In Singapore

I was in Singapore during the Christmas holidays with my hubby, Destinee and maid. We went together with my hubby's family (MIL, youngest SIL and hubby, their 3 children and maid). We stayed in my BIL's (hubby's younger brother) place. Ha, ha, ha, the 11 of us plus BIL and wife, their daughter and a maid. Altogether 15 of us! But luckily his apartment, with 3 big rooms and a big hall, was able to accommodate the whole lot.

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Purpose of going to Singapore was not really for the Christmas celebration but to visit my BIL who shifted to his new place.

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Below are pics taken in Orchard Road during the day of Christmas. Actually wanted to snap some during Christmas Eve but just couldn't find any parking space and the roads were too packed with people.

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People Mountain People Sea

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We went to the Underwater World in Sentosa Island too. The above 'geli thing' caught my attention and decided post here to share with u all. Dat's the Jellyfish with, (I dunno know how many) I think, thousands of tentacles.

Christmas Eve in BIL's house (S'pore)

The following pics were taken in my BIL's (hubby's brother) house in Singapore

during Christmas Eve.

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Dat's Pappy, Mommy and Destinee.

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Kids waiting for their gifts (pai pai chor - sitting in a row) from Santarina Tracy.

From left: Kai Quan - 2 yrs (youngest SIL's son),

Destinee - 3 yrs,

Lum Lum - 4 yrs (youngest SIL's 2nd daugther),

Cassandra - 6 yrs (BIL's daugther) and

Jocelyn - 10 yrs (youngest SIL's eldest daugther).

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Okay say peace before u can get ur gifts.

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Peaceeeee ..........

(Kai Quan and Destinee trying to do the peace sign)

Gifts distributed to the kids but they were getting very sleepy (cos Santarina Tracy wanted them to wait until 12 midnite)

Sleepy heads, wake up for one last snap before u doze off!

A SURPRISE!

I received this box this morning from a courier service company.

I was wondering who sent this to me.

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I didn't bother to check on the sender (cos it was quite blur).

Opened the cover and found a note inside (above)

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Took away the piece of note and found to my surprise (really surprised)

the 'rubbish' inside the box. Actually I hesitated for a while.

I was thinking who could have sent such a 'surprise' to me.

My colleague told me dat maybe someone was trying to be funny.

*What a joke*

Scroll down to find out.

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suspense

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Teng ..... teng ..... teng ..... teng

ddd

Inside the plastic bag were 3 packets of my favourite 'heong beng'!!!!!

I covered my mouth with both hands and

inside my heart I felt so happy and 'gum dong'.

I know who sent me the 'heong beng'.

IT'S U, RACHEL!

THANK U SO VERY MUCHIE!

I really appreciate dat.

LISTEN TO DESTINEE SING

I was arranging my photos folder and found the video clip of Destinee singing.

It was taken a few months back when Destinee was about 2 years and 4 months.

She's still as active as ever, always running and jumping as what was shown in the video clip.

And she loves to sing.

Christmas Wish – Another Tag

To Tag:
– State who tagged you;
– List who you want your Santa Claus to be (the bearer of the gift);
– State the gift you wish to get;
– Then invite a few friends to join the tag, and inform them by dropping a comment in their blog.
Simple, rite?

Tagged by:
– Two Little Fellas’s mom (cos I’m a newbie – why are newbies always victims – arrrgggghhh!)

Santa Claus:
– My Hubby

The gift I wish to get:
– A blank cheque from him (of course signed by him). *fat hopes*

Mommies whom I would like to tag:
– Rachel (Adrian’s and Alvan’s mommy)
– Jesslyn (Wien’s and Lyon’s mommy)
– Sue (Ivan’s mommy)
– Sabrina (Keith's mommy)
– Chanel (Jeriel's mommy)

PASSPORT

Recently I went to the Kajang Immigration Office with my hubby and Destinee to renew our passports and to apply a passport for Destinee. I had been gathering advices and information b4 going to the Immigration Office for fear of being ‘kelam kabut’. Therefore I was very well prepared. Anybody interested, these are the following procedures:

U have to get ready:
1) Two 5.0 x 3.5 cm photographs
2) 1 photastated copy of IC (do not trim – leave it as it is photostated)
3) Original IC
4) Old Passport
5) Be sure to know ur height cos u need to fill in ur height
6) RM300 for 32 pages

Child (under 12):
1) Two 5.0 x 3.5 cm photographs
2) 1 photostated copy of Birth Certificate
3) Original Birth Certificate
4) Photostated copy IC of either parent (mommy’s or daddy’s)
5) Be sure to know the height of ur child cos u need to fill in his/her height
6) Child has to be accompanied by either parent
7) RM150 for 32 pages

Advisable to have 1) and 2) done at the Immigration Office. There are counters providing the services. Be sure to wear dark-coloured clothes (for the taking of the photo). U need to wear a coat provided by the counter if u are wearing light-coloured clothes. Once u reach the Immigration Office, go to the counter (Kaunter Pertanyaan/Borang) to get a form which is RM1.00 each. U have to fill the form (if unsure how to fill, get help from the counter providing the photo session or there will be ppl who will be too willing to help u to fill but with a fee). After filling the form, attach the 2 photographs, 1 photostated and original IC, old Passport and go to/queue up at the counter to get ur Nombor Giliran. The officer will check ur particulars and a number (2 pcs) will be attached.

Find a place to sit and wait for ur number to be called (will oso be displayed on the board). When ur number is announced, go to the stated counter and surrender ur documents. (Destinee has to queue up too as she’s above 2 years but she has to be accompanied by me and so we are able to go to same counter as the special counter is for kids under 2 years old.) 1 pc of the number will be returned to u. Keep the piece of number (do not throw it away). Ur right and left thumbs will be scanned and ur right thumb print will be taken. (Destinee has to go thru the same procedure). Once they are done, u need to be seated again to wait for the number to be announced again. Go to the stated counter (Kaunter Bayaran) to pay the amount. A receipt will be issued – check ur particulars and the day of collection. Child must oso be accompanied by parent to collect his/her passport.

U can oso visit the following website to have a look at the form b4 filling in the original form – www.imi.gov.my/eng/forms/im_forms.asp

I’m not sure if u can use the printed copy of the form from the website cos a bar code will be needed at the top right hand corner and the code will be scanned at the Immigration Office when u surrender ur documents.

COLLECTION OF PASSPORT
On the day of collection, be sure to bring along the receipts and go to/queue up at the No. Giliran counter to get ur number. I showed the Officer-in-charge the 3 receipts (pappy, mine and Destinee) and I told her dat we are from one family and she gave me 3 numbers (attached together). Found our seats and waited for the number to be announced. Waited for about ½ hr before our numbers (consecutively) were announced. The 3 of us went to the Penyerahan Paspot counter. Handed the receipts and the numbers to the Officer-in-charge. She handed us our passports and was asked to sign on a page of the passport. As Destinee didn’t know how to sign, her little righthand thumbprint was printed instead. The Officer showed us a cover for the passport and asked us whether we would like to buy or not. We bought 3 and she slipped the covers into each passport for us. The cover was RM2 each. The passports were finally handed to us (together with the receipts – stamped “Pasport Diserah”).

MAID'S PASSPORT
Another information is regarding my maid’s passport. I haven’t taken my maid to anywhere out of the country before, I’ll be bringing her along to Singapore, so was a bit ‘blur blur’ about whether I should apply a visa for her. Cos there was no “Multiple Entry” printed on her Malaysian visa but on her Indonesian visa, there was “Multiple Entry” printed.

To clear my doubts, I asked a few travel agents and some told me I need to apply and some told me I need not. I took her passport to the Kajang’s Immigration Office to enquire. The answer was “tak pasti” and was advised to enquire from the Indon. Embassy.

My hubby brought the passport to the Indon. Embassy in Jalan Tun Razak and was told by one of the officer-in-charge dat we need to apply a visa for her to go out of the country! Still not convinced with his answer, I made up my mind to go to the headquarters Immigration Office in Putrajaya to enquire.

My neighbour, Christine, was kind enough to drive me to Immigration Office. As we were not familiar with dat place, we made rounds and rounds until ‘phew’ we made it to the place. Frankly speaking, I hate going to government departments.

When I reached the office, I went to the Information counter to enquire and was directed to go to the 2nd floor (maids’ section). On the 2nd floor, there was an Info. Counter, went over to enquire (the person seated there was not sure) and was told to go to the No. Giliran counter to get a number. So, got the number and waited to be called.

My turn came and went to the counter and showed the Officer-In-Charge the passport and asked her what were the procedures if I need to bring my maid to Singapore. She took the passport and flipped thru the pages and answered me with a smile, “Boleh, boleh. Boleh ambil maid ke luar negeri, tak payah buat visa”. Then I said, “Betul ke? U boleh check dengan teliti tak?” In fact I expected her to be impatiently and waited for her to “marah” me but SHE DIDN'T. She showed me the page where the visa was done in Indonesia with the “Multiple Entry” printed and told me, SMILINGLY once again, dat once it was done in Indonesia, the Multiple Entry will not be necessary here. Only when I renew her visa, the Multiple Entry will be entered in the Malaysian visa. So as not to make a fool of myself any further, I quickly thanked her.

Left the the Immigration Office with a RELIEVED MIND. At least I was CLEARED OFF the doubts which had been ‘haunting’ me.

Hee, hee, very long winded, rite?

Destinee's version of "Egg Egg"

I was reading Jess’s blog about Wien asking about the ‘egg egg’ thing and made me recall.

Destinee has another version to the description of the egg egg.

One day, Destinee was watching my fren changing her son's diaper and she was curious and stared at my fren's son 'down there' and quickly ran to me and told me:

Des: “Mommy, mommy, Xian Xian (fren’s son’s name) got two small small ‘ball balls’”.

Mommy: *expected her to ask as I was observing her* “Oh, the two ‘ball balls’ belong to Xian Xian”.

Des: “Mommy, Yau Yau (Des’s name in Cantonese, always referring to herself as Yau Yau and still cannot remember to say I) want ball ball wor”.

Mommy: *Huh?* “Cannot, Yau Yau cannot have the ball balls, they belong to Xian Xian”.

Des: “Mommy, why Yau Yau doesn’t have ball ball”?

Mommy: “Yau Yau”, *at the same time, thinking fast of something* “Boys got ball balls, girls don’t have ball balls”.

Des: “Arr? Yau Yau no ball balls?”. *staring at me for a while* “Yau Yau got ‘pet pet’” *trying to pull her panty down to show me*

Mommy: *quickly pulled her panty up*. “Aiyo, shame, shame. Ya, ya, mommy knows Yau Yau got ‘pet pet’” (she knows about 'pet pet' when she was a little younger).

Des: *went to her box of 'chap pa lang' (mixed) toys and searched for her orange-coloured ping pong ball (once belonged to Pappy but treated as another toy for Des after Pappy got no ‘kaki’ to ‘challenge’ with) and showed it to me* “Nehh …. Yau Yau got one ball ball only wor, Mommy buy another ball ball for Yau Yau lor?”

Mommy: *not wanting to explain further between this ball ball and dat ball ball, I answered “Okay, okay, mommy will buy another ball ball for Yau Yau”.

Dat kept her quiet and she didn't question me further, I expected her to ask me about the 'thing' jutting between the two ball balls. My fren was laughing and I heaved with a ‘sigh’ and glared at my fren. (Fren, if u're reading this, I'll be glaring at u!)

A recent occasion happened when I was reading Egghead’s blog on ‘Playhouse Skywalker – Laundry Boy’ and Destinee was sitting on my lap. I played the Video Clip and Destinee was watching with interest (Egghead, u and ur 5-kap video clip of LS!!!). She started asking me:

Des: “What is dat boy boy doing?”

Mommy: “Boy boy is washing his own swimming trunk.”

Des: “Wah, the boy boy is so pandai (malay words all got from and taught by kakak) can wash his own seluar ar? Yau Yau oso want to wash Yau Yau’s 'katok' (Indon word for panty) wor”.

Des: *watching for a while* “What’s dat 'thing' on boy boy’s two ball balls?”

Mommy: *oh, oh, what I expected her to ask finally happened* “Oh, dat’s called a ‘ku ku jiao’.

Des: *paused for a while,* “Orrr, Xian Xian oso got ‘ku ku jiao’ and two ball balls and boy boy (referring to Little Skywalker) oso got ‘ku ku jiao’ and two ball balls”. *paused again, giggling* “Yau Yau got ‘pet pet’”.

Mommy: *this girl of mine, still remembered what I said* “Ya lor, Xian Xian and Boy Boy are boys mar and so got ‘ku ku jiao’ and ‘ball balls’ lor, and like Yau Yau, girls got ‘pet pet’”.

Des: “Orrr ….” *seemed to understand*

I do wonder if she really understood.

Destinee's attempts at drawing

Teng .. teng ... teng .... teng ..... Destinee's first 'masterpiece'.

Guess what she drew?

Next she went on to draw an apple. Does dat look like an apple or cherry?

Dat's a face (her imagination).

She drew the head and neck of a fren's son.

She said dat's Jai Jai (nickname of the boy) and he has got big eyes and little hair.

Then I asked her, "What happened to his legs?".
She continued to add two strokes down from the neck.
"Huh? Dat's Jai Jai's legs?" I asked.
She answered "Hai keh (Yes), Jai Jai's legs 'hou tuin' (very short) mar.

Kekeke.

Continuation to MY BIRTHDAY

Yesterday should mark the happiest birthday I ever had so far. As early as 12.05 a.m. (7th December), my very long time fren (Elaine) sent an sms message to wish me Happy Birthday. No wonder she’s still my long time good fren.

After dat, I requested Destinee to sing me the birthday song (she was still up) and it went like this “Happy Birthday to U, Happy Birthday to U, Happy Birthday to Yau Yau (her name in Cantonese) *paused* and glanced at me and said *oops, soli, mommy* and continued singing Happy Birthday to Mommy, Happy Birthday to U”. Hee, hee, so sweet of her.

At about 9.00 a.m. went to the Immigration Office in Kajang with hubby, Destinee and maid to collect our Passports. On the way to the Imm. Office, my sister called me from Hong Kong to wish me Happy Birthday. So happy to receive the call from her. Sis, thank you so much for the ‘unexpected present’ – I love it so much (sorry people, dat’s a secret between my sis and me).

At the Imm. Office, we were lucky to find dat there were not so many people. Straight away, we went to the No. Giliran counter to get our numbers. Waited for about ½ an hour for our turns. Finally, we had our Passports collected.

After sending Destinee and maid back home, I reached office at about 11.30 a.m. I was supposed to be on leave yesterday but got no choice as there were a few urgent jobs which I had to finish.

In the office, I had so many wishes from my online buddies (mommies and chatters) too. Thank u so muchie, everyone of u. I started chatting on msn and Boss shook his head (I couldn’t be bothered – dat was the consequence he got to bear for not approving my leave!).

During lunch time, my eldest daughter (Elyss) came. We went to the King’s Confectionery and she bought me a lovely chocolate coating cake. Actually, I opted for a Black Forest or Fruit Cake but they were a bit too big, finally chose a ½ kilo chocolate coating cake instead.

After work, hubby and I went home to pick Destinee and maid and off we went to Restaurant East of Highway for my Birthday dinner. We had Shark’s Fin soup (those who have known me long enough will know dat this is a must dish for my birthday). Besides the Shark’s Fin soup, we had “Kong Nam Sang Meen”, “Hoi Mei Pou” (claypot seafood), “Lotus root fried with celery, fried sotong, black fungus, mushroom” (soli, I forgot the name of the dish) and fruits. Wow, we were so ‘kenyang’ until we had to ‘carry’ our tummies back.



Back home, Destinee was so excited (she’s always excited even the cake and candles are not meant for her) – the cake was on the table and she quickly climbed onto a chair and was facing cake. She was so ever-ready to sing the birthday song and to blow the candle. I put a candle on the cake and had it lighted (imagine if I were to put all the candles on the cake, I bet the cake would be filled with wax b4 I have time to blow them off, kekeke). After the birthday song was sung, and before I could blow the candle, it was oredi blown off by Destinee!

Well, dat was how I spent my birthday. Very simple, rite? Don’t expect any surprises from dat hubby of mine – he’s not the romantic type *sigh* but in a way, I felt contented.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today (7th December) is my birthday! Whoever is reading this will have to sing but with no obligation okay?

*sing* (Cantonese birthday song) “Kung chuk lei fuk sau yi tin chai, hing ho lei sang sun fai lok, nin nin toh yau kum yat, sooi sooi tou yau kum jiu, kung hei lei, kung hei lei”. *clap, clap, clap*

or if u don't know the Cantonese version u can sing "Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to Tracy, Happy Birthday to You". *clap, clap, clap*

Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.

I was supposed to be on leave today. Ya, just becos of my birthday. My Birthday is the most important day of the year to me. Too bad my leave was not approved by the "big boss" so now I'm at my desk working (not wholeheartedly) *doh*

To be continued …….

Getting Started

I know, know, many of you must have been waiting, hee, hee, leher sudah panjang tak? (or is there anyone interested *boo hoo hoo*?). I’ve been considering this and that all the while. Should I or should I not blog? Once I start to blog, I’m very sure I’ll be addicted to it and what if I have nothing to blog about or what if I’m not free to blog? I oso know that my blog will be linked, linked, linked throughout. Omigosh, so many doubtful questions.

I’ve been leaving comments in bloggers’s blogs and I really enjoy reading what they have to relate each day.

I read Zara’s Mama’s blog (Daddy’s Fears) and was asking myself about the questions too but after reading the comments, I felt a little ‘consoled’. What’s there to worry or scared of lar?

Finally, I made up my mind. Instead of commenting in frens's blogs, I have to have my own blog! I want others to read my blog too. I want to share my moments with everyone out there too. I’ve been wanting to blog quite some time ago and have been asking around and everyone of u are such nice people to help me start.

It started one day when I told Michelle that I wanted to start my blog. She asked me what title was I going to give it. Ooops, I didn’t think of that. What? Title? Gosh, I had to crack my brain to work on the title. Okay, anyway, there should be a beginning. I’ll name it Tracy’s Nest and the blog’s tracy-elydes.blogspot.com

Thanks a million buddies! And welcome to Tracy’s Nest.

Good. Today's warming up, testing and getting started only. I’ll start blogging tomorrow cos tomorrow’s my birthday. Yeah! I’ll make dat an event to remember.