Art Class & Lemon Cake

Didi attended his first art class today. The art lessons are conducted in his kindy after school, once a week. He had catered lunch from kindy. I'm glad to hear the principal commented that he ate his lunch on his own and very fast too.

~ posing with his lantern ~

So he came home 2 hours later than normal. By the time he finished bathing, it was already 3+. I decided to let him skip his nap so he can sleep earlier at night. Since I don't have to accompany him for his nap, I baked a cake, using the cake mix which I didn't buy. So who "bought" it?

During our last shopping trip at Tesco (3 weeks ago), didi put a box of Pillsbury cake mix into the trolley without me realising it. I had a trolley-full of stuff, so I didn't notice it when the cashier was scanning the items. When I looked through the receipt and saw the item, I remembered that he was holding the box and checking it out. That's the problem when the kids offer to help put things into the trolley. Sometimes they just dump whatever they fancy without asking our permission. However, this is the first time he did that. I must warn/remind him not to do it again the next time we go sundry shopping. Luckily it's not something that we don't use. Just that the "slave" got more work to do. hehehe

~ Pillsbury cake mix ~

I don't know what other flavours are there, but he took the lemon one. Good thing it's very simple to do. Just mix all the ingredients together (cake mix, water, oil and eggs). But I tried to be smart and didn't use up all the water as the mixture was quite runny with just half the amount. So the cake turned out to be quite dry. :-( Taste wise, it's quite alright, not too sweet. The kids have no complaints though, they love it. Well, they are very easy to please, where cakes are concerned. :-)

~ the end result ~

Big Eaters

We had Domino's pizza for dinner just now. For 2 adults (PaPa's not home) and 2 kids, I ordered 2 regular pizzas and 1 chicken crunchies. The chicken crunchies are quite spicy. Comes with tangy cheese dip. I don't really like it, prefer KFC's nuggets.

There's a promotion where you get a regular pizza for RM3 with purchase of any regular/large/extra large pizza. I received the info via sms. The coupon code is SM9. Feel free to use it if you want, as the delivery guy didn't ask to see the sms for verification. You can order online (under Redeem Coupons) or through their hotline. This promotion expires on 19/12/2010.

The kids ate 3 slices of pizzas each, the same portion as what we ate. That's equivalent to half a regular pizza. Oh my, they are really big eaters. And just less than 2 hours before dinner, each of them had 2 pieces of gardenia bread and biscuits. o.O Nowadays when we dine out, they'd have their own servings, instead of sharing. Of course I'm more than happy with their good appetite. Better have big eaters than picky eaters. :-)

I doubt their super big appetite has got anything to do with their water play in the morning. I took almost half an hour to set it up and fill it up with water (less than half full). We bought this 3-ring pool from Toys"R"Us in March. This is the 3rd time they're playing in it. Luckily SIL has an electric pump, if not I cannot imagine how long it'd take and how tiring it'd be to pump up the pool manually.

~ having a tea party ~

~ then pour water on each other ~

~ riding on jie jie ~

Candle Light Dinner

We went for Japanese buffet at Kampachi, Equatorial Bangi. It was a romantic candle light dinner. By "we", I mean hubby and I AND the two noisy monsters. hehehe The hotel participated in Earth Hour and switched off the main lights. There were some dim lights and candles. But we didn't get to enjoy the so-called romantic atmosphere as we're busy getting food for the kids, getting food for ourselves, helping didi feed himself or bringing didi to the washroom for big business (whenever we dine out, he LOVES to poo right after he's eaten, even though he's done his business at home. A really weird habit). Anyway, how to be romantic with two bright "spotlights" on the table? :D

And we're terrible earthlings. I totally forgot about Earth Hour when we left the house. So I didn't instruct Kakak to switch off the lights. Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to leave her alone in the house with candles. I'm sure she'd freak out. Never mind, I'll try to do my part another day.

Back to the dinner, I think the kids enjoyed it the most. As we're not a big fan of raw food, the rest of the food are just normal. XY ate some fried rice, then started enjoying the desserts (wafer rolls, marshmallows, muar chee, fruits and ice cream). Didi ate more 'proper' food (fried rice, vegetables and noodles) before he attacked the desserts. He doesn't really like cold stuff. When he takes cold stuff, he'd tell me it's very cold. He'll leave them for later or eat just a teeny weeny bit at a time. I think he prefers melted ice cream.

~ jie jie enjoying her double scoop ice cream ~

~ didi eating ice cream like drinking soup :D ~

Play Then Eat

As the kids woke up quite late today, I decided to let them skip their nap, so that they'll sleep a little earlier and fall asleep faster at night (very fast indeed, in less than 10 minutes). How to occupy their time, apart from watching tv or playing electronic games? We baked cookies. It's the first time they "helped" in the kitchen and jie jie was super excited.

I saw this cute Horlicks Doggies Cookies at Giddy Tigress' blog some time back and referred to the original recipe. But I was too lazy to make cute cookies (didn't have chocolate chips at home anyway) so I used raisins and cornflakes (simply experiment lah). Ended up with a variety of flavour, shapes and sizes.

~ my version of the Horlicks cookies ~

The kids had a fun time "playing" dough. Jie jie was quite helpful, very good at making the round balls. It was difficult to cut the dough with cookie cutters coz the dough was too soft. When I beat in the flour, the dough turned lumpy so I added low fat milk (not in the recipe). Maybe I added too much, so it became very soft, so I put in extra flour. So the measurement's all out.

~ jie jie busy at work ~

Didi, on the other hand, was a real nuisance. He only wanted to "stamp" the rolled out dough. If the cut dough came out together with the cookie cutter, he screamed and fussed. He even cried when we wanted to take his "masterpiece" to make proper ones for baking. *shake head*

~ didi's "masterpiece" ~

The verdict : The kids love them. But I find them too dry and hubby said a bit tasteless. Guess raisins are not as tasty as chocolate chips. Moreover, it's only relying on Horlicks' sweetness. Never mind, the kids can slowly finish them (just have to make sure they drink LOTS of water). Let's see if I'm hardworking enough to bake again before Chinese New Year. :-)

Shop Till You Drop

We are terrible parents. During this critical time, we're suppose to avoid crowded places. But we still brought the kids shopping the whole day on Sunday. Although we didn't intend to stay too long at the mall, we somehow ended up going home at 9+, with a humongous hole in PaPa's pocket. :p

We spent a lot of time at Robinsons (toys and shoes department) and the camera shop. Our loots included toys, sandals (2 for me, 1 for XY), a video camera and a digital camera. The cameras are low-end models with basic functions. Our MiniDV camcorder has spoilt since last year and we've yet to burn any of the cassettes (since XY was born) to a CD. Instead of repairing the old unit, might as well spend a little more to get a new one. We bought the digicam so that we'll be more hardworking in taking pictures when we're out of the house. No more lazy-to-bring-the-DSLR excuse. :-)

We wanted to try Tony Roma's for dinner but we may have to wait for an hour. Forget it! So we walked around and decided on Purple Cane Tea Restaurant. It's our first time eating there. The dishes are cooked with tea. They're really nice and tasty but can't really taste the tea.

Here's what we ordered...

~ jasmine tea ~

~ burdock chicken tea soup ~
*So special, it comes in a teapot -- this soup I likey!*

~ ½ crispy duck ~

~ fish slices with salted radish ~

~ spinach with anchovies ~

~ braised bean curd ~

Fruity Dessert

Yesterday I made konnyaku jelly coz it's expiring soon. Bought a can of longans on the way to fetch XY from kindy. Kakak and I started our 'project' after lunch. After cutting the strawberries, grapes and kiwi into small slices, I arranged them and the longans in a tray and 5 small cups. I used less water than instructed on the packet as I've added the longan syrup. It was sweet enough (also taking into consideration the fruits) so I didn't have to add any sugar at all.

~ konnyaku jelly with fruits ~

This was their dessert after dinner. I gave hubby a mouthful and he asked for a piece. I was surprised (and very happy, of coz) as he's not a dessert person (especially those that I make :p). But when he had his piece, he complained that it was sour. hahaha That was why I gave him a bite with only grapes earlier. I knew he doesn't like the sourness of strawberry and kiwi.

Needless to say, it was a big hit with the kids. CE didn't really like longans though (hmmm... funny coz he loved it when I made longan jelly). XY, as usual, kept asking for more. But they only got to eat their second serving this afternoon after lunch. Now all finished, no more for tonight. Anyway, I've got another packet of powder, will be making jelly again very soon. ;-)

No Card Nor Gift

... just a Dark Chocolate Moist Cake.

After the failed attempt to bake the Nestum cake 5 months ago, I tried to bake a chocolate cake on Saturday for hubby's birthday (yesterday). But the cake is more for the kids than for him coz he doesn't really like chocolate cake. hahaha

A few weeks ago, I went to the bakery supplies shop to get some muffin mix and I asked the shop attendant to recommend an "easy" cake. She gave me the chocolate cake mix. Well, it's easy to make, just mix all the ingredients (pre-mix flour, eggs, oil and water) together. But the baking-in-the-oven session was a little tricky as I've got a slightly cracked and burnt top. After getting great tips from my previous attempt (thanks friends!), I lowered the temperature gradually and covered the top with foil paper when the top started to crack. So the cake came out (looking) okay.

~ the ingredients, I used milk instead of water ~

~ the not-so-pretty birthday cake ~

After dinner, we had a very simple cake-cutting ceremony. So simple that there was no candles to blow. :-) The cake tasted alright, not too sweet. But very rich, so can't eat too much at one go. The kids kept asking for more (as usual) - chocolate cake mah. :D

~ not too sweet but very rich ~

No More Fruits

So we had this for teatime today.

~ pineapple muffins ~

When the kids were napping, I baked pineapple muffins. Kakak mixed the ingredients (eggs, water, corn oil and ready-mix flour), I took care of the oven. Had to bake 3 rounds as I've got a small oven and I've got 42 little muffins.

The kids ate the muffins once they woke up from their nap. They walloped 5 muffins each. Didi kept asking for more. I hid the rest of the muffins but when I was eating them, he kept pestering me. I had no choice but to give him a few more bites. He has become very greedy lately. Always asking for more. :-|

~ the kids can’t get enough of it ~

Virgin Cake

No, that's not the name of the cake I baked this morning. I called it virgin coz it's the first cake that I baked with my oven (which is already more than 1 year old). The last time I baked a cake was more than 10 years ago. However, this one didn't turn out well. The top overburnt and the bottom wasn't completely cooked. TOTAL DISASTER. I shall blame it on the lousy, small oven of mine. :p

The top browned too fast while the insides took so long to cook. I thought the cake's ready when I tested it with a wooden stick. Then I found that it's a bit wet in the middle when I cut it. So I put it in the oven again. That's when the top overburnt. Arrrgh!

I think another problem was because I used a smaller baking tin. So the batter was almost filled to the brim before baking. Maybe that's why it's very difficult to cook coz it's too thick? *scratch head* I don't know.

The cake is sweet enough but a bit too oily for my liking (I've already put less butter wor *scratch head again*). And definitely not fluffy. But the kids love it. Of course I scrapped off the burnt top and took away the wet part before giving it to them.

~ the ingredients ~

~ batter almost filled to the rim ~

~ after 1st round ~

~ 2nd round, overburnt :( ~

~ see the wet patch at the bottom? sigh... ~

Anyway, I'd like to share the recipe here with you. I'm sure you'll do much better. :-)

FAMILY NESTUM CAKE (taken from Agnes Chang's Baking Made Easy recipe book)

Ingredients :
240g butter/margarine (I used 210g butter coz that's the remainder I have)
200g castor sugar (I used 160g and it's sweet enough for us)
1 tbsp honey
4 eggs
50g Nestum
200g self-raising flour, sifted
150ml milk

Method :
1. Put butter/margarine, sugar and honey into a mixing bowl and cream till light.
2. Add in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition till creamy.
3. Add Nestum and mix well.
4. Divide flour and milk into 3 parts and fold in alternatively till well-combined.
5. Pour mixture into a 22cm/9in lined and greased square baking tin, baked in a pre-heated oven at 180ºC till golden brown and cooked, about 45 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, leave to cool before serving.

Penang Trip Oct '08 (Part I)

Penang has been very good to us. Before our trip home, it was raining every day. But while we're there, it didn't rain at all. So we're able to bring the kids to some places as planned. Although the weather is very hot in the day time, it's very cooling at night. The weather's like that on an island. Well, better hot and dry than raining non-stop as it's inconvenient to go out with kids.

Saturday
Went to Botanical Gardens in the evening (without PaPa, since we have enough hands to look after the kids). The last time I went there was 7 years ago and the kids have never been there. So it was one of the places that I've planned to bring them this trip.

When we reached there, the amount of monkeys were lesser compared to other days (according to my brother). Then I saw something very disturbing. Although there was a sign that says not to feed the monkeys and not to bring food into the garden, some people still ate ice-cream or junk food. So when the monkeys saw the food, they went near these people, eyeing on the food. As they were afraid the monkeys will snatch from their hands, they just threw the food on the floor. And the monkeys quickly grabbed and ate them. I think this is really bad for them. Some people purposely provoke the monkeys by teasing them with food or scaring them.

~ monkeys eating human food near the rubbish bin ~

The kids (especially CE) were very excited to see the monkeys. Finally met their own same species, I guess. hahaha We had to carry didi coz he kept wanting to go so near to the monkeys. And these are wild monkeys. They can get very fierce.

~ didn't manage to take a picture with real monkeys in the background ~

We didn't walk the whole round, but went to an even grass area so the kids can play badminton. While XY was playing with WQ (my nephew), CE wanted the racquet too. But since there's only 2, SIL and I distracted him by bringing him to the waterfall. Boy, that was a big mistake. He wanted to go in so SIL stood at the shallow area and carried him in. But he refused to stand on the sandy area or in the shallow water. And he didn't want to come out either. Really don't know what he wanted. I took out my camera but didn't manage to snap any pictures coz he was making such a big fuss.

Then XY and WQ also joined in. XY got her pants all wet. We only allowed the kids to play in the water for a very short while, as we didn't bring anything for them to change. CE refused to get out and I had to forcefully carry him away. He was screaming and crying, kept looking at the waterfall, saying "There... water".

We didn't stay long as we've to go home and prepare to go out for dinner. Remember I said we had a very expensive but not-worth-it-at-all dinner? The place we went to was Bali Hai at Gurney Drive. We didn't really know what to order. Went to look at the live seafood, the guy recommended the spider crab which he said tastes very good if fried with celery. After weighing the crab, it cost RM700+. Woah! I don't think it's worth eating a crab that's so expensive. Moreover, we won't be able to differentiate the taste of an expensive species from the normal ones. So we ordered lobster, meat crab, steamed fish, sea cucumber, vegetables and noodles.


For 7 adults and 3 children, the bill came up to RM1.2K. Hubby said the food is not nice (for that price). I have no comments as I don't have a very sharp tastebud but I have to say 1 of the dishes was really bad. The lobster salad! This dish contributed half the bill but we wouldn't mind spending the money if it was good. Unfortunately, the meat was very rough, probably coz it was very huge. We find the merchant not being very honest as they simply prepared a huge serving (of lobster) for us. Probably because we didn't order any exotic (and very expensive) seafood so that's the only dish they can 'cut our throat'. Anyway, these are my personal opinion. Maybe we didn't order the right food. But we're definitely not going back to that restaurant again. :p

When we're almost done with dinner, I spotted a cute little boy. He was facing us while his mom was carrying him. Instantly I recognised him... baby Ryan! I walked over to say "Hi" to them. I'm sure Doreen was a bit shocked to see a stranger calling her name. What a small world, eh? It was a pleasure meeting you, Doreen. Hope I didn't give you a scare. Or do you get this kind of 'encounters' very often? :D

Coming up next, our Sunday outing. Stay tuned ya!

Kiwi Muffins

The kids woke up early from their nap. They usually nap till about 5pm. But they woke up before 4pm just now. I decided not to make them sleep anymore. So Kakak and I made kiwi muffins. The pre-mix flour has been sitting in the cabinet for 2 months already.

500g of pre-mix flour made 38 mini muffins. Before I finished baking them (need 3 rounds coz I have a small oven), 5 already went into the kids' stomachs. hahaha So today's a little special, they had fruits and muffins for tea-time.

Actually, today IS a special day. It's our 7th Wedding Anniversary! Not the ROM day, but the day we had our traditional ceremony and reception. Anyway, no special celebration tonight. Can't possibly be celebrating every single special date, right? I'm happy enough that hubby remembered. I'm actually very impressed that he can remember quite a number of significant dates. To dearest lou kong, Happy 7th Anniversary! Here are some muffins for dessert tonight (at least something different from normal :D).

~ with lots of love ~

Good Food & Movie Day

Hubby has some Tai Thong vouchers which are expiring end of this month. As this is a popular month for weddings, we knew the place would be packed during dinner. So we decided to go for lunch yesterday at the Cheras outlet. While waiting for the food, we ordered some dim sum as starters. :-)


The verdict : a very satisfactory meal. We were too full by the time the noodles were served. We (3 adults and 1 child) couldn't finish all the food so we packed back the remaining noodles and peking duck roll.

Since we didn't manage to catch a movie the day before, we were determined to try again. We've checked the screening time before leaving the house. Looked like the timing's good this time so we walked opposite to Leisure Mall's GSC cinema. We watched MONEY NO ENOUGH 2. Quite an entertaining show, with some really sad parts. It was not as hilarious as the 1st movie. It's about the common man's problems in this materialistic society.

Again, didi gave me a false alarm. After the show started for awhile, he wanted to go to the toilet. It was much easier this time, with a potty seat which was clean enough for him to sit on. Moreover Kakak was with me so I had an extra pair of helping hands. His diaper was quite dry but I changed him into diaper pants (easier mah). Although I missed some of the show, I wasn't that angry this time.

Back in the cinema, he refused to sit down. I had to carry him and rock him, standing behind the cinema. Luckily he didn't take too long to fall asleep. Went back to my seat and enjoyed the rest of the show. He woke up after we got out.

XY, as usual, was busy eating her fresh corns and popcorns (feeding me as well coz she didn't want me to take the whole box :-|). I did hear her laughing at some hilarious scenes.

This is my second movie in the cinema after XY was born. But it was hubby's first. Asked him how it was, he said he has a backache. :p Guess the seat wasn't too comfortable for him. That's the disadvantage for having long legs. hahaha Overall, it was quite a relaxing outing.

Fake Pizza

After a sumptuous lunch (as compared to a normal weekday) yesterday, it's sandwich for lunch just now. I had tuna sandwich while XY had egg sandwich. She just doesn't get tired of eggs. I think she wouldn't mind having eggs everyday.

I decided to try the easy-to-prepare snack which Jacss made. The recipe from her site :
1. Spread some tomato sauce onto the cracker.
2. Put some tuna and cheese on top.
3. Bake in the oven for about 2 minutes. (I set mine to 150ºC.)

~ the outcome ~

The kids were very excited to see the crackers. Well, their mommy is not very creative with food so when they see something different from their usual food, sure excited loh. CE didn't want his rice anymore. So I gave him one so that he'll go back and sit at his table. Look at him licking the tuna and cheese. I think this is the first time he's eating tuna. Hope he doesn't get any allergies later.

~ See his Rudolph nose? He just got bitten by a mosquito ~

I later asked XY if she liked the crackers. She said "hao3 chi1" (delicious) because "it has a cheesy taste and very crunchy." It's really tasty, something like crunchy crust seafood pizza (yeah, right!). But I can't take too many pieces coz it feels very dry and heaty.

Simple Dinner

PaPa played masak masak today and he cooked his signature dish, yam rice. He also tried to cook the vegetable curry (vegetarian style) but the taste didn't turn out quite right. As back-up, I asked Kakak to prepare sambal ikan bilis. :D

He's a better cook (very much better) than I am but he's not been practising. He used to cook when we didn't have a maid. I did the preparations and he'll be the chef. And he was the one to clean up after coz he said I took too long to wash. Well, since you can't stand my slow-motion, you do it yourself loh. hahaha

We invited BIL and family to join us. Just take the opportunity to get-together as we normally don't meet that often (especially the 2 brothers). Even though we live opposite each other, with their busy working schedules (what more with family obligations on weekends), it's no surprise that they don't have the time to hang out together.

The verdict : The sambal ikan bilis went very well with yam rice. The curry was too watery. The durians were a bit dry and some a bit hard, but very fragrant. Everyone was happy and full.

Extra Ingredient

For lunch, I packed food from a coffee shop near XY's kindy. Nasi lemak for myself and Kakak, and 'kon lou' beehoon (noodle in dark sauce) for XY. I've taken the nasi lemak a few times already but this is the first time I bought from that noodle stall. And it's going to be the last. See what XY found after she's eaten more than half way through.

~ I think it's a fly... ewwww! ~

She told me she had already put it into her mouth, but spit it out to see what it was. She thought it was some kind of nut or something. I didn't ask further as I didn't want her to freak out (well, more like me freaking out). I had a few mouthfuls of her beehoon too.

So far, she's not complained of any tummy discomfort. I hope her tummy's strong enough to fight whatever germs that came with that extra ingredient.

So what do you do when you encounter such 'clean' food? You can't possibly go back to the shop and complain. Only thing to do is to ban that stall from future patronage. *eeeyer...*

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

This morning, we (Kakak and I) made muffins. The ready-mix flour has been sitting in the cabinet for quite some time already. We've made a few batches of blueberry muffins before. This is the first time we're trying this flavour. It's actually very easy to make. So I asked Kakak to mix the flour, while I arranged the paper cups (yeah... I forgot about the aluminium cups. Supposed to put the paper cups into the aluminium ones... duh!) and pre-heated the oven. I was the one taking care of the oven - baking and checking the muffins. And made sure they don't get burnt!

~ the ingredients : ready-mix flour, corn oil, eggs, water ~

The outcome...

~ 500g of ready-mix flour made 37 of these little muffins ~

First Weekend In March

Saturday
In the morning, while I was 'busy' at the computer, PaPa let XY play with bubbles at the house compound. XY blew bubbles while CE tried to catch them. He even tried to blow the bubbles that have dropped onto the floor. He sat down on the wet floor (it rained that morning) and blew with all his might. PaPa just let him be coz he's already dirty and wet. Just change his clothes later.

At night, we had dinner at a Korean restaurant in Sri Petaling. It's located on the top floor of a Chinese restaurant. I find that the ventilation isn't very good but we still patronise them coz the food is quite good and it isn't too far. It's better if it's an open air restaurant as it's rather smoky when they barbeque the meat. I know there're some open air Korean restaurants in Ampang. But we're not the type that'll travel far just for a meal.

~ The rice tasted much better than it looks. I forgot
to take the picture before mixing them up. ~

Sunday
For brunch, we went to Puchong (Yap Chuan Restaurant) for bak kut teh. Coincidentally they were featured in Taste With Jason on tv that night for their famous dried bkt. After that, we headed to Sunway Pyramid as Kakak wanted to buy a digital camera. We bought that for her as part of her bonus.

As the kids (especially CE) were fussing coz they've skipped their afternoon nap, we decided to leave early instead of staying on for dinner. And we had a simple dinner at home.

CNY Visiting

~ wearing a dress but stand so unladylike ~

On Friday, we went to visit my aunt in Bukit Jelutong. When I came to work in KL, I stayed at her house till I got married. Wanted to get a hamper, so we went to Jusco at Equine Park first. Had our lunch there as well.

XY had a great time at my aunt's place coz they kept offering her their home-made cookies. Since she's no longer coughing, I let her indulge a bit. She hasn't been eating much cookies (or junk food) this CNY.

After that, we went to Sunway Pyramid. CE had a little accident. He was running around at a small exhibition area. I was following behind but definitely not close enough to catch him if he were to fall. And he really fell and bumped his forehead. Wailed his lungs out for quite awhile. Pity him or serves him right? Who asked him not to hold hands and go run around himself?

We bought a magnetic drawing board for XY. She saw one at BIL's house and she really liked it. But her li'l cousin brother didn't want to share with her. When we were at the shop, both XY and CE were busy 'testing' the drawing boards. PaPa asked if we should get 2 coz both of them also very interested in it. I thought we should just get one and teach them to share and take turns. At home, both of them wanted to play with it at the same time. But the situation's still manageable. Most of the time, jie jie will give in to didi. Sometimes, no one wants to play with it. But when one starts to touch it, the other also wants to play. So actually, fighting for the toy is more fun than playing with it. :-|

Then we had dinner at Ying Ker Lou, a Hakka restaurant. I saw this in the menu, "No MSG was added in our food preparation as we would like to preserve the original taste of the food." Well, something to that effect. No wonder the food's quite bland. But it's alright with me as I feel it's healthier this way. These are the dishes we ordered. I didn't take the picture of siewbakchoy in abalone sauce. For someone who doesn't fancy green leafy vegetables, XY ate quite a lot of that. I wondered why.

~ hakka yam abacus ~

~ braised lamb with fermented bean curd in hot pot ~

~ braised sliced pork belly with preserved mustard vegetable ~

Meeting Up with Ex-colleagues

On Saturday, I met up with 2 of my ex-colleagues (YL and S - from the company I left 7 years ago) at Secret Recipe. CB didn't join us, he just played driver. YL brought her son along so XY had a friend to play with. They are the same age, just 3 weeks apart. I think they have a common mission - to tear the place down. They were playing catching, pushing each other around and making a lot of noise.

CE on the other hand, behaved like an angel. He was very quiet, munching his Honeystars (finished the whole container at one go) and smiling most of the time. He didn't fuss much. Probably coz Kakak kept him busy with snacks and biscuits. So with XY busy with her new friend and CE busy with food, I was able to chat with my friends. Just have to keep an eye on the kids and remind them to stop running around or stop pushing each other every now and then.

After the get-together, we went to Mid Valley Megamall (MV). Finally, I bought a pair of sandals for myself (have been looking around for weeks) at Robinsons. When we walked to The Gardens, it was not raining. But while we were at Robinsons, it rained so heavily. Luckily now they have a covered walkway connecting MV and The Gardens, unlike the last time we were there. It was so weird that on both occasions we went to The Gardens, we went in when it was dry but when we wanted to leave, it was raining cats and dogs.

It was time for dinner and we went to Amarin Heavenly Thai, our main reason for going to MV. We just love the food there. This time we ordered quite a lot of dishes - appetizer, salad, fish, chicken and vegetables. That's quite a lot for 2 adults and a child, no? It was the first time we tried the appetizer platter (prawn wanton, money bag, spring roll, fish cake and rice craker) and it was very nice (very unhealthy though, as it's all deep-fried stuff). But very tasty and crispy. We were stuffed to our chest when we finished. Now I'll leave you to drool over these pictures. hehehe

Open Range Restaurant

Last Sunday, we went to Open Range for dinner. It's a western food restaurant in Mahkota Cheras (near Sg. Long). My first impression when I entered the restaurant was that it was quite small. They have only 5 or 6 long tables there. We sat near the door, in front of the aquariums of oysters and crabs.

I ordered Swiss Mix Grill Cheese Steamboat. When it came, they lighted up the pot of cheese and I thought it was going to burn for very long. Was a bit worried the cheese will dry up coz I take a long time to finish my food. But it went off in less than 5 minutes. hehehe This dish comes with grilled chicken, beef, lamb and fish, fried calamari, sausage, ham and egg. It's the first time I'm trying something like this and it was really tasty, even without dipping the meat into the cheese. And with the cheese, it's even more yummy.

~ Swiss Mix Grill Cheese Steamboat ~

CB said the Red Wine Lamb was good. But I don't quite like it. Not tasty enough for my liking.

~ Red Wine Lamb ~

The Cowboy Hot Dog has 2 pieces of sausages fried in a cheese roll. Nothing to shout about but XY sure loved the fries.

~ Cowboy Hot Dog ~

As for the baked mussels, it was alright. But we still prefer the one in Fish & Co.

~ Baked Mussels ~

Kakak had the pineapple fried rice. It didn't come in a pineapple though. :D She said there wasn't much pineapple in it.

When we were about to finish our meal, it felt quite hot. I was wondering if the air-cond was working or not. After we've paid for the bill, we went to the washroom. Then only I realised they have another air-conditioned section on the other side. They've got a big screen tv too. And it was much more comfortable there. Haih... we were sitting at the non-smoking section lah. No wonder I find it rather funny that the place was so small and hot. LOL

Overall, we had a fulfilling dinner. Thanks Chinnee, for the good recommendation. ;)