Archive for the ‘Pleasure’ Category

I have been cooking, baking and even cake-decorating. I love being in the kitchen and whipping up food. I’m motivated by my own love to eat. Now that the kids are a bit older and can play with each other, it leaves me a bit more time to hide myself in the kitchen. Plus we installed a kitchen door which can be locked from the inside so that I can cook in peace (although there are often poundings on the door but I choose to ignore!).

Last Monday, I went for a basic fondant decorating class in Jaya 33. I had always been curious about how to work with fondant.

Still early into the class, the eager-beaver smoothing the fondant

It was a 4-hour class which started at 6:30pm and by the time we ended, I was completely pooped. Note to self: do not attend classes after work! It was quite enjoyable although my enthusiasm died about 2.5 hours into the class as I was hungry and sleepy. I rushed through the rest of the class with little eagerness. I even bribed my colleague to complete the more intricate details for me!

The end product – this is my colleague’s. Mine was a lot less pretty.

I’m also a big fan of pies. All kinds. It is actually my ambition to open a pie shop. My kids love pie too. All kinds too. Yesterday’s dinner was chicken & mushroom pie with puff pastry top. I had intentionally made extra for freezing so that the kids can have them during the weekdays. Later in the night, I also baked a butter cake from scratch because I felt like eating it.

Chicken pie fresh out the oven

But before all that, I’d roasted a chicken to make sandwiches for a nice Sunday breakfast. I whipped out the new Zwilig carving knife that I had earlier purchased at a deep discount at Cold Storage’s PWP promotion, and proceeded to carve the meat off the bird. And then disaster struck.

The new knife was so sharp that it cut through a minor vein (the doctor told me this after the bleeding wouldn’t stop even after 30mins of compression) despite being a small cut. VT raced me to the 24-hour clinic nearby as I was hyper-ventilating from seeing the blood all over the kitchen counter. Weirdly, I even felt like throwing up. Luckily no stitch required although I had to get a tetanus jab to be on the safe side.

Not much of a domestic goddess as I would like to be, eh?

Yes, I am still very much alive. Yes, I have been speed reading your blogs via the trusted Google Reader but No, I have not left a comment because I have been totally L-A-Z-Y!

Still, not lazy when it comes to organising a girly-night out.

For my FB friends, you know that I had originally planned the night out for Saturday, 16 Oct. Yesterday my mum told me that a family friend’s son is getting married on the 16th. Must go. No choice. Don’t ask me why. I’ll tell you when I meet you.

Hence, is it ok to move it  to Friday the 15th instead? The movie will be released this month end so if you are keen, drop me an email or comment and I’ll email with details.

I’m back into hibernation (and it’s time for lunch too!). Ciao!

I’m now sitted comfortably on a plush rattan cushioned sofa by the hydrotheraphy pool, which offers 4 different water jets to sore your aching muscles in a well known hotel in KL. And no, it is not a dream.

VT and I checked in to stay for a night. Afterall, we’ll be attending a friend’s wedding dinner in the same hotel tonight and with the groom being a very good friend, we’ll be partying till late. Hence, it made sense to stay the night as well. Before the chill@the pool session, we had a late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Their burgers rock!!!

We are enjoying every minute of “OUR TIME”, especially knowing that the Bs are probably having a good time with their grandparents, whom no doubt will let them eat whatever junk food they wish and buy them toys!

Have a good weekend, people

And what do ya know – we had soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (not exaggerating – read about our outing here and here!) much fun the last time, we’re doing another one on 3 July 2010. Yup,  that is next Saturday. Mamapumpkin volunteered to organise thankfully because I’ve been so busy at work that I have to apply for annual leave to “pang sai”!

Anyway, we’re going for dinner and then watching the girly movie of the year, “Sex And The City 2″! If you are a fan of the series like I am (I have watched all seasons TWICE!), you know you can’t miss this.  Even if you’re not a fan, just come for the great company

Drop a comment here or at Mamapumpkin if you’re interested. The super-funny mum will get in touch with you with the details.

Be there, or Be SQUARE! LATER!!

P/S: By the way, I’ll be running, or rather attempting to run 10km in this sunday’s Stanchart KL Marathon. If you don’t see me at the movies on 3rd, it means I died from the run. Wish me luck!

It was just an overnight trip. I had wanted to make this trip no matter how busy I was or how exorbitant the hotel room costs because it was during the school holidays. Afterall, it is THE school holidays. We took Bryan and Brandon and left Bradley with my PILs since he probably doesn’t know what is going on plus we were going to be out in the sun most of the time.

We left PJ after having a quick breakfast at Pappa Rich @ Uptown Damansara. Food was yucks. If not for the boys, I would had happily had the wan tan mee at Koon Kee nearby. Cheaper and nicer. The boys promptly fell asleep as soon as we hit the highway. Took us about 75mins to get to Lukut town. We go to PD at least once a year somehow and always stayed at the Avillion. This time, we ended up at the Legends Water Chalet because I’d booked too late and Avillion was fully-booked. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the premium water chalet has one king size bed AND one queen size bed!! Anyway, more about the room later. We arrived at 1230pm and Bryan insisted that we built sandcastles NOW NOW NOW! As we couldn’t check in yet, we just took his beach toys and marched to the beach next to the hotel. Thankfully, the sun was quite mild that day but never theless, I slobbered sunsreen on the boys until their faces were all white.

Applying sunscreen on Brandon

Bryan’s turn

My boys hard at work

After playing in the sand and water for more than an hour and a half, we drove to PD town to have Pizza Hut. The boys were ravenous by then and Pizza Hut was the only place I remembered. After lunch, it was just nice for us to check in. The surrounding of the resort is not as rustic or green as the Avillion. However the rooms are newer (the resort opened in 2007) and the cute thing is that the moment you open the door, it takes you straight into the large toilet – what a brilliant idea to avoid you bringing sand into the bedroom!

We rested a bit and then it was time for the swimming pool. More splashing fun there in both the kids and adult pool (max depth only 4ft), and also their jacuzzi. NICE! Immediately after the pool, we didn’t even bathe the boys but went to the coffee house for our dinner, which was included into the room cost. We wanted to eat early to avoid the crowd and to allow the kids to turn down earlier considering they didn’t nap. Dinner was nothing fancy but there was enough ice-cream to keeps my 3 boys happy! Warm bath and milk after that, followed by zzzzzzzzzz. Somehow, both the kids ended up with me on the king bed while lucky VT had the queen all to himself. I didn’t sleep well as I was worried the kids will fall off the bed. True enough, Bryan fell down twice – but on his feet! Brandon almost did but I had held on to his leg so that was a close call.

The next morning, we went for another round of pool play right after breakfast. We left PD just before noon and the boys again, slept all the way home.

This marks the first trip we took with Bryan and Brandon. It was so much fun for us, just looking at how much fun Bryan and Brandon was having. Bryan even declared that he wanted to stay in Port Dickson forever and ever! I’m now eager to plan for another trip the next holidays considering it is now relatively easy to travel with them. It’s amazing how well-behaved they both were for the entire duration of the trip but started fighting the moment we got home *slap forehead*.

Bryan & Brandon doing kung fu moves – oh, and can you see the little peek-a-boo windown on the floor and the sea water below?

After getting some feedback, this is what I suggest:

Change of the date from 22nd to 29th May to accomodate more people who are busy/not around on the weekend of the 22nd.

Dinner at  The Apartment @ The Curve (http://www.atheapartment.com/menu.html), followed by karaoke at Red Box.

What say you? *wink*

If you have suggestions, please tell me!!!

Hey, I have a great idea! After my post on Club Med, I hear so many mothers around me lamenting how they wish they could have a break or get-away from the kids ocassionally. So my dear friends, put your money where your mouth is because I am about to propose that we, mothers and wives, paint the town red on Saturday, 22nd May 2010!!

Now, this is giving everyone ample time to arrange babysitting and to convince your hubs/family why you deserve a night out ON YOUR OWN. If you’re out of ideas, just tell him that you deserve it because May is Mothers’ Day Month!! Surely that is good enough, no? C’mon girls, we deserve this!!!

So, let’s start planning for a nice dinner at a place in KL/PJ where it is NOT child-friendly hence somewhere we won’t go other times, followed by drinks and some dancing at a trendy night spot. Everyone has to dress up too!! No transport? Don’t worry, I’m sure a few of us drive hence we can work the logistics out.

By the way, this IS what motherhood means to me. Being a mother shouldn’t mean that I drop everything – most sacrifices are made by the mother hence we ought to regain some parts of our lives. Being a happy (and sane) person makes me a happy mum!! 

If anyone is keen, please drop a comment here!!!

Yes, I was away for 3D/2N last weekend for my department’s annual offsite. I had missed the previous 2 years as I was pregnant so I was realy looking forward to this one. And by far, this is the most luxurious offsite venue, and the first time extending it beyond one night.

Eventhough transportation by bus is provided, a few of us including myself decided to take a drive to save some time. And save some time we did – we’d arrived at Club Med in less than 3 hours PLUS a speeding fine! Needless to say, we took 4 hours on the return trip

It was my first time to Club Med. The resort is nicely spread out although the rooms are sparse. I’ve been told that it was intentionally sparse so that people get out of their rooms. I love the “Full Board” concept – everything included eg. activities, food, open bar. Did I mention the open bar? That meant there was nothing between me and the open bar. No husband (not like he would have stopped me; more likely he will sapu everything), no kids. The bar stocks everything from fruit juices to mocktails to cocktails (note to others: must try their “Monkey Juice”!) to hard-core liquor. It’s a pity champagne wasn’t on the list, though. But I tell you, the open bar was great. You can take your drink ANY WHERE you wish – by the pool, in your room, by the cushy cabanas, or just simply walking around their vast grounds.

Food is international buffet-style every meal, with snacks in between. The spread is huge and changes with every meal, and because it’s part of the package, you can even “ta pau”! So it is not a surprise that I over-ate. There are tons of activities planned although we didn’t take part in most as we had our own team-building activities. The more interesting ones were the bungy bounce and flying trapeze (at 8 metres high!), both of which I was way too much of a chicken to attempt.

Before I could say “Arabian” (that was our offsite theme), the weekend was over. Why no photos? Hey, in my drunken stupor, any photos taken wouldn’t have turned out nice anyway! But here’s one of me with my colleague in our costumes.

Last weekend, a group of blogging mummies met up at Kizsports in 1Utama over lunchtime. The guest-of-honour was our dear KL-born but staying in Penang mummy, Alice aka RamblingMoo. Alice is down in KL for a brief visit hence we used that as an excuse to get everyone together.

 Who was there?

(Photo courtesy of Alice)
 

Still clueless? They are (from left-right):
- Mamapumpkin (w T1 & T2)

-LaundryAmah (w Kieran & Kylie)

- Dinah (w Ashley; Aidan was at her MIL’s)

- Alice (w Darrius & baby Glennedine)

- Cynthia (w Breanna))

- myself (w the 3 boys)

- Jaccs (w baby Stuart; the twins were buying toys at Toys’R Us)

We had a good time catching-up while the kids entertained themselves. At one point, we created such a ruckus that other patrons were staring at us. Probably jealous that we were having such a good time! What a great place to meet, eh, ladies? Never mind that the food served at the cafe was mediocre, I had a wonderful time and wouldn’t mind at all doing this again pretty soon!

This is a backdated post.

VT & I snuck away for a 3D/2N trip to the island the weekend before CNY. I seriously needed a break badly from the hustle and bustle of the everyday routine so dear hubs gave me his credit card number (including 3-digits behind the card!) and I booked away Only Fireflz flies direct to Samui so no choice eventhough the flight costs almost RM900 per pax return for a 2-hour journey. I chose to stay in Lamai, which is away from the main beach of Chaweng. We stayed at Langham Place which was running a promotion of 50% off rates as they are the newbie in town.

Upon arrival, there are little trolley buses (tops covered, sides not) that transport passengers to the arrival, which is a thatched hut. Ain’t that cute? I could almost feel all my stress and worries stripped away the moment we landed. The air even smelled fresher! We rented a car from the airport, only RM95 per 24 hours and the readily available maps allowed us to drive around very easily. The resort was absolutely stunning!! While waiting to be checked-in, they threw in a free 10mins head & shoulder massage which we enjoyed while sipping the welcome drink. 

The most outstanding feature is the long (200 metres!) stretch of plasticky platform that extends out to the ocean. You can sunbathe and hop off the platform for a swim in the crystal-clear waters.

This is if you choose not to laze around the infinity pool.

The days were spent driving around looking for food and cheap massages. We chanced upon this nice-looking spa which was offering a Valentines’ Day promotion – 2hours of scrub, oil massage and milk bath for 2 pax, all for a grand price of RM150! It was so good that we went again the following day. Nights were spent lazing by the room balcony with drinks (alcoholic, of course!) and watching DVDs (which the resort provides). Afterall, we NEVER get to do this when the kids are around.

Foodwise, being a Thai food lover, we truly went overboard. We forced ourselves to eat at every meal because we were still full from the previous meal! We had Thai food all the way except for the last night when we indulged in a brazillian BBQ at Zico’s; quite an upperty place in Chaweng. Money well-spent although we overate – AGAIN!

Before we knew it, it was time to go home. We kind of missed the kids anyway so we were glad. Upon arriving at the airport, we were told that the departure is at another building (or thatched hut, to be precise) so we drove another 5mins. Funny thing is that once you’re checked-in, you walk back to the arrivals building *smack head*. Luckily, the walk path was very nice and lined with shops. At the waiting gate, they even offer free drinks and snacks. I love Thai hospitability!

Being a frequent Bali-goer, I would say that Samui is a lot more laid back and not as commercialised. However, I find that Bali seeps more in culture and tradition. I’d make return trips to Bali but probraby not Samui. Maybe plan for other Thai islands next time *wink*