A Normal Kid, Not A Normal Kid?

Our conversation a week ago, one evening after homework is completed.


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Mom: Boy, next week (yesterday) is Parent-Teacher Day.  You always come back and tell me how stressed up you are being a class monitor.  I wonder if I should let teacher knows when I am there to collect your report card.

Boy: What are you going to tell her (class teacher)?

Mom: I will tell her you want to quit lor.  You complain of stress and tiredness all the time.

Boy: I don't know, mom.  I REALLY DON'T KNOW (if he should continue being a class monitor). *looks confused and disturbed*

Mom:  Let mommy help you to come to a decision.

Boy: How?

Mom: Hmm... Okay, now you think of mommy's body as a weighing scale and both hands the trays on each side. *Trying very hard to describe to him until he finally gets it*.

Boy: I can imagine the weighing scale now.  How are you going to help me decide?

Mom: Each tray represents the weight you rate your desire of being a class monitor or not being one. 1kg the lightest and 10kg the heaviest.  What weight would you rate?

Boy: Hmmm.. I know I don't want to be a "normal kid". It's so boring but I also don't like the stress being a class monitor. I really don't know how to choose la, mom. 

Mom: *Brain juice running out* Hmmm... now that you told me you don't want to be a normal kid but you don't like stress either.  Hmmm... just think this way, which one matters more to you?  Not being a normal kid or stress? 

Boy:   I know, I know what I want now.. *answers firmly and unhesitantly* I give "not being a normal kid" 8 kg and 'stress' 2kg.  Yeah! *excited*  I know what I want already. Thanks mom! *hugs and gives me a peck on my cheek*

Mom: :)

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When I met up with his class teacher during the parent-teacher day yesterday, she had all the good words for the boy, praising him for being responsible, carried out his job well as a class monitor, quiet and attentive in class.  What? Did my ears hear that correctly? Quiet?? That's why he's so stressed up, for not being able to talk as much as he could!!  LOL...

He had always been a chatter box and the most negative (or was it positive?) feedbacks that I got from his former class teachers evolved around him talking too much and not attentive in class.  He is still his old self, talkative and clumsy at times but guess he knows his boundaries as a leader in the class which I think is a good training ground for him. 

He managed to retain his 1st position in class in the mid-year exam recently despite a drop in his BC Penulisan paper.  I think it usually works this way during exams, when one with regular revisions finds a test paper hard, others will most likely have the same problems too and that the school is pushing the syllabus too fast.  We don't emphasize so much on class positioning, instead more on putting in your very best and a right attitude in everything that you do.  We are proud of him for being able to excel in a Chinese school despite coming from a non-Mandarin speaking home and with no tuition at all. *sniff**sniff*  Pardon me for getting a bit emo..

Homemade Smoothies

1 mango, 1/2 apple (cut into small chunks) and 3 ice cubes

This is not a sponsored post.  I don't get paid for writing this post.  The opinion is solely mine as a user. 

I got my Shimono Food Processor (not in pic) yesterday and the first thing I did when I got up this morning was to get my hands on the machine  and make my very first smoothie.  I started with the simplest recipe above and we had smoothie for breakfast this morning.  Yummy! 

One thing I so love about this machine is that you throw in whatever ingredients you fancy into the cup, blend and here you go, sipping from the very own cup! No hassle of washing up, I just have to wash up the cup shown in the pic plus the blade. Unlike the juicer machine that I got years back to make vege juice for my mom when she was here on her chemo treatment.  The dreadest part would always be the washing part, I had to wash like 10 parts every time I juiced and as a result, the machine is now hidden somewhere deep inside my kitchen cabinet! :(

The second batch I made after dinner this evening:

Ingredients I put in:
Cup with green lid: 3 strawberries, 1/3 mango, 6 ice cubes, 2 tbsp plain yoghurt and some leftover store-bought yoghurt drink.
Cup with orange lid: All of the above plus soy milk MINUS plain yoghurt and yoghurt drink as yours truly doesn't take yoghurt, can't stand the smell!

My boy loves it so much that he placed his order for tomorrow: red dragon fruit with kiwi fruit smoothie for breakfast tomorrow! LOL...  I think I will add in some celery too and later more greens, nuts, flaxseeds.. and the list can go on and on.  I didn't know making our own smoothies can be such an adventure too! :)

Back To Routine...

After the boy has recovered from fever, he complained of having sore throat so I boiled a big pot of herbal tea yesterday on a lazy Sunday (lo hon guo mixed with other herbs which I don't know what (prepack I bought off the shelves from a regular frequented shop in PJ New Town) and chilled it before serving, both father and son loved it. 

The conversation while chilling at the living hall sipping our cups of cold herbal tea, daddy was outside at the porch:

Mommy: You have been falling sick lately, I wonder why..

Ian:  That's ecause I didn't get to eat homecooked food often during these two weeks!

Mommy: Okok.. *guilty*

We had been eating out mostly during the two weeks' school holidays, chipping in some quick homecooked meals in between but rarely. 

This lazy mom now declares her kitchen officially open starting today and the menu for today's dinner:  Seaweed soup, stewed pork with black fungus and lettuce with oyster sauce. 

Our Boy Is 9!

Mango Cheese cake

6 June 2012 was our boy's 9th birthday.  It was celebrated quietly at home with homecooked meals and a birthday cake.  The boy started developing fever the night before and he claimed it was his worst birthday ever when he woke up in the morning with fever that wouldn't go away.  My plan was to surprise him with a visit to Kidzania and obviously that did not materialize. :(

The school holidays is coming to an end and yet we didn't quite accomplish what we had planned.  My car went into the workshop during the first week of school holidays.  It was a saviour though hubby took few days off from work and we had an early birthday celebration for the boy at Gold Coast Morib Resort.  We went to watch MIB3 and ate out a lot too before hubby went back to work on Wednesday. 

His fever has sudsided since yesterday and I plan to take him for another movie, Madagascar 3 later in the afternoon.  His daddy advised against crowded places so guess a trip to Kidzania might have to put on hold for now. 

Blowing the candle..

Warmer Floor, Warmer Feet

I have always love wooden flooring as I literally grew up walking on it until I moved out from my parents' house, got married and have my own nest.  Our first house was marble floored and the present one, tiled.  Honestly speaking, I like the feeling of wooden floor more, my feet feels warmer walking on it, something that I took for granted.  My feet always feel cold walking on marble or tiled flooring and I usually wear house slippers around the house. 

We have been toying with the idea of covering our tiled floor with wooden flooring. We did extensive research on the types of wooden flooring available that meets our requirement and budget and had narrowed down our choice to red oak flooring.   We are still contemplating though between laminate or hardwood flooring, our top preference will always be the latter if money is not an issue.

I hope we can get the issue sorted out soon as I just can't wait to pamper my feet with a warmer and natural feel of wooden flooring!

Ribs@Oasis, Bandar Utama, PJ

Keeping himself occupied while waiting for food to be served

One fine Sunday, we went for Porky lunch at Ribs@Oasis, a non-halal restaurant nestled in the quiet neighbourhood along Jalan BU4 in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya.  We had been craving for western porky dishes ever since we last had pork ribs at Tony Roma's in Bangkok during last year-end school holidays.

A glass of beer to quench your thirst on a scorching hot day, not for me though

Freshly made tomato soup, yumzz 

Grilled pork loin chop served with braised cabbage and tangy apple sauce

The pork chop did not disappoint at all.  It came with a huge slab of pork with a layer of fat around the edge and it tasted even better with the apple sauce. 

Pork Ribs with honey mustard sauce

The pork ribs was a bit tough in texture compared to Tony Roma's where we could literally suck the bones dry but the honey mustard sauce complemented the meat so well that it kind of made up for it.

Juicy pork burger

I did not sample my boy's burger but the hubs who did said the patty was a bit too dry.

One thing worth mentioning, the staff on duty was very attentive and friendly.  He overheard my conversation with the boy.  The boy told me he didn't want cheese in his burger and I promised to remove it when his order came.  The burger came with the slice of cheese placed at the side! 

Half-eaten single scoop of rums & raisins (Oops..) and vanila (not in pic) ice cream from Haagen Dazs.

Overall, it was a pleasure porky dining experience.  Will we visit the restaurant again? No doubt about that! :)

Ribs@Oasis

1-1 BU4 Oasis Complex

2 Tengkat Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
03-7729-8921
(Go along Jalan BU3/1 (SJK(C) Puay Chai 2) is on your left) until you reach a T intersection,
turn right, Oasis Complex is on your left)