Chef Joy

Since we have a kitchen for the kids, I requested Ah Mah to sew a chef's hat and apron to complete the look.
It would have been easy to just buy from some toy shop but this is better. It's special because it's made by Ah Mah. I can tell Joy that her Ah Mah is so clever to be able to sew it for her.

Thank you Ah Mah. Now Joe wants a similar one in blue!

Hyla in the home

I've had a problem with dust for the longest time. It's more accurately called indoor pollution. Now that we have a new home twice the size of the old one, I told Daalin that I'm gonna need some help with keeping the house clean but I still don't quite like the idea of maids or cleaners.

So we finally got a Hyla. It's much more than just a vacuum cleaner.

The stuff that comes out of the mattresses and pillows is just shocking!

Can you imagine sleeping with all that every night?

So far, cleaning has been a breeze. I can clean everything from ceiling to floor with this Hyla. There's even no need to wash the curtains because I can just suck everything up and flush it down the toilet. And thus far, I'm glad to say that Actifed is no longer my best friend!

Bellygood Restaurant

Sometime ago we bought two 50% discount vouchers each for a 3-course meal + drink at Bellygood Restaurant in Sunway Mentari. We went twice and found it closed both times, before eventually finding out from their neighbour that they close on Mondays.

Then we forgot all about the vouchers until last night, and the vouchers expire today! So Daalin and I had a really nice porky lunch today.

For drinks we had iced lemon tea.

Then came the salads.... Grilled Bacon Salad...


...and Smoked Salmon Salad.

Next up came the main course...Pork Belly...

...and Baby Back Ribs...

Nice. But I wouldn't pay full price for it.


For desserts, we had a choice of Cinnamon Apples with ice-cream or Sticky Date Pudding but the ran out of the latter so we both had the former.

Compared to Nambawan, this place is more refined. It's a rather cosy quiet place. But the food is pricier although not as pricy as the few famous american foodchain restaurants. Nambawan is not fully-air-conditioned and doesn't have the ambience of a place where you'd bring someone for a first date. But it's value-for-money.

I guess I'd go back to Nambawan....especially for the RM6.90 pork burger!

I'm a banana. Yellow outside but white on the inside.

I also have a western stomach. I'd much rather have pasta or burgers than rice. Anyday. In fact, I'd be quite happy to not have to eat rice.

For a vacation, I would pick USA or Australia over China. Anytime. For that matter, I've been to both USA and Australia but never to China and I would go again and again to USA and Australia (if I had money unlimited) and it would not matter if I never went to China.

I know, I know....it's so un-chinese of me. Kacang lupakan kulit.

But my children will have to go to chinese school and learn to read and write chinese. He's already learning it in kindy and they are tested on 'ting sie' every week.

This is what he had to write last week.

Gong Ji (rooster) and Mu Ji Hui Xia Tan (mother hen can lay egg). Not easy and so many strokes. So my smart son being the adaptive child he is, wrote Tan as in his surname because he couldn't remember how to write tan as in egg.

But he did eventually get it right in school. After 2 big chee tans, this time he got 9/10. I know he has the brains if he will just focus and concentrate on his work. For now, he's such a dreamer and so easily distracted.

Nana's Birthday

Yesterday Nana turned 64 years young. We had an early celebration on Monday because KimKim is on night shift the rest of this week. Simple makan and chit chat at home. And the kids wanted to cut the cake again and again...
...and again and again...

Yesterday on the actual birthday, I told Joy-Anne, "today is Nana's real birthday" and she gave me a duh look and said, "again ah?"

Nana & KongKong went to Shogun on their own for dinner. Birthday girl eats free and senior citizen gets 50% off.

YeeYee buy. Mama pay.

New Lightning McQueen swimpants and rashguard. Size 7/8. YeeYee buy. Mama pay money.
New pink sunglasses. USD3. YeeYee buy. Mama pay money.

Joe's Texas t-shirt from Elizabeth's Ah Mah and Joy's polo t-shirt that YeeTeow bought. But mama pay money.

And I've no idea why they like to climb on to the sofa like this....

Good thing I didn't buy this sofa. So there's no heartache.

HomeBlessing Party with Luscious Treats

I just had the most delicious western spread...in my own home!!!

We organized an 'official' homeblessing/housewarming with our immediate family, CG, Senior Pastor, Zone Pastor, Ministry Pastor and our ministry 'colleagues'. It was a wonderful time of worship, prayer and testimony to God's goodness, faithfulness and providence.

And how you may ask did I find this wonderful caterer who single-handedly cooked all the mouth-watering fare. Well I first found her cousin who makes cupcakes and the likes when I googled for cakes for my dad's birthday. But her cousin was unable to bake on the date I wanted and so referred me to Azlin, telling me that her lasagne was "to die for". However Azlin was also unable to cook on 1st Jan and so referred me to another cousin who did the little cupcakes for my dad's 65th birthday. Culinary skills sure runs in the family!
From Luscious Treats we had Chicken Lasagne, Beef Shepherd's Pie, Lamb meatballs with Minty Yoghurt Dip...

...Tomato Salsa Bruschetta...

...sweet and spicy chicken wings...

...baked custard tartlets...

...brownie cheesecake...

...mini tuna puffs...

...mini chicken sausage rolls...

...and this was a last minute bonus which was not in the original menu.... marshmallow treats! Everyone ate and overate to their hearts content and we still had plenty of leftovers. Most were surprised to know that a malay lady cooked such wonderful western delights. KongKong said the chicken lasagne is wayyyyy better than any restaurant's. Joe said he liked "the potato on the shepherd's pie". This is coming from a kid who eats chicken rice without chicken and wan tan mee without wan tan.

Me....I'm looking forward to walloping the leftovers tomorrow because I was too busy to properly savour the food tonight. Oh and the cost...RM15 per head - delicious value for money!

New bicycles in our new home

It was a quiet day at work and I felt prompted to google for children's bicycles.

We have been planning to get bicycles for the kids but the old home was not conducive. There was no place to store and no place to ride since the terrain is too hilly.

Now that we're in our new home, there's a spacious lift lobby and flat ground all around the condo compound.

Low and behold, I found an ad for not one but three (!!!) bicycles for sale, 2 of which are LeRun bikes. I'm not too informed about bicycle brands but I think this is a decent one because I've heard of it. We bought the 'package' of 3 bikes, 2 helmets and 2 bicycle locks from the very nice man. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled beyond words.
The biggest bike (adult size) couldn't fit in the car so we'll have to make another trip when the YongPengTribe comes with their MPV.

I'm absolutely certain this is another of God's blessings because we concluded the sale barely 2 hours after the seller posted the ad. Now mama can ride with the kids while papa jogs and watch for cars!!!

swimming in pink

I went to Jusco 1Utama to check out the pre-renovation clearance sale, looking for electrical items but ended up buying a swimsuit (size 10!!!) for my princess. Ogival - RM30 only. Particularly love the coverage over the shoulders and neck to keep her warm from cold wind and the pretty skirt.

And... Nana is back!!! With lots of goodies too!
Thanks Yee Yee for the pink sunglasses! I love it!!!

Sembawang Splash Park - revisit

We made another visit to Sembawang Splash Park this morning. The weather was absolutely lovely and the kids had a blast!While the boys ran straight for it, Joy-Anne took a while to actually get herself wet.

If we had gone to the WaterPlay at the Singapore Zoo, we would have spent a LOT of money on admission fees.

While this is all FREE!!! Wonderfully FREE!

I read that there's a similar thing back home at the Mines Shopping Centre but when you're not on holiday, you just don't have the time to go. And when you are free to go, everyone else is also free making the place very crowded.

I was very surprised that we almost had the whole Splash Park to ourselves this morning. Hardly half a dozen other kids considering it's a public holiday. Maybe all the Singaporeans are in Johor busy shopping or visiting to collect ang pow.

The water aside, I think the best part for Joe is just spending time with his brothers...

...that's what Chinese New Year is about after all - spending time with family!

Blessed Chinese New Year to everyone!

January Birthday no.4 - mine!

After planning 3 birthday celebrations this month, I get to enjoy mine - today! I had an early celebration at Cell last Friday night when we hosted the CG at our new home for the first time. They very kindly surprised me with a blueberry cake - thanks to Facebook for keeping everybody informed.

This morning, my fellow coordinators surprised me with a cake at Little Lamb.

We had lunch together with my dad, brother and sister-in-law. Then I had a blissful 2-hour nap in the afternoon on my comfy new bed in my lovely new home.

In the evening, we dropped Joe and Joy off at my brother's house for them to practice their parenting skills while we went off to claim my free meal at Shogun.

Round 1 - most things salmon...

Round 2 - more sushi, lobster salad and oysters...

Round 3 - sashimi and soft shell crab...

Round 4 - taking a sweet break...

Round 5 - more salmon and oyster...

Round 6 - fruity dessert and I couldn't eat anymore...

We walked around for 2 hours checking out treadmills and then went to JuiceWorks to claim my free smoothie (member benefit). Of course I had a cookies and cream smoothie!

It's been a very sweet and blessed birthday! Thank you Lord!