June

Sun 2 June 2013

Mum and dad arrived back in KK after a short weekend trip to Singapore. Unfortunately I had to spend the whole weekend in KL finishing the necessary work before flying down to Singapore on 3 June.

Abikia was back in KK to be a part-time tour guide for his KL friends who were in town for the Kaamatan celebration. He can be a part-time nature photographer as well because of this picture perfect postcard photo.

Spectacular sunset view in KK

He had bah kut teh dinner with mum and dad after he picked them up from the airport. 

Back in Austin, River is now 8 months old !

River's eyelashes

Someone is very hungry !

River tries her hand at writing

River's room

Smiling with mum

Sun 9 June 2013

Lunch appointment with Abikia at a kopitiam in Brickfields.  It has been a busy work week so I definitely earned the right to have a nice lunch break. It was a simple meal of mun fun (rice with gravy, meat, vegetables) and chicken soup.

Unfortunately, there was a parking ticket waiting for us when we went back to the car. It was parked at the side of the road with a yellow line as we couldn’t find any proper parking space. Lesson learnt – get a proper parking space or eat elsewhere !

Back to work after a hearty lunch. 

Thurs 13 June 2013

Bikia is on his way to London for a short weekend trip while I was poorer by RM1330 after sending my car for servicing. The air-conditioning was not functioning due to leakage and that alone set me back by RM1100. 

Sun 16 June 2013

Grandma and grandpa are very impressed with River’s crawling skills after watching Anica’s video of her crawling extremely fast. 

Fri 21 June 2013

Thanks to our neighbour (the country where President Obama spent his early childhood years) the annual haze situation has returned.

The situation is worse off in Singapore which is closer to the above mentioned neighbouring country.

Sun 23 June 2013

Weather is only slightly sunny due to heavy haze condition.

Mon 24 June 2013
School closed for 1 day due to worsening haze condition. Driving to work was a breeze and I arrived 30 minutes earlier than usual. If only the traffic could be like this every day (minus the hazardous air situation).

Tues 25 June 2013
It finally rained after weeks of scorching Sahara-like hot weather!
It helped to clear the haze too.

Sun 30 June 2013
It’s like an Amazing Race episode as we were trying to locate the restaurant that Abikia had purchased Groupon voucher. We finally found it after looking for it for half an hour. And the reward? Finding out that it’s closed on the last Sunday of the month. Bummer.

We went for sushi at a nearby place instead. After all the walking and searching, an air-conditioned place was exactly what one needed to recuperate.

Back in Austin, the weather is all clear as River dazzles us with her smile.

Austin family photo

Flower Girl

Posing with dad

April & May

April is the month for birthday celebrations … on a quiet scale.

Sat 6 April 2013

Dinner with Abikia at a Puchong restaurant. We had pork ribs, vegetable and soup for RM36.  

Sat 13 April 2013

Dinner with Abikia at a food court in Puchong. Nice & affordable meal of herbal chicken soup and fried rice, for only RM12. I told Abikia I never had dinner at 6.30 PM before (excluding the 5.30 PM meal on 31 March). It’s usually closer to 8 PM after my weekend jog at a nearby playground.

Wed 17 April 2013

It was another working day in Singapore with the whole world unaware of the significance of the day. Except for Anica who sent me birthday wishes on Google+. Thanks !

Sat 20 April 2013

Pasta dinner with Beh Ling at Plaza Singapura. At last, someone remembered to treat me for my birthday !

But, I still owe Beh Ling her birthday treat…

Tues 23 April 2013

Austin family moved into their new house and starts a new chapter as a home owner. 

River contemplating a prison break

She has reached the stairs !

Crawling, moving & exploring

Fri 26 April 2013

Sent birthday wishes to Abi with list of possible names for future nieces and nephews. It’s never too early to think of names. Besides I was inspired after reading about River Phoenix.

River is busy with her finger painting activity

Play time !

Sun 28 April 2013

Dinner with Beh Ling at Raffles City foodcourt, consisting of rice with vegetable and chicken soup.

Wed 1 May 2013

Although it is suppose to be a day of rest for labourers like me, it didn’t turn out to be so. Spent the day working at the bank.

Sun 5 May 2013

Beh Ling back in KL for a wedding and for the General Election. We were able to breeze into the polling center and cast our votes in the afternoon. No queueing required as most people had voted in the morning.

Meanwhile, Abikia was back in KK to be a first-time voter. He went with mummy to the polling center in the morning and voted for the future.

The indelible ink on the second finger to prove that you have voted

Mon 6 May 2013

A few colleagues wore black to work today. The future didn’t turn out the way they had hoped (or voted) for.

Sun 26 May 2013

Lunch appointment with Abikia at an expensive Japanese restaurant near KLCC. 

Here is what we had for lunch. It costs us RM89.10 (original price. It is less by RM30 with Groupon deal). 

Back to work after the sumptuous and expensive lunch.

Photos of My Cute Niece

River wins our Cutest Niece Award hands down !

Happily chewing

More happy chewing moments 

River's masterpiece. Watch out, world !

Time for a stroll with Dad

Bath time with Mum

River finds a handy sleeping bag - her Dad

And now, here are some possible name choices for River's future sisters and brothers.

Summer  

Storm 

Rain

I know my future nieces and nephews will thank me for the brilliant name choices  :)

Birthday Celebration

Fri 29 Mar 2013 
We were back for short trip to celebrate mummy’s 70th birthday.
I took an early morning flight and was back in KK by 10.30 AM.

Then did some office work before mummy and I set off to the airport to pick up Abikia who arrived at 6 PM.  Fortunately we have 2 cars as Dad went off to pick up Beh Ling who came down from National Park at around 6 PM as well.

It could have been mistaken as a CNY Reunion dinner as we had a lavish feast consisting of fish, prawns, crab, soup and vegetables for dinner.

As Beh Ling didn’t have much sleep the past two nights, she went to sleep at 9 PM. One of the perks on not having to work the next day meant that I could watch a late show on TV.

Sat 30 Mar 2013
It turned out to be a super busy day.

We were off to Karamunsing in the morning to look at washing machine and rice cooker for mummy’s birthday gift. Then we went to Merdeka supermarket to get some groceries.

After lunch, Bikia and I went for a haircut before we headed to town. Beh Ling had her facial as well as a massage for her aching legs, ending with a visit to the hair saloon. Bikia also had a massage, while I did my errands on paying my credit card bills and bought the birthday cake.

Then I went for a short jog. Unfortunately, there was an encounter with A Dog. Although it didn’t bite me, its teeth were at my knees and I had a small cut before its owner chased it back into the house. Since it was not a stray dog, a hospital visit was not required.

All of us took our shower before heading to the restaurant. The restaurant manager who knows Dad gave us a discount as there was no service charge of 10%.

Family photo at Deep Sea Restaurant

Just the girls 

Soft shell crab, longevity noodles and yam basket. We also had fish and vegetables

For dessert, we had the birthday cake, at home.

The four of us with the birthday cake

Family photo at our dining room, with the new marble top dining table that we bought during CNY

At 10 PM, it was time for our Skype session with Austin. 
After that, we had a chat session while Dad went off to sleep. 

Sun 31 Mar

First trip to the airport was to send off Beh Ling whose flight was at 12.20 PM. We had lunch at home followed by a short rest before sending off Abikia for his 3.40 PM flight.

Then I had a very early 5.30 PM dinner before going to the airport for my 7.20 PM flight. Room for improvement: better coordination for our flight schedule …

KK CNY 2013 Part II

Thurs 14 Feb

I guess you could say it was an unforgettable Valentine’s Day...

Beh Ling forgot her purse for her visit to the hair saloon and facial session. Dad who was also in town walked over to provide emergency bailout. Then she was stuck in the 5.30 PM after-work traffic.

The drama continues...

While we were out jogging, Beh Ling was bitten by a dog. As I was jogging in a dog-free area, we didn’t know about it until she told us just before we started on our dinner. 

The drama has not ended...

We decided that she should go to the hospital to have her wound check out. As I had not taken my shower, I took a quick shower which took about 20 minutes (including drying my hair) while Beh Ling had her tea and some biscuits after dinner. Yes, despite the fact that it was an emergency (dog may have rabies), there is still time for tea and biscuits.

Scene at Emergency & Accident Unit of QE Hospital

Young & good-looking Medical Officer: IC please.

Medical Officer: Whose IC is this? 

He looked at Beh Ling, turned to mummy. Apparently he didn’t believe the age stated on the IC.

After asking a few questions, he stamped “Trauma” in the medical report and assigned Beh Ling to the non-critical Trauma Section.  After about 15 minutes, it was her turn to see the doctor.

Doctor (looking at the ‘Trauma” stamp): What happened?

He asked a few more questions:  Why was the dog chasing you? Did you notice whether the dog had any saliva? 

After assuring her there is no case of rabies in Malaysia, she was given an iodine swab on the puncture wound and a tetanus jab. The payment required for the treatment? RM1. 

Fri 15 Feb
We were at the airport on time for Beh Ling’s 2.35 PM flight. At night, mummy and I went for a short shopping trip at Merdeka Supermarket. It was another opportunity for me to drive the brand new car.

Sat 16 Feb

Tea-time with Lanash, Jac, Mala, Bev and Bea at SGCC. The Secret Recipe’s cheese, chocolate and butterscotch cakes were a hit. Although pricey, it was perfect for tea time as we chatted and laughed over latest happenings.

Sun 17 Feb

It was church in the morning followed by CNY lunch at the Club. I had two helpings of chicken (pak cham kai), siu yuk and veggies.  Then it was time for me to be at the airport for the 5.25 PM flight back to KL (and work + traffic jam).

Sun 24 Feb

It's the 14th and last day of CNY. Instead of throwing mandarin oranges into the river, I had lunch with the guys at PJ Hilton.

Back in Austin, River met up with her "twin", baby Emika who is 2 weeks younger. Emika's mum is Anica’s friend from college days, a German married to a Japanese.