Nikita & Her Besties!

Blue Cookies

Sonia, Niki & Elissa

The three besties

Niki is very fortunate to have not one but two besties.

Best of all they both live in the same taman as us.

Which means the kids can just drop by to play anytime during the weekends.

And sometimes the kids go all "junior masterchef" and even bake cookie monster inspired cookies ;-)

Dinners Functions = Excuse to Dress Up!

Hon & Riana's Wedding Dinner

A black tie affair

Nikita's 1st Cross Country

Recently Niki's school had a cross country run, my daughter who would rather be carried at this age than walk on her own actually came in 11th in the lower primary girls category. Medals were given to the Top 10, so Niki was rather glum she didn't have a medal to take home, but like the champ that she is, she realizes that there is a next time.

Next week is their first term school hols and it's for a week, but the week will have to be spent going through her lessons at home because the school planned for theit first assesment the week after, so there would be no rest, this is what I call a bluff school holiday!

A random Niki moment

Here's a pic I've been meaning to share ... from early last year.

This is Niki with Archer, a Siberian Husky belonging to a friend of ours. Yes, it was their first meeting but they got on like a house on fire. And Archer is much, much better than a throw pillow anytime!

Three Months In

Nikita is officially in her third month in Primary 1, and I must've been crazy when I thought that Primary 1 is going to be a breeze, so now I know it's not so much of a breeze and more like a typhoon. And on most days I can't help but wish that we were still in kindy, now that was a breeze.

Homework is beginning to pile in and time management is getting to be tricky, but we're hanging in there, and we're giving Niki our 110% support in whatever that she does. And though we try not to baby her so much, we still do.

TG, It's still CNY

I've not been posting as regularly as I have been and hopefully come March it'll all be better!

Of course, to welcome in the new year I must now post my auspicious CNY greeting, moreover it's the bunny year, which is my year! Yay, the year is mine! mine! mine! and of course other rabbits as well ;-) And then wait for another 12 year cycle till the next one. I'll by 48 yo the next time it comes around in year 2023! And I was only 24 yo the last time it was here!

But let's not stray from today's post with Maths, Vicky, Nikita & I would like to wish everyone who visits our blog,

KUNG HEI FATT CHOY, MAN SI YU YI, SAN THAI KIN HONG AND SANG YEE HENG LOONG!

which translates as Wish you good luck & riches, excellence health & may your business/work/career prosper! All good things in abundance!

Happy Bunny Year to All!

I have been busy...

Really, I have, been unbelievably busy.

It's incredible to think I'm craving to get away again, and it's not even a fortnight yet from my last escapade.

On a really big milestone type note, Nikita is now in Standard 1, can't believe, well neither can I.

We've been so busy, and our routine has since turned upside down to accommodate, well this new routine.

I've been getting up even before the crack of dawn and have been going at it with no more than 6 hrs of sleep every night, it's a wonder I can get through the day but somehow I am, maybe it's the euphoria knowing that my firstborn is now in formal school!

And yes, I do have cutesy pictures of her in her uniform, having lunch at the canteen, sitting in class, yes, nearly every minute of her first day in school is in pictures, but by the 3rd day she was flying solo. It's amazing when I think about it, and then reminiesce my own horrific Standard 1 Biru experience. I cried, I was scared, I didn't what to do, and I knew I didn't speak to anyone, and was heavily relieved when school was done, fast forward 29 years later and it's a whole new ball game. Kids nowadays are of a different breed altogether, Teacher Sue said that it was most probably the DHA and what not that is in kid's formula nowadays, I don't disagree!

But apart from all the lack of sleep, I am so profoundly happy that my baby is now going to school and is slowly speading her wings. She tells me that primary school is really different but she thoroughly enjoying her new experience although it's hard finding a new BFF! She still misses Jyin Tzer, Sonya & the gang :)

But it's the dawn of a new chapter, a chapter that will last a good 11 years right up to secondary school, all I can say is well we better be ready for the rollercoaster ride!

Shanghai Tang

We were pleasantly surprised with what Shanghai had to offer, to say the least, it is a beautiful city with a lot, and I mean a lot of shopping malls! Every corner and every exit of the metro there's definitely a mall. Ironically with the abundance of shopping malls, I didn't really shopped much, but I did unfortunately indulged in a lot of holiday eating, and to top it off I don't feel the least bit guilty! We had a wonderful time, the weather was a bit chilly towards the evening but we woke up to sunshine every day!

We're Off To Shanghai

We're heading off to Shanghai in a few hours time,

So excited!!

The Bund, here we come!

Xintiandi, we're seeing you for happy hours :)

And, we would like to take this special season to wish each & everyone of our loved ones,

"Blessed Christmas, Happy New Year & Happy Holidays!"

HO! HO! HO!

It's never a splurge!

A lesson learnt is, there is never such thing as a splurge.. when we were in Hong Kong in October Vicky bought me a nice leather jacket which was to die for, it was soft and comfy & smelt heavenly. Ok, at first I thought that it was more of an indulgence but as soon as I realized that we're travelling soon into an icy, cold winter, and in that kind of weather I need not bother of what I have underneath because nobody is gonna see it, but at least on top of it I have my nice, leather jacket that will look great with my boots!

So, there's no such thing a splurge in a girl's vocab, it's more like, I'm sure there will come a time that I'll need it!

Hot Mama Birthday shoutout

A gargantum shoutout to my MIL who turns a young 58 today!

Yay! Happy Birthday, Amma!

We love you, tons ...

Weighty issues

We are officially in December

Christmas is just around the corner and we're stoked!

The tree is finally up, father & daughter tag team surprised me when I came home from work yesterday

Got Hugo his third jab and Jet his annual one, one needle was bigger than the other, take a guess the pooch that got the bigger needle.

And as they got themselves weighed on the Mr Mettler-Toledo, here's the numbers

Jet at 3.4Kg

Huga at 17.4Kg

and Niki in between at 15.3Kg :)

An extra Special Birthday shoutout

Me & Nikita would like to give an extra SUPERSIZED SPECIAL shout out to the main man in our lives, Nikita's Daddy :)

Happy Birthday, Darling! We love you to bits, of course you know that.

And use them vouchers!! ;-)

Final Installation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Fellow potterheads, the time is upon us, the final of the two part finale to the Harry Potter saga. Read in the news that JK Rowling herself, had this to say when asked if this is finally the end ... & she is quoted to have said this, "to never say never", dare we say there's a glimmer of hope that the Potter saga may be continued?

We will see, till then, let us await in anticipation for the Deathly Hallows! Ah, the beginning of the end perhaps, or perhaps not!

Additional note:

We watched it last week, and it was AWESOME!! More than we can ever hope for, it was a visual extravaganza, ah, rapture!!!

Embarassing Statements You Won't Want to Forget!

This shall be filed in as golden nuggets that I would not want to forget! So what better way that to have it here. Embarassing statements made by my Niki, which I would happily recount to her when she's telling me about a celeb crush or something during her tween years!

Niki: Mummy, I love you & daddy so much!
Me: Awww, that's a nice thing to say sweetheart
Niki : I don't want any boyfriends, and I don't ever want to get married, I don't like boys.. and I never want to have babies, they're difficult!
Me : Eeerrrr, ok, darling.
Niki : I'll be with you & daddy forever, and ever.
Me : *smiling to self* Ok, Niki whatever you say, we love you too..

Inundated

FB pic from my school friend, Tengku Putri Muzwita

Being from Alor Setar, I must say the current flood situation has left me reeling from a sense of loss. Though not staying there physically, I feel for the loss faced by Alor Setarians, friends has been calling and telling me about their parent's homes has badly been affected by the flood, many of my friends' families whom are staying in the Taman Golf & Taman Lumba Kuda areas, which are some of the most badly affected residential areas to date.

For those with family members staying in Penang are considered lucky because they have places that they can evacuate to, while the situation subsides, there are others who are not so lucky and has made temporary homes out of shelters and some even converted bus stops into their own temporary shelter.

I can only imagine the sense of loss that they feel, their homes ravaged by flood waters. This devastation has also taken 6 lives as casualty.

And at the same time I am very thankful that the home of my own parents were not affected.

And as I sat in my office today, Shah Alam clouded over and rain fell in huge drops, and I felt a sense of panic, of not knowing what the weather can bring, the laws of nature are against us now, I think it's time we think about the environment more than just a passing thought, we ought to do our bit before it really is too late.

Guilt

We're really full from over-eating, if there's anything the festive season does is encourage over eating, and I am actually quite so full that I made it a point to only eat porridge yesterday, and me & Niki shared a portion.

It's time once again for detox, and I'm embarking on it beginning from tomorrow because I think yummy food actually leaves a whole lot of mess in the insides.

I'm guilty for over-eating, sue me, I do enjoy food too much!

Happy Deepavali everyone!

Happy Deepavali to everyone, may the festival of lights illuminate your life abundantly.

God Bless!

Our bundle of joy!

Our Little Sweetheart is 6!

" Invites"

Poolside party for Niki

Kids get to pack their own party favours, needless to say most of the kids were on a sugar high towards the end of the party

Niki at five

1st November 2004, Nikita entered our life, and that event altered the course of our lives forever, we feel a wee bit sentimental today as she turns six, our baby no longer much of one is turning into a gorgeous young lady and becoming more and more of her own person every passing day.

One day, she may not need us as much as we need her, but that's part of growing up, but I shall cherish what she said to us yesterday that no matter what we will always be her mummy & her daddy. And that is what I will hold on to as I see her grow.

We've got a little surprise party planned for her (Niki doesn't know, we told her no party today coz she's a big girl already, heehee, maybe it will incur some emotional trauma but it's ok, I think she can take a little bit of it until 7pm tonight!)

And yeah we said no cake too, but there's an Aurora Strawberry Vanilla cake in the fridge waiting for her just the way she wanted it, we her parents are master of poker faces, muaahahahaha... :)