Being connected to the internet is such an integral part of what I do at work so much so that I even depend on it personally.  If I have no connectivity to the internet for more than a  1 day, I’d feel as though I’m missing something.

Sad? But true.

Because let’s face it.

In this day and age, we rely so much on the internet for information. It gives a new meaning to having information at your fingertips.

If you need to find ways to remove ink stains from a wooden table? You google it.

If you need to find out the cast of a movie, you google it.

If you need to get directions on how to get to a certain place? You google it.

If you need to find ways to speed up your computer? You google it.

When my dad asked me one day on what are the places to visit at Siem Riep? I told him to google it.

When my mom asked me where I got the Claypot Chicken Rice recipe, I told her I got it off the internet.

You get the drift.

So how many of you can ‘switch off’ from the  internet  for longer than a week?

No googling.

No facebooking.

No twittering.

No pinning.

No instagramming.

Can you do it?

I can’t.

At least 7 out of 10 people I know owns at least 1 Tag Heuer watch. I didn’t own one until I could afford to buy one for myself more than 7-8 years ago. And to relinquish that guilt for splurging on a watch on myself, I got one for the DH as well for his birthday!

Tag Heuer watches are pretty long lasting if you ask me and they are built that way.  I’ve  been using my trusty old Tag Heuer all these years and have only been faithful to the one and only Tag Heuer watch I have.

Ladies’ Tag Heuer AQUARACER Diamond Watch

This is by far my favourite Tag Heuer watch and it’s not very far off from the one I have. Mine’s without the diamonds. Boo! hoo!

Lately though, I have been itching to get my hands on a particular  Omega watch. Having been out of the watch shopping scene for quite some time now, I was surprised to discover how obscene the prices of Omega watches have evolved to. It’s synonymous to a price of a Canon EOS 6B Mark iii!

Anyway…I shall not torture myself.

I’ll stick to my trusty old Tag Heuer watch and my Canon EOS 40D and be happy.

I am a compulsive gadget buyer. Maybe not as hard core as others but in our household, I am one.

I’m usually not looking out for new gadgets to buy but if they catch my eye, there is not turning back.

Take the iPhone for example. When the 1st generation iPhone was first launched  a few years back, I never thought anything about it. I was pretty happy with my Samsung non-smart flip phone. But the moment my sis  whipped out her iPhone to show me some pictures she had taken, my mind snapped. I had to get it. And the next thing I knew, a phone call to my brother in law who was in the U.S then had sealed the deal. I was a proud owner of an iPhone (the iPhone wasn’t launched in KL yet)

Take the iPad as another example.  I figured then what good would an iPad be then. It was simple a larger version of the iPhone. Months passed. And then one day, a MLTB customer of mine emailed me via her iPad and then I thought I had to have one.  I emailed my dear friend in Singapore and sought his help to get me one! (The iPad wasn’t launched in KL yet)

And then there’s the laminator. At one point, I was reading so many organizing blogs and realized that the common denominator in all these blogs was the laminator. It’s a basic tool to have in any organizing projects. So off I went to Popular bookstore to get a Pouch Laminator CLA302. And since we are talking about organizing, I also got the DYMO labeller gadget.

And then there’s my Sony Nex5n. After playing around with my sister’s Sony Nex 5 camera and after seeing Sue’s lovely Sony Nex5, I had to get one for myself too! There was no turning back!

These days, I have been eyeing on the Samsung Galaxy S3. I am an Apple girl through and through but when I held a Samsung Galaxy S3 over the weekend, I thought jeng-jeng-jeng….my heart skipped a beat.

Gadget-savy much?

Most parents sign their children up for music appreciation class or actual music lessons when they are still young  i.e. 5 years old. I do know of parents who started sending their kids for music classes since 3 years old as well.  My kids however have not gone for any music appreciation classes except for the Kindermusik weekly that they have as part of their kindy curriculum. Childhood is an excellent time for kids to pick up a musical instrument since that have limitless capacity to absorb information at a faster rate as compared to adults.  By learning music, the kids will be able to express themselves and develop better coordination, fine motor skills and will have a deeper appreciation of the arts.  It also teaches them the importance of focus, dedication and practice (so thinking of Ashley right now!) and in turn helps them to set goals and forces them to pursue excellence – which I think are important values every child should have. Music will also help to build confidence in a child and they will carry with them through life.

According to Article Click, an ideal age for a child to learn the piano is 5 years old. Their hands are bigger and they are able to sit still  and concentrate on the lesson and playing the piano is less complicated as compared to playing a string instrument. Of course the lesson cannot be 2 hours long. Anyone – even an adult won’t be able to sit still and focus on the piano for that long. As for string instruments such as the guitar or violin, the ideal age to start a child would be 7-8 years old and Age 10-11 for wind instruments such as the trumpet, flute, saxophone.

I remember when I was in primary school, I was part of the school’s orchestra and I played an Anklung. Although it’s not as complicated as the saxophone or violin, I felt very proud to be part of the ensemble and was very amazed at how different instruments with different timings and coordination could produce beautiful music to the ears.

In my uni days (it’s never too late to pick up a music instrument), I picked up the guitar from my dear friends. My finger tips were sore at first but after awhile, i got the hang of it and mini-jammed with my friends – who by the way are seriously talented people who play the guitar, drums  and can sing! Those were the days…I have however forgotten to play the guitar since I have not touched it since I left graduated a gazillion years ago.

We have been very slack in introducing our 2 young’uns to music. I guess we had better buckle and start doing something about it and get on with the discovery process.  Since the kids are quite inclined to the drums lately after watching Hop, perhaps I should check out Taye Drums guitar center.

Photo source : SimpleWallpaper.net

Somehow, the hubs seems to think that he is still as active as a 17 year old boy. He plays football twice a week – three times if he has to and each time he comes back from a game, he’d complain about aches here and there and my usual line would be, “You’re not longer 17. You are pushing 40!” I mean honestly, at this age, we need to be careful. More often than not, he’d come back with ankle problems and he’d be wearing Bauerfeind Malleoloc ankle brace for the next few days right until his next game is up. Talk about giving the body some rest…? or how about when he had fever and was down for 2 days and on the 3rd day, he miraculously sprung out of the bed and onto the football field??

Anyway..the man’s gotta learn it the hard way. The wife’s persistent nagging ain’t getting to him.

Men.

Extra Curricular Activities for standard 1 at the school Ashley attends are mostly Saturdays. They offer various activities such as Taewondo, Art class, Diabolo, dancing, Wushu – to name a few. Unfortunately though, they all class with Ashley’s existing activities outside of school.

When I was in primary school, I signed up to a Brownie.

Taken from Wikipedia :

Brownies were first organized by Lord Baden-Powell in 1914, to complete the range of age groups both for girls and boys in Scouting. They were first run as the youngest group in the Guide Association by Agnes Baden-Powell, Lord Baden-Powell’s younger sister. In 1918 his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, took over the responsibility for the Girl Guides and thus for Brownies.

Why do they not have it here? I’d love for Ashley to join the Brownies.

Excerpt from Girl Guiding Scotland :-

Brownies follow a programme called The Brownie Adventure, which is divided into three areas: You, Community and World.

You: Brownies develop confidence and self-esteem through having new experiences and learning new skills. They build friendships and learn to share and cooperate with others by working together in small groups called ‘Sixes’. They get a say in what happens at Brownies through discussions or ‘Pow-wows’, which help them develop decision-making skills and the ability to put their views across.

Community: We encourage girls to become active citizens by helping them understand and participate in their communities. This could mean raising money for charities or visiting local places of interest.

World: Our programme encourages girls to learn about the wider world. Activities could involve celebrating a festival from a different culture, finding out about endangered animal species, or learning how they can combat climate change. Towards the end of her Brownie days, a Brownie may be introduced to the Brownies Go For It! resource. It is similar to Guide Go For It! resources, which give groups of girls more freedom to choose their own activities. The activities will encourage her to find out about Guides as well as develop skills such as team work and decision-making.

When I googled ‘Brownies in Malaysia” , I get results for the best brownie cookies in Malaysia.

I guess I better keep looking…

When I was a kid, my parents signed me up for piano lessons.

I.hated.it.

I’d always get the theory part wrong and I’d erase my answers until I made holes on the paper. I had 2 piano teachers and they intimidated me. I guess I felt pressured. After Grade 2, I managed to persuade my parents to stop me from going for further piano classes.

HURRAY!

Best move ever.

By then, I knew the basics of playing the piano. So if you can read notes and know which key is which note, you can make music right? DEFINITELY! I picked up my sister’s Richard Clayderman’s  music sheets, practiced everyday and played wonderful music. I could even play them by heart.

Some of the pieces I can remember offhand are :

1. Ballade Pour Adeline

2. Marriage D’Amour

3. Fur Elise (MY FAVOURITE!!!!)

4. Love Me Tender

So the moral of the story here is that if the kids don’t  have a passion for any instrument or sport, don’t force them. Instead, find out what they really like and encourage them by playing with them or find an instructor that’s suitable to them.

You initial investment does not have to cost an arm and a leg.

If they want to learn the piano – get a pre-loved piano or a cheap electric piano or keyboard

If they want to pick up the trumbone, get a cheap or pre-loved plastic trombone.

A little investment can go a loong loong way.

I recently saw pictures of a friend’s 5yo son who was involved in a junior golf tournament on Facebook. I also saw a newspaper clipping of a 8-9 yo (a friend’s daughter) who was involved in a tennis tournament. Coincidentally, both of these kids have 1 thing in common. The golfer is a Sabahan. The tennis player’s mom used to study at KK (not a Sabahan) . Both of their moms are my friends. (Just had to point out the common denominators here…..although not relevant in this post )

And then I thought – hmmm…..Ashley’s into ballet right now…and Aidan has not picked up any sport at all. So I told the hubs to invest more time with Aidan and play a sport together – football, tennis..whatever. Or pick up and instrument –  the guitar, piano..anything. Whatever.  If’ he chooses the guitar then guitar it is. We’d  buy Godin  if we have to.

So recently, Hubs have started to spend more time with Aidan to play footsie and the little one loves it! We’re looking into getting him enrolled to play football with other kids and I’ve suggested to the hubs to be a volunteer coach for the kids since he lives, eats, sleeps football. Interesting times ahead!

The football is a birthday gift from Agnes.

When Ashley was about 3 years old (I can’t quite remember), Hubs brought her to the men’s loo at a shopping mall. In the wash closet was a cigar, similar to the Davidoff Cigars online. When she came out of the toilet, she ran up to me and said, “Mommy, you know what I found in the toilet? I found crayons in the toilet bowl!”

Oh the innocence of it all!

Did we correct her? Nope. In that moment, we didn’t  burst her bubble.  We wanted her to continue to think that the world was perfect. But sadly, it isn’t.

I know of some people who are being proactive and have made their own funeral arrangements right down to the T for when they pass on. I’ve read about a blogger who specified what outfit she’d wear, what music to be played, reserved a burial spot, so on and so forth. Have you made your own funeral arrangements? As morbid as it sounds, it’s actually quite practical if you come to think of it. It actually releases the burden of your surviving family. The last thing they’d want to think about is to get into the nitty gritty details of how to arrange for a funeral for their loved ones right?

But I digress.

Making your own funeral arrangements is like permanently putting an expiry date on your life – not that we all don’t have an expiry date but you get what I mean. (I hope)

For now, I shall only think of happy thoughts.

Ommmmmm