The Princess Does Homework

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.

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

That's my Amber.

Cashew Nuts - Wok Roasted

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

Ballet, Jazz and such

Inspired by her current favourite cartoon  - Angelina Ballerina, she's been wanting to learn ballet.

As a full time working mom (and juggling the household without a maid), I try to accomodate as much as possible while maintaining my sanity. As it is, our schedule is already full, working on weekdays and weekends are spent on family, clients and balik kampung.

I found a class not too far and yet not so near from home which has baby ballet and jazz but transportation is an issue. Initially thought of asking Ah Boon to drop her off when he goes to pick up the kids from primary school but there's a 30 mins lapse from the time he drops her off till class starts. The center staff can't assist much either as there's always students and parents walking in and out and no one could keep an eye on Amber. Never mind that, they still allowed a free trial class for ballet and jazz. 

I wasn't allowed into the ballet class, Amber wouldn't allow me, not the teacher. She asked me to wait for her outside. :( 

I joined the jazz class and snapped some pics of her.

 

The kind Jazz teacher advised me to send her for baby ballet first. It's the pre-req for other dance class.

Now that timing for this center is not convenient, I have to look for others, preferbly a weekend class.

Sigh.. as much as I want her to pick up hobbies she has interest in, I find it too difficult to juggle time and transportation.

I guess this is the dilemma of most full time working moms !

Yuan Xiang Seafood Village

Our last trip to PD, we never stepped foot in town. Breakfast was included in the package we had our dinner at Yuan Xiang Seafood Village, which is just a minute drive from Avilion Admiral Cove, turn right from hotel until reaching roundabout and you'll see a Chinese temple on the hill and Yuan Xiang is located just beside it.

6th Mile, Hoon Leong Temple, Jalan Pantai, Teluk Kemang Sirusa, Port Dickson. Tel : 06 662 1032

For just 3 of us, we ordered 4 dishes, all by recommendation of the head waitress. Choy sum because it's grown locally and pesticide free, tung-po meat for Amber, steamed prawns for the broth Amber can take with her rice and superior soup la-la.

Food was good and cheap. Total bill RM60 !

Dirty Mee

Been quite sometime since I last posted 'foodie' place and this 'Dirty Mee' is worth noting.

We were on our way to PD last week and depending on which part of PD you are staying the GPS may direct you to pass by Lukut town or go straight to the Teluk Kemang exit. 

I told hubs to divert to Lukut, we needed lunch and as I can remember, we never had anything exciting for lunch at PD, other than KFC.

I searched in GPS for  food - Asian - Chinese and found a couple. The name 'Dirty Mee' strikes !!! Voila... we found our way there. 

Here's the address if you are not using Garmin Nuvi GPS.

 

 It's directly opposite the old Chung Hwa school, just before the Lukut Market. 

Let's see what's interesting in this old tattered shophouse..anyways, years before the recent development, Lukut was known as a cowboy town and the only attraction was an old ruins of Kota Lukut. Now, Lukut stands to benefit from the development around Port Dickson. It's an excellent stopover town for meals and such.

 

GPS only stated 'Dirty Mee' and so I walked in to the only coffeeshop in the block . Kedai Makanan and Minuman Mian Jiu and asked.. if this was ' Lar Char Meen '  ????? 

the girl instantly knew I was a non-local.

Hubs asked why they were called 'lar char meen' , not a very nice name for a food place. Apparently, they were relocated from the very dirty old market. The name 'dirty' or 'lar char' stuck on but have made them popular.

Over here, you order your noodles, plain or dark and choose your soup of either yong-tau-foo/meatballs or seafood which is pomfret/prawns. We chose the yong tau foo/meatballs combo.

A sizeable portion for 3 of us and cost RM20 (inclusive of tea)

Verdict : Very authentic and homestyle !! Perfect place for a quick lunch and certainly better than KFC !

and most important, Ms Fussy Eater likes it too :

Keeping Up With The Joneses

This is too funny and I had to put it down in words before I forget.

Amber is always comparing .. what others have and why we don't.

She'll asks for :
chapter 1  -  BIL has a new Estima with sliding doors

- can we have a car with a sliding door like sook-sook's ? 

- can we have tv in the car like sook-sook's ?

- why we cannot ???

- why we cannot have many people staying in our house when sook sook can ?

- next time ah. papa.. can you buy a car like sook-sook's or not ?

chapter 2 - Neighbour hung 2 red lanterns on the balcony for CNY, along with some CNY ding-a-lings on the grill

- can we hang lantern or not ? why Uncle Ah Seng (my neighbour) can have lantern, we cannot ?

- I explained... CNY over already.. we may hang, next year...  Oh.. never mind la.. hang now la.. no need to wait till next CNY

chapter 3 - at some party, a little kid was wearing a maxi dress. 

- can I have a dress so long or not ? down to my knee ? My dress also not nice .. not long enough wan. ??

ohhhh.... she's always comparing of not having enough !!! many more instance and I shall just name 3 here but I pulled a fast one on her just now, in the car, on our way home : 

 - just an hour ago, went to friend's house. his gate is a lot wider than ours

- Mama, next time ah.. can we have a gate like Uncle Leonards ?? 

- When we have house No. 3 ah.. we build a big gate ok ? (We are currently staying at house #2, #1 was at our previous condo)

hmmmm...... I answered :
how bout having a swimming pool in the house also ?

-- errr.. ok lor

then do you want a ballet hall in the house too ?

- ahh.. yes ! yes ! put the long bar ok ? so I can put my leg up !

shall we add a basketball court inside too ?
- can !
what about a football field.. neh.. the big field with grass where people play football like the World Cup ?
- ok lor..
shall we also put in a beach and sea to our house # 3 ?
- how ah ?

just add a beach lah.. if you need to play sand.. go to the beach, no need to go Port Dickson.

- ahh.. can (nods her head, smiles with glee)

shall we also add a mountain ?

-can ! but what's a mountain ?

 ok... like that.. very easy.. sleep first ok ? House #3 will appear in your dreams !!

wuakakakakaka  !!! hubs was already laughing out loud !

Getaway to Avillion Admiral Cove

We took off to Port Dickson last weekend. A timely break from the last few week of busy-ness. I bought the vouchers from Matta Fair last Sept, a superior room for RM185nett, inclusive of breakfast for two. Very cheap but the reviews I read from Traveladvisor doesn't sound very promising but anyways we packed our bags and went lah........

 

I heard the rooms were just average and we took the lowest category and so I asked the reception for an upgrade with a fee but apparently upgrades were not allowed in the old wing that the superior rooms were located.

and so.. we thought..'never mind la' just a short night stay..

and so..  we checked in ...

but .....

surprise ! surprise !!!  the room was way above our expectations. I actually had my expectations set so low that I wanted to roam around PD town but there's really nothing much to do. Too lazy to drive to 'town' and nearby attractions we just.. haih... not worth mentioning. 

The room :

Very nice and you can tell how good the room is by Amber's expression. She don't complain or fuss much but if the room is good and clean..she'll make herself comfortable,, very easily and fast.

We had a good view of the marina from our room :

I drove out to get some sunblock and beach toys while hubs took a nap and  Amber played with all the shower gel, shampoo and soap. She claims to be washing hands.. and it took her a good 30 mins. ... and a very wet bathroom...Trust the hubs to care for her ..:(

We took a walk around the marina and poolside since it was too hot for a swim

 

Hubs didn't want to swim, he has a headache and Amber and I went to the pool for a good half hour or so. We skipped the beach coz it started to rain.. haih.. .. that's always the issue with pool/beach play. Too hot, we avoid like plague.. rains and we sulk.

I cheered her up with a bunny bath robe. A pressie from Boon Kor Kor for 3rd birthday..

We showered  and we got ready for dinner.. the rain had stopped. I insisted we go back to the beach so as not to waste our holiday time .. eating and sleeping and Amber agreed with me :D

She's happy just playing sand and didn't complain of not able to get into the water. We brought a Ben10 kite but kept it aside as there wasn't much wind.

We left the beach close to 7.30pm, was a bit windy then, so we quickly let her fly the kite before it gets too dark. Love the sunset tone here :

 

We had dinner at nearby Restaurant Yuan Jing (will blog if and when I've time .. ) and called it a day. An early evening after weeks of late night.

Breakfast was included in our package.. Presentable and of reasonable quality and coffee was good ;)

Amber couldn't wait to hit the beaches, she was afraid of bad weather again. She's been chanting beach ! beach ! pool ! pool ! swim ! swim ! from the moment she woke up :D

Can't wait to hit the sand and sea !!!!!!!!!

and that... was our short getaway to Avillion Admiral Cove. I'll definitely get more vouchers at the next Matta fair from 11 - 13 March 2011 @ PWTC.

Snapshots from Holiday Program

Updated : evening, 23/2/2011. I went through the pics with Amber and she told me story for each photo.

I found in FB today, pics of Amber's Holiday Program's last day (Performance Day). The one I've missed with guilt

Not entirely my fault, the center discouraged parents to attend as they didn't have a proper hall and the event was conducted in the school premise. 

I'm happy to find these photos on her participation :

 

I guess, this 'Mr' must be the teacher. At the end of the program, each kid is given a pressie pack of reading materials.

Updates : 'Mr' is not the teacher. He's just giving out presents to the kids. I assume he must be the owner of the center.

 Here she is, performing with her peers.

Update : The kids performing the "i love you, you love me, we are happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too".  Sang twice !!

 

Updates : Kids from her class. from left : Lim Yu Chin (chin as in human chin !), Nawfah, Yen Yew, Amber, Nazmi, Hannah. 

Hannah is Nawfah's jie jie. they stay together.

Nazmi - same like kindie Nazmi but this Nazmi is smaller than kindie's Nazmi

Yen Yew very naughty, like to disturb me. When teacher is teaching, she always disturb. I want to listen to teacher, she also don't let me listen. Always disturb me.

I like Yu Chin. she is my good friend.

**names are inaccurate**

I found these photos under the 'Elocution 2010' folder.

She's a brave girl, speaking on a microphone to a crowd.

I wonder if she'd be this brave if I was around .. hmmm ...  ???

Updates : I sing : Oh Giraffe! Giraffe! You make me laugh.

You are so wrong, to have a neck so long

Although I missed the performance (and I'm sure many parents missed it too), I have these photos to keep. She has gain lots from the program. She came home with better spoken English, better mannerism, remembering her P's & Q's. I'll enrol her again next long holidays.


Updates : I like her narration for each photo !

A Kid's Attention Span

I over estimated her attention span. The 5 year old, restless as a puppy, hardly complains of being tired and wanting to sleep but yesterday was an exception.

I've been looking around for a dancing school. I found one which has baby ballet and jazz, on the same day.
I thought baby ballet and jazz are 2 entirely different dances and she could cope. I sent her for a trial  yesterday from 3.30pm till 5.15pm.. I peeped into the ballet, she dutifully followed the other kids and toed to teacher's instruction.. very cute. Nothing much though,  mostly tip toes and dancing around with some hankies... :D
She had a 15 minutes break before jazz. Jazz is entirely different. Hip-hop upbeat music and the footwork is fast. She followed, skipping and jumping dutifully and laughing lots too. After 15 minutes.. she suddenly stopped and didn't want to follow. Instead, she started doing her ballet footwork, like tip toe-ing and bending over while the rest followed the teacher's instructions. . . . Haih !!!

.. and she starts 'swimming' on the floor.. HAIH !!!!!!  getting her clothes, hands and legs dirty.

When she didn't respond to encouragement, the teacher asked her to wait at the corner and watch.

I asked her why she suddenly stopped and she came out with silly reasons like the teacher was like a 'man', like 'Ultraman' or 'Superman'.. Very funny.. I remember the teacher did some handworks during the dance.. a little bit of robot like moves and I think Amber found that strange and stopped.

She fell asleep in the car at 5.30pm and slept till almost 8pm.

Later in the evening, she told me she likes jazz better than ballet but the class is too long and she is too tired to follow. That explains the crankiness and ultraman-superman nonsense.

I took her for granted and attending 2 dance class in a day, back to back, is really too much.

.. and to think we wanted her to attend her mental arithmetic on the same day so we could save the hassle of sending her to class and back !

The jazz teacher ... advised us to send her for ballet and get her basics right first. Jazz can come later when she's around 6 or 7.


We try as much to accommodate her interest while juggling our very busy and packed schedule too.

Back On Track

I hopped on  the cross trainer this morning, after a long hiatus.. with various reasons of course. I stopped working out when I fell sick last year.. it was high fever or something.. I couldn't even remember what but just a mere and lame reason to stop exercise. Then came Christmas and the fruitcake frenzy. Then came the birthday, new year and CNY.

Can't think of any good reason to skip the cross trainer now and after hearing of one heart attack after another during the new year period it scares me. Over the past 3 years, we've heard of so many sudden heart attacks . . of relatives, friends, clients and politicians included. All boils down to lifestyle and diet :S

During sometime mid of last year, I started exercising diligently and ate consciously. I lost 4kg before I fell into the "anythings-a good reason-not to exercise"  trap. I've gained some weight but I'm determined not to tip the previous high.

Hubs gave words of encouragement. He said as long as I don't hit a higher high and always look towards a lower low, it's an achievement. He said :

"your weight management should be just like a bear market"

:D :D :D :D :D

wishing you a Happy Monday and a Happy Week :D