys and men played and we ladies running about aimlessly giggling) futsal in a family match. Helmi put on a good show and won golden boot  for top scorer. Two family members arrived so late, we have finished playing and were resting and having drinks outside and were about to finish that too when they finally turned up in their sports attire. Haiyya.

3. The same afternoon, we had a family karaoke session at K-Box in town arranged by my brother who was a renowned singer during his college days.  Aduh. Immediately we characterised into 2 groups. Oldies and Teens. Whenever Korean songs blared from the speaker, the mike is passed over to the nieces. We noticed then that they memorised the  lyrics and were singing as if they could read Korean from the screen. The oldies , well you know, standard evergreens. There's Celine Deon,  Bee Gees,  Jamal Abdillah, Dewa. Problem is, only one can really sing and whenever we like certain songs we don't even know what's the title to look for. And just why the video clip so rubbish is unfathomable to me. Absolutely irrelevant and poorly and hideous. Entah apa-apa. Patut pun budak2 tu nda sudi, bagus lagi K-Pop boleh lagi layan dance video dia.

4. Invited to a xmas wedding by inlaws. The halal food catered for muslim guests was very delicious. (makanan saja aku aga kan?).

5. Got together with BFF for year end lunch at our official hotel restaurant (aiseh). Perfect lamb roasts made our day. Hubby asked only one thing, 'kenapa hari Khamis, bukan Jumaat ka hari kamu makan2?'. Sudah tukar la kan. I didn't realise it was a Thursday. I got some cute Hong Kong souveneirs from Sri which I adore. Thanks gal.

6. The next morning, sailed to an island for a family day trip. Just 3 families, the rest backed out at the last minute due to weather scare. We had  an awesome time. I swam a little, tried snorkelling a little and munched snacks non-stop. Helmi and Azim become pro at parasailing. The weather was fine, wasn't too hot so we didn't burn. We got back on land before it rained and sambung makan2 at Garden Point. Have you tried the new stall selling ikan bakar? Not bad kan? I recommend ikan putih bakar sambal and terung bakar.

7. On 31st we had a family bbq at home to welcome the new year. My inlaws did the barbequing , of fish, squids, chicken wings, lamb, sausages, which turned out perfect and superb. (This time we got the paper plates out). And the famous durian cake made another appearance, and disappearance. The countdown finale was fireworks in the front yard, anxiously waited on by our children. I was actually getting sleepy and ready to call it a day. Mental note telling I consumed too much lamb and durian for 3 days in a row. Unwise but unavoidable.

So holiday is over. How is everyone's first day of school? Somebody made Prefect this year. I think he looks cute in his new uniform.

Happy weekend.

New Year post

I actually stayed up till the stroke of midnight. I haven't done that for some time. Normally I turned in my usual bedtime not bothering to count down. This year my inlaws arranged bbq and fireworks so there was that to look for. Seeing the sky erupt with the bursting flames and booming noise. The area we stay is always big on fireworks. Chinese new year , xmas, eid, you'd be sure there'll be someone starting the crackers. So it was like some sort of competition, one display after another all round the neighbourhood. The kids were beside themselves with glee, jumping and shrieking.

Later, barely an hour after everyone turned in, sad news came in. Hubby's elderly relative who's been warded for 3 weeks has passed away. Hubby and his mom and siblings left for hometown next morning for the burial.

I stayed with the kids and got to a last gathering at a sister's for tea and bubur durian. As if I haven't been stuffing myself enough. We had bubur durian too at our bbq and then durian cake. Not durian shaped or durian flavored cake, ok. This is a cake with durian flesh, generously, layered in it. Yummy, my word..that's the most fresh durian cake I ever tasted. I don't know when I turned into a durian lover. I normally don't really go crazy.

Yesterday I went for another gathering at a friend's to watch a certain box office movie on
her CD. Over rated in my opinion. It was not bad, it wasn't really great. What's great is our lunch that day. Perfect ten for Sri's mom's cooking. The sambal ikan masin and bambangan made serious damage to my diet plan. Seriously, I couldn't not have second helping with that combination. I had third and fourth helpings. Help me.

Oh well. Have a blessed year everyone.

splashy holiday

I've finished reading the last of many books piled on my bedside table courtesy of Logos Hope and Popular clearance sale. It was perfect when the house was empty 2 weeks ago, the kids off at their grandma, and it rained everyday. Most ideal reading weather.

And then the kids back I have to put it down and we packed up to spend 2 nights at a splendid resort villa not too far out of town. Splendid place. To say the villa has a beautiful ocean view is an understatement. The ocean was right at the door step. Listening to the waves and nothing else made us feel in a far away land. Peace and quite and heavenly. Although its also high tide season and at night fall , the view was both amazing and scary.

The narrow pool at the side of the house made it very fun for the kids. They were practically in the water all day long coming out for food and sleep only. Seriously. Until their lips blue and their fingertips wrinkled. If we don't hear waves we hear splashes around here.

We all went into the ocean and played for hours. Mother in law was having so much fun. She thought its been 20 years since she last swam in the ocean.

We had bbq the second night and got sleepy early from too much swimming and eating. You should see my mother in law in action in the kitchen. With minimum equipments, she made proper dinner and then a dessert of bubur durian. Try and beat that.

Think I pen off here. My 2 sisters and a friend are back from their vacation. Its time to catch up stories. See ya.

Sick and unfit has its perk

A lethal combination of gastritis and migraine attack sent me crashing on the bed for 4 hours yesterday. Unable to move, head splitting, bile up my throat. I kept vomitting until i just sat slumped beside the toilet. I made the mistake of taking my migraine med first and then remembered an hour later when my tummy ached and twisted that i SHOULD take the gastric pill first, ALWAYS. Oh god, the realization just double up the pain.

I also realise i'm so unfit because my tummy cramps when i heave and squeeze to vomit, like the muscle is jolted and shocked to suddenly be squeezed so many times. Muscle Cramp.is.painful. like i'm not already dying. I'm sure i won't have muscle cramps if i had done push ups. Regularly. Sick and unfit. Can i be more sad?

In my sadness though, my spirits upped by the show of kindness and maturity from the kids. Them and their cousins are all here. One immediately brought me water and made me sandwich, another collect the dirty clothes and put in the washer, the others tidied up the kitchen. They tiptoed around making sure not to bother me. They can actually do chores unsupervised. (tunggu sakit dulu la kan baru merasa). Its sweet though.

This morning the girls were up early wanting to hang the clothes but i've already done it.i'm feeling better. When i went down after shower, they were in the kitchen trying to make breakfast. One was frying the egg, the other spooning the rice out with the idea to fry it. She got the perencah nasi goreng out and the oil but wasn't sure how to proceed. (insert 'aaaaawwww' here for cuteness).

Once in a while i think its worth it to be sick and unfit. Don't you?