As a Catholic, seeing the Pope in flesh will be the height of my spiritual life. To be able to see the Holy Father up close is as good as it gets as chances of us making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is currently out of our reach. World Youth Day 2008 is to be celebrated in Sydney this year and there is a lot of hype going on and in preparation, and in anticipation of His Holiness’ arrival.
World Youth Day was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1984. And the largest crowd ever gathered for this event was in Rome in 2000 where approximately 2 million people gathered together. For the event in Sydney, they expect about 500, 000 to turn up and fingers crossed, we will amongst the throngs of people as well. The last time the Pope stepped foot in Sydney was in 1995.
Pope John Paul II visited Sydney in 1995 to beatify the Venerable Mother Mary of the Cross, MacKillop (1842-1909). And I believe Ted didn’t miss this chance to catch a glimpse of the Pope. In fact, he even has the paper cutting of this visit plastered on Arianna cupboard, it was his back then. 
I don’t really know what to expect but I can imagine what it’s going to be like.
An upside down standing ovation for the organisers as I personally think that it’s passed the point of balding to be part of this huge event. I can’t even imagine what these people are going through, the stress and pressure must be just beyond words! As for me, I’m just wondering how the heck are we going to get there, lugging Arianna along. Everyone has been strongly encouraged to take the public transport which will be the main mode of getting to and from the site. Randwick is going to burst with the number of people who will be coming for this. Aiyo….I’m already tension thinking of this now and the Pope is only coming in July!!!
Anyhow, I really am looking forward to this mega huge event because as I said, this maybe the only chance for me to catch the Pope in action and how often do you get the chance to check out the Popemobile??? 
Picture from Beliefnet - ain’t it one of a kind? 
Pelf made a good point when she wrote that it would be easiest to read about a blogger’s year in one post if everyone did a reflection post about what happened in 2007. She did one and indeed, it had the gist of 2007 and really made me think [and she mentioned this as well] that I wouldn’t need to worry if I didn’t frequent your blog coz all I would need to do is hop over on 31/12 and read that one post and voila, 2007 in a nutshell…hence, I decided to write mine as well. What has 2007 been like for me? A lot of lessons learnt and certainly, many eye openers too.
The first big news for Ted and I was when we found out that we were expecting a little golden piglet in August! 
[Not a very good image coz of my old crappy digi-cam but it's the original one.]
That was in Dec/Jan, and ever since I found out about the little one, I had started a new blog, Kecik’s Cozy Corner, for her to keep track of practically everything that happened during the pregnancy and now, it’s the blog I maintain for all my baby stories. I had also started my journey writing sponsored post and made quite a sum from it but with all the sponsored posts, I have lost a large number of readers, which is sad since I love getting comments and well, everyone wants to be a ’superstar’, no? But I’m stuck in that yoyo feeling between writing sponsored posts and my personal stuff because it really does bring in some cash and when you’re a stay at home mum, it’s the least you can do to rake in your own pocket money. So although I’ve cut down a lot on these sponsored posts, don’t be surprised to see a few every now and then. Did I also mention that because of PPP, my GoogleRank is now 0???? Basket betui!
In March, I returned to Malaysia for a very long holiday - 3 months and it was because it was the last time I ever returned home ’alone’. After all, wherever I go these days, I have to bring Ella. It felt so good to be home especially with Mum and all my other relatives and friends. The glorious food was merely a huge added bonus. While I was there, I attended my bestfriend’s wedding in March. I went down to KL for that but didn’t have time to meet up with any bloggers as I had hoped.
And right after that, I was back working at my old office as a temp replacement for another friend [who took over my spot when I left] who went on maternity leave. That was another occasion that made me very happy because I got to be with my old friends and to be working in such a familiar environment was super!
Needless to say, shopping for Ella was definitely on the list. In the beginning, we didn’t know the gender and it was agreed that we would make it a surprise but I caved in! lol Turns out we were having a little girl and hence, the shopping began.
I had high hopes of getting some stuff from our trip to Padang Besar but I was very disappointed after that long journey. However, I did enjoy myself at Gua Tempurung.
In May, I celebrated pre-Mother’s Day dinner with my Mum at my Uncle’s cafe called Kofi Haven. I also got a Mother’s Day gift too! Hehehe….
After having all that fun and settling back into life in Kulim, it was time to return home to Sydney. I had to leave in June otherwise the airlines wouldn’t take me on board for being past the allowed number of weeks for pregnant women which was a bugger coz I would have loved to have stayed longer. On the other, hand I was really missing Ted and he missed out on feeling the baby move for the first time. It was a bittersweet moment for me really. But the consolation was that my sis was coming back with me and further down the road, Mum would also be with me after Ella was born, so that was all good.
Being animal lovers, we didn’t miss out on any chance of going to the zoo and petting animals. I must say that my mum wasn’t too pleased with this beach whale handling animals! lol =P I’m sure you know why…..all the pantangs la, that’s why!
The biggest and most important thing that happened in 2007 was….Ella’s birth, my first born. [Note : The birth story is rather graphic but trust me, I left out quite a bit already! It's not there to scare off potential mums-to-be because trust me, when it's your first, you'll want to find out ALL you can to be prepared but honestly, nothing you do or read will be able to prepare you for birth. ;)]
This picture was taken a week before the birth and was upload on the 11/8/2007 - in the morning! Ella was 9 days early.
The moment….
The proud Mummy and Daddy…and their little Eel.
In September, Ted celebrated his first Father’s Day and he’s very proud of it. In fact, Ella has been his inspiration for a webcomic, Kecik!, which he has been trying to put up on a daily basis but with working crazy hours, it’s not that regular. However, he tries very hard so if you’re popping by, do give him your support, ya?
On 12/9/2007, we celebrated Ella’s mor guek [sp?] which the the celebration of a baby’s first month. We invited my aunt and uncle to join us for Chinese that night.
On 17/9/2007, Mum flew back home. That was another one of those sad days for me because I had gotten so used to having her at home and her company was just something I really treasured what when you’re home alone with only a baby for company. So yes, having adult company is something I miss but, I’m still ok. I got your blogs to check out when I’m free and bored. Hehe…but seriously, there is hardly a dull moment with Ella.
In October, we began looking for a new place to purchase since we are currently renting this unit. I must say that it’s tough getting a place that you like. I absolutely love my current unit but there are issues which makes it a bad property to purchase so we are really looking hard, high and low for a new place. Even getting the finances in order had taken such a long time! Fingers crossed we will be able to settle all of this come Jan/Feb 08 coz Mum and Sis are coming out at the end of February for Ella’s baptism.
Another achievement [don't know if you can call it that or not]on a persoal note, is the fact that I’ve gotten involved with writing some articles for The Giving Hands, Pelf’s charity project. I try to write and submite an article once a fortnight so far, so good. I’ve also joined PK Tan to blog about Malaysia wildlife conservation awareness campaign and have an article ready to be posted tomorrow. Please join me and spread the word, k? To be totally honest, I’ve never gotten involved with any sort of writing like this before and I feel a personal sense of satisfaction and feeling that although it’s not much, it’s still something and I know I can do more but I prefer to take baby steps. Perhaps I will take on more challenging tasks along the rod but for now, spreading the word is the way to go.
Finally, in December, we celebrated our first Christmas together as a family. And I have been diligently playing with Photoshop and this is one of my first creations. It isn’t THAT fantastic and I’m far from being a pro but it’s a start. I don’t think I have enough imagination to start something from scratch! ;P
This is another one of my creations as well. A photo of Ella taking her first picture with Santa.
Here is Daddy with Ella posing in front of Grandma’s Christmas tree. Would you believe it if I told you that I forgot to take a family picture of the 3 of us this Christmas??? Funny how all your priorities are turned upside down when you have a little baby of your own. But it’s worth it, really.
And there you have it, my year 2007 in a nutshell. Here’s wishing you a very blessed happy new year and may 2008 be properous and more productive in any possible and imaginable way. O, and may your new year resolution [yes, RESOLUTION, not resolutionS]* come true. 
*Why? I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Posted on 2007 under Thoughts |
22
Dec
That’s the tag line for a wonderful campaign that you can sign up and come join me on the bandwagon. In fact, why not take this challenge up and start the new year with a bang of goodness and spread the news?
We can’t save nature on our own hence, the need to spread the word on conservation awareness especially for the wildlife in Malaysia first. Although we also need to save the whales from getting culled by Japan, let’s start at home first, because like charity and most good habits, they always start at home.
Don’t know what to do? Well, what you can do is :
- On the 1st Jan 2008: Blog / Write a post that relates to the Malaysia wildlife conservation. It can be to do with your usual topic or totally just about a Malaysia wildlife conservation issue. [I've got my article done up and just waiting to submit it to PK Tan.]
- Inform other people about this campaign and explaining it in terms they understand.
- Support the campaign: Add our banner to your site and spread the word. [You can see it on my sidebar and the HTML codes can be found here.]
Hopefully, with your help, we can cause a chain reaction as mentioned in Travel Malaysian Guide and BOOM!, conservation awareness for Malaysia wildlife.
If we don’t save our animals, who will?
Posted on 2007 under Thoughts |
19
Dec
I hate buying pressies!! Why? Because it’s tough buying stuff for people. I get extremely stressful when a birthday of a loved one or in this case, Christmas approaches because I’ll be all over the place trying to think of something to get them. It’s the most difficult when you’re buying for someone who has everything. Or someone who doesn’t really have a particular want for something….it’s really very hard.
I think my in-laws fall into that category. As they are in their golden years, they really have everything they need and to be able to come up with something to buy for them is a miracle! Last Christmas, we got them a box set of Law & Order, the early days as they are fans of this show. This year….eekks, really lost for ideas so I’ve bought my MIL some decorative egg trinket box and for FIL, we’re planning to get him a box of writable DVDs as you can never go wrong with a box of those. It did cross my mind to not bother at all with Christmas gifts this year and despite the inlaws saying that they don’t want anything and also overhearing this from a bunch of old people of the bus the other day, I think it’s just not right to not open any gifts on Christmas day no matter how old you are. It’s just part and parcel of the Christmas spirit, you know? O, BIL is another one of those toughies as well but MIL managed to help us with this one tough. He’s got expensive taste so we really hope he’ll like the gift.
The easiest gift to buy for any one person is my sister. Anything with a horse on it will send her floating on cloud 9. So this year, I got her a fleece blanket with horses on them. I’m mentioning it because both Mum and Sis have since opened their Chrissy presents due to the damage done to them when they arrive at home. So for them Christmas came early. lol As for Mum, since she has a bad knee, I’ve bought a magnetic knee thingy for her. Hope it helps.
Other than the in-laws, Ted is another person that I find hard to buy gifts for. It’s true!! The only thing that I know for sure he would like is dark chocs so whenever I go gift hunting, I always end up buying him a few bars of dark choc on top of whatever gift that I’ve already bought. He loves to read and books are his #1 fav BUT it’s the type of books that he reads that is a problem for me. He’s into all these deep thinking books which I would never in my wildest imagination ever try reading. One of them is The Indispensable Chomsky and this I remembered because it was the book he was reading while I was in labour!! O, btw, I had to call him to find out the name of this book. =P So the last gift I got him was for Father’s Day and it was a big bag of chocs which Mum had to buy for me since I was still in confinement. Prior to that was his birthday and I got him a Stephen King book since he is also a fan of this brilliant author. Come to think of it, poor thing hasn’t had the time to read the book so I don’t know if he likes it or not. 
With his birthday coming up in Feb….I’m out of ideas!!! Any ideas?? Dish em’ out please…
That said, I have to admit that I’m one of those people who is hard to buy gifts for too. It’s true! lol And I’m not the kind to ask for stuff that I want either so it’s tough trying to figure out what I want unless I mention it but by saying that, it would no longer be a surprise anymore. So I just have to hope that it will be something I like and most of the time, Ted buys me stuff I like hence, I don’t really have anything to complain about. However, I love the whole idea of the husband/partner just giving us money so that we can buy what we want, when we want. That would indeed solve a lot of problems of getting the right pressie, don’t you think? And it took reading Lilian’s post on pressies to make me realise that ’s a super idea! lol So guess it’s just a matter of asking for the dough eh?
Posted on 2007 under Thoughts | Enter your password to view comments
22
Nov
