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I’m not a very good blogger August 13, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

 

I’m not a very good blogger because even though my family and I have been back in Malaysia for close to a month, I have not even published a single blog post about our return.

We got our broadband connection set up about a week ago, but I didn’t even blog about that.  And now I cannot blame my lack of blogging on the absence of internet.

I did not blog about how happy I was when I discovered my frozen EBM was just 80% thawed when we arrived at our hotel, and how I rushed to ask the hotel reception to quickly put it in the cold freezer.  I also did not blog about how the next day, when I went to collect the EBM, to my horror, they had put it in the CHILLER instead of the FREEZER and everything had completely thawed!

I did not blog about how we wolfed down all the yummy Malaysian food we had missed.  I did not blog about it because I didn’t even manage to snap pictures!

I did not blog about how my hubby and I, with 2 kids in tow, cleaned our apartment bit by bit, in order to make it livable.  Thank goodness we had the hotel to stay in for a while.

I did not blog about all the boxes of our shipment that arrived about 10 days after our arrival.  The many boxes certainly made our apartment that much smaller, and we aren’t even done unpacking.

I did not blog about how atrocious the traffic is.  I suffered withdrawal symptoms and had to force myself to drive when the need arose.  Needless to say, many a time I found myself flicking the wiper controls instead of the controls for the indicators.

I also did not blog about the EXTREMELY HOT weather.  Our electricity bill will definitely skyrocket this month (after several months of not having to pay).  I find myself having to turn the air-conditioning on most of the time.

My domain disk space breached the very critical 100% mark last weekend but I did not blog about it.  I found out it was due to some Wordpress core dump files which had to be manually deleted.

I’m done with this post now, even though I still do not think of myself as a good blogger, but hey, at least I made the effort to tell y’all that I’m still here! :)

Oops! It’s the error again May 27, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging , comments closed

 

Why is it so hard to access my blogs?  Is anyone facing the same problem?

I am getting these error messages so frequently, it is increasingly frustrating even to just moderate my comments or login to publish a post.  I have to refresh and refresh countless times before I get to my destination.  By the time the “Write Post” page loads up, sonetimes I can’t even remember what I had wanted to post.

I’ve tried changing browsers, defragmenting my PC, closing other programs, but the problem is still there!

Is it just me or is everyone else seeing this issue?  Pray tell…

Overflowing photo bucket March 30, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging , comments closed

Okay, stop hitting F5 on your keyboard.  It ain’t  your PC’s problem you’re not seeing images on all my blogs. :P

Five days ago I was given a warning:

Then this morning, this email alert appeared in my inbox:

Ooops!  Looks like all the photobucket-hosted pictures on my blog will not be viewable till April 2nd. 

I am definitely not gonna upgrade to a Photobucket Pro account, not even with the TrialPay option because that requires me to sign up for something else extra before the free upgrade can take place (a case of GOT strings attached, kapish?).

But you know what?  In a way, I am kinda honored that my blogs have garnered enough traffic to exceed my Photobucket monthly bandwidth.  So THANKS everyone!  Meanwhile, please come back again April 2nd to see all my previous pictures now, will ya? 

So where am I uploading my photos to now?  To my web hosting server of course! :)

A lil’ miraculous migration March 13, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Ethan, Hannah , comments closed

 

Credits
Elegant word art (miracles take time) from Bethany
Love Bug Paper02 from Redju Designs

A few months ago, as the estimated due date of my pregnancy loomed nearer and nearer, I had an important decision to make.  I was torn between the decision to start a new blog for the new baby in our family, or migrating Ethan’s blog to another one, combining all posts for my kids into one blog.  After some deliberation, my hubby and I decided on the latter, because it would make more sense to publish, say, a vacation post involving the kids rather than duplicating content.

So off I scooted to get the migration done.

Little did I know that there would be so many obstacles that stood in the path of such a seemingly easy task.

At first I exported the XML file from Ethan’s blog to be imported to the new blog.  Creating the subdomain and the new Wordpress blog was certainly a piece of cake, but when I tried to import the file, I realized that there was an 8MB size limit, and the XML I had imported was approximately 8.55MB.  Of course the import failed.

I then contacted my web host and they advised that I would need to restore the database from the old blog to the new blog, and that they would be happy to help me do it.  So that’s what they did.

… or so I thought.

When they told me they were done, I found out that they had actually pointed the new blog to the old one, and now the new blog redirects to the old one, which is definitely NOT what I wanted.  After a few days of them asking me to tweak the blog here and there, I finally managed to find an online tool called the Wordpress Splitter, which was able to break up the huge XML file into smaller bite-size pieces. And when I tried it out, I was so happy that it actually worked!

So that was that… :)

I was pretty pleased with myself for solving that problem.

After importing the entire contents of the blog over, I realized that I wanted to create a new category called Ethan and assign it to all the posts in the new blog, but almost all the tools I found online were not able to do that.  But my days of searching finally paid off when I stumbled on this beauty of a plugin called the Assign Categories plugin.  In just a few minutes, I was done creating the new category and assigning all posts to it :)

I then realized my blogroll had not been imported.  Oh, I know I could manually key in the links one by one, but I knew there should be some importing tool of some sort…a shortcut that would make my life easier…and I found it!  With this, all I needed was to enter the OPML URL in the Import Blogroll screen, and watch as the magic happens.

So, I was nearly done with the importing, but I still had to work on the header image.  I wanted an image that was simple yet creative, and it took me many nights to come up with a header that I was contented with.

I added the finishing touches, edited the theme a little bit here and there, and finally I was ready to unveil my latest blog, with the arrival of baby Hannah!

And it is with extreme happiness and joy that I am proud to invite everyone to bid a warm hello and welcome to Little Miracles, where miracles truly do happen! :)

Much ado about my mojo February 19, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

At first I wanted to blog about the Amazing Race Asia, but procrastination took control of my life and before I knew it, we were already watching the finale on Valentine’s night, where Adrian and Collin were declared winners. It all went down to the final roadblock where Rovilson did not manage to put the flag to the country fast enough and where it proves that paying attention to all those erasers with flags on them when we were little paid off. I kinda felt sorry for Marc and Rovilson for not winning, because those two practically owned the entire race. They injected humour and entertainment in a race filled with stress and even more stress. If ever I participated in TARA, I would want to play it like Marc and Rovilson did. My hubby did state the obvious when he remarked “But they didn’t win…”, but you know, it was the way they ran the race that I want to emulate. Still, I am very pleased that Adrian and Collin won, despite the adversities and hardships they faced. Congratulations guys!

So now my dose of weekly reality teevee will just be American Idol (down to the final 24 this week!) and America’s Next Top Model, which is a program I totally enjoy watching, together with Ethan boy too, of course. Too bad that while I was googling for the picture of ANTM, I accidentally discovered that the one shown on Channel V now has already been show in the US…. so I found out who won… shucks.


Photo credits

While chatting with Rinnah yesterday, I complained to her that I had lost my blogging mojo, save for updating Ethan’s blog. The dry spell had finally gotten to me, as it had some other bloggers too. We both attribute this loss of interest to the Chinese New Year break. Too many angpows, nothing to write? Have to wait for chap goh meh to be over first? Go figure. I can’t even bring myself to blog about the upcoming elections. This year, I will be voting in Penang for the first time in my voting history. The previous times, I had done my duty as a citizen back in Ipoh. The poster war will be starting soon, I expect. Candidates are probably busy choosing their most trustworthy and honest-looking pictures to print on banners and posters that they hope can withstand the wind, the sun and the rain. So far, I have only seen BN’s banners with the tagline “Keep Reinventing” sprouting out all over the island. I just printed out the details of my voting venue yesterday and am happy that it will be held at a school which is very close to where I stay…within walking distance too, if I am hardworking enough.

Oh, by the way, I am still craving yee sang and hope to lou at least one more time before chap goh meh comes around.

Choose now: ham or eggs?? November 30, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed


Photo credits

Last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy highlighted the story of ham and eggs. Do you consider yourself the ham or the eggs? Notice that with the ham and the eggs, the chicken is involved in the process…but the pig is committed. Similarly in blogging, think about it: ham or eggs – which would you rather be and which one are you?

Pablo came up with a writing project for the month of November which will help each individual blogger answer that question, and perhaps realize what really spurs them on. I’m writing this on the last date of the project period, hoping to complete it before midnight tonight.

1. Why do you blog?

I started blogging in mid-2006, because I wanted to journal the development of my son Ethan. It was a fantastic way of sharing my thoughts and ideas as a first-time mother and of course, Ethan’s *fans* would be able to see his pictures online even though they stayed far away. It was fun to capture funny and memorable moments of Ethan growing up and equally liberating to receive feedback from the people who read my blog. Many of my fellow breastfeeding mommy friends followed suit and soon blogging became second nature.

By and by, I decided to start my own personal blog where I was able to let myself go and express myself in thoughts, words and pictures. Blogging was an outlet for me to explore what my writing could do and I often found myself intrigued by things which were irrelevant to me before I started blogging. I blog because it is my way of reaching the world, to show people how I view the world through my eyes. I also blog because I find it is a very interesting way for me to be creative, and even though I do pepper my blog with some sponsored posts every now and then, I try my best to craft it in such a way as to entice visitors, adding that hint of personal flavor whenever possible.

2. What do you hope to achieve by blogging?

My blogs will serve as a legacy for my future generations. I have no idea if or when I will stop blogging, but until that happens, I hope that my blogs will chronicle my life and how I was touched by what happened around me at that point in time. I hope to write more meaningful posts that would make my readers go, “Hmmm…she’s so right. No why didn’t I think of that before?” And especially with Ethan’s blog, I hope that through it, he will be able to learn about himself and of course, about his Mommy.

3. How much time do you spend a day doing blogging related work?

I spend an average of 2 hours doing blogging related work. Most of the picture editing (if any) is done at home though, but that depends on whether I have time or energy to do so right before I hit the pillows.

I would like to equate myself as the *ham* when it comes to blogging. I want to be committed and to ensure that my blog means something. It’s a long road ahead, and I am learning so many new things every single day. But thanks Pablo, for making me reflect about blogging and about myself.

So what are you: ham or eggs?

All simply because I blog November 7, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Memes & Tags, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

Because I blog, I have made so many friends the world over. In fact, I have reconnected with some long-lost buddies as well through my blog. Some of the friends I have made are people whom I may not have met before, but still know what I have been up to, thanks to my blog. And because I blog, I’ve received special blog awards and wishes too, which in a way, tell me that I am being appreciated. These really make my day, just like yesterday, when I received a simple yet thoughtful blogging wish from Wen. And so, I’m passing this same blogging wish today to Rinnah, Pink Elle, Paris and Chinnee. Have a happy fruitful blogging day today, y’all!

Because I blog, I won 2 tickets to watch Bee, the movie on Deepavali tomorrow from my hosting provider, Exabytes. All I had to do was fill up a survey, and they sent me the invite! But I’m gonna have to forgo that because Ethan is not yet three years old, hence he would not be allowed into the cinema. So instead of wasting the free tix, I made arrangements to have them transferred to my friend. Because I blog, my friend and her hubby will get the opportunity to watch this movie for free. :)

Because I blog, I just discovered that I have been declared one of the 25 winners of the month of October for Nuffnang’s Friday’s contest. This would mean I get a FREE dinner for two at one of my favoritest restaurants, Friday’s. And I can’t wait to claim it!

Now, who says blogging ain’t worth it?

Just One Click October 17, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

I’m going Pink for October and the following post is published in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I’ve been thinking about what else I can do in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Other than sporting the pink ribbon (which by the way, you can get for free at any Estee Lauder counter), and blogging about breast cancer, I was stuck… until this morning, when I received an email from Mom directing me to this website.It is such a wonderful idea: All it takes is just one click. Clickers don’t need to pay anything, but the sponsors of this site will give away free mammograms to women who need it. And what better time to do it than in Pink October month, eh? I just clicked away, now will you do it too?

Fashionably Saving the Earth October 15, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Thoughts & Scribblings , comments closed

Who would have thought that I would be raving about and advocating the use of cloth diapers now? Who would have envisioned that a lazy person like me would be convinced enough to switch from using disposable diapers to cloth diapers?

Well, I am surprised at the decision I have made too, but I think it is for the best that I have been converted.

It has been a month and a half now that I have been using cloth diapers on Ethan. A month and a half of laundering diapers almost every day, sometimes worrying if they would dry on time. My decision to use cloth diapers on Ethan is primarily because I had read that using cloth diapers result in lower scrotal temperature for the baby. Plus, it is definitely more comfortable for him, without a doubt.

In addition, I am all for the use of cloth diapers because in the long run, the use of these cloth diapers would benefit the environment. Think about it. If everyone switched to cloth diapers, there would be a significant reduction in landfills worldwide. I read somewhere that disposable diapers (soiled with human waste and excrement) takes years and years to disintegrate. After so much money and effort has been spent on implementing a sewerage system to rid the earth of diseases caused by human waste, disposable diapers are bringing them all back into the environment! Isn’t that absurd?

Lastly my decision was also driven by the fact that these cloth diapers weren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill old-fashioned nappies, rather they came in gorgeous designs and prints. Seeing Ethan wearing them is a novelty in itself, and knowing very well that he is sporting cutting-edge fashion and keeping the earth green at the same time makes it all so much better. Don’t you think my boy looks absolutely adorable in them? :D

I’m glad that by switching to cloth diapers, I am doing my bit for the environment, however small that may be.

Read more about my diaper-green passion here:

This post is published in conjunction with Blog Action Day, where blogging participants unite to spread the word about saving the environment in their own unique way.

Bloggers Unite - Blog Action Day

My Postie Decision October 10, 2007

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Blogging, Rainmakers , comments closed

Getting hooked on blogging has been one of the best decisions I have made.  Okay, maybe the decision I made was to start blogging, but getting hooked became part and parcel of the entire thing.  I am more observant about my surroundings and how it affects me and I now find ways and means of creating interesting posts to make a dreary topic bearable…well, sometimes.  Of course, together with blogging, I made another great decision, which was to become a postie.  I consider myself still a newbie to PayPerPost because I have only been a member for slightly over six months, whereas I know of friends who have been members for goodness knows how long!

My experience with PPP has been one rollercoaster of excitement and frustration. Together with my gal pal Rinnah, we constantly shared information on PPP news and announcements including blog advertising, not to mention clueing each other in on the good posts to grab, and also lamenting the fact that “There’s nothing good today!” So yes, PPP has certainly created friendships, at least for me.  Being a postie has trained me to write better too.  I have to look at different angles of each post in order to make it appeal to my discerning reader.  And since I love writing, this is an excellent avenue for me.  I have no regrets at all!