Blogging on behalf of Elyss

Sorry to bloggers who visit my daughter’s Elyss’s blog. She’s unable to post anything at the moment. I’m apologising on her behalf. She has been very busy and very worried recently.

For bloggers who are not so familiar with Elyss – she’s my elder daughter.

Elyss went for a check-up recently when her mensus didn’t come on time. She was very positive she was not preggy and she felt very uncomfortable. She went to Pantai Cheras and was referred to a Malay so-called gynae (by the way, her name’s Suriati). After checking on her, Elyss was told by this gynae dat she had a 5x6 cm cyst (a lump with liquid, fibroid's a lump of flesh – sorry Jason, wrong info given to u when we chatted) in her ovary! Gosh! 5x6 cm! No joke, dat was a big one man! The gynae told her dat an immediate operation was to be performed.

She called me on the phone and told me what happened. I advised her to go for a 2nd opinion to be on the safe side. I recommended her to my former gynae, Dr. Ravichandran, in Gleneagles but seemed dat all the appointments were fully booked. She was later referred to a gynae in Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) for a second thorough check-up. After checking on her, the gynae told her there was nothing in her ovary!!!!! What the? Nothing? Yes, nothing! U can imagine the shocks we had. First, we were told there was cyst and needed immediate surgery and then NO CYST.

But Elyss was not satisfied and to be on the safest side, she went for a 3rd opinion. She was recommended by a relative to Dr. Jeremy Chuah (Specialist Clinic for Women) in Bangsar. The gynae did a thorough check on her. A very thorough check – with the ultra-sound showing her the ovary and etc. Her ovary was perfectly clean and no cyst at all!!! And was told dat her mensus will be dued in a few days. She was … speechless! She was so happy and at the same time angry. Happy becos no more worries about the cyst and angry becos dat so-called gynae gave her the false alarm and she was so worried until she had sleepless nites.

How could the so-called gynae do dat to her patients? Is dat a way of earning money? What if she operated on her patients and found nothing? Stitch back and tell the patient, u are perfectly okay, there’s nothing wrong with u? Huh? Or was it the 'egg' dat she saw and thought was a cyst? She could be sued for dat. Tsk, tsk, tsk, how could she be so careless, irresponsible, so ... so ... so ... (aiya, I'm out of words).

Another case was, it happened to a very close fren of mine (Elaine, Destinee’s Kai Ma). She did a check-up in Ampang Putri and was told by a Malay gynae (yes, a Malay again) dat she had a cyst in her ovary and needed operation too. I advised her to go for a 2nd opinion and she was recommended to Dr. Ravi (my former gynae) and he found nothing on her!

Malay gynaes (the young and inexperienced) – do u think we can put a trust in them? I never trusted them (soli lor to any Malay gynaes reading this out there). I'm sure there are some very good and experienced Malay gynaes.

But Elyss does have another problem. She definitely has to go for an operation tomorrow in SJMC. She has a lump near her breast. We will only know the result after the operation. Keeping my fingers crossed and praying hard for her. God Bless U, Elyss, ‘Nam Mo Or Li Toh Fatt’ – never mind, as long as anything dat’s good.

The word "MOMMY"

I have been reading blogs and chatted on how worried mommies are when bb still doesn't call the magic word of 'MOMMY'.

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We always tend to worry about why our bbs are not calling MOMMY and gets frustrated when they call other family members first and not mommy. When is my bb going to call me mommy? I was one of those worried and desperate mommies when Destinee didn't call me first. Every now and then, I would teach her by asking her to look at my lips and say ‘mom ..... my’ but she would stare at me with a blank face ….. sigh ….. But, finally came the day (I’ve forgotten when) when she uttered the word ‘Mommy’ and I was like ‘flying in the air’ and on cloud nine. She finally called MOMMY. Of course I was so happy and kept telling my frens dat Destinee finally called me Mommy!

But now, I sometimes prefer Destinee to stick on calling her pappy or kakak instead and stop calling me every now and then. Some of u must be thinking dat I must be out of my senses when I said dat – frustrated at not being called mommy and now want my gal to stop calling. Aiya, what kind of mommy am I?

Reason is dat I need a break from "mommy, mommy, play with me; mommy, mommy, come sing and dance with me; mommy, mommy, write with me; mommy, mommy, I want this or dat, mommy, mommy 'pau pau' (carry); mommy, mommy, feed me, I don't want kakak'; mommy, mommy, I want u to bathe me; mommy, mommy, I want to sleep with u ….. etc. and even when she wakes up every morning, she’ll be yelling for 'mommy, mommy', when I’m not beside her. Okay, everyone will start saying dat, those should be the work of a mommy, shouldn't it?

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I am a FTWM and sometimes need to bring my work home to do. After a long and tiring day at work, sometimes I just would like to reach home, lie on the sofa, switch on the TV and relax, but this doesn't happen now. Once I reach home and when the door is opened, Destinee will come running and yelling 'mommy, mommy'. I'm sure everyone will say, dat is the most wonderful part, isn't it? I do agree too but dat doesn't end there cos she would be calling mommy every now and then the whole nite – when I am having dinner, watching TV, doing my work, having a relaxed time doing 'business' in the toilet and yes sometimes even in her sleep! When we are in the shopping mall, if she doesn't see me around (when she's with her pappy or kakak), she will be yelling for mommy too. 'Ah meh oi' (gosh), does she really miss me dat much?

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I have this 'mommy, mommy' thingy ringing in my mind even when she's not calling me. Eeeeee …..

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So, mommies out there who have yet to hear ur bb call u mommy, just be a little patient, there will come a day when u will feel on top of the world when they start calling u.

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And beware, oso 'down' of the world (get what I mean?).

CNY - Part 2

CNY – DAY 8

.......... continued from Part 1

On the way back to the Resort, Destinee and Charlett were in their slumberland. Everyone wanted a rest esp. the two drivers (Pappy and Eugene). Left them to have their naps. June, Elyss and I went down to the cafe to have a drink and chit-chat.

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At about 6.30 p.m., we took off again for dinner and decided to go down town again to find something to fill our stomach. June suggested we go to a restaurant called Fat Lee Seafood (if I'm not mistaken) near Renaissance Hotel. She was with her company's trip last year and they had a hearty meal of seafood there. Off we went searching for Renaissance Hotel. We could see the logo on top of the building from far but were 'rounding' to find the hotel. I remembered the last time I came, there were lots of hawker stalls where I tasted the 'Or Chian' (small oysters fried with eggs) but now they were no where to be seen (maybe I'm a bit outdated, the place have been upgraded). Yahoo, finally, we found the place! It was a shop at the corner near Renaissance Hotel.

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We made our orders – Fresh Milk Buttered Crabs (comes with toasted bread), Steamed Patin (fish), 'Kum Heong' Prawns, 'Tau Cheong' (Bean Paste) Lala, Claypot Taufu and Fried Sabah Potato Shoots (ordered 2 plates cos seldom get to eat this veggie in KL). Yummy, yummy ... actually we were 'ngan fut tou jak' (greedy to order everything but stomach's too small), thought we could eat and ordered a lot but in the end couldn't finish the food. Come to think of it when hungry – so wasteful.

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After having the delicious and fulfilling dinner, went rounding the streets and what caught the kids's eyes? FUNFAIR! Cos the lights were so glittering. As we found dat Malacca's quite a 'dead' town at nite, and no where to go, off we went to the Funfair. It was the first time for Destinee and Charlett and they enjoyed every minute of it and didn't want to budge when we said we were going back as it was getting late. We had to 'bluff' them dat we would be back the next day only did they move (bad bad adults, huh?).

CNY – DAY 9

Had breakfast in the hotel again (didn't want to waste the vouchers). Same food again – nasi lemak, fried meehoon, porridge, eggs, sausages, cornflakes, etc, etc, etc. But actually I enjoy taking breakfast in hotels – can choose from the different varieties.

Went back to the room and packed our stuff. Decided to go down town again for the last round. Went to the House of Red – Stadhuys.

After this, we went back to the resort and did our last minute packing. Checked out at about 1.00 p.m. Intended to shop for some local products but just could not find the shop of TKH, so, we drove off to the highway and were on our way back.

On the way, we made a stop at Bro. Tuck's house in Seremban again. Brought back some food from there as the previous nite was 'Tin Kung Tan' and brother had some fried chicken and roasted khinzir for the prayer. Before reaching for home, had a simple dinner at one of the restaurants near my apartment.

CNY – DAY 10
Started work on the 10th day of CNY and everything was as usual. Went to work and back from work. Maid cooked dinner. Her chicken fried with ginger was a failure today. Guess she was a bit nervous with June around (hahaha, sorry June, I think she tried her best oredi).

CNY – DAY 11
Went to work as usual in the morning.

Decided to go to Taman Pertama to have dinner with Thomas, June, Elyss, Elaine and Zindee. June wanted to have 'Bak Kut Teh'. After which Zindee treated us to 'Abalone Yue Sang'. I 'swept' most of the abalone .... slurp, slurp, slurp.



CNY – DAY 12
Decided to 'ponteng' from work today to accompany June before she goes back to Hong Kong. Had dinner at Outback Steakhouse with June, Elyss and Eugene. Tasted the half-done steak ... yucks! I didn't like it. I preferred my usual fish and chips. The bill was on June ... hahaha ... she lost the game of 'siew ming siew ming' which she taught me.

CNY – DAY 13
Had earlier invited Destinee's two Kai-Mas (godmother - Elaine and Zindee) for dinner tonite. Did marketing early in the morning with June. Bought ingredients for making 'Hokkien Mee', 'Yong Tau Foo' for lunch and 'Pan Meen' & Bubur Cha Cha for dinner (all were June's favourite). Prepared the 'Hokkien Mee' and 'Yong Tau Foo' for lunch. I made bitter gourd, brinjals, lady's fingers and 'fu chook' for the 'Yong Tau Foo'. June 'walloped' nearly all the lady's fingers.

At nite, we had 'Pan Meen' and Bubur Cha Cha. The preparation of 'Pan Meen' was really hard work – the ikan bilis soup, the fried onions, fried ikan bilis, the meat + mushroom + black fungus, potato leaves & sawi, and most important was the dough itself. I was glad everyone who attended (Des's 2 Kai-Mas, my neighbour and her family, Elyss's family) enjoyed the meal. And Destinee was only to happy to have received an angpow from Kai-Ma Elaine.

*A word for June*: Dat was the best I could do, June. Maybe the next time, I will prepare more of ur favourite home-cooked food.

CNY – DAY 14
Got up early this morning, June and I went to Elaine's (Des's Kai-Ma) place in Pappy's car. We had earlier made an appointment with Elaine and Zindee to go shopping. Had breakfast in Imbi's market – the famous 'Hoi Nam Char' (Hainan tea) and bread (bun or toast). Elyss joined us later. Shopped our hearts out in Sungei Wang and Lot 10! (Thank u so muchie, June).

Yahoo! Look what I've got from Yiyi (Auntie June) after she went shopping?

Had dinner at Lucky Sin (Restaurant opposite Vista Perdana). The food they prepared were simply delicious. Had a final go for 'Yue Sang'.

CNY – DAY 15
Finally came the day where June had to go back to Hong Kong. Elyss came with Eugene early in the morning. We chose a 'Dim Sum' shop in Sri Petaling to have our breakfast whereby they have this special 'Chicken Nest Pau' which I wanted June to try (I know M'sia's dim sum is nothing compared to HK's dim sum but I'm sure there are lots of varieties where June cannot find in HK). After having the 'dim sum', we headed straight for KLIA.

Wow! So many types of chocolates but (sad, sad) mommy's not buying.

Hee, hee, at last got dis from Jeh-Fu Eugene (Bro-in-law)

I always detest sending someone off - there's always this 'heartaching' feeling. It was so sad dat June had to leave. Seemed dat she just came back and how time flew and she was back for 10 days oredi! We saw her off. Sayonara and see u again next year, June! (actually we contact each other thru Skype everyday or msn whereby I can see her thru webcam but still ..... dunno why there's still this funny feeling of missing her - separation anxiety?).

After sending June off, we went to have our lunch at the Chicken Rice Shop in The Mines. Took Destinee to have her usual 'elephant rides'.

Destinee enjoying her rides

After visiting The Mines, went home to have our nap. Later in the evening, went to Chris's (former neighbour and a close fren) place in Vista Perdana for our final round of 'Pai Nin'.

AND (phew) DAT ENDED THE 15 DAYS OF CHINESE NEW YEAR 2006!

CNY - PART 1

I had been very busy during the Chinese New Year and after getting back to work, busier than what I expected and was very lazy too. Still in CNY mood. Think I better start 'cracking' if not, this blog will become stale news.

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I’m going to summarise the happenings of the Chinese New Year like what Jazzmint did (but I guess my summary will be a long-winded one).

CNY EVE
Went to eldest SIL’s place in Cheras to have reunion lunch. Youngest SIL and Hubby were not around – went for holiday in East Europe. Eldest SIL's daughter, Maggie, and her hubby joined us too. Hubby's family always practise having CNY reunion lunch instead of dinner cos MIL said after lunch we could go our ways either for last minute shopping or whatever we had yet to finish in the house.

CNY – DAY 1

Got up early to prepare ‘chye’ (vegetarian) dishes. Fried ‘chye duck’, cooked ‘chye’ – mushrooms, black fungus, dried water lily buds, glass noodles, long chinese cabbage, ‘meen kan’ (ball-shaped made from wheat flour) with fermented beancurd (lam yue) and fried cauliflower, sweet peas and carrots (forgot to take pics of the dishes). After cooking, brought the 3 dishes to my MIL’s place in Sri Petaling to have lunch together.

After having lunch, Pappy, Des and I went to Corrus Hotel in Jalan Ampang to pick up BIL and family from Singapore.

Helped MIL to prepare dinner. Everyone had another reunion dinner.

Eldest sister-in-law bake a cake for Cassandra’s (BIL’s daughter) 7th birthday. As usual Destinee will find her place in front of the cake. a

We oso had “Yue Sang” for the first time this year.

Destinee received angpows from Pappy, ‘mah mah’ (MIL), ‘ku mah’ (eldest SIL), ‘suk suk’ (BIL) and cousin Maggie jeh jeh (eldest SIL’s daughter). Des had a wonderful time there too – playing with (and bullying) her cousins.

CNY – DAY 2
Went back to hometown to my younger brother’s (Tuck) place in Seremban. The house was packed with my 3 uncles, aunty and 6 cousins (mother's side) and youngest sister (Kuen) with her 2 kids. We had steamboat celebration. We have this trend – to celebrate the 2nd or 3d day of CNY in one of our places. Last year was held in KL – my 2nd uncle’s turn. So, I suppose next year will be my turn. I don’t think my tiny apartment will be able to accommodate sooooo many people.

And as usual Destinee got more ang pows from her grand uncles and and grand aunty.

We left in the evening and went to MIL’s place to have dinner.

CNY – DAY 3
Picked BIL and family from MIL’s house to go visiting. Went to my hubby’s fren’s house in Sungai Long and later visited another fren in Sierra Mas. Had dinner outside, with 2nd round of "Yue Sang".

CNY – DAY 4
Sent BIL and family off to Puduraya in the morning. They went back to Singapore by bus and I was free for the rest of the day. At last, I had the chance to watch my TV programmes. Instead of eating outsite food, fried meehoon and boiled some sugar cane 'liong sui' instead for a change. Destinee's 'Kai Ma' (godmother), Zindee, came with a friend to 'pai nin' and we all had fried meehoon. Destinee got angpows from them.

CNY – DAY 5
Went to my neighbours's houses to ‘Pai Nin’. Destinee collected more angpows.

Prepared food for dinner tonite as my sis June was coming back from Hong Kong. Boiled her favourite ‘Choy Kon’ soup, Salted Chicken, Fried Long Chinese Cabbage with ‘Kum Wah Foh Thui’ (preserved ham for soup), Steamed Chinese Sausages with Potatoes.

We (Pappy, Destinee, Elyss and I) went to KLIA at about 3 p.m. to pick June (arrival of flight was at 5.55 p.m.) She came back alone as her hubby was back to work. We were so excited to see her.

June was glad to have home-cooked food as she doesn’t cook much in Hong Kong and she’s a workaholic. After dinner, as usual we will all ‘blahing, blahing and blahing’. She bought so many things back from Hong Kong esp. the ‘Hoi Mei’.

June got 2 Pingus and Destinee now has 3 Pingus altogether. But Des still prefers her little baby Pingu and she goes to sleep with it.

1 Papa, 1 Mama and 1 Baby – 1 HAPPY PINGU FAMILY!

CNY – DAY 6
Went shopping with June and Elyss at Sungei Wang Plaza. Shopped some clothes for my younger brother’s son and daughters and younger sis’s sons. Searched presents for my brother’s daughter’s 1st birthday which falls on the 4th February.

CNY – DAY 7
Packed our bags. Decided to have Dim Sum in Sri Petaling with Pappy, June, Destinee, Elyss, Eugene (Elyss’s hubby), Charlette (cucu) and 2 maids before we made our way to Malacca. Dropped by brother’s house in Seremban. They (younger brother, sis-in-law and their 3 kids, younger sis with her 2 sons) joined us for the trip to Malacca. So, dat made 17 of us! Went in two cars - Naza Ria and a Proton.

Reached Ayer Keroh's toll station and waited for SIL's fren to direct us to the resort cos nobody was familiar with Malacca. Thank u so muchie for the fren's help. Checked in at Riviera Bay Resort in Tanjong Kling – 2 suites (each suite has 2 rooms). Brother and sister's family were in one suite. My family, June, Elyss's family and the 2 maids were in another suite.

I remembered the last time (many years back) when I was in Riviera Bay Resort, the Resort was still new and and it looked fantastic but now after a few years, the Resort looked a bit 'old' and the rooms were not what I expected – to be comfortable. The outlook still looked okay though. The used-to-be white-coloured bedsheets were oredi yellowish if not getting a little greyish in colour. The beds were squeaking in some parts too. But other than those, everything seemed to be okay.

Riviera Bay Resort

After unpacking our stuffs, we were on our feet and off we went roaming the town of Malacca. The first thing on our minds was Jonker Street (Malacca's Chinatown) esp. the FOOD! We had our Chicken Rice Balls in the famous restaurant located at a corner.

Jonker Street

After roaming Jonker Street and having our Durian Cendol, we went straight back to the Resort. Everyone was tired esp. the kids. At about 9.30 p.m., everyone got ready to celebrate Tuck's youngest daughter, Wei Ying, 1st birthday.

Happy Birthday to u, Happy Birthday to u, Happy Birthday to Wei Ying, Happy Birthday to u!

After tucking the kids to sleep at about 11.30 p.m., left the kids with my youngest sister and maids, the rest went down to town again to a shop, opposite the Seventh Day Adventist Church, to have Satay Celup. It was like the normal steamboat but only dat u dip the stick of stuff into a pot of satay sauce. Everyone had in mind dat whether the sauce was clean or not but no one bothered as it was delicious.

CNY – DAY 8
Had breakfast in the hotel.

Destinee enjoying her breakfast

After resting for a while, off we went to the beach and swimming pool.

The Beach

The Sea

Playing on the beach

Playing in the pool

At about 1 p.m., brother and sister together with their family were ready to check-out. The were not able to join us for another day as the kids needed to attend classes the next day.

One for the album (or for the blog?)

We found our way to Mahkota Parade as I needed to meet up with Jess. Reached the place at about 2.30 p.m. As everyone was hungry, straight to the food court we went.

As I was ordering food, I received a call. Guess who? Ya, it was from Jess. I was so excited when I received her call and I told her dat I would meet her in a short while. We were supposed to meet at the play-place of McDonald. We had to make sure the kids finished their food before we could make a move. After the lunch, brother and sister with their family were on their way to Seremban.

I quickly made a dash with Pappy, Destinee, Elyss and Charlette to the place we were to meet up with Jess. When I reached the place, I called Jess and we were walking towards each other and immediately I recognised her. I was so happy to meet Jess. She was the first blogger I met. Upon reaching the play-place, I saw Wien and Mr. Mok was carrying Lyon. We exchanged angpows for the kids. Jess brought me a box of 'dau sar beng' and a packet of curry paste. Thanks a lot, Jess. We allowed the kids to play on their own while we chit-chatted. Guess the kids were not familiar with each other, so they just played and didn't speak to each other.

Wien jeh jeh with Destinee

Trust dat hubby of mine to forget to take a picture of Lyon ... sigh ...

After chatting for a while, we left as Destinee and Charlette were getting restless. So, we said goodbye to each other and hoped to meet each other again.

We intended to roam Malacca town but the 2 kids were too tired and so we went back to the Resort.

To be continued .........

P/s: Wow, really had a hard time loading the pictures.