It's so Warm

"It's so warm. Can I sit in front?", my Li'l girl would alwasy say whenever we ride our car, Whether our car's A/C hasn't been very conditioned for the past month or she's just feels 'lonely' to be all alone by herself in the backseat.

At first, I thought that she was just using that as an excuse to sit in front with me and his baby brother, but later on I realized that indeed our A/C hasn't been working well. My Hubby said, we need to have it fixed since it's really getting warmer and warmer especially if we travel far. I guess, it's really time to have it fixed in the auto shop. There's actually an online auto shop that sells all auto parts including the diesel turbocharger or a/c compressors. But, we'll have to settle with the shop nearby.

Internet Connection- DOWN

I don't know what happened but our internet connection but has been down since Sunday midnight. All the while, it was running smoothly since we had it connected.

We've called the tmnet customer service several times already and tried to do troubleshooting but with no success. They said, they will send some people to the house to take a look at it in 2-3 days! Oh...2-3 days is quite long for me. I'll be behind my 'writing tasks' and grabbing of my tasks.. heheh!

So, for now I'm here in the internet cafe and trying to submit my paid 'tasks'. To all my loyal 'chatmates' namely my Mom, my sis and cousin Bogie.. hehehe! I'll have to be absent for a day or two. And I'll be back once our connection is up and running again. :) See you soon!!

Rain In Our City

It has been very hot here in Taiping.. a complete opposite of the weather in my hometown in the Philippines. It seems that it has been raining there for the past weeks. Not just ordinary rain but heavy rains at that.

I can't help but be reminded of the flood that we experience early this year while we were in the Philippines. We actually live beside the river and at that time the river water overflowed. We don't have a home insurance but It was amazing that everything that was lost during the flood was recovered or replaced with new ones. But I just pray that a flood like won't happen again.

The Monkey World as Seen by Tricia

Here is a video taken near the Taiping Lake Gardens where there were like hundreds of monkeys just loitering around. My li'l girl likes to call in the "Monkey World". In this video, my li'l girl did quite a good job in doing the 'voice over' for the video ( except fo a few grammatical mistakes..hehe!). Do you think she'll be a future travel or documentary host like the ones in Globe Trekker?

For more photos on the Monkey World, you can view the post from my travel blog HERE.

Of Webhosting and Free Hosting

I've had a chat with my friend a few weeks ago. She told me that she got a web host for her domain that's powered by wordpress. She also told me of the many advantages of getting your blog hosted. I'm quite convinced with getting a web host for my blogs but I guess I have to wait first for a few months before I can get this done. As of now, I need to save up for a trip.

I need to check out a lot of options for cheap web hosting too. I found one site that offers Free hosting, Unlimited Cheap Web Hosting, reseller hosting, vps hosting and dedicated hosting. I've heard they have a lot of satisfied customers and reliable service. I'll have to bookmark their site and check back on them once I'm ready t get my own web host.

The Chinese Drum

Lyle got his first drum! It's a Chinese drum with a long story behind it. This drum was actually given to Lyle by my Hubby's primary teacher. Yes, you read it right, my Hubby's primary teacher. We got to contact his primary teacher through Tricia's school because that's where Mrs. C used to bring my Hubby and siblings for Sunday school. So, Tricia's school principal is Mrs. C's good friend and that's how she got our number and called us one afternoon.

So, we got to meet up with Mrs. C and had a long exciting talk about my Hubby's primary years. Mrs. C really has a good memory. She could remember every student that has taught, even those that my HUbby has already forgotten.

Anyways, back to the drums. She then gave each one of us presents and surprisingly a drum for our li'l boy. Our boy immediately loved the drum and never stopped 'making noise' after he saw this piece of instrument. Then, Mrs. C told us the history of this drum.

This drum was actually brought by her grandfather from all the way from China to be used for her daugher ( who is now married and residing in the US). And since she's living all alone now and the drum is not of use, that's why she's giving it to our son. Wow! We were honored. Imagine, this piece of instrument is like an heirloom. It still looks so sturdy and solid that no one would know that it's more than 20 years old already.

So, that's the story about our li'l boy's first drum. I hope we could take care of it and pass it on to our grandchildren. ;)

The little drummer boy who looks more like a sumo wrestler! Hahaha!

Coins as Investments

Have you heard about the coins that can make great investments? I'm not talking about the ordinary coins which you can 'invest' with the use of piggy banks but of coins of great value.
These are the rare coins which are made of precious metals like gold, silver and platinum.

These coins are so rare and precious that each piece would cost thousands of dollars. As I've heard, rare coins would truly prove a worthy investment as opposed to the paper bills because as time passes by, its value also appreciates. You might want to check out the site with certified coins and read on how to start on this great investment.

The Brave Girl

It's not her first time to the dentist, she's been to the dentist a few months ago, just to have her teeth checked. But that setting was quite different, the dentist was my cousin, she's so good with kids and all Tricia did was open her mouth for a few minutes and it was done! So Tricia never felt scared sitting on the dental chair. Even that time, my cousin already told me that Tricia needed some filling. But our schedules never allowed us to meet for the 2nd appointment plus my cousin was due for delivering her first baby and until we had to come back here in Malaysia.

Fast forward, a few months later..(that is now), our li'l girl has been complaining of a terrible toothache. We thought we should not delay in going to the dentist anymore. And today we went to the government clinic here in Taiping. She never felt scared of the thought of going to the dentist because she had a pleasant experience with my dentist cousin. On the way, we had to orient her and explain to her the things that the dentist might do with her teeth, clean, put filling and etc. And all she said was that we must be there with her to hold her hand.

Due to language barriers, we decided that Hubby will be the one to go with her inside the clinic while I take care of Lyle outside. During the procedure, our friend who works inside the clinic came out a lot of times while I asked her how Tricia's doing. She told me that she was okay and in fact very brave because she didn't cry at all. I then found out that they cleaned her teeth and put a filling in it.

An hour passed and finally, Hubby and Tricia came out. But when they came out, Tricia was in tears. Only then my Hubby told me that she was okay the whole time. It was only during the time when they were almost finished with the procedure that she cried. Tricia on the other hand said that it was painful when they pressed her tooth so much. I guess that was the time when they put the fill. Or maybe an hour of sitting on the dental chair must be too tiring and stressful for a small girl too. But after awhile she was okay.

I'm just proud of my li'l girl. Even if she was in tears towards the end but she was able to endure the pain and stress of being in the dentist's clinic for an hour. Thank God for the strength and courage.

While his Ate was inside, this li'l guy was enjoying his time in the small play area inside the government clinic.

Kids in Fashion

Kids nowadays are so much into fashion even my li'l boy loves to wear my sunglasses. We didn't buy for him any sunglasses yet because he's still too young and we're afraid that the cheaper ones might spoil his eyes. We also don't want to buy him the expensive type because it won't be practical for a li'l buy to wear expensive sunglasses right?

But there's actually good news for the parents whose kids are wearing prescriptive glasses since Zenni optical is offering $ 8 Rx eyeglasses . You'll be assured that Zenni's glasses are of quality and sure won't break the bank because of their great offers. And by the way, have you seen Zenni Optical on TV!!! Yes, they've become that popular by being featured in TV. So kids, let's give a High Five to Zenni Optical !

Sick Again...

My Li'l girl is sick again...She's having fever, cough and colds. Oh, my kids have been sick quite frequently these days. I can't help but be a bit worried.

She was actually fine yesterday. We had a bit of a day out, went to the mall, bought a few things, let them play in the playpen and attended a friend's birthday party. Then at about 12mn her fever started and it was quite high. But praise God that her fever has subsided a bit already. We're just at home now and letting the kids rest, kids and I didn't go to church.

I just hope our li'l girl will be okay and be healed. Please do pray for her too. Thanks!

What's My Number?

I may not be too old yet, but I have one weakness, I can't remember faces and numbers easily. Honestly, I can't even remember my handphone number now. Whenever I have to fill up a form in which my number is needed, I have to ask my Hubby, who's so good in remembering faces and numbers. He'll just chuckle every time I ask him to tell me my phone number and I'll always have to make an excuse that I don't remember my number because I don't call myself. Maybe if I get 1800 numbers then I can remember my phone number easily maybe like 1800- LALAINE . :)

How convenient it would be to have all our friends and contacts numbers start with a 1800 and a name right? Then, I won't have to struggle looking for my phone book and search people's numbers whenever I needed to call someone. How convenient would it be if we want to order pizza and just dial 1800 PIZZA or we want to call my sister and call 1800 LAUREEN, huh? And not to mention, all these numbers are toll-free!

Well, if you have a business, you must already know the benefits of having these to toll free numbers and the amount of growth your business can achieve. You might be interested to get 800 phone numbers. It's not as expensive as you might think, especially when you think of its long term benefit for your growing business. There is this site that offers a ' No monthly ' scheme , prepaid toll-free service and instant activation.

Do you want to see your businesses succeed? Then better get 800 telephone numbers now.

Girls Section and Boys Section

As many of you may know, I'm a wife and a mom of two kids - a 5 year old girl and an almost 2 year old boy. I'm very much satisfied to have 2 kids - a boy and a girl and my Hubby and I would tell our friends that we think that 2 is enough.

I didn't realize the 'beauty' of having a boy-girl pair until the other week when we were just at home and doing our chores. I was folding clothes while my Hubby was repairing the grill door. My daughter volunteered to help me out folding the clothes and we called our folding area the 'girls section'. Lyle on the hand was trying to disturb us and unfolding the folded clothes. So, we 'shooed' him away and told him to go to the 'boys section'. That is the area where my Hubby was fixing the door. And he obediently went to his Appa and tried to 'help' him - make his job more difficult (!). He climbed up when his Appa was climbing up, he touched the hammer, nails and etc.

But after that I realized that it would be fun when both of my kids grow up. We could have a girl's day out (as usual) and a boys day out too. The girls can go and do all the girly stuff - go to the parlor, paint our nails, do our hair, window shop and etc., while the boys can go out; watch football, play in the field and play games and alike.

It's just perfect to have a pair.. no one's left out! So, that's the beauty of it and now , I think I'm more convinced that 2 kids ( a boy and a girl) are enough. :)

Our Faithful Car

Our car has been faithfully serving us for more than 5 years now. It's actually a blessing from God as it has been given to us by our friend. The thing that we liked most about our car is that it's very economical when it comes to gas consumption. But for the past weeks, my Husband has noticed that it has been consuming a lot of gas lately. Then, just last week, after it didn't have any power to start. We had to bring it to the auto shop and only then we found out that the alternator is broken and it's actually the cause why it's consuming more gas that it used to. So, we changed the alternator from the shop itself. The auto shop sells a lot of auto parts but I'm sure they don't sell buick supercharger or other kinds of superchargers. But I know of a site which you can order these online. This site is known to have a great variety of superchargers with great deals and friendly customer service.

Back to our faithful car, its condition is now back to normal. I just hope it'll continue to serve us faithfully in the next few years.

Another Weekend

Wow! Time flies so fast It's just like we just spent the weekend and tomorrow's another weekend! We might be going to Klang for the weekend. My Hubby has some appointment on Sunday so, we might tag along with him. But if things don't happen accordingly, then we might stay behind while he goes to Klang on Saturday night.

We're actually having busy weekends these days since we're usually out of town. I'm not complaining though because I love to travel even if it may be stressful at times. But I guess for now, our 'small' passengers are getting more behaved and patient when on the road. That's a great thing to be thankful about.

The Silver Jewelry Business

Our family loves silver jewelry not just because it's cheaper than gold but because it's a jewelry that you can wear at any time, may it be for casual wear or formal wear. Because of our appreciation for silver jewelry, my sisters were able to start a small scale silver business. It all started a few years ago when we met a lady who selling silver jewelries for a cheap price. When my sisters got to know about this, they immediately saved up some money to start the business by buying from our friend.

But we never got to contact our friend in the province where they manufacture silver jewelries, but instead we were led to one of the oldest silver shop in the province. The owners were very friendly and they gave us bigger discounts than our friend. So, for many years, they have been our source of the silver we sell and we've become very good friends with them too.

So, that's the history of my sisters' small silver business. I hope that this small business will become bigger. It'll be good to have an online jewelry store too like World Jewels which sell all kinds of jewelry from wedding rings, Engagement Rings and the like.

My Favorite Drink

For those who know me well, they would think that I'm talking about COKE or coffee as my favorite drink here. But no, I've discovered one delicious drink that even thinking about it now, makes me crave to have a glass of it. But it's already 11:13pm in my watch now so, I guess it's quite late to go and get one.

My new favorite drink? It's called " 3 Layer Tea" . Even the name and the look of the tea is already intriguing and wait till you drink it and I'm sure you'll like it. Here is how it looks like.



As the name implies, the tea has 3 layers. The top layer is actually tea with milk, followed by evaporated milk and lastly, the thick caramel/black sugar. So, you can imagine that it's a sweet drink but it's 'sweetness' is quite mild because it's not the refined sugar but the natural one.

Try it and I'm sure you'll like it!

Of Satellite TVs

I don't have much time to sit and watch TV. When the TV is on, it's usually in Playhouse Disney for the kids. But when I think that I need to rest and relax a bit, I try to sit and watch shows from Discovery Travel and Living or Discovery Channel. I just love their informative shows which are also entertaining.

We're currently subscribed in Malaysia's only Satellite TV providers called Astro. They don't have other satellite TV providers here so, Astro get the whole Malaysian market. In the US, I heard there are numerous directv providers and there's even a site which serves as a resource for you to choose the best provider, packages and plans. Like for example, if you're in Alabama you can just search for Satellite TV in Alabama.

Anyways, what I like about satellite tv is that there are a wide variety of channels to choose from and many great shows to watch.

Smells Like Durian

I can't help but be tickled everytime I remember one afternoon when the kids and I were playing. Our li'l Lyle was already perspiring and one thing I love to do is to smell his armpit. I can't quite describe how his armpit smells like especially since its a mixture of the smell of of his sweat and milk.

So, I asked my li'l girl to smell his baby brother's armpit and to tell me how it smells like. Lyle was lying down with one arm raised and ready for the 'smelling test'. He loves to have someone smell his armpit too. And I just love the way he giggles when we try to smell it. After the 'smelling test', Tricia said with a smile on her face, " Hmmm.. his armpit smells like durian!!" Hahahah!! That's it! That was the exact decription of his armpit smell but why haven't I thought of that before. For me and my li'l girl, we love to eat durian so, we find lyle's armpit smell deliciously sweet! LOL!! For those who 'despise' the smell of the durian fruit.. yeah.. I know how you would react..... ;)

So, anyone wants to smell my li'l boy's armpit..LOL!! Hmmm.. durian flavor!!

A Walk At the Lake Gardens

My most favorite place here in Taiping is the Lake Gardens. Every time we go for an evening ride, we never miss passing by this beautiful place. But this time, we decided not just to drive around but walk through the 'park'. And we're glad that we did. We saw some nice spots at the garden. Our li'l girl enjoyed her 'jog' while our li'l boy enjoyed his ride in his stroller. Yes, it's a miracle that he just sat still all throughout the time and never wanted to walk or be carried. I guess he enjoyed the view so much too.


I think, we will have to take a walk at the Lake Gardens more often. It'll be a good exercise and save us some petrol ( because we won't have to drive round and round). Maybe sometimes we can also have another picnic , spread out large blanket or floor mats, bring some snacks and toys for the kids. I'm sure it'll be fun!

Awards Night!

I'd like to thank my cousin, Nang Grace of A Walk to Remember, who thought of me and gave me this " Spread the Love " award. I'd like to pass it to YOU my reader, as we spread the love in the blogosphere.

Rules:
1. Copy the badge and put it on your blog.
2. Link back the person who passed you this award.
3. Spread the love to at least 10 or more bloggers.

--
The Second 2 awards are given to me my Ate neneth from Neneth's Niche, Thanks so much Ate !

The rules for these awards are:

1) To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


And since, it seems like almost everyone I know has already been tagged with this award. I would like to pass to anyone who hasn't grabbed this yet. Every blog is indeed special and unique.

Champorado Blues

It's raining heavily here in Taiping now. It's cold and so fresh... and how I'm longing for my favorite Champorado ( chocolate rice) . How I wish we have the cacao tablets ( Tablia) here so, I could make myself an authentic Champorado with a generous amount of powdered milk and sugar. It would truly make a perfect snack for this kind of weather.

Champorado used to be my favorite snack ( second to Banana Que) in the Philippines especially during the rainy season. Hayyy... How I miss all these snacks.. Enough of talking about food for now, or else I'll be thinking of my next food trip and gain so much that even the the best diet pills won't be as effective. :)

the yummy image above is taken from filipinodesserts.com

Follow me at Twitter

I haven't been using Twitter much since I registered a few months ago. I found it quite redundant with my blog and my Facebook status update and I didn't know many 'twitters' yet at that time. But then, as I've browsed through the whole site last night, I found out a lot of interesting things there.. many popular websites and personalities are tweeters and I became their follower. I think it's a great, brief way to get updates and information. And not to mention, I also found out that you can also earn while 'tweeting' your life and activities. :)

So, I guess I'll be using more of this service now.. So, if you have a Twitter account.. please follow me @lalainejesu . See you then!!

Foal for Baby Horse

My Li'l girl and I were playing a game one time, naming the baby animals. Then when I asked her about the name for a baby horse, she said something that sounded like "fone". So , I corrected her and told her that it's called a Pony and not 'fone' . Then she insisted that it's 'fone', Amma! . I just chuckled and let it pass by until later, when it was time for me to help her with her school work, I found out that the baby horse is now called ' foal'. So, that's what she was telling me about! Silly me! Honestly, I didn't know that a baby horse is called a 'foal' as far as I can remember, I have been taught that it's called a 'pony'.

So, much has really changed these days. With all the changes with the school system and terminologies, I'm not sure if I can effectively tutor my daughter in the near future..heheh! I could remember the time when I was small and my Mom was teaching me Maths and I got annoyed because she was teaching me the 'wrong' thing. It wasn't really wrong but because of the 'generation gap' , things were simply taught differently during their time. I guess now, it'll be my turn teaching an annoyed li'l girl over a 'wrong' teaching..hahaha!

Anyways, below is a photo of my li'l girl when she was 3 years old. She really had a great time riding the pony err..the foal. Do you think she'll be a future equestrian someday? But to be one and look like one she needs the proper attire, breeches and all. :)

The 1/4 Museum

We've always wanted to revisit the Taiping Museum and show our kids some of the historical stuff in the place. So, finally we were able to go there this afternoon and they were open! Actually, there were 2 instances that we wanted to visit but they were closed at that time.

We excitedly entered the museum all wet and soaked because it was so timely that it rained heavily when we were going out from the car. I was surprised because their entrance has been moved to the side, which used to be at the center of the building. But we proceeded anyway and we were met by a kind Malay man who's one of the staff there. So, we were 'welcomed' by the display of bones and 'frozen' animals. At first our Li'l girl was scared to look at the huge elephant skull and the 'scary' faces of the animals. But as we explained to her and showed her other stuff, she interestingly looked at the other displays too.



We moved from one enclosed glass display to another and found some interesting stuff. But as we almost finished the 1st section of the museum, I was looking around to look for the way to proceed to the next section when I saw that it was blocked by a table with one of the staff seated there. I asked where's the way to the next section and was disappointed by his answer, " I'm sorry but we are undergoing renovation right now so, the other sections are closed." Oh, I couldn't believe what I heard. We were all so hyped up and our li'l girl was excited to see more things.

I think we haven't even covered 1/4 of the entire museum. Only then I knew why we were led to the side entrance and why the main entrance was close.. only then I knew why we didn't have to pay for any entrance fees. It was a bit disappointing because we were not prepared for it as we didn't see any 'notice' in front of the museum.



But anways, at least our li'l girl was able to see some new stuff, gained a bit of knowledge about animals and bines and etc. At least she was able to see 1/4 of the Taiping Museum.



But it's okay , as they said, the renovation will be finished by October and we will still be here by that time.

Cloudy Hills

I've written in my previous post about our afternoon trip to Maxwell hill. And ever since that trip, our 'view' of the hill has completely changed. The hills can actually be seen from our house and before, when I look at it, it's just nothing but a 'hill'. But after visiting Maxwell Hill and looking at it from our house everyday, I now try to imagine the cool weather, its beautiful scenery, its fresh air. in that serene place.

Just this afternoon, it was raining hard in Taiping and when my Hubby and I looked up the hill and saw that it can't be seen at all. We imagined that it must be so cold and foggy up there. Oh, how we wish we could go up there again, stay for a night or two and experience the cold, crisp morning and the freezy, rainy nights. There are many resort places to stay there, some are government owned while the rest are private owned. But, I like Cendana Hut the best because of it's resort design and scenic view. It's indeed a perfect place for rest and reflections, I guess it's a total opposite of the flashy and highly entertaining Las Vegas hotels. I surely hope someday, we could go up the hill again and stay there.

Another Domain Bought

I bought a custom domain for my dear travel blog, From Asia and Beyond. I know I should have done this a long time ago, especially during its first PR drop but then, after a few weeks of drop, it comes back.

Now, after several weeks after its 3rd PR drop, I don't think it's coming back again. So, that's why I finally decided to buy it's long overdue custom domain. And thankfully, the www.fromasiaandbeyond.com URL is still available in the world wide web. :)

I was so happy that after buying a custom domain through Blogger/Google for the 3rd time, I didn't experience any problems at all. I had some 'traumatic' experiences when I bought the domain for this blog and my other personal blog that it took several weeks before my custom domain became activated. But when I bought the domain last night, it got activated instantly. I was so excited and had that big sigh of relief. But then, when I went to check my old free domain http://fromasiaandbeyond.blogspot.com I found out that it does not redirect to my custom domain. Tsk..tsk..tsk.. Anyways, I have to wait for another day and if still doesn't redirect then, I'll have to contact googleaps support.

Saying "NO" and Debt Consolidation

When we go for grocery shopping and our li'l girl wants us to buy something for her, she asks 2 questions: 1) Is it expensive? 2) Do we have money? We really didn't teach her to ask those questions but I guess she got that idea because when she was smaller and wants us to buy something for her, we either tell her, "we can't buy that bicycle because it's too expensive" or " we don't have money to buy a Barbie doll and etc."

But it's touching though that she asks these questions first, rather than taking the item she wants and forcing us to buy it for her. I've seen a lot of 'grocery scenes' where kids throw tantrums and roll on the floor if the parents don't buy for them what they want. If we buy everything our kids wants, then I guess we would all go bankrupt and would need debt consolidation. That's why we somehow need to control our kids when it comes to shopping. Most of the time, before we go out to shop, we would have to condition them first that it's a " No Buying Day" for them but a " Play Pen Day" because we'll give then time to play in the play pen. But as Mom, sometimes I would wish I could buy whatever my kids desire. I mean, there's no price in the joy in their eyes whenever they get their dream toys and such. But most of the times, these so-called dream toys are also unbelievably expensive that the parents will end up having a credit card debt or consolidate debt. So, that's why it's wiser to say 'NO' to some of our kids' wishes and that somehow teaches them to wait or not to become too materialistic

108 Tokens Collected

My Hubby and I have been so serious with the Air Asia Quest for Gold contest. We've forcefully requested our friends and family to sign up for it just for us to get extra tokens. And since the contest has started we have constantly checked the Airasia site, to collect the tokens. There were 108 different tokens to be collected and the first 10 people to reach that number will win a free trip to Gold Coast Australia. And finally, today was their last day and the release of that last token.

And at 12:32 pm, I got my 108th token. I'm not so sure whether I was on time when the token has changed or I was too late because I was also doing some work in between. When I checked some other contestants who were in my friend's list, I also saw that they got the 108th token too. I was a bit discouraged and thought that maybe I was too late. I was already saying 'bye bye' to my hopes in winning the contest.

But my Hubby encouraged me and said, that it all now depends on God's will. If it's His will for us to go, then we will win but if not, then we won't. That's really true, everything in our lives is in God's hands, nothing is a matter of chance, hard work or luck. Since then, I've just entrusted the result to God and I'll be thankful to whatever His plan for us be.

No Regrets

I've just viewed through one of my friends' interior design projects photos in Facebook. He was actually senior to us in university and from then on, I knew that he will be a successful interior designer. As his juniors we were always in awe with his projects and plates. And true enough, he has become a very successful designer. He truly deserves it! Through FB, I was able to reconnect with my batchmates and friends in the university, and I'm also amazed as how diverse our directions has become, many of them are practicing IDs, teachers, travel agents, business people and a lot more. I'm not sure though if any of them has businesses in industrial equipment supplies.

Sometimes, I can't help but wonder what would have become of me if I really pressed on my chosen major back in University. Admittedly, I'm not as talented as my friend but if I wanted to succeed in that field, I had to work extra harder. But, guess what, I don't have any regrets at all for being where I am now. Even if my plan a,b nor c was neither fulfilled but I'm assured that the path where I am now, is God's plan. I'm very much happy and contented with what I am and where I am now..I couldn't ask anything more. Thank You, Lord!

Girls Day Out in Taiping

Finally, we were able to have a girls day out after being here in Taiping for so long. Thanks to my Hubby who willingly took care of our li'l boy while the girls were away.

So, where did we go for our day out? We watched a movie!! We only planned of this day out yesterday after seeing the big advertisement from Taiping Sentral that Ice Age 3 is showing. So, even if it was a quite a busy day for us, since we also had food distribution for the less privileged today, but we were able to push through with the plan.

Our Li'l girl was so excited after we told her of the afternoon plan. And indeed, it was a fun afternoon especially that the movie was very funny. Tricia was laughing so hard in many segments of the movie. But, there were also some 'scary' ( rather suspense) portion when the big dinosaur was about to come out. Tricia got startled at one time.

Anyways, Ice Age 3 is so cute.. I love the 3D effect of their animation now. Everything looked so real but still 'cartoonlike' or the cute type. Kids will truly enjoy this film just like how my li'l girl did.

More Than A Month to Go

Wow! Time flies so fast..it's the 1st of July now. And as think of the days going fast, I can't help but be nervous too that the time is almost due for my upcoming trip to North Thailand. Everything is almost ready .. tickets, travel package and etc. But I guess, I need to prepare myself emotionally as I'll be away from family. Honestly, as early as now I'm already experiencing 'separation anxiety'. from my family. I'm sure my kids will be okay with my HUbby for a few days but why is it I feel anxious.. I guess, I'll just miss all of them too much. It'll be my very first time to be away. Huhhuh!

Oh, which reminds me, I need to check on the cheapest travel and health insurance available since the travel agency made it compulsory for each of the travelers to have one. I need a quote on this kind of insurance. Actually, it'll be my first time to get travel insurance. So far, I've only encountered about term insurance. There are also good online sites that offers term life insurance quotes or life insurance quotes. If you haven't gotten one, then you can also check them out.

Finally! Maxwell Hills!

Bukit Larut or formerly known as Maxwell Hills is one of the beautiful spots here in Taiping. This is also the oldest hill station in Malaysia and was founded since 1884. My Hubby has always been mentioning this place to me ever since we got married ( oh, and that was almost 7 years ago!) and finally we were able to visit that place yesterday afternoon. It was not a planned trip but was more like a spur of the moment decision.

It was a very hot afternoon yesterday, even the ice cream didn't help to cool us ( and our tempers) down..LOL! I guess It must be due to hormones that I was so cranky and moody yesterday. Then, my Hubby searched the number of Maxwell hills and was able to call the people in charge and make arrangements. It was already 1:30 pm when he called. And the officer in charge said, we have to be at the base by 1:50 pm to be able to ride the 4 wheel drive to the top. So, as fast as we could, we made ourselves ready and packed the children.. err. .. our things!

It was quite a scary ride going to the summit. The road ( one way road) was so narrow and steep. Tricia was amused by the shape of the road and was crying out " Oh, this road is shaped like an S!" , This road is shaped like a "U"! and so on. We had to constantly hold the bars of the the jeep so to keep us from falling. The only relief that we had was knowing that the the driver of our jeep has been working there ( as a driver) for the past 12 years. So, it means he's already an expert driver to the top and can drive with his eyes closed..oppss.. " Please lah, Abang, don't do that lah".

On the way to the top, we already felt the weather getting cooler and nicer. Ahh.. it was there that I realized that it's good that we made this trip up the hill. There are beautiful trees and flowers all around. We could see the whole of Taiping from there. The bungalows and houses on top were nice. But it's quite obvious that these houses has been there for years as some of them were dilapidated and not maintained well. My favorite place is the Cendana Resort as I like the design of the building and it's surrounded with beautiful flowers. Their rooms are also nice and cozy. So, just had coffee at their coffee shop and had a walk downhill to see more places. The kids enjoyed our time their and Tricia love picking the wild flowers that were just at the side.



All in all, it was a beautiful afternoon especially as we have seen the beauty of God's creation from the top of the hill. Amazing!


I'll be posting more photos and details on Bukit Larut in my Travel Blog. See you there!