Beauty in Chaos

End of the year, and *facepalm* can't believe my last post was in June!

But if I were to fill in the gap between June to December, let me tell you it's filled with boring routine mumster, mid-life stories.

I think life have become pretty standard (ZzzZzzzZz): Come back from office, pick cheeky-boo Daniel up from the nanny's, stuck in traffic, rendam the vegetables, defrost the meat, feed Daniel his dinner porridge while watching TVB drama, wash him up, cook the rice and cuts up the dishes while watching my son delightfully open-close-open-close-open-close the washing machine before pressing on all the buttons on the (read: destroying), and many times goes inside the washing machine to see if papa's sock or mum's panties still stuck in the roof (my machine is side-loading). Then, I feed my boy some fruits puree, read him some fire engine and old Macdonald's farm animals, while letting him watch some BabyTV (Billy Bam Bam is my son's favourite). When papa's back, I will dump my son to him, run straight to the kitchen to cook a bunch of chinese delicious (subjective) cuisine for 2 pax.

His favourite grand-uncle and grand-aunty aka babysitter's family.

I will go upstairs and get a shower while my son watches me happily playing peekaboo at the bathroom door with his naked mama. Daniel will be saying "chak, chak", squinting his eye signaling (hurrying) me for a feedback of chakkks, smiling widely. He dare not go into the bathroom (kena scold before, and he knows he shouldn't), but will surely cry if  I had to have a peekaboo intermittent because you tell me lahh how to chakkk with shampoo on my face ok. He absolutely hates peekaboo intermittent, and I must do this chak-chak-chak thingy in my whole 10 min in the shower. Papa will be left alone at the kitchen doing all the dirty dishes and then makes his fruits/vege juice with the juicer. Then, when my son sleeps at exacly 9.30pm, I will handwash all his clothes. If you are asking, yes, I still handwash my baby's clothes every damn blardy night since he was born. I can be such an OCD piece of shit sometimes. 

Peekaboo!

As a mum, I don't know how to compare (btw, we shouldn't compare our kids), but Daniel is definitely a textbook baby.  Meaning, his developmental milestones are exactly as what you google month-after-month in BabyCentre or WebMD. He is quite predictable and easy to take care! My mum said arr, not me.

He has been speaking a few words which are meaningful - put, take, give, "tit tit tit" when he holds the Astro remote controls and points it to the tv, "mai" (Hokkien for 'No'), "puyaoo" (Mandarin for 'No'), "yallooooo" when he puts the phone to his ears, "cat-cat" when he sees a cat in the book, or real cat. "Nennen"&"Mam mam", if he wants milk/food and "Papa" are his first ever words. 

He still can't say "mummy" yet to his kiasu mummy although he's with me all the time, manja and playing with me. Sux wei. And of course, he has been getting more and more talkative bablebablellele babbles baa booo goo gaga aiyooh sumida all day, and I believe my son was a Korean guy reincarnate.

He is already holding his own milk bottle himself to drink, and I swear I was delighted because less one task for the parents with an independent child. LOL! Can marry him off already lah. Can. Hahaha.

After work, I try to take him to the playground nearby.

After 14 months, I realised how my son has changed me. I am born like this: over-dominating, big headed career woman, ever the high achiever at whatever I try/do even though I am not talented in it, reads 4 books a month, perfectionist-bitch, and quite kiasu. But when my son is born (also when I met my husband), I find it easier to let go of certain things. I find it easier to let go of perfection. I let people take care of my son and close one-eye in many things, while I catch a movie alone, go for a facial, takes 1 year to finish 3 books, not making the bed, living in a untidy hall, bedroom, etc. This is because I don't want to be trapped in the cycle of woman-doing-every-thing-in-the-house-and-takes-care-of-children-too-and-earns-a-bunch-of-salary-back-home. I don't want to do everything for the household or my family. And want people to help me. I allow my hubby to help me out in anything he can (no matter what tasks), not caring about the outcome, let my son fall down and bump his head, let my son eat hair, food he picked up from the floor, let my son eat junk food and kacang puteh, loads of sugary vitagen (vitagen keeps him quiet in the car and when I watch TVB drama), let my floor be dusty for a week, forgot to wash the vegetable and cook it, simply cut the vege, the eggs are hangus, the meat is hancur, Really, nevermind, Because I feel quite happy being imperfect!

His coconut hair-do. It makes him look cute, but I cut the unruly hair off to be ready for CNY..

He can be quite a good boy. Often listens to us and afraid of scolding. A bit sensitive (like Papa)/

Going kai-kai is his favourite past time.

He loves flipping books, but also enjoys his BabyTV and unexpectedly, loves to watch Berita (the RTM version)

Sorry, but bash me all you want you breastfeeding advocates, but the KEY to my current happiness was: Stop breastfeeding. There!

Gosh, I felt so liberated once I stopped bf because I hate that my son keep latching to me and I have absolutely no farking time to do any farking thing. I honestly hate the pumping regime both at home and at work, and I can't focus on my work or meetings. When I want to do some work/experiment, suddenly I need to pump. Soooo mah fun! After 6 months of essential breastfeeding, and when my son seemed to love solids more than breasts, I was extremely happy to quit the pump and that fugly bra. He was unhappy too because he kept getting scolded for biting my boob tits when he latches (6 months already got 4 teeth ok). He frustrated, I also frustrated. Without breastfeeding, Papa also get to play a role in feeding his son, and at least this empowers the man to hold the feeding bottle and do the feeding. More than 3/4 of Daniel's feeding now is Papa's job. And I have sooo much time after that. Sleeping also felt sooo good for 8 months already. I wake up a happier person each morning because I have good sleep every night with my son sleeping through without waking up hungry. I don't like that feeding goes exclusively to the mother. Don't like. Period. Btw, my son holds the feeding bottle himself and feeds all 7 ounces already! Both papa and mummy are proud of his independence, plans to marry him off soon). :-P

Semakin kaypoh

Fell from the bed and got his first manhood bruise.

His favourite Thor hammer. He fought well <--bruises everywhere.="" td="">

Truth: I wished I was a high-milk-supply-mum, so then I can pump like 100 bottles a day and leave them to the dad/nanny to feed. But obviously I am not. I am a low-supply-kais-pagi-makan-pagi milk supply mum and my son is a big eater and cries every time after breastmilk because still so hungry, so that's why it's not conducive for me to continue breastfeeding. Again, it's all in the mind(!), and when I purportedly tell myself that I hated breastfeeding cause it wasted a lot of my goddamn time, milk definitely didn't come anymore (yay! no more leaky breast). However, when I wanted to quit, I went to upset to depression because people that idk (the internet, forums) trying to throw such formula milk mums down as a "bad mums". Perfectionist, high-achiever you may think I am, but this is one thing I am willing to give up for the love of MYSELF. No breast milk after 6 months, but my son is still alive and kicking and cuter than ever....but that is because I have great genes, kan....

Manja boy. Always golek around me, hug and kisses me frequently. I miss him daily when I am work.

Well, blink blink eye, it's Christmas:

My 5-foot Christmas tree is up, my son dare not touch it after I warned him once only. Good dog boy. He was such a menace initially, but now will just say out loud: "WAHHHHhhhhHH" if I point him to any Christmas tree in the mall or at home, and absolutely dare not touch any ornaments on our tree. Because perfectionist mummy here doesn't like heterogeneous placing of ornaments; the OCD me loves exact spatial placing of ornaments and symmetry. :-P

This year 2016 is awesome in many ways. I am optimistic about next year: career-wise: I hope the crude oil price will bounce up further; the ringgit will strengthen so that I can go more overseas holiday with my two boys, and I hope that my family and friends will be happier and achieve what they aim for. And lose weight.

<--still can="" p="" t.="">

Happy holidays and Happy New Year!

Doing naughty cheek face to his cousin sister, Amanda.

Love you both!

Babymoon in The Netherlands

My office is somewhere here

I got a job-attachment for 1.5 months to Leiden, South Holland. I am delighted that my work as a research chemist does not confine me to the laboratory (which I initially feared) but also beyond the four chemical-laden walls. I am now doing computer simulations and modeling of chemical structures, so basically there's a lot of software/programming work to learn for a dead-wood-in-computing like myself. Oh well, gotta survive in this industry by learning new knowledge every time.

Hi from Amsterdam!

De Valk  windmill in Leiden

One mustn't miss the Leiden market on Weds and Sats.

Al fresco is what everyone here does. It's summer! 

One thing I felt blessed is that this job attachment-cum-training coincides with the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy. If you didn't know, this trimester is the most comfortable for a pregnant woman to travel because of decreasing morning sickness and stabilization of the womb inherently associated with this trimester. And another blessing: the appetite has escalated these few weeks!

Mum and I in the apartment

Leiden is located approximately 35 km south of Amsterdam. It's a large university town (like Serdang), and here lies the oldest university in The Netherlands, of course: Leiden University. Leiden is also the birthplace of Rembrandt van Rijn, the world's most famous painter. Personally, his painting makes more sense than Van Gogh's (but that's just me). Leiden town is basically sustained by its locals and university students alike. It's so much cleaner and fresher than hectic Amsterdam, and it's just a 15-min bus ride to the beautiful tulip gardens of Keukenhof. Leiden is peaceful; it's not that small nor large that you can't enjoy the entire town by foot, having very considerate drivers and cyclists and has some established Asian restaurants here for my baby just in case he craves for some gu lou yok rice (well, that did happened ok. See pic below).

This is gu lou yok rice my little baby craved. Ordered for 1 pax, but came a portion for three (no wonder Dutch people are tallest in the world).

My baby is good boy, I guess. Although the nausea is still here some times, my baby allows me to walk between 2-10 km around Leiden town and its vicinity. He does not complain because somehow baby knows that mummy here was a marathon runner and wouldn't let him complain anyway, because I want to walk as exercise. A walk from the my accommodation to my workplace within the university is approximately 2.1 km (one way), and if I feel tired after work or when the temperature drops to below 10C, I will take the bus. But of course, I would prefer to walk back to my accommodation to clock in another 2.1 km, but somehow the weather is still erratic. I am not impressed that summer temperatures can range from 7-23 degC. It’s sunny in the afternoon, and bamm, you get rain (the drizzle type) in the night. Some rain has got me into shivers and some had me run for shelter.

Chow mien, and tasted authentic.



Parents are here but only for 3 weeks. They make full use of the apartment by cooking chinese dishes for me. Yes, WARM dishes is what I deserve: ABC soup, bakkutteh, ginger chicken with rice, stir-fried (not broiled) broccoli with garlic, etc. The Dutch eats bread and sandwiches every single day - breakfast, dinner, lunch, and I wasn't complaining in the first week as I love bread and dairy products such as Dutch gouda cheeses and milk, but I think I have had it too much. Sandwiches here are frequently served with cold-cut meats; it looked and tasted raw. Doubt there's any bad bacteria in there but I think better avoid for pregnancy-sake.

Went to Amsterdam but was not impressed with the crowd. Amsterdam was very crowded on that particular holiday weekend, but more so, the people, cyclist here are less considerate and looked angry. Think KL vs. Ipoh drivers :-) In spite of that, Amsterdam is still worth a visit and has pretty with nice churches, architecture, and great museums. Made some milestone here: Walked 20 km(!) in total around Amsterdam, managed the famous Dutch pancake pannenkoek, went to eat at an Argentinian steakhouse, raked in some (free) cheeses, picnic by the park, and was part of the 500m queue to museums, not!

Dutch pancake with strawberries and syrup in Amsterdam - pannenkoek

Rijksmuseum featuring most of Rembrandt's work.

500 m queue to Rijksmuseum. Also same length at Van Gogh Museum

Park in front of the Rijksmuseum having a picnic of a time!

Bitterballen is a Dutch snack

Steak and pasta, for a change

I was also in The Hague, which is this the administration capital of The Netherlands. Just 15 min by train from Leiden, it offers much better supermarkets and shopping escapades. Of course, it is a very very much larger city compared to Leiden - with an established China Town there. There's an asian supermarket there but was ultimately disappointed there wasn't bak kut teh mix sold. I am happy I made a quick trip to The Hague as initially I was just thinking of lazying in the hotel, reading some journal articles. Milestones in The Hague: Maruitshuis Museum containing Rembrandt's self portrait and Vermeer's Girl in a Pearl Earrings, Parliament house (Binnenhof), ChinaTown, Grote Market, Chinese restaurant (Fat Kee) and Primark to buy some quality baby clothing.

The Maritshuis

Like Mona Lisa, everyone wants to see her. But I am not quite sure why.

Got near to the very famous Vermeer's Girl in a Pearl Earring. 

Rembrandt's last self-potrait before he died the same year he painted this.

Dutch Parliamentary area

Babymoon, it is.
I will be alone once again when they return to Malaysia very soon. But I am not quite lonely because for 2 weeks already, I started feeling my boy kicking. At one point, he kicked me so damn hard to request for me to rest from the over-walking around The Hague. I am so enjoying the freshest of air and good quality of life here, but this is not home. Where's the teh tarik and nasi lemak in the morning? Where's my bakkutteh and Sentul hokkien noodles? My heart is still back home, and my heart is now where my hubby is who could be lying there reading his economic book, or maybe ironing his own clothes, or giggling at some funny Cantonese movie. Miss you much, hubby!

Here are some photos of me and my parents Keukenhof, four days before it closes for the rest of the year.

The tulips has bloomed, indicating end of the season.

Can you believe the various colours of lilies here. I thought they only come in white and pink.

Turkey Honeymoon

(Warning: A photo-rich post, very long read)

Turkey, our choice city for our honeymoon! We have planned this since March 2014 but because it's a group tour, there's not much real planning on our side of things. What we did before this trip was just to read up on the places of interest and Turkish foodstuffs!

We got booked with BesTours which offered us an amazing deal from Matta Fair. And mind you, in these kind of places where English language is not primary language and where places of interests is never in the reach of taxis, my advice (after returning from Turkey) is to NOT travel alone around Turkey, if it's your first time there. I am not saying it's not safe (it's safe alright). I am saying, most touristy places are inaccessible unless you join their ground tour.

Us and our new found (tour) friends at the Bosphorus cruise. Left of boat is Asia; Right is Europe. Turkey has the best of both worlds!

Turkey is the country that has the best of both worlds. Asia on your left, Europe on the right. My hubby was saying that if Istanbul has a full marathon, you can boast to your friends about running from Asia to Europe! Hahaha, good idea. Turkey has been a critical part of the Greek and Roman civilization for thousands of years, therefore the history is extensive. Imagine, Istanbul (formerly known as Constantinople) was a Christian city before the Ottoman took over in modern history making Islam its official religion and churches were converted into mosques. And then in 1900s, revolution led by Mustapha Kamal Ataturk made Turkey a republic, making it a secular country. (Disclaimer: My version of history may skew a bit, as I was always napping in the bus. Go and wiki if you are dissatisfied).

Thousand years of accumulated histories allows this country to be decorated by buildings of great architectures which leaves you in awe. Greek and Roman ruins around this countryside are evidence of thousands of years of war and peace. The ample natural resources allows for many great armies and governments to want to be conquer Turkey and own every grain of soil and (hot) springs it has. Even Virgin Mary, accompanied by the Apostle John, has a home near Ephesus, Izmir.

So many nice architecture building but don't ask me their names.  This is one infamous mosque situated next to the Bosphorus river that separates Asia and Europe.

We took Etihad Airways where the from KLIA to ISTANBUL via Abu Dhabi. We were lucky, as we've got an upgrade to Business Class. Of course, that means, demand demand demand (no, I didn't ask my peanuts to be served on a plate), and more leg SPAAAACCE! The Business Class at Etihad is simply different from MAS flights in a way that the former is more personal, but less romantic. My hubby was sitted next to me, but separated by the aisle, and because this is a honeymoon trip, I felt, ya... "separated". But we both crave leg-space and so: leg-space, flat-bed and massaging-chair is what we got!

Transformers and my vodka with lime and peanuts served in a bowl. Phew! :-P

Weird, seat number says we sit next to each other, but it's actually separated. So unromantic, Etihad's Business Class sittings. Meh.

We visited many many many historical places. You may think historical places are boring. But no. Historical places here come with loads of great stories of mythical origins (these mad Greeks and Romans) and real facts. And historical places here come with scenic views. Major agriculture in this kinda wintry weather are olives and mandarin oranges. First time jakun see olive trees, thought it was grapes.

I would like to again emphasize why a tour is essential at Turkey because one great city to another takes between 4-6 hours by bus. The tour crosses farms, hills, agriculture area, hills overgrowned with (real) Christmas trees, and old cities that eerily resembles ghost cowboys towns. Our Turkish tour guide did tell us a lot of things about the country, its history and their way of live throughout the journey so we did learnt quite a lot (although I slept all the time)!

Preparing their land for the next harvest. Towards Pamukkale

You cannot escape the thought of food or beverages associated with any foreign land you visit. In Turkey, it's no wonder that the infamous Turkish black tea, apple tea, and their crazy thick brewed Turkish coffee was the first thing that comes to mind. I like the black tea a lot, which taste like Lipton anyway, but the turkish one has a little more 'kick' in it. Well, I would say, I LOT MORE kick. Cause I had a major heart palpitation for the first time in my life at a cafe at Acropolis with a cup of black tea! My heart beat profusely fast that I had nausea and held on to dear life in the bus.

Tea MUST be served in curvaceous glass; Turkish coffee MUST be served in a banyak pattern punya cup. Just tradition, I guess. Then of course, other food may sound familiar to us Malaysians: Kebab, and Baklava. The lamb kebab is so delicious I almost cried (also because it was pricey). The cheese here is different from that of NZ or Aussie, and will surely decorate each and every bread I had here. This is because most cheese here are processed from goat's milk. I never thought I would say this (because I am not a foodie), but I must return here for the cheese.

Enjoying our cup of Turkish black tea over the Aegean Sea

Turkish coffee is bleh!

Our lamb kebab near the Grand Bazaar. Pricey but worth every Lira.

Aegean Sea is the sea in Turkey associated with Greek mythology. Of course, crossing this sea to get from Istanbul to Bursa (west coast), and back, requires your vehicle to be ferried through this sea. The trip is 1 hour, and yes, felt like Penang ferry, but here's it has a scenic view of the coast, and it's realllllllly cold now. Don't you dare stand outside the ferry. Your face sure frozen. No, I didn't spot Hercules and Pegasus killing monsters from this sea.

At the ferry. Let's get in before our face freezes.

He daringly face the cold outside , but I relented. Everyone else relented., as you can see.

Sunrise over Istanbul from the ferry

Aegean Sea over the coastal land of Kusadasi (a summer rich-man's playground). View from our hotel balcony.

Animals are so fat here, we wonder if those strays are even strays. Maybe because it's a four season country, therefore they develop great amount of fur, as Darwin's natural selection precedes. Cats are everywhere, Dogs are everywhere. Dogs and cats hug each other. I don't know. Everywhere in Turkey is dogs and cats that never fights. And yah, also, we spot a 'horse' at Troy.

Must be a cat's gossiping ground. So many at Bursa vicinity.

Another black cat crossing me at Bursa.

At Acropolis, 3 dogs were playing near the ruins, and one of them approached Fong. I am jeles.

My bus driver offered food to the dog and cats. One cat was riding on the dog's back like horse at Troy.

You cannot miss this animal at Troy

Baa baaa.

This fat one I saw at Ephesus on top of the Goddess of Victory, Nike.

Like Malaysia, Turkey is a secular country. But people here are 60-70% Muslim, and others are: "..dan sebagainya". You can pray if you want, don't want also can. Because if you Sunni, you pray 5 times a day in a mosque. If you Shiite, you don't pray in the mosque because history says a Shiite leader was once killed inside a mosque (as I was told by history book), so mosque is not "clean". But almost every corner city of  is filled with mosques, which is normal in Malaysia, but here, the mosque have super unique architecture: those oldy, moldy, Italian gothic type. Or Ottoman type(?). If they built a mosque in Turkey, they MUST follow back the same architecture or design. Cannot change. Like dat also can. 

Several mosque are to be mentioned: Bursa Ulu Cami a.k.a. Grand Mosque (there's a ski resort nearby), where there's a beautiful fountain inside the mosque. The super famous Sultan Ahmet/Blue Mosque in Istanbul where it's khat and ceiling design is incomparable to any mosques in this world. The pope came here to pray too in November 2014. And the Hagia Sophia, which if you read Dan Brown's Inferno that describes this museum beautifully, is I dare say, one of its kind in this universe. Yes, Hagia Sophia is NOW a museum; no longer a mosque nor church it once was. Because Mustapha Kamal Ataturk said so.

Outside Bursa's Grand Mosque

Bursa's Grand mosque (Ulu Cami) in front of a fountain inside the mosque.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque at Istanbul

Design inside the Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Hagia Sophia featured in Dan Brown's Inferno. Read that book to get more precise description.

Turkish lamps that can be found at Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

At Topkapi Palace where the Ottomans once lived. Now a museum containing loads of jewellery exhibits. That includes a 84 karat diamond, really.  

And what are the Fongs without some adventure, kannn?

Hierapolis at Pamukkale has 2 special elements: There's this natural wonder called Cotton Castle (a.k.a. Pamukkale) is only one of its kind in this planet. And because hot springs are associated with healing and cleanliness, the Romans (with bathing as their hobby), of course, made this place their home for hundreds of years.  They create a city around the springs called Hierapolis, which includes Necropolis (for the dead). So, if you come to this place, it's like super huge. Like from 20 km square (I guess nia, ok), Terraces of white hot springs sprung from carbonate salts, and surrounding it the ruins of the Roman city of Hierapolis and Necropolis.

This is what I was looking fwd to, not the hot-air balloon ride.

Winter and hotspings are soo compatible. Felt so good, as the springs is not too hot nor cold: 38 degrees C

Apart from carbonate rock formations that what made Pamukkale it is today, there's also yellow sulfur deposits which is a healing element.

LONELY PATH. No one ones a hike up the crazy path, only Mr. and Mrs. Fong.

Me and hubby performing alone at a theatre ruin. Because no one likes history in our tour except us, apparently.

We hiked up to this theatre, and we are alone in this vast stage !!!!!

Empty theatre. I like, cause no one kacau our photos. Can be creepy.

ALONE. Just you and me, Mr. Ruins!

A 6-hour trip from Pamukkale, is the great Library of Ephesus, which again we are all alone to visit this place. Crowd are thin in winter. But no crowd is good!

Another library, this one at Acropolis, is larger than Ephesus.  Must use cable car to get up here. That time was 1-2 degrees Celcius!

Selfies, oh Selfie! How can we not have couple pictures to end my already lengthy post: 

At the Hippodrome where it was once a horse racing stadium. But Ottomans sais that horse racing is gambling (true lah), so banned. COLDDDD.

Overall, I had a blast. My husband had his dream come true to visit Turkey. Let me just say, you need to love history to come to Turkey, but even if you don't, you will surely like their tidbits, baklava, and tea. And the natural wonders too. No regrets of not going for something more "relaxing", because I don't want relaxing beach vacations anymore.

But say if I do come back to Turkey, I must try a couple of things: Aegean sun bathing in summer, Cave stay at Cappadocia, Pamukkale once again, Hagia Sophia, and Basilica Cistern/Medusa's head. (http://yerebatansarnici.com/)

Must go:
1. Hagia Sophia
2. Sultan Ahmed mosque/Blue mosque
3. Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Necropolis
4. Ephesus, Izmir
5. Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Skip:
1. Topkapi palace
2. Hippodrome
3. Kebab restaurant at Grand Bazaar (cheater!)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for a great year!

Thank you so much for reading through this lengthy post. You're a survivor.

Ivy-out.