Hello world.
Have been away for almost a month. Away as in internet absence for almost a month.
The recent months had been really really good. I have been reading quite a bit (random books), bought a Yoga mat, went away and had some quality time with hubs and my living dynamo, tried out some new recipes (I finally made my own Aoili!), walked my son to the park outside our house several times, read to him every other nights before we kiss goodnight (recently he is loving the ‘Gruffalo’), gazed at the stars and tried locating Mars and Jupiter, did a round of “Mickey-Musical-Latern which was given by our nice neighbors” during the Mid Autumn Festival and gee, the list goes on.
Frankly, I’ve been living without a personal PC for almost a month. No private emails, no blogging, no online shopping (opps), facebook etc. It has been really really good. This whole disconnectivity with the circular world felt good. It feels like I just went through some cleansing ritual, and really, I would strongly recommend this whole disconectivity-pursuit if you are feeling pressed and “a little too-into the rat race”. I think one should really do this, well, as least for me!
The past month has been an overwhelming month as well because we traveled as a family for the first time. No mother, sisters, in laws, tour guides, nothing! So, it was just the 3 of us, Ethan, hubs and I; we did the Land of the Rising Sun. That was an adventure I tell you. Armed with the only Japanese words I knew “arigato, sushi, sashimi, tempura, and chawanmushi” we conquered the land of Shinkansens, hub to the latest electronic gadgets, historic ryokans, GOOD FOOD, and seriously, good good food! I’ll write more about it soon.
While all these were happening, my son is now turning into a young broadcaster. He is picking up new words everyday and the latest addition to his vocabulary is .. yes, the much anticipated “penis”. It all started when Ethan did a leak while he was in his underwear ( we are trying to potty train him) and the horrified daddy had to clean up the mess. So big daddy took Ethan away from the targeted spot, wiped the stained floor, pull down Ethan’s underwear and sent him into the bath tub for clean-up. While cleaning up, big daddy pointed at baby e’s mini pride and glory and said “Ethan, when you she-she, you have to tell daddy and mummy”. Immediately, the baby pointed at his own p&g, giggled and said “she-she”. So big daddy had to do some correction, quickly he pointed to the mini one and said, “Ethan this is penis… you see, P-E-N-I-S”. Naturally, my brilliant son followed “pee-nise”. Ahhhh, and so it is done, the introduction to Penis 101 has began (try beating this) at 21 months. HAHAHAH. But seriously, he knows his penis, well at least the location of it. =)
It has been an amazing journey with Ethan so far. He is now coming to 22 months and showing early signs to the much dreaded terrible two. Yes, the time of trying to be independent while having to be dependent. Amazing isn’t it, how God create 2 year olds. I just love them!
It’s past midnight and all the other living creatures in the room are fast asleep. My head’s spinning and will need to hit my cradle now.
So for now, sweet dreams and good night!
I’m connected again.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Thursday, August 05, 2010
A weekend of fine street food
25-28 February 2010
We were in Hong Kong recently (well, not so recent really) for a short gastronomic trip. We also took the opportunity of wanting to be in Hong Kong during the Chinese Lunar Year. Streets were buzzing as usual, traffic was horrendous – as usual, people were rude – AS USUAL, but thank God that the food was good – as usual! Hence, we were there!
Ethan was his usual self when on a plane. He looked ecstatic because he knew he wasn’t going to get his usual stay-at-home-routines. The smart boy somehow knew that we were going on a family trip, as he was all jolly and cheerful. This is not his first time in a plane. So, it didn’t look too alien to him.
However, I must comment that I was not very pleased about our Cathay Pacific flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong. The stewards and stewardess were not as friendly, and at one point, it passed to me as rude. They were a number of Vietnamese on board, and typically one wouldn’t expect them to speak English. (not when these passengers looked like they were farmers or one who spent more than half his life in a paddy field.) It looked like they were a couple of families traveling together; and obviously they wanted to sit together. One of the steward was trying to sort their seats out, wanting to make sure that they sat according to their boarding passes and not with their family. Problem was, there were a horde of passengers waiting in line behind the steward… ridiculous isn’t it?!? So there he was, raising his voice to these really innocent looking farmers while the others stood still – just watching, and waiting. I was seated a few rows in front and as I observed the commotion, I just couldn’t help but to think why must he do that. Can’t he just have them seated down first, get the other passengers to their allocated seat, and then finally sort their seating arrangement according to the boarding passes. Sigh – Hongkies. (excuse my language. I know it’s rude to address them this way, but heck, they aren’t any better).
Also, I just couldn’t believe that Ethan wasn’t allocated a bassinet seat as we have requested for it endless times prior to boarding. All they could say was they have put in a request but priority were for younger infants (I don’t exactly know for what reason bassinets are for younger infants… weight? Convenience? comfort?) . Now the problem was, I spotted 3 infants on board and only one was allocated a bassinet.. and yes you have guessed it right, the one allocated was a white baby – probably American. I thought it only happened in Malaysia Airlines, but I suppose it’s an Asian thing. The Asian attendants will treat the whites with pure respect, give the best cabin service and flash their utmost charming smile. Contrarily, the same group of Asians attendants would raise their voices, swift through the lanes without even stopping to assist (an Asian traveler) who just pressed for attendant assistance, created a huge scene and made their fellow Asians looked respectably stupid! Sigh!
Oh ya, I asked for an extra bun for Ethan because they only gave him 2 jars of baby food. My baby eats rice. So, I needed some buns to substantiate his meal. I was told to wait till she finished serving,.. meanwhile, she couldn’t even spare me an additional bun from the huge basket of buns which were filled to the brim. Anyway, I gave Ethan my bun and did not bother making a huge fuss about it.It wasn't a good experience with Cathay Pacific at all. Given a choice, I will not choose Cathay Pacific for any of my travels in future. I thought it was bad, real bad!
So, anyway, back to the trip. The really funny thing about this trip was that it’s a food gallivanting trip. Our unwavering spirit of eating took us places we didn’t know; we just followed the good old Hong Kong best food guide (which were printed in Chinese, but that wasn’t an issue for us because my family could read Chinese – ok, exclude Adrian, Ethan and I. My mum and my two sisters can read Chinese).
This dish, looked nothing special is actually a plate fish floss noodles. It came with a bowl of clear soup and the fish floss was all crunchy and tasty. I tell you, the Hong Kong people really know their ingredients. The combination, although sounded funny but was delicious.
This is not Ethan's first time out of the country. We first brought him to Singapore. He was very well behaved, and of course was his curious self as always! This boy of mine was overjoyed to have his yiyis, mummy, daddy and por por with him for the whole long weekend. It was a good trip really, we ate and ate and ate.
Did I say we ate and ate and ate? Oh yes, I just did!
We were in Hong Kong recently (well, not so recent really) for a short gastronomic trip. We also took the opportunity of wanting to be in Hong Kong during the Chinese Lunar Year. Streets were buzzing as usual, traffic was horrendous – as usual, people were rude – AS USUAL, but thank God that the food was good – as usual! Hence, we were there!
Ethan was his usual self when on a plane. He looked ecstatic because he knew he wasn’t going to get his usual stay-at-home-routines. The smart boy somehow knew that we were going on a family trip, as he was all jolly and cheerful. This is not his first time in a plane. So, it didn’t look too alien to him.
However, I must comment that I was not very pleased about our Cathay Pacific flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong. The stewards and stewardess were not as friendly, and at one point, it passed to me as rude. They were a number of Vietnamese on board, and typically one wouldn’t expect them to speak English. (not when these passengers looked like they were farmers or one who spent more than half his life in a paddy field.) It looked like they were a couple of families traveling together; and obviously they wanted to sit together. One of the steward was trying to sort their seats out, wanting to make sure that they sat according to their boarding passes and not with their family. Problem was, there were a horde of passengers waiting in line behind the steward… ridiculous isn’t it?!? So there he was, raising his voice to these really innocent looking farmers while the others stood still – just watching, and waiting. I was seated a few rows in front and as I observed the commotion, I just couldn’t help but to think why must he do that. Can’t he just have them seated down first, get the other passengers to their allocated seat, and then finally sort their seating arrangement according to the boarding passes. Sigh – Hongkies. (excuse my language. I know it’s rude to address them this way, but heck, they aren’t any better).
Also, I just couldn’t believe that Ethan wasn’t allocated a bassinet seat as we have requested for it endless times prior to boarding. All they could say was they have put in a request but priority were for younger infants (I don’t exactly know for what reason bassinets are for younger infants… weight? Convenience? comfort?) . Now the problem was, I spotted 3 infants on board and only one was allocated a bassinet.. and yes you have guessed it right, the one allocated was a white baby – probably American. I thought it only happened in Malaysia Airlines, but I suppose it’s an Asian thing. The Asian attendants will treat the whites with pure respect, give the best cabin service and flash their utmost charming smile. Contrarily, the same group of Asians attendants would raise their voices, swift through the lanes without even stopping to assist (an Asian traveler) who just pressed for attendant assistance, created a huge scene and made their fellow Asians looked respectably stupid! Sigh!
Oh ya, I asked for an extra bun for Ethan because they only gave him 2 jars of baby food. My baby eats rice. So, I needed some buns to substantiate his meal. I was told to wait till she finished serving,.. meanwhile, she couldn’t even spare me an additional bun from the huge basket of buns which were filled to the brim. Anyway, I gave Ethan my bun and did not bother making a huge fuss about it.It wasn't a good experience with Cathay Pacific at all. Given a choice, I will not choose Cathay Pacific for any of my travels in future. I thought it was bad, real bad!
So, anyway, back to the trip. The really funny thing about this trip was that it’s a food gallivanting trip. Our unwavering spirit of eating took us places we didn’t know; we just followed the good old Hong Kong best food guide (which were printed in Chinese, but that wasn’t an issue for us because my family could read Chinese – ok, exclude Adrian, Ethan and I. My mum and my two sisters can read Chinese).
This dish, looked nothing special is actually a plate fish floss noodles. It came with a bowl of clear soup and the fish floss was all crunchy and tasty. I tell you, the Hong Kong people really know their ingredients. The combination, although sounded funny but was delicious.
At Yeong’s Noodle, 219 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
Who could miss the most sought after and seemingly best egg tarts in town when in Hong Kong. Nope, we couldn’t! We walked, took the Ting-Ting, walked, walked on the walkalator, climbed some steps, climbed many steps, walked some more and … tasted the best egg tart ever.
I must say it was good. Worth the ‘walked, took the Ting-Ting, walked, walked on the walkalator, climbed some steps, climbed many steps, walked somemore’?… I’m not sure. But we didn’t mind just walking and eating.
And of course, Ethan didn’t mind walking anytime.
It was freedom for him.
It was freedom for him.
Milk toast and steamed milk, Yee Shun Milk Company.
This is a must try for those who likes our malaysian tou fu fa. The texture could pass as tou fu fa, but imagine it even smoother and softer. and when in your mouth, it melts. One funny thing about this place, we each had to order an item. Should we not order, we will be charged a HKD5.00 each. So we had to order; chocolate milk, tea milk, steam milk, coffee and a milky toast. Gee, that wasn’t cool. We left with a stomach full with fluids, or rather milk.
I tell you, this is one of the best buns I've tasted in my entire life. Perfect combination of sweetness, saltiness, is crunchy on the outside and soft like marshmallow on the inside.. Please head over to Macau Restaurant on Coastway Bay when in Hong Kong.
Trust me, It'll leave you wanting more...
Ethan with both the yi-yis at the Peak.
This is not Ethan's first time out of the country. We first brought him to Singapore. He was very well behaved, and of course was his curious self as always! This boy of mine was overjoyed to have his yiyis, mummy, daddy and por por with him for the whole long weekend. It was a good trip really, we ate and ate and ate.
Did I say we ate and ate and ate? Oh yes, I just did!
My young man stole the hearts of these ladies in the hotel lobby. And in return, the ladies over at the reception couldn't help but fell so madly in love with him, they gave him soft toys after soft toys after soft toys.
It was a good holiday!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Lego time!
Lately, I have graduated Ethan from his set of wooden ABC blocks to the more sophisticated looking blocks; the good old Lego Duplo. We have been building airplanes, somewhat-giraffe-looking animal, a green-man, and incomprehensible objects (well ,my husband calls it "building out-of-the-box"; hmm, that didn't sound too bad really) just to name a few.
Anyhow, just when I feel so proud after constructing something interesting looking, my engineer-in-the-making will seize it away and de-construct them, each one of them into pieces, back to its original shape … after EVERY ONE MINUTE of play. Speaking about short attention span. Never thought my effort could last only a minute?!?
I can only do less than 10 minutes each lego session and I have obviously run out of objects to impress him.
I think we need new toys.
Gee, I can’t wait to see him construct his own objects because obviously I can’t wait to de-construct them!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
sour-paus
As some of you guys knew, I went for a 9km marathon with hubs this morning. So, last night, I thought of a brilliant idea to make Red Bean (tausa) Pau for all of us for breakfast.
So what I did was, I prepared the tausa dough last night, left it in the oven to proof. Thougt I should only line the paus in the steamer this morning so that all of us would have a nice piping hot tausa pau for breakfast.
However, when I went down this morning at 6 to steam the paus, to my horror, I saw these awful, ugly, flat and bubbly pau dough sitting on the oven tray starring at me! THEY LOOKED SICK!!! Immediately, I darted over to my computer to google why my sweet looking tausa pau turned into an ugly-sick looking pau this morning. URGH….
Answer is: I over-proofed my paus.
Gee. So I learned a lesson not to over proof dough(s) for paus, breads etc. Here I thought it would be an intelligent idea to let it sit and to serve it fresh the next day. Not so intelligent after all. ?!
So, I came across some tips when making dough/bread/pau/buns or rather what went wrong when…
Crust is Too Thick
• Too much flour
• Insufficient rising
• Oven temperature too low
Baked Loaf Crumbles
• Dough not well mixed• Too much flour added
• Rising place too warm
• Dough allowed to rise too long
• Oven temperature too low
Bread has Sour Taste
• Rising place too warm and dough rose too fast
• Dough rose too long before being baked
Dough Does Not Rise
• Water temperature too cool for dissolving yeast• Dough to stiff – reduce flour
• Rising place too cool – raise in warmer area
Bread has Dark Streaks
• Uneven mixing or kneading
• Bowl greased too heavily
• Dough not covered during rising
Bread has Holes in it
• Air not completely pressed out of dough during kneading and shaping
• Dough rose too long before baking
Tops of Bread Cracks
• Bread cooled too rapidly – probably in a draft
• Dough too stiff – reduce flour
• Dough not well mixed
Bread Doesn’t Rise in Oven
• Rising place too warm
• Yeast weak or old
• Dough allowed to risk too long
Bread is Heavy and Compact
• Too much flour added
• Dough not allowed to rise long enough
• Certain flours create heavier products (whole wheat and rye)
Bread Doughy Inside and Coarse Grained
• Loaf under baked
• Insufficient rising
Bread Falls in Oven
• Dough rose too much before baking
Bread Does Not Brown on Sides
• Pan too bright which reflects heat away from sides
• Overcrowding in oven
• Poor pan placement – try a different area of the oven
Bread Smells and Tastes of Yeast
• Rising time too long
• Rising place too warm
Bread is Doughy on Bottom
• Bread left in pans to cool. Remove from pans and cool on rack
My goodness. Its not all that easy to make a nice tausa pau isn’t it?
Anyways, all of us ate the ugly looking paus. They tasted a little sour, but the tausa taste manage to cover-up the sour dough. And so, should you want to try making sour paus, ladies and gentlemen, just overproof your paus!
So what I did was, I prepared the tausa dough last night, left it in the oven to proof. Thougt I should only line the paus in the steamer this morning so that all of us would have a nice piping hot tausa pau for breakfast.
However, when I went down this morning at 6 to steam the paus, to my horror, I saw these awful, ugly, flat and bubbly pau dough sitting on the oven tray starring at me! THEY LOOKED SICK!!! Immediately, I darted over to my computer to google why my sweet looking tausa pau turned into an ugly-sick looking pau this morning. URGH….
Answer is: I over-proofed my paus.
Gee. So I learned a lesson not to over proof dough(s) for paus, breads etc. Here I thought it would be an intelligent idea to let it sit and to serve it fresh the next day. Not so intelligent after all. ?!
So, I came across some tips when making dough/bread/pau/buns or rather what went wrong when…
Crust is Too Thick
• Too much flour
• Insufficient rising
• Oven temperature too low
Baked Loaf Crumbles
• Dough not well mixed• Too much flour added
• Rising place too warm
• Dough allowed to rise too long
• Oven temperature too low
Bread has Sour Taste
• Rising place too warm and dough rose too fast
• Dough rose too long before being baked
Dough Does Not Rise
• Water temperature too cool for dissolving yeast• Dough to stiff – reduce flour
• Rising place too cool – raise in warmer area
Bread has Dark Streaks
• Uneven mixing or kneading
• Bowl greased too heavily
• Dough not covered during rising
Bread has Holes in it
• Air not completely pressed out of dough during kneading and shaping
• Dough rose too long before baking
Tops of Bread Cracks
• Bread cooled too rapidly – probably in a draft
• Dough too stiff – reduce flour
• Dough not well mixed
Bread Doesn’t Rise in Oven
• Rising place too warm
• Yeast weak or old
• Dough allowed to risk too long
Bread is Heavy and Compact
• Too much flour added
• Dough not allowed to rise long enough
• Certain flours create heavier products (whole wheat and rye)
Bread Doughy Inside and Coarse Grained
• Loaf under baked
• Insufficient rising
Bread Falls in Oven
• Dough rose too much before baking
Bread Does Not Brown on Sides
• Pan too bright which reflects heat away from sides
• Overcrowding in oven
• Poor pan placement – try a different area of the oven
Bread Smells and Tastes of Yeast
• Rising time too long
• Rising place too warm
Bread is Doughy on Bottom
• Bread left in pans to cool. Remove from pans and cool on rack
My goodness. Its not all that easy to make a nice tausa pau isn’t it?
Anyways, all of us ate the ugly looking paus. They tasted a little sour, but the tausa taste manage to cover-up the sour dough. And so, should you want to try making sour paus, ladies and gentlemen, just overproof your paus!
Jog for Hope 2010
Good grief!
I'm joining my husband for his uni's charity marathon drive, Jog for Hope 2010 tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous now. The last time I did running/cross-country, I always finished in the top 10. Right now,after more than 15 years of not running, I'm just hoping I won't be in the LAST 10!
I'm joining my husband for his uni's charity marathon drive, Jog for Hope 2010 tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous now. The last time I did running/cross-country, I always finished in the top 10. Right now,after more than 15 years of not running, I'm just hoping I won't be in the LAST 10!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
a sweet treat
I made this low fat strawberry ice-ream for the boys.
I'm not usually a strawberry ice-cream person, but I enjoyed this thoroughly myself.
So, I had to dig into my son's share...
I was happy!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Ethan at 18 months
Can I say Ethan's development is growing... exponentially? Gee. He is amazing us with new tricks, words, behavior, and smiles everyday. Just yesterday, we found out that he could put together two/three words together... ie
daddy car
car key
yiyi car
kick ball
cut cake (yiyi has been baking and icing for the past 4 weeks and therefore we had to cut and eat her beautifully decorated cake for the past month)
a, d, she
one, the, tee
a, d, she, d,e, e, g…
We found out that he is able to self feed, but seriously messy. I think we should be making him feed himself more often. And the one time when we gave him a spoon to scoop some mini ice cream cup, he took it with his left hand...uhoooo. so we kinda think he is a leftie.
He loves to eat... we're not really sure if he eats well and if he is eating enough... but sometimes he does eat my kind of portion. On a typical weekday over at the grandma's, he would start off the day with a bottle of 200ml milk, then a huge bowl of cereal for breakfast. For lunch, he would either get a huge bowl of ABC pasta, soup noodle or porridge. He has tea between 4-4.30 and he gets 2 mini pods of yogurt, and 1 kiwi fruit or a banana or sometimes a slice of bread with cheese. Then for dinner, he gets another huge bowl of pasta or porridge.
That's alot isn't it? I don't think I eat as much and as frequent.
Anyway, the drama happens when are on the dining table.
For example:
Eating Mangoes.
Now that it's the mango season.. not sure it is but we have been getting good mangoes, my little champ and I have been feasting on mangoes.
Last night when I asked if he wanted mangoes ... and he started saying ango, ango ango... angoooOOOOOOOO, angoooooooooOOOOOOOOOO, ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... and so
I took out the mango, showed it him and he went ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..
And so I had to say WAITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, mummy cut and give! And he replied... "pissss".
10 minutes later he was giggling.
More dramas...
Butter Cheese
Last weekend, hubby and I thought we should just have the old fashion favourite breakfast at home before we head off the day with heaps of activities lined up - back to back! We tossed 2 slices of whole meal bread in the toaster, I had a cup of coffee while hubby had a cup of tea. Then I took the butter dish and a bottle of strawberry preserves to go with the toasts. Ethan was on his highchair next to us eating his cereal. When we opened up the butter dish, he looked at the dish and screamed cisssssssshhh... cisssssssssshhhhhhhhhh... reached out to the dish and screamed cishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Hubby and I looked at each other, and we looked really puzzled because there weren't any cheese on the table. And for the loudest time, he looked at the dish and yelled CISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..... and then hubby and I cracked and laughed... Our smartest 18 month old wanted to eat a block of butter because it looked like a block of creamy juicy cheese! And obviously he didn't get the any cheese or butter that morning!
Bedtime stories
So far, we have been quite lucky with this little dynamo because he can actually sleep anywhere, at anytime, and at any position when is tired. And so we learned the trick. To have him do all sorts of activities to zap off his energy during the day and so hubby and I could have some quite time at night. And right now, his bedtime routine will start off hubby giving him warm wash and wipe down, change into his pajamas and finally he gets to choose a book for bedtime stories. Sometimes we will all jump into bed together for bedtime stories. I love it when daddy reads "We're going for a bear hunt"! Funny thing is it's ideal that he goes to sleep (or rather we all go to sleep) after ONE book... but hey no. Our part-time night owl sometimes insist we read the same book a zillion times before he hits slumberland. So what happens when daddy is zonked and mummy is busy ironing, we just chuck in one of his favourites and he will be "reading" his book, and I mean "reading" out LOUD. And sigh, after ironing a mountain load of clothes, I find my tot snoring, with the book next to his mouth and half of it wet! Obviously he has been experimenting if he could potentially chew up the book and swallow it like one of his teething biscuits.
daddy car
car key
yiyi car
kick ball
cut cake (yiyi has been baking and icing for the past 4 weeks and therefore we had to cut and eat her beautifully decorated cake for the past month)
a, d, she
one, the, tee
a, d, she, d,e, e, g…
We found out that he is able to self feed, but seriously messy. I think we should be making him feed himself more often. And the one time when we gave him a spoon to scoop some mini ice cream cup, he took it with his left hand...uhoooo. so we kinda think he is a leftie.
He loves to eat... we're not really sure if he eats well and if he is eating enough... but sometimes he does eat my kind of portion. On a typical weekday over at the grandma's, he would start off the day with a bottle of 200ml milk, then a huge bowl of cereal for breakfast. For lunch, he would either get a huge bowl of ABC pasta, soup noodle or porridge. He has tea between 4-4.30 and he gets 2 mini pods of yogurt, and 1 kiwi fruit or a banana or sometimes a slice of bread with cheese. Then for dinner, he gets another huge bowl of pasta or porridge.
That's alot isn't it? I don't think I eat as much and as frequent.
Anyway, the drama happens when are on the dining table.
For example:
Eating Mangoes.
Now that it's the mango season.. not sure it is but we have been getting good mangoes, my little champ and I have been feasting on mangoes.
Last night when I asked if he wanted mangoes ... and he started saying ango, ango ango... angoooOOOOOOOO, angoooooooooOOOOOOOOOO, ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... and so
I took out the mango, showed it him and he went ANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..
And so I had to say WAITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, mummy cut and give! And he replied... "pissss".
10 minutes later he was giggling.
More dramas...
Butter Cheese
Last weekend, hubby and I thought we should just have the old fashion favourite breakfast at home before we head off the day with heaps of activities lined up - back to back! We tossed 2 slices of whole meal bread in the toaster, I had a cup of coffee while hubby had a cup of tea. Then I took the butter dish and a bottle of strawberry preserves to go with the toasts. Ethan was on his highchair next to us eating his cereal. When we opened up the butter dish, he looked at the dish and screamed cisssssssshhh... cisssssssssshhhhhhhhhh... reached out to the dish and screamed cishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Hubby and I looked at each other, and we looked really puzzled because there weren't any cheese on the table. And for the loudest time, he looked at the dish and yelled CISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..... and then hubby and I cracked and laughed... Our smartest 18 month old wanted to eat a block of butter because it looked like a block of creamy juicy cheese! And obviously he didn't get the any cheese or butter that morning!
Bedtime stories
So far, we have been quite lucky with this little dynamo because he can actually sleep anywhere, at anytime, and at any position when is tired. And so we learned the trick. To have him do all sorts of activities to zap off his energy during the day and so hubby and I could have some quite time at night. And right now, his bedtime routine will start off hubby giving him warm wash and wipe down, change into his pajamas and finally he gets to choose a book for bedtime stories. Sometimes we will all jump into bed together for bedtime stories. I love it when daddy reads "We're going for a bear hunt"! Funny thing is it's ideal that he goes to sleep (or rather we all go to sleep) after ONE book... but hey no. Our part-time night owl sometimes insist we read the same book a zillion times before he hits slumberland. So what happens when daddy is zonked and mummy is busy ironing, we just chuck in one of his favourites and he will be "reading" his book, and I mean "reading" out LOUD. And sigh, after ironing a mountain load of clothes, I find my tot snoring, with the book next to his mouth and half of it wet! Obviously he has been experimenting if he could potentially chew up the book and swallow it like one of his teething biscuits.
My son.
18 months and counting...
Friday, July 09, 2010
The Green Monster Model
It was one of those really humid day and mind you, it was scorching hot outside that day.
And only on hot days like these, my husband will walk around the house topless. He doesn’t do that often, but when he does, the weather’s really bad! And so I had this brilliant idea of having Ethan walk about the house topless just like daddy, and also since it was SO SO SO HOT.
So after his bath, I put on his diaper and he happily paraded around the house half naked. As I was admiring him striding up and down the house, I thought to myself, my little champion will do a good model.. ahhh… thought I should get hubby to see how well Ethan modeled and perhaps we could get him into some baby talent agencies. Hmm…
???
And only on hot days like these, my husband will walk around the house topless. He doesn’t do that often, but when he does, the weather’s really bad! And so I had this brilliant idea of having Ethan walk about the house topless just like daddy, and also since it was SO SO SO HOT.
So after his bath, I put on his diaper and he happily paraded around the house half naked. As I was admiring him striding up and down the house, I thought to myself, my little champion will do a good model.. ahhh… thought I should get hubby to see how well Ethan modeled and perhaps we could get him into some baby talent agencies. Hmm…
And so I yelled to get my husband to the living room.
I smiled beamingly… “ look, he looks like a model doesn’t he?”
My husband gave me a puzzled look. “I thought he looked like a green monster”
???
Thursday, July 08, 2010
apricots and still holding on
Very unfortunate, my dear husband has been unwell for the past few days. Symptoms are very close to the much dreaded dengue. Well, he had his platelets count this afternoon, white blood cells are pretty low and that means he is fighting a virus. We are praying that it is a viral attack rather than dengue. The last dengue attack he had, it was horrifying. High fever, rashes, lost of appetite, fatigue, and yes, you name it. The list goes on.
Simultaneously, Ethan is down with some kind of viral fever.
We took his temperature last night and it was a whooping 39! Panicked, we started him on paracetamol. Fever came down, phew. And apparently, Ethan was talking in his sleep the whole of last night. Hubs heard him talking most of the night as he couldn't sleep due to terrible aches and pains. And this morning, he woke up with a deafening scream. I looked out the window, it was still dark. Checked the clock, 5am. Urghhh... I held him close and he was feeling extremely warm. So we gave him another dose of paracetamol. 10 minutes later, he gave this awful look that he was going to throw up. He did. And obviously he felt much better after that and went back to sleep.
Later this morning, he was again having another round of fever. We decided to bring him see the pediatrician. When consulted her, she discovered that his right eardrum was a little red/flushed. And therefore, she concluded that he might be having an ear infection? That was something I never expected... I was expecting to hear something along the lines of.. hand, foot and mouth disease (as both our God children Ethan Zac and Kristen are down with HFM) or even dengue. Nevertheless, we are rather thankful should it be just a mere ear infection. We will confirm this in the coming Saturday because should his fever persists, we will need to draw out some blood for platelets count. Poor boy.
And so, to make sure that he is well hydrated, we kept the fluids going. In the evening after dinner, we gave him half a cup of diluted juice, an hour later half a cup of milk and another half a cup of water. In the midst of that, he was eyeing on my tub of apricots which I happened to be munching on. And he was eagerly asking for them! So I gave him a bite, and he asked for another, and another and soon it was 3 apricots. I was utterly shocked to see him like apricots.. and he calls it, a-pi-cot.
And while I was out hanging dry my washing (the stained sheet compliments of Ethan), I could hear him shouting and screaming in the house. To my surprise, he was prancing and dancing in the house with daddy. Clowns!
Anyway, the lights are out now but he is still pretty much awake in his cot. I'm dead tired but still holding on. I thougtht I should pen this down to remind me that motherhood is not all about laughters, joys, and apricots. It's really testing during times like this. I feel like breaking down but I know i will have to hold on. I trust that the Lord will provide just right and i'm hoping and praying that both hubs and Ethan will get well real soon.
I'm secretly hoping to watch the Spain vs. Germany game later at 2.30am but I'm already half asleep. Looks like I'll have to resort to the 7am news tomorrow morning.
Mannn, I'm loving motherhood.
Simultaneously, Ethan is down with some kind of viral fever.
We took his temperature last night and it was a whooping 39! Panicked, we started him on paracetamol. Fever came down, phew. And apparently, Ethan was talking in his sleep the whole of last night. Hubs heard him talking most of the night as he couldn't sleep due to terrible aches and pains. And this morning, he woke up with a deafening scream. I looked out the window, it was still dark. Checked the clock, 5am. Urghhh... I held him close and he was feeling extremely warm. So we gave him another dose of paracetamol. 10 minutes later, he gave this awful look that he was going to throw up. He did. And obviously he felt much better after that and went back to sleep.
Later this morning, he was again having another round of fever. We decided to bring him see the pediatrician. When consulted her, she discovered that his right eardrum was a little red/flushed. And therefore, she concluded that he might be having an ear infection? That was something I never expected... I was expecting to hear something along the lines of.. hand, foot and mouth disease (as both our God children Ethan Zac and Kristen are down with HFM) or even dengue. Nevertheless, we are rather thankful should it be just a mere ear infection. We will confirm this in the coming Saturday because should his fever persists, we will need to draw out some blood for platelets count. Poor boy.
And so, to make sure that he is well hydrated, we kept the fluids going. In the evening after dinner, we gave him half a cup of diluted juice, an hour later half a cup of milk and another half a cup of water. In the midst of that, he was eyeing on my tub of apricots which I happened to be munching on. And he was eagerly asking for them! So I gave him a bite, and he asked for another, and another and soon it was 3 apricots. I was utterly shocked to see him like apricots.. and he calls it, a-pi-cot.
And while I was out hanging dry my washing (the stained sheet compliments of Ethan), I could hear him shouting and screaming in the house. To my surprise, he was prancing and dancing in the house with daddy. Clowns!
Anyway, the lights are out now but he is still pretty much awake in his cot. I'm dead tired but still holding on. I thougtht I should pen this down to remind me that motherhood is not all about laughters, joys, and apricots. It's really testing during times like this. I feel like breaking down but I know i will have to hold on. I trust that the Lord will provide just right and i'm hoping and praying that both hubs and Ethan will get well real soon.
I'm secretly hoping to watch the Spain vs. Germany game later at 2.30am but I'm already half asleep. Looks like I'll have to resort to the 7am news tomorrow morning.
Mannn, I'm loving motherhood.
Friday, July 02, 2010
flash-blocks
These were taken at different occasions.
We were ecstatic when we found out that he could identify 2 objects from the Melissa and Doug blocks one day. And from then, it was almost everyday where we would lay all the blocks on the floor and we’ll do our flash-blocks exercises.
December 2009
March 2010
June 2010
I am just overwhelmed by Ethan's object to words recognition development. I don't remember if I could do all these at the age of 3? I wonder if it's all these formula he's taking?!? ie: 4 times DHA and etc. Sigh, he's growing up really fast. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out in his growing years, especially this past year. His growth and development has be exponential, really.
Nevertheless, we are just so proud of him!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
On a hot afternoon
There's nothing better than having a cold sweet Indian mango on a hot afternoon.
Simply heavenly.
Ethan and I enjoyed this dark orangey fruit to the bits.
Oh, God is so good.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Central Park
I love the weekends!
We woke up to a beautiful morning a few Sundays ago. We didn’t have anything planned for the day and thought it would be amazing to go to the park.I quickly fixed hubby, Ethan and I each a sandwich. We had the ham, lettuce and egg on whole meal, while Ethan had his mini cheese sandwiches. Chucked two breakfast mugs into the picnic bag and we were good to go!
We went to Central Park which was just outside our house, right in front of One Utama. It’s a good two minutes away from our place and this park has a huge play ground with several ponds scattered all over. And so we flung our straw mats on the floor and had our breakfast overlooking the beautifully landscaped grounds.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning, but it was a little wet because it rained the night before. Obviously that didn’t deter my champ from getting into the playground… not at all! He was just so thrilled by the fact that he was in a park. And there he was, picking up leaves, stones, and running his fingers on the sand/soil/mud?!? And since it was a Sunday, dog owners bring their dogs out to the park for walks and doggie-socializing sessions. We had a feast of a time dog-watching while enjoying our breakfast!
I must say sipping coffee while lazing in a park is just divine. The smell of crispy fresh air, and the touch of the cool gentle breeze on my skin made me realize that there’s so much more to life, especially when it's out here in the nature.
It was a beautiful and blissful Sunday morning indeed!
It was a beautiful and blissful Sunday morning indeed!
Monday, June 14, 2010
the reunion
Thanks guys for your concern and smses. Yes, finally it's the reunion of Ethan and his "clan". Uncle Zuhun very efficiently coordinated and fles a family of the Sabahan Probosis Monkeys all the way from Kota Kinabalu. And yes, it was choirs of angels every night every since! So dramatic... well ok, it was that dramatic!!! (NO MORE screaming and yelling matters) and it was all smiles and kisses before bedtime!.
We got this huge box one afternoon and when we opened it up, to our surprise there were five of them!!! You won't believe how we have waited, prayed, hoped for some miracles to happen. And this was the miracle and Uncle Zuhun was St. Nicholas for the day!
Just to satisfy your curiosity about the Sabahan Probosis Monkeys...
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Street Fiestas
We were in Hanoi last year for a short get away. I must say that this place is magical and one of a kind. Seriously an absolutely beautiful place! I fell in love not just with the place but with the food. My hubby and I had such a wonderful time just eating and exploring this lively city by foot.
While having lunch and chilling in this wonderful little café called the Paloma Café on Lý Thuong Kiệt (highly recommended!!! They serve one of the best spring roll I’ve ever tasted) we saw things we’ve never seen before in our entire life. (I will try to write all about the food in another post)
We were on the roll, naming everything we saw outside the café’s huge window. We felt as if we were trapped in a fish tank… just looking at the world passed by. We were enthralled by all that’s happened. At one point, we started writing down things we saw.. mainly the happenings on the main street.
While having lunch and chilling in this wonderful little café called the Paloma Café on Lý Thuong Kiệt (highly recommended!!! They serve one of the best spring roll I’ve ever tasted) we saw things we’ve never seen before in our entire life. (I will try to write all about the food in another post)
We were on the roll, naming everything we saw outside the café’s huge window. We felt as if we were trapped in a fish tank… just looking at the world passed by. We were enthralled by all that’s happened. At one point, we started writing down things we saw.. mainly the happenings on the main street.
However, when observing even more while walking down the aisles of these quainty streets, we saw even weirder stuffs… We thought it would be amazing penning some of these down. And these are what we have written down but gee, this list probably will never end. Here are some to start with:
1. people playing cards
2. people drinking tea
3. people pouring tea
4. people deep frying food on stools
5. people knocking and bending steel
6. people selling clothes
7. people recycling rubbish
8. people sitting in the middle of the road selling balloons
9. people selling bread
10. people selling drinks in glasses
11. people shaving bamboo
12. people stood by the side of the road sending test messages through their blackberry
13. people pulling their mustache using a twizzer
14. people having their hair cut
15. people selling flowers
16. people selling vegetables and fruits
17. people having their meals on mini stools and tables less than 60cm in height
18. motorcycles carrying ladder
19. motorcycles carrying 3 gallons of water
20. motorcycles carrying a box of plasma tv
21. motorcycles carrying two dogs
22. motorcycles carrying 25 kilo sack of rice and it fell off on the middle of the corss junction, and the motorcyclist had to stop his bike to pick up his sack of rice
23. motorcycles carrying stand fan
24. motorcycles carrying cages
25. 3 adults and a child on a motorcycle
26. old grandmas chasing kids while feeding them dinner
27. a man walking at night
28. a man jogging at nigh
29. a topless man jogging at night
30. a group of men playing cards in the dark
31. couples moonlighting in the park
32. a bike with Gucci leather skin seat
32. a bike with Gucci leather skin seat
33. a bike with leopard leather skin seat
34. people asking if you’d like a rent a bike
35. bikes bike and more bikes!
36. people cutting chicken
37. drivers sitting in an expensive car (with legs up on the dashboard in an e-class)38. cars parked on a three way divider
39. people pumping air into the motorcycles
40. people sitting down seeing the world pass while fanning themselves
41. … and the list goes on...
My conclusion, I love Hanoi!
18-21 July 2009
Hanoi, Vietnam
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
30 minutes of heaven
It’s 11 pm and hubs has just put Ethan to bed after his bedtime story. Lately, it was Noah’s Ark. It’s rather unusual for Ethan to fall asleep before us these days. Especially after London, our little boy is still somewhat stuck to being in the London timezone; 3am means dinner time. However, today he is a little under the weather. Not sure what triggered his cold, but hubs suspects it was his swimming outing on Sunday. Gee, we will need to find out soon. Anyways, we have him a dose of Hydroxyzine and he is snoring silly now (oh yes, he snores!).
This time, I’m feeling good about doing my proper cleansing.
Good night!
We are both enjoying some alone time. He is on his Macbook while I thought it would be a brilliant idea to do some self pampering. I’m desperately in need of one nice gentle home facial. So I cleansed my face thoroughly, did a deep facial scrub and finally applied this divine smelling mask; Aesop's Primrose Facial Cleansing Mask. It makes my skin feels rejuvenated each time I applied it. Frankly, I've tried many cleansing masks (and I mean MANY) and nothing compares to this one. It's light clay texture is just perfect, combining the delicate scent of roses, this is my favourite so far.
I got this quite some time back but obviously I hadn’t much time for self pampering and what not; with Ethan yelling for attention, cleaning up poos, hanging up laundry and finally crashing into bed without proper cleansing. However, the uninterrupted 30 minutes was heaven. Ended the session with a nice steamy hot shower and I’m all ready for bed.
This time, I’m feeling good about doing my proper cleansing.
Good night!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
the ABCs of motherhood?
It was one of those ‘rush’ days where we had 95 things in our to-do list for that day. And of course, preparing Ethan’s dinner was one of them. So, I threw in a fillet of chicken, chopped some pumpkins, and brought the water to boil. Walahhh…, that wasn’t too difficult!
When it was time to put in the pasta, I spilled them. I was horrified, screamed on top of my lungs, flung one of those ‘swear’ words and thought, what a mess I got myself into. Feeling really annoyed with myself, I quickly looked for a cloth to clean up. But while scrambling looking for that piece of cloth, I stopped and looked at those pastas. Hang on, those innocent looking pastas don’t deserve such rough remarks. Also, I was making them for Ethan, and he loves his chicken pumpkin pasta. I shouldn’t be so nasty about the whole cooking for Ethan. After all, it was me who insisted he should have at least one home cook meal a day. Isn’t that motherhood?
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