The Start of Nigel's School Holidays!

Here's Nigel starting his school holidays with a spanking new hair cut and a fishing trip with his super hero - His Dad!

Seated on a plank and getting ready for the haircut. It's not his first time, he's a pro at this.
It's amazing that the barber could comprehend what we wanted, eventhough he speaks neither English nor Bahasa. Quite exasperating actually.
Look at the crazy mom snapping photos!


Thank goodness the barber had a superhero lying around. It's Superman, ....nah, it's ShahRukh Khan in a super suit!
Look at him just sitting down so quiet.
Mom! Look my hair. Quick take picture.
Awww! My two handsome boys.

A beautiful Sunday morning. Fishing with his Dad in Semenyih.
I caught one! I caught one!
This is for real. No photo retouching here!
Look at that catch.
Guess what is for tomorrow's dinner?

Tagged! By Katherine

Katherine of http://kitkatzmeow.blogspot.com/ tagged me and well I've not done this for awhile so here goes.

But first, the rules:

1. Link to your tagger (see above), and also post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself (random or weird) on your blog.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
   Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

... and 7 facts about me:

1. I love buttons, ribbons and trims! They're better than candy.
2. I can't stand smokers! I've the urge to snuff out their ciggies in their face.
   
3. I use this very old chinese fine bamboo hair comb. (I know it's weird! But it reminds me of my beloved grandmother)
   
4. I have a very short fuse. (My husband says so.)
   
5. I've a wandering eye. (LOL! I look at everything around me - in detail!)
   
6. My feet are huge - I think they're still growing.
   
7. I've a wild imagination. I get my ideas - daydreaming.
   

Time to tag some people:

1. Melie
2. djbebe
3. Emily
4. Nik
5. Bj
6. Faizon
7. Ying

Come play along!

Christmas Tags Free Download - Just Add Buttons!

Hi! It's a little Christmas gift for all my blogger friends. Download, print and add yummy buttons to make these tags. Punch a hole on the tip and tie them on to your gifts these season. Will do up some for my gifts this year too. Download from here.

Show us your creation, leave a comment here. Have Fun!

Nigel's Year End Concert

Hi! This is really an overdue posting. Nigel's concert was like a month ago before we left for Phuket and here are the pictures. I didn't sew the costume, if you're wondering. Parents nowadays are pampered, costumes are now included in the school fees. I still remember having my parents prepare for our costume and some of the accessories were just handmade. It's now replaced by mass produced plastics and everything is store-bought. (Here I go again...)

Anyhow, I'm a proud parent that day. He was selected to present his class, thanks to his gift of the gap - He had to do it in our National Language, Bahasa Malaysia and the problem was that the entire class have yet to start on any BM classes. No kid could speak Bahasa and I wondered why the principal insist that the class have to be presented in BM? I had to change the speech that was prepared, imagine Nigel saying, " Mempersembahkan...." It went "Mempelememahbahatan..."LOL. Annoyed I simply changed it to, "Kami dari Kelas 4 Kuning akan menari tarian Melayu Lenggang Lenggang Kangkung!" And we recited this for a couple of weeks until he got it. And that's the only BM he knows currently. So, here goes...(and thanks to Uncle Meow for being there to take some cool shots.)



Nigel with his school teacher, Mrs. Chew.
He's a confident little man. I, on the other hand had my fingers crossed and his speech was running helter skelter in my head!
His entrance on the stage. Check out his Lenggang Lenggang Kangkung!
A huge stage didn't scare him at all. I'm beginning to think that he likes the limelight.
His fans. We were all so amused by all the kid's performance. My 5 year old niece was performing that day too and we didn't have any photos. (So sorry Ruun Ann, Uncle Meow didn't know you'll be performing). But I have a video of you!

A moment of uncertainty. He was standing in the right spot, the rest of the kids in front were way...in front. Hahah!

Look at him smile. Megan was his partner. They look so sweet.
My dashing little pumpkin!

Christmas in November

That's right. Faizon spent months doing this for me and I'm so in love with all her delicate work. As NNC celebrated it's first anniversary (this is the gathering I missed because of my Phuket trip) we all exchanged gifts and all my friends had a wonderful time. Here are pictures of the lovely tatted pieces I received and the gifts I've made.

That's my favourite piece in the middle. Every snowflake is unique and designed by the talented FAIZON!
Breathtaking works of art. Notice the beads all around.
These will be up on my Christmas tree this year.

Look how delicate and beautiful each and everyone of them.


A beautiful pincushion also by Faizon. I don't think I'll ever poke any needles on this prized treasure.
Doilies that came with Faizon's gift for the exchange. All in my favourite colours.
Thank you Usha for these lovely bookmarks. Will use them right away! For my craft books of course.
Christmas on my floor. Awwww! I'm so very happy. And you'll notice... Nigel is at school when I did these photographs. I don't want no 4 year olds touching these precious pieces.

Sewing an applique onto Nik's craft pouch.
Sewing the zipper on. This takes some practice.
Making sure to zig-zag the hem to avoid frays.
The applique looks better than my crocheted pincushion. (That's for the gift exchange)
The larger craft pouch and the pincushion on the left went to Anna.
Close-up of the applique. I have a little piece of sponge underneath so that Nik can treat it like a pincushion as well.

A slice of pincushion cake for Nik in celebration of the Group's 1st Anniversary! Will be posting the tutorial soon complete with template.

Phuket Trip - Photos from My Dad's Camera

My parents' room was all decked out in orchids and fancy fruit bowls.
My dad had to take a photo of this. It's the bathroom mat!
What used to be open bare beaches of Patong is now filled with stalls and statues. I've been here 15 years ago and a lot has changed.
Notice the crowd and the stall set up for the Tourism Carnival opening.
Nigel fooling around with more dolphins.

My macho son and his curiosity over the bugs and insects served at this stall. He insist to have just one.
Without even hesitating, he took a fried silkwork and munched on it ! Eyeww! I asked how the maggot tasted - he just said, "Nothing. Like nothing!" with a cheeky grin. No shivers at all.
Shopping at Jungceylon, Patong Beach. We walked all the way and took the tuk-tuk back to the hotel for 200bht! It was due to the traffic too. Jungceylon is a brand new shopping mall. A huge one with a Junk ship right in the middle. This shopping mall closed at 12 midnight that day!


The next day we hired a tour guide and went looking for seafood. This is at Parli Restaurant, Chalong Bay.
Seafood and good view of the Andaman Sea. Coconut was only less than 10bht in the markets and they sell it here for almost 50bht!.
No tourists here. I think the trick to finding a good place to eat is to go to where there are more locals eating than foreigners.

Mom and dad enjoying the view. Chalong bay was protected from the tsunami by the surrounding islands. Notice the fishing boats around.



Another big shopping mall, Central Festival is in Phuket Town. I like the supermarkets here. Lots of varieties, both local and imported goods. We also buy a lot of Boots products from Thailand. Our favourite toiletries!
Back at old Robinsons. Bought two pairs of shoes from here. I can only find shoes that fit me in Thailand. Those who know me - I have really big size 9 feet!!! Nigel had some fun messing around with some power toys. Sorry, very expensive toys. Thais are very accommodating. No one stopped us when he was whizzing around on the floor in this cool motorized bike.
A late lunch at Phuket Bay restaurant. The pier was quite rickety and the whole place looks a little rundown - Food still good. I bet the restaurant was glorious ten years ago! See the fishermen's village behind.


Fireworks when we arrived and when we left. How grand is that!