She Fancy Bras !!!!!

She's very curious over bras. Maybe it's the way it's worn, maybe she sees how I so effortlessly put in on and until today, she can't get it right.

We we are Marks & Spencers sales last Saturday at 1U. Hubs wanted to do some shopping too and I had to drag her along with me in to the changing room. Just outside the changing room was the lingerie section. She pulled up a bra along and I didn't even notice till I went in to try some clothes. She got busy trying the bra. Oh what the heck ! It's just 'us' in the changing room.

She was soo cute and I couldn't help laughing. Luckily I had my camera with me :)

Mama, I want to try bra also ! Let me try ok ?



After a few tries, she manage to put it on !

And insist on wearing it out to look for Papa ! The sales assistant was staring at us (on how cheeky she was and what a terrible Mama I was to allow her to do as such)

When she reads my blog as an adult, she'll know what a cheeky menace she was !

This is not the first time. Once at Robinsons, we saw a huge box of colored bras, she fished a green one out for me and another awful starking red one for my sis. "Nah! Yee Yee, you try this lah". Everyone was looking at her, we all had a good laugh!

Here's she, excited of going to the cinema, must wear jacket with the hood up.

Our purpose to 1U was to watch Transformers II. Hubs and her will go for the movie and I go shopping but one of our friends didn't turn up and I went instead. I don't fancy action packed with sound effects kinda movie. I'm more into drama but nevertheless, it was a good movie, entertaining and a much better movie than Terminator. Amber could only keep still for 30 minutes before she got agitated and complain of being 'tired'. Luckily she fell asleep later in my arms till the end of the movie !!

I Was On The Star

The prize giving ceremony for Star Metro's Knife Food Tale contest came out in the papers yesterday. Hubs and I received many calls from friends when they saw me on the papers.
We were surprised when friends whom we've long lost touch with called us when they saw me.

My colleagues made fun of me today, calling me a 'Big Star' for being in the papers. Hahaha.. like big celebrity only huh ?

When hubs showed Amber the article, she went MAMA !!!! MAMA !!!!



Link for my article here and prize giving here.

She Miss Me Too !

When I left her at the childminders on Wednesday night, I went home to an empty bed, only to be greeted by Siaw Tien :


The room is so quiet without the little fart !

Then I checked my phone. I was in a seminar, it was noisy, I missed her call and sms. I only read this sms past midnight :

My little girl could not wish me goodnight. I felt so horrible. She kept the handphone next to her waiting for me to return call after the sms, waited so long till she fell asleep.

Then I was admitted to hospital and could not pick her up any earlier. I asked to be left off early and promised to return the same night to settle the bill. I went home, shower myself clean (H1N1 virus lurking, better scrub clean after hospital trips) and picked her up.

She was so happy to see me, kept hugging me and say :

i love you mummy, i miss you mummy,
tonight i sleep with you ok ?
You working, meeting ah ? hee hee hee hee (laugther of happiness to be home again)

and she even posed for me when I fished out my camera to record those words :

Mummy, later you go to hospital to discharge, I go with you ok ?

Cheeky fart !

My precious !

It's such a wonderful feeling to be missed and loved by your own flesh and blood !

Hospitalized

I never thought a tummy ache could land me in hospital. I've been having very bad spasms on the abs area 2-3 times daily for almost a week. Doctor's medication does not work. On Thursday, early morning, around 4am, I was cringing in pain and could not take it any more, asked hubs to send me to Gleneagles A&E.

The Medical Officer on duty advised me to be admitted and wait for another doctor, gastroenterologist specialist, Dr Jason, to check me out thoroughly. Waited and waited, the pain subsided a bit when specialist came. He suggested a CT scan, ultrasound and on last resort, a scope to view my internals.

Hubs left me at the hospital and I followed the procedures, went for CT scan and ultrasound. Dr Jason only came in to see me after 5pm. OMG, really sien sei, waiting in the room and waiting for another spasm ! However,I was nil by mouth in the morning and later only clear liquids only (for taking the dyes and what nots to prepare for CT scan), so no spasm !
Kek sei ngor !

Dr Jason said it could be some inflammation of my intestines but the contractions were like labour pains that never goes off. He asked me to stay another day for observation but I begged to be discharged. He let me off on the condition that I promise to admit myself in again should there be another painful attack. He prescribed me a double dose of antibiotics and other meds.
He's a very humurous doctor. He knew I didn't have any proper food and hence no attacks, and was happy to be let off, he said : So ?? Are you going Dome Cafe for a good meal now???

Of course not! I just wanna go home to my little girl and hubs.

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the spasms get less and less, otherwise I'll not be in action for a few days!!!


Nothing to do, lying down on the bed, I've flipped The Star front to back like 20 times. I take pictures !


More pictures of the miserable hospital lunch. This was after doc decided I could take soft food.

This is another wake up call for me to take good care of my health. Health is Wealth ! Without good health, we'll burn a hole in our pockets. My total hospital bill came up to RM2500 !

Thanking the Gods !

I conceived Amber after many years of trying and praying. Hubs prayed to Guanyin to bless us with a child. MIL also prayed at a temple at Tampin to bless us with an offspring.

When our prayers are answered, we have to thank the gods! I beleive someone is watching us up there and bless us with a wonderful little girl after many years of waiting.


Last weekend, we went to the temple to thank the Gods. I brought Amber along to do some prayers and ask the higher authorities to look after her, 'fai gou jeong tai' , 'kwai kwai', 'ping ping an an' and 'san tai keen hong'.

I beleive when our wishes are granted, we have to be thankful. :)

Rest In Peace Michael Jackson

After a lousy day, I wake up to lousy news. The news feeder lines at Bloomberg channel says MJ is admitted to the hospital, not breathing. I was half awake, didn't take much notice.

5 seconds later, another feeder "Michael Jackson dies"

Sad news on a gloomy morning.

I grew up listening to his music, Beat It, Thriller, Heal The World... the music keep playing in my mind now, his looks, his jackets, his dance movements.. will leave a memorable impression in all of us.

Rest in peace MJ ! You'll always be the KING OF POP !!!

Yikes ! Ben 10 is here !

All kids are crazy over Ben10! I vow never to let Amber start Ben 1o craze. She don't watch much cartoons, so she shouldn't get caught in the craze right ?

Wrong !

There's always ''GRANDPARENTS"

Get it ?

They spoil her and Yuen Wen jie jie rotten. Amber so loves to go back Tampin, the moment she steps in the house, it's always MaMa (MIL) this, MaMa that, MaMa gimme sweets, MaMa feed me, etc...

And for the sake of the 2 kids, we'll make a trip to Tesco Malacca. FIL will give each of them RM5 to 'drive car' and if that's not enough, MIL will top up some more.

This time, MIL bought them Ben10 wrist strap each. Yuen Wen is crazy over Ben10 and so, the grandparents bought them each, from one of the stalls at Tesco Malacca.

My girl, who has no inkling what's Ben 10, got hooked !!

Choosing her Ben 10

Hubs wearing the giganto wrist strap on her tiny wrist.

Showing off her Ben 10 !

After a while, hubs & I got so annoyed with the Ben 10 sound, esp in the car.. Sigh.. what to do ? It's grandparents duty to spoil grandkids.

Pork Ball Noodles

Pork Ball Noodles. The square ones, with minced pork, siew cheong and tasty broth.
You like it ? My favourite !

We drove around for lunch and ended up at :

Restoran Win Heng Seng, corner coffee shop at Jalan Imbi. You won't miss this place.

At one discreet end, this is where hundreds of bowls, if not, thousands are dished out daily :

Many of you would recognize the guy in red, the snobbish boss. Make sure you call for small, otherwise, by default, you'll get a medium serving !

My 'small' bowl of pork ball hor fun. I gave hubs some hor fun. (Cutting down on carbs, what to do ??) This portion is RM5.

Hubs medium ' hor fun kon lou ' RM6

This is one of the 'original' Sekinchan pork ball noodles. This place has been around for more than 15 years, I would say it's acceptable but can be inconsistent at times. There's a better one at Pandan Jaya though, shall blog when I go there next.

Hawker food at KL ain't cheap, especially around the Imbi area. Although it's just an old coffeeshop, the stalls here command a 'premium' price for their ordinary hawker fare.

I had to share this, from the same coffeeshop :

RM6 for a SMALL serving of pork noodles. Crazy isn't it ?

Collecting My Winning Prize

Yesterday, I went over to The Star for a small prize giving ceremony by LamSoon, the sponsor for Knife Food Trail. It was a simple handover of prize by Mr James Ng, Product Manager of LamSoon to me, take picture and post on newspaper later.

Actually, my picture was to be attached to the winning entry but due to some technical glitches, the article came out before the prize giving ceremony. Sam Cheong, the Chief Reporter of Star Metro called to apologize. He's a nice person to talk to and to me, the prize is more important lah.
Here's what I won :


Products from Lam Soom Oils and RM300 Jusco vouchers. Not bad huh.
The hamper is full of useful items : cooking oil, sesame oil, fish sauce, shower cream, soaps, margarine and cream cleanser. Thank you James !

We only know Sam as the cherubic specky guy by the caricature drawing in Star Metro's Food Trail. I was keen to meet him in person. While hubs and I waited at the guest lounge, we looked at everyone who walked in and guessed Is This Sam ? Yes ? No ? hahahahaha !!! but when Sam walked in, it was unmistakably HIM although he looks different from the caricature. I think he's much younger in person.

I asked permission to post his photo in my blog and he obliged, so here's a small photo of Sam and me :

Thank you Sam ! Thank you James !

Missing Her

It's only morning and I miss her so much.

We are having a long day today and will only be home past 11pm. I've left Amber to overnight at the childminders. She can last till midnight but it's not fair for the childminder to wait for us till so late, so it's better for her to just sleep there.

I explained to her last night that we will not bring her home tonight. She didn't ask much. This morning, instead of the usual "dun wanna wake up and crying" routine, she was well behaved. Wake up smiling, giving me a big hug and changed her clothes.

Hubs sent her off this morning and gave her a hug too. She said "Some more, some more" and hug hubs one more time before she left. Like she knew she will miss us tonight :(

So, tonight I'll have an empty bed next to me. No more waking up in the middle of the night to check if her feet is cold, if she's snuggled up in her blanket or to just watch her sleep.

What's the matter ? It's only ONE night and I MISS MY BABY !!!!!!!!!!

Change of Lifestyle

Since we moved to our new house and started blogging, I've been putting on weight. Not the fault of the house or blogging. It's just me and myself. I like cooking and enjoy trying new recipes. It's a joy when others enjoy your cooking.

I have a spanking new kitchen, the accessories and layout I chose, hubs gave me the free hand to have my kitchen the way I want it. I can't let it turn to a white elephant, so I tried all sorts of baking and cooking and sometimes they turn to very interesting blog topic.

However, when you see how many blocks of butter is being used up and how fast the cooking oil finishes, things gets ugly. Since Chinese New Year, I've been experimenting new recipes,non stop and put on so much weight !

Last few days, I was down with very bad stomach cramps. The pain isn't like any indigestion. It's like contractions that never goes off. I've taken Buscopan, charchoal tablets, Panadol, 5 Pagoda Powder, nothing works. This afternoon, I went to see a doctor. He said it could be mild food poisoning, gave me some meds and 1 advise : You Need to Lose Some Weight !!!

Sei mou ???

I'll have to start exercizing for real or cut down on my cooking adventures.

Or.. do both !

SIGH !!!!!!!

I Won Knife Food Trail June 09!!!!!!!

***updated*** the Hennessy Lor Meen stall will be closed for 3 wks. It's peak durian season now and he's selling durians from his own orchard at the entrance of Ayer Panas Food Center.
------
I won ! I won !

I follow Sam Cheong's Food Trail article in The Star Metro quite diligently. I like the way he writes and I hope to meet him in person. One day, I saw there was a Knife Food Trail contest asking us to send in articles of our favourite good food place. You know me, always looking for good food places to eat, I emailed in the Hennessy Lor Meen place which I blog about here.

Last week, I received an email from Sam informing me I WON the June contest. So happy ler. Never won anything in a long long time especially contest !!!! Next week, I'll have to at The Star office for a small prize giving ceremony :)

Check out Star Metro page M19 today or the link here.

So happy ler...

A Close Call

Dear Father gave us a shock yesterday.
I was at Mid Valley, tucking in to my Nasi Bojari when eldest sis called and told me DF was perspiring very badly and could not stand up. They asked me if I knew of any doctor who attends to house calls. If DF cannot stand on his own, it'll be difficult to drive him to the nearest clinic. I told sis to call the Ambulance immediately. They'll have the facility for emergencies and stretchers just in case father needs it.

Sis called 999 and she was immediately connected to Ampang Hospital. The ambulance came came quite quickly to sis house and she'll direct them to DF's house nearby. On the way to DF's house, ah yee called and said father is feeling much better after purging and vomitting but the ambulance was on the way for DF's house so we thought might as well admit him in to the hospital, you never know what's wrong. In my mind, I was worried of a heart attack.

We quickly headed to the hospital after our dinner. I knew it was not an immediate emergency as the ambulance were there and sis was with him, so I finished my dinner first (teruk or not ??, typical case of eat first, think later)

Looking for the Emergency Room ?

Ampang Hospital, a government hospital is pretty new ( I think less than 3 years) and I was amazed by the size and facilities. It didn't seem like a "hurry-burry-always-busy" hospital to me. It's very clean, organized and smells nice too.



Hubs and Amber. Amber was most 'kan cheong'. Koong Koong is sick, Koong Koong cannot walk ah ? Faster, go hospital, go see Koong Koong !

When we finally found the Emergency Room, DF was in the treatment room, getting his ECG done. They wanted to check his heart as he was sweating and had palpitations. The ER was very cold. DF's ECG reading wasn't very stable coz he was shivering with probes all over his chest.


Amber found a little corner to play at the ER. See the towels on the right ? Please help yourselves if you feel a tad too cold at ER.



Of course our Miss BusyBody had to help herself.

The results came out and doctor could not detect anything wrong with him. He probably felt unwell due to food poisoning and since he's feeling alright at the moment of seeing doctor, they sent him home with a bag of medicines (vomit, diarrhea, cold, sinus, charcoal, etc, etc ,etc - ONE BIG BAG)

The charges ? RM1 for registration. Unbelievable ! This includes the ambulance, specialist, tests done and medication.

So, govt hospitals ain't as bad as what we hear sometimes. At least not for Ampang Hospital, my DF and our family's first encounter with this hospital has been a pleasant one. Waiting time 's not too long too. All in all, DF was there less than 2 hours. I'm just so glad he is ok.

Pssttt.. he must think I am crazy for taking photos whilst he's waiting to see the doctor. Well, what to do, I am a 'blogger'

I took this photo to share how the hospital works. I believe most hospital works this way too. Priority is given to emergency cases. Zoom to view in detail :

Friends over for the weekend.

Amber's favourite playmate , Renee was in town. My ex colleague Amelia and her family came to stay for the weekend. It was a long school holiday for the Singaporeans, they were on their way up Genting Highlands and stopped over our place for one night stay.

I can't think of any places better to bring them other than for food and shopping. They arrived at lunchtime together with Amelia's brother and family who was heading to Genting on the same day but decided to join us for a sinful lunch before making their way up the highlands.

In their last trip here, hubs promised Amelia and her hubs a much better Hokkien mee than the one at Jalan Maharajalela, and so we went to Ayer Panas Hawker Center. I felt a bit bad for the Singaporeans (not Amelia but her brother and family) coz it was a very hot Sunday afternoon, and after 4 hours driving from Singapore they had to go through 20 humps and another 12 traffic lights only to be greeted by a rundown hawker center, serving plates of cholesterol laden, heaped with pork lard plate of noodles ! hahahaha....

The rundown place but yummy mee.

Amber likes Hokkien mee. I love her lips, all messed up from the dark soya sauce. I just love it when she eats anything !

Hokkien meehoon and mee, laden with chee yau char

Our plates, polished clean.

Amber and Renee, her playmate. They have lots in common and imitate each other in everything. Renee eats, Amber will eat. Renee drinks, Amber will drink. Very cute.

The next day, Amber refused to leave for the childminders. She knows Renee is sleeping in our guest room and was crying and wailing when we dragged her to the childminders car. Sigh..what a sad sight. How I wish she had more friends or cousin living nearby that she can play with more frequent.

Jamie Oliver's Perfect Roast Chicken

I had a big fat chicken at my disposal and I searched the net for Jamie Oliver's roast chicken dinner

Just follow the recipe closely, I omitted the fresh rosemary herbs and subtituted with my dried Italian herbs. Works just as well.


The chicken, naked


I added a zuchinni to the potatoes and since my roasting pan is not big enough, I roasted the potatoes separately in a separate pan, drizzled with olive oil. Roast potatoes (parboiled) is really delicious, it's crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Yummz !!!



Chicken roasted, lots of juice on the pan. I removed the skin from the garlic bulbs and cooked the remaining juice to a reduction.


Tadaa !! Yummy yummy dinner.



Chicken, going, going, gone !!!!

Amber loves the flavourful potatoes and chicken !!

Condensed Milk French Toast

Amber's diet is very simple :

Morning - Milk
Lunch - Porridge / Rice
Pre nap - Milk
Dinner - Porridge / Rice
Pre bed - Milk

She has 3 milks and 2 rice session per day. Not very exciting isn't it ? I am very adventurous with my own cooking and my own girl does not even like my new dishes. So, I try to think of stuff she likes, to 'tantalize' her. One day, Annie suggested I make french toast with condensed milk. She had her morning milk first and I made these for her :

Beat one egg with 1 tablespoon of condensed milk, soak with wholemeal bread and pan fry in non-stick pan with olive oil.

And add a touch of 'bento' :) , cut in to shapes with cookie cutter :

She finished the whole plate while I walloped the remaining odds and ends !

Way to go Amber !!!!! Mama is thinking hard, coming up with ideas to whet up your appetite !

Tesco Recycling Collection Centre

I have tons and tons of rubbish at home. Old newspaper, bottles, plastic containers from laundry detergent, softener ... etc.. the list goes on. I get my maid to keep all these stuff for me in the store room. Almost every other day, I hear the surat khabar lama fella's van passing my house hollering "Sau Kau Pou Chee, Sau Kau Teen Seong, Old Newspaper, Surat Khabar Lama" but I never sell to this fella because they only accept old papers and batteries and for the obvious reason : how am I going to stop the van ? By the time I hear them and run down, before I could open the gate, they are gone, with the loudspeaker blaring "Sau Kau Pou Chee" trailing behind !!! Tsk..

I found a better means of recycling. I send all my stuff to Tesco. At the Ampang outlet, there's a recycling center managed by a group of parapelgics. The returns many be menial but I'm doing it for a good cause. I get to recycle my stuff and I am helping others make a living. The center belongs to Tesco but they sub-contract it out to a parapelgic society. I didn't ask which though. Anyway, never mind.


10am - 1opm, 7 days a week.


Our loaded MPV. There's more stuff in front too.



The 3 guys manning the center. They have a very good worksystem. Due to his immobility, the guy on the wheelchair does the calculation and payment while the other 2 guys will help with weighing and segregation of items with hubs and me helping out.


Their rates. You get nothing for glass but it's better than letting it heap up our wastedump. Imagine how many bottles of soya sauce, ketchup, sauces you consume a year ?


All in all for about > 90kg of recyclable rubbish, I got RM12 !! Better than nothing right ? And for a good cause too.

Last One For The Road !!!

The ex-CBNers gathered (again!!!) on Friday, before Liz had to return to Singapore. It was Ei Leen's birthday and we took the excuse to gather at Ikano, where Ei Leen works. I took the day off to be with good pals, from morning till night and it sure feels like a long long long time ago that we sit down and talk for so long

After lunch we sat down at Ikea Cafe for the free refill of drinks. We had Daim cake,fried chicken wings, meatballs and roast chicken set. Hahaha.. we are not gluttons by ordering so much food after the pan meen, but we were there from 3pm - 9pm (GOSH !!!) and ordered dishes as and when we feel hungry. I think we used the ladies like 3-4 times too (shows how long we yakked !!!)

It feels so good to catch up for old times sake, we yakked, yakked and yakked and even sat down to do some Mathematics ! You see, Liz from Singaopore was sharing with us how she's managing her son's homework and it ain't easy. We thought how difficult could Maths for an 8 year old be? She showed us an example and we got hooked. Not easy wor !!! Well, for me, I have a few 'honeymoon' years to go before I start worrying about Amber's homework.

We also talked about our lives and I realise it's not to bad being in Singapore. For one, you feel much safer. There's lots of weekend activities to do. They'll meet up in the parks, go rollerblading, swimming at the numerous public pools, jogging by the beach, just so many !!!
Wah Liz, I envy you. Here in KL, Amber only bugs me to bring her to Tesco ! I hardly bring her out for outdoor activities coz it's

1) hot
2) too far to go anywhere decent for kids
3) traffic jam
4) snatch thieves
5) Mat Rempits
6) bad kept parks and playgrounds !!!
7) lousy zoo

and the list goes on... ..... .... ... ....

What do I do with my kid ? We resort to 'shopping indoors'. My girl pratically knows all the shopping centers and supermarkets in town by hard, even their logos. . *sigh*

I have to think of something better to do with Amber. Must apply a supplementary club membership for her. If there ain't good parks, a decent club with swimming facilities will do !! Must get my act up fast. Otherwise, she's gonna turn into a mall rat !!!

Noodle Shack - Pan Mee @ Ikano

Finally, I can find a comforting food at Ikano!

Ei Leen treated us to pan mee at Ikano. I was getting sick of the usual Uncle Lims (food not getting any better, although there's some new items).


Noodle Shack @Ikano. My best pals are seated on the right.


Spinach, Mushroom, Dried version or just plain. Quite a lot of varities but I'll stick to good old traditional soup version. For RM7.90, here's what I had :

Minced chicken meat, anchovies, fried fu chuk (my favourite). My only complain is the soup is rather plain, not tasty enough. All else, it's a good meal and another choice to have at Ikanos.


Tucking in to our noodles. I took a snapshot when they were not aware. None of them wanted to be seen or known in my blog :(

Setting Up Her Playroom

When we planned our house, we allocated a playroom for her. It's a room next to the kitchen and dining and a place we can keep an eye on her.

You know how it's like, you plan and plan and it never materialize ? We've moved in for more than 6 months and her so called 'playroom' is more like a 'storeroom'. Recently we've had friends with kids over and I constantly worry the kids will topple over our stuff which are heavy old AV set, dvd player, tool sets, vacuum cleaner and loads over other rubbish.

My working project now is to set up a proper playroom for her. With proper kids tables, chairs and tables and proper storage boxes for her Playdoughs, Legos and Barbies (psst ... she doesn't know there's a surprise box full of Barbie paraphanelia for her from Yee Yee, my sis in Singapore)


This is her 'playroom' now and all our 'rubbish'


All disorganized..



That's me.. finishing the last bits to her toy shelf and breaking my back too. You know how it's like with Ikea shelves, the instructions are there and sometimes you need to do a 'balancing' act to assemble the pieces and screwing them up together ? Sometimes hubs and I end up arguing coz both of us don't follow the instructions carefully... hahahha...

I hope to finish completing her playroom in 3 months time ! It's a must !