Chinese New Year Day 2 and 4

On the 2nd day of CNY, we got up very early in the morning. We had a train to catch at 9am! Gawd, that was really early for me as it’s a holiday and I wanted to sleep in! I had to crawl out of bed at 5am, first to bring Cass to pee and then to do my slavery chores. At 8am, the hubby used his mobile app to get two cabs from GrabTaxi. We needed 2 cabs to bring the 6 of us plus our luggage to KL Sentral to take the ETS.

KL Sentral station was jam packed with people and there was a 10-minute delay.

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After a 2-day joyful reunion with my family and relatives, with lots of meat-heavy meals, we headed back to KL on the 4th day of CNY, by ETS.

Once back at our home sweet home and settled down, we went to our favorite friendly neighborhood restaurant for lunch and tucked into our favorite ‘char siew’, ‘siew yoke’, roast chicken and ‘choy keok’ (Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew)…

 

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Yup, another meat-heavy meal!!  But funnily, we did not get sick or cloy with the food here. This restaurant serves the best ‘char siew’ in the world… even better than those that I had tasted in Ipoh, Hong Kong and Chinatown in Auckland.

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While everyone gobbled down the roast meat to their hearts’ content, I whacked a big bowl of ‘choy keok’ (Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew).  Yummy, my absolute favorite!

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The mil’s favorite roast duck thigh…

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After 4 days of over loading ourselves with meat, cookies and fried food, thankfully everyone is still not sick.  We have our hydrogen water to help wash away all the nasties and heatiness as well as to alkalize our body.

Yesterday I had a pleasant surprise when I logged into my NP account. I saw RM765 credited into my account. That’s my bonus for this week. It’s only the second week of February and I already have a 4-figure income in my bank account.  Thank you NP and thank you God!  If you want to earn a passive income like I am now, do drop me an email at shireenyong@gmail.com

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all! 🙂

 

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Boxing Day – 26 December 2015

We had visitors at our place on Boxing Day!

My parents, brother, SIL and niece from Singapore came for a short 3-day 2-night stay. Our girls were so happy to see them again.

My dad got loads of hugs from Cass and Raelyn. One calls him ‘koong koong’ and the other calls him ‘yeh yeh’.

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The 2 cousins love to hug dad 🙂

We had dinner at our favorite neighborhood restaurant.

Hubby ordered my favorite roast chicken. This restaurant dishes out one of the best roast chicken, char siew and siew yoke in the world. I kid you not.  The roast chicken comes with super crispy skin with a moist and toothsome interior, in every bite.  I even doggy-bagged all the breast meat, which I will use to cook fried rice or pasta.

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Below – sweet and sour pork (the girls’ favorite dish. I would say almost all kids love this tangy and appetizing dish) and steamed fish.

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Below – pan-fried aromatic soy sauce prawns.  There were also 2 plates of veggies with no pictures taken of.

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After dinner, we headed to Pavillion to see the vibrant X’mas decor.  The entire mall was swarmed with people of all ages, races and smell!  For a moment, it felt like we were at the busy shopping area of Causeway Bay, Hong Kong on a weekend night just 2 weeks earlier. The sea of people was intimidating and we just could not relax as we were all very wary of our handbags.

We quickly did some camwhoring with the Xmas decor…

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Cass and Raelyn – the 2 bffs. Though 4 years in age gap, they are nonetheless at the same wavelength and the two can really chatter and play till the cows come home. From morning till way past midnight, they are still yakking and playing and I would be drop dead conked out on the bed. We’ve been sleeping past 1 am the past few nights.

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Cass and Raelyn’s joy ride with koong koong / yeh yeh on the way to the restaurant…

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Below – Dad and mum enjoying their Kindori black sesame ice-cream @ Tokyo Street. Dad is 72 and mum 69 this year. May they be blessed with many more healthy and blissful years of spreading their love and company with us.

 

 

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Deepavali Holiday – 10 November 2015

We spent our Deepavali holiday at Mid Valley Megamall and Gardens Mall.  The hubs brought #1 and #2 to watch the James Bond movie, Spectre, whilst Cass went shopping with me.  I promised to buy her a play dough set with machines that churn out ‘icing’ and all. Play dough is the only toy that 7YO Cass still likes to play with as she loves rolling dough and baking, just like everyone else in the Yap family!

They only had 15 minutes before the movie started and we had a quick bite at Ippudo Japanese Restaurant.  The food came at an amazingly quick speed. Upon seated at the table, the food arrived in less than 5 minutes.  Hubs told the waitress that we were in a rush for a movie and she helped to expedite our meal. Kudos to Ippudo for the assistance and superb tasting food!

After hubs, #1 and #2 were done with the movies, we joined them for the 360 degree 4D virtual reality ride with Oculus Rift Dino Safari. Hubs paid RM100 for 4 tix.  I regret joining the kids coz half way through the ‘ride’, I felt dizzy and felt my tummy churn. I wanted to leave my seat to puke! Not that it is scary, but the 4D motion with pictures almost touching my eyes stirred up my motion sickness, shit!

 

This dino could move its tail and Cass was so awed with the moving dino.

After a nauseous 15 minutes, I told hubs that I needed something to eat to rid my nauseousness. We went to Alexis Bistro for an early dinner.

I ordered my favorite mee siam @ RM24 a plate! Expensive but worth every strand of noodle. It was delish and the plate was wiped clean.  My next project in the kitchen is to learn how to cook mee siam! 😉

Salad with baby french beans, poached egg, tuna fish and tomatoes.

Nasi kerabu was very yummy too! Love the sambal on the fish and prawn sambal.

Beef lasagna for the kids…

Divine Banana Banoffee cake for the coffee loving hubs…

My all-time favorite heavenly Tiramisu cake. Alexis’ Tiramisu cake is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Alexis sure knows how to keep things interesting. The middle layer of mascarpone cheese is mixed with chocolate flakes to kick-up the chocolaty flavor by a notch! Each slice of cake also comes generously coated with caramelized almonds, giving each bite an extra sweet crunch. Tiramisu cakes here are also served with strawberry sauce which perfectly complements the slice of cake.  To add to the ‘uumph’, hubs ordered a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to go with each slice of cake. Double sinful and fattening!!  I swam 2 extra laps (total 22 laps) in the pool today to melt away the fat!

iGadget addiction to the max! She has less than 2 months of freedom, after which she will start high school. And the UPSR exam results will be released next Tuesday, 17 Nov 2015!  Wish us luck will ya? 😉

 

 

 

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Our Merdeka Weekend (30 – 31 August 2015)

On the eve of Merdeka Day, we had brunch at Le Pont Boulangerie Cafe @ Bedford Business Park, Old Klang Road, KL.

Le Pont – French for ‘The Bridge’ is a fairly new boulangarie which opened its doors just a few months ago. Le Pont has an European-accented menu that’s meted out in a fascinatingly fashioned three-level space comprising a bakery & a cafe.

Breakfast set…

 

Smoked salmon on English muffin and Egg Benedict.

Waffles with ice-cream, chocolate sauce and blueberry sauce.

An assortment of sinful cakes and tarts.

 

To be honest, we were not exactly satisfied with our brunch. I think there is still room for improvement in their breakfast sets. The hollandaise sauce tasted weird and there there were only about 3 pieces of mushrooms in their breakfast set. The scrambled eggs portion (in a small mug) was also pretty pathetic.  We were comparing this with  big breakfast sets from other cafes of that stature and pricing. I think breakfast sets may not be Le Pong’s strong suit just yet.  I still very much prefer big breakfast sets from Antipodean and Marmalade. They have very generous portions of mushrooms and scrambled eggs, big juicy house-made sausages, grilled tomatoes and other accompaniments that live up to the name BIG breakfast set.

The chocolate bar @ RM13.50 a canister is very chocolaty and rich and was my order for take-away, to be savored as dessert after meals 😀

Le Pont Boulangerie & Cafe @ Old Klang Road
Bedford Business Park, Off Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur.

We had dinner at Gyutaro Yakiniku at 3rd Mile Square, Old Klang Road. Gyutaro is a pleasant first-floor yakiniku outlet.  It was our second time there.
I love their kimchi comprising of cabbage, radish and cucumber.

 

 

Hubs ordered wagyu beef for our DIY BBQ over binchotan white charcoal.

 

We enjoyed our dinner very much.

Gyutaro Yakiniku
3rd Mile Square, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 7972 4011
Daily, 12pm-230pm, 6pm-1030pm

Our Merdeka Day brunch was dim sum at Han Room @ The Gardens, Mid Valley.

For dinner, we ought to have something really light and easy. MIL made a big pot of pork + dried oysters + dried octopus + peanuts congee. I love my congee with lots of chopped scallions, coriander leaves, pepper, julienned young ginger and half a cube of foo yue (fermented bean curd). So yummy and hearty 🙂

 

Happy Merdeka Day to our country and my wish is for her to get out of the mess that she’s currently in now. I wish for her to be like what she used to be when I was a little girl — so peaceful, no drama and no spring cleaning was needed back then. She was a clean and peaceful motherland back then.  Ah, those were the days where street rallies were never heard of. I could cycle on my own around our neighborhood with no fear of being kidnapped or run down by vehicles.

 

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Our Sunday – 9 August 2015

Today is the eve of the eve of Alycia’s exam – her final UPSR trial exam before the actual exam in exactly a month’s time.  After going through endless exams with her and the 2 younger girls, I have learned to relax like Alycia. She’s always as cool as a cucumber, come what may. Now, I have learnt to stay calm and cool too. It’s only one of those hundreds of exams that she has to go through in her life. And she’s only 12!  So heck, I am not going to loose sleep and hair over exams!

Sherilyn whipped up her designer yoghurt for breakkie today. In the morning, we went to the supermarket to shop for fruits. Back home, she sliced up some Australian strawberries for her pineapple yogurt.

Sherilyn’s creation – low-fat pineapple Swiss yogurt with cashews, heart-shaped strawberries and Nutella.

Lunch was at our latest favorite Korean haunt – Oiso Korean Restaurant.

My favorite beef Bibimbap again…

 

Another of my favorite – beef Bulgogi…

 

Korean rice cake with hard-boiled egg and tofu cake with Korean chilli paste.

 

Kimchi ramen, which is everyone’s favorite.

Korean seafood noodles…

 

For dessert, we segued next door to Macaroni Food And Coffee @ Faber Tower for…

Butter bread pudding with ice-cream…

Tiramisu….

Hubs ordered 2 pizzas for take-away for the pizza-craze girl sitting for exam.  Aargh, I hate pizzas and sick of having them every Sunday!!  I’ll be fine with oats + milk and some fruits 🙂

While Alycia locked herself in the bedroom and buried herself in school books, the 2 younger girls played Blokus and Monopoly. Both are strategy games and the girls love them. They spent over 2 hours playing with Alycia coming out every 15 minutes to watch them play. Poor girl, I can’t wait for her UPSR exam to be over so that she can immerse herself in all her favorite games and sports again.

 

I can happily update all my blogs since I don’t have to cook today.  Happy Sunday and have a fruitful week ahead world! 🙂

 

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Saturday Night Out – 18 July 2015 (Magnum Cafe and Nana’s Green Tea)

The day before the girls’ aunt Sarah returned to Hawaii, we went to Mid Valley Megamall – us to have dinner and Sarah to meet her friends.

Hubs planned to bring the girls to watch the Ant-Man at 8pm but the tickets were  sold out by time we reached the counter after queuing up for over half an hour! Instead, he bought tickets for the movie for the next day (Sunday).

After dinner of Japanese food, we segued into Malaysia’s first Magnum Cafe, located just a few doors away from the Japanese restaurant.

The lines were long outside the cafe and it took us  over half an hour to inch to the counter. Magnum has two floors and is a major magnet for crowds near the GSC cinema.

We opted for the ‘Make Your Own Magnum’ (RM9.90 per stick) where we patrons get to choose an ice cream base (vanilla or chocolate), coated with milk, white or dark choc, then customise it further with a plethora of intriguing toppings from an assortment of nuts to goji berries et al. This is a novelty that has worked for Magnum in many cities worldwide.

This is our pick – vanilla ice-cream base with a dip of white  chocolate and dark chocolate, coated with pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts.

 

Our verdict – being long-time loyal fans of Magnum, we loved our ‘Make Your Own Magnum’.  However, I feel that it is overpriced.  A regular Magnum Gold is retailed at RM4.50. If I were to add in my own nuts and chocolate bits / sauce, my DIY Magnum would probably cost only RM5.50 or at most RM6.  With RM4 going towards the rental of the shop, I’d rather buy my own Magnum Gold and add in my choice of nuts and toppings, without spending half an hour queuing up. Plus I get to enjoy my Magnum at the comfort of my own home! 😀

 

After the 3 girls and I shared the sole superior Magnum (like, how pathetic huh?), we went a floor up to  Nana’s Green Tea First Modular Shop and ordered green tea ice-creams! Now, everyone had their own lip-smacking green tea ice-cream on cone without having to share.  Nana’s Green Tea also has another outlet on the Lower Ground Floor of The Gardens. That outlet serves a sweeping selection of tea drinks, desserts and comfort Japanese food while Nana’s Green Tea Modular Shop serves ice-creams, desserts and drinks on the go.

Nana’s Green Tea is Japan’s biggest green tea house chain which use ‘‘Matcha’’ or green powdered tea as the main ingredient for its range of uniquely blended matcha green tea and other delectable items on its menu.

Magnum Cafe Kuala Lumpur
Third Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur

Nana’s Green Tea
T-045A, 3rd Floor Mezzanine
Mid Valley Megamall, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nanasgreentea.com.my
Website: www.nanasgreentea.com.my

 

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Shopping At Pavillion – 6 December 2014

To cheer up Cass who has been feeling really broody ever since her 2 che ches and grandma left for NZ, hubs brought us to Pavillion for shopping today.

We saw a ‘guai lo’ Santa Claus and I quickly asked Cass to pose next to him for a pic and then Whatsapp-ed the picture to her che ches in NZ.

Such Christmassy feel in Pavillion – great Xmas decor and lovely Xmas songs.  This is truly the best time of the year!

 

We had lunch at Kampachi.  Cass ordered her favorite Chawan Mushi and soba noodles.

My plate of raw protein, which I shared with hubs.

Then we spent over an hour at the Nike shop.  The basketball freak hubs shopped like crazy at the shop!  Since he was so in the mood to shop, I quickly grabbed a Nike tee and Nike dri-fit skorts for myself, kekeke…

 

While finding the loo, Cass’ sharp eyes saw something from a far.  Oh no, she saw toys! She pestered me to bring her there.  She filtered all the dolls and baby toys and then something caught her eyes – GUNS!  Oh NO!!  She was hooked on some Boom Co. Blasters toy guns that shoot our darts onto a sticker target!  And you know what?  I enjoyed playing with the gun too!  Soon, she bugged her daddy to buy her the Blasters toy guns and his ever indulgent daddy bought 3 of them!  2 for her cousins in NZ and 1 for Cass… complete with protective eye gear too!

 

You seeeeee, the little boy in him!!

And they spent almost an hour playing with BoomCo. Blasters while I went in to Parkson to do more shopping 😀

Since it has been yonks since we last went overseas (Singapore not included la), we found out that we do not have enough luggage bags!  So we hunted for trolley luggage bags too.

Tomorrow, we will be doing shopping again.  This time to buy  a jacket for myself and hubs will probably get another hand-carry trolley luggage bag.  I told hubs that luggage bags are a good investment since they can last for many years.  Very soon, Alycia would be needing them when she goes overseas for further studies, I told him.  I am that forward thinking like that, haha!

 

 

 

 

 

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First ABL Match For The Girls

After dinner with my parents last night, the hubby dragged everyone along to the MABA stadium to  watch an ABL (Asean Basketball League) match between Malaysia Dragons and Vietnam.  It was the girls and my parents’ first time watching a life basketball match.  The hubs had on hand some VIP tickets, thus dragged everyone along.

 

 

Players as tall as Yao Ming and as fast as lightning charging the court and displaying their sheer competency.  Each half court strike would earn them a minimum of five thousand bucks!   Go be a basketball player if you have got the height!!

 

 

Check out how TALL the Malaysia Dragons player is!  My parents and girls look like midgets standing next to him!

 

My parents obviously enjoying the game.  The girls are seated next to Roy kau fu.

 

This burly and lanky Malaysia Dragon player swept Cass off her feet! She commented that he was as sweaty and slippery as an eel and smelled ewwwwww!  LOL!

 

It was indeed an eye-opening experience for the girls.  They now look forward to watching the next ABL match!

 

 

 

No. of times viewed = 388

Urban Playz @ Mid Valley Megamall

As promised, here are the pictures of Alycia, Sherilyn and Cass tackling the Urban Playz climbing walls at Mid Valley Megamall last Sunday.

Cass started the wall climb first, followed by Alycia.  When Cass and Alycia did the wall climb, I was shopping with Sherilyn.  Sherilyn later joined them.

My monkey girl finally got the chance to prove her climbing and hanging prowess, ha ha ha!  After her 3 climbs, I asked her if she was scared but my daredevil was as confident as ever and said “not at all!”

Cass looks like she’s on some  kids backdrops for photography in this pic!

Below: Sherilyn attempting the Tetris Wall Climb.

Urban Playz consists of three climbing walls: Tetris Wood, Speed Track and Nine Cross. Each wall is structured differently and is fun to climb!  Looking at my girls climb the walls at a height of 20 feet did scare the living day lights out of me. It also brought back lots of fond memories of my camping and rock-climbing days in Lumut and Pangkor Island during my teenage days.   Rock-climbing and wall-climbing are an entirely different sports.   Rock-climbing requires much,  much more endurance,  perseverance and a brave heart.

 

 

Currently there are three walls available for your climbing pleasure: Nine Cross provides many possibilities to get to the top, one has to spend some time thinking them through. Tetris, as the name suggests, is a wall based on the popular arcade game Tetris.  Speed Track gives those speed demons and junkies out there a run for their money, giving them an opportunity to see how fast they can get to the top.

Sherilyn atop the Tetris and strategizing how and where to place her legs..

 

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There were no pictures of Alycia climbing the walls taken as hubs and I videoed her climbs instead.

All in all, I think the 3 walls were pretty simple for my 3 daredevils to conquer.  To them, it’s a piece of cake!  Perhaps hubs should bring them to do the real McCoy – outdoor rock-climbing!  I’ll know who the real daredevil is from there!

 

 

No. of times viewed = 598

Surprise Buffet Dinner On Saturday – 27 September 2014

On Saturday, hubs brought us to a surprise venue for dinner!  We kept asking him where the venue was — whether it was at our neighborhood restaurant, at a posh restaurant or a regular eatery but all he said was “just dress up and get down to the lobby!”

The night before, we did mention to him that we wanted to go to our favorite ‘tai chau’ restaurant at our neighborhood for dinner on Saturday.  So thinking that he would be bringing us to this restaurant, we all wore the clothes that we wore in the morning (to the mamak restaurant)  for dinner.  Even in the car, he kept the surprise all wrapped up.  But we could guess the venue already  half way through the journey.   Jeng jeng jeng… he brought us to a posh hotel for buffet dinner, alamak!  So all of us, donned in our  house clothes walked into the hotel with slippers *coughs*.  I was hoping that I won’t chance into someone I know but as luck always has it, I did bump into someone I know at the buffet dinner!   Great!

So here we are, at the coffee house of Hiltan Sentral KL and dressed up shabbily and not a jot of make-up was on my pale face :O

 

Sherilyn in her shabbiest tee but this girl could not be bothered a jot. She enjoyed her dinner thoroughly, diving in at the buffet counters umpteen times.

 

Someone mentioned that he ain’t going to touch prawns and sea food for the next 2 months after over-doing on seafood in Penang just 2 weeks back. But look what he got…

 

For over a hundred bucks per person for the buffet dinner, hubs and I said that it ain’t worth it as we are but small eaters now.  We were there to utilize the complimentary vouchers that came with his membership with the hotel.  Of late, we cannot really pig out on food anymore.  It must be that we are aging!  We used to do hotel-hopping yonks ago and ate like a horse in buffet lunches and dinners.  He had membership with half a dozen of hotels back then but has since cut down to only two.  Buffet meals are just not the way for us anymore. We are now inclined towards kosher meals and indulging in some ‘sins’ occasionally 😉

 

 

 

 

 

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Four Points Sheraton Penang (16 – 17 September 2014)

For the past five years, our usual stay in Penang would either be Northam Suites, G Hotel, Gurney Hotel or Hard Rock Penang. This time, we tried Four Points by Sheraton and we all loved this hotel!

Four Points Sheraton Penang is situated in Tg. Bungah, about 15 minutes drive from Gurney Drive.

 

We rented 2 Executive Suites facing the sea and the view was awesome pawsome!!

The view from my parents’ room was breathtaking. Too bad we could not take a good shot of the view using our Samsung phones. Alycia and Sherilyn slept on the comfy couch next to the window in my parents’ room (as shown in the picture below). Cass could still fit into a baby cot, placed next to our bed.

 

View from the 2nd floor of my parents’ room at Four Points Sheraton , Penang…

 

Welcome snacks from the hotel…

The Executive Suite rooms were very spacious and clean. The staff were very friendly and service was good. The only thing that we were a tad disappointed in was the food at the buffet breakfast. This said, I think the disappointing breakfast would not deter us from staying at Four Points Penang again. After all, the breakfast was only to fill up half our tummies before we charged the hawker stalls in Penang HAHA! What’s a trip to Penang if you do not get to indulge in char kuay teow, assam laksa, rojak, cendol and seafood eh? 😉

Four Points by Sheraton Penang - Four Points Suite - Living Area

I can never get enough of the view of the beach, so magnificent and invigorating!

 

 

View from where Sherilyn slept…

 

Four Points by Sheraton Penang - Swimming Pool

Breakfast by the pool and beach…

After breakfast the next day… the skies were gloomy and then it poured cats and dogs.

The stretch of beach at Four Points hotel was teeming with seashells. My seashells craze Cass could not believe her luck and eyes when she first saw the bounty of seashells on the long stretch of beach. Before our trip to Penang, I promised her that I would buy her some seashells if we happen to chance upon someone selling seashells. But now the seashells are free for our picking, absolutely! Upon checking into the hotel, the girls quickly changed into their beach attire, ran to the beach and started picking up seashells. We even bruised our knees and hands to climb over some huge rocks to get over to the other side of the beach to hunt for more seashells! We collected 2 big bags of seashells on the first day! It was enjoyable for the girls, their daddy, koong koong, granny and for me too, hunting for the best piece of seashell.

 

My dad collecting seashells with the girls…

Part of the girls’ seashells loot…

 

Just before we checked out from the hotel the next day, Cass badgered her daddy to bring her to the beach to pick up seashells again. The ever indulgent daddy agreed and despite the burning 12 noon fiery sun, daddy and I walked the beach with Cass for a final round of seashells collection. After 20 minutes, I was flushed and went under the shade of the trees to seek refuge while daddy and Cass continued hunting for the best piece of seashell. Yes, we did find some very pretty and amazing seashells! 🙂

 

 

Till we meet again soon, Four Points Sheraton Penang! Hopefully we will be able to come back in May 2015!

 

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Namoo On The Park @ Publika

We planned to leave KL for Ipoh very early in the morning today but as expected, work cropped up and hubs had to settle some work at his office. So we had to drop our plan of having good old Ipoh hawkers food at Kwong Heng.  Instead we went to Publika @ Solaris Dutamas to have lunch before our journey to Ipoh.

Hubs brought us to Namoo On The Park. This restaurant serves Korean fusion cuisine with an interesting Tex-Mex influence.

The first dish that came was Bibimbab Hot Stone Beef Rice with kimchi.  For someone who does not fancy eating rice, I could not resist trying out this very flavorful rice served in hot stone bowl. It was pretty spicy and the girls were gulping down cups of water after each spoonful or rice.

 

 

The  Namoo Galbi Beef Ribs were scrumptious – very enjoyable to the last bite and bone licking good too – justifiable for a RM53.90 price tag.

 

Carbonara pasta with raw alfalfa sprouts for the kids

 

Beef rice burger. The rice burger was firm, sticky and dense and does not break up easily. It was chewable with a nice texture and way better than eating wheat flour buns. The burger was flavorful and served with some salad and french fries as accompaniments.

 

 

Red Velvet cake with butter cream.

 

The damage…

 

 

 

Namoo On The Park is located next to one of the cleanest and coolest playgrounds I have seen in KL.  It reminds me of the park at Marina Cove in Singapore – check this out…

 

My odd ball no.2 gave me another eye-rolling moment when she wore her thick GAP jacket to play in the park under a 36 Degrees C sweltering heat!!  She got scalded by some hot acid spewing out from my mouth when she refused to remove the jacket!  My terrible tween, who sometimes makes me feel like she is a twin of the devil!

 

 

After our lunch at Namoo, hubs dragged us all to Whimsical opposite Namoo to have some really whimsical desserts like nasi lemak ice cream (yes you read it right – nasi lemak in ice cream!) and cotton candy Affocado!  Stay tuned to catch the pix!

 

 

 

 

No. of times viewed = 824

Staycation at The Westin KL (1 – 2 August 2014)

The girl’s aunt and cousin from Hong Kong are here for their yearly vacation.  This year, their trip coincides with the week-long Raya holiday and we decided to have a staycation at Westin Hotel for the four cousins to bond with each other. For us, this is our second staycation at a hotel in the heart of KL in the same week and my first ever staycation in KL with SIL and nephew from HK.

 

 

For once, my camera-shy 11-year old allowed her picture to be taken!  With her 2-piece swimsuit some more!!  I am definitely gonna strike lottery tomorrow! LOL!

 

Cass had to wear her dress to play at the wading pool as she lost her swimsuit along with her goggles when she lost her backpack at the Pavillion shopping mall last night 🙁

 

 

The girls with their cousin, having a splashing good time today.

 

 

 

 

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A Day At The Popular Book Fest 2014 – 29 July 2014

As planned, we left the house at 9ish am today to escape the crawl into KLCC.  Traffic was pretty good and we breezed into the KLCC car park.

This is the KL skyline at 10am, which was very hazy and not a single cloud was seen in the sky.

 

We charged the English books level first and the girls scooped over 20 books from this section!

 

 

 

Roald Dahl, Wimpy Kids,  39 Clues, Geronimo Stilton and most of the popular kids story books are on a 25% discount!  Alycia and Sherilyn were on cloud 9 at the book fest!  It was like a dream come true for them when their daddy gave them the green light to  fill up the trolley luggage bag that we brought along with books!

Enid Blyton hard cover books going for RM8 each for purchase of 2 and above!

 

Some of the activities lined up at the book fest — experiments for kids and cook shows.

 

All the halls were sardine-packed with book lovers. I could hardly stretch out my arms at the halls.  Every available space was filled up by people.  I hate being in such a horribly crowded place but the strong air-conditioning and good ventilation made our 2-hour shopping spree bearable.

Part of our loot, from the English books section only.  Next, we charged the Chinese books section, the school workbooks section and lastly, the stationery section.  Hubs had never been that patient doing shopping (for 2 long freaking hours!), all for his 3 princesses.

Alycia and Sherilyn the moment we reached home…

 

Part of the girls’ loot…

 

 

Flavours magazines for the foodie hubs.

 

Tumblers of various brands are going at half price. I got this Gemeilia tumbler for Cass at only RM8 (half the price of RM15.90).  I wanted to grab a Paul Frank tumbler for myself and get more BROS tumblers but I was worried that hubs would flip when he pays for them. So I placed all the tumblers back with a heavy heart.  He had earlier paid RM400+ for a bag full of books *GULPS*!

 

I also bought workbooks for the 3 girls to be used for next year.  All workbooks are discounted and some with a 50% discount.

The total damage at the Popular Book Fest was about RM500 and the amount that we saved is substantial.

After spending 2 hours at the book fest, we went to Isetan  to have lunch at the Japanese eatery, did some grocery shopping and then had tea and cakes at Harrods Cafe.

When we left KLCC 5 hours later, our car park bill was a choking RM16!!

Would we come back again next year?  Tempted too but I really hated the crowd at KLCC.  It is bad this time as it is the long Hari Raya holiday.  It was a sea of people at the entire KLCC and the Convention Centre.  The majority of the people at KLCC were foreign laborers.   We had to inch our way up the escalators, queue up to use toilets and I had a phobia of losing sight of my girls.  When the queue at one of the toilets was too long, I went to the pay toilets and was told to pay  RM8 for my girls and I to use the toilets!  I rolled my eyes and walked up the escalator to find another toilet.  I spent over half an hour just to bring my girls to pee, shoots!

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable and relaxing Raya holiday.  Tomorrow Cass has to attend kindy while her 2 che ches are off school until Sunday.

The Popular Book Fest held at the KL Convention Centre is ongoing until Sunday, 3 August 2014. If you want to breeze your way into the KLCC, plan and start your journey early. Be sure to reach the place before 10am. Have a good breakfast at home first to get the energy that you need to walk, scramble your way and wade through the flood of people and to shop for at least 2 hours 😉

 

 

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More Cameron Highlands Trip Pix (9-10 June 2014)

Here are more pictures of our Cameron Highlands trip 🙂

 

At the gloriously scenic Bharat tea plantation.
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Pretty girls all in a row.
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After tucking into some delish scones with freshly brewed Bharat tea leaves teh tarik at the tea house (picture below), we walked down to the tea plantation for a cam-whoring session.  Running up the steep steps from the tea plantation to the top (chasing the littlest monkey who could zig zag her way up so swiftly!!) left me breathless and at one point, I felt I was gasping and could not breathe! Oh no, I hope I am not a potential asthma patient like my mum!

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At the beautiful flower garden that we nicknamed the ‘Secret Garden’ at the Smokehouse Hotel.

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Melt-in-the-mouth scones from the coffee house of Smokehouse Hotel, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Can you spot someone with a sulky face hiding?

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Cass was in a foul mood when we were at the Smokehouse Hotel coffee house and refused to be in the photo *rolls eyes*!

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At the flower garden of the hotel that we stayed in – Casa De’La Rosa Hotel.  One of the things that I love about Camerons is the beautiful fresh flowers everywhere in full bloom all year round.

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My dad brought the girls to the temple to pay respect to their great grandparents (my dad’s parents). This is the lion that my 2 brothers and I used to stand on to pose almost every year during Chinese New Year when we were younger.  Now, my own three kids are standing on the same lion’s feet 🙂
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At Kasimanis Strawberry Farm. Strawberries are not in season now, thus we could not see any red strawberries in full bloom, what a pity 🙁
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Father’s Day Lunch At Bankara Ramen @ Avenue K

Today is Father’s Day and we spent our day at Avenue K.

In the morning, the girls gave their daddy their own-made cards and drawings. Sherilyn bought a pack of chewing gum for her daddy.

We had lunch at our favorite Japanese noodle house, Bankara Ramen at Avenue K.

Bankara Ramen is a Tokyo-based noodle chain that made its presence in Kuala Lumpur early this year. We first tasted Bankara Ramen’s noodles about a month back and have since fallen in love with their lusciously thick and rich soup-based noodles. For someone who tries to steer clear from the oodles of high-carb (and fattening) noodles, I tend to loose it and drown myself in Bankara Ramen’s noodles. What makes Bankara Ramen’s noodles stand out from the rest is the soup, which is thick, rich and very flavorful. Every bowl of noodles comes with a hefty topping of finely chopped spring onions. I especially love Bankara’s signature broth (RM27++ with four chunky pieces of chashu). The A+ rating soup (HFM’s rating) is made with pork bones infused with refined shoyu.

 

 

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We ordered a bowl of rice specially for the rice-addict of the family!
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On every table is a generous serving of complimentary fresh garlic that customers can press for themselves using a garlic presser, pickled ginger and a bottle of toasted sesame seeds. Thus, with these additional aromatic and flavorful toppings, our noodles were absolutely  delish and tasty to the last strand!

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After lunch, hubs brought the girls to Black Bull [Kitchen • Bar • Lounge] to play bowling, pool and darts, while I indulged myself in some retail therapy. Nothing gives me more pleasure than shopping kekeke 😀

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After retail therapy for moi and play therapy for the girls, hubs headed to Library to wind down with some waffles with ice-cream and coffee. While I get my pleasure from buying stuff, the girls get their pleasure from play, the foodie hubs gets his from food!

Today marks the end of the girls’ 2.5 weeks of school holiday. Tomorrow will be back to reality. Back to the grind and rut. It is a fusion of emotions for me – happy yet sad. Happy that my days are more structured again and I get back my me time in the morning. And sad at the same time that I am going to be heavily indebted again – to my beauty sleep. That’s motherhood and motherhood is all about riding on a roller-coaster. You have  ups and you have downs.

 

 

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HEALTH FREAK MOMMY