is driving me nuts. I animated over lunch to a colleague on what happened last night with my maid and I confirm it in my head that I should not be relying so much on her.
Over the last one and half years of hiring her to do the job, in fairness, she had been rather quick to pick up the skills which I wanted her to. When she is in the right frame of mind (not thinking of her own home problem), she handles my housework and kids okay. She does not steal or see other man (I hope). Although I tell her not to make friends, she disobeyed, I have yet to really nip it.
But every 4-5 months, she will act up. She will give me attitude, talk back when I told her that the work is done incorrectly. And it really makes my blood boil when she does that. She quite so often has done the exact opposite of what I expect of her. And it usually elevates when she calls home and thinks that her mum is not managing her send home funds - like help her dad with his medical fee.
It happened again, starting from last tues when I find it strange that her dinner presentation was bad. I suspected that she must have called home again and got affected by her family. But I kept mum and observed her. Then yesterday, Natasha had a fall and scraped her knee. With that, there was a small open wound and very dirty feet. I instructed Natasha to wash up the wound to avoid infection but she forgot. I have not even undress for the night as I was packing other stuff and she asked Natasha to change into her long pants pajamas, which Tasha blurr blurr follow instructions. I was mad at both of them so I reprimanded both. Natasha quickly changed into her short pants and I turn to the maid and asked her why she tells my daughter to do the wrong thing. It was not the first time she was told that wounds needs to be cleaned up. I did not have the time to do it immediately that's why I was mad that it happened too quickly and wrongly! She answered back that it was Natasha's fault. When I say that she was responsible for the wrong, she stared and "gin" at me - giving my attitude to tell me that I have wrongly accused her!!! My blood was definitely boiling at 100 degrees at this point so I ask her to get out of my sight, she answered back " so you ask me to go out one huh!". I fummed and I think my blood pressure must have gone up to by leaps. I pulled her shirt and bring her to my hubs and asks him to talk to her because I would slap her anytime.
When I cooled down, i asked her to point out what is going on. She admitted that she called home to find out that her dad is "tortured" under her mum. She says that she wants to go home to rest and bring her dad out and stay with her grandma first.
i told her that she's free to go but continued to nag at her because I was thinking of the hard work of training her and I have to start all over again.
My hubs hit the jackpot by showing her that if she continues for another 7 months, she has XXX amount. If she goes back now, she'll have to pay her air ticket and have only XX amount left. How much help can she give her dad with the XX amount now.
Before I slept, I felt I was stuck. Let her go and I have to train another one for another 3 months, may have chance that I have a problematic one too. Let her stay, I cannot be sure when she acts up again. Argh, the pain.
She apologises this morning and tells me she wants to continue to work. I just told her off that if she acts up again, I will not nag or hesitate to let her go and went on to work.
I called my Father-IL to go to my place to check on my girl so that I am assured that things does not go out of hand - just in case.
I am gonna do maid hunting again. Not so confident in her this time, compared to the last time. Perhaps it's because I have been alot nicer to her her yet she gives me such attitude which I cannot forgive so easily. when she first came, I set alot of firm rules so I may not be the easiest person to like at that time.
Aiyah, this is so frustrating. As a work outside home mum, I am just so helpless. I love my kids and I love my current job. There's gotta be some better way to handle this trapped situation, except, it might cost me alot more too. *sigh*
Monday, June 18, 2007
what a weekend!
Natasha is such a darling, she took some materials which I was preparing for Sunday school and started to do her father's day card for hubs.
As it turns out, it was a touching piece of work. My hubs got his affirmation of being a great dad from his little girl. The card says he is great because he teaches her everything! I am jealous. I didn't get anything that will jerk my tears on mother's day. heh, but I'm glad that my hubs is a great dad in the eyes of my children.
What I was really please with the little piece of work was that when she did it, she asks no one for help. At 6.5 years old, she has proven that she's independent and loving. Plus she can write passages on her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never really know when is the dumpling festival. Every year, the only thing I know is to eat the delicious dumplings my MIL makes.
Some years ago, I tried to make the dumplings but always fail the last part of wrapping. It is really difficult and I gave up since. This year, I am very determine to get at least one out by myself. So on Sat, I set my mind, my soul, my hands to take on the task.
It took me 3 hours to finally accomplish the last step of wrapping. And I only did ONE. My skills needs lotsa practice. My sisters-IL and MIL had already done 170. haha, sounds like a loser hor. Hubs had to rub it in and told me to practise with sand. er horkay... growl.
The weather yesterday was so perfect. It was windy, non humid, dark clouds but no signs of rain.
We went biking at our nearby park. I rented the double bike and rode it with Nathan. We spent a great 1.5hrs being friends. Natasha and I did a 15mins ride on the double bike and she talked non-stop. haha.
They enjoyed it so much that they hope we can do it again.
We headed for dinner at trusted Pu Tien restaurant
Only at the orginal one. It's the second time we went back to the place. They provide valet parking, free corkage and good food with reasonable price. Another thumbs up for them for performing under stress. It was so packed with people but yet the quality of the food was only slightly compromised. We had:
1) Hing Hwa Combination Platter
2) Bamboo Herbal Prawns
3) Hin Hwa Fried Mee Sua
4) Deep Fried Duck with Yam paste
5) Fish soup
6) brinjal with pork floss (new dish)
7) fried bun with pork strips
8) sweet sour pork with lychee
9) Sea cucumber with vegetables
We wanted the home made bean curd but it was a sold out. too bad.
For 14 persons with the above dishes, we spent 390 bucks. My MIL was worried the bill will be about $500 plus, judging that the food was really yummy.
There was no pic taken because I was too hungry since we biked before dinner. Also, everyone was "snatching" food cos dinner started at 8pm.
The slight drop in standard was the mee sua. It was not fried the way I wanted it. I like the dry version but yesterday, they gave us the wet one. The fish soup, was not consistent. The first one we had sometime ago, the soup had more flavour. It added some fried dried scallops and shallots. There was none found in the soup yesterday although it was still yummy.
the food pics I took the first time we were there..
As it turns out, it was a touching piece of work. My hubs got his affirmation of being a great dad from his little girl. The card says he is great because he teaches her everything! I am jealous. I didn't get anything that will jerk my tears on mother's day. heh, but I'm glad that my hubs is a great dad in the eyes of my children.
What I was really please with the little piece of work was that when she did it, she asks no one for help. At 6.5 years old, she has proven that she's independent and loving. Plus she can write passages on her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never really know when is the dumpling festival. Every year, the only thing I know is to eat the delicious dumplings my MIL makes.
Some years ago, I tried to make the dumplings but always fail the last part of wrapping. It is really difficult and I gave up since. This year, I am very determine to get at least one out by myself. So on Sat, I set my mind, my soul, my hands to take on the task.
It took me 3 hours to finally accomplish the last step of wrapping. And I only did ONE. My skills needs lotsa practice. My sisters-IL and MIL had already done 170. haha, sounds like a loser hor. Hubs had to rub it in and told me to practise with sand. er horkay... growl.
The weather yesterday was so perfect. It was windy, non humid, dark clouds but no signs of rain.
We went biking at our nearby park. I rented the double bike and rode it with Nathan. We spent a great 1.5hrs being friends. Natasha and I did a 15mins ride on the double bike and she talked non-stop. haha.
They enjoyed it so much that they hope we can do it again.
We headed for dinner at trusted Pu Tien restaurant
Only at the orginal one. It's the second time we went back to the place. They provide valet parking, free corkage and good food with reasonable price. Another thumbs up for them for performing under stress. It was so packed with people but yet the quality of the food was only slightly compromised. We had:
1) Hing Hwa Combination Platter
2) Bamboo Herbal Prawns
3) Hin Hwa Fried Mee Sua
4) Deep Fried Duck with Yam paste
5) Fish soup
6) brinjal with pork floss (new dish)
7) fried bun with pork strips
8) sweet sour pork with lychee
9) Sea cucumber with vegetables
We wanted the home made bean curd but it was a sold out. too bad.
For 14 persons with the above dishes, we spent 390 bucks. My MIL was worried the bill will be about $500 plus, judging that the food was really yummy.
There was no pic taken because I was too hungry since we biked before dinner. Also, everyone was "snatching" food cos dinner started at 8pm.
The slight drop in standard was the mee sua. It was not fried the way I wanted it. I like the dry version but yesterday, they gave us the wet one. The fish soup, was not consistent. The first one we had sometime ago, the soup had more flavour. It added some fried dried scallops and shallots. There was none found in the soup yesterday although it was still yummy.
the food pics I took the first time we were there..
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
what the heck...
Before I posting lesser in LJ and more in my blogger site, I could have been appear slightly more different then and now.
I still post in my blogger but I've decided to post a little more in LJ since i like my new layout. I also wanted to try out the new posting experience. There's a few extra feature which I thought was really interesting. And I still read up most of the LJ mummies blog.
the unfortunate thing is though, I am less concious of what I post. I used to be rather careful of what I post but since blogging elsewhere, I realise that this is a larger community.
Like the one I posted for brokeback, i say what I thought, point blank. No holding back. Tell me that I have bad grammar, heck. I can't spell, heck. Don't agree with me, heck. My post is messy, heck.
Okay, that being said. Please don't get me wrong. I am still a nice and sweet person when you are the same :)
I still post in my blogger but I've decided to post a little more in LJ since i like my new layout. I also wanted to try out the new posting experience. There's a few extra feature which I thought was really interesting. And I still read up most of the LJ mummies blog.
the unfortunate thing is though, I am less concious of what I post. I used to be rather careful of what I post but since blogging elsewhere, I realise that this is a larger community.
Like the one I posted for brokeback, i say what I thought, point blank. No holding back. Tell me that I have bad grammar, heck. I can't spell, heck. Don't agree with me, heck. My post is messy, heck.
Okay, that being said. Please don't get me wrong. I am still a nice and sweet person when you are the same :)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Life's like that...
Besides some white hairs that persists on my head. I sometimes get into self denial that I'm in my 30s. Well, there is always little harm to think you are 28 as long as I behave resonably mature... err, right?
Then, I am slap with the reality with two instances and am reminded and a little more persuaded that I have grown wiser being in the 30s.
1st incident:
The exits from the trains are mostly on the right side of the station and makes the train station at Pasir ris more crowded on the right than left. I wanted to top up the value of my transport card when I realised that the woman 3 persons before me ain't getting no where. I quickly take a peek on the other side and saw no persons blocking and made my way there. It takes approx 8 mins to finish the transaction of topping up. At the 6th min, the lady in her 20s whom was queuing before me came to my left side machine to get her single trip refund. Her friend chided her for not coming to that side earlier (I then was about to turn and saw the other side still as crowded and people does not want to leave the queue to get their transaction done on our side). Then the lady in her 20s replied with loads of pride and slightly raised voice.
"well, some gals have boobs and some have brains, I rather be the one who has boobs."
Alrighty then, my head was replying : I'd have both, thanks very much.
That's is what women of 30s wisely thinks.
2nd incident:
one popular joke about ugly women was this guy went for a blind date and the partner turned up rather unpleasant to the eye. He sat there gentlemanly and down 4 glasses and beer. With each beer, the date becomes prettier and prettier. At the 4th glass, the date has great figure and celebrity looks.
I was standing in a peak hour MRT cabin when 3 .. well, boys in their 20s decided to boost how much they know about gals. Because it was crowded, my back was turn against them. But they were right behind me and spoke pretty loudly.
They lament that with the selection they have, how would they be able to procreate *ahem*. One commented that he has to get himself drunk everyday to get himself to bed with his wife if that's the case. Another then described the joke (as above) to another whom sounds like a Thai.
On the 3rd station, I managed to get a seat and as I sat, I faced them. Alas, they should really look themselves in the mirror. Like Piggy in the journey to the west, a chinese proverbs says: Piggy stares at the mirror, inside and outside is not human. Same thing applies to these boys in their 20s. Please, you are no hunk nor sauve. Nerd, pimply, stout and bad fashion sense - the girls you get suits you well. Thank you very much.
My hubby is watching Pursuit for happyness and I realised that it is the best show to play for Father's Day next week. They can comprehend the child care Christopher (the young boy) goes to, the exasperation Chris Garner felt, the love he wants to give his kid. My hub is feeling all that now.
Then, I am slap with the reality with two instances and am reminded and a little more persuaded that I have grown wiser being in the 30s.
1st incident:
The exits from the trains are mostly on the right side of the station and makes the train station at Pasir ris more crowded on the right than left. I wanted to top up the value of my transport card when I realised that the woman 3 persons before me ain't getting no where. I quickly take a peek on the other side and saw no persons blocking and made my way there. It takes approx 8 mins to finish the transaction of topping up. At the 6th min, the lady in her 20s whom was queuing before me came to my left side machine to get her single trip refund. Her friend chided her for not coming to that side earlier (I then was about to turn and saw the other side still as crowded and people does not want to leave the queue to get their transaction done on our side). Then the lady in her 20s replied with loads of pride and slightly raised voice.
"well, some gals have boobs and some have brains, I rather be the one who has boobs."
Alrighty then, my head was replying : I'd have both, thanks very much.
That's is what women of 30s wisely thinks.
2nd incident:
one popular joke about ugly women was this guy went for a blind date and the partner turned up rather unpleasant to the eye. He sat there gentlemanly and down 4 glasses and beer. With each beer, the date becomes prettier and prettier. At the 4th glass, the date has great figure and celebrity looks.
I was standing in a peak hour MRT cabin when 3 .. well, boys in their 20s decided to boost how much they know about gals. Because it was crowded, my back was turn against them. But they were right behind me and spoke pretty loudly.
They lament that with the selection they have, how would they be able to procreate *ahem*. One commented that he has to get himself drunk everyday to get himself to bed with his wife if that's the case. Another then described the joke (as above) to another whom sounds like a Thai.
On the 3rd station, I managed to get a seat and as I sat, I faced them. Alas, they should really look themselves in the mirror. Like Piggy in the journey to the west, a chinese proverbs says: Piggy stares at the mirror, inside and outside is not human. Same thing applies to these boys in their 20s. Please, you are no hunk nor sauve. Nerd, pimply, stout and bad fashion sense - the girls you get suits you well. Thank you very much.
My hubby is watching Pursuit for happyness and I realised that it is the best show to play for Father's Day next week. They can comprehend the child care Christopher (the young boy) goes to, the exasperation Chris Garner felt, the love he wants to give his kid. My hub is feeling all that now.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Hakone - without Mt Fuji
We travelled by bullet train from Tokyo city to Hakone. To see the place proper, for S$50/adult and S$25/kid, you have a 3 Day pass that allows you to take whatever transport - train, cable, sea, bus around the area. The highlight here is Mt Fuji scenery, the hot spring mt, the hot spring spa resorts and delicious set meals.
tokyo pics
I really shd have invested some time to do picasa much earlier *slap forehead*. I find it tedious to upload pics one by one and had been looking to doing collage for my pics and now i did it within an hour.
the pics from tokyo - 25th May to 27th May.
the pics from tokyo - 25th May to 27th May.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Back from Holidays
Holidays always seems so short, especially when you want to enjoy more.
Have been back to work on Monday. We reached home by cab at 1.30am on sunday. we slept till 10.30am and decided to do a feast on Prata brunch. the kids and us finished up some 4 egg and 4 cheese pratas and some indian rojak, milo dinasaurs and Teh Halia. Yumzzz.
still sorting out the pictures and I found that my ex-Nikon (now Nathan's camera) takes quality pictures compared to my look pretty Sony.
Japan has been facinating and fun but ohhh so tiring. Most of the time, hubs is the one who was get people on the right track to the right place, like a semi tour leader. By the 6th day, hubs seemed to be saturated by the planning and the directing so my nephew and me had to try to decipher the messy train routes and by doing it independently, it had certainly taught us Japan places well!
the good bits:
We totally enjoyed our days at Universal Studio, Disneysea, Disneyland, the stay at Sheraton at Disney resort. We spent some little time at a nice park with that great weather, did some shopping and window shopping at Ginza. Eat and walk the fish market. We caught up a friend who had worked in Japan for some time.
There were lots and lots of opportunities for train rides. At least for a long time, we won't lament not having to be able to travel by train before. Furthermore, the trains were efficient and comfortable.
I was pleasantly surprised that the people there are much more civilised than homeground.
Oh, and bonus was that my Nike mary jane served me superbly well!
The favourite thing I gain out of this trip was that I got to know my children alot more. really quality time spent together...
Nathan at 10 prefers to be with his cousin friends so most of the time, he'll look for their company. He spends his money rather wisely when it comes to buying souvenirs and such. He gives cool poses and tells me not to worry about him taking rides on his own. yeah, right. There was this ride (snoopy land splash) he wanted to take with Si Hong. It seats two persons each ride. I was alone as Natasha decided not to take the ride. When we reach the top, all of the sudden, he wanted to back out and sit with me. Si Hong was pretty stunned that he would be on his own. this son of mine finally decided to be loyal and stuck with his friend and took the same boat with him. Thank God though, as it turn out, the ride was not so scary afterall. He certainly learnt a lesson not be over confident on his bravery.
Natasha is so sweet and shows so much affection that it melts my heart throughout these time time. She would sing herself to sleep when we pack our stuffs. She does her own bath now (yes, i am still the freak mum who'll worry that she did not get the shampoo out of her hair), she'll try to make sure that her things are nicely packed. She'll kiss our hands when she happy. She'll give us bear hugs when she feels so loved and wants to love back. She takes all the rides with us, as long as she feels protected by us. Her poses are now so cute. She says the darnest things to make us break into laughters. And she is persistent when she chase after boys she like - yeah, she is into Mr Bean and Si Hui captured her heart by talking and dramas like one. haha. She points to Si Hao's groin area (who is 14 this year) and ask him what he calls it. She gives him 3 choices - kuku bird, bird bird or private part. My nephew says Penis and she does not understand. Hub interrupted and told them it's groin. arh, so farny!
And they don't turn like helicopters when they sleep anymore.
*sigh* These are great memories that will hardly be erased from our memory.
the not so good bits:
there was little time to shop, can't really do it with a peace of mind with 6 children and 5 other adults with you. Just as well since the things there are so steep.
The other few regrets were that we didn't had the chance to spend more time at Hakone (the Mt Fuji resort), Mt Fuji was evasive - did not see it at all and we did not fulfill the Kyoto part of the itinary. We also spend alot of frustrated time doing what others want to do and time wasting to us. Our hotels at Tokyo city and Osaka city was not comfortable. Tokyo city's so packed with people perpertually on your face all the time!
Other insights:
People in Osaka tends to be more helpful. They are twice more civilised than people in Tokyo. The food is nicer and less expensive. The shops at some places can cost three times more expensive. We spend about 2 hours at Narita and found that it's a quaint little town which we would have like to spend more time in, much more than Tokyo. There are many restaurants but since we are on our own, we have no idea which gives the best value. We had fair share of good and bad ones.
The bread there are very nice, even those you buy from their convenient stores.
Hubs and I will do a separate trip from the kids the next time. Pics in next post.
Next on our wish list:
1) Hokkaido
2) Israel (With church)
3) New Zealand then Hawaii route
4) Europe - quite far fetch though
Have been back to work on Monday. We reached home by cab at 1.30am on sunday. we slept till 10.30am and decided to do a feast on Prata brunch. the kids and us finished up some 4 egg and 4 cheese pratas and some indian rojak, milo dinasaurs and Teh Halia. Yumzzz.
still sorting out the pictures and I found that my ex-Nikon (now Nathan's camera) takes quality pictures compared to my look pretty Sony.
Japan has been facinating and fun but ohhh so tiring. Most of the time, hubs is the one who was get people on the right track to the right place, like a semi tour leader. By the 6th day, hubs seemed to be saturated by the planning and the directing so my nephew and me had to try to decipher the messy train routes and by doing it independently, it had certainly taught us Japan places well!
the good bits:
We totally enjoyed our days at Universal Studio, Disneysea, Disneyland, the stay at Sheraton at Disney resort. We spent some little time at a nice park with that great weather, did some shopping and window shopping at Ginza. Eat and walk the fish market. We caught up a friend who had worked in Japan for some time.
There were lots and lots of opportunities for train rides. At least for a long time, we won't lament not having to be able to travel by train before. Furthermore, the trains were efficient and comfortable.
I was pleasantly surprised that the people there are much more civilised than homeground.
Oh, and bonus was that my Nike mary jane served me superbly well!
The favourite thing I gain out of this trip was that I got to know my children alot more. really quality time spent together...
Nathan at 10 prefers to be with his cousin friends so most of the time, he'll look for their company. He spends his money rather wisely when it comes to buying souvenirs and such. He gives cool poses and tells me not to worry about him taking rides on his own. yeah, right. There was this ride (snoopy land splash) he wanted to take with Si Hong. It seats two persons each ride. I was alone as Natasha decided not to take the ride. When we reach the top, all of the sudden, he wanted to back out and sit with me. Si Hong was pretty stunned that he would be on his own. this son of mine finally decided to be loyal and stuck with his friend and took the same boat with him. Thank God though, as it turn out, the ride was not so scary afterall. He certainly learnt a lesson not be over confident on his bravery.
Natasha is so sweet and shows so much affection that it melts my heart throughout these time time. She would sing herself to sleep when we pack our stuffs. She does her own bath now (yes, i am still the freak mum who'll worry that she did not get the shampoo out of her hair), she'll try to make sure that her things are nicely packed. She'll kiss our hands when she happy. She'll give us bear hugs when she feels so loved and wants to love back. She takes all the rides with us, as long as she feels protected by us. Her poses are now so cute. She says the darnest things to make us break into laughters. And she is persistent when she chase after boys she like - yeah, she is into Mr Bean and Si Hui captured her heart by talking and dramas like one. haha. She points to Si Hao's groin area (who is 14 this year) and ask him what he calls it. She gives him 3 choices - kuku bird, bird bird or private part. My nephew says Penis and she does not understand. Hub interrupted and told them it's groin. arh, so farny!
And they don't turn like helicopters when they sleep anymore.
*sigh* These are great memories that will hardly be erased from our memory.
the not so good bits:
there was little time to shop, can't really do it with a peace of mind with 6 children and 5 other adults with you. Just as well since the things there are so steep.
The other few regrets were that we didn't had the chance to spend more time at Hakone (the Mt Fuji resort), Mt Fuji was evasive - did not see it at all and we did not fulfill the Kyoto part of the itinary. We also spend alot of frustrated time doing what others want to do and time wasting to us. Our hotels at Tokyo city and Osaka city was not comfortable. Tokyo city's so packed with people perpertually on your face all the time!
Other insights:
People in Osaka tends to be more helpful. They are twice more civilised than people in Tokyo. The food is nicer and less expensive. The shops at some places can cost three times more expensive. We spend about 2 hours at Narita and found that it's a quaint little town which we would have like to spend more time in, much more than Tokyo. There are many restaurants but since we are on our own, we have no idea which gives the best value. We had fair share of good and bad ones.
The bread there are very nice, even those you buy from their convenient stores.
Hubs and I will do a separate trip from the kids the next time. Pics in next post.
Next on our wish list:
1) Hokkaido
2) Israel (With church)
3) New Zealand then Hawaii route
4) Europe - quite far fetch though
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