When Kaelynn sneezes

Maybe she's still growing up and maybe (I hope not) its starting to be one of her traits. Whenever she sneezes, she would just sneeze as any normal child does but it does not stop there.......

OK, here is a shot of Kaelynn who is about to sneeze

Yeah, and the stuff just dripped out.

Crunchy Green Chillies

When my Mom pickled green chillies, they were
crunchy. Really really crunchy. And sweet. And
the normal hawker green chilies are not crunchy.
I tried to imagine I was eating my Mom's and
also add some sesame seed. But its not the same.

Rubbing my back

For the past two days, just after that trip to the Lake Gardens, my back was really sore. And until today, I still could not understand how a simple trip can hurt my back. But I still suspect the bulky lifevest which made me sit leaning back to paddle the boat. Anyway, my Wife pitied me because I was literally walking around like an Old Man, she told me to lie down so that she could massage my back.

Well, this is one offer I could not refuse!

And so, we tried the old expired
"Tit ta chau", which was as
effective as sugar to sweets.

Then we tried the next one, which was
also expired but not too long. And man,
this one really kicks (my back) as not
only does it cools you in the first place
but once the rubbing starts, you can
feel as if your skin is smoking. Yes, its
burning hot.

Since I was on the floor with the other lens feet
away, I have no choice but to use the 50mm which
is starting to become my main lens. As you can see,
there are no knives here sine we're not in an office.
And no, that rise in my pants is not what you think
it is. Moreover, you cannot make shapes with dung.

Baked macaroni

With my Parents still in Singapore, almost every dinner is a challenge in itself as my Wife needs to come up with recipes which appeals to the girls. For me, I'll eat anything she cooks, so its not a problem. Anyway, tonight she is going to make Baked Macaroni, which is something new and I can't remember when I had it last or who made it.

Anyway, the main reason is that the girls are fussy eaters and we're afraid they might not like the macaroni. I reasoned that since they loved the sausages they had for lunch, its a good idea to slied them up for the macaroni too.

Yep, and I get to have baked potatoes again. Wheeee!

And so, after much waiting, here it is!

Man! Its delicious but I guess we could use some
milk and cheese too but we all know what they
do to my Gout.


This is the extra macaroni leftover from the baking
as there were too much. Anyway, by the time we
finished it the next day, there was nothing left.

Someone and that girl came to our house.....

So as not to divulge any secrets, I will be as discreet as possible here. Someone drove somebody all the way from Hang Tuah's place back to here. In the mean time, that girl and her slave joined somebody to keep someone company while driving somebody. The main reason is that a man and his Wife from up North would be coming down to take somebody there as the second part of the journey. And that man was very happy with his Son-In-Law's GPS (after I poisoned him, ha ha).

That girl saying hello to this girl

While somebody tried to be secretive......

Young Kennysia?

Lake Garden Activities

Ok, So you know what we did at Lake Garden yesterday. Now, how about what others did. There were quite a lot of activities but they mainly falls on the following category:


Picnic
Suprisingly, it was the first time my Wife suggested to have a picnic there. But when we arrived, we did see a few families having a picnic too.

Guess where everyone else disappeared?
Yep, the MCA second EGM was called off.

Hakka Mothers Association Annual Meeting
Here, the Central Committee are making sure
everyone attends to the point of setting up a
mobile tele-conference system. Apart from
the boy, all husbands are banned.


Mother and Baby having some "me" time as in
"Don't disturb me, I'm reading this book" and
"Me am stuffy in this stupid pram and the dumb
battery fan is pointing to me feet."

Father and Daughter on staring contest.
The winner gets to drink the can of Coke.
Yes, Daddy had a lot of practice.........

The Prince
Two attendants making sure the he is
able to eat his Milo Ice-Cream with the
maximum amount of pampering and fuss,
short of licking the spoon.

Photography
Yep, nowadays, its quite common to shoot photos around to the point that no one even bat an eyelid anymore. Its as common as eating KFC while walking all over the place. With all the flowers and trees, it does serve as a wonderful background.

Cosplayers aiming for the perfect shot at the Island

And again, near the jetty.

When it was our turn, I forgot to ask for "water"
shots. Now, its a bit too late and I've grown fat.

Photography lessons
One serious man, many babes with serious
equipment. All they did was shoot a boat
and some leaves.

And um, girl flying paper aeroplane?


To drink or not to drink?
Hey, its made by your own
flesh and blood. So its like
drinking your own piss


The Playground
Well, this is the part where it is easily the busiest. Since its school holidays, the place is swarmed with a lot of kids. Imagine what it would be if it was a weekend. But this is also the place I liked best for action shots of kids in their environment.

A group of siblings on the moving swing

Changed to the 70-200 lens

And caught some of them in action. Was too
lazy to walk over there and shoot. Moreover,
they might just run away from me.

Kristinemodo

Now, why does that name ring a bell?

Screaming in turns

Both of the were screaming, with Kaelynn
being the most reactive and aggressive.

I was about to reprimand them until I heard
"OK, you scream, then I scream"

And "One, two, One, two...", This means, taking turns.
As they got louder and more pushing, I just make
some discreet "ahem" sound.


And they're back to normal again.

The no-win situation

Its very interesting to see how children can grasp the knowledge you pass on to them. A few days ago, I was taught her how to play the coin and the cup game. Now, she is playing with Kaelynn and this is her version:

Pick a cup, any cup except this one (her hands on it)
Pretty soon, after much taunting and losing, Kaelynn
wised up and stopped playing as she now knows
any cup except the one that Kristine is holding,
has has no coins in it.

Trip to Lake Gardens

Yes, we went to The Lake Gardens again, which is a real feat considering that this is the second time with the kids within a five year period. OK, the Lake Gardens is a great place especially for photographers during the day and predators at night. And yes, it is also a great subject when you want to test if a person is a real Malaysian or a Spy.

"Have you ever been to the Lake Gardens?"
"Yes, in fact, I've been there at least once a month"
"So, how's Rudolph?"
"Huh? Who?"
"You know. Rudolph? At the Farm?"
"Oh, he's fine. In fact, I fed him just last week"
Bang. There you go. One dead Spy.

[OK, if there was a Rupdolph over there, sorry to the dead Spy, then.]

The Lake Gardens
Anyway, for those who do know know much about Lake Gardens, it is not about a Garden on a Lake. Its just a big place full of green trees and a Lake right between the National Museum and the National Monument. As I've said once again, it is a great place for photography. Most Wedding shots were taken from there, including outs but you won't recognise most of them due to the type of lens the photographers use. For the Kids, its also a great place to run around without breaking anything. And yes, for the special couples, its also a great place to propose/date/know each other and also, the source for mosquito food. So, its a great place for everyone.

Everyone except the Fathers who have to walk all over the place while carrying the bags.

And so, this morning, we prepared our own
egg sandwiches for our little picnic before
starting our walk.

Kristine took her sandwich and ate very little

And so did Kaelynn.

The reason was because in the background, were
the huge playground. I had to make them finish
their sandwiches before they can start playing.

Once done, there were much happiness

And they ran and ran towards the playground

I had to call them back not only because there
was a road but also, they ran the wrong way.

And so, while Daddy had to return all the picnic
stuff to the car, Mommy took the girls to the
playground, which, were still not destroyed

And for the first time, Kristine experienced
the no-joy of a faulty drinking water fountain

At the age of three, Kristine had this fear of
climbing this U-shaped ladder. But Kaelynn
climbed up without much problems.

Egged on by her younger sister, Kristine
managed to overcome her fear.


And now, its on to the playground itself!

It was Kaelynn's turn to be
rescued after she climbed
the ladder and did not know
how to get down.


But she did learn quickly and soon, they
were running all over the place.


Sliding

Climbing

Crawling

And more crawling

More sliding

And jumping. Well, you get the
idea. Coming here was like
unleashing all the pent up
activities that they cannot
do in the house. Its crazy
how they have so much
energy, I tell you.


Oh, they also have a new game where they bend
down every few step to have their butts smacked
by Mommy. You won't find them doing this at
home even when they're very very naughty.

Running around the tree. By now, you would have
guessed that they ran all over the place.


This is some sort of a rock stream which Kristine
took a liking to it due to the numerous rocks she
has to jump to clear them. But Mommy had to
come rescue her after she realised she could not
jump that far.....

Yes, and more running

Without a paddle......
One of the great attractions to the Lake Gardens, apart from everything else, was the lake. You can (if the lake is not being dried out) rent a boat and bring your families/potential life-mate/coffee-mate/enemy out there. I mean, in the middle of the lake, there is nowhere else to run if some chews you out/propose to you/kills you, etc. Anyway, my Dad brought me out there when I was young and all I could ever remember was his pink red calloused hands after he rowed back. And so, indirectly, following my Dad's footsteps, I got us a boat and entered the lake for the second time in my life.

Except this time, with the four of us, we could not rent the row boat (since there were none ready) and so, we got us a pansy paddle boat which seats four. An d RM3.00 for 30 minutes is not a big deal. I mean, what can go wrong?

Suffice to say, steering the rudder is not easy as you really need to paddle up to speed before it can make any difference. And once you let go, even for a second, the boat will either float in the wrong directions or using the remaining momentum, drift to the last rudder direction, which as usual, was also in the wrong direction.

And not only that, maybe its been decades since I rode a bike but paddling it was not easy since I was wearing my work shoes which is too big to paddle without scuffing the wall of the boat. And so, I had to lie down on the seat, and paddle like I was enjoying it. Its not easy what with the chunky Life-vest making you bend backwards more. Suffice to say, towards evening and the next day, I walked like an old man.

After our trip, everyone on the shore wanted to have a ride as well. Maybe my faking of enjoying the paddling did the trick. Suckers! But they did not rent the canoes since they saw two young guys "chasing" after us and went to a sidewall instead.

Finally, we settled down at the boathouse where
a small mineral water turned into two 100Plus,
a bag of Twisties and another bag of crackers.

I didn't catch what Kaelynn was saying but
I love this shot


And then, all of a sudden, it became crystal clear!

I thought to myself, well, this is going to be fun. All of
us with stuffy Lifejackets which hindered any possible
limb movement and also my camera and my Nokia
5800. This is so weird because I should be thinking
about my family, not thinking how to protect these
equipment from damage.

Mommy went in to the front of the boat while
Kristine has the rear all to herself. Me, I nearly
sank the boat once I got in.

As for Kaelynn, heh. She got squeezed in-between.

And try not to do this when the Sun is up. At the
end, not only were the vests stuffy which made
me sweat and also scuffing my chin, they also
made the seating uncomfortable which lead to
me having a painful back later on. As for all
the leg-work, I won't know if my muscles were
affected until after a day or two. But its nice.

After the boat ride, more sugar
and fun, until I said.....

"We're not going to see the Deers or even visit the
Bird park." Yeah, its after twelve and both of us
were tired from all the walking and rowing.

And so, we visited the Edible Garden, which like
anyone who visited it, was crap. I won't say
much but once you visited it, you will
know the term boot-licking.

And before we leave, it was one
final go for the girls.


And so, the next time we go, if we ever did go:
1) Never park next to the Playground
If you originally wanted to visit the Deer Park or other places, this playground can spoil your plans. Playgrounds and children do not mix with your plans unless they happen to be the very inquisitive children/niece or nephews of your potential Soulmate which you need to get rid of.

2) Go there at 8 in the morning
The Sun will fry you to heck if you come late. But at least, now my left arm is exactly the same shade as my right arm.

3) Make sure I can change lens faster
Yeah, three lenses in the bag and its not easy.

4) No more black pants or even, long pants.
Trust me. You can feel Mr. Sun groping your ass and your legs within seconds. And you do not have to wonder why you need a second pair of underwear. You do wear them, don't you? Unless you had cling-wrap your legs earlier and with the intention of using the Sun as sauna, you cheapskate.