So it's the third day of Ramadan over here for us in the US. To all of you reading who fast, happy ramadan and may all you all have a happy and enlightening month.
Everytime Ramadan comes around I am reminded of how much Islam and Culture are intertwined in Malaysia. Put yourself in another country with muslims from other countries and you'll realize that so many things that muslims in Malaysia do are done because of culture, and not because of religion. But it's all good... :)
Monday, September 25, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Learning to be in a Relationship
This relationship that I have with my husband is my only relationship with another person of the opposite sex. Looking back I think I did a lot of things that people in their first relationship would do. I suppose you could call me a novice. Never had a boyfriend when I was in school, didn't like the guys who liked me in college, never got the guy who I liked... all the while my girlfriends would all switch from one guy to another or stayed with the one guy that they found when they were 16. So I learned how I thought a girlfriend should act through them. Learn by observation you would say.
So anyway, I was just contemplating the things I did with hubby when we were dating and I know that a lot of them I wouldn't do had it been my second relationship. I was always snooping around trying to find out about his past and got angry or jealous when I found out what he received from his ex-girlfriends or what things he kept from his previous relationships. I would even get angry over a box of pictures of his ex-girlfriends that he was throwing out coz I couldn't stand the fact that he had been with all these other girls before he met me. I just didn't know how to control my jealousy (malay people say marah tak bertempat).
But this one issue I feel like I should have the right to be angry. You see, the first month hubby and I met and started dating, he started receiving calls from one of his ex-girlfriends who sounded like she wanted to get back with him. (I say sounded coz he could've said anything back then and I would've believed him. First boyfriend and all - I'm naive remember?). Even back then I remember he was always open with me and he talked to about how to go about handling the situation. I suppose he wanted to know for sure whether I was serious about being with him and whether he should cut off all communication with her since he was with me. Well, me in my roundabout way made it seem like it was his decision and that I would be ok if he decided that we shouldn't be together. It was only our first month ok.... I didn't want to be possessive. I didn't think I had the right to "own" him. So anyway, we decided to give the relationship a try and to be more serious so the ex-gf was told to back off. I thought that was the end of it.
Nooooooooooooo it just had to be more complicated. Throughout our relationship hubby would tell me that his ex called again and that she was begging to get back with him or that she baked cookies for him on his bday or that she wanted to fly out and meet him. We were all on different continents then. Hubby and me doing this long distance relationship. I got so f*ing fedup that I told him off. If he was a man and that he really loved me, he would tell her to stop it once and for all. I think in a wierd way hubby felt good that he had these two girls "fighting" for him. On the day he said that she was planning to fly out to meet him he asked what I would do if she really did show up at his doorstep. I said "I'm not going to fight for you. If you want to be with her then I would let you go". Like, DUH! I'm not going to waste my time fighting for someone who doesn't really really want to be with me. I think that's one of my proudest moments as a girlfriend. I felt quite mature and in control. Plus what happened next turned towards my advantage. Hubby told me that he finally told the ex-gf off in a way that she stopped trying. We moved on, He asked me to marry him and here we are together.
And now - the reason I feel that I should still be mad at this person. She's still in our life!!!!!!!! No, not that way.... she's not trying to get hubby away from me. But what are the chances that she has to join this little community that we've built away from home - Well, we didn't build it. More like, it's the only community that hubby grew up with when he grew up here. Bloody hell ok.... the person converted into our religion, started hanging out with the very same people I was starting to get to know when I first moved here, actually married someone within the community and now is at every bloody function that the community holds and organizes. Everytime I see her hubby says it shows in my face that I don't like her. We don't think that anyone else in the community know that he and her used to be together (remember, she's much older than he is). Oh, hubby's mom knows of course and she's on my side. :p I suppose that person's husband knows if she told him but hmph, u never know. These malay communities.... for all I know everyobdy there knows.
I just can't help but feel so annoyed whenever I see her. I've tried to be civil, but I know it's fake. I try to smile when deep down I'm boiling mad. I told hubby last night, I just can't help it. I mean, is it me? Really, coz if it's me someone has to teach me or show me how to act. Maybe I'm being immature. I've never learned the lesson about "How to control your emotions when his ex-g is in the same room". Look it at from my point of view. How DARE she call you and cry about you forgetting her birthday when she knew you were with me. How DARE she try to win you back when she knew that you and I were together. How DARE she even THINK about visiting you when she knew that I wasn't physically there and you could've just said, come over and I woudn't have known about it. AFTER ALL that she's done, she's the mature one? She's the one that makes the first move to want to get to know me? She wants to be friends? Oh now she's the one who's all happy for you that you've found the person you love and that she's happy for our marriage!? Bullshit! Yeah right..... malu lah sikit ok? I won him. I WON. YOU LOST. Don't go pretending that you're over it. F* Off. I WON.
So sue me for not knowing how to act around her.
**********************************************************
Addition:
After blowing off steam I realize all this is not worth getting angry over. There are so many more important things in life. I just hope I can chant that in my head the next time I see her.
***********************************************************
OK I did say I was a novice right with this whole relationship thing? The other thing you should know about me is that I have this awful way of realizing why I feel a certain way days after I scream my heart out about it. So, just to set the record straight:
I USED to be jealous of hubby's ex-girflfriends, but I recognize the fact that he has a past and he cannot change that past. His past also paved his way to me so I wouldn't ask him to change anything that he did before he met me.
I do however, have a thing about his one ex who came into our life when she knew full well that he didn't want to be with her anymore and that he and I were together. I feel that she did not have any respect for me then. And so I find it hard to show her any respect now, even if she acts all sweet and friendly. Eventhough she is now married and with her own child. I don't trust her. She chose to join our community hence once again imposing on my personal space and and comfort level.
So anyway, I was just contemplating the things I did with hubby when we were dating and I know that a lot of them I wouldn't do had it been my second relationship. I was always snooping around trying to find out about his past and got angry or jealous when I found out what he received from his ex-girlfriends or what things he kept from his previous relationships. I would even get angry over a box of pictures of his ex-girlfriends that he was throwing out coz I couldn't stand the fact that he had been with all these other girls before he met me. I just didn't know how to control my jealousy (malay people say marah tak bertempat).
But this one issue I feel like I should have the right to be angry. You see, the first month hubby and I met and started dating, he started receiving calls from one of his ex-girlfriends who sounded like she wanted to get back with him. (I say sounded coz he could've said anything back then and I would've believed him. First boyfriend and all - I'm naive remember?). Even back then I remember he was always open with me and he talked to about how to go about handling the situation. I suppose he wanted to know for sure whether I was serious about being with him and whether he should cut off all communication with her since he was with me. Well, me in my roundabout way made it seem like it was his decision and that I would be ok if he decided that we shouldn't be together. It was only our first month ok.... I didn't want to be possessive. I didn't think I had the right to "own" him. So anyway, we decided to give the relationship a try and to be more serious so the ex-gf was told to back off. I thought that was the end of it.
Nooooooooooooo it just had to be more complicated. Throughout our relationship hubby would tell me that his ex called again and that she was begging to get back with him or that she baked cookies for him on his bday or that she wanted to fly out and meet him. We were all on different continents then. Hubby and me doing this long distance relationship. I got so f*ing fedup that I told him off. If he was a man and that he really loved me, he would tell her to stop it once and for all. I think in a wierd way hubby felt good that he had these two girls "fighting" for him. On the day he said that she was planning to fly out to meet him he asked what I would do if she really did show up at his doorstep. I said "I'm not going to fight for you. If you want to be with her then I would let you go". Like, DUH! I'm not going to waste my time fighting for someone who doesn't really really want to be with me. I think that's one of my proudest moments as a girlfriend. I felt quite mature and in control. Plus what happened next turned towards my advantage. Hubby told me that he finally told the ex-gf off in a way that she stopped trying. We moved on, He asked me to marry him and here we are together.
And now - the reason I feel that I should still be mad at this person. She's still in our life!!!!!!!! No, not that way.... she's not trying to get hubby away from me. But what are the chances that she has to join this little community that we've built away from home - Well, we didn't build it. More like, it's the only community that hubby grew up with when he grew up here. Bloody hell ok.... the person converted into our religion, started hanging out with the very same people I was starting to get to know when I first moved here, actually married someone within the community and now is at every bloody function that the community holds and organizes. Everytime I see her hubby says it shows in my face that I don't like her. We don't think that anyone else in the community know that he and her used to be together (remember, she's much older than he is). Oh, hubby's mom knows of course and she's on my side. :p I suppose that person's husband knows if she told him but hmph, u never know. These malay communities.... for all I know everyobdy there knows.
I just can't help but feel so annoyed whenever I see her. I've tried to be civil, but I know it's fake. I try to smile when deep down I'm boiling mad. I told hubby last night, I just can't help it. I mean, is it me? Really, coz if it's me someone has to teach me or show me how to act. Maybe I'm being immature. I've never learned the lesson about "How to control your emotions when his ex-g is in the same room". Look it at from my point of view. How DARE she call you and cry about you forgetting her birthday when she knew you were with me. How DARE she try to win you back when she knew that you and I were together. How DARE she even THINK about visiting you when she knew that I wasn't physically there and you could've just said, come over and I woudn't have known about it. AFTER ALL that she's done, she's the mature one? She's the one that makes the first move to want to get to know me? She wants to be friends? Oh now she's the one who's all happy for you that you've found the person you love and that she's happy for our marriage!? Bullshit! Yeah right..... malu lah sikit ok? I won him. I WON. YOU LOST. Don't go pretending that you're over it. F* Off. I WON.
So sue me for not knowing how to act around her.
**********************************************************
Addition:
After blowing off steam I realize all this is not worth getting angry over. There are so many more important things in life. I just hope I can chant that in my head the next time I see her.
***********************************************************
OK I did say I was a novice right with this whole relationship thing? The other thing you should know about me is that I have this awful way of realizing why I feel a certain way days after I scream my heart out about it. So, just to set the record straight:
I USED to be jealous of hubby's ex-girflfriends, but I recognize the fact that he has a past and he cannot change that past. His past also paved his way to me so I wouldn't ask him to change anything that he did before he met me.
I do however, have a thing about his one ex who came into our life when she knew full well that he didn't want to be with her anymore and that he and I were together. I feel that she did not have any respect for me then. And so I find it hard to show her any respect now, even if she acts all sweet and friendly. Eventhough she is now married and with her own child. I don't trust her. She chose to join our community hence once again imposing on my personal space and and comfort level.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
International Business Environments
I had the most refreshing lecture yesterday evening. Normally I dread late night classes. The students don't want to be there, the professor complains about being there. Everybody just wants to leave early. So much for getting your moneys worth of education. Yesterday though was a totally different class due to the methods the proffessor, Dr. Keillor used.
Dr. Keillor has a reputation for being an obnoxious, thick skinned, know-it-all professor. But boy does he know his stuff! You can read more about what students think of him here. Yesterday's class had all the right ingredients. I was kept awake by his explanation of each minor point he had on his slides, his many and interesting examples of companies and how they operate to reflect each point he made and he kept us on our toes by throwing questions and making us think. He injested rude but funny jokes and I could tell that some people were not amused but huh, I guess you gotta be a little bit open to the way he teaches to learn about things.
The other part I loved about the class is the actual topic itself. It's about the global environment. It's about how businesses in the US that went into the many international markets around the world. It was about how they brought back knowledge that they learnt from the overseas market. How refreshing it was not to learn about how stuff are done in the US. Dr. Keillor lived in the U.K. for a long time and all his stories about the norm in the U.K. too brought a smile to my face as I knew what he was talking about. Who else would know about crisps?
Some of the more interesting anecdotes from last night's class were:
These are the views of the professor and by no mean actual fact. I didn't do my own research yet but take the following with a grain of salt.
Dr. Keillor has a reputation for being an obnoxious, thick skinned, know-it-all professor. But boy does he know his stuff! You can read more about what students think of him here. Yesterday's class had all the right ingredients. I was kept awake by his explanation of each minor point he had on his slides, his many and interesting examples of companies and how they operate to reflect each point he made and he kept us on our toes by throwing questions and making us think. He injested rude but funny jokes and I could tell that some people were not amused but huh, I guess you gotta be a little bit open to the way he teaches to learn about things.
The other part I loved about the class is the actual topic itself. It's about the global environment. It's about how businesses in the US that went into the many international markets around the world. It was about how they brought back knowledge that they learnt from the overseas market. How refreshing it was not to learn about how stuff are done in the US. Dr. Keillor lived in the U.K. for a long time and all his stories about the norm in the U.K. too brought a smile to my face as I knew what he was talking about. Who else would know about crisps?
Some of the more interesting anecdotes from last night's class were:
These are the views of the professor and by no mean actual fact. I didn't do my own research yet but take the following with a grain of salt.
- Frito-Lay learned about seasonal flavors and brand flavors from the consumer market in the U.K. They brought the "salt n vinegar" flavor to the U.S. and now it is one of the top selling flavors in the US market. Lesson: you can be a better company by taking the knowledge you learnt by expanding overseas back to your home country.
- The first brand that comes to the average British mind is "Google". Who knew a brand that you don't physically purchase could be top of the list? McDonalds came in second but no where close to the number 1 spot. Lesson: You need to recognize that what you think the value of your brand is may be different from what your customer thinks it's worth.
- McDonald's core values are: quality, value, service. Quality is measured by the temperature of the food when they are served. Value is measured by the price of the food. Service is measured by the speed of the service and whether you get the correct order. Lesson: It's that simple. Just give the customers what they want. You don't have to give them more than what they ask for.
Monday, September 11, 2006
9/11
I woke up this morning not realizing that it was the 5th anniversary of Sept 11th. Sure the news and radios have been reminding me about the anniversary all week but I didn't think that we were going to be bombarded with images and sounds of the day itself. I am feeling somewhat angry because the events of Sept 11th have changed the perception people have towards my religion and my life has changed so much because of that biased perception.
I'm not pious nor extremely religious but my heart breaks whenever people make jokes about hubby being a t3rr0r!st just because of his religion. I hate the fact that due to what happened on that day it is harder for us innocent people to get into the country to pursue our studies or visit loved ones. I feel cautious about letting anyone know about my religion. In the past the person asking or hearing my statement about my religion become uncomfortable. I can see it in their face and thier expression. All of a sudden the conversation becomes akward. Sudenly there's nothing to talk about. I know what they're thinking.
I'm not blaming the people over here only either. Because of what the leader of this country decided to do as a retalition of what happened to their country, people around the world look at the country and smirk. A visit to KL will never be complete without at least one person pulling me aside and telling me about how much they hate the YOU ASS of A. As if I care so much for this country either. Relatives who don't know any better tell me "I don't like your president". Uuhh.. hello? He's not my president. I don't even have the right to vote for him.
See I can never win. Over here people look at me in disgust because of my religion eventhough I I will never or have never had the same beliefs the people responsible for the attack have! They don't ask about how I feel. No, they just assume because of my belief in the religion, I must surely have the same opinion of those people. On the other hand, back home, my own relatives think that because I'm living in this country, I must surely approve the war and the decisions that the leader of this country makes. They look at me and I know they can't believe that I would leave my own family and home to live in a country that tries to control the world.
I was in NY city when the attacks happened. I was supposed to be in the city for a few days for a short vacation. I saw the images of the crashes, the collapses and the rescues on tv in real time. I was waiting for the department store across the towers to open and was watching tv when I saw what happened. Suffice to say I was glued to the tv the whole day and many days after that. The streets of NY were completely empty which I've never seen. Relatives and friends were worried about my safety and I'm glad I was able to make a phone call out to those people around the world to let them know that I was safe. Instead of being in NY for 2 days, I ended up being stuck in the city for a whole week because there was no way I could get out as flights were all cancelled. I am grateful for a family friend who housed me for the whole week I was trapped in the city. While I was downtown I tried to film what was happening in the city. Even on the day of what happened you could feel the hate Americans had for this immigrant in their city. Someone came up to me to say "This is War". Yeah. What would you say to that person if you were me? I was trapped, I wanted to keep a low profile and hey, I was sad too of what was happening. I don't know why the person was blaming me for what happened. I guess they were just waiting for a reason to openly show their hate for someone who's different than them. Anyway, ever since that day everytime I pass through airports or securty checks I get sent to a secondary line because of name.
Right now the tv stations are showing a real life account of what happened on that day. I don't want to relive the events. It reminds me where exactly I was and what I was doing too. But the reminders are everywhere. Even with the tv and radio switched off, the sirens of the firetrucks and the policemen around my house go off at each major event (the planes crashing, the towers collapsing). No matter how much I don't want to think about it, I can't.
And I'll bet you that the treatment I get from people here will probably change tomorrow. After all, it's hard to feel friendly to a person who's associated to the people everyone here hate. If only they knew I feel the same way they do.
I'm not pious nor extremely religious but my heart breaks whenever people make jokes about hubby being a t3rr0r!st just because of his religion. I hate the fact that due to what happened on that day it is harder for us innocent people to get into the country to pursue our studies or visit loved ones. I feel cautious about letting anyone know about my religion. In the past the person asking or hearing my statement about my religion become uncomfortable. I can see it in their face and thier expression. All of a sudden the conversation becomes akward. Sudenly there's nothing to talk about. I know what they're thinking.
I'm not blaming the people over here only either. Because of what the leader of this country decided to do as a retalition of what happened to their country, people around the world look at the country and smirk. A visit to KL will never be complete without at least one person pulling me aside and telling me about how much they hate the YOU ASS of A. As if I care so much for this country either. Relatives who don't know any better tell me "I don't like your president". Uuhh.. hello? He's not my president. I don't even have the right to vote for him.
See I can never win. Over here people look at me in disgust because of my religion eventhough I I will never or have never had the same beliefs the people responsible for the attack have! They don't ask about how I feel. No, they just assume because of my belief in the religion, I must surely have the same opinion of those people. On the other hand, back home, my own relatives think that because I'm living in this country, I must surely approve the war and the decisions that the leader of this country makes. They look at me and I know they can't believe that I would leave my own family and home to live in a country that tries to control the world.
I was in NY city when the attacks happened. I was supposed to be in the city for a few days for a short vacation. I saw the images of the crashes, the collapses and the rescues on tv in real time. I was waiting for the department store across the towers to open and was watching tv when I saw what happened. Suffice to say I was glued to the tv the whole day and many days after that. The streets of NY were completely empty which I've never seen. Relatives and friends were worried about my safety and I'm glad I was able to make a phone call out to those people around the world to let them know that I was safe. Instead of being in NY for 2 days, I ended up being stuck in the city for a whole week because there was no way I could get out as flights were all cancelled. I am grateful for a family friend who housed me for the whole week I was trapped in the city. While I was downtown I tried to film what was happening in the city. Even on the day of what happened you could feel the hate Americans had for this immigrant in their city. Someone came up to me to say "This is War". Yeah. What would you say to that person if you were me? I was trapped, I wanted to keep a low profile and hey, I was sad too of what was happening. I don't know why the person was blaming me for what happened. I guess they were just waiting for a reason to openly show their hate for someone who's different than them. Anyway, ever since that day everytime I pass through airports or securty checks I get sent to a secondary line because of name.
Right now the tv stations are showing a real life account of what happened on that day. I don't want to relive the events. It reminds me where exactly I was and what I was doing too. But the reminders are everywhere. Even with the tv and radio switched off, the sirens of the firetrucks and the policemen around my house go off at each major event (the planes crashing, the towers collapsing). No matter how much I don't want to think about it, I can't.
And I'll bet you that the treatment I get from people here will probably change tomorrow. After all, it's hard to feel friendly to a person who's associated to the people everyone here hate. If only they knew I feel the same way they do.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Friday I'm in Love?
I don't really like Fridays. Not since I moved to this little town anyway. Hubby always works long hours on Fridays and I never seem to have classes and am mostly busy only in the first part of the day on Fridays. The rest of the day? I wait. I wait and wait. Wait for hubby to finish his shift so he can pick me up from the university. Sometimes I wait only a few hours, sometimes I have to wait many many hours. And it gets tiring you know? Imagine sitting in front of the PC non-stop for 4 hours without anyone to talk to. I mean, in real life that is. There's no one to talk to in real life. None of my friends have classes on Friday and they travel or do their own thing with family. So I'm alone. I stay at the university all alone with no one to talk to. OK - so maybe I can talk to the stranger next to me but what's the fun in that?
Back in KL Fridays were the best day to look forward to. It would be the day my girlfriends and I go out for our weekly dinner and listening to music/dancing. I don't know if any of the girls still go out for dinner on Fridays or not. After all, ever since we all started working and some of us getting married and moving away, the weekly outings became once in two weeks and then once a month and now.. hehe... now we only go out when all of us are back in KL. It's so much fun. We all get together and compare what each of us would be wearing. We'd put on our make-up together. Some putting make-up for others and then we'd all go in two cars or three to where we decided to go. Sometimes the guys would come along. Sometimes not. Then we'd have a huge dinner, gossip, laugh tease and catch up on the latest news. After dinner we'd either go to a coffee place or if the band at the place we were having dinner was any good, we'd stay and listen to them. So much fun!
I miss those days. Over here hubby and I only talk about going out to clubs and having dinner out. Most of the time it never materializes. We don't really know where to go. And we don't have any friends that share the same interest in dinner and dancing. And I think hubby associates the club as a pick-up place so he doesn't think it's necessary for us to go there anymore since we've found each other. So much for not changing even after marriage.
Anyway in other news. Sunshine my best friend has permanently moved back to Malaysia. And so it looks like I'm the only one in our group that's decided to live abroad. I really do wonder how long my friendship with Sunshine can last. I really hope that it'll last forever. Somehow I have faith in Sunshine. Wev'e gone through so much together and a lot of our lives are very similar. The only different thing about it now is that she's expecting a baby. But hey, apparently according to her I'm the only one out of the group that is interested in her pregnancy and so maybe it won't be one of those things that'll change our friendship? Well, you never know.
So, two hours to go before hubby is expected to finish his shift. Oh boy....
Back in KL Fridays were the best day to look forward to. It would be the day my girlfriends and I go out for our weekly dinner and listening to music/dancing. I don't know if any of the girls still go out for dinner on Fridays or not. After all, ever since we all started working and some of us getting married and moving away, the weekly outings became once in two weeks and then once a month and now.. hehe... now we only go out when all of us are back in KL. It's so much fun. We all get together and compare what each of us would be wearing. We'd put on our make-up together. Some putting make-up for others and then we'd all go in two cars or three to where we decided to go. Sometimes the guys would come along. Sometimes not. Then we'd have a huge dinner, gossip, laugh tease and catch up on the latest news. After dinner we'd either go to a coffee place or if the band at the place we were having dinner was any good, we'd stay and listen to them. So much fun!
I miss those days. Over here hubby and I only talk about going out to clubs and having dinner out. Most of the time it never materializes. We don't really know where to go. And we don't have any friends that share the same interest in dinner and dancing. And I think hubby associates the club as a pick-up place so he doesn't think it's necessary for us to go there anymore since we've found each other. So much for not changing even after marriage.
Anyway in other news. Sunshine my best friend has permanently moved back to Malaysia. And so it looks like I'm the only one in our group that's decided to live abroad. I really do wonder how long my friendship with Sunshine can last. I really hope that it'll last forever. Somehow I have faith in Sunshine. Wev'e gone through so much together and a lot of our lives are very similar. The only different thing about it now is that she's expecting a baby. But hey, apparently according to her I'm the only one out of the group that is interested in her pregnancy and so maybe it won't be one of those things that'll change our friendship? Well, you never know.
So, two hours to go before hubby is expected to finish his shift. Oh boy....
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
*cough* *cough*
Oh how embarassing. I was walking and minding my own business while eating popcorn when I bumped into my professor. I opened my mouth and inhaled to say hi but what happened next was not what I expected. The little itty bitty bit of popcorn got inhaled and got stuck. I coughed and splattered and teared up thinking I was going to choke to death with this stupid popcorn in my throat. There wasn't any water in sight. The professor was making noises like he was clearing his throat! SSHEEEAAASSSHHHH. Anyhoo. I finally found my breath and started to open my mouth to talk to him again but started coughing and splattering all over again coz the popcorn bit was still stuck! Haiyoooo... in the end the professor turned to talk to someone else and left me alone to handle the stupid popcorn in my throat. I just walked away......
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Meet the In-Laws
Hubby's parents came for a short visit this past couple of days. This was the first time we had them over ever since we moved to our new place two-and-a-half years ago. The first time we were all here in this little town was when we were all scouting the town for a decent looking home. We found a splendid and affordable place and the place looks very different from when we first purchased it. FIL and MIL were very very happy with the changes we have made and very proud of their son who single-handedly painted the walls (twice, coz I changed my mind about the color), ripped out the carpeting and installed new flooring (phase 3 is still pending) and all the crown moulding, chair moulding and little additions that make the place look very much, ours.
Anyway, it was so much fun having the ILs around. MIL brought a whole suitcase of frozen cooked food which will last us many months! (Thanks Ma!) On top of that, she bought us sorts of new items for our home. I got embarrassed at one point coz as a young couple starting out, our kitchen things are very basic and some, starting to wear out. MIL quickly took us to the nearest department store and look at all the shiny new things we got!
New glass containers for our everyday foodstuff
A huge and shiny new container for our rice (I was keeping the rice in the sack it comes in!)
Swanky new kettle for those hot cups of coffee and tea (the one I had was starting to rust! Oh the embarassment!)
Set of new pots and pans (The non-stick material of my old pans were starting to peel off)
Anyway, it was so much fun having the ILs around. MIL brought a whole suitcase of frozen cooked food which will last us many months! (Thanks Ma!) On top of that, she bought us sorts of new items for our home. I got embarrassed at one point coz as a young couple starting out, our kitchen things are very basic and some, starting to wear out. MIL quickly took us to the nearest department store and look at all the shiny new things we got!
New glass containers for our everyday foodstuff
A huge and shiny new container for our rice (I was keeping the rice in the sack it comes in!)
Swanky new kettle for those hot cups of coffee and tea (the one I had was starting to rust! Oh the embarassment!)
Set of new pots and pans (The non-stick material of my old pans were starting to peel off)Some people might view the spending spree as a silent comment of how the things we have are not good enough. But I don't at all. MIL is not like the typical MIL. Sure, she has a strong personality but she's honest. I don't have to be paranoid about whether she's saying good things in front of me and then turning around to say anything bad. She will tell it to my face. She will show her displeasure if she's not pleased. Nothing like the MILs my friends have. Most of them try to just keep quiet and only say the bad with their own friends. I think we're both learning how to balance the love and care we have for my husband, her son. I try to learn as much as I can from her. And I know that she wants the best for her son and her daughter-in-law. I thank her and appreciate all that she wants to do for us. Some people have made comments about how I'm spoiled by my MIL. But u know what? They don't know everything that goes on. Of course lah things can be good and they can be bad. But cukuplah that all they know are the good things. As long as I'm happy.
Anyway, after a few days of healthy and plentiful eating, the In-Laws left. It was a good memorable trip and we were able to catch up on the more important things in life. Sometimes it's hard to talk about those bits on the phone. I'm glad that's done.
Hopefully Hubby is happy and rejuvenated from all the outpouring of love from both his parents.
Anyway, after a few days of healthy and plentiful eating, the In-Laws left. It was a good memorable trip and we were able to catch up on the more important things in life. Sometimes it's hard to talk about those bits on the phone. I'm glad that's done.
Hopefully Hubby is happy and rejuvenated from all the outpouring of love from both his parents.
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