Christine's Birthday

19th November, 2008 - Today, we celebrated Christine's birthday which falls on 28th November, 2008. Wow! She's 50 and look at her, where got 50? More like 40 leh ^_^ A very sporting one too !

One of the longest in service with the same employer, well, must be over 20 years? Can't imagine myself being so so so loyal and not getting bored .... hmmm ....

We got along well all these years for which I am glad .... thanks for being a great colleague and buddy at work, Christine ... 9 of us celebrated her birthday with dinner at the Sri Petaling Seafood Restaurant adjacent to a golf driving range and had very good yummy dishes especially steamed kampung chicken in wine .... wah, salivating already leh .... ha ha ...

After dinner, we proceeded to my humble house and of course, more merry making. The thing with these bunch of friends is that it's such a fun group that laughters and jokes are always aplenty ... a great way to unwind actually.

Thanks ya, all of you (he he ... you know who you are). Oh yes, thanks for helping me finish off my 'long time in the fridge' bottle of red wine and grapes too ....

Next, we got creative and each of us got out our foreign currencies. Hey presto ! a hand-made 'very unique' birthday card was born with Christine smiling from ear to ear when at last the card was presented to her !

Roy & Sandy's Wedding

23rd November, 2008 - My cousin brother finally got married !

Roy, aka Foo Chun is the youngest son of my 5th uncle

The way I remember him, as a child, he was bubbly

With his big charming eyes and deep dimples

Almost everyone would pinch his chubby cheeks

Wherever he goes, sometimes in a dress ...

Yes, Roy could pass for a girl when he was young

And a beautiful one too ... ha ha ... that was how I remember Roy

As he grew up, he became the dream-man of many girls

Tall and handsome, charming and suave

Athletic and macho, now with a business of his own ...

Here's wishing Roy and Sandy a happy and blessed marriage

Ave maria ...

Up My Service !

26th November, 2008 - My new client is so impressed with me that he wants me to work full time for him ... ahem ... (currently I work 4-8 hours a week) he said, just name me your price ... of course I am happy that he is satisfied with my work but I had to turn his offer down. I said, I am a single mother of five, so sorry ... nobody can get me to work full time, it's not about the money.

Well, well, well ... he understood that and ended up with : don't you think I need a full time person to handle all this? Can you help me to look for someone of your kind of quality to work full time here?

My reply was ... well, honestly, I do not think you need a full time person but I can look out if there is any suitable candidate for you if you really want.... to which he then said : let's see whether current arrangement is good enough. We may not need a full time person after all...

Yesterday, just when I stepped into his office, he asked for me to work out some figures for him. I gave it to him in less than 5 minutes and he went : Wow! So fast ah? Previously it would take at least 2 weeks ! And I went (in my head) ... huh? That was kacang putih, actually .... a bit of an ego here, huh (head getting bigger LoL ...) ha ha ha ... talking about quality, pay peanuts get monkey lor!

Then, he asked if I could produce some reports for him every Friday so that he could take certain actions or do his weekly planning ... and I went ... (in my head again) oh no, I don't want to tie myself down like that ! Ha ha ha ... I was quick enough to let him brief me what exact reports he want me to produce ... alas, to my relief, all the reports that he wanted, I am already doing anyway ... and so, I got him to tap into the server from the comfort of his own desktop, look for my folders and hey presto, he can have updated reports as and when he desires without having me to be physically present. He was so so so happy, he said : Wow! That's great, Odelia, thanks.

Ha ha ... here I go, escaped again, proved to him his firm really do not need a full time manager ...when my clients are happy, I am happy :-)

A Happy Week

14th November, 2008

It's the super duper Friday at long long last !
Couldn't have been a better way to end the week
Started on a new file that will provide me
with extra monthly pocket money $$$$$$$$,

Reminds me of my long time no sing jingle ...
Money .... money, money, money .... ha ha ha ...
A special thanks to a friendly business associate
for recommending my professional service ...

Of course, a good track record coupled with my new
NF registered with Msian Institute of Accountants
helps - who wants to strike the lottery, it's 0945!
A close friend called me up and excitedly commented
Have you seen the Sept issue of Accountants' Today?

Referring to the 'Newly Registered Firm' section
which has my new firm name printed on it ......
I am happy that somebody, a friend, noticed !!
And care enough to call me up, to Congratulate me

Thanks to all, for the support and kind gestures ....

Kids' Buddhist Class Graduation

9th November, 2008 - It's Graduation Day! Finally, the day came after weeks of rehearsing ... It was such a meaningful event, all the kids had fun performing !!! And of course, mommy had fun watching and taking videos ^_^

Jasmine, getting her hair plaited, in preparation for her YUKI dance performance, ain't she lovely with her shoulder-length straight silky hair???

Audiences waiting patiently as the show was about to begin ...

For more videos, log on to http://videosbyodelia.blogspot.com/2008/11/kids-buddhist-class-graduation.html
ENJOY !!!!

Childrens' Day

7th November, 2008 - Today, the school is celebrating Children's Day and I was invited to attend this joyous celebration together with the kids. Woke up early ... poor kakak lagi early, to fry french fries for Dash, fry chicken wings for Jenny, pack our famous longan jelly for Bob and Jasmine. Jasmine woke up at 4.30am ... ha ... to cut fruits, and well, poor mommy had to wake up early too, to do Jasmine's make up. The kids were all so so excited. Well, after all ... that's the happiest day of school ! No classes, lots of goodies, games and performances :-)

Once we reached the school, could feel the excitement in the air ... children running around, getting ready for their respective performances, each bringing out their goodies brought from home (especially junk food ! My God ! So so much !!!!). Some of the kids : big big eyes, eyeing those goodies, as if salivating !!! Mommy... went around taking photos, video shoots, curi curi makan a little bit of the food and helped out with the kids' make up ^_^

Me, helping out with the performers' make up - queue in 1 straight line please, and oh ... don't sweat so much can ah ... go go get your handkerchief and wipe those sweat off or else cannot put on make-up base properly leh ^_^

Dash - decorating his classroom with some of his friends

Jenny - getting ready to perform in the school band

Bob's classroom - full of junk food goodies

Jenny's classroom - just look at the food ! My God !

All assembled in the multi-purpose hall (http://hghconvention.com/) in anticipation of entertaining performances :-)

Invited guests from SJK Tamil Sentul performing an Indian dance, captivating ...

Young Gymnasts showing off their acrobatic skills ...

On the runway, supermodels in the making :-)

I have included some video shoots on some of the performances in http://videosbyodelia.blogspot.com/2008/11/childrens-day-celebration.html ENJOY lah !!

A Day of Celebrations

5th November, 2008 - It's Bea's birthday today. We celebrated at Pan Pacific Hotel, a simple lunch together with Connie and ended up in my house for dinner ....

Dash's hand-made avocado sushi, ha ha ha ... mushy mushy but tasty tasty!! Something he learned during his last camp at the school, hmm ... commendable lah. Well done boy!

Korean sushi ??? Carrot stick + sengkuan stick + japanese cucumber stick + basil wrapped in roasted seaweed and rolled with korean rice paper - birthday girl, Bea's recipe ... yummy!

Served with green tea, roasted chicken drumstick and sparkling juice too ^_^ It's also a celebration of the kids' achievement :

Jenny - for successfully graduating primary school, for making it successfully to Form 1 next year :-)

Jasmine - for being conferred the best improvement in studies award and being selected to be a school prefect come next year :-)

Joey - for successfully graduating pre-school :-)

Dash - for being conferred the best improvement in studies award :-)

Here's a big HIP HIP HURRAY cheers !!!

Umbrella

4th November, 2008 - Mommy, I want to play in the rain ! I'll use the umbrella, can or not? Looking at me with pleading eyes ... longing to play in the rain, Bob gave me one of his sweetest smile as if willing me to say yes ... Of course mommy's heart melted and gave in, after all, listening to the pitter patter of the falling rain, it reminded me of how wonderful it felt when I too played in the rain when I was young ^_^

Bob's Mickey Mouse Umbrella

Jasmine with my Ladylike Umbrella

Joey's Timberbell Cute Sweet Umbrella

When it's time to call them in, as Joey was rather drenched, fearing they might catch a terrible cold, all I need to do is do a count down : 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... and obediently, they would come back in, though at times they would try to negotiate with me ^_^

Here's a short video of them at http://videosbyodelia.blogspot.com/2008/11/umbrellas.html Enjoy !

Beware ! Success Fever Spreading

3rd November, 2008

Of late, the kids caught a contagious disease from me. YES, that's right. It's called Success Fever !!! Somehow, all of them are now on the lookout for little successes in their life and would proudly relate to me, often want me to take photos of their achievement(s) ... and well, they know mommy will proudly post them in this blog ^_^ Monkey see monkey do !

Today, Jasmine related to me : Ku Ku, today I was sweeping the floor in my class because it was so dirty. Then, teacher came in and announced : this year's best improvement in studies award goes to ..... Tang Pei Wen !!! Wah, all my classmates clapped their hands so loud, I was so so surprised! I will get the award on next Friday at the school's graduation ceremony you know. You are coming right? (with a big big smile, obviously feeling very proud lor :-)

Wah! it was quite a surprise for me. I immediately gave her right cheek a gentle pat and heartily congratulated her ... this calls for a celebration! Let's have your favourite Tom yam for lunch, would you like that? Ha ha ... All the kids screamed : YES!!! And so, we celebrated Jasmine's success ... for RM29.40, it was a great yummy lunch. Needless to say, we'll have more celebrations as more successes will come our way ... ^_^

Next, Jenny's little successes :

2008 Volleyball competition - Silver Medal !

Another addition to our medal collection .. High 5 !

Pengerusi Pembimbing Rakan Sebaya

2008 Prefectorial Board : 2nd row, 7th from the left

2008 School Band : Jasmine - first row extreme right
Jenny - second row 2nd from the left

Next, Joey's Pre-School Graduation

Joey : last row, extreme right

Dash : 2008 Boy Scout Camp - Best Team Award

Finally, Bob - Double Star Champion of the House ...

Ha ha ... thanks to teacher Jess !

Wrapping up, mommy gave each of them a photo album to commemorate their little successes ... HURRAY!!!

Floral Beauty

2nd November, 2008 - A Day of Smelling the Roses ... so to speak !

Lately, been taking pictures of lots of everyday plants, by the road side during 'waiting' time ^_^

Bountiful harvest at parents' home ... dad's favourite past time = count the mangoes, he would go : hmm ... this bunch, can pluck in 1 week's time ... this one here, will ripe in 2 weeks' time ... this bunch, can start to wrap them up in plastic already ...

Lok Tei Sang Kan, the easiest plant to harvest - pluck one, leave it in between pages of a book and it will still give birth to little ones ... simply amazing !!!

Deep deep pink - budding within a bird's nest plant in Taman Kaya ... beautiful !

Bird's nest baby leaf - YOUNG and green

Bright Yellow Dancing Queen - VIBRANT !

PURENESS in a sea of Green ...

2 in 1 - Double Layer Hibiscus

Great Peace Of Mind ...

Bunga Kertas - So common and yet not truly so ... the only one with 4 flower buds after half an hour of searching for more ...

Childhood Colour - crush these, add a drop of water and hey presto! We'll have a purplish mixture of nail polish, natural and free yo ...

Wild Tanglung by the Drain

Pull One For Nectar Honey - suckling goodness ... yummy ! Ever tried this natural sweetness? Try plucking one stalk, pull to separate the petals from the stalk and suck away ... Nice !

Reach For The Sky

Chinese New Year Looming - Time to prepare Ang Pows !!!!

May Your Life Be As Colourful