my son and his pet

Do we finally have a pet?
Well, we renovated the pond at the back and put in some fish. At the moment, only 5 ekor.

The kids are very happy with the pet and so excited they give the fish each a name. Pearl, Lemon, Goldie, Blackie, Pumpkin.

However the fish are very shy (or maybe terrified) , they dart around like mad hiding behind the fountain whenever their 'names' are called. I told them the fish will take some time to get used to them. Helmi unsatisfied and impatient kept nagging at me (to help him get friendly with the fish!..), I eventually sat him down and gave him an idea. 'Why not Helmi hari2 bagi fish makan, rajin2 tengok dia, nanti lama2 fish kenal tu Helmi sebab Helmi selalu bawa makanan !' (I don't know how true is this).


So that's what he's doing now, after school. Quickly change clothes, go out to the storeroom to get the fishfeed and feed his beloved pets .

Because it's very hot in the afternoon, he's not allowed out without umbrella. Nasib baik sister dia balik sekolah sebelah petang, kalau tidak, dia marah ni payung Barbie nya kena pakai..

colorful onde-onde

Care to join me for tea?


My first part of the day was bad. I didn't like my lunch (porridge at RCH Damai, daughter dragged me there-masin!). To compound that, when we got to the car I found a ticket on my screen. For parking beside fire hydrant (I didn't see it!). They shouldn't paint the yellow parking line then, indicating proper parking space. Lots people are getting booked, I bet.


Anyway, lets forget that. It's raining now, later half of the day. I like it because it was really, really sweltering just now. I had a sudden brainwave to have a bit of fun with this kuih onde-onde. Or buah melaka as some call it, or puteri mandi. Whatever. By turning them colorful:D

So, please help yourselves to these and pick your favorite color.

congratulations arnieza !

congratulations arnieza @ nonong and hubby on your new baby !

my friend and longtime neighbour gave birth to a baby girl last Sunday. she look big here but she was born just 2.8kg. look at the hair. hitam lebat kan.

sudah siap!

ya! inilah hasilnya projek make-over garden chair ku !

cantik ka?

Fun at Lembah Impian

We stayed at Lembah Impian (as u've correctly guessed) yesterday for our family outing. It was really a great stay, totally happening. We had telematch sports for the kids, gave away prizes, had a sit-down dinner, had a surprise birthday cake for 2 sisters. Everyone had so much fun, ate so much food and the kids especially, were totally thrilled and couldn't have enough of the place.

We checked in Sunday 2pm. It was peace & quiet. (just the way we want it). There were only 2 other guests. A big group of wedding just checked out earlier. We more or less filled The Pillars (1 of the accomodation building) taking 4 rooms and 2 chalets.

The kids nda sabar-sabar bermain, so we immediately started the games. A little rain around 3pm halted the games a while but it lasted just a few minutes. Anyway what we couldn't do outside we carried on in high spirit indoor.There's a roofed patio. So what did we play? Well..we had musical chair, passing parcel, statue dancing, 3-legged race, pingpongball-in-spoon race and catch waterfilled balloons. The kids knew there were prizes, they've seen the programmes :p , so they were enthusiastic, really racing their heart out.

When the rain stop, everyone dived to the pool, had fun swimming and playing till past 6.00 pm.

After shower and rest, we went down for a set dinner 7.30 pm outside the banquet hall. Nice food. Our rooms come with free dinner as well as breakfast (that's the deal we got in addition to school holiday promotional room rate). Dinner was only 3 course meal of beef rendang, sweet sour fish and sayur (out kan combination?). Tapi each was tasty.

gambar telampau kecik ? i don't know how to adjust already. pakai magnifying glass la.

Before giving away the prizes, we had the hotel staff wheeled out a birthday cake, surprise for our 2 sisters. The kids didn't know this ,well except my kids cos I was the one who had to bring it secretly. I had a hard time keeping them away from the cake cos they kept wanting to sneak open the box to see the writing. 'untuk siapa mummy? untuk siapa! siapa bday!'.In the end I told them & made them promised not to talk about it. But when everyone arrived and play games, they forgot it anyways.

It was thrilling to see my sisters' surprised and unsuspecting faces. They share the same birthday which was few days earlier. They are twins.

And then the prize giving. And what do you know. Fabmom's kids won the most! Kahkahakhakkahkah!!Ada lah suara-suara jokingly demanding postmortem cos I was the one drawing up the games and prepared the games equipments. Kapsit! Wakakakakaaa!!!!! Well...I did ask si Abang to test the balloons for me because the first ones I bought were too tough, tidak pandai pecah. So you know..everything was 'test-driven' first.. nasiblah... But anyway, we prepared extra prizes to give away (including for the 2 babies who obviously didn't take part in anything) to ensure everyone hold a present in their hand, win or lose, when they get back to their rooms.

A thing about this place, you don't want to stay in the room. It's more fun outside. Even just strolling, relaxing and enjoying the cool night breeze. After dinner, we all took a walk outside. The kids though, had more than strolling in their mind. They spotted the bicycles near the gym. Each grabbed one and off they raced each other around the resort.

Earlier at dinner, the hotel staff informed of the bakery's promotion for the day. Apa lagi.. lepas penat-penat main, duduk lagi di cafe bakery, makan buns/cakes with hot drinks (nda sempat juga terbakar lemak tu..).

We spent the next morning playing cards and board games and last round of swimming before checking out at 12 pm.

A really enjoyable outing !

Friday Fuss

Friday was a bit crazy. I had a sleepless night nursing a terrible sore throat. Seriously, I never had such a bad case before. Aduhhh.....! punya gatal tekak aku..!!.punya pedihh!!..I was up all night spitting and gargling Listerine in the bathroom. It only relieved me a few minutes before I felt the burning again. Despite feeling zombie-like, I couldn't wait for daylight to drive myself to the clinic. There was nothing for it, had to get antibiotic. (Now, 2 days of antibiotic, its still itchy tho' less sore. I'm eating boring food, soup and salad, why isn't it gone yet. Urrghhh!!! benci! )

And hubby. Oh..dear hubby..he has to pick the same day to tear the house apart. He got rewiring done upstairs. After the medicines and high on drowse , I couldn't go to my bed to lie down. There were men walking on the roof and the noises they were making. Oh god...!

Maybe just as well that Friday is always my busy day. Can't stay in the house. And more so this week. I am fussing over our F-Day (it's tomorrow!). Some slight hiccups, as expected but I read and re-read Thursday Thoughts to help me shake off my crankiness and low mood.

I know I'm ok spiritually, I just hope physically I get through.

Thursday Thoughts

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

found the perfect place

On Sunday, me and siblings got together and discussed again our plan for a family outing. Idea was first mooted a week ago. Something to do together in the coming school holiday. Date has been agreed but picking the right venue proved a bit tricky. I listed out 5 options in my list (yes, we took minutes of meeting). Some refused to have it near the sea, some reluctant to drive too far. So scanning my list, there left only one place meeting those criteria. At first one of sisters said its too near (oh come on!) but after arguing, all agreed the fact we've never tried this place, and this is gonna be something new. Enough of Kundasang / Karambunai already! Yes. We're gonna try somewhere new. We decided, lets check out this place and see if we can get good rates as a big group.

This morning we made the site visit . My first thought when we arrived was, the color scheme look exactly like my house.

What is this place? It looks like no ordinary resort. As we stepped in the reception area and took in the splendid interior, quickly all other venues fade in comparison. This is lovely. We must come here.

We were given a complete tour. I'm not showing many pics here. Keep it a surprise until I blog the real event. ( misteri konon! as if you can't tell already..). I'm sure some of you might have been here before.

a walkway from reception to accommodation

the hallway of rooms

We were completely smitten and decided it was too lovely to pass up. So quick phone calls made to the rest of the clan and so far 5 families have confirmed. Great! We are giddy with excitement.

I'll keep you posted ok.

home all day but it's ok

I am house-bound today. Kids got tuition at home, 2 sessions back-to-back, 9am to 3pm. Can't join hubby out, I'm preparing lunch, I'm preparing tea. I pass the time puttering about in my room, reorganise my dressing table and finish another basket lining.






There is still an hour before the kids finish and we can go to the pool. I'm thinking baking to kill time, but can't stand the day's heat. It's boiling.

Finally clock strikes 3. Oh! but it starts raining. And heavily. No! There goes the day. Well, why don't I just take a nap then. Perfect isn't it? Raining..and the bed is cosy but try as I might I can't make myself sleep. Sleep is not what I want to do.

So I go down again and join the kids watching cartoon. When I peer outside a while later, the rain has stop. Good sign, my daughter quickly drag me out to play badminton. Just when we start warming up, I see a car pull up the drive way. My sister. And all her kids at the back. I hear my daughter squeal and run inside to tell the others. My sister comes out the car and hands something to me, something packed in a plastic bag. It feels warm. It's food. Satay! which she got on her way here. I'm smiling. So..there is happy ending after all to this gloomy day.

butter crab

It's been a while since I last blog about cooking. Well last night my son who is recovering from fever, requested butter crab. Poor sick boy must get what he craves. So this morning I got up early, went out to pasar and came back with 2 kg of flower crabs, fat-looking and freshly caught , or at least that's what the seller said. Honestly I don't know how to select good crab. Do you?

I started work immediately. I used the recipe for butter prawns and just adjusted it to get a wet sauce. And when it's done and we tucked in...wow! very very fat crab it turned out. The flesh was so thick. And indeed fresh. The original recipe is to deep-fry but I steamed it instead to cut down the fat a bit. But I would say honestly its much, much, much yummier fried.

Incase anyone might want to try, I put the recipe here :

ingredients

1 1/2 kg flower crab

enough oil for deep frying

2 tablespoon butter

6 sprigs curry leaves

5 cloves garlic (chopped)

6 bird's eye chillies (chopped)

4 egg yolks

400ml evaporated milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1/4 teaspoon chicken stock

1 tablespoon sugar

to prepare

Deep fry crab until it change color. Crack the shell a bit (optional). Drain and set aside.

Beat egg yolks in a bowl with the milk and chicken stock.Set aside.

Heat butter in a pan until it slowly melt. Add the garlic and chillies. Stir a while. Throw in the curry leaves. Slowly pour in the egg yolks mixture and keep stirring. Turn the fire low. Add in salt, fish sauce and sugar. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens.

Arrange crabs on a dish and drizzle the sauce on top. Eat while hot !

1st annivesary

This blog is 1 year old today.

These quotes sum up how I feel throughout the 1 year journey :-

'From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There's nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends. '
-Hilaire Belloc,


'No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern
No idea is so modern that it will not some day be antiquated
To seize the flying thought before it escapes us is our only touch with reality'
-Ellen Glasgow

tagged by just plain sharon

1. A unique picture of you / your picture in unique environment


This environment is unique as we were in China, the weather was winter but we got ourselves on a camel's back in a man- made desert.

2. Picture of you in white



3. Picture of you with toys/cute stuffs

This will do. The patung was so cute, I felt like a little girl. Wish I can jump inside and hug snow white. (restricted though)


4. The picture that means a lot to you

my family means a lot to me.

OK. Siapa yang belum buat tag ni? ANIES ! silakan.