Pay the Postie

You may already realise that we are now Posties for PayPerPost. Our post on the air ambulance service was our first post. It has since been approved and we are just waiting to get paid... *money eyes* *blink blink*

We learnt about PayPerPost from reading other blogger friends' sponsored posts. It sounded like an interesting business model. After hearing that they earn money in the process, we kinda got "itchy". "Why not give it a try", we thought. After all, we've got nothing to loose right? We still have our day-jobs. Earning some extra while indulging in our blogging hobby only makes it more fun.

What's so great about PayPerPost?

• It's fun! Some posting opportunities are real interesting eye openers.
• It allows you to be creative! It puts you in the shoes of the advertising people. It gives you the experience of writing catchy ads.
• You get paid! In US Dollars mind you :o)
  

When you sign up for PayPerPost, you can respond to "opportunities" (topics/products/services) provided by the sponsors. When you see an opportunity that you can write about and you like the amount being offered, you then make a reservation. After writing your blog post about the opportunity and submitting details about your post, the post then enters an evaluation phase. When your post is approved, then it's good news because after a stipulated time period, you get paid :o). Easy!

What are we going to do with the money? Well, we don't expect to be millionaires but a few US Dollars *convert, convert* goes a long way to pay for a nice fancy dinner once in a while, or to buy clothes and toys for Julian. Yes, the fact that it's "extra" money makes it fun!

We don't know if we'll ever go PayPerPost Direct. This is another mode where we get to determine the price a sponsor has to pay us for writing. Hmm... we'll see how our regular posting goes first :o).

Cake for Bunnies

Some weeks back (3 October 2007) I found the opportunity to indulge in another baking project. This time it was a carrot cake. I was quite surprised at how simple it was to make. The cake was successful but it got 'downgraded' as a result of my experiment with the topping. Thought I would skip the regular cream cheese topping and try a lemon icing glace since we had a lemon lying around. Bad idea. Or maybe I poured in too much lemon juice. We ended up eating carrot cake with vitamin C!

Baking is a luxury these days... so is blogging.


[Vitamin C-rich carrot cake]

Ant Attack

We had an ant problem in our bedroom last week which saw ants coming from 2 or 3 different nests zooming in on Julian's milk-stained linen. They were even all over a rosary we placed on our bed - talk about "holy ants". We slept in the living room for 2 nights.

The solution? We bought a small sachet of ant poison from the mini market and we sprinkled the granules (they looked like biscuit crumbs) at three or four locations where the ants were running around.

The ants seem to love those granules. They don't die immediately though. Something happens to them after half a day or so. The ants never returned to finish off the rest of the crumbs.


[The ants enjoying their last meal]

By the way, Lucia blogged about Malam Bangsa Malaysia which will be held in Penang. For details, please visit this link.

Suri Yothai

Last Tuesday (16 October 2007), we had dinner at a Thai restaurant called Suri Yothai in Gelugor. If you're coming from the Penang Bridge heading towards Greenlane, it's on the left side of the road somewhere between Maybank and the Mobil petrol station.

The restaurant's interior was clean and comfortable but a little noisy because of the traffic on the main road.

Food wise, it's not too bad and the price is about the same as other Thai restaurants in Penang. We tried sambal kangkong (RM5.80), fried curry powder squid (RM8.80), and red curry chicken (RM9.80).


[Suri Yothai Restaurant]


[Cucumber and Long Beans with Sambal Dip]


[Fried Curry Powder Squid]


[Sambal Kangkong]


[Red Curry Chicken]

Air Ambulance Anyone?

We are all aware of ambulance services run by various hospitals and organisations (such as Civil Defence or St. John's Ambulance). The vehicle of choice for these services is the humble van. We have also heard of special cases where helicopters were used to ferry patients from remote locations or for urgent emergency cases. These were usually "mercy flights" by the air force.

We noted with interest that a private company like AirAmbulance.net exists. What is more interesting is that they are using the internet to make their services known. They must be targeting a niche market :o). Well, they have been doing this for more than 21 years, and this in the US where air services are popular.

Instead of using helicopters, this air ambulance service uses Lear Jets and turbo prop planes for their services and these planes are well-equipped. A nurse even accompanies the patient on the journey. Travelling to a hospital can't be more comfortable.

It'll only a matter of time when patients, not only in the US but around the world, especially those located near airports would take advantage of such services. Perhaps it'll also be a matter of time when such services become more affordable. Perhaps, they'll expand to include helicopters too :o).

Julian at 21 Weeks

Julian is 21 weeks old (4 1/2 months old) this week. He can now turn over on his tummy with ease. While on his tummy, he likes to "sky-dive", rest on his elbows, or "tummy crawl". He tummy crawls by lifting his buttock and sliding his head forward. He is mobile at last... and dangerous too. After he is tired being on his tummy, he either calls for help (more often) or flips back on his tummy by himself (sometimes).

He used to laugh when we made a roaring sound. Then at one time, he laughed when we made a "woo-hoo!" sound. The latest "key" to make him laugh is to make an exaggerated coughing or laughing sound. Hmm... a constant experiment :o).


[Julian's new hobby: Sky-diving]


[Julian taking a break]


[Julian tummy crawling: Gathering momentum...]


[Julian tummy crawling: Taa daa!!]

Really Raya

The first day (13 October 2007) of the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations saw us at two open-houses.

Our first stop was at a colleague's place in Alma, Bukit Mertajam for lunch. We had tomato rice, chicken curry, vegetables and an interesting mutton rendang. During this visit, Julian received his first ever "duit raya" :o).

Later in the evening saw us driving up to Penaga to visit a former colleague of Angie's. Here we had rice vermicelli (bee hoon) in chicken and beef soup.


[Julian's "Duit Raya"]


[Angie and her former colleague's giant stuffed bear: Recognise the bear?]

Chilling Out in Cameron Highlands

We were up in Cameron Highlands from 5-7 October 2007. It was Julian's first holiday! Weather was cool but rather wet.

We stayed at Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata. They had a Ramadan promotion and it cost us RM168 nett per night with breakfast and dinner for two. On the first night we had steamboat, and on the second night we had western set dinner. The room was clean and spacious although the overall physical state of the hotel is a little bit old.

Friday saw us walking along the main road of Tanah Rata after checking in at the hotel. After our steamboat dinner, we had wanted to visit the night market at Brinchang but Julian was not in the mood. He was fretting and wouldn't keep still in his car seat - something rather unusual. So, we headed back to the hotel for the night.

On Saturday morning, we visited the Bharat Tea shop between Tanah Rata and Ringlet. It's a nice place to enjoy the view while we shared a carrot cake (RM4) and a cup of tea (RM3). Next we headed to Kea Farm where we bought some very sweet corn (those with yellow and white kernels), strawberries, and tamarillos (buah cinta). We then had lunch at Palm Leaf Garden Cafe located just outside the porch of Rosa Passadena Hotel in Brinchang. They serve a variety of Chinese, Thai, and western cuisine at very reasonable prices. It was raining and very misty in the afternoon. At night, we had to skip the night market yet again because it was drizzling.


[The View from the Bharat Tea Shop]


[Chicken cooked with basil and chillies at Palm Leaf Garden Cafe]

We visited the Agro Tourism Park and Big Red Strawberry Farm (next to Cactus Valley) in Brinchang on Sunday morning before checking out of the hotel. Before heading down, we stopped at Palm Leaf Garden Cafe again for lunch.


[Orchids at the Agro Tourism Park]


[Vegetables at the Agro Tourism Park]

We arrive home at 5.15pm in time to catch the 6pm mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus. It was an enjoyable trip. It was a different experience as we now have Julian along. Looking forward to more holidays together :o).

Summer Cafe

We had set lunch at Summer Cafe at i-Avenue, Bukit Jambul today. This was our second visit there.

We had the rice with Thai Sytle Chicken Gravy set, and the rice with Cheese Seafood Omelette. Each set comes with a piece of fish cake, a drink (we chose iced lemon tea and hot peach tea), and one scoop of ice-cream for dessert. The price was RM10.90 per set.


[Rice with Thai Style Chicken Gravy: One of their signature dishes]


[Rice with Cheese Seafood Omelette]


[Fish Cake: A side dish]

PhotoHunt: Original

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Original". This is rather late but better late than never.

The photo shows four original CDs in our small collection. They are (clockwise from top-left) (1) Missa De Angelis, (2) Brahm's Symphony No. 1 in C minor by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, (3) The Most Fabulous Classical Christmas Album Ever!, and (4) Lovely Baby Magic Vol. 1 by Raimond Lap.


[Original CDs]

Zapped Zipper

Angie sent me to work this morning as her car is still at the workshop for a paint job.

Shortly after arriving at the office, I went to the washroom. It was then I noticed my pant's zipper was stuck. After applying some (brute) force, it managed to unzip.

After relieving myself and washing up, I discovered to my horror that my zipper was zipping only one row of zipper "teeth" - I had accidentally "derailed" the zipper while trying to unzip it earlier.

I desparately assessed the situation and my best alternative was to call Angie. Fortunately, she was dropping Julian off at the baby sitter's place and she was still there before heading off to work. So, she managed to swing by the apartment to fetch me another pair of pants.

Thank God my little predicament ended the way it did. Only God knows what would have happened if Angie was already halfway to work.

What would you have done in my situation? :o)

Julian at 4 Months

Julian turns 4 months old today. We were supposed to get him weighed this week but our work schedules didn't allow us to take him to the Taman Tun Sardon clinic. We will only know his weight when we take him there next week. [1 October 2007 Update: Julian weighs 6.8kg. He was 6.2kg at 3 months.]

We have been putting him to play on his tummy more often now and he can now lift his head whilst being on his tummy... some effort is required but he sometimes smiles in the process. So, we think he is happy with his progress.

Julian can now turn 90% from being on his back to his tummy. Presently, he likes to turn over on his left side and he still can't seem to free his left hand from under his tummy. In the process, he groans and wails... quite pitiful. Hopefully he'll free his "underhand" soon :o).


[Heads Up!]


[Julian happy with his legs crossed]

Carrot Crop

This is something I do once in a blue moon with what's left of the carrots used for cooking. I'll put the top part of the carrot in a little bit of water and leave it for a 2-3 days just to see new leaves grow.

Do they eventually grow roots and mature to become new carrots? Well, no... the bottom portion eventually rots. Haven't tried planting it in soil though... but my guess is that it'll rot too.

Perhaps, I can just harvest the leaves...


[My Carrot Crop]

Baby Bronchiolitis

No... it's neither a dinosaur nor a new vegetable. Julian has been sick for about a week now. He started coughing on his baptism day last Saturday (15 September 2007). He then started having fever on Sunday for about 2-3 days which was brought under control with paracetamol syrup. To help loosen phlegm, his paediatrician prescribed Berodual via nebuliser.

We learnt that babies tend to sweat more when they are sick. Also, since they don't know how to spit out phlegm, they swallow it and this may make them pass motion more often and the stool tends to be a little slimy.

He is much better now. Still coughing occasionally. Hope he recovers fully soon.


[Julian being "nebulised"]

Tuna Balls and Macaroni Cheese

We had tuna balls and macaroni cheese for dinner today. Very simple to prepare... a so-called lazy-man recipe.

The tuna balls were a simple mixture of a can of tuna, 4 chopped shallots, and 2 eggs.

The macaroni cheese was prepared using 150gm of macaroni (could have reduced to about 120gm since we're both not big eaters). After cooking in water, half a cup of milk, 2 slices of cheese, and a little sugar were added. It was left to simmer until it was sticky. We should have added more cheese slices because it tasted more milky than cheesy. Well... there's always a next time :o).


[Tuna Balls and Macaroni Cheese]

Julian the Catholic

Julian was baptised yesterday (15 September 2007). Niq and Chui Ying (Ah Sook & Sook Meh) are his godparents.

We were a little nervous during the 4.30pm rite because it was about Julian's feeding time. He fretted a little, and Fr. Henry Rajoo reassured Julian by saying, "It's going to be over soon... relax, relax..."

He behaved well throughout until it was time to take the family photo at the end. Overwhelmed with joy, he just let his tears flow and his cries heard... that's our Julian... the Catholic.


[Julian, I baptise you...]


[Splash!]


[Julian: Just so happy... or hungry... whichever]

Julian at 15 weeks

Julian is now 15 weeks (3 1/2 months) old. When in the mood, he smiles very easily and babbles a lot. With some help he can now grip and play with his rattle. He is also now more demanding when feeding... *cold sweat*.

Over the weeks, we have learned that in certain cradle positions, he falls asleep more easily and we have gotten the hang of letting him nap on his tummy... something we only started to do recently. However, when awake, he still struggles and frets when we put him on his tummy.


[Julian and His Rattle: Wanna play?]


[Daddy's Obsession: Baby Feet... the only time when the toes still fit your nostrils]


[Julian and Ah Goo]

Julian's First Laugh

We propped Julian at the corner of our sofa this afternoon and played with him... talking and making funny noises. One sound he particularly liked was a rough-sounding lion-like roar, and he was smiling broadly and making a happy mono-syllablic sound (something like "nghearhh") each time he heard it. This went on a few times when suddenly after another "roar", he laughed! Not just once but a few times... a hearty, repetitive, baby laugh!

This is definitely a laughing matter to us :o).

PhotoHunt: Music

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Music". This is a photo taken of a piece of sheet music for the responsorial psalm of the 23rd Sunday of the Year (Year 3), i.e. for tomorrow. It will be sung during the 10am mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Penang.


[Music for Psalm 89]

Julian at 3 months

Julian turned 3 months old on Tuesday (28 August 2007). He reveals something new to us everyday be it a cute or funny expression (which makes us laugh :o)) or something he can do. He seems to be able to turn over to his side now and we hope that he can turn completely from being on his back to his tummy soon :o).

We also made a trip to the clinic on Tuesday for his vaccination. He weighed in at 6.2kg (previously 5.5kg at 2 months), and is 60cm in length (previosuly 57cm).


[Busy Baby: Julian preoccupied with finger-sucking, bolster-legging and phone-answering]


[Julian jabbed again]

PhotoHunt: Happy

This is our first PhotoHunt post. This weeks theme is "Happy". Since Julian has been smiling quite a lot lately, we couldn't think of a better photo to post than yet another one of him smiling :o).


[Julian: Happy...]

Carpet Craze

On Thursday (23 August 2007), we got ourselves a new carpet for the living room. It's roughly 6 feet by 8 feet and cost RM275 (50% off). It was on sale at Jusco Queensbay.


[A Larger Carpet: More reasons to sit on the floor...]

Our former living room carpet is now at the dining area walkway.

Chempedak

On Wednesday (22 August 2007), we "slaughtered" a "stinking" small 1.5kg chempedak, one of our favourite fruits. It was sweet and succulent... delicious. Cost us RM2.90.


[The Sacrificial Chempedak]


[The slaughtered chempedak: Ready to be devoured...]

Julian at 12 weeks

Julian is now 12 weeks old (2 3/4 months). He is smiling very often now and loves to babble. He's saying lots of "ah-woh", "huh-huh", "goo" and anything in between. He seems to be telling us what he dreamt of the night before or how his day was at the baby sitter's.

His head is more steady now and when he is upright, he doesn't really require us to prop his head. He has also started drooling a bit and he loves to suck his finger-flavoured fingers.

On the feeding front, Julian is currently about 90% on breast milk. At the baby sitter's, he takes about 2 feeds of expressed breask milk and 1 feed of formula. At home, he is practically fully breast fed.

He is due for his next immunisation appointment next week.


[Julian on the Sofa: Huggy, Tricks and Terry look on]


[Julian on His Glider]


[A cheeky wink...]

Eighth Encounter

The 66th Catholic Engaged Encounter Weekend was held from 10-12 August 2007 at the College General, Penang. 21 couples attended the weekend. We were on the presenting team with Fr. Francis Andrew, and Patrick and Linette Hia. For Angie and I, this was our eight weekend presenting.

Patrick and Linette are from the Singapore Engaged Encounter Community. So, the Weekend was the first joint Singapore-Penang Weekend in recent history.


[Participants, presenters and supporting couples of EE66]

Ah Goo and Bunny

Julian has two favourite musical pull-string toys at the moment. Their names are Ah Goo the Colourful Cow (with the popular Brahms lullaby tune), and Bunny the Yellow Rabbit (with the "Rock-a-bye Baby" tune).


[Julian with Ah Goo and Bunny]

Julian's Jab

Julian had his second immunisation (after 2 months) on Monday (30 July 2007) at the Taman Tun Sardon government clinic. He weighed in at 5.5kg and was 57cm long. He is putting on a healthy amount of weight.


[Ouch!: Jabbed in the left thigh]