The 'Lecturer'

Of late, Mommy noticed that Juan Or has been becoming more and more talkative. All sorts of things that he wants to tell Mommy, but Mommy could only make out certains words - all other words sound gibberish. The words that Mommy can remember hearing him say are:

• cook fish
• fishing
• climb bed
• cold titer (but he meant 'cold water')
• stop
• stupid
• driving
• car
• moon
• sunshine
• ae-bu-bane (but he meant 'aeroplane')
• OK
• five (but he meant 'fries')
• burger
• Coco-lala (but he meant 'Coca-cola')

And the interesting part is that whenever he tells Mommy things, he always emphasizes with strong hand gestures - very much like a self-righteous political party candidate giving out ceramah (lecture), but in a kiddy way of course!

Watch this video. You will see this time he uses a lot of the word 'stop'. ^ ^ Is he asking Mommy to stop pointing the handphone camera at him? ^ ^

Toy Story Coming Alive at Midvalley Megamall

The latest addition to Juan Or's and Mommy's Toy Story craze was seeing the Toy Story major characters, Woody and Buzz Lightyear, live today at Midvalley Megamall. Actually, a few days prior to today, Mommy saw an advertisement highlighting the event (plus other school holiday events) but without giving sufficient details. So Mommy called up MidValley Megamall to enquire and found out that the Live Toy Story appearances were everyday at Centrecourt throughout the school holiday period (5th-20th June 2010) at 12pm, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

So yesterday, Papa drove Juan Or and Mommy to Midvalley Megamall and we arrived at 9.40am. Since the event only started at 12pm, so we had ample time to browse the shops (and even had our lunch) before heading for the event. First, we went to Carrrefour because that's the earliest tenant to open. In Carrefour, Mommy managed to buy GainPlus EyeQ (Abbott) milk powder at an offer price of RM88.99 (usual is RM94.++) for 1.8kg. On a sidetrack, Mommy has recently changed Juan Or's milk powder from Pediasure to GainPlus EyeQ for home consumption but he is still on Pediasure mixed with Dutch Lady 123 at the babysitter's place. During the 'ride' in the shopping cart, Juan Or had gone a step further as in using the milk powder tin as his stool!

Later on, Papa went to browse at Harvey Norman (just next to Carrefour) to see his favourite LCD/plasma television section, while Mommy stayed on in Carrrefour to accompany Juan Or in his kiddy rides. This time, Juan Or really had good and ample time to ride on them so much so when Papa finally appeared and took him away, Juan Or didn't fret.

And see how this boy imitated his Papa driving?

And Mommy also noticed that Juan Or seems to prefer sitting on the left side to 'drive'. Whenever Mommy put him on the right hand drive, he would shift back to the left side.

After Carrefour, we went to Oyster King (Gardens) to enjoy a jumbo-sized oyster omelette dish (RM9) and then to Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks for spicy fried chicken chop. By then, it was already 11.30am and time to head to Centrecourt for the Toy Story event.

When we reached there (it was 11.40am), there was already a long queue of people waiting for their turns to take photos with the Toy Story characters which put both Papa and Mommy off. But then came one girl who is the event helper-promoter who managed to convince Mommy that the wait wouldn't be as long as the queue. She reasoned that it was because all-in-the-family queued up together, that was why it looked crowded and long. So Mommy decided to give it a go and got the number '47'.

From the background of this photo, you can see how close everyone was to everyone else. Because of that, only Mommy did the queuing while Papa stayed with Juan Or at somewhere not-so-crowded.

At about 10 to 15 minutes before 12pm, the host of the event appeared - a Eurasian-looking girl dressed in cowgirl style. She did a warm-up session to get participants (parents and their young children) in the mood and even held a short quiz with prizes to give out.

Finally the long-awaited session, the photo-taking session, arrived and out came Woody and Buzz Lightyear skipping and dancing on stage to the Toy Story theme song. Although Juan Or was not with Mommy (Mommy can't see him anywhere yet), but Mommy thinks probably Juan Or must be pleasantly surprised and excited to see his favourite Toy Story characters 'jumping out from the cartoon' right in from of his eyes (other kids must be thinking the same too)!

The photo-taking session progressed very fast - much faster than what Mommy expected. We didn't have to wait very long before our turn came. Finally at one point of the queue (when it was near but not too near our turn), Mommy spotted Papa and Juan Or and they joined in the queue. During the queue, Juan Or became very impatient to want to go up on stage - to the point of fretting! Mommy had to keep on telling him to wait for our turn because everyone else was also doing the same, but he continued fretting. Looks like "wait for your turn" is not in Juan Or's vocabulary! (*slap forehead*). Finally our turn came and Mommy could see Juan Or smiling already! When we were on stage, Woody shook hands with Papa and Buzz Lightyear with Juan Or. Mommy thinks probably Juan Or's heart went something like "Wow! I can't believe it but this is IT!" It is definitely an experience of a lifetime for Juan Or to have his favourite Toy Story characters shaking hands and standing next to him.

By around 12.30pm, we left Midvalley Megamall and Juan Or was obviously very happy with the experience. While on the way out, Mommy kept on asking Juan Or in Hainan dialect,"Song bo, mo Woody, mo Buzz Lightyear? (Nice or not, see Woody, see Buzz Lightyear?)" and he conistently gave the same answer,"Song (Nice!)!" We didn't head straight back home, instead we made a stop-over at one Toyota showroom at Old Klang Road. Reason? Not because Mommy wanted to buy a new car (A-hem, Mommy is not financially capable yet to do that!), but actually because Mommy wanted to do a test-drive to get free Toy Story merchandize for Juan Or (shameless Mommy....hehehehe!)! You see, if you have been listening to Light FM Radio recently, there is an advertisement mentioning about Toyota promoting Toy Story and their cars and that you can get free Toy Story merchandize if you come for a test-drive or sign up for a Toyota car when you bring your kids along during the weekends of the school holiday period. Even the Toyota Malaysia website mentioned about this.

When Mommy entered the showroom, Mommy requested to test-drive a Toyota Vios. After the salesperson got some documentation ready, he handed a Toy Story cap and kid's pack. Then we went for test-drive. The Vios is an automatic car but Mommy only knows how to drive a manual car. So the salesperson patiently briefed to Mommy about the gear panel of the automatic car before we set off. All went smoothly for the test-drive (though Mommy actually felt like a road-hogger!) and we were back at the showroom again. Mommy thanked the salesperson and we left for home. Surprisingly, the salesperson didn't ask Mommy any questions and nor did he insist on Mommy filling in some more forms or enquring about Mommy's purchase preference. It was just so simple - no questions asked!

Once we got back home, Juan Or wanted to watch Toy Story again. And this was how he watched Toy Story this Sunday afternoon.  

And this was how sexy the boy was!

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While Juan Or was enjoying his Toy Story, Mommy took the opportunity to see what was given by the Toyota salesperson. It was a cap with the Toy Story picture printed on it and the kid's Toy Story pack contained a zipper PVC folder, a colouring page, a box of short colour pencils, an eraser, stickers and tattoo sheet.

For the Toy Story kid's pack, Mommy will have to keep it first till Juan Or is old enough to appreciate and not destroy it!

As for the Toy Story cap, he can play with it already. Mommy wore it on him....

...and very fast,......

......he took if off already (but eyes still fixated on the Toy Story cartoon)! 

 

Anyway, Mommy wants to say a big thank you to the Old Klang Road Toyota showroom outlet for the Toy Story gifts and also to the salesperson attending to Mommy who is a very good salesman in that he is not pushy for sales at all and for patiently teaching Mommy how to drive the automatic Vios. Indeed, personally Mommy found the Vios to be very quiet (Heck, Mommy didn't even know the engine was already started when Mommy got into the car!) and the movement very smooth and comfortable (so much so Juan Or fell asleep in the Vios!). Honestly, Mommy will seriously consider buying this car for everyday use (and from this Toyota outlet too!) if the windfall (big lottery) comes...hehehe! And not to let this Toyota outlet's marketing effort to go in vain, here is Mommy's recommendation of the salesperson and outlet details:

Salesperson: Zen

Salesperson's contact no.: 012-3950320 or 016-7071100

Outlet details: Wheelcorp Sdn. Bhd., Lot 214, Batu 3, Jalan Klang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur (same side of  the road as Pearl Point but on the MidValley's side of direction; after Westcourt and Hyundai showroom)

Tel: 03-7982 3636

Fax: 03-7982 9566

Here's the flyer about the Toyota-Toy Story promotion (both front and back):

 

Toy Story Craze

Just recently, Juan Or and Mommy has developed the Toy Story craze. It all started with one Disney cartoon movie compilation storybook in large print that Mommy bought for Juan Or in the MPH Warehouse Sale some time back. One of the story is a short episode of Toy Story characters, but the story line was not anything from the actual Toy Story movies. It was from there that Juan Or learnt the names of the main Toy Story characters - Woody the cowboy (which Juan Or fondly calls as "Boycoy" for 'cowboy') and Buzz Lightyear the astronaut (which Juan Or fondly calls as "Naut" for 'astronaut'). And the story (in the storybook) is one of Juan Or's favourite at one point of time.

Then about two Sundays ago, Papa bought for Juan Or the Toy Story DVD (the 1st Toy Story). Turned out, the DVD is a favourite for both Juan Or and Mommy till today. Every time when Mommy comes back from work, he will insist on watching Toy Story so much so both Juan Or and Mommy have been watching it over and over again and still haven't feel bored about the show!

Just recently, Tesco held a Toy Story 3 promotion from 3rd to 16th June 2010. Mommy didn't miss out on buying some Toy Story merchandise for Juan Or (because they also serve as part of Mommy's collection!). Now, Mommy is going to relate something funny here.....


Yesterday was the last day of the Tesco Toy Story 3 promotion. Mommy, on the way back from work, took the opportunity to take Juan Or for a quick outing at Tesco Puchong. By the time Mommy reached there, Mommy found that Tesco had already packed away the Toy Story items and the place now occupied by the latest promotion items - bedsheets and comforters. Mommy felt somewhat disappointed but what to do? Then at one corner, Mommy's heart stirred suddenly when a stack of Toy Story decoration boxes caught Mommy's attention! Actually these decoration boxes are not for sale. They were merely used for decorating the Toy Story section. Mommy then asked Juan Or whether he likes the boxes or not and he answered yes. So Mommy chose one nice-looking box and placed it into the shopping cart together with Juan Or and then pushed the shopping cart out via the counter for customers who don't buy anything. At the counter, there was a lady security guard. Mommy asked her whether Mommy can take the box or not since the Toy Story promotional period is ending already and that the deco boxes were not meant for sale in the first place. So the lady security guard opened and checked the box and then took out the box from the shopping cart. Immediately, Juan Or starting crying in protest!

The lady security guard then went around to ask her Tesco colleagues and finally Mommy could see her making a phone call to some Tesco management people via the customer service counter. Mommy overheard her answering on phone saying something like "Yes, the box is empty, memang takde apa-apa kat dalam (there's nothing inside)......ya, satu kotak saje yes, (customer asks for one box only).......customer mintak pasal anak dia mau, sampai nangis pulak! (customer asks for it because the child wants the box, to the extend of crying!)" When Mommy heard these, Mommy couldn't help laughing inside about Juan Or's antics. Finally, the lady security guard turned to Mommy and said Mommy could have the box! Yay! So Mommy reminded Juan Or to say 'Thank you, Aunty!" and he did.

So here's Juan Or posing with the Toy Story box at home and using it as his box-stool to sit on when watching Toy Story. Indeed, Juan Or did a good 'job' in getting what he wants! :-)

Here's the Toy Story box from the outside and inside. The inside has some more cardboard backing, so the box won't collapse under a child's weight - just right and nice as a child's stool! Apparently Mattel is the one producing the box (see the Mattel logo?)

By the way, Mommy loves the Toy Story box too - very beautiful cartoon design and vibrant colours! Mommy's lovin' it! (modified from McDonald's catch phrase...hehehehe!) Here's the Toy Story 3 picture from near.

i-City in Shah Alam

This is an outdated post dating back to 30th May 2010. We were on our way down towards Klang and stopped by at Tesco Shah Alam to see what offer were in store and partly also because Juan Or loves to go to Tesco and Giant hypermarkets.

After Tesco Shah Alam, but before reaching Klang for lunch, Papa passed by this so-called city that pricked our curiosity for some time already. It's the i-City, perhaps short for information-City, in Shah Alam. Papa read before from a newspaper's report that i-City is a beautiful place to see. So we wanted to see for ourself how beautiful is beautiful.

Here are snapshots of i-City in the late morning - electric Christmas trees decorating the place. So night time should be beautiful to see.

Looks like gigantic electric trees decorating a desert!

There are small electric Xmas trees too.

Real trees among the fake trees.

A description of i-City and some disclaimers.

Bear statues as part of the garden's deco.

Juan Or posing with his Papa. Notice the unicorns in the background?

Another pose with Papa. This time don't know what Juan Or was thinking in his head!

Curiosity kills the cat (or rather 'mouse' because Juan Or is born in the year of the mouse).

Actually people are not allowed to go into where the unicorns are, but the temptation is just too great for Juan Or.

One last walk before we make a move.

Once we were done with i-City, we head down to Taman Rashna area in Klang to have our lunch at Hometown Village Restaurant.

During the waiting time, this was what Juan Or was up to.

And these were what we had.

Beancurd and crabmeat in superior stock. Tastes very good! It's everyone favourite including Juan Or!

Mantis shrimp in kam heong style. Taste good for Papa but too dry for Mommy. Juan Or refused to touch this dish.

Sweet potato leaves stir-fried in sambal belacan. Used to taste very good, but this time it tasted a bit bitter, probably the cook underestimated the amount of sugar to use. Mommy couldn't even finish this vege this time.

Assam sting-ray. Tasty!

Juan Or's Heart-melting Gestures

After reading about how Juan Juan of My Little Sprouts! made her parents happy, Mommy is reminded of Juan Or's heart-melting gestures as well and decided that Mommy must put them in record here.

First incident

After coming back from work, Mommy will usually sit on the floor at the Japanese tea table to eat packed economy rice. But sometimes, instead of sitting on the floor, Mommy would get a low plastic stool to sit and eat. One day, Mommy decided to sit directly on the floor to eat. Juan Or, on seeing Mommy sitting on the floor, quickly walked over to the low plastic stool and took it in his hands, in the process turning the stool upside down. Mommy didn't understand his action at first and even asked him why he had to 'disturb' the stool! To Mommy's surprise, he handed it over to Mommy for Mommy to sit! Oh, Mommy was very touched!

Second incident

Sometimes when Juan Or did naughty things, Mommy would nag or scold him. Deep down inside, Mommy is very angry with him. Then in the midst of Mommy's anger, Juan Or would lovingly and earnestly call "Mama! Mama!" with very thoughtful-looking eyes. So, won't any mother's anger cool down immediately and then feel bad for scolding this lovable child? By the way, Juan Or did the same with his Papa too! However, occasionally, after hearing Mommy's long nagging and scolding, Juan Or would stuff his forefingers into his ears. On seeing that, Mommy would think inside,"!!!???? Where did he learn that from!?"

Botak 'B' a.k.a. Baldy 'B'

Today's post is going to be a short and outdated one for the same reason - Mommy is currently under stress because of Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA)! Every season, MQA comes up with new formats of forms and guidelines to fill for a higher education programme to be renewed. The worst part is that every time MQA comes up with new forms, formats and guidelines, they get longer and longer and more complex to write and prepare. It won't just do by cutting and pasting from a previous format, instead many more new things have to be added to what was already there. And the bad news is that when Mommy started holding this current post as Head of Foundation in Science, that's when the time for programme renewal comes. Duh! Now Mommy has a whole lot of documentation and writing work to do and submit to Mommy's boss and then later to MQA.

OK, back to Juan Or. The collection of photos were taken shortly after Juan Or's 2nd birthday celebration on 12th May 2010. They were taken on 15th and 16th May 2010, showing Juan Or being balded for the first time in his life. Actually, Mommy didn't request for him to be balded. When Mommy fetched him from the babysitter's house, Juan Or's head already became like that! Apparently the babysitter had send him to try out at the barber's just to see his reaction (all the while it was the babysitter who cuts hair for him).

So what was Juan Or's reaction like? Well, the babysitter said Juan Or struggled with the 'ordeal' and kept on saying "OK, OK" in an alarming manner to the babysitter as the barber shaved his hair! The barber's fee? RM5. Hehehe....so looks like Juan Or was afraid of the shaving machine! :P

For his new hairstyle, both Papa and Mommy have decided to call him 'Botak B' for this season until his hair grows back. Why the 'B' in his name? The history can be found here and here. So the baldiness is his 6th 'B'. In fact, at this time of writing, his hair has more or less grown back and doesn't quite look baldy anymore! ^ ^