Gong Xi Fa Cai to you!

Its getting exciting for me. Today will be my last day at the office and from tomorrow onwards, I will start my unofficial Chinese New Year celebrations ... yippee!

I already have plans lined up for 5 out of the 15 lunar new year celebrations and I am sure there are more to come! We have lots of visiting to do and also hosts lots of family and friends at our home too.

Our celebrations start on the eve of the new year whereby Chinese around the world would hosts a REUNION DINNER with their family. And as a married woman, it is customary to spend this dinner with her in-laws. My in-laws have a pretty extended family. There are 10 siblings on my father-in-laws side of the family and we all get together for the reunion dinner each year. With each of them having their own children and grandchildren, there are at least 100 of us at that dinner ... large group huh? If I remember correctly, we had 120 last year *smile*. And each year, we sit down together for a wonderful 8-course meal at Royal China Restaurant (which is part of the Tai Thong Group). And it is never complete without Yee Sang & karaoke all night long!.

On the first day of CNY, it will be our turn to host the extended family in our house. Of course not all 100-odd of them would turn up but still the house will be filled with people from noon till late night. Usually I am in the kitchen all the time, preparing food & drinks. Yes its tiring but thats the true meaning of CNY - food, drinks & some small time gambling too!

Traditionally, only on the 2nd day of CNY are the married woman allowed to go back to her own home for the celebrations. And I have practised this since I got married. So this day, I would wake up early and get prepared. The family would first have our must-have dimsum at Xin Cuisine (we do this every year too!) and after this, hubby & I head to my mom's place and BIL & SIL and his family heads to Melaka, where my SIL is from. Hubby, lil one & I spend the rest of the day there, chatting with my aunts & uncles and cousins, etc. Its nice to meet up with all of them once a year. My mom usually cooks up a storm for today's dinner, which I really appreciate. So thoughtful of her to cook all the food that I enjoy :-) Also on this day, my eldest SIL & her family returns home from Ipoh to celebrate CNY with us.

This year, CNY falls on a Monday & Tuesday and I presume quite a number of us would take the remaining 3 days off as well so that we can enjoy an extended week of holidays. So I will have to look forward to more food & open houses.

I will therefore have limited or even no time to blog at all .... so may I leave you with my sincere wishes for a ...

HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

GONG XI FA CAI!

What happened over the weekend

It was another busy weekend as usual. In fact, every single day since lil one arrived, there is always not enough time on hand. Leaving the house every morning whilst the sky is dark and only returning after sunset as well. Dinner is usually at 9.30pm every workday. So tiring!

Weekends are even worst! That's because I have lil one to me all day long. He has to cling to me whenever he seems me. He will cry (or pretend to cry) and wants to me hug him or carry him and even sit with him while he watches his favourite DVDs. So tiring!

On Saturday, it was daddie's birthday and daddie decided to spend the day with lil one & mommie at the Zoo! Cool idea eh! Actually its an al-cheapo idea .. cos mommie told daddie that its free entrance on his birthday, so that's why we went :-) Saved Rm15 ..hehehe. It was lil one's maiden trip to the Zoo and oh boy ... all he wanted was to be carried all the way! And only wants to be carried by his mommie! So tiring!

We went home 2 hrs later and fed lil one some noodles and then tried to coax him to have a nap. And a second later, both mommie & daddie were snoring as well :-) So tiring!

In the evening, mommie planned to "belanja" daddie, MIL, SIL & BIL dinner. We headed to Queen's Park for the famous "Golden Pumpkin Porridge Steamboat" ... sounds good leh .. well, yeah, its good! But of course, lil one wont sit still ... we took turns to carry him around. Thank god Queen's Park had a pet store and we took him there to check out the cute cats & lovely puppies. So tiring!

On Sunday, daddie went for his badminton as usual and I decided to spend the day at Mom's place cos I was dead tired. Needed some help with lil one. But Mom was busy making muruku & frying nga-ku for CNY. Tell you a secret, my Mom's muruku is to-die-for!!! I felt so bad bothering Mom on that day. But lil one fell asleep at 1pm for his nap, so I took the opportunity to help Mom with all the frying. Then we spring cleaned the whole house, etc. So tiring!

So that's how we spent the weekend ... so tiring!

Wonders of Facebook

By now, I am sure you are a member of Facebook and have had enjoyed your time there? For me, it has worked wonders! Gosh!

I can't believe I managed to locate quite a number of my ex-school mates, even those from my primary school! Its just amazing to share all the photos online and having this space that keeps us updated on my far & away pals & relatives.

I also "found" my long lost childhood friends that I used to play with every weekend when mom brought us back to visit my grandpa & my uncles during those good old days! Its amazing!

Although revealing too much of yourself over the internet is not a good idea, but it is a brilliant joint if you wish to find long lost pals or share your photos, etc.

Cheapest Kitchen Aid deal!

I have been eyeing a Kitchen Aid as a nice lil pressie for myself .. its kinda like a "house warming gift" from myself to myself ... hahaha. Love that idea. I mean excuse. So far, never found a real good deal. The best I ever found was at the Homedec 08 @ PWTC .. but prices were still a bit too steep for me.


Recently, while scounting for my hood & hob during this year end sale, I visited The Living Depot in Puchong and came across the Kitchen Aid. I have no intention at all to get one now but just enquired for the price for the sake of knowing. And guess what! They offered it to me at only RM2,200 compared to the exhibition price of RM2,488 just 3 months ago! The salesman told me that the normal retail price has now increased to RM2,788 but dont know how far its true.

If you wish to know, no, I did not buy it. Its not my top priority at the moment in terms of finance & budgeting. Who knows, I might really get one as a gift from friends at my real "house warming" party ... hint! hint!

Hmmm ... maybe I should post up a "wish list" in my blog huh .. maybe something like a wedding gift list ... hmm .. good idea.

Corelle Dinner Set & Pyrex Vision Cookpots

If you are a fan of Corelle dinnerware, you should look out for their mid-year and year-end sale! This is the first time I visited their year-end sale and mind you, even their distributor came to "sapu" as much stock as they could! So can you imagine what a bargain it was?!

I had earlier eyed on a Pyrex Vision cookpot which MIL uses for boiling soup. My SIL bought it for her when she came back visiting some years ago. Guess what .. they were offering the below 3 cookpots at Rm258 only!

The above consist of a 1.5L, 2.5L and a 3.5L cookpot! If you were to walk into Jusco or Metrojaya, you would probably only get one pot for that price!


I also purchased a 16-piece Corelle Dinner ware for Rm299 only which I can see that at the malls, prices are now almost at RM400++.

I also bought a vegetable trolley for MIL so that you can use it when she goes to the wet market. It was pretty decent size that comes covered with a zip as well (so no one can pinch her stuff ..hehe).

This sale is hosted each year at 2nd floor The Atrium. If you are a collector or a fan, you should not miss this. Doors open at 9 but be there by 8.30. Usually the good stuff are gone by noon time. I am not sure if they replenish the next day but I have got my 2 items and that's enough for me.

The Boss!

No! No! Not referring to Bruce Lee ... but Bryan Low instead!

Eh, only realised while typing this that both of them have the same initials .. no wonder lah same title aka Big Boss ... but different pose *wink*.


This is how my lil one enjoys his afternoons these days. With a nice warm bottle of milk in hand, while lying down with his "shake legs" pose and enjoying .. what else .. but his favourite ... Barney dvd.

He really knows how to enjoy life doesn't he? Hope that when he grows up, he will know how to earn enough money to sustain his new found hobby!

Clear Shoe Boxes

Remember I told you about my friends transparent shoe box purchase and I never got to get over to her place to see it? Well I spotted some at the concourse of Bangsar Shopping Centre on Christmas Eve ... and this is how they look like.


Nope did not purchase any for myself .. cos this is not a priority to me .. moreover, I hardly have more than 5 pairs of shoes at one time. Yes, its true. I am not a shoe or clothes fanatic. Dont really enjoy shopping unless I need something. Sounds like a low-maintenance woman huh? Hehehehe...not sure if hubby would agree.

Best Deal for Fotile Hood & Hob

If you are looking for a Fotile hood & hob, I can tell you where to get the best price! There are the top distributors & wholesalers for Fotile in Malaysia! They supply a lot to smaller electrical shops, renovation contractors, housing developers, interior design companies, etc in Malaysia and therefore, they are able to get good prices from Fotile Malaysia. Try JF Electrical in Subang (near Devil's Crab).

It was by chance that I knew about them. Remember the Ariston oven that I got for a freaking cheap price during their Carnival Sale last month? Well, it is the same distributor. Just trying my luck, I asked the salesman if they carried other brands in their store and he told me yes, they have a variety of brands for ovens, hoods & hobs. I was delighted to know they also carried Rinnai, Pacific, Teka, etc in addition to Fotile.

I visited them on a Sat morning and was a wee bit disappointed when I located the outlet. They are just a tiny outlet with no customers inside. Only a few lorry transporters walking in & out carrying some items out of the shop. I walked in and met the lady boss who was kind enough to show me the range that she carried. I enjoyed her hospitality and frank comments as well as they attractive prices. After all the Q&A between us, I finally decided on these two models.

Hood = D5BH
Hob = FA6B (latest model)

I chose this particular hood because I like the tempered glass finishing that gives the hood a more modern look. Although this design has been around for quite some time, it fits my needs for my new home in terms of looks & usage. It has a suction power of 900m3/h which I think is more than enough for normal cooking at home. Moreover, the higher the suction power, the louder the noise is.

My initial preference for the hob was the 5-nozzle burner that gives a much higher and more even fire all round. But it is much expensive. For the model that I chose, it has a 4-nozzle burner, the fire was pretty hot very quickly. This because the fire level in this particular model has been raised and is very close to your pot or pans, thus warming it up much faster, resulting is shorter cooking time using up less gas.

Another feature I like about it is that the fire is "adjustable". Normally when gas is running low, the color of the fire is yellow. This adjustable feature allows you to utilise the little gas left in the tank as efficiently as possible and turning it into blue flames once again until you totally run out of gas in the tank.

When I visited Homedec 08, I also eyed a Fotile hood & hob combination there and that dealer refused to budge even a single dollar, telling me that the retail price was "specially" formulated for a "special" event like Homedec! Ya sure! Specially expensive! From then on Homedec is for me to do research and see the latest products and "test water" to see how far they can offer me discounts! I never never buy electrical items from exhibitions!

Learning to write with Aqua Doodle

My lil one is now 21 months old and he is learning to write .. on the wall .. on the cushions .. on his hands and feet .. on the floor .. on his grandma's legs ... everywhere!

We started off with pencils and paper, then upgraded to pens cos the pencils easily breaks off with lil one handling it so rough. The headache with pens is that .. you know lah .. cannot be rubbed off! So we have lines drawn all over grandma's house!

Hubby spotted this really cool toy for him to learn to write. Its called the Aqua Doodle! I normally do not allow hubby to buy anything expensive (by my standards la .. cos I am an alcheapo mommie mah) but this one - I must say is a GOOD BUY! Well done hubby! I simply love it.

Its basically a mat that can only be drawn using a marker filled with just water. After scribbling or drawing, the image dries off by itself in a minute or two and the mat is all clear again for new scribbling!

Lil one has been busy with this toy since we got it for him two weeks ago from Jusco. But of course having "lil monster" as a nickname has its reason ... my lil one decided to test out the marker in his mouth and realised that it has got water .. and since then, he would try to put the marker in his mouth and suck the water out like as if its his Barney water tumbler! Headache!

Traditional Thai Massage @ Sunway Pyramid

Ever since childbirth, I have a back ache. And as lil one is growing, carrying him constantly does not help ease the pain. And now lil one is 20 months and still insist on carrying him! I have tried several times to either talk nicely to him, raise my voice and scold him and even tried diverting his attention to other things if he wants to be carried. All 3 tricks works but depending on his mood. Sometimes, none of them work, so we have to carry him for a short while.

Anyway, wanted to recommend you my usual massage place. Its called Arokaya, located in The Marrakech at Sunway Pyramid's new wing (LG Floor). They offer traditional Thai massage. All their masseures are from Thailand and some of them speak simple English and Mandarin too.









They have special "happy hour" prices everyday before 12 noon. Its really worth it! We usually go on a Saturday morning. And last week (since I was on leave .. yeay) we dropped by on Monday again. And after 10 session, you get a free session too!

We were there 2 or 3 weeks ago since I suffer from a really bad bad pain. Well, not exactly a back pain but more of a hip bone pain. I kept telling her that my hip bones hurt like hell .. and after a few seconds of massaging, she told me its not the bones .. its the nerves thats causing the problem. She continued massaging on the painful area .. boy it hurt quite a bit .. but after a few minutes more on the same area .. I stopped feeling the pain. And this relieve lasted me till now, so I was so darn happy that day.

So I am going there again next week for "maintenance work" ... if you know what I mean. Wanna massage it more often so that the nerves will function back like normal. Hopefully.

And while you're here, don't forget to try their foot massage too if you dont like a full body massage .. their magic hands can work wonders!

Welcoming 2009!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year to all of you. I have been on leave for the past 2 weeks and just started work yesterday. First day at work was kinda ok - my "engine" started off quite easily *smile*.

For the most of the days I was on leave, I have been busy meeting up with kitchen cabinet suppliers and also window shopping around for electrical items, sofa, dining table, etc. It has been a fruitful "research" outing indeed. At least we are now more certain on where to go and which are the things we should look out for when comes the day to purchase.

One thing I did purchase at a fantastic price is my Fotile hood & hob. I have done quite a bit of research here & there and the price I got at this electrical wholesaler was just too attractive. I personally loved the owners of this outlet as well as it is managed by a hubby-wifey team and both of them were nice and friendly. Most importantly, I could see and feel they were sincere and very practical in giving us suggestions on all the items in their store. More details later.

Hubby & I also spend quite a number of days shopping. We managed to purchase our CNY clothings in a comfortable pace and in some peace. Cos Mom helped us take care of lil one. We really enjoyed the time together just browsing around in the mall, having a simple breakfast at Kim Gary (I used to crave for thier egg & ham sandwhich every single morning when I was preggie :-) and even went for another session of massage!

We also travelled to Tangkak, Johor for my cousin's wedding. We stopped by Jonker's Street for some chicken rice ball lunch with my uncle & aunts. It was a short trip but just nice for us & lil one as any longer trip would have been too taxing on us! You know right ... my lil one is super-active every single minute of the day ...

So now, I am back to the grinding stone! But hey, CNY is around the corner! And I plan to be on long leave again ...at least for 10 days ... hurray!