Over The Weekend

no more maid, no more helper to call out for .. to do this and that. need time to get used to it but I kept on psyching myself .. i can do it ! i can do it ! think martha stewart ! think bree !

well, not so bad after all. asked friends over for dinner on friday night, grilled chicken breast, potato gratin, and salad (no wokking, minimal cleaning), did the laundry, running in and out of the house when it rains. repotted some plants, hubs washed the car.. then his little family join the fun and all 3 of us got wet, guess who's the happiest... the little one lar..

then, all 3 of us got a hair cut. amber's hair is too long, hard to manage and wasting lotsa precious minutes just to blow dry.




we also did grocery shopping, she got excited with the 'lion head'. i refused to buy, at least not until i do my price comparison first.


and did major shopping on household cleaning stuff, mop buckets, gloves, mops and yes, we invested big in mops.. since I had to get my hands dirty, might as well invest ! I grabbed 3M microfiber mops and works like magic.. much lighter and easy to handle. i sweep my upper floor in less than 5 minutes.. good eh ? also got a 'fengshui' broom, not due to fengshui reasons but it was 'big' enough, bigger sweep coverage area. less time needed to sweep and spoon those hairs, dust and pesky annoying dirt.


ahh... see who is 'sibuk' at the supermart ? she loves to play with brooms and such. must really train her to start young...

She's Gone

My maid has left. Yesterday.

Just when we settled into the New Year feeling happy, lots to look forward to, Amber schooling and coping well. My spirits were high.

Then just couple of days before she left, she smiled more and talked more. I felt sad to let her go. I did ask her if she wanted to stay but she's adamant to go back home and do something else or rather move on with her life.

On the eve of her departure, I was hesitant to check her things but I still did. Most of the new clothes I bought for her were untouched, she's saved them to bring home. No wonder she always looks tattered and weary. Saving the best for home, I guess.

I felt the blues of losing a maid, the void of not having her around anymore. No one to greet me when I go home. No one to feed the fishes and just nobody for me to call out to.

Strangely, hubs felt the same too. He knew I was feeling down on her departure (despite all the complains and bitching I had about her), he cheered me up but the night before she left, hubs woke up in the middle of the night, thinking of her, with a heavy heart. Someone who spent 2 years with us will be gone, forever.

Despite her repeated mistakes and nonchalant attitude, we miss her coz we are human. 2 years is a long time and we've bonded with her especially in the recent weeks. She taught hubs to clean the fish pond and I taught her all I knew of cooking. I did chide for not wanting to learn earlier and waited till the last moment. I asked her what she'll cook for her family when she goes home. 'Chicken rice' ! I told her to add more bishops nose for a tastier rice and she laughed.

She sewed a secret compartment in her jeans to stuff in all her USD of 2 years worth of sweat and toil. I jokingly told her she has the most expensive 'bum' in the airport !

I asked what she wanted for breakfast ; 2 roti canais and so I happily went to get for her. She had asam laksa at Old Town LCCT, and asked me how to cook. Again, I told her, if only she'd smile more and speak more when she started her tenure with us, she'll be a happier person. I also told her in whatever job she does, she must do it well, with a passion and smile more, then she'll have a better employer-employee relationship.

Then just before leaving the home for airport, Amber had a fight with her again.. haih...

Looks like Amber does not miss her as much as us.. that's a good thing.

Anyway, I do believe in parting amicably and I wish her well.

For us, life goes on and in time, we'll get used to her absent. We'll always remember her, our first helper.

Randoms from KLCC

Last night we took our Cambodian maid to KLCC, a farewell treat for her. I know she has always wanted to go KLCC and for her finale, we took her there for dinner and hubs brought his DSLR to take some pics of her.

We had dinner at KFC, her favourite (she like ribs, orginal and mashed potatoes, she hates KFC's coleslaw)

Now that she's leaving, I really miss her (or miss someone getting the laundry done and house cleaned up). OK, I have to admit, her final months were much better than her firsts few months. She smiles more, talks more and how I so wished she was like that when she arrived. Our relationship would have been much better. I still remember our first KFC treat for her was on her birthday, 4 months after her arrival. She just quietly relished her snack plate, ignoring Amber and oblivious to her surroundings. Last night she was so different, she asked Amber to quickly eat her meals, help feed her, talked and joked. Haih.. if only she was like that from the start, I would have a better employer-employee relationship with her.

I believe on parting in good terms. I know the bye-bye is final and I'll not hear from her. Somehow, no matter how she has made me angry for her past mistakes (vice versa, I guess ??), I trust her not to steal or take anything from me when she leaves and I hope I am right.

Amber knows Kakak will be leaving soon but she kept asking kakak to come back and visit us. Hubs suggested I bring her to the airport to send kakak off, sort of like to close the chapter and to let her witness kakak waving bye-bye forever.

We took some nice shots of her and Amber and I need to get those photos out before she leaves on Thursday.

Some nice and cute pics of Amber to share first :

Different expressions of a little girl so happy to have a soft drink - 100 Plus Orange .:











We also went to the park and Amber did her little twist, showing off her long and flowing dress



And then she got angry when Papa was taking kakak's photo, ignoring her. She sulked and walked far from us, throwing a tantrum :


The KLCC view from the park :


We hitched a buggy ride to Traders Hotel and got a better view :





My helper for 2 years : Sopheak


We wish her well and success back in Cambodia.

Maids Again !

Another post about my maid...

Complain .... not really .... maybe a little lar..

My maid, she's leaving in January next year. Any complaints or unhappiness I have, I'd rather swallow down than spit out. No point teaching or counselling her.. for 2.5 months, I can tolerate.

All these while, she's not on good terms with Amber. My girl absolutely 'tak tahan' her and she'll make no effort in talking or playing with Amber. When we leave for work, Amber leaves for the childminder and we only get home late in the evenings. I ask her to prepare stuff for dinner but I'll do the cooking. Most weekends, we are out and don't cook. I only need her assistance for 2-3 hours in the evening when I do a little cooking or take a shower.

Her best times with Amber is TV TIME !! Wuah.. she'll sit close to my girl :

My maid is TV ADDICT.. I allow her to watch TV in the evenings when we are not home. I know what programmes she watches when I switch on my Astro and it'll revert to her last watched program. Her favourite channels are Ch 613,614,615 , Wah Lai Toi & AEC.

Now, she's smarter. She'll revert to Ch 519 - BLOOMBERG after watching her TV programs. She knows the last first and last channel we watch for the day is Bloomberg.

I've always ngam ngam cham cham to my sisters and friends on my maid.
She hates handling Amber so much that she'll :
- spend hours in the kitchen, wiping the bottles of sesame oil and soya sauce and every single dust. Cleaning aftermeals in the evenings can take up to 2 hours (as if I cooked up a storm!!). She hopes to stay in the kitchen until we go upstairs to retire for the day.
- fall asleep while accompanying Amber in her playroom.
- read newspaper while Amber play with toys. I really should have taken a photo of this. I was mad coz she has the whole afternoon/evenings to read papers but she's so 'tak tahan' looking after kids...she has to read the papers.
- rest her hand/wrist on her chin (like very very bored) while the other hand feeds Amber milk. LOL !!! I would have taken a pic n submit to The Star if I had my camera with me then.

I took some snapshots of her y'day. Not the worst situation but one of her typical situations in a typical evening. I was having my dinner, which I cooked myself.. and I asked her to feed Amber fruits (which I had cut and prepared myself) :


Our 'seetaupor' just stare with boredom while Amber plays with the phone.

Then she picks her nails.. nonchalantly..

She doesn't even care or realise that I'm taking her photo !! LOL !!!!

I asked her casually if she wants to continue her contract :

Hehehe... don't want. I want to go home

My father.. ask me to go home

He dunno I stay alone at home.. he ask me to go home.. he don't like I stay alone.

Duh ?? Stay alone ? What's wrong with staying alone at home ? Most maids would die for the 'me - the princess of the house time'. I hardly check on her work. I hard stand behind her shoulders and watch her work. I give her so much freedom.

Why ? You don't like to stay alone at home ?

Hehe.. no... emmmm.... I like ..err like work in a shop ?

Sopheak, those people you see working in a shop at from Myanmar. They are employed to work in shops. They have to pay their own, rent and food. They are not maids. Cambodians cannot work in shops.

And those Indonesian who work in shops .. they have to go back and do housework. They are employed as maids and the employer take them out to work and help. Go back, they have to cook, clean and iron.

You can handle meh ? Like us, only 3 people in the house, you already cannot handle ? You think you can clean house in the morning, go outside and work and come back and still work ah ? You like Maam's family got a lot of people ? Wash and iron for 6-7-8 people ? You can handle meh ? Just 3 of us and this house already you cannot handle and always forget things ?

She looks at me in disbelief. She's had it easier than a lot of other maids and still ungrateful for what she has.

You don't want to work, never mind lor. I will buy you air ticket home. I think next time I will get Indonesian maid, they like children better. Amber likes Kakak Ayuna and Kakak Tuti (MIL and childminders maid)

Yes, you get Indonesia.. better !

That ends my conversation with her. In fact I don't intend to get another maid but I just want to shut her up and tell her I'd much prefer an Indonesian maid, since she's so unhappy being with us.

Sopheak, Oh Sopheak ! I hope life treats you better when you go back to Cambodia. Maam and Sir cannot give you happiness or make you smile although we treat you well, allow you to watch tv, have your own room & toilet, have your own radio and give you ample food !

Good luck to you Ms Sopheak !

I hope this will be my last rant before she leaves.

Flabbergasted !

Last Saturday, while I was keeping myself busy in the kitchen measuring this and that.. preparing for the bakes and all, my maid stood there to look at me.. or rather look at me cook.
I know she's keen to learn but she never ASKs questions (that's what leads her to lots of trouble too..)

I chatted with her and asked her to observe, ask and learn how I cook. Secretly, I know she's been copying bits and pieces of my recipes on her diary, I came across them when I peeped into her room. I don't know why but the recipes are not whole.. just a line from here and there.

So, since I was in a good mood that day, anticipating a fun night with my gfs. I told her some of my cooking secrets and which recipe has the lowest cost, if she wants to run a food business, she's gotta look into food cost.

I asked her copy down recipes she likes.

You know what she said ?

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.
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You copy for me , can ah ?


**speechless**


Sei for mou ???? Lazy as such ????

She Wants To Send Money Back

My maid. Again....

This time, the sister, 699 (what better way than to differentiate them by numbers, since they have so many different names - application name, passport name, family name) is home, safe and sound and found a job at a school. Good, I am happy for her. I spoke to her when she called to look for 700.

Last night 700 (my maid) asked me to send USD500 back to Cambodia. Apparently 699 needs money for medical treatment and the other sisters needs it for their studies.

The hubs flipped, nag, nag and nag her... I, kept my cool. I had a few arguments with her recently and I do not even bother blogging about it, just another annoying and idiotic maid vs employer episode. I thought to myself why I should waste my time, breath and efforts teaching her to be smart and save money for herself, teach her about economics, inflation, jobless.. ? Why bother ???

Hai ya.. want to send, send lah.. as long as there's 6 months salary for my keeping, I don't care if she goes home with no money to buy land, no money for any men to chase after her. I really don't give a damn anymore. For someone, who will not keep in touch with me when she leaves, obviously 'mo kam cheng', why do I bother and fret over this issue ?

Now, I've got to find time to TT the money for her. Darn... 3rd time in 5 months !!!!

No Money, No Man

This post is about my maid and it's a long post.

When I was given the maids biodata to select, I noticed 2 sisters. I shall code them.
700 - Older of the sister, fatter and very dark. Eldest of 7 girls
699 - Younger, skinnier - lighter in weight, pleasant looking.. 2nd of 7 girls.

I chose 699 but the agent told me to take 700 instead. Ok, I thought, who would know better than the agent ? When I picked my maid, 700 from the agency, I met 699. She has such pleasant disposition, and can even speak a smatter of Cantonese. I looked at 700, my maid, she looks 10kg heavier than in her biodata photo and always sulking.

I felt cheated, why did I listen to the agent ? Why ? Why ? Why ? I should have trusted my instincts. 699 can speak Cantonese and so much easier for Amber and her nanny. Nanny asked why I chose 700 ? I thought since she is the eldest of 7 girls, she must have experience in taking care of her younger sisters and would make a better maid. Right ?

Wrong !

Nanny said again : Do you think she'll like kids ? When she has to share everything with her 6 other siblings ? Not enough to eat ? Not enough to share ? See children also she 'pengsan'.

True also wor... Ended up with 700 till today and we know she's hopeless with kids. I wouldn't leave Amber alone with her at home, not even for a moment , so you can imagine.

Sometimes, I talk to 700 and ask about her family. Her father is a womanizer, probably trying to find a woman to bear him a son ! She is the eldest and the darkest in the family (she is really nescafe kau kosong !) and her parents are biased towards her due to her skin color. How unfair I thought, and I told her you are dark because of your genes ! Genetics ! genes ! Your grandparents could be dark skinned like you too ! Who issit to blame for your skin color ? Your parents lah ! Go back and talk to your parents about genetics !

Going back to 699, I am glad I did not end up with her because :
- she has changed employer 3 times
- Quit on her last employer, apparently having medical issues, heart pain - cannot work !
- now, wants to borrow money from 700 to go home. , living in the agent's quarters, no money, no job. She called home and the father had asked her to borrow money from 700 !
- I would lost more money if i took 699 and she left after few months.

I always thought I had a lousier deal until all these crap about 699 surfaced.

Going back to 700, although I am not on excellent terms with her and she always drive me up the wall, I am still compassionate towards her predicament. Her family is always calling her for money. I am her pocket minder, trying to find all sorts of excuse not to send money back. The reasons are always trivial - need to repair roof lah.. repair this, repair that, neverending repairs. It's like the house is suddenly in verge of collapsing and hungry for repair money the moment she left for M'sia.

As for the recent case with 699, I did not hesitate further to pass another months salary to the agent so 699 could go home fast but not without lecturing 700 :

Your house can have a broken roof
Your house can have a broken gate

but when you always send money back :

You will have no or little money
You don't want to get married ? Better have money in hand !(she tells me she doesn't want to get married)
You go back with money, your village will greet you with smiles.
No money, you watch out !
No man will want you!

She came to her senses and agreed with me. I know of many cases where families of maids are always calling to ask them to send money back. They are afraid the employer will not pay them, but what do the family do ? 99.999% will spend the money and the poor maids, slaught for 2 years overseas goes back with almost nothing !

No money, no man ! Call me bad but I'm only protecting her interest.

So funny

Don't know to laugh or to cry. I left her with the maid for an hour to take a shower and to arrange my laundry at my room. Before I went up, I heard Amber asking kakak to bring her 'shee shee'

When I came down, I saw this :

Aiyo.. one whole solid hour and she did not notice.. Alamaks !!!!!!!!!!

Her half pot and my half pot

Am home today to do some project work. I have time to cook a nice dinner and I made black bean soup with pork ribs. I've asked the maid to boil soup twice but always turns out to be disaster, soup either too watery or boiled too late in the evening and tasteless.

Since I am home today, cannot go wrong right ? Gave her simple instructions.. fry beans, add red dates and boil half a pot for 3 hours. I have a fairly big pot and half a pot of water is just nice.. just let it simmer and reduced water. For 3 of us (me, hubs, maid), it's just enough.

I can smell the aroma of roasted black beans and I went to check. Yikes, how come 3/4 pot ? and that's exluding the ribs, which are still defrosting.

She looks at me, I look at her..

Maam,, half pot, add beans already 3/4 pot ..


My 3/4 pot soup simmering.

Alls not lost yet, I'm home, I can jaga api the whole afternoon and flavour my soup the way I like it.

Makes me think, must be my fault for not being specific enough to tell her to add beans, pork and water till half pot. Miss sotong put half pot water, add beans and pork, it'll be more than 3/4 pot. Common sense will tell, just the 3 of us, how to finish such a big pot of water .. errr soup ?

Tsk, tsk, must remind myself again to be very specific, esp on soups.. she just can't get it.

Amber getting creative

Amber got tired of coloring her Elmo book and plays with the sticker.

Here, she paste each small sticker on kakak's nails. Very accurate too. I thought it looks like a pretty nail art.

I told my maid I'll let her have this photo to bring home as a souvenir. lol !

Amber and her kakak

Nowadays Amber knows how to 'complain' and I am proud of her. I'll know if she's being bullied by kakak.

Makes me wonder why they'd apply to be a maid if they hated the job so much. Mine hates taking care of children and that's my biggest issue with her. I once asked her, if you don't like to take care of children, what do you like to do ?

She said : I like to cook but I don't know how to cook and I like to take care of dogs ! Sei mou ?

If I leave Amber with her while I take a shower, I'll have Amber screaming for me in less than 5 minutes. I envy moms whose maids are a real helping hand.

Last weekend Amber complained to mil and her maid while I went for Ching Ming prayers with hubs :

Kakak say I am lazy ! Kakak say I lazy wor ??

MIL investigated the cause and it was because Amber didn't want to sit down and play jigsaw puzzle with her. My maid must have got irritated with Amber running around, not wanting to sit still and called her 'lazy' !

The moment I came home and Amber ran to me, she quickly disappears to the kitchen to help our aunty to cook lunch... and that's not her job. She'd rather peel potatoes than look after Amber. So sad, isn't it ? I don't think Amber is that difficult a child to look after but my maid can't wait to handsoff her everytime. That's why I'll never leave her alone at home with the maid, not even for 5 minutes.

MIL was also concerned with the maid and made sure she 'pass' Amber to me before she left home. We can't risk her alone with the maid, not even for a while, for she might 'handsoff' her anytime and no one keeping an eye on her.

Since the day she arrived, she's been annoying Amber till no end.

When Amber does a 'big poo poo' , she'll say things like 'your nggg nggg.. eee yer.. so smelly .. sooooo smelly er...' My god! the poor little girl was already constipating to tears and the maid walks around singing the song in a jest to annoy her. Wouldn't anyone be mad ?

She likes to make 'monkey faces' at Amber. From the day she arrives till now, she always scare Amber with a funny expression and screams EEEE ! EEEE ! I was at my wits trying to explain to her on making herself chummy with Amber, she should be more lively and cheerful and avoid all funny expression to annoy a child. She don't understand ! and so I said : How about if your father did that to you ? EEEE ! EEEE ! bleak (imitate her monkey face expression) ! YOU LIKE OR NOT ???

When I bought sticker books for Amber, she'll tear and sticks them all up, annoying the poor little girl again. I have to warn her those books are for my daughter, not you!
When I 'spy' through her stuff, I found my daughters stickers on her diary. Sei mou ? Maybe I should get her some sticker books.

Once they were fighting and Amber pulled her hair, she pulled Amber's hand away in return and twisted her wrist, the poor girl came crying and said:

kakak so naughty, make my hand pain !

I reprimanded my little girl for pulling kakak's hair but in my heart, I felt there is no need to pull her hand so hard.

Really pengsan, both of them are always like cats and dogs fighting. I hope I get a better maid next time around.

Earth Hour 8.30pm

Should I participate in the Earth Hour, tomorrow, 8.30pm ? I have a long to do list in the evening tomorrow : bake cake, make yam cake and roast pork for Ching Ming on Sunday.

I'll need the oven for baking and roasting and I can't possibly keep the lights off , need to keep a close watch on the roasting and baking. So how ? how ? how ?

I can't do the stuff any earlier, will take me at least 3 - 4 hours to complete. Evenings are the only time I have. Mornings are taken up with sending Amber for her Hepatitis A immunization (long overdue-just check her immunization card and was supposed to go for the jab last November !!!) and hubs has a couple of appointments in the afternoon.

Gee... should I participate and keep unnecessary lights and electrical items off for the ONE hour ?

No, but I shall practise very prudent electricity consumption, switch on lights only when necessary, lavoid using dryer, opt for fresh air, fan and air cond only when it's necessary, use a thermos flask instead of thermopot and iron clothes only when necessary and do it quickly,

My maid can iron for 2-3 hours and she irons like drawing a masterpiece ... slowly pull the shirt over the ironing board, slowly glide the iron, one side then the other .. sloooowwwlly turn the shirt over.. sllllooooooowwwwwwlllllyyy fold and iron again.. really, watching her ironing will make you jump, i can do it twice as fast in half the time but why should i when I've paid her ?

Our electricity bill chalks up a big bulk of our monthly household expenses, apart from giving mother earth a break, I should give my wallet a break too...

Afraid of my maid ?

She's driving me nuts again. Reaching home quite late recently and I only see her for an hour or two and yet... she drives me up the wall.

2 days ago, during dinner:

Mam, rice finish already

Me : OK, will buy some more, I continue eating before pausing to ask how much left ?

1 cup

AARRGHHH !!!!!!!!! why didn't you tell me earlier? I just came back from the supermarket ! Why did you wait till last minute ? What to eat tomorrow ? Ask her what to buy when I'm in supermarket, she only wants sanitary napkins and sausages for herself. I tell you, damn frus ! @#$%@#$ It was already almost 10pm coz we were caught in the massive jam in town due to the heavy rainfall. Where to find rice ???

Her face instantly turned 'black'.

Yesterday again, I chided her for not changing the water in of the water lily plants for 1 wk, it stinks like s**t and for leaving my plants in the rain when I specifically told her certain plants cannot get wet.

Her face turned 'black' and didn't want to answer my questions.

I asked her to feed Amber and egg and she just stands there staring at the egg, waiting for Amber to eat the egg and create a mess.

Got so fed up, i told hubs, her face 'blacker' than the lor bak.

Very sien sei, I'm very frus coz I have to pay her, feed her, clothe her and yet cannot take simple instructions. She's alone at home everyday, just do housework for the 3 of us and does not need to take care of children and no pets to handle. Is it so wrong to correct her and tell her ?
Say too much also afraid i might end up with a severed ear or ribs broken. In fact, I hid my newspapers when they published the news of the maid slaughtering the Penang housewife.

I don't want to give her ideas. Am afraid, am very afraid... sigh.. scold also cannot, say also cannot..

Of Maids Lately

I'm really pissed off with my maid recently. Can't help but rant, esp after reading Annie's maid episode
There's only hubs, me and Amber at home, we leave for work at 8am and Amber goes to bbsitter. She's alone at home the whole day, sweep & mop floor, do laundry and basically that's it. I really don't know what she does other than that. We have a cctv and I think she's smart to avoid being detected by cctv coz I cannot see her from my remote viewer !!! Sometimes, I purposely give call home to see her running to answer the phone so I know which corner at home she's hiding.

Well, I've asked her to prepare easy dinner for me and I am in a rush to go pai nien in the evenings. 2 days ago, she fried fish (the easiest dish to cook) and I fried the vege. We were ready to dig in dinner and zoom off and she said "sorry mam,, i forgot to press the rice cooker'.. Aargghh!!!! got to wait another 20mins.

Yesterday, I instructed her to boil pork rib/peanut/lotus root soup. Dump everything to a half pot of water, start boiling at 3pm for 2hours ++ until I reach home. How difficult it this instruction ?? Came home at 5.30pm, again rushing to zoom off to pai nien. I open the stock pot and there's 3/4 pot of soup. Aiyo... so much water for 3 person !!! Got to wait how long to reduce the water to half pot ? Again ... grrrrrr... Nvm, i tot add salt and ajinomoto will do lah, hubs already hungry and waiting.. but somehow the soup still tastless, then she told me she started boiling the soup at 4.30pm !!!!! Major geram #2 !!!! my blood boiling faster than the soup. Cilaka betul, everytime I'm in rush, she screws it up. Can never understand simple instruction. Don't know also don't ask ! Again we were late, luckily, I stocked some Salisbury burger , quickly fry, eat and zoom off. We only had our soup later when we returned home at 10pm.

This morning, I asked her to peel some teochew mandarins for tonights lo-sang, I always keep the peels to be dried up for future use (taste very yummy with red bean soup and it has to be teochew mandarins, not ponkams !)
I asked her where were the previous peels ? She looked blank and told me she threw all away. Arrrghh.. major geram #3 ! I repeatedly told her to keep and dry them and told her why I need the peels and how delicious they are with red bean soup ! Sei mou ? Simple instruction also forget. Not like she has many things to do in the house !

I tried to keep my cool .. count 1-10 before I sound her. But everytime i do, my voice escalates as fast as my blood pressure. Some maids will just smile when reprimanded but not my tigress !She'll never say sorry but give you a blank-what-did-I-do-wrong-and-I-hate-my-employer-look !!!!!!! Always 'hark meen sun' !!! If she would just smile and apologize, then at least I can swallow her mistakes ! but .. scolding her... arrghh ! Tak boleh tahan any longer, I said :

You got mouth, ask lah ! scared forget, then write down ! Mam give you many things to do issit ? Always forget ! Never want to ask me questions. Only time you open your mouth to ask is to send money back home ! True or not ? You are already very lucky, no need to take care of Amber, no pets or elderly in the house ! What more do you want ?

Geram ! Geram ! Geram ! when she leaves I'm not getting another maid. Pay her and feed her to get my own blood pressure up ! Like my aunt warned me : got maid, 'sum toong', no maid, 'sau toong, keok toong, yew kuat toong' !

So Typical Of My Maid

My Cambodian maid of one year, sigh... don't know what to say about her..
She drives me up the wall but yet, she's not the worst of maids.
I told her twice to crack the ginko nuts (pak kor) , peel the skin and freeze them. I need the ginko nuts to cook my favourite Hin Hua soh-meen for Chinese New Year. Anyway, she had cracked the nuts for me twice, so I'd assume she knows what I want.
Yes, maam ! Yes, maam ! (standard reply from any maid)
Anyway, couple of days later, I checked the cctv and saw her watching tv all evening, I checked on her work. I was stunned to find the whole pack of ginko nuts in paper and in freezer, uncracked, unpeeled !!!!! I asked her why ? She just smiled and could not give me an answer. Kek Sei Ngor !!!!

I wonder if :
-she'd understand my instruction
-I'd explained clearly enough
-she's trying to be funny ??
Someone sent me this article, so funny and it's so, so, typical of my maid :


Is your maid like this too ?