Yay, had a nice quite weekend. At least I were not working.
Saturday was mainly spent driving around. First we made a stop at the supermarket and then we went for the grand opening of a friend home decorating store. Basically that trip took seven hours, so we didn't do very much more that day.
Sunday was spent DIYing, the tap in the kitchen been leaking quite badly lately so it was time for a fix up. Didn't really turn out as expected, but we don't have a leak anymore. In the afternoon we went to help some friends in their preparation before there move to a new house. We also made the trip to have a look at the new house. It was OK, with a nice big land area, but the house is just a single storey house, some hundred odd square feet bigger then our apartment. Not worth the money if you ask me.
I like our house better, but our friends didn't want a double storey house. I don't see why, but I have grown up in one and most of my friends and family lived in double storey houses when I grew up.
28.5.07
25.5.07
Sweden here we come.
Yay everything is settled for three weeks in Sweden in December.
OK it been settled for a while now, just keep forgetting to putting it in the blog.
Tickets and holidays booked, just have to wait for the date to come.
Looking at our financial situation and my great love of flying, this will probably be the last visit to Sweden this decade unless they decide to move Malaysia to the Mediterranean or the North Sea or something so you get a nice short flight to Sweden.
OK it been settled for a while now, just keep forgetting to putting it in the blog.
Tickets and holidays booked, just have to wait for the date to come.
Looking at our financial situation and my great love of flying, this will probably be the last visit to Sweden this decade unless they decide to move Malaysia to the Mediterranean or the North Sea or something so you get a nice short flight to Sweden.
No, to the dark side.
So I still haven’t joined the dark side. That is to be able to drink black coffee, without making faces; I have to disguise the coffee taste with milk and sugar. The coffee should be of the instant type, still not to keen on the brewed type, even if I make strong coffe, I don’t like the taste of “usual” coffee.
It turns out that I am in the right country for this aversion of pure coffee. If you order Kopi in Malaysia you will get coffee with sugar and milk (actually its sweetened creamer). If you don’t want the milk you have to ask for Kopi-O and the real killer is if you want black coffee without sugar, you have to ask for Kopi-O kosong. The O actually means kosong as well, which is Malaysian for zero.
So the less you want in your coffee the more you have to ask for? As Malaysian’s are lazy mouthed, in the sense that they want to say as much as possible with as few syllabus as possible, we can draw the conclusion that most Malaysian drink white coffee with sugar most of the time.
The same goes for the Teh, Teh is with sugar and milk and so on. Add an O if you want it without milk and O-kosong if you want it without the sugar as well.
My view is that Teh should be avoided unless you are having Keropok and make the Teh yourself. The Teh they serve at the Surau is just disgusting. I might have The-O at home sometimes but I wouldn’t order it at a restaurant. The last time I did I must have gotten a deciliter of sugar in my mug? Sweat as h**l and still had half a deciliter of un-dissolved sugar lying on the bottom of the mug. Uhhhhhh.
So for a really enjoyable cup of tea you pour freshly boiled water over the tea. If you use teabags, leave them in while you enjoy your tea. If you prefer tealeaves straight in the mug, let the mug stand for at least 3 minutes to develop the flavour before you sieve the tealeaves. Alternatively put the tealeaves in boiling water and let it simmer.
Aaaah, I could do with a cuppa now.
It turns out that I am in the right country for this aversion of pure coffee. If you order Kopi in Malaysia you will get coffee with sugar and milk (actually its sweetened creamer). If you don’t want the milk you have to ask for Kopi-O and the real killer is if you want black coffee without sugar, you have to ask for Kopi-O kosong. The O actually means kosong as well, which is Malaysian for zero.
So the less you want in your coffee the more you have to ask for? As Malaysian’s are lazy mouthed, in the sense that they want to say as much as possible with as few syllabus as possible, we can draw the conclusion that most Malaysian drink white coffee with sugar most of the time.
The same goes for the Teh, Teh is with sugar and milk and so on. Add an O if you want it without milk and O-kosong if you want it without the sugar as well.
My view is that Teh should be avoided unless you are having Keropok and make the Teh yourself. The Teh they serve at the Surau is just disgusting. I might have The-O at home sometimes but I wouldn’t order it at a restaurant. The last time I did I must have gotten a deciliter of sugar in my mug? Sweat as h**l and still had half a deciliter of un-dissolved sugar lying on the bottom of the mug. Uhhhhhh.
So for a really enjoyable cup of tea you pour freshly boiled water over the tea. If you use teabags, leave them in while you enjoy your tea. If you prefer tealeaves straight in the mug, let the mug stand for at least 3 minutes to develop the flavour before you sieve the tealeaves. Alternatively put the tealeaves in boiling water and let it simmer.
Aaaah, I could do with a cuppa now.
Photo update 25/5-07
Housey Wousey
Seem like it gonna take a bit longer than I thought. The purchase have to be approved by the developer as the master title is still there. SO we are talking 2-3 months something.
24.5.07
House Loan Approved!
Yay, the housing loan is approved, but it will probably be around a month before we move. It will probably take at least a week to get the everything settled and get the keys. And than we have to check for things we wanna fix before we move in and than the moving itself.
Housey here we come!
Housey here we come!
23.5.07
New Mobile
Forgot to write that I got myself a new mobile. The hands free gave up on my old one, and it is the SMS Motorola so Hands-Free is the only way when you want to make a call.
So I got a Nokia 1110i, which does everything I need from a phone, you can call with it and you can SMS with it. Of course you can receive the calls and the SMS as well. Off course it would be fun with extras as well, but I don't need them and with my record on keeping the phones it would just be a waste. Actually shouldn't by a Nokia, they seem to be lost the fastest. (1 went in to the toilet and 2 got stolen)
So I got a Nokia 1110i, which does everything I need from a phone, you can call with it and you can SMS with it. Of course you can receive the calls and the SMS as well. Off course it would be fun with extras as well, but I don't need them and with my record on keeping the phones it would just be a waste. Actually shouldn't by a Nokia, they seem to be lost the fastest. (1 went in to the toilet and 2 got stolen)
In the CD player
The CD player in the car is loaded with a Swedish MP3 disc.
The most listened albums for the moment are:
Galenskaparna och After Shave
Jakob Hellman
DiLeva
Definitely have to change the speakers though. Can barely hear the music in my noisy Malaysian car. Will put a nice picture of it when I get time.
The most listened albums for the moment are:
Galenskaparna och After Shave
Jakob Hellman
DiLeva
Definitely have to change the speakers though. Can barely hear the music in my noisy Malaysian car. Will put a nice picture of it when I get time.
22.5.07
Tuesday 22/05-07
Hi time for another Tuesday update.
Actually it is just a coincidence. Just get around to do it today.
Had another open day, so I had to work all day Saturday. Damn boring, didn't do much counselling. Doing it at my new workplace. No, I haven't changed job, nut my college is opening a new campus and the Chemical engineers are one of the groups that are moving. Double the distance to go to work. I know 40km don't sound that much, but for sure it will take me an hour to go to work. If I want to make it faster I have to make a 60km trip, but it will save me on queuing, but not on petrol bill and toll charges. Probably have to try the different routes during the first weeks of work.
Adam is looking slimmer, which is no wonder as he just want to eat plain rice most of the time. You sort of have to give him two dinners. First a cooked meal, with veggies and meat and than you let him have rice with the rest of us. He is looking quite well after his spell of pneumonia. Luckily he had a pneumonia vaccine or else it could have been really bad.
Aida is OK, almost no coughing at all, though she still have problem doing big business. She doesn't want to push as long as it doesn't really hurt, so she have to. Other than that she is doing fine, start babbling a lot, unfortunately in Malay, so I don't get more than half of it. Though Norida have problem understanding her as well and she speaks Malay.
The house loan is not approved yet. They have problem with the main office as there are two areas with the same name. The other one is build by a crappy contractor and is not very good. But the main office don't see the difference so they don't like to lend money to either one, even if ours are build by a top class builder. So we'll just have to wait and see. If it doesn't work out with this bank, we'll have to go to a less fuzzy one.
Actually it is just a coincidence. Just get around to do it today.
Had another open day, so I had to work all day Saturday. Damn boring, didn't do much counselling. Doing it at my new workplace. No, I haven't changed job, nut my college is opening a new campus and the Chemical engineers are one of the groups that are moving. Double the distance to go to work. I know 40km don't sound that much, but for sure it will take me an hour to go to work. If I want to make it faster I have to make a 60km trip, but it will save me on queuing, but not on petrol bill and toll charges. Probably have to try the different routes during the first weeks of work.
Adam is looking slimmer, which is no wonder as he just want to eat plain rice most of the time. You sort of have to give him two dinners. First a cooked meal, with veggies and meat and than you let him have rice with the rest of us. He is looking quite well after his spell of pneumonia. Luckily he had a pneumonia vaccine or else it could have been really bad.
Aida is OK, almost no coughing at all, though she still have problem doing big business. She doesn't want to push as long as it doesn't really hurt, so she have to. Other than that she is doing fine, start babbling a lot, unfortunately in Malay, so I don't get more than half of it. Though Norida have problem understanding her as well and she speaks Malay.
The house loan is not approved yet. They have problem with the main office as there are two areas with the same name. The other one is build by a crappy contractor and is not very good. But the main office don't see the difference so they don't like to lend money to either one, even if ours are build by a top class builder. So we'll just have to wait and see. If it doesn't work out with this bank, we'll have to go to a less fuzzy one.
15.5.07
Norida's Birthday and Mother's day
We had a nice and relaxing weekend. Norida's mummy were here to meet the kids and to celebrate Mother's day and Norida's birthday. So Norida and I got a chance to go to the cinema in the evening on Saturday. We watched Spider-Man 3. It was actally better than I expected it to be. Liked it just6 as much as the first one. Haven't seen the second one yet. Though in favour of the third one, I managed to watch it straight and not over a whole day as I had to take breaks in the first one.
We came back just after eleven and Aida was still up. Always have a problem to get her to sleep when we have visitors. Assumingly because she want to see what they are doing.
The big day. Norida turned 35 and Mother's day. Started the day with some sort of noodle soup. It was nice but a little bit salty. I gave the Norida a promise to buy her a watch. This might sound awfully dull. But there are one very good reason for not trusting myself to do it. You don't bloody know when you get the real thing or just a expensive rip-off in this country. I assume that she is better in detecting it than I am, so it is better that she buy it herself. The same reasoning holds me back from actually buying a new mobile phone. Though my old one start to have problems.
We went for Sate Kajang for Birthday/Mother's day lunch. Fortunately they have a small restaurant in Putrajaya so we saved a bit of time going there instead. It was nice and it taste really good. But you can't get away from the fact that it is mostly meat eaten with a sweet peanut sauce. I would have preferred a steak or grilled chicken with potatoes and a nice creamy sauce. Should definitely have that for my Birthday.
After the lunch we went to drop of Mummy at the LRT station so she could take the train to the bus station.
Other news.
Finally applied for the housing loan last week. So we should have a decision by the end of this week. If we get it, we better start packing soon.
Adam seems well from is pneumonia. He been free of his fever for a week now. His only problem is the warm weather, causing him to get heat rashes. But at least its better than pneumonia.
Aida is still coughing. It doesn't really want to go away if if it decreased since the weekend.
TTFN
We came back just after eleven and Aida was still up. Always have a problem to get her to sleep when we have visitors. Assumingly because she want to see what they are doing.
The big day. Norida turned 35 and Mother's day. Started the day with some sort of noodle soup. It was nice but a little bit salty. I gave the Norida a promise to buy her a watch. This might sound awfully dull. But there are one very good reason for not trusting myself to do it. You don't bloody know when you get the real thing or just a expensive rip-off in this country. I assume that she is better in detecting it than I am, so it is better that she buy it herself. The same reasoning holds me back from actually buying a new mobile phone. Though my old one start to have problems.
We went for Sate Kajang for Birthday/Mother's day lunch. Fortunately they have a small restaurant in Putrajaya so we saved a bit of time going there instead. It was nice and it taste really good. But you can't get away from the fact that it is mostly meat eaten with a sweet peanut sauce. I would have preferred a steak or grilled chicken with potatoes and a nice creamy sauce. Should definitely have that for my Birthday.
After the lunch we went to drop of Mummy at the LRT station so she could take the train to the bus station.
Other news.
Finally applied for the housing loan last week. So we should have a decision by the end of this week. If we get it, we better start packing soon.
Adam seems well from is pneumonia. He been free of his fever for a week now. His only problem is the warm weather, causing him to get heat rashes. But at least its better than pneumonia.
Aida is still coughing. It doesn't really want to go away if if it decreased since the weekend.
TTFN
8.5.07
Some old pictures
They are actually not that old. Still April ones actually.
This is from Adam's birthday party at the nursery. I baked the cake, but never got around to try it. It is supposed to have been better than the one we had for our family celebration at home.
Little pirate boy, showing off his teeth. He hasn't got any more than those six.
Adam is relaxing before he gets his morning bath. Not really a bath anymore, he just get a quick shower.
His sister is more eager to get her shower. Sometime youhave to tell her to wait so we can finnish our breakfast.
Flu, flu, flu
Adam came home on Thursday as he had not had fever for 24hrs. But early on Friday the fever came back. So to the clinic to get some paracetamol. He keep having a slight fever and it is more or less impossible to get him to swallow the penicillin. Hopefully he have got enough to recover.
It is really hard to stay healthy in Malaysia for the moment. Everybody seem to have been touched by the flu, due to the hot weather. It is really warm and sunny, which makes it a greater difference between indoor and outdoor tempeerature. So if you keep going in and out a lot, you will sweat outside and than cool down too much inside and get cold. Norida is home on sick leave and Aida was really warm on Sunday night, so she got some flu relief yesterday. I am fairly well, not too much problem, but I could do with some relaxing though.
It is really hard to stay healthy in Malaysia for the moment. Everybody seem to have been touched by the flu, due to the hot weather. It is really warm and sunny, which makes it a greater difference between indoor and outdoor tempeerature. So if you keep going in and out a lot, you will sweat outside and than cool down too much inside and get cold. Norida is home on sick leave and Aida was really warm on Sunday night, so she got some flu relief yesterday. I am fairly well, not too much problem, but I could do with some relaxing though.
2.5.07
Oh What A Weekend/Holiday.
We planned to have a nice relaxing weekend and holiday. Norida and I had taken Monday off from work, so we would have a long weekend or a short holiday, depending how you look on it.
The plan was to do shopping and preparations on Saturday and than, go to Kuala Selangor on Sunday and enjoys two nights there. We would be walking around in the mangrove, checking out the fire flies and checking out other things in the surrounding area. It started all right. Managed to reach there quite early and got our chalet. After we got settled in and had a short rest, we went for lunch, as all of us were hungry.
We had nasi campur (actually billed as nasi kampung), not too bad and both Aida and Adam ate quite well. After that we went back to the chalet for Adams afternoon nap. Which turned out to be an afternoon nap for all of us, except Aida who kept playing instead?
Rested and ready we went out for a trip up Bukit Melawati (a small hill next to were we stayed) to check out the silver haired monkeys. We went up riding on s small tram. From up there we got a view of the straight of Malacca, the mangrove swamp we planned to check out the next day and the silver haired monkeys.
The plan was to do shopping and preparations on Saturday and than, go to Kuala Selangor on Sunday and enjoys two nights there. We would be walking around in the mangrove, checking out the fire flies and checking out other things in the surrounding area. It started all right. Managed to reach there quite early and got our chalet. After we got settled in and had a short rest, we went for lunch, as all of us were hungry.
We had nasi campur (actually billed as nasi kampung), not too bad and both Aida and Adam ate quite well. After that we went back to the chalet for Adams afternoon nap. Which turned out to be an afternoon nap for all of us, except Aida who kept playing instead?
Rested and ready we went out for a trip up Bukit Melawati (a small hill next to were we stayed) to check out the silver haired monkeys. We went up riding on s small tram. From up there we got a view of the straight of Malacca, the mangrove swamp we planned to check out the next day and the silver haired monkeys.
We had a short look at the monkeys before we went for the museum, not much, but Aida enjoyed running around in there. When we were leaving we saw the sign about what you were allowed to bring into the museum. I still wonder if it is serious or not?
While walking around there I felt a hard punch on my shoulder, turned out to be one of the monkeys, target pooing on me. Luckily it was ha hard one. We were on our way back anyway, so it didn’t matter that badly, and it wasn’t too smelly. But I sure could have done without it. All of us got on the tram for a ride down, the driver kept showing off making twists and turns with the tram. It made me feel a bit nauseous, more nauseous than being pooed on actually. Anyway we reached down safe and sound and went back to our chalet for some change of clothes before we went for dinner.
Norida wanted to have seafood dinner as we were close to the sea and the selection should be quite good. So we went looking for a open seafood restaurant, as Malaysians have slightly later eating patterns than we do. Didn’t take that long to find one, but it made Norida a bit disappointed as she had an urge for Ikan Bakar (grilled fish Malay style) and they hadn’t lit the grill yet. So she tried for cockles, also not available yet, so in the end she had to settle for three flavour fish (sweet, sour and spicy), tasted like a usual tomato fish if you ask me, but it tasted really nice. We had it accompanied by a mixed Tom-Yam and a mixed veggie soup.
Norida wanted to have seafood dinner as we were close to the sea and the selection should be quite good. So we went looking for a open seafood restaurant, as Malaysians have slightly later eating patterns than we do. Didn’t take that long to find one, but it made Norida a bit disappointed as she had an urge for Ikan Bakar (grilled fish Malay style) and they hadn’t lit the grill yet. So she tried for cockles, also not available yet, so in the end she had to settle for three flavour fish (sweet, sour and spicy), tasted like a usual tomato fish if you ask me, but it tasted really nice. We had it accompanied by a mixed Tom-Yam and a mixed veggie soup.
Aida found all of it a bit too spicy, but she ate quite well anyway, except the shouting, “Pedas, Pedas” and occasional runs to the sink for washing up. Adam didn’t really eat anything, but he kept himself busy looking at the people around. That was until the end of the meal, when he got hold of one of the chilies from the tom-yam, he was not too happy afterwards and kept whining and got a really nice pink area around his mouth.
Didn’t really notice any difference in the price, still the same basic price as at home, but maybe the price has gone up since the last time I had fish at a restaurant.
After the meal we went back to the hut, to get the kids and ourselves prepared for the firefly watching. So we showered the kids and got them dressed for some outdoor play, when it started raining. We hadn’t really planned for that so just had to change the clothes and start preparing for the night instead and have an early sleep, so we would be well rested for a walk in the mangrove the next day.
We set out just after breakfast; the secondary forest of the mangrove swamp was just behind our hut, so we just had to get out being on the track.
After the meal we went back to the hut, to get the kids and ourselves prepared for the firefly watching. So we showered the kids and got them dressed for some outdoor play, when it started raining. We hadn’t really planned for that so just had to change the clothes and start preparing for the night instead and have an early sleep, so we would be well rested for a walk in the mangrove the next day.
We set out just after breakfast; the secondary forest of the mangrove swamp was just behind our hut, so we just had to get out being on the track.
It didn’t take long before Adam fell asleep, so we had to carry a sleeping baby around and a big toddler that refused to walk. Actually it is easier to carry the big one rather then the small one. For some reason, carrying Aida enables you to rest your back better. We hadn’t seen that much of wildlife, more than some predating birds, some storks and a distant iguana. Stopped by at a bird watching place, didn’t see very many birds there though, Aida is too noisy. But they had small mud-fishies (don’t remember there name) that sort of could swim on the water. Quite nice to watch. 
After some resting at the bird watching place we continued walking to reach the concrete walk into the mangrove swamp itself. Except for the eagle (or what ever predating bird it was) it basically boiled down to watching crustaceans. The different crabs were the most interesting to watch. Red and blue and black crabs, hiding in there holes as soon as you got too close. Some were curious and stayed out to have a look at us though. Even got to see a crab fight, they all seemed to have one big and one small claw, wonder if they come like that or it was just accidental?

After some resting at the bird watching place we continued walking to reach the concrete walk into the mangrove swamp itself. Except for the eagle (or what ever predating bird it was) it basically boiled down to watching crustaceans. The different crabs were the most interesting to watch. Red and blue and black crabs, hiding in there holes as soon as you got too close. Some were curious and stayed out to have a look at us though. Even got to see a crab fight, they all seemed to have one big and one small claw, wonder if they come like that or it was just accidental?
After a three hour trek in the mangrove, we reached back at our place, we were initially planning to stay two days and finally having a chance to watch the fire flies. But we were running low on children clothes and Adam did not seem to be totally well and would need a visit to the doctor. So we decided to clean us and get going. We stopped by to have lunch before we left Kuala Selangor for our journey home. Neither of the kids ate very much, Adam refusing to have anything at all. Reaching halfway home, he puked up all the milk he had before we drove off from Kuala Selangor and the milk he was given in the car. So we had to stop by at the first petrol station and clean up the car, the car seat and the kid. Got rid of most of the smell, but Adam was feeling quite warm. We stopped by at IKEA anyway, as it was just on the way and we knew what we wanted to get, so it wouldn’t take very long. Basically we were after dish brushes, so we got three pairs, and some Swedish food; cheese, salmiak and Kalles kaviar.
We popped home just to get the medical book, so we don’t have to pay when we got to the clinic before we reached the clinic. Adam had a temperature of 39.5°C so they gave him a stool pill and some other medicine for his flew. Reached home and he started to “cool down” and had some yogurt. After a while he started to look really tired, so I tried to put him to sleep. He almost made when he started puking again. While clearing him off the bed and the following cleaning of both him and the bed, I thought he started to feel really warm again. So I checked his temperature and it was back at 39.5-40°C, less than three hours after the stool paracetamol. So Norida called the doctor and got told that we should try to sponge him, and if he doesn’t reach fairly normal temperature in half an hour bring him to the hospital.
Adam cooled down a bit, but went straight back to being very warm. So Norida packed the necessities and went off to the hospital. They played Dracula with him, taking a blood sample before being sent off for x-ray. At around 21:15 the diagnosis was pneumonia and that he needed to be warded for the night, to start with. Norida popped back for clothes and toiletries as I didn’t dare to leave Aida at home and didn’t want to wake her and they had nurses to look after Adam at the ward.
Tuesday morning, Adam had to stay for another day in the hospital. So Aida and I went to Pasar Borong to get some stuff for our lunch. We had Soo-Hon soup. Aida seems to really enjoy as she ate quite a bit and made quite a mess. The cleaner it is after she eaten, the less has she eaten.
Than I gave her, her bottle and she dozed of, just for an hour though. She usually sleeps two to three hours during midday. I didn’t really mind as we could go and visit her brother and mummy earlier. Adam was definitely happy to see us, so we went to the play room for some playing and running around. He seemed quite fine, except for a slight wheezing noise and occasional puking.
Now it is Wednesday and Adam has to stay at least another day, seem like his fever doesn’t really want to drop enough. So Aida and I are going to visit them as soon as Aida has woken up. I should try to get some rest as well. I haven’t been feeling totally well the last week or so.
We popped home just to get the medical book, so we don’t have to pay when we got to the clinic before we reached the clinic. Adam had a temperature of 39.5°C so they gave him a stool pill and some other medicine for his flew. Reached home and he started to “cool down” and had some yogurt. After a while he started to look really tired, so I tried to put him to sleep. He almost made when he started puking again. While clearing him off the bed and the following cleaning of both him and the bed, I thought he started to feel really warm again. So I checked his temperature and it was back at 39.5-40°C, less than three hours after the stool paracetamol. So Norida called the doctor and got told that we should try to sponge him, and if he doesn’t reach fairly normal temperature in half an hour bring him to the hospital.
Adam cooled down a bit, but went straight back to being very warm. So Norida packed the necessities and went off to the hospital. They played Dracula with him, taking a blood sample before being sent off for x-ray. At around 21:15 the diagnosis was pneumonia and that he needed to be warded for the night, to start with. Norida popped back for clothes and toiletries as I didn’t dare to leave Aida at home and didn’t want to wake her and they had nurses to look after Adam at the ward.
Tuesday morning, Adam had to stay for another day in the hospital. So Aida and I went to Pasar Borong to get some stuff for our lunch. We had Soo-Hon soup. Aida seems to really enjoy as she ate quite a bit and made quite a mess. The cleaner it is after she eaten, the less has she eaten.
Than I gave her, her bottle and she dozed of, just for an hour though. She usually sleeps two to three hours during midday. I didn’t really mind as we could go and visit her brother and mummy earlier. Adam was definitely happy to see us, so we went to the play room for some playing and running around. He seemed quite fine, except for a slight wheezing noise and occasional puking.
Now it is Wednesday and Adam has to stay at least another day, seem like his fever doesn’t really want to drop enough. So Aida and I are going to visit them as soon as Aida has woken up. I should try to get some rest as well. I haven’t been feeling totally well the last week or so.
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