What A Girl Wants

 shoes ! shoes ! shoes !

and .....


more shoes !

She's crazy over shoes. Don't get her started and never never bring her to a shoe department. Whenever we pass by one, she'll stop to try, even though it's adults shoes.

Never mind... after all she's only a girl..

Oh.. I also forgot.. never bring her to accessories and nail polish counters too.

Don't grow up too soon girl.. stop at Barbies and books.. leave the fashion stuff to mummy k ?

My Sleeping Child

We had a hectic day today. A new IPO listing today, hubs has a meeting in the afternoon and we have an appointment to go somewhere these evening. Amidst the chaos, the last thing I wanna do is rush home to pick her in the evening when it's pouring and flooding everywhere. 

We took the easy way out and asked her to skip school. Such bad parents we are but but ..... most kindies have started their holidays and her's is the rare one.. class goes on till end November. She's doing revision works, nothing important, can skip la...

I took her to office, armed with blankies, quilts etc. My office is so darn freezing cold, she's wearing a jumper, baby pantyhose, and covered up with a wool blanket, hubs denim jacket and her own denim.  

Amidst the pile of clothes, my sleeping child resting :

I sooooo love to watch her sleep. Don't you ? I mean don't most parents do ? Kids are the sweetest when they shut up and sleep like an angel  :)

Preps and Props for our first tree

Our Christmas tree was up last weekend but very very naked. I baked some gingerbread man for the tree but looks like the gingies were too bread-ey.. too soft to be hung on the tree. One by one.. the gingies fell down .. :(

And so... the quest for Christmas decorations starts. From baubles to lights, to ribbons and such.. it's not easy, getting the props for the tree. The hubs wanted purple baubles, I wanted less colors, I wanted silver and gold. Ding dong, ding dong, we let Amber choose. Horrors.. .she chose the multicolored ones with red, green, purple, gold and silver. Haish.. noooo.. that will be our last choice but because we asked her to choose instead, we kept our mouth shut and then I thought of a brilliant idea to distract her from the multicolored baubles. I gave her a choice - multicolored baubles or hanging ding-a-lings of pinecones, santa claus and such..for a 4 yr old, a combi of such is certainly much more attractive than a a dozen multicolored baubles. Hubs won.. we chose silver and purple baubles instead

After hours of choosing the Christmas decors ....

We ended up with these :

The Santa is an extra prop, very cute.. with leg extensions..

We're all good to prep up our first tree but I made  a deal with hubs.. he'll string the lights and I'll hang the props. I read about Jomel's adventure with the Christmas lights and I'm very sure I don't want to tear my hair off over the blinking lights..

Ding dong merrily on high,
In heav'n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv'n with angel singing.

Naugthy-ness can be tuned

I was chit chatting with Amber one morning, on our way to school. Mostly about her kindy, our plans for next year etc.

She knows she's going to a different class next year. The upstairs class, for 5 year olds. Currently only the 4 yr olds are occupying the downstairs class. So, 'upstairs' is for bigger and older kids, the 5 & 6 yr olds.

She feels proud being upgraded to the upstairs class, the big kids class and she said something that made me laugh ...

when I am 5 yr old, I won't be so naughty already lor.. I will be better ..


Aiyo... so funny.. I had a good laugh.. if naughty-ness can be tuned.. I should send her for tuning earlier.

Let's Go To The Zoo

Remember the KFC song ? 

Let's go to the zoo.. there's lot's of things to do..

And the food is finger licking good.

There's elephants, tigers, big sunny bear

Birds and tigers, without a care

or so .. that's as much as I remember of the KFC song but alas.. KFC closed shop and is no longer there.

We live close to the zoo and Amber always ask why we don't go to the zoo. Always.  The best she gets is the faded plastic model elephant on the gates of the zoo.

Quite shameful too, I must say. Living so close to the zoo and not having been there before. I was always afraid of being disappointed with the lacklustre animals, facilities and service.

I was wrong. The Zoo Negara is much better than I had expected although it still has many rooms for improvement such as better signages and directions. Our Zoo Negara is funded by collections from visitors and donations and every little bit of our contribution helps. 

I promised Amber a trip to the zoo for good behaviour and for BETTER behaviour, her good friend, Ashley cheh cheh will come along. Throughout the whole week, we've been bribing and threatening her if she does this, this and that.. she gets to go to the zoo, if she's extra nice, she'll get to go with Ashley. We parents are soooo good and knows when and how to carrot her :)

So, on a bright and early morning, we met Barbara and her family at the zoo. Amber's good friend and mei-mei, Sharon came along too. The more the merrier.  Luck was on our side, weather was cooling and it only poured cats and dogs when we reached home.

The kids, they just couldn't wait to go to the ZOO

n 

Our first stop was giraffes and elephants. I kinda pity the elephant, held in captivity for our human's viewing pleasure but the kids were awed. I put myself in their little foot and thought ... isn't is SO SO AMAZING to see a life giraffe and elephant ? At such close proximity ? I mean.. the zoo to me, is just an outing out with the kids but for the kids, it's more than outing, it's getting up,close and personal with animals they see on tv, the animals they learn to write and spell in school and the animals they were asked to color. I mean..  this is it. staring at a very tall Giraffe :

 Amber was anticipating the giraffes and elephant but Ashley couldn't wait to see flamingos. The moment she entered zoo, she was looking for flamingos, frantically. She asked me for the map searched for flamingos. 

The zoo had quite a collection of storks though and here's one :

 and some pelicans

 but no flamingos ! Ashley didn't complain much, she too, was awed by so many live animals

 Our 3 little princesses

 and getting up close and personal with the King of The Jungle. Majestic. Awesome !

 

I think this is a seladang.. the sign boards were not very visible or informative, and with 3 running kids, I can only guess the animals but not have time and read their literature, something I'd love to do.

 a tiny green frog.. very tiny, about the size of my thumb but looks magnified here.

 and a phython

 

 komodos - triple decker..hmmm.... i wonder why they like to stack each other up. Ain't it a bit heavy for the one below ??

 

and the giant tortoise getting a bite. See how she tip toes ? Hard work just to grab a bite !

 

We were in the Zoo by 9am and out by noon. We skipped a few sections, namely the monkeys, orangutan, gorillas, camels and also the savannah. The kids were already hungry and screaming for McDonalds and so were the adults. After many hours of walking, I just wanted Coke. Too bad KFC closed down, we went to McDonalds, which is just up the road from Zoo.

Luck was on our side, the weather was perfect for a day out to the Zoo. It rained cats and dogs only when we reached home.

Zoo Negara, we'll be back. I heard there's a multiple entry pass for kids and I must check that out.

The Accidental Gingerbreadman

I had in mind a big project this November. A BIG one.. that is.. to put up our very first Christmas tree and also make some of my own decors.. I wanted to hang candy sticks on the tree and homemade gingerbread man. Took me a while to get the gingerbread man mould. Finally I found a gingerbread man cookie cutter at a baking shop in Cheras (after hunting around 5 or 6 baking shops).

I shared my big BIG project with a blogger friend (you know who you are) and she asked if I could make her the gingerbread man for her boys' party the coming weekend instead.  I had only 1 day to try out the gingerbread man. No promises I said. I didn't know how it'll turn out.

And so... the evening was well planned for baking gingerbread man cookies. Decors - dragees, hundreds and thousands, sprinklies and chocolate chip - all set aside, away from Amber's sight. If she knew I was making something so fun and cute, she'll refuse to sleep and stay up all night to fun-along with me.

I had fun. Lots... Exciting and hilarious. The first few gingerbreads I cut didn't work out.. the head fell and broke before while I transfer it to the baking tray and some .. the legs broke.

How ?? I couldn't delivery decapitated a gingerbread man ! and I tried and tried many times before I finally got it right. Gingerbread man in one piece, with a head, 2 hands and 2 legs. Any weird looking ones, such as elongated heads... irregular limbs  - one long and the other short.. .just went back the the dough to be remodelled again.

Such a simple recipe and delight to finally get it right.

Here .... accidental gingerbread mans with my limited decoration skills ;)

 

Not too bad la.. can 'kao for' (delivered).

Now, next project is to make butter free, egg free gingerbread man so I can have some mother-daughter bonding and fun moments with her.

And I forgot to mention .. I hate handling royal icing.. Messy and irregular.. 

Oh well.. maybe I need some practise on that too !

tis the season to be jolly.. fa la la la la .. la la la la.. .....

Wine Gathering on Deepavali

Being a Malaysian, we'll find every reason to celebrate any occasions. On Deepavali, we had another winekaki gathering at our home. We've been going round and round homes and it's most joyous to drink and be merry at comfort of each other's homes and wifes and kids included.

The wines we had (for hubs records, he wants to remember when and where and had what) :

 everyone brought 1 lucky pot :)

I cooked :

 hokkien mee

 sambal belacan for the noodles

chue yau char.. to garnish the noodles.. hubs request.

yam cake.

We, as usual, the night gets merrier when more wines are opened.. *hic*    *hic*

Festive Fruitcakes for Sale

Deck the tables with logs of fruitcakes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
 
Slice up them, the lovely fruitcakes,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Splash with brandy, would be lovely,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

*hic*   *hic*.... that's after you consume coffeesncookies first official production :

 

just joking !!

 I'm baking intoxicating fruitcakes with rum and brandy.  Makes a great gift for family and friends this coming Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. 

Sliced up, it looks like this :

Packed in food wrap and boxed up, like this :

 

The fruitcakes can keep well for up to a year with continuous glazing of brandy.

Details :

Weigh : approx 1.2 kg

Price : RM80  per loaf  (rum n brandy)

  RM70 per loaf (non-alcoholic)

Term : COD

Delivery (as a guide): 

Free within KL (Golden Triangle) or pick up from my office at KL

 RM10 per delivery within PJ/Bangsar/Old Klang Road

Let me know your address if it's out the coverage area above and I'll work out the depatch charges 

Please place your order, in reply to me at emtan99@gmail.com with 1 wk advance notice

THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT !!

Self Portrait

We know she likes art very much

She always bugging us to 'do painting' with her

I'm just too lazy to clean up

and my art is horrid. I can't even draw an apple

To save myself from the hassle, we enrolled her for art class. Let the experts handle the mess. All I need to do is provide materials and dress her up in black, so the colors won't stain on her clothes.

After 1 month, I'm happy with her progress and she's happy too, always asking me.. why do you have to come so early  ?? .. even though I'm 30 minutes late to pick her.

Here's a piece of her self portrait.

 

Looks very much like her.. the eyes, faceshape and hair but I never expected her to put on 'blue eyeshadow'.

Nevertheless, well done !

No More Roti Canai

Amber lurves 'loti canai' with 'sooogar'. Very funny.. I always correct her to pronounce  her r, s and h.
She'll order her own roti from the mamaks.. 'loti canai' with soogar pleeaassseeee ????

AND !!!  The bad news now is....
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.

I just checked with our regular mamaks and they've confirmed adding milk to the dough.
Cow's milk !

I checked a few recipes and yes, roti canai does contain milk.

Sorry babe, you have to switch tosai !

No visit to the factory

We've decided against the Vitagen factory visit. I was told the kids would be given different flavours  to sample and after much consideration, I'll spare her the agony of watching other kids indulge in cool Vitagen drink. Vitagen, Yakult and yogurt drinks are her favourite.

I've promised to take her to a playgroup and she's delighted. She told me she wants somewhere with 'many many friends' to play with. Good girl Amber!

Vitagen can wait and we'll take a day off and spend some nice mother-daughter moments together.

Brussels Beer Cafe

It's been a long time since I did a food post. I didn't think I wanna splash my blog with boredom about what I eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner unless it's something worth noting, a place worth going and food worthy enough to go again and again.

One of our clients made some neat money in the recent IPO and offered to buy us dinner. She's also a dear friend and mom of a very dear friend of ours.
She mentioned 'pork knuckles' and hubs and I jumped at the chance.

The dinner was at Brussels Beer Cafe, Ampang Outlet.  When we stepped in, we liked the place immediately. It's clean, bright and comfortable and most important, we do not leave the place smelling like the kitchen. Very important this one, I hate it when the ventilation is bad we leave a restaurant with food smell all over our clothes.

For starters, we shared and had :

 

Garlic bread..self made garlic butter paste. I can bite into the minced garlic.. I like !

 

Roast pork platter

 

Sausages wrapped in bacon

 

Pork knuckles and a whole generous portion to be shared by all

and  Amber absolute loves her meal of roast pork, sausages, pork knuckle and roast vegetables

 and for the mains, here's some pics of what we had :

 

Hubs had grilled ribs

 

I had grilled pork loin. Very lean and healthy alternative to the heavy starters

 

Our friend had the pork burger

with so much good food, we can't afford a little pocket of space for desert, hubs and I had coffee. Illy coffee ! My favourite and another good reason to come back here. :D