How good is your memory?

We've each got about 100 billion neurons (that's brain cells to you and me) in our brain. But, how do you explain that some people have better memory than others? Is it because, for the rest of us (or me, at least), a lot of those information-transmitting cells have been damaged? Or is it because people with good memory have somehow trained themselves to remember better?

Just this evening as I was putting Adelle to sleep, I was reminded of the remarkable organ enclosed in our head that is our brain. Part of the routine before Adelle goes to sleep is the bedtime story. She has one particular story that she likes very much, and that is the story of baby Moses. I've lost track of the countless times either my wife or I have read that particular story to her, but Adelle just doesn't seem to get tired of listening to it over and over and over again.

In fact, she's listened to it so many times, that you can just start off by reading the first word, and she'll continue telling you the story! And the amazing bit is she does it almost word for word. My wife told me that she could do this not too long ago, but I hadn't witnessed this extraordinary feat (to me at least) until today. She does miss out or changes certain words as she goes along telling the story, but still...

She hasn't quite memorised the whole 5 half-page story yet. I figure the last page hasn't quite assimilated into her being yet...hahaha. But, that's hardly what describes me. I see, and read the words. But, I don't remember much of them. The only bit I remember very well is the rhyme that's in the story which I've turned into a simple song to the tune of "Twinkle, twinkle little star". Adelle likes it, and she sings along whenever we come to that part:

Little brother in a boat,
God and I will watch you float,
While the river breezes blow,
Rest well in your basket low,
Little brother in a boat,
God and I will watch you float.

Putting words into song is always a good memory-helper, but I can't go round singing everything I need to remember, can I?

Pots and pans and other things grand

This is a post about me and the kitchen.

I suppose in general, guys and kitchens don't usually pair up very well; the traditional view would be that the kitchen is the abode of the fairer sex. But, if you don't already know I love eating. And I must say I do sometimes spend a bit of time in the kitchen. Apart from the dish washing, which is my usual duty, I do a bit of cooking when my 'expertise' is needed. I also know what to look for in cooking utensils to get your food cooked properly (here is a great source of information for all things kitchen and dining). But, just in case you didn't know, here's a quick tip: a pot or pan that is pure stainless is basically rubbish for good cooking since heat will not be distributed evenly. What you need is one which has a layer of some other metal like aluminium or copper at the bottom of the base for good heat distribution. On this website are other considerations you may want to think about before your next pot or pan purchase.

But, I must say I'm not very good at baking. I think I've only ever baked...err, attempted to bake once. This was during my college days and in my student residence we had those cookers that came with an oven. I saw a recipe for profiteroles (sort of like a puff) in a supermarket magazine one day and I thought, hey, that seems simple enough. But, instead of getting a soft puff, what came out of the oven looked more like a cookie- flat and hard. That was the end of the wannabe baker.

But, at least my wife's into baking a bit. Ever since we bought an oven (which was quite a decision since there were so many different kinds! I wish we saw this advice for ovens earlier - it would have made our decision-making so much easier) my wife has ventured into baking and successfully come out with more than edible cakes. She has yet to emulate my cookie success though!

But, if I had to make one purchase for the kitchen it'd have to be a blender. I have one but it's now used more for making fruit juices, one thing it can but doesn't do very well. So, if I were to get one I'm wondering if I should get a dedicated fruit juicer or should I go for a hybrid which blends and also juices (sort of like a better version of my current one)?

I guess more reading is in order.

Gallivantings: Part 1

This new post officially means that I'm back from my roadtrip. In case you're wondering where it was that I went to it was that town in the east coast of Sabah that was once dubbed "Little Hong Kong". Know which town I'm referring to yet? It's Sandakan. Since my in-laws are here, and my wife and I have been toying around with the idea of driving to Sandakan for quite some time now, it gave us the perfect reason to go.

I think this is the furthest I've ever driven anywhere in Sabah, though not the furthest I've ever driven. A one-way trip from my place to Sandakan town is about 350km, so the round trip means that I've probably clocked 700km in within three days. And that's not including the day trips to the various places of interest around Sandakan. what can I say about the drive there? Nothing short of bumpy. Really, really, really bumpy. There were a few stretches along the road where putting my foot down on the brake pedals was an almost minute by minute affair because I would suddenly see a depression ahead of me. But, once we got to within 40km of the town, the roads are actually quite good. I'd say the roads around Sandakan and its suburbs are even better than the ones I find around Kota Kinabalu!

We made only two stops along the way. The first was at the cool highland town of Kundasang. We made the Pine Resort our resting place to get something to bite and to also enjoy the refreshing air. After that, we made our way until we reached a small row of shops (I don't remember the name of the place now) which was probably about an hour's or so more to reach Sandakan. By the time we reached our supposed place for lodging, it was almost 4 pm. That made it almost 7 hours of travelling. Whew!

Our initial plan was to stay at this interesting place we found on the Net which is situated very near Sepilok, that renowned spot for orang utans. My wife chanced upon it while reading up on places to stay in Sandakan, and this place sounded intriguing and received some good reviews. So, we arrived at Paganakan Dii and the place looked just like in the pictures on it's website: a one-of-a-kind place.

Place for happy times

Paganakan Dii - The Family

But, and this is a big but, the place was full! Thinking that since it wasn't a public holiday, or a school holiday, there would be no need to make any reservations, we just went there confident that rooms would be available. Not only were there no rooms available there, there we no rooms available at the other resorts around Sepilok as well! Not one single room. Everything was fully occupied.

So, that basically laid to rest our plans of seeing the orang utans first before heading into Sandakan town the next day. So, we asked the person serving us if their sister hotel, Nak Hotel, in town (we read up on this as well) had any vacancies and they had one left - thankfully for us, a family-size room that could fit all five of us. So, since our accommodation was settled and there was nothing much else to do, we got back into the car and drove to town. But not before we got a tour of the place first!

Unique embellishments decorating the whole place

This is the place for some serious R & R!

White drapes provide shade at the open-air viewing deck

Clever use of the kuali as a washbasin!

The whole place is surrounded by these views!

Kamsan who kindly showed us around the place

We're definitely staying here the next time we visit. Stay tuned for the next post!

A run in the sun: Sutera Harbour 7K Charity Run 2009

I wanted to blog about this yesterday but I was too pooped to do so. So, after a good night's sleep, I thought I'd write about it this morning before the details of yesterday's event became fuzzy.

We arrived at the Sutera Harbour for the run just before it started, and boy, the place was absolutely full of people. Many were wearing the official t-shirts, but quite a number as well were not. I suspect they joined the run just for the fun of it. The Sutera Harbour 7k Run is a yearly event, and I'd say it's almost like a big community event. It's basically a charity event: the recipients of the proceeds from the event being the Sabah Chapter of the Special Olympics and the Sabah Thalassemia Society. And while this is only my second time joining this, I think the turn-out every year is huge. This year, according to newpaper reports, more than 10,000 people showed up in support of the event!

The event has some interesting traditions in keeping with the number 7 theme. It starts at 5.07 pm, that's 1717 hours, and if you finish it in 77 minutes, you're eligibile for a lucky draw. I remember the first ever time it was held, and it was held on the 7th day of the 7th month in 2001.

Anyway, we brought Adelle along for the run and she was pretty excited about it as we had been telling her about it before this. But, surely you can't expect a two-and-a-half-year-old child to walk the whole seven kilometres would you? So, being the smart parents that we were, we brought along her stroller - for her to sit in (which she did most of the time any way). My wife did the pushing since I lagged behind trying to take some decent pictures of the event (which I didn't). I tried to catch up, mixing a brisk walk with the occasional short-distance trot. The funniest thing was, as I was making myself out of the hotel grounds, I already saw a number of people returning!

I was quite surprised by the weather. It had been raining the past two days in the evening with strong winds but the weather was just perfect yesterday: no sight of dark clouds, and not a single drop of rain. The sunset was quite beautiful and it wasn't very hot, so conditions were just about perfect. I finally caught up with my wife and Adelle just past the half way mark, and we walked together after that. All of us reached the finish line but I think it was past the 77-minute cut-off time, since there was no where to register ourselves for the lucky draw when we finally crossed it. Oh well, another time perhaps.

There was other programmes lined up for the evening: a concert by several local artistes, a lucky draw, foodstalls to buy food from, and others, but we didn't stay. We just helped ourselves to some of the free drinks that were available (Adelle has discovered the good taste of 100 plus!) and then left. Since I parked the car quite a distance from the starting line, I had to walk another kilometre or so to get it and pick-up my wife and Adelle.

It was a fun-family outing, and I'd highly recommend it for a healthy family do-together activity if you've never joined it before. For more photos, please visit my photoblog.

Adelle getting into the swing of things at the start of the run.

Movie day

After more than half a year of not going to the cinema (the last movie we watched was Beverly Hills Chihuahua), my wife and I were finally able to go again today. We asked a close friend if she could help babysit Adelle for a couple of hours and she was more than happy to take up the offer (how kind!). So, that enabled my wife and I to go to the cinema and watch a movie in relative peace; I say relative because we found out that there were other young children in the cinema. And you know how it is with young children and attention spans.

I have been wanting to watch the second installment of Transformers, but we decided not to go since the show time wasn't right, and it is such a long movie according to reports. So, we went to watch Ice Age 3 instead. I found it entertaining enough, and so did my wife, but it wasn't uproariously funny as some would have it to be. But, I guess our funny bones all tickle a different way as I found out during the show.

In front of us sat a family (whom I guessed were made up of a mom, a father, children, sisters, and even grandmother!), and during one of the sequences in the movie, I noticed how this young lady in front (one of the sisters) giggled and laughed throughout that part. I looked at her, then I glanced at my wife. She only had a half-smile on her face. I thought the sequence only mildly amusing at best as well. I thought to myself: what a contrast in response to the same movie!

But, we enjoyed the movie nonetheless. However we both thought the first was the better one.

The Ka'amatan: The spirit of merry-making

This is going to be a long post, so I suggest you set aside more than your usual time in reading my usually bite-sized postings! :)



Every year, Kaamatan, or Harvest Festival, is celebrated by the Kadazandusuns of Sabah, Borneo on May 30 and 31. A similar celebration is also observed in the neigbouring state of Sarawak, called the Gawai Festival, but that is celebrated on 31 May and 1 June instead. For brevity's sake, here is the extremely condensed version of the story behind this celebration of the rice harvest:

According to Kadazandusun folklore, this event is celebrated in thanksgiving to Kinoingan, the god who created the Kadazandusun and the world, for a year's bountiful rice harvest and also for blessings for a better harvest the following year. It is also in remembrance of Huminodun, the only daughter of Kinoingan, who was sacrificed to become the first seedlings of rice so that people may plant them and have food to eat.

If you want to read a more detailed background concerning much of what the whole Kaamatan festival is all about, you can go here.

The Kaamatan Festival is perhaps the most famous among all the tribal celebrations here in Sabah. It usually starts at the kampung (village) level, then it goes on to the district level, and finally it climaxes with the state-level celebrations on the two last days of May. If you visited the Kadazandusun Cultural Association building here in Penampang, be prepared to be a witness to lots of fascinating events: there will be the stilt-walking race, tug of war, arm wrestling, finger wrestling (!), and catapult shooting competition. Those are just some of the competitions held in the quest to see which district in Sabah is tops. Those are in addition to the many cultural performances like dancing, singing, gong-beating. You'll also get to savour some traditional food and drink. The climax of the whole celebration is the crowning of the lass who wins the Unduk Ngadau (beauty contest).

But, be prepared as well to face throngs upon throngs of people. But it's well worth it if you've not experienced it before.

But, there is perhaps a darker side to this whole cheerful celebration. You see, a rather indispensable element for this whole merry-making activity is the drinking of spirits. As mentioned above, rice is the whole reason for the celebrations, and so the traditional brew tapai, or rice wine, is common company as far as Kaamatan is concerned. You'll often see people drinking tapai with long straws from earthen jars where they've been left to brew for months. And since such merriment often starts from day and continues on till late, what you get is a whole lot of drunken people. Such people are fine on their own, but the danger arises when they go to the roads, whether as drivers or pedestrians. They pose a danger not only to themselves but other road users as well.

You've probably read about Tong Ju, that Chinese national, who had dreams of trekking through 193 countries recently in the national papers. He was killed three days ago, and police have classified his cause of death as a hit-and-run incident. His body was found by the road side along one of the village roads in Penampang. The police have appealed to witnesses or the driver of the vehicle to come forward. If and when that happens, I would not be surprised if alcohol was part of the cause.

I remember driving at night in a residential area and I came to a part of the road where it was somewhat darker because the street lights were not working. I wasn't driving very fast and it was a fortunate thing as well because I suddenly saw a black heap in the middle of the road right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and I stopped just in time. I was wondering what the heap was when it rose and started walking wobbly, oblivious to my car which was less than 5 metres away! That guy was drunk to the core, and to make it worse, he was wearing all black! Just imagine what would have happened if I hadn't even seen him lying on the road and just ran him over...

I like these kinds of celebrations for they are a wonderful testament to the uniqueness and diversity of the people of Sabah. The only thing that puts me off are the people who seem to lose all measure of self-control when drinking, and so put other people at risk.

When you drink, stay off the roads, please!

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

I couldn't help but notice this the moment I picked up today's edition of The Borneo Post. Here's the front-page headline that greeted me in big bold letters when I read the local paper today:

Watch your tongue, hubby: Telling your wife she is not pretty will be an offence

That sure catches your attention doesn't it, especially if you're male and you're married (and I suppose, even if you're female or you're not married!). My first reaction on reading that headline, of course, was: Huh? What's this all about?

Here's the opening explanation:

"A husband telling his wife that she is no longer pretty in an attempt to humiliate her can be classified as an emotional violence offence if ammendments are made to the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) 1994.

That made things slightly clearer but even as I read the rest of the news article, I couldn't help but think of how such an inclusion in the law can be misused and go against the very spirit on why the powers that be deemed it necessary. But, I suppose that would also be true of other laws in the country if you're cunning and resourceful enough. According to the article, the whole idea for the expansion of the definition of domestic violence is to include not only physical abuse, which is visible and therefore easily identifiable, but also emotional, mental and psychological forms - the kinds that are often not as visible and therefore, not as easy to identify.

What drives a person to despair? What triggers someone to hurt another person? What causes people to take their own lives? I think it's the unseen things, the inner workings of the mind that pushes people to do things that they would not normally do. And such people need all the help and support they can get, especially if such mental, emotional and psychological torture is not of their own doing as in the case of domestic violence.

So, I applaud the efforts of the government for looking into increasing the protection of married women against violence at home. I just hope that there will be clear markers within the amendment that will enable it to function effectively.

Love your family, peeps.

Secured

I've seen the following on more than one occasion: a single adult driver in front driving the car. There's nothing unusual about that. We see lots of single occupancy vehicles on the road, in spite of the government's efforts to get the nation to carpool many years back.

But, the single adult driver is not my concern here. Too many times, it's the other person I see that makes me shake my head in amazement and wonder, "What is it about these people?". What am I talking about? It's that two or three year old kid who's standing on the front passenger seat beside the driver - that child who's not restrained in any sort of way. That child may as well be standing or sitting on the bonnet of the car for the kind of protection that he or she is getting in that manner.

For the life of me I can't seem to understand how parents can go round driving their vehicles all safe and buckled up while their children are standing beside them! Reminds me as well of the many times that I see motorcyclists (some of whom are parents as well, no doubt) who ride their bikes with their helmets on but the children who ride pillion go without any such protection!

What gives?

The first impression I get when I see something like this is that these parents obviously value their lives more than their children. How else do you explain such phenomena? The second is that such parents are probably ignorant, or just callous in matters of child safety in vehicles. Don't they know that if they only applied just a slight sudden pressure on those brakes and their child (or children) will go flying, smacking their fragile heads against the windscreen?

I'm no expert but any educated person can tell you the simple law of physics that an object will continue to be in motion unless there is a force in the opposite direction that stops it. That's why we buckle in front, and recently, buckle at the back as well - so we're not propelled and become paste in front of the car.

Children should be in restraints as well. But since, it will take some years for them to grow into the standard belts in the cars, baby carseats are the way to go to keep them safe while you're driving.

But, having said that, some of them can be quite unwieldy. Since Adelle was born, we've gone through two now. The first was a combination of a baby carrier and carseat for infants, the second was a proper carseat for when she was about a year old until about two. She has a third now, a booster seat which should last her till she's able to use the standard seat belts.

While the first two took less than 5 minutes to anchor to the backseat of the car (of course, the first time took longer) this current one is a real time-hogger. The first time I installed it in the backseat of my wife's car, it took me at least half an hour. By the end of it all, I was all sweaty. And since my wife recently sent her car in to install the middle lap belt in the backseat, that meant that the booster seat had to be taken away.

Just this evening, I attempted to reinstall the booster seat. To do it, you have to loop the car belt round the seat so that it is secure. I had trouble with this the first time I did, but this time it was not the same. It was worse!

The car seatbelt wouldn't give me enough leeway to loop round the booster seat, and try as I might, it just could be done. I enlisted my wife's help and we finally managed to secure everything after one hour! Just to install the seat!

Phew! I hope that seat doesn't need to be unsecured in a long while.

Stay safe.

Exterminator

Today, the pest control people came. Yep, this house has a pest problem: ants, cockroaches, and mice. After months of putting up with our nocturnal guests (and sometimes swiftly sending them to meet their maker - for the cockroaches, of course), we finally decided to call for some professional help.

Ants is a major problem. They are the black ones, and they seem to be coming from outside from the garden. Actually, the black ones are not the only ones. We used to get rather big red ones as well. I notice that they are seasonal: over the course of a few months, the type of ants that we see in the house changes - black ones, big red ones, small red ones, and then it starts over again. But recently, it's these black ones that are a nuisance. You kill them, more come. Kill some more, and even more come.

Cockroaches (eeeuuuuuwww!) are the next thing. Although they don't show themselves pretty often, we know they're there from the droppings that we sometimes see. They are not quite a problem unlike the ants but they're absolutely disgusting! I can't stand the sight of them, and I actually have a slight fear of them (blame it on some forever-scarred childhood experience that involved a certain "brushing" incident with a cockroach's legs....shivers!). But, my hate for them is far greater and so there's always my trusted slipper to swat them putrid creatures.

And finally, mice. This has been a rather recent phenomena. Almost on a daily basis, we hear the sound of scurrying feet above our heads. And if we're lucky, we even get to listen to their excited squeakings. Mice running between the roof and the ceiling above us is not too bad. But, seeing one running about in your kitchen is!

So, control was the only answer. The technicians came, sprayed some stuff along the corners of the whole house, which were to repel and kill ants and cockroaches. They then threw some poisoned pills randomly outside at the back of the house - this was for the mice. They had wanted to leave it at that, but my wife asked whether they could set a trap as well, and they did.

So, the whole of this evening was spent cleaning the whole house hence this late post. I also repositioned the trap. At first it was in one of the kitchen cabinets, but I put it out on the kitchen floor. And as I was writing this post, I head a snap!

My wife and I checked, and there inside the cage was a mouse - rather small, maybe still quite young, and quite scared. The mouse in the cage is now outside the house, perhaps still eating the bait that we put (pumpkin bread, you know!). In the morning, we're going to call the experts to take it away.

Problem's not solved yet though. Just heard some more scurrying in the roof. But, we'll rid them soon enough.

You'll see.

Progress

I've told you before that Adelle is now attending playschool haven't I? Well, we never got a chance to have a chat with the principal of the school to find out how Adelle was doing. The routine's usually either my wife or I would show up at the school and just get out of the car, take Adelle from one of the teachers, and be on our home. We don't quite have the opportunity to just spend some time to chat then because all of the teachers and the principal herself would be busy keeping an eye on the children as they wait for their parents. I know I wouldn't have time too if I had take care of over 20 active children with only a handful of adults with me!

Anyway, my wife suggested that we call the principal today just to get some updates on Adelle's progress at school. And she happily volunteered me for the job. How nice of her! So, I called the principal and asked how Adelle was doing at school and she said that Adelle's progressed a lot since the first day - from crying every time she'd lay her foot on the school grounds right out of the car to the almost weep-free day nowadays. Adelle is eating well, she's learning well (quite advanced for her class I'm told), and is generally obedient.

But, I was also told that her temperament still needs some fine tuning. I didn't pursue what the principal meant by that but I can guess. I was also told that she isn't quite interested as well when it comes to colouring, probably a result of my wife and I introducing crayons to her quite early. But, the principal tells me that the teachers still try to keep her occupied and on task which I felt was good.

Adelle looks as if she enjoys school. When we pick her up, we'd ask her what she did and she'd respond quite positively. No more tantrums of not wanting to go to school. I think she is also rather fond of a particular Teacher Kevin there as she always mentions his name whenever there is talk about the teachers at the school.

I'm actually amazed sometimes at the knowledge that this two-year old daughter of mine has, especially in her language ability. I think some of the words and sentences she uses can even rival a kid far older than her.

But, that may be a biased opinion of course. After all, I'm her dad. :)

Mr Fix-it

Well, I'm back.

Got two things fixed today. The first is the leaky tap in the kitchen. And I'm proud to say that I did it all by myself. You see, I'm not exactly a handyman when it comes to fixing things around the house. I remember the more than a few times when I actually tried to repair things I only made it worse. For example a dripping shower which I was faced with once. Easy right? Just take a wrench, tighten whatever nuts or bolts there are and you're done right?

Well, that didn't solve the problem. What was a steady dripping became a constant trickle. So much for fixing things. In the end, we called a plumber to get the job done. 

But, today, I was smarter. I researched first how to do it. And what better place to get knowledge than from the Internet. So, renewed once again with all the positivity that one gets from a clear sense of mission, I went to it - and actually fixed the drip. I didn't have to replace any parts as it turned out, that all it needed was a little cleaning.

That's the first. The second is my computer. My graphics card konked and that was the one that was causing all the trouble (and frustrations, I might add). But since it was still under warranty, ths shop people helped me claim it. But it's going to take some time - 3 months they say! So, today, I bought myself a new one in the interim period. So, all's rosy right now...except for the irritating high-pitched sound that seems to be emanating from the card. 

I'm probably going to have a look at it after this and see if I can do anything to get rid of the noise. If not, it's back to the shop and see if they can do anything. But, at least I can get some work done now.

Hope things are good with everyone. Cheerio!

It's a new year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

As I'm writing this, fire-crackers are going off left, right and centre. We just came back from my family reunion dinner not too long ago, and it was great to just meet up with my cousins and uncles and aunties. Tomorrow will be another round of visiting - this time the paternal side of my relatives, so it's going to be a long day. So, just a short post to wish al of you a blessed and joyous new year.

May we take time in the new year to enjoy the simple things in life, as Adelle is doing in this photo.

Two years ago something happened

I can still vividly remember the day Adelle was born. It was just past 5 am when I received the phone call from my wife that she was going into labour. When I arrived at the hospital, she was already being rolled into the delivery room. I was allowed to go in as I had attended the pre-natal classes with her. I fondly remember how I, as her breathing coach, simulated the kind of breathing exercises for my wife to follow...only to be told as soon as I started by the mid-wife that what I was doing was wrong! I remember chuckling to myself and telling my wife how what everyone thought what the baby was going to be was wrong. People thought the baby would be a boy (gleaned through the sophisticated means of looking at the shape of tummy), but what arrived was Adelle, a girl.

That was 2 years ago, yesterday. When I look at Adelle today, I realise how much she's grown; she talks quite a lot, she enjoys singing (or rather getting Mommy or Daddy to sing), she's cheeky when she wants to be, and for the most part, she's quite adorable (unless she gets into one of her foul moods due to sleepiness).

Adelle was quite happy (not to mention excited) when her birthday came. Throughout the day, several uncles and aunties called to say their birthday wishes. Also, wife had promised that they'd bake her birthday cake together, so Adelle had a hand in making her own cake though I think it was only limited to putting the flour into the mixing bowl. Anyhow, Adelle was very excited about seeing her birthday cake once it was all ready.

The chocolate birthday cake my wife and Adelle baked

We had a simple celebration after dinner with my parents, and Adelle got her wish to blow out her candles - twice! As you can see from the pic of the cake below, it's decorated with biscuits of Disney cartoon characters, and Smarties. It was the first time Adelle ate Smarties and what can I say...she loved them! We usually don't allow Adelle to eat sweets but since this was her special day, we made a slight exception.

Of course, we made sure we brushed her teeth before bedtime to get rid of all those sweet bits.

A walk in the park

One of the things Adelle likes best is playing. The other thing is swimming in the pool. Yesterday, the weather was good enough to go to our favourite park nearby to let Adelle get a bit of exercise and also to allow her to release all her energy (she hadn't been doing much y because we pretty much stayed inside the house the whole day). She's just rediscovered the joys of the slide as well as climbing bars again. So, she was extra enthusiastic about doing both at the playground at the park. Another of her favourites is playing the see-saw.

Talking about see-saws, do you even call them that nowadays? I mean, I hardly see the 'original' - the ones that are made up entirely of a long piece of thick flat wood with a fulcrum in the centre. All I see nowadays are those bouncy ones with springs. So the movements aren't exactly see-sawing are they? Adelle's still not too keen on the swing, but she's slowly warming up to the idea of swishing through the air.

Of course, as usual, Daddy would be lugging his photo gear along to get some shots of his usually more-than-willing model. The park's actually a good place to meet people. Once, I met an ex-colleague whom I hadn't seen in years for two days consecutively! And yesterday was no different. We met friends and chatted for a while and then we went for a short trip to the local supermarket. When it was time for Adelle to go to sleep, she slept like a baby!

Perfect!



More pictures here.

The vanishing

I know, I know. I've done a vanishing act again. Could it be that after three months of blogging I'm already walking down the road towards bloggers limbo? I certainly hope not. I'd be very disappointed with myself if I ever came to that. I had made a promise to myself that this time round, this blog was going to last way, way, way longer than my first - and since aborted - attempt at blogging. And while I've more than surpassed the space of time it took for me to abandon my first blog, I still want to continue...

So, here are the latest updates:

Yesterday, Sabah celebrated the Head of State's official birthday. It was supposed to coincide with Malaysia Day on September 16, but since it was the fasting month, the governor decided to postpone all celebrations till yesterday, 11 October. My wife and I didn't initially plan to watch the celebrations and parade at the town field - we had earlier gone to the morning market near our house to buy some groceries - but my wife suggested that we go to town to have breakfast. We wanted to eat at our favourite bun shop (all sorts of buns there and the price is very reasonable as well), but it turned out to be closed when we drove past it. So, we settled for beef noodles as well, which was quite nice. Since this particular shop was just across from the town field, and we could hear the marchin band playing their songs, I suggested that we bring Adelle to go have a look and experience the whole thing. Wife agreed and off we went.

Of course, lucky me, I took my camera along (actually, I secretly wished to go and see the parade!) so I managed to take a number of shots. There were performances and all, but I wasn't very interested in them. What caught my attention were the palace guards (yes, the official residence of the governor is called the palace or better known as the Istana). They looked quite smart in their uniform and so, they were my main focus.

Look! I'm part of the parade!

That was yesterday. Today, Adelle woke all of us at around 6 am and then we got ready to go to the beach. We brought along her beach toys and we got her into her swimsuit so that it'd be easier to clean her up later. At the beach, Adelle was quite reluctant to walk on the sand at first. She also didn't want to use her toys to make sandcastles, but after I made a couple she became interested in what I was doing and went on to play by herself while Daddy and Mommy enjoyed a couple of sandwiches that my wife had packed. We didn't stay long as it was getting hot, so we left right after snapping a family photo.

Adelle enjoying herself playing with sand

Family photo at the beach

Just now, our Malay neighbour invited us over for dinner and we went, ate , chatted and came back. I'm feeling rather tired and sleepy right now so I'll stop writing here for tonight.

Have a good week ahead.

Long hiatus

Gee...I can see cobwebs.

After having disappeared from the world of blogging for over a week (I can't believe it's been that long!), the prodigal son returns. I'll spare you the numerous reasons for my long hiatus from this blog. Let's just say that this sometimes countable, and sometimes uncountable noun that is spelled as w-o-r-k has been blazing the trail of my daily living this past week.

And I'm not even done yet.

I figure all will be settled by the end of the week and hopefully, I will have a bit more time to spend amusing you with my rather unamusing life! LOL!

I have actually been wanting to write about Sept 16 which passed just a few days ago. It's not because it holds extra significance or anything (hey, wait a minute. It does hold extra significance - it is what is called Malaysia Day, the anniversary of the formation of Malaysia. And what's more, it was a holiday for us people over here in East Malaysia!). The main reason I want to write about that day is because it was an activity-filled day. Let's see, where do I start? The beginning is always a good place...

In the morning, my wife and I sent a friend to the airport. It was partly out of good will, but we were also curious about how the new Kota Kinabalu International Airport looked like. Although the airport isn't exactly far away from where I live by normal reckoning (it's only about 15 to 20 minutes away), but by Kota Kinabalu standards, it is quite a distance! I know many people in the Klang Valley in West Malaysia often have to go through between a 40-minute to an hour's drive just to go to work, but here, anywhere beyond 15 minutes is too far!

Anyway, I digress. So, taking our friend to the airport was the perfect reason for us to see the newly opened airport, and I must say I was quite impressed. Although the size is nothing like the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, it's a far cry from the old airport. Previously, if you were picking up passengers, you'd have to wait outside in the heat. There's no air conditioning, and if I remember correctly, no fans either. Of course, it's covered, but for an international airport (and after comparing it with other international airports in this and other countries), it's not something you'd expect. So, the new airport is a big improvement: air-conditioned comfort for both passengers and those waiting, and the design's not too shabby either. I brought along my camera to take shots of the new airport and here are a few that I like.

New Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Structure just beside the main terminal

Patterns that caught my eye

After saying our goodbyes, we went for breakfast. Then, we went back home to get ready for the next activity for the day: picnicking at Karambunai Lagoon. The lagoon is part of the Nexus Karambunai Resort and it is even further away than the airport. It's a good 30-40 minute drive away from the city centre. That's practically the other side of the world! Adelle was pretty excited about the whole thing. We told her that we were going to the beach, and we got her dressed in her swimsuit so that made things that much more exciting for her. We brought along her toys, change of clothes (for her and ourselves), and of course, for any activity under the sun, the essential sunscreen lotion.

The picnic was actually organised by the church I go to and it was supposed to start at 9 am but we only reached the place close to 11 am. We quickly put down our things and Adelle led the way to the water. She was a bit cautious of the water in the beginning but she quickly warmed up.

Adelle leading the way!

Then, we went on a banana boat ride. With Adelle! She was pretty brave about the whole thing. We got her decked out in her own life-jacket and my wife was in charge of holding on tightly to her. I sat right in front with my camera around my neck. A big risk, now that I think about it. I intended to take pictures of Adelle during the ride but I found it hard because I had to point my camera backwards and shoot without actually knowing what I was pointing at. All I got were legs and part of the face of the little girl who was sitting behind me. Sigh...so much for exciting pics of Adelle on her first banana boat ride.

The banana boat ride. Hang tight!

But, after the banana boat ride, Adelle played in the water with mommy and boy, did she enjoy herself. I think she enjoyed it even more this time because she could actually experience herself floating with the help of the lifejacket. She really had a blast!

This is fun!

Splashing good time!

I went on the boat that towed the banana to take pics of the youths during their turn on the banana boat. I don't know how many shots I took, but I think it was easily over 20. By the time I was back on the shore, Adelle was done playing in the water and so, all of us went to clean up and change. It was lunch after that and shortly after, we went home and rested.

Youths' turn on the banana boat.

Nothing like a little rest and relaxation...under the hot sun!

Then, in the evening we went out again. This time to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was sort of a surprise, he didn't know we were celebrating (actually, a few others who came along didn't know as well!) until we brought out the cake. He was so touched that we ended up getting treated to dinner by the birthday boy! Thank you!

Kashing. Man of the moment.

So, after having our tummies filled with food and cake, we all went home and we got Adelle cleaned up and ready for bed. It didn't take long for her to plonk off to sleep.

The perfect end to an eventful day.

Tired but happy.

Full day

What's the best toy store in Kota Kinabalu? We don't have Toys 'R Us here, but we have something which I think is infinitely better! We have KK Toys! Why better? Well, for one part, they have quite a selection of toys. If you're into action figures and models, they have a pretty impressive collection as well: Gundam Mobile Suits; action figures from Final Fantasy to movie tie-ins; and models of cars, aircraft, and battleships. They also have games consoles, boardgames, baby products, dolls, teddy bears...no, we don't miss Toys 'R Us at all here.

The second, if you're a member, you get a year-long discount of at least 15%! And the best reason, they have a sale - twice a year! One's middle of the year (today...err, yesterday!) and the other one is before Christmas, in December. It's not your usual 10-15% discount. Everything is 30% off minimum while some can go to as high as 70%. But, the biennial sales are for members only - which I am. So, that's where my wife and I headed today. We brought Adelle along as well!

But, before the hard work of selecting the toys that we wanted to buy, we went for breakfast first at a nearby Indian Restaurant. The name is Devi's Restaurant. It's quite a popular place (it's even featured in the Lonely Planet guidebook) and it's a good place to have your fix of mouth-watering Indian cooking. Both my wife and I ordered a thosai each, and we shared a chapati. What can I say, they were both very yummy and this was enhanced more by the delightfully delicious curry, dhall, and that thosai sauce which I don't know the name to. The teh tarik that I had was excellent as well, so was the teh halia that my wife had (according to her): creamy enough with just the right amount of tea. Mmmmm...

I was also intrigued by colourful decorations hung on the ceiling of the eatery which I took a shot of.

Nice and colourful, don't you think?

After having our tummies filled, it was off to the battlefield that is KK Toys. When we entered the shop (it was only about 9.20 am), there was already a long queue at the cashiers and more people were milling about the place, searching for that perfect toy. We wanted to get Adelle some Mega Bloks, so we went upstairs where they are on display.

More people were upstairs. We didn't go straight for what we came for, we looked around first while Adelle busied herself getting on those tricycles with a long handle behind which parents can use the steer them. She was contented just sitting in them and mock cycling them, so that kept her occupied for quite some time. We decided to get her Mega Bloks because they were bigger than the Lego bricks, so easier for her to hold. Duplo would have been good, but it's hard to find them here. Not to mention, they also more expensive. After getting the biggest bag we could find (wife says it's more economical that way), we proceeded downstairs for more browsing. In the end, we ended up with a children's the Mega Bloks, a children's badminton set, two children's cooking sets (different ones), and a couple of bubble blowers (for the neighbours daughter). I had to queue for more than 20 minutes before it was my turn to pay. So, you can imagine the number of people that were there.

Adelle immersing herself fully in the whole shopping thang

Having accomplished our mission, we went window-shopping at nearby Centre Point (another shopping complex). We finally went home just before 1 pm. Adelle was especially tired by then, so she had a quick lunch before getting her nap.

Late in the evening, a neighbour came over to our place, and all of us (she and her two daughters, my wife, Adelle and me) went for a walk around the neighbourhood. I had been taking pictures of my wife's plants before she came so I brought my camera along on the walk. I managed to snap a few pictures of some small flowers which some would regard as weed. I thought they were until my wife pointed out that they are not - they are just wild flowers, she says. Well, whatever they are, I thought they looked quite beautiful standing against an all-green background, though I struggled a bit in getting them sharp as the sun was already low and light levels were not exactly helpful for handheld photography. Anyway, I was quite pleased with the results, one picture of which I'll share here.

Wildflower by the side of the road

So, that's our day. Hope you had a good one.

I was going to do something else but I suddenly remembered about a funny incident. This actually happened last Sunday but I was contemplating whether to post it. Then I thought, why not. It's kinda funny (I think). Remember my post about us buying mooncake? Well, Adelle had her first taste of it last Sunday. We were all in the kitchen and my wife suddenly decided to let Adelle try the mooncake we had bought. She asked me to get my camera ready to capture Adelle's expression of her first taste of mooncake.

We gave here just a bit to try and did she love it! When my wife asked Adelle to share the mooncake, she turned her back on her! And Adelle actually stood up and went further away! So funny! So, anyway here are the pics!

Walkabout

Wife said to wake up early today, so went to bed at 10 pm last night (that's quite early for me). This morning, we went to the weekly Gaya Street Sunday Market. Wife said she wanted to take Adelle to look at animals there. So, we all woke up at just before seven, starting with my wife, then me (woken up by my wife), and lastly, Adelle who woke up by herself. We all got cleaned up and dressed and had a leisurely drive to the Sunday fair.

Adelle has a thing about water, especially water falls and water fountains, so we spent a bit of time at the water fountain. Initially, my wife asked me to take a photo of her and Adelle with the water fountain in the background but Adelle refused. She was contented just standing there looking at the water spouting out from the fountain. After that, we went on our way round the fair.

For those who don't know, the Gaya Sunday Market (or Gaya Fair as the locals know it) is a weekly event, held only on Sundays. Stalls start setting up as early as 5 am and there are hundreds of them. The fair is held at the Kota Kinabalu's oldest, and also most important stretch of road. This is where all the main banks are situated. The two parallel roads leading up and down the stretch of the street are closed to traffic for the fair. So, you have two sides to the fair to explore. Walk down one way, and then turn back and head up the other side. There are lots of things to see, and eat, and buy, from antiques to foodstuff,to flowers, herbs, and yes, animals - all sorts of them. You can get chicken (and their chicks), rabbits, hamsters, white mice, fish, puppies, cats, tortoises, terapins - the lot. So, it's a great place to just bring the family and walk around even if you have no intention of buying anything.

So that's what we did this morning. We stopped at each stall that sold some kind of animal and mummy would point out the animal to Adelle, who'd show great interest in whatever animal was pointed out to her. We stopped by my grandma's and uncle's stall on the way just to say hi before heading back home. So, it was a pleasant morning. But surprising enough, there were not a lot of people at the fair. It's not like there was no one, just not the usual numbers that we see whenever we visit. By the time we got there, it would be considered peak (that's about 7.30am) and the place would usually be crawling with people. But, not today. Wonder why...

Adelle getting the best view of the water fountain.

Let's count how many tortoises there are...

Chicks galore!

See you again next time!

p.s. Oh, went to the PC Fair just now and my computer's performance just got boosted by another 2 gigs of RAM. That should help a bit in the photo-editing department. Yay!

You can't touch this

Adelle knows that some things are off-limits to her, such as power sockets, the computer, wires, spectacles, etc. But, sometimes she needs to be reminded. My wife and I are not always aware of the things she ends up doing especially on weekend mornings when Adelle would already be wide awake and active, and Mommy and Daddy would still be trying to squeeze some extra time to sleep. I usually sleep with my glasses by my side and one fine morning, when both my wife and I were sleeping, Adelle decided to take my glasses and play with it. I don’t know what she did but my specs didn’t look the same after that: the ‘leg’ (what do you call them, anyway?) of one side seemed to be jutting out from the frame a bit. But, apart from that I didn’t see any other damage so I didn’t bother to have a closer look.

It was only much later that I found out that the hinge of that particular leg had broken, held in place only by the screw. I’ve only had the glasses for over a year, so they’re fairly new and I was hoping that they’d last until at least next year. But come Monday morning this week, that leg suddenly decided to detach itself from the frame. Luckily I had a spare. Went to the optician the next day to get another frame (the lenses of my now demised glasses were good so I decided to reuse them) and I went to collect just this evening. The damage? RM130. Not too bad la, but we’ll have to train Adelle again concerning playing with spectacles. Can’t afford to keep replacing them every time she plays with them!

After the optician, we went for a spot of shopping at Parkson at Wawasan Plaza (there’s a Bonuslink member’s day sale today). The wife got some skin care products, Adelle got a t-shirt, and I got nothing, which is okay since I had nothing to buy anyway. We went for dinner at an Italian restaurant after that. We had never been there before. It’s called Grazie, and it’s in the same building as Parkson, but outside. I didn’t bring my camera, so no pictures to show. But the food was quite delicious! My wife ordered a pasta dish (don’t remember the name now) and I had lasagna. We also ordered a large pizza to share (my wife and I are quite big eaters!). Everything was just absolutely yummy and we finished off everything on our plates. After that we had dessert: chocolate pudding. It was heavenly! Melted chocolate lurking underneath a thin layer of soft pastry. Mmmmm…!

The price wasn’t too bad. The pasta dishes cost RM18.80 each, the large pizza was RM23.80, and the chocolate pudding, RM8.80. The place was cosy as well, though a bit dark, and despite the hot day today, the whole place was cool and airy (it’s al fresco dining all the way, absolutely no air-conditioning, well, except for the toilets). Everything was very clean, the toilets were spotless. They proudly show off the 4-star rating they received from DBKK for their toilets!

All in all, Grazie is highly recommended if you’re into Italian food. Too bad there are no pics of the food to share, but of course if you really want, I could throw up and…