Wondering the experience i had @ Cornell?

It's been way too long since last blogged...it was used to my daily diary but i guess i slack too much...Oh ya though i have graduated from my Master and back in work industry, if anyone is interested to know how Cornell life was to me...feel free to check it out @ http://cornell-life.blogspot.com/

Cheers!!!

Dream comes true... Cornell here i come!!!

I have been wishing and wishing that i can pursue my dream when opportunity arrives....and guess what???!!! My dream came true finally!!! JPA has approved to sponsor me to pursue my Master in Cornell University which is an Ivy League university in the US!!! I was so happy and thrilled to know that i can pursue on my long-wishing dream. To me, it's a chance of a lifetime, a golden opportunity and a window for a better future...

It's a big gain for me and at the same time a big sacrifice too...I need to leave my kids here for a year while I'm off to US for my Masters. Though i will leave with a heavy heart but I remind myself a year flies very fast....and 12 months later, I will be with my kids again and they could come over for my graduation! Thank you God, my dearest Liew family (my ever-supporting mum, my understanding dad and my two lovely sisters), my hubby for letting me go and my kids who are ever so cute...to support me all time. I shall do my best and graduate well :)

Thank you to JPA too for giving me the opportunity....

Chines New Year is over....

It's been a long spell of silence since my last post. I've been busy as usual...with my kids...and my personal life...more like family life..hehe..
Chinese New Year for me this year was much better...I enjoyed more as I spent my time at my side of my family...I got to see all my close relatives and my cousins...and the happiest of all was my son as he loved to be at my family side as he made a lot of new friends....unlike at my hubby's side, it's so boring and everyone makes him cry one...especially when he sees my mother-in-law. Nobody plays with him there except me and my hubby. So boring...not only to him, I feel the same too...so I never like to spend Chinese New Year at his place...but no choice lerr....who ask me to get married..sigh...guess I have to tolerate that...
Time flies very fast these days....my daughter now is already 8 months old she is actively crawling around and playing with her brother now....however, sometimes her brother doesn't like Fion to disturb him playing..and ended up Fion chasing his brother in her walker...it's so funny to imagine the scene :)

Singapore trip 2009

Just back from Singapore on Monday. I went to Singapore for a short holiday of 3 days and 2 nights. Everyone would guess I was there with my hubby...unfortunately it's not...I went there with my mum, my sister and my little baby girl :) Oh well, what happen to Eric Tee???? He stayed at home with his father...because his father was barred to go out of the country...so Eric has to stay...my poor boy.

It's been five years since I last stepped to Singapore....I wanted a holiday for a long time...especially a private one without my kids...Oh well, that won't happen i guess...anyway I flew to Singapore last Saturday...Singapore was a total different city compared to 5 years ago. It's such a modern city with all the infrastructure all so well developed and organised....along with it's fantastic buildings' architecture and the city development so rapid and growing all the time...

It's Christmas season now and the city was filled with beautiful lights up especially at night. It's a romantic city if you have the money to spend there...We met up with my beloved dad and we stayed at Albert Court Village hotel around Bugis Junction. It's a strategic location for shopping and eatery...

However, I didn't do much of shopping, just go around for sightseeing in Singapore. We went up to Singapore Flyer, Vivo City, The Jewel Box (aka Faber Hill), Clarke Quay, Marina Bay, Singapore's Botanic Garden and of course the Orchard Road. The Singapore Flyer was really great in it's design and mechanics...the whole thing was awesome and it can't be compared to the Malaysian's "Eyes of the World" as i think the Malaysia's one is damn cheap in its build and not great at all....ahahaaha..

Anyway, here are some pictures to share and I had a great time after all though it's tiring for me..as it's too rush for a short holiday... Merry Christmas to all!!!

On our way to Singapore (by Air Asia)

Outside our hotel room

Christmas tree @ Vivocity

Night view @ the Jewel Box

Dancing light fountain @ the Jewel Box

Tallest X'mas tree lighting up @ the Jewel Box

The lighted tallest X'mas tree in Singapore

The Singapore Flyer

In the capsule of Singapore Flyer

Merlion & Esplanade

How time flies...

It's been like 3 months already since I left my job and started my Master. It's been hectic days for me since then....lack of sleep, no personal time, late nights and even no more love life at all... Marriage life sucks for me these few months, though the kids are wonderful and growing up well :) As for my master research, it's been going on slow...too slow i would say. Chapter 2 on literature review is been draggy as I have not much time to read and explore the research written...however, i have started on the first phase of development of the hypervisor. But, the coding part is pretty difficult as there is no reference on the porting of Intel instructions and at them same time i must make sure i do not infringe the Intel's IP. Headache..and pretty stuck but still going on searching for methods to solve it...guess there is no short cuts after all...

Well, Christmas is coming soon...had some X'mas mood at first as I was suppose to celebrate X'mas with Eric and my hubby in Singapore, however, everything has been messed up by the PTPTN. My hubby has been blacklisted by PTPTN (the government) and barred him from going out of the country. So he couldn't get out of the country until he has resolved the issue with the government. It's only a week away before the trip (5 days) and things have not settle....and i have to think of plan B...

Wondering how do i look now?? I regain my 100% original weight now..and look slimmer than last time... and also a little tiring look too...ahahaha...thanks to the kids at home :)

Heavy heart to sacrifice my dream...

I have been in confusion for a past week...Undecided either to choose to go after my dream or giving family first priority to drop off my oversea plan. It seems that my heart is not for USM all this while though I have registered a student there. Even for my master, I wasn't really motivated to work on it...WHY??? In a dilemma whether I made the right choice to stay and take care of my kids over my dream to study overseas...

I should have decided earlier on to stay but then these few days, this issue popped out in my mind again. Was I being to silly to let go of my dream??? But on the other hand, I am too reluctant to leave my kids behind too. I have an opportunity now to go overseas to study again for the Spring time and I am so tempted to opt for it. Full scholarship is there and no problem in getting an offer but only...what about my kids? Couldn't bring my baby girl along as she is too young and I won't be able to handle her on my own. My son is also still young and can't take care of his own.

I have been discussing with a few people...and thinking a lot....guess I need to sacrifice..though i hated the idea...and reluctant to let it go, but I have no choice since I have kids and they are still very young. These few days really demotivated to work on research...and didn't do anything at all. I was even demotivated when found out I need to start from scratch as the referred framework could not work with my proposed solution. And now...I don't even know how and where to start....sigh. To develop a framework model for a new hypervisor is too complex and it is difficult to achieve in a year time and do it single-handedly. Thinking if I could change the topic as I wanted to complete my master in a year time...I do not even want to stay longer in USM. Not my dream university nor my dream education....

Oh well, reality needs to hit hard on me again....take off the dream and focus on my kids and master in USM. Don't dream anymore Irene...wake up and smell the flowers!

Life after school starts...

It's been a while i have not been blogging...reason? Lack of time. Time is so precious these days and yet I wish there is more than 24 hours a day. Master has started and research has started with me doing the literature review. Therefore, google is the master here....searching for technical papers, journals and proceedings which are related to my research.

It's been almost 3 weeks now since i started with my research....many would really want to know how am i coping....Oh well, to tell you the truth...i'm totally drained out....of energy and will power. I find it so hard to focus and spend more time on my work as being at home with kids is really difficult, especially when my kids are sick. Past few weeks my both kids were sick on and off...first the eldest one was sick...then after he recovered, my daughter was sick...and then back to the loop again. Phew...it's really a headache. Until now they are sick...down with running nose and cough. Blame the weather for being so bad and unpredictable...suddenly it's a rainy day and then next day it's sunny again...cold and then hot..and cold again...Keeping my fingers crossed that my kids will recover fast and no more sick anymore.

So these few weeks had been nightmares....lack of sleep, working late at night until 3am, not eating well, and worst of all being so forgetful and blur. I think it is caused by lack of sleep that got me so blur and forgetful. It's liked I just left my purse on the table and the next minute I totally couldn't remember where I have put it. Or probably age getting over me now....

Now i realized being a mum and a student are not easy at all...I should proclaim myself as "Supermom". It's really crazy days with the hectic schedule with taking care of my kids and doing my research at the same time, and I also need to do the housework...wonder woman can't even handle that I think... I have always put a positive mind and a strong will i can do it..but these past few weeks have drained off my energy and I am so tired now..wish i could have a break away from my kids for a day and just let me relax by the pool to rejuvenate. But i know it's impossible..being a mum is eternity...so responsible is always there.

Guess it's time for me to brace myself up again...to build up my energy and get on going with the will power. I hope i can have a little more freedom to at least have some time hang out with my gal friends or go for facial or hairdo...or a dinner date to at least enjoy myself a bit...oh well, back to serious work and need to forget about tiredness temporarily....

Oh ya btw, I have actually slimmed down a lot from my delivery....can you believe that I actually gained back my original weight after 3months of delivery??? I was surprised too...but it's true..and i can fit back my jeans and all my clothings now...this is an accomplishment!!!! Well, I think it's because of I'm taking care of 2 kids now and sleep deprive actually helps too...

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

It's the Mid Autumn Festival yesterday (since now it's already 12.43am in the morning) and it was a normal day for me. Usually my family has celebration for the festival every year. We would do BBQ and played lanterns to celebrate the night with the sighting of the full moon. However, this year my family was not gathered together to celebrate the day. My sister Jasy is in the US who is a few thousand kilometers away, my youngest sister Kelly is in Ipoh (at home), my dad is in Singapore (a working day for him) and my mum and I are in Penang. Everyone is at different place...and no celebration for this year....It's just a normal day.

I pondered over the past Mid Autumn festival celebrations which I had in my University's days and my family's celebrations....As I recalled, I enjoyed every year's Mid Autumn festival with my family members and also my University's days of Mid Autumn celebration. Happy moments suddenly flashed clearly in my mind...and I was smiling away retrospecting over the memorable "happy celebrations". I really missed those days.... and I hope next year's Mid Autumn festival will be with my family and celebrate the occasion together happily.

Happy Mid Autumn to everyone!

School's started...

My academic life had started last week...met with my supervisor and things were cleared up to start with the chapter 1 and chapter 2 for research's paperwork. A lot of reading and researching have to be conducted...I found time and energy are my constraint now...there is always less time and lack of energy to focus and work on the task. Working during midnight was not effective as I ended up dragging myself up in the morning and in a few days time...i couldn't stand it anymore...

Sigh....guess age is getting on me now....ageing lady no longer able to survive midnight oil...

Anyone has any remedy to cure this ageing???

Truth Reveal After Marriage

The title sounds so mysterious and many might wonder what kind of truth is being revealed. Well, I learnt a big lesson from my marriage. I knew I was blinded by love before marriage, and after marriage everything is so crystal clear to me. Reality hits me finally....

Upon saying that, I realised I married to a "not-good-breed" guy after all. The term includes his personality, his upbringing, his knowledge, his characteristic, his temper and his family. I am so regretful over about this....I know there won't be a perfect guy out there in this world, but at least not so bad...I think my chose the wrong guy to be my life partner, and my kid's dad...it's totally the wrong puzzle.

I found him to be utterly lazy, messy and forgetful...and he never cares or learn to teach kids..he is really bad at this...Always teaches Eric the bad stuff..like hitting people and boxing...it is all wrong. When I ask him to teach Eric Chinese, as he said he wanted Eric to study Chinese so can communicate with his parents, until now he never teaches him a single character...only words no action (he has been saying this since the day Eric was born). I will never teach Eric Chinese as I am Chinese illiterated. So don't blame me when your parents complain why Eric doesn't know Chinese...the answer is your problem....

One thing for sure, my hubby is getting fatter day by day while I am getting skinnier...I got back my original weight after 2 months birth...it is really fast this time...probably getting "hubby-stress" too much these days...And I found out he is a very bad tempered person...when he is angry he can kill people...but only he tries to hide it..but his facial shows everything...I really did not like his temper and the way he deals with it. He always claims himself the most good-tempered person in his family. Do you know his whole family members have very bad temper just like their father? And my hubby has that too though he always says he has very good temper...and never throw tantrum...oh well my dear hubby, you have shown to me without you knowing it yourself.

And the point I dislike most is he is the worst planner ever....I really hated this fact...as I like to plan and my hubby sucks at that...and always spoils my plan... He is bad at time, family, financial and future managements...........he never had such plans. Family planning none...and worst was no financial planning at all...he said he has but in the end...always complain me use up the money...Oh well, I already do my part to the family, and he is the man of the house...if he can't afford to support a family then don't get married. I get angry quickly each time he deals money discussion with me...he has been working for 7 years already and I only worked for 4 years... He should have a lot of saving and able to support a family by now...and the fact is very depressing...

I have to pay the downpayment for the house, and I have to pay for the car downpayment too..and paying 70% for the car installment, and I did not ask for monthly allowance as a wife...haven't I providing good financial support. Being a lady, with the money earned, people would expect me spending the money on my own for shopping and paying my own bills... Nobody knows the truth about this...not even my parents-in-law. They thought my hubby paid everything as my hubby sure bragged about himself being a good hubby and financially stable to support a family. I am really sad and upset to know that he is not honest at all to his parents.

I can continue listing out the parts of him I am unhappy about...but I think I will bore all my readers...anyway I just want to let out my unhappiness which I have kept for past few months...Didn't know how to release it...so now writing it out in a blog is a good step for me...

KL Merdeka Trip

Last weekend, I brought my both kids to KL for holiday for the first time. My mum and my little sister went along with me. We had planned earlier that we will be doing some shopping in KL. My hubby was the driver.

Anyway, the main purpose for the trip was to shop at IKEA to buy some furniture and things for Eric. I had been complaining to my hubby that our house was not children-friendly at all and since now our Eric is already 19months, it is time to setup a play area cum study area for him as this time is crucial for him to learn things. My son has been really interested to learn things these few weeks...and he is learning fast.

We stayed at Hotel Royale Bintang which is located right opposite IKEA and next to The Curve. It will be more convenient for me who has children along. So how was the trip overall? Well, the shopping part with my mum and my sister was great....we were all in happy mood enjoying the holiday. Frankly speaking, I have not been to any shopping for quite a long time...some more shopping at IKEA was only my first time. And the most unhappy part for me was my hubby. He spoilt everyone's mood for the holiday trip. He was so rude and impatient that I was really mad at him. He complaint here and there especially about bringing kids out and also about the H1N1. I was so frustrated at him. When shopping at IKEA, it was expected to spend the whole day there, but he was so impatient that he rushed me here and there. Since we were already at IKEA (travel so far to buy things), of course we have to look carefully and buy whatever we really needed especially for our children. He showed the "black clouded" face to me, my mum and my sister. I was so upset at him as he has spoilt our shopping mood.

And of course bringing little kids along to shopping would be hectic and troublesome but we have to bear with it and cheer the kids up. My hubby only took care of Eric and he banned Eric from playing at the IKEA children area with the toys and didn't allow him him to walk on his own. My Eric was so excited as he knew we were on holiday and looking at the interesting things in IKEA, he wanted to run around and played...but he was tied up by his dad. He was crying and making noise...so now, who was the one who made him cry? It was my hubby. And he complaint how troublesome to bring kids along. My mum, sister and I took turn to take care Fion while shopping, and we did not complain at all....

The part I dislike most was he was so unthoughtful and always brought Eric away back to hotel, and left me, my mum, my sister and my baby (all ladies only) all alone in the restaurant in every meal. He would eat quickly and brought Eric back to hotel and left us ladies there...no matter where we were. It was so rude...and never thought of me...I'm his wife and we were in a new place....and he didn't even think of protecting me especially I was taking care of Fion on my own while eating. I really hated this part....

I learnt my lesson of the day from the trip...Never to ask my hubby along for holiday anymore as he was impatient...and never trust my hubby in anything....he is a lousy hubby and daddy...

I can't believe that it's already 5 years...

Today dated 27th August 2009 is my 5th year anniversary in relationshop with my hubby...wow, can't imagine it's already 5 years of us being together. How time flies...

I almost forgot the day until my hubby reminded me last night. I think after having 2 kids and busy at home taking care of them, I lost track of all days...don't even know the date too...ahaha

Maternity Leave is over...

How time flies and it's already 2 months since I gave birth. My baby Fion is already 2 months old now. I've been busy with my son and my baby girl past 2 months...was not aware how time past so fast...and sometimes even lost track of time.

My sister Jasy has flown to Syracuse, New York to start her Master study. How I miss her so much after all these years with her in Malaysia, and now she is thousand miles across sea...Anyhow, thanks to the modern technology that I am able to see my sister virtually everyday via video calls...I could see her and hear her...My mum too is very happy about it as she can chat with my sister everyday and even see how she is doing in New York. Life won't be the same for her in New York but I wish her the best in all her endeavours in her studies and life there.

As for my Master, I'm still working on my schedule to focus on setting up my development environment so I can do some coding. There are many things I need to arrange before I am able to sit down and focus working on my research. First, I need to get a private desk so my son won't be able to climb up and disturb me. Secondly, I need to fix some time (a few hours) to be able to work on my research...this is the hardest part as my baby Fion always wants mummy to carry her and accompany her. And this eats up a lot of the time for a day...Thirdly, I need to work out with my hubby about transport. He is driving the car to work everyday which leaves me no transport to go to my University to get some things done sometimes...I am asking him to get a 2nd hand motorbike for himself so he can ride to work some days when I need to use the car. And there are some other matters that I need to look into too...oh well, wish me luck...

Fion's Full Moon celebration

Today, my daughter, Fion turns one month old. It's already one month, and my confinement has finally over. We celebrated Fion's full moon last Saturday as my hubby wanted to throw a buffet party for her. We invited our colleagues and friends. My parents-in-law came over too. It was a great party to meet all my friends and colleagues after a month of prison at home.

Unfortunately, I was too busy until I forgot to take photos for the event. Worse was I even forgot to snap some photos of Fion. Never mind, I will take it today as it's her official one month old today.

There were quite a number of people attended the party. It's wasn't a big crowd as my hubby expected but I was satisfied as some close friends came over for the event. I even baked brownies, made jelly (agar-agar) and cooked Japanese curry chicken for the buffet. The buffet turned out to be a success but there were still a lot of leftover food. And I wanted to give the food away for charity to the old folks' home to celebrate Fion's full moon, but it was deffered by my mother-in-law. She said don't waste the food, and I was thinking how could you say it's wasting food when we want to do some charity to donate the good food to old folks' home. It's called charity and it's doing good bu sharing the happy event with other unfortunate people. My idea was turned down by my mother-in-law and she insisted that we all ate and finished the food for dinner time. I was so pissed off especially when my hubby just kept quiet like a church mouse and just follow instructions from his mother. I had already told my hubby to bring my parents-in-law and my brother-in law out for dinner as they traveled so far up to Penang and he should be responsible to bring them eat some Penang local good food. And I became invinsible to him when his parents came and forgot all the suggestions I gave him.

Angrily and quietly, I went into the room with my both kids. I have no eyes to see anymore, and my ears were too hot to listen to my mother-in-law words. My mother has told me that it's a custom for our family to bring the full moon baby and mother out for a stroll just like during my Eric's full moon celebration. My parents-in-law were very stubborn and very traditional "kampong" style people and worse was my hubby who was the father of the baby just kept in silence. I was so frustrated with him. He always made me angry when his parents were around. I became invinsible to him and my words were not heed by him. Sometimes I think the Tee family has communication problem. The son doesn't know how to communicate with his parents. And when I approach him to ask him speak to his parents on the suggestion or idea, he just kept quiet and did not respond to me.

So the day which started with happiness was followed by frustration again after the buffet ended. It has spoilt my entire mood. In the end I decided only to focus taking care of my 2 kids and kept my 2 kids happy. I left all the plan and arrangement to my hubby for his family though my hubby sucks at planning.

Anyway, I was happy that my Fion is growing well and here is the latest 1 month old snapshot of her.

3rd Week of Confinement

It's going to be the end of my 3rd week of confinement. Feeling happy as soon in a week plus time I will be free like a bird again....no need to be quarantine in the house. Nevertheless, I have started planning all the things that I need to do and want to do after my confinement. There is a list of things that I need to work on....

But above all that, I am now busy planning and arranging for my baby girl, Fion's full moon party. Fion is going to be a month old soon in a week time, and this time my hubby wanted to throw a lunch party to celebrate her full moon. In Chinese tradition, a month old is considered a full moon and it is an auspicious celebration for the baby. In Chinese custom, red-coloured eggs and "angku kuih" are a-must things to be prepared, and the baby will then need to dress in red clothings, and bath with gold jewellery.

For the lunch party, we have decided to celebrate it on 25th July 2007 (2 days earlier that the exact date) because Saturday would be the most convenient day to everyone. We are having buffet lunch party by hiring catering service at home. Invitations have been sent out and I hope the party will be a success.

And the proudest part for me is....I designed the invitation card myself...and I simply like the design...bravo to Mummy Irene here!!! Here is the invitation card:

2nd year Wedding Anniversary

It was my 2nd year wedding anniversary yesterday (07-07-09). How time flies and it's already 2 years of marriage for me. And this year I gave birth to my 2nd child. A gift for my hubby as the wedding anniversary celebration...ahahaha...

There wasn't any special celebration this year as I am currently in confinement. It was just an ordinary day with me being busy with my both kids with the help of my mum, and my hubby at work. But luckily this year my hubby has not forgotten about our wedding anniversary as he did so in our 1st anniversary....and I was so furious with him last year. If a man forgets the first year anniversary, then there is no hope for the consecutive years of marriage. This year he gave me cash to buy new clothings after my pregnancy. I have not been buying any new clothes for almost a year and I really wanted to change my wardrobe after my post-pregnancy once I get back my figure. So it is a good gift for me as I can purchase new clothes for myself...yipee!!!

Happy 2nd year wedding anniversary to me!!!

Meet my daughter, Fion Tee Jia Yi

Today finally my hubby and I went to the Chinese "sifu" to confirm the name of our princess, Fion Tee. And my hubby's choice of name for her can be used...therefore, it's decided our daughter's name is Fion Tee Jia Yi. So meet my little sweet princess, Fion Tee Jia Yi.

Baby Fion admitted to hospital

Since Thursday night, my baby kept on passing motion...and the color is yellowish, and I thought was normal. She seemed very tried and sleepy.

Until the next morning (Friday), I was still sleeping when the nurse from the Government clinic came to check on my baby. She was shocked to see my baby very yellow and warned me to bring her to the doctor immediately to check on her jaundice level. I was just awakened and after hearing that, I immediately cleaned up and brought my daugther to the hospital for jaundice checkup. The confinement lady even told me nothing is wrong with my daugther and Fion looked normal to her. My hubby and I just ignored her and brought Fion to her doctor at Adventist.

When the report came out, her jaundice level was 283!! It was above the threshold level of 250 and it's critical. Doctor confirmed that she needed to be admitted for photo-therapy to bring down the jaundice. And when doctor checked her stool, he told me her stool was abnormal for breastfeeding baby. Her stool was yellowish and has spots of grey stool. Fion should not have grey stool as a breastfed baby. I panic and asked doctor what might cause the abnormal stool. The doctor told me it might be caused from lackage of water from mother (dehydrated baby) and the dietary problem. For the jaundice to shoot so high, it is caused by the mother's dietary of too much ginger, yellow ginger and Chinese herbs.

I wasn't aware the red dates juice which the confinement lady boiled for me everyday actually contained some Chinese herbs until my hubby checked on the leftover herbs in the pot of the red dates juice on that day after he came back from the hospital. Immediately, I stopped drinking the red dates juice.

Then I discussed with my hubby and we finally decided to ask the auntie to go home as her service was no longer needed. So my hubby bought bus ticket for her and paid her the pro-rated amount of money from total RM2800 for 5 days service, and then send her to the bus station on Saturday.

Confinement Days: Day 2 - Day 5

The consecutive days of my confinement were full of unhappiness and stories... I started to see the true colors of the confinement lady and here are my observations:

1. Behaviour & Attitude

• Very stubborn auntie - when you confront her on something or you don't agree she nagged and show "the face" to us, then continue with the behaviour which we don't like.
• Complain queen - She complained this and that, and everything that we have, we do and compare with her ex-confinement houses she went. She complain my house's environment very dusty, and ask my hubby to buy ionizer. I asked my hubby to ignore her...and she everyday repeated the same request/complain. So annoying lady! And then she complained our fridge not good la...too cold till the vegetables frozen and dead. It's her who didn't know how to use the fridge. Our fridge is the modern style whereby the freezer is at the bottom and the veggie compartment is on top. My hubby already tell me so many times..and she always put those green vegetables in the freezer...of cos the vegetables frozen to dead. And she complained our fridge too small...whereby she did not need to use all the space as she only cooked for me and my hubby.
• Like to waste people money - This auntie always keep asking my hubby to buy this and that...a bunch of things which do not need. I always remind my hubby not to listen to her as I alone can't finish so much food and he didn't need to buy a lot vegetable and meat to store in the fridge. There are so many vegetables in the fridge and she still asked my hubby to buy some more. In just 5 days we have spent RM500. He also asked my hubby to buy other household items which are not necessities.
• Very rough lady - She is not gentle at all in handling baby and even do housework. She made a lot of loud noise in the early morning at 6am mopping the floor and washing clothes. It's so noisy that she can wake the baby, my hubby and me...(the whole household). The way she carry and handle my baby is not gentle and with care also...so unhappy yet can't do anything.

2. Housekeeping

• Not clean and hygiene - Even though she swept and cleaned the house everyday, the house was still full of dust and plenty of oil stains. And the oil stains in the house were caused by her cooking. When she cooked, she turn the fire to the max, and created a bunch of smoke and oil spills around the house (wall, ceiling and floor). I sure need to get some cleaning maids to help me clean the whole house spick and span. And when she cooked, she messed up and drity the whole kitchen. All my plates, utensils and kitchen top were so oily and uncleaned.

3. Baby Care

• Inexperience with baby - She did not know how to handle baby. When baby cries, she let the baby cries and scold the baby for crying and making noise. And the worst part was she bathe the baby immediately when the baby woke up. Of course the baby would cry as the room temperature is different from the body temperature right after awake. My baby ended up always crying loudly during bath time because of the ignorance of the lady. I so pity my baby girl. And she did not properly clean her, and she only bathed her once a day. I complaint and asked her to bath her twice a day for proper cleaniness but she ignore my words and only bathed her once.
• Lazy auntie - At night she did not really care about my baby. When my baby cried for hunger, she just popped the pacifier into her mouth to suck and she went back to bed. This happened on the first night. I heard my baby crying then suddenly stopped, so I went over to the room to spot check and found my baby sucking profusely on the pacifier and the lady is soundly asleep. Immediately, I kidnapped her back to my room and she slept with me at night since then. How ignorant can someone be to treat a hunger baby.
• Don't encourage breastfeeding - The lady did not understand about breastfeeding at all. And she always complaint that my milk was not enough and should top up with formula but I ignored her. She should respect my choice and I told her my milk was enough for my daughther. Once the baby was full, she would fall asleep, and that's what my baby did, and she somehow doubtful still. Thank God I did not store any formula milk in the house.

4. Cooking

• Cooking not good - The auntie cooking style and taste were horrible especially in boiling soup. Bland and not good at all. I still think my mum's soup is the best of all. And her cooking style was full of spices, ginger and chinese alcohol which I did not like too.
• Cook too much - She cooked a lot everyday even for lunch which was only for me. And she always served me a big mountain of rice which seemed like feeding a pig. She always cooked too much until waste of food. She also waste the veggie which we bought by using them all up at once in her cooking. Very bad chef in arrangement of food menu.

Looking into these observations, my hubby was also unhappy about the lady. We had intention to fire her but we thought of giving her a week more to monitor her progress....until something happened... To find out stay tune for the next story....

Confinement Days - Day 1

For my 2nd child birth, I had hired a confinement lady to take care of me and my baby girl. It's my first time having a stranger to stay with me and take care of us both. Frankly speaking, I was doubtful and nervous on how things will work out at first. The people I know would know that I am not those typical traditional Chinese who follows the old customs and I am really afraid of all those typical Chinese auntie who will tell me this cannot and that must do...bla bla bla...

So on Monday afternoon, once I reached home, the auntie from Ipoh came to my house. She is about 50++ of age and she is a bit traditional type of auntie...I think it's difficult and rare to get a modern and more "open-minded" auntie to do confinement. Oh well, the first thing she blurted out to me was "You cannot drink water at all...It's a NO NO NO thing". And I was astonished as what kind of people will survive without drinking water...even warm water is not allowed. She claimed that drinking water will cause me to have swollen legs and water retention in my body. What absurd is that...So, i just kept quiet and sneakily fill up my drinking bottle with warm water everyday and keep it in my room. I can't not drink water at all as I am breastfeeding and the auntie cooks all the heaty food for me...I'm afraid later my baby cannot past motion and my body will be too heaty. The auntie only allows me to drink red dates water and hot milo...pity me...

The other thing is that I can't touch tap water at all...She told me that I cannot touch water as later when I'm old, my hands will be shaky due to "wind". So, if I need to wash hand or clean myself, I can only use boiled water with warm temperature. Even water heater water is also banned as it's related to unboiled water. Phew...so many "pantang".

So first day, not much of talking between her and me...I was not used to her and her style. I kept quiet and observe her treating my baby. And i found that she is not a very patient lady with baby. Not much caring and understanding the baby. The worse is that she did not really understand about breastfeeding and when my baby starts sucking, she will imply that my baby wants pacifier. I was like "No way, i do not want my baby to suck pacifier...she is breastfeeding so when there is sign of her sucking, meaning she wants milk from the mummy, not pacifier."

And at first she supposed to sleep with my baby and carry her to me whenever she needs milk. But when I heard my baby crying in the next room, she did not bring her in. She just gave her pacifier and let her suck, and she went back to sleep....Luckily I went over to the room to spot check (I couldn't sleep the first night as I worried about my baby). As soon as I saw my baby left sucking the pacifier while semi-sleeping, I kidnapped her back to my room and let her sleep with me. After I breastfed her, she was soundly asleep and there is no need of pacifier at all... So from that night onwards, I told my confinement lady that my baby will sleep with me at night and I will take care of her on my own. This way I can make sure my baby gets enough milk and able to sleep soundly...and not getting her in hunger with just sucking pacifier...