Pure Simple Joy

You can always tell who are the people who have just arrived for their holidays. The most obvious tell-tale sign is when they start racing down the beach towards the sea like some crazed maniacs! Of course even without the sprint and hurdling of the waves, the usual suspect would be the skin color. The pale pallid, as white as sheet. Or at later part of the day when the skin turns bright lobster red, which only happens to most people who have not been in the sun since the previous summer. The worst case of sunburn is when the skin turns a tinge of dark purple. I feel so sorry for them. That must hurt, really really hurt.
I wish I had managed to capture some of the moments of these people who were running towards the ocean with joy. I am also very sure that many other onlookers like me, observed it with a grin on their faces.

Food that binds...

When I first started dating Sig.Ot, we ate alot and we still do. I figured that the love of same type of food bound us together, like the sticky rice we eat with bbq meat on the beach or noodle soup in makeshift stalls by the side of the road.

I thought that I have at least seen if not ate most food in SE Asia, such as those fried insects or whatever Chinese stew with unhalal contents. So 5 years ago, he introduced to me a heavenly appetiser called Kung Chay Nam Pla at a Thai restaurant in Telawi (I think it's called Laana), I was swept off my feet. Since then, each trip to Thailand is accompanied by a daily dose of this yummy dish.

As the name suggests, it is a prawn dish, eaten raw. Yum yum... the peeled raw prawns are usually arranged in fan shape with various accompaniments. I noticed that it is done differently here compared to Phuket. For instance in Phuket, the prawns are arranged with sweet basil, raw garlic and chilli padi. The special chilli sauce is served on the sides. Over here in Samui, the raw prawns are served with shredded raw cabbage and thinly sliced bittergourd! I personally prefer the raw garlic and chilli since the 2 give each other a real good kick.

Summer in Samui

Entering into the final week of our family holiday, I am sure it is going to fly through very quickly. The weather has been a mix of very sunny spells and thunderstorms, but overall I have browned quite nicely.

The journey to get here was rather stressful with the botched early check-in, then rushing home to get everyone and the never arrived taxi and a forgotten employee pass which was needed at the airport. As we got onto the plane, I kidded myself into believing everything would be rosy since it was the beginning of our holidays!

Guess not, Eddie got very upset because it was his bedtime and he could not settle down. So he got himself crying and did a projectile vomit on me while I was standing right at the front of the aisle in full view of all the other 100 odd passengers. (Airbus 319 with 3:3 seat configuration, single aisle with total seatings of 120)

Sig.Ot thought it was hillarious, I was dead embarrassed and of course the toilet had to be situated right at the plane tail. As I made my way down the the very very long aisle, there were sympathetic murmurs, there were people who shrunk back into their seats should they made any contact with both Eddie and I and a kind lady handed me more wet wipes as I walked past her seat.

Mind you, the flight was a very short one but I decided to hang out in the toilet with Eddie. At least the changing table, mirror and all the stuff inside the toilet kept him occupied for the other hour or so.

Dream on...

For serial dreamers like me who remembers dreams every night, there are 3 broad categories of dreams:-

• Dreams that don't matter
• Dreams that you wake up from and thank goodness they were merely dreams
• Dreams that you wake up from and wish that you have done it because it was only a dream!!!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

A friend of mine is going through a buying frenzy in preparation for the arrival of the little one. Someone wisely said that you don't really know what you need till the little one arrives. Of course, different baby needs different stuff. In this article, I have compiled things that I have bought in the last one year which I consider to be excellent buy and those which are money-wasters!

Long term Investment - Things that I have used and still using since Eddie's arrival

• Avent Bottles - Excellent!
• Sterilizing tray - To be filled with a little bit of water and pop into microwave for 8 minutes
  
• Baby Cot- The one that I bought is bigger than standard size cot, and can be converted into a bed when he is older. He is supposed to be able to sleep in it until he is about 3 years old.
• Ozone swimming costume - Eddie's been wearing this for a year now, and the suit will be making its second appearance in Samui this summer!
• Fisher Price Rainforest Peekaboo Leaves Musical Mobile - I am so surprised that Eddie hasn't wrecked this because I am supposed to take it off his cot once he could stand up, which was bout 7 months ago.

Mid-term Investment

• Medela electric breast pump - I used this for the whole 6 months
• Philips-Avent bottle reheat thing - Well no more extra milk to keep now but at that time, I love using the reheat thing. You could never overheat or underheat, you don't need to keep checking or boil water separately etc. It has various settings for type of food, temperature and volume. Very intelligent indeed.
  
• Babybjorn Babysitter Balance - This was a bouncy chair that was good for day use, BEFORE he could crawl.
• Philips Baby Monitor - When he was a baby this was great use but now his voice no longer require any form of amplifier

Money Waster

• Bumbo Baby Seat
• The First Years Close & Secure Sleeper - I bought this for the 1 month Eddie was supposed to sleep with me at my parents, as he didn't have a cot. We then got him a big nice bouncy bed. The product is an excellent product especially if you are visiting friends or relatives for couple of hours. It is like a carry on bed for baby which could be put on floor, or sofa.

A Matter of "When" not "If"

H1N1, Swine Flu, whatever you call it.

Since it first surfaced or reported in Mexico in April 09, the flu has spread to more continents and more people have caught it. Even in Singapore, the first reported case was on 27 May 09 and 39 days later, the number of cases have passed the 1000 mark.

The media has played a big role to promote vigilance and awareness amongst the people. At the same time, such awareness is also created based on the foundation of fear of H1N1. When you first have 1 or 2 people catching the virus, perhaps you could still afford to ostracise the person, finger point and go "eeehhhhhh.... swine flu" but now that over 1000 people have caught it in just slightly over 1 month, the flu IS getting very real. You could very well have it. Think zombie movie scene; 3 normal human beings trying to run away from 1000 charging zombies. (I often wonder why don't they just join the zombies, no more senseless running away).

Singapore's 48th case was a German man who flew back from US. Upon reaching Singapore, he went on to a formal function, shopping, Clarke Quay and concert, before checking into the hospital. That created a huge outcry from the public who accused the man of being irresponsible. Maybe he was really feeling fine until the party was over?

My point is nobody wants to be sick, especially NOT of H1N1 for couple of days worth of MC. Unfortunately the success of the media campaign has inadvertently created a stigma against people who caught H1N1. Lets hope at the end of the day, common sense and sympathy prevail against the masks on our faces and thermometers in our handbags.

p.s. In Australia, there is no H1N1 hype despite over 4,000 reported cases. Apparently their normal seasonal winter flu is more deadly than H1N1. Life goes on down under.

p.s.s. I dreamt I had the flu, and I was sent to a quarantine centre in Butterworth.

bersambung... Tag - 2

TAG 2

1. Apakah perasaan anda sekarang? Saya terasa lapar

2. Saya nak makan? Assam laksa!!!

3. Saya tak suka? Orang yang tidak beradab, khasnya laki yang tak buka/pegang pintu untuk perempuan mengandung / dgn anak-anak

4. Impian saya? Kereta saya ada pembesar suara:- "Boleh matikah kalau bagi saya lalu dahulu???!!!" / "Jangan ingat u pemandu jantan saya akan takut pada u. Saya tau bertinju ala thai" / "Saya tangkap gambar kereta kau dan paparkan di laman web saya!!!" Tapi masalahnya, mereka tak kan paham bahasa melayu lah...

5. Haiwan yang saya tak suka? Kuching!

6. Saya harapkan? 2 lelaki sial kurang ajar yang berkulit gelap dengan nombor kereta johor yang menghalang kereta saya tengah hari ini, akan terkentut sambil terberak semasa mengurat perempuan malam ini. Lepas tu bila mereka pergi tandas, takde kertas tandas ataupun paip air.

7. Jika boleh putarkan masa? Saya akan mengulangi semua yang telah saya lakukan sekali lagi.

8. Saya pada 10 tahun akan datang? Berehat di sebuah rumah pantai di Thailand bila-bila saja saya teringin melapangkan hati.

9. Handphone saya adalah sebuah? Sudah HILANG!!!!

10. Saya pernah bercinta sebanyak? Alamak, kan dah cakap. Hanya sekali.

11. Kawan-kawan saya? Berbagai-bagai.

12. Pernah dikhianati? Belum lagi, harap-harap tidak akan dikhianati.

13. Apa yang hendak anda lakukan terhadap orang yang mengkhianati anda? Rasanya saya akan menyumpah orang tu. Kalaunya laki, biasanya sumpah tu berkaitan dengan zakarnya dan penyakit kelamin. Kalau pompuan, hmmmnnn... biar saya pikir

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