Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Be humane
This is a video about an island in the ocean at 2000 km from any other coast line. Watching this video breaks my heart.
It goes to show how selfish we human beings can be; so focused we are in our own human, materialistic world that we forget that we too, are sharing this planet with a whole bunch of other living things.
They may not be human, and they suffer from our inconsiderate actions. We need to do more to make a difference.
Next time you think of dumping something on the ground as you please, think again.
It goes to show how selfish we human beings can be; so focused we are in our own human, materialistic world that we forget that we too, are sharing this planet with a whole bunch of other living things.
They may not be human, and they suffer from our inconsiderate actions. We need to do more to make a difference.
Next time you think of dumping something on the ground as you please, think again.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thought pieces
Looking through the sidebar of my blog archive, I realised
that I now have been blogging for more than 4 years since I started back in
2008. Who would have thought that I had lasted this long, averaging one post
every other day. I would have thought that I would have run out of things to
say soon enough, or I just can’t keep up with it; but there are always (inane)
things that I would want to capture or write about just because I love writing
about it.
Even though I have kept this blog for a while now, the traffic to my site is actually extremely pathetic. I 've got only 15 loyal readers or so to boast about. The odd stumbles are far and between, mainly because I am extremely cautious of making this blog a public site. I err on the site of caution, preferring to minimize linking my site to other bloggers or articles as I would prefer to keep my blog a little more personal, a little bit more private.
On the other hand, I am torn – while I don’t like the idea of having ads on my blog (clutter and just plain ugly), wouldn’t it also be nice to earn my living though blogging, given that I have been an active blogger for years now? But to do that, it would mean that I have to give up my privacy as I would have to have hundreds of thousands of people reading my blog.
Yikes. That is just way, way, too many people. But then again, apart from the 15 of you out there, who else would be nosey enough to want to read my inane rambles that mean absolutely jack-all?
And privacy issues…
Well…tough!
It’s been more than four years and I still have the same, boring layout. I hardly have anything to show for as a “successful blogger”, and my reader base is too small to command for any collaboration. I did toy with the idea of changing the layout every once in a while but, I am also hard-pressed for time to experiment anything. Besides, I do quite like the black background.
This blog has become such a big part of me that if one day if Google ever decides to wipe out all of my posts, I would be extremely devastated. Making money out of it would be nice, but perhaps, I will never be ready for that at the expense of thesleepingdragoninbkk dot blogspot dot com becoming public.
That being said, this thought piece has at the same time spurred me to start thinking of a little mini project for myself , in which I could indulge in a (very under-stated) passion of mine.
I don’t know if I’ll get a “lift-off” in this “maybe-baby”, but we’ll see! I’ll just have to get my act together first.
Even though I have kept this blog for a while now, the traffic to my site is actually extremely pathetic. I 've got only 15 loyal readers or so to boast about. The odd stumbles are far and between, mainly because I am extremely cautious of making this blog a public site. I err on the site of caution, preferring to minimize linking my site to other bloggers or articles as I would prefer to keep my blog a little more personal, a little bit more private.
On the other hand, I am torn – while I don’t like the idea of having ads on my blog (clutter and just plain ugly), wouldn’t it also be nice to earn my living though blogging, given that I have been an active blogger for years now? But to do that, it would mean that I have to give up my privacy as I would have to have hundreds of thousands of people reading my blog.
Yikes. That is just way, way, too many people. But then again, apart from the 15 of you out there, who else would be nosey enough to want to read my inane rambles that mean absolutely jack-all?
And privacy issues…
Well…tough!
It’s been more than four years and I still have the same, boring layout. I hardly have anything to show for as a “successful blogger”, and my reader base is too small to command for any collaboration. I did toy with the idea of changing the layout every once in a while but, I am also hard-pressed for time to experiment anything. Besides, I do quite like the black background.
This blog has become such a big part of me that if one day if Google ever decides to wipe out all of my posts, I would be extremely devastated. Making money out of it would be nice, but perhaps, I will never be ready for that at the expense of thesleepingdragoninbkk dot blogspot dot com becoming public.
That being said, this thought piece has at the same time spurred me to start thinking of a little mini project for myself , in which I could indulge in a (very under-stated) passion of mine.
I don’t know if I’ll get a “lift-off” in this “maybe-baby”, but we’ll see! I’ll just have to get my act together first.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thais and nicknames
Almost every Thai person I know has a nick name and those
that came without one is actually quite rare and far between. That being said,
if you are being introduced to a Thai, chances are, you will be introduced to them
by their nick names – and hardly ever by their real names.The nick-name concept can sometimes get lost on most
foreigners, but for the Thais, this is a norm.
Nick names are given at birth by their parents and Thai's real names are often long and unpronounceable – try Somchaiwarapon Kanavasathanasupornsiri. OK; I made that one up on a fly, but I won’t be surprised if there actually is somebody by such a name. That being said, one can understand why a nickname is then necessary...
…although, in the western world, one could argue that such long names are probably not necessary!
But that was not the point I was trying to make.
I have been so exposed to the different types of Thai nick names I have come across in the last few years that I don’t think the concept of nick names are that strange anymore. In fact, whenever I get a business card from a Thai business associate, I make it a point to ask what their nick names are so I could write it down next to their long names as no one really calls them by their real names, even in formal meetings. (It is strange that most don’t have their nick names printed on their name cards. It gets trickier when you try to send them an email and their email addresses are usually very long and does not come with their nick names!)
Thai nick names vary from the more common ones like Nhok (Bird), Kob (frog) and Lek (small) to name a few; to weirder ones that had me scratching my head as to why they would want to name their kids with names like Piano, Pineapple, Prik, Cucumber, Poo (crab) and (god help the child!) Twat.
From the eyes of a farang (foreigner), the names these kids are saddled with can sometimes be mind-boggling. They seemed to also change with times as I have heard my colleagues nick naming their child with Skype, Note or (Black)Berry.
It gets weirder when the spelling does not quite match up to the pronunciation as in the case of Ble (pronounced as Burn) and Ple (pronounce as Pen) – largely because the “L” sound on the end of a word is pronounced as an N in Thai. So, things like Apple would most definitely be (deliberately) mispronounced as “Appen”. Don’t ask me why.
But I almost died from not being able to burst into laughter when the lady behind the counter whom I ordered my drink from had a name tag on her shirt that spelled “Google”.
This was my best stealth shot of her.
Nick names are given at birth by their parents and Thai's real names are often long and unpronounceable – try Somchaiwarapon Kanavasathanasupornsiri. OK; I made that one up on a fly, but I won’t be surprised if there actually is somebody by such a name. That being said, one can understand why a nickname is then necessary...
…although, in the western world, one could argue that such long names are probably not necessary!
But that was not the point I was trying to make.
I have been so exposed to the different types of Thai nick names I have come across in the last few years that I don’t think the concept of nick names are that strange anymore. In fact, whenever I get a business card from a Thai business associate, I make it a point to ask what their nick names are so I could write it down next to their long names as no one really calls them by their real names, even in formal meetings. (It is strange that most don’t have their nick names printed on their name cards. It gets trickier when you try to send them an email and their email addresses are usually very long and does not come with their nick names!)
Thai nick names vary from the more common ones like Nhok (Bird), Kob (frog) and Lek (small) to name a few; to weirder ones that had me scratching my head as to why they would want to name their kids with names like Piano, Pineapple, Prik, Cucumber, Poo (crab) and (god help the child!) Twat.
From the eyes of a farang (foreigner), the names these kids are saddled with can sometimes be mind-boggling. They seemed to also change with times as I have heard my colleagues nick naming their child with Skype, Note or (Black)Berry.
It gets weirder when the spelling does not quite match up to the pronunciation as in the case of Ble (pronounced as Burn) and Ple (pronounce as Pen) – largely because the “L” sound on the end of a word is pronounced as an N in Thai. So, things like Apple would most definitely be (deliberately) mispronounced as “Appen”. Don’t ask me why.
But I almost died from not being able to burst into laughter when the lady behind the counter whom I ordered my drink from had a name tag on her shirt that spelled “Google”.
This was my best stealth shot of her.
My bet is she must not have had that name
when she was born and had probably only changed it recently to suit her whims
and fancy. (Thais are also quite notorious for changing their names like they
change their shirt)
The world of Thai nick names are just getting weirder.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
All things pink
If Spud knows the tune and lyrics to one of Aerosmith’s
songs, she would probably be belting out this out:
The sight of anything pink is enough to make my eyeballs roll to the back of its sockets in a nano second as the dopamine in my brains plummeted to the lowest low, while my body pelted out goose bumps all over me.
That’s how much I dislike pink. I happen to think that pink is an ugly colour, and it is a colour which I have an intense dislike for since I was a child. And, and as a child, I had always wanted to be different – I hated the fact that everyone else was wearing pink to death. It was way, way too girly for my liking, and to date, I don’t think I own anything that is remotely pink (some shades of pink on my clothes are sometimes just unfortunate, and I make sure that they are very minimal).
That being my sentiments on the colour pink, I have purposely kept anything pink at bay for Spud. I expose her to any other colours but pink, hoping that the ‘what you don’t know, you don’t miss” mantra might work on Spud’s preference for colours.
Of course Spud has her own grand plans – she has very well entered into the pink phase now; perhaps thanks to her peers and the influence she gets in school. Whenever she gets the choice, she chooses pink amongst other colours. Pink tops (used to be purple, but faded to pink with many washes), pink rubber bands, pink underwear, pink “noodles” (a floaty thing they have at her swimming lessons) and whatever else that comes in pink.
She refuses to wear her yellow underwear and insisted on wearing a slightly over-sized white underwear because there was a small PINK imprint on it. I don’t usually make a big deal out of it, but I want to bang my head against the wall. I really, really do.
What is it with little girls and pink? Red, yellow and green are nice too! Where did the obsession with pink come from?
Sigh. As much as I hate the colour myself, I realise that I just have to grit my teeth and let her enjoy her pink phase. If I am lucky, she’ll get over it soon enough. If I am not, then she’ll love pink forever. Arggghhhhh!
This pink phase is agonizingly cruel.
Pink makes me cringe.Pink, it’s my new obsession, yeah
Pink, it's not even a question
Pink, on the lips of your lover
'Cause pink is the love you discover
Pink, as the bing on your cherry
Pink, 'cause you are so very
Pink, it's the color of passion
The sight of anything pink is enough to make my eyeballs roll to the back of its sockets in a nano second as the dopamine in my brains plummeted to the lowest low, while my body pelted out goose bumps all over me.
That’s how much I dislike pink. I happen to think that pink is an ugly colour, and it is a colour which I have an intense dislike for since I was a child. And, and as a child, I had always wanted to be different – I hated the fact that everyone else was wearing pink to death. It was way, way too girly for my liking, and to date, I don’t think I own anything that is remotely pink (some shades of pink on my clothes are sometimes just unfortunate, and I make sure that they are very minimal).
That being my sentiments on the colour pink, I have purposely kept anything pink at bay for Spud. I expose her to any other colours but pink, hoping that the ‘what you don’t know, you don’t miss” mantra might work on Spud’s preference for colours.
Of course Spud has her own grand plans – she has very well entered into the pink phase now; perhaps thanks to her peers and the influence she gets in school. Whenever she gets the choice, she chooses pink amongst other colours. Pink tops (used to be purple, but faded to pink with many washes), pink rubber bands, pink underwear, pink “noodles” (a floaty thing they have at her swimming lessons) and whatever else that comes in pink.
She refuses to wear her yellow underwear and insisted on wearing a slightly over-sized white underwear because there was a small PINK imprint on it. I don’t usually make a big deal out of it, but I want to bang my head against the wall. I really, really do.
What is it with little girls and pink? Red, yellow and green are nice too! Where did the obsession with pink come from?
Sigh. As much as I hate the colour myself, I realise that I just have to grit my teeth and let her enjoy her pink phase. If I am lucky, she’ll get over it soon enough. If I am not, then she’ll love pink forever. Arggghhhhh!
This pink phase is agonizingly cruel.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Award-gasm
It was a night of many highs last night as the team I work with swept up a total of 21 awards (7 golds, 6 silvers, 8 bronzes) out of the 45 shortlisted entries across the entire company. Now, that was one hell of a high hit-rate!
It was a night full of adrenalin and beating of the chests were done as modestly as possible. One of my colleagues who was heading another category in our team probably went up 15 times in half hour that I thought he should just stay put on the stage!
My own team members clinched 2 of the awards - one Silver and the other Bronze. I claim no credit to their work, but I am so very proud of their achievements - a testament to all of their hard work, creativity and certainly a prized motivation to keep on going and do more fantastic work!
I feel like a very proud Momma. Well done, team!
It was a night full of adrenalin and beating of the chests were done as modestly as possible. One of my colleagues who was heading another category in our team probably went up 15 times in half hour that I thought he should just stay put on the stage!
I feel like a very proud Momma. Well done, team!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Eavesdropping Spud
More of Spud's blabbers:
“Sit over here for 2 minutes ok. Stop crying,” says she to her bear, or her little fisher price doggie in a stern voice as she walked away from them during her pretend play session; mimicking our time-out for her whenever she misbehaves badly.
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“Are you happy, Papa?” says she to her father while in the backseat of the car right - a moment after Silver Bullet unleashed his wrath at some motorist cutting him off while he was behind his wheels to drop her to school.
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Just a few more of her antics which continue to amuse me!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The gift of an ordinary day
This is a video for parents out there. Keep those Kleenex handy.
If you have seen this, it is not exactly a sad video. It is actually a happy video...but one that just happened to tug at the heart-strings. I wasn't spared and tears were just rolling on my cheeks in the first few minutes of watching it.
Sometimes I wonder why I have a headache at the end of the day. And sometimes, I fall apart, caving in to my vulnerabilities while exposing my raw, yet tender heart. It is things like this that reminds me to appreciate the things I have in life. A handful as my kids can be and driving me to the brink of insanity, they are just being kids, they are happy and healthy, and they are reaching their developmental milestones. They bring out the worst and the best in me and they spur me on to not only become a better parent, but a better person for them to look up to.
We can only cherish every moment from here on. They grow up too fast.
Related post:
Spud's little big bed
If you have seen this, it is not exactly a sad video. It is actually a happy video...but one that just happened to tug at the heart-strings. I wasn't spared and tears were just rolling on my cheeks in the first few minutes of watching it.
Sometimes I wonder why I have a headache at the end of the day. And sometimes, I fall apart, caving in to my vulnerabilities while exposing my raw, yet tender heart. It is things like this that reminds me to appreciate the things I have in life. A handful as my kids can be and driving me to the brink of insanity, they are just being kids, they are happy and healthy, and they are reaching their developmental milestones. They bring out the worst and the best in me and they spur me on to not only become a better parent, but a better person for them to look up to.
We can only cherish every moment from here on. They grow up too fast.
Related post:
Spud's little big bed
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Cat talk
The holy grail of a cat's anatomy
Don't forget to scratch underneath the chinny-chin-chin too!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
The one with caffeine overdose
"Caffeine can be unhealthy for kids. It can cause them to lose sleep, worsen anxiety and raise blood pressure”
Source: my healthnewsdaily
And everyone knows that giving coffee to a little child, especially one that is barely 3 years old is a complete no-no…
…or is it?
OK. The thing was – towards the end of our Sunday brunch last week with the family, I decided to order a chocolate milkshake for both Spud and me to share. Spud loves milkshake, and every once in a while, she gets to enjoy the occasional milk shakes (and sometimes a few M&Ms and ice-cream) as a treat.
The moment the beverage arrived at our table, Spud pretty much polished off at least ¾ of the milkshake there was, in a rather decent sized glass. I had a little sip of the milkshake when she ventured away from our table and had immediately thought that it tasted a little “off”. By “off”, I thought it tasted more like coffee. Thinking I could be wrong, I even asked Silver Bullet to taste it but he verified that it wasn’t. In fact, he convinced me that it could just be “chocolate chips”.
I was appalled. In fact, I was livid.
“Chocolate chips” my foot! I was convinced that those bits were actually hardcore crushed coffee beans and nowhere near any chocolate chips. So I asked for their manager and I complained. I told them that I didn’t know where to start and that their service sucked. I let it ripped, and told them that serving me Coffee milkshake instead of the chocolate milkshake I originally ordered for the consumption of my daughter was completely unacceptable. How CHOCOLATE translated into COFFEE in their minds was beyond me.
They did not charge me for the milkshake and few other things on the bill – but in all honestly, it was not about the money. I was MAD that my hyperactive daughter had consumed a large amount of caffeine unbeknownst to us and I was afraid for our sanity that she might start bouncing off the walls in her most fashionable temper tantrums. I was anxious that my child who has a penchant for not liking sleep will now never sleep!
We paid, and left. By then, there was nothing we could do but watch Spud like a hawk for any signs of the caffeine effect on Spud – something which we hadn’t witnessed before. We had to brace ourselves up for the inevitable.
The strange thing was, nothing actually happened. In fact, scarily enough, the opposite happened. Spud behaved really well after that. She was mellow. She listened really well and was pleasant to everyone. The best part of it all was that when we got home, she went for her nap when we told her to without any fight – a little unusual considering that she has been fighting sleep and had dropped her afternoon nap several times; one being just the day before!
She still woke up from her nap wailing that day, but otherwise, her temperament was even. When dusk set in, she had ants in her pants and was comfortably back to her old hyperactive self again. She was a little restless initially when we put her to bed, but had slept pretty well that night.
Looks like caffeine had no adverse effect whatsoever on our 2.5 year old Spud. We even joked that perhaps we should start giving her a shot of caffeine every now and then as it seemed to have a calming effect on her.
I googled on this several days later and stumbled upon several articles suggesting that caffeine do have an opposite effect on kids with ADHD.
Uh-oh.
Hmmmm
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
My favourite boys
Looking through some random and candid shots from several months ago, I found a bunch of pictures of Silver Bullet and Squirt which I thought are worth posting.
They are, after all, pictures of my two very favourite boys!
It is without a doubt that Silver Bullet enjoys fatherhood thoroughly and further embraces it wholeheartedly. These images felt so warm that they brought a smile to my face.
In the name of fairness, I think I now have to find a whole bunch of pictures of Spud with Silver Bullet now.
Akan datang. (Coming soon)
They are, after all, pictures of my two very favourite boys!
 |
| Squirt at 2 weeks old |
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| Squirt at about 3.5 months |
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| Squirt at 4 months |
 |
| Being held and rocked to sleep in Papa's arms |
 |
| The guitar had interest him - mainly for leverage |
 |
| Bonding through baby wearing |
 |
| This one was taken later on the day this post went up and is just too precious not to put up! |
It is without a doubt that Silver Bullet enjoys fatherhood thoroughly and further embraces it wholeheartedly. These images felt so warm that they brought a smile to my face.
In the name of fairness, I think I now have to find a whole bunch of pictures of Spud with Silver Bullet now.
Akan datang. (Coming soon)
Monday, February 11, 2013
Gong Xi, Gong Xi
It was the last day of the term, and this time round, the
school term closed with a Chinese New Year festival that was round the corner.
To celebrate the occasion, the school has once again requested for parents to
allow their children to come to school all dressed up in a Chinese New
Year garb or “anything red”.
Like the Cultural Day they had last year, we don’t have special costumes all ready for Spud to wear. I was wrecking my head as to where I could get one of those cute Chinese cheongsam for kids at such a short notice. I KNOW I should not have felt bothered to oblige, but I kind of felt a little gutted that I was not able to get one for Spud and that she had to go to school costume-less once again. For kids, I can imagine that it would be a fun thing to do.
So I asked around, and a colleague of mine had the foresight to suggest that perhaps I should try my luck at one of those makeshift “tent area” usually opened at lunch time near my office. I went on a fly, with no more than 12 hours to spare till the next day where she’ll be needing her costume.True enough, I found just what I was looking for and ended up buying 2 pieces of those cheongsam dresses for Spud.
As soon as I got home, I showed Spud what I bought for her to wear for school the next day. She got excited and was immediately drawn to the red dress. She liked it so much that when she got defiant and refused to listen, she immediately behaved and complied when I threatened to take the dress away from her. (Ahhh! The power of taking away something she likes lives on!)
I walked Spud to school with her donning her cute little red cheongsam and I was genuinely amused at the attention she got from passer-bys ; some being familiar faces as we see them every day. The moment they saw her, they all started smiling, laughing, grinning, saying hi to her and telling her how “narak maak” (very cute in Thai) she was with her little assemble.
And we walked together, hand-in-hand, chatting and singing and laughing while Spud basked in the look of adoration from passer-bys all around.
Spud may not noticed all the attention she had as she was busy looking everywhere but in front of her. I thought it was quite amusing at how excited Thais can get with little kids. It was, nevertheless, pretty endearing.
Gong Xi Fa Cai, everyone! May the year of the Snake bring may more good fortune, happiness and love all around.
Like the Cultural Day they had last year, we don’t have special costumes all ready for Spud to wear. I was wrecking my head as to where I could get one of those cute Chinese cheongsam for kids at such a short notice. I KNOW I should not have felt bothered to oblige, but I kind of felt a little gutted that I was not able to get one for Spud and that she had to go to school costume-less once again. For kids, I can imagine that it would be a fun thing to do.
So I asked around, and a colleague of mine had the foresight to suggest that perhaps I should try my luck at one of those makeshift “tent area” usually opened at lunch time near my office. I went on a fly, with no more than 12 hours to spare till the next day where she’ll be needing her costume.True enough, I found just what I was looking for and ended up buying 2 pieces of those cheongsam dresses for Spud.
As soon as I got home, I showed Spud what I bought for her to wear for school the next day. She got excited and was immediately drawn to the red dress. She liked it so much that when she got defiant and refused to listen, she immediately behaved and complied when I threatened to take the dress away from her. (Ahhh! The power of taking away something she likes lives on!)
I walked Spud to school with her donning her cute little red cheongsam and I was genuinely amused at the attention she got from passer-bys ; some being familiar faces as we see them every day. The moment they saw her, they all started smiling, laughing, grinning, saying hi to her and telling her how “narak maak” (very cute in Thai) she was with her little assemble.
And we walked together, hand-in-hand, chatting and singing and laughing while Spud basked in the look of adoration from passer-bys all around.
Spud may not noticed all the attention she had as she was busy looking everywhere but in front of her. I thought it was quite amusing at how excited Thais can get with little kids. It was, nevertheless, pretty endearing.
Gong Xi Fa Cai, everyone! May the year of the Snake bring may more good fortune, happiness and love all around.
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| Spud's dress of choice for school |
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| Spud's in her other cheongsam dress |
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Power of words
A brilliant video showcasing the power of words...
... although I thought that the lady could have left the guy some change as well!
... although I thought that the lady could have left the guy some change as well!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Wilhelmina’s Pickled Chicken
Cookbooks are great when it comes to getting me inspired for
dishes on days when I don’t know what to cook for meals. Flipping through one
of my most trusted Asian cook books, I came across this fairly simple recipe and
decided to venture into this Eurasian-inspired dish.
Obviously, I wouldn’t be me if I don’t modify the standard recipe. So I gave the dish a little bit of my own twist. So here goes:
Ingredients:
Spices:
Paste:
Method:
Enjoy!
Obviously, I wouldn’t be me if I don’t modify the standard recipe. So I gave the dish a little bit of my own twist. So here goes:
Ingredients:
- 4 pieces chicken breasts cut into pieces
- 3-5 tbsp olive oil
- 250 ml water
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 120 ml coconut milk salt to taste
- Tumeric leaves, crushed
Spices:
- 4 tbsp coriander powder
- 4-5 pcs cloves
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 tspn cumin powder
- 1 tbsp tumeric powder
- 5cm piece cinnamon stick
- 1 tspn ground nutmeg
Paste:
- 12 medium-sized dried red chillies (seeded and soaked in warm water then drained)
- 1 stalk lemon grass (sliced)
- 2-3 inch fresh ginger (peeled and sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic 8-12 shallots (sliced)
Method:
- Grind all the spices in an electric grinder. Mix and set aside.
- Coat the pieces of chicken well with the spices and let it stand for at 15 minutes
- Grind the paste ingredients
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the ground paste until light brown and aromatic.
- Add the seasoned chicken and stir-fry for about 10 minutes.
- Add water and coconut milk.
- Simmer till tender.
- Add in the lemon juice, sugar, salt to taste. Stir well. Then add turmeric leaves on top
- Stir again and cook until fairly dry
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Shakespearing
A fashionista I will never be, but when I saw the Shakespeare's quote print on a retro-looking little tot's tee, I thought that this was simply too frickin' darn cool to be ignored.
This is just one of those irrational buys and I just.had.to.get.it. No further explanation required on this impulse buy.
This is just one of those irrational buys and I just.had.to.get.it. No further explanation required on this impulse buy.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Calvin & Hobbes
While waiting for my coffee this morning, the comic section of the paper I was reading featured another one of Calvin's antics which tickled my funny bones!
Monday, February 4, 2013
The spilt milk story
Have you heard of the spilt milk story? Well, then...here goes a story about it which I stumbled upon not too long ago on FB. I am not sure where original source was from, but I thought it is something worth a re-post:
"NOT CRYING OVER SPILT MILK MAY PRODUCE A GENIUS.......
Have you heard of the spilt milk story? Well, we all know there is no use crying over spilt milk. But this story is different.
There was a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn’t work,” we usually learn something valuable from it.
Wouldn’t it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert’s mother responded to him?
Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult, a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to a life of mediocrity but with it you can accomplish miracles."
There goes a classic story to make a mother like me feel really, really incompetent about my parenting skills.
You see, I wish I could say that THAT was exactly what I did when an almost similar situation presented itself in which I should then give myself a pat on the back for such awesome parenting skills. Instead, my eyes glistened (just a little bit!) and I was riddled with guilt when I read that as, I was being reminded of an almost similar incident not too long ago. An incident, in which I should have responded in the “nicer” way.
The truth was, I didn’t. My head was filled with work, I was tired, I was exhausted and I had repeated myself very gently and calmly to Spud for the umpteenth time that the half-full 1 liter bottle was too heavy for her to be able to pour herself a cup of water all by herself.
Of course, Spud wouldn’t listen and of course! she refused to let go of the mineral water bottle, let alone let me help her without a massive temper tantrum. I had fully anticipated that she was going to spill everything when she tried to do it herself.
I tried telling her again as calmly as I could just before she opened the cap, but she chose to ignore me (I breathed in really hard to stop myself from exploding, but was already seething inside) as she stubbornly pursued on while I looked on. She could not carry the weight of the bottle (not surprising, considering the bottle is almost half her height!) and soon enough, everything overflowed out of the cup when she tipped the bottle over into her cup. Every.single.drop.of.water.
To add on to that, as she emptied out the bottle, she had also clumsily kicked the already filled cup and had almost slipped on the slippery floor. Wait a minute – did I not see all these happening a mile away just 10 seconds ago? By this time, the “I told you so!” was right at the tip of my tongue.
I guess I could and I should have responded in the ”nicer way” as suggested by the article, but emotions (and fatigue) got the better of me. I did the complete opposite – I shouted at Spud instead.
A shout loud enough to startle her, that she froze there and then.
Needless to say, I regretted my action the very second the high octave note left my throat. I could have handled it better and I didn’t. It was something I could not take back and I still feel quite bad thinking about it. It was a moment of weakness – a weakness which I hope she will never try to emulate. A weakness (or maybe stupidity), which I hope to never repeat.
Give and take a month later, I wonder how much she would
have remembered from that incident - she certainly hasn't try doing it again since. I
hope that I have not scarred her for life and scare the crap out of her for
losing my head as what she was just trying to do was just trying to show me
some independence. She was learning, and being the mother that I am, and not a
saint, I have essentially committed a parenting boo-boo. I sometimes tend to forget
that she is only just 2.5 years old.
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| Source: Google images |
I guess I just have to learn to pick my battles. It makes me
realise that sometimes, I have to let some things slide, empower her, grit my
teeth and watch her do things which would eventually resulted in me empowering
myself with the fact that I am able to tell her a, “I (bloody!) told you so (goddammit)!”
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Funny fashion
Fashion is just getting stranger by the day. Metal spikes
protruding out of a men’s shoe, and on top of that, the guy was carrying a
man-bag which resembled not too far away from a purse, complete with skinny
jeans that was worn way too low below the waist.
He was alone (so that means he was not carrying his
girlfriend’s bag), fussing about with his iPhone and definitely much too busy
to notice anything else as he got into the BTS with me. It gave me a chance to snap a picture quickly
and silently. His shoes looked menacing and deadly.
I thought it was a classic case of fashion faux pas. Either that or I am getting old and old-fashioned and
completely out of touch with the “real” world of what’s defined as cool and
chic.
Having to wear nursing bras and/or grandma's underwear is not included in the context of being "out of touch" with fashion..
Having to wear nursing bras and/or grandma's underwear is not included in the context of being "out of touch" with fashion..
Friday, February 1, 2013
8 months
The days of when Squirt was able to stay where I last plopped him is now long, long gone. Squirt’s now a little critter and crawling like a champ. Just a week after turning 7 months, he started to pull himself up to a stand, and, he has not stopped practicing since.
By now, at 8 months old and in between crawling, he is cruising comfortably along anything and everything within reach just because he can, and now trying to use only one hand. He has also figured out that if he loses his balance while standing and not able to reach anything to maintain equilibrium, he would need to lower himself down to a squatting position. Sometimes, he forgets and tumbles over.
Squirt loves his sister – he lights up every time he sees her and is happiest when he sees her running around like a headless chicken. He laughs when she plays “catch” with him – as if he understands the game perfectly. He loves watching her and I think Spud is his biggest motivation to learn how to walk as fast as he can!In fact, he could easily walk some serious steps when supported.
He has been quite the blabbermouth since he started crawling. From simple cooing, his babble-vocab now consists of sounds like “ Tataaaaata“, “Mmmmmaaaamaaa” and”Daadaaa”. He has also been very vocal when he comes to things that he does not want to do. He screams, he struggles, and he scratches and he pushes.
Changing his nappy and cleaning his bottom has become near impossible missions as we struggle to keep him on is back. He gets super annoyed when we try to feed him while he was busy doing something else. He is almost always distracted and could hardly ever finishes his bottle of milk in one seating these days.
Otherwise, Squirt remains our pleasant, happy, shiny and smiley child. He is finally sitting up (and it has been hard to capture a picture of him sitting!) – but not for long, for he prefers to crawl around or continue to improve his standing and scooting skills.
At 8 months, still no signs of any teeth. He has, however, begun to imitate facial expressions – like scrunching up his nose and purse his lips all at the same time while sniffing up as hard as he can (a comical sight). He seems to know what “kiss” means as when you ask him for it, he would clumsily plonk his face on you and give you a slobbery kiss with his mouth open. Endearingly cute.
Did I mention that Squirt is a very happy and smiley baby yet?
Related post(s):
Spud's 8 month update
By now, at 8 months old and in between crawling, he is cruising comfortably along anything and everything within reach just because he can, and now trying to use only one hand. He has also figured out that if he loses his balance while standing and not able to reach anything to maintain equilibrium, he would need to lower himself down to a squatting position. Sometimes, he forgets and tumbles over.
Squirt loves his sister – he lights up every time he sees her and is happiest when he sees her running around like a headless chicken. He laughs when she plays “catch” with him – as if he understands the game perfectly. He loves watching her and I think Spud is his biggest motivation to learn how to walk as fast as he can!In fact, he could easily walk some serious steps when supported.
He has been quite the blabbermouth since he started crawling. From simple cooing, his babble-vocab now consists of sounds like “ Tataaaaata“, “Mmmmmaaaamaaa” and”Daadaaa”. He has also been very vocal when he comes to things that he does not want to do. He screams, he struggles, and he scratches and he pushes.
Changing his nappy and cleaning his bottom has become near impossible missions as we struggle to keep him on is back. He gets super annoyed when we try to feed him while he was busy doing something else. He is almost always distracted and could hardly ever finishes his bottle of milk in one seating these days.
At 8 months, still no signs of any teeth. He has, however, begun to imitate facial expressions – like scrunching up his nose and purse his lips all at the same time while sniffing up as hard as he can (a comical sight). He seems to know what “kiss” means as when you ask him for it, he would clumsily plonk his face on you and give you a slobbery kiss with his mouth open. Endearingly cute.
Did I mention that Squirt is a very happy and smiley baby yet?
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| Ready... |
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| Steady... |
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| and... up! |
Related post(s):
Spud's 8 month update
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