Our 1st Xmas Tree

There's something bright and cheery about a Christmas tree, each time I see one I go oooh and aaah so much that Hubs has to drag me away from them. So as much as I love Christmas and think that it's the season of goodwill and peace on earth, we don't celebrate religiously and I've always felt that giving presents to each other is getting sucked into the whole festive commercialism thingy.

But then this year, after seeing Bubs look so fascinated with all the Christmas trees, I decided how bad could it be to let him experience a little joy and magic  at magic. So yes, like the cop-out I am, I got Bubs a tree this year, yay!

Check out this fabulous tree at -  all shimmery and bling-y stuff. They have fully decorated trees for sale at around RM4k. Eeeeps!

The decorations are all sooo pretty. I was going nuts over picking each other until I saw the price tags attached to these. I don't think these would last a minute at our place with an eager beaver toddler constantly trying to "help" us rearrange all the ornaments.

And so we got a tree. If you look closely, you can spot the tree fairy troll wrestling with the branches to get them set up properly and shedding faux pine fir all over the floor.

Bubs approved ornaments - kid friendly as in cutesy and fun for Bubs to play around with and cheap enough for me to not care if he damages them.

Never met a sequin that I don't like.

 
The bottom of the tree has a huge gap between the pine fir and the hideous metal stands so I bought wrapping paper (the cheapskate in me bought non festive ones so I can reuse them once Xmas is over - some of you might recognise the gift wrap from me in future pressies :P ) and wrapped a whole bunch of empty boxes.

Bubs went berserk - he thought all the presents were for him and kept singing the happy birthday song over and over as he begged me to let him tear them apart. How do you explain to a 2 year old that Mummy is too cheapskate to buy anymore Christmas decorations for the bottom of the tree? In the end, I gave up and lied to him that those pressies are for Santa Claus and he'll get angry if you unwrap them.

Ta-daaaa - our tree! It's very sparsely decorated but I plan to make it a family tradition to add new ornaments every year so i don't want to go overboard with it this year. The look on Bub's face when Hubs flipped on the lights was nothing short of amazing: the sheer, unadulterated joy made it all so worth it. He loved it so much that come bedtime, he was crying because he didn't want to say goodnight to the tree. We'd to console him by letting him pick out a stuffed gingerbread man to tuck into bed with him.

Chew Jetty Part II

Since the last time we were at Chew Jetty and we only took a few photos before it started pouring cats and dogs, we went there again this time to take more. Bubs had a whale of a time tearing up and down the weathered wooden planks though I admit every time I heard a creak, my heart skipped a beat.

There are little convenience shops selling anything from cigarettes to bottled water.

Old fashioned bicycles for rent.

Wooden houses with Chinese calligraphy on red banners.

Another piece of street art by Ernest Zacharevic. Somehow the weathered paint seems to add more character to it.

All that walking about meant that we deserve a yummy treat for breakfast. Everyone (excluded Bubs) had a banana leaf wrapped packet ... or two ... or three ... of the famous Beach Street nasi lemak. If the scoopful of tear inducing spicy sambal and steaming hot coconut rice aren't enough to sate your hunger, you could always opt for extras like fried chicken and curry squid.

Met up again with the glowing and 8 months preggers Glam Girl. That girl doesn't let pregnancy cramp her style at all, gorgeous, I tell you.

Have I ever mentioned that it's near to impossible to walk into Daiso and come out empty handed?

These Hello Kitty face towels and dish cloths were practically screaming my name. I wisely showed restraint.

Though I couldn't say no to some pieces of Japanese crockery.Did you guys have a good weekend?

Of Durians and Weekends

Bubs and I were thrilled when we realised that durians are back in season again. A friend knows of my love for this thorny fruit and pleasantly surprised me with durians from his dad's orchard, musang kings no less!

The only issue?

No one knew how to open them. Pfffffft ...

Hubs doesn't eat durians so he couldn't care less about opening them. My durians always come nearly packed in plastic containers. Bubs knows to stay faaaaar away from them after getting his fingers pricked.

Luckily Mum-In-Law came to the rescue. She made opening them look like a piece of durian cake.

Tools of the trade: a piece of thick cloth (she pooh poohed away my offer of oven mitts), a giant knife and newspaper to cover the floor.

Cut a small slit into the thorny husk then prise the durian apart until you see this.  Salivate a little at the sight of creamy, pale gold fruit nestled inside.

Sorry, I'm anal about eating durian with my hands. I prefer using a spoon.

It's been a while since I last posted a photo of my Dad. He still likes his blue shirts. He wears them so much that once a waitress asked him if it was some kind of uniform.

Bubs is at the self feeding stage and he eats with an adult spoon, no less! The way he eats is a lil intense, look at those jaws stretching wide open - reminds me of a baby shark.

Fascinated by Dad's jasmine flower bud tea.

Beating the Monday Office Blues: Bubs

The most common excuse for Asian parents to tell their children why they have to go to work? To earn money and buy you milk. Love you, Bubs!

ps - I found an online tip that it's easier for babies to learn how to drink from a shot glass so we've pretty much been letting him drink his milk from one. Rest assured, no vodka in it ;)

Little Lies

Did your parents ever lie to you when you were a child?

I hated medicines when I was ill (til this day, the idea of taking liquid medicines makes my stomach turn) and my parents told me that the medicine tastes sweet as the doctor doses it with sugar. How do they know this? They've seen the doctor buy sugar for his medicines. I think I believed this one for quite a while.

Most Chinese babies have Mongolian spots on their bums. My mum told me that whenever a baby is born, the doctors would dangle them up by one leg and smack their bum to make them cry so they can breathe. The doctor's smack would then leave a bruise there. The sad part? I actually believed this until I was pregnant. I was earnestly describing to Hubs how the doctor would lift out the baby out into the air to smack and Hubs was looking at me incredulously.

Me: "So it's not true???"
Hubs *facepalms*

Being a mummy now, I've found myself resorting to telling mistruths.

He hates his vegs with a passion. It's almost cute - if I wasn't at the brink of despair - to see him carefully digging with his spoon, removing all vestiges of anything green and heaping them onto my plate instead.

So I told him that if he wants to grow tall and be able to press the highest button on the lift (probably his lifelong ambition, lol), he has to eat his greens. His little eyes grew as wide as buttons, thought about it for a while before opening his mouth and shoveling down his vegs.

He repeats it now like a chant, "eat veggie, grow tall, press lift button, toot" ;)