Mamapumpkin??? Once upon a time, she designed buildings and interiors of corporate offices and on the rare occasion, homes. Now, she cleans poop and is student of a patience management course. From the drawing board as a London Architect to the realities of Motherhood, she has certainly learned many lessons in humility. And then others.....
To succeed in the corporate world, first succeed with your kid as the happy boss. Seriously.
This blog is about Mamapumpkin: A crazy, demented Mom who cares full time, alone, without any help, for an even crazier preschooler AND a baby with a boob addiction problem.
She writes anything that comes out of her head, mostly without thinking first, which almost always gets her into trouble (according to her husband, whom she considers the love of her life.......on a good day).
Her 2 pet monkeys drive her towards challenge after challenge, 24/7. Day after Day.....and by the way, her parents are Muslim, her in-laws Buddhist, she's Catholic and her Hubs, an Atheist. She's thinking her kids should be Hindu, just to complete the rainbow religion cycle.
Gotta love it.
She'd love to hear from you : Mamapumpkin at gmail dot com
|
By Mamapumpkin, on September 1st, 2010%
Now that Merdeka Day has come and gone, did the Earth move for you?
I remember back in the day when Merdeka Day to me was really a cause for celebration. As a child, I was brought to the Selangor Club to experience great celebrations of excitement and exhilaration. I remember walking the roads shouting Daulat Tuanku in my school uniform when the Royal Family would do their drive past in that amazing Rolls Royce convertible. Doing the Royal Wave and digging their nose in the process. Come on, we’re all human after all. Later, we had our annual tradition of watching the fireworks and there were still patriotic sentiments.
These days however……
T1 came home 2 weeks ago excited because she had learnt all the names of our Prime Ministers and knew the Merdeka story. She even enacted how Tuanku Abdul Rahman stood on stage and shouted out SEVEN times, she proclaimed and he did exactly this with his fist. She acted out the mini Tuanku Abdul Rahman on stage and was mighty proud. They must have shown them a video or something at school. I’m guessing.
I’m happy that T1 is so excited about Merdeka and that the school has managed to inject some sense of excitement and patriotism into our young children. Although the exams were over, she did not want to miss school on Monday even though I suggested it to her (as I had other things planned, hee-hee, and honestly just did not want to do the school run). Apparently there was a Merdeka celebration at school that she did not want to miss etc etc etc. OK, whatever……damn it.
I guess it is hard for me to feel happy right now because I feel that all our tax money is being abused. It’s going to that new palace across the street for the King. Why He needs a multi-billion palace, I have no idea. We’re talking billions. WHY? Please tell me. WHY?
And what about that Hospital in town that was built a few years ago? It is hardly used and do you know that the doctors there get a SALARY of close to a hundred grand a month? For doing nothing much as there are hardly any patients? Shit, if I was a doctor there, I’d feel like a criminal! In most private hospitals, doctors are made to source their own patients and pay a rental to the hospital. Not in THIS hospital. Do you also know how much the hospital cost? RM1.3 million per bed. Go figure. Why? Why are they wasting all this money when we could be developing a better nation starting with EDUCATION?!!!! Eradicating poverty. Yada-yada-yada…..
Can I please urge you, each and everyone of you Malaysians……if you are a Malaysian and have not registered to vote, please do so at your earliest, EARLIEST convenience. Do it by this weekend if you can. Seriously. Elections will be as early as very, very soon so don’t miss your chance to vote. Or lose your right to complain. I know, I know…..but vote for who, you say? Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t? Just go and vote!!! Pray to God and ask Him for some answers!!!
It is SO TRUE that the Government hands out contracts to their preferred people. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.
By Mamapumpkin, on July 26th, 2010%
Last year, I was forbidden to eat my favourite delicacy till the end of my pregnancy due to gestational diabetes so being the great big huge glutton that I am, I am now more than making up for it. My excuse? It produces really good breast milk!
Last weekend, I grabbed my Mom and friend all the way from Ampang to SS2 to savour the Raja Kunyit Durian (otherwise known as Mow Sang Wong), as I had been the previous weekend with a girlfriend and it had been SOOOOOOOOO good.
On week 1, we paid RM54 for 1 miserable durian with perhaps 10 seeds inside and out of the 10, 3 seeds were not perfectly ripe. My girlfriend, the efficient negotiator, demanded that we should get a perfect durian for that price. It was an exorbitant price after all! We’re looking at more than RM5 per seed, OK? So the vendor presented us with a small durian on the house. We were happy campers, as we were full and it was GOOD.
Week 2 however, the Raja Kunyit that we ate cost RM45 and was good but not great. We ordered another but it was lousy. Then he gave us another, and it was still lousy. So he told us that was it. That was the best he could do. So we left for Swensens instead.
In the past, I’d taken another girlfriend to Kepong (near Garden International School) to eat kampung durians and it cost us RM18 for 10 durians. No kidding. The 2 of us, we whacked all 10 (although they are much smaller in size) and were filled to the brim but equally satisfied. In fact, we gave the vendor RM25 and told him to keep the change but he refused! This was an old orang asli man. We insisted and won, after 10 minutes of quibbling.
So would I pay RM54 for a great durian and eat 5 seeds or pay RM20 for still pretty good durians, but eat to my heart’s content?
By Mamapumpkin, on July 2nd, 2010%
Let’s just say, that you were appointed by the Yakuza Headmaster in Japan of a renown school as the disciplinarian master and one day, you find out that the Headmaster’s best friend’s son is dealing in drugs. Something not allowed in school. If you bring this out into the open, your family is at risk. You know what the Yakuza can do! If you don’t, you aren’t doing the right thing. The Headmaster’s PA has already called you to check how much you know and to assess what you will be doing about it. If the boy is punished, it would mean lots (LOTS!!!) of money involved with lots of agents in between a large syndicate going bust.
What would YOU do?
By Mamapumpkin, on June 23rd, 2010%
You will never run out of things to do at PD Avillion, even if it rains all weekend, as we had experienced. And especially if you have kids, fret not. Our kids were incredibly happy and did not want to leave even when they hardly had a beach to go to (due to the rain). So what did they do apart from eating and sleeping and playing?
They built a lego tower……(on the right is T1′s ex-bf)
.
They had colouring sessions and preschooler discussions……
.
They made sandcastles when the weather permitted……
.
T1′s ex-bf is the sweetest thing EVER. He helped T1 pour water over her Ben10 shoes first to wash off the sand before he did his own feet. And off she goes without waiting for him. *sigh* I need to teach her better manners.
.
They had a treasure hunt. Their own imaginary one, although the resort does organise their own too, but I didn’t want T1 involved because it was happening in the rain.
.
They fed the rabbits……
.
And the tortoises……
.
They enjoyed Hello Kitty panetonne. Just for reference, panetonne is an Italian bread usually during Christmas and New Year and it is my favourite bread of all. I just can’t get enough of it but sadly, the ones we get here are not as good as the ones in Italy. Out of desperation, I still eat it though if anyone goes abroad, I’ll always request for panetonne, if it’s during the season, of course. I should just learn how to bake it. Jomel?
.
We also had yummy home-baked brownies by yours truly…..(kids are famished during holidays all. the. time.)
.
T1 had to practise her skills in talking with strangers, making a request to retrieve her party pack from the resort.
.
And she did it! I told her, if you want it, you’ve got to ask for it yourself. There was a beach toys set and a large water gun.
.
They rode on the luggage trolley. Can you see her on it?
.
Even T2 wasn’t spared a sun tan……look how BROWN she is!!! She was only 3 months then
.
All was happy. All was good. Despite the gloomy weather. And when we left, even T2 was happy…….
Will I go back to PD Avillion? Absolutely. But I would like to try out the other resorts too before deciding on a regular favourite.
If you would like to see more PD Avillion pictures, feel free to click PD Avillion by car (as though there are so many ways to get there, haha). Hey, there are some people who go there by helicopter, ok?
By Mamapumpkin, on June 23rd, 2010%
So the movie opened later than expected because the censorship board had more work to do than expected……BUT I was lucky enough to have been invited for the early days of the movie. I wanted to watch it again on that very same day, immediately after the show ended. I did not want it to end. But all good things come to an end so I had to leave the cinema *sob*
ANYWAYS……….
I really want to watch it again!!! And again!!! OK, maybe 3 times would do me good. I would like to extend an open invitation to bloggers and readers alike to join me in watching this hilarious Hollywood femme fatale that got me searching for my asthma inhalers in the dark several times. When I laugh too hard or too much, I tend to get out of breathe……c’est la vie.
The movie has had mostly negative reviews from critiques but you know, for a mother who loves style, it rocked my soul. Partly because I could relate with their mid-life realities and partly because I love seeing the fashion but mostly because I laughed so hard.
Unfortunately, one really has to open all ears to pay attention to the jokes and anecdotes of the movie and know your Hollywood gossip to a certain extent in order to get what was funny, because honestly, I was the minority who laughed out loud (and no, I am not showing off). You also need some general worldly knowledge. Ironic, ain’t it, for such a bimbo movie.
What surprised me pleasantly was the fact that Malaysian censorship has come a long way. There were actually scenes of protruding nipples and nipples through wet-T shirts and hard-ons……YES, REALLY! It was pretty good. I noticed about 4 scenes which were cut and know that they were certainly humping sessions. Usually by Samantha. Perhaps all by Samantha.
So who’s up? Who would like to come watch it with me? The anticipated date is the evening of Saturday, 3rd July (the day before the 4th of July!). We will either watch the movie and then have supper/drinks or have dinner, then watch the movie. Perhaps watch the movie first, so we could laugh together about it later. We’ll see what the consensus decides. If you are indeed interested (even at last minute), drop me an email at mamapumpkin at gmail dot com titled SATC2 and you will receive follow-on emails on the plans. If you are a harrassed, perpetually stressed out and frazzled Mom like myself, then you should not miss this movie.
Below is what I wore for my first viewing of SATC2. I know you can hardly see the full outfit but I was really rushing out and had no time to take full length pics, even had to resort to taking a snapshot in the car! Those are all T1 and T2′s things behind…….
What shall I wear for my second viewing of SATC2???
I am EXCITED ALREADY!!!
By Mamapumpkin, on April 22nd, 2010%
Today I walked into a beauty store wanting to replenish my stock of a beautiful moisturiser. I told them that I’d received a birthday card from them last month but hadn’t the time to redeem my birthday gift from them and if I could do it now, a month later? I have been their loyal customer for years and always buy from them for presents yet the answer was no. The birthday present isn’t much, just a gesture to maintain customer loyalty, and surely all budgeted for in their sales margins. I am a stickler for good customer service. Service me well, and you’ll get far. Do the reverse, and I’ll run far.
So instead of clocking up more than just a moisturiser worth of sales, because I always buy more than I need (for the love of shopping), I walked across to another beauty kiosk (in full view of the original beauty store) and purchased a whole load of products from them instead, because the girl there was so nice. She said I should come back at month end for new stock of samples. She let me try everything and explained everything to me. She was even honest enough to tell me that their products didn’t include anti-aging qualities, and were purely moisturising. I really liked her.
Seriously, as much as I loved the original product that I usually use, I’m about to give this new product a chance.
Don’t you think customer service is so important? If only their bosses knew how easy it was to please me.
By Mamapumpkin, on February 18th, 2010%
Pengkalan Kubur is a town in Kelantan that borders with Thailand. It is a duty free town and my in-laws go there every week for the best coffee in Malaysia. Every visit to Kota Bharu for us will always be accompanied with a visit to Pengkalan Kubur for this very special coffee which you can find here:
PK is famous for fake branded goods…
Like this fake GUESS little girl’s dress!
There’s also Burberry…..and everything else……
I found real Nescafe Gold CHEAP!!!
 
How much is it in KL again? We stock 2 coffees in our home – Nescafe Gold for quick instants and the more sophisticated stuff.
I just wanted to add that my daughter, Tee, perpetually has a worm up her butt. Here she is ‘walking’ around Pengkalan Kubur with MIL and SIL and she cannot even WALK. She has to DANCE…..
Well, at least she’s a happy kid. A little psycho.
And my baby, T2, was a darling throughout the entire road trip as always. Despite the scorching sun that caused the Hubs and I to come down with some serious headaches!
By Mamapumpkin, on February 17th, 2010%
…..LATE AS USUAL!!! (is what TF left out in his tagline!) We didn’t fly Air Asia this time but took MAS instead and were pleasantly surprised and happy with MAS this time round. Truth be told, I don’t have a favourite. It’s almost like a Celcom-Maxis war. They’re both &#$%@*
Tee had an educational lesson today because we were early at the airport and thanks to Air Asia having some problems on the runway parking lot (what do you call that whole space that is not exactly the runway?), she observed with keen interest and asked lots of questions.
On top of that, she got to witness 3 Cesna planes take off and a huge helicopter landing. Unfortunately, from where we were, she couldn’t witness the full taking off of the late Air Asia plane that was supposed to depart at 9.50am but instead left 40 minutes late. So to date, Tee has still not seen first hand a big plane take off nor land. Unless we saw it in Tokyo. I’ve forgotten but that was the only time we had lots of time at the airport to actually look out. Maybe we did but she was asleep…..argh, I cannot remember! She was only 3.5 years old then anyway, too young to understand the physics of a plane.
Tee noticed that the 3 guys underneath the plane who were tugging at some rope from the plane had some furry dots on their ears. Ear muffs I told her. And amidst the gazillion questions (why can’t the plane reverse? how can the small truck push the big plane? what if the plane runs over the little men there? why do they have dots on their ears? what’s wrong with the plane? blablablablabla……), I was wondering to myself where Air Asia or airport management get those big ass ear muffs from? Because you know, I could really do with a pair. Seriously. Does anyone know? I want one because my 5 year old daughter can NOT stop talking.
By Mamapumpkin, on February 8th, 2010%
6th February 2010 – Saturday morning, 7.50am at the lobby of Damansara Immigration at the information counter.
He was in his 50s, had white hair, short and a moustache. Wore glasses. Was grumpy as hell. I didn’t get his name because he refused to give it to me. I even asked that he show me his name tag around his neck. If I didn’t get to see it then what the hell was it around his neck for?
So the story goes…..
We arrived at the Damansara immigration only to be told that it was closed. Shocked, we asked why which is when Mr Rude told us in a very sarcastic tone that it was closed. Don’t ask why. Go to Wanga Maju.
Then someone passing by mentioned that the computer system was down.
So I went back to Mr Rude to ask him if they would be open tomorrow (Sunday). The bugger was reading a book behind the counter and didn’t look up at me. He just rudely said in Malay, “Look. I’m telling you we are closed today. I am only here to tell you we are closed today. Don’t ask me about tomorrow.”
The fact that he spoke in such a rude voice and refused to look up at me all this while facing his book really pissed me off. So I asked him politely for his name, which is when he blew his top. He put his book down, took off his glasses and said, “Why do you want my name?”
I said, “So if anyone were to ask me anything, I can quote you that you have sent me to the Wangsa Maju branch (in case that was closed too).” Have some accountability, you mother fucking ass-wit.
He said, “No,no, no, no, no…..You do NOT need my name.” And put his glasses back on and went back to his book. After a few requests to get his name, I gave up. He point blank refused to give me his name and just started raising his voice at me.
I was soooooooo angry that it didn’t occur to me to take out my camera to get a photograph of him and I wish I had but all I did was make a call to ask how I can make a complaint about that old bastard.
Seriously, how would I go about making a complaint about such bad service (totally uncalled for)? What are my options? I was told that the Prime Minister’s Department has a website where you can lodge complaints. Do you have any faith in that? If anyone in authority is reading this, please, please take this up with me because this should not be happening in Malaysia. How are we to progress as a nation when people like this get away with murder? Nobody cares. Nobody cares. Nobody fucking cares!
It’s almost like going into Jusco and asking the staff if they have stand fans. Before they even look or ask or show you, “Sorry, don’t have.” And then you walk another 2 aisles and there it is. Rows and rows of stand fans. It all boils down to education. Reading. Learning. So many people in Malaysia are so fucking stupid because they only know one way. The tidak apa way.
*sad*
By Mamapumpkin, on February 7th, 2010%
We just discovered recently that we were unable to book an air ticket for T2 without a passport. Why does anyone need a passport in order to book a ticket? We are paying for the ticket after all, right? And on day of travel should we not have a passport by then, then just bar us from going through!
So anyway, as it stands, tickets to Australia have been booked for the entire family except T2 and myself because, well because T2 does not own a passport yet. And the most wonderful thing? Tee’s passport expires on date of travel so hers needs renewing as well. The best part? Both girls need to be in attendance in getting their passports done. Talk about convenience. Welcome to Malaysia!
So we braced ourselves for a family trip to the Malaysian immigration after getting lots of advice and decided on Subang Terminal 3 one early morning at 8am. In order to arrive for 8am, we were up at 6am but when we arrived at exactly 8am sharp, there were already people queuing up outside the building. In fact, there were two loooooooooonnnnnggggg queues. I got down to double check if the queues were indeed for people coming to make their passports and why there were 2 queues and to my dismay, they were. I counted the people on the outside that were visible, approximately 80 on queue 1 and 50 on queue 2 (which was the express machine lane). Both queues were not moving and in fact, the one officer who was managing the queues was stressed and could barely answer my questions. Why can’t they just make information more visible, more accessible etc etc etc. Why does every single person have to arrive in a blur state and really HUNT for such basic simple information like just where to fucking queue to renew a passport? Or where to get a number? Or where to get a form? Why? Why? WHY???
The passport was urgent so off we set to the Shah Alam immigration because there was no way we were queuing with baby in tow and a hot, irritated Tee. After half an hour, we arrived like the blind in Shah Alam, at the 2 kilometer long PKNS building where finding toilets is as elusive and long a journey as finding a G-spot in a baby! I bet they were freaking pedophiles who designed THAT building! And finding the immigration department was even more adventurous…..
When we finally did, there were again queues everywhere. *sigh* Time? 8.45am. We gave up. The queue was snaking all around walls to areas you couldn’t even see. There were crying babies, whiny toddlers, irritated adults, and testicle faced officers. I told the Hubs to give up. There was no way T2′s passport was happening. Not that day. We ended up at the warm temperatured McDonalds, all stressed out and tired, frustrated and confused.
One week later, we set our alarm clocks again and armed ourselves with bravery to be the first at the Damansara immigration. They have a children’s queue there, we were told. Whoopeedoo! So we were almost one of the firsts…..parked below (scary place I’m telling you – do not go there without a man!) and walked up 5 flights of stairs carrying T2 in the car seat. Because not a single lift worked and did I tell you the parking lot smelled of piss? Lots and lots of stale piss. Urine. Thank goodness, I didn’t smell shit. When we reached the desired level, we were informed that Damansara immigration was closed that day. In fact, everywhere was closed because the computers were down. The only place open was Wangsa Maju branch. And at that point, I almost lost it with said information officer (of which I will blog about later) and left in a huff. What REALLY pissed me off was that there were innocent people queuing outside the building (we were already inside as we parked inside) waiting for the immigration doors to open and no fucking decent person had the courtesy to inform them poor souls that they were wasting their time because, because…….Damansara immigration was closed that day. On a bright, sunny Saturday morning. They are evil, I’m telling you. These, these……Government members.
I called the Wangsa Maju branch to double-triple-heck, quadruple check if they were indeed open and guess what? The lady who answered the phone said, “Don’t come today! We’re very, very busy. There’s a lot of people here! We only have a few counters open. If you want, come extra early tomorrow morning!”
Screw this. We walked up towards that red coffee place at Millennium but even THEY were not open at 8.45am on a Saturday morning. I am so done with immigration. I almost want to pick up that phone to abuse some people and power but it is that same act that I am against so I have not. How is it fair that some people never have to queue to get their passports done? How is it that some people can GIVE Malaysian citizenship to foreigners merely through a phone call? And these are all friends of the big boy. I hate it.
So as it stands, T2 is still without a passport. We will try again after Chinese New Year and perhaps plan it so that me and kids can hang out somewhere whilst the Hubs queues and we will only go once he is closer towards the counter. How do you guys manage? So much for all of you who said it was an easy, fast process, the act of getting a Malaysian passport done. BAH!
|
Save time and read me from your email!!
Contact Me mamapumpkin at gmail dot com
|
CHARITY
Be the first to make a donation by clicking the PAY NOW button below if you like this blog or just come back more often. Thank you!!!
If you are a charity and need some help, please contact me.
The Mamapumpkin Directory Mamapumpkin serves as a Directory of Sorts from parenting tips to life skills to what's available around the world. If you're looking for something in particular, type in your search in the search box below. Or if you have a question, just email me direct at mamapumpkin at gmail dot com.
Subscribe to something HAPPY!
Mamapumpkin is a WORK IN PROGRESS blog – please digest at your own peril. We also write at:
|
Recent Comments