Makan-makan

peace y'all

K3K interior

the kuih lapis

the yummy tempura mushrooms

Today's Sunday.

Nothing to do day.

Which is the one day I look forward to every week.

Went to Kapar to browse at something.

It was nearly 11.40am, we were hungry.

Went to Carrefour Kapar hunting for food.

And guess what, found a most delightful kopitiam called K2K (I think!) coz we were so hungry that all 3 of us walked into the same restaurant without even conferring.

The menu of course has has the usual staple of kopitiam-ish food but with something extra, there's even tempura styled oyster mushrooms which we ordered.

Our waitress served us nyonya kuih upon seating us, Vicky & I were asking for ufo (angkoo) but it's finished for the day. So we contented ourselves with onde2 and kuih lapis. Niki loved the kuih lapis and didn't leave us any at all! Which is really something, since she's not much of an eater unlike her parents.

So peeps I highly recommend this place should you find yourselves in Kapar's Carrefour. The ambience was quite nice, there's a connected al fresco dining area as well with bamboo trees surrounding it and it was pretty airy. And they provide wi-fi, so that's a thumbs up in my books, but the nicest touch was when our waiter said "enjoy your meal" which is pretty unheard of in other kopitiams or for the matter Malaysian casual dining types of restaurants.

Ok gonna go back home a have a dvd marathon. Vicky got himself some X-games, and one particular one about beach volleybal c/w girls in skimpy bikinis, baywatch style running, well you get the picture ;-)

My girl & I

Peace ;-)

Today Niki hung out with her Mommy.

So it's Mommy & Daughter Day.

we started our day early, with breakfast at home.

Then we took our time to get ready before heading out the door.

Since my daughter is a shopaholic much like me..I of course took her to the mall.

We went to the Bukit Tinggi Aeon Mall, which is my current fave coz everything is under one roof, seriously.

We had lunch at KFC coz Niki wanted "chicken", so we had chicken. I'm not such a big fan of KFC coz well maybe there can actually be a case of too much chicken, like mine. I'm so fed up with chook!! But since Niki wanted, I relented la .. see, I'm such a good momma :-)

She coerced me into buying her a Little House dress which she tried on & refused to take off much to the amusement of the shop assistant. Wanna see it, well look above. It is cute la .. a bit larger than her frame but, she'll grow into it. Went to this other shop called SRS, which carried lots of Ralph Laurent & GAP Kids. I didn't get any of the branded stuffs but instead got her 3 tops for RM20 which is quite a steal innit.

After a spot of tea we decided to go to work, and so here we are in the office working, and Niki is doing her homework. Yeah, nowadays even 3.5yo has homework ;-)

Niki <3 Puzzles

"first you start at the corners"

"then you slowly work into the centre"

" before you know it..ta da!"

Niki loves her puzzles.

And is especially partial to the ones with Barbie on it.

Here's the Little Ms doing her puzzles after I changed her into her pjs just now.

Ta Da!

Just because

the sambuca is one mean liquer!

...we're an old married couple, that doesn't mean we don't know how to ..

1) enjoy ourselves

2) go pubbing

3) bop our heads to the latest hits

4) go out without our 3.5yo

5) have some "adult" fun ;-)

6) enjoy getting sparkly keychains from perfect strangers

We decided to leave the kid with her favourite aunty Ammu last evening and went out

It was fun, spontaneous and totally on the fly

We had so much fun that we felt guilty

But it was very much needed

I had a shot called Sambuca, it was some sort of liquer, the bartender prepared it and signed off with 2 drops of tabasco in it .. it smelt like star anise, tasted sweet, but didn't actually go down well once i downed it, that's a first and a last ..

Xtra info about the Sambuca : It is an Italian liqueur flavored with green anise, star anise and elder. Romana Sambuca is similar in flavor to anisette, Like absinthe, pastis, ouzo and other anise-flavored spirits, it turns milky white when water or ice is added to it. (The cloudy appearance is the result of all those essential oils emulsifying) .. But we had it neat .. and after about 20 mins it was like "ka-pow" ..thank God I didn't pass out or it would have been pretty embarassing, eh.

I'll stick to my fave combo of jd with coke or ribena, yes peeps i drink my jd with ribena .. you oughta give it a try .. best i prepare it though .. coz it's a yummy one!

Who Here Like Juanes

Don't you just love the guy?
Trivia : La Camisa Negra was a soundtrack in Bordertown & Juanes appeared as himself in the movie.

Music Video:

LA CAMISA NEGRA (by Juanes)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

Better "Too" Late Than Never

Have you guys read the Star today, anyways it's ironic since I wrote about it just in yesterday's post. It seems the PM is trying to make amends by issuing statements that has been long a-coming .. a wee bit too late is what I think and I think I echo a lot of other people out there who are just normal M'sian citizens. What I know is more dramas will definitely unfold in our political arena.

The State of Things

I haven't been reading the news for quite sometime now, coz well, since March 8th things around the political arena seems to be getting a bit too woo-wee for my taste. If this persists, I & the other 30 million that makes up Malaysia might actually compare our political arena to that of a schoolyard squabble. All the hoolabaloo with the MB appointments in Perlis, Perak and now Trengganu has actually excalated to the realm of ridiculousness innit. And to add more drama there's women trouble as well in the PTB with our Rafidah "Booted Out Of Cabinet" Aziz taking arms with the ousted Shahrizat and ganging up against Azalina and Azalina & her supporters throwing equal hissy fits back at them.

And what's up with the PM & the rulers anyhow? It seems all the rage now for Sultans to question the PM's appointment of MBs, I don't know I'm beginning to think that the Sultans are sending a not so cryptic message out to the PM. Well, I'm just saying .. can't blame me can you for all that's been happening.

So now due to the sheer ridiculousness of the state of things in our country right now, I'd rather be left alone reading stuffs in hollywoodrag, gosh, can anyone blame me?

Aye caramba .. it's El Cactus

the food!!!

The El Cactus



The Cactus Kid

This is a food post coz it's really near lunch and I'm really hungry despite last night's dinner, whereby Vicky whipped up his famous Penne Carbonara with Pork and Mushrooms. I was full beyond belief, but that's last night and today is today.

Last weekend we went to our home away from home, and wanted to go eat at Jom Makan again (for their delicious seafood & grilled cockles) but the weather was wet and Vicky thought perhaps we can try something different.

Discovered this gem of a restaurant nestled in a bungalow called El Cactus, well as the name suggests it's mexican food la. Great since I was in a mood for beef nachos actually! Good grief, the food was good, and cooked by the owner herself, for starters we ordered the prerequisite beef nachos and I was feeling up for some NZ mussels so ordered that too. Mind you there's only the 3 of us, and y'know Niki isn't exactly the makan-ing type. For our main course we ordered pan grilled salmon in butter sauce and I had the leg of lamb, totally delicious.

And they were serving apple crumble for dessert which I tried to have but couldn't coz well the main course portion was just too huge, and my stomach doesn't expand as well as it did anymore.

For a place full of chinese seafood taichow types and malay tomyam types, this is a welcomed change really..excellent ambience, great service and above all great food!

So, so sedap, well why not you just drool at the photos then, teeheehee, I'm gonna go have my lunch now!

Dancing Queen

Niki shaking her little tush, need I say more.
It's cute and it's entertaining, to me that's one of the the fun parts about having kids, you get a free source of live entertainment 24-7.





And here's another entertaining bit, I only got the last part, "and the peas went pop!"

Seriously..

Alor Star part 2

As you know I went home to AS to visit my parents; and came home with a horrid flu&fever!

This trip was pretty short as I had a lot of things to get done in a limited period of time.

And I flew and it was the first time I used the new Sultan Abdul Halim Airport.
What I saw there was .. the airport is right next to a paddy field, quaint innit.

At a bible study cell group.
What I learnt was ..the world was indeed small .. I met an old classmate's (Joycelyn's) grand aunt Grace who is holidaying in AS while looking for some of her long lost siblings. She was adopted as a child and now lives in the US with her family. So she's Joycelyn's dad's aunty, and Joycelyn was my high school classmate. How's that for a small world!

Known fact: I am still afraid to fly, the landing in AS was terrible, no thanks to the pilot!
It went like bump, bumpity bump, a long inertia pull; which I had to use both my hands to balance out, before coming to a halting stop, the runway was pretty long *thank God*
On the other hand the flight back to KL was smooth sailing all the way! Love the smooth landing! Kudos to Capt Alwyn!

The new MB's residence is huge plus it has a new conference building, which is a rather huge waste of good space! .. and if it's not too much to add .. good tax payer's money

The new AS GH, the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital is really not bad .. and is again located right next to a spralling paddy field .. seriously! And when you sleep, I was testing out my dad's bed when he first checked in, and you can really hear the wind howling during the day. I wonder how it was at night?

And one last bit; I ate all my meals in AS this time in the hospital's cafetaria .. seriously..
but again to be fair, the food there was pretty good with loads of variety, so ain't all bad!

Ok back to work before the bossman gets me!

Home is where the Heart is..

Ok first up my dad's surgery date has been postponed till next month, due to unforseen circumstances, however do keep us in your prayers till then..

I went back to AS last Saturday, and just got back this morning.

When I was there I realized that home is where my heart is and I told Vicky that, my heart was here with him and part of it was missing my little momo.

Dear Diary..

There are a few things in my life which I've always considered an achievement irregardless of the ups and downs, starting this blog is one of them. I've never been much of a diary person, I like many others in my generation received the pre-requisite pink diary that comes with a small lock many, many years ago, but whatever became of it I really don't know. If Niki ever finds it, it should be in a mint condition since it has not been used albeit it may be a bit more yellow than pink now. Who would have thought that I would start keeping a diary in my thirties, and I'm pretty proud of the fact that I write in quite regularly. So my blog also acts as my emotional dumpsite where I pour my feelings, my highs and lows, those moments that make me laugh, cry or laugh until I cry .. is now immortalized in the form of this blog.

And so even if I may not be the most eloquent writer, I know that the words that I pour in here comes from the core of my being, it's honest and open, and it's me. And whatever thoughts or feelings that I have will always be here for Niki & Vicky -- two of the most important people in my life whom I love to bits, though sometimes someone needs more regular reminders.

Niki & Bobo

Here's our Niki with her new best furry friend
Bobo who's originally from Zoo Negara.
Welcome to the family Bobo!

Intelligentible

If that is even a word.

I'm pretty bad with vocab and sometimes make up my own and spout it with so much confidence that I make people believe that's there's actually such a word ..

See..how far great confidence can carry you .. so be CONFIDENT! I tell you!!

Today is the second day Niki took off from school coz she's feeling under the weather .. I think she got zoo-a-nitis, our good doctor said that Niki would be fine in a day or two, and not to worry.

This morning when she woke up she was in better spirits & was talking a lot more than yesterday .. while she was on the potty .. Niki grilled me this morning about school and I told her that not to worry coz I have informed her principal that she would be away from school for a few days until she got better. And I assured her though she's not present Teacher Alice or Teacher Anne would continue to teach her other friends ... kids think of the darnest things don't they ?..

My three+ yo is in Nursery now and boy oh boy I'm pretty proud coz she really enjoys school and to top it off she really loves learning .. I guess those genetic imprints comes from her daddy (thank God!) .. as much as she has learnt from school, I've learnt from her as well .. and she sometimes shocks me with the extent of her vocabulary & understanding (*beams*) .. when I woke her yesterday morning to take her temperature, I told her I'm gonna take her to the doctor's of which she replied that she only wants to go to the clinic and not to the hospital and vehemently told me that she does not intend to stay the night at the hospital .. I was taken aback by the admission.

And she memorizes really well too .. and sometimes her brains work like a photocopier which is pretty awesome to me! Coz I tried remembering how I was as a kid .. and I know for sure that my mental aptitude & understanding is no where near this capacity ..!!

In short, Niki is doing really, really well in school and we're so very proud of her.

And here's a funny joke along the same subject that I wanted to share with you.

(taken from Karen Cheng's blog .. I really liked it coz it's really funny!)

The Father of My Children Joke

A man was in the supermarket when he saw an attractive woman waving him over and smiling. He walked over, unsure of who she was.
“I’m sorry”, he said, “but I don’t think I recognise you”.
“I think you’re the father of one of my children”, the woman said, smiling.
The man’s heart nearly stopped as he though back to the one time he had been unfaithful - his buck’s night. “Are you the stripper?” he asked, astonished. “Are you the one who rubbed whipped cream all over me on the pool table while you slapped my butt with a with a wet celery?”
Wide-eyed and shocked the woman replies, “No, I’m your son’s math teacher.”

Hehehehehe .. funny eh.. ;-)

The National Zoo

the kids .. "who wants to be a superhero pose .. lots of ultraman wanna-be's man!"

on the darwin route .. orang utans and us!

the bull, the crocs and the giraffes .. and yeah us cramming their space!

us and the kids .. niki and our god-daughter darsha .. and the grandparents & aunty barbara

at the multi animal show .. and yeah "splash"

juxaposition of slow mo versus speed

at 9.45am here's us at the entrance and the gift shop and that ladies & gentlemen is Niki's new furry bff .. the monkey that goes by the moniker Bobo

the map, the koi & the kumars

chumbawamba .. the chimps, the rhino, the deers and the roos

Many, many years ago I visited our National Zoo, and the experience short of a better word was not exactly a pleasant one to remember..and so you can again imagine my apprehension on having another visit last Sunday..but still for the sake of my three year old I gritted my teeth and went along with the plans. The whole fam was there, so yes there was pandemonium. Imagine eight kids age ranging from 11 to 2, I believe the animals were pretty frightened as well.

Niki went but we took her stroller sand boy were we glad we did! Little Miss Anti-Sunshine was like .. " oh mommy it's so hot! I don't wanna walk in the sun .. have you gotten my cream (sunblock) on already".. but she did enjoy looking at the animals and yup we pretty much enjoyed the gift shop there as well ..

We managed to pick up a cute furry monkey for Niki, one she has now named Bobo and a colourful fan .. daddy got a black suede cowboy looking hat .. mommy got herself a Coke at 10 in the morning and gulped it down in 2 minutes flat ..

We went for the multi animal show at 11am .. it was not as entertaining as the one we caught in A'Famosa though but the kids had fun .. and I mistook a 120kg seal from the Netherlands for a bird ??!!??.. yup I was never good with all things under the animal category ..

But all in all it was pretty much fun and the picnic lunch we tucked in .. was just so, so good .. must be all the walking we did .. coz we never realized the water would taste so fulfilling, there's a picnic spot that the zoo had constructed and it was complete with picnic tables and benches and there was a lot of space in between for the kids to run around in without being out of sight, a huge rubbish bin and even the lavatory nearby.. so it was all good .. The last time I was there I had lunch in KFC which has now been abandoned .. and it's such a waste too coz the view from the old restaurant is beautiful, overlooking the lake with lush greeneries surrounding the place

Vicky, Niki and I left slightly early coz we were all pretty much zoo-ed out since we arrived there earlier than the rest of the fam, we reached at about 9.30am as agreed .. (tut! tut! the rest of them were late coz the tv stations were making announcements of the election through the night!) .. but yet we were early .. much the surprise of well .. everyone we guess ..

What I learnt apart from the sights of the many animal behinds that my eyes feasted on was ..never knock new experiences or experiences revisited until you've tried it .. keep an open mind and one might surprise one self .. however with the zoo thing my advice is keep an open mind but if possible a closed nose .. coz the zoo smelt really funky, real natural if you get the drift .. phew wee!

And to all the visual people who reads this post .. here's tons and tons of photos of animals to go with this post of mine!

..ps.. I wore my hollister tee that says "what tan lines?" & my navy blue gekko flipflops .. and got lots of tan lines from 4 hours under the sun ..

Fathers & Daughters

My dad is going for quite a major surgery soon, and I'm really worried.

Whilst I was growing he was one of those stoic dads, who show a really tough exterior, and being a teacher doesn't help the situation much either. And simply because everyone that is human comes with their own flaws, I shall not dwell in them but as far as my dad is concerned he is very much human. Somehow when we were growing up it's like we never knew him as anything other than a father, he showed us only one dimension of him as that person -- it's rather like a designation, and we didn't really get to know him as anything other than what he has shown us.

But as age catches up and with every increase in digit, he grew to be gentler & mellower. The joy in his eyes whenever he plays with my Niki, and how he lights up whenever she calls him grandpa. Yes, even the most toughest of parents can't defend themselves against the charm of a 3 year old :-) Now I see him as more than just a father to me & my sister, I see him as a husband to my mother, a grandfather to Niki, as a father in law to Vicky, someone who is not indestructible, someone who can feel happiness and joy and yes, pain. I see him as a person..

And even when he tells me not to worry, I can hear the worry in his voice, and I can't help but be worried eventhough I keep telling him to think positive and be optimistic in his state of mind which will be much help when he goes for his surgery. I know.

Too many daughters regret not having gotten to know their father very well, I don't want to be one of them. All I can is I'm really trying my darnest, it's difficult sometimes.. it just is...

Right now I just need to understand the reality of what is happening, to be understood mostly but I know that I need to face this obstacle in life, and I have to be strong for my father. Right now, he is counting on us his family to be his pillar of strength. And yes, your prayers will help.

Icy

A mocha ice blended from Coffee Bean

at 13 degrees is YUMMY