Archive for » July, 2010 «

Rojak Update

16 Jul 2010 by

Again, this is a random updating post. :P

Firstly, I’m getting nuts with my work, especially this week! It’s not only that I’ve started visiting some customer, I’m trying to work on a big project too. If this works well, I will be in cloud nine as it’s the first project in Thailand that uses such high end range of the products we carry! I will be working on this for a while, and will do my FIRST robot demo next week. *biting nails*

Right now, all the parts are with me…. AT HOME!!! No joke, I brought the parts home because they are damn expensive and I can’t afford to lose one. :P On top of that, I really got to rehearse the demo.

Another thing is, I might have to go back next month. Not for holiday but to renew my visa. Again, the kids will tag along with me and hubby might not be following. I don’t think I can stay too long as I have things to do here, and the kids can’t skip too many days off. But you bet that I will stuff myself silly with all the good food back home! Let me eat first, then only I will check out the nuphedragen review and worry about getting out of shape. :P

I have also started designing a photobook for Isabelle, from the day she’s born. I realized that I don’t have most of the old photos, so I will dig out the soft copies when I go back next month. I guess I might have time to go to Ipoh? Mmm… Let’s see how.

I should have snap more photos and blog more about the kids but then, time is really limited and I’m out of energy by the end of the day. :P I realized that I haven’t blogged much about the kids learning development, so I better update something about Justin.

He can read Peter and Jane series, up to book 4b now. I’m quite impressed with his development, considering that we are so lenient with the kids. Nonetheless, he still mixes up some words like they, there, then, that, and etc. But again, we are happy to see that he’s willing to read out 3 – 4 pages almost every night. He really wants to go until Book 12. LOL!

As for Isabelle, she’s still at book 1a and 1b. She can’t recognized all the words yet, and she’s very playful during reading time! That’s because she’s doing so with hubby while I listen to Justin. Hubby always loves to play TOO MUCH with the kids, resulting that Isabelle is not serious with him. But oh well, she’s just 4, so take it easy la…

So our next “homeschooling project” will be working on Chinese. There is something about how kids learn Chinese here. They don’t start from “pi hua” and “bu shou”, but just recognizing words. How on earth can the kids right leh? Any homeschooling mommy can share on how to teach Chinese?

Category: Ngam ngam cham cham  Comments off

Loss

08 Jul 2010 by

A couple of weeks ago, my grandma’s house was broken into and my relatives suffered a great loss, in terms of cash and jewelry. Frankly, keeping jewelry and gold coins is such a bad idea, but my mom and the rest just won’t listen. They think it’s inconvenient to keep them in the safe deposit in the bank, but that’s one of the safest method. Of course, bank could be robbed too, but there is an insurance, if I’m not mistaken.

So, if I would to get jewelry here, I will make sure that I can get a safe deposit in Bangkok as well. Maybe it’s not going to be easy, but let’s see how.

Category: Ngam ngam cham cham  Comments off

Food Fair

08 Jul 2010 by

We went to a food fair last Saturday and ended up buying so much crisps, organic rice, box juice and etc. The price was way much cheaper than retailer as it’s a food trading fair, so most goods were selling off at wholesale price, on the last 2 days of the fair. If you are living in Bangkok, also check out these fairs which offer great bargains and good deals. And no, the food on sale is not expiring soon!

So here I am, blogging, crapping, chatting and working away with a pack of fried banana chips on my table. D*mn, these banana chips are really delicious! I should take some phentremene later to reduce my guilt.

Category: Shopping  Comments off

Hate Cellulite

08 Jul 2010 by

How many mothers here have time to put on lotion or anti cellulite cream on their bodies each time after shower, please shout!!! It’s been months since I last did my body beauty regimen and I can’t find time to do this anymore. *sob sob*

The best weight loss supplement will probably help to kick the kilos away but it can’t help much in cellulite and sagging skin. Hello? I know that I need to go exercise ok? But I don’t have the time for it! Maybe if I have a nanny, that it’s a different story.

Gosh, I hate my cellulite.

Category: Ngam ngam cham cham  Comments off

Insurance for Expats

08 Jul 2010 by

I found out from some expat forum that insurance coverages for expats living in Thailand are generally more expensive, and some agencies are not giving good services too. Maybe we can just forget about getting one here and burn our own wallet if we should need any medical services here. *touch wood*

Some expats bought international insurance coverage, not sure if North Carolina health insurance is one of them though. But this type of insurance is very very expensive, and we are not flying around and staying in different places throughout the year. So, maybe I can also forget about this.

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Low Expectation

07 Jul 2010 by

Honestly, I have rather low expectation for my kids. There is so much that I would love to teach or do with them, but with time and “energy” constrains, I choose to be lazy some times. :P

Thank god that my kids can take the initiative to do their homework on their own, if they know what to do, when I am busy preparing dinner. Then, they might do some simple work from their extra work books, or just watch the TV while waiting for me to release them to the playground. At night, TV is not allowed and hubby will ask them to do some work, probably just another page of their work book before we call it a day. We still read to them before tugging them to bed.

I hardly sit down and do their work with them. So yesterday, I was so surprised that Isabelle already knows the sound of the letters, how to break some simple 3 letter words by the sound (phonics) and join them back again to sound the word. I have never taught her that, so she could either learn this from school or while I coached Justin previously. I am also very pleased to know that she speaks Thai very well now, and she can read some Thai “sukukata” (syllabus) with minimum guidance. The only thing is she still needs some help in writing Thai character, or makes some mistake by writing the letters “the opposite way”.

Hubby and I have never really pushed our gal as we know she can’t be pushed since young. We are very lenient with her, but she always surprises us with her development. Nonetheless, she still can’t pronounce some words well. She will get frustrated if we try to correct her. If I’m not mistaken, Justin was like that too about her age, but he is doing fine in English and Thai now. Only his Chinese sounds very angmoh. :P

And about Chinese, both kids love this language, even if they can’t speak much. Their Chinese teachers (both at school and at learning center) said that they can understand but not keen to speak. I feel that my Chinese has also improved slightly by conversing with the Beijing teachers. LOL! Mind oh mind, their Chinese is so perfect!

Besides that, the kids are asking for swimming class, art class, and Isabelle for piano class too. But we don’t enroll them yet. Again, we try not to expect too much and pressure the kids. Just let them take their time in learning, and if they are really keen to learn more when they are older, then only we will let them join more classes. And yes, the mommy is too lazy to drive them around. :P

Category: Mothering Moments  4 Comments

Keeping Coins

03 Jul 2010 by

My kids love their piggy banks and they have a few at home. Most of the time, they will dig the coins from the car or those loose coins hubby places all around the house to keep them in their piggy banks. I would give them too if my purse is getting too heavy. I hardly use coins as I still can’t differentiate all the coins in Thailand. :P

If what they are storing up are gold coins, they should be quite rich now! I’m trying to instill this habit in the kids, and hopefully they know the importance of saving up. Too bad that we can’t set up personal accounts for them here, and they are still sharing a bank account back home. It would be great if they can bring their piggy banks to the bank!

Category: Money Matters  Comments off

Play Time

02 Jul 2010 by

I snapped some photos of the kids playing at the playground yesterday. It’s not often that we have so many kids at the playground, so it’s great opportunity for me to snap some photos of our kids with their playmates here. Of course, most photos are not meant to be shared on this blog, and I prefer to keep other people’s kids’ privacy too. So, pardon the blur blur face shots ya? :P

evening1

Just in case you are wondering, Justin was the one in yellow Batman tee and brown shorts, while Isabelle was wearing a Barbie dress. The kids call these their “home clothes” which they wear to play, and it’s Ok for them to be dirty.

Among the kids, there are Thais, Indians, and our kids, Malaysians. Again, I didn’t record their multi-lingual conversation. :P

playground2

There are 2 playgrounds here, but both are not really big. Nonetheless, it’s good enough for the kids to play on the grass. Most kids are not accompanied by parents, and there is a small booth by this playground where a security guard will be on duty. Some of us parents will be there to chit chat and watch over our kids though.

playground5

Justin prefers to play with this bigger kids gang. Actually, he’s not the youngest among them, but he looks so small!!! My kids are very petite here in Bangkok. :P

playground6

Something the kids love to do after some running and playing…lying on the grass and rest! If we adult can be as active as them, we might not need hgh then.

evening2

Most of the time, Isabelle will join the other gang with younger kids. This little Thai girl speaks perfect English and Thai because she studies in international school. She’s a year younger than Isabelle but they are about the same size. *slap head* My kids ah…why so small size ah? LOL!

playground4

Actually, that’s not her scooter. We haven’t bought one for her, but it seems like she’s ready for one. The kids share their play things here, especially sand toys! Isabelle plays a lot with this bigger jiejie too, and they converse in Thai.

playground7

This boy is my kids’ favorite playmate. He’s from Bombay, and of course, they speak to each other in English. Some times he speaks Hindi, and I have no idea what he’s talking about. LOL! There are 3 Indian kids here whose parents have been staying in Thailand for more than 10 years.

evening3

His family flew back to India last night, and they will only be back after a month of summer holiday. I know that my kids are surely gonna miss them. :)

Category: Fun Time  2 Comments

Upgrading…

02 Jul 2010 by

I spent some time updating the plugins on my blogs yesterday, and my oh my, my blogs are really in a mess. :P One of them has a lot of errors now, after upgrading the plugins, so I shall leave it to my webmaster. :P

For the rest, I have deleted a few plugins and keep only a minimum of them. I don’t have any website affiliate programs or any fancy widgets too, expect my bento blog with a flickr badge. I’m also very lazy to install Amazon affliate to earn some bucks, so I won’t do anything about that now.

As long as the blogs are working normally, I won’t complain much.

Category: My Blogs  Comments off

Supplements from UK or anywhere…

01 Jul 2010 by

BIL and his family went back to Ipoh for a couple of days recently, but we didn’t go along. The kids are still schooling, and hubby and I could not take the days off. Anyway, they brought back some goodies, my bento stuffs, and more food supplements again!

I have stopped tracking those supplements UK or from Amway which we stock up in the cupboard and all I can do is making sure that the kids and hubby are taking the supplements once in a while. Hubby has more discipline in taking vitamins because he feels that he needs them. Hopefully, he will finish the bottle of glucosamine sulphate which we recently stocked up too.

As I’m typing this post, I’m still thinking if I should swallow my vitamins now. I have always placed some at the office and I’m trying hard to remind myself of taking them. Gosh, I could almost feel myself gagging even before swallowing any supplements from UK.

Category: Ngam ngam cham cham  Comments off
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