Princess Azalea

One day my 5 year old niece, Azalea was fussing about sleeping with my sister in her bed. The conversation went like this :

Azalea : Mama, I wanna sleep in your bed with you.

WY : Zyzy, you are a big girl now. You have to learn to sleep on your own. The beautiful princesses all sleep on their own you know. Don't you wanna be like them?

Azalea : That's because they have no mummy to sleep with. I have YOU!

WY : *Paused for a while and trying to recall all the fairytales to see if what her girl said was true. She turned away and giggled. The rest is history.*

True enough most, if not all the princesses have no mummies in their fairytale lives. You wouldn't wanna sleep with your stepmother, would you? I salute the observation of this girl. Way to go Zyzy (that's what we call her).

Recipe : Ching Po Leung

Ingredients :

Dried Longan

Pearl Barley

Lotus Seeds

Polygonatum (Yuk Juk)

Fox Nuts (Si Sut)

Dried Lily Bulb (Pak Hup)

Dioscorea (Wai San)

Rock Sugar

Egg *optional

Method

1) Bring water to boil.

2) Wash ingredients lightly. Put all in pot.

3) Boil for 1.5 to 2hrs then add rock sugar to taste.

4) Lightly beat egg and add in slowly if preferred.

5) Serve hot or chilled.

Today's Parent Cover Contest

I used this pix to enter the Cover Contest of Today's Parent magazine. The winner will be the cover of the April 2010 issue of the magazine. That's a pretty long way huh. Anyway here are some info :

• Four finalists will be selected for a professional photoshoot in Toronto. Return economy airfare included.
• The finalists will win a Sony High Definition Memory Stick Media Handycam Camcorder HDR-CX100 (approx value at $699) and a $200 gift card to be used at The Children's Place.
• Mathemathical skill testing question to be correctly answered to win. Weird huh?
• Finalists will be notified in December 2009.
• Keeping everything crossed !!!! Please pray for us.

Curry Laksa Nitemare

Not spicy at all. With peanuts and tomatoes. No coconut milk. Mee is wanton mee type instead of Shanghai yellow thin noodle. Taste funny or a lil sweet. It was so yucky. I am sorry I shouldn't complain about food when people in Rwanda are considered but this one was super-duper 100% inedible. If curry laksa in Malaysia is as such, Marie France would have less customers!

Harry What?

Kindly be warned that this entry is not for the faint hearted.

Last night we had farewell dinner for John at Edgemont City Restaurant. His contract has ended and he will be returning to KL soon. After the sumptious dinner with quails, honey scallops, salt & pepper pork chops, french beans with shrimp, seafood hotpot and steamed fish, we needed to burn some calories. So we started cracking jokes from all aspects. From Josef who kept his daughter in the basement in Austria to high-school tree hugging stories to asthma attacks to movies. We talked about the lustful Lust.Caution, the heart-wrenching Changeling and Harry Potter of course. Two men including my hubby that is mentioned that they had no idea what HP was all about since they missed the earlier ones. Out of the 6 movies, he only watched 2. How not to be blurr, u tell me! The other friend with the same fate suggested that his wife watch it with me and they watch porn together. So from Harry Potter : Order of the Phoenix for us becomes Hairy Porner : Order of the Kukubird for them. We laughed so hard our bellies hurt! Super fun night. And for the record, we didn't bring the baby along!

And on this day Yasmin Ahmad, a renowned film maker and creative director breathed her last. May you RIP and thank you for warming our hearts with your beautiful works.

Gymboree Music Class

Getting to know Bazzy before class started. We sang songs in different languages but there was no parachute time. Most of them couldn't wait to wander around on their own rather than sitting in a circle with their moms. My guess is the Play class should be more interesting. So we signed up for August Play class with unlimited classes & open gym sessions for free. I handed in a voucher to waive the reg fee of CAD28. Yippii it felt good to save! His first class will be August 4 at 12noon. By then MIL would have left for Malaysia. Boohoohoo...

The Art of Receiving

Sylvan Lake

It was forecasted to be the hottest summer day so far. We started our 2hr drive on Saturday morning at 10. We quickly checked-in to the dodgiest inn in history called Edgewater Inn at CAD100 a nite without ABF and headed to the lake before the entire place was occupied. It was so full of people sun-bathing, BBQ-ing, reading, frisbeeing, eating, laughing or just snoozing. After hurridly looking for a shaded spot, we parked ourselves under a tree with dog on the right side and another dog at the back with a BBQ pit at work. No choice. We just laid the tikar we just bought at the summer store across the road and all the BBQ essentials. I reckon the store must be earning big bucks! I was in charged of food and grilled up some yummy food like chicken wings, shrimps, salmon, sausages, bacon and asparagus. It wasn't as hot as forecasted. But the water in the lake was too cold for even a dip. So the float we got for Isaac basically was used on dry land. He had a blast of a time, digging sand with his lil hand, walking here and there, blowing bubbles and admiring those two huge dogs. Did I ever mention that my son is a dog-lover? So unlike me and his Daddy. After a while the lil pumpkin took a nap under the shaded tree in my arms. We too took the oppurtunity to gaze into the universe, lost in our very own thoughts about anything, everything. We packed up at 5pm and left to the dodgy Inn to freshen up. Me on the other hand watched Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone on VCR in the room. I forgot i need to rewind the tape before watching! How ancient is this town! We took a stroll around the lil town and had dinner in ChaDua Vietnamese Restaurant. It was a breezy breezy afternoon. It was blissful.

Wish List : Adidas Samba

Marble Fudge Loaf

I made this for our landlord Frank who is a heaven-sent. It all started when Frank sent an evaluator to our place one morning to have his annual check. Little did we know that there was a bad leak in the basement! Half of our boxes were soaking wet. The other half was at the other safe corner. As we put one and one together we finally found out about the hissing sound from our kitchen air vent but I thought it was the cool air. Ignorant woman me! I dare not imagine if the evaluator didn't make his appearance that day. So I asked hubby to ring Frank immediately while I sort out the items and the carton boxes. He came about 30mins later with a torchlight to check on the leak. He switched off the main water supply and called the plumber. He left. Two hours later the plumber, Aaron came to fix the leak. Apparenty one of the pipes needed to be changed and that particular brand of pipe has caused much headaches according to him. 30mins after Aaron left with a wet floor and a new pipe, Frank was at the door again. This time he brought a brand new mop and pail. He wanted to help clear the mess. I told him it was not neccesary as we could clean up later. He insisted saying that the house has caused us much trouble. He asked me to let him. So off he went clanging down to the basement wiping every drop of water left. He then took a look at the soaked carton boxes and asked if he could get us some new ones. I told him no cos we still have some empty ones at the other corner. All we needed was to do a transfer. He suggested that I put our stuff into plastic containers instead. So after clearing up he left. About 45mins later he was at the door again! This time he had in his hands 5 plastic containers he just went to purchase. OMG I was utterly speechless yet grateful. God has been so kind to us by giving us this sweet and responsible landlord. We are truly blessed. I told him we would leave the containers behind when we move and he moved his finger indicating they belong to us. So the least I could do was to bake him a cake to thank him for being an angel. Come to think of it, I should have baked him an Angel Cake!

Shutterbugging

Who's Loving You

Dollar Days

In Malaysia we always make comments about the value of our currency. A dollar or ringgit can't get you very far. Even a packet of nasi lemak from mamak is at least RM1.20. The last time we were home, "cham-ping" was RM1.70 and char siew pau in Ipoh was RM1.30ea. *sweating* If we see dollar to dollar (RM vs CAD) here's a list of what some dollars can do for you in this freezing planet.

• Vitamin C x 100 (250mg) - CAD2.00
• Sally Hansen Nail Polish - CAD0.89
• Sally Hansen Nail Polish Remover (with free gift) - CAD1.89
• Mineral Water x 24 (500ml) - CAD2.49
• Cereal Bar x 6 - CAD0.99
• Baby carrots (1lb) - CAD1.00
• Weiners (6pc) - CAD1.00
• Apple Juice (1ltr) - CAD0.88
• Crest toothpaste - CAD1.49
• Lay's Potato Chips - CAD1.88
• Canola Margarine (1lb) - CAD1.00
• Chunky New England Seafood Chowder - CAD1.66
• Iceberg lettuce - CAD0.99
• Brocolli (3 heads) - CAD1.49

Hakka Feast

Our friends Grace, Darren and John came to our place for dinner with a plate of Char Siew and Hakka Yong Tau Fu, all made by Grace. We dished rice, vegetable and Choy Kon soup. It was so good and had white wine for dessert. All of us mirrored our plates! After which we went to Superstore to finish up our grocery shopping for picnic.

New Toy Trial Run

Before the actual picnic coming Saturday, we had to test the BBQ pit in case it dies on everyone there. Hubby got this Weber brand portable pit from a personal ad called Kijiji. It's similar to eBay only thing you gotta collect the item yourself. So off we went to the other side of our world to check out the product. It was still in box, brand new! Retail is selling the same model at CAD299 and hubby paid CAD200 for it. I tried to get him to negotiate to CAD180 but to no avail. Anyhow it's brand new! I applauded him for fetching such good bargain (as you know men view bargaining as waste of time!). So we bought some sausages and marinated lamb chops and wrapped two jacket potatoes. Voila we put the pit on the deck in our backyard and bend to grill. Yup cos the pit doesn't come with a stand. It is sold separately. We hadn't had time to even get that. The weather was chilly, cold actually and we had a good time playing with it. It runs on propane and self-ignites. The food was yummy but the washing up was not. Well, let's just say I'm glad that's not my toy. Not mine, no washing!

911

We followed hubby out in the late afternoon to get some gadgets, propane actually for his new toy, the BBQ pit. As I was unloading Isaac from the carseat to the arms of my MIL, my mobile phone rang. And yes I do carry a mobile here and in case if you are interested the number is +1403-9788817. The phone seldom rings and especially so when the person who calls me most was with me! Here's what was transpired.

Lady : Hello this is 911, I got a call from your mobile phone. Are you alright?

Me : Huh? You did?

Lady : Yup. Was your mobile in the pocket or something?

Me : No. It was in my handbag. Perhaps it was accidentally pressed to 9-1-1.

Lady : Are you in a safe place? Are you okay?

Me : Yes I am. I'm sorry, very sorry.

Lady : No need to apologise. Most importantly you are safe. I shall let you off now. Thanks.

While I was on the line with her, another call came. This time a man called with the same contents and let me off upon confirmation that I was not in distress. I felt so guilty and cannot understand those irresponsible citizens who made calls to 911 when McD gave them the wrong order or when a restaurant's service was not satisfactory. What did they expect 911 to do? All they did was hogging the hotline for genuine callers waiting for help. In my case it was a mystery. My mobile has always been key-locked and the call log showed no record of calls made to 911. Now you tell me!

Happy Happy As Can Be

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our Family

Gymboree Class

Isaac's free trial lesson at Gymboree is tomorrow July 6, from 3.30pm to 4.15pm. This center is just 5mins away from our home. The monthly fee is ard CAD65 and I don't think we will sign up. However we shall check out the teacher, environment and quality of classes before we decide any further. I feel that he needs to be around kids his age so he knows they exist! And vital for him to learn important sharing and social skills. That reminds me I need to bring along my socks to join in the fun!

Today is MIL's 68th birthday! Blessed Birthday Mother! You've been a great blessing to all of us.

It's All in a Name

Me : What's the sequel of Silence of the Lambs?

Hubby : Silence of the Lamb Chops.

Me : (LMAO)

What I Like About Calgary (Part I)

On and off when I come across some new or positive experiences I reminded myself to blog about it. We have been here for 1 year 3 months. No doubt Calgary is deader than dead for me, I do have some nice things to say about this dead city.

1) You can find the following in every house, rented or not.

a) dishwasher

b) clothes dryer

c) washing machine

d) microwave

e) oven

2) We are encouraged to drink from the tap. It's reported to be better than bottled water.

3) Routine immunizations are FREE for all Canadian babies. Booster japs included.

4) Buses will stop to pick you if the driver sees you running towards or chasing after him.

5) Almost all retails outlets allow return/exchange without questions asked. Some even allow "deciding time" of 90days upon purchase. My friend actually returned a used lipstick because she didn't like the smell and got a different new one.

6) Coupons can be used even with promo or discount or clearance or final sale.

7) Some Chinese restaurants offer toddler utensils and bowl when they see your little one.

8) In most shopping malls, parking is FREE.

9) In most shopping malls, they have designated parking lots for :

a) handicapped

b) parents with young babies

c) expectant mummies

10) Summer newspaper subscription (Calgary Herald) for 3 months is CAD4.99 per month. That's cheaper than a bowl of noodles here.

I'll stop at 10 for now. Shall have Part 2 when I gather enough to share.

When Will U Be Mine?

Introducing the LV Monogram Mini Lin Angele Sling Bag

To all Canadians, HAPPY CANADA DAY!