Mothering Corner

Have you ever wished that you will have more than 24 hours a day? I did. But if I would to have more than 24 hours a day, I hope that I can get a babysitter to help out too so that I can spend some time on spa. LOL! I used to be able to squeeze some time during weekdays for spa but not anymore. After I started working seriously, time is so limited!

But I still have some personal time at night after putting my kids to sleep. Then I will take my time putting on my skincare and watch a nice series. I have putting away my knitting needles and jewelry making tools and handicraft sets because I’m too lazy to do them nowadays. Basically, I will just lie on the bed watching series. LOL! What a lazy pig.

After a long day at work and doing chores, I think I deserve to be a lazy pig.

I used to buy a lot of shoes when I was in Ipoh, but I slowed down a lot since I moved here. Besides having a smaller shoe rack, I hardly wear shoes around when I work. You see, I will change into my FitFlop upon reaching my office because I need to climb up to the fifth floor to my desk, and if I need to go out during office hour, I will change to another pair of shoes in my car. Normally, there are 2 pairs of pumps or heels in the car which I change according to my outfit, so the rest of my shoes are placed in the shoe rack collecting dust.

When we are out in the weekends, I will normally be in my flats these days so that I can walk around faster, especially if I need to chase my kids!!! Those heels are really collecting dusts and I gave some away to a part time cleaner. She’s so happy even if she can’t fit any. LOL!

But still, the shoe fetish in me didn’t die off totally. I’m eying on the boots and heels by Jaspal’s fall collection, which haven’t hit the store yet. They will probably call me once the boots and shoes arrive.

On top of that, I’m still waiting for a pair of Oxford heels which I bought online. Some online stores carry a lot of nice designs, including heels, flats, wedding shoes or even kiddie shoes! So I enjoy checking them out.

Ah…why is it taking so long to get my new shoes? Hope to see the parcel next week!

I hardly give money to beggars. Not that I don’t have sympathy in my heart, but I do choose the “persons” whom I will give some money away. If he’s a man, very well built and looks “healthy and normal”, I don’t see the point of giving him some money for his free meal. But if they are kids, and under a “safe and sound” circumstance, I would give some coins to them.

However, I don’t give money to kids beggars all the time though. When I was in Cambodia, there were a lot of children asking for money. My kids were totally horrified and they refused to step down on the muddy ground. The children came pretty close to us and there were quite a lot of them. Hubby and I carried our kids most of the time, and I had a very bad backache after that short trip! Giving money out will be a bad idea as we might get trapped with more  beggars.

But there was a time when I couldn’t help holding back my eyes when I saw a little Indian girl, who had severe burn scar on her body. Most of her body and part of her face were badly burnt. I did get a shock when her mother patted my shoulder, and asked me to turn around. They were asking for money in a small supermarket in Ipoh, and I didn’t expect that to happen.

I did wonder if the girl had gone for proper Burn treatment, what had happened to her, and how painful it would be for her to go through her agony. Judging from the way she and her mother dressed, maybe they couldn’t afford a better burn treatment nor medical disposables for the little girl.

I gave some cash away, and secretly hope that they won’t be kicked out from the supermarket by security guards. You know? Most malls and supermarkets won’t allow beggars to be in there, and I’m not sure how they managed to get in in the first place.

Anyway, I hope that everything is well for the girl and her mother.

I might need to fly back for a few days to fix my visa, and guess what, hubby said I can just go back ALONE! I haven’t booked my flight yet because I’m quite worried leaving the kids here with him, and there is no one to help out. He will still be working, and who’s going to pick up the kids after school? Where will they be going?

Hubby said that can be arranged, and it sounds like a piece of cake to him. Men, some times, the way they think is so different from women.

I do agree that I can easily get things done if I go back by myself. But still, the worries are there. However, this trip back home is very much needed as I need to get some proper documents done for my business. I haven’t made a great fortune or rich enough to buy gold coins every month, but I’m getting the hang of running the biz now. So, I’m very serious about it.

Oh well, I still have a few more days to think about this.

My gal loves to put on accessories, and she probably got this from me. I would love to have more jewelry, but it’s not a good idea for me to spend that much now. Besides that, I keep most in the safe deposit back home, and I don’t have much here.

But I think it’s a good idea to get some jewelry and pass down to our daughters. I have a friend who’s doing that now. I might also get gold coins and give them to my boy in the future. So, that gives me a good reason to work harder now.

It’s nice to have new readers to this blog. Some of my old time friends have just found out that I pack bentos and blog about them, after adding me in Facebook. I know that most mothers are very busy with their work, chores, kids and etc, but if possible, you may check out the old achieves (probably start from Sept 2008) to see my older bentos, if you are interested to start packing food for your kids. I’ll try to reply emails, but I can’t explain everything in details.

My early bentos were quite different from what I’m doing now. I would say that I’ve progressed over time, and so do other bento-ers. It took me some time to get into kyaraben, and I’m enjoying it. Maybe I’m just another freak or nerd that loves reading blogs, so I don’t mind reading through other bloggers’ old posts to know more about their bentos. Before I started bentoing, I would read blogs about parenting, kids, pregnancy, prenatal vitamins, food, cooking, fashion, shopping and etc. Yeap! I’m a nerd. LOL!

Maybe it’s because I own some blogs, so generally, bloggers blog and read blogs.

My office staffs said that my Thai has improved a lot, but still, it’s not enough to have a decent conversation with the locals. I’m still using my dictionary, both digital and the book. My sales submits the report to me in Thai. All the documents are in Thai, and even the customers are using Thai. Too bad that Google translation is not doing a good job as I found that the translation doesn’t make sense some times.

That’s why we are sending our kids to Thai school so that they can pick up this language better. I’m so proud of their learning progress and both of them can easily make friends with other Thai children now. Some times, I rely on my boy to order the food or get the waitress to get me the bill. LOL! I hope that he can read Thai better in time, so that will be easier for me to read those menus which are printed in Thai, without any translation or photos!

On the other hand, hubby can read Thai now, but at a slower pace. He is more determined than me in learning the language, while the wifey is more interested in shopping and enjoying good food. Have I ever told you that Thai food is really delicious? I might need apidexin if I keep on indulging in those yummy and spicy Thai dishes that make me wanna eat more.

In short, after staying in Bangkok for 2 years, I would say that there is a great advantage of picking up Thai language. You will be able to see and understand this country, its people and its culture better if you understand its language.

I don’t like smokers, but I don’t mind if anyone is smoking, as long as I don’t get to be a passive smokers. Some times, I wonder why some parents bring their babies or toddlers to the smoking area. I was at Siam Paragon the other day, and it’s quite common to see some parents smoking outside the mall, with their little kids tagging along. It’s ok with the parents choose to smoke, but why can’t they take turns so that the kids don’t have to “taste” the smell of cigarettes or cigarillo?

Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it. But I did drag my kids to walk faster to leave that smoking spot! LOL!

I’m pretty vain. If you know me in person, you might be wondering how much time I can spend on myself, despite being so busy. LOL! Actually, I wish that I have more time for spa and facial, but I don’t get to enjoy these much anymore. My one and only IPL was done months ago, and I still can’t find time to sign up for the treatment, which will take about 5 sessions bi-weekly. I can’t afford to go there so often, wasting a couple of hours at the skin clinic on weekdays!

So, even if I have brochures about best acne treatments, anti-aging facial, body rejuvenating spa and etc, I just don’t have time to check them out one by one. Gosh, I can’t even remember my last foot and hand spa!!! Hopefully, my package has not expired.

Besides fixing bentos, shopping is one of my favorite hobbies. I shop to release stress, or just for the fun of it.

Yesterday, both SIL and I went to do some banking and paying some bills, and we both ended up at a store for while. We had a great time shopping, oh well, only I was buying though. She bought quite a lot a day before, and was there to accompany me. We both joked that we should do this again, but not too often as we might go broke shopping together. LOL!

Some times, I feel guilty if I spend too much in a particular month. I could have used the money to buy gold eagle coins or something more useful than clothes and shoes.

But like what my SIL said, we deserve to treat ourselves well. So, if time and hubby’s budget permit, I’ll go shopping again tomorrow. Hooray!