As a typical Malaysian, I am addicted to Malaysian food and the firsst thing i searched for was a chinese supermarket… so I could get my regular supply of noodles and vege.. Found a shop abt 3KM from where i stay.. and the first thing i looked for was fresh kway teow…. and they hv it..i sighed the biggest relieved sigh ever..
I lived close to the market in KL and never hd to worry abt fresh kwayteow. There was an old chinese lady who made the bestestttttttttt penang char fried kwayteow.. She opens her stall at 6.30pm and by 8.30 she closes.. she never cooks more and never waste.. I never understood her concept.. when she knows there is a huge demand for her kway teow, why doesn’t she cook more and open her shop longer? Anyway..if she sees me crossing the road, she would make the kway teow special for me.. She knows I am allergic to prawns and make mine without prawns.. and it costs 2.50.. It will be a rush to go home and the kids and I will be fighting as to who gets to open the packet.. then like hungry lions attacking their prey, we will fight with chopsticks in between swallowing gallons of water… It is so damn spicy..but heavenly…
Today I shall make my first kway teow goreng.. If i type my message tomorrow, then u know I am alive.. otherwise…6 foot under and pushing up daisies!!!!
By the way does anyone know how to make curry mee??

I can’t believe, the teachers who are supposed to be the custodians of future generation can use blackmail and think tht they are doing is right.
I understand, they are overworked and underpaid.. but is strike the only way out? Couldn’t they wear a black t shirt to work? Couldn’t they say they won’t do and extra curricular activities? There are thousands of ways one can protest… but not by walking away from the major role of molding the next generation…
How are they going to explain their actions to the students once the school opens?
I strongly feel the teachers hv taken me, an innocent victim for granted… they are only too aware tht, me the parent will pressure the govt to end the strike so my kids can go to school.. and for once, I don’t care if the govt or the teacher is right.. I want the teachers to teach .. and i really don’t care who is going to win or lose.
this is my message to the teachers.. get to work
to the govt.. how dare u think my kids can be used as a pawn to reach ur goals?

Morning I spend my time reading Bonesetter’s daughter by Amy Tan and the kids painted their toy box…. then it ws forever I am bored, I hv nothing to do, when can I go back to school.. I tried shutting my ears out… didn’t work.
Decided to take them for a walk, just like i used to do in KL.. Wore my shorts and t’shirt.. and the sneakers and out we went.. it took me less thn 3 seconds to realize tht the weather tht I took for granted all my life is not as merciful as it ws in Malaysia all the while.. My legs were like frozen ice and everytime the little one hugged me I could feel a chill cruising through my entire body.
I guess after spending a whole time in Asia, I am not at all mentally and physically prepared to live in a Cold climate..
Still i managed to make the kids walk for 30 minutes…

I woke up this morning, thinking abt the things in my life I am thankful for.. here I list them
for the kisses from my kids each morning
for their i love u mamma
for their lovely smile
for the food on my table
for my 5 senses, tht helps me to see, feel, hear, touch and smell the world..I am thankful for being alive.. and for the best thing tht I am a mother.. Yippppeeeeeeeeeee

I live in a two bedroom basement apt. Rental is 600CAD/month, including utilities. However my land lord is from Alaska and thinks nothing much abt switching the heater on. Actually, he thinks I am from Siberia and don’t require the heating system. I hv requested twice already to switch the heating on atleast in the night so the kids don’t suffer when they go to bed. So far he has been deaf and the heating system is in sub zero..
I guess I didn’t hv much choice and went and bought a nice heater.. it is 1500 watts.. so each time i switch it on, the electricity meter will do a nice jogging, it would hv been cheaper if my land lord from Alaska,switched on the heating system which uses natural gas and is cheaper… Alas..he thinks he is smarter..cause he is controlling how much heating i get, and i am waiting with baited breath for the moment he gets his electricity bill

One of the added benefit of renting the place where i live now is tht the library is 10 minutes walk from home. Back in Kuala Lumpur, I used to spend abt RM 200 a month on books and magazines and news paper. It never made sense to me buying books for such exhorbitant price, but then again, if u hv ever visited the national pathetic library in jln Tun Razak, u would understand why I did waste my hard earned income every month!!!
Kids showed their PR card at the library and in 10 mints they got their library card. and it ws my turn.. the lady at the counter said she needs proof of address for me to hv a library card!!!!.. My kids doesn’t require.. but I their mother, who is the one to ensure tht the books are returned at the end, needs to provide proof of address.. Not enough, a letter from my land lord isn’t sufficient, I must post a letter to myself and bring the envelope to the library to get a membership. I thought I left the bloody long beaurocratic red tape in Malaysia!!!!!
Wht is even more odd is the kids can take between them 30 books!!!!! and they don’t need to prove anything… Stupidity, dumbness sheer ignorance.. call wht u may.. the system sucks….

Today is a week since i landed in Vancouver, BC. My kids 7yrs, and 5 yrs hv been attending school since monday. There is no school today as the teachers are on strike.This morning i hd to explain to them wht does strike means. Coming from Malaysia, where we hv never ever had a strike, it is strange. How do i explain to kids in a non compromising way tht the teachers here don’t want to teach till their demands are met? Because in simple terms they would ask me, why don’t the teachers in Malaysia do the same? How do I explain?
I do understand the teachers too hv their needs. But don’t they hv a responsibility too?
Right now I am not employed and i don’t hv to worry abt childcare. Wht abt those parents who work? How will they manage when the school is closed without any warnings? Wht would i do, when I return to work and in the evening I get a letter from school, tomorrow to indefinite, there would be no classes as the teachers are on strike.. Where would I send the kids? Do I then hv to take a day out of my annual leave to take care of the kids, so the teachers can get their demands?
Wht ever happend to those days of negotiation and responsibilities?