short break

I'm off to KL tomorrow with kids. The trip is for them. School hol treat.

Be back by next Wednesday.

So till then, have a nice week, everyone ! Be sure to visit whimsy, she's due back tomorrow , from KL. Let's see her stories.

Tata!

free promo

Time for some free promotions here.

There's this shop called Kaison (nda cantik nama dia kan?) just next to Servay Putatan. Sells household and home decor things. But I only realised today that the stuffs they're selling are much cheaper than anywhere else.
For example this glass canister is RM 6.90 a piece. I know it costs a whole lot more in Signature(oops! sorry Signature).

And this bakul rotan belapik (featured by shabbymom before), priced at RM 12.90. You can find a lot of these at Wisma Merdeka too. No need to name the particular store. But it costs more there.

This is only RM 9.90 at Kaison. But at a certain store, its RM 13.90 . Quite a difference kan.

The shop is pleasant to have a looksie. You're greeted with the lovely smell of pot pourri and you'll be marvelled at so many cute little things. I like the many glass vases with the assorted colorful pebbles. And the gift wrappers, gift boxes, scented candles..so perfect for christmas present shopping.

Promo number 2 : Rehat & Sehat Reflexology. (again, nda gah namanya kan)

I tried the full body massage just now , my back has been aching for weeks and I had this place' name at the back of my mind since reading Sharon's post. All I can say is, thank you Sharon for recommending this place. Betul-betul bagus oh dia urut. Terasa. And I feel instantly refreshed. So where is this place? Wisma Merdeka, Tingkat 2 , new phase. Round saja di belakang belakang tu mesti jumpa. But upon entering, you must be prepared to 'not be impressed' with the interior. It's a humble place. No ambience whatsoever. But the masseur do know her thing. You won't be dissappointed.

kids day out

The fun began Friday. I brought them out to watch Madagascar II. Have you all watched it? You must. We loovve it! Hilarious. From start to finish. We didn't feel 2 hours flew. I must get the DVD.

Then, Saturday we had a little bbq. Just a simple one. Hubby eager to test the newly bought device to quickstart the fire. It worked. Bbq done in no time. We're ready for New Year do (wink !).

Sunday, we visited the Lok Kawi Wild Life. Yeah..it's been open ages and we only made the trip today.
Scorching heat and long walks but the kids didn't mind. They enjoyed the tour, at times going back the same place twice to check if a certain animal had woke up. No, after an hour the musang and tiger cub were still asleep.

All their cousins are here. That's why they tahan berjalan lama-lama tu.

We caught the 11.15 am show. The stars today were the ape Marsha, parrots Pako&Carlo, hornbills and a small python.

Parrots doing trick.

A coconut husking competition between man and ape. This is the volunteer competitor from the crowd.

The ape, Marsha won. A she-ape 4 years old but her strength equal to that of 4 grown men.

Some pics of the other animals .

Bambino in real life. Beautiful.

That's all for now. Chiao !

weekend getaway

Weekend was spent in Nexus, Karambunai. Hubby had a golf tournament there Sunday morning so it just made sense to tag along and spend a night there. Two families - us and Linda.

Tapi sebelum tu, bergegas ke klinik with Helmi as he was coughing bad the day earlier. Doctor changed his antibiotic and he got 20 min on the pump

Kesian, dari duduk sampai baring .

We went ahead and arrived around 1 pm Saturday. Terus buka picnic box. Laparr.

Memandangkan keadaan Helmi, kami tidak jadi cari port cantik bawah pokok kayu. Memadai lah lunch indoor saja.

Our verandah overlooking the ocean.

Jalan-jalan sekitar beach front. Perfect weather. Not scorching and quite breezy.

3 pm they hit the pool. (the sick boy stayed in the room playing games).

Yang paling best waktu malam. Very windy with the sound of the ocean breeze. Pemandangan d cafe ni (Sunset Bar) sangat2 cantik dengan ombaknya, tapi kamera cikai aku tidak memberi kesan yang sepatutnya..

Sunday morning, after breakfast ,main-main di depan pool.



Hari mau pulang, barulah Helmi sihat sikit , mau main-main di padang.

My eldest, Adzim, trying the fun horse ride.

He really enjoyed it .

And after that, helping Julia finish her batik painting.

We had great fun.

Friday Makan-Makan

Well what do you know, 2 weeks in a row!

Last week lamb, today malay dish. Sila jeles dengan gambar-gambar ini :
nyonya asam fish, courtesy of whimsy.

kerabu mangga, courtesy of whimsy too.

cotton pudding, by shabbymom. ini sangat simple but feel-good food.

cantik kan? xmas tree tray! yang ada penyucuk tu, marshmallow dip in chocolate, specially made by whimsy.

the eclairs brought by shabbymom.

Host hanya menyediakan nasi dan venue.

nda cukup kuih-kuih sejuk, ada juga kuih panas - cucur tarap and goreng pisang.

courtesy of Linda's maid.

the children and whimsy engrossed in Tunasari's concert video. look at sofea.

More pics at whimsy's when she blog this. Tata !

butter crab

No, I didn't cook it. Pernah juga masak sendiri, tapi tidaklah melawan yang Garden Seafood punya bah kan.
We went there couple of nights ago to satisfy son's craving (son kunun..). It's been a while, the last time we were there was in fasting month.
Oooh...punya sedapp. Gambar di atas, sudah tinggal sikit baru ingat mau snap, sibuk makan. Very fat ketam. Setiap 'compartment' nya ada isi tebal..huh! puas hati.. I was really stuffing myself..and my son..jangan cakaplah...sampai ke kolar baju the butter. He has his own style of eating. Crack the meat out one by one (me & hubby help with the pincers part) and heap it on his rice, and then pour the butter cream on top, and then he starts eating with his spoon. Save the best for last kind of thing.
It was raining hard midway sampai kena tempias belakang kami (table was at the side). Tapi teruskan juga. Too late to pindah meja and tangan penuh dengan sticky butter.

Today I got another makan-makan. Hehehe..if everything go by schedule, we'll have nyonya fish curry. Can't wait. I went to the gym this morning just to lessen the guilt. I'll tell you more about it next post.

On a different note,

ini classmate Chacha not feeling well la. Today he's better but when he woke up Thursday morning he scared me. He was burning with fever and vomitted non stop. Couldn't even hold down plain water, everything came back up. Had to rush to Dr Tan Twian Vui, the only nearby good doctor I know that comes in on time, relieving me of unnecessary annoying waiting. A lot of other clinincs, open like 8.30 am but the doctor only walks in 9.30 am by which time, there'll be already 20 people waiting.

Anyway, it's just an infection in his respiratory. He's much better now.

Well have a nice weekend guys !

energetic happy chicken

He's been practising hard, everyday for weeks. Today is showtime! and he gave all he had!


It is Tunasari year end concert. My son's first show in all his life.


excitedy waiting his turn.

his number - the chicken dance!

nailed it. well done my boy!

weekend in miri

Yup! We just got back from Miri, Sarawak. Attended the wedding of hubby's relative there. Stayed at Imperial Hotel Apartments. I had a fun time exploring the town (shops, mainly) with my ever sporting MIL and shopaholic SIL and her cousin. Hubby stayed back in the apartment with the kids most of the time.(we had a free reign!)

So the story goes - we arrived Friday afternoon, and without further ado, set off to check out what Miri is all about (aiseh!). Roamed the shops at Imperial Mall, where we stayed. There's a few nice ones. Managed to get a shirt, jeans and pants. My daughter joined us at first, the boys stayed with their father in the room(hubby brought his notebook and a few CD movies, boys got their PSP). We returned after 1 hour, to send the shoppings back in the room and went down again for more.

SIL's cousin suggested we walked across to Bintang Plaza. From what she heard, it's only 5 min away. So we agreed. But it's not 5 min. Hell, it's..let me see..5 min x 7? . There was a pipe repairworks midway in the supposed-to-be shortcut, and we had to use the long way. It was too late to turn back. Bida lagi shortcut nya tu, limpas perumahan cina, kena salak anjing lagi. Crazy. My poor daughter and her buddy (the cousin's daughter) were grumpy, but they are strong girls and didn't cry.

Anyway, we arrived safely. We stopped for breath and fuel at Mc D before continuing with our explorace. And we found plenty.

There are SALES everywhere, up to 70%. First thing, my daughter made me buy her a top sebagai hukuman(KIKO, only 10% sale). Fair enough. Then I got some Applemint shirts and jeans. After discount, it costs averagely RM 20 a piece. Mur.. kan?

We stayed till 9.00 pm before the cousin's uncle fetched us home. SIL found glass dishware very much similar to the expensive pyrex, but for a mere fraction of the price. Its microwave and oven safe (says the box label, so). A 7" pie dish, only RM 19.90. She bought 2. I can't wait to hear her verdict. Banar ka tahan.

The next day was the wedding.

The aturcara here is very different. Friday night, they have karaoke (we skipped it). Saturday morning the wedding and it start with marhaban, around 9.00 am, follows with hadrah, then the nikah ceremony. After that, bersanding & merenjis, and then finally makan time (12.30 pm) , serentak. You don't come at 10.00 am and expect to eat right away here.

Some pics at the wedding.

marhaban

hantaran

the bride & groom

We got back to our room around 1.00 pm. Below are some pics of our apartment. Two rooms. RM 218 a night. Quite mur,kan?

At the hotel lobby, an exhibition of a chef making a biscuit house. Yes. That house' exterior is plastered with pieces of rolled bread. Until we checked out, it's not finished yet. I wonder how appetising it looks.

Ok. So after resting a while we went out for some 'sight-seeing'. This time we took a cab to Boulevard Shopping Mall. Only me, SIL and MIL. My daughter, fearing the long walk again, refused to join. The cousin, couldn't get out of her relative's house where she's staying. Hahaha. My SIL's daughter (Farina) pun gave up joining us. (Mengkali bebadas sudah dia ikut kami bejalan kemarin tu).

Boulevard is a major department store here. Again, exciting SALE happening.

I wasn't planning to buy bedsheet, I don't need one. But before you say anything, it's lovely roses, 100 % cotton AND 80% sale!
Queen bed set for only RM 65.94. The complete set, okay, fittedsheet, pillowcase, bolstercase.

Look at these...! Don't you think they're pretty?

And then I got some clothes for me & kids. SODA, VOIR, NICOLE all on SALE.

Across the street from Boulevard is a fruitstall, which operates daily from afternoon till late night. It is musim durian here. Lots of durian. We are not crazy about durian but we would be crazy not to sample some from the heaps infront of us.

So we ate then and there, by the stall. Satu tumpuk RM 20 (ada 5 biji). Punya tebal isi dia. Lemak.We ate 2 biji and tapau the rest into a plastic container for hubby and the others. Ada yang RM10 satu kilo. Favourite among the chinese. There's a couple who bought worth of RM 300. Punya sanggup kan berabis untuk durian!

We got back to our apartment, both happy and dizzy by the shopping and the durian.

Late that night, hubby and I tried the open air seafood restaurant nearby for late supper, tapi tidak sedap lah. Nice place but food, out.

The next day is already our flight home.

Before that, sempat menyinggah ke Restoran Garden..something, but famous for the sotong kangkung, according to SIL's hubby who frequently go to Miri.

sotong tauhu. tauhu dia panas-panas, rangup. sedap.

sotong kangkung. memang sedap.

Flight delay 15 min. Memang Air Asia. Nasib baik 15 min saja.

That's all folks. Have a nice week!