A Good Start

A good start and training them from young. The above is Jai's cot with a pack of cards all strewn over his bed. We are teaching him gin rummy and blackjack. *LOL* In my family, even the smallest kid knows how to gamble during Chinese New Year.

Urmm.. we didn't teach him how to gamble. hehehhee.. But he sure love to crush all the cards and throws them out of his cot while grumbling and babbling away.

We are still very tired (its the age thing) but with a very happy and fast toddler in the house, Jai is draining all of us out. Today we finally moved his cot into his room. It is much safer than him crawling and trying to walk all over the house. He even tried to poke Dom's face. The dogs are actually petrified of this lil one. *LOL*

He tried to give Dom a hug the first few days he arrived. That kinda spooked Dom and in a reflex action, Dom bumped his face on Jai and that sent one dog running and a kid crying. Dogs can be very gentle with kids but we really do not want to test their patience. Especially on these very warm and hot hot extra hot days, don't even try to test their patience.

There's only so few days left before the London worm goes back to his home. Blogging even takes a backseat nowadays. Half the time i rather stare at his face and babble back to him in his yada yada language. He's a good kid. Not fussy and always happy. As long as he gets his meals on time and sleep when he's tired.. he's an angel from above.

His favourite show is In The Night Garden from BBC. I never seen this show before. I still can't find it in the stores yet. But we did download a few from youtube to entertain him. When he sees the characters come out, his smile can light up a whole room.

I googled about it yesterday to understand the show better. Its kinda like Teletubbies. The characters makes a lot of baby sounds. There's Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, the three Tombliboos (you should check these three out.. their dance just cracks me up) and a whole lot more.

Its a pretty good show and its amazing how the kids learn from this show. I noticed Jai does some of the things the characters does. Its is amusing to see him arranging his blanket up and down before he sleeps. I saw Makka Pakka doing it in one of the videos.

The last time we had a kid running this home was 13 years ago... and we only were watching Teletubbies, Sesame Street and Power Rangers. Kids in Malaysia loves Barney. But i think In the Night Garden is quite a good show for toddlers and small kids. The music calms them and the smile on their face is priceless.

I found In The Night Garden on youtube yesterday. Watch it below if you want to see what its all about. Its Jai's favourite.





I've only been humming his songs lately.. hahahhahaa.. Jai is taking over my life.

Exhausted

We are finally home. Exhausted. But i got a good seat in the car. I get to be co-driver in front (but i was sleeping most of the time as its still too early in the morning).

The sun was shining on me. I was getting a great tan. I even went for grooming too while i was in Kuala Lumpur. I am now few pounds lighter... and Anny insisted i wear my tee-shirt when we were in KL as she was afraid that i might catch a cold.

I am glad to be with less fur as its getting hotter and hotter as days goes by. This Chinese New Year heat is really too much. Poor Jai is melting everywhere he goes.

We would like to apologise for our long absence and we will be blog-walking soon :) Seems that she has a lot of work to do when she came home.

Thanks to all our friends who tried to guess my name in the last contest. Only Nessa and Spiffy got it right.

My fullname is Dom Perignon. I was named after the famous champagne Dom Pérignon by my first owner. My brother Moey is named Moët et Chandon. (I wonder how my brother Moey is doing now). He and i got separated when we were both adopted by different families. My previous owners must have loved champagne a lot to named us both after the champagne they love.

We have travelled far to come to Malaysia to stay. We hope this will be our forever home. Even though its very warm at the moment... but i love to stay with my grandpa as i got a full big garden all for myself and my friends and of course Piper. Poor Piper didn't get to come home with us today. He is with his mommy and daddy now.

I got to sleep now. We are both tired.. and exhausted. We got to entertain the little one when he gets up tomorrow. We need all the energy to keep up with our London Worm.

Goodnite people *woofffff*

love,
Dommy

FYI to Spiffy.. we didn't get kid/dognapped by the aliens :p

Fluffy Friday #11 - What's my name?

Here's Curly in a very happy mood. He's especially very happy when he's going for car rides.

For today's Fluffy Friday... can someone guess Curly's fullname? He has a urmm.. very long name. The first three person who guessed it correctly gets a banner link here. Urmm... you can only guess once.. *LOL*

Our winners for What's my name?

 Spiff The Spaceman

 

Mumblings

Abu

Its been a week since we have a little one with us here in our home. And this little one is like an energizer bunny. If you don't remember what's an energizer bunny... here's it.



They just go on and on and on and on... *LOL* Its really been a while since we have had a toddler at home. The last kid we have in the house with a diaper and wrecking havoc is already a 12 year old girl now. I think i have even forgotten how to fold a cloth diaper.

Jai is a really a wonderful change for all for us. Every little thing he does makes my father happy. My father laughs so much these few days. They were both listening to youtube to some gummi bear song and both dancing away. Jai in his high chair and dad sitting beside him. It was a sight.

This lil one does know that everyone loves him. But he still clings on to his mom and dad cos he's still quite wary of us. *LOL* Its only been one week since he got home. It took four adults to feed him tonite. One to hold him down... one to feed him... another to entertain him and one more to pick things up from the floor. Even Dom has decided to hide in the room. He is actually quite afraid of this tiny guy who keeps pointing at him and go yada yada yadaaaa... and laughs. Jai speaks in some strange babble that none of us can understand. He just goes yada yada yadaaa most of the time.

When he cries... he goes abuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu abuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. *LOL*. I wonder who is abu or what is abu.

With five adults and one curly in the house, we still deplete our batteries at the end of the day. This lil one will still be dancing around.. its amazing how much energy is stored in this tiny little guy. When he goes and have a nap in the afternoon, we are all actually quite relieved... and almost on tiptoe so as not to wake him up.. hahhahahahhaaa.. that's how tired we are.

The weather is not really helping much too. Both father and son is melting like butter in the afternoon. They are so drowsy with the heat. The weather is so hot and dry... and getting warmer and warmer as days go by. I hope Spiffy will do his raindance and get us some rain soon :)

I am not sure what i've written up above.. hahahhahaa.. i am just babbling away... my mind's tired. But this will be a good Chinese New Year for us :) If i don't do any postings these few days... its because i am overwhelmed with family love :)

Have a great holiday and drive safe if you are going to be on the road. We are finally... am home for Chinese New Year this year. Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone!

I hear fireworks... and its 1am. Oh ya.. Piper's coming home tomorrow. YehooooooooooooooooOOOO

Piper home tomorrow? WooooooOOOOoooof!

Of Pamela, Yeesang and Pizzas

One of my colleagues asked me to bring pamela to the office when I come to KL. I was wondering where to find a girl named pamela for her on such short notice. Surely Pamela Anderson would not be free to come with me to the office..hahahaha Actually she wanted me to bring a pomelo to the office for them to add on to the yeesang they prepared today. The yeesang was very delicious.. Thanks to ahysa and esther who did most of the preparations. Thanks people for making my day in the office very entertaining :) we had lotta pizzas.. Yeesang and no pamela *lol*

I am actually quite tired now as I woke up at 5am to chat with my sis and brother in law. They have not adjusted to the malaysian timing yet as it was just yesterday that Jai arrived :)

Footnote to Spiffy: u seriously think that I would quit when we have gone so far? Hehehe.. No way :p

The plane... the plane...

Jai is already on the plane... coming home. We gotta head off and be on the road now and go and fetch Jai home. He's so gonna be my best friend.

Hey Piper.. go pack your stuffs. You are going home to see your mommy and daddy.

Bye bye... see you all real soon!

Catch us on our On The Road activity if you wanna know where we went. YehooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOO! Woooooof!

Chinese Restaurants

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. My father's birthday is also on the day before Chinese New Year. The chinese community usually celebrates the end of the New Year by having the reunion dinner the day before Chinese New Year. Usually the mothers, grandma and everyone will help to cook a big feast for the family for the reunion dinner.

My mom used to cook quite a big feast too... alone. She can handle all the cooking for our family herself. We just help to set up the table and stuffs when we were kids. Usually she'll be so tired after all the cooking and would just eat a bit while we all feast on her delicious dishes. I am sure she was very satisfied to just see us eating happily and tell her this and that is nice.

Sis and i did try to cook for the reunion dinner last year. We just had steamboat in her home. Steamboat is easy as everything is raw.... we just have to dip it into a soup in a hotpot to cook it. Its a favourite reunion dinner for us as it is easy and not too much cooking. Well.. we decided against cooking this year as it is my father's big birthday. We decided to all share and give him a treat at a fancy chinese restaurant.

Chinese New Year reunion dinners at chinese restaurants are very pricey. Sometimes the dishes are not quite up to their usual standard as there's too many people... and the cooks just get too tired. If you are cooking for 100 tables... for 5 sessions a day... can you imagine how tired they would be?

And so.. i went to the fancy chinese restaurant to make a booking today. When i walked into to the restaurant and told them i wanted to make a booking, she sat me down at a table by the door and poured me a nice hot cup of tea. Nice.

Next the captain of the restaurant walked over to me... and me in my usual garb and slippers are not a very trustful sight. *LOL*

The captain said.. you want to book ah?? You want to book what day ah? You must pay deposit you know. Pay deposit today only can book you know. That's how she spoke.

That's when i decided to play along. I gave her a very blurr look and said.. Deposit ka? really? How much deposit you want?

Then the lady replied.. 100 dollars deposit you know.

With my very "good appearance" i might not look like i have 100 bucks on me. *LOL*

Then i just nodded my head.

She walked back to the counter and brought back a list of set dinners. The all have different pricing for each set. But all i could manage to understand is the price of the set dinner packages. The rest of the words were in Mandarin. I am a banana (yellow on the outside and white on the inside). I am english educated and i sure don't know a word of mandarin. *LOL* I kept looking at the different pricing and 538 looked back at me. I was going.. eh.. that looks like the end of my mobile number. Great!

Lady came back and sat down beside me. You want to make booking now izit? Must pay deposit today ah. I nodded again. So which set you want??

I told her.. i don't understand any of the words on that list except the price *LOL*

Then the nice lady (ok... she turned nice suddenly) and explain what are the dishes from the chinese characters... *LOL*

Then she asked me.. what is your name.. booking under who's name. Your father's name or your name. I told her my name.. then she said.. write it down in chinese. Damn! Its been a long time since i wrote my name in chinese characters. I don't quite remember all the strokes. *LOL*

I was looking dumb and blurr again and went.. urmmm... urmm.. must book in chinese name izit? She gave me this very serious look and told me... yes.. must write in chinese so that its easier to find the booking on that day. I was scratching my chin and my nose and i went.. urmmm.. i forgot how to write my chinese name. *LOL*

I think the lady almost fell off her chair... from her stunned looks. *LOL* Then she said.. ok ok.. tell it to me.. then i'll write it down. You see if its correct or not. Then i told her my name in chinese and she wrote it down. Walla.. she got it right the first time. Such a smart woman!

Next she asked me.. what's your tel no... i was mumbling.. urmm.. 012.. bla bla bla 538. She wrote me a receipt and i was about to go when it struck me that my mobile does not end with 538. It end with 658. *LOL*..

i was going.. urmm urmm.. auntie... auntie.. i think i gave you the wrong number. I forgot my mobile number. (i told her i just changed my mobile number.. hahhahahaha.. just to save myself from embarassment) Then i wrote it as 638. I don't know whats with me today. I still wrote the wrong mobile number for her. Its because of the pricing on the dinner 538 that kept me thinking of 538 as the end of my mobile number.

When i was driving home... it just hit me that my mobile ends with 658. I sure such am a doofus. Well.. anyone into Magnum, Toto or trying for lottery... should probably try to buy these numbers.. hahahahaa.. mebbe you can strike big time with 538 and pay for my reunion dinner too ;)

Happiness is...

Duni of Lovely Purses passed me an award today. I am posting it as its about happiness and why we are always in the pursuit of happiness. Thanks Duni for reminding me about happiness.

I am to list 10 things that make me happy. So here it is...

1. Peace at home
2. Family
3. Curly's face in the morning
4. The lil blurr furry guy below me
5. My friends/co-workers who are always with me
6. Jai coming home
7. Coffee
8. Butterflies in the garden
9. Cupcakes... with buttercream :D
10. A silent yellow who's supportive in all that i do
11. Sleep too.. hahhahahaa.. lots more actually... i do have lots that make me happy.

I would like to pass this award to bloggers that crack my face into a smile each time. I love reading their blogs.. and they humour me constantly.

Sugar @ Sugar the Golden Retriever

Pebbles @ Pebbles' Tales

Marg @ Marg Pets

Marzie @ Meow Diaries

Ness @ Recipes I Luv

Khemy @ Efek Rumah Kaca

Bain @ Baincardin

and back to you Duni :) i love reading all your stories and your lovely purses. Thanks again.

Oopsie Daisy

Oh boy... its 11.52pm and here i am trying to fit in a post for today.. hahhahahaa.. crazy crazy... I blame it all on tv. It was all tv's fault. If not for tv... i would be at the computer and posting the post much earlier. I ban you tv... for today... tomorrow and urmm until next week :)

Crazy as how things go around here, i started my day much earlier today. Aini came later but she told me she just went to the hospital the other day because of some severe pain on her neck. The doctor told her she has mild cervical spondylosis. She showed me a letter from the hospital and told me that she doesn't understand what the doctor told her. I told her i didn't know what it is too.. but i will look it up for her. I told her to go home if she's not well but she said she was fine now after the medication and she wanted to work.

She's an honourable person. Without work, she will never take my money. She is paid each time she comes. She would just go home without taking my money if i didn't allow her to work. She needs the money for her family. She's going to be 50 soon but have worked hard all her life. But a lazy husband who does not contribute to the family and money issues makes her worry all the time.

And so she worked. Each time she work, she and i will chat away. She'll tell me loads of stories of her life and her kids. She even tells me about my mom sometimes. How they both were in the garden deciding where to plant the hibiscus plant. My mom even consults her on where to plant things :)

She was telling me about the fence she built herself at her porch. She still lives at the squatters in the village. Most of the village folks have already been given land to built their own homes. There's only about 10 houses left which are not given any land yet. And they have been staying there for a very long time. She told me that when she first built her house there, they have to make their own roads...and cut through thick bushes to make pathways.

I guess my government is not opening their eyes to the hardcore poor and helping them. They rather build white elephants in town with thousands of computers and aircons in the buildings that are usually empty. If you walk into the buildings, its so cool and cold like a freezer. But you only see one or two persons in sight. We have quite a lot of white elephants here in town.

Even though she helps people to clean houses and wash clothes... she has more honor than a lot of people i know. My grandma says that each generation must try and be better than the old. We move forward and try not to falter. We try and improve our lives for our next generation. That's what Aini is doing too. Working hard and hope her next generation will be better.

I do hope her next generation will be better and she'll have a better life in a few years time. I am always humbled by her existence.

Curly of the Day

My friend here sure needs to go for grooming soon :) He's so curly worly that i just love to give him hugs. I love his curly locks. He's like a big teddy bear. He doesn't mind getting all the hugs.. hehhehehee.. sometimes he loves to lie on my lap too... or guard the entire space around me. He doesn't quite like to share his space with Piper. I am after all his pet.

Sometimes when he is in a good mood... he'll let Piper come close for tummy rubs. *LOL* Sometimes.. both will lie on the floor before me for tummy rubs. I've got to rub at a same rhythm because if i stop rubbing Dommy's tummy, he will look at me and check if i give the other little fella more attention. They are both adorable... but my left and right hands don't move at the same rhythm sometimes... hahhahahahhaa Maybe i'll get Jai to help me when he's back.

Some people who are born curly would die for straight hair. While some who are born with straight hair will perm their hair curly each time without having straight hair all their lives. I wonder if Dommy would prefer to have straight fur like Piper sometimes... hmmmm