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A friend who has never been to IKEA asked yours truly to give her a tour of IKEA as she had to buy a shelving unit for her kitchen. So, one week night after work, I drove her over there and a walking tour we went.

Do you remember IKEA when it first opened, or the initial years it opened? (by initial years, I mean the first 3 years). Everyone was going ga-ga over the place and if you entered a fanatics' house, you'd recognise that the items came from you-know-where or that you had remembered seeing the item/s in the catalogue that they send to your home. I am very wary of purchasing furniture at the place. My aunt had told us how she had just finished assembling a chair and there came my cousin to sit on it and it broke! However, the little wooden kids table and matching chair which I had assembled 14 years ago, is still standing, but now with a guitar amp on one and an Ibanez on the other, hah! Anyway, if you read (not look or browse through, but read) the catalogue that they send to houses each year, a furniture item may state it's maximum weight that the item can hold.

Well, I am not a full-fledged IKEA person as I wouldn't want guests coming to the home and knowing where I had bought what; intrigue is good as it causes a certain kind of excitement that makes the guest gush with the want to know and I proudly giving a litany as to where and how I had procured the item. Hey, doesn't anyone?

Now, my lament here is that walking around IKEA that night made me depressed! Seriously man! People were staring, knocking, sitting, touching everything knowing that somewhere along the way they would choose and purchase an item/s for their homes. I was thinking how I would never be able to do that, not yet anyway maybe in my 50's (for those who understand) when I throw everything out my apartment (which is rented out) and re-furnish the whole place with white and grey.

I live in my mother's house. And now it is a home. And she has moved to her other house with her sister who comes to Malaysia from the UK when it's too cold for comfort. My aunt asked me a few days ago whether I had moved into my mother's recently vacated room and I answered 'no' as I thought my mom would still want to come back home to sleep now and again. My aunt said that better I move into the room now before my mother moves back in, hah! However, my mom called this morning asking me if I had moved into her room yet, and I gave her the same answer.

I think I should soon.. over the next few days maybe.. some sentimenal thingy going on..

Anyway, my home has a mix of my stuff and my late grandfather's stuff which he had given my mother before his passing. My grandfather was very, very house proud. But the chinese antique way, if you get my drift. So, these antiques are all around the home. And obviously yours truly can't get rid of them as the other house has similar antiques (my grandfather used to buy in bulk). So there. 

It seems now that the re-decorating has to be focused only in my new room to-be and the kids room.

sigh..

A Road Well Travelled

Since my last posting on travel which was to Bali, I have been to Haadyai, Pangkor, Singapore last year. This year so far has been Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Haadyai was so-so, you know how it is.., the usual binge on eating and window shopping, with no nice photo's to take. Haadyai is truly for serious cheap shoppers who like to haggle/bargain over prices and yours truly is not one of them. My idea of shopping is asking for the price and paying for it. No exchange of unnecessary words, no ding-dongs back and forth that irritate me. But food, booze was delicious and cheap.

Pangkor was fun-filled for the kids and laid-back for me. I always like the sand and sea. Sleeping and reading on the beach, boating to some nameless island in the hot hot sun. We always stay at Boral Bay Resort because the rooms are huge and restaurants are just down the road, so is the beach. There is this particular restaurant that opens for lunch and dinner (most restaurants only open for dinner) that serve the best fish and chips, as in the fish is filleted fresh fish and not frozen dory fish we get in the great city of Kuala Lumpur. I remember when the kids were still small, I had to pack their foodstuff as they could not eat adult food yet and now here they are choosing their own from a menu. Well, it will be Pangkor again this year as we always an annual visit.

Singapore for me was one big boring ride. But not so for the kids of course, with all the rides they went on at Universal Studios. Will fare better at the Singapore Zoo next trip, as did not have time for it this trip. I can't imagine that I spent a whole day at Universal Studios, what with my aversion to man-made amusement  parks. But yes, I have to admit that I did ride on the 2 rollercoasters (once each, but the kids happily lined-up for seconds) and the 3-D Transformer ride (which I did enjoy actually..hmm..). Food was shitty of course (sorry Singapore), the only palatable food was at the Padang restaurant a walk away from our budget hotel.. The Science Centre was informative for children and adults alike, the Night Safari was unentertaining as most of the animals were sleeping or hiding away from the spotlights! I think our Night Safari at the Taiping Zoo is better.

But, I have to tell you that the highlight has to be Cambodia. Such a greatness the grandess of all the temples, though long disposed. We clambered, climbed, scouted, discovered every inch of the temples we visited (future travellers to Angkor, please bring along a torchlight)  from those on the outskirts to the well known ones. We were all in awe of the carvings, the maze of corridors, columns, height and architecture of every single temple we visited. Could anyone imagine how they were built? Being inside was peaceful and quiet, though you had people walking all around. But as you exit the grounds, you are 'ambushed' by vendors selling their wares and I had my fair share of vendors being annoyed by me, hah! But all taken humourously by me. But seriously, by the last day, I was so tired of saying 'no thank you' that I started mumbling in Malay and they backed-off, thinking that I do not understand English I hope. Hah!! Food was rather bland if you compare with Thai food (there I was splashing liberal dashings of fish sauce onto every dish I was eating), but good for kids as it was not spicy. For me, the best was Fish Amok (one of their national dishes), like a watered down version of our masak lemak but very tasty with the mixture of fried ground lemon grass. We will visit Angkor again, next year for sure..

Life Is A YoYo

My eldest, Aryan, is yoyo freak. He is in the Malaysia Yo-Yo Club. He has appeared on TV3, 8TV and NTV7, with them interviewing him and his yoyo friends. The yoyo's do not come cheap I can tell you! But with son, he is careful and "almost-financially-independant ". Meaning that, if I give him money for school, he always saves half of it, stashes it away til he has accumulated a particular sum and then goes on to purchase what he wants. And he has been doing this since he was 10. Be it to purchase Lego (Lego, and more Lego!) to Caribou Lodge Yoyo's which are flown in from Canada to Kirk Hammnet's guitar pick collection! Oh yes, he is also into fingerboarding, skateboarding, plays classical guitar and now the electric guitar (Ibanez).

He is 14 now. And with it I see pimples appear. He trying the sheesha (TWICE!!). A smart mouth. Fashion conscious with particular shirts, Levi jeans and one-of-a-kind-t-shirts.

Woe is me with a growing teen and another on the way. Hah!

My youngest, Aidan, is 11. Lego fanatic to the maximum. All birthday money, angpow's, christmas money is spent on Lego, Lego and more Lego! He is happy-go-lucky, fearless to the point of ignorance, crafty with his hands, loves food (really loves food!). He has eyelashes that cover half his face and is everyone's favourite, especially my mother and my sister. They tend to give in to his whims and fancies. My wondering is when he will start to follow into his brothers' foot steps. As it is now, it is skateboarding, bicycles and converse shoes. But he hates school and doesn't waste a day telling you so.

Can't wait for him to be a teen and for me to discover what he will be discovering.

I have them all pretty covered, and many a person have told me so. Not that I need praise for raising my sons my way, but sometimes it is really appreciated when a third party/parties notices.
 

While I Was Sleeping..

My Son's grew up.
With feet was big as mine.
And still growing. Hah!