We're in Singapore!

We are on Singapore soil! We were this close to cancelling the whole thing. All because Mummy misplaced Aiden's passport.

Mummy took Aiden's passport out of the safe place about two weeks back - to check on his passport number to buy Air Asia tickets online. And Mummy totally forgot to return it to the original place. Which is very unlike Mummy because Mummy is very cermat.

Good thing Mummy tergerak hati to put tickets and passports into her handbag the night before the flight - and that was when Mummy discoverd that Aiden's passport was missing.......

After that, the whole world turned topsy turvy, starting from the police station to immigration, to home, to immigration, to police station, to immigration again. Somewhere in between, Bibik found Aiden's passport and Mummy shed tears at the immigration counter. Aiden's passport was finally activated again around 6pm, rushed home to pack, left the house at 745pm, arrived at LCCT an hour after only to find the counter closed. But the pretty stewardess pitied Aiden's sad puppy eyes and let us through.

So, I guess it was just meant to be.... right Aiden?

Daddy came back from work and off we went to Orchard Road!

Aiden posing with his brand new cap, the one he kept flinging around in the airplane.

Aiden checking out their longgg legs...

Mummy and Aiden killing time while Daddy shops. Aik? Wait a minute! Why is Daddy shopping instead of Mummy?

Oh chubby cheeks!

Thank you Aunty Emmy for the fabulous t-shirt. Baru muat!

Grumble grumble grumble...

Tomorrow's another day!

Of Spiked Cendol

No, no... my cendol wasn't spiked and I am not high or anything. Though I am still feeling a bit "high" over the LCD TV win. I swear I slept smiling the night I knew about the win.

Anyway, this is actually a recap of last weekend, a weekend when hubby was in KL. This weekend he's MIA, slaving over work to be able to sustain his wifey's hazardous shopaholic ways. Not only had he recently purchased my birthday present (once it arrives in my hands i'll definitely blog about it! *drool*) but we're leaving for Singapore in exactly 5 more days, which equals more shopping!

We didn't really have a hala tuju that day. Besides meeting one contractor, our time was completely up to us to plan. So what happened? I'll explain in pictures:

1015am: Mummy and Aiden posing in the car while Daddy drives to Armada Hotel, PJ.

1045am: Daddy attempts to take a picture of Aiden's spiky hair (it's now long enough to style spiked, yeay!), while Mummy walks into Armada Hotel for the Coach warehouse sale.

1050am: Daddy's second attempt (look at those apple cheeks and chiselled chin!). Meanwhile, Mummy - approximately 500 meters away in the hotel lobby was cursing as the Coach sale was sold out! Apparently, they sold out at 9:45am, 45 minutes after opening! Hubby subsequently queried: "Yang, diaorg jual 5 bijik bag aje ke?"

105pm: Halfway during the meeting with the contractor in Bukit Jelutong, Aiden decided to poopoo. Toilet didn't have proper changing table facilities (for obvious reasons) so had to make use of the table to change Aiden's diaper.

330pm: Aiden and Daddy sleeping in the car while Mummy went shopping at another warehouse sale.

415pm: Aiden still sleeping, Mummy finally done with shopping.

420pm: Left the warehouse sale. Famished.

510pm: Sat down for the most scrumptious mee rebus in Ampang. *more drool*

520pm: Aiden refused to sit still, so we decided to give him a bit of Cendol. He is usually calm and quiet when given food.

525pm: Wrong decision. Aiden got extremely hyper afterwards from the sugar and coconut milk.

Needless to say, we have learnt our lesson. Never give any kind of sugar overdose to Aiden. Sugar and babies, don't go well. We were so pooped from keeping Aiden from trying to grab this, pull that, bite this, press that. Not only did he act hyper, he was squealing in delight like he was "high"! Until he finally dozed off at close to 1am... at which Mummy and Daddy gave in as well and we slept like babies!

Aiden's First Time in the Supermarket Cart

This may be pretty silly, but I insist on documenting this anyway. After conquering various baby chairs, now Aiden is stable enough to sit (supported) in the supermarket cart. Actually, he can balance himself unsupported - but because the cart is something new to him, he's constantly bending forward. So if we don't support or push his body backwords to sandar, his head will bang on the trolley handle. Why does he bend forward, you may ask? *sigh* What else, but to suck on the horizontal steel bar, part of the structure of the cart. How do I explain to him that it is probably encrusted with millions of germs, and don't taste nyummy at all??!! It's not like Hero Supermarket is a posh, fine and dandy supermarket like Cold Storage or something. Can you imagine the diversity of people who shop at this particular supermarket? *shudders*

That's Daddy's hand - one pushing Aiden back, while the other pushes the cart forward. Only one can shop at a time, because the other has to constantly guard Aiden from resorting to his cheeky ways!

Look at his fingers! He looks absolutely amazed with the rusty steel bar. *sigh*

Of Macy and LCD TVs

LG Model No. 32LH25R

Photo credit from Macy's official website.

OMG, I soooo love Macy. You can see my apparent love for Macy from my dedicated post in my blog about my haul in their latest warehouse clearance sale.

Well now I love them even more. After enjoying the great bargains and free delivery, they just called me to tell me that I am the Grand Prize winner for their "Write A Review to win an LG 32" LCD TV" contest.

Now, how grand is that????

Absolutely worth it, spend a few hours writing about something I like most - Shopping! And in return I get a TV? Now, even the saman I received from going through a no entry sign driving home from the Macy's Warehouse Sale feels like peanuts compared to this. The telephone conversation between me and the Macy's guy who broke the news to me sounded something like this:

Me: Yes?

Macy: Is this Liz?

Me: Yup.

Macy: My name is (something inaudible).

Me: And you are calling from?? (dgn suara pissed off because I absolutely detest telemarketers)

Macy: Macy

Me: What?

Macy: Macy!

Me: Oookkaayyy...???

Macy: Do you know why I am calling you?

Me: I hope I know why you are calling me!

Macy: Why do you think I am calling you?

Me: Because I won a prize?

Macy: Yup, you won a prize. But do you know what prize?

Me: I hope its the LCD TV!

Macy: Yup, you are our grand prize winner for the LCD TV. Our boss loved your writing.

Me: You're not kidding?

Macy: Nope! We had about 50 entries, shortlisted it to 20 and you won.

Me: OMG you just made my day, man!!! (and more words with a lot of exclamation marks behind it)

So there you have it. I won. My unlucky streak has ended. Gone are the days where I am unable to win even the simplest contests and lucky draws. *very happy*

Anyway, they're posting the winning entries on Facebook by this afternoon, but enjoy reading my review here, while I twiddle my thumbs patiently for Tuesday to come so I can pick up my brand new LCD TV!

Updated: Check out the list of winners (and their winning entries) at http://www.macyhomefurnishings.com/clearance/contest.html

P.S: Noris, apologies for using your picture as part of my entry, without giving you a head's up first. Jom, lunch on me tomorrow! *grin*

I was hoping for a pleasant day for the start of the Macy’s warehouse sale, and God answered my prayers in abundance. It started off bright and sunny. As I walked from my car to the block of lots Macy’s had converted into their sales area, I was greeted by the security guard trafficking cars into the nearly congested Minlon Industrial Park. Judging from his mood, I could gauge that he was in high spirits, meaning that he isn’t yet stressed out by the number of cars inching bumper to bumper, hoping to get a parking spot close to the sale galore. After wishing him well, I could hear the deejay cheering the energetic bargain hunters, so I walked quickly towards the sale. After all, a few seconds could make a lot of difference between getting that great bargain or letting someone else haul the loot!

Stepping foot at the sale, I stood mesmerized at the scene and took it all in. I felt like a kid in a candy store! Colorful banners with the words “SALE” and “DISCOUNT” practically shouted at me, and a bevy of Macy’s salespeople clad in red were busy processing sales from the lucky few who had arrived earlier than me.

And the sale stood true to its claim, as being a sale not to be missed. Everything was going at unbelievable prices. I passed the first few halls and went straight to the Furniture hall. It was the fastest transaction I had ever made in my whole life. I purchased a sofa bed for RM399, mattress for RM570, throw pillows for RM20 each, bar stools for RM175 each and a variety of table lamps and stand lamps, each within RM50 – RM110 each! In any other sale, it would have been ten times more expensive than this! I even saved on delivery costs, as I was one of the first 50 who RSVPed for the event through Facebook, qualifying me for a free delivery!

Unfortunately, I missed out on a pair of fine-looking solid wood bookcases, which were snapped up by a lucky patron for only RM145 each. I looked wistfully, as the Macy packers started wrapping up the beauties – thinking that I should arrive earlier for next year’s sale!

Out of all the halls, the Home Accessories hall was the most jam-packed. At lunch, they even had to cordon off the area to reduce the number of people scrambling to get those oh-so-cheap curtains, vases and adorable trinkets for the house. I didn’t want to miss out, so I dived in, and managed to grab a few beautiful odd sized curtains. Even though they were odd sized – the fabric and the stitching quality made it all worth it. And they were going for only RM45 a pair! At the far end of the hall, they were selling glass vases at 70% off, so I purchased a modern looking slanted vase for only RM27. Funny that the artificial orchids were actually more expensive than the vase – three stalks for RM50!

In the afternoon, at the Sofa hall, the sofa auction kicked off. I had earlier purchased a sofa bed, and wasn’t planning on purchasing any more. Like any other avid shoppers, I wanted to witness the event. However, when they introduced a stunning deep red maroon 2-seater sofa, auctioned off from its original price of RM2300 to RM500, my sudden reflex at the shock of the sale, made my hand shoot up! After a bit of a bid war with some of the other sporting patrons, the sofa was finally made mine. I ran my hand over the velvet structure of the sofa, admiring my purchase. Suddenly, I realized in a start, that unconsciously I was grinning from ear to ear!

2 hours shy from the closing time it started raining cats and dogs. God must have concluded that enough was enough - all of us have single-handedly revived the Malaysian economy! But rain did not deter the ardent shoppers (including myself) from buying. Thankfully, I had just made my third trip to the car to transfer my loot. This fourth round, I was targeting for some bed sheets and pillows, to go with my new mattress. Who would even expect that those comfy bed pillows would be sold at as low as RM23 a piece? I paid for my purchase and lugged 8 pieces of those pillows back to the car. My gym trainer would be so proud of me. I am weight training without even being told to do so!

I even started shopping for my son’s first birthday (though he only turned 7 months the day before). I grabbed more than 10 packs of colourful Happy Birthday printed paper plates, going for a ridiculous price of RM3 each. And lots of Happy Birthday balloons. Macy’s just made my baby’s day!

Half an hour before the close of the great Macy’s sale, the last of the shoppers gradually started to head for home. Despite their light wallets, most of them had a car-full of purchases to show for. I walked towards my car, satisfied with my bargains. By then, nearly half of the Macy’s staff knew me by name and bade me goodbye.

I am now hooked. I am forever a Macy’s fan.

Incident Free Dinner

Last Friday, the Dutch Oil Company found an excuse to treat all their employees for dinner: 20million man hours free from incidents. A good excuse as any other to give good food and good entertainment. I'm not complaining!

Unfortunately, hubby was still in Singapore, so I had to settle for second best - my sister. Initial plan was to not bring Aiden (read: partay all night long), but close to the event my maternal instincts managed to supress the party freak in me. So Aiden got to wear his tuxedo, again!

The dinner was held in Westin, KL. They booked the whole ballroom to cater for the whole office and spouse. The food was great. I especially enjoyed the "nestum prawn", cos the only other place I know which serves the same scrumptious dish is way down in Ipoh. The yummy desserts and lamb with mint sauce was to die for as well.

A unique thing about the event was the lucky draw. Since the dinner was held to celebrate our achievement in safety, guess what the prizes were? I have personally never seen this given out as lucky draw prizes, though they are certainly not cheap. Yup, they gave away first aid kids, fire extinguishers and blood pressure monitors, to name a few. Creative, but hillarious!

Entertainment was, erm.. entertaining? A lot of Latin stuff - latin dances, latin music. I missed quite a few of those because I was either a) Eating b) Tending to Aiden or c) Running out of the ballroom to save Aiden's poor ear drums from splitting due to the loud music.

Aiden behaved really well. As usual, whenever anyone picks him up, he would stare at the person intently, as if trying to decipher something really complicated. He only cried whenever there were loud sounds (like uncorking the grape juice or the band hitting on the drums). Kept him occupied with stuff from my bag - he chewed through practically everything!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Found the time to snap a picture before applying make up.

Aiden in the car seat (without shoes!) while Mummy drives carefully (alone!) to the hotel.

Ini kes amik gambar lupa anak nie!

Now, since when do I take pictures with milk bottles as center pieces? *sigh* I am soo officially a Mummy.

Using Aiden as a baby to practice for future needs ;)

Spastic mamat sorang nie.

Aiden relishing the taste of Mummy's compact mirror. And yeay! Aiden is now able to sit in baby chairs! Look at his tuxedo hanging on his chair back...

Look at Aiden's drool from chomping on anything and everything!

The office, albeit we were missing a few (Azwin, where were youuuu???)

I managed to snap a picture of Huraizah uncorking the grape juice, then scooped Aiden out of his baby chair and out of the ballroom, just in time before they screamed in celebration! *phew* Gegendang telinga intact? Check!

Just after the video presentation, on what else? Safety! Duh!

Baxter crooning his heart out to the applauding audience.

My dress was super duper sexy. Therefore had to remained covered up in pashmina the whole night.

Aiden's fingers were getting cold, so he donned his tuxedo jacket. No cummerband though, entah Mummy campak pegi mane entah!

My cutie pie!

Posing with Aunty Awien, who helped a lot in baby sitting Aiden (in return for free food!)

Aiden had some dessert. Nyummy kan Aiden?

Sweet Alya.

And Myra won a blood pressure monitor! Very handy once she marries Yazid. Haha!

Aiden was given a prop to compliment his tuxedo.

Sape lagi yang nak corrupt Aiden, if not the Aunty on the left! I swear, once Aiden turns 18, Aunty Huraizah will be the one dragging him to clubs!

And the best ending to the night. Hubby arrives at the hotel a few minutes before midnight, all the way from Singapore.

Aiden and The Jacuzzi

Yet another Saturday at Cahaya SPK. The previously bare garden, is now full of lalang and weeds. And still no keys. *sigh* SPK is really getting on my nerves. It doesn't help that I have a truckload full of Macy stuff to be delivered to the new house in approximately 3 weeks! Where am I going to store them then?

And somehow - with the 30feet garden full of weeds, me and hubby (separately) felt like the garden is small. Can a garden shrink? Or will it naturally look smaller when it is full of lalang? Or was it just our sentiments, boosted by our merajuk feeling towards SPK? When I first stepped foot into the house (it was barely 60% complete), it felt like the house was small. Yet when it was 85% complete, it felt "just nice". Hubby said unfinished houses do tend to look smaller. The question is, do cluttered gardens impose the same feeling?

Aiden is forever in Daddy's arms nowadays!

That's how deep the Jacuzzi is. Perfect!

Aiden: "Mummy, why am I in the tub?"

"Ooohhh... I get an upgrade? From my froggy bathtub to a jacuzzi?"

"I bet my crocodile toy will love it too!"

"That's it? We're done? No water?"

"No water, no dimple for you!"

"Okay Mummy, you win. Dimple alert!"