Leia will have to be admitted this Thursday

Leia couldn't get her MMR (Measles, mumps and Rubella) vaccination as per schedule - yesterday morning. It was because she has had egg allergy experience about 2 weeks ago. She developed rashes around her mouth area after taken a 1/8 egg. Thankfully, it wasn't severe and it went off about 15 mintes later.

As the MMR vaccine is made using a protein related to egg, the doctor is concerned that she may have allergy reaction towards the vaccination. Though most allergy cases reported are on the mild side, the doctor is serious enough not to take any risk. Therefore, Leia was recommended to be admitted to General Hospital this Thursday. She will be given the vaccination there and will be observed for a day.

According to the doctor, the more severe side effects to the vaccination are difficulty in breathing, swell on the eyes and mouth and whole body rashes.

Have been reading quite a bit on this vaccination and its side effects. Besides above 2 links, attached here is another article. Now that I'm more informed, I hope I'll be more prepared to face whatever situations arised this Thursday... Please pray for her.

I'm back!

Yes, finally... after a few days of silence. Have been busy over the weekend with Leia's birthday party and all sorts of things.

But things are not getting any better with my blogging experience. I still can't figure out how to use this @#$*&@ Nero Photosnap to view and edit my JPEG pics and hubby is too tied up with his own things to lend a hand. Haih!

I'm so frustrated! With the laptop returned to the company, I now have to make do with an old desktop available at home. Oh gosh... the slow speed is driving me nuts!

With all these technical challenges I'm facing, I'm so de-motivated to blog.

I think I certainly need to get my own personal laptop soon. Can't wait for the coming PC Fair in PISA, Bayan Lepas on this weekend. Yes, I need to get one there!

It's the RIGHT choice!

My last working day in Ceva Freight had finally come...! and gone....

Despite telling myself to pack up my stuff many days ago, I finally took the time to do it this morning. Well, I have no choice, haven't I? Nothing much to pack - just 3 medium size carton boxes. Mostly my training files, docs and books. And food... I snapped a few pictures of my room. Just as remembrance. Was thinking of sharing them here. But can't do it now. My old desktop with different photo editing software - Nero Photosnap is giving me problems!! It doesn't help that I'm a non-IT savvy person!

My team organised a farewell lunch for me at KFC in Giant Hypermarket, Bayan Baru. Near to my office and easy parking. As usual, I had great fun by simply watching their funny antics and listening to their jokes. Oh, I wish I can share here those photos that we took there now! But nevermind... will do so once I fixed this photo editing issue. The current photo sizes are too huge to be uploaded. Sigh... Patient...

Another incident on D-day worth mentioning. I was one of the few staff in the country that encountered server access issue the whole day today! Just great! I had not completed clearing up my emails and this had to happen just on the day I'm leaving the company! At that moment of discovery, I thought I could hear a soft whisper in my ear, "Served you right... You should have known that this is the consequence of doing things at the last minute..." When will I ever learn??!! So, no choice. I was forced to have 2 PCs right in front of my face to perform multi-tasking. My laptop to work on offline stuff and an old desktop to work online.

Hmmm... all of the "rojak" (mixture) feelings I had today, it was the feeling of happiness and sense of freedom that over-shadowed the rest. Towards the last 1 hour of my career in this company, I felt as if I was floating in the air. Wide smile on my face... I felt liberated!

There's no doubt - I have made the RIGHT choice!

Cultural Treasures: Zhuazhou

I just thought of sharing this great article forwarded by a friend of mine about a traditional ceremony practised by certain Chinese on their babies' first birthday. It's called "Zhuazhou" (don't ask me how to pronounce it correctly coz I don't know either!) In English, it's defined as "Catch" (according to my Chinese literate friend...)

It's about letting your baby choose an item from the display in front of her. Whichever first item selected determines her future inclination and capabilities. Sounds fun, right...?

My friend shared with me that she has selected a pencil and ruler when she was 1 year old and today, she's in academic line! Amazing! I've never heard of this tradition before. None of my old relatives ever mentioned about it.

For those of us who are not superstitious, I find it's still a fun game to play with our babies on their first birthday. I will certainly let Leia play this "game" on her birthday.

In this little small way, we can help to keep the tradition and custom alive too! Read about it more here!

The modern version

P/S: I wonder what item would I have selected if I was given a chance to participate in this ceremony when I was 1 year old.... Looking at my career journey so far....hmmm, I would have selected several different items! Pencil... phone... sweets... radio cassette... a dollar bill...

To have or not to have?

Leia will be turning one this coming Sunday and yet this mommy and papa are still fickle-minded as to whether to hold a birthday gathering for her or not.

Well, it's not that important really, I think. She's too young to know anything and to enjoy the company. But on the other hand, it would be nice to have one as certain close relatives and friends are expecting it. You see, we didn't organise her a full moon birthday celebration when she reached 1 month old earlier. If we were to follow the Chinese tradition strictly, it's a must-have occasion. The traditional Chinese will distribute a full moon food set as a gift to relatives and friends to herald the new addition to the family. This is also to thank them and show appreciation to those who joined in this special occasion one way or another. For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about, here is the picture of the gift set.

Penang famous full moon caterer - Eaton

Anyway, many modern Chinese parents don't practise giving this full moon set anymore. Too much a hassle. Many have started distributing KFC meal vouchers instead! Or organise a buffet dinner...

So, this time around.... should we or should we not? It's just around the corner and we are still contemplating! "Biasalah" (getting used to it in Malay)... It gives us that andrenalin rush perhaps...? Errr... on a second thought, I think my hubby would probably regard it as blood pressure killer!

Leia is on Youtube!

Yup, she's there finally!

Have just uploaded 2 videos there. One of them is displayed on the top right side of this blog. Do check it out in youtube.com for the other video. Use keyword "annelimyp" to search.

Happy watching!!

Halal Certification (Part 2)

Getting Halal certification is tough. I went to the Penang State Islam Department last week to find out more. Back to chicken and egg story. I need to have a license for my biz (from the state Municipal Council) before I consider this. And for me to have this license, I need to operate from a factory. A small shoplot at least. And to get a small shoplot, I will need to put in a few thousands and then wait for inspection and approval from the authority which will take another 6 months. Crap. I'm now currently operating it home-based. Will need to secure a substantial amount of market base before I start investing on those fixed overhead cost. So, I guess for now... I'll have to target those non-Halal buyers first. As the volume grows, I'll take those big steps. Headaches... A friend of mine has been kind enough to let me tag along to meet her customers. She's in food industry too. So, I have started penetrating hotels as well. Wish me luck!

May I borrow your tricycle?

Nowadays, she wants to hop onto any toy vehicles on her own. Try assisting her to get into her walker and you'll be "thanked" with loud disapproved screams!! Hahaha... this is what we call, "buat baik dibalas jahat"! (thankless good deeds in Malay).

Getting into her walker

Oops! One-legged girl sitting on the wrong side....

Trying out cousin Cassandra's tricycle

Aiyoh...couldn't reach the pedals...

Adjust, adjust

Say.... "cousins"!

Outsource it!

The hourly maid didn't turn up this morning! So, both hubby and I ended up cleaning the house on our own. Not the entire house, though... It would take us the whole day or more! Luckily, my dad-in-law was around to baby-sit Leia. She loves his company very much :)

This hourly maid home cleaning service has such great demand in Penang. I can expect the answer given by the agencies, "sorry but fully-booked" if I were to attempt to place booking for such service at the eleventh hour - a day before. They are not that pricey - I'd like to think. RM40 for 4 hours...

Frankly speaking, I have never thought that I would be one of those people who hire maids to clean houses. Being a person who cannot stand the sight of unsatisfactory cleaning job - stains that didn't come off after the job done just irks me. So, I would rather do it myself eventhough it means that I can expect an aching back and sore fingers later the day.

I still remember that one particular evening. I was 9 months pregnant. I assigned myself to cleaning up the living hall and the garden while my hubby took on other roles. It's been few days since we last swept the car porch and the garden. So, dried leaves and our dog's hair were everywhere! So, this "Madam Superclean" was very determined to do a great job. I made sure that all corners were swept and cleaned in whatever possible ways I could think of. So without a doubt, I was very satisfied with the end result...

Only to be waken up the next morning with terrible pain near my womb. I couldn't bend down and had difficulty walking. Doctor said I had over-stressed myself and thus, I was given 2 days rest. Thank God baby was alright.

Now that with this baby Leia around, I realise even more the importance of having enough time to spend with my family, what more quality time. So, as much as I would like to continue to have super-clean house throughout the year, I guess this needs to be compromised. "Outsource" it to a maid agency and let them do the "dirty" and time-consuming work while I spend quality time with Leia and hubby.

As for the stains, I'll close one eye...

Countdown

Countdown begins...! Next Thursday - 27th Nov will be my last working day. How do I feel? Mixed feelings actually. Excited, can't wait, anxious, "gabra", worried, happy.....

Hmmm... I have yet to pack my things. It has been the usual day-to-day work till now. Meeting customers, replying emails, managing service KPIs (key performance index), solving issues, staff counselling, etc... etc. I have done my official hand-over. So, I guess it's just time to clear up the final pieces and pack my stuff.

I looked around my office room. What will I leave behind? What sort of impact have I made to the company and my team? It's been more than 2 years since I joined this company. My third official company after my graduation. I served the longest in my second company - Maersk Line. It was more than 5 years. If it was not for our decision to settle down in my hometown after our wedding, I would have probably still working in Maersk.

My hubby found it absurd to feel sentimental about a company - an abstract with buildings, equipments and people. But I choose to defer in opinion. It is like my second home with real people living in it. Those fond and not-so fond memories that we accumulated in our years of service. How can we just erase them and not have any feeling towards it?

I have the tendency to call everything and everyone that I associate with the word, "my" or "our". My "Maersk", our "Ceva", my "Karen", our "Heng".... Crazy you may call me but that's how strong a bond I can build for something/ relationship over time...

Food experiment - Fried anchovies

Ever since we started adding the fried and then blended anchovies into her porridge last weekend, she has loved her mealtime again! That's great!

It's very simple. Just sprinkle a pinch of the anchovies powder onto her porridge at every mealtime.

Prior to this, I have used different method to include anchovies (a good source of iron) into her food. I boiled them overnight in a pot of water. Then the next morning, drain them and put in the rest of other ingredients like rice, potato, carrot, spinach and meat into the slow cooker to cook.

I have heard of mommies who fry and then blend anchovies but never really wanted to try it earlier for 1. i do not know how 2. she was loving her porridge the way it was cooked then

But when she started refusing her food lately, I have to start thinking again of ways to get her to eat "enough". So, decided to give it a try - though still not knowing how. Take a look at how I have "produced" it;

A big handful of dried anchovies

Stir...stir....stir...look the thickening carbon on the surface of the wok

Turning brown. Smelled like "belacan"!

The broken pieces of bones and parts...

Done! Crispy!

Before I can blend them, I need to sieve them first. Separating the carbon and broken pieces from the well-done ones. Then, blend.

1 area of improvement for me : Stir fry under low fire... Ok, ok, will improve next time!

More Penang factories taking steps to cushion the economic turmoil impact

I just received an email from a friend of mine who works in one of the factories in Bayan Lepas, Penang on this. More factories taking drastic actions!

Flextronics 4 days week for Month Nov and Dec.

AMD Penang announced this morning VSS lay off 500 employees.

Spansion force to take leave (5 days in this quarter)

Jabil planned shut down from Dec 24 to Jan 4, will be 6 days leave.

Agilent planned shut down from Dec 24 to Jan 4, will be 6 days leave.
Jan09 might have another shutdown. No increment 2008 review.

Avago no plan shutdown as no more in house production, hiring freeze.

ASE shut down every fortnightly on Monday starting from Nov 3.

Fairchild planned 'Mass Vacation' for 9 days leave in FY08

INTEL - No increment 2008 review, VSS for those under perform and
massive cut cost/travel 2009, no shutdown plan yet

Motorola, Penang- Still hiring+profit, suspect got government 'look after',
Singapore cellphone plant cut 800 job and now waiting for sale.

Siltera, kulim - Propose close down this Malaysian 1st Fab company, loss RM4billion in 2008

SENSATA Plant shutdown from 22 DEC 2008 to 02 JAN 2009; NO increment in 2009;
NO Profit Sharing in 2009!

What about the company you're working with? What action plans have been announced? For those who are self-employed, what's your plan? For full-time mommies, what are you doing to help to cushion the impact on your family? Or there's no need to worry at all?

Well as for myself, I always believe in the philosophy that "Tough times create more winners"!

Halal Certification

Gosh... what a busy day today! Met up with a customer this morning and then followed by my food biz sales call during lunch break. This time I met a food caterer cum factories canteen operator cum restaurants owner. A rather huge company with many branches.

Again, my openness to share with him my intention and plan of promoting this food product received another positive feedback. Once again, the man was kind enough to give me some biz penetration advise. Major concern when it comes to food biz is the Halal certification. To reach out to those food operators which cater to Muslim customers, it is necessary to have this certification, though none of the ingredients used are considered non-Halal.

What is "Halal" by the way? As a non-Muslim, I have never really paid attention to this matter. As long as our eating place together with our Muslim friends are Muslim-owned, then we are safe. But now that I'm in the food biz where Halal certification is a much-needed requirement in our country, it opened up my eyes to this whole aspect.

Take a look at the Halal defination I found in our Halal Industry Development Corporation website:

a) Neither is nor consist of or contains any part or matter of an animal that a Muslim is prohibited by Hukum Syarak to consume or that has not been slaughtered in accordance with Hukum Syarak.

b) Does not contain anything which is considered to be impure according to Hukum Syarak.

c) Has not been prepared, processed or manufactured using instrument that was not free from anything impure according to Hukum Syarak; and

d) has not in the course of preparation, processing or storage been in contact with or close proximity to any food that fails to satisfy paragraph (a) (b) or (c) or anything that is considered to be impure according to Hukum Syarak.

Still not clear? Me either! It helps to get a clearer idea if we start talking to those experienced biz owners, not minus-ing the need to talk the authority directly. So, you know where I'm heading to next!

So, what is the procedure to apply for one? The Penang State Government website provides a pretty clear guideline. But it is certainly better for first-timers like yours truly to drop by at the Penang State Department of Islam to find out more...

Who says operating food biz is easy?!

Hair cut!

Don't you think Leia's hair is a bit too long? Her fringe especially. Almost touching her eyes.

So, I finally decided to give her a haircut after her lunch last Saturday. Covered her with her "lampin" (cloth diaper in Malay) and clipped it with a cloth peg on her back to keep it in place.

Not much success though...

Comb, comb...

All set!

A tiny scissors was in my hand when her "papa" came back from work. Looking at his adorable baby sitting in her high chair all ready, he offered to be the hairstylist of the day!

Combing her hair again....?

As soon as papa combed her fringe with his fingers, she screamed, yelled and resisted his action.

Can you see her teary eyes?

So, we tried many ways to make it a not-so-bad experience for her. That included giving her things to keep her occupied and talked to her.

Since she liked the comb that papa was using for the haircut, I have to get her my favourite purple one.

Anyway, that was not her first time. Perhaps, it was a bit too hot that day. There was no fan nearby and she was covered half top body with the cloth. Yeah, what a bad location I've chosen...

Guess where was the location this "hair salon"? Hint: Find for clues from the photo background

Her latest favourite chew item : Her ABC rubber mat! Oh dear!

Lots of hair was cut, almost an inch in length. Didn't have the time to snap the "after" haircut shot. She had "poo"ed! Do check out her new hairstyle in coming posts.

New found toy

What a great appetite she had today! Thank God! Both of us had fun at meal time. I made the "moi" (porridge) a bit diluted (as recommended by my aunty) and I think she likes it better this way. She was slurping in the "moi" most of the time. And since, I don't have my feeding team at home here, I'm all - the 3-in-1 role: feeding, playing with her and keeping her sit still.

So, how did I do all that? I find strapping her down in her high chair works well. She wouldn't have a chance to get up. Unlike in kopitiams (coffee shops) where most of the high chair strap buckles were spoilt. Thus, she's let free most of the time. Then, I stuck a balloon that we got from the government agencies roadshow in Queensbay Shopping Mall recently on her high chair. Well, it has shrunk in size since it has been more than 2 weeks we got it. So, it became more baby-friendly. Leia was happy that she could pinch and squeeze the balloon much easily now.

Yeah, pinched and squeezed the balloon until it popped! Burst. Instead of crying for losing a toy to play with, the rubber remains of the burst balloon became a new toy to her!

Pulled and strectched

New found joy!

Tore into two....

Oopsss... there was more on the floor

"Nevermind, continue"

So, the rule of thumb to a successful feeding - keep the girl entertained!

Almost ready to walk

For the past few days, I have tried guiding her to walk by holding her hands, only to receive resentment from her. Instead of walking, she jumped up and down signing "no". Well, guess she's still not ready then.

However, last night as I was busy making her fried anchovies in the kitchen... she "did it" on her own! Not exactly actually. She held on to her walker. But that's a good start nevertheless. I was very excited for her. I clapped hands and gave her words of encouragement. She turned and smiled at me and walked a few more steps before she stopped and crawled to her "papa". Didn't make it for some photo shots.

But later, again she went back to her walker and pulled herself up.


She didn't "walk" the second time though...

I certainly look forward to the coming days when she'll be readier to try her "legs" on walking... :)

Feeding time...

Feeding time... She has 2 solid meals a day. As I managed to arrive my aunty's place earlier than usual to pick her home, I had the chance to be a part of her "feeding team" yesterday evening.

I was given the honour to keep her sittting still

"Ammm...."

We can't expect our babies at this age to sit still for long to "makan" ("eat" in Malay) her meal. Their curiosity to explore will make them feel bored easily. The same applies to Leia. So, after a while we have to be creative of how to keep her amused.

She was then contented with a cloth peg in her hand

Okay, "ah mah" ("grandma" in Hokkien) said we had to move to another place to feed her. Sitting at one place for too long can make her feel restless and thus, more difficult to complete the feeding mission. So, we moved to the tv hall. "Ah mah" and I switched roles. I became the person who plays with her.

"Leia, mam...mam..."

Ok, in the play mood now that her tummy was filled.

Alas, she didn't finish her "moi" ("porridege" in Hokkien). She insisted that she wanted to play then. No problem... but we should change her dirty clothes first.

Waving her diaper cream - Drapolone to the photographer - my 13-year-old cousin brother

Going for the handphone

Consequences for not giving her what she wanted...

Given. "Hmmm... I'm stil angry!"

I was crossing my fingers while her putting her own her car seat that she will behave this time in our journey home. However, my relief was short-lived when half the distance, she started again - crying and throwing her tantrum. And we were caught in the Friday traffic jam. Just great!

Wwwwwwuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaa........!!!!!!!!

Wah... beh tahan!! (cannot stand it) It's been several days now that Leia has been getting so cranky and cry like there's no tomorrow to get things done her way.

And I tell you... her cry is unbelievably loud. It is the type of cry you'll let out when in pain. A long moment of silence before wwwwwwuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaa........!!!!!!!! And the pattern repeats until a person picks her up! That means, if no one picks her up for the last 5 minutes, then she would have cried for the last 5 minutes. So, to end her crying, we'll just have to pick her up. Almost instantaneously, her crying will stop. Please tell me - what do you understand about this type of crying? Could it be any other reasons besides using this tactic to get things done her way?

It's driving everyone who care for her going crazy! Tonight itself, she has had her series of loud crying within 5-15 minutes gap. For example:

1. Sat her on my aunty's lap, she cried. Aunty had no choice but to stand up again and walked and then she would stop crying.
2. She was playing happily with bunch of keys in her hand but as soon as I passed by, she went into hysterical crying and kicked her legs.
3. Sat her on the car seat (going back home from my aunty's place) and smiled at her, she started to cry.
4. Dropped by at my mom's place to pick up some stuff. The maid said "hi" to her and she smiled so sweetly. But as soon as the maid disappeared from her sight, she screamed!
5. So, along our journey back home which took around 15 minutes - she cried non-stop. Tried to let her suck her pacifier - only ended up making situation worse. She cried even louder and pushed it away.

Stressed out. Face turned red


Sweat trickling down from her head

As soon as I took her out from her car seat, she stopped crying. And started communicating. Pointing her finger at our dog and blurted out "whou whou" sound. As soon as we entered the house, she pointed at the fan, the hanging paper lantern, the spoon that fell on the floor....

Does it sound like what a spoilt child would do? Or am I missing something here?

Vaccination

On this coming 30 November, Leia will turn 1 year old. That also means, she will have to go for her next jab soon. Oh, another painful experience for her....

Ever since she was born, I have taken her to a government clinic for her periodic check-up and the scheduled vaccinations. Even if she falls ill, my trust is in the government doctors. After the horrible experience we had to go through when she first had a fever a months back with a private doctor, we have basically decided that medical assistance from government doctors will be our first choice from then onwards.

Call me bias but in my personal opinion, the chances of receiving sincere service is greater when monetary reward is not the main objective. This applies to many other aspects in life.

Anyway, back to Leia's vaccination schedule. She will be receiving her MMR (measles, mumps and rubella vaccines). Other optional vaccines which are made available in private hospitals for this age are chicken pox vaccine and pneumococcal C vaccine. Here is the attached link to Malaysia mandatory and recommended vaccination schedule for our children.

Our children have to be free from illnesses during the vaccination period. This is to ensure that they'll be better able to handle the vaccination when they are healthy.

It was unfortunate that I couldn't send Leia for the optional ones like Rotavirus and Pneumococcal vaccines earlier as she was not well when the right time came. Now that she's more than 8 months old, she no longer needs Rotavirus vaccine because there's not enough evidence to show how well it works in older babies. Thank God she passed the testing time!

As for Pneumococcal vaccine, I can still get her vaccinated. According to the expert, for children aged 12 to 23 months, two doses should be administered at least two months apart.

Will seek the doctor's advise when I send her for MMR vaccination this coming 1st Dec...

Business ideas

I'm so happy to receive a call from a good friend of mine this morning. She came to know about my new business plan after reading my blog. And as a "seasoned" person in this food industry, she gave me few more ideas on my target market.

Yup, I've jotted them down in my list.

And last weekend in my friend's wedding, another good friend who has built her many millions ringgit on her own effort gave me valuable business tips too.

Great! I gain new ideas, experiences and knowledge everyday! Thank God for these great people whom have been so supportive :)