Ms No Bo Dy

Daddy and I are not the usual couples to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, valentines' day and etc.. We will just simply acknowledge that some of the days are a little bit more special but we have stopped buying each other presents long time ago. We spent this year's Valentine's day apart, in different countries and different time zones. I was in Kuching and Daddy was in Phoenix (US). He was 15 hrs behind, so while it was Valentine's day for me, it was still pre-Valentine for him. Of course, for formality, I wished him "Happy Valentine" on 14 Feb morning when he was just about to go to bed. On 15 Feb morning (my time), I received a SMS from him:
"Hi Dear, how are you? Happy Valentine's
Day! I am having dinner with Ms No Bo
Dy and enjoying myself very much.
Talk to you later."
My first reaction was:
%@&#^&?!@ Never buy me Valentine's Day lunch/dinner or present, how dare he dine with another lady on this day and some more tell me he is enjoying himself very much! @#$%^&* And who is this Ms No, from Korea? Never heard him mention before leah! *Angry*
Then I read the sms again ... Ms No Bo Dy ... isn't that Ms Nobody??? Aiya, he is having dinner alone lah ...
Hahahaha ... then I started laughing at myself. How can I let him catch me with such a simple joke?? And get agitated for nothing? Poor Daddy ... having dinner alone on Valentine's Day, felt so sorry for him for a moment.
Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder and that is true!!

Weekend Job

Caught the flu bug from Sofia and fell instantaneously sick when I arrived KL on Saturday morning. Daddy was not much better, jet-lagged after a 17-hr flight. So instead of having an Indonesian maid cleaning up the house, Daddy had a Singaporean maid cleaning up for him. Fortunately the apartment is still sparsely filled, very very easy to clean. Things would have been worse if all our barang barang are here already ...

Happy Yuan Xiao!

Yesterday marks the last day of Chinese Lunar New Year and it gives us another excuse to pig ourselves out have another feast together as a family. Fortunately my inlaws do not really pay a lot of attention to this day and we pretty much just have a normal dinner. Daddy also did not purposely make a trip back since he was travelling.
In Kuching, the eve and last day of CNY are very very very important and many people take leave from work to spend time with the family (except me). To me, these are just normal days lah. Something I enjoy very much on these two days are the fireworks in Kuching. On the eve, it would start at random after reunion dinner, gets bad at around 11pm and peaks at 12am. The fireworks goes off from almost every Chinese household (except mine) and the view is stunning and spectacular. If you close your eyes, you might have comtemplated to run and hide cos it sounds like a war zone.
Are fireworks legal in Sarwak (Malaysia)? Ironically, no, it is actually illegal!!! Huh? Yup, it is so illegal that almost everyone here can actually buy a couple to have fun during this period. For us, we are happy to seat back in the living room with our legs propped up on the couch and not paying a penny to enjoy the fireworks. Seriously, I tried it once and decided it is much more enjoyable and safer to sit back and enjoy. Sofia had actually fallen alseep at around 830pm but it was so noisy that she woke up at 845pm. She was thrilled by the fireworks and refused to sleep till around 10+pm ...
Her cough is still quite bad, wonder if I should bring her to the doc tomorrow night before we head off to KL on Sat morning?

Feeding Myself

Sofia was having problem falling alseep last night because of her blocked nose and she just making this "ahum ahum" sound to show her displeasure and discomfort. I offered her some biscuits hoping to cheer her up and she took it.

As I settled her down into her Ikea highchair, a thought flashed through my mind. Why don't I try to let her feed herself? Of course I cannot give her the whole cracker, she is going to stuff the entire piece into her mouth and choke. So I broke the cracker into bite-sized pieces and left one piece on her tray to see what happens. To my surprise, she picked it up easily and went straight into her mouth?! That was quite an achievement and my immediate response was to shower her with praises, cheers and a kiss. She was so happy and I was happy too!
Just at that instantneous moment, hundreds of images passed through my mind. I imagined her feeding herself with a spoon the first time, putting on clothes for the first time, bathing herself for the first time, wearing shoes herself for the first time, etc.. Haiz, wish I can fast forward time and she can do ALL of this now!

ZOOM back to reality ... I regretted that thought as soon as it came cos I know it it just a matter of time all this will happen. By the time it happens, I would wish I could reverse time and help her do everything again.
While I continued to break up the cracker for Sofia to eat, I now treasure each moment and am happy to be able to express my love for her in this simple way.

Swimming

Brought Sofia for a dip in the pool on Sunday afternoon but guess it was too cold for her and she came down with cough and running nose today. Bleh. Next time must swim at 2pm while the hot sun is still around.

Jong's Crocodile Farm (Part I)

It was a nice cool Saturday morning and I decided to do a little bit of driving myself. Packed Sofia, maid and my in-laws into the car and headed for Jong's Crocodile Farm located 30km (17th mile) from Kuching. I am not very sure the exact location but everyone tells me "just head towards Serian" and you will not miss it. My father-in-law could navigate me up till 10th mile and from there on, we depended on road signs along the way. Not too bad, after a 30-mins leisure drive, we saw the signage and reached the place successfully! Actually, Daddy and I have heard of this place since we came to Kuching but never did felt the "need" to visit. See crocodiles for what?? But with Sofia, the visit becomes much more meaningful as we can show her the different type of animals and bring her outdoors to get some sun.

Baby crocodiles - apparently they have to separate the young ones from the older and bigger ones cos the adults might eat the young ones when hungry!

Looks fake? It is 100% real! But I wonder why he kept this mouth opened all the time, toothache?
More snapshots of the other animals we met ...

Overall, it was a pretty good experience for everyone since all of us were there for the first time. The crocodile feeding show was quite entertaining and the place is pretty clean and well kept. Maybe we should plan another visit when Daddy is back?

Chinese New Year (2nd Day)

We started visiting relatives and friends only today and the first stop was at Daddy's 3rd GuGu's house. Surprisingly Sofia was in a good mood and did not reject strangers much.
After lunch, we visited Jeffery, Helen, Celeste and Charlotte @ Village Grove (our old neighbours). The three girls had fun playing together and Sofia was delighted to have new playmates and toys of course.
Headed back home thereafter and Sofia, being over-dosed with fun the whole morning, knocked out even before we reached home.

My Ang Pao

This is the first "Ang Pao" Sofia received from her paternal grandparents on the eve of CNY. It kind of kept her entertained for a while as she tried to figure out how to open it.
Good idea! I should give her more empty red packets to play with when I need time-out!

Romantic Walk

Daddy came back today from KL to spend CNY in Kuching with us. It seemed so long since we were last together. Well, at least for the next few nights, my bed will not be so cold. Seriously, it did take me a few nights to get used to sleeping alone since 30 Dec.
The three of us went for our usual evening walk together and even ventured further into the neighbourhood. Every moment was so precious.
I am inclined to think that our conversation was sooo boring that we returned home with a little sleeping beauty in the pram.
Yes, she sucks her thumbs before she sleeps.

Tong Tong Ciang! 888

Just did a count on Sofia's teeth this morning, she has 8 teeth in all! No wonder she chomps on her crackers like nobody's business nowadays.
Being a Chinese, I can't help but link the number 8 to Chinese New Year which is just few days away.
So here's to wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! Tong Tong ciang ciang ciang .....