洗衣機。Washer。

偶爾長途車，我和他會聊天聊整路，

那天，就聊了兩個話題。。。

一，洗衣機

二，語言

先說洗衣機好了。。。

因為，很多年了，我一直用著frontload 式的，

然後，大約十年，壞了。。。

因為要搬家的原因，所以，暫時的用著topload 式的。。。

對，我知道，市面上很多很多的人，朋友啊！sales 啊，都會說，topload 沒有frontload 的洗得乾淨，而且對衣服不好。。。

也對，洗得乾淨與否，我有待參考。。。

一，多年，我用frontload 的，我的白色衣服什麼的，還是變成黑黑的一噠噠的。。。

二，frontload 的有問題的話，問題會很大。

anyway。。。

忘了，還是用英文好一點。。。因為，和他談話的過程，我倆是用英語的。

it started as... I was telling him about my conversation with my friends, regarding topload washer vs. frontload...

as I mentioned that,

I've decided to go for toploader,

1. I don't have to buy special type of detergent, ie. lowsuds,

2. I don't have to bother about mold building up at the rim, yes, the sales also advise me to dry the rubber rim, if frontloader, after every wash...

3. I don't have to let the washer rest in between cycles, yes, I read from somewhere, to prolong the lifespan, it's better not to wash back-to-back... as in, in between loads/washes, let the washer rest for a while... problem is,

4. frontloader! one cycle is VERY long!

5. yes, frontload washer's more expensive than topload washer...

my friend then mentioned one point,

she'll go for european brand for her next  washer... hahaha!! she can't wait for her current washer to kaput, that, she said, she'll get an european brand... ie. for frontloader...

while, she believes that toploader, go for japanese brand, cos, japanese is best at making topload washers!

all... I agree...

then, throughout our conversation, I came out with a conclusion...

hahaha! generally, yes, europeans like using frontloaders,

and have no problem with frontloaders..

which in a way is true... cos, I guess... due to the geographical location and climate, they don't have loads and loads of laundry to clear, in a frequent basis...

that's part of the reason, I guess...

while for me,

I like to do laundry, and in this climate, we have more clothes piling up everyday,

and of course, more of other household linen too...

that, I think, a topload washer serves me better... cos, I don't have to worry about the load, (ya, you can't quite overload your frontloader...)

though, you also can't really overload your toploader, but the performance will tell straightaway, cos, the drum won't turn...

then, at present, most topload washers are "high performance", ie. inverter, power saving, water saving, and all sorts of beat styles...

so, I guess, for my daily need, I will be able to use a toploader more efficiently...

and yes, a toploader does more harm to your clothings... while a frontloader is more gentle...

for cleanliness wise, I don't think so...

cos, for the past few years, using a frontloader... my white shirts are kinda black now...

so, I told him...

for frontloader...

long wash cycle, I can endure...

watch the load I put in, I can endure...

dry the rubber rim after the wash, I can endure...

there's only one thing...

if we were to go for frontloader... then, he cannot expect me to let it rest between cycles... there'll sure be 1 or 2 days in a week, that, I'll do washes, load after load... and that he's to prepare to change a washer every 4 to 5 years...

yes, if you go to the electrical shops and ask those sales, that's what they're going to tell you...

ie. if your washer can last you for more than 5 years, it's good enough...

well, I pay more for a washer, that last me less than 5 years, and I pay less for a washer that may even last me for 20 years...

plus, without all the "concerns" that I really don't want to be too bothered...

therefore, I reach a conclusion to myself...

that, I'll go for a toploader...

period...

(as of now... kekeke!)

she cries~~

the other day, it's PTM (Parent-Teacher-Meeting) in her school... so, I went, and chatted with her form teacher...
generally, and overall... she's fine... except...
teacher mentioned that, she's rather emo, and cries easily...
most of the time, she'd cry, before telling others what the problem was...
and the form teacher would try to calm her down and get her to speak out first, before CRYING~~~
I mentioned to the teacher that, she's been pretty emo since she's born... and that's what I've been telling her too... before cry, speak first...

on the way back, I asked her why she cries so  much in the school...
then, I said this...
why don't you cry at home, and then, when you go to school, you don't cry...
guess what this girl say? I mean... guess how she responded???

she said,
If I cry at home, you'll scold me...

ok... now, I get it,
you choose to cry, and you seem to enjoy it...
cos, at home, if you cry, I'll scold you, so, you choose to do it at school...
ie. you cry, by choice...

hm... what type of mentality is this????
ya, my girl...

Oh, St. Luke

my father had a surgery this morning...

his pelvic bone fractured, and that, he's to do some adjustment,

let's skip the details...

so, I was asking my younger brother, which saint to pray to...

St. Luke, it is...

I was very worried, and I am, currently, staying quite a distance from them, and that, I'll not be able to be there, in time when they need me...

luckily, for my younger brother, that, he's there to monitor and upate me on everything...

Praise to Lord!

I was worried, very worried, (of course, one's going to tell me, not to worry... in a way, I understand, but of course, I'm worried, after knowing the risks...)

so, I prayed...

the whole of last night, thought I was tired...

I was stressed too... due to the stressful driving on the road, daily...

yes, housewives can be stressed too, that's something that most people will not get it...

anyway,

so, I prayed...

I prayed to St. Luke...

I couldn't find much information on the catholic.org website...

but I found this,

and I guess it's alright...

anyway, it's between God and I, there's no right and wrong... I supposed...

I put my faith in Him,

and I prayed...

St. Luke
Most charming and saintly Physician, you were animated by the
heavenly Spirit of love. In faithfully detailing the humanity of
Jesus, you also showed His divinity and His genuine compassion
for all human beings. Inspire our physicians with your
professionalism and with the divine compassion for their patients.
Enable them to cure the ills of both body and spirit that afflict
so many in our day.
Amen

Japanese food... why??

each time, when I meet up with friends who just came back from japan, I'll ask them if the food is so good so good... ^_^, and each time, when I asked them, they'll give me that “super yummy”, type of look, when talking about japanese food...

same food, simple, for eg. Just a simple shoyu udon, it just taste so good...

so, I talked about this with him the other day, why??? why is it that good, whenever we're there, the food,

just a simple gyu-don, for example,

well, maybe it's due to the weather, but then, not so, if it's the same cold weather, in UK, or in Australia, it will not give us the same “umph”...

why??

he then told me one very important clue, I guess,

the clue!!

it's the portion,

japanese food, served in japan, not too big, not too small, just right!!!

I don't know how to really put it in reality, maybe just a little bit more, it'll spoil the so-called “portion”, the size...

we all know that, generally, the portion's smaller than the rest of the world,

when we get a drink, for eg. A starbucks coffee, over here, it's medium, over there, it's large,

same as their cake, the portion is always 1 size smaller...

so, his point is,

the portion is not obviously too small, but after you have it, you feel that, you just want more, cos, it's just right, it's just good, but then, you won't take another one, you know why?? it's not cheap, wahahahahahaha!!!

so, it's the price vs. portion thing...

which, I think, it's been overlooked in other parts of the world...

where you know... if it's in UK, or it's in Australia, the portion, will always be HUGE!!

which, will defeat the purpose,

and when it's in the country where I'm residing, the price... will be just enough, for us to get a second helping...

but that's not the case in japan...

so, whatever you put in your mouth, the portion is just right, and you'll just have to feel super grateful with whatever you're eating, cos, you're not going to get a second helping...

and of course, the weather kinda help...

I've not been to japan when it's summer,

I'm not sure if... in a hot weather, their food will taste particularly good or not... but then, japanese has their own summer food, that's one of the key thing... they've seasonal food,

so, in summer, you may have the cold soba, running down in a bamboo tube, cold water...

one thing, they don't mind eating their food cold!!!

which, I came across an article, about carbo... (just let me side-track a little bit!)

apparently, the best carbo's still rice, or potato...

but, you've to eat it cold...

and, THAT's how japanese have been eating their food, ie. COLD!!!

which, again, other parts of the country will not do that...

(or probably only scandinavian!)

until, in the near past, the taiwanese introduced hot food to them, ie. Microwave your rice, microwave your whatever... then only they started to eat it hot, then, only they hm... started to overuse the microwave... then... hm... there seemed to be an increase of health problem nationally??

FORD SERVICE CENTRE, PJ, my experience

ok... this is supposed to be told, half year ago... it's my experience, half year ago, in the service centre, PJ...
my car is old, >7 years... to a lot of people, it's old, but to me, it's still... ok... cos, during my parents time, it's 15-20 year-old car, IS old!!! anyway,
so, I sent it in for a thorough service and checkup, and maybe, to replace something, if I need to...
1. after nearly 1 day of waiting, with my kids tagging along (cos, I'm a fulltime housewife), they told me, this is just round 1 service, thorough checkup was not done yet! And I gotta bring the car back to the centre ONE MORE TIME, for thorough checkup... so, on that day, I've no choice but to take back my car, and I gotta call in again, to arrange for another day...
thus, I did...
so, I sent in again, and they told me, this and that, bla bla bla, needed to be changed...
then, the service officer told me this,
2. she said, “why don't you bring your car to other service centre, the price will be halved!”, I was like... err... I've already sent my car here, and you know I'm dragging my 2 precious peas, do you think, it's so convenient, and so easy for me to simply go anywhere to get my car serviced?? I came here for a solution... but I know she meant to be good, so, I didn't retaliate, but then, I thought, it's kinda... weird... and she even gave me a contact number...
3. after I left the car for thorough checkup, I left, and it was a holiday season, so, I didn't quite need the car, but I left a message, where, if there's anything need to be changed, please call me back to let me know, the parts, and the price... and she never call back, and you know what? It's difficult for me to call in too... the phone's forever... NOBODY picks up... anyway, I've no choice, but to call in... and I called... and I managed to get her... guess what??
she told me, bla bla bla, ie. Price and parts...
then, I said, “go ahead, please change for me, thanks!”, and guess what she said???
“wow!! you're rich!!”,
again, my OS was like... #T%$@&%*#&%$%@#$!#@$ what do you expect me to do?? too expensive, and I gotta take back my car, and send to somewhere else?? I told her, I expect the centre to be a 1-stop solution centre for me...
anyway... I have to INSIST that, I'll leave my car to be serviced, fully!!! then, she's scared that this will be too expensive for me and that I'll complain later... and that, she's to get a black and white from me...
ok ok...

in the end, yes, I did have my car serviced, and parts changed... buti then, this experience was like... kinda... frustrating and weird....
sigh...

BAD DREAM, MISSING... ERR... P L A N E...

ya... honestly, eversince... I've this phobia... therefore, when he said he's a business trip in the coming month, asked if I'd like to bring the kids along, after some worrying and thinking... I told him “nope”...
you know, right after the incident, we'd our family trip to osaka, and I was super duper worried... prayed so hard...
I told him, if it's me alone, I'm fine, but with the kids, “touch wood”, if anything happens, what do I say to them?? like those scenes in the movie?? hugged them hard, and tell them that “everything's ok!????”, then?? doom!!!!!!!! gosh!!! thinking that, their future's just put a stop, I can't imagine that... it's just horrifying...
and just the other night, I had a bad night sleep... lately, I don't really sleep well, again, it's due to the bad weather... it just got so bright outside the window, early in the morning, and the whole night is just so hot!! arrgh... nothing's pleasant...!
and that... I woke up with this dream...
ie. another P L A N E went missing... and in the dream, I've to go plot the route and try to locate it! Damn!

ABOUT THROWING, OR KEEPING, OR BUYING

ok... I've wanted to write something about this... for quite some while... but most of the time, I'm just too busy... ^_^ (who ain't?? haha!)
anyway,
I've some funny habit in keeping gadgets, idevices, android phones and so on, and mostly, PC, ie. Laptop/notebook you call it... well, as long as they're not overly slow... I like to... erm... play with it, by putting in new OS, and see how it purforms... if you ask me, I personally think that, buying a new machine, and giving an old machine a new life... the latter give me more joy, in using it, afterall... just lately, I put in a HDD of 500GB to an old dell notebook, year 2007, yes, it'll be running MS WinXP, but it's still pretty good, and pretty fast...
as throughout the years, my digital assets are growing, I need another windows PC for simply... iTunes... yes, I do use iTunes to keep a copy of my apps, and also backup my many idevices... hehehehehehe!!!
so far, so good... therefore, as long as those notebook/netbook that are not too old, but simply the owner doesn't want to use it anymore, I'll get from them, mostly my family at the moment...
while my idevices, the oldest I have is the ipod touch 2^nd generation... and my dear son's tossed it onto the floor, cracked... yes, cracked skin... well... usually, to “revive” such device, I'll either install certain package of apps into it, and give it a new casing/cover and so on... as long as it looks a little bit different, I'm happy using it...
these are my gadget story...
while my clothing... too bad that I don't know how to use a sewing machine, but I've tried my best to locate some tailors... if they can modify my (or our family's) older clothing, to something else... so far, I've modified his working shirts into kid's pants (from the sleeves) and my own tank top... ^_^ not bad huh??? then I cut my ¾ sport pants into short pants, well... the weather's HOT HOT HOT!!! I don't want to wear any pants longer than my knees... and I think those ¾ pants were just too “bulky”, so, I slimmed them down... hehehe...
once in a while, I do try to think of what I should do with all the old stuff in my house... ya, you can imagine that, I do have a lot of things in my house, cos, I'm not a thrower...
I've a friend, his principle is... anything that's spoilt, throw... good idea in a way, but then... both he and I are the type, “as long as it can be fixed, we'll fix it first!”...
there's one japanese lady who wrote a book, telling you that, less is good, I do agree...
but throwing... at the same time, we've to stop buying... if we continue to buy, throwing's bad...
it's only good, if we stop buying...
that's my belief...
there's also a japanese show, “Umoreru”(I've not finished the show yet!) about an old lady, whose house's covered with piles and piles of old goods from the neighbourhood... everybody think she's abnormal... but then, her house's actually kinda cleaned... no odd smell... the character played by Kuninaka Ryoko said something like this, “everybody thinks she's weird, but I think those who keep buying new things and throw away old things, ie. Those who don't treasure their belongings are weirder, she's just a normal lonely lady...”, ya, something like this...
well... this is just my usual blabber, about throwing... or keeping... and I'm sure, I'm the latter...

Another 1-week downtime...

let me tell you this...

after 1 week of struggle, install and uninstall, update, upgrade and so on...

phew...

finally I've settled on xubuntu...

the funny thing is, both are ubuntu related,

yet, linuxmint's pretty buggy for my liking, first, the ibus didn't work, no matter what, it just ain't working well...

the candidates won't show up, the more I tried?? cool, in the end, it didn't even tickle, ie. Even though it's ibus-enabled, yet, it's not inputing anything of ibus-related characters... (damn you!)

I tried with linuxmint mate, linuxmint xfce, cos, xubuntu 13.10 worked fine on one of my very old netbook, ie. HP mini 1000... works like breeze...

so, I thought, since I've been using mint for a while, why not I just stick to it right?

Therefore, I gave linuxmint xfce a try...

in fac, in fact, in fact, I love the interface, it's much better than mate...

I love the pre-packed apps that come together, but then, just like any linuxmint petra versions, the wireless driver ain't working...

and that, I've to install later...

and again, the ibus, JUST AIN'T WORKING!

And finally, I decided to give up...

give up on linuxmint, which I am so familiar with, and like it...

particularly, I like their file manager,

so, I put on xubuntu, bingo!! the wireless has no problem, and the ibus, though, I can't get the “preference” for pinyin to work, but the by-default configuration is fine with me, I mean, I just want to have 10 candidates shown up, rather than the default 5... but I'm fine with it, I can live with it...

now... I'll be on xubuntu for a while...

a while... till linuxmint/ibus fix each other...

or, till... indefinitely...

my linuxmint 16 experience... 48hr downtime...

it started like this...

at first, it's just one of those usual update/upgrade...

but i was playing with .wine stuff and things... and they weren't working... so, i was doing some autoclean...

then, suddenly, all gone,

i could login to the desktop, but there's no launcher bar and so on, ie. i can't launch a thing...,

then, the rightclick didn't give me much choice either...

therefore, it started the 48hr downtime,

i gotta move my nearly 450G data somewhere,

luckily i bought a new 1T HDD, else... (down the drain!)

and of course, it took some time,

cos, i gotta move the files, and also, gotta find out what to move, not to say that, i'm so familiar with linux, right???

so, in between, there're quite a bit of research to be done,

while on my windows PC, i gotta look for new linuxmint, or new ubuntu...

then, I installed linuxmint 16, ooi?? network doesn't work, it wasn't detecting my wifi...

i panicked a little bit... seriously i don't quite like to "solve" problem, especially my brain's trained to be a mother/housewife type of thinking, rather than err... looking a script and troubleshooting...

anyway,

after checking here and there, and with my brother...

and after doing a few installation of either linuxmint 15, 16, 14, and ubuntu 13.10...

all failed...

my brother told me, it's driver's problem, but then, why do i see my wireless detecting other networks except my own one??

however, it IS the wireless card's driver's problem... ie. my broadcom 4313, on my compaq notebook... hm!

i finally found it on the linuxmint forum,

and... mm... cos, i somehow need a connection, so, i used my handphone as the hotspot, download the patch from the linuxmint onboard software centre,

everything solved, everything done...

now, it's still in the midst of restoration, mind you!

Two is Good

First thing first...
if I'm younger... the more the merrier, not just “two is good”, hahaha!
Of course, I'm not sure about other people, and I won't say this, to be applied to other people, everybody's different...
but to me, yes, two is good,
and of course, 1 girl and 1 boy, is good, it's not because of the social background that I have, but generally, it's because, by having a girl and a boy, then, I know how each kid, different sexes, behave differently... ^_^


and what I'll say is, I'm in fact, a little bit regret that, I(or we) were a little bit too strict on our girl... -_-


why?
Let me share with you...
on the no.2,
he's slightly more “brave”, though, for some reason, he hates moving objects that makes sound... irregardless if it's in front of him, or in the TV,
else, he's more brave... cos, he couldn't care less of what we think, or what we may say about him, worse is, he'll just throw things, or throw a tantrum, the way he does it, he'll just stretch himself, if you're trying to put him down, or carry him, or, he'll just throw himself to the ground, and pretend that he's angry... ya, half of the time, he's just putting it into an act, to show you that, he's unhappy...
my girl, as a girl, she'll normally try to force herself to be obedient...
note it, force herself...


my boy,
he's more “origin', cos, overall, we don't really have much time for him, ie. He's more of the free-and-easy kid, cos, papa & mama pay more attention to the sister, and anyway, the sister also demands it...
so, overall, he's pretty free and less watched... therefore, he's more origin,
just for example,
just now, I was playing words with him, ie. I say “eye”, he'll point at his eyes, supposedly,
that time, he's holding a jello, small little one, and what he did was, he use the jello to do the pointing job, yo!!! cute man!!!
so, eye, ears, nose, mouth, all he used the jello to do the pointing job...
THIS, is very origin of him, none of us in the house have really done this before, ie. He's not been shown such act before, maybe a little bit of modification from the sis, but well, kinda original...
then, I said “buttock”, he took a while to think, cos, that's not the part that we normally show to him,
when I showed him, poking his little bum bum, he laughed...
the last one I said, “nen nen”, ie. Breasts...
actually he knows where it is, on himself, I mean... cos, usually I like to tell him, “mama bite nennen”, he'll laugh... I don't really bite, but then, I was tickling him with my mouth on his tummy... and he'll laugh laugh laugh...
so, when I said “nennen”, he paused, and thought for a while,
guess what he did next???
very cute yo~~~~
he used the jello, pointed at mine, hahahahahahaha!!! I thought that's so cute!
^_^


and these two days, I don't know why, he insisted me putting on a pair of socks for him,
again, usually we use socks on him, when we go out, when he's supposed to wear his shoes, cos, he's sweaty feet, so, I thought it's more hygienic for him to put on a pair of socks... but he insisted it not to be taken off... @_@


most of the other things, or acts that he does, were to copy the sis'...
else, he's pretty original...
whereas my dear darling girl,
she's more obedient, ie. Most of the things she does, (unless she's playing) or actions that she puts on, are something that we condone...
I then, try to discourage her...
but then, we started her with being strict, that's why I said, I'm feeling a little bit regretful... -_-


well... I kept telling him then,
as a girl, which I read somewhere,
usually, a girl, she cares for relationship more, rather than her own intention, that's the difference between a girl and a boy,
my boy? Typical boy, as if he cares what we think, or what we want off him...
though, to the older people, they think, this is absolute disobedient, but then, I told him, that, I'll rather my kids to have their own mind, a strong one, doesn't matter, than, being an over-obedient person, ie. Imagine, next time in work, they'll be just they typical “mr. yes-man”!


And yes, therefore, normally for domestic violence, it's most of the time, the girl's who's the victim, or you call it, the woman...
cos, for the relationship between you and me, the “you” can be father, mother, boyfriend, husband, or anybody that you care, and you love, I don't mind letting go of my ambition, my dream, my intention, my own thinking... yes, that's what a girl will do, and that's what I don't want my girl to be...
but then, having said so... we do struggle with disciplining sometimes, cos, we ourselves, do not not, and are not sure of where to draw the line exactly...
and yes, my girl's very strong-willed, and she does insist her way sometimes, and yes, sometimes, we ourselves even call it, a disobedient... anyway, dilemma dilemma all the time, ha~


of course, there're still many things for her to learn, and I do hope, she'll learn, or she'll just learn to get the message sometimes,
again, I think, we watched her too much, till she's kinda dependent on us...
unlike my boy...
though, she's slowly learning how to be on her own...
slowly...


what did want want to say?
Oh yes, having 2, is just nice...
yes, having my no.2, then, I learn that, I gotta let go,
then, I learn that, really, a lot of things, character wise, or behaviour wise, you may not believe it, but a lot of these, are already hardwired in a kid...
yes, you may still disagree with me, and still think that, a kid is trainable, then, it's your luck, or, then, shall I say you're lucky?? well, I'll not, cos, again, a kid that's trainable, I do not know if that's good, or bad...
seriously, I don't know, maybe to some kids/parents, that's good,
but then, I never know how to train a kid,
to get my girl to do a thing, and to do a thing consistently, ie. Every day, at that hour, ask me,
it's damn tough, and I still don't know how...
and till this day, I still struggle with her eating, her sleeping... and luckily, one thing down, ie. Pooping...
eating, sleeping, yes, still struggling...


and yes, all are hardwired,
that, is clearly told, by my boy...
the way he deals with his toys, the way he behaves, is simply, hardwired, inborn in him, cos, we clearly know that, we did not really teach him all that, but he initiated it himself...
and that's why I said, I am a little bit regretful, as we kinda “taught” our girl too much, till I don't know what her true colour is...
or, rather... we taught her too much, till even when she's showing her true colour, we refused to accept it???
^_^ maybe...


that's why I said, 2 is good,
cos, what we learn from our boy, and that, we learn to kinda let go, let go, let go, a little bit on our girl, and believe that, and have faith that, she can take care of herself pretty well...
TWO, is good,
if I'm still younger...
I'll think, the more, the merrier!


Cheers...

Never Wok

The other day, I was feeling the itch to bring out my 42” round bottom wok, to cook... and I thought I'll start to be a wokking wife, using it for every single cooking job... wa haha!!!!!

the first thing I did was, to cook pasta...

and the result?

Crap!! the pasta sauce that I've made, as I couldn't have a grasp of how well the different ingredient can be cooked just nice... I ended up having slightly hard ingredients, well, my pasta sauce is mainly different types of vegetables...

the worse thing is... which I've often forgotten, my sink is too small for such a big wok, therefore washing it, becomes a chore... yes, I actually like cleaning up dishes, just like I like doing my launderette,

washing my vision pots are easy, and what more to say, glassware (maybe some of you will disagree) is so much more easier than washing any other types of cookwares...

so, after my FIRST attempted (again) session with my wok, now, it's back to the cold storage...

and I've finally decided that I'm not a wok person,

it's just too painful to use, and I can't really cook nicely with it...

oh, in fact, I took it out, cos, I thought I want to do a nicely fried egg, and next day, nicely fried fish...

but then, in the end, the supposed nicely fried egg is not that nice (not the perfect sunny side up and whatsoever) and guess what,

the next day, I used back my IKEA 365 flat bottom fry pan to fry my fish...

che...! it turned out just nice... well, as what I did is shallow fry, so, my fish/egg is never really THAT crispy as those fried with more oil...

and after that,

today, I'm back to using my vision pots, vision cookware, to boil soup (the chinese way) or even I used it to cook/simmer pasta sauce or whatever stewed food,

all turned out nice, and just right...

vision, vision, all the way!

Never wok again!

Belly Button

last night, she kept bugging me about her belly button,
asked, “why we have belly button?”
asked, “why there's dirt on the belly button?”
she kept asking, till I suspected something, and I asked her if she and her friends in the school, talked about it,
if anybody asked her to show it to them, or show theirs to her?
She said “nope”,
but then, she said, ya, they talked about it, 3 of them, those who sit at the same table,
so, I asked her, “then, what do you say about the dirt on the belly button?”
she said, she called it, “belly button eye shadows”.... haha, that's funny!


ya... as 2 weeks ago, her school had their concert and graduation day, though she ended up crying, as she waited too long at the backstage, just for 1 performance (while the bigger kids have more than 1 performance)... but then, she obviously enjoyed the day...
it's a tiring day...
and she definitely loved putting make-up... a very girly thing huh???


ya... back to the belly button topic...
so, she kept talking about it still, then, I warned her not to put her finger in there to dig dig dig out the dirt... I told her, I'll clean up for her...
then, I took out the alcohol swap that we've purchased since she was born, ie. 4 years plus ago, haha!!! I took that out and swap for her, well... that's what the hospital did for me when I went to give birth... ghee... ^_^


anyway... I reckon, she's going to ask me more difficult questions soon... you know what I mean? Haha...


however, since many nights ago, I guess, since we started having bedtime prayer... she's started this Q&A session,
she'll ask me how many questions she can ask for that day...
then, she'll ask questions like,
“why we blink?”
“why we can read?”
“why our hand can write?”
bla bla bla...
one of those kiddy questions that she's asked is, “why the fan can rotate and not feel giddy?”, cos, we told her not to spin herself too much, later she'll feel giddy...
such and such...


cheers

and just now at night, she's trying all her best to delay the process of going to bed, EVEN THOUGH she's tired (as usual!), as she's reading in the bed on the floor, ok, HE read for her, then, she lied down there instead of coming to the big bed, so, we're saying to her, why not she just sleep on that floor bed... again, usually, she'll just whine, and say “no no no!”, then, most likely come with a cry, but today, she answered properly, she said “no, afterwards, I want to look for mama, how?”... again, I didn't see that coming... ^_^ well... that shows... she's grown up, a little bit more, again... ^_^

and this girl? She's pretty good in “answering back”, in a kiddish and cute way, ^_^, see, this afternoon, I was complaining, “why's there so many things on the floor?” ya... I guess, all parents experienced the same thing, after you clean, it gets messy again, pretty quickly... then, she suddenly give me this answer, “I'm sorry, mama, you just have to live with it! Cos, you've to kids at home!”, ok... honestly, I didn't see that coming... usually when I was grumbling, or complaining, she'll keep quiet, scared that I'll target her, but today... I laughed, and I actually said “thank you” to her...

oh! must take note of these cute things that gabu did... see... last night he vomited, right? So, I did a temp cleaning of our bedsheet, ie. I didn't change the bedsheet, rather... I just wiped it with some damp cloth, and put some talcum on top of it... ok, it's in the middle of the night, I don't feel like changing bedsheet, that's what a lazy person will do, ^_^;; I didn't know that, he observed this part of the “cleaning process”, it's his vomit, SON! This morning, when he got out of bed, as usual, I lazed in bed for a while, it's really not easy... I mean, not easy for me, ^_^ to have the bed, all for myself, normally I get to have this “luxury” on weekends... so, when I was lying in bed, as usual, madeleine went to on her music player, listen to her favourite barney's songs and so on, and this gabu, he went to take that bottle of talc, brought it to the bed, right in front of me, copied all my action last night, ie. Pretend to sprinkle the talcum on the bed, and use his little hand to spread... that's pretty... cute! ^_^

what I meant was... the moment you've decided to HELP pass around bad/negative comments about somebody, that also means that you've agree to the saying, right? Next time if I see anybody who like “passing around” negative comments about a person from somebody else, I'll sure ask her/him, “so, what do you think about this?” if the person's guilty? They'll sure tell you, they don't know anything, they're just passing words around, “dumb you!” and that'll be my internal OS to you!

the worse type of badmouth, is the type that quote from others, ie. Using another person's words to say bad things about you, about him/her, cos, badmouth is already bad enough, but this person still have a bad heart, thinking that he/she herself is still a GOOD person, but only passing words around!!!

Of #MULTIPLY.COM

suddenly I kinda miss the good old multiply.com days...

things were simpler,

I wrote my blog, automatically share, I wrote my own notes, then, my photo albums, easily organized...

I could see who're the viewers, and who're not... well... it's simpler, straightforward, and serve its purpose,

at present, yes, I use twitter, I use facebook, and I use G+, I even use weibo, for different purposes, and for different information...

I've ditched (kinda) reading my rssfeed, as I don't have much time, though... just today, I've kinda revitalised IT, I used to read rssfeed off google reader, then, google ditched its reader, and now I use feedly, anyway... that's not the point, for a while, I thought moving from rss to facebook (they kinda overlap a bit) is kinda good, everything in there, right? But then, lately, I find my facebook a little bit heavy... it's gone to the stage where it's almost everything, but it's almost... NOTHING!

Yes, facebook serves a lot of “purpose” in this sense, but then, it serves too many purposes till it's not purpose, to a point yes!!!

Lately, I just use it to “bookmark” certain articles, ie. I “share” the article to “only me”...

I kinda use it as news reader rather than social network, social wise? Yes, I use it to SPAM my friends' WALLS, haha! ^_^

for social purpose? Then, I revert to twitter, kinda more interesting...

cos, facebook, to me, it's kinda get to a “boring” point, ie. I kinda know who reads my stuff, and who doesn't, and I know who will “like” my stuff, or who couldn't care less, or... whatever, but for twitter, and weibo, yes, weibo, there're kinda “genuine” reply, I mean, twitter's just followers, that's all, the problem with facebook is kinda... the “like” is “disturbing”, haha... it's like, it's there, therefore, you gotta click, and therefore, whatever you post, you're bothered with the fact, if there're other peole who'll “like” it... see???

trouble!

I've seen... err... “peeped”, kinda... somebody in a cafe, simply staring at facebook, cos, it's an IN thing? He, staring at it, putting his hands on the keyboard, not typing, maybe he wanted to type, but nothing to type, maybe he wants to reply, but didn't dare to reply? I don't know...

well, my brother's “advised” me to just stop using... well, that's in my mind, haha, I mean, just stop using facebook, nah!! you won't die not using it!! (ya, I'm telling myself that!)

see, during the multiply.com days, I was much more organized, my notes, my blogs, and my photos, and whatever things that I've decided to share online,

if I gotta share news? I shared via my google reader (now feedly),

now, I kinda share everything in facebook, but see, not everything that I shared, people want to see... and that, not everything that I've shared, is kinda... sad to say, worth sharing??

anyway,

yes, I was much more organized in that sense, all my photo albums are nicely kept, chronologically... (I do have a bit of problem about time, I mean, I'm pretty particular about this chronology type of thing...)

then, I blogged more, easy to share, easy to blog...

facebook, in a way, it's getting too superficial, and too “opened”, even though I've kept my privacy to its max, but then, it's still kinda “opened”...

anyway, therefore, I've kinda stopped using it, kinda...

ie. I don't really share my “status” there anymore,

and I don't really share my photos there too,

ad-hoc photos, here and there, a bit,

non-privacy photos, like food, place, I can easily do it on twitter...

then, for top-privacy photos, ie. For family, well... I only have that handful of family members... (my 2 brothers, haha!) then, I can simply just do it over G+ (Google PLUS)

in a way, I love G+ interface, it's obviously less, much less loaded...

the only thing is, it's less “users”, and less “pages”, saying that, using facebook is so much more easier, especially for “pages” that I've subscribed to...

but then, lately, I've just tried to revert everything, ie. Back to feedly, (or any news/rss reader)

ie. everything is there in ONE place (as I've organized) for me to read now or later, anytime...

for facebook, well, my pattern of reading through it, is kinda, like... timeline...

on my newsfeed timeline, I kinda like got myself caught into this “catching up” thing...

SAD, right??

so... I gotta “unsadden” myself... haha!

Anyway, if multiply's back into action, will I use it?

I guess, I will... cos, I'm kinda comfortable with it...

the way the information's organized in its site, also, cos, it's not as popular as facebook, therefore, less hackers are interested in it... therefore, it's kinda more “private”... ^_^

night!

ikandou

yep, I manage to find this website, hurray!!!

as I was just exploring, how I should get more ebook for my kindle, well, not really my kindle, but the kindle apps on my android tablet,

and for your information, there's an apps for iOS too, but then, sad to say, it's not available in my region, ie. the country where I stay, I then guess, it's not even possible for me to purchase any ebook from amazon, right?

anyway,

I found this website,

cool!! you know why?

it's sooooooooooo many translated work from japan, particularly those thriller, or "suiri" (推理),

so many of them,

I've found some from those weiphone forum, and another haodoo.net website,

but then, I know there're a lot more I should be able to get,

I even went to install some cite.com.tw online bookstore, but couldn't find anything interesting...

I just want to have lots and lots and lots of "suiri" stories to read... (hehe!)

but there's a trick, if you bother,

first, of course, you've to be able to read some chinese, to create a login ID, (which I think it's quite easy! as, you don't really have to provide much information)

then, of course, you'll have a have an amazon ID too...

the next thing is, you gotta link them up, and yes,

of course, you've to have a kindle, or you've installed the kindle on your device...

from ikandou website,

go to settings,

--> kindle settings (or something like this),

--> you type in your @kindle.com user ID, ie. your amazon ID

then, on amazon's site,

ahem... you've gotta find the right place la,

you type in your ikandou's ID, something like,

--> manage your kindle (from the pulldown list)

--> "Your Kindle Account" --> personal document settings

--> key in that ikandou ID, ie. myid@ikindle.mobi

so, when you're in ikandou website, you can "push" some books over to your kindle (then, sync with your device),

it's free!!!

and reasonable... as, this website limit your "push", to 5 per days, if I've not mistaken, then, you can download too, again, it's limited...

cool, right?

the husband who becomes a son... ~_~

just the other day, I came across this short story, regarding a husband, who becomes a son...

of course, a husband's always somebody's son...

then, the article went on,

to talk about when a husband, in front of his parents, he retreats to becoming a son again, forgetting that, he's now, a husband, a father...

THAT reminds me of how I felt...

and I feedback to him, of course, I didn't correlate everything, and told him this exactly...

then, after many years, as today, I came across that article...

and THAT's why, no wonder, we WIVES, do not quite like it when our... ahem... in-laws are around...

well... put it in another way,

IF, even when his parents are around, and he's still taking charge, to be the MAN,

maybe things will not be that bad...

but most of the time, (ahem... let me clarify first, my husband's fine now... ^_^, he's the man now, or... most of the time, I reminded him, to be THE MAN!)

dear husband suddenly become a son,

forgetting the wife, forgetting the kids...

for eg. happily laze in the sofa, almost whole day,

wife needs help? call his parents,

kids needs companion? grandparents will be around...

whenever he's with his parents, he kinda washes his hands off, AS A FATHER, AS A HUSBAND...

and THAT's WHY...

we wives, do not feel quite comfortable about that...

ok, maybe you're fine with that...

but not me... at least, for some unknown reason...

I just feel awful, I just feel, hey!! why my husband's become so lame...

that's my finding...

so, if you've no choice, but to be with your in-laws...

tell your husband this,

do not become a just a son,

and please remember his other duty, husband, father...

if there's anything that, we (the wife) needs, and the kids need,

HE, needs to step up!

not just conveniently pass it to his parents...