Not A Shopaholic

I’ve just talked with a friend this morning. She and her family are actually leaving town and be based in the city. When I asked her how many times they’ve move to different cities and towns all her life, I was shocked by her answer. She calmly said, ‘ Oh, just about 9 times and counting!’. Wow! I can’t imagine they had to move all their things, transfer to a new school, adjust to a new environment and befriend their new neighbors – 9 times! And now, since she’s working as a teacher, she has resigned her job and is going to look for a new job in the city. She has done some searching but can’t search using the Philadelphia job search because they’re now based in Malaysia. Hopefully she’ll find a new teaching job in the city soon.

Anyways, my friend and her family is not on the run or something. Her father’s occupation requires them to travel and be moved to different cities.

All contracts signed, house rent and deposit paid, house interior repainted. Yes! we are ready to move in to our new house. It’s  such a relief to have found a house after days of searching and praying.

The house that we’re moving in is not a big house but my Hubby and I like it so much because it’s cozy and the neighborhood is conducive for children.

I can’t wait to move in, arrange the stuff around and settle in. Whew! I just want to settle and have a ‘normal’ life again. I think I’m already dizzy with our ‘transit’ lives; staying in different places, sleeping in rooms that are not our own and etc. But of course, I’m not complaining.. I did enjoy our travels and staying with family and friends. But certain things have limitations and I guess, I’ve already reached that limit. I also want stability, routine and a certain feel of  ‘permanence’. So, I can conclude that living in motorhomes is definitely a no-no for me.

We’re sort of short on budget this season. We’ve traveled a lot for the year and we’re saving for our move to the new house. In short, my Hubby and I haven’t bought anything  special for ourselves  for Christmas.

But on the other hand, I remember that I bought a watch early this month. It’s a Nautica watch. This is actually a watch sold by my cousin who works for the manufacturing company in Hong Kong. They have this year end sale and she bought a lot of the watches and sold them at a cheaper price. So, I would consider that as a Christmas gift for myself.

As for my  Hubby’s gift… if budget permits, I would have to think of a birthday gift and a new year gift for now since Christmas has already passed by.. LOL! If not, we’ll have to wait till we’re settled in our new house with our finances smoothed out and then I’ll buy something really special.

We were helping a friend once who was addicted to some illegal substance. He said he wanted to be free from addiction and needs to be in a drug rehab. So, we arranged for him to go in one of the best drug rehab in the country. But we had some problems with his documents. The family is trying their best to sort out his documents so that he will immediately be restored to his normal health and condition.

I can’t help but say ” Wow!!” when I saw the BenQ netbook that was on sale at Tesco ( Hatyai, Thailand) last night. I think it’s the cheapest netbook I’ve ever seen and it also has great specifications, 240 GB memory, LAN, wifi and etc. I’m not sure though if it has a 3 cell or 6 cell battery.

So, if you need a netbook, try to check out this cool netbook in Tesco.

A few years ago, when I was newly married and without any kids, I had a lot of time in my hands. After our teaching work, my Hubby and I would eat our dinner, go back home, do some reading, play scrabble and etc. And to make our time more profitable, we would make some handmade cards out of grass paper. Then, whenever we go back home to Malaysia, we would sell these cards to our friends. It was a good project for us  and it did put in extra funds for our family.

Now, with work and two kids in tow. We are sure that we won’t be able to have enough time and patience to make those handmade cards again. Though it would be nice to make some Christmas cards, Valentines cards or even wedding invitations. I guess I would have to wait till my kids grow up and once again I will have more time in my hands.

Christmas is fast approaching! Christmas is one of the most memorable time of the year as we remember how God gave us His son for us to be saved. As God has given, we should also show our love to others.

And of course, one of the best ways to show our love to others is by giving. When we think about giving, we always tend to think about materials things and thus money. But do you know that there are other things we can give to others during this season?

We can give our time.

We can give our listening ear.

We can give our thoughts, our loving words.

We can give a call to a friend who’s far away.

We can give a smile to those we come across.

We can give a helping hand to those in need.

And oh, the list just goes on and on.. Let’s give our love this season and throughout the days of our lives!

Image taken from google

A few days ago I received a package from my close friend from college. It’s a Hawaiian costume for my 5 year old girl. Of course, my daughter loves it and she especially liked the ‘bra’! LoL!

This will be my daughter’s 3rd costume in her collection. She currently has a Wonderwoman suit and a Brazilian Dress. I wonder if an equestrian apparel can be added in her collection soon.

We will be going back to Thailand on Tuesday and we are not sure when we will be coming back to Malaysia again.

So, I made a list of things to buy here ( in Malaysia ) before going back to Thailand. You see there are items that are much cheaper here compared to Thailand. Some items are not also found in Thailand, so I better get a stock o these things ahead.

1) Baby Diapers – Yes, there’s a lot o price difference between two countries  especially with the brand that we are using ( Drypers).

2) Baby’s Milk- We use one  the cheapest milk here which is Fernleaf (1+ and 3+) . This brand is not available in Thailand while the rest of the brands that are available there are quite pricey.

3) Nestum – They don’t have this available there. They only have Quaker Oats. But my kids like Nestum more.

4) Cheese- There are more variety of Cheese brands to choose from here, so I usually get the Valuemetrics Cheese which I can get for only about 6-7 RM. While cheese ( 12 slices) in Thailand is more than a 100 Baht.

5) Wheat Flour – This is not a common item there.. I would want to get a pack or two of this, so I can try to make Wheat bread or Chappati.

6) All the other baking items like chocolate powder, flour and etc.

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Cooking Oil and Sugar are also cheaper here in Malaysia. But I’m not so sure if the customs allow these items to cross the border.

It was my first time to watch an episode of The Biggest Loser Asia last night. There were contestants from the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

It was still their 2nd week in the Ranch and it’s encouraging to see them lose from 4 kilos to 13 kilos! They indeed have a fast weight loss though proper diet and very rigid exercise. With all these, anything is possible..