A bib that costs more than RM20

My brother-in-law bought a bib for Tristan from his business trip in Bangkok few months ago. When I asked how much it costs, it came to me as a shock that it actually worth RM26 !!! A piece of cloth that costs as much as a T-Shirt for an adult ?



This is the packaging, a paper envelope with very nice printing :



Searching for "Jim Thompson Thai Silk" online :
Jim Thompson was a former U.S. military intelligence officer who has saved Thailand's vital hand-woven silk industry from extinction in the 1950s & 1960s. Says he: "It disturbed me that production of this wonderful material had stopped." Jim's business has expanded very quickly but he disappeared in 1967, in Cameron Highlands !!! His disappearance has become an unsolved mystery ...





Now back to the bib, it's cute but it came too late, Tristan had started to pull off bib whenever we put them on for him, so this bib would be kept as his first souvenir. Personally I won't buy this for my baby but it may serve as a good gift for bosses' babies, or a Christmas gift, what do you think ?

Ground Zero

These are the new towers built to replace the destroyed Twin Towers., but they are not as tall. They were brand new when we visited in 2003.





We could also see the towers from the coast.




I was in California on Sept 11, 2001. I was still in bed at 7.xx am when the disaster happened. I heard the bad news on the radio when driving to work, it was a horrible feeling reaching office where everyone was shocked & sad.






That night, the TV was overwhelmed with this news, the video clip of the plane crashing onto the building was played over & over again on CNN, I felt so depressed & had to switch off the TV.






I never seen the Twin Towers in person. I went to work in the States in Jan 26th 2000, but I didn't take the chance to pay them a visit cos I thought they would be there anytime I feel like going to New York.





Sometimes we take advantage of things that we thought would be there for us forever ... I learn the lesson & now I try to do things that I like & can afford whenever possible instead of keep delaying the plan. Do you have any similar story to share with me ?

Horse Back Riding

Have you tried horse back riding before ? I had a chance to do
that when I was working in the States back in 2002 (can't
believe it's been 5 years !!!).

We went to this place called Spring Down Ranch in the Bay
Area (California), get a private lesson which costs $40 for a
half hour ... (yes, it's USD). That includes rental equipment,
ie. helmet and shoes.  

Actually you can choose to wear your own shoes with a heel
(about 1"...not high heels). You need a heel so your foot
doesn't slip through the foot ring.

The horses there are quite friendly and docile. What I learn was
very basic things like how to make a turn, stop, & how to
start moving, but I was quite scared at one point when the
horse refused to move & seemed unhappy.

Anyway it was quite a fun experience overall. What are the fun
thing that you have tried ? Mind to share it with me ?

More Grand Canyon pictures

While some parts of the canyon were covered with some snows, there are other parts that were totally clear.

























The Colorado River :

















Hope you enjoy this series of photos, have a nice day :)

Shampoo Shield

Tristan refused to lay down on my lap to get his hair wash lately, he insists on sitting position so it was a disaster whenever water flows down his face during hair wash.


Luckily we got this "Shampoo Shield" over the weekend, it's a flexible cap that protects the eyes from shampoo suds.


Tristan refused to put this on for more than a few seconds so I had to use his soft toy as a model.



The hair part is available for shampooing & it really works for me, except that he will pull it away real quick, so I had to wet his hair first, apply shampoo, put this on with lightning speed & rinse off the shampoo at the top part in few seconds.



I'm so glad that such a thing was invented as now he's less agitated during bath time :)

Snow, in Grand Canyon

We were very happy to see snow there, we are from tropical country which never snow, so we tend to like snow very much ...




The snow could not cover the great canyon, it's so huge ...








There's a hotel at the top in the picture below (top right), there are other hotels too around this area, it's convenient to stay here but we didn't manage to make a reservation.








The weather was cooling. The sun was not too strong but very bright, it was so pleasant to be there ...

What does fat in Nasi Lemak mean to you ?

On the way to Grand Canyon

In winter, the North Rim of Grand Canyon is closed, but South Rim is open. Spring is a better time since the weather is not too hot, in summer, it can be burning hot there.


After landed at Phoenix Airport, Arizona, you can choose to fly or drive to Grand Canyon. But we were not lucky as the airport in Grand Canyon was closed due to snow.




We had no choice but to drive, and chose to put a night in a hotel on the way there. Guess what we see the next morning ? It's SNOW everywhere, was really surprised, excited & happy :)


So it wasn't a bad thing after all, to visit in winter, you just need to know what's there & what's not and make your choice to get the most out of your trip.

How to go to bed early ?

If you have problem going to sleep earlier than your normal sleep hour, what can you do ?





Here's how you could achieve your goal :

- Set alarm clock to wake up earlier than normal, eg. 2 hours earlier
- Do not nap during the day no matter how tired you are
- You should be tired enough that night to sleep earlier, don't worry about things that haven't been completed
- Repeat this until your biology clock is tuned to your ideal time to go to bed





If you still have problem, then try the following :

* Do exercise in the morning, or at least 6 hours before bed time
* Take a 3-minutes' warm bath 2-4 hours before going to bed
* Listen to music, read something that keep you relax





Or eat some light food that relaxes muscles, keep you calm or helps induce sleep :
# Banana
# Warm Milk
# Whole Wheat Bread
# Wheat Cereal
# Potato
# Almond
# Turkey


Do come back and share with me your progress :)

Tristan at 11 months

Tristan turn 11 months more than a week ago, he can understand "no" and some simple words now, but still don't know how to say a proper word yet, he likes to chase soap bubbles at bathe time, and he's still having his only 35% tooth, which seems to take forever to grow ;o)


Sometimes he'll pick up the book & flip the pages, as if he really knows how to read, it's fun watching him doing that.



These are only a quarter of his toys, but he gets bored of them very quickly, I have to store some of them away for a while and reintroduce to him later to keep him interested on them.



This is a chocolate that I bought in Singapore, it's a UK brand, and is very costly, I got 3 pieces of dark chocolate with nuts in this box, and that costs me around $14.xx Singapore Dollar ! I'm a dark chocolate fan so I was willing to pay the price to taste the different types of chocolate.



Anyway this proved to be a good buy, not only the dark chocolates taste excellent, Tristan loves this box so much compared to all his other toys, that he'll play with them every night, before going to sleep.

Bondi Beach

Pronounced "bóndai". Located in Sydney. We went there in early summer, 2004.



The wind was still chilly, I had to look for a cup of hot coffee, but as you can see here, people already enjoying themselves in the beach.




Bondi beach is very popular in Sydney, the crowd is there. Wikipedia mentioned that this is the world's busiest beach.



If you want to try swimming in winter, there's a swimming pool with blocks of ice in winter, it's called Bondi Icebergs, the picture is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondi_Beach#Bondi_Icebergs.

You may also choose to have a beer here, this is considered one of the best located drinking spot in Sydney, with live band in Jan & Feb.

A hike up Diamond Head, Oahu

One of the popular tourism spot in Oahu, it's a volcanic tuff cone.

Brief history on the name from Wikipedia :
The English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century, who mistook calcite crystals embedded in the rock for diamonds.


I know, I should be standing behind the board ...



The city view when we reached the top.



And the Pacific Ocean.



The sky looked great here, but not in the previous picture, it was too cloudy.



Now that I reached the top, let me relax a bit. Forgot how long it took to get up here, probably half an hour or so.



Did you see the lighthouse here ?
In Half Moon Bay (California), you can stay in its lighthouse and see the whale migrating (if you go at the right season & managed to make a reservation), we didn't get a chance to do it, but I imagine it would be a very unique experience.



Another angle of Waikiki city view.



This is where we started hiking up.



The trail.



Ready to leave.



Wait, the clouds.



Sport shoes should be the correct footwear but my sandal is very comfortable, just need to be cautious.



Looking towards the back of the cone.



On the way down.




You can see the entire shape of the Diamond Head cone here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Head