Korea Holiday - November 2023

We did a family holiday in Korea and we absolutely loved it ! 

One of the highlights was dressing up and taking photos at Gyeongbokgong palace. 

My 2 girls

They both looked so good! 

And I still can't get over how grown up Erin looked that day.  Yup, my lil girl who still goes around the house half naked looking for her clothes.  lol

Hubby and I

I contemplated whether to get a more "age appropriate" outfit of a queen or a darker colour.  

Then it was like "Heck, I'm not getting any younger" so just wear whatever makes me feel good!  hehe.  Hence the sweet light purple colour with butteflies. No regrets there. 

Will I eventually do a day-by-day recap of what we did during the holiday?  Maybe yes, maybe no. 

No - thinking of all the pictures I have to dig up

Yes - thinking of how I love to see my past holiday posts.

Well, let's see how it goes. 

BLUE !

Ta daa.......... Introducing my latest crochet creation.

BLUE, my cat cushion. And yup, you guessed it right, her favourite colour is Blue  :-) 

I'm happy with how she turned out ! 

Beauty of crochet. I can bring it anywhere.  

This photo taken at Sekinchan paddy fields

This photo taken at home. Crocheting while listening to music.  

One of my favourite ways to spend my "Me time". 

My hands are busy but my thoughts are free to go anywhere. 

Ta da...... the final outcome 

Back view of her little fat bum bum  

 

Stuffing is a bit uneven this round.  Cos I didn't have enough stuffing (the white polyster stuff).So what did I do?  Got creative and stuffed her with 3 pairs of old but clean socks and leftover bits of yarn.  Hehe. 

Super love this hobby of mine!  Now, what shall I make next. 

Hello 2023!

 Uhm... Hello 2023 in July ?

Ah well, why not.  Better late than never.

First time in years I didn't do my Bye Bye Year xx, Hello Year yy. 

So belated as it is, I shall start off with Reflections of 2022 before I go into Welcoming 2023.  Plan is to go through my phone and take 1 photo from each month of 2022...

January 2022

Frasers Hill 2022 for hubby's birthday. Memorable one cos we got "conned" into this weekend stay. Hubs said let's go to for a day trip to Kuala Kubu Baru.  Then, let's go up Frasers Hill. Then, let's stay one night!  We had no extra clothes and no toiletries.  But he kept on playing the "it's my birthday" card.  Haha.  Would have still preferred WITH proper packing, but it was still quite a nice impromptu little holiday.

February 2022 

Lovely staycation at W Hotel in KL ! I actually bought a hotel package during covid time which included hotel room and some dining vouchers. When my boss heard about it, he said he'll try to arrange something nice for me.  Turned out to be an upgrade to their Executive Suite complete with champagne and chocolates. Ooo la la !!!  Girls (ok, me included) were squealing in excitement when they saw the luxurious suite. 

March 2022

Went for a short 4D, 3N trip to Langkawi with hubby. As much as I love family holidays, a holiday with just the two of us hits the spot too ! 

Ok la...got guilty for dumping kiddos with my parents when hubby and I went for our Langkawi trip.  So we all went for a weekend staycation at Four Points Chinatown.  All 6 of us. :-) 

April 2022

Uhm.... why is this starting to look like a holiday post rather than a monthly highlight post. Or highlights for us tend to be holidays. hehe

For April, went for a short staycation in Westin KL. Ok, but this was AFTER a really crazy work time in the office. Launched SAP at work which was super super stressful and exhausting. Almost a full year of planning but the last 2 weeks ware intense. Crashed every night after work.  

May 2022

ok, finally a non holiday photo.  Baked this chocolate banana cake with banana compote in May. So yummy!  Definitely need to bake this again. 

June 2022

Extended Family holiday at Sekeping Serendah. Stayed for 2 nights.  No wi-fi & back to nature weekend. Nice! 

July 2022

Short staycation at Four Points Sheraton in Chinatown. Took an LRT ride to eat Satay Kajang  :-) 

August 2022

Took a day off from work to bring the girls for a day trip up to Genting. 

September 2022

Celebrated Lantern Festival at my parents place.  Wish I have a decent photo with all the kiddos carrying their lanterns tho! Love this traditional version with the mini candles. 

October 2022

Holiday at Pangkor Laut Resort with my parents. Hubby had to work so it was the 5 of us. OMG.... love, love love PLR so much.  It's like a little slice of heaven in Malaysia. Beautiful island, wonderful service, great food.  Pricey of course but it's really an exceptional place. 

After the holiday, my boss dropped me a bombshell that he was taking up another position within the group. Sigh, didn't hit me then, but the impact turned out bigger than what I tot at that time. 

November 2022

Ran a half marathon!  Was definitely not fit.  But glad I managed to finish the run within the qualifying time. 

December 2022

Week-long family up north. Ipoh, Kuala Sepetang, Penang, Ipoh, Taiping.  Picture above was from breakfast at E&O Penang. Love the breakfast view! 

Had surgery on 28th December to remove 2 small lumps in my breast. It was quite an emotional roller coaster ride and at one point, I was pretty resigned to the fact that I might have cancer. What an absolute relief when the biopsy results came out negative.

And that pretty much sums out 2022!!!  Ups and down.  More of the downs on the last part of the year.  But overall still a good year and I am grateful for that. 

Reflections from previous years:

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2022/01/goodbye-2021-hello-2022.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2021/01/goodbye-2020-hello-2021.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2019/01/goodbye-2018-hello-2019.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2018/01/goodbye-2017-hello-2018.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2017/01/goodbye-2016-hello-2017.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2014/01/hello-2014.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2013/01/happy-new-year-2013-already.html

http://elyssachong.blogspot.com/2011/12/goodbye-2011-hello-2012.html

First post of 2023

My last blog entry was in February 2022.  *Gasps!*

I knew I haven't updated in a long time but 1 year and 5 months?? How did time fly by so fast. Looked at the pictures in my phone and I don't even know how to begin. Tons and tons of pictures. 

So rather than getting lost trying to get a "proper" post up, here's a simple little post of the BABY in the family. He's such a chore especially since kakak is away for her holiday but oh, he is so so adorable and knows just the way to melt our hearts.  Can't imagine our lives without him now.  :-) 

 

Growing Up

Sometimes I think the girls are just growing up way to fast!  What happened to my chubby, dimply loud baby Elyssa?  And my sweet smiley baby Erin ? 

One thing is for sure.  I want to enjoy our moments together!  And enjoy each phase as they come. Had plenty of mummy-girls time last weekend.  

Walked randomly around Pavilion and then ended up having high tea at TWG.  The food items were not great (probably slightly below par), tea was good but the setting was nice !!  So that it made it all worth it!  He he.   It was nice to just sit, chill and have our afternoon tea.   

Cooper

Just a random picture of Erin and Cooper.  Love they way Cooper is looking into Erin's eyes here!  And how his lil pink tongue is out.  And the way his paws are on her shoulder. 

Incredibly cheeky but how not to looooooove this lil fella !!!   He brings so much joy into our lives. 

 

Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022 !

It's been a long while since I updated here!  So why today?  I went for my covid booster jab yesterday and when I had to put the date - I confidently wrote down 16 Jan and then.... hesitated at the year.  Eh, 2021 or 2022?   5 second delay while I started blankly at the form. Oops!  My "Goodbye year xx, Hello year yy" posts have always helped me to kick start the year, so here I am writing today. 

As always, I start off with reflections first.  How was Year 2021?  Overall, I must say it was a good year for me. Career part has been good. Stressful at times, but I do love what I do.  Family part has been good.  We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last year - haven't killed each other yet!  Lol.  Kids doing fine. Online classes and being stuck at home for most part of the year wasn't great, but well they did go through with it. Health was good, though weight goal not achieved (yet again). Not that I have not been exercising. Somehow my weighing scale just didn't get the memo!  

They were multiple serious health issues among family members, friends and colleagues which shocked me to the core each time. Tumour, cancer, depression - these were some words which I started to google last year.  Good health is definitely something not to be taken for granted. 

Some holiday pics of the year - 

At the beautiful Tg Jara Resort in Trengganu 

@Tasik Puteri Bukit Besi, in Trengganu

@ Mangala Spa Resort, Kuantan 

Day trip to Sekinchan 

Staycation at Four Points, Chinatown

Melaka Trip

Majestic Hotel Lobby,  Melaka 

Janda Baik trip

Yup, we are definitely a family that loves holidays !  I guess we always think there will come a time when the girls will be too busy with their activities so just want to cherish these times and to create memories together.   Plus on normal days, we usually end up doing our own stuff. Family holidays means we are together almost 100%. (which can end up getting annoying too. heh)  

Aiks, digging for photos took longer than expected.  Plenty more reflections to write about 2021 but I suppose will have to suffice for now.  

Time to bid farewell to 2021 and look forward to the year ahead. 

May Year 2022 be a good year for all of us.  Bring it on !   

Sisters

Managed to catch some sweet lil moments of my 2 monkeys :-) 

 

These days, they tend to  stop whatever they are doing together when they me taking pics, so I'm glad to have taken these!  

Exercise

Took me a while to realise that Erin hardly gets any exercise during MCO time.  She walks to and from my parents house but that's pretty much it.  No more evening walks and playground time. 

I don't have to worry about Elyssa cos she gets more than exercise from her online gymnastics class. 

Gotta keep reminding Erin to get some exercise into her routine! 

Photo from last weekend - 

Little girl following a simple workout from Youtube 

Big girl stretching for her gymnastics class

Little boy being a busy-body as usual  :-)

Cooper

MCO again.  Stuck at home again. 

But am glad we have another member of the family to be stuck at home with ! 

Introducing.... our little Cooper Boy 

His first morning at our home 

So fat and furry now 

Our little furry darling 

Got him from a friend's friend's friend who had to let this fella go due to his strict condo management rules. Don't worry little boy... you will continue to be loved! 

Key dates (which I keep forgetting, so better put it down here):

       * Date we got him :  5th March 2021

        *His birthdate : 20 Sept 2020

He's super greedy, super adorable, super naughty and also a super sweetheart ! 

A little about his character -

1. Loves to take little objects in his mouth - Top favourite : socks, underwear, scrunchies.

2. Almost every time we're at the dining table - we look down on the floor, and there he is. 

3. He loves following us around but when we try to lift him up, he doesn't like it and tries to run away.  But too bad.....  he's far too cute and we carry him around anyway! 

4. Sleeps a LOT !  Can see his full routine when we WFH.  He naps at favourite spot A, walk around a bit, then naps at favourite spot B, then play a bit, then favourite spot C and so on.  What a good life. 

5. Favourite toys : Kitty and Teddy. 

6. Favourite past time (when no one is looking) : Rummaging through the rubbish bin. 

7. Level of usefulness in the house : NIL.    haha.   

Cookie Assistant

Got myself a Cookie Assistant for my CNY cookies recently.

Job Description : Place chocolate chip into center of cookie

Job Level : Easy 

Job Training : Non required 

Time to do performance review of my assistant. Managed to take some photos while she was working -

Busy at work

Eat chocolate chip 

Work again 

Eat again 

 Other points to take note of: 

1. When I asked her whether she washed her hands - she replied Oops!  Giggled and then went to wash her hands.

2. Disappeared after working on 2 trays of cookies.

3. Some cookies ended up with  no chocolate chip in center. 

Result of performance appraisal ??     Haiyoh....... fail la.  I need a new assistant next year  :-) 

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021 !!

Oh what a year 2020 was.  It started off like any normal year.  

We were in Ipoh this round. Impromptu trip where we were supposed to spend 2 nights (hubby woke up in the morning and said, "lets go Ipoh!") and then decided to extend another night (impromptu part 2!).  I was only to start my new job on Jan 6th, he was on leave, girls haven't started school yet.... so why not. 

Ushered in the new year by watching fireworks display @ Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh

First family photo of 2020 

Went on with the hustle and bustle of life.  Changed Erin's school in February, as it became clear that she was pretty lost in her old school. 

We were aware of the virus situation in China around CNY time, followed the progress through the weeks but I guess it only really hit hard when "lockdown" was first announced in mid March. Oh the mayhem that ensued...!  Both at home and at work.  It felt so strange to wear a mask. Felt strange to queue up for groceries, wear plastic gloves and then snap grocery items up without even thinking twice. All the uncertainties at work.  Dealing with everychanging and unclear SOPs. Trying to answer questions, stay afloat and formulate strategies in an unfamiliar landscape. 

Things somewhat stabilised around mid-year. There were still challenges and bumps, but hey we survived!  

Immensely grateful and blessed that despite it being a pandemic year, I can still consider 2020 a good year for us.  Work wise, it's wayyyyy better than the previous year. Weight wise, well let's not go there ;-)   And I can't believe Elyssa is no longer a primary school kid!  I'm definitely a proud (banana) mama that she did so well in her 6 years in a chinese school 

Let's see, managed to go to quite a few local holidays this year- 

Pangkor Laut Resort in July 2020

Omg - love, love, love this place! I guess we've never gone there before cos of the "for that price, I might as well go overseas" thinking. lol. 
Will definitely want to go there again one day. 

Sungai Lembing in August 2020 

Completely different from our Pangkor Holiday!  But a trip we enjoyed very much too. 

Genting in August 2020 

Celebrated Papa's birthday up in Genting this year :-) 

WEIL Hotel in Ipoh, December 2020 

Elyssa didn't want to miss her gymnastics classes.  So it was just Hubs, Erin and I. 

Mangala Resort and Spa in Gambang, Kuantan, December 2020

Wanted to be away from crowds so splurged a little on a villa with private pool.  It was also a celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary  :-) 

Some staycations too -

Majestic Hotel in KL 

Stripes Hotel in KL 

Not too bad for a pandemic year! (Note : Covid SOPs were followed at all times!  Holidays were during the more relaxed MCO phases). 

I guess Covid pretty much dictated our lives in Year 2020.  By end of the year, everyone was like let's get it over and done with.  Well, it's coming to end of January 2021........ and Covid is still very much around and probably will stick around for a while. 

Ah well, whatever it is, life goes on and we march steadily on.  

And as I say every single year - Bring it on 2021 !