We dragged ourselves out of bed on a Sunday morning to go to a golf tournament. Can you believe that? But only because my three teens were once budding little golf players and Hip2bDad is trying to inspire them to pick up the game again. I say, anyone would be crazy to send their kids out into this unbearable heat to chase a little ball!

Anyhow this was a one-off. And you know why we prefer to stay away from these events? Because they’ve got all these stupid rules about what you can and cannot wear and do! And quite frankly, on a hot day like today, we’d rather not be strutting about in the sun wearing polo shirts with long pants and proper shoes !!

I parked the car miles away and we hopped on a small shuttle bus to get to the main entrance of the golf course. Then we hopped onto a golf buggy to be transported to the main event. The girls got a big kick as they often do when they caddy for their daddy and he lets them drive the buggy into bushes and trees!

After asking about 10 completely clueless people for directions, we finally stumbled on the food tent where we stopped for some breakfast. One thing’s for sure, the food they serve golfers makes me look like a top-notch celebrity chef, booyah!

We passed many interesting people, most notably the scantily-clad air-heads hired by the companies sponsoring the event. I think I understand a little better now the scenarios that must’ve led Tiger to his downfall predicament.

And by the time we got back to the parking lot, I found someone had parked behind my car (obviously someone with a brain the size of a golf ball) and I couldn’t get out!! Thank goodness for the golfer who ran around my car telling me how much space I had to maneuver. It took forever to inch my car out of that impossible space!

All in all, the morning put me in a really foul mood for a Sunday. I’m going to take an indefinite break from golf. That’ll be all. I won’t be taking any questions.

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You’d think that on weekends, I would be spared the annoying sound of my alarm clock. Well, I was… because I forgot to set it last night and I almost overslept this morning and woke up with a start.

Steev had to be at the driving school by 8:45am (yes, again!) but luckily I didn’t have to drive him to last week’s location. Raine had a movie date at the mall with her girl friends from school at 11:00am. Since everyone was going to be out, I thought Skye and I could hang out at the mall for lunch after seeing Raine off.

And of course, we just had to pick the last shopping weekend before Chinese New Year, to be at the mall. Well, I may be all done with my CNY shopping but apparently the rest of the world isn’t.

The basement parking was full within an hour of the mall opening and there must’ve been 100 other cars circling around like vultures trying to snag a spot. Admittedly I’m not a very good vulture so after half an hour, I decided it was time to call it quits, drop Raine off, pay a dollar’s parking for not parking and leave with my tail between my legs.

Skye and I then went to pick up some fast food before picking Steev up for lunch. He doesn’t quite relish eating at the dirty canteen near the driving school so he was going to have lunch at home and then have me drive him back out to finish the afternoon session of his driving course .

Now I’m home with a splitting headache from the mercilessly hot sun and trying to get a bit of work done on my computer before my cell phone starts ringing again for my taxi service. In an hour, I’ll be rushing out of here to pick up both Raine and Steev, and then go play vulture – again – at the grocery store.

Don’t you just envy my colorful Sunday? Please say you do.

As you know, my days are long and hectic. Come night time, I’m sometimes just too tired to do any real work on my computer and end up surfing around for entertainment instead, and I found this funny vacation rental commercial.

Well, with a name like Unitard, how can this guy not be funny as he goes around saving families from getting into bad vacation rental deals that ruins the entire holiday for the whole family?

Why, he says, when they can go over to Vacation Rental.org and pick out the best vacation lodging ever. Go watch the video at http://www.vacationrental.org/info/blogs/funny-vacation-rental-commercial—unitard.html. Enjoy!

We’re having a very busy weekend here, quite a change from our usually laid-back ones. Raine and Skye were out of the house at the crack of dawn this morning on a cross-country run at school. They looked for all the world like they were going to climb Mount Everest with caps and sunblock on and heavily-laden backpacks of sandwiches and cans of sports drinks.

Five kilometers, a steep slope, scorching sun and 90+ degrees out can be pretty tough. But they had fun. Skye came home with a headache, sore muscles and bursting with exciting stories to tell – tired but happy Raine had introduced her to some of her friends.

Raine was nursing the beginnings of a sore throat and too tired to talk much. I too had a splitting headache from my grocery morning at Tesco where their specialty is to suffocate the customer with their barely-there air-conditioning.

Steev attended two farewell dinners for his friends who’ll be leaving for college in Tasmania and Australia next month. Tomorrow he’ll have his first taste of driving school – a full day of driving instruction. Not sure why it takes a whole day, it’s not like they’re teaching the kids to do rv repair !

It’s a very busy weekend but we’re having fun. How’s your weekend going?

Okay, so we’re on this fish and chips binge right now. We’ve had it two weekends in a row… New York fish and chips which the chef must’ve drowned in breadcrumbs before dropping into the fryer, then generously topped with melted cheese. Mmmm, swimmingly good!

And as if that’s not enough, I even ventured to make my own fish and chips for lunch on a school day. Fish and chips ‘homecooked’ in heaven complete with salad and tartar sauce, yum!

So we go through these cycles of food obsessions when we simply must go back and eat the same thing over and over again. Then there’ll be a lapse when we’re on the prowl for a new obsession…

… when we’d gladly go back time and time again to have our tongues singed silly by the spiciness of peri-peri chicken. And all those weekends chomping down Vietnamese pork chops over rice, by the end of which the cute waiter knew our orders by heart and had become our personal server. And not forgetting that incredible garlic shrimp pasta which we never seem to get tired of.

Are you as crazy as we are, or crazier? Do you obsess over a merry-go-round of food like we do?

Soon it’ll be back to getting up early, taxi runs and school lunches! But first, I need a new oven. Problem is by the time I got done going to various electronics stores to compare prices, the oven I wanted was sold out.

Can you believe that? Now I have to wait for the new stock to arrive which might be when the cows come home. Great!

I hear some kids can’t wait to get back to school. Haha, those kids are definitely not mine !

Mine are quite happy to stay home. If only school were less of a regurgitation, kids might actually find it interesting.

I only got the girls their shoes and books a few days ago. I really dragged my feet this time. I’m not the type that would buy my kids their school books super-early and make them start on next year’s work. Give them a break, it’s the holidays !

I hope this weekend will go slow. I’m still in slacker mode and it’s going take me a few days to snap out of it!

Back from our beach vacation and minus the usual taxi runs, these are lo-oong lazy days we’re enjoying. Waking up late. Simple lunches at home.

Me: Go to sleep, it’s very late!

Kids: Still early, Mom, we’re cultivating eyebags!

Well, I set my alarm clock last night, and Raine and I finally dragged ourselves up early enough to hit the gym which we missed for an entire week while we were away. Great to get those lazy bones moving again!

Steev, my 18-year-old who’s working part-time on a software project, came home after a half day’s work saying the office was practically deserted. Everyone’s on leave this time of year. So no work got done. Instead he snuck out for morning tea with a family friend who was in the area to meet up with some business plan writers.

I’ve pretty much decided I won’t be attending my cousin’s wedding dinner reception at the JW Marriott. We’ve been allocated only 2 seats and told point-blank my 3 teens are not invited. Now I’m not being picky, I just think it’s bad manners on their part.

Nyek, that’s my randomness for today. By the way, please go check out our holiday photos of buffet breakfast at the Hard Rock Hotel, Penang and lunch at Strada.

In the continuing saga of our beach vacation in Penang, we would’ve stayed in all day at the Hard Rock Hotel if we didn’t have to go look for food. The hotel is really nice, the rooms are freakin’ expensive but the food is nowhere near 5-star standard .

So we pretty much had to drive 45 minutes into town every day in search of better food. Most of the beach restaurants are too touristy and aren’t open during the day anyways.

One day, we went to Gurney Plaza which is all decked up for the season but is sadly lacking shoppers unlike our malls here in the city which are so packed you can hardly walk 2 feet before bumping into a wall of people.

At any rate, we couldn’t stay for long because the air-conditioning was pitifully lacking and I was starting to develop a headache. Maybe that’s why it’s so empty – everyone’s going “not today, dear, I have a headache”!

I still prefer Queen’s Bay Mall which is so cool – in terms of air-conditioning and location. Right across from the mall is an esplanade with palm trees and a serene stretch of sea with a small island in full view. Simply breathtaking!

Such a shame we didn’t get to spend some time at the esplanade as it was a hot afternoon and if you know me, I’m always trying to run from the sun. No, I don’t want a tan, thanks!

Unlike most folks, we didn’t make a beeline for the local street food which Penang is famous for. I love street food, my kids don’t like it much, and we have a common dislike for yucky food places .

The thing I love most about Penang are the old, historical buildings and architectural styles. Glad we drove around and saw some of those sights. Wish we could’ve stayed longer. We definitely must go back soon .

Scroll down to previous 2 posts for more photos of Day 1 and Day 2 of our beach vacation.