What's going on in the changing room ?

Yesterday, hubs went shopping for some clothes. We had to be with him while he tried on the clothes, giving him opinion and this and that.. and that is really BORING !!!!!

What do you think Amber did ? Stuck in the changing room with her parents ?

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She tried on Papa's pants

and laughed... naughty naughty Amber...

tried on the shirts too..

and another pair of pants

and put on more shirts..

What do you expect ? She's bored to the core while Papa shopped.. I was bored too.. so both of us, like monkeys.. created a ruckus in the changing room.

Cake, Cupcakes and Loaves

I baked some durian cake for the in laws recently. MIL gave me a tub of durian, she has in abundance, frozen durians in her freezer, the helper has her own durian orchard and always gives MIL tubs after tubs and she'll pass some to me and the other siblings.

I'm not really keen on durian. I do like but I just hate the after effects, heatiness, headiness and smelly mouth. If I take durian, I'll make sure it's top quality ones, not worth to take some ordinary grade ones and still suffer the same after effect, hai mai ?

With the tub of frozen durian, I churned out some lovely cakes for them. I did try durian cake with cake pans, loaf pans and cupcake pans. Aitelyu, the results are unpredictable, depending on the durian moisture content, some are so watery, the cake sinks, so it's all really trial and error for me.

I tried baking with a 9 inch tin and it took longer than 45 mins baking time, the cake wobbled a bit when I removed in from the oven.

Then I tried the loaf pan.. 2 pans equivalent to one 9 inch cake tin. Left to bake for same time, 45 mins, big mistake, cake turned out dry and dense.

This time, I tried both..loaf pans and cupcake tins. Results :

See the difference ?


Cracks and cake sank a little



Cupcakes.. rise nicely.. and cute too

Recipe for both cakes are same.. Follow the strict rule of cake baking - of never filling the pan more than half it's height.

Cupcakes.. rise to the occasion !

From The Backyard

I've got some lovely potted plants growing at my backyard.





The thick luscious very meaty aloe vera. Apparently,South American variety.. if I take care of these well, it can grow to very thick and >1kg in weight per stalk...
My ex-Cambo helper was helping herself to the aloe vera.. using it as a mask for her face, very oi-leng hor ? Since then, nobody paid much attention to it. I thought it'll be waste to let it wilt away.

And then I have these kaffir limes screaming out to me :

The kaffir lime trees, after my daily watering, constant fertilizing bore me a lot of fruits. Very obedient tree this one, unlike the lemon plant.. water and fertilize, not a single flower budding.

I have so many limes hanging from the tree, the thing with this lime is they don't turn yellow. I don't know if it's ripe or not but lately when I press or squeeze them, it's kinda 'soft' to the touch, unlike the rock hard kaffir limes sold at the market. I plucked a few giant ones.

And.. I thought of a combo of both.. aloe vera and kaffir lime.. Coffeesncookies homemade.. very original.. never heard of this desert before..

This is what I did:

Shred the rind of lime, and juice it.. so juicy, unbelievable !!! Usually, any cooking will require just the rind and discard the flesh but the limes were so juicy and I didn't want to waste it.

Boil a syrup thick syrup and add in rind and juice.

Peel the skin of aloe vera and cut to chunks. Put to boil for 1 minute and drain. Add ice cubes

Add kaffir lime syrup.

So yummy and refreshing.. our friends Thomas and Joanne was the willing guineas to try out my new concoction, they too, find the exotic desert very refreshing.

Now, we thought it'll taste even better with vodka..

hmm... vodka + shaved ice + kaffir lime syrup + aloe.

Kaffiraloe Magarita ??

I need to get a bottle of Vodka asap !!!

Catching the World Cup On The INTERNET

I'm watching a very exciting match between England n Germany now, on my laptop while blogging away.

We do not subscribe to Astro Sports, no time to watch tv at all and I'm seriously thinking of cancelling the Wah Lai Toi too.

I just found out you can watch World Cup Live from www.astro.com.my. Just register and you get to watch at least 38 matches or more, if you're a Maxis subscriber, which I am not but now, playing at Round of 16, 38 is more than enough for me. I only watch when there's an interesting team playing and I'd say the live action from internet is very good.




38 matches !! YIPPEEE !!!! No need to crowd at the stuffy mamaks anymore..

On a Sunny Sunday Morning

Today, we've been good, woke up early and hubs suddenly decides to bring Amber to the park. Unlike me, he's impromptu, wanna go means wanna go but me, I like to plan things. Wanna go to the park ? Wake up early, plan breakfast, plan laundry, plan this and that.. then park but today, the heck with the plan, I'll just tag along. It was already past 9am when he suddenly had the calling to go to the park. I made him skip breakfast and go to the park first, otherwise I'd rather stay home. Morning sun is not my friend !

Although sunny, we're lucky as it was also breezy.. some pics of Amber and us to remember our day by.

Miss Fashionista insist on her sunnies



angkat kaki

PLEASE HELP ME !!!!!!!!!!

ahh.. this exercise, I joked to hubs.. was more like practising the catwalk.

BRING ME DOWN !!!

I did some brisk walking around the lake.. see the Sewing Monster's gunny bag ? Practically my weekend bag :D.

I like this picture.. the clear blue skies and reflection on the lake

Amidst the greens and lake, KLCC peek a boos from behind some bungalows nearby.

So, what did we do after the park ? Fast fast.. to Imbi market for double breakfast... opps ... I mean 'brunch' .

Liberation, at last

We finally chucked off the booster seat in hubs car. She's tall enough to seat on her own, and buckle up her own seat belt.

Finally ! Finally ! Finally!

I can just shout her to get in the car and slam the door..she'll do the necessary.



4years plus, I've been placing her to the infant seat, car seat, booster seat and strapping her up.

Now, I get my front seat back.. FINALLY !

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then again, I'd still sit with her when it's a long distance journey.

Surface Parcels

Recently I sent a box of goodies to my childhood friend in Perth. She's not been back to M'sia for what umpteenth years ? 18? or maybe 20? It all started with the pineapple tarts I made during the new year. I thought she could make some for herself since it's pretty easy to get pineapples in Australia, even the canned ones will do and butter is available. So, pineapple, butter, sugar and egg wash, that's just the very basic ingredients of pineapple tarts.

The only lacking item is the mould or dough pumps and it's so cheap over here. I'd send her some, I said.. and I thought why not add some Malaysian flavours to the parcel. A few packs of bak kut teh spices, local coffee and lots of instant curry paste. I even stashed some msg-free Knorr chicken cube stocks in the box. She's a busy FTWM so easy food is good !




Pack it up in a shoe box and cling wrap for protection against moisture.

Wrap again in brown paper, double layered.

and surface mail it. Estimated ETA around 1-3 months.. doesn't matter, the foodstuff has long expiry date. I was joking to her to have a Curry Christmas and the parcel will arrive just in time then.

Guess how much does the 3.08kg parcel cost ?

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RM36.80.

Cheap ? VERY !

Doodling with Daddy

I found this doodle with cleaning up the room.

Although she likes doodling, she likes it better when we doodle with her, she'll instruct me to draw this and that and my doodlings or drawings are quite horrible. Last weekend, hubs gave in to her whims and fancies and doodled all she wanted.. wrote her name, drew the bees, butterflies and piglet.

Draw nicely for her and then she'll 'conteng' all over the board, as if to pen in her signature.

and.. I'm totally forbidden to erase it away. Nobody can touch, her Papa's doodling artwork !

Erase it and I'll get an earful from her.

Caught In The Act Again - Falling Asleep While Eating

Last week, we were out celebrating Father's Day at Malacca. Amber did not take her afternoon nap coz she wanted to follow BIL and the family to Malacca, in BIL's car. Her best friend aka cousin sister cheh cheh was there and they yakked all the way from Tampin to Malacca, skipping her afternoon nap. Hubs and me enjoyed our peaceful drive to Malacca (no loudspeaker, on the backseat, yakking non-stop)

Skipping her naptime was stressing her out and the kids also went to play at the Tesco Playland for one solid hour..and that'll really drain her out.

I know she could not hold till dinner time.. and true enough , she almost fell asleep on the dinner table. So tired she was, she nearly fell asleep at the dining table but had to finish her roast chicken drumstick first.

I caught her antic on camera :

Amber, Amber , the chicken tastes good ya ? Must lick yr lips clean ? Muahahahaha

Overzealous Drinking

You tell your kid one sip and it turns out the be a big GULP ?

You tell her one small bite.. but a BIG BITE was taken.

I told her 'NO' to 100Plus.. she begged and begged...

so, okay,, a little bit only

and she drank the longest sip-turned-gulp of 100Plus from the pet bottle.

and you know if you drink it long enough, the pressure inside the bottle falls and decompress, sucking her lips along with it.

You know she has overdone it when this happens :

'internal bleeding' on her lips. Overzealous ! and this mark stayed for 3 days ! 3 WHOLE DAYS !

Shame on you Amber ! LOL !!!!

Secret Secret Secret

You know how 4 year olds are when they discover meaning of 'secret' ? A hush-hush something that cannot be shared but must be able to entice the other party ??

And that makes me a very annoyed mom. My 4 year old, is having lots of secrets..
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and not with me but with his Papa.

Every now and then.. I'll hear her talking.. "Papa, come, "SECRET".. cannot tell Mama".

or..

Mama, secret ! you cannot see, close your eyes !

Wuah.. her secret and I must make an effort to hide myself away from it. ;(

Sooo annoying.. I know she deliberately does it to annoy me. I admit, I've not been spending much 1 to 1 time with her. My precious evenings are spent getting the house in order, if I'm lucky, I get to squeeze in Desparate Housewives on Tuesday. My evenings also includes serving her royal highness freshly squeezed juice, peeled and de-seeded grapes (and sometimes poked with dainty bento food picks too). All these butler-maid works and all I get is 'secret show' between both of them, Mama not included !

I get annoyed.. then mad.. a 4 year old little fart, playing politics at home ???

I don't get even.

I shout :

PAPA !!! don't tell Amber our "SECRET" ok ????

Then.. I see the doe eyed girl.. jumping of her chair...

he he..

if you can't win, get EVEN !

Tangkak Beef Noodles - Restoran Kuang Fei

I really look forward to Amber's visit to her allergy specialist at Tangkak. Apart from the friendly and welcoming doctor, we look forward to lunch at the infamous Tangkak Beef Noodles.

We'll register our names at the clinic and drive off to the beef noodle outlet. I was searching my Garmin GPS for Tangkak Beef Noodle but 'takde pun'. Unlikely right ? Search high and low but really, no 'Tangkak Beef Noodle'. We called a friend to give us directions to the famous beef noodle shop and landed ourselves here :

Restoran Kuang Fei,, ''toong kap niu rou mien" - I think that's how it was supposed to read.
So Tangkak Beef Noodle, the original outlet is Restoran Kuang Fei.. Remember this name when you go Tangkak or use your GPS. Only the KL and Malacca branches are called Tangkak Beef Noodle.

Location : Exit NSE to Tangkak.. at the junction of Tangkak police station, turn right to Jalan Solok. Kuang Fei is on your right, opposite the market. Just about slightly 5 mins drive from NSE exit.


Noodles here comes in soup style. No 'kon lou'.. hubs had 'mee' - the yellow noodle variety.



I had hor fun.. very nice and thick hor fun, unlike the Ipoh variety, this thick hor fun goes better with the beef broth.

We had 'all-in', tripes, tendons, meat except beefballs.

They come in 3 sizes, S, M &L and I think it's' RM4,5 and 6, whatever it is, remember to order LARGE. It's never too big a bowl.

I personally find the soup here much better than it's branches, it doesn't give you the heaty and thirsty and dry tongue afterfeel.

Bummed out from class

Amber started her Mental Arithmetics class in April this year.

The class is held at her kindie on weekend. Maximum 12 kids per session and Amber is the youngest.

She was fine on the first and second class. Come 3rd and 4th class, she started doing naughty stuff, not paying attention, 'conteng' her friends books and poured soya milk on their books.

What a shame !

The teacher, a young lady, told us to send Amber to her center on weekdays for a 1 to 1 coaching. Amber may be too young to follow the pace of the other kids (mostly 6 year olds and with a couple of other primary school kids).

And so.. we've been sending her on weekday evenings to the center for a 1.5 hour lesson. Hubs and I will hang around the area, have dinner, then pick her up. By the end of the 1.5 hour, we'll see her up to some mischief instead of concentrating.

The first session, we saw her at the drawing board, holding a marker. She stopped and laughed when she saw our arrival. Teacher Tracy, her teacher was also in stitches. She told us Amber could only concentrate for the first hour.. and then she got tired..
.. and she changed roles with teacher .
.. Teacher teacher.. now I become teacher, you become my student. holding the marker pen and talking in an authoritative manner..
.. OK !!!!! you finish your homework, then I give you Batman stickers.. but hor.. you must give me first and then I give you ok ?
.. Faster, you must learn to write yourself OK ? Good girl aahhh.. I give you stickers.
Teacher Tracy was in stitches

On the second session, Amber was up to no-good after the first 30 minutes.
.. Come Teacher Tracy, I teach you lah...
.. OK !! Now, you are student, I am teacher.
.. You are Teacher Tracy, I am Teacher CRAZY !! wuahahahaha...

These are her antics as reported by Teacher Tracy, you see, my girl, really kek sei ngor but at the same time.. siu sei ngor.. always full of mischief !

What I did with the leftover Avocados

With so many avocados all to myself, I was determined to stuff some of this super food down to Amber and she absolutely hates it.

Jazzmint told me to try out avocado chocolate shake, very popular in Indonesia.

I started experimenting and put together the ingredients that's she's not allergic to : cocoa, honey, soya, avocado and ice. Blended.


Actually it tastes great but somehow that Amber could smell a rat. She refused to take it and asked if it's avocado. Sei for mou ???


Then, hubs coaxed her, dressed up the avocado shake with icing sugar.. she gulped it all.

In fact, it's NICE ! *perasan betul*

The Mini Maid

My little helper, the mini maid, sometimes gives me more cleaning up to do after she's done with her chores. What can I expect anyway ? The broom and pan is a lot taller than her.

My mini maid, earnestly helping me to sweep crumbs that she left a trail of.


Ada gaya betul.

Though she may leave more crumbs on the floor, I don't stop her from sweeping. Good habits starts young. Perhaps I should get a small pan and brush, just for her crumbs.. she likes to snack on cookies every night.. and leaving crumbs here, there, everywhere

And... like my Mini Maid's football suit ? World Cup fever mah !!!

Potato Cookies

Another attempt to bake an allergy free cookie for Amber.

I came across some 'premium margarine' from the baking supply shop. I was told it tastes great and it's very similiar to butter.


I was keen to try out a new cookie, very popular @ Tampin during Chinese New Year.
'Potato cookies'. I couldn't get these cookies in KL and so, what could be better than baking my own.

Couldn't find any potato cookie recipe online, I *agak agak* a bit here and there and got these little gems :

Do you see some missing cookies ? and those.. .went to my tummy, I couldn't even wait for the cookies to cool down.

Surprise ! The cookies turned out well and Amber loves it.

We're just in the month of June and I'm baking CNY cookies already.

AND ..... I could shoot myself for not writing down the recipe. I'd thought it'll be a failure and I just mixed butter, sugar, taste .. add sugar again. . add flour.. fold and bake !!!

Shiats ! Who would have guessed accidental recipes sometimes turns out well too ?