the walk into parenthood

Stir-fried pumpkin with dried shrimp

2012-03-05T16:47:00.000+08:00

I cooked this dish for lunch today.

Stir-fried pumpkin with dried shrimps.

This is my first time cooking time and to tell the truth, it was DELICIOUS! :) I do have my mom's genes...ahem ;)

Ingredients:
- Half pumpkin or more (or sufficient to feed your whole army - for my case, my whole army just consists of me and Caleb.....duhhhh), cut in cubes
- A handful of dried shrimp, soften in warm water and drained
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- Sugar to taste
- 2 tablespoon of cooking oil

1. First, heat up wok with cooking oil
2. Saute garlic and dried shimp until fragrant.
3. Put in light soy sauce and almost immediate add in pumpkin cubes and stir fry for a minute or so. The smell emitted is soooooo nice.
4. Add 1 teapoon of water and cover the lid. Do not add too much water or it will spoil the whole taste.
5. Cook over a slow fire. Once in a while open up the lid and add in another teaspoon of water, stir it. Cover back the lid.
6. Cook until the pumpkin is tender
7. Add in sugar to taste.
8, Serve hot with rice.

Caleb keep on coming in the kitchen and asked "what's that? what's that?" I said "Pumpkin" and he said "Caleb want eat pumpkin."

Hahaha.....

After the fifth time he said he wanna eat pumpkin, I let him lick the spatula instead. He looked satisfied and walked away.

Phewww...

Served with hot rice and half slice of fried Red Snapper. Oh, you wouldn't believe it how much that tiny little piece cost me. One whole slice is RM10.50! And that half pathetic looking fish on the table is RM5.25!

Now a day, nothing is cheap. Sigh....

Rising Sun over Malaya

2012-02-29T19:10:00.001+08:00

A few nights ago, after tucked in Caleb for bed, I switched on the tv, clicking away. I stumbled upon this documentry on Astro History Channel 555 - Rising Sun Over Malaya.

It was an intriguing documentary tells the personal stories of Malayans who endured turbulent times under Japanese rule during World War II. This happened exactly 70 years ago, the British General Officer Commanding Malaya signing the surrender document to enable Japanese rule over Singapore and Malaya.

I never heard much about it from my mom or dad. Or maybe they did, just that I forgot. Anyway, I'm gonna to ask my mom if I'm going back Bentong this weekend.

The most vivid story told by one survivor, Seow Boon Hor now 78. He was only 7 years old when he witnessed his parents and younger brother's death at the hands of Japanese soldiers. He managed to survive all because of his quickthinking mother who was pregnant at that time, shielded him with her body. It was her act of sacrifice that saved his life.

Greatest love from a mother....

And they even mention about comfort women. Ex-comfort women, Rosalind Saw now 79, broken her silence about the years she spent as a sex slave during Japanese Occupation. She was 24 years old when she abducted from her home. The soldiers put her into a lorry with other women from her village and took her to a 'comfort' facility in Penang. She was then given a Japanese name of Hanako and as a result of the rapes, she became pregnant and after giving birth to a boy, she had to return to the 'comfort station'.

From google, I found out that she was also visited by a historian Nakahara Michiko who writes in the Journal of Critical Asian Studies. This was what he wrote from his interview with Rosalind:

[Rosalind] was taken to a big house and locked in. (The house, which still stands at the junction of Jalan Burma and Jalan Zainal Abidin, is now the Tong Lock Hotel). A sign saying ‘Exclusive Army Use’ was hung at the entrance of the hotel…She was raped continuously, on a daily basis, by Japanese soldiers. Beginning at 8.00 A.M. the soldiers would start coming in to satisfy their sexual needs. At night, officers came and stayed all night. Rosalind was given lunch and dinner. On a busy day, she would be raped by about thirty soldiers. She would just lie on the bed, naked. There was no time to get dressed.

I heart just sank. I found myself gritting my teeth, clenching my fists......
She did survive the ordeal but the scar would never be heal.

Another story told by a man that still remained in my mind for days. He witnessed his little brother who was not more than 1 year old, snatched from his mom's embrace, threw up in the air and went through the soldier's bayonet when it fall down. Cutting through the baby's stomach and all intestines split on the ground. The baby was still crying on the floor. That's how cruel and ruthless they were.

At this moment all I was thinking is to go into room and hug my baby. Gently I hugged and kissed him on the cheek. That probably woke him up from slumber. He mumbled; "Caleb sleep-sleep jor" - Caleb sleep already....

Haha..oppsss......

For those who are still interested in catching this documentary, you can watch it in youtube:

The synopsis of the documentary:

"The Second World War in Malaya from 1941-1945 was a time of darkness and despair - where innocent lives were lost and blood ran freely. The Japanese rule with an iron hand, slaughtering tens of thousands of Chinese citizens. They force young women to work as sex slaves, or ‘comfort women’ and trick others into working on the notorious ‘Death Railway’. The people of Malaya struggle for survival. When the Japanese surrender in 1945, Malaya plunges into a period of turmoil that brings it to the brink of civil war. But amidst the fire and ruins, sparks of resilience and courage grew. The painful war experience gave a great impetus to a new awakening. “Rising Sun Over Malaya” tells this little known story through the eyes of the people of Malaysia who had a personal observation of the occupation."

Home-brewed Luo Han Guo

2012-02-24T15:55:00.000+08:00

Blame it on the weather, everybody at home is having some sort of sickness now. I'm recovering from flu and coughing, Caleb in the midst of clearing mucus in his nose (those sticky glue..eiii), BIL also coughing non-stop and jk having sore throat for a few days now.

So, I bought 2 whole of Luo Han Guo (罗汉果) to brew at home. RM3.50 each from the Chinese Herbal shop.

"Luo han guo has long been a highly regarded ingredient in Traditional Chinese Medicine, being touted as a longevity fruit. Its well known health benefits include expelling “heatiness” from one’s body and combating chronic throat and respiratory ailments such as throat inflammation. Do you know that it is also a natural sweetener, with its fruit extract nearly 300 times sweeter than sugar, while being much lower in calories"

Bought a packet of honey dates too.

Washed the outer skin with water and cracked it open with my hands. Bring a pot of water to boil, put everything including the seeds and skin in. I added a few pieces of honey dates too.

Simmer for about 45 minutes. Crushed the honey dates to bring out the sweetness in it. Wait the tea to cool and sieve it through a strainer. Pour in cups, serve warm or chilled.

Everybody had a cup or two last night.

Amazingly, I felt much better this morning. No more coughing and my phlegm was nearly gone. Jk said no more sorethroat for him too but he doubt it was due to drinking this tea....

But it worked for me. Hahaha....

I shall boil another batch of Luo Han Guo tea next week.

Caleb's hair cut day

2012-02-21T01:09:00.000+08:00

Caleb's hair has been very fine and curly and very very little since he was born. Every strand is sooo refine, just like mine. In fact you can see right through his scalp. Yea, is that rare!

We'd normally bring him to hair salon to get it fixed in about 1.5 - 2 months time. His father's favourite salon where he frequent since he was a teenager. :)

Everytime, he woke up looking like this:

My mom exclaimed: "Aiyooo..... so cute, like 'crazy guy', dont' cut the hair la...!" each time she saw him looking like this.

But he hates it whenever his fringe touches his eyebrow. And when his head flaring up like a hot potato on warm, sunny day, the sweat is tickling down every strand of his hair. I guess long hair constraint more heat than short hair eh, no?

Anyway, before we came back, we took him for hair cut at the favourite salon.

He sits soooo quietly on the chair. We were surprised. The last few times we took him for his hair cut, he was squirming around, yanking that piece of cloth off, keep on wanting to jump down.

But this time, he was steady. Hahaha...looking into the mirror and his eyes drawn together all the time. Looks like he was intense and scare of the sissor flying around his head.

"Hey uncle, go easy on that pair of sissor, will ya?"

No wailing, no screaming, not even move an inch! WAUUU...bravo, bravo...

I intended to reward him with an ice cream on the way back but the shop that we went in DIDN'T sell ice cream. Ohhh..what a bummer. We went in Watsons, wtf.... haha...

The final outcome. Quite leng chai also ma..right? No more 'crazy guy' look already :))

A surprise on Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T01:20:00.001+08:00

*hick hick hick *

Got this today from dear jk.

I don't normally get things on any other special day (i.e my birthday, Anniversary, Valentine's...). Imagine my surprise when he handed me a bouquet of flowers.

Jk just drove back from KL, fetching us going back to reality tomorrow. My 3-weeks-holiday officially coming to an end.

I'll definitely miss thee:
- just eat whatever my mom cooked without having to think and plan what to cook.
- if I'm craving for something, I can make an order to my mom and puff...there, I have it on the table. :)
- laundry has been perfectly taken care of... haha
- somebody to play with Caleb and he didn't come and bug me. Ahhh...bliss
- free time to go online and blog as much as I can :)

6 stalks of champagne color roses and forget-me-not makes

a perfect combination

Caleb said he wants to give it to Amah. Ohh...how sweet.... *.*

Even we don't say this much, I know you'll always be there for me.

You know I'll do the same too.

For we will treasure each other on every single day and many days to come.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all.......

Caleb and the swimming pool

2012-02-14T00:28:00.001+08:00

Ever since Caleb had his first dip in A'Famosa Malacca and second dip in Port Dickson (uh, I havent blog about this yet), he can't take his eyes off whenever he sees a pool or a fountain or a bucket full of water *.*||

Everytime when I bath him, he would take out a bucket (the one that usually soak clothes in it) and asked me to fill it up with water so that he can 'squat' in and pretend that he is swimming in there. Haha..... But now, he've already outgrown most of the buckets I have at home. So we thought why don't we ask somebody to come and construct a swimming pool just for him.

I checked a few websites online and shortlist to these:

Nice eh? Too bad we don't have enough money nor space to build. Hahahaha!! Crazy... Kidding, kidding :))

So, I bought this instead. Darn cheap, only RM29.90! Can you believe it??? Measure at 4' x 10" Rigid wall... I can sense Caleb is going to have a helluva FUN!

Fill up with water

Oh, he can sense it too. He was so eager to come out but I asked him to stay in first. I closed the door grill and ask him to wait in the house while I filled up the pool for him. But then he 'con' my dad into opening the grill for him, saying he wants to sit on the stool. Then slowly he said wants to sit on bench, afterward he said wants to wear shoe.... Chis~

Hahaha....Ah Kong kena tipu already. :")

"I want to sit on bench jek and watch from afar ok?"

Finally....... I took his shirt off and let him in.

I insisted on him wearing the pant so that his 'birdie' wont get expose but he keep on yanking his pant down. Keep telling me "Mami take off pant, take off pant". So ok lor, what the heck.... take off for him lor.

Hahaha...Nah! Somebody in nude, come and see, come and see! Lai lai lai...lelong lelong.

When I asked him to show me how to swim, immediately lowered his chest and start flapping his hands. Lolz...

In the evening, my nephew joined in the fun.

The sun was scrotching hot, I opened up 2 unbrellas to shield them. If not, they'll end up become BBQ squid.

I'm still staying at my parent's house and will be going back to KL 2 days from now. I really hope that we dont have to drag Caleb back since he is having so much fun here. Got kor-kor, got amah, got ah kong, got bicycle.... Sigh...we'll see.

"I'm sure everybody will miss you too, superbaby. You have bring so much fun and laughter to your Ah Kong and Amah. You never fails to make them smile and laugh. I promise to bring you back real soon, ok?

Marketing with mom

2012-02-12T00:24:00.001+08:00

I used to hate following my mom to the market everytime she asked me to. Hate it to the max especially in the wet area where they are selling fishes, prawns, squids, crabs..... Most of the time, I just wear a flat sandal and it's really really irritated the hell out of me when those stinky-foul water gets into my toes. Grrrr.... Frantically I would find a tissue paper and stuffed them between my toes. But then the tissues was all soaked too... Hmpph...why oh why.

But now I find it enjoyable. There is so much things to learn and so much things to see and with my mom around, I can asked her all sort of questions. How to choose, how to look for freshness, how to avoid being con by ruthless seller... hah!

So here is it. Pasar @ Bentong. The red color building is the wet-market.

Mom decided to buy one whole bird for curry chicken tomorrow. Yay! And black chicken for black bean soup. Yum!

The pork seller stall. Mom's advice. Try buying from one stall all the time so that you can build good rapport with them. They will give cheaper price sometimes and when you need something, you will be their VIP customer. Haha...I think that's true :)

Mom choosing the fish. I remember this Ah Pek selling fish. He used to be quite a chap when he was younger. But mom hardly buy from him, except when she was looking for specific kind of fish and couldn't get it from her favourite stall. For this case, Mom wanted a black promfet for Sambal Tumis Curry.

Varieties kind of fishes. I only know a few. Two, three the most?

Live fishes. Absolutely guarantee the freshness. Aiks, one already down. "Ah Pek, one already si liau (dead) wor. Still selling ar?"

Fresh vege section. Gossiping are a norm in market. If you want to update on something, you should come to the market. Lolz...

Mom is picking up okra (ladies finger) to go with Sambal Tumis Curry later on. I can't wait ler...

Potatoes!! That's my nephew and Caleb's favourite. Both of them can walloped a can of baked beans with potatoes and fried eggs in a day. Mom asked me "Why la every kids also like to eat bake bean? I'm feeling so 'jelak' cooking it already." "Hahaha....mom, it's better that they have one favourite dish rather than not having one at all. When you out of idea, just cook baked bean la.."

Pork Leg Vinegar, anyone?

2012-02-08T00:49:00.000+08:00

Mom cooked this a few days ago. Pork Leg Vinegar....

Nope, I'm definitely not in confinement now. Anyway who said only those in confinement can eat this? :)

It was sooo good. I don't even remember I ever like pork vinegar. Even when I'm in my confinement last time I didn't eat this. Well, maybe once or twice.... because my MIL ~~is a bad cook~~ 's cooking don't suit my tastebud. :p

Mom stir-fried ginger and pork before pour everything into claypot. Braised with vinegar for ... I don't know. 2 hours maybe?

Mom said she's going to cook again for me to bring back home this weekend. Hee hee hee....

Order anyone?

Potty Training with Caleb

2012-02-07T00:54:00.001+08:00

Before I forgot, I really need to jot this down. It is another milestones for me and Caleb @ 2 years and 6 months old.

It's been a week since I started Caleb on potty training. He's already 2.5 years old and I'm sure he understand the word 'wet-wet', 'shh-shh' and 'potty' in which I tell him 'red color tong-tong' very well.

By 1 year old, he hardly pooped in his diaper anymore. It has been a routine for him to sit on potty right after his milk in the morning. Every morning without fail. There was time when he couldn't output a single 'ahem' but when he knows it was coming knocking, he would point and drag me to his potty. :)

Since I'm here (still) at my parent's house (so that I can have a few extra hands), I began the so-called POTTY TRAINING which I dreaded. Who like to cleaning after wet floor with pee right? Well, a man got to do what a man got to do. In this case 'a mommy'...

Day 1:

Early in the morning after he had his milk, as usual I put him up on his potty. Done pooping in minutes time. :) Straight away I put pant on him and with his 'ahem' hanging free. Haha....
He seems ok with it. Didn't yank it down or something like that.
Told him over and over and over again that he need to tell me if he wants to 'shh-shh'. Enhance his memory at 15 minutes intervals if he wanted to 'shh-shh'. He would tell me 'no' each time and came to me later with wet pants and only he would tell me 'mami, shh-shh....' while holding on his crotch, pointing to the puddle of pee.

Results: He wetted 7 pants in one morning, and 4 more in the evening. We only have 1 time of success with me forcing him to pee in the potty when he still told me 'no'....

Day 2:

Again, told him over and over again 'got shh-shh' tell mami, ok? I think I've turn into life-size radio recorder. At times, I insisted on pulling down his pant and held up potty in front of him. Demanding him to pee :) Sometimes there is but sometimes, well..no....

Results: He wetted 4 pants in one whole day... yay!! He told me once that he need to pee....double yay!!!

Day 3:

Started to get the hang of it. I realised that he able to hold on his pee and didn't pee as often. Daily chanting 'Got shh-shh, tell mami,ok?' again....
I would still put on diaper for him when he's having nap in the afternoon. After he fully awake, I would put pant on him again. Make him pee before and after nap. Diaper is dry :)

Results: Only 2 accidents happened. He told me twice that he needed to pee. Ohh, that's improvement. Big improvement I would say.

And today day 7, there was no accident at all. Well, that's something I'm proud off.

Most of the time he would told me pee is coming. I guess seeing me dropped everything in hand and attending to him, made him feel important. He knows when he did the right thing, I would give him a peek on the cheek and said 'Good job, Caleb'.... There were times he said 'Well done, Caleb' to himself too. Hahaha....

Let see how long he can handle it and most importantly, when we get back to KL. Our own house..... Got to know from some sources changing the environment might trigger irregularity. Until then, I'm enjoying diaperless moment for now. *psss....no need to wash CD (Cloth Diaper) mah...*

Kid says the darnest thing

2012-02-04T00:38:00.000+08:00

I completely forgot about this until my mom brought this up when she talked to my aunt over the phone on other day.

I went over to my mom's house on CNY eve (jk's house and my house is just 8 minutes drive) as every year my mom would cook up a feast to give our offering and prayers to the ancestors. This year we are adding another name to the call-up list, my youngest ah chek (uncle) who just passed away last December. My mom reminded my father do not forget to call up his youngest brother to come too.

Anyway, as usual, my mom would prepare steamed chicken, meatball soup, chap chye, fried mee, rice, fruits wine, Chinese tea. My father was setting up the table and chairs just in front of our main door. I helped out by bringing out the foods and arrange nicely on table.

Caleb was playing with his toys all these while me and my father walking to and fro from kitchen bringing foods, chairs, bowl, chopsticks and glasses. After all done, I said "ok, all foods out already" and suddenly Caleb dropped everything on the floor and proceed climbing up the chairs (which mean for the 'guests') and said "Ok, Mami come, let's eat"......

I was stunned. My father was stunned too... Hahaha. I quickly pulled him off the chair and said "No, cannot eat". He think for a while and said "Baby chair?"

Hahahaha.....I almost die laughing.

Apparently back at home, after I've cook dinner, I would bring out all the dishes and put it on our dining table and I did said "Ok, come eat-eat" :D

And the baby chair, yes, he need to sit on baby chair everytime he eats at home.

Yes, kids say the darnest things when you least expected it. :)

Random post on Thursday...

2012-02-02T18:07:00.001+08:00

I couldn't remember when or how I got this dog (does it look like a dog to you?) but it's been around since my uni year. I used to place it with my undies in the cupboard :)

Hence my room mates called it 'The Royal Guardian of the Undies. Haha...

For whatever reason, I love this dog when I flipped its ear to the back,

like this

---

---

---

Funny right? Never fail to make me laugh :D

My forever happy looking dog :)

What Caleb has been up to this CNY.....

2012-02-01T00:14:00.001+08:00

This CNY, we went back to our hometown a few days before CNY. Me and Jk stay in one same kampung. Lucky us..... Looking at those jam, we were lucky that we don't have to travel far to hometown.

So, what Caleb has been doing back in his kong-kong, amah and yeh-yeh's house?

Here what he did.....

Riding on the bicycle with kor-kor. This is my nephew and Caleb loves this kor-kor very much. He would keep on asking his whereabouts if he didn't see him for one second. Basically Caleb attached to him like glue.

Yeh yeh teaching him numbers with those blocks. (p/s they are not Lego....hahaha)
Occasionally Caleb would say A, J, Q and K..... ;)

What CNY means without some firecrackers right? These 'pops' are mean for kids but it makes me jump every time Caleb plays with them. Here, he just woke up in the morning and after his morning routine (milk and pooed).

This is how he play with it. Not throwing away but stepped on them HARD. Those popping sound makes him so happy. Well, boys will be always be boys....

Riding on bicycle by himself. He can maneuver the bicycle very well despite just started riding on it for 3 days. He'd give you one cheeky look whenever he succeeded in doing something.

This is where he was sliding down a slope at the drive-way. See, all smiles and giggles and laughter. MY BOY~ Such a happy baby.

FIL bought this lion for Caleb to play with. At first we thought it was the kind of lion head where you can wear it on your head and goes dong chiang dong chiang all around. But no, it's not.

This is, in fact a tissue box holder.

I was scratching my head why on earth my FIL would buy a tissue box holder for Caleb. And my FIL said he too had mistaken took it as lion dance costume/toy.

It doesn't come cheap. This ~~alien~~ tissue box cost RM26.90..... Gosh, pricey...

But Caleb loves it very much and played with it almost everyday. How to play with tissue box holder?

Shoved small tangerines inside the lion's mouth one by one and when it stuffed to brim, he'd asked the lion to spit it out.

Caleb: Lion! Please 'phui' (spit).....orange.

All of us laugh and seeing Caleb having so much fun, FIL said it's all worth while. :)

He's an apple to his yeh yeh's eyes.

Our 2012 CNY dinner

2012-01-30T12:40:00.001+08:00

My father in law is such a great cook. He cooked our reunion dinner and every dinner this CNY. I didn't lift any fingers to help. What a filial daughter in law I am. :) Hahaha.....actually I did offer to help but he always said "No need, no need...." ;p

These what he whipped out on our CNY eve dinner. There were just 4 of us so all dishes are quite simple.
Chicken strips with nga ku in dark soya sauce, sweet and sour prawns, marmite pork ribs and stir-fried green. Oh and soup too.

Left: Chicken strips and nga ku in dark soya sauce

Right: Sweet and sour prawns

Caleb is waiting for his dinner.

The next day, my FIL whipped out another feast.

Our dinner on 1st day of CNY

Left: Oven baked chicken wings

Right: Sliced pork with ginger and spring onions.

I'm feeling so blessed to have a father in law that can cook. Not only that he cook, it tastes very good too.

Redtick - Online grocery shopping experience

2012-01-26T18:22:00.000+08:00

I love the internet.

I really do.

I mean I can give up everything except for the internet, of course I need a laptop or an Iphone or better still an Ipad *wink, wink* to work with.

I did my shopping for clothes, accessories, skincare, Caleb's toiletries, Caleb's toys and now I even did my groceries shopping via the internet.

Log on to..........RedTick - Grocery with just a click away!

I bought all these online and they it was delivered right at my doorstep. :) Actually the most important thing among all these groceries is Caleb's fresh milk which running out quite often.

Now I don't have worry about lunging all those cartons and cartons of milk and juices, yakults, shampoos, body shower. Well, most of the time is Jk who do the lunging :)

For those who do not have the time for grocery shopping

do not any transport to go

just plain LAZY... hahahaha

Check it out....you'll be surprise how amazing it is and how you can save a lot of time. Their service is just superb! ;)

Consider Redtick for your basic shopping needs and more. For more information, log on to http://www.redtick.com.my/.

Chinese New Year is finally here....

2012-01-23T12:28:00.001+08:00

Chinese New Year is finally here.

Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Dragon Year and Gong Xi Fa Chai!

See the cheeky face? Haha... I was asking him to show me "Gong Xi Gong Xi" hand sign but instead he showed me a cheeky face plus a "stomp-y" sign.

Haiiiii.... at least he was looking at the camera, right?

Jean, the shirt is from you. The one that you bought from US. Can wear already, looking smart hoh? Hahaha...

Penang - Day 2 @ Straits Quay

2012-01-17T01:18:00.003+08:00

Day 2 in Penang....

Caleb woke up at 7:30am just right after sunlight shinning through the window curtain. Arrgghhhh......he was trying to peer my eyes open. Well, it makes sense la, being in other place there must be a lot of things to explore. Better wake up early.... :)

We had a simply breakfast and lunch at home. After Caleb's 2 hour nap, we went to Strait Quay for dinner.

A brand new iconic landmark in Penang.

Can you spot "Straits Quay"?

Walking through the foyer. Some booths set up selling Christmas ornaments, house-deco, household thingy, forks, plates, spoons, bowls...you got the idea.

Spotted a HUGE Christmas Tree at the entrance.

Since we came here on one of the weekday, it was empty. Caleb can run around like wild goose without me chasing after him. I can just sit on the bench watching him without the worries of him knocking into somebody else or somebody else knocking into him.

Empty. Not a soul....

The wild running goose....yeeee haaaaa!!

And then he found something. Oh great, a fountain......

mmmm...what should I do with it?

He looked at me with this weird smile and I said "No, you cannot swim-swim in there, ok?" He is soooo addicted to pile or pool filled with water now ever since he had his first dip in A'Famosa last Dec.

And he coming up with this stunt........

Ready....

Steady....

GO!!!.....

Look...it's a bird, no, it's a plane..., no, IT'S SUPERBABY..... Hahahaha.....

and he can go on and on and on.....until we need to drag him away. But then he sweet-talked my aunt to go there again. This baby really don't give up easily....

"Ee poh...come come, go there again, ok?"

Finally we succeed in luring him away when we said we will bring him to see boats.

He was stunned for a moment after seeing so many boats around.

"wahhh....so many boats"

"Mami, mami...tai boat (see boat)"

Caleb getting haywire and running like a wild goose again

After a few rounds of climbing up and down the stairs and running here and there, finally he sat down. Battery 'RECHARGING'....

Oh wait...I need to recharge.

Oh stones...fascinating uhhhh.....

Tonight's dinner @ Ding BBQ and Steamboat Restaurant. After heard my cousin raving about it so much, finally I got chance to taste it.

Displaying all their ingredients on a kaiser belt.

My cousin done most of the grilling and cooking part as she said she is already an expert :) I just need to entertain my 'boss' and eat....

Oh thank you very much. I gladly obliged. :)

While waiting for food to cook, as usual Caleb will request to play with 'bear-bear', one of his favourite apps in my IPhone.

After a full dinner, we walked around on the side walk and trying to speed up our digestion.

The night view is simply amazing and breathtaking. I was admiring the view until Caleb came to me tugging my hand. Yes, he wants to go playing with bloody stairs again.... Sigh....

Ghost Story

2012-01-10T16:44:00.002+08:00

Ahemm....hahaha...lai lai lai, story-teller want to share some ghost story here.

Excited? Hahaha...better be, my first time telling a ghost story.

Some said that children/kids/toddlers have the ability to see ghost or spirits. I don't know how true is it but I'm so sure I don't want to find out. CREEPY.....

One day, 3 of us were chatting at home (me, jk and jw-my brother-in-law) and we brought the subject 'GHOST' in to our conversation. And so, I told them sometimes when I'm tucking Caleb to sleep at night in our room, in dark after the lights off, he'd point up at the ceiling and said "Che-che, wahhh, so many che-che". The first time I was taken back by what he said, but after a few more times, I just sheesh him off and asked him quickly go to sleep.

After hearing that, we laughed.

And then my brother-in-law shared his story. His lady boss, let's call her A. A has an older brother work as a feng sui Master in funeral services company. His wife is a stay-home mom with 2 children. So one day, the husband needed to go outstation for some work and he leave the wife and children at home.

They said working as a feng sui Master easily attract spirits to you or to your home. I don't know why. Anyone know?

Anyway, the husband left. The wife stay home taking care of the children like usual. Her youngest son who is around 3 or 4 year-old told his mother that he saw a girl with her mommy walking around at home and sometimes he would tell his mother: "Mommy, che-che is playing fire at your back". The mother turned around and saw nothing. Creepy leh...

The wife got really scare and called her brother in law and told him what had happened. Soon, the brother in law rushed to her place and checked things out. He asked the son to go in to a room with him and questioned him. Because don't want to scare something unnecessary-ly. As the son is still young and can't really express himself very well, so the uncle asked him to draw instead. To draw what he had seen.

And so, the son drew 2 figures and a fire, a girl with her mommy....without eyeball. Geeeezzz......
The son is actually very good at drawing. The uncle feel weird and asked him if he forget to draw something extra on the picture.....and the son said no, that's all. That's what he saw.....

Mmmm....so, do you believe it?

The day that cousin came @ Day 4 - Village Park Nasi Lemak

2012-01-05T15:13:00.001+08:00

Today marked the final day for my cousin's holiday in KL and my holiday begin in Penang. Oh, I'm so excited....hehe...Char Koey Teow, Chu Cheong Fun, Curry Mee, Belacan Kay (chicken), here I come!! :)

After dealing with Caleb in the morning i.e making milk for him and make him poo, we left the house at around 10:30am. We decided to go for Village Park Nasi Lemak for our breakfast. My cousin really did her homework well before coming. Asking me where is it, tried before or not, nice or not, can go or not?

Hahaha....can, of course can-laaaaa.... :p

Both of us ordered their signature Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng @ RM8.00

It was sooo good. The sambal was not overly spicy and it has a hints of sweetness in it. I like it this way, not like others that did their sambal so damn spicy and I dont even know what it taste like. My tongue basically became numb....

The rice was uh la la... filled with fresh coconut fragrance. I'm salivating as I'm typing this. Really good, very lemak-y, milky and fluffy. The fried chicken was so crispy on the outside, tender and moist inside and so well marinated even through the bones.

After our sinfully breakfast, (sigh, there goes my diet plan...) we started our jouney to Penang.

The lampin cloth act as a sunshield...

At first we plan to stop by Ipoh to grab the famous white coffee and Ipoh hor fun with yong liew but we were too full to stuff anymore food inside. My cousin asked me "So how? want to stop by Ipoh or not?". One look at my superbaby who just conked out and full stomach, I said "Haaiii...no need ler. Too full already..." :)

And we continue our journey......straight to Penang.

Caleb woke up 1.5hours later, bought a bottle of yogurt drink for him. He likes it so much until he insisted to hold the bottle himself. Of course, sweet ma... :)

We reached my aunt's place at around 4pm. At first Caleb was a bit shy, so shy that he stood at the door entrance for a few minutes, looking around. After he stepped in the house, he already make himself at home. Running here and there, climb up chairs, pointing here and there, watching tv, went outside the garden to see fishes...

"Wahhh...so many fish..."

"Caleb count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...."

"Mami, I want to eat fish? Fish niceee..."

"aiyo...so small, how to eat?" hahaha

Picking up leaves

"Throw leaves, where?"

means he want to throw leaves and ask me where to throw... lolz

"Ok, come...let's go inside. Mosquitoes coming out bite-bite already"

and his usual response: "Noooooo, tannot go inside, tannot, tannot tannot"

(tannot = cannot)

Aiyo...kepala pusing (headache) lor. Need to pusing for a few more days....

Welcome 2012 : 2011 year in Review

2012-01-03T00:12:00.001+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR..... Welcoming 2012 :)

Let's me review things that happened in 2011.....

1. Went to HK in January with my aunt and cousin. My first oversea trip since I've gave birth to Caleb. It was really fun and looking forward to go there again. Next time I must include to visit Macau too....nope, I never been to Macau before.

15 minutes to boarding

2. Caleb did his own passport at the age of 19 months-old. As far as I remember, I did my own passport at the age of 18 years-old. See the difference? Children now a day are so lucky :) But also thanks to the mother who loves kai-kai very much...

Caleb's first passport

3. So off Caleb went to Singapore in March with me and Mother in Law. Caleb's first time flying but I doubt he knows that he's in plane thou. Thank God he didn't make a fuss or going haywire. See the blur-blur face? :)

Fiddling with my pen

4. Started buying books for Caleb to read. Better start young right?

5. Bought a toothbrush for him too. It was a bit clumsy for him to brush his teeth himself a first but after a while and a little bit of practise, he become more expert. Now, all I need to do is squeeze a pea size toothpaste to his toothbrush, passed it to him and he'll do the brushing. :)

Jason Earth's Best Toddler Strawberry and Banana Toothpaste

•6 MONTHS to 3 YEARS

•Natural Formula
•Safe is Swallowed
•Fluoride Free
•Contains Oat Bran, Beta-Glucan & Vitamin B5

For toddlers 6 months – 3 years, Jason Toddler Toothpaste helps establish a healthy oral care regimen from a young age. Calcium Lactate helps prevent tooth decay while yummy Strawberry & Banana flavour with Xylitol (natural sweetener found in the fiber of many fruits and vegetables) encourages your toddler to practice brushing. Made with food grade ingredients and Kosher Certified, Toddler Toothpaste is safe if swallowed and contains no preservatives or fluoride

Jason Earth's Best Toddler Toothpaste

6. Went to Genting with yeh-yeh.

7. First experience in eating avocado and making a pound cake out of it.

8. Girl's trip to Singapore and first time to Universal Studio Singapore.

Me and Joo and Universal Globe

9. The first exercise I did since 4 years ago that made me breathless for 2 long gruesome hours. JUNGLE-TREKKING.........

My sport shoe ate MUD...

10. Loo's family trip to A'Famosa and Port Dickson :)

Loo's babies @ A'Famosa Melaka (Nov 2011)

Loo's babies @ Port Dickson (Dec 2011)

It was a good year and Caleb seem to have grown up alot. In no time, he will no longer want me to call him baby anymore. That remind to me treasure every moment and second with him now....

I do hope I'll another great year ahead. So, co 'mon 2012!

The day when cousin came @ Day 3 - Tokyo Street @ Pavillion & XO Shabu Shabu @ IOI Boulevard Puchong

2011-12-31T17:59:00.003+08:00

Oh yes, today marked the 3rd day my cousin is here in kl and we really enjoy it to bits! So fast....well, as they said, time flies when you are having fun.

We decided to go to Pavilion and have brunch at Tokyo Street situated on Level 6. Ahhh...I always wanted to go but I dont have this kind of privilege when I'm with jk. Why? because Japanese food equals to FISH la.... In his mind, Japanese restaurant only serve FISH, nothing else but FISH. Sigh.....

So when I have company with me, haha...I grabbed the chance at once :)

We walked around, looked around .....

......with this guy,

......doing this stunt.

Dont ask me why.....hahaha.....

We went into Hokkaido Santouka Ramen for brunch. Santouka = Mountain Head Fire

What a name.... :)

We both ordered ramen set which comes with a bowl of rice, chawamushi, salad with sesame seed dressing, pickles and a cup of green tea, not refillable thou....

There are a few soup base to choose from. Shio broth (salt), Shoyu broth (soy sauce), Miso (fermented soybean) and the spicy type, Kara-Miso broth (spicy soybean paste).

Since I need to share half of my food with Caleb, I ordered the Shoyu set ramen with rice (pic on the left) and my cousin ordered the Kara-Miso, the spicy one. I didnt get a sip of the soup (oh regret that..) because I need to keep on entertaining my 'boss'. Haaaiii....wasted.

My Shoyu soup is really really good and flavorful but a bit salty. The mild, pearl-coloured Tonkotsu soup is made from pork bones, vegetables, dried fish, kelp and other ingredients. Noodles are so damn good too. Springy and bouncy texture. The rice with charsiu and caramelized onions is another great combination. Too bad, my baby is a hungry alligator. He walloped half of my ramen and almost all of my rice...ish ish ish.

In the end, my tummy was hardly filled. Sigh.....should order a bigger size.

Omm omm omm....like energizer bunny, he keep on eating and eating and eating :)

We ordered a plate of pork gyoza (or is it chicken? couldn't remember) to share. Taste good too...!

Ok, time for desserts.

I bought a cup of Kindori Ice Cream - Banana Flavour just to calm my superbaby down. As usual, he is going haywire again. Really cannot catch this guy if you didnt have something in your hand,.... like ICE CREAM. :)

Hiding somewhere in the corner feeding him.....

One after another...

My cousin was craving for something sweet and she's been longing to try these Japanese Mochi. So, she bought 2 pieces; red bean paste and green tea.

It doesn't come cheap. Over-price at RM3.50 per piece. Hell ya, you hear me right....RM3.50 PER PIECE! I can eat a bowl of noodle or a plate of chap fan (economy rice) with that price.

With this kind of price, it has to be good right? And oh jolly yes, it was very good indeed. Sweet, soft, tender and chewy. The paste is nicely made and there's a dollop of whipped cream inside too. Eaten together and it taste heavenly..... Will I ever return again? Mmmmm........hehe. YES~!

He's asking "what's that?" , "what's that?" question again. Aiya, baby....mami don't know what is that. Sorry ... haha

Tis the season to be jolly .... Fa la la la la la la la la

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, Thy leaves are so unchanging.....

Another thing that caught our attention is BEAR BEAR. Why there are so many BEAR BEAR? Even Caleb is so excited and keep on mumbling "Bear bear kei chu, bear bear kei chu" means bears is standing.

A total of 147 life-size buddy bear measuring at 2m tall from 143 different country. Each of them reflects their nation's own culture, history, traditions and characteristics painted by an artist from that country.

They are called UNITED BUDDY BEARS.

"Kuala Lumpur is the 23rd stop of the world tour for the 147 life-size painted bears drawn from 143 countries during the tour that originated from Berlin in 2002. Since then, more than 25 million visitors worldwide have seen them and over 1.8 million Euros collected in donations to children’s charities. "

Which one is our own country bear-bear? Hahaha...I dont know because we didnt go scout one by one. Our eyes were glued at this superbaby.....

He is having so much fun jumping from one platfrom to another platform and then post for a picture before he vanished again.

After a short trip to Uniqlo, we went to back home. Caleb, as usually need his afternoon battery charging session.

I dont feel like bring Caleb out for our dinner and so I SMSed the father. "Eh, can you take care of Caleb tonight?" and.....hehe, the father said "YES". *big wide grin*

And so we went to our favourite steamboat place. XOXO Shabu Shabu @ IOI Boulevard Puchong.

Such a bliss eating without superbaby. I can wait for the soup base to boil without Caleb yelling 'fai di','fai di' (faster, faster). Hahaha....

I always go for herbal soup base and my cousin always go for tom yam. They have 4 types of soups; herbal, tomyam, chicken and pork soup. And yes, it's a non halal restaurant. But who would go for halal restaurant for steamboat? Hehehe....I know I won't because if I do, then I can't eat my favourite pork meatball :)

They have a wide variety of raw material to choose from and all of them are freshly prepared on a daily basis. All meatballs are handmade, the pork meatball, prawn meatball, fish meatball, squid meatball...... yum yum yum....

Vege, the seafood, meat sliced.....everything!!! It's just so fresh and clean!

If you want to try it out, here's the address:

No.A-GR-33A, IOI Boulevard, Jalan Kenari 5,

Bandar Puchong Jaya, 47170 Puchong, Selangor
Tel: 03-8076 5348

A very satisfying dinner indeed...!

The day when cousin came @ Day 2 - Bubba Gump @ The Curve, Moo Cow @ eCurve, Uncle Jang @ Bandar Puteri

2011-12-28T18:50:00.001+08:00

The next day, we went to The Curve simply because my cousin wanted to walk walk and see see those stalls in the whole stretch of flea market. Actually I love to walk around and see those stalls too, especially now in Christmas season.

The way they decorated the stalls with all the Christmas ornaments are so so so pretty.

We had late breakfast at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Located just above The Gourmet House at the curve, the restaurant occupied two floors. The area is HUGE, with a lot of chairs and tables arranged outside the deck.

As it was still consider early when we reached, we got ourself a pretty good seat inside.

See what I mean? We are free to choose where we want to sit :)

Pictures hanging on the wall.

Oh...Happy Shrimp.

Oh...Happy Baby...

Oh...the happy baby and the happy mami

Since both of us were on diet (ahemm...),we just ordered 2 drinks and a main course to share.

Our drinks:

Blueberry Smoothie with Blueberries, Strawberries and non-fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurts; RM11.90

Run Forrest Run with Fresh Oranges, Strawberries, Bananas and non-fat Rasberry Frozen Yogurts; RM11.90

For the main course, we ordered Bubba's After the Storm "Bucket of Boat Trash"; RM43.90 consists of deep fried shrimp, lobster tail, fish fillet served with Bubba's Cocktail sauce and butter oil and of course with a bunch of fries.

Foods and drinks here are not cheap at all so be prepared to make your wallet 'bleed'. See, a bucket of trash already cost RM40 over...ish ish ish...

But it was all worth it. The shrimps were fried to perfection and remained juicy and succulent inside. Omm, omm, omm....

Same goes to the fish fillets too.....FRESH!

And the lobster tail. It was a bit hard and many times the shell kinda like poked inside my mouth. But it was not so bad la. Still edible :)

After meal, time to go outdoor and sweat it out! Haha....why la the wheather here is so warm and stuffy? Christmas time is suppose to be cold, chilly, winter wonderland time right? But too cold I also cannot tahan ler....so how ar? Yala, yala, I know I'm hard to please la, so shuddap. Kakaka....

Taking pictures in front of water fountain. Since I have already give up asking Caleb to look at the camera, I just asked my cousin to just snap la. Dont care....just like 2 strangers taking pictures right? We mind our own business... lolz...

We passed by this stall selling frozen yogurt by the name Moo Cow. A cow with tiger stripes? Mmm...interesting, so let's go and check it out. By the way, Caleb started to go haywire again. So the best thing to calm him down is with food and nothing's better than cold yummy frozen yogurt.

I bought one to share, a root beer flavour; RM10.90 without any topping. Any extra topping will be charge at RM1. Original flavour @ RM9.90

It taste good. What I liked about it was that it had a very distinct taste of yogurt which is a bit sourish and not overly sweet. A quick check on google reveals that "Moo Cow’s yogurt USP (unique selling point) lies in the fact that they use live ABT culture & absolutely no powder mix, unlike its competitors. The final product is a mix of yogurt, milk & certain ‘stabilisers”. The culture used is actually a product from his own fermentation. Sugar is used very conservatively in Moo Cow’s yogurt"

This is cute...Da family of Moo Cow

It only got me realized that Caleb loves cow very much. He have no problem walking up to the cow picture and pose for the camera. Hahaha....no wonder, Caleb was born under the year of ox.

"Caleb wanna scoop, Caleb wanna scoop big-big"

Sigh...... as long as he can stay still and eat, it's ok with me. Frozen yogurt is still better than ice-cream, right?

This is chicken. Ohh..I love you too chicken....

Mami, made from fresh milk leh. So I can eat MORE....

We spent another hour or 2 and we went back home. It was tiring when you have an active toddler with you. There was no chance for me to shop around. My two eyes were glued at Caleb like a hawk. Luckily my cousin add another two more eyes for me.

Caleb had a good 2 hours nap by the time we reached home. Battery charging......

For dinner, we went to Uncle Jang for their famous Chuncheon Dak Galbi, which is nearby my place.

"Dakgalbi is a South Korean dish featuring delicious chicken cubes with vegetables and topped off with a spicy Gochujang sauce."

I've been here a few times with jk and we love their spicy sauce. Well, there are 2 type of sauces actually. The spicy and the non-spicy. We always go for the non-spicy one but although it stated non-spicy, it still burnt our tongue.

A very simple interior. Nothing fancy about it.

There is a giant hot plate on every table.

Marinated chicken cubes in chili pepper paste with cabbage, scallions, sweet potatoes, onions and rice cakes. Everything goes into the hot plate.

With added ramen at the end when all the chicken cubes and vegetables had already cooked. It taste GOOD and ADDICTIVE!! You really cannot stop spoon-feeding yourself one after another....

Who can resist this?

See you tomorrow..... ;)

The day when cousin came @ Day 1 - Japanese Buffet Dinner @ Sunway Putra Hotel

2011-12-23T00:31:00.002+08:00

And so the cousin sister came. She drove all the way from Bukit Mertajam, armed with her trusted Ms Garmin GPS and after 4 hours of 'sing-and-talk-to-herself', she reached safely at my house.

Before she came, I bought 2 vouchers from I love Discount website to celebrate our birthday which is just 15 days apart. A Japanese Buffet Dinner at Sunway Putra Hotel - just opposite The Mall.... uh la la la.....

Oh, my cousin even went to the extend of borrowing a baby car seat for Caleb because we are going to follow her back to Penang :) Hooray! Hooray!

A blue Christmas tree decorations that we saw while on the way walking towards the Japanese Restaurant.

All of us were starving! I'm hungry, superbaby lagi hungry because I woke him up from his afternoon nap at 4pm and all he had was just a glass of milk. By the time we reached it was already 7:30pm.... Luckily Caleb didnt whine or make a fuss.

Now you feed me or or or I'll spit at your face~ Haha....nola, kidding! In this case, I'm gonna spit at your camera. Lolz....

1st round: Mashed potato, crunchy bread toast topped with egg mayo, 2 pieces of sushi and thinly sliced and fried to perfection little fish coated in sweet Japanese sauce.
This plate is for Caleb except the thinly sliced fried fish... Fried stuff not good for kids ler.... hahaha. Who am I kidding right? :D

2nd round: All from the sushi counter. Tasted very good. Caleb ate almost half of this plate. Geng ler...
Apart from these, he also ate one chawanmushi, fried rice, fried spagetti, cakes and ice cream. And the best thing is he eat for FREE!! Hahaha.....No charge for children under 4yo.

His most favourite question now "What's that?", "What's that?"

Caleb ate so much that he dont feel like walking and running around after that. Boy, am I getting worried. Everything I asked him, he kept on saying "Noooo"..

"Caleb, want to come down walk-walk?"

"Noooo..."

"Wanna see Uncle play piano?"

"Noooo..."

"Wanna run around like siau kia (crazy kid)?"

"Noooo..., want to 'fan oh kei' (go back home)"

Wahhh...never in my life I ever hear that coming out from his mouth. Really too full already this guy. Hahaha...

Hi, Greetings from Penang ;)

2011-12-14T00:50:00.001+08:00

Just reached in the land of Penang.... with superbaby in tow, leaving the father at home :) haha...well, it is actually mother-and-son bonding time of course with a lot of foods in between. *grinning from ear to ear*

My cousin came to visit me last weekend and since she was driving all alone, I thought why don't I follow her back to Penang. Caleb haven't been to Penang before anyway... and now we are here in my aunt's house.

First and foremost, Caleb definitely didn't feel any strange at all. While in the car I continuously asked him "Caleb, where are we going?" and he said "go kai-kai". Already sit in the car for 3 hours still haven't reach meh? Hahaha...

At first he got shy shy abit la, not yet warm up ma. Few hours later, he already make himself at home. Walked here and there, bugged my uncle and aunt (as usual for everybody) and sat on the sofa watched tv. High level of adaptability...lolz

We planned out have a few itinerary for these few days. Tomorrow we are going to Strait Quay and dine in Ding Charcoal and BBQ Steamboat (after my cousin raving so much about them :))

Till then... Ciao

Oh, to the father, Caleb loves the Tango apps very much because he can poke your eyes as much as he likes without you yelling at him. Haha...

Conversation with Caleb

2011-12-09T00:47:00.001+08:00

I was cooking lunch in the kitchen this afternoon and as usual Caleb came to me and hugged my legs. Asking me to go and play with him. Aiyaiyai....

Caleb: Mi mi...come come....

Me: No lar baby, mami is cooking now. Later ok?

Caleb: Mi mi...come come... (*2 volume higher*)

Me: Nooo...baby. Mami said mami is cooking... Please baby, go outside ok?

So, he went out and after 1 minute he came into kitchen again. This time he pointed to the cow fridge magnet and requested me to take it down for him.

Caleb: Mi mi...cow cow....Caleb want cow....

Me: Caleb....can you see mami is cooking? How many hands you think mami have? Please wait, later mami take for you, mami is cooking now....

Caleb: No no...no cooking, ok? (he is asking me to stop cooking)

Me: No cooking then Caleb eat what?

Caleb: Eat cake (pointing to the oven....) - yes, I made cupcakes yesterday and he loves it very very much.

Me: Ya ya....you banyak pandai hor. No, cannot eat cake.

When I heard him saying that, I was laughing hard in my heart. Thinking back, true also la, no need to cook, eat cake ma ok lor....

Hahahaha...............

Caleb's house

2011-12-06T11:51:00.000+08:00

I did some housekeeping a few days ago and left with some empty carton boxes. Just when I thought of throwing it away, suddenly I have this idea of turning it into another toy for Caleb.

I carved a hole in front and another one at the back. Drew a door knob, 2 windows (with curtains...ahem~), and flowers.

Hideous right? hahahaha....

It's Caleb's house :)

Anyway, he having lots of fun playing with it. That's what it really matters.