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!

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 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”

???

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!

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!).

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!

Happy New Year 2010!

I made a new year resolution,... only to my hubby. I will update my blog as often as I could. Ethan is 13 months now, and too many happened since my last entry.
When the clock strike 12 am on new years eve, we were all seated around our black glass dining table savoring Belgium Chocolate Baskins which we queued up for as there were on 31% discount that day.

I felt really melancholic about the whole new year fiesta. I suppose it was mainly because the year just flew by, very quickly, and really, I asked myself, where did 2009 go?
Well, after having to get lost in thoughts for the longest time, I decided to briefly pen them in here to remind myself that 2009 was indeed one of the most significant year for me so far.

1. Experienced first ever post natal depression… It was quite bad and I remember my O&G had to write me a referral to see a psychiatrist. Thank god for best friends; my best bud, my confidant was there when I needed her most. Really, I did not see any psychiatrist what not after that.

2. I got my first ever promotion

3. finally gathered my valor to leave my son behind for Sydney for almost a week, all alone! It was really really good. Having to soak the Australian sun again. I am totally thankful to the dearest hubs for allowing me the time I needed to go away and to gather myself again. Well, of course it helped with the actual reason to Australia was to attend Benjamin and May’s union as man and wife. It was one of the most beautiful wedding I have attended. Perhaps I should write about it on a separate post.

4. Hubby got me my very first coffee machine. Frothing low fat milk is what I look forward to during long weekends. And ever since then, we have been eating wholesome breakfast with Egg Benedict being the latest fad in our ‘family favourites’ breakfast menu.

5. We ate in Bobby Chinn’s. One word: astounding. Food was top notch, milieu was superb and did I say that the food was splendid again?

6. celebrated Ethan’s 1st birthday. This little sunshine managed to put a smile on our face for the past year. Everyday for 365 days. How else should I elaborate? He is our sunshine!

7. became a full time corporate rat racer by day and full time mummy by night. My goodness, rat racing has never been that easy if you ever compare it to sorting a child who is going through separation anxiety (the tears rolling down his cheeks stretching his little hands longing for a hug, turned out to be having to carry him throughout the night because he doesn’t want anyone else except his mummy). It’s tiring and I am not complaining at all.

8. Brought Ethan back to Sabah for the very first time. He was very well behaved during his flight journey, which made it tad easy for us. At least we did not have to deal with stares which will potentially make us looked like we were in a midst of "disciplining your baby, 101".

9. Saw 2 of our Godchildren baptized in SFX; Ethan Zachary Chong was baptized by Fr. OC Lim and Kristen Tham was baptized by Fr. Simon Yong. That would mean, we are now proud Godparents to 4 Godchildren; Ian Lim, Pio Lim, Ethan Zac Chong, and Kristen Tham. We are blessed in so many ways, and we could not ask for more when He gave us Ethan, our bucket full of sunshine.

10. I got my a husband a Macbook Pro. That would mean I will have to adjust my wardrobe stocks for the year 2010, and it will probably look unhealthy as I would need to start my year with high balance brought forward (b/f), low disposals and lower capital. Not too nice looking in my balance sheet, but he is smiling silly. So heck the balance sheet. =)

Happy New Year.
Eat, love and live!

Sausages, baked beans, hash browns and sunny side up!

Took a day off as it was a public holiday in Selangor. Thought, why not, as hubby is gonna be free as well. We woke up at about 8.30 in the morning and gave Ethan his feed. The kakak then took over, bathe, breakfast and finally his morning siesta. I was just feeling really lazy and tired for all the other mornings I had wake up, tend to Ethan, rush to work, back from work, take over from the maid and there goes… a typical life of the working mummy. “phuuu… trust me, it’s no joke. Tired!) THEN.. of course I had to play my duty as a wife as well. So that morning, had to ask hubby what he would like for breakfast. As usual, he would bestow on me this huge smile on his and … none other than going for his nasi lemak breakfast. Since we had it yesterday morning (we got 8 packets of nasi lemak for the household and still, there wasn’t enough), I thought we shouldn’t have it again. So I thought, we should just have our cereals for brunch.

Dragged myself out of the bed, washed up and got ready for another nice warm morning. While getting out from my bedroom, I could hear Ethan yelling and screaming (more of laughing and giggling out loud) from the living hall.

Went to the kitchen and was interrupted by a pleasant surprise. On the saucepan, I saw baked beans and on the plate were nicely browned beef sausages. Then hubby gave me a sweet smile, “Hunny, where is the little pan for the egg?”

I opened the cabinet underneath and gave it to him.

After a good 15 minutes, there was a plate with Sausages, baked beans, hash browns and sunny side up… for each of us.

It was a beautiful morning indeed.

His first outstation trip

My sister, Yvonne recently got herself baptized in a catholic church, the St. Francis Xavier Church. Prior to her baptism, she had to attend a pre-baptismal retreat in Melaka, a 3 days 2 nights stay in retreat.

Naturally, by being her sponsor, I was looking forward to going to the retreat with her. The night before the retreat, I was trying to get Ethan to sleep in our bedroom. He didn’t want me to put him to bed and was struggling for almost a good one hour. And finally, mommy instinct told me that I had to call my maid up to the room to put him to bed. Sure enough, when the maid turned up and took him in her arms, he quieted down.

I was perturbed.

I couldn’t really fall asleep that night thinking if I’d to leave Ethan at home the whole day with the maid, he’s so not going to want me anymore.

Biting my lips hard, I told hubby that we will have to cart Ethan to Melaka and the maid was not going to sleep with my little boy. My other sister, Angeline was compassionate enough to understand what I was going through. So, she braved her horrible cough and cold in an hour car journey enroute to Melaka.

It was good seeing my son after one night of not seeing him. This was one time which I thought that motherhood thing has actually seeped into me. Nice!

Since it was a pretty last minute decision, we decided to book a room in the Majestic Hotel, Melaka, though the YTL Platinum Plus. (I must say that this club this the only one community which takes special care of it’s member. To top that, I have gotten invitations to watch a couple Malaysian musicals/stage plays but never could make it.)

Hubby was really excited about the whole idea of getting away, near or far. As for him, the induced thought of the Melaka Chicken Rice Balls drove his will for the one hour drive. However, I had to sneak out of the retreat sessions to check if things were fine with Ethan. I felt really bad about it, but lil sister was really cool about it, assuring me that she understands and told me to make sure the little boy was alright.

It was a great weekend for the family. Not to mention that it’s even better with Ethan behaving himself and enjoying himself in the hotel.

Check out the Majestic Hotel room and you will know why. By the way, that night when we all slept in the hotel, my little champion fell asleep in my arms. I was so overjoyed.

That's Ethan's yiyi preparing for his bath in an open concept bathroom in the hotel room!

This hotel used to be a mansion, dating back to the 1920s. The YTL decided to erect a new building in next to this mansion with it’s facade remains at the heart of the hotel mirroring the original architecture.

I remember reading an article on how the restoration team had to work on the hotel’s renovation by ensuring that the original porcelain flooring remains untouched. I seriously wonder how can that happen.

I must say that the hotel’s design integrates the old with new making it an experience. Lay man term, it feels like staying in a 6 star modern kampong.

Hubby swore that he is definately going back again. My verdict? A MUST! Frankly, the YTL Hotel Properties have never failed us. They might not be the biggest and most grandeured facade hotel, but I just love their so very intimate and unpretentious service, and their very personalised touch. If you are looking for a quiet hideaway with easy access to local food, this is the place to be!

Ethan's first artwork

Ethan helped daddy make a father's day card for grandpa of course with some help from mummy. This was taken during Father's Day (21st June 2009). We used non-toxic children's paint and made sure that Ethan had his tiny hands wash twice after our little project!

tomorrow will be a better day

Have you ever just felt like you just don’t feel like feeling, felt horrible for no apparent reason, felt like the patience–o-meter is at it’s negative reading, no appetite for food, caught in a jam and thought that it was the worst ever, tired, haggard and exhausted.Well, that was how I felt today. Monday - it may be?

Came back from work, feeling horrible and tired. Had dinner and gave Ethan his milk. Testing! Because he just didn’t want to finish his milk. Frustrated! Walked out and went into my room.
Lied on my bed for a while and got the water in the bath running hoping to soak in the tub to unwind. When I was about to step into the tub, I heard Ethan’s yells and screams from the other room. There goes my time alone. Picked Ethan up and pacified him. Read him his Goodnight Moon, probably more than 10 times?, played with him and finally turned on the magic lullaby (daddy’s original mixtape), which hubby recorded when we found out that Pearly Shells could actually put Ethan to dreamland.

Finally, snug into bed with hubs. I asked him,“Have you ever just felt like you just don’t feel like feeling, felt horrible for no apparent reason, felt like the patience–o-meter is at it’s negative reading, no appetite for food, caught in a jam and thought that it was the worst ever, tired, haggard and exhausted.?”

Hubby answered, “Yes, many times. Like when he got out of bed on the wrong note. But eventually, it will turn better”

Me: It will?

Hubby: Yes. It will.

Then, hubby wrapped his arms around me and said, “Yes, it will be better. I’ll be here always. We can eat the banana cake together tomorrow morning.”

We said a prayer and went to sleep.
Yes, it will be better, much better tomorrow.

Yes, so sweet of hubs to buy me a loaf of banana cake from the SS2 pasar malam. I’ve never bought any cakes from the pasar malam, fearing its condition. But when I woke up this morning, I had 4 generous slices of the cake.

It was good, and yes, my day was much better.

Footprints in Sydney

I was in Sydney again, after a very very long time - 5 years? And this time, I packed my bags, and board the plane all by myself, yes! Very couragious one may say, but really, I was crushed inside for having to leave hubby and lil' E at home. Unfortunately habby is not able to take just that couple of days off, thus the reason I'm travelling alone.

However, I after boarding on the plane, I watched some in-demand movies and went straight to sleep. When I woke up, the stewards were just serving breakfast and 1 hour and 15 mins before we land in Sydney Kingsford Airport.

Nice! That was how I felt....

When stepped out, it was Swine Flu Alert all over Sydney airport! I was amused by the termal videocams set up all over. Passed the cameras and yippie, went straight to the luggage belts.

Not too long later, saw a familiar face. Zuhun was as big as ever. No wonder buddy loves hugging this giant.

I wondered around town on my own, no hubs, no bubs. And that was really good. I could just wake up in the morning, not having to think about what do I need to complete for the day. I could just take my time and do nothing.

Of course I didn't do nothing! I just sipped coffee and smiled.

Spent a good 3 days in Sydney, revisiting and re-living it again. It was indescribable. But most of all, spending some time with buds. That was priceless .

We ate, drank, chatted, gossiped, 'sucked' (ahem, oysters), giggled, laughed and I teared when I left.

Pacific Oyster at the Fish Market.

$18.99 a dozen.

Buds and I each had half a dozen... and

half a lobster, half a dozen of scallops, salmon and tuna sashimi, 3 prawns.. all within an hour!

Sigh, that was what you call a taste of heaven!

eat and be merry

29 November 2008

We had a little get together for Christmas when I was 37 weeks pregnant, that was November 29 (3 days before Ethan decided to pop). With much anticipation of Ethan’s arrival, I thought I should spend some time with our close friends before the “confinement” began.

For the first time, we had a proper pot luck Christmas dinner. For years, our get together session had always been theme-less pot lucks.


Hubby prepared his famous rosemary roasted chicken, complemented by herbed roasted mix vegetables. Well, needless to say that he was very proud of his roasting skills when he presented us his golden brown roasted potatoes. I must admit, that pot of thing he did, was respectable!

Leonard and wifey Carnee showed up with huge honey baked chicken and a huge bowl of mashed potatoes.


Because Jaclyn was 2 months pregnant, Kenneth didn’t allow her to step into the kitchen. This time, we had the privilege (finally) to have him stir up his super expensive ovens and produced a palate of handsome grilled lamb cutlets. On top of that, this man is the only person on earth I know who makes superb “siu yuk”aka roasted pork.

Gabriel and Lauren swore that they took part in LEARNING Gabriel’s mum’s homemade slow stewed pork (which was really, Tai Thong standards!) The pot of meat melted in out mouths. Gee, the thought of it sends water in my mouth.

KC, Yueh Li and Ethan Zac showed up with a huge platter of bangers: Italian sausages, mixed herb, Chorizo, smoked chicken, chipolatas and you name it. To top that, they actually baked it! Hooh, superb.

Sharon finally rang the bell with 3 tubs of Baskins Robbins which were whipped off the minute we took it out from the freezer. Needless to say, our beauty queen was late (again) but at least she showed up!

Mum and I partnered up to bake little Christmas cupcakes. Being 37 weeks, I was breathless most of the time, I only could bake the cupcakes and didn't manage to ice the cupcakes. Mum therefore helped with decorating the little delights.

Yvonne was busy transporting plates of bruschetta from the toaster out to the dining table. We had the classic herbed tomato and brown button mushrooms bruschetta served as the appetiser.

Braving the complicated step into baking a baked cheese cake, my sister Angeline made dessert a highlight of our evening. Ended the evening with heart warming carols and later did our little round of gift exchanges. It was indeed an evening dedicated to friends and thanking the Lord for the season of love and joy.

Needless to say, the boys had a swell of a time.

Blessed Christmas everyone!

ethan

When we found out that I was pregnant with a little boy, many asked if we had given him a name yet. We would smile and said yes! However, we did not want to disclose his name until he came out!

Well, same time when I was pregnant, one of Adrian's cousin, KC was also expecting a little bundle of joy. But, both KC and Yueh Li decided not to find out the gender of the baby and preferred it to be a surprise instead. We received a text message one morning thanking us for the toy we bought their little boy and that, baby “Ethan” will definitely love playing with them. And guess what, little baby being Ethan, will make him Ethan Chong… as well!

We prayed about little boy's name and somehow, both hubby and I have were very attached to the name as we have been calling him by his name since we knew he was a boy, that was probably when he was approximately in his week 25. Therefore, we decided that we'll stick to his name, Ethan, Ethan Chong Xiang Wei.

By the way, his name Ethan is of Hebrew origin and his name means "firmness, strong, long-lived". Biblically, Ethan was a man of Israel noted for his wisdom. One reason why we chose the name Ethan was partly due to its meaning. Our only prayer for him is to be strong, despite having to face with tremendous challenges, pressures and temptations the world might endow on him.

While we're on the subject, we are proud God parents to Ethan Chong Ching Her. He is 4 months older than our little boy and that makes him the big bro! However, we will not be calling him biggie Ethan or Ethan senior or what not. KC and Yueh Li has decided that he will have a confirmation name, Zachary. Therefore, he is Ethan Zachary Chong Ching Her, in short, Ethan Zac!

That's Yueh Li and Ethan Zac

pralines?

A couple of minutes ago, Adrian and I were just chilling when I took out a box of Max Brenners chocolates Andrea brought for us from Sydney.


This box of chocolate comes with a little menu/catalogue where it labels the type of chocolates in the box.


I chose the "Dark Chocolate Praline with Cornflakes" and Adrian picked the "Praline with Dark Chocolate".

Then he asked, "Hunn, What is praline?"

I thought for a second "I think it's high class chocolates."

He paused and said "o-kay".

For the next 30 seconds, I sat still and I came over to the check what a praline actually means.

Praline is a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup. (Source: wikipedia)

As originally invented in France at the Chateau Vaux-le Vicomte by the cook of the 19th century sugar industrialist, Praslin. Pralines were whole almonds individually coated in caramelized sugar, as opposed to dark nougat, where a sheet of caramelized sugar covers many nuts. The powder made by grinding up such sugar-coated nuts is called 'pralin' or 'praliné' in French, and is an ingredient in many cakes and pastries.

In most other countries the word 'praline' is used to mean this powder, or even a paste, often used to fill chocolates, hence its use by synecdoche in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium to refer to filled chocolates in general. In the United Kingdom, the term can refer either to praline (the filling for chocolates) or, less commonly, to the original whole-nut pralines.

After reading this, pralines are not exactly high-class chocolates. There are chocolates which have softer/caramelized texture inside and are covered with another layer of chocolate.


Hehe, I will need to explain this to my confused husband.

bintang beer ad

Bintang Beer Ad
Starring: Canon Ling
Directered by: Adrian Chong & Tracy Ho
Photography by: Michelle Loh

Ad 1
Venue: In front of Kuta Beach
For the heat and sun

Ad 2
Brand Recognition: To introduce the "Bintang" brand by showing hints of brand name in the Ad.

Ad 3
To appeal: By having the model drink his Bintang passionately

Ad 4
To emphasize: Model to squint a little to highlight the superb taste of the beer

Ad 5
To have fun: Model to post naturally to promote fun in drinking Bintang

check out Bintang Beer

So, what do you think about the ads?

cindy

the keys

Today, we got the keys to our new place. It was pretty tough looking for a place with the property prices getting soaring exponentially. Anyway, we got a really neat place in Bandar Utama and I can't wait to furnish it.

We just got a huge TV and that will sit in our room, spoiled ourselves silly with a gorgeous bed and a huge tub. Right now, we will really need to go around hunting for a good dining set, some book shelves and I am desperately in need of some ideas for a garden.

nelayan - private outdoor dining

Dinner by the Beach
Nelayan
Tanjung Jara Resort

Beautifully setup for a private evening over looking the mighty south China sea with the rhythmic waves collapsing one after another making the most romantic themed dinner.

To start: fresh Norwegian Salmon

Abalone and Sea Scallops Salad with Green Asparagus and sprinkled with sesame dressing

Crab Cappuccino with crispy prawn and coriander

To neutralize: Orange Sorbet

To Satisfy: Fish Duet
Pan-fried sea bass and , complimented with sauteed watercress and risotto

To Spoil: Flourless dark chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream

To end: twilights surrounding our dinner table to wind the night up