LaundryAmah

Well the last day at the show was a day I spent talking to suppliers as they were so busy entertaining visitors over the weekend. After that was just final rounding of the exhibitors to see if I missed out on anything interesting. Finally one by one of my associates began leaving for the airport. As I couldn’t get a flight out, I had to stay another night. Thank God there were a few more guys staying another night too!

Well, we helped clean up and packed up the booth. It was really a fun time as the German guy kept teasing the Panamanian guy (who happens to be only 20 years old!). The German said something which made me laugh till I teared! It was so funny because of his expression oso la. Well Panama guy was having problems with the packing and German said this, “Here’s 1000 watts (pointing at the arm) but no light! (pointing to the head)” kakakakaka…..so farnieeee..

We went out to wait for the bus as usual but it didn’t turn up! Then I realised could it be due to what happened in the morning? Well, that morning, the German walked up the bus with dog poo under his shoes! So maybe the bus driver marah leow and punished us! Liddat oso can meh?? No lar..me guess only but didn’t find out why the bus didn’t turn up lor. What to do, went back by cab.

We met again for dinner later together with the American & Canadian. Again, the people were from various contries. It was so funny cos we met at the bar first and we saw this bald guy and from his back he looked exactly like the England rep! It was hilarious and they made me take a photo of that guy (since I had been snapping photos all the time). Good thing that guy didn’t find out ok! Then we took off to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the bar owner.

Look how sneaky they were, after the 1st pix, they said to take again just in case and they wanted to kiss me! Thank God I bended down if not sure kena the face! Muahahaha..me much shorter than them ma…

When we reached there, the bald guy was there too! OMG! What a coincidence! Dinner was great, and the Italian and German kept bullying me by poking me with toothpicks and of course I screamed la! Wah the more I screamed the more they poked! So embarassing ok! I guess it’s because I was the rose among the torns!

Then I had to go to the toilet and to my horror, I saw a squatting toilet! I was like, huh?? I thought squatting toilets only exist in 3rd world country only leh! That was like maybe an antique restaurant! However, the food was simply amazing! It was so yummy and the guys forced me to drink wine! Thank God I didn’t fall asleep cos wine always make me very sleepy!

The top left is the platter of entrees! I thought we were done after that amount we gobbled down but I was told it was only entree!! The white puffy thingy is like the “ham chim peng” (fried dough) we have here only yummier!!! The yellow thingy was the risotto in cheese which I found it a bit too rich but still yummy. The main dish was the platter of mixed boiled meat which looks kinda unappetising when I first saw it but it was like the yummiest!!!! Finally I had the famous Italian dessert, tiramisu but I was not impressed cos I thought the one I made was kinda similar! hahahaa..

Stay tuned for the final episode of Milan which was at the airport!!

Today I went to return the RM1.00 to the boy and I was surprised this boy was not as bad as the previous one, in fact we had to prompt him in order to say yes that he gave Kieran the RM1.00. I did take notice of the boy who accused Kieran of stealing his money (20sen and I returned RM1.00 to him!), he as usual got excited and kept pointing his finger at Kieran. I really felt bad that this has to happen to my boy, but he has to learn.

After that I sent my car for service and while waiting for the mechanic I saw a friend waiting there too. We started talking about kids and schools and then I related my story to her. Her daughter used to study at the same school as Kieran when she was in Std.1 and she told me her daughter’s (X) story was more bizarre! Her daughter’s friend (Y) used to offer X food whenever she buys from the canteen. My friend also didn’t give money to X. X innocently thinking that the friend indeed was being nice in offering the food/drink, she took it gladly unassumingly.

Then one day when my friend went to the school to collect X’s report card, Y came up to her with a book of recordings of the times when she offered X food/drinks.

Y-Aunty, X owes me RM40.00

Xmom-What? How is that possible??

Y-Well I’ve been buying food and each time I gave X, it’s recorded and now she owes me RM40.00!!

Xmom-Ok, I will return the money to you but RM1.00 per day and you are to sign in acknowledgement too.

My friend said she gave a good whacking to her daughter and made her return the RM1.00 each day as a reminder to never ever take any offers from anyone anymore.

Can you believe this actually happened? I was speechless ok! I mean, X & Y were only 7 years old when that happened ok! So later I will warn Kieran not to take anything from anyone, mana tahu (you never know) one kid come up with one buku 555 (tiny notebook) and claim dunno how much from me!

Warning..quite a long story ahead! Today was not really a good day. Firstly I realised that my intended bday party celebration for Kieran was this Saturday and I have not finished inviting the guests and also prepare for the party! Cake also belum order! Warao, and this morning I have to go to Kieran’s school to sort out something, weyo???

I noticed yesterday Kieran came home from school with things that do not belong to him and also two packet of tissues which I didn’t give to him. I immediately questioned him and he had this very guilty look. He said he bought the tissue. I know that’s impossible as I didn’t give him money. He’s not ready to handle money as yet from the last excursion his kindy took them which was practising the use of money at the tuckshop in a primary school.

Me-Whose ruler is that (I know that ruler is not his cos it has Colin written on it la) and who gave you the money?

K-My friend

Me-Whose your friend & how much?

K-I don’t know…

Me-(blowing up now…) You don’t know who then why you take his ruler? Then who gave you the money??

K-I don’t know…

Me-HOW MUCH??? (shouting!!)

K-20 sen

Me-20 sen? Are you sure?

K-errr…yes….and then I bought a drink

Me-(fuming mad by now) What? 20 sen can buy tissue and drink?

K-(looking really terrified and major guilty by now) Errr…no..another friend gave me money also

Me-Did you ask for the money or they gave you? Or did you STEAL??? (shouting leow)

K-Err..(eyes looked here and there…like side to side)No, my friend gave me RM1.00! Then I bought the drink.

Me-The tissues????

K-Errr…

Me-You are soooo dead…wait till you go home. You are also grounded. You know what that means?

K-No tv…no cartoon…no dvd…(looking down with very sad face)

So this morning I went to the school in search of his loan provider or victims of extortion! I asked him to identify the boy whom he took money from. He pointed to one.

Me-Hello, did you give Kieran money yesterday?

Boy-(pointed at Kieran) He stole my money!!

Me-Really? Where was your money when he stole it?

Boy-He stole my money! (Still pointing at Kieran) He asked me to give him money but I didn’t give. He stole my money!

Me-So how much did he take?

Boy-RM1.00. He bought vitagen..he stole my money!

Me-Ok, here’s the RM1.00, next time don’t bring money to school ok? (My head spinning and I glared at Kieran with laser eyes and went to his class to talk to his teacher).

The teacher said she can’t control the fact that the children bring money to school as they need to buy food and drinks. I was like, aiya why the parents give their kids money at such a young age leh..they really cannot grasp the concept yet ma. What do they know about money? They don’t know how it’s earned and the value of it. They just know they can buy the stuff from the shop without having to ask permission from parents! What freedom! I seriously am so against of giving money to Kieran as I have heard of how the the tuckshop sellers not returning the change to the children or selling more than what the children wanted or needed!

Then I had to do delivery after lunch, and while walking down the stairs I slipped and twisted my leg but thank God I didn’t fall flat on the road! Oscar’s mom was asking if I should go since I was like kinda shaky! I went la, work have to complete no matter what.

Then Oscar’s mom messaged me and said that she had a good talk with Kieran and found out the whole truth about the money incident. Apparently, he took money from 2 different boys, one boy was RM1.00 and the other was 20 sen. I also returned the RM1.00 to the wrong boy! So I still have owing of RM1.00 to the other boy!

Oscar’s mom made me realise that my son was too terrified of me and couldn’t talk to me. I felt so guilty and thought maybe I was too hard on him. I really don’t want to spoil him as I really cannot bear people branding him a spoilt brat. But then again, I was so heart sick and sad when I thought he actually stole money from his friend. It made me think I was a very bad mother, and wonder where did I go wrong in teaching and guiding him. Let this be a good lesson for me as I continue my struggle as a mom!

Therefore, I must thank God for giving me a gem of a friend plus excellent and efficient assistant in Oscar’s mum! She’s just amazing. I just left her the numbers and people to call and she kau tim for me! She even became my son’s councillor despite her heavy work load in the office. Thanks a lot, as usual, I’m going to be mushy about this, you are really a great help and a good friend indeed and I want you to know how much I appreciate you! Yes YOU, Oscar’s mom!

Sorry folks (you know who u r) for the late invitation, it’s been really rough the past 2 weeks and I’ve been really really busy till I think I have short term memory problem! eg.forgetting the route to the resort room..and also the party!

Firstly apologies to those trying to leave their comments but blogspot decided to give us beta bloggers another round of headache, the word verification just doesn’t turn up! Solly ah…

Yes Milan Part XX forgot leow..have to be put on hold because “someone borrowed” or rather took my laptop without asking me…so have to wait la!

Took Kylie to the paed yesterday (a long overdue visit but due to my very very busy schedule and paed opening hours..just couldn’t make it) and her cough and cold has become more and more serious..meaning it didn’t get well since the day I left for Milan or was it before??? Yes it was before but my mom took her to the paed the day I was away but after the medication she’s still like coughing coughing and the mucus from her nose was like green green liddat leh! Yucks!

The paed said she was wheezing, not good at all and had to start her on a round of antibiotics and also the puff! Ayo…and of course the bill came up to a whopper but thank God that is claimable from Apah’s company. But the bill is not important…it’s Kylie’s wellbeing. Ayo don’t tell me she has weak lungs like her ko ko..sked la. She’s not very cooperative when it comes to medicines. The puff thingy was difficult too cos she doesn’t understand when we tell her to breathe in and out..double ayo..

Anyway, here are some positive updates:

Weight - Kinda up and down from 9.8 kg to 10kg to 9.8kg now..eat so much no change due to her hyperactiveness I guess!

Height-78.2cm..warao the growth like 2 cm nya from July leh! So little wan….sob sob..

Emotions and Character

A politician even before she can talk! Knows how to ambil hati of the right person at the right moment! Especially me and my mom. That day I was so angry with her I was about to whack whack her leow and then u know what she did?????? She put up the cutest look, sat on my lap and rested her head on my shoulder and looked up with a pout and blinked blinked liddat! Wah…me melted of course la!!!!

Language

She still cannot talk, only the same words, like mum-mum (eat), nen-nen(milk) etc..only latest word was Ah Poh, only because the maid was repeating that word non-stop with her! The maid oso very clever trying to buy Ah Poh’s heart huh….

Since she can’t talk I have taught her to point to things la..and she can do it quite well, the latest one was tummy and head.

Remember she used to do the lion roar..hahaha…she does that to other animals too! Only monkey is different!

No matter how naughty she can get…I still love her to pieces….and cannot stop kissing her! Muaks my lil darling!!!!!!!!!!!

The trip along the way was smooth but Kylie was a riot as usual. She refused to remain in her seat and was wailing away! You can see the sequence from the photo slide! She kept escaping each time we strap her in despite daddy tightening the belt! At the end I gave up and let her go loose! She knew we were going somewhere and was really excited along the way so she refused to sleep!

The moment we arrived at the resort, it started pouring cows & elephants! I’m serious the rain was so heavy that it came into the lobby of the resort! We couldn’t go into our rooms as they were the water chalets!

But I really coudn’t tahan hanging around with one hyper active girl so I asked Daddy to check out the exact location of the chalet. He ventured off and came back saying the path was flooded and his shoes were wet. Then I asked him to start putting the stuff we had inside the room first to make it easier to ferry the kids in. Our luggage couldn’t go with us as the rain was still so heavy. Eventually we managed to get in the room and to our horrors it was leaking. Good thing it was not leaking on the bed areas!

The room looks the same as the last time we came. No changes..only older. They really need to do some upgrading. As usual I will check out the sheets and towels (chik yip peng = profession sickness) and found them as usual yucks. They are almost gray in colour! I really don’t understand why these resorts just continue using the rubbish detergent/lousy contractor despite charging so high for their room rates!

As it was flooding LaundryApah walked out barefooted and he stepped into a nail right outside our room! Jialatt or not?? We complained but they didn’t come and remove the protruding nail. So terrible la..The only plus point was the extra bed so it was just perfect for Kieran.

As usual dilly dally we were quite late for dinner. We settled for the buffet dinner at the resort as it we didn’t feel like going out. Kylie was hungry as usual and I quickly prepared her food but after 5 spoonfuls she fell asleep! No afternoon nap mia pasal la! Ayooo..We packed some bread just in case she woke up and yes she did wake up when we reached the room. She started wailing the moment we took her out of the stroller! Started to feed her the bread but she spit it out occasionally! There were bananas from the fruit basket in the room so I fed her the banana. Then she was whiny like unconsoble one…then we realised she was constipating. Her stool was like biji biji (little balls) and very hard! hahhaa..after that she just ran around and refused to sleep! Then only I remembered Sasha said never feed the kid banana before bed time! Too late! She only managed to fall asleep past midnight but both Kieran and myself were snoozing away…as usual poor daddy had to entertain! kakaka..

The next day we went to the beach and then swim in the pool. After that I just lazed in the room till dinner! Dinner was at the hotel again, and it sucked big time! Tried to get the kids to nap but so difficult. Kylie finally fell asleep at about 3 pm only when we placed her inside the stroller, it was like magic! But the magic did not happen that night! So again she was running around!

All in all, the trip was very relaxing besides having to take care of the hyperactive girl, thanks to LaundryApah’s company of course..all expenses paid trip!

After shopping for my bag we rushed back to the hotel as my principal had a cocktail party. I promised the guys that I will be wearing my leather pants..growlll…one of the guys said I was Amah the tiger…growlllll…hahahaha.. (Sorry no picture…hehe)

Anyway, the cocktail party was a bore and my legs were killing me. Oops forgot to take a photo of my new boots, they are definitely for show only and cannot wear one! So after eating (actually nothing much to eat, cocktail ma..) so fast fast went up to my room to rest! Firstly soaked my poor feet in very hot water….ahhhhhhhhhhhh….Quite a cosy room but too costly for its standard!

The next day halfway thru the exhibition, I decided to go out to check out the outlet stores. I remembered that the shops close mid afternoon, so I really ran! But damn, the nearest station (Lotto Fiera)from the hall was like almost 30 minutes walk! Cilaka! When I came out from the other station (Porta Venezia) where the outlet was, I was like so lost. All the road signs do not correspond with the map! Double cilaka! Anyway, took me another 30 minutes to find that miserable outlet and it was a let down as the clothes were mainly winter clothes and there were so few selection of shoes, mainly Prada only and were still very expensive. This place was called Venistock.

Then I went to the other outlets Salvagente & Affari and the station name was Dateo, blue line. The station was like so deaded, like nobody ok, the ticket vending machine was out of order and there were no one selling tickets too. Otoke? Dap ba wong che la! (Ride without buying ticket) It was one station away from Porta Venezia but it was a different train altogether, quite scary la..like so empty…

Took me quite some time to find the place and when I reached it was closed for the afternoon siesta break. Waited…waited…it was supposed to reopen at 3pm but past 3 pm it was still closed! I gave up, so I took the bus to the next Metro Station and went back to the exhibition hall empty handed..blechhh…

Dinner was with my principal and he took us on a long walk to this really pink restaurant. everything inside was pink!! (check out the pepper mill!) The pizza was yummmmmieeeee…& very big for a single serve! There were about 6 different races & nationalities amongst the people we had dinner and some were speaking French, German etc so me and my associate started speaking in Bahasa Malaysia to tick them off!


More to come…ayo why so long winded…too many days la!

Milan Part 5 will have to be put on hold for this. Weyo mad day?? I didn’t realise that Kieran’s holiday 2-week program starts today at his new primary school until LaundryApah called me about 8.30am this morning. We were supposed to be getting Kieran ready for Vacation Bible School (VBS) at the church! (Nov20-22) So have to go to school instead of VBS.

Rushed out as I had to buy his school uniform first but Professor in SS2 is not opened yet! Sei ler…aiya nevermind la..go and register first. Good thing they were selling uniforms in the school so fast fast buy one pair first. Made him take out his clothes there and then to change which he was not too pleased! hahahaha..

Then searched for his classroom, scaned thru the lists on the board without looking properly (cos the lists have indicated the classroom which he has already been allocated earlier during the registration) so..panic la..missed out his name but then I realised the class ID and found his name..phew! Quickly rushed him to the class and apologised to the teacher. Immediately teacher said, “RM14 please for this..” It was a folder containing the books for this 2 weeks! Btw, these 2 weeks cost RM80. $$$$…no difference from private school!

Then went to get his school books, must as well since I was there. Of course there’s a long queue…Total costs of books RM132.70 and sports t-shirt RM7.50 but I forgot to buy his pants! Later la. Drove out to Professor again, and guess how much the uniform costs nowadays?? Unbelievable……RM28+ for the shorts and RM25+ for the shirt!

Got to know 2 mothers while waiting for Kieran and then saw my old classmate from Secondary school, her daughter in the same class as Kieran! What a small small world…

Look at him in his uniform….ayooooo I really cannot believe it la..time flies!! He said class was fun eventhough half the time he didn’t understand the teacher! He kept saying, he was good and didn’t get the cane! hahahahaa…(cos me scared him ma..Chinese school teacher will cane him when he’s not good!)

Tomorrow got to miss class cos VBS is taking them to Aquaria la…so told the teacher and she’s ok with it..phew…..

Milan Day 3

As usual, morning starts with breakfast with the guys and I couldn’t believe how horrible they are when they are not working. They were actually oggling, like “lau hau sui” asking each other to watch her bust, (oops sorry cannot do the strikeout of that word la!) butt at a hot lady right in front of her hubby! I mean, “em sai kua”…but I know they were just doing it for fun la..but like so obvious, so embarassing leh! Then I told them, they must be so deprived! But still didn’t work! Cheh!

Then after breakfast, it’s straight to the exhibition. By mid afternoon, me already bored to tearing ledi..so begged one of the guys to go out to the city with me. Yes, the boss approved and yeah..on the way to get my… slurrpsss…oops excuse me while I wipe my mouth…my my…ta.da..
I have been surfing on the net on which one to buy for quite some time and yet when I reached the shop, I still had to like look here, look there…admire ma.. cannot ah? Ok la, me had a budget, so must stick to that particular one, which is the Horizontal Lockit, it’s an amazing bag, i can carry loads of stuff in it, including my laptop! Cool leh..actually I’m not exactly a fan of the monogram but since I don’t have one and this design is very practical and fits my purpose and budget, ok la! I was checking the bag for flaws, and saw some scratches on the bottom leather part. So the sales guy asked me to look downstairs, but the one downstairs was like lagi worse! Ayo, pay so much why liddat one la…so no choice had to get the one upstairs..When I decided, to pay, there was already a queue at the cashier! Eh, LV la sini, but still the business is like wah maciam MetroJaya leh!

While waiting, I noticed 2 Chinese ladies in front of me and I saw one of them tried to give the sales girl some tips! Wah, sai em sai ah…then me as usual so “8″ asked her why, she said the service very good..I was like “Yah rite!” Then she whispered to me that she is dealing with “swimming” LV bags..(yau sui for la) but she didn’t bother to take the VAT claim form! How on earth is she making $$ to pay for her airticket/accomodation/food in this expensive city leh? She must like buy a lot la! Ya I saw both of them packing their loot in a big big bag after throwing away the paper bags! No wonder she had to pay the tips cos LV only allows one bag per passport in the whole of Europe, so no matter where you go around Europe in one single trip, as long as you don’t exit any part of Europe, you are only entitled ONE bag. Damn, got money also cannot buy due to this “swimming goods” dealers! And more drama at the airport also due to this matter also!! So stay tuned!!!

Milan Day II

Went to Piazza Duomo again was there’s a Tourist Information Centre there. Was looking on the map and trying to identify the place but I couldn’t! The downside of this place is it’s so unfriendly to tourists. The ATM Subway is so vague and confusing as directions are not clear.

Uscita means Exit and the first day I thought it was a name of a station or a particular subway line! Why can’t they label it in green which is internationally recognised as an exit sign leh?? Haiyo..so “mang chang”..

I walked towards the Duomo Catherdral. It was beautiful and the photos I took do not do the place justice! Lousy photographer la..Anyway, spent some time admiring the intricate architecture and beauty of the place and went out. Asked the guards where the tourist info centre was and he pointed just right next to the piazza. I was like, duh! How did I miss it? Cos every damn thing was in Italian and there were no symbols indicating “I” for information also! See la the photo below, name of the tourist information centre in Italian!

Anyway, asked about the tourist attractions here and it was a big map which indicates museum, museum, art gallery, museum, museum, art gallery and so on and so forth..YAWN…solly me no fan of history and art and on top of that all the places charge entrance fees. Then I asked them for the locations of warehouse outlets and they actually have printed maps of the locations! WOW! The ones that I had with me were still valid to my surprise. However, by that time I had to go back to the hotel to check out and switch to the Marriot which I was originally booked in together with my business associates.

Since I bought the 2-day ticket so I thought of using it to the max. So I dragged my luggage to the nearest station which is the Red Line to avoid changing lines as there would be stairs everywhere! I don’t know what happens to older and handicap users. The moment I arrived at the station, I had to carry up my luggage up 3 flights of stairs! It was supposed to be one flight flight as there was an escalator up to the main road but look at this! Damn suey ok!

First have to carry the bag up two flights of stairs from the platform to the station level and then the escalator up to the road level was kaput! See la..not only the big luggage leh, got hand carry leh…No wonder when I came back I thought my daughter lost weight cos me been carrying heavy load throughout!

View from the plane on the way to Milan

Got my bag quite fast. Strange setting of the airport that I didn’t get to shop around Duty Free at Malpensa Airport (Will tell you later why cos at the time I wrote this I didn’t know why but now I know). I don’t remember the airport as such from the last time I was here 5 years ago…They do not allow any liquids or creams on transit flights..I was like huh? Sharp objects I can understand la, but liquids like water oso cannot! Apamaciam? Scared of chemical bomb is it??

So once I came out, I saw the booth for shuttle buses to the city. There were no specific buses to hotels so I took the shuttle bus to Central Station costing Euro 5.00. Quite a good deal. According to the girl at the desk, the bus was a better choice than the train. (Will tell you why later also!!)

Upon arrival at the station, there were no tourist assistance and I have no idea where was Ibis Hotel, which I booked last minute. Asked the bus driver, he told me it was walking distance, like go straight and turn left..wah..so vague..I dare not walk lor..what if I walk on and on and can’t find it! Asked another person but he couldn’t tell me where it was. Finally I took a cab and sure enough the bus driver was right..but me not sure ma..anyway the cab cost Euro 5.00 (5 minute ride only versus 1 hour ride in the bus)

As expected the hotel was kinda crappy but ok la..very basic and small. The door didn’t close properly and they sent one young technician to fix it. I could hear him tsk tsk a few times, obviously he couldn’t fix the problem and had to call the more senior technician. Finally they fixed it.
Quickly showered after that and ventured out to the Duomo where the Piazza Duomo is.

Wow, it was quite a sight as I walked out of the Metro subway station. It was so beautiful but unfortunately the front part of the Cathedral was being refurbished. Sorry la, me photography skills so bad..that’s about all I got!

Right next to the Duomo Piazza, was the Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II where all my FAVE shops are….it was sooooo beautiful! I was like wahh..wahh..wahh..it was like Queen Victoria Building in Sydney but many many times more beautiful! See the McDonalds in there? It’s called McCafe! hahaha..

My aim was to buy my LV bag today but after looking through the various models the sales guy (very cute guy summore!)showed me, I was like blur blur liddat! Ayo..can’t decide la! Thank goodness it’s not the right season to shop as it’s fall/winter stuff in all the shops.

But there’s still something to buy from Zara! It was like 3 floors, separate from Zara men (I think also 2 - 3 floors on its own) and one floor for bambino (children) clothes.

Oh forgot to mention that people here like to smoke so much, it’s like everywhere, requested for non smoking room so sort of expected the whole floor is like smoke free la but but but…as I type this also I can smell smoke! The windows are shut ok…but still can smell! YUCKS!

Tried the Italian gelati ice cream, it was very yummy but a tad too sweet. Then I asked a polizia senore (policeman) for the directions to a supermarket to buy my water and breakfast. Everything is written in Italian so I had to like guess la..Most of the mineral water are frizzy so I had to search high and low for a Naturale…and when I opened and had my first mouthful..damn! It was frizzy too! Shiaks! More to come…..