Of TV and food...

If you get a chance, would you like to be on TV? Well, I do. I don’t mean like being an actress or model or something…but just to be seen nationwide on TV would be enough. I’m not that desperate, okay. I am just curious. How would it feel to see myself on TV? Would I look different? Yeah...those sorts of things…hehe…

My wish would have came true last month if only I comply to RTM’s #1 rule of ‘Strictly no showing of legs”. I blew-up the chance of a lifetime by wearing a knee-length skirt that day. I could have worn long pants on that day if only I’ve known earlier of such a chance. Nobody to blame but myself..hehe… I didn’t ask further when Cousin A told us that there will be a group of West Malaysian coming during the gathering. I should have asked who they were… Oh, the prohibition also applies on the guys. Hehe...kesian la angkol-angkol / kazen mazen lelaki yang pakai seluar pendek…mau pigi magagung pun tida boleh. Punah harapan diorang mau masuk TV.

I only found out about them being RTM TV1 crew for their magazine-style program called Panorama. Uncle B (Mom’s big bro) house has been chosen by as the location for the shooting of a short documentary on our Kadazan Dusun traditional food and culture. There was no exact date on when this particular episode will be aired but according to the director, give or take, 3 months after the day of shooting. That means the episode will be scheduled to air sometime in July.

Okay, I hardly watch the shows on TV1. Why? Let’s just say that the shows on other channels are more interesting. (No offends). But for this particular episode, I’ll make an exemption. I am excited on the idea of watching familiar faces, people I know personally on TV.

These are some of our traditional food/dish that I have taken that day. Some of them are

rarely served nowadays.

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Chilled treats

In view of the scorching hot weather, I bet most of us would love to stay indoor as much as possible. Because my house is not equipped with air-conditioner we have to rely on the fans. However, the ceiling fan, although switched on to the max, it is still very hot inside the house. We had to resort to additional help from the standing fan as well. Yup, that’s how hot it is. The maximum temperature outside can go as high as 33 Celsius… don’t play-play ah!

As if the hot weather wasn’t enough torture, there was power failure in our area yesterday afternoon. Huh! What a coincidence?! Vanessa was napping then and I was looking forward to some quiet “mommy time” watching TV, going online or reading a book when suddenly all the electrical appliances went dead! Dang! It certainly killed-off my mood to read. Instead I went to fan the little sleeping beauty, manually. Well, it didn’t take long before the she woke-up. I had expected that. Who can possibly sleep in that kinda heat? Thank God she was not cranky. :)

No TV to watch. No mood to play. Luckily, I had fixed something chilly and yummy earlier on. I have made a bowl of macaroni and fruits salad and the most important thing, it’s chilled to perfection. Just the right thing to have in any hot day!

Nasib baik sempat ambik gambar sebelum habis kena makan...hehe...

It’s so easy to make. All you need are macaroni, canned cocktail fruits or fresh fruits (I combined both), mayonnaise and low-fat plain yogurt. Cook the macaroni for 8-10 minutes, add some sugar and a pinch of salt. Drained the macaroni. Add in the mayo, yogurt and fruits. Mix well all ingredients and chilled before serving. Anybody can make this yummy food… :) We all loved it except Vanessa. She dislikes the sourish taste of the mayo and yogurt.

Knowing that, I had made her these. I named them Crystal-Clear Treasure. Hahaha…don’t mind the fancy name. These cute little ‘treasures’ are made of white agar-agar (jelly) powder, cocktail fruits and sugar. Very appealing, don't you think? My little girl loves them. :)

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I’ll take your food, if you don’t give me money…

When I saw the same guy again yesterday evening, walking around Donggongon, this incident which happened some 2 weeks ago came back to me. Stale already by now but still, I want to share it with you…hehehe… The title may suggest a threat, but it was not the case. :)

Okay, let’s go back to that day. My friend and I went yum cha at the new Restoran Maimunah after a tiring day. We were waiting for another friend to come. So in the meantime, I ordered Mee Goreng Ayam (Chicken Fried Noodle) and Air Bandung , while friend ordered Maggi Ayam with Telur Mata Lembu (Maggi Instant Noodle with Bull’s Eye Fried Egg) and hot coffee. Normally, I only ask for Roti Planta. Since the fried mee looks delicious in the menu, I decided to try it. So, my verdict for the fried noodle? Edible but…I think I’ll stick to Roti Planta next time…hehehe…I only ate a quarter of the mee before I surrendered.

Out the corner of my eyes, I saw this messy, unruly guy, asking for money from one table to another. When he finally arrived at our table…there was an unmistakable smell of alcohol in his breath. With a big grin, he held out his palm and asked for money. When we didn’t give any, he proceeded to other table. Phew! Selamat (safe)…so, we thought.

Then, a few minutes later, Mr Stinky came back again. “Kalau kamu tida bagi sia duit, sia makan la ni mi ah? Bulih ka? (If you don’t give me money, I’ll take the mee)” “Bah, ambil la. (Ok, go ahead)”. So, like that la…the remaining of my fried mee went straight down into his hungry stomach, and the sup kosong was not spared too…hehe.

My friend and I was already making eye contact, communicating telepathically, “What if he decided to join us?” There are two more vacant seats at our table. Aiyaks, die la if he does that! I was already thinking the best way to leave our table without offending him. If we pay and left quickly, he may thought we were a couple of snobbish b*tch…perempuan sombong. Who knows how he will react if he was offended? So, I had this line readied (just in case), the most diplomatic way to leave I can think of at that time, “Bah,palan-palan la ko makan kio. Suda sia bayar. (Take your time, I already paid the food)”. Well, I didn’t get to say that as he retreated to another table. LOL. Phew! If my glass wasn’t empty, he’d most probably grabbed it along too. I bet hygiene was the last thing on his mind as he did not mind eating other people’s left-over.

Since there are quite a number of people like this guy in Donggongon area, don’t be surprised if one or two came to you asking for money while you are eating. So far, I have not encountered any of those who are aggressive, not that I’m asking for it..touch wood…but just in case, do you have any idea how to not give in to their demand in the politest way? Do share it if you have any ya..Thanks :)

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Food, Mom and Gift…

As expected, the power cut-off happened again. Luckily, it happened during lunch time. Therefore, I don’t have to go through another free sauna session…hehe…

Instead of having lunch at the coffee shop downstairs like usual, I braved the scorching midday sun. Having the same food, same taste for a week straight will sure make anyone sick, no matter how good it taste. Since it is the only kedai makan in my office area and I was discouraged by the blazing sun, I forced myself to consumed the same food! Sedih oh kan?! :)

Hmmm, how good it is if I could go home and enjoys mom’s cooking. Doesn’t matter la if lunch means steamed, plain white rice with kangkung belacan and salted fish and a pinch of nonsom (pickled) bambangan *drool*. Don’t know about you, but I certainly, don’t mind having these dishes for my daily meals. * smile*

Hey,Mother's Day is Coming Up! If you are still looking for ideas on the perfect gift for your mom, you are not alone…:). Hopefully, we’ll found the right gift before that special day. *wink*

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4D3N - Part 1

Now I’m back in the office and in the blogsphere as well. Hehe...I'll be blog-hopping soon, watch-out ya! This post was supposed to came up yesterday but was unable to do so as there were a few out-standing works waiting for me during my absence. *sigh*

I was back in town on last Tuesday but only came back to work yesterday. It was a good thing that I took an extra leave on April Fool’s Day as daughter Vanessa was having a mild fever. Her fever started on the last day we’re in KL. As the day goes by, her fever subsided. Thank God! But she was very cranky and grumpy and extra manja. Sikit-sikit mommy, sikit-sikit daddy....aduii..

Just as I expected, she has become too attached to mommy and daddy. This morning, she was okay a bit compared to yesterday. It was almost impossible to leave for work. She was crying her heart out….whining for her mommy and daddy. Btw, now at 18mths, she can pronounce “mommy”, “daddy” fluently :), no more "meh" or "deh". Another milestone reached. It breaks my heart to see/hear her crying, but still, we need to go work L. Does that make me a bad mommy? :(

Okay, here’s some story on our trip. On 28/03, we arrived with Air Asia at LCCT, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. My BFF, Chenli & fiancé were supposed to fetch us at the airport. When after 5 minutes looking out for each other at the arrival hall, we’re still unable to find each other. I had a bad feeling that there was something wrong somewhere. Just as I thought, we were at two different locations. She & fiancé were waiting for us at Subang Airport! * sigh* Miscommunication.

Waiting for them to get to LCCT was obviously not a good idea due to the distance and traffic jam. Therefore, we took the Air Asia Skybus @ RM9 to KL Sentral instead. The ride was so boring that we all fell asleep as soon as the bus started to move. Oh, the cool breeze from the air-cond definitely expedites the process of dozing-off to la-la land! Hehehe...

Chenli & fiancé picked us at KL Sentral and sent us to Radius International Hotel. Our room was situated on the 14h flr with a view of the city. After having dinner, we all waited patiently for the clock to strike 8.30pm, the Earth Hour. From the dark of our room, we were able to see that the major shopping complexes and hotels had their lights-off for Mother Earth e.g. the JW Marriott, the Royale Bintang, Lot 10, Starhill, Low Yat Plaza, Berjaya Times Square etc. The hawkers stalls along Jalan Alor was operating like usual…probably they didn’t want to take the risk of losing business or worse have their goods stolen…hehe…

The next day, buffet breakfast was served at 7.30am to 10.30am. We were quite excited to see what they have to offer. Well, there were varieties of food served to suits everybody’s taste. There were fried kuey teow, nasi lemak, bread, bun, egg omelets, Coco Crunch Cereal, coffee, tea, juices, fruits etc. Well, the food was edible but the fried kuey teow at one of the stall out there was a lot better. :)

We spent the entire day, jalan-jalan. Our first stop was the Berjaya Times Square. Hehe..it was more of window-shopping than shopping itself. But I did grab a shorts and tops and a few books by James Patterson and Steve Berry at the Borders Book Store. I’m a book fetish…if only I have all the money; I would probably end-up buying the whole rack of mystery/adventure books!

We were joined by Chenli and fiancé later in the afternoon. Our second stop was Sg. Wang Plaza. Here, we bought some more clothes, T-shirt and dress for daughter. I was checking-out the shoe stores for a pair of sandals but my search was halted when daughter became grumpy. Ah, that’s the cue to end the day’s activity. After having dinner at one of the kedai kopi along Jalan Alor, we headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from the jalan-jalan that we fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillows. :)

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Yangon - Part 1

Yey! Hubby is back from Myanmar. His latest project required him to stay there for 3 weeks. Since most of his time was spent offshore, hubby only managed to jalan-jalan in Yangon City for a short while. It is summer time in Myanmar now. The temperature was as hot as 43 Celcius. The temperature di tengah-tengah laut, tida payah cakap la….

The market is more or less similar to our own open-market aka tamu. Hawkers selling their goods under the sky, some with under the canopy of a large umbrella. The buildings look quite old.
At the sidewalk, these hawkers are selling some tid-bits. In Pic #1, some looks like fried tofu pierced like satay; while in Pic #2, looks like some poultry intestines on the table. Hehe..hubby didn’t dare to try…

Despite being the country’s largest city and the most important commercial hub, Yangon’s infrastructure is relatively undeveloped compare to major cities in SEA. Amidst the city, beggars-children and adults alike is everywhere. The motherly heart of mine wept when I saw this picture.

The child looks no older than 18mths yet she is already wandering on the street, begging for food. Hubby was touched by this sight. He gave the poor child some fruits to eat. Upon receiving them, hubby thought that this mal-nourished child would consume them immediately but no. She carefully tucks away the fruits in her mother’s shirt. The mother was already lying down on the pavement; simply too tired to walk or too hungry…who knows.

Looking at the child, I am deeply grateful that our children are blessed with all the necessities-sufficient food, clothes, shelter and good education. We don’t see our children begging for food in our street. Even the PTI’s kids who loiter in our street begging for money are in better condition.

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Makan-makan di hujung minggu

Spent my weekend with makan-makan activity. Hehe…two of my aunties celebrated their birthday and invited all close relatives to share the joy with them. Aunt #1 (my late Dad’s side) had some makan-makan at her residence on Sunday night. On the next day, also makan-makan at Aunt #2 (Mom’s sis) residence. So, there goes my diet..haha. I have been ignoring the weight scale these few days…*wink* tida berani menghadapi kenyataan bah…haha…

Aunt #2 ordered 50pcs of homemade hinompuka for her guests. So, mom was up as early as 4.30am to prepare the ingredients and cook the hinompuka. Hinompuka is one of our traditional kuihs. It is made of glutinous (pulut hitam) rice flour mix with plain rice flour, coconut milk/santan and sugar. It was wrap in banana leaf and steamed inside a large pot for a full one hour or as soon as the firewoods were burned to ashes. Hmm, it will be a lot easier to steam them on the gas stove, no need to do frequent check on the fire but mom prefers it done the old way, i.e using the traditional stove aka sagang in Kadazan.

As mom’s hinompuka was quite large in size, they were cut into half. Hehe…takut urang tida dapat kasi habis makan…LOL. As usual, mom’s hinompuka was a hit among the guests, towards the evening when we left, there were only a few pieces left on the table. :)

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What's for lunch?

Tired and bored of eating out. Today, I tapau-ed some home-cooked food for lunch. Simple cooking only. Deep-fried ikan kerisi and sayur petola (loofah) which I bought on my way back yesterday. Too bad, we don’t have any microwave in the office, can’t re-heat them. But never mind la …as long as I have my fav appetizer!

Yup, that’s what I’m talking about. Our famous local delicacy, the hinava. The Kadazans version of sushi. Have to remind myself not to have too much of it though. Its very sour that my saliva is accumulating as I am typing..hahaha… If you intend to serve hinava for your guests during open-house, better save some for yourself first or you’ll end-up staring at an empty plate… :)

Unlike the nanggiu, I have mastered the skill of making the hinava. Give me all the ingredients and I’ll be happy to make you this tasty appetizer. :) But the one I’m having now was made by dear mom last night. She made a whole container of it and kept it in the fridge. Enough to last for the whole week…

Okay, enjoy your lunch guys! :)

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Kadazan jelly

Didn't go anywhere today. Just spending my time, lazing at home, playing with daughter. Mom was busy in the kitchen, cooking this traditional dessert, nanggiu. Our Kadazan equivalent to jelly or cendol. We haven't had it in a while. :)

The nanggiu is made of sago. Bought a packet of fresh sago from the tamu on Thursday evening. A packet cost only RM1.00. Do make sure that the sago is fresh ya, or else you'll get a sourish taste nanggiu.

Easy steps to prepare this yummy dessert :-

[1] Pour the whole packet of sago into a big bowl. Soaked in water for 2 nights. The sago will sunk to the bottom of the bowl leaving the water on top.

[2] Get rid of the water and make 2 - 3 balls of sago. Boiled them for a minute or two. Take them out and put aside. Let them cool.

[3] After the were cool enough for your hands to handle, flatten them on the chopping board. Make sure you dust the board with some plain flour before you begin. You don't want the sago to stick on the board! LOL

[4] Cut the flattened sago into fine strips... not too fine though. Dust them again with flour before transferring them into the saucepan.

[5] Pour the santan (coconut milk) in and add sugar as desired. Boil until all the sago strips turn into clear jelly-like strips.

...and voila! This tasty dessert is ready to be eaten! :)

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Ol' King Kong Biscuit

Have you ever had this biscuit before? Well, according to the packaging, it is called Biskut Campuran but I named it Biskut King Kong...hehe. This locally made biscuits has and will always be one of my favourite snacks. (The other one being Keropok Mi Mi *wink*) When I was small, it can be easily bought at any kedai runcit in the kampung and in the school canteen. But, nowadays you can rarely find them. When I was in primary school, me and some friends always save some coins to buy them after school and enjoyed them on the school bus to ease our hunger. As we lived quite far, we were among the last to reach home. *sigh*

Since not being able to find it for quite sometimes, I thought that they no longer exist. One day, the factory decided to stop the manufacturing of this ‘old’ biscuit and give way to modern biscuits/snacks.

But whooa, what do you know?!! My fav biskut King Kong has NOT gone extinct! Only hard to find! Stumbled on them in a small, old sundry shop near the Tamu Donggongon. When I saw them, I was smiling from ear to ear. Grabbed 5 packs right away to satisfy my sweet tooth. I must have looked like an idiot, smiling to myself. When I looked-up, the two girls aka shop assistants were giggling at the corner. Who cares…I found my long lost fav snack…nothing else matter. LOL

As I noticed, there was not much different on the packaging, it still display a King Kong, except now it was carrying a tray of cookies instead of a tree branch. Good ol’ Kong was given a new, modern image…*smile*. Still, there were 3 pieces of biscuits per packet, 2 whites with a brown one in between. The white one is made from corn flour, egg and sugar. It melts into your mouth when consumed. The other is made from dried coconut flesh and sugar. Hmm…I don’t fancy this one though. As always, I reserve them for mom…hehe…Mom like them though.

Over the years, the biscuit still tastes the same except now it is a little bit harder to chew and won’t melt easily like it used to be. No change in diameter also, only the thickness has become slightly thinner. Now it is selling at RM0.20, compare to yesteryears at only RM0.10 per pack. Still very cheap though.

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Batman fan?

As I was passing-by the stalls in Tamu Donggongon yesterday evening, there was this one particular stall that attracted quite a number of people. What was this vendor selling? Mama Mia getting curious liao…but thought better of it. Instead of going through the crowd, I waited for them to subside then go have a look. I’m a short, petite person, so even if I stretch my neck to the max, still, the only thing I can see is other people back…LOL

After buying all the things I needed, I headed back to the stall. Hehe…good, only a few ppl left. Then I saw the item on sale. It’s a bird? No. It’s certainly not a plane. It’s a frozen BAT. Only one left. It was kept it in the freezer for 2 days until the weekly tamu day arrived. Looking at it, I felt pity for this unfortunate flyer of the night. The bat is quite big and it cost RM10…best price. Expensive ? As the vendor said, “Ini barang susah mau dapat bah!” So, that explains the price.

Bat aka kelawar in Malay, gavi in Kadazan and gawir in Dusun dialect is a delicacy among the local. I guess the most common and the only bat dish that I know of is bat porridge. The bat is cleaned and gutted before cut into small chunks, then, boiled together with the rice. By the time the rice become porridge, the meat has also become soft and tender. But don’t ask me how it tastes like ya…I never tasted bubur kelawar before. People said it’s delicious. Some more, bat meat is also good for health, especially its gut. According to the vendor, eating the gut can cure asthma.

The vendor was so friendly (or was he so eager to sell it off?!) that he even explained how to clean the bat. It sounds like the cleaning process are quite complicated, a lot of work to be done. Hmmm…don’t think I’m going to put myself thru all the fuss. Besides, I’m not too adventurous in exploring new taste. So I’ll pass the bat meat. “Sorry la uncle, sia tidak pandai makan juga ni barang. Sia ambil gambar dia saja la, bulih ka?” “Bulih bah kalau kau!”, the vendor replied cheerfully.

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What?!!

Bought a pack of 6 PAMA Instant Rice Vermicelli on my way back yesterday...to my surpirise it cost RM5.70! Biar betul ni...takajut bah si MamaMia. At first I thought my worn-out spec was playing trick on me. So I took a good, closer look...and yup, no tricks, it really cost RM5.70. Adeii...mahalnya suda pula ni barang!

As I was getting ready to go off yesterday ,out of the blue, mom called to buy a few on my way back. So, I stopped by at this sundry shop to grab a few, quite popular due to its strategic location. Near the bus terminal to the kampungs. Its been a while since I last bought one..lost track of the price already. Last time it cost around RM4.80 -RM5.00 for half a dozen. Now the loose packet is sold at RM0.95 each.... it used to be RM0.80.

Mom's a fan of this particular instant mihun soup. It taste nice...the soup of course :). The mihun itself, taste like ...mihun la. The deliciousness of the soup must be contributed by the high amount of MSG in the seasoning powder. I know its not nutritious at all, some more not good for health. That's why I seldom buy or eat it. If I don't buy them, takut pulak my mum merajuk :p. Anyway, I always told her only to have it once in a while. I only use half of the seasoning powder, of course, its not so tasty but I'll add in some fishballs and tomatoes to improve the taste. Hehe...

On the other hand, I noticed that the goods sold in this particular shop are quite pricey. A few months back, due to the price hike in petrol, the price of goods also increased. But now after the price of petrol had decrease, most probably will decrease again sooner ,the tauke should have reduced the price of goods also. But sad, that didn't happened. Except for the rice, prices of other goods still remained on the high side. How come?!

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Monday ,free and easy…

It’s been raining on and off outside. Now, it’s sunny pulak. Ah…the unpredictable weather. It’s damn cold in the office and not much to do. Yup, you read it right. It’s Monday and not much to do! It’s one of the free and easy Monday that comes only once in a blue moon… *grin* Must be my lucky day!

Started my reading on another James Patterson book, The 5th Horseman while listening to my fav songs on my playlist. Feeling a lil’ bit envy eh? There is more…:p .

I’m also enjoying the kuih cempedak I bought during lunch time. I happened to passed-by a stall when my sensitive nose caught the aromatic smell of the kuih cempedak. Arrgh..can’t help it, got to buy some..I lurrvee them so much! Now my minum petang is almost perfect…all I need is a mug of hot Nescafe to go with my cold kuih cempedak. * A slap on the forehead* Aiseyman, no coffee pulak…a mug of Milo will do la! My other colleagues are also doing their own activity. * wink*

In case you’re wondering how my boss react to this? Hehe…he’s not around all the time. He doesn’t know. He can’t see either. He’s in KL… That’s what I like about my job, no boss bossing around, no office politic.

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Wedding Anniversary

Last night, hubby and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary by dining out at Brass Monkey Café & Bar at Lintas Plaza. Hubby was craving for steak. It was our first time there.

King Kong Steak

We both order the Dinner Set. Hubby had the King Kong Steak with Black Pepper Sauce cooked to perfection well done. Hey, don’t freak-out ya…it’s not King Kong meat! It’s only the term used to refer to the steak size, I guess. Besides King Kong, they also have the Queen Kong Steak.

BBQ Spring Chicken

Me, on the other hand, ordered the BBQ Spring Chicken, also with Black Pepper Sauce. Hehe..we’re a fan of black pepper sauce!

Fresh Salad and Mushroom Soup..yummylicious!

Our dinner set include, a bowl of Fresh Salad and Mushroom Soup, Fried Ice Cream and Bread Pudding for desserts. There were at least five varieties of desserts to choose from but these two were the most alluring. The drinks choices were very impressive as well, juices and a wide variety of wine. We had the Watermelon Juice and Iced Lemon Tea plus the Skyjuice. Skyjuice is FOC by the way…:)

Fried Ice Cream

Bread Pudding...very sweet.

The BBQ Chicken was a bit too spicy for me. If only I knew the chicken was already spicy, I’ll go for the Mushroom Sauce instead. Normally, I can tolerate well to hot and spicy food..but not last night.

Overall, the environment, open air style Café is nice, the Steak was great and the Soup was yummy. But not the BBQ Chicken. For me, the Nando’s Hot Peri-Peri Chicken taste better. Whatever it is, we still went home with a full stomach.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring along my camera. Cis!!! So have to rely on my handphone camera lor. So, pardon the poor quality of the pics ya..

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Monday blues...

After a long break, I woke up this morning with super lazy feeling and a blurry mind. I was like..Huh?! Why wake up so early today?? Aiseyman, today is Monday already, got to work bah pulak. *sigh* Eventually, I managed to drag myself from the bed.

Surprisingly… but gratefully, today is not as busy as I expected, only some documents need to finalized and double-checked. Thank God, I’ve prepared them before the break. Today, tinggal sign, seal, deliver. Bersusah-susah dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian, right?! It’s peaceful in the office today, no KL staff fussing this and that. Perhaps, they are still on leave.

As I mentioned in my last post, my holiday schedule is quite tight…Well, it is. BUT it didn’t turn out as I expected. Hmm…a lot of changes here and there. First of all, I only attended one open-house on the 1st Raya. The host, hubby’s colleague was very generous with all the delicious food (rendang, ayam masak merah, serunding daging etc) and drinks served. However, I’m a little bit dissappointed bcos all the kuihs are modern type (almond/chocolate cookies, fruit cakes, carrot cakes)…my favourite batang buruk was nowhere to be seen.

On 2nd day of Raya, didn’t attend any open-house as MIL summoned us to go back to Keningau. She insist to do daughter Vanessa’s 1st birthday party there on 3rd Oct. Initially, we planned to do it in KK but had to postponed as most friends and relatives were unable to make it.

Next day, we rushed back to KK as we need to attend cuz daughter’s birthday party. Niece, Bethany was also celebrating her 1st birthday. We reached Atlantis Restaurant, Bundusan an hour late. Nasib baik the party is still on going. When it’s time to distribute the goody bags, all the children went out of control, all swarmed cuz hubby at one time. Not long, cuz’s hubby surrendered and left the goodies on the podium. LOL …The children masing-masing berebut, takut kehabisan bah. When the function is over, they berebut again, this time for the balloon decorated on the ceiling. After that, we’re supposed to attend hubby’s friend garden wedding at Lembah Impian Resort, but we’re too exhausted to go.

However, we attended their reception at KDCA Hall yesterday. It was a nice one, although not many guests attended. The setting was quite interesting and a bit different from other weddings, the lights were dimmed, so the backdrop with all the blue lights really stood-out. I should have snapped some pics and let them do the talking. But I didn’t…am too occupied with daughter’s antics. She wants to explore he whole dewan…excited that she can walk already *sigh * The 3-piece band was good too…they belted some popular songs in harmony accompanied by acoustic guitars and the upright bass. It sure was an evening to remember. And of course, as well as the Sumazau, the Poco-Poco dance was also performed.

Congratulations to the bride and groom, Didi & Jojo!! :)

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Day before holiday...

Hooray…another long break! Boss is very generous…gave us an extra leave on Friday, 3rd Oct. Well, not to ALL staff but majority of us, some counterpart in KL have to work on Friday. Don’t worry guys, you’ll get paid for OT, perhaps double-pay some more. And, our extra leave is not free…it’ll be deducted from our annual leave. But, hey, I don’t mind at all.

I must admit, my holiday schedule is quite tight…with open-houses, wedding, gathering and nieces birthday party to attend. In the same time, me myself have to prepare this and that for a birthday party. Yes, my dearest daughter Vanessa is celebrating her 1st birthday. I’m planning a small and simple party with family, relatives and close friends. Also glad that hubby is in town already. Honestly, I was really surprised when he came home last nite as he said earlier, there are still a lot of works to do. I was afraid he would miss daughter birthday. It won’t be complete without hubby being around.

Hmm…this year, I’m looking forward to attend friends’ open-houses. I missed it last year as I’m still in my confinement period. But this year, I’m back with a vengeance. * evil grin * Hehehe …Beware to all the yummilicious kuihs and biscuits, especially the batang buruk and pineapple tarts. I lurve them sooo much.

To all my Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir Batin !!! To other friends, Happy Holiday!! To ALL, drive safely and I’m sorry, if I ever did or said something hurtful ya.

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"Eat your plate when you've finished your food ! "

Sooner, we may utter this line to our kids. Hahaha…Bye-bye to melamine plates, say hello to tapioca plates. This may be the long awaited solution to reduced our over-dependent on polystyrene and plasticware currently used for our take away food /tapau.

10 good things about the tapioca plates:-

• 100% natural, made of tapioca/ubi kayu starch, the raw material are easy to get
• evironmental friendly : CFC free, fully biodegradable, recycable thru composting
• edible : feed them to the fishes & animals if you’re too full to eat them
• long shelf life
• faster biodegradable rate,28 days
• durable : microwave-safe,100°C
• can become fertilizers when it biodegrades
• requires less energy to produce
• allows to wide range of colours & grahics (sooner I guess, cos now only available in plain white, as seen in their website, on TV and newspapers)
• affordable price, RM0.35 per piece

BUT, it can only store liquids for about an hour! So, if your food contain a lot of gravy, just make sure you finish it within an hour ya. Otherwise, you’ll end up with additional pattern on your clothes. :p

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Weekend Part 1

Part 1 of my weekend was spent in KK. Started my Saturday earlier than usual, prepare daughter’s porridge, fried mihun for us adults, machine-wash & hang the clothes while hubby and daughter were still tucked under the blanket. Also planted the sunflower seed which I bought last month. All time, it has been lying on the kitchen cabinet, hopefully its still good. I love sunflower!

After energized by a plate of fried mihun & a cup of nescafe, I started my cleaning chores right away. This time it’s a major cleaning. Rolled the rug, swept and mopped the floors, get rid of the spider web at the corners before it spread and expand, cleaned the glass windows, changed and washed the cushion cover etc. Phewww…it sure was a tiring tasks but the end result it very satisfying. Well, the glass is not exactly sparkling clean, and the floor is not exactly dust-free but it’s cleaner than before. *wink * The BEST PART is I did it all by myself. *grin*

Before I was a mom, I normally do the cleaning on impulse, or in other words, ONLY when I’m in the mood. Don’t get me wrong ya; I’m not that unhygienic or lazy person…it just that I do the floor-mopping & windows-cleaning less often, twice a month only. Hehe… Well, what can I say, motherhood really changed me in some way. Now I do it every week. Can’t do it more often bcos I work full time.

Ok, enough said on the cleaning. The next day, we went to Wisma Merdeka. It's been a while since our last visit. Missed the Hainan Steamed Chicken Rice sooo very much. During my pregnancy, nearer to the end of 2nd trimester, I used to bring hubby there, like every weekend. Each time, I can finish 2 plates of rice…LOL. I was craving mad about the food. My weight before I deliver is 67kg…crazy man! Luckily, I managed to shed the extra kilos…now @ 50kg. Still, heavier than before pregnancy but I’m not complaining. I just need to shed a few more kilos lagi but... exercise/jogging is just not my thing. So, I guess diet is the only solution. By the way, cleaning the house is consider an exercise also mah right?! * grin *

Back on track, Wisma Merdeka was packed with people on Sunday, most of them shopping for their baju Raya. We went home after grabbing a few shorts. In the evening, we packed and went off to Keningau.

That's Part 1 of my weekend. See ya in Part 2.

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