High Productivity

I had microbial eczema on my left leg. From a cut, to a stubborn rash that wouldn't heal, for 6 months. And then the eczema spread. And then the itch became rather annoying and frustrating. I had spots all over my thighs, lower leg, on my buttocks and some on my arms and hands. Bumps that were itchy, and weepy. Thank goodness, it wasn't scabies (eww!)
It took me 6 months to see a skin specialist, that's how stubborn I am. So, I was put on oral steroid and antibiotics for a week. This was my first time taking oral steroid. And BOY IT MADE ME SLEEP REALLY REALLY LATE AND I HAD ALL THE ENERGY AND VIGOR ALL WEEK LONG YABADDABADOOO!!!!!

I was literally an energizer bunny. I was organizing my things really well, I was DOING rather than mulling! And I felt accomplished! This coincided with Daniel's first week in Primary One, so I was running all over places to get this and that done.

And these were completed, finally!

My IKEA shadow frame has been sitting in a box for ages. I tell you, when inspiration comes in a form of oral steroid, you practically get anything you want done. That little cute bunny is a handphone accessory that has been staring at me for ages too.

SOCK monkey! For 3 months, it was just the body, hands, tail, ears and nose, all in separate pieces. It now has a soul.

These two fellas were made some time ago. Never thought gardening gloves would be so useful... hee hee!

These socky cuddlies were made possible by this book:


Now that it's end of my oral steroid week, my skin is better, and I'm starting to feel sleepy...

Reallieee sleeeepy...

First Day Primary One

4th January 2012 marks a major milestone for us. Our Daniel has started formal schooling! DARJAH SATU!

Here's what I prepared for him, and it essentially made me feel truly as a parent.

1. Uniforms. I got four sets. And 2 pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of socks. Additional sets better than an emergency! I should get those holey singlets as innerwear, they are good sweat absorber, and can be changed everyday, instead of daily changing of the shirt.

2. THE SCHOOLBAG! This is probably THE main component of the whole first-day-in-school hoolabaloo. It's like the car you're driving to the first day of work. On the first day, he wore my freebie backpack I got from servicing my car. Cheapskate mom. Those are meant for tall ang moh adults. When I saw him walking to his school from his bus drop-off point, I felt bad. His bag was banging the back of his legs and it made him walk funny. So, right after that I got him a wheelie Ben 10 backpack. He was elated!

3. Name tags for his belongings. Pencil cases, schoolbag, water bottle, food container, color pencil box, books, files. For his bag, pencil cases and snack bag, I added on of those tags with key rings. Like a luggage tag. I like doing mundane things like this.

4. The recess time snack bag. I've written some sort of a timetable for snacks to bring on different days of the week. Sandwiches, fried rice, banana, chips, biscuits, bread, muffin and whatever healthy snacks I can think of (which he may not eat, and end up buying junk food from the canteen).


5. Remember wrapping our textbooks and exercise books with clear plastic sheets? I did it and it felt so nostalgic!

6. The schedule. He takes the school bus and I had to 'train' him to do tasks on time. I even drew a pictorial timetable.
He has to shower at 11am, eat his lunch at 11.15am, and get ready for the bus by 11.35am. It has to be army style if you take the school bus! GO GO GO!


And then he arrives in school at about 12.30pm for assembly and classes officially starts at 1pm.

At 3pm, they break for recess, for 20 minutes. I appreciate my one hour lunchtime now. These kids really have to gobble down their food.


One parent brought McDonalds.... spoil market!
This school canteen offers plates of fried rice, fried noodles, chicken nuggets, fish nuggets, breads, curry puffs and food I didn't bother to remember and probably don't want him to eat too much.

The students assemble back before going back to class. The best-behaved class gets to go first. Daniel's class was the noisiest. Aiyaiyaiyai.

I get the whole evening off! YAY!

Classes end at 6.20pm. By the time, he gets into the school bus, it's 6.35pm, and he arrives at our home gate at 7.20pm. The ACTUAL journey from school to our home is 5 minutes. The husband will pick him up in future when he finishes work early :)

So everything went jolly well right? Almost. After dinner, all of sudden, he broke down and cried. It's one of those going-through-a-major-change kind of cry. I held him and felt like crying myself. These were his reasons.

1. The school hours are too long. Kindergarten used to be 4 hours, and he's home by 1pm and he had the entire day to play. Now, he said he has no time to watch his cartoon on TV in the afternoons, no time to play games no time to play with his toys.

2. He misses his baby brother... awwwww.

3. He misses me... awwww.

4. Sand got into his eyes in the bus because he was sitting next to an open window. Yes, non-aircon bus still exists in Malaysia!

After some pep talk, we are a-okay. I think he just needed to let it out, which is healthy.

This concludes his first day in school!

Dottie Angel

...is my new ou xiang. Granny chic is my new craze.

I want her book. (just ordered it!)
Dottie Angel.


And I want her house!




pictures reblogged from creamylife blog.

My 2011

1. On New Year's Day, we had an unexpected surprise in a form of a little embryo, who grew into a healthy fetus, only to have left us after 18 weeks. Can't believe it only happened this year. It feels like it's been a long long time. But I have never stopped thinking about him. Happy New Year, sweet Damien! XOXO

2. I had FIVE wholesale orders for my handmade cards and some pouches. I'm no millionaire, but this is huge for me, as a smalltime crafter. *pat on the back*

3. Daniel can swim! Without floats! In the big people pool! And he can ride on his bicycle without training wheels! *pat on his back*

4. Baked chocolate chip cookies for the first time after 20 years. Daniel worshipped me as the SuperBaking Hero.

5. Revamped my craft station.

6. Darren admitted in hospital for 2 nights, for mild pneumonia.

7. Shopped for a lot of craft stuff! See big smile on me face.

8. My school friend had a burst vein in the brain. Scared me out of my body. Thank God she is back on her feet now, living a normal life. It's amazing to get a second chance in life.

9. My institute director had a stroke. Shocked us all out of our bodies. She's still alive, but has not regained full bodily and mental functions... yet. Hope is a beautiful thing.

10. Got a Christmas tree for the first time at home. Didn't decorate it well, but what's more important are the gifts I WRAPPED. Yes, no more naked presents. They were all wrapped nicely with fancy paper, and ribbons and tags!

11. Attended Ajahn Brahm's inspirational life talk for the first time.
I learn that when we move forward to 2012, we must leave behind the bad unhappy things behind. And embrace the future. Leave behind the fear, the anxiety, and the bad experiences. Only then we can truly embrace the future. Don't ask yourself, "What if *insert bad thing* happen to me?". Instead ask yourself, "What if it DIDN'T happen to me". Also, learn from your success, and not failures. Of course, failures happens so you can learn and not repeat it. But don't dwell on it. Focus on your success and repeat it. Think of the moment you were happy in 2011, or an achievement and think about what is it that made it happen. Repeat that success. And the most successful people are the happiest people, regardless of wealth status. Do you think Michael Jackson was happy? Ha, think again.

That pretty much wrapped up my year. I hope you had a better year! Next is my 2012 inspiration :)

My Dream Wedding

I never had mine. If I could do it all again, It would look like something we can't achieve here in Johor Bahru. For many reasons.
I love simple, handmade weddings, maybe with bursts of bright happy colors. Something whimsical, dreamy, natural and just happy!

I would wear this. From J.Crew, have pocket, can stuff ang pows inside, and my iPhone so that I can constantly check Facebook. Haha.

And this. Tee hee.

This would be my shoes.

My bouquet. LOVE the gigantic awesome pink peony.



My groom's boutonniere.

I would have an entourage of matching-geared bridesmaids.

The heng-tai will wear funny socks.

Tell me what you do with wedding invitation cards you receive here in Malaysia. Say what? Yes, they go to the trashbin, where they deserve to be. Unless they are really special (and expensive to make), your mesmerized guests will keep them. Now, you wouldn't throw THESE away would you?






My escort cards. They don't exist in typical Malaysian weddings. Here, we have pretty wedding receptionists who will accept your ang pow and tell you your table number. 1,2,3...85. Never fancy names like Hope, Love, Faith, Gratitude, or Rosemary, Basil, Oregano. Because our san ku ma cannot pronounce them.



My table setting. Over here, why bother. No manpower, no creativity, not interested.



My table centerpiece. Same thing, not bothered, no creativity, not interested.


Menu and program fan. I love handwritten fonts.



Wedding favors. We always get the tasteless cartoony Chinese bride and groom illustration on a box containing tasteless round brown thing or weird polymer-tasting candies. Oh, they are chocolates.



The cake. OH, the cake. Here, we cut a FAKE cake. On the stage, followed by popping of the champagne and toasting Yam Seng. Standard protocol.



In JB, when we receive a wedding invitation, 99% of the time, it says "Peking Restaurant". Because there is nowhere else. I have to talk to Peking to build an indoor-outdoor wedding dreamland. Get it? An outdoor setting, enclosed in a giant dome. Forget it. Here are some of the places a wedding should take place.









We'll take beautiful candid shots.



And lastly, we'll have our first dance. Here, we eat the last dish of the 10 course meal, usually longan and almond jelly, and then go home.


Amazing, after publishing this post, I feel like I actually HAD my dream wedding!!