THE PROCREATION OF HYBRIDS

In the beginning, there were aliens. And then there were predators. And then there were hybrids – stronger, faster, superiorly more adaptable with an increase in lifespan.

That generally summarizes our life.

10 months have passed since God has blessed us with a number 2 – a precious addition to the Chan & Siew clan in our quest to populate the world and expand our almighty kingdom via the hybrids of ChanSiew (or CharSiew). We named him Evan – the bearer of our generations to come, the 1^st son to the CharSiew, 1^st grandson to the CharSiew clan and 1^st great grandson to the Chan clan. Showered with gifts and treated with utmost royalty he would have been if he was born 100 years earlier.

Our precious came about once more through a miracle. It wasn’t easy conceiving Evan and through the months of hardwork, he was finally conceived under the night where the moon was at its fullest.

Evan means “God is gracious” (in Hebrew) and through Evan, we were again reminded of God’s graciousness in blessing us. Through our busyness and the many times we have fallen and drifted away from Him, He remained gracious to us and answered our prayers. Through the months of trying, we were so close to having to go for an operation to better our chances and at that very last moments, literally days before the operation was due, my wife conceived! Not even the alignment of the stars or our horoscopes or feng shui could have conjured up such miracle. We were truly ecstatic to see that very faint line that appeared in the pregnancy test and our heart just leapt for joy. At a time where all hope was almost lost, he came. When we have given up and prepared our hearts for the procedure, he came. When our minds were filled with worries and uncertainties, he came. God was indeed gracious.

And today, 10 months down the road, I just needed to be reminded of God’s graciousness in our life regardless of how we have drifted from Him. His hand of blessing continues to be upon us and thorough every situation He sees us through.

Evan also means “young warrior” (in Celtic) and though a strong hybrid he might be, I pray and hope that he not only becomes a warrior physically but also spiritually, that he never forgets God and His goodness to us as a family. 

10 + 1 FACTS ABOUT SANTA CLAUS YOU DIDN’T KNOW…

1.       He’s obese.

2.       He probably has high cholesterol.

3.       Had 1 minor stroke.

4.       Gone through 2 heart bypasses.

5.       Is possibly diabetic as well.

6.       If he ever slips down the chimney and hurts his leg, it would turn gangrene and he would be required to amputate them making his next appearance as the 1 foot Santa Claus.

7.       He can only come around once a year (and not during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Gawai) cause he’s busy going through dialysis the rest of the year.

8.       Is also possibly an alcoholic who has gone in and out of therapy (evident in his beer belly).

9.       Suffers from the hardening of liver and has been advised that should he continue to drink, there’ll be no Santa Claus next Christmas.

10.   Is most likely a pedophile who has been convicted and put under the sex offender list and the only way he can go about being around kids is to disappear for almost a whole year and appear with heavy moustache and fake persona.

11.   Solicits prostitution every year by  the name of Santarina who dresses up skimpily and we all know you can never survive the weather dress like that in the North Pole. So he must have on the way to delivering his gifts, stop by Jalan Alor and picked his prostitute.

A CRAZY YEAR THIS IS

To describe this year (which has not end) as crazy is a gross understatement. How everything decided to happen this year, that we have no explanation except to say that the stars and the moons decided that this year, our fate was predestined to continually have one big event after another right until the end of the year. So from the start of the year till the end of the year, we barely have any breather.

1.       Purchasing a new house / Selling of our existing house – Jan to Mar ‘13

From the start of the year, we decided that it was the right time to purchase a new place after staying in our current place for 5 years. With the steep increase in property prices for the past 5 years and the looming General Election 13 that has slowed down the market, we decided that this was the perfect time to sell our current place and purchase a new place. So the first quarter of the year was spent hunting for an affordable and relatively convenient place to buy. Weekdays were spent shortlisting houses online and making appointments with agents. Weekends were spent  visiting those houses. Finally in March ’13, we manage to find somewhere where we both liked and at the same time we manage to sell our place off.

2.       The birth of Evan – Apr ‘13

Once the purchase of the house was done, we were busy again preparing the arrival of our 2^nd child – Evan. Clothes need to be bought, car seat, cot etc needed to be prepared and we had to prepare ourselves and our daughter emotionally for the addition to our family. Evan of course came strong and healthy in Apr ’13 and so came the crying, wailing and not to mention the urine infection that he had to be infected approximately 2 weeks after his birth with which had us going to the doctor multiple times to have it cured. It wasn’t easy the first couple of week with his infection and to add “excitement” to it all, we discovered that his tongue was held back by that piece of “muscle” under your tongue that holds your tongue – that muscle was holding his tongue too back which caused him to have difficulty in breadstfeeding. Something that we could only have it corrected after his infection cleared. So through the early weeks until we did the minor op on that “muscle”, he cried much and had difficulty suckling which means, a crazy time for both daddy and mummy.

3.        Renovation – Aug to Oct ‘13

Once we got our keys (or before that), we had to look into renovating our place. Figuring out what our budget was, securing a contractor, drawing out plans, getting approvals, hunting for materials (tiles, lights, etc) and all of this had to be done with us bringing along our 2 kids to showrooms, expos, factories & shops. This was the most stressful time in my life. My lunches were now spent flying off to potential shops (be it for bathroom items, tiles, lights) to check out if the items and price were right first because we didn’t have the liberty to do that during the weekend with the kids. Then when the weekend came, I would bring the family to the places where I have identified as being good enough to look to purchase the necessary items. My role was to scout. Then when the renovation commenced, my lunches were spent flying through MEX highway  to our new place to check on the contractors (if F1 was ever held on MEX, I’ll definitely be one of the top three winners). A lot of times, I had to purchase additional materials till it came a point where I was afraid to see the contractors for fearing to hear “Boss, ini cat kena beli lagi”, “Boss, ini tile tak cukup”, “Boss, downlight kena beli 5 biji lagi”, “Boss, switches short”. Everytime I hear one of those sentences, that means I have to find the time to go buy the items and mind you, most hardware shops close by 6pm. The only chance I have of purchasing it was to fly during lunch after visiting the house hoping and crossing my fingers I get back to office before my lunch hour ends. I’m glad now that the renovation is coming to an end.

4.           Friend’s Wedding in Bali – Sept ‘13

To add more excitement during our crazy time, a close friend decided to get married in September ’13 in Bali. I definitely wanted to be there for her special occasion and I guess it was a good time for our family holiday as well. So with a 6 months old son, a 3 year old daughter & a beautiful wife, we had to make the necessary arrangements for the trip from booking our flights, hotel, driver, planning places to visit and not to forget ensuring that the contractors had everything they need while we were away. Planning was crazy but the trip was worth every penny we spent and stress we endured planning.

5.          Brother In-Laws Wedding – Oct ‘13

Like I said earlier, the stars and moon must be aligned to give us maximum light this year as my brother-in-law decided to have his wedding this year. Although there’s not much help that we were required to assist, it still required our time to alter my coat, my wife to get a dress, some details we needed to help look into for the church wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I am really excited for his wedding and I cannot wait for the event day to come to share his joy, it’s just that I have so much on my mind with the running around that I have to constantly remind myself to put those things aside and prioritize more important things (like his wedding) first.

6.           Moving In – Dec ‘13

And to end it all for the year, we’ll be moving in on Dec ’13 and from now till then, we’ll be busy packing with the limited amount of time we have everyday (having to care for the kids till they fall asleep at night). From now till then too, it won’t be just packing but also cleaning up the house, putting up the necessaries and getting the house ready for us to move in.

To sum it all up, it has been and will be a beyond crazy year. As crazy as it gets, it’s still happy stress…. Something psychologists term eustress.

PIGGIN OUT @ RESTORAN SOON HUAT, PORT DICKSON

This place is nothing short of amazing! Everytime we’re down in Port Dickson (PD), this is THE seafood restaurant that we go to for ALL our dinners!

Nestled in the deepest part of PD where you would have to go through small kampong road and located at by the river bank of a fishing village, this place offers both the luxury of a sunset view coupled with docked boats from a days hard work and good and fresh seafood at a very, very reasonable price. Some of the must orders here are their pucuk paku sambal and their mantis prawn. The mantis prawn served here is chunky unlike the other seafood places in PD that serves famine, malnourished mantis prawn.

Take my word for it and I am pretty sure you’re not going to regret.

Location:

Kampung Kuala Lukut,

71010 Lukut,

Negeri Sembilan

N2.561796, E101.800145

Contact: 012-979 7073

Located a short distance from Grand Lexis

THE REAL “MAN” OF STEEL

-This post is way overdue however it is of utmost importance it is published-

So Man of Steel premiered last week on 13 June (this was when this was written) and I got free tickets to watch it thanks to a wonderful colleague. But as I approached my wife early in the morning before I left for work, asking her if it’ll be ok if I watched the movie tonight and she had to take care of the two kids all be herself at night (and she willingly agreed), I was reminded at that moment who the real “man” of steel really was.

Couple of days back during the weekend when my wife fell ill and was totally knocked out and I had to handle the two kids by myself, I nearly went mad with a crying baby and a defiant child and boy did I complain in my head of how crazy it was.

So as I watch Man of Steel, I am really reminded that my wife has been the real “Man” of steel and I am at awe and full of appreciation for all the sacrifices that she’s made. Just to be clear, here’s 10 reason why she’s the real “Man” of Steel:

1.             Everyday for the past 6 months, she has been taking care of both our baby boy and girl.

2.             That means, handling their mischief’s, moods, daily necessities like feeding them, changing them and bathing them.

3.             Diligently she pumps milk everyday close to midnight (that’s when the boy sleeps longer and there’s a chance to pump) when very well, she could decide to sleep.

4.             When we’re out for our date, she takes the effort to carry out her pump and parts just so she can store up more milk.

5.             When our boy was born, she told me, “Don’t’ you dare buy any formula. I will breastfeed”. You will never understand what that statement really entails. The only way to envision the consequences of this statement is to imagine a boy hanging at your nipples 24 7 with only intermittent breaks before the boy cries for milk/nipple again. 

6.             She washes the bottles before I get back, takes over the laundry of the kids (cause she knows I get crazy over hanging and matching small botties and mittens) without a complain.

7.             She cooks whenever she can so we can enjoy her home cook food.

8.             At night, while I sleep, she carries the boy first whenever he is on his “cry as much” mood and only calls me up (or not) when he cries too long.

9.             I have not woken up to make milk for the boy (not once) because she breast feeds him throughout the night.

10.         She’s always one of the last person to bath as she first makes sure that the kids are all clean and fresh.

While I might be amazed at how Superman can fly, smack, laser and withstand bullets, I am even more amazed at how my wife can handle two kids all by herself. I have a very good feeling Superman will fail miserably.

PIGGIN OUT @ ORIENTAL BANQUET, PETALING JAYA

For RM39++ per pax, this place was definitely a love at first taste when we first visited it during a friends full moon party. However, it’s been hard to revisit the lunch buffet as it’s held only during Sunday lunch which clashes with our church on Sunday and going for buffet over church will definitely incur the wrath of God and diarrhea would probably follow suit. They also have it during public holidays but do call for a reservation first as the buffet would not happen if they have a reserved event on that day.

The long and short of it all, we finally manage to re-visit our favorite Chinese buffet spot on Wesak day while everyone else was busy performing prayers, we were busy eating. Apart from the very reasonable price of RM39++, we love the extensive choice of dishes that is served. From the usual hot dishes, to fresh salmons, to delicious Chinese herbal soups, ice mussels, chukka idakos, Peking duck, roasted pig and even rojak and an array of really good nyonya kuih. The RM39++ buffet also comes with 1 servinf of sharks fin soup which you would need to request. It’s no wonder this place is always pack during hteir buffet promotion.

If you still have any doubt about how good this place it, allow the pictures to summarized the rest.

Location:

16, Jalan 19/1, Section 19,

46200 Petaling Jaya,

Kuala Lumpur.

GPS: N3.115984, E101.627972

PIGGIN OUT @ iL LIDO, YAP KWAN SENG

I nearly lost RM200. Partially due to iL Lido and for most part due to my forgetfulness. I specifically bought the vouchers off Groupon in March for my wife’s birthday in May after hearing about the place. Come May, I totally forgot about this place and made reservations for Le Meridien and if I had not decided to just check if I had any unutilized Groupon vouchers, I would have lost RM200 spend on this.

Thankfully we managed to get a reservation and off we set leaving our kids with both our parents for a well deserved fine dining on my wife’s birthday.

For a start, it’s quite a shame that iL Lido is located in Mayang where the carparks are really tight and the elevators are crampy and upon reaching the 1^st floor, you’re at a lost as to where to go if not for the voice of the waiters shouting “Ahoy there”… actually it was more like “Welcome”.

But upon stepping in, the ambience albeit it being simple was cosy, welcoming and really relaxing. Just by sitting at our table, we felt absolutely at ease. That was really not easy to achieve as I had my office staring back at me the whole night.

We decided to opt for the degustation menu (RM198 per pax) to have a better selection of what they had to offer.

While waiting for our meal of two, water and bread.

Water was bland and tasteless as it should have been.

  

Bread was really nice and warm inside but a little bit too crusty on the outside.

1^st up on the menu was Amuse Bouche which translated in French means “mouth amuser” (don’t ask me why Italian restaurant, French wordings) which was really a slice of raw tuna on a slice of eggplant. The tuna was fresh but I wasn’t quite sure if the eggplant complemented it perfectly.

Next up on the menu was Hokkaido scallops with truffle.

Next came the foie gras with duck bacon and lentils. The lentils and shaved pears definitely complemented the fattiness of the goose liver although I thought the liver was a little tad fattier which gave you the muak feeling thereafter.

This next dish was a little bit of a disappointment. Chitarrugi (some sort of noodles) with lobster. Noodles tasted like yellow mee and that alone puts you off.

The main for the menu was Wagyu Beef Cheek. In all honesty, there wasn’t really much to shout about this dish. It was ok, but the meat felt piecey and the sauce dominated over the taste of the beef.

For desserts, Molten Lava Chocolate with Vanilla Ice Cream. This – was good. Warm tasting chocolate would overflow when you cut through the cake and of course, nothing complements it better than berries and ice cream.

Overall, it was a good meal but above it all, the ambience of the place was something really that I love.

Location:

183, Jalan Mayang (Off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng)

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Directly opposite the Australian Embassy and AmBank.