October's Over!

October's been a mad-cap month.

Both Wen and Wei were down with Chicken Pox. There was an outbreak in their kindergarten and Wen fell victim first before Wei contracted it almost 2 weeks later. And in the middle of it all, my domestic helper went home for 2 weeks to visit her family! So I toggled between being a full-time homemaker on some days and a full-time working mum on other days when I couldn't take official leave because of work responsibilities.

I was really very fortunate to have both MIL and FIL (who're staying with us) help out. We worked out an informal system to get us through the 2 weeks. MIL did all the cooking, sweeping and magic-mopping. FIL was her trusty assistant and he folded the clothes and washed the dishes (on the days I was in office). I was in charge of the laundry, washed the toilets, fed the dogs, picked up dog-poo and washed/scrubbed the yard after they pee-ed and poo-ed, swept the dead leaves, and watered the plants the old-fashion way (using the watering can and scooping up water from our fish pond). The hub did all the heavy-duty work and house repairs. He trimmed the towering bamboo plants, vacuumed the whole house and did everything else that nobody could or wanted to do.

In all honesty, I totally suck at housework. My sub-standard quality can never match up to expectations and I'm not organised enough to run through the chore cycle in a systematic manner. So I'd haphazardly complete the tasks and leave traces of "unfinished business" to  periodically answer my emails because I was working from home.

A typical scenario would be this: Stuff clothes into the washing machine and work on some documents before the wash cycle is completed. Sometimes, the laundry is ready before I'm done. To me, it's about optimising my time and multi-tasking. After all, The clothes won't walk away right?

That's what I thought but I was sooooooo wrong. Without any warning, my ever-efficient MIL and FIL would take the laundry out and hang them out before I realised that the clothes had indeed scooted off to the 3rd floor to be sun-dried at our balcony.

Really, they can't stand for an idle moment and probably think I'm trying to shirk my responsibilities. I just prefer to work on the tasks at my own speed and time. Actually, I do enjoy washing the dishes, cleaning the toilets, washing/scrubbing the yard, doing the laundry and any bit of chores relating to water. For obvious reasons, I stay out of the kitchen when MIL is around because she's a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better cook than I will ever be. And there's no way I can whip up tasty Chinese dishes like she can.

On the other hand, the hub's a perfect house-hubby. He's obviously well-trained and can work twice my speed, with double the results. Plus the guy cooks better than I can. Impressive, right? I pale in comparison and I make a terrible homemaker.

That's why I'm sticking to my day job.

And that's why I'm so grateful my helper's back. :D

All I can say is that I've new-found respect for stay-at-home mums without domestic help. I don't know how they manage household chores with child-minding responsibilities. It's a real challenge to even get through the day without screaming in frustration when the kids make a ruckus while you're trying to tidy up the place.

My recent memories as a semi-professional homemaker, albeit short, is enough to haunt me for the next few months, no, years! I'm definitely in no hurry to consider swapping my red pen for a frying pan. Give me a bunch of rowdy students any time!

Thanks Steve!

I was a little shocked when I opened my Safari browser this morning and saw this:

Source: www.apple.com

Source: www.apple.com

I may not know the man personally, but I'm one of the billions of people in the world who've come to know him through his brainchild - the iconic Apple company - and the amazing gadgets and products under the Apple umbrella. His creative genius notwithstanding, Steve Jobs is also a fighter in his career and personal life. His battle with pancreatic cancer ended on 5 October 2011 when he finally succumbed to the disease after many years.

At this very moment, I'm typing on Zac my Mac. I'm also charging my iPod nano while writing this. I haven't got the iPhone or iPad (yet) but I'm planning to get the iPhone when my Nokia dies on me and my contract's up for renewal. I'm a Mac believer and the only reason why I haven't splurged on getting the full Mac range of products is because it's expensive raising 3 kids and I'll spend only what I have to. For me, getting an iPad or Macbook are "wants", not "needs".

Rest In Peace Steve Jobs. Thanks for revoluntionising the world with your creative and innovative brilliance and creation of the iWorld. You will definitely be missed.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/steve-jobs/8809997/Steve-Jobs-dies-live-blog.html

Here's to 10 years and more

The hub made a casual remark about the number of special occasions we celebrate in a year. Excluding family birthdays, we also make it a point to remind ourselves of the life-time commitment we pledged to each other: our engagement (8 August 1996), official wedding anniversary (25 May 1999) and our Chinese customary wedding dinner (30 September 2001).

Yes, we've created this calendar of events for us to remember, for better of for worse, the moments we decided to legally become man and wife. Naturally, an excuse for us to steal some moments away from the kids to spend some couple-time together. 

Unfortunately, it's also become a real headache in the gift-giving department when we've got so many reasons to buy (and receive) presents.

This year marks our 10th customary wedding anniversary - the year we officially moved in and stayed together as a married couple. Since I wasn't able to take leave on our actual wedding anniversary, we planned for an earlier celebration. I volunteered to plan for the day and after some research, decided to make a reservation at Absinthe, a French restaurant along Bukit Pasoh Road off Chinatown. 

However, whatever plans for the day had to be scrapped because my suspicion that Wen's infected with chicken pox was confirmed when I brought her to the doctor's.

I guess that's the price of parenthood. Not that the hub or I really minded.

We did continue dinner as planned and arrived promptly at Absinthe. We were the first patrons and got the best seats - away from the main door.

Just the two of us - our romantic dinner

The food, though pretty good, wasn't remarkably fantastic. For entrée, we ordered Foie Gras Poêlé, Blinis tiède et Cerises Griottes (Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Warm Blinis and Morello Cherries) which tasted a little overcooked and burnt at the edges:

Foie Gras Poêlé, Blinis tiède et Cerises Griottes (Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Warm Blinis and Morello Cherries)

Our main course was Côte de Bœuf “Wagyu”, Gratin Dauphinois, Légumes à la Vapeur, Sauce Béarnaise (Rib of Australian Wagyu, Potato Gratin, Steamed Vegetables and Béarnaise Sauce). We were pleased with our choice as the beef was cooked to succulent perfection, but the portions were HUGE and enough for 4 adults! It was a little embarrassing when I asked if we could take-away the remaining meat but the waitress didn't bat an eyelid when I made the request. Possibly because we're not the first customers who couldn't finish the food.

Cheers!

Côte de Bœuf “Wagyu”, Gratin Dauphinois, Légumes à la Vapeur, Sauce Béarnaise (Rib of Australian Wagyu, Potato Gratin, Steamed Vegetables and Béarnaise Sauce)

So much left-overs!

Our "tar-pow"

When Chef François made his rounds, we revealed that we were celebrating our anniversary. After our main course (which we managed to eat only half!), we decided to forego dessert. That's when the staff surprised us with a complimentary sweets and a surprise:

Complementary sweets

Special dessert on the house!

A grinning hub

I survived 10 years of living with the hub (and his family)

Just before we left, the friendly staff took a photo of us.

10 years!

As the night was still young, we drove to Vivo City and watched Johnny English Reborn, a spy comedy starring rubber-face Rowan Atkinson. After a heavy meal, we really wanted a no-brainer light-hearted barrel of laughs to complete the day.

Back home to our Haven@Arif

I really didn't expect to celebrate the occasion again, especially since I was busy with the Supplementary Board of Examiners' meeting on Friday, our actual anniversary date. When I got back to the office after the 2 hour plus meeting at about 5.30pm, I was greeted by this:

Surprise!

The hub had sneaked into my office to place the bouquet on my table. The door was locked but my new colleague Y had happened to walk past and she accessed the room with her staff card. :)

When I called the hub, he'd left and was busy in the new office his company was moving to (which is about less than 10 minutes drive from my work place). He ended off the call with "See you later for dinner!"

So we went on our second dinner date, albeit a little late at 9pm, at Clarke Quay. This time, we settled for something less pricey at Fremantle Seafood Market.

a glass of white wine

My Strawberry Daiquiri

Hearty Seafood Platter

Cod Fish & Chips

The hub wanted to catch a midnight movie but I was exhausted and fell asleep in the car on our way home. He was tickled when he pulled up at the driveway and I was still knocked out.

Yes, my system's not accustomed to any intrusion of alcohol, regardless of the amount. In my case, the Strawberry Daiquiri was the culprit. Silly, isn't it?

Anyway, I stayed awake long enough to pass him his presents - 10 for 10 years of living together as a wedded couple.

10 presents for 10 years!

Even I can't believe that we've survived 10 years of living with each other and putting up with each other's nonsense. Some believe that I'm happily married but in reality, every couple has issues. There's no such thing as a perfect relationship and we've got to constantly work at it. Sometimes I feel that I'm at the losing end and have to fight hard to maintain a positive outlook. Other times I admit my faults and wish I could change things.

But we are mere mortals and imperfection's built into our DNA. This understanding of human nature is what keeps me going, knowing that while we often strive to become better, we'll never be the best. I don't lose sleep over this, accepting whatever that comes my way, rebelling where I deem fit because it's too tiring to fight every single battle.

That's my strategy and that's how I've done it.