Tried and Tested Cheesecake Recipe

First of all, sorry no pix.

Here are the ingredients:
Biscuit base:
1 cup crushed Marie biscuits (that's about 12-13 pieces) OR you can use digestive biscuits and reduce the sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar

250 gm x 2 Philadelphia Cream Cheese + 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 container plain yogurt (150 ml)
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the base, crush 12 to 13 pieces of Marie biscuits, they don't have to be very fine. Then add melted butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar to the biscuit crumbs. Mix well, then press evenly in a 7 in" cake tin with a fork.Then, cream the cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg one by one, then the yogurt and lastly the lemon juice. Pour onto biscuit base and put into a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 45 minutes. Then cover with foil paper and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes.

Try it. It's my hubby's fave cheesecake.

How much have YOU changed?

You've Changed 48% in 10 Years

You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person. You're clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

I don't know about you but I don't think I've changed much. I still have the same warped sense of humour, like a lot of the same things I liked 10 years ago. But you know, whatever I say I may like, my hubby will go, "Everything is your favorite. You like everything."

My hubby share my liking for cheesecake and jam tarts. While I like cheesecake and jam tarts and can only eat so much of them, my hubby eats cheesecake and jam tarts like they are the only two things in the world that he likes. Then I realise that whatever I like, my hubby takes that liking to greater heights. No wonder he thinks I don't have any favourite whatever.

Anyway, how much have YOU changed?

Tagged Again!

Sometimes this tagging thing is a good thing as it gives one an opportunity to start writing again. Guess I hafta thank Flowerin. :)
Since I left blogging for some time and will do again this coming weekend (Ugghh…induction course! 2 weeks long!), I have been lazy to blog. In fact, today is the first day after ages since I’ve started lurking again, only coz I am feeling too lazy to be productive at work. So let’s get this tagging thing done. Here goes:-

Layer One: On the Outside
Name: Jujuqtpie. I’ve always been called juju at home and my youngest sister whose name also begins with a ju is called jue. I know, what a huge difference! Haha Jujuqtpie is actually my syoksendiri email address. I supposed I thought it would be easy for anybody to remember such a perasan or vain email add. But I’ve learnt that there have been many variations to how it's pronounced. I’ve always thought that it’s obvious that it should read juju cutie pie rather than jujuq tee pee or tongue in cheek: juju ke tepi (which literally translates juju to the side, y’know like Beyonce’s to the left, to the left in Irreplacable)
Birthdate: 24 Oct 1974 Haha I honestly didn’t feel old until I got pregnant this third time!
Current status: I am happily married with a girl and a boy. Doctor sez this next one could be a girl.
Eye color: Dark brown
Hair Color: Black.
Righty or Lefty: Most definitely a Righty

Layer Two: On the Inside
My heritage: I’m all mixed. Grandma on dad’s side was supposedly of Siamese blood while grandad had some Arab blood but for most part, my dad’s Malay. Mom’s Chinese but I can only understand a smattering of Cantonese and speak even less than a smattering coz I am sooooo out of practice. It’s kinda embarrassing to speak poor Cantonese to a nearly deaf grandma in my loudest voice. Mom said we were not interested in learning. Apparently my kids are like that too. Maybe my mom’s not pushy enough.
My fears: I guess standard fears like chronic and fatal diseases, death in the family, unfaithful hubby, horrendous bratty kids, etc.
My Weaknesses: I am not organised and I have a poor sense of direction. Working on it though.
My perfect pizza: Yum! Yum! Canadian pizza esp. with the super deluxe all cheese topping! Yum! Yum!

Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
My thoughts first thing when I wake up: Omigod! What time is it?
My bedtime:When I am sleepy, I sleep. No fixed time.
My most missed memory: Weird that it’s ramadhan during my final year in IIU. It was great to berbuka and bersahur with friends!

Layer Four: My picks
Pepsi or Coke: Can I choose Root Beer?
Mc Donald's or Burger King: Big Mac and Whopper – I like all the big huge burgers!
Single or Group Dates: Dunno. Single. Never really been on group dates.
Adidas or Nike: Whichever, depends on design and price.
Tea or Nestea: Definitely tea – fave tea is Earl grey and Chinese tea. Love tea with creamer too.
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappucino or Coffee: Not really a coffee drinker but I guess cappucino or can I say mocha too?

Layer Five: Do I
Smoke: Can live without! The other day, saw a dude in a Mercedes throw out his empty cigarette box out his car window. I remember thinking smokers aren't only a bunch of inconsiderate people, they're litterbugs too! Apologies to smokers who aren't but hey, you've got to know it's bad for the health. Think of yourself, family and friends and what you're exposing them too.
Curse: Sometimes esp. when extremely annoyed or angry though I’ve toned down a lot. Learnt the best of Chinese expletives and curses from my uncle!
Take a shower: Yes!
Have a crush: Those were the days…
Think I've Been In love: Still am with my hubby!
Go to school: in the capacity of an educator, yes.
Want to get married: Haha have gone beyond that.
Believe in myself: Depends.
Think I'm a health freak: Not me.

Layer Six: In the past month
Drank alcohol: No.
Gone to the mall: Who hasn’t?
Been on stage: Yes…isn’t life a stage?
Eaten Sushi: Urrghh, I wish I could. I miss sushi.
Dyed your hair: Never! Permed once with disastrous results, dun think God meant me to have hair colour other than black or later grey!

Layer Seven: Have I ever
Played a stripping game: No...but that’s an idea! Haha
Changed who I am to fit in: No. Too much work.

Layer Eight: Age
I am hoping to be married: Done that.

Layer Nine: What was I doing
1 min ago: Doing this tag.
1 hour ago: Having lunch.
4.5 hours ago: Was in Jengka.
1 month ago: Do I even remember?
1 year ago: You think?

Layer Ten: Finish The Sentence
I love: my family!
I feel: so sleepy at the moment. Woke up at 5 a.m. this morning.
I hate: smokers and inconsiderate drivers.
I hide:can’t think anymore…My brain’s gone to sleep ahead of me.
I need: to sleep! and NOW!

Layer Eleven: Tag 5 people
Please tag yourself and inform me so I can go read. Maybe jaylina? Wanna try? Mott? Mae? If you haven’t done this yet? Try laaaaaa

Tagged!

Am I Weird?
The rule of this tagging game is this:People who are tagged should write a blog post of six weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose six people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

When I first looked at what I was supposed to blog about – my weirdness, the first thought was, “I’m not weird! I’m very normal.” Then, I began questioning myself if I was weird. After much thought, I figured that at this moment, I am considered a lil’ weird, especially by my office roomie, coz I can’t stand having the aircond on. I have resorted to wearing a T-shirt underneath whatever I have on, and still I feel cold. Sometimes, I wear a jacket over what I already have on, and still I feel cold. Poor girl has to tolerate having no air conditioning when I am around. Then, one weirdness after another comes to mind. Hahaha, I guess I am quite weird after all.
So, am I weird? I guess I have revised my answer to “Yes, I AM weird.” Here are the reasons why:

No. 1: Ever since the 6th week of my pregnancy, I have been feeling cold, shivering cold, especially at home though nowadays, at home, I’m okay. It’s at the office that I’m cold nowadays, and I get very bad headaches, like there’s a timebomb ticking in my head. Every time people who come into my office say it’s roasting hot in the office, I beg to differ. So yeah, at the moment, people at the office think I’m awfully weird.
Psst: I have a confession though, even before my pregnancy, I could live without the air-cond on, but I don’t mind if it’s turned on. Nowadays, I can’t have it on at all.

No.2: I can’t swallow capsules and pills. I remember when I was young, my dad tried to get me to eat my medicine the adult way, and when I couldn’t after some attempts, he asked me to put the pill in a banana. I must have refused coz I remember my dad chasing me round the dining table with the banana in one hand and the ubat in the other. I don’t remember eating it with the banana, so I guess I must have tired him out. Anyway, now I have this capability to withstand the bitter taste of Panadol, and many pills like it. If I have to take capsules, I’d empty them out onto a spoon. Actually I have successfully swallowed pills and capsules by accident at one time or another, but after that, I always feel like vomitting coz I can feel the medicine stuck in my throat. So, in order to not feel that, I always bite on the pills until they’re really tiny before I swallow them. I have a tip though, for anyone out there like me, do swallow your chewed up tablet with cold lemonade or the like because the medication doesn’t melt as easily as it would in a hot drink and you’d have to taste more of the medicine, which is not really that pleasant.

No.3: I like songs by Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, and John Denver especially Annie’s Song. Even when I tell people I listen to Josh Groban, they’ll go, “Why?” Hahaha, people say I’ve got a weird taste in music but I think I’m eclectic. Is that another word for weird? But really, my parents’ taste in music influenced us a lot. I say ‘us’ coz it’s not just me, even my siblings. We listen to the Beatles, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Johnny Tillotson, The Stylistics, The Beach Boys, Helen Reddy, Boney M, Andy Williams, I can go on. At the same time, we are also very contemporary. So I guess yeah, music wise, some people would say I am weird.

No. 4: Hmm…3 more to go. Suddenly, I have ceased to be weird coz I can’t think of anything else. Okay, is this weird? People look at me and think I am an extrovert. But to be honest, I am really quite shy. My face though, I suppose, is approachable, so people, I guess, find it easy to talk to me. So usually, when I travel on buses, some people do tell me their life stories and problems. Maybe it’s because we are strangers and aren’t most likely to meet again, I dunno.
No. 5: Some time back, I noticed my daughter telling stories she’d made up herself with rather morbid endings. For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why her stories were dark and morbid, until one day, I somehow heard myself talking to her. E.g.: When she wouldn’t sit down in the car, I told her that if I would so happen to brake in emergency, she would fly out of the car through the windscreen, and the car would run over her and I’d lose my baby girl. That was the worst case scenario, and if by some miracle, she survived, and was injured, I asked her if she could imagine what her life would be if she was blind or crippled, etc. That is why she needs to sit down with her back pressed against the back of the seat and wear her safety belt so that she could be safe as Dora and Boots would say. Am I a weirdo mommy?

No. 6: Last but not least, I am this close to giving up here coz I can’t think of anything else already. I don’t think I am weird but I’ve done some weird things coz sometimes I do things without thinking. It’s a flaw; and it’s one that I try to curb. The last time I did something stupid was a long time ago, and at that time, Inez was but a mere babe. We went out for dinner with my parents and siblings at this Merdeka Station, like some open air food court. I remember we sat next to a table where two guys who’d just finished their meal started to smoke. I never liked the smell of cigarette smoke and was pushing the smoke away with my hands. As if the two dungus understand laa! I was so irritated by the fact that they were smoking in the presence of family and children.So when I picked up this tiny piece of ice chip on the table and without thinking, threw it at the nearby table, I didn’t expect to hit a target but it did.
The two guys looked at our table; and my hubby who knew no head and no tail looked back at them. I don’t remember if words were exchanged but I remember my hubby asking me if I did anything to them. I said, “Yep, I threw a tiny and insignificant piece of ice, and I think it hit one of them enough for him to feel the cold of the ice.” My hubby said, “If you’re gonna do something like that, tell me first so I can defend you.” Aah, my hero laa konon. I said, “I didn’t plan it, it was spur of the moment.” I am not proud of it but I guess annoyance got the better of me. I really can’t stand cigarette smoke and if people really need to smoke, the government should prepare a room free of ventilation so that smokers can smoke themselves and exhale and inhale their own smoke. Good idea or not?

That’s it. I dunno if there are 6 people I know that haven’t been tagged. Can I have volunteers? It’s not that hard but it involves some serious soul searching.

Just to say....

This is especially dedicated to all who are concerned that I haven't been blogging (though I might be kidding myself here), this post just wants to say...

1) HI!

2) I miss blogging (so many things to write about) but I am so busy.

3) I just got back from a week long theatre workshop in Sunway University College (which was so totally cool, and we performed by the way) and was cut off from internet civilisation during that time.

4) I am okay (though I have totally lost my appetite for all food even Sushi, and chicken and prawns, nearly everything, and have turned occassional vegetarian coz strangely enough, I can eat burgers, and so far I've only vomitted 3 times due to food, but have got some rashes here and there which is normal for me coz my 1st and 2nd pregnancy were like that too, and tiny spots on the face, feel so un-pretty), and baby seems fine too.

5) I will do the TAG thing soon, I promise, Halwafy.

6) My hubby's in a cast, or rather his elbow is, coz he fractured it. That's FYI, Rin.

7) I want to thank everyone who congratulated me on my pregnancy and whoever who commented in the blog, and I haven't had the time to reply. Sorry.

Will blog soon once I am less busy, which is soon, I hope.

Did I say pencil marks? They are PEN MARKS!

(Top: That's what Mika's masterpiece resembles and the lines are about 3 ft high and covers the length of my wall about 6 ft wide)


Last night I received a message from a friend who so happened to read my blog. Apparently she too had the same problem with pencil marks on the wall. However, her problem was solved with a little Axion and a rag. Happy, I got out my Axion and rag only to realise that the pencil marks weren't coming off because they weren't pencil marks but PEN MARKS! Oh how short-sighted could I be? I definitely have to get a new can of paint now and repaint that wall. Argh! No wonder the kids couldn't erase the lines at all.

I did a yahoo search and this is what I got:
From http://www.boston.com/globe/search/realestate/hotton/stains.htm

Q. How can I get ballpoint pen marks off a painted wall? REBECCA LEONG, Newton A. Rubbing alcohol is the cleaner most used for such marks. Others are acetone, Stain-X Carpet stain remover, sold in grocery stores; Ink-No-Mor, toothpaste, Vaseline and dry Brillo pads. With all these cleaners, try them on an obscure area to make sure they don't stain, rub off or affect the paint in any way.

I went to other sites but alas, no luck.

How do you get rid of pencil marks on the wall?

Yesterday, my hubby made a startling discovery. We found 'senseless' (coz the letters made no sense) grafiti on the wall between the master bedroom and the children's room all written in pencil. It was Mika though he didn't say it. He kept quiet instead.

I made the kids erase the writing as well, with erasers, but the lines won't come off. I tried water and soap but it was a futile effort. I used some heavy duty detergent by Sanden Brook but the paint sorta came off along with some of the pencil marks. I mean the pencil marks just got slightly lighter because paint was coming off as well, so that's too strong.

I've given up but if anyone hs the solution, do share. I might have to repaint the wall. I would like to avoid doing that coz the paint alone cost RM30 and I'm just gonna use a little.

Although the pencil marks didn't come off, still made the boy especially, rub the lines so that he won't do it again. He promised not to anymore but I'm not too sure if he'll keep his promise.

Second Opinion

On Tuesday last week, finally had time to go for a second opinion. I was actually the last visitor. Clinic closes at 6 p.m. I arrived at a quarter to. Had decided to wait at least a few days just in case there might be something wrong with the pregnancy. I mean if there's no change in the baby's size, then it's confirmed that the first doctor was right. Let me first say that I have never been to this doctor before, but he's recommended by the specialist I take my kids to. Apparently, all this while, there's an Obgyn specialist right next door and I never realised. I kid you not, that's how astute my powers of observation are. :) It just so happened that Inez had the beginnings of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) the day before and had a bad rash and case of itchiness, more frequent trips to the toilet and as the night wore on, she even cried that peeing was painful. So, the next day, Tuesday, I went in a little late to take her to the doctor's who opens at 8:30 a.m. I did wonder if it could be some insect's bite but the doctor said that the redness would be on one side rather than on both. He stated two possibilities which were either a bacterial infection or a fungal infection. To recognise a fungal infection, there usually are tiny white spots and since he couldn't see any, he thinks it's the first. With some difficulty we finally managed to get Inez to pee in a plastic bottle for a urine test. The test results would come back in the evening and thankfully, it was negative. The white blood count in the urine is less than 10, so it hasn't gotten into her system yet. Thank God! Anyway, after the doctor has settled Inez, I voiced my worries about the hormone pills to him, and he suggested I go next door. But ordinarily, he said, doctors don't usually prescribe hormone pills as they can function as oral contraception. Since Inez was kinda late for F. Ain class, I decided to go next door in the evening. I got my mom to accompany me since my hubby had to work late. At first, I thought of not telling the doctor yet that this was actually my second trip to the doctor's. I wanted to see what he had to say. But Mom, being a mom, went directly to the heart of the matter and told all. The obgyn said that there's no indicator why I should be given hormone pills as I was not bleeding or spotting and I had not had a miscarriage before. And when he did a scan, guess what? The baby isn't undersized at all. And I found a magazine all about pregnancy that says that the size of 7 week old baby is about 1.8 cm. If only I found that magazine sooner. Then I would have known that the doctor didn't really know what he was talking about coz the first scan already showed 19mm.

Anyway, it had a heart already too! It's just soooo amazing to see the tiny heart beating. I was so relieved that there was nothing wrong with my pregnancy and somewhat angry with the first doctor for making me go through all that worry for nothing! So the dates coincide now and I'm due early October.

And the best part is the specialist charged cheaper by RM2! And I got free samples of Anmum and Enfamama too. Though I have to say, Anmum tastes better, especially the chocolate flavoured one. When I was pregnant with Inez and Mika, I used to put a spoonful of honey to help the milk go down better.

Anyway, thanks to the second opinion, I was able to celebrate the CNY with a peace of mind. But that's another story for another day. CNY was kinda tiring though I didn't do much. I guess I wasn't cut out for it and was napping everywhere I went. Hahaha. Shops were on sale and I had no interest to shop. All I wanted was to lie down and rest. That's what I wanna do now. LOL

Follow Up on Hormone Pills *Updated*

According to my sis, who spoke to her lecturer. That doctor had no business prescribing hormone pills because I wasn't spotting or bleeding. She asked me to call the guy up and yell at him, "Are you trying to kill my baby?"

Even if the baby is undersized, it's better to let that baby be as long as it's growing and healthy, which btw, we don't know yet until next week. I don't know. For other people's sake, I hope this is an isolated case. I really dunno if the doctor knows something I don't. Maybe he saw something in the scan, or maybe he's just plain incompetent. I don't know; all I know is that if he did, he should have said something and since I wasn't too impressed by him, I am going for a second opinion and see from there if I do have to continue with Turinal, that's the name of the pills, btw.

Still praying for the best.....

The Discovery

I know I am going backwards, but it's okay, right?

I actually found out that I was pregnant at the end of January.
And it was actually the third test since I missed my period. All because I felt different. Some parts of me felt tender and swollen and sometimes there was this miraculous feeling that like there’s life growing in my womb.

Just the day before, when I didn’t have time to eat breakfast, by the time I got to work, I was shivering. Although my skirt wasn’t tight, I felt like getting it off me.

Two lines! Omigod, I am pregnant! In a way, I am happy about it. Broke news to Zul. Made sure he was fully awake when I broke the news to him. Didn’t want him to think that he dreamt it all. Zul smiled. He seemed pleased with the news. Oh, apparently, he thinks he’s figured out when the baby was conceived. LOL Crazy man!

Called for a family meeting. Kids were watching TV already at 6:50 a.m. Interrupted their TV with the breaking news. Inez! Mika! Mummy want to tell you that Mummy’s got a baby in here. Mummy can’t carry you anymore and you can’t sit on Mummy’s tummy anymore. From my hubby’s tummy, Mika said, “That’s okay, Mummy. Daddy’s strong.”
“Mm, so understanding,” I thought.
“So Inez do you want a baby girl or baby boy?”
“Inez wants a baby girl.”
And Mika?
Mika wants a boy.
But what if this is a boy Inez. Is it okay?
Inez nodded.
And what if it’s a girl Mika, are you going to be okay? Will you be a good big brother and teach her how to play ball?
Yes.
Good, coz we don’t know yet whether it’ll be a boy or girl.
“We’re gonna have to save money, coz it’s going to be expensive getting a new baby.
“Mommy, we have a piggy bank. How about we give that money for Baby?”
That was so thoughtful of my kids.
Then called my mom who went, "Well, if not now, you’d be too old by then. Now’s the best age." That’s true, not that I like to be reminded of age catching up.
Then informed my youngest sis and WM. Told my officemates. Didn’t want to jinx this pregnancy, so am hoping for the best.
I always wish that my kandungan will be great khalifah on earth.
Amin.

Hormone Pills?

Finally went to see the doctor on Saturday. Although I would have preferred a lady doctor, I didn't feel like coming back in the afternoon just to do that. I had after all been procrastinating enough as it was. So I waited for my turn and after half an hour, my turn came. I have to say that I'm not too happy with this doctor.

In all my experience being pregnant, I have only 1 horrible experience with 1st checkup and that was when I was pregnant with Inez. THis clinic was recommended and though the recommended doctor was not in, I agreed to see his colleague. When asked, I replied that I thought I was pregnant. She did a scan but couldn't find anything. So she asked me if I was certain. I said that I was. I did the home kit and it was positive. So she asked me to do another urine test and sure enough, the test result showed positive for pregnancy but the doctor said that the lines didn't seem to be too clear. She asked me if I wanted her to check if the baby was growing outside my womb! Nut case! Just because she wasn't efficient enough to see anything, and it would have been too early anyway, she made me worry unnecessarily that I might have complications! Needless to say, I never went back there and her esteemed colleague continued to deliver many of my friends' babies.

My recent visit to the doctor has got me worried all over again. And I am not too sure if this is unnecessary worry or not. When I went to get my meds, I didn't realise I was getting more than folic acid. Turned out I also had to take some other pills just labelled hormones. Let's reenact the whole thing.

Once we got the preliminary questions out of the way like why I was there, when my last period was, he concluded that I was about 8 weeks and he too jumped at the opportunity to do a scan. The nurse prepared me and the size of the baby now was about 19mm, and that, according to him, was the size of a 5 week old embryo (is that the right term?). So according to him, that's quite a huge difference. So I am supposed to come back in a week's time to do another scan to see if the size of the baby has increased or not and if it hasn't, it means that the baby's growth is stunted and he'd have to do D&C. Sounds painful already. So of course, my hubby was already asking why this would happen, coz I have been travelling and had just returned from Damai Laut the night before for a conference. I signed up for that before I knew I was pregnant and went on that long arduous journey by car! My hubby was like why can't you get a flight? I said it's too late to ask for one now unless you don't mind paying your own. I minded coz I sorta didn't want to go alone by myself. My friend btw, drove very carefully, and thoughtfully.

Sidetracked again! Anyway, doctor said no nothing to do with travelling. If it happened, usually it's because of the genetic make-up and stuff, basically like a plant that grows halfway and stops. So, should we be worried? He said no, because 8 wks' just like a tentative date or something and we should go back and scan and see if the baby's size increased or not. Then he asked me about my morning sickness. Have I started vomitting? I said no. Have I bled? Nope. Strong or not my feelings of morning sickness? I said it's hard for me to say because even with my first two pregnancy, that didn't come so early. With Inez, I only started getting nausea and vomitting after four months. Then the vomitting came at all times of the day. It wasn't morning sickness, it was just sickness, full stop. I didn't have appetite and I fasted without any problems.

With Mika, I've always said that Allah is so great that I was very strong when I was pregnant with Mika because I was travelling every week to KL and back for my studies. Although I had a poor appetite, I didn't vomit except for toothpaste induced vomiting early in the morning and at night.

Before I could explain all that, he waived off my explanations and asked me, "this pregnancy, how is it?" I said, well, I feel woozy all the time and tired, and I am turned off certain food now and I have poor appetite but have to to eat all the time. If not, rasa angin, gitu."

So he said, as long as that feeling is strong then the baby should be okay. I was telling my youngest sister and she went, "What's the logic in that? Does it mean that people with no morning sickness have weak babies? And there are cases where the morning sickness is so bad that the child is aborted."

So with that, we left the clinic, and when it was time to eat medication, I discovered I had hormone pills as well. On the first day, I took the prescribed pills but on the second day, I began questioning their existence. I have never been given hormone pills before. Usually, it's always been folic acid and folic acid alone. Is there something that the doctor isn't telling me? Is this doctor a quack?

Anyway, I tried to call the clinic back, but the doctor wasn't in. The nurse checked my records and the first question she asked me was if I was bleeding. I said no. Anyway, the hormone pills are supposedly to strengthen one's womb, but I consulted another doctor for a second opinion and she said that recent studies have shown that prescribing hormone pills does not prevent the inevitable from happening. The hormone pills he gave me was a generic one, whatever that means, but are supposedly harmless. According to my youngest sister, if I were given estrogen, estrogen would have caused uterine contraction and miscarriage. Normally, one doesn't prescribe hormone pills to pregnant ladies, coz they've got a lot of those already! So now I have a choice whether I want to eat the pills or not. I don't think so. If it's not meant to be, then, it isn't. All I can do now is pray for the best and that my baby is growing at normal pace, In`sya Allah!

To read more on the stages of human development, you can read here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_human_development

Welcome to the Year of the Pig (Part II)

I recall watching Sagwa on Playhouse Disney one night and Sagwa's grandma was telling a story about how the Chinese calendar got its order. I must have watched it with my head backwards because for the life of me, I thought the pig was the first to arrive at the finish line. I remember feeling amazed that it was the pig that came in first, who would have thought? Then again, my memory could be faulty. I probably wasn't giving my full attention and somehow from that moment on thought that it was the pig that came in first. So I told my Mom, and she was like, "You must have remembered it wrongly. The first would be the rat. And the reason why there are no cats is because the rat tricked the cat." Oh, if you want to read more on the folk tale of how the Chinese calendar got its order, and the characteristics of each animal, go to: http://www.animeyume.com/fruits_basket/fbzodiac.html

Here's the folk tale from the website above:
Anyone who's seen Fruits Basket knows that the poor cat is not a "true" member of the zodiac. The reason for this goes back to an old Chinese folk tale in which the animals were assigned to the cycle of years. A long long time ago, the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals together to determine their order in the yearly cycle. When the Cat heard the news, he let his friend the Rat know about it and the two animals decided to go together the next day. However, the next day the Rat did not wake the Cat who, being a cat and loving to nap, slept through the morning. Therefore, the Cat did not make it to the assembly on time and did not get a year. This is why there is no year of the Cat and this is also why cats hate rats.
The Rat, on the other hand, made it there first and received the first year. He did not achieve this without trickery either. He knew that a small animal like him would not be able to compete with the others, so he begged the Ox to let him ride on its head. The Ox consented and they went together. Just when they were about to arrive, the Rat jumped off the Ox's head and got through the finish line first. This is why the year of the Rat is the first year in the cycle, and the year of the Ox is the second. The Boar, being lazy, came in last.

Ha!ha!ha! The story above jogged my memory a little, and now I am quite certain that my memory is faulty! The reason why I am talking so much about the year of the pig is that drum roll, please! I am PREGNANT with my third child! Mom says that loads of people want to get babies in the year of the pig coz it's supposedly lucky. Have to do some research on how much luck we're talking about here. I hate to announce my pregnancy so early but now I understand why I have been soooooo tired and why my appetite has been soooooooo erratic and sooooo weird and why I can feel every aching muscle in my aching body. Lately, I have been getting all woozy and if I miss breakfast, my world starts to spin. BTW, that's why I have sleeping so much too!

All this while, boley laa perasan awet muda but I tell you, once you get pregnant at this age, you dun feel awet muda anymore. I feel like a 75 year old. Maybe I should ween off my 3 inch heels but that means I have to go shoe-shopping first. Thre's no Modern Mom here, so that means, some time soon, I have to go to KL. Oh I swear I can't wait to slip into Modern Mom sandals. I hope they have improved the look of the sandals so I won't look so ah Poh like that.

Anyway, I'm not the only one pregnant this year of the piggie but my sis-in-law, her cousin, my friend. Here is what the same site above says about boars:

People born in the Year of the Boar are chivalrous, noble, and gallant. Whatever they do, they do with all their strength. For Boar Year people, there is no left or right and there is no retreat. They have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. They don't make many friends but they make them for life, and anyone having a Boar Year friend is fortunate, for they are extremely loyal. They don't talk much but have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and are generally well informed. Boar people are quick tempered, yet they hate arguments and quarreling. Also, they are kind to their loved ones. No matter how bad problems seem to be, Boar people try to work them out honestly, if sometimes, impulsively. They are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep. Their opposite is the Snake.
If were born in the Year of the Boar, your Fruits Basket character is: Kagura!

Despite having all those nasty sayings like" fat like a pig, lazy like a pig", I must say I like what it says about Boar characters. And guess what? My dad is a boar too!

On another note, I don't have a clue what Fruit Basket means or refers to. :)

School Stories Again

Yesterday, I found out that I was misinformed by Mika. Apparently I had put too much faith in what Mikael said. I found out that the kids’ kindy doesn’t combine classes when they have computer lessons because although Mika has had his turn at the computer, Inez had yet to have hers. So on the way to school, Inez was saying how she hadn’t been for computer lessons and accused school of “cheating” her of her money. Wah wah wah! My mom was tickled that my daughter could accuse school of cheating her money. It turned out that school didn’t cheat her money after all as yesterday was Inez’s first computer class. She showed me her workbook and solemnly informed me that though there were many pretty stickers in the book, she could only peel them off upon their teacher’s instructions. Mom worked out that Inez’s computer lessons would be on Tuesdays, and Mika’s would be on Wednesdays.

My mom also had some time to enquire about Mika. The Malay teacher volunteered information that Mika is usually the last to finish his classwork although he holds his pencil very well. Apparently, Mika is playful.

Last month, I got Inez’s Art Class teacher to give Mika a tryout. When I came to collect my kids, the teacher was slowly shaking her head. She said Mika is bad at following directions and he daydreams a lot. Hmmm.

Mom noticed how Mika said his goodbyes yesterday. He called out to Jungle Boy whose name is actually Daniel, “Bye bye Gang Gang!” (same pronunciation as Gung ho) and Daniel called back to him, “Bye bye Gang Gang!” Oh dear! I wonder if Daniel brings that word home and experiments with it with his own family. What must his family be thinking? What on earth does Gang Gang mean?
Seriously, don’t look at me. I don’t have the answer either though I have been trying to get its meaning for ages. I know that it can sometimes mean ‘Eat’. But that’s all.

Shopping List

Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from my mom, picked it up to hear Inez’s voice, “Hello Mommy!”
“Yes, hello Inez.”
“Mommy! Nana says we are out of milk powder. Also Inez want nugget and meatball.”
In the background I could hear my mom asking Mika what he wanted from the shop.
Mika’s immediate response was, “CAR! MIKA WANTS CAR!”
“Not car! Food! What food did you say you wanted Mommy to get?”
“Mika wants mee.”Lately Mika has taken a liking to those longevity noodles cooked in oyster and soy sauce with chicken meatballs. Inez too but biasalaa, Mika will eat more of it.

Honestly, this is much cheaper than going out with either one or both of them. Usually Mika and I will go window shopping if I don't have anything to do on Saturdays while Inez goes for her art classes. Mika will go, "Mika is thirsty! Can Mika have chocolate milk, Mommy? Please..." Those were the days when a box of chocolate costs 80 sen. Now one costs RM1.60. Crazy! Then he's hungry, then he'll ask for Mexico buns, or Happy Meals. Then when we pass by a toy shop, he'll go, "Can Mika look at Mika's things?" Oh joy! But I allowed it lah. Thankfully, he didn't mind when I told him that we couldn't afford any of the racing cars or helicopters there. :)

Welcome to the Year of the Pig a.k.a Boar

Some days back, a friend asked me what chinese year would it be this year? I said I am not sure. She said it was very strange that there was no picture of any animal representing the coming year. So she's guessing it must be the year of the pig. So we asked my mom, who gave it a little thought, and confirmed that yea, most certainly this year is the year of the piggy!

(Read up more here: http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Pig.htm)

"A-hah! No wonder! I guessed correctly after all," said my friend.

It's interesting, isn't it? That when it's the year of the pig, there is no sign nor sight of the pig. I know it's supposed to be haram for Muslims to consume or touch a pig but to have no pictures! To not know what is a pig! To not recognize a pig when you see one and touch one thinking that it's not one! That's depriving people too!

Here's a story my cousin who operates a pet shop told me:

One day a boy runs into the shop excitedly and exclaims to his dad, "Aboh! Aboh! Tengok, Aboh! Babi!" which translates "Dad! Dad! Look, Dad! Pig!"

Dad slaps one hand on the back of his son's head saying, "Itu bukan babi!" which translate, "That's not a pig!"

"Habis tu?" or "Then, what is it?" the boy asks.

The father looked at the raccoon and said, "Itu musang!"

At that time I found it amusing that the guy didn't know his musang from his babi, then, it occurred to me that the Malay word for raccoon could be musang. Is it? Seems unlikely but who knows....

All this while, a musang to me is a fox and a serigala is a wolf. Am I mistaken? I have been told by a friend that a raccoon is a jebon. Where do all these names come from? But it was reported some months back in the papers that a village in Perak, if I am not mistaken, thought they found a new species of animal which turned out to be a mongoose! HA!HA!HA! For those of you who don't know what a mongoose looks like, do watch Casino Royale `cause there's a mongoose fight scene somewhere at the beginning of the movie.

I am going somewhere with this but I am afraid there's gonna be a Part 2. Soon, I promise, soon.

No angry Mommies and Daddies allowed

This recent weekend, I was so woozy, I spent my time sleeping a lot, and my hubby let me sleep and did the vacuuming one time, two times, three times until he got so tired of vacuuming coz Mika kept dropping biscuit, then cake crumbs everywhere. When I was better, I vacuumed too coz hubby hated the vacuum on sight now and Mika was only allowed to eat under parental supervision. And because he did the vacuuming and cleaning, the children were allowed to mess up only their room. Should a toy end up anywhere outside their room, the toy would need tobe cleared up immediately; and Mika again, would be the usual culprit. Inez on the other hand would turn the channel the moment her father's back was turned despite already misused her TV time. She left her channel running and did God knows what but couldn't stand for the TV to be on other than Playhouse Disney.
So by nightfall, her father was very strict. And I, though quite sympathetic, had to reinforce whatever my hubby's decision was. You know, united front and all that provided that it's deserving and justified.
Then Inez came out with a drawing with a stick man and a stick woman with a huge X on each. She was quick to clarify that it meant NO ANGRY MOMMIES AND DADDIES ALLOWED!
Cute huh? That cooled her daddy down a little and she was allowed to watch her show again after her daddy had watched his show until finish.

Without help

Yesterday, Inez made me proud. She finished her homework all by herself. No help at all from me or her daddy. I also didn't have to sit with her until she finished. Maybe she learnt it from Mika. I dunno but I hope this i not a one day wonder.

We are all English!

Teacher told Mom yesterday that Inez has a group of friends, including Zeti and they are mainly new students. That's good to know, I think. She also had an unknown eraser belonging to a certain Herr Rong, which was about1 inch wide and had a faded picture of Nemo on it. When I asked her why exactly is it she who is having the eraser, she answered that Herr Rong doesn't want it anymore and a girl gave it to her and she doesn't know why. Okay....

And Ja, I finally popped the question and as expected, Inez is English! Mika is English! Mimi is English! Zeti is English! Yay! We are all English! Of course I had to tell her the truth that she's quarter Malay, quarter Chinese, quarter Javanese and quarter Banjar. Mika too. Mimi would be quarter Malay, quarter Chinese, quarter Indian and quarter Bugis. Naqib too. Correct me if I'm wrong here, Ja! Anyway, no English! We are not English, we only speak English.

But this is normal. It happens to any child growing up speaking English. My mom tells me that I used to think that I was English too. Actually we speak sometimes Rojak English at home. So once at a restaurant, we couldn't finish the food, so we asked my brother to get the waiter to doggy bag the food. We waited and waited and waited. No waiter came to pack the food we wanted packed. So we confronted no.4 and asked him what exactly he told the waiter. No.4 said, "I said, 'nak ta -pau ah'."

A-hah no wonder no waiter came!

So no.4 kena bambu laa. "What language do you think you were using?"

I so cannot recall whether he thought it was Malay or English, but he certainly didn't think he was speaking Cantonese. Finally we got him to tell the waiter to 'bungkus' the food, baru laa dapat service bagus skit.

Mika's first homework

I know. I know. It's been days again since my last post. Lately I have been lazy actually. I know that Mumsgather sez that everything is bloggable but sometimes I don't know what to write or where to start. In the end, you only write what you can. So today, I have decided to write about Mika getting his first homework.

The background

Apparently, we've just found out that whilst others go for computer class, my son has been left to play with toys on his own. No wonder he doesn't want to go to school. He feels left out. So remiss of me. Since he played on the computer at home sometimes, when hubby allows it, we figured he didn't need classes. They are anti-social enuf as it is, why encourage them further by introducing them to the computer and all the doors the computer can open? I already see my children addicted to the computer 3 years from now. Who needs real flesh and blood friends? We've got our ol' faithful, the computer. We can play online computer games and kill, kill, kill! Get my drift, right? So we decided that it'd be better for us coz it's cheaper not to have our kids go for computer lessons.

One day, mom took kids to school. Mika looked sad. Teacher asked him in front of his nana if he had told her about wanting to join computer classes. Mika in effect atually did but somehow sort of botch up his request by stating rather than asking.

"Mika play computer," Mika announced one day - some days back.

In hindsight, that was actually Mika probably trying to say that he wants to play computer at school. There we were thinking, how nice of the teacher to include our darling boy coz we didn't enrol him for computer classes.

So we decided to ask Mikael some investigative questions. Is it true that he was really sad that he couldn't get into computer class or was it just a ploy by kindy teachers to get us parents to spend more than we can afford to?

Us (hubby and me): Do you want to go to computer class?
Mika: *nods* with sad face
Us: How many of you are there in your class?
Mika: Five! *shows one hand, all five fingers up*
Us: So when they go for computer class, how many of you don't go?
Mika: Two!
Us thinking: Hey, teacher sez he's the only one left out! maybe he doesn't understand the question.
Us: Mika, how many of you play with toys when others are learning computer?
Mika: *shows two fingers*
Us: Two? Who?
Mika: *points to himself*
Us: Does Jungle boy learn computer?
Mika: *nods*
Us: So who else doesn't learn computer?
Mika: *points away from him, to the back twds his room*
Us: Inez?!

Poor kids!

My God! How blurred we were. I didn't know that for computer classes, they combined the classes. Of course Inez and Mika would be the only two who didn't have to go for computer lessons, coz we didn't sign them up! i'm afraid my sense of humour got the better of me and I started laughing. Oh poor poor kids. My hubby also felt bad and guilty. Immediately, he turned to me to say, "sign them up, on me." (you see my hubby pays for all the other stuff, utilities, cars, groceries, house; and me, I pay also for some groceries, phone bills, the house, but mainly the children's education is on me.) We called Inez out for confirmation. Inez confirmed Mika's answers.

Us: Mika, do you want to learn computer?
Mika: Yes!
Us: Inez, do you also want to learn computer?
Inez: Yes.

So that settled it and yesterday, Mika officially was enrolled for computer lessons and brought back his first homework. It was yesterday I discovered the difference between Inez and Mikael.

Mika's first homework

When I got back from work, Inez showed me Mika's book and said that Mika had homework. Mika himself was nearby, overheard Inez and said, "Yay!" Homework was a picture of a computer and above it was written COMPUTER in dotted lines. Mika's task was to trace the dotted lines and colour the picture.

He came over, took the book from us and immediately started colouring. Mom came out with two bottles of milk, and expected the two kids to start drinking. Inez, being her usual obsessive compulsive self, went in search for some tissue paper to wipe the bottle dry and Mika continued to colour, said, "But Mika got to finish this."

After about a minute, thirst or hunger got the better of him , coz then he said, "Mika got to drink milk too," then proceeded to drink his milk. After which he continued his colouring, finished it and went on to play with his toys. No help from me except to sharpen his colour pencil. The boy has finished his homework! In about 5 to 10 minutes tops! I couldn't believe it! If only Inez was like that.

Inez

Inez on the other hand struggled to finish her homework last night and it turned out that she didn't feel well. She slept halfway through her work. When my hubby carried her, he said she was warm. I checked and yes, she was a little warm. By 3 a.m., she came whimpering to our room. Her body was burning hot. Gave her wet rubs and this went on until subuh. By 6 both kids were up and wanted milk. I thought of taking her to the clinic, but by the time I was ready and she was ready, her temperature went down. So in the end told her that she'd have to go for F.Ain and maybe to clinic later, if her temp went up again. Poor darling started crying because she didn't finish her homework. Inez, inez, can't blame her though coz she was under the weather.

But my Mom talked to her teacher yesterday and told the teacher about Inez's trauma with homework and explained that Inez also goes to a morning school. So the teacher said that it's okay if she didn't finish coz she could come in early and finish it in school. Mom says, how to, because she'd be chasing after Mika, and by the time, he's ready, it's lucky that they are even there on time. The teacher understands. Apparently, as reluctant as Mika is to go to school, he's also reluctant to leave, the teachers in fact have to chase him around school to catch him to get him into the car! Sigh! Poor Mom, got to deal with Mikael and Inez.

Lost and Found

I have been wanting to write this entry for a long while now but I think this is the right time as support to Flowerin who recently nearly lost her youngest daughter, Jazz. Rin, I guess it could happen to the best of us. I suppose it's also a lesson to all moms to never ASSUME. It's really embarrassing how I lost Mika. I feel so responsible about it. We had actually all left the building already. Only Mika was still in the building. I assumed that Mika was with my husband. And he assumed that Mika was with me. Mika was 2 or nearly 2 at that time. I don't really remember. All I know was that he wasn't 3 yet. The thought is horrifying, isn't it?

I took my Mom, Ina the maid, my kids: Inez and Mika, as well as Mimi and Naqib who were still staying with us in Kuantan at that time, to Berjaya Megamall. Then my husband joined us, so each of us took a child. Ina had Naqib, Mom had Mimi, I was holding Mika and my hubby was holding Inez. Just imagine ya, 4 adults and 4 kids, yet we can still manage to lose one. We were on the way out but biasalaa sebelum keluar tu, singgah here and there. When the shop didn't have what I wanted, I told the rest to proceed to the car while I checked out one last shop. Somehow, when I left that last shop we were ALL together at, I took Inez with me, not Mika. I figured that my hubby would take Mika seeing that Mika did not accompany me. Then I caught up with them outside Megamall some minutes later. My hubby had come in his own car, so when Ina, I think, or was it my mom, asked about Mika's whereabouts, I confidently answered that Mika was with my hubby. I didn't expect Mika and his daddy to not be with each other.

"Are you sure?" my mom asked.

"I was quite sure but I called my hubby up anyway only to be told that Mika wasn't with him. I really thought he was trying to pull one over me. Tipu! I couldn't believe he didn't have Mika! Then where was Mika?

I tell you, it was horrible. There I was, assuming that Mika was with my hubby and there was my hubby, assuming that Mika was with me and the reason why we didn't realise it earlier was because we came in different cars. (Luckily he was parked just outside the back entrance). So then, all of us sprung into action - we ran back into Berjaya Megamall. While my mom ran to announce a missing child, I went to the last shop we were ALL at. My husband had the same idea. Since he ran in first, he got to Mika first. Luckily Mika was there and surprisingly he wasn't crying. I arrived just seconds after him. The girls at the shop were doing their best not to alarm him into crying. I think he must have been lost for about 5 to 10 minutes by the time we got to him. Luckily he didn't wander off from that shop. My mom was in tears by the time we got through her handphone to tell her we've found Mika.

I guess my hubby thought I had both of them coz Mika had gone to the back of the shop and somehow didn't realise when everyone left without him. According to the shopgirls, he looked as if he wanted to cry a few times but he didn't. I think he knew he was left behind because he hugged us so tightly after that.

Do you know what scares me? We could have left him there and would not have known that we'd left him until we arrived home. That's 30 minutes! Luckily, luckily, God willing, someone asked about Mika. I cannot imagine what would have happened to him if we hadn't realised it sooner? But I am not going to drive myself crazy doing that. I thank God that we realised it and got him back, and pray that it would never ever happen again. I don't think it's a mistake that could happen to anyone, just me. I hope no one else would go through the same hell we did thinking we'd lost Mika! I tell you, the thought of having lost Mika lingered for some time....It was real nightmare!