I WANT MOMMY!!!

I WANT MOMMY!!!! I still remember vividly how my youngest daughter wailed and cried as her mommy went into the departure lounge at the airport. As I walked with the girls to the car, I was worried I would be stopped by the police officers on suspicion of kidnapping. We made it all the way to the car, and all the while, Daphne was crying her eyes out. My arms were slightly sore from carrying my struggling and wailing daughter. That was about a year ago.

Few weeks back, we went to the airport again. This time, since she is older, she is more understanding. We didn't go down of the car though as I didn't want to run the risk of exposing the kids to any of the travels who might have H1N1 at the airport, talk about being paranoid. We waited in the car instead as mommy checked in her luggage. As we sat in the car waiting for the time for mommy to board, we had some very good carrot cake from Coffee Bean. Pretty scrumptious I must say.

Fast forward a week, and it was time to pickup mommy from the airport. In the morning, the kids were already reminding me to make sure to bring them along to the airport. As we was early and mommy wasnt due to arrive for more than an hour, I decided to bring the kids to Toys 'R Us. While driving, my eldest turns to me and says, 'Papa. You don't have to buy anymore toys for me. I already have many (toys). You buy one for yourself.'

I really don't know where kids learn to say these things.....reverse psychology springs to mind.

Yummy gummy

So cute...the kids loved it too. :-)

Schools are safe? Think again.

It's been awhile since I last posted anything. But having read this article, I felt it was my obligation to spread the word as well.

A kid's classmate wanted to take his pencil but the kid didn't allow it. As a result, the classmate grabbed the pencil and poked the kids eye and threw the pencil on the floor!! Talk about being vengeful.

The arrow points to the tear in the poor kid's cornea

When did it become unsafe for kids to go to school? Fine. A kid will always be a kid and get into mischief. But the school did nothing to inform the parents. The school authorities just kept their hands in the pockets and hoped for the best?! The name of the school should be made public and black marked! Does the school think that by leaving the kid alone, the kid will automatically heal?? Let's even say that we give the benefit of doubt, that the school did not know what happened exactly. Open their bloody mouths and asked what happened!! Why would the kid be crying non-stop? How did the grandma, who went to pick up the kid realised that another child and use a pencil on her grandson when the school authorities acted dumb?!

I am sure nobody wants this unfortunate incident to happen at all. But the school should have informed the parents immediately. What if the situation could have been improved by informing the parents or if the school took immediate action, but yet, they did nothing?? Would the school be remorseful if this kid's vision is permanently damaged due to their......words fail me to describe their attitude. Incompetence, laziness, non-chalant, tidak apa, stupidity...you take your pick.

Mount Kinabalu

I've been meaning to write this for quite sometime. But been having connection problems at the office and uploading pictures was a total pain. Not to mention that TM was giving me a hell of a time to just get an account with them.

OK. Here's the plan. Fly to Kota Kinabalu. Make way from airport to Kota Kinabalu Park, 1500m above sea level (asl) and spend the night there. Next morning, hike 6km up to Laban Rata (3272m asl) and spend the night there. Then, wake up at 2am and hike another 2.5km all the way to Low's Peak (4095.2m asl), highest point on Mount Kinabalu. Take photos, take in the scenery and then hike down to Laban Rata for a quick breakfast before hiking back all the way to KK Park. Spend the night at KK town and fly home the next morning. Sounds easy, right?

View of Mt Kinabalu from the plane. Doesn't look that high, right?

No where near easy, my friend. It was a tough and tiring climb. But we made it, all the way to the top!! The view was awesome and it felt great. I would definitely suggest trying it at least once in a lifetime. I'd be tempted to go another time to take more photos and to enjoy the scenery. Of course, I am saying that now, after I have recovered from not being able to feel my legs while descending Mt Kinabalu.

This is where we spent the first night. Our bunks in KK Park were actually quite comfy and the bathroom has heater too. But what surprised me most was a bunch of hikers who had just came from the peak, asking the warden for a hair dryer....hmmmm

Day 2. Sneak peek of the peak. Too bad it was so cloudy. Not a good sign. We were worried if the weather would be good for the final leg of the climb. Was kind of disappointed to not be able to see the whole mountain.

The trail

And it all begins here.

Laban Rata. Our stop ever for the night before the final leg.

And...this is what it's all about. Awesome view. Just wish I had a better camera with me..hehehe At times you just feel like giving up while on the way to the peak. The air is so thin and you don't really know how far is it before you reach the top. But persevere you must, because the view at the top....absolutely breathtaking.

On our way back to Laban Rata

The 2 peaks on the right are called Donkey Ears. Cute, huh? :-)

If you think this looks familiar, take out a RM1 note and look at the back. Also known as South Peak.

Tainted milk. How did this happen?

How on earth can a substance, that is supposed to be used in the making of plastics find its way into milk powder? Who in their right minds would do that? How can anybody do such a thing so that the protein content in the milk powder appears higher than it actually is?

Being a Chinese myself, it is really a disgrace to read of such reports. The Chinese have been branded as unscrupulous and will stop at nothing to make a buck. And this just goes to add weight to that argument. We should never be prejudice and lump them all together. But just thinking of the number of sick babies out there.........Where is the humanity in all of this? Why are innocent children made to suffer???!!!!

Granted that life is tough and everything is very competitive, but knowingly tainting a product to appear as what it is not.....words really fail me. Time and time again, China has proved itself. Nothing changes. And at this point, there are still loads of finger pointing as to why this happened. That the authorities were not notified earlier. Consumers were already making complaints since December!! How much heads up do you need??!!! Want to know the main reason all of this happened? Only one. GREED!!!!

And the government is in full swing now, trying to clear up its mess by firing officials. I do wonder if these officials are fired because the did not do their job, or because these dismissed officers have information that could lead to the fall off people higher up in the food chain.

The Chinese Premier has said that he will mete out stiff penalties if such incidents were to happen again. Stiff? How stiff? Send them to prison? It's just prison time. Slap a hefty fine? They can pay their way out of it. Sending them to the firing squad is more like it.