JEWELLE TAN

First news came that Nissan, Suzuki, Porsche, Rolls Royce and Land Rover will skip the 2009 Detroit Motor Show.

Then we read that Ford, GM and Chrysler, the 3 major US automotive companies also dubbed the Detroit 3 decided pull out of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

Finally, I learnt from the closest source that the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2009 is cancelled.

Looks like it’s not a good year for motor show fans all over the world.

But at least in Sabah, small scale motor fairs were still held like the recent Motor Bonanza Fair at the Likas Sports Complex earlier this month.

This fair featured new cars, reconditioned and used cars, motor bikes, racing parts, car accessories and car audio systems.

he two ardent car fans in my family visited this fair of course and brought back some pictures.

I didn’t get much stories from them and I’m not sure of these are all the cars that were featured at the fair - but I do know that these are the cars that caught their fancy.

And here’s more.

I’m sure these were the most popular cars at the fair.

And everyone must have drooled over the interior of this car.

I wonder if it is difficult for the drivers of these cars to do their reverse move with their back view all blocked…

Thats it for this fair!

Popularity: 47% [?]

2 days after Christmas last year, the two most ardent car fans in my family attended the Auto Fabulous Showcase at the Jesselton Point.

When I was told that the venue of a motor show is at Jesselton Point, only one thing came to mind - it must be a small one.

True enough, when they came home, they reported that there were only two kinds of “auto” on showcase.

Some classic Volkswagon Beetle and motor bikes.

As you can see from the pictures that they took.

I’m sure these have their own group of fans but the title is kind of misleading, don’t you think?

I think they were more interested in the comings and goings of tourists, both local and international who also uses the area to get to the boats that goes to the islands.

The organizer needs to attract more cars next time or perhaps play down the name of the event.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Christmas is over and all that frenzied gift buying activities which turn Kota Kinabalu into a no-enter zone (unless you want to be stuck in the jam for hours) is thankfully over!

That was why even though there are cheaper toy shops in Kota Kinabalu, I bought all my kids’ gifts from a mall outside the city centre. The funny thing was, these two boisterous kids only play with them when the adults in the house are fed up with their constant barrage of questions - and demand that they sit still and play with their new toys!

Perhaps, my two adventurous and rowdy girls would prefer a more interactive kind of toys (they love computer) such as those playstations or Wii games.

This UK shopping site where you can compare prices from up to 30,000 stores have a long list of Wii games that even I am interested to browse - if only to compare the cheapest price I could get for a particular item.

I especially like the store reviews feature as it helps to know what other shoppers think about any store. Sometimes even though a store offers the cheapest price, they might not always provide the best service. However, it would be better if they have a simple rating system that is immediately visible without having to read reviews.

I hope the Wii Fit (with Fitness Board) will be cheaper at the end of this year because I think my husband would enjoy this as an exercise and fitness tool.

Anyway, if you’re shopping for these popular Wii games or even the more traditional gaming range like the Play Stations 3, you know where to check first.

Popularity: 21% [?]

It’s hard to believe that the third term holiday is practically over and school will re-open in 2 days time.

It is equally hard to believe that my little Eu is a school pro of one year and that I will not likely be dealing with first day jitters like we did last year.

My memory of the first few harrowing weeks was having to toughened myself to letting my first born leave home for a few hours to find her way in a strange place by herself.

It then turned into a 5 days a week session of cajoling then demanding her to wake up in time for school.

Not to forget wishing that she will sleep a little later on the other 2 days in the week when she did not have to go to school and theoretically, entitled me to lie in bed longer. But of course, these are the days when she will wake up early without any prodding!

My daily routine changed dramatically too.

Since we have no maid, I run my household single-handedly and sometimes, the longest time I get to sit down in the morning until Eu was home - was when I was driving to and fro her school which was about 20 - 25 mins each way.

I started another parenting job too - supervising her school work.

And last year, I gained an insight of the special skills and personality that a kindergarten teacher must have in order to turn children who knew next to nothing to children who can identify and read alphabets and numbers, write characters, sit still long enough to draw beautiful pictures, learn new songs and dances and all the amazing things that Eu showed us whenever she’s home from another exciting day at school.

I was humbled by her teacher’s patience and fortunately, her father took an active role at helping her with her work.

Especially in her Mandarin which by the way, had become their weapon to attack me from his threats of “You better learn Mandarin before the kids start talking about you in your face” to her demanding that “My teacher said you must learn Mandarin too. So repeat after me…!”

It’s been a year of newly learned words for her too.

Early in the year another parent informed me that Eu was accused of teaching another friend the word “stupid”. It didn’t bother me as we don’t used that word and it was new to her too. Besides I had expected her to be exposed such undesired vocabularies that are beyond our control except to make it clear that such words are not welcome.

I am happy to note that it was the worst word she acquired last year - unlike my nephew who brought home plenty more colourful statements courtesy of his more expressive classmates.

Although we think the world of Eu, my husband and I pride ourselves of being fair parents and we were prepared to be unbiased when it comes to any complaints her teacher might have of her.

So we were very happy to know that far from having any issues with her, she became one of her teacher’s helper from the very beginning. It never failed to amused me that her teacher trusted her enough to send their breakfast bucket to the kitchen all by herself or being asked to accompany other students to the toilet.

Speaking of toilet, early in the year she informed me that she convinced herself that she need not clean anything except her hands after her first bowel movement in the school’s toilet. I am only thankful that nothing unpleasant happened as a result and since then I have insisted that she know what to do.

I knew from her stories that not all of her classmates even made it to the toilet and that’s another thing that I truly respect kindergarten teachers for.

From the first time that she entertained her classmates, an aunt’s prediction that she will be popular with her teacher was coming true when she was chosen to participate in a school dance. However, although she did very well in this group activity, her nerves failed her when she was asked to take part in singing competitions.

Still, her artistic nature was revealed in another way - her drawings.

From her love of colours where she would use all kinds of colours on a single object, she has moved on to sketching moments and events with impressive face expressions and body gestures and could go through uncountable sheets of recycled papers if unrestrained.

It had only been one year of school yet she had definitely learn a lot of things.

Of course, as much as we place more importance in the overall lessons and experiences that she get from school, there is nothing more “fun” than to know that she managed to get sixth place during her first term examinations and improved herself to second place during their final term examinations.

But more than the trophy and certificate that she received at the end of her first school year, we are happy that she made friends easily, endeared herself to her teacher, gained a lot of experiences and most importantly, enjoyed school so much that she is really looking forward to going back.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Because we did a little work in our living room in Lumut home, I actually plan to scout around for table lamps now that I am in Sabah.

However, I have been here for nearly a month and I have yet to step into any lighting stores - and you can blame that on the busy roads as there is nothing that I hated more in KK (and its surrounding suburbs) than the jam and the heat.

How I wish that there are online lighting shops like the Farrey’s for their huge range of lamps and lightings of all kinds - table lamps, floor lamps, desk lamps and etc!

How easy it will be to shop for the perfect lamp when all I need to do is switch the computer (even in my pyjamas), browse through their collections, choose one that I like, pay for it and wait for it to arrive!

By the way, after a bit of feng shui reading last night, I now needed to get not only a couple of table lamps for the living room, but I also need to “invest” in a red lamp for the coming Chinese New Year!

Popularity: 18% [?]