A New Band Called "Starfield"

**Ok, not the 'fishy' post yet... just hang in there, it is coming!**














My cousin Andrew just introduced to me a band called Starfield from Canada and I want to share this new discovery with you all. It's a 'boy-band' that exudes much youthfulness in their songs. How more shall I describe the songs? Well, it is funky, upbeat, meaningful, truthful, beautiful and most of all, gives praise and honour to our God, Jesus Christ. I do not have the album yet but will be on the look out for it in the market here in KL.


I'm looking forward to getting their album, "Beauty in the Broken"!












This is the URL to their website :
http://www.starfieldonline.com/

My New Card Reader

* This is not the 'fishy' post yet.... but keep reading *

Yesterday I was at Low Yatt Plaza and bought myself a card reader. It looks real good and of course, it works!

There are so many digital stuff out there now that either works or partially functions. That was why I went back to Low Yatt Plaza yesterday; to return a defective gadget I boght earlier on (a USB Hub cum Card Reader). Went to get a refund but they say I have to choose another item! So I ended up with this nice looking card reader... and it works beautifully!

I made it 'stand' by placing some 'blue-tac' at the base of the device and this has helped the ergonomics greatly. I'm using this device now to upload my photos to this blog and also to my Digital Photo Album on my PC. All in all, it is a nice nifty little gadget... besides looking great of course! I'm happy.

















It is "standing" in front of my PC speakers.

















I love the LEDs that give the status of each card that is plugged into the device! Nice touch!

A New Fish Tank

The kids have been visitng this pet shop called "Pets Wonderland" and have asked Daddy to get them pets. Both Mummy and Daddy think Josh is ready.... but which pet?

Josh was at A'Famosa Animal World (in Malacca recently) and he saw an iguana up close and loved it! He even stroked the scaly cold skin!! An iguana running around our house as a pet? No way we are getting that as a family pet even though Pets Wonderland sells them! Let's just say that reptiles are not high on Daddy's and Mummy's favourite animal list!

















Josh up close and personal with the iguana!
Notice that Daddy was "behind" Josh on this!!

















So we decided to settle for something more "homey"and can add some decoration to our KL home. We bought for Josh and Jess a hexagonal fish tank complete with lights, filtration system and a decorative piece. We will buy the fish later once the water has "settled" in the tank properly. Josh and Jess will choose the fish they like.

Here is a picture of the fish tank / aquarium without any inhabitants yet.





















Once we get fishes, we will make a fishy post/blog next!

Jess' Favourite Animal

During the holidays (Daddy's leave days actually because the kids are still on perpetual holidays at this stage of their lives), Josh and Jess visited Zoo Negara. It was quite near our home in KL and they both enjoyed the visit.

Jess has a favourite at the zoo. They are the elephants! She can say elephants in her cute pronunciation. There were two elephants we saw that morning. Here are pictures of Jess' favourite animal.















































Watch these elephants stand on their hind legs.

















I was too slow to capture both the elephants standing as I was just amazed by the huge mammals being able to hold their mass on their two legs! Jess was delighted to see them stand!

Meeting Santa and his beloved

We were at Mid Valley Megamall today to see the beautiful Christmas decoration at the mall... and to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus, in the flesh! When Mummy said Mid Valley, Joshua said, "Is that where we can see Bear in the Big Blue House?" As it turns out, the show "Bear in the Big Blue House" (on Playhouse Disney Channel) has a bear (of course) who lives in a valley called Woodland Valley. Josh noticed the similarity and since he doesn't know of any other valleys, he associated Mid Valley with Woodland Valley! Oh well, no bears here.

Anyway, we were there early. Josh & Jess' cousins were also with us with their mummy and daddy. It was their idea to visit the mall early today to avoid jams; both cars and people. Good idea indeed! We were very impressed by the decorations in the mall. There were gingerbread houses, snowmen, lots of gliterry decorations, etc.

















The most impressive is at the Centre Court as shown above. The decorations are really elaborate.






















Lots of decorative items dangling from the 4 or 5 storey high mall.

















There were performances by dancers in really colourful costumes. They danced well too! Very entertaining... and the kids were very entertained too! Ha! Ha! Ha!

















Yup, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus in the flesh. Josh and Jess were too afraid to sit on their laps. Hence, you see us on the sides of the couch. It costs RM10 to have a picture taken with them. RM10 also gets us a free Dunkin' Donut, a present from Santa himself and a 4R photo. Not bad at all.

















Here is a picture with Josh, Jess and Amanda. Marc was in the stroller.

















After the photo session, we walked around the huge mall and found a mini carousel. Amanda's daddy droped some coins in and all three of the kids (Marc was not keen on this ride) went for a short spin.

















Here's one with Jess on the horse!

Cousins in KL

Josh and Jess have two cousins who live nearby. Amanda and Marc are Daddy's sister's children. Amanda is 4 years old and Marc is 2. Did you notice the similarity in ages i.e. Josh is 4 while Jess is 2? It's one of God's wonderful planning to give Josh, Jess, Amanda and Marc each other to play together.

Amanda came over to our place this evening and the kids played together. Having dinner together also helped them to finish faster too! Now that's what we parents call a 'miracle'! Ha ha ha...

Below are some pictures of Josh, Jess and Amanda. Marc stayed at home and did not come over.

































Amanda with Minnie's ears.

















You can see that Amanda is well trained when it comes to picture taking. Josh and Jess still need to learn this 'skill'!

Reflecting back on 2006

I'm feeling nostalgic as the year is coming to a close...

As I was looking through the pics I captured in my PDA, I began reminiscing. Oh, what wonderful memories and how good God is! He has always been there to watch over us and protect us and showered His love on us. What a wonderful God we have!

I'll do this post with pictures captured in 2006 - not in any particular order though. I hope you too will be thankful to God for all that has happened in 2006. I know we are!

Here goes...
















Josh keeping himself busy with colouring. He likes to colour and is a creative boy. One colour is never enough. It has to be like Joseph's multicolour coat! (This pic was taken in the air on our way to Singapore for a holiday.)

















Jess in that same flight to Singapore. She is our adorable little girl.

















BBQ coconuts anyone? Found this in KK, Sabah when we were there in June.

















We still prefer the fresh coconuts though. The BBQ coconuts were just too hot to sip through a straw!

















A basket (tray) of crabs! This pic was taken at one of the numerous seafood restaurants in KK, Sabah. This restaurant is called Gayang Seafood. Err, we kinda' felt cheated by the steamed fish... paid a fortune for it and did not even taste good! Oh, well, the freshly steamed prawns sort of made up for it. Still salivating when I think about the prawns... yummy!

















Swensens at Orchard Road. Yes, we all love our ice creams!

















Josh giving his grandpa a hug when we sent them off to Kuching. What will the world be without such loving and caring parents/grandparents!

















Jess giving grandma a hug goodbye. By the way, Josha and Jess have two sets of grandparents. One is from Kuching and the other is from Auckland. So when Jess calles her grandad from Auckland, she would say "New Zealand Kung Kung!"
















Josh at a coffee shop in Miri where we would normally "ta-pau" lunch (buy lunch home). We would normally go after his school... if you recognise the uniform, you would have guessed that Josh is a montesorri educated boy!

















"Look Daddy, no hands!" Yes, our little boy demonstrating his fearlessness on the suspension bridge in the mountains of KK, Sabah. This was at the Perkasa Hotel at the mountains of KK, weher we had our lunch there.

















Nice aquarium in Miri... guess where? None other than at Boulevard Restaurant, that serves the unlimited lunch. Where can you find it? On the way to the restrooms! Ha ha ha.. the aquariums on display are really nice. You may momentarily forget why you wanted the restroom after viewing the beautifully decorated aquariums.

















Yet another shot of the aquarium.

















Yup, you guessed it. Boulevard Restaurant's offering of the unlimited lunch. Order, eat, order, eat, order.... Yummy!

















We bought this little red dress when Jess was only 1 year old I think. Now she is big enough to fit into it. A real stunner she is! :D

















Josh is packing in quite an appetite now. Growing boy!

















These beautiful ceiling lights are found at Best Western restaurant which we frequent. They are suppose to depict birds in flight.

















Jess at Cafe Dudok in Miri. Yet another frequent haunt of ours for dinner. They serve excellent fried noodles/bee hoon, Mee Mamak and a drink called 3-masam! Yummy!

















Josh having his first haircut at Danny's (Pujut 5). He behaved rather well with encouragement from both Daddy and Grandad!

















Can you see the seahorse statue? It is the biggest Sea Horse lighthouse in the world and it can be found in Miri! This place called Marina Bay is still under construction when we left Miri.

















Jess having her noodles. One of her favourite dish!

















Josh pretending to steer a boat at Piasau Boat Club! We love the breezy seaside club!

















Josh all sick at Columbia Asia. He had food poisoning just before we left for KL. The poor, poor boy. But by God's grace through many prayers from brothers and sisters in-Christ, he recovered very quickly! Praise the Lord!

















My wife's car was involved in an accident. My mum in-law was fetching the kids back from school one late morning an had a self accident. The car went into a drain but thank God no one was hurt! The car engine was not affected by the crash...thank God! We had a thorough body repair.


















Nice rims? We bought a new car here; a compact city car, Myvi. We love it as it is so easy to drive this car, especially when caught in a jam. I changed the tyres and the rim as I always think that the original tyres and rims look a bit anorexic! Maybe it's just me...

The Yongs Have Landed in KL

On 1st December, we landed at KLIA after a 2 hour flight, making this the official landing for the Yongs. It was a smooth fligh with kids behaving well. We have left our old home in Miri and made a new one in KL. We had to hire a Pregio van to transport us from KLIA to our new home... we had that much luggages with us! Oh, and not to forget to mention that my in-laws were with us too to help us move and settle in.

So this is the second weekend in KL. The initial week was filled with days of unpacking, re-arranging our stuff in the new home. Our container arrived before we arrived on 1-Decmber. So it was a good plan in that we have almost everything we needed when we arrived i.e. after unpacking the 100 boxes or so!! We have most of the boxes unpacked now. Still a few more to go...

Today after attending our worship service at SIB KL, we headed to One Utama for lunch. Upon reaching the mall, there was this big poster showing "The Mickey Mouse Club House" characters. They were having a show and a meet and greet at the Lower Ground floor of the Oval wing. There was Mickey, Minnie and Donald. Both our kids were estatic! Real life "Mickey Mouse Club House"!! What a treat!

So when we had our lunch, Josh ate super fast and kept asking when the show is starting. Well, when we finally reached the stage, there were just so many people watching the show! Then those who queued for the tickets had their pictures taken with the characters on stage! As we did not take our digital camera with us, we did not bother to queue to meet the characters. By the way, the line is like 400 people long!!!

Anyway, they were selling all sorts of Disney goods and Astro was there too... promoting Josh and Jess favourite TV channel i.e. channel 63 'PlayHouse Disney Channel'. They had some games for the kids but to play the games, we had to queue up. Yes, KL is about queuing and waiting. Josh and Jess almost gave up waiting as they wanted to go in to play the games! When our turn finally came, they enjoyed themselves and won themselves Mickey-Ear hats. Very cute!

And guess who we saw at the mall? Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad himself with his wife and granddaughter I think. He was very nice to stop and pose for pictures. I was not in time to catch a good photo but nevertheless, it was quite an honour to see him and his wife in the flesh! Check out the photo I managed to take below.

After spending about 3 hours at the mall, we headed home, with everyone except the driver sleeping! Here are some pics from my PDA camera. Quality is not very good. How we wished we brought our digital camera to capture the moments.
















Queuing up to get into the carpark at One Utama. Can you see the Snow Man on top of One Utama?
















Mickey Mouse Club House!
















Josh in his Mickey-Ears hat.

















Jess has Mickey-Ears too! There were Little Einsteins cut out posters.. the kids loved it.
















Tun Dr. Mahathir and his wife.