Last day of CNY 2009..

Well today is the last day of CNY.. and as usual we have a family dinner planned for tonight. coincidentally it's also my bro in law scott's birthday so it will be a double celebration and if i can find the ingredient.. i'll bake him a cake. ;-)

these pics below were taken on the night of the reunion dinner (traditionally held every chinese new year's eve).. we all gathered at my mom and dad's place.. food was aplenty and we even played a few rounds of gin rummy using tiles that look like mahjong ones. ;-) i dont care what the devil says but small time gambling is great!

Baby Besra (2 yrs 3 mths), Baby Cousin Alicia (2 yrs 8 mths) and Uncle Steeve... lookin good!

Loh Yee Sang.. a mix of fruits, veg, crackers, salmon and special sweet sauce.. everyone mixes "loh" it as high as possible to bring good fortune in career and business especially. money come. money come!!!

My girl in her yellow cheong sam.. with cousin alicia.. kids can get away with showing a bit of panty! hehe ;-)

Grandparents n grandkids...by mid this year there will be 2 new additions!

The Koh Family Clan... alex, jo, alicia, jordan, scott, michelle, dad, mum, steeve in front, me, martin n of course besra.. ;-)

Gong Xi Fa Chai 2009!

Wishing all our family and friends a stupendous new year ahead blessed with stability, fortune, loyalty and good health. May the Ox stomp out the tremors of a shaken 2008 and bring balance back to the world's warring people and dipping economy. Happy Chinese New Year of the OX!

Besra the FisherGirl/ CommandoBabe/BikerChick... ;-)

Christmas 2008

Yummy cookie mummy!!!

My fluffy spotted owl.. thanks aunty chris n uncle wally!

Christmas cheer!

My lil dancing queen... ;-)

Gingerbread house.. yummy!!!!

Besra just adores Kate & Cora... virtually her big sisters at Langkah Syabas Resort!

My girl & Cora showing off their moves!

We wish you a merry christmas!!

Besra, Daddy & Mommy just cruising along...

Oh Captain, My Captain Peter Robinson just got himself a new boat and so he took us for a spin around the islands... hehe.. what posh friends we have eh! baby enjoyed the ride.. it wasnt too bumpy plus she attached herself to her daddy like a leech so i was mostly left to my own devices... stopped at one of the resorts on an island but i didnt get to go see the hotel n floating rooms (built on the water) cos i was on baby watch (she slept very soundly!) so that was a bit of a drag.. anyway, the weather was perfect, the waves were kind and of course my hubby looked gorgeous as ever. was a purrrrrrfect day!

New Year's Eve Party at Melinsung..

This might be the last new year's eve party i have at Melinsung Apartments... been doing it for at least the last 4 years now.. and its tradition to give everyone a wine glass, carry bottles of bubbly and walk or drive down to our sandy beach to watch the fireworks. also a must is to dip my feet in the sea to wash away all bad luck.. as you can see from the pic.. we all had great fun that night, bbq-ing the night away... in the pic is future sis in law to be joeanne and big bro steeve, alex and jo, luvy and alan, aloysia (taking the pic) and of course me.. looking a bit stumpy compared to the rest.. ah well.. cant have it all right!? anyway, wonder where i'll be when midnight comes at the end of this year... hehe..

I knew it! He's a boy!!!

I'm extremely happy to announce that the wee lil thing that's growing in me is a healthy lil boy! I'm going to be real smug and say 'I told you so!' hehe.. cos even from the very begininning, my gut feeling was 'male'. plus 24 hr sickness started in the 6th week (1st pregnancy: 3rd month) and it hit me with a vengence as you all know (evil pukey monster!)! i was craving beef and a certain four legged animal's innards (gross eh!) most of the time and they say most boy babies makes you turn into a carnivore. i used to love vegetables but now i can't stand the sight or taste of it so i only cook meat for meals now.. hehe.. force myself to eat an apple a day to make sure i am not constipated and man, no wonder the humble apple is dubbed "nature's toothbrush". it really works!

martin is happy but not estatic.. for some strange reason he prefers girls... Besra is daddy's lil girl so i'm excited that i may have a mommy's lil boy soon.. hehe.. but maybe fate will play tricks on me and send them both his way... quite sickening really how i dont exist to Besra when her daddy is around.. at the same time, it's very endearing how much she loves n adores him.. ;-)

as for names, we have one picked out already. Besra is the name of a falcon and so is Lanner. so Lanner it is then. ;-) i'm sure people will confuse it with Leonard but they'll get it eventually. Both are beautiful falcons... in fact, i would encourage them to have a tattoo of the actual falcon when they are old enough so they can show ppl! hehe.. my chinese name is Sui Ean or pretty Swallow (the bird) and i got it tattooed on the right hand side of my back shoulder when i was 22. martin is a name of a bird called: martin. hehe so you can see where our eccentric child-naming skills come from, there's a method to our madness! hehe.

seems like everyone i know is having a boy baby.. alex and jo will have a boy in april, and so will tang and jason, also expecting a boy in april. Lanner is expected in May but i wonder how long this one will stay in.. hehe, hopefully not a premature baby like Besra because the govt hospital experience was akin to hell on earth! sighs... ;-)

anyway, doc couldnt download a nice pic this time, baby is about 10 inches but not very filled out yet.. so probably the next scan will be clearer. hugs to all out there n thanks for taking the time to catch up with us wiles. ;-)

Columns r up!

It's taken some time ... but the pillars are finally up on the first floor... soon they will be putting up the roofing... ;-). we have beloved friends mos n liz coming to visit from kangaroo island in australia next march.. hopefully the house will be livable by then.. fingers crossed!

Martin has been up the ramp and is mighty pleased with the views... we can actually see (to the right) mt. kinabalu (highest in south east asia) from our 360 degree balcony... and to the left is a birds eye view of our river snaking off into the horizon.... all in all, we cant wait for the day we get to sit on our balcony and have sunset drinks n laughs with friends n family... ;-)

CHRISTMAS SHOOT!

As you probably hv received our christmas cards by now (i apologise for the ones we accidentally missed out!), you'll know that we always go to the studio to do our annual photo shoot.. good excuse to glam up and take pro pictures.. esp since martin has plenty of family n friends who dont get to see us often or at all for the last few years..

we were going to make a trip back to uk in 2009 but i didnt anticipate getting preggers again so early... so martin might make a solo trip back but the kids n i will have to wait a few more years at least...

Martin is back to working full time.. he's good at running the resort but he doesnt really enjoy it... would rather be home with besra on the couch watching mickey mouse for the 100th time! hehe... ;-) or pottering about the land.. speaking of the land.. we found a local guy who cuts the grass at our place once a month now and this makes martin feel better as he worries the grass doesnt get cut n the mozzies will multiply.. the house itself is taking its time but that suits us.. will have a roof soon... then walls.. and so the story goes.. ;-)

as for me.. the pukeymonster in me resurrects its ugly head almost every day still but i'm coping... this new baby has a lot to answer for! for the first time in my life... i'm prone to rashes and acne.. something completely unheard of if you really know me.. sighs.. for some time i was a bit annoyed at having gotten pregnant so soon.. but my feelings have taken an about turn when i heard that my colleague who's expecting too suddenly lost hers... and she had a great appetite with no morning sickness... i guess it made me more thankful for the good things in my life, how ever unexpected.. ;-) anyway, scanned again last week and while i've lost 5 kgs to date.. the baby in me is growing at an expected rate with a good strong heartbeat and so far everything is going good... *counts her blessings again* ;-)

anyway, christmas is a time to reflect on family n friends and the year that was.. man it was a rough year... but things seemed to have fallen into place and i'm sooooooooo grateful for that. i love my husband, my baby girl, my baby-to-be, my baby's nanny/my companion, my father n mother, siblings, best friends, very good friends, friends, martin's family n friends... hehe.. basically everyone! so i figured i'd better write it down so everyone is clear on that! hehehehehhehe... MERRY CHRISTMAS, YA' ALL.. AND HAVE A FANTABULOUS NEW YEAR AHEAD.. !!!!!!!!!
One Big Happy!

Gooooooood daddy... listen to your little girl and all will be well.. ;-)

Boo! After about 100 shots baby started really enjoying the photo shoot... was hard work changing 6 outfits and hairstyles!

Here's a family shot with our beloved nanny included.. we dont know how we'd function without her! Thanks a million Aunty Marji!

I've joined the ranks of the aged... :)

My 31st birthday has just gone by... and i'm so happy lotsa ppl remembered! the night before the 28th my family n i went for steamboat which basically is a communal pot of boiling soup in the middle of the table and we cook and eat as a family.. hehe.. and the moment i stepped out of the restaurant... yup.. everything was upchucked into the nearby drain.. how wonderful, money not so well spent eh!
on the day itself, the power above was smiling down on me cos i didnt puke once.. sighs.. happy days are upon us? maybe, keeping fingers crossed that the worst is over. had lunch with paul, mior n chit at secret recipe.. and shopped for a bit. good food, great conversation, who could ask for more?
martin started work early so that he could finish early then we all went out for pasta n pizza in town.. dropped by a shopping mall and baby was doing her hooligan act by running from martin to me n back again in the shops and inevitably, yup, she fell n split her bottom lip with her two front teeth, cried, got blood on daddy's hanky, and then proceeded to puke all over his back as martin carried her. puking is her signature style this girl.. sounds familiar eh? hehe.. sighs.. daddy was less than happy as you can imagine. anyway, her lip is healing now n she doesnt seem too concerned so all is good.
anyway, good time was had by all... wonder what i'll be doing next year.. party at our finally completed house maybe? ;-)

6cm Wonder..

He/She's shy!

This little thing is showing its back view, head, bady and tiny legs and arms.. such a wonder to think that this life is me is causing so much hormonal chaos resulting in my puke fits.. sighs... scanned last monday, doc said all is well, heartbeat is strong and development is just right for a 12 week feotus. i've been craving beef and more beef up until recently.. and they say the more carnivourous you are the more the chances it will be a boy. ;-) in fact, i'm pretty sure its a boy. to contra that, the doc said that its lodged on the left hand side of my womb and some hotshot doc in canada did a big study and found that there is a 92% chance for a female child if the placenta begins on the left. hehe... like they say though.. what will be, will be. i dont mind. frankly i prefer a boy cos besra is so obviously daddy's little girl.. and i'd like a mommy's lil boy for a change! hehe.. ;-)

Anyway, the doc gave me a jab to stop the hideous puking but it didnt work... now though i feel better.. but dunno how long this good spell will last. in fact, had to run out of the registration hall a few mins ago and puke in the drain. sighs. will the joy never end???

right, at the end of the day i should be glad all is well.. fingers crossed that the ride will be smoother after this... *wink*

home.. as of nov 2008!!!

This is what home looks like as of this month.. the piling has long since been done, the foundation laid, the pillars erected and now they are building the base of the 1st floor... what they do is they somehow manipulate steel rods to make the skeleton of the floor but they do it about 3 feet raises first, martin says so they dont break their backs, then we guess they will lower it into the 1st floor before dumping tons of cement on it then finally we will have a floor to walk on! next up which the contractor says will start at the end of the month is the intricate roofing work... yay!

will have a home to be proud of soon and everyone's invited!!! there'll be plenty of guest rooms and we welcome everyone to come over and stay with us... and now with cheap longhaul flights available soon, everyone can fly! ;-) anyway, just thought you guys would like to know our progress in the home dept. hugs n kisses to all! cheerios!

Besra's 2nd Happy Mickey Mouse Birthday!

Happy 2nd birthday to our darling daughter.. Besra! Everyone blow now!Oooo.. Can't wait to chomp into Mickey Mouse!

Yummy! Look mum, i can feed myself cake!

Besra's turned 2! and it was a cosy n lovely party... with lot's of nice presents for baby including a big pink bicycle she can't ride yet! hehe.. thanks everyone for the lovely cards and presents and thanks too for the gifts from aunt sue and uncle glyn... Besra is one lucky lil girl!

As you can tell, she's really into Mickey Mouse, especially those interactive cartoons. She even answers all the questions Mickey asks her. She one clever little thing! She's come a long way since her birth from 1.8kgs to 17kgs now. Anyway, she had a brilliant time.. our lil girl is growing up so fast!

When i'm least expecting it...

I'M EXPECTING!!! 1.18 cm, left side of womb, heartrate 175 beats per min
3D Imaging.. just a lil cluster of cells at the moment...

Well it's nice to know Besra will have a sibling soon.. but it does throw my world into a chaotic tailspin! I'm back to being as martin 'lovingly' calls me.. A Pukey Monster! keep throwing up anything, everything and nothing.. and have 'decorated' the school gardens more than a few times now... sighs..

We are both happy to have another one.. although it is a bit early.. wanted to wait for the house to be done first before embarking on my 9 month pukey journey but hey.. i guess martin's tadpoles just couldnt wait. he's been going round telling everyone that they wear tight shirts with a huge letter S on the front... that's how super his taddies are!

As for Bes... she doesnt quite get it yet... but what warms my heart is how she treats her little play baby doll... puts it lovingly in her pram.. pushes her about, feeds it milk and even wraps a nappy around it.. so i guess she's telling us she's ready for a little baby sibling!

Anyway.. the lil one is abt 1 cm long now.. just a cluster of cells with a heartbeat of 175 beats per min.. aloysia who accompanied me to the gynae was really impressed when we heard its lil heartbeat... t'was so fast! she was doubly amazed with it pulsing away at full speed on the ultrasound screen. as of today, i'm 7 weeks and 5 days pregnant.. and baby is expected on 27th May 2009... gosh.. how many pukey more days is that??!?!?!??!?! sighs.. the joys of being pregnant eh... grrrrrrr!

Anyway, we shall be thankful for little miracles.. just everyone out there keep your fingers crossed for me that the nausea stops cos i really cant take all this upchucking. sighs.. as always, hugs to all!

The good ol days... heheh blast from the past!

Thanks Doria for this great pic! Walpole Castle.. what a long time ago that was..this pic was taken in my salad days.. hehe 23 years old.. at St Mary's University College, Twickenham, London... 2000. sighs.. that was our group.. one thorn (Zaki) among a bunch of gorgeous roses! hehe.. now almost all of us are married, have kids and basically gone on with our lives.. hehe.. as for me, i did the unthinkable, ie.. i'm still working for the government of Malaysia as a bloody English teacher! who would have thought eh... everyone would have pinpointed my name as first to abscond.. hehe but i did better than that, i brought my man home and planted him firmly in malaysian soil! heheheheheheheh...

to all of you guys in the pic, i luv ya all!!! god bless and keep in touch! if you're reading this drop me a mail ok! queendrey@gmail.com cheers! hugs all round!

7EVEN SAILFISH!!!

As you can tell, Martin had the time of his life end of Sept when he went for a 3 day sailfish angling trip to Kuala Rompin, Johor (West Malaysia) accompanied by his best buddy Chris, NZ Noel and David. He chalked the highest number of sails landed totalling 7 sailfish ranging from 25 - 40plus kgs. Martin had never caught billfish before and he says their acrobatic feats in the water were simply stunning. makes me wish i had been there so i could say i caught one too! Everyone took turns landing fish and the camaraderie was brilliant according to him.. men and their hobbies eh! says that it's definitely in the fishing calendar for the years to come. cost Ringgits 8900 for all 4 people to go (inc accomodation, day meals, transfers but not flights and dinner) so if anyone is up to it, contact martin to plan a trip for next year!

Our Foundation...

The house is coming along well... considering it has been a year marred by increased prices of raw materials, contractor's difficulty in getting legal workers (sabah govt is conducting a mass raid of immigrants hence the huge exodus of labourers) and money woes with the world economy facing its current financial uncertainties. that aside, everything is just peachy! on last inspection we now have 4 men working on the house, they've laid the foundation down on top of the piling that was done using mangrove wood... we have a river adjacent so we definitely need to fortify our grounds or one not so fine day our house will sink! by next week we might be able to see the 1st floor!

just to tell you more about the design, i have to give credit to martin for envisioning a square-shaped house with a living, dining and kitchen running through the middle and various rooms on each side with french doors that open out into a 360 degree balcony that goes all round the 1st floor.. the house is built on stilts (as is the common local design) with two rooms downstairs, one for martin's fishing stuff and a self-contained studio for our help.. soon we'll have a groundsman cum driver in addition to baby's nanny. hehe.. sounds like we're living the high life but actually, i work all the hours god sends to pay bills.. and martin is about to start a full time job at the resort in the capacity of manager. he's going back to work full time on a trial basis so he can decide if its really what he wants to do.

anyway, the house is a work in progress and will be for at least another year or so.. we might have a DIY party to get friends round for some painting and tiling.. hehe.. hopefully by 2010 we'll be able to advertise it as a B&B on the global market as a Haven for Nature enthusiasts and martin can take them for guided bird-watching, nature and fishing tours. At the mo it's just in the pipelines so will concentrate on getting it finished first. hehe.. i want to name it "SanctuaRyver MountainView Lodge".. but martin hates the idea... help me tell him he's wrong and its actually super catchy!!!

My baby loves bananas... ;-)

In fact it's one of the first words she learnt!!!

Group pic... bye bye Khai Ma Beatrice! Enjoy UK!! Hugs to Uncle Lick!

Overprotective mum at work..

This was a lovely day out at Manukan island last month with Beatrice and Rick who were going away (again!) to UK. i pretty much didnt care that ppl were sniggering and pointing at me with my huge umbrella.. we dont know if besra tans like me or burns like martin and frankly, we dont care to find out! hehe.. fun time had by all.. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! baby is such a water baby!

CHECKs this out!

This is another pic from Alex's post wedding file.. a few days after the big celebration we all went out for a simple dinner to bid Aunty Hin off.. she so lovingly flew over just for Alex's wedding so this was our way of thanking her... She represented all of my mother's sisters... speaking of aunts... doesnt baby look fabulous in her checkered outfit?? thanks aunty cheng for the pretty outfit! you can still see the scars on baby's face but it's much better now.. this pic was taken about 3 weeks plus after the incident.. anyway.. kiss kiss hug hug to anyone who's reading this especially my aunts!!!

Alex's Wedding in June

THE FUN BUNCH... A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE, DRUNK GROOM AND HAPPY GUESTS!!
GODMAMAS N GODKIDS... ADORA-BUBBLE!

Alex and Jo finally tied the knot.. what's more Jo is now 8 weeks pregnant! hehe.. man they work fast! lol... it was a brilliant wedding in the sense that i was the MC and i didnt make a mess of it.. lol.. the church service was simple but nice, and dinner was quite fun cos i tortured them to do the twist, pledge their love and even kiss for 20 seconds in public.. hehe. at least they have fun memories to cherish forevermore. Congrats again Alex & Jo and baby-2-b!!!

Better Late than Never! He he ;-)

Catch me, daddy!!!
Baby Besra and Baby Natalia my goddaughter.. playing with rubber duckies in da pool!

Another year has gone by and daddy has celebrated his 44th.. hehe.. we had another cool bbq party in front of our apartment. this time we started early at about 4pm so the kids could play in the playground and have a little dip in the blow up pool. last year we could fit 3 babies in the pool but now there's hardly space for two!! babies are getting bigger as we speak.. it's an amazing phenomenon! hehe..

baked a chocolate ganache cake for hubby.. he only likes chocolate so i guess i'll always bake choc cakes for him for the rest of his life! hehe.. well as long as he eats it then it doesnt really matter eh! tons of ppl came over to celebrate and i have to say, gosh lots of people love martin here. hehe...

all is well with baby.. the terrible twos are upon us even though she's just over a year n ten months. with nanny marji she's a proper little lady but with us she goes into 'manja' or lovingly spoilt mode. her shrieking at the top of her voice to get something she wants is quite embarassing. plus she wants to be carried to-and-fro apartments just for fun which is driving martin bonkers! hehe.. when she cries, she only wants daddy.. lol.. bad for me cos she clearly loves him more and good for me cos i dont hve to lug around her 16kgs everywhere!

besra is still very much into puking every chance she gets. we spoil her in a sense that we pick her up at the slightest whinge.. she has a knack for holding her breath and forcing herself to vomit (residual effect of my 7 month long morning sickness?) but we pick her up immediately or she spills her guts out everywhere making more work for everyone!! and believe me, cleaning up baby puke is no ride in the park! esp when she does it in the car (martin rightfully insists she wears a seatbelt and she hates it!) or like the other day at the Cat Show... noodles n milk all over the floor.. eeeeeeew!!! the joys of parenthood!

on the plus side her scars have healed very very well.. i'll include a close up later and u can see for yourself.. hehe.. i love my lil girl!!!