Basil and Mommy....the Adventures that Could Have Been

Basil. Who is Basil? Now, don't get Mommy wrong. Basil has nothing to do with being Mommy's future fetus (or future sibling of Juan Or) nor an old flame. Basil is Mommy's favourite dog. He is probably or could have been known as 'The Late Basil" by now. But nobody knows about his whereabouts now. Nobody knows whether he is still alive or not. But one thing's for sure - Basil lives within Mommy's heart till today.

You may be wondering what happened, right? Well, it all started about 5 years ago when Mommy left home for certain reasons. Well, when Mommy left home, Mommy only had to take the bare essentials. So taking Basil along is certainly out of question because Mommy certainly could not provide well for him. So it's better that he stays on with the rest of the family. After three years of Mommy going 'missing', finally Mommy got in touch with Mommy's Mum. You know what Mum said? She said that probably Basil sensed that Mommy went 'missing', so one day, he found the opportunity to slip out when the gate was open and left home. She said probably Basil was depressed and so went to the outside world to look for Mommy. And he never came back. Mum and Dad went to search for Basil but till today, they never found him and he never return home. Probably he vowed never to return if he cannot find Mommy. That is why he could still be out there looking for Mommy or he could have been 'The Late Basil'. *tears*

This is Basil or rather, the late Basil. This photo was taken about 6 years ago when Basil was about 8 human years old (or equivalent to 56 dog years old).

In Mommy's dreams and heart, this is the adventure that could have been to make up for the lost time and Basil's undying loyalty and sacrifice:

• He could have been Mommy's Superman, flying here, there and everywhere looking for Mommy without vain.

• Once Basil found Mommy, we could have gone for a flying spree......to everywhere and anywhere in the wide, wide world with Mommy in his pawy clutch. Forget about air tickets! Who needs them when there's Basil the SuperDog? At most, Mommy needs to feed him well to make sure he continues to have the energy to hold Mommy and fly!
  
  To the theatre hall in Europe!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Or fly to US to meet President Barack Obama!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Or fly to see and feel the street life in Spain!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Whatever it is, it doesn't matter where we go for our dream adventure, what's more important is that Basil and Mommy enjoy making up for the lost time.
  
  
  
  
  ~ In loving memory of Basil ~
  
  
  
  
  P/S: All photos (except for Basil's photo) are courtesy of Photofunia. This blogpost is a true account submitted in conjuction with a contest held by Nuffnang.

Boy in Superhero Mask

This is just a short random post of Juan Or since Mommy's office table now has lots of theses piling up waiting to be edited and proofread.

This pix was taken at Parkson of Plaza OUG, the place we went to for a MacDonald's lunch after our trip on the last day of the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale. As usual, Juan Or insisted on visiting the toy department to see his favourite Transformers toys. At the shelf, there was a section selling masks - Transformers and Captain America ones. But there is also this mask which Mommy has no knowledge of what superhero it represents, but it sure suits Juan Or's looks very much. Do you know what superhero's mask is this, anyone?

Anyway, the sword here was 'loaned' from Star Wars' toy section (do you call that the 'light saber'?).

Here is Juan Or, ready for his galactic battle! ^_^

Juan Or's First Time at the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale

16th Oct 2011 is the last day of the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale and is Mommy's 4th visit there for the season, but is Juan Or's first. Mommy is eager to bring Juan Or there just for him to experience riding on the tram, but buying books is secondary though.....hehehe!

We reached the parking lot at around 9.30 am and didn't have to wait before three trams came by. So we chose the third one because it is the least crowded tram.

Off we went into the tram!

Since the sale only opens at 10 am, we still had to wait after getting off the tram. But not to worry, there were lots of chairs to sit around because the chairs were provided by the food stalls nearby (KFC and Pizza Hut).

Juan Or as usual, cannot sit still for long. Well, old Chinese folks say kids like Juan Or have worms in their anus, that's why cannot sit still! ^_^ So Mommy took him for a short stroll somewhere near the sale area - first, to see how long the crowd has queued up long before we even arrived.....

...and lastly is more of Juan Or's fancy for the alien spaceship and the Big Bad Wolf figure itself, seen as a big display board.

Finally when the sale is opened, Mommy could see that most , if not all of the tall pile of books at the children section last seen on Tuesday were gone! Basically, there are not much choices left where chuildren's books are concerned. Anyway, Papa gave Mommy only 30 minutes to browse and buy - it's either 30 minutes only or nothing at all! So Mommy made a quick dash here and there to check out books and finished buying within the stipulated timeframe! Phew! And Juan Or was very happy that the cashier gave him the Big Bad Wolf in alien spaceship bookmark! Juan Or was even delighted to see that the plastic bags containing Mommy's purchases had the Big Bad Wolf figure on it! Such innocent delight!

Here are Mommy's purchases within the 30 minutes timeframe......a book on Thailand's temples and traditions in hard cover and excellent photography and paper for RM12 only - more for Mommy's general interest.

.....children's (and also family's) non-fiction book on wildlife in hardcover with excellent photography, text and paper plus DVD (mind you, it's not even VCD) for RM10 each (cheap!)...

....storybooks for Juan Or, each for RM6 (but Mommy finds the dinosaur one a little pricey, but
never mind-lah, just close one eye since Juan Or likes the book)....

...and an Ironman make-a-scene vinyl sticker set for RM5 (again, quite pricey but never mind, close one eye-lah since Juan Or loves Ironman!) and a storybook on Stanley (from Thomas and Friends' storybook box set) for RM3 (cheap!).

Total damage? RM68.40 (after 5% discount from RM72).

Here's Juan Or enjoying his Ironhide vinyl stickers at his grandparents' house. :-)

By the way, here's a closer look of this season's Big Bad Wolf bookmarks which are Juan Or's favourite (even after coming back from the sale!) because of the alien spaceship and the wolf's growling look! ^_^

P/S: Actually Juan Or expected to see a Big Bad Wolf figure appearance at the sale - not so much about the books though! ^_^ Must suggest this to Big Bad Wolf's management.....hehehehe!

Mommy Gone Crazy! 3rd Round at Big Bad Wolf Books Warehouse Sale!

Yes, it's true! The urge and temptation to see what have been replenished or topped up is so great, Mommy just has to go to Big Bad Wolf (BBW) Sale again, now for the 3rd time!!

This time, the crowd is still a lot but way lesser than Mommy's 2nd round visit. Indeed, true to BBW's update in Facebook, they have replenished with some new titles, both for the adult (fiction and non-fiction) and children sections. Mommy recall seeing a few BBW staff carting a trolley-ful of children ready-for-kindergarten type of hard-cover workbooks to be placed at an empty rack...that was something like 4.40 pm. By then, Mommy was busy filtering Mommy's pick because the hoard (no doubt cheap!) was going to burn a big hole in Mommy's pocket!! ^_^

Here are some snapshots of what appear to be newly replenished stock.

Here are Mommy's purchases for the day....

Recipe books, spiral bound hard cover, each for RM10. What Mommy likes about these recipe books is that the steps are in point form and not wordy at all, unlike other Western-published recipe books that are so wordy and not friendly to the eyes especially when you have to take a quick glance at the recipe book while cooking. Other kinds of cooking (especially Western style ones) are available from this series, but Mommy only chose those Asian cooking ones, simply because Mommy is not a fan of Western food! ^_^

Each book at RM8 with the top row ones being recipe books again and the bottom one a children non-fiction in hard cover. The recipe books are in soft cover and same like the recipe books just now, the steps are in numbered point form and not written in a wordy manner. As for the Flying Machine book, Mommy recall seeing the same series of book (not the same title though) sold in Popular Book for close to RM50 and in soft cover some more!

Winnie the Pooh books for Juan Or, each sold at RM6. These are in full-color, hard cover and narrates science principles (e.g. evaporation, bouyancy, growth, sound)  in the form of a story.

More junior-level storybooks for Juan Or, each at RM3 only, but in soft cover! Mommy purposely chose those that has the super heroes or favourite characters from his favourite cartoons/movies. As for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse books, be careful though that some similar ones (though not the exact title) are priced at RM5.

Hard-cover junior storybooks and non-fiction, each for RM3 only - really value buy! The non-fiction ones and Puss in Boots are Ladybird books. Again, be reminded that the price tags are not consistent - most bear the RM5 tag - so it's your luck whether you get the RM3 ones or not! ^_^

And finally, some adult books for Mommy's own reading/viewing, each for RM15. The Power book is in hard cover and Mommy finds this little book a bit pricey, but judging from the contents (it's a mind, body and spirit self-help book), Mommy thinks Mommy can benefit from reading it. The book on Life is actually a coffee table book with no much text to read - just photos and captions. It's in hard cover, very thick (many pages) and printed on excellent quality paper. Mommy bought it because of the excellent photography of things associated with life such as the internal parts/chambers/sections of organs, embryo and fetal development at different weeks, gametes at pre-conception and conception stages, chromosomes and the likes which are the things Mommy studied for degree last time. Here's a sample of a very beautiful and detailed image of the early-stage human fetus.

As part of BBW's effort to pull the crowd during weekdays, BBW is giving out 5000 freebies starting from 10th October (Monday) to 14th October (Friday) or while stocks last, only limited to one set per book receipt. For those who came before 10th October and got nothing, do not despair nor be frustrated because the freebies are nothing more than just two pieces of paper: one is a fun activity map (more for children) whereby you are asked to spot all 31 wolves hiding in there and the other paper is merely a DIY bookmark called "Book Buddy". So for those who didn't get these, do not go banging your head because you didn't lose much - in fact, it's negligable. ^_^

By the way, total damage for the day amounts to RM182.40 (after 5% discount from original price of RM192).


Ah-wooooooooooo! (*Wolf howling*)

Prize from Fisher-Price

This post is actually a little outdated because Mommy is stricken with the Big Bad Wolf Books Sale fever. Nevertheless, after this and this rounds of book hunting, finally Mommy is ready to blog about the prize that Mommy got recently from Fisher-Price after participating in a contest held by My Little Sprouts.

Here's the prize which was couriered a few weeks ago......ta-dah!

Here's the official opening ceremony....

and thus reveals the Fisher-Price's Classic Doodler with 2 Stampers!

As expected, this boy can't wait to start doodling and stamping to form his own 'abstract' art.

Ever since then, Mommy introduced the 'tic-tac-toe' game to Juan Or, which he finds entertaining but he still does not quite grasp the concept and objective of the game. Juan Or won over his Papa on one occasion of the tic-tac-toe game, but subsequent rounds of Juan Or losing seems to point out that his initial win was just a fluke! ^_^



Mommy did writing alphabets with Juan Or as well (but forgot to take photos!) and found the doodle board to be a very convenient tool because Mommy didn't have to look for papers or rough book and the board cleans easily with just a swipe!


On the night the doodle board prize was opened, Juan Or insisted on sleeping with the doodle board! ^_^

Not just that, lately, Juan Or has been very possessive about his belongings. No one else is allowed to touch his things, not even Papa. See how he tried to pull away his doodle board from Papa's grasp? He even 'commanded' Papa not to touch his things, saying that thing is HIS!