JX's Progress

Since my last update a few weeks back on JX's speech, I am happy to say that he has progressed to a few other new words:

Chek chek (my BIL)
Yeh yeh (my FIL)
Che che (JW)
Ish (fish)

Although he isn't saying these words on a regular basis but at least I know that he can actually say these words when he is in a good mood. I intend to send him for regular speech therapy classes when we go back to KL.

OK, here's how he tells me things (apart from just screaming and crying for something):

When he wants to watch a certain show, he'll do the following:

Hi5 - he will show his "high five" hand
Toy Story 1 - he'll show one finger
Toy Story 2 - he will show two fingers
Cars - he'll whisper "car" (more like kah)
Madagascar - he will roar

When he wants to eat, he will point his finger into inside his mouth. When he wants to drink, he'll sign milk in proper baby sign language. Well thats about it. Other that that, he'll just point, pull, show, cry, scream for what he wants.

Gourmet Food(?)

Roasted Chicken with Vegetables.   

I roasted the potatoes and carrots with the chicken as well.  So it had all the juices so dressing was not needed.  See how small the chicken is.  That is a thigh and a wing.  

Beef Striploin with Roasted Tomatoes

Marinated the steak with steak sauce and lemon peel. 

Seasoned the tomatoes with olive oil, black pepper, oregano and parsley.

Fire up!!

The tomatoes roasting

I made a simple pasta for the side.  It was speghetti with lemon peel, lemon juice, coriander leaves, some parsley and black pepper.  It was a light pasta to go with the heavy steak. 

The only problem I had with this dish was SW came back later than normal so the steak dried up a little when we finally ate it. 

Striploin with Jacket Potato


The highlight of this dish was the jacket potato.  It was my first time making jacket potatoes and I had the right stuff to go with it too.  Sour cream, beef bits (kinda like bacon bits) and spring onions.  I roasted the potatoes in the oven for about 1 hour, took it out, made a cross incision into the potatoes, melted a knob of butter before slapping some sour cream on it and topping it off with beef bits and spring onions. 

Perhaps I should stop putting up pics of my cooking eh?  Well of course there are other foods in between these.  There were Bak Kut Teh again, speghetti bolognase and of course the normal Chinese cooking and of course I do cook for the kids too.  Jia Wen does love the beef steaks!! 

I am thinking that maybe it is cheaper to cook western than it is to cook Chinese / Asian. 

Dubai at Random

 

I am just typing whatever is going through my head about Dubai.

Signal.  What does the word "signal" mean to you when you are on the road?  Signal means indicator right?  (To my husband signal = non-existent ... why because signal indicators are never used here for lane changes ... cars just cut in to your lane... be prepared to hit the brakes... slow on the brakes = a huge pile up).  It means indicating your intentions to make a move right?  Well, in Dubai the word "signal" means traffic lights!  When I first got here and went on to taxis, the taxi drivers would say things like "Next signal, where I turn?", "I turn left next signal", "How many signal turn right?".  At first I didn't get what they meant by "signal" but soon I found out that "signal" actually means traffic light.  So when a taxi driver asks you "how many signals?", he means how many traffic lights!!  I have no clue why is this so but I am guessing that people in India or Pakistan refer traffic lights as "signal"?  The taxi drivers here are mainly either Indians or Pakistanis. 

The weather is really getting hot alright.  Yesterday it went up to 46 degree Celcius and it isn't officially summer yet.  Dubai Government have announced that from now onwards, construction companies are to give a mandatory rest period of 3 hours from noon for the labourers.  Labourers are not to work during this period and all measures to ensure that they are out of the summer heat is taken like providing shades, providing covers, lemonade, drinks and foods are compulsory.  You know that it is getting hot when we have to bring down the temperature of the aircond at home even during the nights.  Luckily we stay indoors most of the time.  The other day when I went out after only just washing my hair, my hair totally dried within minutes!  Free drying - faster than blow drying it with hairdryer.

The buildings here have mezzanine floors!  It isn't common to have mezzanine floors in Malaysia but here, all buildings that I've been to have mezzanine floors.  I still don't understand why have a mezzanine floor when it is actually a floor on its own.  Why not consider that 1st floor and the floor after that 2nd floor?  Like for example the building that we are living in now, there's the ground floor, the mezzanine floor, first floor and so on.  Ok maybe mezzanine floors are usually a smaller level with less rooms, or less floor space but in this building it is a complete full floor exactly as the rest of the building.  Mezzanine floor - I had to explain to JW what mezzanine means and she asked back "Why can't they consider it the 1st floor?".

Have you ever opened a bank account and have the bank staff go to your house or office to open the account for you?  Well, it is a common practice where you don't have to go to the bank to open an account.  All you need to do is make an inquiry either via phone or email that you are interested in opening and account and walla - someone from the bank will call you the next day to make an appointment to meet with you at your convenience.  SW recently opened an account with HSBC and he hasn't even been to the bank yet.  The bank officer will meet you and give you all the necessary (ATM card, PIN number for the ATM card and phone banking) all at the first meet!  Also not forgetting to mention you don't have to start the account with any cash deposit.  Impressive eh?  It is impressive until you lose your ATM card!! Hahaha..  SW lost his ATM card (his first time in his life and it had to happen here!) and guess how long it took for him to get a new ATM card - almost 1 month!!!!!!!  This was from another bank (not HSBC) and there were so much drama in that 1 month that the story deserves its own time slot on this blog!

Almost all the grocery shops here have free delivery service where you can call and order whatever you want get your groceries sent to your doorstep.  I haven't tried it before because the grocery shops are like hardly 100 metres away from the apartment and I could use a little sun.  But most of the supermarkets here have delivery where their workers would ride their bicycles around delivering "half-cooked" vegetables or "half-boiled" eggs. 

Electrical and electronic stuff are almost the same price as back in Malaysia so I wouldn't bother lugging printers, memory cards, hard disk drives, etc from Malaysia.  There's everything here and almost the same price.  Having said that, I miss my desktop back in Nilai.  XBox, PS3, PS2 and Nintendo WII are very big here.  It is selling everywhere even in Carrefours.  And the good thing is that you get to play with it too.  It is everywhere, in supermarkets and toy shops there's always a display set for people to play with.  The other day, the kids had a try on the Nintendo's Guitar Hero and also got to play with the WII fit games too.  I really don't mind having a Nintendo WII in the house!!  It's so fun and cool.  I don't know whether the prices are the same as back home though.  Never went near any of them in Malaysia! 

Cameras like the dSLR cameras are more expensive here.  The other day a friend of mine asked me to go check out the prices for some Nikons and I found out the following:

Nikon D700 @ RM12k
Nikon D3x @ RM32k
Nikon D300 @ RM6.5k
Nikon D60 @ RM2999 with 2 lenses 18-55mm & 70-300mm + 4 GB at Carrefour

People here where almost whatever they want to.  The ladies are pretty much free to wear whatever they want here.  You'll of course see the extremes here lah.  You can see covered to the maximum and you can even see foreign ladies where almost nothing as well.  The other day, I saw some ladies wear clothes which I thought wasn't appropriate for this country and thought they should be a bit more respectful of the country's culture.  I mean they were wearing clothes that would even earn stares in Malaysia or Singapore!!!  But generally, people wear whatever they want here. 

McDonalds and KFC here are more expensive than Malaysia.  A value meal at McD cost about RM15 for a medium and a KFC bucket cost RM75. 

Houses here cost a bomb and probably a nuclear one.  Houses easily start from RM750K and above even with the economic crisis.  A studio apartment is about RM60K a year and you have to pay the full amount (1 year's rent) up front!! 

Power Root's Alicafe is very popular here.  Don't know about the price cos SW doesn't take Alicafe (according to him, he doesn't need it). 

The Carrefour here has a price guarantee policy where if you can find a product cheaper outside of Carrefour, they will pay double the difference.  Malaysia adakah? 

I don't know whether it is laziness or is it the "ranking" reason where here you'll see people driving right to the front of the restaurants, hoot and the waiter will come running out of the restaurant with the menu in their hand.  The waiter will wait to take down their order and then run in with the order.  When the food is done, the waiter will bring the food to the car.  Mind you, these restaurants are not drive thru restaurants.  I noticed that the people who does this are people with their car windows tinted black *wink*. 

(stay tuned for more rambles on Dubai)

Spinneys

 

Remember I told about Spinneys?  Spinneys is a chain of supermarkets with branches across Dubai from Mirdif to the Marina, you're never far from a Spinneys.  Products are competitively priced (although many items are more expensive in Spinneys than they are at one of the larger hypermarkets).  They have a great range of South African and Australian, as well as British and American items.  They stock a selection of Waitrose products (UK) and the freezer section and vegetarian options are both very good.  Also worth a try are items from the deli counter which are great for picnics along with the ever popular roasted chickens.  It is a also a place where you can find PORK.  (Ok, I just typed that out from a guidebook). 

See what I found there!!  I found Knorr's Pork Broth Cubes.  Something you'll never find in Malaysia.  Ironic isn't it to be able to find such a thing here of all places in the world and you can't even find it in Malaysia. 

Anyone wants these?  I can bring back some.  Its RM3.75 per box of 6 cubes.  Let me know. 

26 May 2009

 

JW enjoying a cup of Baskin Robins on her day out with mummy. 

18 May 2009

 

 
Check out my "cha boh poh"

Home away from home

 

Have been to a place that is so familiar to you but yet you don't feel like you are home?  I had that feeling 2 days ago when I was in Ikea Dubai. 

The layout and everything in Ikea Dubai is exactly the same as Ikea Malaysia including the prices.  So as I was sitting down watching JW play in one of the childrens' room, I had this feeling "I was home but I wasn't".  Everything seemed so familiar, felt like I was home but I wasn't. 

Getting nostalgic uh? 

Well here are some differences between the 2 Ikeas :-P:

1.  Ikea Dubai uses paperbags instead of plastic bags
2.  Ikea Dubai doesn't have the cheap yummy curry puffs
3.  Ikea Dubai's "Smaland" (play room) is much smaller than the "Smaland" but has a mini cinema for kids above 7 years old.
4.  Ikea Dubai has free lockers that you can leave your barang-barang in should you want to continue shopping elsewhere.
5.  Ikea Dubai has this mini pulling type of shopping cart where you hang your Ikea Shopping bag to it and you pull it like you pull your marketing cart with wheels.  I find this so cool as it saves a lot of traffic space and its light too.

Oh well, I think you know that I am bored at home that I am actually typing all this out!! hahaha...But anyway, well I think if I ever want to feel closest to home, I'll just have to go to Ikea Dubai.  Isn't that ironic?  Ikea isn't even Malaysian!!!  I hope to find something else Malaysian soon.

14 May 2009

 

JW's star jump

JX's "starjump"


Just take a look at JX's smile.  Tell me how lah to scold him like that? 

JX Vs JW

The one thing that has been working the hardest in the house since we got here are the TV and DVD player! I've never let my kids watch this much TV before but since we came, it has become and essential in this house. It has become more or less the only outlet for the kids. Please don't think I am bad mother who uses the TV for convenience but please understand that since Jia Wen isn't going to school yet, the kids are together 24/7 and Jia Xiang hasn't made it easy for Jia Wen or even us to live with.

Jia Xiang has been extremely naughty and it is really getting into his sister mentally and emotionally (sometimes physically too). I don't know how can I explain how naughty he has been so just trust me when I say that he IS NAUGHTY. He disturbs Jia Wen all the time with everything that she does. Jia Wen can never play anything on her own or do anything on her own without Jia Xiang coming to ruin things for her. And since this is a small apartment, well you can imagine they step on each other's toes all the time.

Shien Wei and I are trying to be as fair to Jia Wen as possible but if you have heard how loud Jia Xiang can scream, you'll understand how easy it is to give into Jia Xiang. Jia Xiang hasn't made easy for us all and believe me when I say that we think of sending him back to Malaysia everyday. I hate to share this with everyone as it does show my weakness as a mother but it has come to the point of Jia Wen saying things to Jia Xiang like "I'll call the police", "I'll throw you down the balcony", "This is the worst family ever", "Why does Jia Xiang have be like that", "Why can't Jia Xiang leave me a lone", "Why does Jia Xiang have to follow what I do all the time?" and a lot of mean things and I fully understand why she would say such things. She has even started calling Jia Xiang "Mr Screamy Selfish" and "Absolutely Stubborn and Suspicious". I don't blame her.

Jia Wen has given up napping in the afternoons just so that she has an hour or two to herself to do her own thing when Jia Xiang naps. Like now, she's watching her Barbie DVD while JX is napping. Normally, if JX isn't sleeping and JW wants to watch what she wants, he'll either scream or just simply turn off the DVD player. When this happens, Jia Wen will get so angry and it is very difficult for me to explain and tell her that "he's only 2 years old". She doesn't understand why she's been given second class treatment in her own house.

JX cannot stand the sight of his mother spending alone time with his sister and he'll pull me away or do something to get attention.

Argh - what have I done wrong!??! I feel bad, so bad. What do I do? I've been trying to figure this out since JX was still in my tummy!! I don't know what to do most of the time. JX is still a baby in so many ways and is that my fault? Hmmm...

We try to explain to Jia Wen as best as we could why things are like that and we try to be as fair to her as we can. We have been taking JW out on her own separating the 2 of them whenever we can. JX behaves very well when he is alone at home without his sister around. I don't know what kind of sibling rivalry this is but JX needs to be "taught" a thing or two. All I know is that sibling rivalry started when I was pregnant with JX, the only difference is, the rivalry is coming from a different end this time! Will it ever end?

I can't wait till JW starts going to school where she can be her own person and have her own time without JX destructing everything. But till then, I'll just have to keep sane.

At the meantime, I just want to state this fact: I've watched Toy Story and Cars like 196 times each!! Lately, we've added Toy Story 2 to the list of JX's everydaymustwatch shows. JW has even memorised the scripts from these shows. OK, the one thing good that has come out of this excessive TV watching is it has expanded JW's vocabulary as she reads the subtitles and asks meanings of the words she doesn't understand. Can anyone tell me how do I explain the word "ego" to a 5 year old kid? Any tips?

Marhaba

It has been exactly 1 month since the kids and I have been here and I must admit that I miss home (shouldn't I be considering Dubai my home right now?). Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled and happy to be here with Shien Wei and I was missing him like crazy before I came but I am beginning to really look forward to going back end of June. At first when Shien Wei told us that the kids and I will be going back to Malaysia end of June till September, I was like "why so long... thats even longer than the duration we were apart before we came to Dubai?!" and wanted the trip to be shortened. Shien Wei said "trust me, you'll want to be back for that long!". Well over the past few days I am thinking maybe it isn't that long afterall and am very much looking forward to going home.

I am already thinking of the things I will have to do when I go back (get my hair recoloured and a cut (or something), go for a short holiday somewhere, drive and drive and drive and not take a cab to anywhere I want to go, watch movies, reload on "DVDs" and of course eat. Already starting to draw out a list of things to buy to bring back to Dubai. A1 Bak Kut Teh sachets is on top of the list and this time, I will buy cartons (kidding)!! Other things include dried Chinese mushrooms, Tom Yum cubes, fresh herbs like serai, kaffir lime leaves (to freeze), foo chok, barley, etc. Gosh, there are so many things I want to bring back to Dubai. I wish I can orb my entire kitchen to Dubai. I miss my kitchen very much because I have everything that I need there! Here, I had to mash my potatoes with a fork the other day, I had to use the pot's lid to strain my pasta and not forgetting my 3 very blunt and useless knives! I am so going to bring my cleaver from Nilai. It isn't because we can't afford to buy it here or it is too expensive to buy here (the stuff in Ikea Dubai is exactly the same price as Ikea Malaysia) but it is because we want to wait till we move to Barsha before we get more things for the kitchen rather than carrying too many boxes from here. We do have the very basic kitchen essentials that Emirates provided when Shien Wei came into this apartment and it is all ours to keep but with what we have, we can't have more than a couple over for dinner because we only a dinner set for 4 people. Oh well, make do. When we move to Barsha and when we have a car, we are going on a shopping spree at Ikea Dubai.

Please don't get me wrong, I am not miserable here and we are not unhappy here. We knew that it won't be instant that we get settled in and consider this our home and knowing that before hand helps. I think we can only get settled down when we both can drive and of course move into Barsha. Coming into Dubai prepared for what it is and how it is helps a lot. Before we came, we read quite a bit about not only what Dubai has to offer but the naked truth about Dubai has helped us with how we've been coping and of course with Emirates Airlines' help with the visa processing made the settling down a lot easier having skip the dealings with the Dubai government. There are other hiccups like Shien Wei's bad experience when he lost his ATM card (looong and excruciating story...real test of patience) but after 1 month, I personally haven't had a bad experience with anything (yet). Maybe coming from Malaysia isn't that much of a shocker if you know what I mean.

The weather is getting hotter and although I may not be around to experience the true summer but it is already hot enough. I heard it hit 48 degrees. Although it is scorching hot here, it isn't humid so you don't feel so bad because you don't sweat but the heat is more lethal. I don't know how high it would go during the summer but I think it if is already 48 degrees now, you can only imagine how hot it will get in June / July. The day gets really bright at 5.20 am here and starts to get dark at about 6.30 pm. The other day, the kids woke up and then came into my room to wake me up. I saw that it was bright outside and thought okaylah, its 6 something in the morning already and thats their everysingleday time they wake up anyway but when I checked the time, it was only 5.35 am!!! I jumped out of the bed and shooed them back to sleep. Of course that didn't work lah.

You know what's ironic about this place? We all know that this is an oil digging place isn't it? And we all know that cars are cheap(er) here. So when you put those 2 facts together, what would you expect to see most of here? You would expect to see lots of petrol stations isn't it? You'd expect to see petrol stations at every turn you take isn't it? Well guess what? Petrol stations are like the most difficult thing find here!! Seriously. I think I've only seen less than 10 petrol stations since I've been here. I am not kidding. There are so little and scarce that even the guide books can say "... there are only 2 petrol stations in this area". There's no Shell, no Caltex, no Esso, no BHP!! I am wondering with the amount of cars on the road, where do they go get petrol from!?!? And the cars here are petrol guzzling cars!! All I know is there's no way that I can let the "petrol tank light" in the car come on here like I do back in Malaysia. In Malaysia, there's petrol stations every 1 km and sometimes you can even find 3 petrol stations next to each other!!

(this part onwards is a cut and paste from an email I sent to my family recently. coloured text are add ons)

Dubai so far has been what I have expected it to be except for I didn’t expect it to be a construction site! I know Dubai is still building a few things but I didn’t expect it to be so much. There’s construction work everywhere you go, every turn you make. It is worst than KL trust me! There and buildings being built, roads being repaired and constructed, train lines being built, digging here, digging there and that’s what makes Dubai dusty! Its terrible actually. Road changes all the time because of the construction. Just imagine, 80% of the world's cranes are in Dubai alone!! Dubai in so many ways are way behind Malaysia in terms of infrastructure and we thought Malaysia was bad uh? Well come and see it for yourself and I really don’t mean to put you off coming to visit us. Please still come. We haven’t done the touristy and checked out Dubai yet. We are saving it for our first visitors and of course for when we get a car. I haven’t seen the Palm, haven’t seen the Burj Al Arab as I know that I’ll be doing a lot of that when we get our visitors. I was just reading about the Souks and was thinking of going there especially the Spice Souk and Textile Souks. It would be a great place to go take photos. It wouldn't be pleasant in this kind of heat so I might leave it till winter to visit the Souks. I am sure someone wouldn't mind going with me too eh?

Groceries here are affordable and sometimes cheap and so far, I am not complaining (yet). Of course things aren’t as cheap as back home but there are certain things that are cheaper so it compensates. Chicken is expensive here and very tiny. I haven’t seen a chicken more than 1 kg yet!!! Most of the chicken sold here are from 700 gm – 900 gm here, something that I am not used to but I guess the consolation is that it isn’t injected with hormones lah. So I guess it is healthy. So roasting 1 chicken isn’t enough if we have more than 2 people eating. A 900 gm chicken here costs about RM10 – RM13 so that is expensive compared to home. But potatoes, carrots, herbs, tomatoes are cheap here. We can’t really get green leafy vegetables here which I miss. There’s no “sawi”, “siao pai chai”, kangkung, bayam, etc. Even if got also very expensive. So we’ve been eating broccoli, cauliflower, romaine, that kind of vegees. We can get cili padi, serai, galangal (very expensive), ginger, garlic, onions, etc quite easily. The supermarkets here do try to cater for the Chinese as much as the Indians. Its nice to go grocery shopping here as there are many international products to check out so there’s a huge variety. The biggest hypermarket here is Carrefour and if you go to the Carrefour UAE website, you’ll be able to see what the prices are like here. Remember 1 Dhs = RM1.00. Things like fresh milk is controlled so it is RM10.00 for 2 litres. JW&JX have been drinking fresh milk. Children powdered milk is slightly more expensive than back in Malaysia. One thing that I’ve noticed here is that they do not have refill packs so everything is in cans. If you are a cheese lover, this is the place to be. The variety of cheese they have is amazing! Too bad I am not a cheese lover so I can’t really comment on the price but I tell you the variety is spectacular. They are really big on creams here too. They have creams for everything. I haven’t cooked anything with the creams yet but I plan do try out carbonara soon. Something that I haven’t tried before because its so difficult to get double cream back in Malaysia. I wish I had my recipe books with me here. Now I have to surf for recipes.

There are wet markets here but I haven't been to any yet. I know there's a Fish market not too far from here but I don't think my kids would be interested in going there plus I don't know how to buy fish (never did) so maybe no point going. The other day I bought hammour fish fillets and cooked fish porridge. The kids and Shien Wei loved it. The only thing lacking was my "muah eew" (sesame oil). Other than that, it was superb.

Books here are expensive especially children books. Makes me appreciate how cheap books are in Malaysia. Need to bring the kids’ books from Nilai. There are bookshops like Kinokuniya (the Kinokuniya in Dubai Mall is super huge), Borders and Magrudy's (local chain) here. There's Krispy Kreme here too!! I know KL opened its first store in Times Square recently but Krispy Kreme is everywhere here. You can find Krispy Kreme at almost every shopping mall and they even have small little stand alone stalls selling Krispy Kreme. Oh yes even Crocs are sold in the stand alone stalls like cheap flip flops. DVDs and CDs are expensive here. The average price for a newly released DVD is RM85. With RM85, I can buy almost 10 ogirinal DVDs in KL!! But the other day, we managed to get some original DVDs for the kids for RM29.90 (Toy Story 2, Barbie stories and Hairspray) from Hyperpanda.

Jia Wen and Jia Xiang are doing fine. They are fighting a lot and driving me nuts. They drive each other nuts driving me nuts. They step on each other’s toes all the time. Jia Xiang is now the ruler in the house and a bad ruler at it. He is getting very naughty and out of control. He screams, shouts and cries for whatever he wants which is irritating. He is mischievous and I mean very mischievous! He wakes up at 6.20 am everyday, wakes me up and insists on watching TV. When I say wakes me up, he’ll do anything imaginable to him to get me out of bed. He’ll poke, shake, pull, push, scream, shout, cry, take off blanket, take my pillow away and even pry my eyes open out just to get me out of bed! For those who think that he’s an angel – he isn’t. Trust me!

This part of the entry is dictated to me by Shien Wei:

Shien Wei's love affair with Dubai taxis - Taxis in Dubai are driven by a bunch of *%^#)$^$#%@)% ... idiots. Just to let you know, taxis here cost RM3 the moment you get in and RM1.60 per kilometre after that. Minimum charge is RM10.00. They drive like suicidal maniacs who most of the time think they own Dubai roads. If you ever think KL taxi drivers are bad, wait till you get here. If you really want to experience the naked truth about Dubai, take a taxi.

OK, I had to stop there. He's saying things that my fingers can't type and getting very obscene and vulgar. Oh well, I guess I am still new here.

Gosh, this is a long entry and realise that none of you might bother reading it so I'd better stop here. Till my next long post - assalamualaikum!

18 May 2009

RUFFIAN OOI JIA XIANG

   
Meditating with "prayer beads" the JX style

Doesn't this face tell you all? 
 
Yes, he cries and screams.  He is dubbed "Mr Screamy" by his sister. 
 
But I love his eye lashes

Princess Ooi Jia Wen

 
Promoting Hi5
    
She refuses to cut her hair.  Its long now and it gets curlier and curlier as it grows.  So it is messy all time. 

I Cook

 

A1 Curry Chcken

I bought 4 pieces of striploin the other day so these were the remaining 2 pieces.  I made mash potatoes for the kids and SW says it was very nice.  It has cheddar cheese, butter, salt, pepper and some milk. 
 

I bought really really nice beautiful tomatoes from Hyperpanda a few days ago and I had to put it into good use so decided to make pasta out of it.  The tomatoes were so big, red and juicy.  Regret not buying more.  I only needed 3 tomatoes for this dish. 


Fresh tomato pasta with grilled chicken breast. 

P.O.R.K.

Today, I went to Choithram Supermarket and guess what I found?  I found pork pork pork pork!!!  P.O.R.K!!!  So what do I do?  I buy lah of course.  I bought pork belly and pork ribs.  It was cheap too.  The pork belly was 10.95 (RM/Dhs) per kg and the pork ribs was 14.95 per kg!  (those back home, cheap isn't it?). 

So what do you do when you have bought pork?  Haha.. you guessed right - BAK KUT TEH!!!  Woot woot... you see, when I was back home I always take things so much for granted that I always said "what for cook Bak Kut Teh when you can just walk out the house and get it?", so for the second time in my life, I cooked BAK KUT TEH (first time was when I went to Japan).  And since my poor husband hasn't had pork insulin since 14 February 2009, I think it is about time I give him a jab of his insulin.  Here's proof that you can find pork in Dubai with no problems at all:

Pork ribs

I put some chicken so that the kids have some "healthier" meat to eat other than the fatty pork and since pork ribs don't really have much meat.  I had to add canned button mushrooms to my measly dried Chinese mushroom that I have. NB: to buy dried chinese mushrooms when I go back to Malaysia. 

My boiling BKT

Sorry to be an anti climax but I totally forgot to take pictures of the cooked BKT but trust me when I say that apart from it being oily, my BKT was a success and I am not saying just because I am in Dubai but it really tasted good, no MSG summore!!!  Shien Wei got his pork insulin and I have another half of the pork I bought left (bought about <>1Kg of each type). 

So people, we can get pork in Dubai. 

Striploin

This was my Mother's Day dinner.  It turned out to be quite good for my first time cooking steak.  I had a bit of a problem checking if the meat was ready, I had to recook my slab of meat twice.  SW's piece was almost perfectly medium rare.  Mine was raw at first but recooked it to a rare (sort of).  

 

Happy Mother's Day

I remember writing a long poem for Mother's Day last year but this year, nothing is coming to me (must be the desert sand) so this message is specially dedicated to my mother and my mother-in-law. 

 

There's so much that I am not

without your guidance, without

your care, without your love,

without you.  I wouldn't have the
courage to be the mother that I am

now although I am not even close

to being a great mother that you

are.  You have given me so much

that I am eternally grateful for. 

Thank you so much for being

there always. 

I love you

&

Happy Mother's Day. 

 

Its a little funny not being home during this time and it feels kinda depressing when the people here aren't celebrating Mother's Day the same time as the rest of the world is.  So there are no messages, no shopping reminders of what today is and Shien Wei is at work so today is like any other days.  I think for the first time today, I am cooking dinner for Mother's Day! hahaha...  But nevermind, I think I'll have a fantastic dinner tonight. 

To all my aunts, my cousin sisters, my friends who have worked so hard as a mother, Happy Mother's Day.  Remember that you are doing a wonderful job, and never underestimate that!!  Hope you'll have a wonderful day with your family. 

Striploin

Our dinner tonight:-

Seasoning agents - seasoning sauce, woschester sauce, olive oil, black pepper, rosemary. 

To go with the slabs of meat are salad and boiled potatoes dressed with butter and dill.  My mother's day dinner!  Only difference is I am cooking it! 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!! 

Portrait of JW

Isn't Jia Wen pretty? 

Portrait of JX

Was playing with my D60 and took some shots of JX under natural lighting. 

(he was watching "Cars" the movie on TV)

Dubai Cooks

 

 
Cooked tom yum on the 3 May 2009.  SW was in heaven for a while.  Couldn't get kaffir lime leaves and lengkuas but it was good enough. 

Yesterday, I cooked roast chicken for dinner.  Seasoned the chicken with some rosemary, salt, black pepper, knorr seasoning sauce and a little oregano.  


Wanted to try out the oven here.  It works. 

Side dishes - pasta and vege. 

Look what the oven made... nicely roasted too (inside and out).  Roasted some tomatoes seasoned with black pepper. 

Carving, more like cutting the chicken with a scissors. 
 
I think my husband had food orgasm for the entire meal last night.  I have to say, the chicken turned out very very well. 

What was left of the chicken.  SW sucked the living day lights out of the chicken.  It was a small bird (less than 1 kg only).   It was very good! 

3 May 2009

Having lunch at the EK (Emirates Airlines) HQ. 

 
 
Terminal 3
 
There's even construction in the airport!! 

EK's Official Store. 

2 May 2009

Took a walk to the nearest hypermarket Lulu's a few days ago and this was what we had to walk through.  I tell you, construction everywhere.  It is mainly because they are building their metro (LRT/MRT) so work is everywhere. 

Do you see the sun there? 

A huge landmark of Hor Al Anz is the Dubai Police General Headquarters. 

Hor Al Anz is also pretty near the airport.
 
Check out my son's smile!  It is also his funny face and his smelly face.  All-in-one face. 

5 May 2009 in Dubai

 

I was supposed to blog last night but ended up watching 2 movies on the laptop.  One was "Rachel Getting Married" and the other must have been the crappiest movie I have ever seen "The Happening".  For those who have not watched "The Happening", DON'T!!  I tell you, it was a movie without a story, without an ending, without any sense and I think it must have been the worst role Mark Wahlberg has ever done!!!  I can't believe I actually watched it but I watched it alright.  I watched the whole thing because I thought there was something coming, something more exciting coming, the climax but it never climaxed - it never got close to climaxing!  Don't watch. 

As for "Rachel Getting Married", it was an okay movie.  It is worth borrowing a DVD for but not going to the movies for.  Anne Hathaway was good in the movie but it was only an okay story.  But I love the wedding that was in the movie (Boy, watch the movie to see what kind of wedding they had). 

Its been more than 2 weeks since the kids and I got here and so far, it still feels like we are on a holiday.  Only difference is I still do the housework and Shien Wei goes to work every 3 days for 3 days.  We haven't really settled down yet as you can see.  Most of our stuff are still in boxes waiting to move out of this temporary accommodation.  Although I can't complain about this current 2 bedroom apartment, I can't wait to move to our place in Al Barsha because only then we can really unpack and live more normally than living out of boxes. 

Kids love it here.  Jia Wen says that she loves Dubai more than Malaysia already.  I don't know what is it that really go her to like this place that much but she claims its the tall buildings, the apartment.  She thinks that KL doesn't have tall buildings and apartments.  Hmmm... I think it's the 24/7 aircon that she likes about the place. 

As for me, I am doing alright.  I am missing home but not too badly yet.  I think I am alright and will do alright with SW and the kids with me.  I wouldn't want to be alone in Dubai thats for sure.  One thing I miss for sure is my car.  Not having a car and not able to drive is I think the one thing that makes me feel unsettled about this place.  So far, there hasn't been any problems getting taxis here but its expensive.  You feel frustrated getting on and paying for taxis here when you know that cars and petrol here are cheap!!!  I feel worse when I think I can only start my driving classes in September when I return from Malaysia for the summer holiday.  Not that I can't do it now but the uncertainty of how long we are going to be in Hor Al Anz and because the kids and I will be going back to Malaysia end of June, it makes sense to wait till September.  I miss my car and the convenience of having a car.  I think I will only consider myself "settled in Dubai" when I have a car and I am able to drive it. 

You know what else I miss?  I miss making phone calls, getting phone calls and the smses.  Because I haven't made friends here, I don't get phone calls or smses from anyone except my husband.  I miss getting smses from my friends and family even for the most trivial and tiniest reasons.  Am not asking all of you to start calling me or smsing me, just saying in case you are wondering whether Szue Fei misses anything from home.  Although I have internet access here, it isn't the same. 

Of course I miss a lot of things.  Things that we all take for granted for when we have it in front of us.  A few nights ago, Shien Wei and I were just listing the things we miss and for now, its still petty things we miss and at this stage, its not up to the stage of craving (food) yet.  One thing is for sure,  Shien Wei misses sushi!

Weather is getting hot here.  A few days ago, it recorded an all time high for the month of May at 42 degrees!  When we first got here 2 weeks ago, it wasn't very hot but you can now feel the heat when you step out of the building.  The only good part is that it isn't humid so we don't sweat even under the scorching hot sun.  You should see JX after he gets a bit of sun and goes into an aircon place - his cheeks get rosy!!  Cute!

Shien Wei is at work at the moment.  He's doing a 3 night shifts and he is on his second night tonight.  He is usually on morning shifts but does nights once a month.  He's doing alright work wise.  I think he is happy with work.  We like the 3 days on / 3 days off shift that he has which means we get to see him more than when he was working back in MAS or even SAE.  So he is home with us a lot that is why it feels like we are on a holiday sometimes.  I was just telling myself that I have been blogging a lot more than before I came so I must be on a holiday!!  I think it is because I do not have internet connection 24/7 so it gives me more time to blog rather than just surfing or facebooking. 

The other day I mentioned how impressive the Emirates Airlines HQ is and as I get to know the Company, I am also impressed at their HR system (database system).  The Company is so big that their employees get access to their HR Department virtually.  Almost everything from leave to buying tickets is all done online and there's no need for form filling and all those tedious paperwork.  I was most impressed at their database system where it records and shows every step of whatever application you make.  How do I explain this ah... hhhmmm... ah yes, have you ever sent a courier either via DHL or Fedex before and tracked your package online by just keying in your docket number.  If you have done that before, you'll know that every where your package goes it is recorded with exact date and time.  It is like this with whatever application you put in through the HR Department here.  It also comes complete with details of the staff who handles the documents every step of the way.  Fantastic isn't it?  I was super impressed at the system they had in place.  Staff are able to check all these at home too.  Shien Wei is also able to buy tickets and check booking status from home.  And if he needs an official letter from the Company for whatever reason, all he needs to do is go to go online and request for it and when the letter is done, you either go collect it from HR or they'll pop it into your work mailbox.  Cool leh.  Already I am impressed at the laundry service, this is also chun!  And yes, all of us now have our Residence Visa. 

JX, Grapes and Dubai

Jia Xiang is doing alright here.  I am pretty sure he doesn't quite understand why and where he is exactly but he is settling in fine.  Well obviously Dubai had its charm and got him to say his first words here but other than that 4 words, he is still the same only getting very naughty by the day.  Shien Wei and I always joke that if only the Airlines would take a toddler as an "unaccompanied passenger", we would send him back to Malaysia in the next available flight!!  He has developed a screaming habit where he screams his way for everything.  He screams louder than a girl and we are more conscious of that because we are living in an apartment building.  Obviously he cannot yet build sentences with the 4 words he now knows and I think it is getting more frustrating for him now than ever.  I think he knows his ability to speak and yet not really so it frustrating for him.  But on the other hand, I think he is enjoying the fact that he cannot speak.  He gets his way by crying and screaming anyway so why bother speaking!!  Haiya, I also don't know lah which is which.  I know I shouldn't be giving in so much but I can't help it sometimes, he screams, cries, shouts, kicks, hits, pulls, to get his way.  You should see when he sees me sleeping or napping.  Seeing me sleep or nap is a taboo for him.  He'll do whatever to keep me awake and when I say he'll do whatever, I mean he will do whatever.  He'll kick, he'll pull, he'll push, he'll pry my eyes open, he'll scream, he'll cry and they other day, he pushed me off the bed!!  How not to give in to him I ask you?!?! 

JX bullies JW a lot and there's so much that JW cannot do because of him.  Poor JW.  JX would hit JW and JW is forced to give in to him so 99% of the time.  I don't know what to do lah. 

Why grapes?  JX has found the pleasure of opening the fridge here.  Back home he wasn't able to because of the safety gate at the kitchen and the fridge was too big or him to open but here, there's no gate and the fridge is so easy to open.  And whenever he opens the fridge, he demands to eat something.  I have been buying a lot of grapes for him to eat not only because he loves it, it is also the easiest for him to eat without making too much mess on his own.  He's been eating a lot of grapes especially last week when Carrefour was selling Australian grapes for only RM7.25 per kilo, I bought a lot!!  He opens the fridge so much that I have to hide food out of the fridge especially the grapes.  If he sees the grapes, he'll want it and sometimes I have to hide it out of the fridge so that he can't have summore.  He can really eat grapes.  The Australian grape is very good - its huge, long (almost 1 inch long) and its sweet too.  Good buy.  JX has also been eating very well since he got here.  He eats well during meal times and munches on biscuits and bread in between.  He loves bread and because all of the local restaurants here serve bread, that is what he'll eat!

JW and Cosmopolitan Dubai

JW claims that Dubai is better than KL because there are more tall buildings here.  Hmmm... I am not sure I agree with her but well, thats her opinion.  I think she loves staying in this apartment and loves Dubai because she feels like she's on a holiday.  No school, 24/7 aircon and this apartment is quite cosy and almost hotel-like. 

As I mentioned in my previous entry, our plan to start JW in school has been delayed till a little bit later.  The school that we will be putting her in is in Al Barsha very near to our new apartment but too far from where we are currently.  And because the school bus is full, we decided to postpone her entry to a little later hoping that either we get to move to our new place soon or there's an opening in the school bus.  Which ever comes first.  I know it isn't healthy or her to stay out of school for so long and plus the coming summer holidays but its the best we can think of for the moment.  So do pray that we get to move to Al Barsha soon. 

Jia Wen is doing alright here except that she's getting bullied by her brother the whole day long.  Poor her.  I think she's also emotionally scarred by her brother taking her space all the time and getting his way all the time.  I am trying to be fair to both but I do find it difficult because I fell JX is still small.  I know I am wrong but I am trying my best. 

JW is really a chatterbox I tell you and even more so because she isn't going to school so I have to listen to her 12/7!!  She cannot stop talking and I never realised how hyper she is too.  She cannot sit still for more than 5 minutes.  She's always up to something around the house whether it is making her self look pretty or creating something to play with.  Even watching something on TV, she'll be walking up and down and can never sit down and watch the TV quietly which is irritating!!!  I can't wait for her to start school and I think she feels the same way too - to get out of the house for a while away from JX for a while. 

Wow is this a looong entry and its only 9 pm here!!  Hahah.. should I continue?  Nah, I think I'll stop here and leave you with some pics. 

I finally got my D60 out of the box. 

JW with daddy in his uniform.  Doesn't SW look like a security guard?!!?  He does!!

Kids in the apartment. 

Saying goodbye to daddy as he leaves for work.  What is with SW's hand!!?!? 
 
Ok, this is a lovely photo.  Look at JX.  This is the way he smiles for the camera.  Whenever I say smile, this is how his smiles. 


JX loves showering.  He takes a long shower everytime. 

See what I mean about living off the box?  Some boxes are not even unsealed yet!

The kitchen.

The kids' room. 

Excuse the mess - our room. 


The hall.  The door you see on the far left is the entrance into the apartment.  The door on the far right is the kitchen.  In between the kitchen and the main entrance is a bathroom.  The door next to Jia Wen is the kids' bedroom and our room is directly opposite that room with another bathroom in between. 

JX's 4 Words

Jia Xiang can now say Apple, Car (more like kah), Lorry (orrie) and Ball!!!!

Cool leh...

My husband's washed and pressed uniforms!!!!! Compliments from Emirates Airlines!!! I so like this feature!!! hahahah

Dubai Festival City

Today we went to Festival City. There, there's Ikea, Hyper Panda Hypermarket and a few other branded shops.

Dubai Cooks

This is proof that I have been cooking in Dubai.

Pasta fried Chinese style.

Beef Stew