Saturday, June 28, 2008

Motivational saturday!

Today Alan and I got outta bed and prepared for our trip to Tiratana Welfare Society. Our GPS finally got us there, albeit bringing us around in a circle for a short while.

We met up with KC Ng who is the OM there and he told us to park in the carpark near the orphanage. We drove a little further up the slope only to find a small open space where afew cars were parked, quelling my dreams of an indoor multi-storey carpark haha.

KC briefed us in his office and gave us information on the orphanages - total head count 205 children. Elderly home - total head count around 60. There is also a woman's shelter there and as many as almost 30 very young infants are being taken care of by "child-minders" and young volunteer workers. You'd be surprised, but there is also a stray dogs' compound as well!! Oh my gosh!

Once we familiarised ourselves with our potential roles to play in this organisation, we were taken on a tour of the facilities of the orphanges. We saw many young children watching tv in a small and dimly-lit living room, a very dark and untidy library (with a mosquito buzzing here and there), a courtyard where the cooking is done and the children's meals are staggered (the children were eating plates of beehoon soup with what seemed to be like some greenish vegetables). We were also brought to the infant rooms and I played with some young toddlers, some of which were suffering from chicken pox. We saw some young volunteers teaching the primary school children math and science as well in a small but airy room.

As we strolled through the compound, KC telling us more, we found our heart-strings being tugged time and time again and my head was working fast and furious, thinking up lesson plan after lesson plan for our assigned students.

Alan and I have volunteered for Tuesday night self-study sessions. We will be getting them to do their homework from school (yes, they attend formal education outside of the orphanage) and also be learning English with us through the use of fun games.

My insecurity: I have never taught in a classroom with ill-disciplined, disgruntle teenagers (KC claims they are) before. All my years of education were enjoyed together with the cream of the crop. I guess my feelings of insecurity are normal. Alan is afraid he will feel like a fish outta water as well. Well, I will head down to Mid Valley tomorrow to pick up lesson materials etc to make classes more interesting.

Anyway, after visiting the orphange, we treated ourselves to lunch at Equatorial Hotel and had pomfret porridge with some dimsum. Then, we headed to Sungei Wang to pick up some magazines and also hair stuff beforeh heading home tiredly.
Dinner tonight was from Friday's and a room service delivery. All the major restaurants in Bangsar have come together to deliver room service to residents in the nearby vicinities. Alan had a beef burger and I, chicken tortillas.
Damn fattening ahhhhh. We are now watching Jiang Shan Mei ren - DVD.

Friday, June 27, 2008

OMG It's Friday!

In a wink of an eye, we can now smell whiffs of yet another weekend. hahaa. I'm excited for we will get to do something different this weekend - i.e. help out at the orphanage. :) Perhaps we shall buy some items on the orphange's "wish list" posted on their website and bring them for the children? items include stationery, food and medical supplies. Approximately 200 children live in the 2 homes their (one for boys and one for girls) and another 50+elderly live in another home for the aged. All these are governed by the Tiratana Welfare Society and run by a monk. :) I can see that Alan's also pretty excited at the prospect of helping people and my heart has been warmed somemore. :)

Frankly, you need not be the world's richest guy to lift a finger to help the needy. And even if you may not be able to give tonnes of money, there is help that can be rendered in so many different ways! :) So make it a point to HELP SOMEONE today! (ahhhhh Do I sound like Sharity Elephant?) hehee

Anyway, Jay Jay is satiated after his breakfast of his kibbles and a hard-boiled egg and he is alternating between staring at the wall and lick his now-empty bowl. hahaha. Our lil pampered son. I recently have visions of Ash and him playing about happily in Sri Tiara. We miss our eldest son desperately and wish he could be here with us. Maybe one day, we will fetch him over to live with us? :) I don't want to miss out any more on his youth!

Anyway, tonight, after my 2 classes, Alan and I will adjourn to Mid Valley to watch an utterly normaly man turn into an assasin under the guidance of a cheo bu. hahahaa. Yes, we will be catching Wanted! Oh Yeah!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I'm a Brunette Now.

Hi all!

After a gruelling Wednesday (with 5 hours of tuition back-to-back), it's a day of leisure for me today as Phoebe has cancelled her 1030-12pm lesson. hehehe I agreed with glee!

I shall go and colour my hair (long overdue since I had previously coloured it 2weeks before Cheena New year!!) and then roam about before meeting Alan and the gang for a decadent Jap buffet dinner near his office.

This morning, I surfed the Ti-Ratana Welfare society website. We have decided to volunteer our services there and will be regularly (perhaps weekly?) going down to the orphanges to help out. We will start this Saturday.

At last, the day has come for me to pursue my dream! I don't know why but I've always been drawn to people and I think it's time to get off my fat butt and give back to the society which has been oh-so-kind to me.

I admit, my life has been blessed and plain-sailing. Alan always joked that perhaps in my past lives I was a snail that had been battered and bruised and abused by naughty children, only to be run over by a bicycle. haha. I know not what I've done to deserve such a life but I know what I must do...I must pay it forward!!!

I shall probably teach in the homes but also would like to be more involved with the planning and organisation of things. I hope my utterly incompetent Cantonese and my pathetic Malay will not be a barrier for me! ;P

Anyway... I will definitely update my blog after Saturday and I'm sure Alan will take many pictures to keep you all in the loop! :D
In the meanwhile, it's off to pampering I gooooooooo...

10:22pm
We're back home and watching ASTRO cheena channel where the hosts of the variety programme are testing Singaporean taxi drivers their knowledge of Sporean roads. Hahahha I feel much closer to home now. :D

Anyway, we've just come back from dinner at Sha-Saki, a Japanese buffet restaurant. Considering how little I ate the whole of today (5 ah-ballings and have a cuppa coffee) I must say I didn't have much of an appetite. We had some sushi and some Chinese dishes and also some fruits. The husband of mine also polished off more meat and two scoops of icecream! hahaha

My new hair colour was complimented on by the rest. Hahaha I had sat for 3.5hours at La mode, Mid Valley with Bill my regular stylist and paid a total of RM480+ for colour, highlights and also a treatment. I also went to SaSa to pick up some colour shampoo and also a bottle of Mont Blanc Starwalker for The workaholic husband. :D

There's something wrong with my phone - quite timely actually- and the battery actually burnt into the phone. The phone was very hot and the battery depleted very quickly. :P Time for the I-Phone? yes yes??
The above pic was sent to Alan and myself from Mike, the principal of the orphange in Jakarta. The girls are his "7 angels"... Awww so cute, don't you think???? :)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

TO ALL MY XIAO GUAI GUAIS HAVING THEIR COMMON TESTS - JIA YOU AND ACE THEM! :D

No Dogs Today!

Hello guys. It's amazing that it's already mid-week. I spent yesterday giving classes and then I left for Pavilion at around 530pm. I wanted to just "walk around" and "burn some time" before I met Alan for dinner. In the end, I popped into just ONE shop - Promod- which has stuff imported from Spain, and burnt Rm150 in 15mins. I bought a white singlet and a white pair of capri pants. hahahaha. I can run for PAP now!

I then confidently walked over to Alan's office via the overhead bridge and by the time I reached there, I was disappointed to see that he was still busy. Well, I stretched out in his office and read the papers whilst he slogged n slogged and then it was finally time to leave.

After we bade farewell to his hardworking subordinates, we adjourned to Jln Maluri to Petsmore to look at dogs. Unfortunately, the quality of dogs in the shop had deteriorated beyond words and there were no dogs we actually wanted to carry and hold and drool about. Only the ferret dancing in the window captivated us for more than 1 minute.

Dinner was at our old hang-out. We had a healthy steamboat but Alan insisted on ordering a dish of pork fried to perfection. Because I refused to allow him to order his favourite crabs (think of the cholestrol!), we left the restaurant less than entirely satisfied.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

a SlooooooOooooW Monday

My Monday was the most decadent since a long time ago. I woke up and had nothing to do. Hhahaha. So I proceeded to bum around and surf the net and update my blog yadah yadah... I baked two packets of Betty Crocker Double Choco Chip Cookies today and will distribute to all the recipients later. Then I watched a bit of cable on TV. Norbit was showing and Eddie Murphy acted as three characters. Quite entertaining but highly unbelievable - The Ugly Guy Nabs the Babe!?!? Surreal!

Dinner was at Robson's and we order a HUGE frog that was cooked in a soup filled with all natural goodness. And also a fried morning glory (kangkong for the uninitiated). An AngMoh called Adam called me up and offered me a job at his tuition agency teaching Koreans. His centre's based in Ampang and I will basically and I quote "open a book and read from there" to the Korean students. And guess how much he is offering me? Rm20/ hour!! Muahhahhaa Also, he asked if I knew anyone who wanted to teach there and who also was "attractive-looking". I queried, "You mean one has to be attractive-looking in order to teach????" He paisehly changed his terms to "decent-looking". OMG. I wonder what kinda tuition agency that is man! :P

Anyway, without skipping a heartbeat, I headed back to my table and finished up my froggie. hehehe.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Super Sunday!

It was a very long-drawn Sunday. Our weekends are getting more n more fulfilling, ya? :P

As per normal, we started it by bringing Jay jay to school. He was an ace student and the instructor praised him throughout the class as he responded very well to commands like "Heel", "Sit", "Stay" and even the new one "Stand". Unfortunately, when it came to the last 15mins, I lost patience with him as he refused to "Down" again! Can you imagine we even brought out his towel and lay it in front of him as we believed that Jay jay thought it too dirty to lie down on public ground!??! Anyway, I almost called SPCA there and then to enquire if they would accept a tear-stained Maltese :P

After dumping the ingrate at home, we went to SS2 (Phoebe had recommended me a good salon there) at PJ to recee. Lunch was sinful and at a food court there. Although it was renowned, we didn't find the food there appetising at all. My fried tunghoon was too oily and bland and the chicken we ordered, too fatty bom bom. Only the "honeylemon drink" I ordered (which tasted suspiciously of sour plum) was refreshing and delicious.

We finally found Kim Marie salon along one obscure lane but decided against doing my hair cos it was too late. We explored the vicinity and found a pet shop. After caressing a bull dog and chatting with one of the workers, we picked up some milk powder for J (although he didn't deserve it) and some liver treat to cajole him to do his treats in class :P

Then we went for a MASSAGE! Hahhaa. For Rm60/hour, we were prodded and slapped, bruised and battered. (My back is aching now from the massage, as I type) and we emerged detoxified - or so the masseur had claimed. Apparently, I am too 'heaty' and when she violently massaged me, all my "heat" was dispelled.

The durian shop directly outside the massage parlour and very near where we parked beckoned and we tapaoed 2 D24s to be savoured at home. Due to our greed, we were punished by the heavens above when the splish splash of heavy raindrops plummeted down and made it difficult for us to get back into the car - a classic case of So Near Yet So Far. The kindly auntie at the stall sheltered us back. Talk about A class service! :)

We decided that the adventure did not have to end there and procceeded to Bangsar village to explore. I discovered a little shop in an obscure corner of the mall and tried on some dresses and tops. Then we went outside to stroll in the lorongs of the pasar malum.

All sorts of things were sold there - raw fish(!), vege, fruits, ramly burgers (jean!), pre-cooked food like nasi lemak etc but we didn't buy anything to protect ourselves from a runny tummy.
We left the pasar and strode to the alleys outside the Bangsar Village and tried to decide what to eat for dinner.

I wasn't hungry at all and the Banana leaf place though packed didn't entice. My Orange lassi was the best part of my dinner even though we had mutton birayni and vege meal and some chicken and fried sotong.

Home Sweet Home to watch Rendition DVD. Alan had commented that this Sunday was very fun because we did things that we had never done before. We shall endeavour to do novel things every weekend!!! We are too much creatures of habit.