“Cannot reverse one….”

Remember the discussion we had about JL’s wish?

Mummy: Can Mummy negotiate with you?
JL: Yes
Mummy: How about if maybe we only have you and Mei Mei only?
JL: Hmm but I have already pray already.
Mummy: Can change the prayer for something else?
JL: Cannot because once sent to God cannot reverse one.
Mummy: Why?
JL: Cannot lar…

Help!!! More stress and more wrinkles and more pimples. Any recommendations on acne home remedies to help?

Investment, Money, Lifestyle

Mummy has been using part of the EPF money to do some investment. It is a long term investment – slow, long but steady. The profit will not be as much as some who has investment in shares, property or even those who buy gold bullion.

Recently, PaPa also invested part of his untouched EPF. Why untouched? It is because since PaPa in freelancing, there is no contribution to the EPF for few years. Thus, the only minimal increment is the dividend paid by EPF.

How we wish we have extra cash to make investment for the kids’ future education, replace our long overdue Iswara Aeroback and upgrade our mini apartment. Actually there are many things we will love to have but these will be our top three priorities.

However, PaPa and Mummy will always be contented and thankful to God for all His provision. Mummy told PaPa that as long as we have roof over our heads and a decent car to bring us around plus everyone is happy and healthy, nothing is more important than all these. As human being, learning to be happy and contented with what we have is hard because we tend to compare our lives with other people who have a better life than us. How about comparing ourselves with those people who do not have the basic necessity such as a shelter, food and many others?

Sibling loving and caring

We were blessed that both JL and AL were close siblings. JL simply would give in and spoil his beloved sister. AL simply adored and took advantage of his KorKor’s love for her. Both of them could play with anything and still had fun. AL would imitate everything that her KorKor did even though she was too young to do it. When JL was playing with wii in Sam Yee Cheong’s apartment, AL also wanted to play that they had to give her the device unplugged. Mummy was praying hard that she would not spoil the device because it could be pretty costly to replace the item. PaPa and Mummy hoped they would continue to be closed, loving and caring with each other forever.

AL pretty, pretty…

This was a way long overdue post. Mummy had almost forgotten until Mummy found these photos in the laptop. Aunty Sharine had sewn this beautiful dress for AL. It was hard to take photo of her as she kept moving. Besides that, Aunty Sharine also knitted this cute hat for AL. Mummy loved both of dress and hat a lot. Hmmm… anyone interested, please contact Aunty Sharine to place your order.

AL also liked to be pretty and loved to carry handbag. Mummy never carry handbag or wear any jewelry except for a small pair of earrings. She would be busy carrying her handbag, wearing oversized high heel shoes and taking his ring toys as her bangles.

In conclusion, AL was doing a better job as a girl unlike Mummy who was always known as 'simple & tomboy'.

JL's 6th Birthday Celebration

JL was 6 years old on 19March2010. Mummy just could not believe that he would be going to Standard 1 in 2011.

JL celebrated his 6th birthday in his kindy one week earlier which was on 12March2010 because his birthday would be during school holidays – 19March2010.

Mummy told JL this year would be his last year celebrating in kindy because from next year onward, we would only celebrate with family because he would be in Standard One. For this year JL wanted cupcakes with Thomas & Friends as the theme. Since it would be his last year bringing cake to kindy/school, we decided to order some cupcakes with 3D. Jo worked very hard until midnight to make those few (actually a lot) 3D trains.

When JL was in Penang, PaPa, Mummy and AL went to get JL present. It would a surprise one because most of his gifts he could guess. Other years, usually PaPa would have to distract JL while Mummy sneaked to buy, pay and wrap the gift – trying very best not to let him know but most of the time he would eventually found it when he saw Mummy carrying the wrapped gift.

On 14March2010, we had dinner to celebrate Kong Kong and JL’s birthday. Both of them share the same birthday month – March. Sam Yee brought us to a restaurant near Tawakal Hospital. The food was nice. We ate deep fried pork leg, lala, vegetable, sweet & sour pork and many other seafood and all at about RM16X for 7 adult and 1 child (excluding AL). After dinner, we went back to our apartment to cut cake. We bought Red Velvet from Just Heavenly. After all these seafood and rich plus fattening food, maybe we all need to take the best colon cleanser.

On 19March2010, PaPa and Mummy left office on time to bring JL and AL out for special family dinner just four of us. Since JL loved prawn/shrimp, we decided to bring him to Bubba Gump. It was our family first time there. We went to The Curve branch. JL got a free Sundae for his birthday in Bubba Gump. After that, we went to IKEA to get a shelf for JL to display his Lego in his room.

On 20March2010, PaPa’s family (MahMah, Tai Pak, Pak Leong, Topaz, Orion and Aunty Poh Poh Pat) and Mummy’s family (KongKong, PohPoh, Yi Yee, Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong) dropped by our apartment to see JL blew his 3rd cake, Thomas & Friend’s Jelly Cake. We bought some ‘Han Chi Peng’. Everyone squeezed themselves in the small apartment for late supper on Saturday night. Then, everyone witnessed JL present opening session with AL’s help.

JL had more Lego which include a Police Set (very similar with Lego) from Sam Yee & Sam Yee Cheong, a mini tractor from MahMah and a Fire Set from PaPa and Mummy. AL got him Bill & Ben (Thomas & Friends Collection). Tai Pak and family got him a mini carom set which he requested. Yi Yee, KongKong and PohPoh got him a 3D View Imager with 2 sets of shows (Justice League and Mickey Mouse). JL also got many other gifts from other Uncles and Aunties too. Thanks everyone for all the lovely gifts….

JL, we hope you enjoy your 6th Birthday even though it was a simple one…

Go Green

With more people getting aware on environment, going green had been a non-stop campaign around the world. Scientists had been working hard looking for renewable energy which could be used as alternative energy while we as consumers should practice to avoid waste to energy. N-Viro International Corporation (http://www.bloggerwave.com/Bloggerwave/c/391/4400/0) developed opportunity fuels and came out with clean coal which was environment friendly.

Don’t forget to support and join Earth Hour this 27 March 2010 from 2030hrs to 2130hrs.

Happy 1st Birthday to MaMa Patch …

Chin Nee has been Mummy’s friend since our 1st child was just a few months old and she was working in a big MNC company. Then she decided to be SAHM. After that, MaMa Patch was born. In just a split second, MaMa Patch had turned 1 recently.

Chin Nee, Mummy would like to wish you all the best and many many more great years ahead

“It’s Mama Patch 1st Anniversary!
Check out their finest handmade at http://www.mamapatch.com
Join as a FAN at http://www.facebook.com/mamapatch"

How to participate:
All you have to do is copy and paste the below birthday wish and picture to

1. your blog (create a new blog post, link back to www.mamapatch.com) or/and
2. your facebook wall (write message, upload pic, leave us a comment on our page at www.facebook.com/mamapatch)
3. And lastly, remember to Join Us as a Fan on www.facebook.com/mamapatch
   

“It’s Mama Patch 1st Anniversary!
Check out their finest handmade at http://www.mamapatch.com
Join as a FAN at http://www.facebook.com/mamapatch"

Grand Draw: ONE FREE Pastel Silk Baby Ring Sling worth Rm168 (design fully custom made to your wish) or Cloth Pads (combination of your choice) worth Rm128

EVERYTHING WILL GO AT 28%, UNTIL 31 MARCH 2010. You will have more than ONE WEEK to grab, although we might deliver later as expected most items will be custom made, especially our Ring Sling.

To place order, please furnish all details needed at http://www.mamapatch.com/order/ so we can process and reply as soon as possible.

Happy 6th Birthday to JL

JL is 6 today…How time flies…

Sometimes you will drive PaPa and Mummy nuts but then overall you have been a great and loving Kor Kor to AL. You spoil AL to the maximum. Mummy always have to remind myself that you are just a normal active boy. Mummy wish that I have all the energy to keep up with you and AL’s. Mummy is also uncertain where you get all the energy because we never give you any special hormones like human growth hormones.

PaPa, Mummy and AL pray that God will bless JL with Happiness, Good Health, Wisdom, Obedience, Love and many good things always.

Note: Mummy will update the detail on the next post on how we celebrated JL’s 6th Birthday…

JL’s wish…

JL adored AL so much that when he went outstation with PohPoh, the person whom he missed the most was AL. When Mummy watched the show about big family in Human & Health (Channel 733 in Astro), he would sit down and watch with Mummy.

JL prayed for a healthy baby girl and we got AL.

After AL, JL changed his prayer to healthy baby boy since July 2008 till now. Why?

JL : Because I must have one pair – 1 Mei Mei and 1 Di Di… (Mummy LOL)
Then mid of 2009,
JL : Mummy, I want to have 2 more babies.
Mummy : Why?
JL : If we have Di Di, then Mei Mei will be lonely. So I think better have no4 a baby girl, so that AL Mei Mei will have a friend. Then only fair. (Mummy even a bigger LOL)

Mummy started to have more acne on the forehead that Mummy might need to get something to remove acne scars due to non stop scratching on the forehead. Why? Stress…..

JL missed….

JL missed home a lot. Every night, after talking to PaPa and AL, he would cry at the end of the conversation because he missed home. He missed the most was AL. PaPa talked to him to be strong and he was already a big boy. Anyway he would be home soon. It did break our heart hearing him sobbing in the phone but he must learn to be independent.

However, JL did share to us that he had learnt a lot of things which he wanted to share with us when he came back. He also said he would try to get something for everyone especially for AL. It would be nice to get Free People clothes but we told him it would be fine if he did not have the time to get the gifts.

No Voice…terrible cough

Mummy lost partial of my voice yesterday, struggling even to utter a phrase. As for today, Mummy have no voice and when Mummy talk, only air came out from the mouth. It is so hard to talk and communicate at home and office.

As for the cough, it would come once in a continous cough causing Mummy to run out of office to the corridor or toilet to finish up the many coughs. The cough is bad and have caused chest pain, nose congestion and watery eye. After each session of these coughs, Mummy would have red and watery eyes as if Mummy just cried.

How to concentrate reading thick manual trying to understand the raw data…sigh sigh…

Mummy hoped it would get better because this Friday Mummy have an important meeting to attend …

JL;s First…

It is JL’s first time going outstation for a few nights without any of us accompanying him (without PaPa nor Mummy).

Earlier today morning, JL flew to Penang with PohPoh on Firefly. PaPa woke up early and drove JL and PohPoh to Skypark. PaPa was the one busy packing the bag for JL.

From then till now, PaPa had been calling Mummy 2-3 times asking how was JL. PaPa also kept reminding Mummy to call JL tonight because he would be having his night class. Besides that, Mummy have lost Mummy’s voice and am struggling even to utter a phrase. It was hard for us but some how we need to let him go.

We hoped to take this opportunity to spend more time with AL (one to one) and also get a surprise present for JL’s birthday. Yes, he would be back just before his birthday this Friday.

AL on another hand is having a great time being spoiled by her KongKong when PaPa and Mummy are working.

Lateral Transfer to another Dept on 01March2010

From my last post on changing job after 8 years, Mummy didn’t manage to update what role Mummy did.

1st Job Company 1
Mummy’s first job was as a Practical Trainee in a bank (HQ in Penang) but the bank is already non-existence due to merging. It was a 6-months duration work with a very senior man. What I meant by senior was he doesn’t use a computer to do documentation instead he loved his super big typewriter. When the bank relocated to a new building, he kept reminding the movers to be careful with his giant typewriter. Mummy cleaned-up all the Head Office and branches Fixed Assets database and converted the database from Lotus 1-2-3 to MS Excel. Yes, they were using Lotus 1-2-3 and saved the data in 5 ¼ inch floppy disks. Mummy even transferred all the files from 5 ¼ inch floppy disk to 3 ½ inch.

2nd job Company 2
It was during an economy downturn that Mummy had no choice but to accept work in a bank as a Credit Card Customer Service Officer in the Call Centre. Thanks goodness it was only 3 months, then Mummy got another job offer during Dec 1999 (just before Y2K)

3rd job Company 3
Mummy joined an American pharmaceutical company as one of the pioneer in setting up the database for Malaysia. It was Mummy's best experience during the early years where Mummy worked with a team consist of an American Consultant (who is retired & residing in US), a programmer (who eventually became Mummy’s manager) and a Director (who had retired).

Mummy was in Company 3 from 1999-2007 where Mummy help to set-up, maintain, yearly restructuring and training of the database. Mummy also helped to generate report for monitoring and ad-hoc purpose. Besides that, Mummy also managed a few projects and was involved in a few task force including helping to set-up the Sports & Recreation Club etc... It was a one man show with many tasks. Then, Mummy job got too routine and the urge to seek for new challenge. That's when a head hunter called to offer a role as a Business Analyst in a different industry.

4th job Company 4
It was a difficult change for Mummy having made a lot of wonderful friends in Company 3. However it was time to move. The 4th job was more defined by doing analysis and understanding the process and procedures. It was project team orientated, concentrating on Revenue Protection. Mummy had to learn to analyze data using SQL to extract data. Mummy also learnt the art of looking for information from various people thus forcing Mummy to be resourceful in data and information hunting. Trust Mummy, getting information was even more difficult than hunting for sconce for our apartment the last time.

5th job Company 4
Almost after 3 years working as a Business Analyst, Mummy started to see within the company for new challenges. Mummy didn’t want the history to repeat like what happened in Company 3 where Mummy stayed too long in the comfort zone without any progression.

Mummy managed to get a lateral transfer which Mummy’s official date was exactly when Mummy joined Company 4 three years ago (01March2007). A lot of people were surprised because usually a transfer with promotion was common but lateral transfer was not common. Lateral transfer with no increment.

Mummy moved to Audit & Business Advisory Department. It was never in Mummy’s dream or plan that Mummy would end up in Audit. For this year, Mummy have to work with two projects (non Audit assignments) where Mummy is required to identify the Fraud Risks and Corporate Risks, hunt for the data, set-up the database and set-up the dashboards by this year. It sounds so technical and Mummy is really at a lost because Mummy is not a programmer. Mummy only pray for the best and takes it as a learning process.

The negative point of the transfer is that Mummy have no cubicle and only have hot seats (free seating on a long or round table or even the pantry). Mummy was given a small lockerto keep stuffs and now the mini Kancil booth has been converted to Mummy's mini office storage.

The positive point is, this is the only department in the whole company which have Virtual Office (VO) where we have the option to work from home but there is a catch to it, the VO option doesn't give reimbursement for the broadband fees since we would have save money on petrol and toll from coming to office.

Happy 64th birthday toDad/KongKong – 07 March 2010.

Yesterday was KongKong’s 64th Birthday.

We would like to wish him Happy Blessed Birthday and May God granted him Happiness + Good Health.

We had to delay our dinner celebration to the following weekend…very sorry to Dad/KongKong…

It was just happened last weekend we had to attend a wedding in Melaka. Besides that Sam Yee Cheong was out for his mission trip and we were not sure whether he would be back early on 07 March 2010.

Hmmm…what gift should we get for KongKong? He was and is a simple man but he enjoyed exploring nice food. We knew PohPoh would love clothes and jewelry including loose diamonds for her birthday if we could afford to give her. It was always easier to get gift for woman than man. Maybe we would give KongKong cash as gift for him to get what he wanted.

Credit Card Up and Down

Credit Card business had dropped since the introduction of the government tax. Many banks’ credit card processing had dropped due to low demand. However, would this trend continue or consumers would learn to accept the extra charges and used the credit card for convenience purpose.

One advantage of the charges was consumer would have fewer credit cards to manage which meant less debt.

How about you? How do you manage your credit cards?