Keluarga Buaya69

What are the odds that....

2011-09-13T09:30:00.000+08:00

What are the odds that our little prince will have the same birthdate as his mom i.e. 17 September?

The Buaya69 family already have Suzanne and Shushanna having the same birthdate of 15 February.

I think I should start an office pool.... Heh!

Buaya69 says, "Little prince is due anytime and I'm still in Saigon, arrggghhh!!!"

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My mom is 70 years old already

2011-09-12T17:09:00.001+08:00

2 September was my mom's 70th birthday. Her grandchildren, Suzanne and SueAnne collaborated to make her a brithday card. And little Shushanna almost destroyed the card. What a drama.

And this is 3 lovely girls. What's going to happen when a little
Buaya comes into the family? I can only guess....

Buaya69 says, "My children, listen to daddy but don't do like daddy, k?"

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

3 Princesses and a Prince in waiting...

2011-09-10T19:41:00.001+08:00

How time flies. Never in our wildest dream that Mrs.B and I thought or planned to have 3 kiddos when we got married.

Suzanne is growing up very quickly. At 11, I'm surprised at how responsible she is. She has a heart that feels for others - compassionate and caring. I asked her last month what her ambition is and her reply stumped me a bit. She said she wants to become a pastor, to lead the flock to the Lord. When I was her age, all I wanted to become was someone in uniform with a gun. In 8 more years, we'll have to let her go stretch her own wings.

SueAnne is a darling, full of feminine charms. Shushanna is a determined girl. All 3 of them have very different personalities.

The Little Prince will be arriving this month. I wonder what he will be. But like all fathers, I pray he'll be a better man than his father.

Buaya69 prays, "ah boy, don't come out and play until daddy comes home from Saigon, k? Good lad."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The girls said...

2010-12-29T18:34:00.000+08:00

Suzanne: Daddy, you are too fat. Stomach like Santa Claus already. You need to exercise.

SueAnne: Nooo. Daddy's are supposed to be fat.

Buaya69 says, "Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011"

Mrs B and the girls first trip to Saigon

2010-06-18T22:42:00.000+08:00

Mrs B and the kids came to visit me in Saigon last week. For once, my "bachelor" pad became a playground for the girls, especially after I purchased an XBox 360, hehehe.

The sad thing was I couldn't take annual leave from Monday to Thursday, and only had Friday and Saturday to take the family out before they flew back on Sunday morning... bad daddy, bad daddy :(

The good thing was they thoroughly enjoyed staying with me in Saigon. Took them to see a family friend living in District 7, the Lotte supermart (coz Mrs B wants to know what foodstuff she can buy there and their prices), Ben Thanh market, Quan An Ngon, Vincom Tower and Parkson Dong Khoi, but the place that Mrs B really liked was Saigon Square. Not exactly super-cheap but there are some good buys if you have the time to move from stall to stall.

I felt especially sad when they flew back on Sunday morning, and I can see that in Mrs B and the kids eyes too. Back at the apartment, the place felt like an "empty nest". It was quite difficult for me in until the next morning. Luckily, I had work to keep my mind occupied.

Mrs B sms'd later that Suzanne cried at night, saying that she missed me. I was touched and sad at the same time.

This weekend is Father's day, but work is keeping me here in Saigon. I soooo very much missed my girls...

Buaya69 says,"I will be home in July, hugs & kisses..."

Mrs B - The Blogger

2010-02-21T22:23:00.001+08:00

From today onwards, I am passing this blog's baton to Mrs B. Be kind ok? She's new to blogging... :)

testing - blogging from Mrs B´s Nokia N97

2010-01-31T11:16:00.000+08:00

testing testing... posting from Mrs Bś new toy, hehehe. Hmmm, just realised that the hard return doesn´t work, why why why?

Shushanna at 9 months old

2009-11-22T22:53:00.000+08:00

Mrs B and I went for a wedding dinner last night. When we came back, this cheeky little fella was still wide awake at 11pm. You wanna proof? Took this picture of Shushanna on my Blackberry Bold. Poor Mrs B...

Me? I went downstairs to do what a man's got to do. I watched Star Trek... :P

Buaya69 said,"The first words were not dada or mamma but pau-pau! Red alert - we have another foodie in the B69 family, burrrppp!"

Updates and of birthday and anniversary gifts

2009-11-02T01:49:00.001+08:00

It's been a looooonnnggg while since I logged into Google, be it Gmail or blogspot. So much so that I have forgotten my passwords! Haiyar... so had to reset all of them.

Time seems to be in such short supply for the last 6 months. So many events and I didn't manage to blog them for remembrance - now cannot remember liao, double haiyar!

Everyone's good at the Buaya69 humble home. My mother has recently moved in with us again after staying at my sister's home in JB. She's now taking care of my Babe3, Shushanna.

Babe3: Shushanna
9 months old. This little fella can really smile. Cheeky little thing, said my mom, just like her dad... :P

Babe2: Sue Anne
Sue Anne's 5 years old now. She started attending ballet classes about 2 months ago. The only way we could get her to go was "You get to wear this sexy tutu!". Haiyar... why my Babe2 so vain one? Just like her dad... :P Speaking about vain, I should blog about my visit to Lords for bespoke dress shirts later? ...

Sue Anne has been coughing badly these few days. No thanks to chocolates and sweets she took at the kindy. It baffles me why parents give their kids sweets and chocolates to take to the kindy, and then to share with the other kids. I only found out when Sue Anne asked from us to buy her sweets to share/give back to her classmates. We said no, of course, and Mrs B taught Sue Anne to not eat the sweets/chocolates. It was all OK for a while. Sue Anne will bring back the sweets and show to Mrs B that she didn't eat them. From now onwards, we have to frequently remind her of her intolerance for sweets and chocolates i.e....

sweets + chocolates = to fever and coughing = no shopping and ballet classes!

Babe1: Suzanne
Suzanne is now in Standard 3. Her grasp for maths and BM is not that good, plus composition in English. We are putting her through Enopi for maths. Hopefully she can improve through their learning methods. As for composition... shall I start her on blogging? Nah....

Mrs B:
What can I say about this woman? Amazing! Mrs B has also been busy at work, what with the largest IPO happening in Malaysia in a few days time? She is still BF'ing Babe3 so has to regularly pump in office. She often updates me on the happenings to the other BF mothers which makes me wonder... what has she been telling them about me? Apart from me being the handsomest bloke in her life, hah! My husband brain said "Don't ever go there..." :P

Mrs B's birthday and coming 11 year anniversary
Mrs B had her big milestone birthday in September. Mine will be coming this month in November. As they say, "Life begins at 40", woohoo! In November, it will also be our 11th wedding anniversary.

So, I thought I should get something that will remind us of this milestone. If you had been a long time follower of this blog, you will know that we didn't have a rock-steady start to our marriage. Instead, divorce was on the cards up to the 3rd and 4th year! I still crinch at the thought if we had divorced - what would have happened to Suzanne? Of course, we wouldn't have Sue Anne and Shushanna, the joy of our life :)

Back to the gifts. So, one rainy evening in September, I was over at Bangsar Village II. I was contemplating Gordon Max's earrings, Thomas Sabo's charm bracelet, Habib's and Brilliant Rose's diamond bracelets... and I couldn't make up my mind! Haiyar...

So I crossed over to Chatterbox HK at Bangsar Village I to have a quick dinner. Opposite Chatterbox HK was Hang Thai Watches, a reputable watch retailer. Don't ask me about their name's origin... Anyway, walking into the shop was the best, or worse thing to happen that day. I splurged about RM7,500 within 30 minutes for 2 Ball watches...

One for me and one for Mrs B - same design, but for gents and ladies :)

Mrs B liked her watch and then offered to pay for my watch! Said that it was for my birthday and anniversary gift too. What a wifey - HUGS!

I have been wanting to own a Ball watch for years, and this time I was caught - caught by that Blue coloured micro gas tubes. If anyone of you wants to buy watches, and I mean real watch makers, try Hang Thai - and ask for Frank at Bangsar Village.

My next dream watch would be a an A. Lange & Sohne or better still, a Patek Philippe - but that would be yeaaarrrrsss from now!

Buaya69 says, "Must stop reading coffee table books on watches, arrrgghh!"

Introducing Buayatte No.3!

2009-04-26T11:15:00.009+08:00

Ok, I have not been dilligent in updating this and my personal blog. So much so that Uncle Zorro asked me about a month ago, when we bumped glasses at the Fish place, "Woi, you still blogging or not?" and he gave me that old caring teacher glare, that sorts of interrogates you, telling you that he already knows the answer and the "real answer" I should be giving. Teachers of life, heh!

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Introducing the Buaya family's little Buayatte no.3! Her name is Shushanna, born 15 Feb 2009, a day after Valentine's day and also the same birthday as elder sis Suzanne! Wow, talk about coincidence. And no, Mrs B and I didn't planned the date. Natural birth. Little Shushanna just wants to come out and play on that date.

Pic: Baby Shushanna's first 30 minutes :)

Mrs B is recovering well, and the girls just adores little Shushanna. Suzanne, the elder sis dots and (over)protects baby Susan while SueAnne kept saying how cute baby is.

Yesterday, Mrs B sms'd* that 2 months old Shushanna is 5.5kg, a little bit overweight but healthy. Go go breastfeeding! (Saves us milk money too, hehehe)

Just to summarise, here are the Buaya girls:

Suzanne - 15 Feb 2000
SueAnne - 1 July 2004
Shushanna - 15 Feb 2009

And their names all have the same meaning, derived from the Hebrew "Shoshana" meaning Graceful Lily.

* - Buaya69 is now "Alone in Bangkok" :(

Buaya69 asks - "Anyone knows whether I qualify for a senapang gajah licence? Got 3 girls wor... :P"

Swing higher!

2009-01-26T14:15:00.001+08:00

This morning, I took the girls to a playground near our house. Suzanne, being the elder at 8yo, can already confidently swing by herself. As for SueAnne, the little girl at 4yo still wants me to carry and put her up on the swing, although she can confidently do that by herself. Really manja, but I'm not complaining.

SueAnne: Daddy, push me high high.

B69: Sure or not? Not sked sked ar?

SueAnne: Quick lar daddy. Push push high.

And so I did. Pushed her swing as high as a 4yo can take it. Just then, I had flashbacks. I recalled, just a year ago, SueAnne will only sit on a motion-less swing. Yup, just sit on it, no swinging at all. Any amount of swinging will be met with a loud and high pitched "STOOPPPP!!!". Which by the way, is an ability that makes me proud as her mummy dearest, Mrs B, can't really scream. (OK, I'm making a few husband's here jealous liao, heh!).

SueAnne: Higher daddy, higher! Ok ok, enough high already...

I'm counting my blessings that I can see them grow up healthly and in a peaceful environment. Blessed are we who can go to the park and play with our children. My heart goes out to the Gazans. I may not agree with the politics and ideologies but I believe being human cuts across all political and religious leanings. I hope that a Gazan father will be able to experience blessedness as I am now.

Buaya69 says,"No, I am not going to explain what that graffittee on that swing means."

Sharing a good news

2008-09-26T18:42:00.002+08:00

Mrs B is about 4 months pregnant now, woohoo! We pray that Mrs B will have a good pregnancy and that the child will be a blessing to all.

Both Suzanne and SueAnne are pretty excited too, so much so that lil'SueAnne is now calling herself "chay chay" aka sister, heh!

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Mrs B: Dear, I can't wear the office clothes anymore!!!!

Me: Izzit? Ok ok, let's go shopping! I buy, heh!

Mrs B: But sales just over lar, maternity clothes are going to be expensive.

Me: I don't care, we go shopping. I pay mar, heh!

Checks bank account, yippee! Salary baru masuk, saved! :P

Buaya69 says,"Hmmm, gotta save for another education fund, there goes the sports coupe, heh!" :P

Malaysia Ku

2008-09-10T02:00:00.005+08:00

We raised the Malaysian flag for the recent Merdeka celebration. Turns out we were the only house in the entire row to have a flag flying. I lashed the temporary flag pole and shared it with my Indian neighbour.

My girls, Suzanne and SueAnne, were drawing and painting Malaysian flags 2 weeks prior to Merdeka Day. No one asked them to do that. It just came naturally to them. Like me, they know no other country than Malaysia. Nationalism is in the heart, not the skin.

The politicians can say whatever they want but again, what was the INTENTION in saying those things? Was it for unity or disunity? As a responsible-tax-paying rakyat, to me what matters is the NOW and the FUTURE of ALL.

The choice for the future is in our hands.

Buaya69 says,"We will live and die in a small pond called Malaysia".

Birthday party at Cosmo World (and meeting mommies)

2008-09-03T23:08:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday, Suzanne’s classmate had a small birthday party at Cosmo World, Berjaya Times Square. It was our first visit to the indoor amusement park. I must say that the MC did a really good job with the kids. They had fun, good kiddy fun.

Mrs B was not well so she rested at home while I took Suzanne to the party. When I walked into the party room, I saw a table of mommies and a table of the birthday girl’s family members. Rather than sitting alone, as there were no daddies table around, I invited myself to the mommies table. Man, I really learnt a lot from them.

I met the mother of the boy that’s sitting next to Suzanne in class. Her boy is really a great kid, a smart go-getter type. What amazes me is that she, the mother, is at school most of the time and knows a lot about the other children. She told me that in school, Suzanne is a quiet girl. Hmmm, that’s so unlike her daddy, heh!

I also met an inspiring single mother whose daughter is such a darling. I overheard that they took the monorail to Berjaya Times Square and offered to send them home, which is not too distant from our house. In the car, Suzanne and her daughter were opening up all the presents they got from Cosmo World. Gosh, you should hear them giggling and comparing notes at the back seat of the car. Girls! :)

As for the single mother, I found out that she’s a business woman, a blogger and a fan/supporter of RPK and PKR. Her zeal for justice is so infectious. I am very sure her girl will grow up to be a righteous and honourable person. I refused to divulge my blog to her and challenged her to find this blog. Hehehe, I guess it's just a matter of time. There're so many keywords around... :)

And oh, I must share this conversation at the mommies table:

Mother1: You looked a bit too young to be Suzanne’s dad.

Mother2: Yah, you can pass off as Suzanne’s older brother.

Me: No lar, believe me, I am quite old. White hair sudah keluar already.

Mother3: Where got? Cannot see. You must be what, 33, 35?

Mother1: Yah, 30 plus like that only.

Me: Aiyoh, I am already 40 lar.

Mothers 1,2,3,4,5: What!!! Get out of here!!! *Gives stare of death to Buaya69*

Me: Errr, oops! :P

Buaya69 says,”May we be able to do the right thing now, for our kids future”

SueAnne's 4th birthday

2008-07-16T19:31:00.003+08:00

July 1 was SueAnne's 4th birthday. Mrs B took her to the bakery to select her own cake, and I just managed to join them in time.

Mrs B: No, this cake is nicer. Look! It's almond cake. Or how about this green tea cake?

SueAnne: No no no, I want this chocolate cake.

Mrs B: But that's so sweeeeetttttt. Look at all those moist chocolate.

SueAnne: I wantttttttt, pleaseeeeee?

Suzanne: eeyyyeeerr, chocolate is so sweet. I don't like.

[ting! cue Buaya daddy's entrance into the bakery]

Me: Ah yes, chocolate cake, yes! Let's buy that cake, heh!

You see, Buaya daddy also likes chocolates. No, make that luuurrrvvveee chocolates. And lil'SueAnne has been telling me for more than a month that she wanted a chocolate cake for her birthday and I promised, behind Mrs B's back, that I would get the cake for her. Hehehe, like Like Father Like Daughter :P

Buaya69 says,"Happy Birthday princess, muacks!"

Boing-boing!

2008-06-04T00:06:00.006+08:00

Source: http://www.needak-rebounders.com

Mrs B brought back a rebounder today. A rebounder is one of those boing-boing mini trampoline that circus artists or acrobats jump on to go high high.

Me: Aiyak! Where am I going to place this in our little house on the bukit? In the living room?

Mrs B: Yes, correct correct correct! Look here, it's good for the kids and our health, ok? Furthermore, I paid for it.... [gives stare of death]

Me: Gulp, ok ok. -_-"""

The girls just lurrrrvvveeee the rebounder. Little SueAnne was jumping up and down until she was all drenched in perspire. I too gave it a try. Man, good fun! And the best part of putting it in the living room is that you get to bounce bounce and yet watch Astro, muahahahahar!

Buaya69 says, "Hmmm, I wonder whether this is gonna make me tummy slimmer.... heh!"

Expensive taste (3)

2008-05-23T20:19:00.004+08:00

Last Sunday, at the Curve PJ....

Suzanne: Daddy look... cars! Can we go see? Can we? Can we? Please please please?

Me: Hmmm, nice cars. Why not? Which car do you fancy?

Suzanne: Mmmm.... THAT one!

Me: Wahlaueh! -_-"""

Source: Paultan.org

We went closer and stepped into this huge metal cavern on wheels named Honda Elysion....

Suzanne: Wah, so biggggg! I likeeee! Daddy, please buy this car? We can then drive to Langkawi, Singapore... wahhhh, I like!

Me: Darling, that car costs RM280K, no way we can afford it.

Suzanne: Is that expensive?

Me: Yes... it's like thousands and thousands and thousands of Barbie dolls....

I'm sorry dear. Daddy's not going to waste money on such things. He's going to save money for your education. Abuden, that Playstation 3 looks good, heh! :P

Buaya69 says,"OMG! RM7k for car insurance??? -_-"""

Pray soften the hearts of the Myanmar Generals

2008-05-12T15:13:00.004+08:00

Today, I had a good breakfast. Today, I had a good lunch, albeit late. Today, I am planning for tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow and so forth but....

Source

Today, I am praying for the safety and well-being of the acquintances that Mrs B and I made when we were in Yangon in 1996. To Catherine and her family, and her colleagues at the UNDP Yangon office, our prayers goes to you and to all of Myanmar. May the Lord shine his face upon you.

Printed news don't pack that much impact as televised news, especially those taken clandestinely by the foreign journalists. It really pains my heart to watch a 4yo girl saying that her mother has died and her 2yo brother crying out non-stop from the trauma. It really pains to hear a father saying that his son and his son's sons and family have all drowned.

May the Generals of Myanmar have some "commoner" sense and let international relief get to where it needs to get to. Let it not be like DPRK, where the furthest you can go to with food relief is the Port of Nampho.

Donate what you can, the clock is ticking, but most of all, pray that the hearts of the Generals are soften...

Breaking news:
Earthquake 7.8 at Sichuan province.

Buaya69 prays...

Expensive taste (2)

2008-04-28T20:46:00.003+08:00

It happened again. This morning as I was hugging my smelly ol'bolster... (ya ya, laugh all you want!). I suddenly heard Mrs B's jewelry box playing, you know, that kind of irritating ding-a-ling wind up music box type, ding-a-ling ding-a-ling into your ears. Suddenly SueAnne came running to me, poking me in the stomach trying to wake me up.

SueAnne: Daddy, daddy, I want this!

B69: *pretending to be groggy, open one eye... OMG! That's Mrs B's mikimoto necklace that I bought for our 8th Anniversary!* Errr, no no darling. That's mummy's necklace. Put back, put back.

SueAnne: But I want... I don't have.... I wantttt hooorrrrr.... *sweetly*

B69: No no, that's mummy's...

SueAnne then ran into the bathroom where Mrs B was taking her bath.

SueAnne: Mummmmyyyy! Mummmmyyy! Can I have this?

Mrs B: What? *Open shower door* No! That's mummy's. Put it back!

SueAnne: But I don't have woooorrr! I want wooorrrr...

Mrs B: Put back! Put back!

SueAnne dutifully came out of the bathroom and went back to the jewelry box - rummage rummage. Girls! It's in their genes, right?

Mrs B: *came out from the bathroom* SueAnne, stop playing with my things.

SueAnne: See mummy? *she took out her "dog tag" which we bought for her when she was one year old* See See? My one broke already wooorrr. *no chain* I want this one *mikimoto*

Mrs B: Daddddddyyyyyy!!! What genes have you given to your daughter, huh?

B69: hehehe *goes back and hug his ol'smelly bolster*

Buaya69 says,"Next, must get SueAnne to ask for a PS2, muahahahar!" :P

Expensive taste

2008-04-18T18:31:00.006+08:00

Last Sunday, as I was lazing on my ol'ex-display Ikea chair, flipping through the Motor Trader....

SueAnne: Daddy, watcha doin?

Me: Looking at cars... dreaming...

SueAnne: Daddy, I like car.

Me: Good, daddy like cars too.

SueAnne: I want to see cars!

Me: Ok ok, come up to daddy (so I picked her up to sit on my lap)

SueAnne: Daddddyyyyy!!! I want THIS car!

Me: Huh? No, you cannot have THAT car. How about THIS OTHER car?

SueAnne: Hmmmm.... (think think think)... (sweet tone)... no no daddyyyy, (smile smile)... I want THIS (point point) car. (smile smile) Can lar daddy??? (smile smile charm charm)

Source: Paultan.org

Me: -_-"""

OMG! Me lil'3 yo girl can charm charm already!

And where in the world did she learn to want THAT car? It's a bloody expensive car (in Malaysia). It would take me ages to pay off the instalments for a BMW 5 series. Wait a minute... I don't think I can even afford to pay the 10% deposit, heh!

Anyway, me lil'girl's future boyfriend/hubby better be prepared. Looks like I am raising a lil'girl that naturally has expensive tastes. Now, where did those genes come from? HEH!

Buaya69 says, "Dear, this Beemer is not for me, honest! ya, right....." :P

Sick Sick Sick @ Langkawi

2008-04-14T14:47:00.004+08:00

Yup, sick. Not of Langkawi but got sick there, hence the normal sllllooooowww moooowww updates in this blog.

Mrs B, Suzanne and SueAnne, the 3 most important ladies in my life, fell sick during our Langkawi trip. They each had the cough, flu and fever symptoms but during a vacation trip, it's really a down-ner. The hot and humid weather at Langkawi, and the air-cond hotel room didn't help either.

Anyway, it has been a month already and we (yes, I kena bedridden for 3 days) have yet to fully recover from the flu bug. It was so bad that we finally visited our traditional chinese practitioner at Sri Petaling. This chap from China is good but expensive as he uses REAL herbs. Mrs B will take the herbs home and boil them for us.

As Mrs B was pouring out the herbs meant for Suzanne into a bowl...

Mrs B: EeeeEEEE!! So many BUGGGGSSSS!

Me: What what??

Mrs B: See see? Bugs! EEEEEEE! SOOOo MANNNNYYYY!

Me: *Look look* Hmmm, looks like dried crickets but they are a bit larger than the ones I normally see. It that case, could be grasshoppers. Better not tell Suzanne what we are boiling for her to drink!! :P :P :P

Mrs B: EEEEE! Jijik! I have never seen bugs being used in chinese medicine before, jijik!

Me: Errr, dear... how about my herbs? Got crawlies also? -_-""

Mrs B: You? Don't think so wor...

Me: Phew! :P

We would be visiting the chinese doctor soon. Will ask him what those crawlies are, just to satisfy my curiosity, heh!

Buaya69 says, "Roasted crickets are nice (ate them in Thailand), but boiled crickets??? Errr..."

Mandi laut @ Langkawi Part 1

2008-03-13T18:32:00.050+08:00

My my my, how gathers the cobwebs in this blog, oops!

With the 12th general elections behind us, the Belacans family is, at this precise moment, holidaying in Langkawi. This is the first time I am posting from my 3G handphone.

Last year April, we stayed at Tanjung Sanctuary Resort, nearer to Pantai Kok. We absolutely LOVED that place but alas, they are undergoing renovation now. So here we are, at Sunset Beach Resort on Pantai Tengah.

After Tanjung Sanctuary, this place is a bit of a let down but it's still a great place and I'll recommend Sunset Beach Report to anyone. Most of the guests here are Europeans and Australians, and I have yet to meet a fellow Malaysian guest. The layout is very green and Balinese like, each staying in single storey semi-dee chalets. The staff here wins hands down for superb customer experience. Forgive me, but on occassions I did feel I was not in Malaysia because the service was just too good, heh!

Oops, got to log off now. Time for dinner. Now what shall we have tonight?

I'll be back :)

A self reminder

2008-02-06T10:22:00.000+08:00

Oh my goodness... so many things to blog and yet I couldn't find the time, darn!

Just to remind myself on the posts and pics to put up....

Dec'07:
1) Stay at Berjaya Hotel, Duxton Road, Singapore
2) Singapore zoo and shopping experience
3) Cameron Highlands and stay at Wuthelam Villa

Jan'07:
1) Suzanne's new school
2) Bought a used 40 year old piano

I will need to update my waggytales blog with the huge backlog of insane observations I have collected, some serious, some saucy and some just plain "duhh?"....

As for today, I must go home early for the Reunion dinner. Work will always be there but not the family.

Happy Chinese New Year and holidays to all. Do travel safely ;)

Back from holidays

2007-12-17T15:12:00.000+08:00

The Buaya69 family just came back from holiday yesterday. We went to Johor Bahru to visit my sister's family, then crossed the causeway into Singapore, back to KL for 2 short nights before driving up to Cameron Highlands. Phew!

Photos and stories to follow soon, after I clear 2 weeks of unread emails, arrrgghhh!

9th Wedding Anniversary

2007-11-14T08:39:00.000+08:00

Today marks our 9th wedding anniversary.

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Time really flies. I could still remember our wedding night where many many things went HORRIBLY WRONG, horrors! Sometimes I do feel like having another wedding dinner, just to make up for it, heh! Yeah yeah yeah, I am becoming less common sense ;)

If any young couple asks us today, I would most likely advise them not to have the usual wedding dinner. A small dinner with immediate families from both sides will suffice. Honestly, these day, many relatives would thank you for NOT inviting them, especially when a simple dinner table easily costs RM1,000! Back in 1997, we were already struggling with RM400 per table. Inflation.... but DPM Najib did say "Change your LIFESTYLE"... duh?

If we did not had that big hotel wedding, 45 tables in all, I think we probably would end up having a 6 table dinner just for close relatives from both families. As for close friends, we would probably have a small get together, maybe at a hotel buffet or potluck at home, just to introduce the spouse to our closest buddies. Simple, right?

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For the past 6 months, Mrs B has been quite stressed at work. These are difficult times, even for financial institutions and the pressure to survive is sheer compelling. I was thinking hard what to give to her as a show of my love, something that is not flashy like jewelries, which she doesn't wear anyway, something almost practical on a daily basis.

Think.... think.... think....

Finally, I gave her this, a blue iPod nano 8Gb, to have some stress release while at work.

And she can plug it into the car's player through the iPod adapter, which is another story here. Looking at the total cost, I think all these can be grouped as wedding anniversary, Christmas and even till next year's birthday presents, muahahahar! Yeah, I am kedekut king. Now going back to saving for the kiddos education, ouch!

Speaking of which, when I presented Mrs B with the iPod nano, she main "tak mau lar, why you buy so expensive one? you should save lar" and all that jazz. Enter our lil'SueAnne, 3 year old predator, who pounced on the opportunity and said, "My one! Daddy, mummy dowan, I want."... seriously! And then Mrs B quickly said, "I want I want!" Bwahahahaha! Just like her daddy, she sure knows a good thing when she sees one ;)

Anyway, may we have many more years of happy togetherness as a family, muacks to Mrs B!

Buaya69 trying luck... "Wii Wii?...." *cough cough*

De-malling my kiddos

2007-11-13T09:25:00.000+08:00

Buaya69 tip on "How to de-mall your kids". Maybe I should be a guest writer on Dr James Dobson, bwahahahaha! :P

Two weeks ago...

B69: Suzanne, SueAnne... where do you want to go tomorrow? Midvalley? Ikea? Pavillion?

Suz: DOWAN! DOWAN! We want to go swimming!

Sue: Swimming! I want!

B69: Sure or not? No shopping?

Suz: No shopping. Swimming! And then library.

Sue: Lie-blur-lii, I like! (Yoda speak, how cute!)

B69: But daddy want shopping wor (pleading with "puppy" eyes, drama king in action)

Suz & Sue: SWIMMING!!!

B69: Ok ok, you win. We go swimming & then go library, ok? (hehehe, I wonder who the real winner is...)

After looking around for some time, I recently joined Tropicana Club. It was Mrs B who recommended the place and the deciding factor was the pools, all 3 of them. Joining the club has indeed been one of the better things we have done as a family this year.

Mrs B looks after SueAnne at the baby pool while I normally take Suzanne to the big pool. With the arm floaters, she can practically kick all that she wants. We recently developed a new game where I get to swim while bonding with her - by giving her a piggy ride as l swim breaststroke. 3 year old SueAnne is still confined to the baby pool. She's slowly getting used to the water but this lil'prima donna gets irritated everytime water gets into her eyes, hahaha!

The girls are also learning early from Mrs B on being, well, a woman. My dearest will make sure the girls get a healthy dollop of sunscreen before entering the pool. And just last week, Mrs B spent RM75 to get SueAnne a Kids Banz sun hat and shades combo. I cakap sama lu, these are way way more expensive than my goggles but I must admit, SueAnne is the hottest babe in the baby pool, bwahahaha!

And if you think that swimming will motivate da Buaya to loose his natural fats (a.k.a. flabs), au contraire, I'm feeling quite good about myself coz 70% of the men at the pool are fatter than me! Muahahahahar! Ok ok, sigh... that's a denial stage talk.... I need to loose my flabs, cis! :P :D

Buaya69 asks... "Hey, how come no SYT babes at the pool wan? All sked of buaya meh? Aiyah!"

Mrs B's birthday present

2007-10-30T09:58:00.000+08:00

Note to readers - Mrs B's birthday was LAST MONTH. This is really a belated post, oops!

=============================
A few months ago...

Mrs B: dear, my birthday is coming. I warn you, don't go get me anything, ok? I don't need presents, ok? Don't go get me some Mikimoto's again, got it? *gives stare of death*

Me: Sure sure, ok ok, promise.....

Mrs B: Sure?

Me: yes *wink wink* definitely... :P

=============================
Much much much later......

Me: OMG! Tomorrow is Mrs B's birthday! I have been so busy I have forgotten about it! Die Die Die! Wait a minute... I remembered her saying "No more pressies", heh! But I think I will still surprise her... :P

That evening, I was going to attend a wedding dinner at Westin Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Since I had time, I walked over to Starhill shopping centre. Now, this is a place where I am totally not familiar with. I had not set foot into Starhill for more than 2 years. Why? Because things here are superduper upmarket. The last time I was here was due to Tangs closing down sale. Yup, I am super kedekut. I am definitely worthy of the title "Accountant", hah! :P

As I was jalan-jalan-ing in Starhill, trying to spot anything nice and el-cheapo on the wallet, a shop that I wanted to go in for sometime loomed ahead. I recalled that when I was last in Brunei, I went into their branch there and walked out within 3 minutes. The cheapest thing there was RM2,000 after conversion, yikes!

Back here, I took a deep breathe and walked in, and immediately spotted a nice handbag thinking "that would look nice on my Mrs B". Held it, looked into the space... feels good, has enough space for all her barang-barang yet looks elegant, I LIKE!

OK, then sloooowwwllllly, I looked for the price tag.....

OMG! It was affordable! I can't believe it!

Done!

Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Thompson silk handbags are not that pricey, really. And they are darn elegant. Really really looks good on my Mrs B ;)

=============================
At home....

Mrs B: Oh no, you shouldn't have....

Me: Too late, sudah beli. Happy birthday, muacks! Nah, ambik.

*Hugz*

Mrs B: ok, hoowww muuccchhh?

Me: Cheap! Well, not THAT cheap but worth it all.

Mrs B: annnndddddd?

Me: aiyah, you ar! Ok lar, it's almost RM300, happy?

Mrs B: Izzit? Ok ok, now I am double-ly happy, muacks! *Hugz & kisses*

That's what you get when you have two ACCOUNTANTS married to one another, heh!

=============================
BTW, I think I am setting a bad example to me girls. They saw the whole thing and was like "wah, daddy nice! sooo niceee! I wannntttt! 111111". I must remember to say sorry to their future husbands, heh!

Buaya69 says, "Happy birthday dear, love you lotz, muacks!"

Flik Flak

2007-10-16T12:11:00.000+08:00

Suzanne: Daddy, my watch cannot work already.

B69: Again? OK, which watch is it this time? The Barbie one?

Suzanne: *sheepishly* yes... the Barbie one, but but it's not my fault! It stopped working *tears swelling in eyes*

B69: There there, daddy is not going to scold you. OK, I will buy you a new watch and this time, a good watch, ok?

Suzanne: OK :)

Last Saturday at Mid-Valley's Swatch outlet....

B69: OK, here are the kids selection. Go and choose one that you like.

Suzanne: Wah, so many. I like this one... no, this one nicer... ermmm... maybe this one...

B69: *after a quick scan of the price tags* Come here Suzanne, how about this one?

Suzanne: Wahhhhhhh, soooo nicceeee. I like I like I like. :) :) :)

B69: *phew* Sure or not? If yes, daddy buy one, ok?

Suzanne: Yes, I like it.

SueAnne: I oso want.... THIS ONE! *pointing to another watch next to Suzanne's selection*

B69: Errr... ok lar ok lar, daddy also buy for little SueAnne. Both of you don't fight fight, ok? *What is a 3 yo going to do with a watch? aiyah!*

*kaching kaching swipe card, SYT sales girl smiling sweetly....*

B69: OK, you two, go wear your watches now. *SYT girl wore for Suzanne while I put the watch on for SueAnne*

About 5 minutes later, Mrs B walked into the shop....

Suzanne: Mummy mummy, see what daddy bought for me? *point point to new watch*

Mrs B: *gasp* Daddyyyy...?

SueAnne: Mummy, I got oso!

Mrs B: *double gasp* Daddddyyyyyy???

B69: Errr, according to our agreement, anything below RM500 does not require two to agree, right? Soooo, they are below RM500... *cough cough*

Mrs B: How much? *gives stare of death while at the same time wants to hug and kiss B69*

B69: errr, not telling, hehehe

Suzanne: Mummy mummy, I tell I tell! Neh, price over there. *points to display*

B69: *Aiyak!*

Mrs B: Oh, that much only? *Smiles to B69, ok, you can escape this time*

Got me gals a Flik Flak each. Initially wanted to buy for Suzanne only but SueAnne, the 3 yo vain pot of the house, also wants a watch of her own, haiyar!

The Flik Flaks came with 2 years warranty and the best part is, they are machine washable! If you need to know, they cost RM110 each. And for this accountant, they are better value for money that all those RM50 - RM70 Barbie/Mickey watches that works for less than 6 months. And btw, that's how I justified the buy to Mrs B, hehehe

Buaya69 says, "I've got time.. well, almost..."

Bus spotting

2007-10-03T19:57:00.000+08:00

In August, I took the family up to Genting and stayed at Awana Genting. Mrs B did all the arrangement so kudos to the wifey. Me leh? Well, I played my usual role of "driver-cum-porter", heh!

Awana is not at the hilltop so the resort provided a shuttle bus to/fro Awana Genting to the Skyway cable cars. While in the bus, Mrs B sat with lil'SueAnne while I took care of Suzanne. Based on our experience when SueAnne was about 2 years old, we both thought that she will be afraid as the bus winds up and down the hill to the cable car. Little did we know, she actually enjoyed it this time.

There was once I was a bit slow in changing and she hurried me by saying,"Daddy, quick quick! Bus! Bus!". We thought it was quite cute.

2 months later....

Waiting at traffic lights and a Rapid KL bus pulled along side.

SueAnne: Daddy, bus!

Me: Yes, biiiiigggg bus.

SueAnne: I want bus! Daddy, I want bus!

Me: No no, now driving.

SueAnne: No no, bus bus! I want bus!

Me: errr, well, I want aeroplane, hah!

Suzanne: haha, and I want train!

SueAnne: No, bus bus!

Mrs B: And I want a cruise ship! *wink wink*

Me: -_-"" *gulp!*

Buaya69 sings, "I am sailing, I am sailing..."

Suzanne was stabbed at school

2007-06-14T20:19:00.000+08:00

*Buaya phone ringing with super Ah Beng ring tone*

B69: *didn't recognise number* Hello?

Teacher: Hello? Is that B69? I am Suzanne's class teacher, Mrs T.

B69: Ah yes, Mrs T. How can I help you?

Teacher: This morning, a classmate of Suzanne, stabbed her hand with a pen. I have already put some iodine on her wound but she still said that it's painful. Afterwards when she goes home, you have a look at her, ok?

B69: What? Someone stabbed her with a pen? Is she hurt seriously? -_-"""

Teacher: Not so bad, just a small wound. As for the boy who did this to her, I have taken him to the Headmistress and he has been punished. Actually, this boy sits beside your daughter and because of this, I will be separating them.

B69: Ah, good to hear that it was not a serious wound. Thank you Mrs T for looking after our daughter.

Mrs T: Ok, please have a look at her when she goes home.

B69: Will do, bye.

*Immediately calls Mrs B*

Mrs B: Hi dear!

B69: Our daughter's just been stabbed at school! *drama king*

Mrs B: What???? *panic tone*

B69: Yes, by a pen!

Mrs B: *panicking* How is she!!! Where is she now???? *almost hysterical*

B69: Hehe, don't panic ler. Teacher told me that the boy seated next to her stabbed Suzanne's hand with a pen. She said she had applied iodine to the wound, small one, not to worry, but our precious princess is saying that it's still painful.

Mrs B: @#$% you, don't scare me like that lar!

B69: *I deserved to be punished too*

Anyway, when I got home, I immediately when to see Suzanne's wound. Stupid boy actually stabbed her on the right WRIST! Thank god he didn't puncture any veins..... @#$%&!!!

I felt bad. Suzanne has been complaining about this boy since school started in January - about how he pulls her hair, takes things from her pencil case, calls her and us names (like your mother is a smelly stupid cow) and etc etc etc. But I always thought those were just naughty boy stuff. I heard Suzanne but I should have LISTENED! :(

Emotionally, I felt like stringing that boy onto an old car as target practice for some HE shells fired from a Carl Gustav. Stab my girl? Go DIE! Man! I also felt like barging into that boy's house (incidentally, he stays in the same Taman and goes to school in the same school bus) and drag his parents out for some good lastic session. I would be doing the world a favour by ensuring not another moron is born. Arrrghh! *rage rage rage*

Ok, peace. Saja emo emo.

Suzanne is ok now. No scars too. She is happily seated with another girl right in front of the teachers desk. As for the boy? I don't even know how he looks like but I sure hoped he got it kaw-kaw from the Headmistress and his parents ;)

Buaya69 says... "Touch my gal? May a billion camel ticks invade your asshole!"

SueAnne, the Buaya killer

2007-06-05T18:22:00.000+08:00

I am having some difficulty in writing this blog piece, because it is a bit complicated to express. So to cut it short, here's what happened.

1) I was lying on my bed reading a magazine while Mrs B was reading a book

2) In came toddler SueAnne and little girl Suzanne

3) Toddler SueAnne plonked herself between me and Mrs B
3.1) Toddler SueAnne screamed murder because she did not have enough space in between us
3.2) Toddler SueAnne began kicking me and screamed repeatedly "Go away! Go away!"

4) Daddy Buaya69 got irritated but didn't want to scold toddler SueAnne so he got up and went to the kids room to read his very precious car magazine (heh!)

5) Toddler SueAnne then came out from our room and stood outside her (kids) room and yelled "Why you angry with SueAnne, huh? huh? huh? Why you angry? hmpph!"

6) Daddy Buaya69 ignored toddler SueAnne. Inside, he was thinking whether he should reach for the hidden rotan....

7) Toddler SueAnne came into the room and again asked/scolded "Why you angry???"
7.1) Daddy Buaya69 replied in a soft and polite manner, "Because you were so rude. You kicked Daddy out of the bed. Why should I not be angry and rotan you?"

8) Toddler SueAnne paused for a while and then....
8.1) pulled my arm and sweetly say "come lar" wanting me to go back to my bedroom
8.2) Daddy Buaya69 merajuk and didn't budged from the bed. Toddler SueAnne didn't give up and kept on pulling my arm and then my fingers and sweetly urging me "come lar daddy...."

9) Daddy Buaya69 fell for toddler SueAnne's surprising turn of manners and gladly let SueAnne led him back to the master bedroom by his fingers

10) Back in the room, SueAnne and Daddy Buaya69 played like nothing happened, all forgiven.
10.1) Mummy Mrs B was puzzled and asked "What happened?"
10.2) Daddy Buaya69 explained everything, to Mrs B's amazement.

Conclusion? We have a natural Buaya Killer in toddler SueAnne, the expert emotional manipulator at 2.5 years old only.

Buaya69 says, "Warning to all mummy's with toddler sons. enroll your sons to the same kindy with our toddler SueAnne at your own risks, heh!"

Tongkat Ali

2007-05-29T15:25:00.000+08:00

Mrs B: Dear, do you know where to buy some tongkat ali?

B69: errr.... tongkat ali? -_-"""

Mrs B: Ya, I want to buy some but I want the real one. Not those pills type one.

B69: errr... must be at the Malay shops lor. I don't think the chinese traditional medicine shop got. anyway.... why do you want to buy tongkat ali? -_-""""

Mrs B: I read in the paper that it's good for rei-something-something-sinustititis.

B69: Huh? What's that?

Mrs B: Neh, rei-something-something-tititis leh. That's what I am suffering from mar.

B69: OOOOHHHH! I seeeeeee. :D

Mrs B: What! You think for you ar? :P

B69: How I know? hehehe. Ok ok, I go ask my malay kaki's. They sure know one.

Mrs B: Really? I bet you are going to have a tough time explaining to them that it's for your wife, kakakaka!

B69: -_-"""

Source: http://www.rainforestherbs.com.my

Buaya69 asks... "Anyone know where I can get 100% tulin tongkat ali root in KL? Kat Alor Star I know la but in KL..."

Motherboard kaputed

2007-05-25T22:39:00.000+08:00

Last blog update was May 13... basket! And could that have been a jinxed date? Loads of things had happened on that infamous day....

Anyway, the 13 month old Dell PC at home gave up it's heart. After diagnosing by pulling out the ram, sound card and modem, switched it on and... silence.... yup, the board's DEAD! Called Dell up and a SYT voice by the name of a calendar month answered. Naturally, I turned from Belacan to Buaya *cough cough*

Not sure which engineer will attend to me. Could it be that 62% evil blogger up north? Nah...

In the meantime, can't put up any of the pics that I have planned for both my blogs. Grrrr!

Buaya69 asks... "what sizzled the drizzle off my pixels? KNN!"

I missed my family

2007-05-13T01:20:00.000+08:00

Work has been terrible these past weeks. As they say in cantonese, "Orr see also got no time ler!"

I really missed my two kids. By the time I come back home, they are already asleep with Mrs B. The only thing waiting for me are cold leftovers for a very very very late dinner. And I still wonder why my waistline is increasing, hehehe.

Today, I had to work in office, despite it being a non-working Saturday. Basket. When I came home late evening, toddler SueAnne just wants me to carry her everywhere. I was tired but she refused to take no for an answer. Maybe I should learn about persistence and active persuasion from her ;).

Upon carrying her, she then refused to come down! Not that I am really really complaining, on the contrary, I quite enjoyed it. There's a certain warmth when you carry a child in your arms, that trust they put into you and that feeling of being wanted coz they really want to be in your arms. I wonder whether I am making any sense at all ;)

I am now blogging from the KLIA. Paid RM10 at Cafe Marche for 50 minutes of internet usage. What to do? I don't have a wifi PDA/handphone yet. Now, if only I had a Nokia E61.... hehehe.

The check-in counters are very much quieter now after the China flights have departed. This is the first time I come across China bound tour groups flying at such late hours. Having said that, mine is worst. Departing at 4am *yawn*.

Well, time to go through my materials. I have 7 hours of flight time to sleep (snore) through, hehehe.

Buaya69 says... "I wonder will the business class stewardess tuck me in? muahahahahar!"

Done!

2007-04-27T22:37:00.000+08:00

Just finished both our tax filings, woohoo! Abuden, we both owe the gahmen moolah, @#$%!!!!

Belacans unfinished Langkawi story to resume after the weekend. Not to forget Buaya69's cerita dongeng oso, hehehe

Cheerio!

Mom's recovering, thanks!

2007-04-25T15:06:00.000+08:00

Mom was discharged from the hospital on Sunday. She's recovering well from the operation wound. Many thanks to all for the well wishes and prayers. :) Previous post here.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Will be busy for the rest of the week. Why? Tax e-filing! Deadline for submission is 30 April. Trust me to be in the 90% population bracket. If it's not last minute, then I'm not Malaysian, bwahahahahaha!

-------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow's coronation day. How will you be spending it? As for me, time to clear the years of rubbish in the study room. And then, ambitious me plans to DIY setup the new Ikea computer workstation. Muahahahahar!

Buaya69 thinks he will be saying... "Oh, my back. Arrgh!"

Almost car crashed

2007-04-17T09:30:00.000+08:00

Approaching our home, there's a nice one way double lane S curve road. Most sedan cars can only drive through here at 60 km/h. More than that, you will loose traction and control at the second S curve (unless you are the Snark riding his Desmosedici).

Yesterday evening, as Mrs B was driving along this road with the kids at the back, a souped up Honda Civic overtook her at a very high speed. Either this Ah Beng was unfamiliar with this stretch or his ego and balls just got too big and thinks that his souped up Honda Civic has the traction of a road hugging Lotus Elise.

According to Mrs B, immediately upon overtaking her, the Honda Civic started to loose control and all the other cars can clearly see him "wavering" on the road. She immediately slowed down and moments later, the Ah Beng scrapped his Honda Civic on the side railings before jumping to the other side of the road and stopped there.

Mrs B put on her hazard lights and the other cars took the cue. On passing the Civic, Mrs B could see that the front bumper and bonnet has already crumpled. The radiator's probably leaking by now.

And what did Mrs B said? "Serves you right!". But if I was there, I would have shown the Ah Beng the internationally recognised F U hand signal. Shit, he could have crashed into Mrs B and the kids! KNN CCB LHLK!

Buaya69 says... "I need a tank for my family. How about a Volvo? :P"

P/S - I won't be posting until next week. Need to take care of my mom. Cheers!

Money lessons for 7yo Suzanne

2007-04-13T19:22:00.000+08:00

Source

Suzanne is now studying in Primary One. Recently, Mrs B and I concluded that she is not really that savvy about money due to several misadventures she encountered with her classmates.

Quite a shocker to us really. You would have thought that with parents like us from the financial industry, our girl would be a super money churning genius, right? hehehe, joking joking!

Anyway, it got me thinking "how the heck am I going to teach my girls that money does not grow in her parents pockets?" To be honest, I think she knows that we work dang hard for our salaries, what with Mrs B and I coming home only after the sun sets. But how do you teach the VALUE of money?

My thots so far....

Solution #1 - Daily allowances?
I was toying with the idea of giving Suzanne a daily allowance of maybe 50 sens per school day. Why so low? Well, that's because her school's canteen has catered food for the kids, if the parents pay for it lar. She gets a cup of milo, and maybe bread, rice or noodles - a simple meal hearty enough for the kids to fill their tummy.

As Suzanne gets catered food during recess, she has no real need for an allowance. Additionally, Mrs B and I are also afraid that she will buy those sinful yummy food like fried nuggets and potato fries. (Man, why didn't we have these during our school days? dang!)

Thus, would giving a daily allowance help our girl learn the value of money? Something tells me that this may not be, hence...

Solution #2 - She work's hard for the money
We know money is hard to come by because we sacrifice our time and energy on activities to EARN it. That got me thinking. How about getting Suzanne to earn her money? But again, this could get tricky. Let's discuss.

Earn $$$ by completing homework scheme
Sounds like a good matching concept. You do your homework, we pay you abuden, a student IS expected to do their homework. What if she put up a "Strike! Strike! Strike! Higher pay for completion of homework!" campaign? "NO pay rise no STUDY!" Cialat! Mana boleh?

Earn $$$ by doing house chores scheme
Ok, so we don't match $$$ to her school work but how about house chores? Help daddy wash the dishes and you get X amount. You want more? Then sweep the floor and so forth. But again, the same argument applies. Growing kids are expected to help around the house. We are family, right?

But the worse that can happen is manipulation of chores for more money (hehehe, trust daddy's evil mind to think of the below).

Imagine... lil'buaya69 making a mess of the place. Then go offer "cleaning services" to mummy for a fee. Just ensure that I kacau mummy when she's really busy and harried by chores. Sure dapat one, muahahahahar! *do evil dance*

Sigh... so how now, brown cow? Honestly, I am keener to implement solution#2.

I am thinking of doing a pseudo-negotiation with Suzanne on the "fee" and the "chore". Just need to ensure that it does not sound like a bribe or forced incentive. In this regard, I could work out a standard "chore agreement" like folding clothes or sweeping the floor and on completion, Suzanne get's X amount on a weekly basis. And the fee will probably be RM2 per week.

That's what I can think of thus far. So mommies and daddies, any suggestions to help out the Buaya here? Mucho thanks ;)

Buaya69 says... "Hmmm... if they earn fees, then it's TAXABLE to the home gahmen, right? muahahahahar!"

My mom has breast cancer

2007-04-11T19:50:00.000+08:00

I left early from work yesterday i.e. at 6pm. Picked my mom up from home and off we went to UMSC. Traffic was good to us so we arrived before 7pm but we had to wait until 8.30pm before her name was called.

It's confirmed. At the age of 66, my mom has breast cancer but thankfully, only stage 1. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday 18 April with 5 days of rest at the ward.

In the meantime, toddler SueAnne is having cough and high fever, Suzanne is having cough and Mrs B is down, floored, by flu, cough and high fever.

Me? I'm getting fatter.

Buaya69 says... "Keeping my chin up as things can only get better, right?"

Langkawi - the girls maiden flight

2007-04-04T10:54:00.000+08:00

Ah, it's been a loooooonnnggg time since I logged into this space. Time has been a luxury since the year began, so the recent family trip to Langkawi (already paid in advance since Dec'06) was really a blessing.

The Belacans family finally flew to Langkawi for a 3 night stay at a secluded resort. It was the first time the girls flew on a plane. Suzanne was excited about flying in a plane and we allowed her to sit by the window with her grandmothers (yes, both Mrs B and my mom came along).

But as for toddler SueAnne, she was quite terrified. Thankfully, Mrs B came prepared. She had some of SueAnne's favourite bread and we let her munch along the way. She was only really scared during take-off and landing due to the vibrations and sound of air turbulence. But on the flight back from Langkawi, we didn't buy her some bread so I ended up hugging/carrying her 90% of the flight time in my arms while seated and buckled down. It wasn't long before both toddler and I fell asleep. I hope I wasn't snoring, heh!

Oh, must comment this about Air Asia's timeliness. We have all heard about grouses on Air Asia's delayed or cancelled flights. For our flights to and fro Langkawi, we were pleasantly surprised that we took-off on time and touched down 15 minutes earlier. Yup, no complaints from this customer :)

But we were quite disappointed on LCCT. Firstly, it's further by road and no ERL. Two, the place is a bit small for a regional low cost carrier terminal. Only two baggage carousels? Ai yai yai!

More Langkawi pics and stories to follow, promise ;)

Belacans says... "must make another trip back to Langkawi, hehehe"

Suffer the student and parent

2007-03-16T20:00:00.000+08:00

Kudos to the students who scored so many A's in their SPM and STPM. I am sure they worked hard for it. For those who didn't get that many or any A's at all, nothing is lost yet. Life is a journey and not a destination.

Looking back at my school days, I only managed to score 5 A's for my SPM and only 1 A in STPM. I was already jumping with joy at my "unbelievable" results, reason being I was extremely playful and lacked the tenacity to focus long before my "mata keranjang" go and do their thing, heh! Ya, was already a small alligator during my schooling days.

Suzanne is already in Primary 1, and as a parent, I am already feeling the pressure from other parents and close relatives to ensure that she does reasonably well in her coming April examination. Wahlaueh, this is Standard One we are talking about! During my Std 1 days, I was playing with guli, hiding in drains catching longkang fishes, and shooting rubber bands at the neighbourhood girls *cough*.

I wonder how Mrs B and I would be when Suzanne sits for her first public examination. Will we have sleepless nights worrying for her? Will we be like "I should have done this and that to help her?" or will we just sing "Hey sera sera, whatever will be, will be..".

I dunno, really, but I have a hunch it will be a bit of both. On one hand, we need to ensure that she has a sound education but on the other hand, we also know that public examination results does not guarantee anyone becoming a better human being or a successful person/leader. Those require more character building rather than academic achievements.

Having said that, I hope Suzanne and SueAnne will remember us as life-coaches parents and not as "you don't understand me" parents. It won't be easy but that's parenting. It's a life long occupation ;)

Belacans says... "Maybe PS2 games can help the girls to be more focused? I would! hehehe ;)"

Chicken Pox struck da Buaya

2007-03-14T17:00:00.000+08:00

I'm back!

Wahlaueh, chicken pox is excruciating, especially when you are nearing 40 years old. I was practically under "house arrest" for 3 weeks. Can't go out of the house, just stayed at home and "eat porridge", literally.

Worse, I got the pox over the CNY holidays. No kueh kapet, no bahulu, no cookies... and no blackjack! Suffer man. ;)

Every time my toddler SueAnne saw me, she would point at my face and ask, "Pain ah?". Yes, I would reply. Then she would point to my arm, "Pain ah?". Yes, pain pain. Then, almost always, she would poke at one of the spots on my leg, "Pain ah?". Ouch! Yes, Pain Pain! "Oh... pain pain ah?" *pengsan*

FYI, I got the chicken pox from the girls. First was Suzanne followed by SueAnne, where the latter's was very very mild. The doctor did say that chicken pox is kind to the kids but to adults like me, well, just have to TOUGH it out.

So, how's the Buaya face now? Marked with lots of scars and craters.

Now, please excuse me while I ransack Mrs B's dressing table for that bottle of NuSkin :P

Sleeping alone

2007-02-08T14:00:00.000+08:00

{This post is written by Mrs B}

Suzanne had persistently said no when I tried to talk her into sleeping without me in her own room for weeks/months? now. One night, as we were watching Rollie Ollie – the one with Zoe battling the under the bed monsters for the umpteenth repeat times, Suzanne suddenly voiced out that Zoe sleeps alone in her room? Yes, Zoe (the baby) does, and does Suzanne thinks she can manage sleeping alone in her room now? Well, not alone but with Suanne. Yes, of course with Suanne. …Mmmm….OK…

Yes! She finally bucked up enough courage to sleep alone, and this comes from a six year old who dares not walk up the 2nd level without me (my fault for scaring her with scary tales to sleep when young, another story I feel too ashamed to be told). Yay! Didn’t think there’ll be such a day that I appreciate Playhouse Disney as this!

SueAnne's turn
Over dinner a couple of days later. Suanne, can you sleep alone with che che?
Looking at me solemnly, she firmly shook her head. Hmmm. What to do with her. Suzanne who witnessed the exchange came over to whisper into my ear, mummy I know what to do, you just bf her until she doze off and then you cabut to daddy’s room, all this while Suanne was still blur blur looking at us. Hmmm…of course I was going to do that, but Suzanne turning into my partner in crime?

Good idea Suzanne, but you shouldn’t be whispering like that in front of your sis, you two should always work together.

Hehe, trying to instill loyalty to each other at that impossible age when your siblings are the most irritating person alive.

- Mrs B -

No more baby talk

2007-01-31T15:03:00.000+08:00

This post was originally written by Mrs B but I tambah'd a lot of belacan, heh!

"One Saturday morning...

Belacans and I had just sent Suzanne to her weekly ballet class and were getting ready to drive home but our little SueAnne was taking her own sweet time to sit on the babychair at the back of the car.

(The B Man said - Yeah, don't this little girl know that Mummy must go home and cook lunch or else her Tubby Daddy will faint from hunger? hehehe :P)

But since it was just a short drive through the neighbourhood, I decided not to strap her in and asked SueAnne to get into the car. At 2.5 years old, she can already clamber up and seat herself properly in the babychair. She is, after all, born in the year of the Monkey. More stories on her monkeying around later. ;)

But little SueAnne wasn't interested in sitting on the babychair and as I was about to remind her on this, she nonchalantly said in clear audible English,"Sheet town per list? Zen Q", and plonked herself into the babychair.

My mind did a double take. Hey, I was supposed to say that! Gosh, my girl can already read my disciplining mind. They sure grow up fast.

(The B Man said - And yeah, must also thank God that Hubby Tubby does not swear/curse at home. Can't have them picking up flowery words from me, right? Who says a woman can't change her man? :D)"

-Mrs B -

Suzanne has HFM!

2007-01-19T19:45:00.000+08:00

It's confirmed. Suzanne has the Hand-Foot-Mouth (HFM) disease. She has blisters on her left arm and rashes on her left palm. I just hope she doesn't develop sores in the mouth and throat. Now, that would be real painful. Sigh... it's just the 10th day of school and she gets HFM? :(

Last night, we separated the two girls so I slept with Suzanne in her room while Mrs B slept with baby SueAnne in the master bedroom. Hopefully the HFM virus does not spread to baby SueAnne.

Having said that, we didn't know Suzanne had HFM and without thinking much, we punctured the blisters on Suzanne's left arm two nights ago. Ok, now we know we shouldn't have done that because the fluid from the blister is infectious. I hope Mrs B does not get sick because she did the puncturing. :(

HFM is transferrable through contact but is not water-borne, hence no school, no baby-sitter, but stay at home until she recovers. (I would have loved that myself, heh!) Right now, we are making sure that Suzanne takes lots of fluids and does not get dehydrated. Maybe I will make her some fruit juices this weekend ;)

Update @ 22 Jan 2007:
Suzanne is better now. Many thanks for the well wishes and prayers. Interestingly, she didn't develop any fever and the rashes/blisters were just confined to her left arm and hand. We read that HFM is contagious on contact but praise God that baby SueAnne didn't get it. Although we tried separating them, we gave up eventually as being sisters, they have a natural magnetism to play and fight throughout the weekend! Arrghh! Who says parenting is easy?

Of course, no one's more worried than Mrs B and taking pains in caring for the girls *muacks muacks muacks* ;)

p/s - I can hear Mrs B saying, "You need more than kisses!"

Belacans says... "OK, no Ikea or Mid-Valley this weekend" ;)

How a schooling kiddo changed Mr Belacan

2007-01-16T20:40:00.000+08:00

A schooling kiddo can do more changes to a man than his wife can ever will. Ladies, mark my words, heh!

Change #1: No more waking up late, ever!
Monday to Friday - Wake up latest by 6.15am, shower, change and then send Suzanne to school by 7.00am.

Thinking of sleeping in late on a Saturday morning? Forget it! Your bio-alarm clock will wake you up by 6.15am... unless you got yourself pissed drunk on a Friday night, which I did two Fridays ago *hic!* :P

These days, I am normally working at my desk by 7.45am, dang...

Change #2: You become a safer driver
I have seen a few desperado fathers/mothers speeding in their cars/MPVs near the school, just to get their kid to school on time. Everytime I see these cars, my blood boils and I say a silent prayer. Hopefully these bangku drivers don't knock into any child. Can't they see the many kids walking on the side of the road? I shudder to think of a bangku driver losing control of their car as they make that illegal 360 degree turn near the entrance to Suzanne's school. *gulp*

Recently, even Mrs B admitted that I have become a better driver. The automatic transmission car does not jerk that much (as I don't press the accelerator like a manual car anymore, hehehe) and my braking is way smoother. What to do? I have become a chauffeur to my precious!

Change #3: You start to listen to your kiddo
Not that I have not been listening in the past but these days, I want to know who her best friend(s) is/are, what happened in class, what she thought of this and that. And you know why? More for security reasons lar. I want to be the first to know if a still wet-behind-the-ears kiddo-buaya-wannabe is going after my Suzanne! Bwahahahaha!

Change #4: You look forward to meetings/conventions in hotels
A few key reasons for this. Firstly, I get to go home earlier than normal. I usually leave the office after 8pm.... every night, sigh...

The other key reason is PENCILS! I make it a point to collect as many pencils left on the tables as I can. Call me kedekut if you want. Heck, I am a trained accountant after all, muahahahar!

Change #5: You wanna look good physically
I am 5'8" and is dang overweight at 80kgs. Suzanne is super observant of everything, albeit have shorter and selected memory (just like her getting-older daddy here). When Mrs B said that I need to loose some weight, I said "Ya ya ya" and continued eating my nasi lemak ayam. But when Suzanne asked me, "Daddy, why are you so fat?", now that triggered the warning bells in my head.

Your daughters would want their daddy to look good, handsome if possible, hehehe. So beginning this year, I need to workout more often and loose 10 kgs. As a start, I am targeting to loose 1 kg by Chinese New Year and then maintain that during the festive period. Yah, it's gonna be a looooonnngggg year for me, sob sob.

Belacans says... "Yo mama! I am (gonna be) too sexy for this blog, heh!"

We survived the 1st week of school!

2007-01-11T20:09:00.000+08:00

It is now the 2nd week schooling for Suzanne. Both Mrs B and I have sort of gotten into a morning routine.

Mrs B will wake-up before 6am, prepare breakfast for Suzanne, wake her up and dress her for school. Me? Wake up latest by 6.15am, shower and get dressed (plus tie summore). As the school starts at 7.30am sharp, Suzanne and I must leave the house latest by 7am. Any seconds later than that, I run the risk of arriving past 7.30am. Do you know that KL traffic is already crawling by 7am? Dang.

Beginning the 2nd week of school, traffic at the school is getting bearable as most parents already know where to park without choking the road. I usually park about 50m from the gate and walk Suzanne into the school, unlike some kiasu parents who will queue to drop their kids right in front of the gate!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the 1st week, parents were allowed into the school for two days.

Did Suzanne cry?
Not a wee bit. She was very happy with school and was extremely delighted to find a few of her kindy friends there as well. I was speaking to the Headmistress and she commented that to her surprise, this year only had a handful of cry babies. She winked that most of them were boys too ;)

Gathering of old friends
Another surprise was in stored for Mrs B and I. We met so many of our friends and acquaintances there, so it was also a gathering for mommy and daddy. A few already had more than one kid studying there and we were showered with so many advices like "get two school bags for your girl. One big for text books and another smaller one for exercise books, so they don't have to carry a big heavy bag", "do you know that the school canteen can cater food for your girl? so she won't have to line up like the rest".

Hotmamas
OK, this is not the Buaya blog but I must mention that Mrs B and I saw so many hotmamas. A few even have that "model" and exotic look *cough cough* How about the daddys? Well, what can you expect from mid-30s males who have not hit the gym in years? hehehe

Teachers and school administration
Mrs B and I are super impressed with the teachers and the PIBG. To my surprise, the PIBG President is my uni-senior, and the first thing after our "long time no see" greeting, he asked "any suggestions to improve the school?" Wahlaueh, so pressurising. Macam going for an interview!

OMG! The school have their own fleet of buses! So on the first day, Mrs B and Suzanne took a school bus that went to our housing area, just to try out. Wahlaueh, got aircond one you know? Totally unheard of during my schooling days. (And buses were for those that can afford the fees. Me? Went to school on bus no. 11 i.e. walked!)

Well, here's to a good year ahead :)

Belacans says.. "I yam the best dressed Daddy-send-kiddo-to-school winner, heh!" *perasan betul* :P

Deadline 2007-01-03

2006-12-29T21:39:00.000+08:00

Pinnafores - checked!

Two pairs of school shoes - checked!

Socks - checked!

School bag - checked!

Colour pencils - checked!

Water colour and brushes - checked!

Pencil case - checked!

Pencils, eraser, ruler and sharpener - errr, not sure. To check.

School books - WARNING! Not purchased yet! *ting ting ting ting ting - alarm bells*

Ok Ok, must go to school tomorow (Saturday) and buy the books. Is RM100 enough? No? Aiyak!

Yes, our sweet Suzanne is going to Primary 1 come 3 January. And the best part is, Daddy here has committed to send her to school every morning! Yes, Mrs B was amazed but very very sceptical.

"Are you sure? The school bus is only giving us RM20 discount for just picking her up after school, you know?"

Yes, I am sure, 100%! Hope it's not a new year's resolution gung-ho-ness though, hehe. Yah, gotta take annual leave like all first-time-kiddo-schooling parents. I shall be contributing to the traffic jam around the school come 3rd and 4th January, muahahahahar!

Well, here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2007!

Belacans says... "Aiyak! No more late nights! Must sleep when Suzanne sleeps, boo hoo hoo" ;)

Rocker baby

2006-12-27T11:50:00.000+08:00

On the way home from a wedding dinner, the Belacan family was caught in a traffic crawl somewhere in Sri Kembangan. It was already 10.30pm and the two girls are having a brawl at the back seat, whilst still seated in their own baby chairs! Arrghh!

Mrs B was trying in vain to defuse the World War 3 at the back of the car, and like all diplomatic spats, it started just because of one single object of desire and in my girls case, an old Motorola Talkabout handphone. Yes, let me say it again.... arrrghhhh!

So, what's a daddy to do? I turned up the volume on the car stero playing Hillsong's Mighty To Save. This is quite a rocky album. I then started to swing my head in rhythm with the beat from left to right like a bad ass rocker. The girls started laughing and giggling. Whoopee! Caught their attention already. Mrs B was already looking at me with a ??? look.

I said, "Time to give them something else to do, dear. This is going to be a long trip home. The cars are not moving! Let's worship together, yeah baby!"

And with that, we sang and sang and sang. The revelation of the day is not Suzanne. We already knew that she can sing. It's baby SueAnne!

Looks like baby SueAnne will become a natural rocker chic. She was shouting and screaming to the tune and lyrics until her voice was coarse and coughing intermittently! Not only that, she was also shaking her head like a headbanger! Mind you, SueAnne is only 2.5 years old.

"Dear, I think I just created a rocker chic. SueAnne is definitely going for guitar lessons. No ballet classes for her like Suzanne, heh!"

"What did you say?" and proceeded giving me the stare of death, plus her fingers about to tear into my fat thigh.

"Nothing, nothing. Say, are you recording all these shouting on your handphone?" -_-""

And with that, Mrs B recorded SueAnne scream singing like a rocker babe for about 3 minutes. We finally reached home 45 minutes later. By then, Suzanne was laughing her head off at SueAnne. "Daddy, SueAnne is sooo funny and cute!"

And SueAnne? Well, she was smiling broadly and sweetly but her voice was already coarse like a rocker chic.

Belacans says... "Hmm, shall the Belacans replace the Osmonds and Jacksons? hehehe"

Christmas tree or not?

2006-12-01T12:31:00.000+08:00

To christmas tree or not to christmas tree? That is the question.

Nah, actually, will I get off my ass or not? That's the real question!

Lazy ass...

----------------------------------
Long overdue update:

Hi all,

1000 x 1000 apologies to all who commented. Lately this blog is more silent than your Silent Night, heh! I have been very, very busy lately. Who says year end is a time for festivities and family? Bah!

Yes, the tree was up. Even bought a tree for my department. It's amazing how a lighted tree can bring smiles to people. Maybe it's the expectation of good times to come. :)

We are glad that my sister and her family is safe in Johor. She stays up a small hill hence no problem of flooding but getting cut-off is another issue altogether. I feel for all who are suffering from the flood. Our family home in Klang had seen numerous flash floods coming into the house. All due to development of a hill in the area. Now all those water are channeled through a monsoon drain in front of our house! Bah! KickdeKlangCouncilors!

Will blog tomorrow, promise :)

Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

8th Anniversary

2006-11-10T21:33:00.000+08:00

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words...

That blue Mikimoto box

Gift#1 - Stainless steel Mikimoto compact mirror

Another view of the compact mirror - comes with it's own velvet pouch

Gift#2 - finally, bought Mrs B the real thing. An Akoya pearl pendant in silver.

And the first to congratulate me was my credit card's fraud officer, "Mr Buaya, did you just purchased XXXX amount at Mikimoto?".

Tomorrow, the Belacan family will be going up to Genting Highlands for the weekend. Good time for some R&R. No, not Rest & Relax but rather Romance & Rejoicing. ;)

Mrs B on the Kids Goodnite Prayer

2006-11-03T19:47:00.000+08:00

The following post is written by Mrs B, unabridged version :)

Suzanne has been praying by herself for the family for a good couple of months now. She didn’t have the confidence initially. I would off and on suggest that she pray and she surprised me one night by agreeing. By reciting every member of the immediate family and then her kong kong, po po, kau fu, kau mo, kau fu (younger one) and kau fu ke che che (GF) and the rest of both side’s extended family. Once she has gained confidence, she would insist on praying for the family after I have given thanks for the day. And she would recite in the same manner every night.

What do you want to pray for kong kong and po po about? I asked.

Huh? How about that they would love each other (and argue less!).

And she would add her own in time. That mar mar would not scold people and not scold “my sister”, after SueAnne kena kau kau from her granny. That daddy would drive carefully and come home early, after night after night of late nights.

It's kind of funny how kids would stick to a routine. I certainly am not steadfast in my prayer life but Suzanne would pray most nights except when she’s super tired. She’d remind me when I did not initiate prayer.

I hope that she will stay in God’s fold, not get disillusioned and be a candidate for the lost sheep that came home come teen years. You can’t be there all the time for your kids as a parent, but at least it would be a great comfort if she’s still in the fold.

As for SueAnne? She would wail out in protest for her nen nen way before we get to start praying and I could never really convince her to wait till we finish. She would stop suckling briefly to say amen after “In Jesus’ name we pray…” Of late, she would also chip in when her che che starts to pray. She would clasp her hands together while still latching securely to the breast and in between sucks would say, “pray for momi, dadi….suck, suck, suck. I would pester her, some more? … kong kong, po po, suck, suck suck…This kiddo, don’t want to lose out to her che che and also don’t lose out on her comfort.

Mrs B :)

Weaning SueAnne

2006-10-26T21:06:00.000+08:00

SueAnne is 2 years 3 months old now.

Mrs B is STILL BREAST FEEDING SueAnne. (yes, I can hear some gasps from some mommies)

Everynight SueAnne asks (demands) for nen-nen. No nen-nen, no sleep (and no peace for poor Mrs B).

The questions are:
1) When do you wean a baby off breast feeding?
2) and HOW do you wean a baby?
3) ~~and when can Daddy B have his fun things back??~~ hehehe

Not that I am complaining but if SueAnne was a boy, I would definitely have insisted that Mrs B wean the baby by now. You know lar, men and their fascination with boobs, heh!

One thing I am very sure of and satisfied with is that Mrs B provided SueAnne with a good start in life, something money can't buy - a mummy's love and dedication. ;)

Note to SueAnne:
Girl, when you are reading this, do note that Daddy B abstained for 2 years for you, ok? heh!

Belacans says... "counting the days... ahem!"

Sue Anne, the Fashionista (handbags)

2006-10-19T19:20:00.000+08:00

Continuing on the fashionista saga from the previous post here.

Our little fashionista is an expert on handbags for small girls. She does a great job of modelling for bags in front of our full length mirror. Just like Tiger Woods daddy training him for golf, I think I will train her to become a handbag fashion model, and here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Don't throw away that paperbag!
Cute little paperbags, you know, those that you get from shopping expeditions, provide excellent training for little girls. Here, Sue Anne will be carrying that paper bag throughout the house and putting her selected toys that double up as handphones and dunno what else, walking around the house, swinging that paper bag back and forth. If you stop here midway during her stroll in the house (is she preparing for window shopping or what?), she will point to her paperbag and say "leng leng!". In toddler language, I think that means Louis Vuitton or nothing!

Step 2: Let her rummage your handbag!
Girls need to learn from adults. You know lar, we have eaten more salt and MSG and all that jazz, so kids have no choice but to learn from us. What better way to prepare them for a teenage handbag modeller career than letting them rummage your handbag.

Guys, if you do not know yet, ladies have handbags for different occassions. One (or ten, for that matter) for work lah, one (or three) for shopping expeditions, one (or two) for meeting long lost friends, one (yes, only one) for going to the wet market, one (or two) when visiting relatives, and so on and on. Never EVAR get in between a woman and her handbags. The repercussions are unspeakable. You will definitely be muted or worse, she will have constant headaches when you want to *ahem*....

In our case, Mrs B has a habit of leaving her handbags on a certain bench near the main door. Lil'Sue Anne will drag that handbag down to the floor, and then rummage through that handbag. She will take out, one by one, ALL the barang-barang in Mrs B's bag. In this way, we have inadvertedly thought her what and what not to put in a handbag.

Caution to daddys:
By the way, all daddy's should keep their wallets away from their daughters. I learnt it the hard way. One day, I caught lil'Sue Anne going through MY WALLET! Taking out every single piece of credit card, driving licence, receipts, and MONEY out of my wallet. But then, maybe it's good that they learn this skill from a young age. It's always better to take money from their boyfriend/hubby's wallet than daddy's, heh!

Another caution to daddys... never EVAR have a CONDOM in your wallet. It makes you extremely suspicious, muahahahahar!

Step 3: Allow them to bring their little hand/paper bags into the car
Whenever we are going out as a family, maybe to the neighbourhood shops or to the shopping complexes, do allow your girls to bring with them their own version of a handbag. It can be a paperbag or a really cute tiny handbag, small enough for the girls.

Both Suzanne and Sue Anne has this trait. As far as I know, Mrs B didn't teach them that but everytime we want to go out, our two girls will be looking for suitable handbags and putting in some paper, maybe a small colouring book and lotsa colour pencils or crayons. Well, this will sort of keep them busy in the car (never seen them getting car motion sickness, good huh?) and that's definitely a plus point. The negative point is when they FIGHT FOR THAT SAME COLOUR PENCIL! AAAARGGGHHHH! *pulls hair pulls hair!*

Belacans says... "women! :P"

Project Pinky

2006-09-29T14:21:00.000+08:00

OK, October is just this weekend and thereafter begins the execution of my PROMISE to the girls, that is paint their room PINK! Hence Project Pinky.

I read somewhere that little girl's love to spend time in their bedrooms. It's their own little place, home within a home, where they can dream. I think I'm gonna have more fun decorating the girls room than them, heh! I can picture hanging a beaded curtain screen on the door, kinda like entering into another exotic world, a desk with cute hello kitty table lamp, feminine coloured bedsheets, a cabinet to keep their story books, and so much more. Early this year, I have already changed their room's wall lights with a cute love shaped light and two other lights with flower motifs drawn on the glass.

So, this weekend, I am going to the hardware shop and get two complementing colours. I am thinking of a pinkish off-white and maybe a sweet lilac or fresh bright green for a feature wall. At present, I am biased towards lilac. Gosh, is that my feminine side talking? Arrgh!

I'm giving myself a Deepavali deadline i.e. must finish painting by 21/9. After that, Mrs B and I will go look for their beds. Nothing fancy but a bed that they can sleep on up to the day they kahwin, heh! Talk about Papa Kedekut! :P

Previous post on the girls room here

Belacans says... "No Suzanne, you cannot have a GIANT sized doll house, ok?"

Trip to Aquaria on Mrs B's birthday

2006-09-25T13:43:00.000+08:00

One Sunday morning, it was Mrs B's birthday, and we took the girls to KLCC Aquaria. Cost me RM78 for two adults (RM28 x 2) and one kid (RM22). I think the Sunday crowd was just nice. Why? No school tours! Not that I am anti-school kiddos but the thought of having to fight for viewspace and baby stroller space with lotsa lotsa school kiddos running and shouting excitedly... gimme a panadol, heh!

Actually, I think I was the bigger kiddo and enjoyed it all thoroughly. I may go back there again and just slowly enjoy all the display tanks. Suzanne enjoyed it too but got creepy at the spider displays.

Mummy look! Tortoise! I want I want I want! :P

How about Baby Sue Anne? Well, she was pretty cool about all the fishes, that is until we went into the tunnel! She was really afraid when one of the sharks was swimming just above the glass tunnel. I think it must be the huge size of that shark and not the SHARP teeth ;)

I took a few photos and video with my now ol' Canon Ixus 40. And "compliant" me, I obeyed their NO FLASH photography at the tanks, unlike all the other Ah Bengs, Samy's, Mat Rocks, and the MidE tourists who just flash flash flash away. Because of that, instead of "Say cheese.. ", I was doing "OK, DON'T MOVE! *click*". All in all, it was a good trip for the family.

And did I buy anything for Mrs B's birthday? The truth is "not yet". Still saving for it, ahem!

Belacans says..."Dear, can we have a small fish tank at home? ahem..."

The Love Triangle

2006-09-07T19:37:00.000+08:00

This cerita is dedicated to Jack.

Two doors away, there's this cute little boy who is 6 years old, same age as my Suzanne. That's Jack. Sometimes when I come home and he's outside the house, Jack would call out to me:

Uncle Buaya! How are you?
I am good. How are you Jack?
Good! Where is Suzanne?
Oh, she's inside the house.
Ohhhh...

OK, if that conversation is just once off, fine. But if it recurs almost everytime I see him and for the PAST 2 YEARS.... well, I get the drift. But Jack, man to boy, my Suzanne is just not interested in you, kapish? Why, you ask? That's because Suzanne has the hots for ANOTHER BOY!

Meet Dick, a fellow bloggers son. The first instance I saw Dick, a 5 year old boy, I said to myself, "This fella is damn handsome! Got the best of his dad and mom's genes (mixed parentage)". And you know what? Suzanne likes Dicky! She will be on her best behaviour in front of Dicky, lakun demure demure, there's no "Woi! That's my toy!" kind of jerit jerit. And if my blogger friend came over without Dick, Suzanne will ask me where little Dicky is.... women! And how is Dicky taking to all these attention? I asked his daddy and he said, "This fella... All the young kiddo girls wants to be by his side but he's just so blur!" Bwahahahaha!

So Jack, that's the reality of things. You like a girl, but the girl likes another boy, but that boy doesn't even know that girl exists. Sad right? Oh well, it's good that you learn this at such a young age. Remember Jack, you are going to STANDARD ONE next year. Lot's more girls there, but you will also learn that there are lot's more handsome boys than you!

Muahahahahar!

Belacans says... "I am so evil" :D

SueAnne, the Fashionista

2006-09-05T17:22:00.000+08:00

SueAnne is a girl.

SueAnne is a 2 year old toddler.

SueAnne can't even speak a proper sentence yet.

SueAnne is just starting go without diapers i.e. must shee-shee in potty.

For such a young child, how the heck, or how is it possible, that she can have SHOE fetish and CLOTHES preference?

Cerita 1:
After bathing, if Mrs B, my mom or even myself took a tee or a pants that she doesn't want, she will let out a disapproving cry, kick a fuss, flail her hands and legs and would just not let us wear that tee or pants on her. The only way out is to let her choose her own clothes, then only she will allow us to put them on for her. After we have done that, she will normally smile sweetly at us, tap tap her tummy (tee) and legs (pants) and say, "leng leng!" meaning "pretty clothes"... seriously!

Cerita 2:
We are all going out (shopping, church, whatever), so SueAnne needs to wear shoes. Again, you have to let her choose her shoes! The more dainty looking it is, with flowers and all things sweet, and soft pastel colours, the more she likes it. And to top it off, she wants to wear it herself and then walk a few steps (like a fashion show) and then say, "leng leng". How?

And when at the shopping centres, the toughest place to drag her away from... you guessed it. It's the baby shoes section! Arrrghhhh!!! What is it with girls and shoes? Must I buy a shoe cabinet for her? (Thank goodness Mrs B is not into shoes so much, heh!)

Cerita 3:
Don't let baby SueAnne see or reach for any face/body lotion or cosmetic stuff. She will insist on reaching for them and putting/wiping on her face and body. Again, "leng leng!". Once, she stole my mom's "Deep Heat" and wiped on her neck. CRY CRY CRY! CRY CRY CRY! At that point in time, I don't know whether I felt more sorry or "justice has been done" for her.

Yup, definitely looks like baby SueAnne is starting young... very very young! Are all girls like this? I hope the boys don't come so soon. Now, where's that SENAPANG GAJAH of mine?

Belacans says.... "You wanna date my girl? See this Sarawakian parang? It's name is Bugau. If you don't bring her back by 9pm, and in good condition... Bugau is gonna pay you a visit, KAPISH?"

The Girls Room

2006-09-04T19:41:00.000+08:00

I have been busy at home on Merdeka day and over the weekend. In the process I have perspirated buckets of sweat, wearing only my boxer shorts and a white singlet with holes. Err, not exactly a nice image for my girls right? Abuden, someone's got to do the job.

Finally got my arse off the lazy chair (and Astro) and cleared up the 2nd room upstairs. Firstly, I dismantled the steel upper deck bed with attached study table below and then reassembled it in the study room. Shifted all the boxes with books, files, unused lamps, etc etc etc - you name it, sure ada mya... all into the study room also. Right now, my study is OVER FLOWING with boxes, dang.

Anyway, for all the hardwork, the 2nd room is now the GIRLS room. A nice bed by the window for Suzanne, a study table in the middle, an Ikea closet like bookshelf, a converted baby cot bed for SueAnne, table lamp for soft lighting, so much so Mrs B said, "Wah, quite cosy eh?". The best part is Suzanne said, "Daddy, please come to MY ROOM and help me (whatever)..." Yes! Finally got the girls to vacate daddy and mummy's room, hehehehe!

But Houston, we've got a problem. Last night, 2 year old baby SueAnne was asking, "bed bed bed? bed! bed! bed!". Aiyak! It looks like she does not want her cot bed but a real bed! Oi! Like this also got ar? Since when a 2 year old can demand such things? The baby books never teach me this leh.... I want my money back!

Things to do before Christmas:

Buy two IDENTICAL beds for the girls - no need to fight, ya hear?
Paint the room PINK. This is Suzanne's request, well, maybe one feature wall lar. What do you think?

Will post some pics AFTER I have painted the room. And now, since Mrs B and I have the master bedroom to ourselves again, ahem.....

Belacans says... "Boss, buy 2 beds got big discount ah? Can lar!"

How happy was this Merdeka and budget?

2006-09-01T18:55:00.000+08:00

Maybe Merdeka was felt more by the very young and the very old, but as for me and a number of buddies nearing 40s and with a young family to feed, this Merdeka sure was a depressing one. Why so? A sample of our conversation…

"Aiyak, budget day tomorrow (today)… cigs and liquor sure naik one, damn!"
[Latest: excise duty for cigs raised by 1 sen/stick and hard liquor by RM5/liter]

"Aiyak your head! Minyak more like it. Gabermen sure decrease petrol and diesel subsidy one!"

"Ya lor… see this roti canai and tea tarik? Harga already naik also…"

"Wait ler, interest rate sure naik one. It’s just a matter of time. You guys better pay off that housing loan and OD….It’s gonna be more expensive to buy a car also. HP interest may naik again…"

"Savings? What savings? Bring family out for a day will easily take RM100 off my wallet! You think feeding family cheap cheap ar?"

"Wah, if people like you also slow down on consumption… our economy sure diu lor!"

"F*ck, don’t spread your depression can or not, KNN! Go buy a few small flags, give to your kids and let them wave it, dius!"

"High salary? My foot! Most of it goes to income tax lar. Tengok tengok on payslip only. Worse, my cost so high I can kena lay-off also, sniff sniff…"

"Promotion? Dream on ler. My kulitfikasi not qualified ler... dunno how to angkat also, sigh..."

"You think self-employed manyak syiok ar? I go gila trying to pay salary every month. Want to get working capital loan also susah... cry cry cry..."

Belacan says…"Yah, happy happy Merdeka…"

The Yo-Yo Show

2006-08-22T14:06:00.000+08:00

Oh man! Since starting this job in December'05, I have less and less time to blog. Darn. So many Belacan Family blog entries have gone down the e-drain. Sigh... Oh well, here's one for posterity.

I seriously can't recall how this started. Maybe Mrs B was having some problems getting our 2 naughty and active girls to sleep. Maybe the girls have been asking for it. I don't exactly know right now. Call me a blur sotong dad, if you want, but I seriously can't recall! arrgh!

Anyway, it's been about a month now. Almost every night before the girls go to bed, I will give them a super yo-yo show. In front of me, laying on the bed is the 3 most beautiful ladies in my life, Mrs B, Suzanne and SueAnne. The will just lay on their stomach, and watch me do my yo-yo thingy. The room lights are off and zzzznnnggg! goes the yo-yo. The dazzling coloured lights from the yo-yo will illuminate their faces and SueAnne will giggle the most.

Alas, the only trick I know is "The Spinner" and "Walk-the-dog". Looks like I gotta learn more yo-yo tricks if I want to keep them beauties occupied. On googling, I was glad to find and download Duncan Yo-Yo Lesson Planner.

Hmm, maybe this is a good time to invest in a super-duper yo-yo, yeah baby!

Awana Kijal revisited, but this is the last of it!

2006-07-06T20:43:00.000+08:00

The whole Belacan family went for our annual pilgrimage to the sands of Kijal. This time, we took my mom along thus Mrs B got us two rooms with connecting doors.

This is our 4th visit since 2004 and we promised to take things easy. No more rushing here and there but just to relax. The beach was good. Very private. The nearest person to us was about 100m away.

Suzanne enjoyed the baby pool very much but our little daredevil baby SueAnne has just turned into a scardycat baby... tak mau go into the baby pool! Cry cry cry. Ok lar, hence Mrs B had to take her back into the room leaving me and Suzanne. Shucks, and I was hoping to spend some pool time with Mrs B. *sulk sulk sulk*

But today, I wanna complain banyak banyak. We would not go back to Awana Kijal for a long long time because our rooms had small lipas crawling around the bathroom and pantry area! Urghh! After paying for 4 room nights, we don't expect to see lipas here and there. They freaked out my girls, naturally.

Complained to the front desk, and asked for a change of room but they don't have anymore rooms with connecting doors. Damn. So they sent maintenance to spray the place with insecticide. Now we get to smell insecticide, great... But the lipas persisted and soon we saw them crawling again. The worse was at night. I didn't tell Mrs B or the girls that I felt a few crawling over my hand, arms, neck... ewwwww!

Ya, except for the lipas, the place is super relaxing coz "boh kang cho". When I checked out, I wrote my complaints on the feedback form. That was about 4 weeks ago, and I have yet to hear from Awana Kijal's management. Sigh....

Belacans says... "Small ka-chak betul-betul spoiler!"

Happy 2nd birthday SueAnne

2006-07-03T20:12:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday was SueAnne's 2nd birthday. Yup, two years liao, how time flies.

I still remember clearly that nite at the labour room. Out she comes with the loudest wail you have ever heard. Even the gynae said, "Wow, she's loud. Good lungs!"

Hence with good lungs, two years later I could clearly hear from downstairs, "Daddyyyy! Caaakkkeeee! Maaarrmaarrr (grandmother), caaakkkeee!". Yup, SueAnne's a good screamer alright. Honestly, I have never heard her scream like that before. Looks like all kids are lovers of cakes, hehehe, very impatient lot too :)

But I did notice one very distinct fact..... SueAnne's afraid of lighted candles! Asked her to blow out the candles and she just stood there frozen, not flitching at all. Hence after singing Happy Birthday, her elder sister Suzanne had to blow out the candles for SueAnne. After that, SueAnne's back to her lively chirpy self.

Now if need be, I have a tool to keep her quiet already, muahahahahahar!

Belacans says... "It's fun being an 'evil' dad, hehehe"

Thud!

2006-06-23T17:06:00.000+08:00

The girls were playing with Mrs B on the bed. Lotsa girly giggles and laughter. Me? I was watching them from my side of the bed, laying on my stuffed tummy with a fluffy pillow in between my legs... ahhh, bliss.

I was about to doze off when suddenly, in a bout of huge girly laughter, my eldest girl, Suzanne threw her head back and slumping herself on the bed. Unfortunately, she was too near the wooden headboard and hit the back of her head against it! *Prack!* goes the sound, and boy, was it a frightening sound. I really thought she cracked her skull!

Instantly, from girly laughters came loud, painful cries of pain. Quickly, Mrs B embraced Suzanne and rubbed the back of her head, in a motherly attempt to ease the pain plus words of endearment "Sayang... sayang... pain pain woh... sayang...".

At this point, Baby SueAnne was standing beside Mrs B and watching the whole episode before her eyes. Suddenly, she walked towards the headboard and put her back against the wall. All of us were looking at baby and wondering what was she doing. Suddenly, I just knew and I said, "No baby, don't do it". Baby SueAnne looked at me, tilt her head in front a bit and then moved bck to hit the wall. We could clearly hear a small *thud*. And when I say small, I do mean small.

Immediately, baby SueAnne let out a fake cry *wail wail wail* and ran towards Mrs B's arms. All of us, including the still-in-pain Suzanne, laughed out loud! Aiyak, like this also can ah?

Looks like baby SueAnne also wants a piece of mama sayang, but to go *thud*? Hmm, how did I just know she would do that? OMG!!! :D

Belacans says... "I'm a born exhibitionist, hehehe"

Milk teeth no more

2006-05-26T20:25:00.000+08:00

Suzanne has been crying. She has never experienced anything like this before. 3 weeks ago, she lost a lower front milk tooth. And man, can she cry. Nothing mummy can do to console her. Asked her what she was afraid of and the answer was....

*sob sob sob*... "I scare loose teeth to *sob sob* TOOTH FAIRY" ..*sob sob sob*

And my mind went, "Dius, who da F put this idea into her little mind? Tooth fairy??? KNN."

Trust Mrs B to save the day. She shared that she too was afraid when she lost her tooth, and this calmed Suzanne A LOT! Yeah, Mrs B's da bomb *kiss kiss*

Belacans says... "Tooth fairy... bah!" :D

Balloon twisting

2006-05-19T18:06:00.000+08:00

The girls just love balloons. Any kid would, even this big kiddo here, heh!

Everytime we go to a shopping complex, Suzanne will almost always want to have the balloons, especially those that are given away free by the clowns. She will pester us for it and will practically SULK the entire time if she didn't get her balloon. Dang... hence I will have to queue up to get a twisted balloon from the clown. Not that I mind but it makes me sick to see @#$% moms/dads pushing up to the front, cutting the queue of other kids and parents, and getting their balloons first. KNN!

Anyway, after watching how these clowns do it, twisting the balloons looks quite easy and I often wondered whether I can do it. Then I recalled Papi of papimami.blogspot.com writing about twisting balloons. Inspired by papi, I wondered no more as this daddy bought a whole packet of balloons and a hand pump, IIRC, for RM25 from a kiosk at The Curve. Thus far, I have mastered the doggie and the sword. Easy... like eating kacang putih :)

Source

Source

Just to share something naughty - in the process of twisting another version of the sword, I had to make a hole and then poke the other end into the hole. Reminds you of something, right? So I made a smaller hole and when up to Mrs B.

Me: Dear, watch me twist up a sword

Mrs B: You can meh?

Me: Hehe, see this lubang? I am going to push this end into it and...

*push push into lubang but since it's small, the walls touch and then made an irritating sound - screech screech screech*

Mrs B: Eh, so loud one?

Me: Ya, and I like making swords. Kinda reminds me of us when.... hehehe *gives naughty look*

Mrs B: *Suddenly realises what I was getting at* Gasp, you ar! Must you have sex on your mind all the time? *pinch pinch pinch*

Me: ouch ouch ouch!

Belacans says... "Oooo, twisting is da fun! Saves money too, no need to buy balloons at the malls/pasar malams for the girls, heh!"

The girls are out!

2006-05-08T20:58:00.000+08:00

Short post - just to update on the girls, then I am going home to see them and makan dinner :P

The girls checked out of the hospital this afternoon. There's some improvement but we just have to ensure that a relapse does not happen.

And to all, many thanks for the well-wishes and prayers. Apologies for not replying to your comments. For some reasons, I just could not get into the comments section.

Belacans says... "Woohoo!"

The girls are in the hospital

2006-05-04T10:54:00.000+08:00

Both my girls have been coughing for a month. Despite all the medications the GP and Peditrician have been bombarding them, the coughs still persists. Finally, our Peditrician said "Into the hospital!"

Well, that was yesterday. The X-Ray's indicated that Suzanne has initial stages of pneumonia, and that was a surprise to Mrs B and I. We thought it was baby Sue Anne that was more serious, if you heard her coughing, but the Ped gave baby Sue Anne's lungs the thumbs up. Right now, they are both on six hourly nebulizer treatment and is expected to be warded for at least 3 nights, sigh.... Mrs B has taken emergency leave and is staying with them at the hospital. How can I not love this woman of mine? heh!

One plus point is that their room is just next to the children playroom. Last night I hijacked the one and only kiddy car and pushed Sue Anne and Suzanne around the ward. Sue Anne seems to have a love for speed like her daddy, and yes, I pushed her pretty fast, kakaka!

Well, here's hoping they don't have to stay longer than 3 nights. The house is so quiet without Mrs B and the kids.

Belacan says... "All quiet on the home front"

Skool wan or too?

2006-04-14T09:02:00.000+08:00

Belacans working hard at his desk, which normally involves sipping coffee and eyeing SYT colleagues around him.. *cough cough*, and then suddenly "toot toot"...

B: Hello?

Mrs B: Dear, busy ar?

B: errr... yah, veeeerrryyyy busy. Wazzup? *sips coffee*

Mrs B: Ask you ar, should we put Suzanne into School 1 or 2 next year?

B: Err, what's the difference? Apart from them being located far from each other and that School 2 is newer...?

Mrs B: I want to put her into the afternoon class, since it's her first year at school. Maybe the afternoon session should be better for her to get used to school.

B: Neh... take it from my experience. No difference wan. Morning or afternoon session, will still sleep like a dog.

Mrs B: Oi! This is our daughter we are talking about, not the lazy husband I married!

B: OK OK! Peace! Err.... I prefer the original school.

Mrs B: Why? Shouldn't the newer school be better?

B: Well, I don't like where the new school is located. Have you been there?

Mrs B: No lah

B: OK, I bring you there this weekend, then we decide, OK?

Mrs B: OK, lub you.

B: Bye *click*

There... one more domestic issue cleverly solved (or postponed) by Belacans. I hope my girl don't grow up and asked "Why you put me in this school? I hate this school!". Die...

Belacans says... "mmmm, my coffee tastes particularly good this morning."

The Good, the Bad and the Lost

2006-04-13T08:23:00.000+08:00

These 2 weeks have been bad. It's so bad that I have lost my car keys, my favourite and irreplaceable sunglasses and just yesterday, my house keys! and made worse because that was the original keys set, aarrrgghhhh!!! @#$%!

More bad news. My trousers are getting tighter - all of them! Sometimes I think I am just working to buy new pants every half of the year.... Hence my action plan - just joined Fitness First on 31 March. Bad news? Yet to step into FF and it's already mid-April! @#$%! I think I will go to FF tomorrow morning and work our some sweat (which is very easy for me, heh!) before I start the day's work. Will there be hotbabes? Laporan selanjutnya dalam saluran Buaya69, muahahahar!

Good news. Lil' SueAnne is clinging to me so ever lovingly. Whenever I reach home, she will ask for me to carry her around, resting her head on my shoulders. Hehehe, I guess I am the "Flavour of the Month" to baby SueAnne and I better enjoy the moment. And is Mrs B jealous? Not at all... actually I think she welcomed the distraction, hehehe

Suzanne is growing up too quickly. By 2007, she will be in Standard 1. How time flies...

Two nights ago, Suzanne found Mrs B's secret stash of soft toys - 3 Ikea size plastic bags full! You can imagine her joy! So as she was playing with her Winnie the Pooh characters soft toys, I asked for Eeyore, said that I wanted to bring that to office. She looked at me in the eye, not sure what to do for two minutes, then said "Take Tigger. Got two Tigger mah!" and smiled so ever innocently. Man, when did she learnt to negotiate? Hehehe. So I pun mau main negotiate, and said no, daddy only wants Eeyore. Realising that daddy is so hard headed, Suzanne ran to Mrs B in the kitchen and said "Daddy wants Eeyore! Dowan Tigger!" - bwahahahaha! Kids.

Belacans says... "Eeyore is so me - the donkey! bwahahaha"

Working late... again!

2006-04-05T22:26:00.000+08:00

I hate working late in office. It's not like I don't have the energy anymore but I hate not seeing my kids.

Recently, baby SueAnne has been calling me "Yayi" for daddy. I liked that. And if she wants to be carried, she will clap her hands. That's because I normally clap my hands once when I offer to carry her.

These days, she would normally rest her head on my shoulders. It feels good to carry her around like that.

Man, I really need to get a home PC. Then at least I can be with them even if I am working from home.

Belacans says... "I need a life! dang..."

Quote of the day

2006-03-31T17:18:00.000+08:00

"A man's best possession is a sympathetic wife. "

Empty nest feeling

2006-03-29T21:48:00.000+08:00

I think I sort of know what an empty nest feeling is like. Mrs B is away on job and I had the kids left overnight at the babysitter because I have been working late nights.

Coming home to a dark and quiet house, without any kids screaming at each other fighting for that darn same toy, and no kids fighting for that Astro remote control with you... yah, too quiet.

Maybe I should get some of the guys over and have a few bottles of wine, beer and whiskey. That should liven up the place a bit... just a bit.

Belacans says... "No Wiggles! Woohoo!"

SueAnne, the daredevil baby

2006-03-14T13:28:00.000+08:00

SueAnne is really a daredevil baby. She's not afraid of heights, ants, darkness, willing to try any kinds of food and drinks.... aiyoh, if there's a Fear Factor for babies, SueAnne definitely would win, muahahahar! Recently, her daredevil stunts gave us a really big scare.

For those few bloggers who have visited my home, you would notice that the dining area and living room are split level, about 3 feet, and there's no barrier stopping anyone from falling over. (Don't blame me, the previous owner did it this way). To cushion unnecessary falls, we have placed an Ikea sofa next against the split level. This is indeed "heaven" to my kids because the love running up and down on that sofa to the dining area.

OK, let's come back to that little daredevil. SueAnne loves to just slide down the sofa back. Now, her's is not the gentle and slow get on your knees and then slide down. This daredevil will just walk to the edge split level and then just "plop" down on sofa.

The Scare
One night, after SueAnne did her regular stunt, she suddenly froze and let out a "i'm-in-pain" cry. Mrs B rushed to her and picked her up, trying to console her. We sensed that she must have hurt her back, or worse, her spinal cord. After a while, she cooled down and smiled mischievously like nothing happened. But once on her legs, she was extremely wobbly, could not stand or walk at all. Every few steps she would wobble or fall down to her knees. That got us very very worried.

We observed her for about 20 minutes and slowly she regained her composure. Still, we were very concerned so the next day, Mrs B took SueAnne to the doctor. The good doctor didn't find any swelling but advised if we are still concern, then we should send SueAnne to the Orthopaedic.

The Scare II
Two nights passed and SueAnne seems better but we noticed that she didn't run as fast as before. Then suddenly, as she was standing, she let out that "i'm-in-pain" cry again. Mrs B was seriously worried now as she tried to soothe SueAnne. On carrying her, Mrs B knew that SueAnne just poo'd but she does not normally cries. She was still crying even though Mrs B was carrying her.

Took her to the bathroom. SueAnne was really sobbing now. Mrs B took off the diaper and poured the hard stools into the toilet bowl. Almost immediately, SueAnne became quiet. I asked her, "No pain?" and she replied "No" by waving her hand.

Me: Darling, what do you think just happened?

Mrs B: Dunno lar, she seems ok now

Me: Must have been a hard shit poking into her bum bum

Mrs B: *peering into the toilet bowl* yah, and a sharp one too!

Me and Mrs B: bwahahahaha!

Mrs B: Baby, you gotta drink more water

Baby SueAnne: hehehe

On a serious note, Mrs B prayed that baby SueAnne would not be so gung-ho. ;)

Belacans says... "No more tossing baby SueAnne into air anymore, sigh...."

The Punishment

2006-03-09T12:39:00.000+08:00

Last night, somewhere along the @#$% jammed roads of KL, Suzanne was having a tantrum at the back of the car. Can't blame her. She inherited the genes from Mrs B. (ok ok... i am sooooo dead!)

Thus Mrs B had to give The Punishment. It's the ultimate tool in parenting. It's free, it's safe, it's definitely environmentally friendly. However, once The Punishment has been metted out, it's like an A-Bomb. It affects everyone at home. There must be a strong discipline, and super strong will power to implement THE PUNISHMENT....

Thus said Mrs B....

"NO TV FOR ONE WEEK!"

OMG!

Belacans says... "I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo deaaaadddddddddd!!!"

The Wiggles effect

2006-02-28T19:42:00.000+08:00

Suzanne is becoming a TV addict.... a Disney Playhouse addict. I noticed that the show she loves the most is The Wiggles. It's a kids show from Australia, with 4 not-so-young-men singing and dancing in solid colour tight shirts. A bit gayish, the shirts I mean, not the men.

I have no problems with the show but it is an issue when it's aired over Astro from 11pm - 11.30pm! Aiyak, dang late for kids. The other day, Mrs B blew her top with me coz I allowed Suzanne to watch such a late show. Sigh...

Lately, Suzanne's love for the Wiggles has crossed over to baby SueAnne. You can see her dancing, or rather trying to dance by waving her hands in the air and moving up and down on her knees. It's actually quite a joy to see them being happy and being kids but it's so dang late at night! ~~KNN!~~ *Opps, not family friendly, hehe.*

Putting on my thinking cap (not french cap, ok?), there must be a solution to all these. One that can appease Mrs B not getting mad at me, and two, the girls can still get their Wiggles fix. How?

And the solution that I came up with.....

It's a Big Boys Toy...........

Source

A DVD recorder with 80GB of harddisk! Muahahahahar! Ingenious eh? Finally found a reason to buy this super expensive toy.....I mean "necessary AV equipment" fro the kids, ahem ahem.

Belacans says..."Wiggling for a new toy, muahahahar!"

Call me Daddy

2006-02-20T18:17:00.000+08:00

I like my girls to call me Daddy. Don't ask me why, I just like the sound of "Daddy". More manja, hehehe.

Suzanne calls me Daddy. Good girl. Mrs B wants Suzanne to call her Mama but because of me, Suzanne now calls Mrs B "Mummy" instead. For this, I get minus minus points in Mrs B's book, which for your information, her supercomputer upstairs can recall yearssssss from now! *gulps*

So for baby SueAnne, I thought I can redo my trick. Sadly, Mrs B is way ahead of me. Somehow she has conditioned baby SueAnne to mispronouce Daddy into "Dede". Not very flattering. If I ask SueAnne to call me Papa, wahlah! she can say Papa correctly.

Dang. Ok lar, the score is 1 - 1. So I lost "Daddy". Maybe I can still influence baby SueAnne to call Mrs B "Mummy" instead of "Mama", muahahahahar! But then, I value my cooked dinners and ahem ahem more.... :D

Source

Belacans says.... "I learnt from Animal Planet, never ever get in between a mother and her child... *sweat sweat*" ;)

Happy 6th Birthday to Suzanne

2006-02-15T13:48:00.000+08:00

Man, my last post was almost a month ago! Sorry sorry, been busy lar ;)

Today is Suzanne's 6th birthday, but we celebrated it earlier over the weekend with a cake at my in-laws house last Sunday. The cake was a small half kg but it tasted oh so yummy, burrrpp!

Even earlier, on the second day of Chinese New Year, we took an opportunity to drive along the super smooth roads of PJ to Ikea. We arrived early, very early as in 10.30am when the store just opened. I took the family for an unhurried brunch at Ikea's Swedish Restaurant, enjoying the moment of familyness and peacefulness. We only left the restaurant an hour later. Talk about just lazing around, hehe.

Suzanne loves to play at Ikea's kids playcentre, and at times even craves for it! In terms of ranking, Suzanne ranked Ikea much, much, much higher than McDonalds. Yes, that's the honest truth. We only found this out when earlier in the day, I wanted to have a McD breakfast thinking she would like it but noooo.... she insisted that we head straight for Ikea! *smacks forehead*

Link to Ikea Store

Back to Ikea and Suzanne's birthday, we bought an early birthday present at Ikea. It was a wooden train set with wooden tracks. I also bought an expansion set of tracks just to spice it up. IIRC, it cost me about RM70 - RM80 for them. Suzanne LURRRVE'd the train set. She would bring out the alphabet blocks, dolls and teddy bears and all other knick knack toys to create a train city.

But much to Suzanne's annoyance, baby SueAnne also loved the train set. Why? Because baby kept playing the role of Godzilla... bwahahahaha!

But truely, guess which kid played more choo choo? hehehe :D

Belacans says... "hmmm, dear? I think it's time we buy another expansion kit for the train set. chuga chuga chuga woo woooooo!"

Blackeyed baby

2006-01-28T11:52:00.000+08:00

Baby SueAnne is like a baby boy. Very physical. Lately she has achieved the following milestones:

Fell down the stairs. No idea how that happened. All Mrs B heard was "thump thump thump" down the stairs and then the emergency wails of "uwaaahhhhhh!!!!!"
Gave herself a black eye. Anyone who saw her would think that we was an abused baby girl, kakaka

Gotta explain a bit how she got the blackeye. Baby SueAnne likes to literally drop her body onto the bed. She particularly likes to land on either Mrs B or me. On this particular evening, as she was aiming for a crash landing on Mrs B, she misjudged and hit my wife's elbow instead. Yes, you can imagine the pain of landing on an elbow... full of bones and little flesh. Poor girl wailed and wailed and wailed. Man, she's just 18 months old!

This was about two weeks ago. Today, her blackeye has largely gone off. Now we can bring her out for Chinese New Year visiting, hehehehe :P

Belacans says... "Selamat Tahun Baru Cina to eveyone!"

Dog Tag

2006-01-19T18:24:00.000+08:00

Call me a risk averse and a worrisome type of person, especially when it pertains to my kids.

After looking around for quite a while, we finally bought two silver necklace pendants for my girls. They are aproximately 1.25cm x 2.0cm long, and on the front, we had our girls' name and blood type engraved and on the back, our handphone numbers. Bummer is I should also have included our country number i.e. +6 on the handphone number too. Missed that.

Yes, the concept is taken from the "dog tags" that the army guys used, only that these are way much prettier and cost RM25 each after extra charges for engraving. Unfortunately, both Suzanne and SueAnne didn't like to wear them. Looks like I have to lead by example. Time to dig out my old dog tag, which is way larger than theirs and really really dirty from all the mud stains ;)

Belacans says... "Look! Daddy got bigger doggy tag!"

Problem solving... The beginnings

2006-01-18T15:03:00.000+08:00

It's really amazing how kids actually problem solve, of course, most of the time it pertains to food and toys. Take for example my one and a half year old baby girl, SueAnne.

Episode 1: The sinful food in the larder
Mrs B and I bought an Ikea bookshelf with doors and turned it into a food larder. The door knobs were at the top, about 4 feet high thus is unreachable to both Suzanne and SueAnne.

Lately, Mrs B found our little SueAnne going through the larder looking for "baby sinful" food such as fried ikan bilis, chicken floss, biscuits and a whole lot of stuff we kept in there. Initially, she thought one of us forgot to close the door but when it happened once too often, something must be wrong. It turned out that baby SueAnne was pulling a handwipe cloth that we hung on the door knob to open the larder's door! For convenience to Suzanne, I hung a handwipe cloth made by an orphanage on the door knob.

Episode 2: The drawer with shiny things
We place all our spoons, forks, butter knifes and chopsticks in the main drawer of a hutch. SueAnne has always wanted to play with the forks and spoons in the drawer but we never entertained her, which parent would?

A few weeks ago during dinner, she didn't want the spoon that I gave her so she climbed down from my lap (refer to this post). She then ran into the kitchen and carried out a small green stool. Yes, you guess right. She placed the stool outside the drawer, climbed and stood on it and then opened the drawer. Rummaged through the drawer she did but didn't find the spoon that she wanted. Mrs B tak boleh tahan and took her down from the stool. Man... SueAnne has strrrroooonnngggg lungs. :P

That's just two episodes. I'm sure more will come when she's two years old in 6 months time. Mrs B recently read from a Glen Dornan book that kids of 2 to 4 years of age are very eager and easily learn new things, especially maths and languages. Yes, maths! Although Mrs B and I are both accountants, we can never live without our calculators. Me doing mental sums? Forget it, hehehe.

Belacans says... "I wonder can SueAnne balance my books and make it more black? hmmm..."

Up the hill

2006-01-16T18:32:00.000+08:00

It just occurred to me that this blog has not been updated since last year! Wahlaueh! hehehe, just dramatising here, since I am quite a drama king. Don't believe me? Go ask Mrs B. :P

Year end's are never good for people in finance. Ambil annual leave? Forget it. Mrs B and I had been working late pre and post Christmas. How to make more babies? Worse, I have yet to teach SueAnne to say "I want Di Di" or "I want cheese" :P :D :P :D

Oops, wandering off again, hehe, usual lar. Me old liao, starting to be long winded.

I think it was in late 2003, when Suzanne was 3 years old, that we took her to Genting. She loved the indoor theme park. Mrs B thought that it would be nice to bring her up there again, so off we went. Booked a deluxe room at Genting Resorts. It had two queen sized beds, one for yours truly and the other for Mrs B and the kids. Hey, not my faulty ok? The girls wanna sleep with their mummy. I too wanted to sleep with mummy but then.... :P

Just before the trip, Mrs B bought a pink overcoat from Barbie for Suzanne. Soooo kiut! I am sure she was the envy of many fashion conscious MUM's during our trip :P

The lil' Princess waiting for her Prince Charming...

We practically walked the whole of the indoor theme park. I think I got more exercise that afternoon than the whole of 2004. We indulged Suzanne for all the rides that she wanted, since we took the day passes, but her favourites were the horse carousel and the "Paris" car ride.

The weather was foggy and cold... very cold as it was raining cats and dogs up there. So there were some worries for baby SueAnne but Mrs B had that all covered. She bought a nice kiut woollen sweater for baby SueAnne.

Saying "cheese" for Daddy, ahem ahem cough cough :P

It was a short trip. One night only, but we... the parents were soooo worn out that we needed another day to rest! Thank goodness for weekends ;)

Belacans says... "Enough of hills. Next trip will be sea and sand (again), muahahahar!"

When the Mrs works late

2005-12-30T14:54:00.000+08:00

Last night, Mrs B had to work late. Like very very late. I think she came home only about 3.30am. No thanks to year end deadline... betul-betul DEADline!

So, there I was, the MAN himself. Having a home-alone dinner and looking after two very active kids plus washing the dishes later on. I was half expecting Mrs B to come home by 10.30pm so that she can breastfeed baby SueAnne but alas, it was not to be.

By 11pm, baby SueAnne was really sleepy, hungry and already showing her baby-grouchiness. She wanted to be carried ALL the time. The moment I put her down she will wail with outstretch arms until I pick her up again.

I then made her a bottle of powdered milk but she didn't want to take it. I was exasperated and lost on what to do next. On my arms is one really hungry and sleepy baby but she doesn't want her milk or sleep! I then put her down on a dining chair and that was when my 5yo Suzanne took the bottle from me and fed baby SueAnne!

I was naturally shocked and pleased and relieved at the same time. For one, at least baby is taking the milk and two, Suzanne is helping to feed baby. Seeing that baby is sucking vigorously away at the bottle, I took baby to lie down on the sofa bed and asked Suzanne to continue feeding her. Later, Suzanne told me that sometimes at the babysitter's place, Suzanne had to feed baby because SueAnne didn't want either auntie or uncle babysitter to feed her. Talk about a picky baby, and thank God for Suzanne for being a good sister to baby. :)

After that, I tried to get them to sleep. Suzanne slept almost immediately but for baby... very the susah one. Buai-buai in my arms with my sweet-macho-lullabies from 12am to 1.45am, then only tidur! I sensed that baby wanted to wait up for Mrs B because she wanted to stay near the bedroom window and no where else. I also tidur'd beside baby, still in my working clothes!

Tonight, Mrs B is working late again.... I think I need a PS2 soon. You say these two got "la-lang" or not? :P

Belacans says... "PS2! PS2! PS2!" :P

The Bump Master

2005-12-29T17:32:00.000+08:00

Baby SueAnne is now 18 months old. It seems like only a week ago when she learnt how to crawl on our bed. Sigh... how time flies.

Today, baby SueAnne can really run. Maybe she will be the first member of the clan to become a state or national runner, who knows? But right now, she pitter patters fairly quickly at home - sort of like a baby-run but over the Christmas weekend, baby SueAnne developed a new skill... climbing! Yikes! A parents nightmare.

Yup, she's quite a climber now. Gone were the days went she needs us to help her get up the sofa or chair. No longer. Now she can climb up the sofa, coffee table and even the dining chair unaided! Wahlaueh! And with this new found skills, both Mrs B and I are worried that she will fall off some table or chair.

So, let's take stock of baby SueAnne's progress the last few months:

Stair master (crawling up and down the staircase)
Baby elephant Walk master (learning to walk upright)
Shopping Complex runaway master (can jalan very fast, don't want to be in the stroller whilst at shopping complexes... women!)
and now, Bump Master!

Yah, she's a bump master alright. Last night alone, I think she hurt herself more than 10 times! Things like getting her finger caught in the drawer or shelf door, falling off the tricycle, falling off the footstools.... sigh. Thank goodness the falls were not serious.

However, SueAnne is quite a focused gal (aka hardheaded like her daddy) thus she will stop crying very quickly and then get back to climbing whatever she fancied. Adventureous hor? Something tells me baby SueAnne is preparing us for a baby boy.... :P

Belacans says... "time to baby proof the house further..." :P

Have a blessed Christmas

2005-12-25T13:11:00.000+08:00

The Belacans family prayer.

"Peace on Earth"

No tsunami, no bombings, no landslides, no air crashes.... you get the drift lar.

To everyone, have a blessed Christmas and a happy new year!

Belacans says... "mama mia! pass me the salt!"

Girls

2005-12-20T19:30:00.000+08:00

Baby girls are still girls. Why did I say that? On what qualification? Well, by observing baby SueAnne.

And baby SueAnne surely must be a smart baby. Can learn from observation. Observe who? Must be Mrs B lor.

And what did baby do, and still doing today? She will carry that bottle of Johnsons baby lotion to me, "requesting" that I give her some. Picit the dispenser on her palm, and she will happily spread the lotion on her face macam make-up, smiling smiling and going "hehehe".

Girls, they sure start young, don't they?

Belacans says... "Hopefully me girls don't go Gucci and LV on me!"

Birthday surprise

2005-11-29T11:48:00.000+08:00

Last night after dinner, I decided to make a cup of orange juice before I wash the dishes. When I opened the fridge door, I saw a familiar box and instantly knew that it was a cake. Hehehe, must be for me lar, although my birthday was last Saturday. Pretend tak nampak, took the el-cheapo oranges to the sink for peeling and to juice later. Then Mrs B came over, stared at the oranges...

Mrs B: Oranges? What did you see when you opened the fridge?

Me: Huh? See what? (i yam the great pretender, kononnya)

Mrs B: nothing (smile smile and went upstairs)

After juicing a few of these non-sunkist oranges, found that they were lacking in juices (pun intended) so I went to the fridge and took out a few more. As I was walking back to the sink, my eldest girl, Suzanne quickly ran to the fridge door. Stood there motionless for a while.

Suzanne: Daddy, did you see cake?

Me: Cake? Yes.

Suzanne: *quiet, then suddenly ran upstairs shouting* Mummy! Daddy see cake oredi! Mummy! Daddy see cake oredi! (repeat 5 more times)

Mrs B: *came down* You saw the cake already?

Me: Yah lor. Actually, I saw it the first time when you asked me. I just main tak tau only.

Mrs B: aiyah, no more surprise liao.

Me: Hehe, not my fault leh. Suzanne asked whether I have seen the cake and absent mindedly I answered yes!

Mrs B: Huh? *think think* Oh, I get it! Haiyar!

Later I found out that Mrs B gave a lot of instructions to Suzanne! I was supposed to wash the dishes while they prepare the birthday cake, and then Suzanne was supposed to tap my shoulders and when I turn around "Surprise!". Dang, I spoiled all those :P

We had a simple 1kg peach cake with strawberry toppings, bought from our favourite bakery. I think the girls enjoyed the cake cutting "event" more than Mrs B and I, hehehe. And yah, baby SueAnne stuffed her mouth with cake icing, what a mess!

That night just as I was lying down lazily on the big Ikea couch, Suzanne came over and whispered in my ear, "Daddy, next time don't see cake, ok?". I nodded my head, yup, learnt my lesson.

Belacans says... "I am so happy, muacks!"

Biological baby chair

2005-11-22T18:25:00.000+08:00

I have committed the BIGGEST SIN in bringing up SueAnne. All mommies and daddies are gonna lecture me, nag nag nag, ketuk my head, say "why so stupid one", and etc etc etc. What have I done?

In short, let's just say that SueAnne's babychair is gathering cobwebs and dust. She managed to change that for a biological babychair - her daddy's thigh!

Yes, my baby is spoilt. She has never failed to perform her ritualistic dance near my chair whenever we sat down to have our meal. SueAnne will raise her two tiny arms in the air at me, do her legs shake shake dance, and sing a song of "eh eh eh em em em eh em eh em eh". But the killer move is when she looked into your eyes, with eyebrows and eyes squint just a little bit for effect, those clear black eyes with the dining table lamp reflected over them. Sigh... how to resist?

And when I put her on my lap, she wants to eat my food. Rice? Her favourite, but the No.1 on her list is tomato. If some salad leaves covered the tomato, she will diligently remove each leaf to reveal that small piece of tomato, pick it up with her tiny hands and stuffed into her mouth. When I asked, "Nice or not?", she will answer, "huh huh" with a smile.

Lately, she has started to pick up my food to feed me. Looks like to her I am the big baby. :P

And what is Mrs B saying to all this?

"Dadddyyyy! Look at the mess baby did on the table!"
"No baby... No!"
"Baby! Look at your hands? So dirty!"
"Baby naughty! Thar Thar!"

But the worse is when Mrs B gave me the silent answer, and the look on her eyes says...

"Bad daddy! You spoilt our baby girl. I am not talking to you today. Hmmpphh!"

Arising from that, I began to not care about baby SueAnne when she wanted to sit sit on daddy's lap, even if her dance is super nice. The result? She created a new dance, something like breakdancing. She will lay on the floor, do the higher pitch cry of "errrrmmmehhhh ehhhh errrrmmmmeeehhh", do the leg shaking motions while laying on her back, and then turn turn turn in circles on her back. So nice. Only daddy's can see such shows from their own kids.

Belacans says... "Man, I feel so priviledged" :P

SueAnne's injection

2005-11-16T19:00:00.000+08:00

At a corner of the paeditrician' s clinic, SueAnne was playing in the small Tiny Tykes tunnel with her sister, Suzanne. The queue was quite long so she had a jolly good time crawling in and out of that tunnel. Soon, it was her turn to see Dr Flo. She was the paed that treated SueAnne for pneumonia a few months ago. Apart from a follow-up check, SueAnne was due for her 12 month jab.

To take her attention away from the incoming needle, we gave her a very expensive toy, Mrs B's Sony Ericson handphone! Yes, SueAnne has this fixation with handphones. Whenever mine or Mrs B's rang, she will clamber up on us and try to take the handphone for herself, wailing on top of her voice and disturbing our tele-conversation.

Back to the needle, Dr Flo gave her a quick injection at the butt. Almost immediately...

SueAnne's expression changed to "cry baby cry", and Mrs B comforted her as much as she could. My heart ached seeing her cry but what to do? It's for her own good. Go on doc, cucuk that MMR in. Then, as quickly as it began, she stopped crying. I think she cried for only 15 seconds, tops.

Well well well, looks like my girl has inherited her daddy's thick buaya skin, hor? :P

Belacans says... "fair yet thick skin, good hor?"

7th Wedding Anniversary

2005-11-14T13:30:00.000+08:00

Today marks my 7th Wedding Anniversary.

Many years ago, I wanted to have a 7th Wedding Anniversary bash and call it "The Itchy Party". Well, that's passed now.

Here's looking forward to a 10th wedding anniversary in three years time. I think 3 years should be long enough to think up a party name and organise the whole thing, right? :D

Belacans says..."Happy anniversary darling, muakz"

What that famous doctor missed

2005-11-09T13:30:00.000+08:00

Weeks ago, I knew that during the week long Deepavali and Hari Raya break, all of the private clinics around my area will be closed. So I went looking around for one which may be opened during that period, as a "just-in-case" measure lar.

Thus I MSN Messenger with one famous blogger doctor, asking whether he would be opened during the break and for his clinic's address. His reply was "You wished! Go to GH lar, I might be going for a break myself too!". Thank goodness the girls didn't have any serious ailments during that period, kakaka! To that famous blogger doctor, here's my Suzanne singing to you:

I love you, You love me,
We're a happy family,
with a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you,
Won't you say you love me TOO!

I love you, You love me,
We're best friends like friends should be,
With a great big hug, And a kiss from me to you,
Won't you say you love me too

Did you notice that she was wearing an off-purple tee as well? :P

By the way, just read in The Star today that Barney and Friends are back in town! But with the cheapest tickets at RM80 a pop, and then multiply that by 3, I think I would rather buy more Barney DVDs for Suzanne. Me quite kiamsiap hor?

Belacans sings... "If you are happy and you know it clap your hands! *clap clap*"

No nen-nen for daddy

2005-11-08T11:40:00.000+08:00

Embraced Mrs B from the back. She smiled then said...

Mrs B: Suzanne said that you cannot have nen-nen.

B: huh? *blur*

Mrs B: Ya, she said daddy cannot have nen-nen.

B: She did?!? Now, where did that come from?

Mrs B: She must have heard you saying that you wanted nen-nen too!

B: oops! did I?

Mrs B: Ya, Suzanne said daddy cannot have nen-nen. Only baby can have nen-nen. *grin grin*

B: aiyak! *dunno where to hide face liao*

Belacans says... "Kopi-O saja, susu tak mau..."

SueAnne, the Godzilla

2005-10-25T11:30:00.000+08:00

Serene scene of Suzanne building something using her mix of Lego and Duplo blocks. You can see her using the made-in-china plastic animals and various McD figurines as "people". Hey, there's even a plastic plane and plastic Coca-Cola truck. So nice.

Enter SueAnne. Crawl crawl crawl. The unsuspecting people of Suzanne City were going about their "daily" routines, not knowing that destruction is just a few minutes away.

SueAnne, the Godzilla sat up and observed the whole Suzanne City. Then without any warning, she lurched forward and swung her right arm left-right-left, smashing and throwing everything in its path. The zebra flew under the sofa, the high lego blocks were toppled, the McD figurines were no longer standing and through their spokesperson, the people of Suzanne City cried "Dadddddyyyyyy! SueAnneeeeeeeeee! Doooooonnnnnntttttttt!"

In less than one minute, SueAnne the Godzilla has destroyed the whole City of Suzanne. Debris from the destruction could be found miles (actually a few feet) away from the city. Godzilla now sat up, smiling... apparently satisfied that she has destroyed what she set out to destroy. The City of Suzanne is no more..... and crawls away slowly....

But the people of Suzanne City are tough cookies, and they will rebuild their city surpassing its former glory. But on the next day, SueAnne the Godzilla will crawl by again, muahahahahar!

Belacans says... "time to get SueAnne her own Duplo set"

Wise words from Suzanne

2005-10-21T12:21:00.000+08:00

Last night at the living room, Suzanne saw my wound on my kneecap. It was bloody red and about two inches in diameter, can't miss it.

"Daddy, why got blood one?"

"daddy fell"

"from car ar?"

"no... motorbike"

"daddy, told you already don't sit motorbike. take car, not motorbike!"

Just then, my wife came down.

"mummy, daddy got blood from motorbike. cannot take motorbike. take car"

"yes... mummy thinks Suzanne is very wise. Don't you think so dear?"

Buaya69... speechless

Day of Condolences

2005-10-20T15:40:00.000+08:00

Our deepest condolences to Pak Lah and his family for the passing of Kak Endon this morning. The nation mourns with you. Malaysia has lost a loving matron. We pray that you will find the strength at this hour of bereavement.

Our deepest condolences also to the family of LKS on the sudden passing of their eldest daughter Eunice, yesterday afternoon due to a lung infection. We have watched her grown into a fine young lady, full of life and vigour. I will always respect a young girl who can play the drums better than me. We grieve along with you as she meets our Lord.

This indeed is a sad day.

bee-boo-bee-boo

2005-10-17T15:40:00.000+08:00

As I was washing the dishes, sounds of "Bee-boo-bee-boo" came from the living room. Ahhh, the girls must be on their Buaya-Killer wheelies.

Suzanne is sitting on her Ferrari yellow made-in-Japan tricycle handed-me-down from a wonderful neighbour of ours. Mrs B and I estimate that this tricyle must be at least 10 years old. Good quality stuff. Baby SueAnne is on her sister's Ferrari red policecar, something el-cheapo that still cost Mrs B and I RM80 at Carrefour 5 years ago. It still has the yellow top cover with handphone, some ling-ling ball and an "adjustable" speedometer. :D

So, who made the "bee-boo-bee-boo"? Mrs B lor. Sometimes I wonder who's margin of utility is higher, Mrs B's or SueAnne's? I am placing my bet that Mrs B enjoyed it more... the way she "bee-boo-bee-boo" so sweetly. I wished I could have recorded that down for the girls keepsakes. Or maybe blackmail Mrs B? Muahahahahar! errr, what to blackmail ar? :P

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Saturday potluck that didn't happen

On another note, last weekend we were to have a potluck dinner with another blogger's family, so we had been drumming into Suzanne the whole day to keep her room and toys tidy so that she can bring them out to play with my blogger friend's son. Unfortunately, at the last minute something crop up and my blogger friend couldn't make it. We told Suzanne that they weren't coming. She nodded and kept quiet.

We didn't think much about it until during dinner:

Suzanne: Daddy, why uncle didn't come?

Me: *munch munch* err, dunno. *munch munch*

Suzanne: *pause*... daddy, uncle didn't come because he don't like Suzanne?

Me: *choke choke! Looks at Suzanne* No lar, uncle got things to do. Last minute cannot come lor. They will come another day, ok? *sweat sweat*

Mrs B and I spoke about this later. It's amazing how children blame themselves for things totally not of their doing. The lesson of the day? Be dutiful of how we explain things to the kids.

Belacans message to his blogger friend... "farker! you are buying my Suzanne a door gift the next time you come around, muahahahar!" :P

My little garden

2005-10-13T17:37:00.000+08:00

In my little garden of concrete
Potted greens and flowers bloom
Some bravely embracing the sun
Like lovers in a tango dance

Click here for the rest

I need a break

2005-10-12T18:23:00.000+08:00

Click pic for source

I need a break, seriously. Brain matters gonna ooze out my ears liao. Oh wait, sniff sniff... is that a fried brain I smell?

Man, sure wished it's the other head that's feeling hot now....

The WMF Gang's KL-Penang Connection

2005-10-11T10:30:00.000+08:00

Last night, both Mrs B and I had to work late. We only had our dinner at about 9pm at home. A conversation of particular importance was as follows:

Belacans: *munch munch munch - hungry mah*

Mrs B: You know, I just read today that Lilian bought a WMF pressure cooker like ours.

Belacans: *munch munch munch* hmmm, yeah, I read *munch munch mu.... burrrppp!*

Mrs B: Yeah, isn't it great? We can finally share recipes to cook on the WMF. For example, the lamb shank or stew, bahkutteh... wah, there's so many I can learn from Lilian. *smile smile*

Belacans brain:
processing information, processing processing processing.... conclusion?

RED ALERT RED ALERT!!!

Belacans: Ah.... good..... *m u n c h m u n c h s l o w l y*

Oh no! The KL-Penang WMF Gang has been established! Actually, I am not nervous about Mrs B learning new recipes. Heck, the way to a man's heart is through the stomach, ok? *yum yum, drooling over Mrs B's lamb dishes..*

So what's all the alert about? Well, it's Lilian. You know, this Lilian and not that Lillian Too, ok? This Lilian is a very experienced lady *ahem ahem*. She has eaten more salt, belacans, cincaluk, budu, lekor, sambak, cili padi than Mrs B and I. Worse, her "KKC" is bigger than mine! So, my apprehension was this:

Apart from WMF recipes, Lilian could be teaching my sweet Mrs B "new tricks" on how to handle a buaya hubby! Omigosh!!! (-_-)""

Belacans... *sweat sweat sweat* but then, got food food food! yum yum :P

p/s to Lilian - just joking only ok? pls don't kantoi me kau-kau? hehehe

Regular postings will resume in 5 days

2005-10-10T09:45:00.000+08:00

Apologies to all (yes, meaning you and the handful of regular visitors) as I don't think I will be posting much this week. Reason? Officially, it's meetings lor. So many meetings and so little time to dish out my own outputs. Sigh....

Unofficial reason? Hehehe, I will be busy tweaking this and that buaya69 blog templates.

Belacans says... "maafkan kami, maafkan kami...."