Time flies. Its almost a year now since I started taking my adult pop piano classes. “How come  you’re still not playing any pop songs?” asks my husband. 

Well, I’m trying to learn Mariah Carey’s Hero now so he should recognise that one. I am happy to be able to play Beethoven’s Fur Elise and Baby Elephant Walk now.

My playing is not fantastic. Its offbeat, and does not have enough “feel” (I’m just playing notes and it doesn’t sound melodious or like a song.) Still to be able to play is an achievement enough for me. I’ll work on the “feel” slowly.

And sometimes, I’m lazy. I’d try to guess the notes instead of looking at them properly and I play on my own beat. My teacher would laugh at me. “You ar… just simply play.” she would say.

Its wonderful to be able to realise a dream. Simply wonderful. You are never too old to start learning anything. I wonder what I should learn next. Yes, yes, I’d love to be able to bake but then I don’t have an oven nor the space for one.

“I’m stuck all day in the house with the kids. There is no adult conversation. Only whining. I have no time for me. There is so much to do. I feel so tired from it all, day in and day out. Its the same everyday. Taking care of little kids 24/7 is really tiring. They are so demanding. In the evenings I have another kid to take care of. I feel so overwhelmed. So tired.  I wish my spouse could help out but he is so tired after work he usually falls asleep right after dinner! So I have to carry on even though I am tired too.”

 “I’m so lucky to spend so much time with my kids. Its really great to be with them when they wake up, during mealtimes, when they get back from school. Its fantastic to be able to be there for them, to play with them and listen to them. Sometimes they have so much energy, much more than me! The kids and I look forward to when their dad gets home. I miss him all day so its nice to pamper him at the end of the day too.  I am happy that I can be so close to my kids. I am happy to have a wonderful supportive spouse who tries to help out even though he is so tired most days he will sleep right after dinner.”

They’re both me. Hehe. So which do I choose to be? The second more positive person of course. The only time when I revert to the negative person is when I am mad (so one should always try to control one’s anger - then I get into a negative downward spiral and the thoughts spin and spin downwards negatively). The other time when I think negatively is when I don’t take care of myself enough. So I always try to take care of myself first. Then and only then will I be able to take care of others. When I feel deprived (of anything, whether its time or whatever) thats when I get caught by the downward negative spiral again.

So postive or negative? Its up to me. And I choose Positive. What about you?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
You make me laugh through most of our days,

I love the way you appreciate small things in life
I am very lucky to be your wife,

I love the way you are positive about everything
To tide us through all that life may bring,

I love that you are such a special father
And the way you bring our family together,

I love the way you take care of us
It saves me from a lot of stress,

I love the way you organize our stuff
It certainly helps when the going gets tough,

I love the way you share things with me
Even though I may sometimes disagree,

I love the way you put up with my forgetfulness
You are surely my other half with your decisiveness,

I love that you help me with the grocery shopping
How you turn it into our family day is so adoring,

I love you for making my dreams come true
I think of that each time I sit on my piano stool,

My dear this is the 7th year of our marriage
I hope that we can be together as we age.

Are you a Horror movie fan? Do you like to watch blood curling movies with lots of gory scenes and lots of scare factor? I am a horror movie fan but I haven’t watched one in years. I think they seem to be making them scarier and more and more spooky these days. The horror movies of the old days seem meek and tame in comparison.

If you like scary movies, then you’d want to check out Frontier(s) which is out in select US theaters on May 9.  Be warned that this movie is not for the faint hearted and definitely not for children since it is unrated and uncut. Just watching the trailer spooked me big time. I normally enjoy horror movies but this one looks a bit too scary for me. Its got a lot of sadistic gore and violence. I’m afraid I can’t stomach it. I’m getting chicken hearted in my old age but I can imagine that the true horror movie fans will enjoy this.

Its about a couple of young thugs on the run from a bold heist who hides out in a seemingly peaceful inn not realising that they have stumbled into something more terrifying than anything they could ever imagine.

If you are not chicken hearted like me you can make a beeline to the theater but if you don’t think you can handle it on the big screen, you can always wait for the DVD release which is just 4 days later on May 13th. Then you can watch it at home curled up in your own bed with pillows at hand to cover your face when necessary. But I’m not sure if you would be able to sleep afterwards!

Remember I wrote about the upmarket Gurney Drive in KL at The Gardens, Mid Valley? Well recently we took Dad there to savour some of his favourite Penang food and were pleasantly surprised to see that the prices had been revised downwards.

The first time I went there most of the hawker foods were priced at RM15 per plate. This time I saw that most of them were priced around RM12.50++ for large portions and RM8++ for small or single portions. They are smart to reduce the price in this manner. Previously the single portion costs RM15 and there were no large or small portions. 

Lets compare. In our previous visit we ordered Sar Hor Fun, Ark Tui Mee Suah, Satay (One Dozen) and Prawn Omellette plus warm water all round. The meal came up to a whopping RM70 plus.

This time round we ordered Sar Hor Fun, Penang Hokkien Char, Koay Teow Th’ng, Curry Mee, Penang Chee Cheong Fun (which is very different from the KL variety in case you don’t know), Lobak, Chendol and Bor Bor Cha Cha. The meal came up to RM60 plus.  We got much more food than the previous visit plus dessert too at a lesser price. It is still expensive but not exorbitant like before.

And its great to see a price reduction somewhere with prices rising everywhere. Even my wholemeal bread costs about 20 cents a piece now!

With prices coming down to about the same as what you would get at a food court, it is much more reasonable now. This place looks very much like a food court actually but you don’t go to the individual stalls to order. You order from a menu and the food is served to you like a restaurant.  The food plus which place or road it comes from in Penang is listed beside it ie whether it comes from Pulau Tikus or Green Lane or whatever road. Apparently 16 cooks were brought here specially. There is no need for self service. So with better service and about the same prices as most food courts makes it worth a visit now compared to previously.

Before we left, hubby pointed to the pile of stones at the signage outside and told Dad that they had been brought in from Gurney Drive, Penang. That made Dad smile. And that makes it even more worth the visit. Its hard to get Dad to smile these days. Most days he is rather quiet and answers in monosyllabus.

I don’t have pictures but if you want to see pictures and read more about the Gurney Drive in KL at The Gardens, Mid Valley, you can go here.

Yup! These things can only happen to me. The first time I want to hire a maid, she fails her medical and gets sent back.

Now, the first time I use a cash deposit machine. It eats up my money!

I had keyed in my account number, slipped in my dollar notes and then a message came on, something about a mechanical error and next thing I knew, the machine read “This machine is out of service.” OMG! Its not a cash deposit machine. Its a money guzzling monster and it ate my money!

There was no bank staff or even a guard around who could help. Fortunately there was a good samaritan using the next machine who looked for the bank’s telephone number on her receipt slip and gave that to me to call. So sweet of her. She could have just ”pretend dunno” and walked out but she didn’t. There are still nice people around.

It was Sunday evening but the number was a customer service number so fortunately there was someone who could take my call. The customer rept told me that she would do up a report for me and send that to her HQ. Later on when the bank branch does the reconciliation with the HQ they would be able to trace the transaction and credit the money into my account if there is no discrepancy. I gave them my location, time of banking, amount, account number and some other verication of identity. I was told it will take 3-7 days for the issue to be resolved. Phew! Hopefully there is no discrepancy and thank goodness I didn’t kick the machine. Hahaha.

So, the next time if the same thing happens to you, take note of the time and call the bank immediately so they can trace your money back to you. 

I was standing in front of the mirror looking at my auntie arms.

“I’ve put on some more weight. Just look at my arms. So fat!”

My girl was around when I said that and she replied.

“Mummy, its very easy to get thin you know. Just wear something around your waist. Its orange in color. I saw it!”

Hahaha. Now, if only it was that easy. There wouldn’t be any fat people in this world.

The Maid has failed her Medical Tests. She has got TB and has to be sent home immediately.

What does this mean to me? According to the agent, I don’t have to pay anything extra. Yes, sure! But what about the opportunity cost or the cost of interest for the money that I’ve paid upfront to bring the maid into the country?

Now, I have to pick another maid and wait for another 2 months. I’m back to square one! I first made my application at the end of December last year. Its the end of April now. Another 2 months will make it 6 months or half a year of waiting.

My only thought. Why is the process so ridiculous? Why can’t they make sure she passes all her medical tests BEFORE she comes in the country and not AFTER she comes in? Such a waste of time and money for everyone.

All my anxiousness, nervousness and preparation for nothing. We even went out to buy a fan for the maid’s room last weekend.  I need the fan to blow at my face right now.

GERAMNYA! In a flurry of frustrated activity, I cleaned out the bathroom yesterday and squatted down to brush out the dirty bathroom walls and sinks.

The one good thing that has come out of this? At least my bathroom is clean now. *slaps forehead*

Well, I don’t know if it is but it is Fashion Week at One Utama and Mid Valley Megamall. I just happened to be there during the weekend and was treated to Fashion Shows.

I watched a Fitness Fashion show at Mid Valley. What fantastic outfits. Gone are those days of boring old shorts and t-shirts for jogging or boring black leotards for group aerobics exercises. The fitness fashion is so interesting these days. What fantastic outfits. Now if only I could fit into them! Hahaha. Well, first I’ve got to exercise in my boring old T and shorts first before I can wear one of those nice fitness outfits. Lol! The models looked great sashaing on the walkway. Oh! Those flat tummies! I’m so jealous! I never had a flat tummy. Not even when I was a teen! Sobs. Now I can forget about a flat tummy ever. Racking sobs!

At One Utama I was treated to an all male fashion show as I happened to be there when they were modelling an all male brand. The guys don’t look as good as the girls on the walkway. Maybe I’m just not used to seeing guys strutting their stuff on the walkway. Haha. I thought they walked kind of funny. My only thought was how come none of the male models (and there were plenty) looked like a true blue Malaysian. They all looked so…. foreign. I am sure there are many good looking Malaysian guys around. Maybe none of them wants to become a model. Hmmm… what do you think?

Dear Readers,

I just had a sex change operation and obtained a Ph.D ……errrrmm …. lets see…. Ph.D in exercisology. Yup! FYI my name’s just been changed to Rick Nauert and I am now the proud owner of a Ph.D in exercisology.

Don’t believe me? Well, just go here and click on the name Rick Nauert, Ph.D and see what happens.

P.S. There is no guarantee that the link will still work if you read this late.