Ramblings

The Concert - A little goes a long way

2011-12-30T15:26:00.002+08:00

Amber's kindy concert was held almost nearing end term. This year, she danced Korean pop - Sorry Sorry by Super Junior.

Excited, she was, as I am. Woke up early, showered and applied powder over her body to make her more comfortable as her costume is the itchy, pokey type. She pestered for makeup and I applied some lip gloss on her ~~or else we'll never hear the end of it and never leave home.~~

The kids had to go to school first and leave for the concert venue by bus whilst us parents made our way there.

When I saw little fart at the venue, I was surprised with her matured Korean pop look :

A little makeup goes a long way.

Teacher Jo, the principal gave a speech and part of her speech is a gentle reminder to us, parents.

Love your children more ..

and love is spelled as T-I-M-E !!

This concert is the last for Amber, she will not be graduating from the kinder next year. We have changed her to a chinese syllabus based kinder.

We've made many good friends from her kinder and we'll keep in touch with some of the teachers.

Adios Kinder D and we'll miss you !

Anniversary Weekend

2011-12-21T11:27:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was our 10th Anniversary. 10 years passed in a flash and our proudest moment is being parent to this little fart..

We didn't do much of a 'celebration' except for a quick lunch, just the 2 of us at our 'pak-tor' jaunt - Ma Maison at Ampang Hilir. Year end is always such a busy period and we didn't think much of a celebration to be had.

We checked in to the hotel where we were married, sorta like a reminiscence of a sequence of event happening on the same day, 10 years ago.

Hubs taught Amber to play chess and of course got into an argument later.. Amber whined "Papa don't let me play".. and Papa whined.. "You cannot play until you learn the moves"..

I'd stayed out of the argument and left them both to battle. I can-never-play-chess-so-don't-ask-me !!

We took a monorail to Bukit Bintang and the train ride was already an adventure for her. Kids just love train rides and the RM1.20 fare goes a long way to her make happy :D

Saw Santa Claus, Santarina and carollers at Fahrenheit. This Santa is very generous, gave us a pressie- free coffee and cake from Pacific Coffee.

Had dinner at Hutong Lot 10 - the Jalan Imbi meat ball noodle, which i'm very sure is egg-free, mushroom-free. Have to be more diligent now and only go to stalls which I'm 110 % sure.

Went back to the hotel and our annivesary gift from Amber was a body massage. Macam macam style ada...

The following day.. caught up with Arthur Wee who was also staying in the same hotel. We checked out after breakfast and a swim and did another touristy thing. Went up KL Tower. First trip for Amber and me.

Nothing much.. and we couldn't spy our home, blocked by another tall building.

Amber took the pony ride and we also went for the 6D motion master *very exciting* but can't take any photos.

and that... was our Anniversary Weekend.. ......

My kitchen wall

2011-12-09T16:46:00.001+08:00

... been ~~invaded~~ adorned with her art pieces.

but.. never mind, it makes the house more 'warm'

Here's what she has pasted on the wall :

This is a King.. but sometimes she'll tell me it's Daddy ! too funny !

She drew this at school, during her spare time. I love how she hung those ketupats up...

and this is part of a school craft, in the spirit of Merdeka.. they made a paper hand glove

I like this best . .. how she accentuates the pouty lips and blushing cheeks.. and this is Amber ..

This is a colorful house.

Another school craft .. the elephant trunk is a toilet roll.

writings to tell me she's been good and practising her handwriting..

Momentoes.. a bit here and there.. maketh the house warm. :)

My Little Helper

2011-12-09T16:24:00.001+08:00

When I took this photo.. I was half dreaming of her baking a whole cake.. beating the butter, knocking in the eggs and such... With her egg allergy back, baking will take a back seat. She wants to help me as much as I want her to BUT.. baking your cake, wafting the aroma and NOT being able to eat, is cruel eh ?

I let her do little stuff like here.. doing the finishing touch on my tiramisu

She loves kitchen work, this girl will make a good kitchen helper/wife/baker !

One day.. one fine day..

Allergy Update

2011-12-09T16:10:00.001+08:00

Amber had her allergy checked 2 weeks ago. I suspected something amiss when skin between her toes started itching and cracking.

Readings :

Dairy -0

Dust mites -5

Colorings - 0

Latexx - 0

Candida - 0

Eggs - 0

My heart sank. I freaked. I felt cheated. I don't care much about the dust mite allergy. I cannot eliminate dust mites.. they're like.. everywhere and hello??? I can't walk around with a vacuum cleaner but I did put in 200% to make sure she abstain from eggs ! Edgy eggs ! I hate E-G-G !! Just short of 6 months to complete the whole allergy cycle, she had to come into contact with eggs. The poor girl has to start all over again, another couple of months or two to total elimination , no trace of eggs in her body and another 12 months countdown before we can introduce eggs to her.

there goes.. the dream of baking her a proper birthday cake with eggs, butter and all

there goes ... our longing to bake together... cookies, cakes and such.

BLAH !!!!!

I couldn't figure out what she had eaten. We've been very careful at home and she hardly eats out except for very specific food. I Love Yoo's porridge, Nyonya Colours kuih lapis, McDonalds fries and fried chicken and Madam Kwans fried whole leg and nasi bojari. We zoomed down the possibilities to Madam's fried chicken. I've asked the staff before and they've said it's egg free but it's really hard to say. I'm pretty sure McD is strict with their food preparation and when they said no eggs..they mean it. So..we've axed Madam's fried chicken from her list of permissible food.

I feel very much for her. I wished I am bearing the brunt of food allergies and not her. If I could make this Christmas wish come true, I would.

BAH !!!!!!!!!

Amber's passport

2011-12-09T16:04:00.000+08:00

Sometime last month, we brought Amber to Jabatan Imigresen at Putrajaya to apply a passport for her. It was for her first trip out of the country, to Singapore to visit my sis, friends and to do a little shopping.

With a passport now, little Missy is asking for more trips abroad. She wants to go Germany to visit Malaika, Australia to visit her friends, Lauren and Owen and to Philippines to visit her kakak's family.

Hang on girl.. slowly eh.. slowly.. Air Asia just increased it's surcharges !

Little girls are made of these....

2011-12-09T15:43:00.001+08:00

Last night, I went out with my besties to celebrate a birthday. Amber was jealous to miss out all the fun and lamented on how she never had a birthday celebration. Not a proper one at least, with party and surprises and such. She was supposed to have one this year and something happened and was called off, she still remembered, with bitterness in her heart.

Our friend Joanne suggested we light up some candle and cake for her. I brought out 2 cupcakes from and lighted candles and sang birthday song in 4 languages - English, Bahasa, Mandarin and Cantonese and let her blow the candles all over again.

Her mood lifted immediately and was a happy girl.

Little girls are made of.. sugar, spice and birthday surprises.

Love this photo of her.. with lights off, at her request !

Sigh.. so fast ??

2011-11-01T16:36:00.001+08:00

Amber called me 2 minutes ago :

Mummy.. my front teeth is moving..

I bite the mentos wrapper and it's pain.. I can move the teeth.

I was just telling hubs that I noticed her jaw is bigger now. There's space in between each milk teeth, as in preparing for permanent teeth's arrival. We also noticed a permanent molar sprouting out in her lower jaw.

I told her not to panic and I'll go back and check

Can you not touch so hard ok ? Promise ? I scared pain..

Sigh.. such is the fear of a 5 year old losing her front teeth. Coujple of years ago when she lost her front tooth in a fall, I couldn't wait for her permanent tooth to sprout, giving her a complete set of front teeth. Now, I miss her baby-ness and please don't grow up too fast !!!

Winekaki - 22 October 2011

2011-10-27T16:36:00.000+08:00

The winekakis... or shall I say, wine-keteers gathered again last Saturday at our home. We haven't been hosting for a long time since without a domestic helper and this time, we graciously played host to our fellow wineketeers.

No particular food theme, just the usual bring-whateva-you-like pot luck.

Our fellow wineketeers brought KFC, braised chicken wings, Kajang sate, salad and braised duck feet (not in pic)

I prepared bacon aglio olio and prawn spaghetti for mains and the olive and cheese chunks are for nipping into while sipping wine.

The piece de resistence.... Roast pork

I finally got it right this time. Not blowing my own trumpets but hubs said this roast is the best and the mother of all roasts dished out from our oven. I tried a very simple and fuss free method of blanket-ing the rind with rock salt and roast. However, X-factor here is to choose a good piece of meat. I go to the the butcher at Taman Tun Market - Lee Wah Trading for a perfect cut of meat. Belly is the most expensive part of the porcine and I want to make sure I get the best to. Lee Wah's pork is absolutely fresh, clean and odorless. This piece of has even layers of meat, fat, meat, fat and meat and fat.... simply divine for roasting pork !!!

I made tiramisu in a cup, in perfect serving proportions. I find digging into a dish of tiramisu totally yucks. The first slice is always nice and the remaining pieces gets sloshy and sloppy. Tiramisu is such a delicate desert and I want my guests to enjoy their servings. I used the little drinking glass I got from Ikea.

I also baked a french almond cake.

The 4 wineketeers who was present.

The selection they had.

Good food, good company and good wine. The wineketeers are already talking of another round to wrap up 2011. :D

'Competition'

2011-10-27T15:36:00.000+08:00

Amber's mental arithmetic teacher enrolled her for a district competition. I was skeptical as we've just enrolled her to UCMas 3 months ago and she had to undo what she had do-ed in her abacus program. To cut the long story short, Amber was following some Taiwanese method using only right hand and 3 fingers to manipulate the beads. She (or rather, US!!) found it difficult to manage bigger digits and tends to make mistake easily. We decided to change her to UCMas and was thankful to have met a teacher who understood why Amber kept making mistakes and she was willing to 'undo' what she has learnt and start her all over again. And so, she went... learning abacus all over again, a different method, using both hands and two fingers on each hand, the UCMas approach and which I found to be more systematic and less prone to errors.

Teacher encouraged us to send her for the district competition for exposure. It was a good experience for her, having to compete among the champions and having a feel of how it's like to ready-get set-go upon hearing the starting whistle.

Up and early at 8am, her teacher pinned ID sticker on her uniform

I didn't expect the competition to be such a big event .

Her competition slip and she has to stick on the back of her exam paper.

Hubs giving her a good luck high-5 !!!

Pasting the sticker on her exam paper. The girl seated next to her was kind to teach her what to do.

Jeng ! Jeng ! Jeng ! Competition begins !!! Parents were allowed to stay along the side of the hall and wait ~~and fidget nervously.~~

The competition was over in 8 minutes. They had to complete 100 equations (or more.. and I'm not sure but heck, she's only here for the experience).

While waiting for results, we were treated to Magic Show and lucky draws. Amber batch was the last to receive prize and luckily we had our ipad and Sunday papers to keep us occupied.

She didn't win any top prize but only a consolation prize. We were very happy for she completed the competition. Initially we were worried ...

.. that her eyes will be itchy and she'll be crying

.. that her body will be itchy

.. that she'll wanna go 'shee-shee' during competition

.. that she'll feel too cold

.. that her pencils will break

.... we're just like 2 fidgety parents, worrying anything and everything under the sun ! Silly me n silly him !

After a long wait.... it was her turn to receive a consolation prize..

My little girl, on stage to receive a prize , no big prize but we are sooooo proud of her !

Amber and her dedicated teacher. She said Amber needs more time, at least a year, to compete at International Levels.

We praised and rewarded her with a gift of her choice. She went to Guardians and chose a Lip Ice lip gloss.

Competition is not all about winning first, second or third. Just being there and doing her best, she had already won :D

Allergy Update - 27 August 2011

2011-10-17T16:54:00.001+08:00

We went for another follow up visit on 27 August 2011. It's really not necessary to visit Dr Wong so often but hubs, Amber and I are on our toes, all the time and we want to double triple make sure she's clear of her allergies.

We're counting down to 'Butter in February' and we're determined to make it.

My heart beats very fast when Dr Wong tests her allergies. With each test tube that he runs, I'll be praying with all my heart, fingers and toes crossed that she's clear. I don't want her to be bummed down to square one again.

She's clear of her allergies except for house dust mites :

House Dust Mites - 7
Eggs        - 0
Dairy       - 0
Yeast      - 0
Colorings E110 and E103 - 0

Needless to say, we're happy beyond words, our diligence and her sacrifice paid off ! We forgot to test her for latex but that's not as important as getting her clear of the food allergies. I suspect her reading for house dust mite went up as she has itchy eyes and especially bad on days when she attends reading class. The school is fully carpeted and.. dusty. It's mission impossible to be rid of house dust mites. It's everywhere and I can only do what I can do and she can also only do what she can do. She wears long pants and long sleeves to the reading class to minimize her exposure to dust mites.

Anywayzzz.. the follow up check gave us reassurance Amber is on track to recovery.

Hip Hip Hurray and 4 months to taste a dollop of creamy salty BUTTER again !!!

Old Notes of Malaysia

2011-10-17T16:37:00.001+08:00

I have a quiet hobby of collecting old Malaysia banknotes.

I keep a lookout for old currencies whenever I scour the Jonker Street. You'll never know what you find there and in the early mornings, especially at Jalan Hang Lekir. Stalls are up as early as 7am or earlier but I only discovered the little surprise as I traipsed out of our hotel around 10am on a Sunday. The peddlers were already wrapping up but I managed to get some old coins.

My father collects some old notes and he has kindly shared some with me.

This is a RM100 not-so-old note but it's never been used before and smells new.

I remember receiving these as angpows, when I was in still single. RM100 is a hefty sum and I remembered feeling very 'rich' when I received these ang pow tokens

This 1941 ten cents is my favourite piece. I was so happy to receive this from father. He was only 7 years old then and he must have got it from his parents.

Unstained and in perfect condition, a Thomas de la Rue production, this is 70 years old !!

I shall treasure and safeguard my note possession with care.

Anyone into collecting old notes too ?

The Best In The World ?!?!

2011-10-17T15:55:00.000+08:00

Whenever I cook for Amber, I always get the heart melting praise from her :

Wow.. Mummy, your cooking IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD !!

Always.

Until recently, she asks who cooks, before complimenting. If it's kakak's cooking, she'll hold back her compliments.. tsk tsk tsk

One day.. I cooked her instant noodles and she said..

Thank you Mummy.. Your cooking is THE BEST IN THE WORLD !!

All I did was boil hot water and dunk in the noodle. :(

LOLOL... kecil kecil pun dah pandai bodek !

Amber does a double Hula

2011-10-14T16:18:00.001+08:00

The ever hyper Amber surprised us one day with a double hula. Our helper can even hula around her neck but I forbid Amber to follow. I watched in awe.. my little girl doing the hula.. whilst I can't even manage one hoop !

Amber does the hula

2011-10-14T11:23:00.000+08:00

Amber loves hula. She's been practising for some time now and she finally got it right.

The single hula (check the background voice... her #1 supporter)

I'm so happy for her. I'm still struggling with the hula. Been picking up hoops more than swinging. :D

The Best Coffee Jaunt in KL

2011-10-13T15:39:00.002+08:00

Hubs - the coffee addict, as all his friends know it, is extremely fussy over his coffee. His favourite is black, plain espresso with hot water. He is so fussy, I'd let him add his own water. Too watered down, he'll complain, overroasted , complain again.. Haih.. hard to please this fella. Lucky I don't serve him coffee at

home. He serves me instead :D :D

He's found He's found this jaunt - Spazzio's at Pavilion KL, and he's hooked. Spazzio serves illy beans and Rohit, the barista makes a perfect cuppa with passion - americano, espresso, cappuccino, latte, you name it, he presents every cuppa with excellent showmanship. Here's to show what he did with our servings of cappuccino and latte we had :

The beautiful froth doesn't go down after a a few sips. A cappuccino can only be perfect if the foam is firm and not watery. Milk foam is created by steam and milk and it takes skill to get it right. Too much steam will cause milk to be watered down and tasteless and lack of steam doesn't bring up a good foam. So, it's really a balance of skills and Rohit does it so well

Rohit makes a mean and thick latte, creamy, milky and with sufficient caffeine to jolt you back to reality, unlike some latte which tends to make me fall into la-la-land. Latte makes me sleepy, except this one.

I had a cappuccino and a latte.. and oh.. have I mentioned ? They are running a promotion now , from opening till 6pm, you get a free pastry or another cuppa coffee with every coffee purchase. Good eh ?

Rohit says 'hi'

So, if you yearn for a good cuppa, go to Spazzio and look for Rohit. Spazzio is at Level 3 Pavilion, exit Tangs Department Store from the Ladies Dept and you'll see Spazzio right across.

How to Shop In Peace

2011-10-13T12:06:00.000+08:00

Drop the hubs and kid off at sand art area.

Choose and pay for the biggest and most complicated piece

Guaranteed peaceful shopping for at least 1 hour !

Chun Kee Hakka Da Pu Mien

2011-10-13T11:21:00.000+08:00

I was watching Axian's show one night and this particular episode on Chun Kee's Hakka Da Pu noodle caught my attention. I picked up some ideas on how to fry minced pork.. I precook a lot of minced pork at home for Amber's lunch of noodles, rice or porridge.

The secret to their ever tasty minced pork is adding some dried flounder fish powder and fish sauce to the minced pork. Hmmm.... another trick I pick up... dried flounder fish !!!

I thought the Chun Kee's noodle must be tucked somewhere in rural Malaysia. Nothing around KL is authentic anymore but I was wrong. Chun Kee's is at Jalan Sayur off Jalan Pudu. I quickly noted down the address and bugged my roomate, a wantan mee fansee to check out the place.

Our trusty Garmin directed us to Jalan Sayur but it's a lane off Jalan Pudu. It's impossible to park at Jalan Sayur (aka Pudu Wai Sek Kai). We took a turn to the left at the traffic light junction and found a car park and walked back to Jalan Sayur.

The stall was busy, very! and next to it is a shop with doors closed but that's where they make the noodles, by hand. Take a sneak peak and you'll see the sifu kneading flour and eggs by hand and using a long bamboo pole to knock down the mixture to a smooth dough.

I ordered a small and roommate ordered large. He'll never miss and opportunity to top up his tummy on occasions like these :D

Verdict ?

TO DIE FOR !!!!

Authentic springy bitey egg noodles smothered with tasty minced pork. The noodle is QQ but not too Q and no taste of alkali. The minced pork sauce lends just sufficient flavour to the noodles. No dark soy sauce needed. I can't find similar noodles as such in KL and I think this is as close as you can get to kampua noodles. Annie, if you're reading this.. you must try Chun Kee!

Their pickled chilly is nice too. Very green, fresh and crunchy, unlike the other pickled green chillies from other wantan mee stalls.. Pickled to deadly yellow color !

The roommate literally licked his bowl clean ! LOL !

Chun Kee Hakka Da Pu Mien
446 Jalan Sayur, Off Jalan Pudu
Kuala Lumpur

Open from 6am till 10pm. Runs on three shifts by 3 brothers - morning, afternoon and night. An elderly man who shared our table told me the night shift's tastes best :D

Along Jalan Bunga Raya

2011-10-13T10:45:00.000+08:00

Last weekends trip to Malacca was an eye opener for me. We stayed at Renaissance Malacca, located at Jalan Bendahara and we spent some time walking around, discovering new places of interest makan interest around the hotel.
Adjacent to Jalan Bendahara is Jalan Bunga Raya. We walked via the side lane of Renaissance Hotel and crossed over to Jalan Bunga Raya.

There's lots to see at Jalan Bunga Raya, on one side is the riverfront and Majestic Hotel. This brings back memories of my first trip to Malacca back in the 80's. I kepoh-ed along with my sister and her colleagues to Malacca for a nights stay. We were looking for accomodation and walked in to the old Majestic Hotel. Back then, before YTL bought over the properties and the giant transformation, Majestic was very run down and managed by a couple of elderly Chinese staff. We had to swing through the cowboy doors to get into the hotel. They quoted us RM60 for a nights stay but it looks so ghostly, we left as quick as we can blink.

Today, Majestic Hotel stands grand and spells luxury. Too deep for my pockets ! Back to Jalan Bunga Raya, we came across many old sundry and household shops. I bought lots, dulang- made of pleated bamboo for drying ikan bilis, mushroom and what nots.. foldable bamboo mats and classic can openers used by mamaks (the one where you puncture a hole in the middle of a condensed milk tin and swiftly and firmly turn the can around to produce and opening.).. Hubs bought a big kite and giganto pulley (with ball bearings, hubs claims it's really really canggih.. impossible to find in KL - now, let's just see when he takes us to 'main wau', LOL )... It was like a balik kampung shopping trip for me.

Walking down Jalan Bunga Raya, we came across a small but busy looking desert parlour and after a long walk, all we want is iced cendol. We found - Min Chong Hygienic Ice Cafe
at :

43, Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka
Opens from 10am - 7pm.

Funny name ! The place is authentically run down and small. Only 3 or 4 tables available but there was a big family there digging in to their cendol and so I'd think it shouldn't be that bad.

We ordered a cendol for Amber.. currently her favourite desert. She loves the gula melaka , ice and santan and hates the slimy green cendols and kacang merah (just like me !)

Amber walloped with no complains.. She shared it with hubs with her taking the ice+gula melaka+santan and hubs finishing up the cendols, nuts and beans.

I personally think the cendol is just average. Nothing to shout about and with so many cendol stalls around Malacca, we're spoilt for choice. I wouldn't purposely make a trip here for the cendol but my rojak, was different.

It's less sweet compared to the KL rojaks and heavier on the 'hae koh' - prawn paste. Really yummy. I almost wanted to order a second plate until the hubs reminded me we have a long food trail ahead.

Would I come here again ? Definitely but just for the rojak and only if I'm around Jalan Bunga Raya. :)

Malacca - 1 Oct 2011

2011-10-12T12:20:00.000+08:00

My colleague, the moderator for Persatuan Peranakan Cina Malaysia's facebook page, invited us to the associations anniversary celebration, held at the association's premise at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock.

We took the opportunity to go for a short break at Malacca as it's been some times since we last went for a short getaway.

Getting ready, all set for fun and sun (and makan) at Malacca

We stayed at Renaissance Malacca, a break from the bustling Jonker Street. The hotel's clean and fuss free and allowed us early check in. Very nice frontliners, unlike some hotel who'll turn you down flat.. no rooms till 2pm ! We had the pool to ourselves (LOVELY!!), dipped and dunked with Amber whilst the hubs was busy playing PvZ (aitelyu, he's addicted, !!)

I anticipated a lot of walking and sightseeing at Malacca and obviously Amber will complain with too much walking. I made out short getaway sound interesting by promising her a swim in the pool. Throughout the car ride to Malacca, she kept asking .. when can I go swimming ? can I go swimming now ? please ? can I go swimming now ?... aiyer.. I wished I had earplugs :(

My ex colleague and her family drove up from Singapore to join us and Amber was looking forward to meet her friends too.

No trip to Malacca is complete without stepping foot at Jonker Street. Did our mandatory shopping of iced coffee from San Shu Gong for our friends, some timber stools for home. Very good deal and I shall blog about it later and some souvenirs and snacks.

The hubs gotta be kerbau for the day. Amber the lazy fart is a lazy walker and will complain till no end of leg pain, body pain and tired, hoping the big kerbau will piggy back her and doting big kerbau will never refuse.

The little fart is almost 19kg now and I'll never risk breaking my bones or back to carry her and not to mention piggy back. Well, a ~~kerbau~~ dad's gotta do what a ~~kerbau~~ dad's gotta do

We walked to the night market (with fart on the kerbau) at Pasar Kota Laksama to get a taste of local Malaccan pasar malam. Apart from the usual Angry Bird stuff which is all over Malaysia pasar malams, we found Baba Charlie and feasted on their angku kueh and packed some kaya home. Unlike our KL pasar malams, this pasar malam wraps up by 7pm and timing was just nice for us to walk over the the association. I know my way better around Malacca after this trip and there's actually a lot of parking space around Kota Laksamana, a walking distance to Jonker's Walk ;)

We're (me and my friends) were the only non-Pernanakans at the association. I felt a bit out of place until some of friendly association members started talking to us. I have always been intrigued by Peranakan culture ~~apart from their food~~ and witnessing the anniversary celebration is certainly eye opening. The members prepared a feast and we're truly blessed to be able to taste Peranakan food prepared by Peranakans.

Chap chye

Rojak and acar timun

Ayam pongteh

Ikan Asam

Sambal udang petai (moi's favourite)

Sambal bendi (another all time favourite .. I love ladies finger)

Lorbak

Babi pongteh

The Association members working hard to ensure we had a welcoming feast.

Amber and her friend Renee, my colleagues 6 yr old daughter)

We had to make a quick dash after dinner, the kids were tired and restless and missed the later celebrations of singing and dancing.

On the way back to the hotel, I saw a familiar place, I've seen in many blogs, the famous or-chien (oyster omelet) of Jalan Bunga Raya
We dropped our friends off and went back to pack some or-chien. The queue was long and we had to wait for 30 minutes

Mr Omelet doing his works and I enjoyed watching him kung-fu up a big wok of or-chien that serves up to 7 plates. RM6 per plate. One portion only and you can choose plain or spicy (chilly).

He'll fry a wok full with chilly and then another without. If you order both chilly and non-chilly packs, then you have to wait for him to kung-fu up 2 woks to delivery your order. I also noticed he used lotsa fish sauce (secret ingredient??).

Somehow the or chien didn't taste as good as it looks when we had it in the hotel room. I think it taste better served on a plate, dining in house (there's a coffeeshop adjacent to the or chien stall where you can sit and eat). I forgot to take a photo, as always when I'm too engrossed with eating but I'll try again on my next trip to Malacca but it has to be dine in. I think takeaways tastes somewhat different. I still prefer my regular big fat juicy oysters from Thye-Hong's at Pavilion's Food Republic.

My friends left early for Singapore. Renee had to attend her concert rehearsal.We had little time left too but did squeeze some time to go Jonker's Walk for our cendol dose at Donald & Lily. I bumped into Linda, my dear Malaccan friend who helped me lots in dealing with Amber's allergy. That, was a sweet end to our trip :D

A Weekday Treat

2011-10-12T10:21:00.001+08:00

Weekday dinners are a simple fare for us. Rice with meat and vege and a soup. I wouldn't go overboard with anything fancy. It's gotta be quick and easy to swallow so Amber can finish her dinner on time. She has music and mental arithmetic class twice a week in the evenings. So, it's' got to be easy peasy and quick.

I wanted a to give my family a treat yesterday and whipped up a meal we all love. Roasted drumsticks with preboiled roast potatoes, panfried portobellos, honey baked ham and a side dish of capsicum / cherry tomatoes with blue cheese dressing ?

Nice ? Not blowing my own horns.. but it was YUMZZZ !!!

Got Bitten By The Wolf

2011-10-12T10:14:00.000+08:00

I got bitten by the Big Bad Wolf !!! I'm not into books and it's been ages since I last read a paperback but I couldn't resist the offers when FB friends posted about their purchase.

Since I had an afternoon to spare, I took leave and found my way to UPM Serdang, giddy with excitement, especially when I saw loads of people walking up the event hall with grocery trolleys and big IKEA bags.
I was a bit worried on handling and carrying those heavy books but Irene assured the event is very well organized and it was. There's boxes for me to drop my selection and a customer service where I can drop by boxes at, instead of lugging around the hall. Then there are those leng-chai customer service boys who helped me trolley the boxes to cashier and then I'm on my own.. oh.. wait.. there's also a shuttle bus to send me back to my car .. Lovely eh ?

My purchases.. All 23 books and cost me only RM229. The Nigella Lawson and Jamie Olivers alone cost at least RM200, retail price.
I was giddy and greedy.. wanted almost every book in sight but I really shouldn't because there'll always be a next BBW.
I didn't buy many books for Amber as she already has too many books, 'untouched'. I did get her some classics with cd and stickers and Mr Men series - Little Miss Bossy (no prize for guessing why :D)

She weren't even excited with my loot but she insisted on taking a picture with them.
I'm shifting the books to my room, stacked on the floor, next to my reading chair.
The ipad2 gotta take a break now while I dig into the books :D

I already feasted on Nigella Lawson's Christmas last night. What's next ? Jamie Oliver ? or.. should I start of Sophie Kinsella's ???

Too spoilt for choice.. all for a very small price.. RM229.. As Irene said.. going for book sale is more 'SYIOK' than buying baju at Isetan presale.. LOL

Chupa Chups

2011-09-22T11:08:00.000+08:00

I was paying at a cashier check out and the Chupa Chups caught her attention. I overheard her saying softly to herself :

Ooooooohhhhhhh Wow !!!!!! Lollipops !!

Poor little kiddo ! She's been off candies and chocolates for more than a year. Apart from an occasional Mentos mint and chewing gum (only recently too), I do not allow her candies. She's allergic to dairy and certain food colorings and sugar is not good for her as she has candida and we have to limit her sugar intake.

We offered her one and her expression ? Priceless !!!

I chose a cola flavoured Chupa Chups for her. Non-dairy and less coloring. She's just as happy :

She didn't finish the Chupa Chups and I was very happy to chuck it away. Although she likes candies and all kinds of lollies, she's never addicted to candies and I think it's ok to allow her a little luxury once in a while.

Healthy Breakfast

2011-09-22T09:57:00.001+08:00

I go to work with a little devil.. The little devil who's seated next to me. The little devil who drives me to work. The little devil named 'HUBS'...

He'll tempt me with invitations for Nasi Lemak at Dang Wangi, every other day !

Politely turned him down thrice and yesterday, he 'tak boleh tahan' and parked his car aside and asked me to get a take away pack for him. I politely did and packed '1 bungkus nasi lemak tapau, tambah telur'

The little devil named hubs even offered to share a pack with him.

'no' ...No cravings .. I'd rather have wholemeal crackers or toast with coffee and here's what I had this morning :

Wholemeal toast with passionfruit preserve and freshly brewed Americano.

I heart the Passion-ate preserve from Australia. My kind dear friend from Perth gave us a jar. Bursting with passionfruit tanginess, it's a perfect pick-me-up in a rainy morning.

I hope I don't succumb to the nasi lemak temptation anytime again.

Hari Malaysia and what we did

2011-09-16T23:22:00.002+08:00

Am so glad today's a Public Holiday. The city's celebrating Hari Malaysia with Dataran Merdeka and Jalan Raja closed for celebrations and Chinatown, aka "Petaling Street" is abuzz with Mid Autumn celebrations. There'll be cultural performances, photo exhibition and such.

We did none of those. I had my heart set on Isetan Foodmarket's reopening at KLCC concourse floor. Jaclyn already ajak-ed me couple of days ago, she knows I'm a diehard presale kaki (and that's about the only time I find worth shopping, for kids clothes, food, sundries and my personal stuff). Our usual routine is to have breakfast at the Old Racecourse Kopitiam at Level 4 foodcourt. The best breakfast set you can get around KLCC, RM5.90 for a nasi lemak and coffee/tea set.

Was so afraid of missing my breakfast and I had to rush my 2 roommates. One was taking his time doing his stuff, the other was taking my time doing her stuff. I spent a good whole hour cleaning the wound on her knee. She fell in the kindie playground 2 days ago. Her knees scraped and bled. I cleaned and dressed the wound but it fell off and her teacher put on a plaster over her still bleeding knees but she used the cloth plaster, very icky and sticky type. Her graze is a lot bigger than the plaster and I can imagine the pain of having your wound taped with icky sticky plaster and nothing could be worst than tearing off the plaster before infection sets on the wound, not even waxing a hairy leg with melting wax !

So, it was an hour of 'crying - please don't touch but please help me- please don't touch but please help me' from her and threats from me : ' don't take off the plaster - your knee will be scarred - we'll have to take you to clinic - we'll have to take you to HOSPITAL'.. Gawd... the whole episode lasted one hour until hubs had the quick mind of asking me to run cold water down her knee to help the plaster unglue. She even said 'Papa quite clever hor.. can think about using water to rinse away the plaster glue'..
I hate handling dressings.. aiyer.. very painful to see the little kid in pain but a moms gotta do the dirty job.

Once done.. I shooed both of them with warnings that we gotta leave soon coz I must have my nasi lemak at KLCC or else ........... jeng jeng jeng jeng...

Anyway.. made it in time to meet Jaclyn for breakfast. She was alone, enjoying her 'me' time away from her 4 men !!

We went to Isetan Foodmarket and was shocked by the crowd. Trolleys were taken up and a lot of best buys were also snapped up but we managed to get what we wanted. I queued for the honey baked ham and Jaclyn queued to pay. It's a bonus having a friend to shop with. :D :D

I like the Foodmarket for it's service and quality food. For a slight premium, I'm getting my money worth. Some other supermart (for I shan't name), charges premium but does not deliver the service or quality we are paying for.

Amber was a little naughty, she helped herself to samples of Japanese grapes. My eyeballs popped when I saw the price. RM145 for a punnet :( but they're darn nice, aitelyu.

Once done, I shooed hubs and her off, I didn't want to stay at KLCC any longer, couldn't stand the crowd. We went home, unload our stuff and went for lunch and then for a haircut for 3 of us.

My helper cooked tau yew bak. Must applaud her for her effort, hubs said ichiban. I was all smiles not only because the tau yew bak was good but ' I trained well ' kinda feeling.

We all watched Ong Bak - a muay thai flick and that was our day today. A happy day and I feel elated knowing I can sleep in for 2 days more. Tomorrow's only Saturday :D

Gifts from Sibu

2011-09-14T16:27:00.000+08:00

Annie Q came back from Sibu recently and came back with these goodies.

Dabai (sibu olives) pickled in soy sauce and sugar. I like the nutty and buttery taste of the dabai. Annie did give me some dabai from her previous trip. I pickled those myself but somehow it didn't taste as nice as these, pickled by Annie :

Tasty, buttery fresh olives. I chomped down the dabai on the same night, didn't save any for dinner the following day although Annie did say pickled dabai goes well with rice.

Annie also passed me some goodies from Arthur (aka suituapui), the famous Sibu godfather. I've never met him but I like to read his food posts a lot.

These mooncakes are Sibu populars and hubs like it. Simple and unassuming delicious mooncakes. Hubs couldn't wait to chomp these delicious golden pastries and we finished it way before the mooncake festival.

Non-halal biscuits from Sibu (read : **mengandungi lemak babi**)

These cookies contain pork lard, butter, flour and peanuts and the pork lard gives this crumbly cookie an aromatic flavour. I brought these cookies to a company gathering along with some local mooncakes and everyone snapped up the lemak babi cookies instead. :D

Thanks Annie and Arthur. I must make it a point to visit Annie whenever she returns from Sibu. Surely a lot of goodies to share.. :D :D :D :D

Winekaki Gathering - Hari Raya

2011-09-14T15:41:00.001+08:00

*photo post*

Another post borrowed by hubs to memo down his winekaki gathering.

We gathered at Steve's on Raya Day 1. Since it was a holiday, everyone was relaxed and came early except for KK who flew in from HK and missed the earlier hours but nevermind, he came in just in time for the best wine.

Steve and Fun called for a theme dinner, to jive food and wine, we had italian/western (KFC and PHD included) and moi cooked a pot of bacon aglio olio..

The selections :

Can't comment on the wines. I was busy with the kids and on iPad and didn't have many sips

the gang

the girl

the kaki-s

the guys

and kids played lanterns and sparkler :D

and that... was how we spent our Hari Raya :D

L-O-V-E Love.

2011-09-14T15:09:00.000+08:00

Amber learnt this song from kindy :

L-O-V-E LOVE
I LOVE MY FAMILY
xxx xxxx (and the remaining lyrics.. I donch noe.. coz she makes it up everytime)..

One day she drew the pic above.. of her family. Papa's the skinny one on the right and no prize for guessing which is Mommy ! hahahahhaha

A Mother's Touch

2011-09-14T13:38:00.000+08:00

I was out this morning for appointments and on the road when Amber called around noon.

Mommy... I don't want to shower. I fell down. A lot of blood. My hands and legs also got !!!

Since I was on the road and not too far from home, I turned back to check on her.

Both knees were bleeding and her elbow was grazed too but not serious.

Strangely this morning.. she showed me some 'surprise' she had in her bag, Disney plasters. She kept some in the bag pocket for emergencies and yes, emergency did happen today. Teacher washed her wound with water and pasted the Disney plaster over her 2 knees.

I checked and there wasn't any sand or debris in the wound and applied Dettol antiseptic to the wound. She cringed in pain but did not cry..

She thanked me..

Thank you very much Mommy ! I love you Mommy ! and gave me a kiss.

When I left for work.. she said again.. I love you the most Mommy !

awwwwwww....

moments like these makes motherhood sooo worthwhile :D

Cheese Galore

2011-09-12T17:44:00.000+08:00

My brother got us these lovely cheese from Melbourne when he visited us in April. Absolutely love it !

The flavored soft cheese goes so well with crackers and the vintage ones were kept for special occasions, paired with a good selection of heavy bodied wines.

We're all cheese lovers and Amber can't wait to get her teeth into a slice. We should be able to introduce cheese to her diet by mid of next year, when she has met the 1 year mark of abstinence from allergic food.

Thanks Bro ! Danny likes the fruit nut and brandy flavored cheese best. *hint*

Lantern Play at Home

2011-09-12T17:12:00.000+08:00

**photo post**

We had a small do at home couple of weekends ago for Amber's kindie mates and since the Mid Autumn festival was drawing near..the kids played lantern too.

	I lor mai fan, curry chicken, fried noodles and boxing chicken. The chicken seller at the market was kind enough to boxing up the little drummets when I told her I wanted drummets for party. She said it's easier for kids to eat and looks good too. Our friends brought some mooncakes to share :D

I prepared some jelly deserts and Amber helped me ice the cupcakes

The mummies, daddy and kindie principal. Packet drinks for kids and beer for us :D

I asked the principal's kids to help the younger ones start the lantern party.

Then, we had face painting ! This is soooo fun ! I got the face crayons from a party pack shop at Ikano. Hubs saw and knew it would be a hit with the kids and it sure was !!!

Amber's kindie principal and her charges.

The kids had a real good time and watched Avatar while the adults yakked !

ROOOARRRR !!!!!!! HISSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Amber doing her thing .

This year will be Amber's lasts year at her kindie. We plan to send her to a chinese based kindie next year and we hope she can keep in touch with her friends.

How To Kill A Snake ...

2011-09-05T15:43:00.001+08:00

You should not.. really !

One crazy afternoon, with one crazy news after another, I put Amber to bed and went down to make myself a cuppa coffee. Instead of heading to the kitchen, I walked to the living and looked to my front gate, to check on the weather. I was hoping it won't rain as the temples will be praying for Amber that same evening (another story - Amber had recurring nightmares and her por-por consulted the temple, was told some dirty spirits were disturbing).

I saw something awkward among my curtain/sheers skirting.. for whatever reason, it caught my attention and at closer look, I thought I saw a SNAKE !!! I had to look hard, snakes are so clever at disguising themselves to the surroundings.

I called to my helper to check again and she jumped at the sight of snake. Called hubs and he asked me to call the Bomba. Very clever of him to shove responsibility. I didn't think a small snake (around 2 feet long??) warrants a call to the Bomba. I asked my helper if she's gutsy enough to kill it. My instant thoughts was Amber's safety and killing it made most sense. I cannot imagine what'll happen if Amber was watching tv in the living room and saw the snake.. sigh...

We went to the kitchen to look for tools... my helper found a dry mop with a flat base and I have the cangkul in hand... armed with our lifesaving tool, we started our mission. My helper pounced on the snake with the mop and the snake hissed. mouth ajar.. she pounced harder and pressed on it. I used my cangkul to hack the snake but it won't break.

Panic....

What shall we do with a snake which wouldn't die ??? I dare not hack too hard, in case my floor tiles cracked.

In quick thought.. I told my helper to soldier on.. keep pressing down on the snake.

I boiled a kettle of hot water and poured down the snake. Gory .. but EFFECTIVE !!!

The snake shrivelled immediately and died.

Sorry Mr Snake.. I shouldn't have killed you and the fortune teller told me recently snakes visiting your home indicate good fortune flowing in, if I didn't kill you but shooed you away.. good fortune will flow into my home .. :( Too bad, Amber's safety is my first priority !

Angry Street

2011-09-02T16:08:00.000+08:00

This is not the real thing but oh well... too cute to give it a miss !

Amber jumped on the Angry Bird bandwagon craze too. She has the Angry Bird lanterns, stationery, stickers, and tee-shirts but it's daddy and mummy whose crazy over the game. Hubs will hog the Angry Birds Rio and I play the Angry Birds Seasons on our family iPad.

I went to chee-cheong-kai ,, aka Petaling Street today to get some Angry Bird lanterns and I was looking around the street stalls for Angry Bird tees. Almost got conned by this :

I thought the yellow bird looks a tad furry but the guy told me it's the REAL THING.... he said.. neh.. the yellow bird.. can shoot and accelerate fast fast wan.. LOLOLOL !!!!

I realised this is hybrid of Sesame Street and Angry Bird. Very cute, nevertheless.

You'll never know what you can find in Petaling Street, till you step foot into the labyrinth of good food and imitation products.

Daddy's Helping Hand

2011-08-29T12:16:00.000+08:00

She asked to go a playground where she could climb the ropes.

We scratched our heads and cannot remember which playground had the ropes and Daddy took us for a long ride and after 2 searches.. we found the playground at Ampang Hilir that has the rope pulley. That really shows we lazy parents hardly bring her to parks.

Last Sunday, Daddy took her to the playground and assisted her in her play.

climbing up the ropes..

see saw....

and up the monkey bars...

whilst I lazed around.. too lazy to play

Some tasks are better handled by fathers :D

One Step At A Time..

2011-08-29T12:05:00.000+08:00

Close friends knew I had some issues with my kid, her school and childminder recently until we hired a home helper.

We've been spending more time with Amber since our helper came on board. More quality time, that is, going to the park, reading, watching movies together and basically just activities together with here as opposed to previously, spending time together was being together but doing different things, hubs with his work, me with my endless housework and she, screaming for my attention by doing things that annoys me and what should have been a beautiful evening together turns out like a volcano erupted.

Jaclyn sent me an article that Mamapumpkin wrote. I got hubs to sit down and read the article, line by line, and we both agree we have done more wrongs than rights and we could do a lot better rights moving forward. This article was an awekening for us. Nobody said parenting was easy. Scolding and caning is bullying. If we don't make it right now, we'll pay the price later.

We make changes, a little at a time. I take responsibility for primary care, ensuring she is fed, clean and comfortable while hubs steps in on situations that calls for a stern voice. We practised.. no shouting.. but firm reminders, over and over again.

Baby steps.. we'll get there.

Manuka Honey Is Good For You

2011-08-26T12:54:00.001+08:00

I went on a Manuka honey buying frenzy today. Isetan KLCC had a special offer for only RM99.95 per jar of Manuka Active 20+. The normal price is RM158 and I took opportunity of this good buy to stock up !! Everyone was buying a few jars each and I think this is a good testimonial on the goodness of manuka honey.

Amber is a fussy eater and always lack of appetite (being allergic to the egg, dairy and yeast makes her situation worst, lack appetite and lack of food choice, sigh !!). My sister in law advised me to give Amber 2 spoons of Manuka honey daily. I find it helps to improve her appetite and keep her healthy. I was a bit under the weather recently, I took a scoop of undiluted Manuka Active 20+ and I feel energized almost immediately :D

You can get more information on Oregan Manuka Honey from their website. Open the jar and you can see very 'active' honey, smells good and tastes great. Manuka doesn't leave a strong sweet aftertaste like other honey but if I have sore throat, I take a scoop, undliluted, I can feel the undiluted manuka honey 'arresting' my throat, as if the antibacterial properties are working at healing the infection.

The healing properties of Manuka honey. I vouch it works :D

Lor Mai Kai

2011-08-24T11:06:00.000+08:00

Lor mai kai is our family favourite and I always have a stash in my freezer, for just-in-case occasions when Amber is hungry and wants a little bite.

Since she is only allowred very limited food due to her allergy condition (no eggs, dairy, yeast and fungus, including mushroom), I try to suit her palate and cook extra of her favourites.

I have a very simple lor mai kai recipe :

Glutinuos rice - 250 gm, soaked overnight and steamed for 30 minutes

Deboned chicken thigh, sliced to bite size portions, marinated with ginger juice, oyster and soya sauce and dash of sugar

Char siu slices

Sauce for rice - 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce and dash of chinese rose wine (mei kuai lu)

Stir over steamed rice

Place a slice of chicken and char siu over aluminium cups and top with premixed steamed glutinous rice

Steam over rapid boiling water for another 30 minutes.

Tadaaaa .......

A small portion of lor mai kai.. just perfect for supper.

80 sen a diaper

2011-08-17T17:05:00.001+08:00

Amber's on Mamy Poko every night. Blame it on the lazy mom and dad's whose too lazy to move our butt to wake her up to wee wee. However, lately, she's been waking up at 2am or 3am to go toilet.

By morning, her diaper is dry. We reward her 80 sen for every dry diaper. I gave her the liberty to choose what she wants to buy with her money. She bought a 'chop' . ie rubber stamp from Populars and she's saving more to buy Wrigley's chewing gum :D

I hope she keeps it up and be confident enough to go diaperless soon :D

Sorry for kissing your butt!!

2011-08-06T00:07:00.001+08:00

Something really stupid happened today. I had to be out of the house for some reasons and I had no idea where to go. In my mind , I wanted to go for a facial but have no a place in mind. I called hubs to chk tomorrow's schedule, if we were gg Ikano and if we were, then I wouldn't go there today. My mind was hazy and while plugging on my handsfree at a stop junction, I didn't realize my car was not in complete stop, still in D mode.

KRANNNGGG!!!!

I kissed the butt of a black Perodua!!

S*** !!!!! We both got down and the driver was a middle aged lady. I apologized profusely and requested to stop somewhere safe so we don't block traffic behind us.

The lady got down and assessed the damage, minor scratches to her paintwork but my front bumper was dented. She said it's ok but I volunteered to pay and gave her my number.

2 hours later, while I was having my facial done, I received 4 missed calls from her, then came a message: Repair RM120, pls pay o/wise I'd have to make police report.

Kinda pissed me, I sincerely wanted to pay her, she needn't threaten me w a police report. I could have ignored her as I don't think there was grounds to make a police report. She didn't know my name or took any photo. Would the police be bothered w such remeh temeh claims ?

She'd probably think I was scooting off when I didn't pick up her call.

Anyway, I transferred RM120 to her bank ac asap. A cheap price to pay for a reminder to be more alert when driving.

Me, The Medicine Man

2011-08-02T17:51:00.000+08:00

Been feeling under the weather lately. Stressed or dunno what.. I can't exactly pinpoint out. Not sleeping well and Amber's nightmares ain't helping either. I engaged a helper and things around the home have to change. Schedule need to be in placed, fridge needs to be stocked up, food labelled and house rules set in place.

I don't embrace change easily. In fact I hate changes especially nail biting ones, like engaging a new helper, changes in Amber's schedule or changes at work. It stressess me out !!!!

I had sleepless nights and the worst was after a few rounds of coffee from a nights out with friends. I stayed up till 3am .. typing out helpers schedule, dos and don'ts and house rules. Having made mistakes with my Cambodian maid before, this time I wanna set things right.

Sleepless nights + stress from re-organizing the household = Anxious Me !

My body was weak, vision blurred, mind blur and part of my face was numb. Hubs was worried about hypertension and quickly got my blood pressure checked from the home bp monitor.

Turns out.. I'm not hyper but have hypotension

and I googled.. classic symptoms of low blood pressure include :

Changes in mental status (difficulty concentrating, confusion) or a sense of "impending doom" or anxiety

...ooopps....

gotta boil some red date water and nourishing soup tonight.

and that is me.. being my own Medicine Man.

BFF Gathering

2011-07-21T16:57:00.000+08:00

My best pals from school met up not-too-recently, 2.5 months back. I know.. late in delivery is better than never. I better note down, some readers already sneezing when they visit this blog now. *dusty*..

We met at SL's house at Mutiara Damansara. Took advantage of her new house as an excuse and she has 2 helpers.. so her house is the best place to meet. I practise BYO now, (bring your own food and bring your own maid), I simply cannot cope without a helper, big gatherings esp with lots of kids at my humble home.

Hui Qian (SL's daughter) came up with menu and activity list for the guests. Too cute !

SL was an excellent host. She got in one of those helium balloon pumps and we had lotsa colorful floating ballons. The kids were ecstatic.

It's a rare occasion for us to meet up, with our husbands and kids too. EL is in London and she only comes back every 3 or 4 years. She had a baby girl recently, Adrianna and

Jo, EL, SL and Me... BFFs ! We may not meet very frequent but when we do, it's always just like the good old days..

Going Up Genting Again

2011-07-21T14:51:00.000+08:00

We went up to Genting Highlands last Sunday for a day trip. On Saturday, we celebrated Amity's 1st birthday and BIL's stayed over at our place and the whole troop went up to Genting Highlands early Sunday morning. The family holds a yearly pass to the theme park and this is a good excuse to go up the highlands more frequently to fully utilize our pass.

I dislike food at Genting Highlands and the fast food there is crap. Despite paying premium, we were greeted by very dry fried chicken and ultra mini fries. Tsk .. tsk... I hope they'll buck up, I don't see any reason for chickens to taste less and dry at high altitudes. BIL brought us to a new makan place @ the Mushroom Farm. Food here is very reasonable and delicious. You can even arrange for a pick up from any part of Genting to the restaurant and back. Now, this is service and I'll skip the fast food on my next trip and have our meals at Mushroom Farm instead.

I didn't go for any rides except the 4d Magic Motion. Amber went for the kiddie rides with her cousin sister Yuen Wen. We were there at separate times and Amber wanted to ride The Spinner. I wasn't game for it but she insisted she can manage.

With a heavy heart (and till now, I still don't know why I let her up the ride), we let her go on her own. She lined up, followed the queue and both hubs and I fretted over her like shouting and talking to her outside the ride ring (we really looked like a bunch of nervous cowards, too scared to go up the ride and too scared to allow the little bud up the ride)

On her own. I didn't take any pics during the Spin, my legs were wobbly and heart thumping hard..

I was so afraid something unexpected or bad might happen. What if Amber cried for help? What if she wanted to get out during the Spin, what if the whole Spinner came crashing down.. All kinds of stupid and nerve wrecking thoughts ran through my mind and I prayed for the ride to be over asap.

She didn't scream, cry or laugh. She looked stoned.

When it finally came to an end, she was helped off her seat and she came running towards us.. stoned.

I asked if she was scared..

'No, just a little bit scared..

FASTER LA.. MY SHEE SHEE LIKE WANT TO COME OUT LAH !

oOOO... Oh ..dear.. we. laughed. so. loud.. she. was. scared. till. she. nearly pee-ed !

Century Egg Jewels

2011-07-11T16:34:00.001+08:00

A good friend got these for me :

All the way from Hong Kong, the famous Yung Kee century eggs. I've heard so much about it and I love century eggs, yums & slurp. :D :D :D

Neatly packed, 6 eggs in a box with pickled ginger.

Knock and peel the shell off to unveil the 'black gold'

Ohhh.. yumz.. the yolk is translucent and runny.

I love it so much... and the 6 princely century eggs were slowly devoured by me and hubs.. one by one.. slowly, relishing every bite !

Thanks Jac !

Yeast Free Bread

2011-07-11T16:12:00.000+08:00

Found a pack of Orgran's yeast free bread at Vitacare on offer as it was near to expiry. I was excited to dish out some bread for Amber.

Instructions were pretty simple and easy. No kneading needed. The final product looks impressive.

Looks like bread, smells like bread BUT... it's not bread.

Amber didn't quite like the texture and she pleaded me not to bake anymore again.

Sigh.. I guess she'll have to wait till she outgrows her yeast allergy before indulging in bread with kaya and butter.

Dark Of The Moon

2011-07-09T09:58:00.000+08:00

I enrolled Amber to Yamaha JMC and she started her first lesson. Teacher asked the kids. Where do you want to go with a rocket ?

Some said :
I want to go to the space
I want to go to the stars
I want to go to the sky

Amber said :
I want to go to the moon to look for Transformers..

everyone broke out laughing.

This cheeky little girl been playing games with me. I'm not very good at remembering the Transformers characters, I only remember the cute BumbleBee and sexy hoarse voice of Optimus Prime. In fact I didn't know what Transformers was despite the cartoon been playing on tv over so many years and the unforgettable tune of :

Transformers... more than meets the eye.. Transformers... da..da.. da.. da. daaaa.....

My brother is a fan but I'm not. I only know Transformers are robots but I didn't know they were apparatus transformed to robots until Amber told me : Transformers is car become robot and robot become car..

Banging on my ignorance, she'll tell me :

Amber is BumbleBee
Papa is Optimus Prime
Mama is Megatron !!!

Now that I know Megatrons are bad fellas.. she'll tell me otherwise.. I'm Optimus Prime and Papa is Megatron BUT..... says the opposite to hubs.

So, have you caught Transformers - Dark of The Moon ? Frankly I think the movie is a tad too long. 2.5 hours !!!!

Allergy Attack

2011-07-05T10:09:00.000+08:00

Amber had an allergy attack last week. Her eyes were already red and something happened, she was rude to our guests and hubs punished her later. She cried and I think the outburst and her constant rubbing of eyes with dirty hands triggered an allergic reaction. Her eyes became red and puffed up. I could see a thick layer of gelatinous mucus in her eyes.

Cetrizine and her regular eye drops didn't work. She was kicking a fuss and I wanted to teach her a lesson not to scratch her eyes with dirty hands. I told her the doctor have to cut open her eyes to remove the gelatinous layer. I regretted my words, as she was crying and wailing all the way to the doctors, 'Please don't cut my eyes.. please don't cut my eyes ...uwaaauwaaa .. . ~~terrible me~~ !!!!

Doctor prescribed her cortisteroid eyedrops and another steroid based allergy medicine.

By morning, the swelling subsided 80%

I hope this serves as a lesson to her to always keep her hands clean and never never touch anything and everything in sight. I shall show her these photos to remind her.

Over the Weekend

2011-06-27T11:35:00.001+08:00

Another uneventful but busy weekend has passed. Uneventful is good. I prefer to stay home coz if I don't the housework piles up.

Saturday was spent finishing up part of her abacus homework. 4 pages this week. Lately, I'm not happy with her progress in school. Our arrangement with the teacher was a 1 to 1 coaching for Amber and we did pay her slightly extra for the arrangement of 1 to 1, 1.5 hours per week (group lessons are 2 hours) but lately her hours at the center is getting lesser. Last week, she completed a page of calculations in 15 minutes and that's all.. For a whole 1.5 hours in the center, she could do more but Ms P, her teacher, takes in other students for abacus and school level homework and I don't see how she can manage so many kids, all with different subjects to coach too. Hubs and I think we are getting a raw deal from her, we really should start looking somewhere.

I looked up another school on Sunday, a renowned mental arithmetic center and they did an evaluation on Amber. We found out, not all mental arithmetic are taught the same way. Amber's current method is different from what's taught the the renowned mental arithmetic center. Amber needs at least 2-3 months to 'undo' what's been taught, to 'cut old, copy and paste new method' to her memory. We've decided the change is good for her and the plus point is having a dedicated teacher who's willing to spend some time to 'undo the done' in her.

So, it'll be new class at a new center for her. She likes the place very much, more conducive and comfortable with air-conditioning. :D

I cooked simple meals for lunch and dinner. Too darn lazy for fancy schmancy cooking, simple and homecooked is good. I also steamed and freezed some lor mai kai for Amber's supper. Her appetite improved lately and I must always have something in handy when little missy is hungry otherwise she'll be having cornflakes and soy milk every night for supper and cornflakes again in the morning.

The sharp tongued Amber said something that irked me. I was busy mopping the floor and pushing her to do her homework. I said.. everyone has their own homework to do. Daddy's is to feed the fish, her's is to complete her school work and Mommy's is to keep the house clean by sweeping, mopping and basically, just keeping things clean.

Her sharp tongue speaks faster than she can think, she said "Yours so easy only, just push the mop front and back only mah, so easy also !"

Grrrr..... she really talks too much for her age.

We've been maidless for 1.5 years, coping but at the expense of not giving her enough attention and not being patient with her. We are in the midst of hiring a helper and I pray hard to choose one who's trustworthy and would not run away ! *sigh*

Controlling FB privacy

2011-06-22T17:07:00.000+08:00

Today, my friend got very annoyed when someone from her hometown added her as a friend in Facebook. Thinking she might know her or she could be a long lost friend from her hometown in East Malaysia, she added her. Soon, the 'friend' started promoting some slimming stuff and added people from her friend list. She was, angry. I would too.

I taught her to change some simple settings to protect your friends privacy. I do think some people take advantage of strings of contacts available on Facebook, friends of friends and friends or friends' friends.. whatever.. the chain never ends.

If you'd like to block people from checking your friends list, follow the simple steps :

Simple steps :

How do I change who can see my friends?

You can change who can see your friends from the "Connecting on Facebook" section of your Privacy Settings page. To get there:

Choose the "Privacy Settings" option in the Account drop-down menu at the top of any Facebook page.
Select "View settings" in the "Connecting on Facebook" section.
Change the setting for "See your friend list."

Cheers and Happy FB-ing ...

Chatime Craze

2011-06-21T16:08:00.000+08:00

The hubs and I love bubble tea. There's something about biting into the dense and chewy pearls. It's addictive. Our usual haunt was Little Taiwan until Chatime opened it's new outlet at Gardens. Most bubble tea kiosk concocts their drinks with all powder and flavouring but Chatime uses as much natural ingredient as possible and that's what gives them an edge above others in the bubble tea mix.

I love their latte for very simple reason - freshly brewed coffee (read - not instant coffee) and fresh milk (read - not creamer).

I've tried the Pearl Milk Tea, Caramel Milk Tea, Grapefruit Pearl Tea and Iced Latte Pearl. I'd say all are nice but if you need a the chilled caffeine kick, go for Iced Latte. Only RM5.90 with pearls and slight sugar.

Be forewarned though, the wait time for Chatime is very long. I was at the Pavilion outlet last Friday at 2pm. Was told to wait for 20 minutes for my drinks. I shopped around and came back after 25 minutes and my drink was still not ready. I had to wait for almost an hour for my drink. Crazeee !!! Next time, I'll preorder my drinks first. ;)

Local Avocados

2011-06-21T15:38:00.000+08:00

The local avocados are back in season. I was back to the in laws last weekend and I was in luck. Her friend, with the avocado tree, shared some of her bounty harvest with MIL. No one likes the fruit at home except MIL and me. She gave me a few fruits and I've been gorging on avocados.

I had a fruit this morning, spread on crackers and with coffee.

Rich and ripe avocado

I scooped out some flesh

Smashed it up, add instant coffee, evaporated milk and little sugar

Avocado Coffee !!! It'll be nicer if I added ice cubes.

I ate the balance with crackers. Yummy !

Belated Father's Day

2011-06-21T15:16:00.000+08:00

Amber came home very excited. Something for Papa...

a card..

a belated Father's Day card from the school :

The kindie forgot all about Father's Day celebration and quickly made it up on Monday !!

tsk tsk tsk !!!

How to Slice a Pineapple

2011-06-20T13:18:00.001+08:00

I shall show you how I handle pineapples here. Not too difficult a task if you have the correct technique and tools.

Mamapumpkin and Barbara, this tutorial is for you.

How I slice away the skin depends on the shape of the pineapple. Today's example is a Yan Kee pineapple, not easy to slice due to it's irregular shape.

Here's what I did. Cut of the crown. Keep the stem, handy as a handle especially when managing a big pineapple.

Wash pineapple.

Start from base and slice away, going round the pineapple. This is when the stem comes handy. Turn slice, turn slice. Like this :

And this is what you should get. Don't worry if it breaks halfway. Continue slicing in circulars. I find this method of slicing saves me time and I waste less, ie I don't accidentally slice away much of the flesh

Rinse pineapple with filtered water. Do not rinse after removing the pineapple eyes as you'll remove some of the sweetness and it clogs the fruit with water. If you want a clean and neat looking pineapple, rinse before removing the eyes. The pineapple eyes will run from lower right to upper left or lower left to upper right, depends on how you see it but the direction you slice towards is important. Look at the pineapple below. Look for the direction that gives you a longer strand of pineapple eyes.

Next step - the tricky part, to remove the eyes. Where to slice first ? I always start from bottom, the stem and you need to check the direction of the eyes.

For this pineapple in sample, you should start from lower right to upper left. Remove the eyes with only one direction of the knife. Do not go zig zag. Too much zig-zag will damage the fiber walls and your pineapple will be juicing (a lot of juice dripping). Use a very sharp knife. The sharpest you can handle.

Slice and remove 2-3 eyes. then move to the next line and start slicing and go back to the first line and slice away . Keep this direction. You can also slice one whole line from bottom to top and then slice another line but I'd rather not turn the pineapple so many times. Less handling is better. Less juicing and neater cuts.

Tadaaa.... . total time : 7 minutes.

Slice away the handle and slice to half and then quarters. Some pineapples like Sarawak and Dole presents better in horizontal slices but the Yan Kee is tall and long and irregular shaped (large bottom, narrow top) looks better sliced vertically.

Use a very good knife. Not necessary big as long as it's sharp and thin blade knives are preferred. I used a Victorinox paring knife here. The serrated blades are excellent for slicing the tough fibrous skins.

I enjoy slicing my pineapples. I find it therapeutic and I always strive to slice it as neat looking as possible.

How do you slice yours ?

Father's Day

2011-06-20T12:58:00.001+08:00

We celebrated with my father last weekend. An early Father's Day and I'm sure those with in laws will understand why. There's the father, the father in law and the hubs. 3 fathers and there's only 1 Father's Day.

My family celebrated earlier as they know we will make a trip back to hubs hometown to celebrate with his dad. We took FIL out for dinner, at 'New Lagoon Restaurant' Melaka Raya, currently the family favourite. Their coconut pudding rocks !! No pics to show, lazy a** me always always forgets my camera and even if I do remember the camera, I forget to take pics. *eat first, shoot later*.. sigh..

I sneaked in a card and gift for hubs. Sneaked sometime to get Amber to scribble up lots of 'I LOVE YOU' in the card. She kept her lips zipped throughout the weekend and gave hubs the card early Sunday morning, and so, it's a surprise. Hubs is a very easy father to please.

We came back home after lunch yesterday, didn't want to get caught in the crazy KL-Seremban jam. Hubs wanted to watch Green Latern and since it's Father's Day, the father calls the shot. Had dinner at TGIF (again, lazy and forgot my camera). Hubs had bacon burger and I had grilled lamb, shared with Amber. The portion was so small and lamb, dry but Amber finished 80% of it. We also had complimentary buffalo wings, my favourite and I whacked it all. I'd very much prefer Hard Rock Cafe and American Chilli's over TGIF. I went to Hard Rock recently with a friend and the food really rocks !

Then it was popcorn and coke during the movie.. Amber kept her eyes closed and ears shut at some parts of the movie. Green Latern was good but some scenes were rather loud, I'd say and the little one couldn't take the excitement but she behaved and didn't annoy other patrons. This is the 4th movie we've watched this month and the hubs and the kiddo is keeping tabs on all DC and Marvel movies. They're really movie buffs and honestly I'd rather spend the 2 hour shopping alone :)

That was, Father's Day for us. :) How was yours ?

Backdated - Hubs Bday

2011-06-15T15:05:00.001+08:00

Backdated - 23 April 2011

Location - Renaissance Hotel, Vogue Cafe

Hubs celebrated his birthday at the Vogue Cafe. A small family affair with only his brothers and their family. Ever since Amber came along, hubs b'day had always taken a step back, the little one's birthday do always outshines the fathers.

Side track a bit back to 2006, the day Amber was born. Hubs bday was a day after. With a newborn in the house (I was discharged the following day), no one remembers hubs bday. We had breakfast in the hospital, he had his coffee fix, I had tomato soup. By night, he was getting restless already and invited our confinement lady to have coffee with him at San Francisco Coffee at Ampang Point while he claimed his birthday coffee treat. :D

Amber wore a lovely rose dress. My sister in law, Pearl, got this dress for her and I think it fits the my skinny princess perfect. She donned plenty of 'Barbie jewelries',birthday presents from her aunties.

She put on the accessories on her own - hairband, necklace, ring and wristband. All dressed up and she really puts me to shame :(

Birthday boy and his princess

Yuen Wen cheh cheh was there too and as usual, both of them created a ruckus.

The hotel obliged to my request for dairy free ice cream and gave Amber a cup of strawberry sorbet. Sometimes, all I've gotta do is ask and explain Amber's situation. Most reputable hotels will oblige.

The girls were in a 'gila gila' mood. Both dressed up to the nines but the climbed up and down chairs, laughed loudly and made faces *sigh*... after a moment of nagging 'do-nots'.. I couldn't bother. Let the pictures speak for itself, on what they were up to.

*slap head*

Pining for Pineapples - The Yan Kee Variety

2011-06-15T14:15:00.002+08:00

Pineapple has many health benefits. It contains bromelain enzymes that helps breaks down meat protein, manganese, anti-oxidant and host of vitamins. More information on pineapples available here. I always make sure the family has pineapples when we take a lot of meat especially during barbecues or festive dinners like Christmas or the New Year.

We're all fan of pineapples. Me,hubs and the in laws. We're always on the lookout for nice, sweet and juicy pineapples. I remember the first slice of pineapple I had was horribly sour, cuts my tongue and yet, I finished the whole slice. I was 8yrs old then and I bought a slice of Morris from the school canteen. There's a small bowl of salt with a piece of cut chilly for us to slather salt with and I'd slowly relish the slice of sour and salty pineapple.

Many years later, sweeter and juicier types pineapples appeared were available, namely the Sarawak pineapple and Johor pineapple and later the Josapine (hybrid of Sarawak and Johor pineapple).

We also had the imported Dole pineapples from Philippines, very sweet, juicy, consistently shaped and easy to handle. As more and more pineapples were available in the market, our tastebuds for pineapple upgraded from Josapine to Dole. Dole is the most expensive and can cost around RM6-RM9 per fruit.

MIL gave us one 'Yan Kee Pineapple' recently , very unique coneheaded pineapple. Initially she didn't know what it was called, she just said... funny shaped but very delicious !

I searched and googled and found nothing until I saw some at the OUG market last weekend and the lady told me it's called 'eng kee wong lai' and from Klang.. That too yields nothing from the search engines until I typed Klang pineapple and found out here that it's known as Yan Kee or Selangor Super Sweet Pineapple

The Selangor Super Sweet or YanKee pineapple. I picked up 3 large fruits for RM20. It's seasonal and do pick up one if you chance upon it. It's juicier and sweeter than Dole and less fibrous. I give my thumbs up to Yan Kee !

Coming up - how to peel a pineapple !

Up Genting Highlands Again

2011-06-13T15:54:00.002+08:00

School reopens today.

We took a trip to Genting yesterday and renew-ed our Theme park pass. Another year of fun (~~or not-so-fun~~) rides. Choosing the last day of school holiday to go up Genting was a good choice. We didn't have to queue that long for the rides and weather was good even though there's short shower spells, it was, well, short and we managed without umbrellas.

The Theme Park was running a Annual Passport Promotion for month of June and we renewed our pass with heavily discounted rates. The pass entitles us to selected unlimited rides in both indoor and outdoor theme park. The indoor rides are more for younger kids and the exciting and nerve wrecking ones are outoors.

Amber was most happy to meet her cousin sister Yuen Wen there. Both of them queued up for rides and freed us from accompanying her all the time *winks*

The Paris deGenting ride is a must have. This was her first ride at Genting and she never gets bored going up and down the 'eiffel tower' in the little vehicle. I think in a year or two, she'll be too tall for this ride. Let her enjoy while she can :)

Then we went to the outdoor park. There's some balloon parade going on.

Balloons and clowns that makes the kids go ga-ga !

Up the rodeo rider. Up and down and up and down again. Multiple times ! I ain't complaining as the queue was short and hubs and I took turns for ice-cream break while watching over her.

This girl in a balloon costume. Looks like an Alien species to me .. lolol...

We went for boat pedalling too. Only 2 person per boat, Amber decided to tag along with me while hubs took another boat. We must be the only family who's constantly bickering and shouting in the waters. Amber's legs were too short to pedal but she insist and I couldn't wait to get us out of the way as there's out boats waiting to get out too and we were blocking.. and there's the hubs who.. was ahead of us, decide to turn back and complain of his faulty boat and BANG to us... tsk tsk tsk. .. 3 of us caused a big commotion and I bet many eyes were staring at us. Turns out hubs boat is not faulty but the steering works the opposition direction. U're supposed to steer left to go right and vice versa. Trust my hubs to complain when no one else did.. LOL.. tiring but FUN !!

The worst ride I went up to was The Spinner. Amber wanted to go up with her cheh cheh cousin but it looks scary and being the protective parents, I roped hubs in. Both of us and the 2 kids buckled up and I was expecting the worst, if Amber cried and screamed for help, she has to endure the whole ordeal before the ride stops but our little friend was very brave and laughing ! I was the chicken hearted one, closed my eyes and prayed my amitabh waiting for the ride to stop. Once down. I reached for my tiger balm. sei mou ? really getting old and my heart cannot take this kinda excitement anymore.... LOL....

We had early lunch McDonalds. Amber had the fried chicken and fries and she also had a mashed potato for tea.

We left at 8pm, pooped.. skipped dinner with my BIL at the Mushroom Farm as Amber konk-ed out before we could leave the First World Car Park. We ended up having instant noodles at home while Amber slept through till morning.

A fruitful and fun day !

Family Trip to Malacca - 24 April 2011

2011-06-09T09:32:00.000+08:00

Backdated post - 24 April 2011..

We made a daytrip to Malacca, the Tan family. A very rare occasion to holiday with Father, so, this is an occasion to treasure.

Big Brother was back visiting with his family. This trip, he's a little bit more adventurous, took the kids to Sunway Lagoon and climbed up Batu Caves with his friend. (Shame !!! I've never been to Batu Caves and it's just a short drive from our home. shame ! shame ! A to-do in 2011 for us)

We left KL early Sunday morning, with an empty tummy. First stop was the chicken rice balls at Jalan Tun Sri Lanang.

Adults congregation :

Not so adult (yet, not so kiddo) congregation of the cousins :

Next, Jonker's Street. Got a decent car park opposite the to-be opened boutique hotel - Casa del Rio Melaka. Uhh.... I think the hotel is opened now that my post is 2 months late.

Next stop : Makan again.. Cendol at Donalds and Lily's. I think father had a shock, his children and grandchildren can really eat !!

Walking down Jonker's Street, sightseeing and souvenir shopping. Amber had the best view, this spoilt brat was on Papa's shoulder's.

Hats, umbrellas, sunnies and sunblocks, we were ready to tackle Jonker's Street

Quaint and interesting places ...

We were ready to tackle St Paul's Hill to check out the ruins of St Paul's Church, Christchurch and A Famosa fort. Father and hubs rested at San Shu Gong. There's no way father's gonna walk up the hill and down. Too strenuos and hot for him. Amber insisted on coming along and I know she cannot complete the whole walking journey of going up the hill to the ruins and coming down at A Famosa fort. Oh well !!!

Lots of energy running up the hill... but her battery went flat short after.. :(

Statue of St Francis Xavier in front of St Paul's Church. This is a-must for holiday keepsakes.

The cousins ..

Her lovely cheh-cheh cousins from Melbourne

They left for Krabi and Singapore before flying back to Ozzieland the following week.

Looking forward to have you here again ~~(or better still, if hubs can take a week off, we'll be at your place soon !!!.. )~~

The Holidays

2011-06-08T22:52:00.002+08:00

This has to be the laziest holiday ever. We had nothing planned except watch movies. Last week, we caught Pirates of The Carribean on 3D and couple of days later, Kung Fu Panda. Tickets were hard to get on weekends and we almost wanted to watch Diary of A Wimpy Kid when we couldn't get tickets for the movie we wanted. All we wanted to do was slouch in the cinema seats with pop corn and Coke (and bubble tea for me).

She looks forward to movie nights at home too. We'll switch off the lights and the hall is really dark. She sits on the middle of the sofa and insists hubs and me to sit beside her. She calls it a 'Happy Family Seat', papa on her left and Mama on her right. She'll give us each a couch pillow to hug in case we are cold. :)

We allowed her late nights and she'll sleep through when we send her to the babysitters and continue her naps till almost 10am. After all, it's holidays !!!. Iron Man 1 & 2 almost every other day.. *sigh* and watched some very silly movie like Splice (go read reviews on the sex scene, you'll know why but we had to ff the scenes 8x with the little one also watching), I ordered a stop halfway through the movie, too many f*** words.

Watched Shaolin last night and Amber's watching Diary Of A Wimpy Kid now.

Never watched so many movies in a week !

Allergy Updates

2011-06-02T17:01:00.003+08:00

We had Amber checked for her allergies 2 weeks ago.. and the result is :

:) :) :)

I'm all smiles, really. My heart skipped a beat or 2 when Dr Wong tested her for each allergens. I was very nervous as she had very itchy eyes recently. I suspected dust mites and was hoping, praying, pleading, that it wasn't a new allergy or an old allergy cropping up.

Her results :

House Dust Mites - 10
Eggs        - 0
Dairy       - 0
Yeast      - 0
Latex       - 0
E110 and E103 - 0

Five ZEROS !! Yippee... yippee .. hurray !!! Can't put in words our jubilation, but I tell you, it was like striking lottery over and over again when Dr. tested zero for each of the food items and latex.

Her dust mite allergy came back and Dr. explained that there are some things beyond our control. We can remove all carpets, change our linens diligently, vacuum and mop like a robot BUT... we can't control the weather. The recent hot spells brings about many floating dust mites. We cannot put Amber in a controlled environment 100% of the time. We cannot eliminate but we can, at our best, control her exposure to dust mites at home. ~~That means more mopping, cleaning and changing bedsheets for me :(~~

Her food allergy is under control and with god's grace and our persistence, we can start introducing dairy into her diet by February next year. I asked her what food she'd like to have first and she said.. with glistening eyes .. "BUTTER".. I LIKE THE SALTINESS IN BUTTER :D    I dug back this old post and reminded myself how much she likes butter.

We hopped to the kopitiam near the clinic for tea. I quickly ordered lor mai kai for Amber and hubs and I had tea. I was longing for their rotikaya but I kept my thoughts to myself and then the devil name 'hubs' said he wanted some and ordered 2 sets for us. When the rotikaya came (with thick slabs of butter slotted between the toast), Amber lao kai-ed "Why you all order things I cannot eat ??" She knew the rotikaya from the coffeeshop is very yummy We swallowed the rotikaya quickly like guilty thieves.

Over all, she's been a darling with the diet. Yesterday at the abacus class, some kids' mom bought pizza and coke for the kids. She didn't kick a fuss , she avoided the little party and just asked for a small cup of Coke. Amber never steals forbidden food and I must giver her credit for her sensibility in dealing with her food allergies.

I really can't wait to see her indulge in butter again.

cobwebs and crap :(

2011-06-02T15:40:00.003+08:00

Been off blogging for a while. Been busy as a bee or sick as a dog. One after the other.
First it was me sick, then Amber, then Amber again and then me. Taking turns, in and out of the medical officers office.

Today is one of the rare days I read papers in the morning. Usually I'll wait till late evening, after all my chores (laundry, ironing, folding clothes, ... what not la) and then something crops up or my eyelids need some toothpicks for support, I'll miss the papers. I'm so ashamed when a friend asked "didn't you read the papers???".

yikes !

I try to catch up with just a few minutes of flipping the papers while having my breakfast now and I found
2 crappy news in the papers today. One's a 71 yr old lady pining for her children she has not seen for 35 years. I really feel for her. Imagine the emotional baggage she has lugged for 35 years.. pining for her 7 children. Wondering how if they are well, thin, tall, married, with kids, etc ? Wondering if they ever think of her, wondering if they'll ever want to see her again ?
For gawd's sake.. 35 years ??? I'm sure some of her kids would have been married and had kids of their own and would know how it's like pining for your own kid. Why hasn't any of the kids searched for her ? Didn't they ever thought of their mother's pain, leaving 7 kids behind ? Crap !

Another crappy article ... or joke of the day, shall I call it ? 'Oat zhang' - a healthier alternative. The mere thoughts of having oats in my 'zhang' turns my appetite inside out. Yeah... oat as a healthier alternative but then add on the salted egg yolk, dried shrimps and fatty pork ? Healthy ka ?
Gimme a traditional 'bak zhang' with glutinuos rice, lean pork, beans and chestnut anytime.

Crap !!!!!!

A Day of Sorts !

2011-05-08T22:52:00.001+08:00

Happy Mother's Day to all !
I had a very busy day (busy is nothing new nowadays). Hubs asked what I'd like, where I'd like to eat for breakfast, dinner etc. Basically he just wants to make sure I'm happy but whadaya know.. this Mom's Day, we did everything but celebrate. I'm just happy as it is, even though we had a busy peasy weekend, alls well with the 3 of us and Amber came home with a pot of handmade cardboard flowers from the school and hubs did squeeze in the little extra surprise of a card and mug ! I got a mug last year and this, I think soon I'll have a collection of Mother's Day mugs to blog about :D :D... The excitement isn't about receiving the gift but how father and daughter hides the 'surprise' from me. Tell Amber a secret and she'll tell the whole wide world it's a secret. SECRET. S-E-C-R-E-T !!! Few days ago, I came out from the shower and heard father and daughter 'chee chee chum chum' in the study. I peeked in and Amber waved a 'no - no' .. OK.. I know a surprise is in order for me.. and she must be writing me a Mother's Day message.. Then.. the gift.. where's the gift ? In moments like this, best to act dumb and act really dumb dumb, I mean very very DUMB when the girl asks you to guess the present ??? She'll give out very OBVIOUS clues but noooo.. I have to be very dumb, to the point of not knowing my spelling (she gives out clues in alphabets) or even not knowing English ! She'll ask "YOU GUESS MUMMY!! It starts with "M".".. the glee in her face, I laugh just even thinking about it.

Then.. the next secret.. Where is the pressie hidden ? Very easy.. anywhere around house that she tells you 'NOT TO ENTER' is a BIG giveaway but again, act DUMB and play along. That's the job of a mother. She even blocked the walkway with a big bean bag when I wasn't looking. LOL !!! Sigh.. I hope she'll make things as exciting for me for many years to come :D

The day came and went with many events. Never had I met so many friend, relatives and schoolmates within 24 hours.

Started with cathing Thor at Mid Valley on Saturday morning. Hubs been wanting to watch Thor. We puchased tickets on the spot, 2 rows from front. I had a stiff neck looking 'up' and slept halfway through the movie. In the evening, we attended Ken and Ember's wedding at Carcosa. Ken was our emcee at our wedding reception 10 years ago and we felt honored to be invited to his very private wedding, a small do, a small crowd of personal friends and relatives. We left Amber's at Sharon's. I didn't think it was appropriate to bring Amber along and when I saw rose petals strewn over the hard wood flooring, I knew I did the right thing. I laughed as hubs and I imagined Amber will be running around picking rose petals ~~and I'd be like a mad woman chasing and shouting at him not to.~~ The wedding reception was a small do, a very intimate affair, food was awesome and we really enjoyed the evening with the 'gym kakis' - the group of friends from the Flamingo gym where I met hubs.

During the dinner, I received a phone call from second aunt. Aunt #1 was admitted to hospital for mild heart attack and internal bleeding due to long term aspirin dosage. I could only visit her the following day as IJN had restricted visiting hours.

I went home and prepared some mango pudding and cupcakes for my friends who was coming over on Sunday. Although only a small gathering with kids, the agenda was 'cupcake decoration' . I had planned something interesting for the kids to get busy with while we chatted over tea. Amber even planned a prize for the best decorated cupcake.

I checked my mail around midnight and read that my bestie's father had passed away on Friday night. She sent a chat message to me the day before and assumed it had reached me.

On Sunday morning, I informed the rest and plans changed. Tea time at my place was called off and they went for Uncle Roland's wake.

I visited my aunt at IJN, kids weren't allowed and I had to leave Amber at the reception with hubs, when it was hubs turn to visit my aunt, Amber cried (rolling on the floor). I promised Amber we'll try again in the evening when kids are allowed in the ward but but.. I had so many things to do (attend wake, prepare for Monday's presentation, get gift for guest speaker ... etc) and I knew I could not make it back in the evening.

A quick thought and I smuggled Amber up. The guards didn't allow her into the lift up to 3rd floor but they didn't block the stairway. We sneaked up (and I hope no one from IJN is reading this !!). Amber gave Kor-Mah a get well card and I met up with my aunts from the Tan side. We quickly left before the staffs found us out.

Had a quick lunch in McDonalds Cheras. It was 1pm and the McD was packed with the value lunch crowd. Fortunately, I bumped into my father's friend who was almost finishing and he kept his table for me. Hubs also bumped into a family friend from Tampin. Small world.

Went to the wake. I thought I'll be ok but I shed tears. I've known Jo and her family since Form 1. We've been to her father's restaurant - Futo Curry House at Chinatown many times during our school days. Over the years, her father saw us grow up, get married, had kids and he always knew what was going on in our lives. He may not recall our names but we are recognized by where we live. I am the Ampang girl, EeLeen is the Damansara girl and Suit Ling is the Jalan Ipoh girl. :D. Uncle Roland, in his younger years, reminded me of Sylvester Stallone and he is, larger than life. I last saw him during Chinese New Year and it's very heartbreaking to see him reduced to a 'man in pain', Jo's family had an endearing time, caring for him till his last moments. I shed tears as I bid goodbye even though I know he relieved of pain now and his sufferings are over.

We then went to Ikea to get some stuff for a guest presenter tomorrow. Came home at 8pm and had instant noodles for dinner. Quick, easy and allergy free for Amber. Nothing fancy but 3 of us together, happy and healthy was more than I could ask for until I got a surprise call from my sis. Father fell down yesterday and hit his face on the concrete stairs. His face was quite swollen but has now subsided a bit. I felt very guilty, attending to affairs of relatives and friends and not being home for dinner tonight.

I consoled myself that there's nothing to worry about. Called him and 'warned' that he is to call us for any accidents happening at home, emergency or not.

Life's busy eh ??? All this happening in the span of less than 24 hours.

Amber's 5th Birthday - 22 April 2011

2011-05-06T11:17:00.001+08:00

We celebrated her birthday with the inlaws at Madam Kwans, Mid Valley. It's our family ritual to celebrate at Mdm Kwans but no complains since Amber likes the fried chicken very much and it's allergy free - no eggs, no dairy.

It was a school day like usual, she goes to school and amidst our busy day, I reminded hubs not to make any appointment and to pick her up early from the childminders. I did prepare a box of cupcakes for her to celebrate with her friends at childminder's but she did not finish her lunch and the candle blowing-cake sharing episode was called off, she came back with a box of cakes and a sad face :( but that didn't last for long before we dressed her up in a pink gown, couriered all the way from Perth. Thanks KY, Mike, Lauren, Owen !!!

She looked very regal that evening, in the pink 'wedding like' gown. She didn't want to fasten her seat belt in the car for fearing of 'crumpling' her gown :D

Yuen Wen cheh cheh gave her a big big birthday hug !

She had her fried whole leg. No rice, just chicken for the birthday princess.

Yuen Wen gave her a beauty set !!! So timely as she asked me to buy her a vanity mirror but I refused (firstly, it's costly, around RM40 and the mirror is made of glass, not safe)

Here's Little Ms Vainpot fishing out each item from her beauty set :

The in laws ordered a durian cheesecake from Secret Recipes with Ben 10 edible image. I seriously think Secret Recipe should restock their edible image. Firstly, there wasn't many choice and the Ben10 image below is not very Ben 10, except for the 'Ben 10' logo but the cake was good. Very creamy and delish and durian pulps tasted fresh too.

Amber couldn't have the cakes but I got some cupcakes for her. She's happy just to have us sing her a birthday song and blowing the candles

To make up for her cake, we treated her to a Gelatissimo sorbet at The Gardens.

Lipsmacking goody stuff ! Better than cakes !

Happy 5th Birthday !

The Cousins Are Back

2011-05-06T10:52:00.001+08:00

My brother and his family was back from Australia during the Easter break. His 3 girls, 3 wonderful, jolly and happy girls were back to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore for a 2 week break.

Their trip coincided with Amber's birthday on 22 April 2011.

My nieces - Sharlene, Rosalyn and Natalie.

We did a small pre-bday celebration for Amber as it's such a rare opportunity to have the cousins around at this time of the year.

We had dinner at SKH Riverview at 6 & 8 Lorong Embun 2, Kuala Ampang, Hulu Klang, Ampang.

We like their giant tilapia - 'fei chau' fish here, done in various styles - teochew steam, ginger sauce, choy poh or sweet and sour. We ordered sweet and sour and they fillet the fish before cooking so it's really easy to feed the kids boneless fei chau fillet.

seong tong lala

pork belly with salted fish

baby bok choy with garlic

Actually there's a few more nice dishes.. the butter prawns were awesome but I always forget to take pics of food that comes halfway when I'm eating.. typically moi - always forget to take food that comes late !~

I had made some cupcakes meant for her celebration at the childminders but since the cousins were in town, we whacked these cuppies first and I made extra later in the night. She wanted princess cuppies and had requested for her favourites - Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Belle... the whole long list but I'll always remember the cute look of hers when she described to me how she wants her cake to be like and naming the Disney princess one by one. I found the edible images at BWY (phew!!!) and she helped me bake and decorate the allergy free cuppies.

The birthday princess !!

We asked her to make a wish and she closed her eyes and whispered, mumbled. My brother said the wishes are meant to be a secret and she quickly mumbled to me :

She wants a scooter for her birthday and a yoyo car for her 6th birthday !

That's Amber. If you'd tell her it's a 'secret', she'll want to share immediately :D

Busy Busy Busy

2011-05-05T16:10:00.000+08:00

Last few weeks has been hectic.
H-E-C-T-I-C

but life's been good.....

Few friends been asking why I never comment in their blogs or FB or why I never comment at all.
Busy-lah.. that's the typical answer I always give. I don't think anyone would want to hear the whole nine yards on what's been happening and I don't think I can repeat it over and over again, so if I've not been visiting your blogs or FB.. ampun maaf !

I've been blessed with many good friends and the last month, I've caught up with a few of my close schoolmates, pals since primary school.

A good friend from Perth visited us. She hasn't been back for more than 15 years and we caught up like how it was since school. That's the best thing about childhood friends from school, you can miss each other and not be in touch for years and years forth.. but when we meet, it's just like the old days.

Went to Langkawi with the hubs side (again !!!!!). Never get tired of this unassuming island. Lots of interesting place to fine dine and shop. MIL went with us this time and we did the touristy stuff like going to Oriental Village and getting up the cable car.

The brother and family came visiting too. Miss my nieces. Bless them. Came with lots of pressies for Amber and a whole basket load of cheese for hubs and me.

We went Malacca too. The first family trip and hopefully many many more trips to come. Poor ole Father can't walk much and didn't join us to the A' Famosa fort but he was the lucky one who didn't get sunburnt. Amber, my niece and me had to take the beca back to Jonkers Street. An experience we'll never forget.

Then came Amber's birthday. Something happened, very p***** and I'd rather not talk about how anal some people can be BUT bless that girl, she has so many pressies from friends, relatives and friends abroad. Been wanting to throw a birthday party but... next year I'll try again.. I promise.. the birthday party will come.. just .. 'one fine day'.

Something happened at work too. A pleasant surprise for hubs and me and a good opportunity for us and our clients. That kept us very busy.. hubs had up to 4 appointments on good days.

Bestie from London was back for Easter holidays and I only met up with her twice. She's busy. I'm busy. Enough said !

I went to Kuching to visit a dear friend. Went with another dear friend. My 'dear friends' are friends from school whom I've known since Primary 1. Thoroughly enjoyed my stay in meow meow land (as Amber calls it) and we've promised to do this girlie trip more frequent. I mean.. .. how often issit that I can go back to the hotel at 9pm and laze and sleep before midnight ? Or taking only 10 minutes to get ready for breakfast.
I've hinted to hubs I'll be going for more girlie trips :D ... you need to see the sad look on his face, can't say 'NO' and he kept telling me the home is very hollow without my nagging.. :D :D :D

Now.. I'm back to blogging and will be filling my future posts with what I've been busy about !

Life is Great (San Francisco Coffee's tag - our favourite coffee !)

She turns 5 today !

2011-04-22T16:35:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to my little girl.

Little baby no more, little girl she is. Into Disney princess, costumes, all things ballerina and pink, that's my little girl turning 5 today.

I have a confession, an admission actually. I've ~~dreamed~~ wanted to plan birthday parties for her.
1st birthday came and gone, then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th came and gone too. Year in year out, we've been having dinner with the in laws to celebrate her birthday, and I've still not planned a proper party for her.

Every year, I have the perfect excuse for not planning a proper birthday party and it does not help that hubs birthday falls a day after hers and he has his own agenda with his brothers too. That's a family thing and a tradition we won't stop.

The past few weeks have been hectic. One event after another. My bestie is back from London. Brother and family back for Easter holidays and we just came back from a family holiday at Langkawi last week.
Hubs has a new assignment in hand and he's packed with appointments.

Amidst the busy-ness, life's been good and I am thankful.

I wanted to plan a McDonald birthday party tomorrow for Amber since the cousins are in town but McD's party schedule doesn't agree with ours and all parties are in late afternoon and evenings coz afternoon's packed with McValue lunch crowd. So, McD's out !

Ding-dong-ding-dong here and there and I haven't planned a party for her but since my brother and his family was in town, we had dinner and a blow candle session yesterday. Photos to come up when the busy-ness tide is low.

She requested for Princess cupcakes and wants to share with her pallies at the childminders. I made a box but used them for last nights dinner with my brother. I didn't want to disappoint her.. made another batch, ran out of edible image, I tried the pack of pettinice icing. Big mistake. so messy and un-manageable. Anyone with experience on pettinice here ? hello ?? I cheated a little bit here and there and got together 2 box of cuppies. One for the childminders and a couple more for celebration dinner tonight with the grandparents here :

She made a birthday wish last night.. supposedly a secret but you know 5 year olds la..can't keep a secret. In less than 2 seconds.. she whispered her wishes to me. She wants a scooter for her bday and a yoyo car for her 6th birthday. Very smart ! I can't think of anyone else who'll wish for next birthdays.. aiyer.. this little girl is too smart for her own good. I whispered back.. why don't you wish the opposite ? A yoyo car for 5 year old and a scooter for your 6 year old birthday ??

.. and that's because we have a yoyo car in our garage to surprise her tonight *sniggers*

And there's the pressies.. so many pressies for her. From my friends, her friends, beautiful dressess from my sister in law, her cousins and a big parcel arrived from Perth yesterday. There's a princess pink 'gown' in it and she wants to wear it tonight.

She's loved, my girl !

Although we're only having a simple celebration with the family tonight, the kind and warm thoughts from friends and family, near and far fills her birthday with many wonderful memories !

Happy Birthday my little Amber ! Please please be good and not drive mummy up the wall anymore k ?

Muaks !

Little Ms Loyarburok

2011-04-08T15:41:00.000+08:00

She's getting more clever in her choice of words (alas.. still cannot read) but when it comes to arguments, she'll always want to have the last say.. ~~and this, she takes after me. :(~~

At the class trip to Dominos Pizza's, teacher asked the kids to wash their hands after the so called 'pizza making demo', which was, in fact, just slathering some tomato paste and sprinkling some cheese on pizza dough. So, if you wanna know how a trip to 'pizza parlour' is like, this is it. Barb, do take note !

The kids were instructed to wash hands after the demo as there'll be pizza served..
Only one basin available and kids had to line up to wash hands. My Amber.. barged in to the front and washed her hands, annoying other kids.. and some kids even gave me the disapproving look. I told her nicely that she had to queue up.

Now, let's get back to what I wanted to talk about today.

She came back from school yesterday and brought up the subject of 'Jump Queue'.. they learnt the meaning of jump queue and why it's rude and bad manners..
AHA ! So I thought ! I brought up the incident at Domino's and asked her if she remember.

First, she denied she was jumping queue, then she came up with all sorts of reasons justifying her actions.. she even said jumping queue is when you push everyone away, one by one but at Domino's there was a space by the sink for her to stand.

She said : No lah ! I didn't jump queue .. I CUT IN only !

ohhhhh myyyy gawwdddd !!!!! hubs and I broke out laughing..

Well said Amber, well said ! CUT IN means JUMPING QUEUE !

It's the same.....

sigh, this 5 year old has potential to be loyarburok !!

Can Human Eat Dog Food ?

2011-04-06T16:03:00.000+08:00

What would you say if your 5 year old asked you ?

Can Human Eat Dog Food ?

Hubs snapped NO ! Cannot !
For obvious reasons.. and you know 5 year olds can be very inquisitive and curiosity did kill the cat.
I was doing the dishes, hubs was tapping on his mobile phone when she asked.

She asked again : I dog can eat human food why human cannot eat dog food ?

I knew I had to give a better answer than a NO !

Hubs explained that dog food does not have enough nutrition etc.. and I know it's not true. A can of dog food can be more expensive than luncheon meat, depending on which brand of luncheon meat but we love Tulip and that's expensive.

I gave a very simple answer : dog food is very yucky and no humans would want to eat it.

She later told me : I asked because I saw Chiro eating human food.

*case closed*

Chiro is my cousins pekingese pup and eats from their plates :D
I googled today and got the answers here ..

Class Trip to Dominos Pizza and Balai Bomba

2011-04-05T11:16:00.000+08:00

So, did we have fun ? You bet !!

The school left in 2 buses to Dominos Pizza at Dataran Sunway and Mid Valley. They had to split to 2 locations as one pizza place is not big enough to house the kindie. We left on a rainy morning and jammed all the way to Dataran Sunway. Kids got restless in the bus and we have to thank the organizers to come up with games and trivias to keep the preschoolers occupied.

When we reached Dominos.. there was a couple of not-very-cheerful staff who showed us how to make pizza. I think they can do better, use a mike or make the whole event more cheery.. Kids were given a short tour of the kitchen and had a hand in helping make the pizza and bread twist.

Then, makan time (probably the highlight of the trip). Amber had rice crackers and coke. I allowed her coke on this occasion and I had her pizza instead. I felt so embarassed when she asked why I took 2 slice of pizza ? (ok. ok.. I admit.. I am HUNGRY !! It's almost 10am and I hadn't had breakfast) when everyone took 1 slice. Said loudly and asked me not to waste and take one is enough !!!.. ~~so wanna spank her quiet~~ this girl.. she can really talk.. at the most un appropriate time.. LOLOL.. but nothings stopping me from having hot pizza topped with melting cheese and there's more than enough to go around.

We left Dominos with a full tummy and caught up with the other bus at the Taman Tun Fire Station. Now, the trip gets interesting.

The kids were taken for a tour to the control station where calls are received asking for help. Accordingly, the fire station handles more non-fire emergency calls than actual fire. These men are called for when there's an accident, disasters - big or small, rescue works and the most common are snake calls. Apparently, they get quite many calls to catch snakes around PJ area.

They did a demo on how a car accident rescue work is carried out. A thick ballon is inflated..

the kids watch intently

and the kids sat on the balloon to test the sturdiness.

Very steady and tough and if I'm not wrong, can take up to 20tonnes or more of weight. This balloon is used to move accident victims pinned inside cars.

Each kids gets to wear the bomba suit. Very heavy as it's fire retardant (obviously!!!) and layered with water inside.

Then they get to ride on the fire truck, with sirens on.. Mr Bomba was so kind to take them for a round around the fire station. The teachers and parents went for a round too. It was fun :D

and then...... it gets more FUN !!!!

she gets to have a hand at the bomba hose !!!

Look Mommy !!!!

UWAHHHH !!!! I wanted to do this too... but too malu to ask Mr Bomba !!

Before we left, we took class photos with all the nice Mr Bomba's who made the trip memorable and fun for us !

The Jalan Tun Razak Roundabout

2011-03-31T16:07:00.000+08:00

A couple of years ago, when my father's eyesight was a lot better, he could drive to town and back. He could even find his way to Kepong too. One incident around the changed multi - intersection at Jalan Tun Razak roundabout led him to Kajang and he had to make a big detour back to KL.

After that incident, poor father dare not venture to KL anymore. Can't blame him. Take a look at the very confusing Jalan Tun Razak roundabout. Not for the fainthearted driver !

Pengsan !!!

Selfmade Bib

2011-03-25T16:22:00.000+08:00

She caught me by surprise one day with her "See Mummy, See" call.
If you've been with Amber, you'd know my attention seeking child is always asking me to see, hear and look at her until it's almost impossible to get something done without her interruption.

This 'See Mummy, See ! Look' call is worth noting.

She took a plastic bag, strapped it on her arms but did some twist. I forgot how she twist the plastic bag but it was firm and tight enough not to fall off. She made a bib and said it's good to wear when she's eating to catch her falling food..

or when she feels like vomitting she has a ready bag.. *faint*

Like this ?

Happy Weekend !

Hotel Puri

2011-03-25T15:58:00.001+08:00

I'd like to add on to Barbara's post on Hotel Puri. We stayed over at Hotel Puri last weekend and I must say, this hotel is not like what it looks from the outside. Don't let the old shophouse facade fool you.

Step inside and you'll be surprised at the many courtyards

and living halls

lots of greens and plenty of running space for kids. There's even a museum ( no kidding !!! )

Hotel Puri is also the filming site for parts of Mediacorp's Little Nyonya. Hubs remembered part of the series, namely the first and last episode where the swiflets were flying around the house and that, was filmed at Hotel Puri. The hotel was a birds nest house before it was refurbished as a hotel but some swiflets came back.

Amber was first to see the swiftlets flying around the house and resting at their nest.

Cool eh ? Don't worry about birds dropping. I didn't see a single pool of bird-poo on the floor.

We stayed in the deluxe room for RM185 per night. The room was above my expectation. Clean and crispy duvets, glaring white bathroom tiles and wares and laminated flooring.. I heart laminated floorboards. Actually I was hesitant on Hotel Puri when I browsed their site and saw the yucky boring carpets telling tales of dustmites by the generations. Basically, I just hate carpets unless they are soft and white and I can spot any dirt, dust or spills and not many hotels can maintain clean carpets.

Oh.. the room comes with breakfast too. Nothing fancy but acceptable with porridge, nasi lemak, toasts and egg counter. Anyways, no worries.. I was hoping the breakfast would be bad and we could go for cendol or nyonya breakfast down the road but ... we stayed on for breakfast. Good deal eh ?

Our friends room wasn't so acceptable coz it smelled funny and the hotel staff couldn't detect the source of the stench but they upgraded my friend to a Junior suite.. Whoot !!!

Four poster bed (for pole dancing.. lol !) and a sofa bed.. wuah..... nice...

Hmmm..... was thinking if I should lodge a complain too ?

This room has flat screen tv. Nice. Nicer than our room's.. LOL

With a bathtub too ..

While my friend and her husband moved their luggage to the junior suite, we watched after the kids.

Joanne.. the kids were testing the steadiness of your double bed.. while you were away.. tee..hee..hee...

All's good in the hotel except the junior suite was located next to a stairway and my friend could hear people talking loudly and dragging their travel bags up and down the stairs. NOISY! So, if you want to book a junior suite, just make sure it's not next to a stairway. I'm sure the staff would accomodate if you put in a request early. My slight complain was the noise from my neighbouring room. I had to walk to my balcony and bang on their toilet windows and I dare myself coz they don't have a balcony and can't see me from their toilet windows.. hehehehe.. Anyways, Hotel Puri is a boutique hotel restored from an old Peranakan house. Don't expect 5 or 6 star hotel standards but for the price, it's a good deal and enjoy the unique-ness.

That's Hotel Puri for our short getaway and we'll definitely be back.

p/s - another major major plus point. it's next to Jonker Street. Park your car at reserved hotel lots and walk to Jonker Street. You need not worry about the mad jam of driving into Jonker Street and the impossible feat of getting a parking lot on Saturday night !

The Multi Lingo Kid

2011-03-25T10:48:00.000+08:00

This is too funny.
We had visitors from Perth last weekend, my friend Joanne and her family. Joanne left for Langkawi on Monday morning.

I told Amber Aunty Joanne will be leaving the following day, very early in the morning at 7am.

We were in the car, on way to dinner and suddenly she asked :

Aunty Joanne, tomorrow 7 o'clock you chang ying ah ??

We paused for 5 seconds and digested what she said.. and had a good laugh She thought 'chang ying' ie the mandarin word for 'fly' as in insect was the same as fly as in boarding an aeroplane.

That clearly shows someone wasn't paying attention in Mandarin class. Anyways... we had a good laugh !

Enzymes & Recycling

2011-03-25T09:59:00.002+08:00

I'm sure I'm one of the many whose left with dozens or gazillions of mandarin orange leftovers from CNY. When I was small I used to love mandarin oranges I'm always eyeing on the wooden carton of teochew mandarin orange that my parents buy for the New Year. One carton for prayers and giving away as buah tangan leaving not many for own consumption. I think they comes in sizes of 112,96,72 or 56 orange per carton. U see how crazy I was ? I can remember the # of orange per carton and boy.. the aroma of an opened carton, NICE !

30 years forward, I don't look forward to mandarins anymore. Buying a box for CNY was just for customary sake, to pai nien or as a polite gesture to return to visitors. The company gives us a carton each year. ~~Damn kiamsiap co. all we get is a carton of mandarins and a box of mooncakes~~.

Anyways..... the first few days of CNY, mandarins exchanged always fresh and tangy. I'll have 1 or 2 or just a few more, the most. The rest are kept in the fridge till after new year and thrown away when they look old and shriveled..

I started making garbage enzymes last year and these mandarins comes in handy. Along with some mandarins that I've collected from my sis and my kaffir limes, I made a big box of garbage enzymes. Enough to share with my family and wash my 6 toilets.. !!!

Just follow the 1:3:10 rule (1kg brown sugar, 3kg fruit and 10 liters water) and leave to ferment for 4 months, you'll have bottles and bottles of enzymes and the residue makes excellent fertilizers !

See ? I do my part to recycle and pledge to live sustainably too :)

Goodies Galore !

2011-03-20T16:57:00.000+08:00

My childhood friend from school was back to Malaysia. Her family migrated to Perth when she was in Form Two and it's remarkable that we still do keep in touch today, especially so in the recent years with the help of internet and emails, keeping in touch is only a click away.

Sometimes I catch her online at night.. and we had a good laugh when realise both of us were whiling away leisurely on the internet coz we're waiting for our laundry to be done. Hilarious !

She brought back many goodies for me. Stuff I can't get here :

Cookie cutters :

Shape of elephant, hippo and rhino

Biscuit cookie cutter with center designs.. great for jam filled cookies

Angel 3D cookie cutter

Snowflakes

Christmas themed cookie cutter

premium tomato and passiofruit preserves

and an allergy free baking book for Amber :)

Thank you very much Ka Yean. Lovely having you and yours here and soon, hopefully, me and mine will go visit Perth !

Mental Arithmetics

2011-03-18T16:46:00.002+08:00

Her mental arithmetic class is divided to 3 sections now.

First it's the calculations with abacus :

Then, mental calculations, without abacus :

I had to give many stars to keep her motivated.. and a BIG HUGE STAR when she completes the page

Then it's the mental arithmetic without abacus or books, just by listening to teacher :

I like the way she writes the date and the big dots between the day, month and year.

Many moms told me it's pointless to send her to mental arithmetic now as she'll learn it in school, at Std 1. We have our own reasons though, mental arithmetic stimulates the right brain and we hope to develop her mental abilities and improve her concentration ~~and hoping she'll be less boh-tiam !~~

She's doing well despite crying foul over the pages and pages of homework each week. Be warned if you want to send your kids to mental arithmetics. A page of homework has 48 equations and the homework can go up to 5 pages per week.

Sketches

2011-03-18T15:02:00.000+08:00

Another sketch of hers.

This is our house...

Our house has 3 windows ..

it's a sunny day...

but there's also some clouds and many birds flying..

our car is parked outside the house..

(very distorted looking car)

Wishing you a Happy Weekend and I hope to hear good nears from the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. It has been a very sad and depressing week for all.

Little Ms Launderer

2011-03-18T12:33:00.000+08:00

Guess what Ms Busybody is up to ?

She helped me do the laundry and handwashed her own clothes. I have the habit of handwashing new clothes. They look too pretty and nice to be sent to a tumultuous and maniac spin in the washing machine. ~~but after 2 or 3 washes.. hantam-lah. .masuk washing machine jor !~~

She was a pile of her own CNY clothes for handwash and got herself busy. I let her be. Happy mommy and happy kid.

LLB - look like busy...

but she's actually having fun getting herself all wet !

Wonder if she'll still want to help me to the laundry when she grows up ?

I'll be happy if she can do her own laundry. My mom made me wash my own clothes since I was in secondary school. She said all girls should know how to iron and wash clothes. She also thinks it'll make me a better wife. That's the exact thoughts of my very traditional but doting mom.

Yut Kee Moving Out

2011-03-18T12:16:00.000+08:00

Yut Kee, the old Hainanese coffeeshop at Jalan Dang Wangi is one of our lunch haunt. I've been frequenting Yut Kee coffeeshop since my days of working at the bank nearby 20 years ago. Now, 20 years forward, my office is also within walking distance from Yut Kee.

Hubs and I like to pop by on mornings when we are exceptionally early. We'll share a dried beef noodle and teh-si. Hubs will order an extra egg and toast. I'll pack a whole kaya swiss roll but stopped since Amber was diagnosed with egg allergy. Amber loves the kaya rolls and I'll be very cruel to be chomping down pieces after pieces with the little one staring at me ... salivating .. :(

I saw in the Metro headlines last week about Yut Kee relocating. I'm glad they are only relocating to a stone's throw away and not moving out or worst, close shop. Read more here

Jack, the bubbly specky guy who inherited the business from his father will be running the show again at the new location, which is just behind current Yut Kee. It'll never be the same again,even with same menu, chef and pricing. I like the current old kopitiam look, the old chairs and the crowded but airy coffeeshop.

If you are running out of place to eat this weekend, pop by for their famous pork roast with potatoes and apple sauce. Available only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for brunch.

Tempted ?

I think I shall have roast pork for lunch today :)

Of Passing Away and Death

2011-03-17T15:36:00.000+08:00

Back in January, Amber attended a wake for the very first time. Her childminder's brother passed away suddenly. Amber had fond memories of him and hubs and I thought she should attend the funeral.

We knew it's not going to be an easy night. She'll ask lots of questions, neverending whys..

I explained to her gently, her friend, Wan Teng's father had passed away.
She asked why and the conversation went like that. ..

why pass away ? he sick ah ? die already ah ?

Yes, he passed away already. Oi oi already. Cannot wake up. Very sad.

Ahhh.. I know i know ! (earnestly).. there.. you send him to the hospital ah.. they put the oxygen thing.. then cannot die lor.

No, too late already. he has passed away.
why never send him to the hospital to put the mask ? (oxygen mask)
Too late Amber. sometimes it's too late to send someone to a hospital.

Then ah.. pray to guanyin ma lar.. she will help him.

No, not that he didn't pray or guanyin didn't help but if a person is too sick, he will pass away.

take medicine la.. cannot help ah ?

cannot.. (at this point,, I kinda regretted telling her.. her 'CPU' was processing everything I say but a 4 year old cannot comprehend death)
so how, he oi oi cannot paii ah ? (paii is wake up in our hinghwa lingo)
yes, he will not wake up anymore, we'll bring you to see him and please don't ask anymore ok ?

During the wake, hubs asked Amber if she wanted to see Uncle Ah Keong for the last time. She wanted and so hubs carried her up. The little fart was not affected at all, probably still didn't quite understand death means eternity. Eternal loss.

All went well, sent our condolences and went home. I told her Uncle Ah Keong will be buried. Buried as in dig a hole and the box .. aka 'coffin' will be placed inside.

Days later.. she asked me..

Mama, Wan Teng's papa (Ah Keong) become skeleton already or not ?

Mama, Wan Tent's papa become like the Michael Jackson song Treeler already or not ??

*SLAP HEAD*
she thought all buried humans will turn into zombies !

Such is the innocent (or not innocent) 4 year old !

This Belongs to Me !

2011-03-17T15:16:00.000+08:00

I caught her at work one day ... writing down her name on her book..

I realised my little fart is growing up. She's very protective of her own stuff, her stationery, books and toys.

She even knows where to write her name.

Please don't grow up too fast !

Little Ms Teacher

2011-03-17T15:05:00.000+08:00

She was very good yesterday, at her abacus class. Did 2 page of work with little guidance and didn't want to go home. Well, she has good days and bad. Yesterday was a good day and I hope every other day is a good day too. She was the last student left when I picked her and she was playing with marker pens and whiteboard.

Teacher tested her with some mental equations.. I took some pics of her with my mobile phone. Here, she's using her index and thumb to do the mental equations.

Then she played teacher. Set up some equations for teacher and me.

See how she writes '3' ? She did it on purpose !

and teacher taught her on long equations....so, she sets up long equations for us too. If you notice, her equations always ends with a 'zero'.... 9-9+10-10... and so forth...

I hope she continues her 'good days' more frequent. I hate forcing her to finish her abacus homework!

But with her enthusiasm in mathematics, I hope she is on her way to earning an online math degree from online universities.

Amber and family

2011-03-17T14:25:00.000+08:00

I stumbled upon this photo in my laptop. These are part of her early sketches. She'll ask for paper and pencils whenever we travel and starts sketching stuff. This is her family, papa, mama and Amber.

No prizes for guessing who is who :)

Hubs taught her to write date. 11-08-10.. I've kept her sketches in a box - Amber's sketches. I'm sure these will bring a smile to her face .. 20 or 30 years on..

Sharpeners

2011-03-16T16:40:00.000+08:00

One of the very annoying habit Amber has is continuously sharpening her pencils. . with the conventional twist pencil sharpeners. The pencil lead gets sharpened, they break with her carelessness and she sharpens again, then break and she sharpens again... WITH DELIGHT !!!

I have a big pencil sharpener but I never let her use it, otherwise no amount of pencils will be enough. I stopped myself short at yelling another 'NO' when she wanted to use the big sharpener. I was reminded of myself, me, at primary school and how I yearned to sharpen pencils with a proper sharpener.

I taught her how to use the sharpener and left her to the device. She had a good time, sharpening ALL her pencils and color pencils.

Do you allow your kids to sharpen their own pencils and color pencils ?

The School Trip

2011-03-14T16:51:00.001+08:00

I received an invitation to the first school trip. This time, it's to the fire station and Domino's Pizza. My first reaction was .. no .. no pizza for her. I gently explained she can't have pizza. She can't take yeast, cheese or sausage but she interrupted. . no .. no need to eat.. see people make pizza only ! Mummy.. can go or not ? .... she was very keen to go.

How could I say no ? *sigh*... I talked to hubs about it and we cannot be certain she'll not eat pizza. It's not a matter of trust but she's hardly 5 and I cannot expect a 5 year old to understand food science or read ingredients. What if they offer her bread sticks? What if she takes cheese flavoured fries. Anything can happen to kick her off her allergy treatment track. I certainly cannot expect the teacher to be responsible for her diet during the school trip when they have to manage dozens of kids. She missed the Vitagen factory trip last year and was jeered by her classmates for missing the trip (yes, they do that !!! nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.. I am going to the Vitagen factory and you cannot go !!.. nyah nyah nyah...*SIGH* KIDS !!!) ...

I'm going with her.. Food inspector mummy will tag along.. .. visiting the Bomba should be fun !

Allergy Updates

2011-03-09T16:35:00.004+08:00

It's been months since i last posted on her allergy.. now where do I start ???
The last few months has been very tough BUT we are seeing light at the tunnel now.

Back on December 30th last year, we had her tested and the result were bad. The readings were :

Candida     10
Dust Mite   16
Milk            7

Eggs            4

her allergies came back with a vengeance and one by one came knocking at our doors. It was almost like CDME wishing us Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai ! I got slapped, hard. From what seemed like a hope of getting her free from allergy, we are now pushed to the deep end, having to start all over again. We ran though the items she had eaten over the past few days and singled out sausage and chicken nuggets as the main culprit. .. and wait.. that's not the end,

and she was also tested to be allergic to food coloring :

E110       4    Sunset Yellow
E102       4    Yellow No5 or tartrazine.

I was shocked with this finding. Most, if not, all orange and mango flavoured food will have coloring added and even a certain brand 'K' cooking oil has coloring.

Dr Wong was very concerned on her coloring allergy as most of our food are very badly labelled. The law doesn't require strict and precise label of coloring and most you can get out is "permitted additives and coloring added"

E110 and E102 is approved in most countries including Malaysia but it is banned in Norway and Austria. Tartrazine appears to create an overactivity in children and other reactions include itching and rhinitis.

My immediate concern was to control her food intake. How could I send the message across to the childminder ? That they are not to use cooking oil of certain brand and isn't a bit too much to ask when I've already given them a list of no-no's to follow ? Chinese New Year was coming close then and how am I to break the news to the inlaws ? Not to use a certain 'K' brand ? I know they keep a good stock of that brand too. What about dining out ? Should I ask first, what brand of cooking oil they carry or should I snoop in the kitchen ?

I've been trained to read labels in supermarket and now I have to zoom in to 2 more items. You'd be surprised that most food contains coloring, including custard powder !

Whenever we had to dine out, I'd ask what cooking oil they use and I'd do it discreetly, I felt I'm being such a fussy pot to scrutinize in detail what she ingest. The last I wanted to hear was to be more 'cincai' and let her outgrow her allergies. If you had a child with itchy eyes and almost want to scratch her eyeballs out and always screaming ITCHEEEE in public, you'd know what I mean and not to mention the cracked and bleeding heels, leaving stains of blood on her socks ! I had to do something for the poor girl.

I couldn't control 100% of her food intake esp on the cooking oil part BUT I did the best I could. I provided the childminder with cooking oil, I'd ask first, what kinda oil the restaurants used whenever we dined out. Some looked at me as if I was from the Health Department doing some kinda checks but most of them were understanding when I explained that my daughter is allergic to certain cooking oil.

I control her sugar intake, no more sorbets and fruit juice unless freshly squeezed. Any snack she took, I'd tell her avoid yellow and orange color. No lemon or orange mentos, just pure mint and better still, no Mentos at all but she's just a kid, I'd allow a Mentos or two as an occasional treat. No more lemon or orange tic-tac. Anything lemon, orange and mango flavour is out.

She's back on a course of probiotics, this time on a different routine. Wake up - take her diluted probiotics, wait for 30 minutes, then milk. It's crucial that we get the probiotics in on an empty stomach for effective absorbency by the guts. Dr Wong explained a weak gut tends to attract more allergies and suggested a longer course of probiotics. Our mistake was to put her off probiotics once she was cleared off candida couple of months ago.

I'm back on a cleaning frenzy, changing her bed linens every week and mopping the bedroom every alternate day. Not a difficult task if you have the right tools. I'm using the Japanese magic mop that absorbs dust, hair and dirt wonderfully. I really should blog about this wonder mop soon. The hubs is given the task to clean the air cond filter every other week.

I admit being slack when her allergy improved last August, the sheets weren't changed as frequent as they should be and the house was always messy. I kicked my butt off the lazy mode and evenings you'll find me as Ms Merry Maid at home, cleaning and dusting ~~(and sometimes cursing housework too, when I'm not in the mood)~~

Ok, 2 months went by, and on her second check up on 19 Feb 2011, her results were :

Candida     0
Dust Mite   0
Milk           0
Eggs           2
E110    0
E102          0

what can I say ?? we were over the moon with the result. never mind the slight allergy in eggs , at least it's all downhill and I hope it'll continue to stay there and get buried and over with.

I can't exactly pinpoint out when she had eggs but it could be one of the dinners where the meat was coated with eggs. My in laws loves to dine at Dragon-i and Amber can whack 4 'xiao loong bao' without the skin of course but now, no more 'xiao loong bao' for her and she only has steamed chicken soup and white rice.

Despite her good readings, I showed Dr her cracked and bleeding heels. All these while, I thought it was the food allergy that caused the cracks but we were wrong again. Dr tested her again for rubber (latex) and confirmed she's allergic to rubber with a reading of 14.

We're not too concerned, as long as it's not food allergy. I've put away all her Crocs and rubber sandals. Been shopping for canvas shoes instead.

As long as she's on her way to recovery, I'm at peace.

Bread Bread Bread - Yeast Free !!!!!!!

2011-03-01T17:14:00.000+08:00

I was delighted when Irene shared her new discovery of yeast free bread with me. Her daughter Victoria and Amber are both allergic to yeast. That's a big thing for a growing up kid. That means no bread, buns, cream crackers, fatt kou, ma lai kou or any other kueh that's spongy! No bread - the comfort food when sick. No bread - to go with peanut butter. Simply no bread. Can you imagine life without bread ? Something so basic and simple ?

and for Amber, who lurvvvess Marmite yeast extract, it's torturing. I had to chuck away our big jar of Marmite to the bin when we discovered her allergy.

I quickly made my way to Woods Macrobiotics Hanspeter Biobackerei to check their spread of offers ! I got some donuts, an pan bun and packs of dairy free soya chocolate. Amber loves the chocolate milk (soy version) treat and she polished the donut the same night :

cinnamon donut

red bean bun

Thanks Irene for sharing the discovery. Amber can now eat donuts and lots more food. No more boring rice cracker for her break time :D

The Princess Does Homework

2011-03-01T16:48:00.000+08:00

Amber has lots of excuses when it comes to homework. She'll wanna go to toilet, drink water, this, that, this that and this and that.

Lots of this and that.

Once, she wanted to don her princess attire just to do homework. I caught her in this position :

All dressed up, princess costume, tiara, princess shoes and all.

but almost nodding off. probably spent too much time, energy and effort getting all dressed up.

That's my Amber.

Cashew Nuts - Wok Roasted

2011-03-01T16:17:00.000+08:00

One of the CNY favourite snack is the cashew nuts. I bet any house with trays of cookies and nuts displayed, it's always the almond, cashews of pistachios that's a favourite and it goes well with beer, tea or soft drinks.

I waited till CNY was over to wok-roast the nuts. We had far too many snacks then and I'm glad that my table is almost clear now. I gave away lots of cookies and snacks to the neighbours and gardener.

Ok, back to the cashews. Here's how I did mine.

Wok-roast with sea salt

Pour sea salt over cashew and fry on medium heat.

Stirring very frequent to avoid overburning

Fry till cashew turns light golden colour

Sift away salt.

Cool at room temperature and store in jars.

Now, isn't this a healthier way to gobble those yummylicious nutritious packed cashews ? :D