Errrr......

Bro reminded me that I haven't been updating, so here I am. However, upon launching this site, I just realised that it has been nearly a month of absence!

Well, what to do? You're beautiful calls and I've been hearing it diligently. But now, I'm slowly, slowly coming back to life, and almost letting go of it. But just one very last thing to do. I'll update when it is ready!

You're Beautiful is my official 'Favourite Drama of 2009'. GMN and HTK were two very interesting characters and the actors made it real. They draw you into their world. It's like making friends with the characters for 2 months, and is really difficult to let go.

However, to defend myself, it hasn't been totally all about You're Beautiful. Work schedule has been extremely tight lately and I've been 'forced' to walk miles daily (and yes, this is to be taken literally). At the end of the day, all I want is to sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Errrr... how come I've this feeling that the Family will not be surprised???

Updates???

Errr, not really. I must admit that I'm a terrrrrible at updating. There are just so many hours in a day and I'm more into reading/watching/listening than writing (or typing). My current obsession is 'You're Beautiful'. Hubby can't understand it, and neither can I, but every week, I can't wait till every Wed/Thu or Thu/Fri when the synopsis and subs come out... Sometimes, I even watch it raw, even though I don't understand most of the dialogue. Bless all the subbers of YAB!!! Speaking of which, there is still Ep 8 to watch with subs...

Mr Octopus

I don't know what I'll find each day when I come back, I need to check her wall of fame... Ok, this is pretty new, just a few days old.

Rachel says that it is an octopus, but I can't really see which are the tentacles. Go figure...

EDIT: Rachel says that the coloured thingys are the tentacles, and if you look carefully, you should find 8. The pink and black stripes thing is a shell, which the octopus picked up for his friend, the hermit crab. Below it, is a tooth...

Skating shoes

This was done a few weeks back but then I've been neglecting the updating part.

This picture need some clarification. It is a skating shoes, and it also has a booster function that the wearer can use when he/she needs to run away from bad guys. (The three orange things at the back). The yellow thingy at the top? It is a light, to shine your path at dark places. All the other things also has a 'practical' function, but you have to ask Rachel herself.

By the way, it is supposed to read 'Drawn and Coloured' by: Rachel (the l is below Rache) but due to lack of space, it is written thus...

Cold weather

Recently, Rachel told me, "Mummy, Sky told me that she is feeling very cold. She cannot stand already... Mummy, look, she's shivering. Sky so poor thing."

So I dig around the drawer and finally found an old t-shirt that Rachel has outgrown and somehow didn't make it into the clothes bag to be brought up north. Aren't I lucky???

She showed Sky to Daddy and dear hubby had to tell her "Wow, Sky has clothes, why isn't Sandy wearing any?" I was like "Hubby!!!!!!!! why do you have to tell her that!!!!!

Due to that, I have to search all over, and Voila!!! found a really, really old shirt stuck somewhere. So that tells you how good my memory is... No comments allowed regarding my organisation skills though. But I did tell her that's the limit. All the other doggies have fur, so they don't need clothes.

She showed me a surprise today. Ta-da!! She found some pants for Sky and Sandy.

Special ROBOT

This is a special robot by Rachel. She drew it herself and coloured it all by herself too. She did ask Gong gong how to spell the title though.

According to the artist, the robot is being chased by some bad people. It is trying to run away to safety. The bad people is the colourful teardrop shaped thing. By the way, if there are queries, please ask her, comprehend?

1st scraped knee

Yesterday, Rachel got her first scraped knee. As she is so 'po peh' she was crying off and on the whole day. She told me that she only cried a little in school, but she started crying a lot when she reached home. I asked is it that she was afraid that her friends will laughed at her if she cried a lot? She replied that she only got very little tears in school, but once she reached home, her tears detected home and started to produce a lot.

Only at home did the pain became super painful, until she cannot stand (start the background music, please) so she cried. But when it was not so painful, and she could stand it, she stopped. But the pain became so painful again that she cannot stand.. you must understand that it's not that she wanted to cry but just that she cannot stand... (yeah, yea...)

That's also the reason why she cannot walk, cannot do her homework and most importantly, cannot bathe...

This morning, being day 2, we asked her whether is she going to school.... She replied that after she finished considering, she thinks that she better stay at home...

Dragger machine

This is the latest model of dragger machine. This model has been reinforced at the top. Its special power is it can drag heavy things and can shift tall buildings too. It helps the doggies to move things to the correct places.

Dainty Sky

Look at how dainty Sky is. Somehow, it reminds me of those European ladies in their walking dresses with parasols in their hands and teeny weeny hats on their heads.

Pretty, if I may say so myself >.<

PS. If you don't get it, the dog is called Sky. Sometimes, it is a boy dog, sometimes it is a girl dog, depending on Rachel's mood. There is another called Sandy, but she don't go too well with pink...

EDIT : Rachel says that Sandy insists on taking a picture with the flower too..

Now this flower is for a certain achi-ponek girl up north. There are many more, bigger ones made using wool yarn. But I didn't take pictures of those. Maybe I'll do it one of these days....

Birthday Card 2009

I received a birthday card from my darling and my dear. This card took a lot of tears to make as the first one daddy drawn Waggy's nose oval, not round... sigh, tak boleh harap punya daddy... As it was near Rachel's bedtime, she got cranky and threw the card away... It was the next night that she remembered and drew a new one. The next night, I worked late and they drew the pictures and coloured it. They are so sweet.

See, there are even presents from Sky and Sandy... and the handbag is Rachel's present to me. That is all Rachel's writing, with exception of 'and Daddy'...

Weaving machine

There is a new weaving machine in Music Land. When you feed in grass, it will weave animals. All types of animals can be woven. The more grass you put in, the bigger the animal. After the animals are woven they make music and will dance all day long. According to Rachel, Music Land is on the highest level and the music can be heard from 10 feet far away.

Rachel has photostated 2 copies of the access card to Magic Land, Fairy Land and Music Land. One for Daddy and the other for Mummy. So nice of her, isn't she.

Tiiger

We have a new family member (no, not the one in Penang...) His name is Tiiger... he is cute, with stripes and a short tail. He always want to go where his older brother and sister go, like their midnight school, but he is still still too young to go to school. Rachel told him not to worry, she'll start teaching him at home first, and when he learned enough, she'll send him to school.

Here's the family photo.

The monster dolls wants to join in too.

Just realise that Paws, Honey, Coral and Flower Daisy are not in the picture

Actually, Tiiger is a pencilbox but Rachel says that it is too cute to be a pencilbox. She wants to hug it to bed at night, so I stuffed it up. Just don't unzip it!!! Sarah will be having the lion pencilbox that Grandma bought.

Crochet - completed vest

Finally, the vest is completed, thanks to the 5 day stay in Bangi for training. As I didn't want to go exploring, I stayed in the hotel room once training is over. The training was one of the best technical type training that I've ever gone through but that is another story.

So had time (lots of time) on my hand to do some crochet-ing. I was limited by my aching hand and my short attention span. As for my own piece, I think I'll put it off for now.

Magic Land, Fairy Land and Music Land

According to Rachel, Magic Land, Fairy Land and Music Land resides in this building (however I suspect that in the end, more lands may be in there). To enter the building, you need an access card. As only she got the access card, hence, only she can go in there. To get an access card, you need to go to the building early (at 1 o'clock) to apply for one. Then after that, you've got unlimited access. By the way, access is limited to children only.

A flying spacecraft is coming near you

There is a new spacecraft flying somewhere near you. The aliens are our friends, can you see one of them at the entrance wellcoming you to their home? HINT : it is next to the two upside-down green triangles.

PS. YeeYee, according to the artist, the black triangles at the bottom is the space alien force to make more energy to lift it up the sky.

Mooooooooo

I feel somewhat bovine. I just came back from an errand in town and had to drive myself (sob, sob).

You know how cows move? They tend to meander across the pasture, without a care about the cows at the back, stop when they want to, slow down, speed up, turn left, turn right at whim? Well, that's how Malaccan's drive. They have no notion of which lane is the fast lane, signal knob and the back mirror are just where they hang decorations or amulets.

In order to practice zen life, I have to suit their pace instead of screaming &*^&%$#% and racking up my blood pressure.

Orange teeth monster

Yup, Rachel is now officially an orange teeth monster, just b'cos she had her 1st cavity filled. Do you know that you can actually choose the colour of the filling? She chose orange and decided to be an orange teeth monster.

I noticed a small hole in her molars and wasn't sure what to do. Luckily managed to convince her to go to the dentist. As we didn't made appointment, had to wait for some time, but it proved to be a day of blessings for us. She got a very gentle dentist, who explained the procedures to us, and then explained it again to her, step-by-step. So, it was quite a pleasant experience, which was good!

By the way, the filling is just a small hole. But if Rachel is happy to be an orange teeth monster, who am I to disappoint her? Just had to inform her that she is not supposed to collect teeth filling of various colour. One is enough!!!

Dr Tan informed us that as Rachel's upper jaw is recessed behind the lower jaw, she couldn't bite properly and advised us to think about getting a splint. We found out later that it will cost RM700+, so are still thinking it over as Rachel will need to wear it continuously for 3 months, and the effect may not last when the permanent teeth erupts. It is not so much the money but whether the money will go to waste if Rachel would not wear it.

I'm trying to get a second opinion later this week, whether it is best to wait until her permanent teeth erupts or do a 2-stage reconstruction.

PS. why am i posting so much now? Well, I'm not telling... >-<

Tire punctured by a spannar

Have you ever heard that a tire can be punctured by a spannar, and mind you, this spannar is in good condition i.e. not broken or anything?

Well, I believed it as it happened to me this morning. Today, as usual, I was just driving to work when I heard some clanging sound and then silence... I stoped the car and went looking round the car, all seems fine but somehow, I didn't feel good. So, I decided to drive back home, to be sent to a mechanic later.

However, a cyclic sound (very familiar, as I heard it before) was heard, so I found a parking spot to turn into (well, can't be stopping around St John's Road right? The coming cars might just crash into me.) This time, I found the culprit. A spannar was stuck right into the tire, with just 5 cm jutting out... Called hubby and papa for back-up. Hey, I know what I'm capable of, and trying to loosen the nuts of the wheel isn't one of my stronger points.

Well, this spannar cost me over RM300. Had to change 2 tires and all the alignment work, blah, blah, blah. Pity, I didn't think of taking a photo of the spannar. But looking on the bright side, at the shop, found out that another one of my tires is badly worn out, so it is good that I went there today. I must admit that ever since I came back to Mlk and stopped driving 300km/week on the NS highway, I've not been diligent in looking after the car....

PS. the previous time was a key, those blunt ended padlock keys.

Crochet update 2

Just to update that the crochet vest is coming along... albeit very slowly. Reason? Well, need to spend more time with Rachel.

Rachel is 5

Yup, she is now officially 5 years old a week back. See, this is one of the post that was delayed.
Whew, what a relieve that finally candles on both cakes have been blown and cakes eaten. Since last year, there are 2 cakes i.e. one for the school and another for home.
Thank goodness that a 2kg Italy Bakery cake cost only RM87, which is the same as the one small cake from Secret Recipe.

The power of Power Puff Girls!

Somehow, this years' celebration was a little rush as Hubby wasn't feeling well a couple of weeks before the birthday, so I had to run around myself. After buying the junk food for the party packs (Yes, it is a practice in her school that for a kid's birthday, the kid's family will prepack some junk food for her friends), Rachel revealed that her friends gave party packs to the kids in all 3 year-5 classes. Initially, I didn't want to give to everyone, but since it doesn't really cost that much, so gave in in the end. She was very happy to hear this, and mentioned that she will have to tell all her friends again, as initially she told that only those in her class will get the party packs.
Her birthday was on Sunday, and her school celebration was on Friday before, and I happened to be on leave. I was supposed to collect the cake at 9.30am so that will be in time for tea break at 10am. Well, I left on time, and finally found a parking spot, just to realise that I left the receipt at home. Rushed back and fumed all the way at Malaccan drivers (don't get me started here!), and got the cake to the school 5 minutes late. Took some pictures with her best-friends, girl-friends and boy-friends, and all was well.
This year's celebration has a few firsts
* first time Rachel got a parcel addressed to her name - Yi-yi's present came on time! She got a sticker book and a power-puff 2 piece dress, but Yi-yi, Rachel is only 5, and small sized too, so why you buy dress for 6 years old???
* Rachel wanted surprise present, so Mummy and Daddy had to rush out during lunch to buy presents for her. In a way, it is good to shop in Melaka, as the limited availability of toys make it easier to choose.
* first time I had to count and re-count the amount of junk-food and sweets (oh yes, let's spread the cavities around), as I needed to pack for 65 packs, and junk food comes in quantities of 24, 40 or 50 pcs/packs per big bag!

I'm so happy that this is finally over... oh wait, there's another one in 12-months time...

Even Slower than Normal Updates

Yup, updates will be even slower than my normal snail-ly (if there is such a word) pace. The main reason is that I've limited access to the comp/internet for the past few weeks. Only an hour or so daily. Then, minus out all the time for reading interesting article and that updating this site is not at the top of my to-do list, there is absolutely no time for updating. And I don't like to be hurried whenever posting, blah, blah, blah. But you know what may help??? A laptop or a netbook ! Then I'll have access to the net even when I'm over at in-law's house. Yes, it has been confirmed that the Wifi over here can beam across the few houses.

HINT! HINT! HINT! by the way, PC Fair will be here soon, and if need be, I can be persuaded to accept an early birthday present, a COMPAQ laptop with at least Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor, 2-3 DDR2 RAM, 320GB hard drive, well, integrated graphic card will do, don't need a dedicated card, but if you insist, well then... btw, higher grade processor, ram are also welcomed... HINT! HINT! HINT!

PS. If you don't get the hint, it is ok. Just talk to me; I'll knock it into your head with a club.

Crochet project update 1

On some days, it just seems that nothing goes right. I finally finished the front part of the crochet vest (i checked that it was suppose to be a vest), and started on the back piece. This design consists of 4 pieces; back, front and two sides. So, I started on the back piece and found out that for some reason, the tension is now looser... I guess, my hands got used to crocheting. So I thought to put the first piece on the back and see how to fix it up. Then, I realised that the earlier piece is missing one set of pattern. And if you know crochet, there is no way to fix it back! Aaaaaagggghhhh... then I thought what the heck, just start on the side piece first, then after 4 lines, found out that I accidently added one more stitch in the previous line.

That was Monday. I have not resume any of it yet... hoping for the tension to go back to earlier version...

The only happy person was Rachel, who got to unravel the side part.

Next project : Crochet

I was going to start a crochet blouse for myself. Unfortunately, the project got derailed. Rachel saw a picture of the little girls in the crochet design book and said that I've got to make her a blouse first, before starting on mine.... sigh... So, I compromised with her, by choosing another pattern that is simpler and cuter.

Sweetie

Guess what, Nina have a new friend. Her name is Sweetie, because she is soooo sweet. This time, it was easier to make Sweetie due to prior experience. I took around 4 days, part time fashion to complete it. I was going to add some of the pink flowers but Rachel says that then she will be too pretty for a monster...

Here's Nina with her new friend...

Here's how Nina actually looked like while in the process of being made. I just want to point it out that the eyes and mouth actually were in the correct position before stuffing. Dunno why after stuffing, it all became loopsided.

Next project???

I think that I've finished up my crafts mood and ran through my patience quota. Not really interested in picking up any thing... but the thing is, I'm also super bored... sigh, I've finished re-reading the Hobbit. So next on the list is the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. And if you've gone through it, you'll know that it is not an easy read, even after 4 or 5 times. Even all 7 books of Harry Potter is much easier.

Or I can
a) watch Black and White... not too interested in the storyline, but one of the better Tdrama I've seen. At least it makes some sense.
b) watch Mr Brain, but however good Takuya Kimura is, it seems like a re-hash of Hero.
c) finally watch First Shop of Coffee Prince (KDrama). I heard that it is a good drama, but somehow, I've been putting it off. Dunno why. Noticed that I've got Tdrama, Jdorama and Kdrama all lined up? Go figure.
d) go make more monster dolls. As Rachel says, I've still got lots of the fabric. So if I do, we'll end up with more pink monsters. Or, I can send the cloth to sis, so that she can go and make one for Sarah... hahahaha, my brilliance sometime do blind me??? Hey, I can't be the only siblings with a death wish, right Sis?

Flower Daisy

Hi I'm Flower Daisy. I am a flower doll. I was born on 10 June 2009. Don't believe me? See my official birth certificate!!!

as written by Rachel Koh

For all it looks, this doll gave me loads of trouble. Deceptively, it started off easy with the hair. So I thought, okaaay, first couple of steps done. The bodice was also do-able, but I made it a little bit too low cut, so had to stick it back on. Hey, this is meant for kids, okay...

But the challenge finally arrived in the form of the skirt. The instructions says that you're supposed to stick the skirt to the doll with the double sided tape provided. Buuuttttt.... they didn't inform you that the double sided tape had a super duper high affinity towards the paper part, rather than to the fabric. Furthermore, it doesn't help that the fabric was extremely flimsy. So there I was the whole night struggling to peel off the paper and the whole tape keeps coming off. Finally, my patience ran thin and enough was enough.. time to call in the big guns! A proper needle and thread, to sew it on!

Well, you're supposed to tape the ribbon over the flower skirt and flowers on the shoulders too, but what the heck, I just PVA glued the whole thing.

The last straw was the fairy wings. The PVA glue was to be used to stick on the hair and the glitter onto the wings using the design template provided. But somehow, I wasn't really thinking things through that day, and used paper underneath it to minimise messiness, instead of plastic sheet... so guess what? The glue seeped through the wings and stuck onto the paper. So I ended up with paper stuck wings! Now that I think about it, it really looks funny. I can laugh now, but I certainly wasn't in any laughing mood that day! Ha! I managed to salvage it by washing away the glue, glitter and paper.

The most important thing was, I managed to convice Rachel that glitter will not stick permanantly to the wings and will shed throughout the house. Then, Grandma will not allow the doll to sleep with Rachel.

All in all, it does look ok.. >_<

Nina

Meet Nina the Monster doll. As a Monster doll, that is why Nina looks the way she does. She has mismatched eyes, a bright orange nose and sewed on mouth. However, Nina likes to look pretty too. That's why she has a red flower on each hand and on its left ear also. She also love her sparkly blue buttons!

Nina belongs to Rachel and she loves Rachel a lot b'cos
* Rachel picked out the colour of the material, agreed upon the flower decoration and the blue buttons.
* Rachel helped mummy to stuff Nina up.
* Rachel named her Nina.
* last but not least, Rachel loves her.

Nina is supposed to have siblings but mummy is not up to it. Let's see after half a year...

Rachel's Lego

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll try to put up if possible, Rachel's lego creation. This was done last night. According to her, it is a building, but I don't think that it should be built anytime soon.

Here are various views of the same 'building'

The green thing on the left is a tree, while a pyramid is on the right

PS. This should be one of the last post for the time being... last of the spurt, unless, of course, I feel like posting, >_<

Sun catcher

Here goes another previous project. (hehehe, as sis says, I tend to post in spurts ^-^). These few were completed sometime ago. Not too bad, but a tad tedious as I can't just pour the beads onto the segments. I need to use a needle to place each individual bead in its place. Well, as we can't change our character, I'll just have to suffer through it....

This is the first one that I ever did. Can you believe that it was bought in a pet shop in Penang (2007)? Yeah, of all the things to bring back from Penang, and we had a trying time keeping 2 pairs of small hands from helping.


I believe that this was also bought in Penang (2008) also from the same aquarium place. This is easier as the beads are bigger and I convinced Rachel that we should not start on it until we reached Melaka. The smaller hands are now bigger and more difficult to placate... hehehehe, but she's still the cutest, right, sis?

This should be the latest. I've sworn off doing any of these beads again, unless,
a) I'm absolutely bored
b) have absolutely nothing else that I can think of doing.
c) there is nothing else in the shop that I can buy or interested in
d) Or, if Rachel somehow managed to convince me that we are absolutely in a dire need to add to our collection. Hmmm, not very likely as she would rather me doing some other things.

Rachel abstract art

Okie, here's another piece. This is quite recent, just finished 2 nights ago. She drew the lines herself, but requested mummy to help her to colour it, since "my hand is tired and mummy must help me, right? When mummy is tired, I also got help mummy." (drama, drama).

Most of the big spaces coloured by her. Just help her to fill up the smaller squares & triangles. The white spaces at the border is purposely left white as she says she didn't draw anothing there.

Fairy painting

Another project that I completed a few weeks ago. This is another item from 4M (we are fast becoming ardent supporters of 4M products). This piece is easier than it looks. All I've to do is to mix the colours and paint! Simple isn't it? but with the additional help that I have (Mummy, I KNOW how to do it, I know how to paint!) things become a little bit more interesting, like how to cover-up the yellow spot that dropped onto the lower right wings. Unfortunately with the paint that was provided, cannot hide it well. I actually wanted to touch it up a little bit more, but Rachel feeling a little bit left out, was impatient to hang it up NOW!

Rachel's art craft

Now we have Rachel's art. She is quite creative in her own sense. And her 3D view is better than mine. Maybe the next time when she create her robot or monster from Lego or her other blocks (she has 3 different types of blocks!), I'll remember to take a photo and post it up too. She's also quite adept at using tape (lots of tape) to turn simple odds and ends into some toy or items that she can play with. However, she tends to give her grandma headache when she remove all those tapes and stick them to the floor. And I've not started with all her notes that she stuck to the walls...

What do you think?

PS. She is quite excited to see her own art appear on the internet.

Be Happy!!!!

I am pretty (Rachel's caption not mine)

Fan (She stuck an ice-cream stick onto the Mandala that I made and turn it into a fan. If you notice, she did some of the colouring too)

Mermaid - plaster cast

These are plaster casted mermaids from 4M. Looks easy but ended up not too easy. Although the plaster powder that was given can make a few molds, but only the first time worked. All the other times, somehow, I dunno what I did, but it could not hold together, becoming powdery. And being the first time, I couldn't gauge the time it starts to set (very quickly within a few seconds of pouring) and the viscosity even gets higher by the time I pour into the last mold. So, there were a few air bubbles trapped in each. Initially I thought that I'm going to abandon this set but as the other sets didn't work out... well, too bad. Included are acrylic paints and you need to mix the colours to get the secondary colours. Not too bad, I'd say. Hehehehehe...

Individual pics

Mermaid on treasure chest

Mermaid playing the harp

Mermaid playing with the fish

Mermaid on the surf

Mermaid with the pearl



Mermaid with the shell