Boylet and his Robot / Book Sale loot

Boylet followed me to the Pearson and Pigeon Books Warehouse Sale, and he grabbed a few books for himself. One of them is Harry and the Robots. This is his first book on Robots and he only chosed it because he's a fan of Harry and the dinosaur books. After reading the book, he was inspired to make his own Robot too. With a toilet roll, some cardboard, chopsticks, cellotape and stickers, he set to work, and here's the result. And the book was only RM4.


Here are the books that we bought.
Ladybird readers & classics at RM4 each (60% off), Magic Puppy and Secret Unicorn books for Girlet at RM10 each (50% off), and Charlie and Lola books for RM12, among others.

I snared some paperbacks for myself at RM10 each, including Twilight and New Moon. *sheepish* I've actually read the whole Twilight series, but those were borrowed books. I like to own books so I can reread them. In my defence, I did pass them up at the MPH sale a few days earlier, when they were going for 30% off, which made them about RM30 each. So this was a real steal!! Hear that, hubby! BTW, the strangest part was the same books were going for RM10 at the teenage section and RM15 at the adult section. So be aware, if there're any RM10 ones left that is.

The sale is up to Oct 11. It's worth a visit.

Baby Amelia is 5 months old

Remember my niece who was borned prematurely at 24 weeks and 3 days, as posted here? Well, she's now 5 months old (though if she was born full term, she'd only be about 5 weeks old) and really thriving. I couldn't resist copying her photo off SIL's blog. Isn't she adorable? Thanks to all for your good thoughts and prayers.

Shelving woes

Since young, I have dreamt of a huge study room with wall-to-wall, ceilling-to-floor shelves all full of books. Yah, yah..... I was a very nerdy kid..... still am, with the exception that I've got rid of the huge glasses. *_*

Fast forward to present, I haven't have the priviledge of owning such a room, even if I'd been investing in books as though I have. Mind you, most of the books I'd bought in the last few years were kids' books. For my reading pleasure, I had to rent the books or else lend my books to my dearest sis, in which case I would get free storage indeterminately (I still reread them when I go over during the hols). Oops.... did I just alert her to that fact? *_*

Anyway, this resulted in overflowing bookshelves, as I'd resorted to double stacking (stacking another bunch of books in front of the books already in the shelves). Like this....... in Girlet's room. And this ....... And this ....... upstairs living room ......... kids' workbooks, activity, colouring, dot-to-dot, mazes, sticker books ....... there are more shelves and more books on the left, but grownup stuff, so didn't take pix.

And this ....... boylet's books in the master bedroom.

But still I find books now occupying space on the floor, on top the piano, two of the dining chairs, not to mention overtaking hubby's study table.

Like this .........

Enough photos already.... or you all will think I'm living in a pigsty.

So any ideas how to solve my shelving woes? Buying shelves is easy. Problem is there's no space for more shelves! As my upstairs has high ceilings, I was contemplating a loft library like the following (link here).... what d'ya think? Suggestions welcomed, besides donating the books away!

But you can't keep a Bookworm down. Tomorrow I'm going to the Pearson and Penguin Books WAREHOUSE SALE. Yes, my hubby. I know the books I bought last month from the MPH warehouse sale are still in the store room. But, with publishers like Pearson Longman, Penguin, Puffin, Ladybird, DK etc., how can I not go? I'm buying for your kids ok? (can't argue with that, can you?)

For those interested, the details of the warehouse sale is:

Date : Oct 2 - 11

Time : 10 am - 7 pm

Venue : Pearson Msia S/B, Lot 2, Jln 215, Off Jln Templer, PJ

Happy book hunting!

Go watch "The 1 Kind Show"

This is my record in lowest blog productivity - 6 weeks with no posts. Been busy with this and that (another post), plus the maid was back home to Indonesia for 1 month, not mentioning the 3 weeks of anxiety when she called to say she's not coming back!! After I bent backwards to help her out too! Well, after much persuasion, she did come back to settle her things and wait for her replacement. At least 'ada hati perut'.

Anyway, as I haven't uploaded any pix from the camera, I'll just make a quick post of this live comedy show I just saw on Sat. Named The 1 Kind Show (after 1Malaysia) by Comedy Court, there were lots of racist and political jokes, but simply hilarious. Their impersonations of the various races were spot on.

The show's on until 9 October. Venue : Wisma Tun Sambanthan, Kampung Attap (next to Bangunan Public Bank). Tickets : RM55 / 75 / 105 - available through Axcess. For more info, check their website here.

You can watch one of their skits 'Who wants to be a Billionaire' on Youtube - only the live show is so much better, so go see already!

The kids are sad that since the Bangsar Shopping Complex closed down their auditorium, there haven't been any puppet shows in KL. Hopefully when Actor's Studio open shop in Lot 10, Gardner & Wife, and Act 3 Intl will bring back kids' shows. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed!

Of Papaya Trees and Dengue

So what do the above two have in common? You may have heard of it, but this is really news to me.

First, I’ll talk about our attempt to plant papaya trees at our front yard as part of the kids’ science project (we’re tired of planting green beans). My mom has a few papaya trees and gave us mini papayas, which were simply adorable. Perfect for bento, like the one below:
(Sorry, can’t resist sneaking in a bento, lol!). That's half a papaya, onigiri, teriyaki chicken, grapes and a strawberry.

My mom made it sound so easy, that the black-thumbed moi decided to try planting papayas too. The kids helped to clear part of the lawn and scatter seeds from the mini papayas at 3 different spots. To our amazement a tree actually grew, and started flowering almost immediately. Then it grew taller and taller, without any sign of fruits despite ample flowers. We salivated and applied more fertilizers to no avail. Then my mom came for a visit and declared that the plant was a ‘MALE’ plant, which would only flower and never bear fruit. The flower of a 'Female' plant is different. Huh??!! I knew it was too good to be true. I griped to a few people about it and vowed to chop down the tree.

Two days later, Sue, my good friend who had heard of my misadventure, requested for some papaya leaves as she is suspected of contracting Dengue fever. Fortunately, the procrastinator moi had not bother to chop the tree yet. Apparently, papaya leaves contained something that helps platelet to increase. Take the Raw papaya leaves and blend (or pound with mortar and pestle). Squeeze out the juice, strain and drink. It’s very bitter, so do add honey to it. But do not cook, or add hot water. Well, her platelet count increased enough for her to avoid hospitalization, even after it was confirmed as Dengue.

As Sue also drank spotted frog soup cooked with bitter gourd, (another bitter concoction, why do these natural cures taste so awful?), I thought the papaya leaf juice may be another urban legend. The skeptic in me asked around and heard anecdotes of so-and-so’s relative whose stay in hospital was shortened after drinking this juice. Even googling ‘papaya leaves’ came back with more anecdotes but not proper verification or test. The only confirmed fact is that papaya leaves contain papain which aids digestion.

Hmm, true or not, if one contracted Dengue, there’s no harm in trying out this method. If can take spotted frogs, why not raw papaya leaf juice? Only, don’t come asking for papaya leaves from me. The tree has finally been chopped down. Glad that it could be of use despite being a barren tree. Plus point : identifying papaya leaves is part of Girlet’s science curriculum, and she saw it first hand instead of just from textbook.

A Prayer for Baby Amelia

This is my niece Amelia born prematurely at 24 weeks 3 days. I'm thankful that she's receiving the best medical care in USA, and thank God that all her major organs are fine. Pray that she continues to do well, and ask everyone to pray along.

Look at that tiny foot!!

We love you, sweetie, and look forward to seeing you end of this year. Hopefully all round and plump by then.

What we've been up to this hols

Since the school hols began, we've been very busy going out. Went to two movies (without Babylet). First was Madagascar 2. Definitely not as good as Madagascar 1, but the kids really enjoyed the nonsensical show anyway. The second show was Bolt in 3D. Girlet, the dog lover, loved this show, but boylet was more interested in playing with the 3D glasses. *_*


Boylet and Girlet also went to the puppet show, Aesop's Fables, which they thoroughly enjoyed. On the feedback card, Girlet wrote: I love the Moral the dog the best because it is very funny and cute. Both of them look so skinny in this pic, huh? That's because they've been having lots of fast food (collecting Madagascar toys at McD's), until all 3 kids had sore throat and fever for one whole week the previous week. In this pic, Babylet saw the camera and automatically tried to smile. But ended up with a pained expression instead. Poor baby..... Thank God, Babylet didn't get any more bald patches, and there are baby hair growing at the existing bald patch.

The kids recovered in time for a round of birthday parties, two of them at the Jungle Gym/ Roller Blading Rink in BSC.

Of the parties had the theme of Madagascar, and the kids dressed up as the various animals. Girlet went as Melmon the Giraffe and Boylet the talking Monkey. Boylet is totally enamoured with the cake. The birthday boy and his numerous cousins are all dressed to the nines with animal costumes and painted faces. Very cool! Boylet now wants a Madagascar birthday party too.

Girlet loves the roller blading rink. She started out very cautiously, staying very near the walls. although she had been roller skating at home. Her friends who are more outgoing just zoomed their way, even those first time there. It's just her personality, very kiasi. At the second time there, she gained confidence and picked up some speed. Hopefully, she'll be able to let loose and zoom around the next time.

OMG! Stressed out Mom

Two months ago, I bought 3 tickets to the puppet show "The Man Who Planted Trees" for 12th October. That was before realising when Girlet's test was. Anyway, I have been so stressed out about Girlet's Mandarin test today, that we totally FORGOT to go to the show yesterday.

Can someone give me a big kick in the ..... ?

My busy day

Been busy the whole day. After Babylet's music class, dropped her off, and went shopping at 100 yen shop in Damansara Uptown, near the HSBC bank. Found the 'facial' quail egg moulds, car/fish & rabbit/bear egg moulds being sold there for RM4.90. Felt upset cos bought them 3 months ago at a premium. Being 'buaykamwan' /dissatisfied, bought more for friends. Now have to think who to give to.... hehe.... or anyone up for a swap?

Bought a whole lot of stuff at 100 yen shop, after multiple phone calls from my sis in Johor who in turn was online with Emily and conferencing with her colleague on the other phone. They ended up getting a whole lot more stuff than I did! My head was spinning after the umpteenth calls to add more things. *_^

After shopping, went to pick up Boylet from his nursery and to send Emily her purchases at her workplace nearby. She was so sweet to buy us Banana Pie and Triple Espresso Brownie. Super duper YUM!!! Thanks Emily. Muak! I was too busy shopping to eat lunch, so didn't feel guilty to indulge in a quarter of the Brownie and a quarter of the Banana Pie.
In the afternoon, supervised the older kids' homework, and off to their music jamming class. Return home in time for Girlet's piano practice and dinner.

After dinner, went to visit a friend who just had her first baby after 8 years of marriage. She wasn't desperately yearning for a child. Just if it happens, fantastic, if not, she'll just enjoy her life first. Great attitude there. After honeymooning for 8 years, she managed to conceive naturally. How great is her faith!! The baby boy has got very chubby cheeks, being 3.9 kg. And very amiable, just like the parents. Congrats!
And now I have insomnia, so am babbling on the blog instead of sleeping. Ha! Must the caffeine in the Brownie.

Bento # 36 - more pita bread

Had pita bread for the second day running. Just with different fillings. D'hubby's snack was made with tuna mayo and parsley flakes. Didn't have time to take photo as he left earlier than usual for work. Just as well since it was a boring though practical bento.

I put in more effort into girlet's bento. She had her pita bread with egg mayo cum parsley flakes. Other things included a fish shaped egg, steamed baby carrots, baby corn with grapes hat, more grapes, and a piece of layer cake.
Don't you just love this presentation? I copied it from Emily's blog. Check out here and here for other cool presentations. Doesn't her bento make you drool?

To Rachel : Red Dragonfruit

Hello Rachel. The red dragonfruit looks like the white dragonfruit on the outside. If you buy from the supermarket, they may sometimes label them as red dragonfruit, instead of just dragonfruit. I bought them from a fruit stall, and I had to ask the grocer what colour it is inside. Here are the ones I bought. Taste wise, they are both the same. But they sure have a prettier colour, don't they? Hope your mummy will be able to buy some for you too. And that you enjoy them as much as girlet does.

Landscape and Garden Festival 2008

Girlet has swimming lessons at Lake Club on Sunday mornings. Took the opportunity to bring the two younger kids to the Landscape and Garden Festival at Lake Gardens while waiting.

Flowers galore.
Pretty orchids of various shades for sale.
Bonsai plants.
Different varieties of pitcher plant. The kids are most impressed with these.

Herb seedlings for sale.
Fruit plant seedlings for sale.
They even have rambutan and durian seedlings for sale. If I have a big garden, that would have been a buy.
There are 6 theme gardens, but we only manage to visit two, the herbs and conservatory gardens. The reason being that the kids spied the playground and clamoured to go.
Boylet at his element in the dinosaur garden.

The boylet finally garnered the courage to go down the longest slide all by himself. As we left, throngs of people were just arriving. Many equipped with picnic baskets. I had thought of packing a bento picnic. In reality, we were very hot and sweaty, and were glad to go to Lakeclub for lunch.

It was a good day. Normally the boylet and babylet are like dogs and cats. Today they were the best of friends. At Lakeclub.

Sitting together during dinner at Sri Ayutha.

Since the festival is on until the 27th July, will continue the visit next week. Hopefully can see the Floral Enclave which has a children's floral theme playground, and let Girlet join in the various activities organised.

Read while Waiting Project by RandomAlphabets.com

Came across this project while browsing through my sis's friend's blog.

The project aims to get 1000 people to freeze and read together at a specific time and places on August 23. The purpose is to make a statement and to promote the reading habit in Malaysia. Check out the organizer's blog for more details. If you are interested in joining, you can RSVP on facebook.

Didn't know I've been inadvertently supporting this cause. I bring reading material along most of the time. Sometimes ask Girlet to pray for red traffic lights when I'm driving and itching to continue an interesting book. Must say she is most useful in alerting about the change to green lights. Haha...... save me from many a honk from impatient drivers behind.