Amber's haircut

Amber very 'kwai' when cutting hair

She loves the hair saloon and will always request to sit on the 'children chair' , a saloon chair with an elevated board for small children. Although I cannot keep her still when I trim her fringe at home, she will surely sit still and follow instructions when she's at the hair saloon. We threatened that if she moved, her hair will not turn out nice and 'not pretty anymore'.

See Mama ! No more hair poking into my eyes !

Vicky has been attending to hubs hair for the last 10 yrs and she is an old friend of hubs. Now, father and daughter goes to the same hairstylist.

Mamma Mia ! How Can I Resist You !

We have one last remaining hotel voucher from Renaissance , a hi tea for 2 and so, to the Temptations Cafe, we went. Guess what ? We met the entire cast of Mamma Mia at the lobby. They were just about to leave for Istana Budaya. The cast were a friendly lot and we took some photos with them.


with 'Harry Bright' aka Mr Spontaneous


with 'Sam Carmichael'

I was asking 'Sam Carmichael' how they did the live performance so seamlessly, we could not detect any 'mic' at all. It seems it's clipped to the hair in the forehead and there's a wire running over to the back. Amazing isn't it ?


Renaissance Hotel , the official hotel

Amber relishing her chicken satay

As usual, Amber had more fun playing with the food, instead of eating them. She messed herself up with honey and I had to clean her up and give her a change of clothing. I know my daughter very well, there's no way she can keep sitting still on a dining table and I had better allow her to have some mischief with the food so I can eat in peace !

Balloons - a poodle and a hat

Mr Clown appeared and started twisting and turning balloons for the kids. Amber's 'poodle' got

untangled twice and had to ask for new 'poodles'. She had a lot of fun and was so happy and excited to get to choose her balloon shapes. This time, instead of the usual 'pink flower' , she chose a dog (poodle) and hat. The other kids all had 2 or 3 balloons each. Mr Clown did keep the kids happy and let the parents enjoy their meal in peace too !

with Mr Clown

Very happy and contented

Knocked out.. in the car

Our weekend

Yummylicious lasagna

It's a norm for us to meet clients on weekends and would bring Amber along. I cannot trust my hyperactive , super mischievous girl alone at home with ai-see-beh-see super blur Cambodian maid.

Saturday was not such a good day for us. We met our client at Taman Tun Devi's corner. Getting a parking a not easy and we quickly slot into a lot when we saw a car leaving. We did not realise it was a yellow line and we we were slapped with a saman from DBKL.

No mood to shop anymore, we headed for Bangsar Village, a quiet and comfortable place to walk and laze around and had lunch at D'lish. We love their food and most of , the reasonable price. Hubs and I would frequent D'lish in the evenings after 8pm, with 30% discount off food.

Anyway, this time, we ordered lasagna and vegetarian penne pasta. For desert, we had the caramel crumble (yummy). Total bill came to abt RM30++, it would have been much more expensive if we had gone for the pasta/pizza place instead.

Amber loved the lasagna and I'm happy to add it to my "Amber's favourite food list". She's not a food lover like us and getting her to finish her meals is a chore.

Here's what I had . Penne pasta with olives and capers. Absolutely yummy !

Amber being chummy with the waiter at Legend's Di-Atas Brasserie



Dinner was another makan session again, celebrating Richard sook-sook's birthday at Legend Hotel. The buffet spread was wide but sadly, there was very few people around. It really shows that times are bad and people are spending a lot lesser. Year end was always a time where most hotels would be fully booked for year end gatherings, but this year was different.

Looks like everyone's really tightening their belts....

Amber's Shopping Mischief - Part II

Last Sunday, we checked out the new AEON store at Ampang Utara. It's really huge but there isn't many attraction except for the food outlets. There's a big Jusco store but retail outlets were quite limited.


Amber queuing up for her balloon

Mr Clown Kor-Kor posing with Shy Amber

Here's Amber with the clown. She's ever so excited to see clown blowing balloons and tying them up to be dogs, flower, etc (I don't know what you call this art). Amber would always ask for a red flower and so a red flower was what she got !

Amber, the model !

Amber's monkeying around again. This time, Li , my niece wanted to get a blouse for her friend and asked me to 'model' it, her friend is slightly bigger built than me. When Amber saw, she wanted ot do the same and try on the blouse. Here's a picture of her 'modelling' the blouse.

Oh ! My hair !

When we got home, I gave her a trim. Her hair is too long and poking her eyes. See how tired she was from kai-kai all daylong. She does not like long hair and request to have her hair cut short many many times. Lazy me has been procrastinating the trip to the hairdresser till I cannot stand her long fringe anymore, I gave her a quick trim on the fringe

Amber and a Big Apple donut

The next day, it was kai kai time again. We had dinner with my in laws at Mid Valley. I asked hubs to try out the Big Apple donut + coffee. It's a real bargain at RM4.50 for an Americano and a glazed donut. You cannot get a deal close to that at any other coffee chains. No wonder Starbucks is downsizing. In current economic conditions, everyone's holding tight to their cash and not splurging.

Amber rarely pose for photos. Here's one of the rare ones.

Christmas is just round the corner. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !

Amber's Shopping Mischief

Amber in the evening, knackered out from whole day of shopping !!

When Ah Poh Yee Yee came to visit, Amber had a whale of time going shopping and here's some photos of her, taken over the weekend of fun filled shopping , shopping and more shopping. Never had I covered 2 major shopping malls in a day . We headed to Mid Valley early in the morning after a heavy breakfast of roti canai and teh tarik (what an excellent start to the day)

Amber with a mouthful of chocolate icing

Amber enjoying her moments with Yee Yee

Mama ! These shades are groovy ! Can I have it ?

Tilting her head up to hold the shades on her nosebridge !

Another beautiful Christmas tree

Fascination with the Fish Spa.

Amber loves fishes and she'll always request to stop at the Fish Spa to see so many small fishes nibbling and biting the patron's legs. I personally do not find it very hygiene, the water tank has been soaking god-knows-how-many legs throughout the day !

We had a jolly good time with Poh Yee Yee, Xiu & Li and wish they'd visit more frequent. Family moments are very precious to me and I always look forward to Poh's visit and dread it when she leaves.

Ant Killers

Our new house was/has swarmed by ants (the big black and the tiny red variety) ever since we moved in. They have been hiding in the wooden skirtings and underneath tiles. The moment they smell something fishy, they'll make a killer for it and sometimes it's unsightly to have hundreds of ants running around.


The ants moving towards Once For All

Once For All .... my saviour when it comes to ants

Couple of years ago, my sis recommended me this 'ant killer' -more-effective-than-others- ant powder. It's only available in Singapore. It comes in a pellet form and all you need to do is cut a small hole in the pellet, let the ants 'smell' and 'savour' the ant food. They will bring it back to their nest to be enjoyed and shared by the rest and the powder will kill the colony (supposedly lah). Unlike the pesticide spray which keeps the ants away, this pellet is very appetizing to the ants. I have been waiting eagerly for my sis to visit me with the ant powder pellets.

Sister and hubs watching the ants enjoying their 'food'

Here is hubs and sis watching the ants. True enough , the next morning, the ants lingering around the kitchen floor skirting disappeared, with a little bit of food from the pellets missing. I hope it's a Once and For All solution for me to get rid of the ants. I don't want them all over the kitchen and utensils.

Mamma Mia ! Here I Go Again !!

The cast delivering an unbelievable live performance

We have watched the movie twice in the cinema, numerous times in video and finally we could not resist the musical. Mamma Mia ! Here I Go Again ! My My ! How Can I Resist You ?

Mamma Mia the musical is the first musical I've watched in Malaysia and I have to say it's truly amazing. The non-stop music, energetic dancing and superb performance from the cast leaves you wondering if the music and singing is pre-recorded but no, it wasn't. The audience had sang and dance along with the music towards the end of the show.

We truly enjoyed the show and when we reached home, we had another round of Mamma Mia the movie with my sis, nieces and my maid.

Everytime when we say or sing Mamma Mia, Amber follow the tune with "" Here I Go Again".. lol

Amber loves Christmas !

Mama, look at this big big bauble. Can I bring it home ?

A mini Christmas tree

Amber posing with her favourite toy - a toy ear probe.

Amber loves Christmas and we make it a point to take her around all shopping centers to show her the decorations, Christmas trees, carollings etc. She never fails to point out a Christmas tree when she sees one, be it big or small, near or far.. She'll go ..: Look Mama ! Kwissmass tree . Kwissmass tree.....

THREESOME CHRISTMAS DINNER

At Renaissance Hotel lobby

We had to use up the Renaissance voucher before they expired. Hubs has been a member since the day I met him and year after year, we always had to wait till the last minute to use up the dinner/hi tea vouchers. So, this year, we had dinner at the Temptations Cafe. Food was just ordinary, unlike Vogue Cafe (the other hotel wing at Renaissance Hotel). However, the hotel was nicely decorated up with Christmas trees and Amber loves Christmas trees !

Amber having fun with the chocolate fondue ...

Having more fun ....

Renaissance Hotel holds a special place in our heart. We spent our first New Year countdown together during our dating days there and our wedding reception was held there 7 years ago.

Amber had most fun (as usual), monkeying around with the food more than eating it. Well, as long as she's happy and mama and papa can enjoy the delicious and widespread food, everyone's happy !

Christmas is coming

Amber posing with the Christmas tree

Amber loves Christmas. She just loves it. If she can grab a towel or bag, she'll pull it over her shoulders and pretends to be Santa Claus bringing a bag of goodies. "Mama, you see ... Santa Claus!!"

We went to Pavilion to check out the Christmas decorations. It was really nice to hear Christmas songs and everybody in the festive and cheery mood. This year, they placed a big white Christmas tree with gold baubles at the main entrance, across from Bintang Walk. I realised it was the same Singing Christmas Tree last year. Nevertheless, it was awesome and

Amber was delighted and she even obliged for a few photo pose.

We remembered Christmas at Pavilion last year, it was beautiful, they had the singing Christmas tree, Santa Claus and the shopping complex was still sparkling new (parking was also cheaper then).

We had our dinner at the Food Republic, our favourite hangout and Amber was having lots fun playing with the black bubble tea bulbs.

Power's up at Bukit Utama

The residents living beyond the landslide area already had power restored.
Boon texted me at 5.30pm and told me the good news. However, the alternative access road is not ready for use yet and currently only available for 4WD. Looks like it will be a couple more days before residents there can resume their daily activities.

I'm praying for less rain and more sunshine to speed up the repair and restoration works. Strangely, I'm a person who loves rainy days, the smell and sound of rain but now, I just wish the rain will just go away, I now, prefer the bright sunny sunshine more.

Landslide Tragedy

As of today, Boon (Amber's babysitter) and family are still stuck at Bukit Utama, the access road is not ready yet and there's still no power supply. I have been in contact with him on the developments on that area and the family is hanging in there.
He has enough food to last for a couple of days. He's been 'hiking' to Giant to get his supply of food. I have volunteered our place for him to stay but he's decided to stay put.

The other kids they babysit also live around the area and all trapped in. I really don't know how soon we can see a silver lining. Meanwhile I've to make some adjustments to send Amber back to Alice's and she's in turn has to reschedule her mahjong sessions to accomodate Amber.

It's been raining day and night here, albeit, light rain but it's non stop, adding to the depressive mood. Today, I hear less of police sirens and helicopters and I pray they find the missing Sri Lankan woman soon.

It's been days since we saw the big bright sun, I hope tomorrow the sun will be up and shining, bringing some cheer to the residents here. Raining all day is hampering the efforts to build an alternative route and that will affect TNB's work to bring in a generator set via the alternative route.

Tragedy at Bukit Antarabangsa

I remembered clearly, the air cond. was not working and I woke up from my sleep. It was darkness all around. The usual alarm panel was not lighted up too. I woke hubs up. One of the switch must have tripped (has been happening many times, part of teething issues in our new home). We checked but no switch tripped. I looked out to the neighbours. It was all darkness, only then I realised it was power failure.

Ok... back to sleep.

Looking back at the clock, it was 4am.

Then, I heard police sirens...

It went on and on... I feared and sensed something bad happened

Got out of bed at 7am, called the neighbours, and received sms that a huge landslide had occured at Bukit Antarabangsa.

No electricity, no hot water,, it's best to eat out. We made a detour to Bukit Antarabangsa, Jln Wangsa Ukay, it was filled with cars but we could still enter... we decided to leave as there were many cars parked along the road and we had to walk in and we did not want to do that with Amber.

An hour later, the road to Wangsa Ukay was blocked as well. Police was checking all cars entering that area.

Received news from Mr Lau that a friends of his brother living in that area has lost 2 family members. May their soulsrest in peace.

Smiling moon

We caught the 'Smiling Moon' on Monday night. We were busy shopping for retractable clothes hanger and most shops were closed around 8pm and then my maid asked Amber to look at the moon. Look... so cute.... Then I started receiving sms asking me to look at the moon. I also spread the word around and I hope most of you had a chance to catch the moon smiling at you !

My colleagues son was so cute, he asked Mama , where is the nose ?? lol !!!

I was looking for it again around 9.30pm but the smiling moon is no longer there. According to the papers, this is a 5 year phenomenon but how many of us actually know or paid attention to the moon or crescents ?

In the midst of darkness, there is still Mr Smiling Moon smiling at us :)

New house

water feature

our room

still unpacking

We've been calling our new home, 'new house' for years, waiting for building completion. When we brought Amber home, she said a couple of times, she wanted to 'go home'. lol..... For her sake, she needed a closure, we brought her back to our old condo and showed her the empty apartment. She was confused for a while but I think now, she has accepted the 'new house' as her 'go home' place. She likes the swing and water feature the most.

It's really a chore keeping an eye on her in the 'new house'. Previously, everything was just an arms reach at our old condo. I could even hear the maid singing in her bath or bedroom. Whereas, now, I have to rely on the cctv to see what's going on the in the house.

When Amber needs a handkerchief, I need to run upstairs and burn like 10 calories just to fetch her something. Looks like this is a good exercise for me and I can kiss goodbye to

We have a 'water feature' at our home. Hubby have big plans to rear koi fish but I manage to psycho him to scale down to 'bandaraya' fish. The idea of caring for the high maintenance fish like 'babies' does not appeal to me very much. I can foresee who's got to worry abt the feeding the fish, apart from cooking for the family (me lah, who else??). I'd rather have some nice water plants and a bandaraya sucking up dirt in the pond .. lazy me, clever me.

It's a lovely home, but we have to get used to the sudden ample space, like my sis said "mei mou sook' !!!

Moving Day

We moved on 27th November 08. The movers, came, packed, loaded and transferred everything to our new home. It took 2 load of 26cubic meter lorry to load ALL our stuff from a 2 room condo to our new house. I really do not know how we could have amassed to many things over the years.

It was a chaotic day, many trips in and out and coupled by the evening rain (which made traffic worst) but all ended well at the end of the day. We were glad to be in , FINALLY !!!!! We left Amber at Alice's , knowing with her around, demanding our attention 24/7, we cannot get anything done. We missed her and am looking forward to pick her up tomorrow.

Lunch with a schoolmate

How frequent do we make an effort to catch up with a schoolmate? All of us are so busy with our lifes, daily chores that do we make an effort to catch up with our friends ?

Thank you Jo, for taking the trouble to check on me for lunch (you know what I mean).....

Moving, FINALLY !!!

The big move is tomorrow, 27 November 08. This time, we've engaged professional movers , Felix Relo, to pack, seal , wrap our furnitures from our old rented condo to the new house.

The last few days, Danny, maid and me was really knackered out from moving the small (but heavy) items. We had to lug everything from the car park, up to the living room and up to the bedrooms. I've moved all the clothing (except enough for a couple of days) and kitchen stuff to the new house. The movers will charge a lot more to pack for us, so for the small stuff, we'll do it ourselves. Hopefully, tomorrow's move will not take too long. I just cannot wait for another couple of weeks to properly settle down.

Amber has been really demanding lately. She asks for our attention the moment she wakes up. She wants me to feed her milk, change her pyjamas and 'scratch' her. She's been having mild eczema attack recently and I must admit, I've been slack in applying mosturizer on her lately.
I'd better be more diligent in keeping her moist and healthy before I send her to new babysitter next month.

Amber's Cousins

Amber and Natalie cher cher

Amber's cousins came for a short visit from Australia recently. They last saw Amber on her 1st birthday celebration last year and it's been a looong time. Amber do remember them by names but I don't think she recalls playing with them.

Although their trip was a short one, the moments spent together was fun and memorable. I wish they would visit more frequent and hopefully we get to got Melbourne to visit them too.
















Sharlene, Amber and Rosalyn

The cousins having a good time, dancing and singing

Rosalyn was very close to me and hubby couple of years ago when my brother and his family was based in Singapore and visited KL more frequent. We cherished the times spent with her, taking her along for our coffee sessions and all our makan sessions.

Although their trip was very short, and we were very busy with our house move, we did spend some quality time together and hopefully they will visit again soon.

Guest Dancer at Westin

Last weekend, we attended Alan & Ai Lee's wedding. Amber had the most fun. As usual, she'll be restless after a couple of minutes and we were at the foyer for cocktail reception for an hour. She was getting very very restless and I was even more restless having to chase her around and get her to behave.

Well, dinner started and I kept her busy with crayons and chocolates. The chocolates were most yummy and delicious. I let her down and dance during the toasting session. They popped the champagne and the cork hit me ,,, how lucky can I be ? Amber took the cork and danced around with it, as if it was her mike. She went on stage and danced and danced, the emcee gave her a round of applause. ... lol... When dinner was almost ending and desert came, I wanted to bring her down, I had to threaten her by leaving her behind... she said,, "FINISH THE SONG FIRST! FINISH THE SONG FIRST !!".. she clearly wanted to dance all night long..

I was very amused and yet shocked with her antics.. she's so daring or like they say, children knows no fear .. wait till they grow up...

Amber's attempt with my Powershot A550

This is Amber, taking a snapshot of her pink Croc shoes. She loves gadgets, papa's phone, mama's make up tools, mama's handbags, etc. One day, when I upgrade my camera, I'll pass her the Powershot A550 to toy with. At the moment, it's mine , too handy to upgrade and too lazy to learn more on better photography.

Our new kitchen-in-progress

This is our new kitchen in the making. Like the color ? Not exactly conventional and hubs chose it. I left the coloring schemes to him. The kitchen equipments were my choice and I am very excited over the new Bosch oven. There was some problem with the aluminium shutter though. I told Alice, my contractor, I wanted to place a toaster oven inside and she made sure there was electrical supply, in fact there was to power outlets inside... but.. but... but... it's too narrow to fit in the toaster oven. Dang !!!!!

I gave her 2 options, to change (uninstall, remove, cut, spray paint and install again) or FIND ME A NEW SMALLER TOASTER OVEN TO FIT IN !!!!!!! And so, the hunt it on for mini and narrow toaster ovens.

A word of advise to all of you fixing up your homes, be very very specific on what you want, go to the measurements in detail, the cm, mm and H x W x D.

We have chosen a black galaxy granite top for the kitchen. It's a starking contrast to the kitchen cabinets...

Today is hubby's birthday. Yesterday was Amber's. Amber is now a boisterous 2 year old.
We had a little birthday celebration for her at Mdm Kwan's MVC with my inlaws. FIL got her a Tweety Bird cheesecake. I'll be gettin hubs a Dark Chocolate cake tonight. He wanted to test some newly arrived wine with his friends at home and I'll make a simple dinner with good cheese and wine, I think hubs will be pretty happy