Proud of Bryan

We're really glad that Bryan is quite ok handling himself in a new place or environment. School started on Monday and daddy sent him to school that afternoon. It did take him a couple of minutes to get warmed up all over again but overall, he adjusted quite well. He took the school van home without much fuss in the evening ... so good job Bryan!

The past few days also went well, Mom said. He changed and hopped onto the school van without any fuss and was in ok mood when he comes home in the evening.

We have been really looking forward to the new school hours. Classes start from 12.15 - 4.15 and by the time he reaches home, its almost 5pm. Shower and dinner, then followed by cartoon shows on TV. By 8 or 9pm, he is really really "mabuk" and its a good time to have a warm bottle of milk and while having his "fix", he is already dozing off! What bliss!! To us I mean! He used to only fall asleep past midnight but these few days, he is in bed at 10pm. Im quite glad Mom gets to rest early. And so do we ...

Time really flies .. still remember hunting for a kindy and now Bryan is in his 2nd year in pre-school. I think its time to look into a chinese primary school.

Cupcakes @ The Tea Republic, Bangsar Shopping Centre

Life has taken a small twist recently .. for the better. Have been positively buzy on weekends to meet some cupcake orders for The Tea Republic @ Bangsar Shopping Centre. Its a quaint new F&B outlet that recently opened in Dec 2010.

Sharing with you some cupcakes I did for them and it will be available for the entire month of December.



















Do drop by TTR for a cup of tea. My recommendation would be their tea blossoms .. such a sight to see the bright flowers popping up into a full bloom right in front of you!
























For a sincere review of my cupcakes, do drop by eatdrinkkl.blogspot.com. Am really surprised a reknown food-blogger actually dropped by for a review.

If I'm not back by 31 December, here's wishing every single one of you
A MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It's all Facebook's fault!

Ya, cos it is the number one culprit in making me so lazzzzzzyyyyyy to update my blog! Cos I would very quickly upload any happenings & pics into FB and then friends can comment there and then .. no need to log in Blogspot anymore.

We attended the Kleenex Power of Play parent bloggers meet 2 weekends ago and last week, it was Bryan's first ever concert performance - but stil too malas to upload. And its not my fault ah ....

Free Vouchers

Update on 15 Oct @ 2.30pm: All vouchers taken! Thank you & Enjoy!!

Received some free vouchers from a corporate client recently but I dont think I'll have a chance to utilise them in the near future. So I've decided to give them away to my blog readers.

Voucher Set 1 - Free 45 mins facial at Sothy's

• This voucher is valid for first timer only.
• Entitles you to redeem a 45 mins facial & eye treatment for free.
• Not valid for part redemption and non-refundable for any unused balance.
• Not exchangeable for cash.
• Mgmt reserve the right to amend the terms & conditions (huh?)
• Valid till 31 Dec 2010.
• Location is at Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway.
• A bonus RM100 cash voucher for treatments priced above RM150.

Voucher Set 2 - 30% Discount at Sunway Lagoon

• Discount based on published rate
• Not exchangeble for cash or for sale
• Max purchase of 6 ticekts per voucher
• Not valid with other ongoing promotions
• Not valid for group purchase or functions
• Child denotes those above 90cm and below 12 yrs of age
• Valid on day of purchase only
• Present voucher at Sunway Lagoon Ticketing Counter
• Closed on Tues (excp Malaysian school & public holidays)
• Not applicable for Nite Park
• Valid till 31 December 2010

Voucher Set 3 - Aster Spring / Dermalogica Express Facial worth RM48

• Applicable to new customers only
• Pls call for appointment
• Quite a number of branches everywhere .. so I wont type them all out here.
• Valid till 31 December 2010
• A bonus scalp tension relief therapy voucher worth RM48 as well.

So if any of you are keen on the above, do drop me an email with your fullname and address, i shall snail-mail them to you asap. First come first serve, ya?

Decorated Sugar Cookies

I realise that cupcakes are kinda "over" and the new kid in town is the decorated sugar cookies. Seen some wedding favours these days with butter cookies beautifully drawn with royal icing with colors, so really wanted to try to see if its easy to do.

I found a really good butter cookie recipe and the dough is kinda easy to prepare. The smell in the kitchen while it was making was sooooooo good! Allowing it to rest while it cooled off, its time to prepare the royal icing. That was easy as well but not cheap! Those days people used pure egg whites whipped with icing sugar, but these days, and like many other things, food ingredients are no longer safe, so the trend is to use meringue powder. And the only brand that we have in Malaysia is from Wilton. Which is kinda expensive, but anyway, you always need to be safe than sorry right?

















It was really fun piping in the colors - but the REAL PAIN in making these sugar cookies in waiting for the royal icing to dry. It literally takes ages!! They never ever dry in our so-called room temperature as we have such high humidity levels. So you need to dry them in a air-conditioned room for at least 3-4 hrs (overnight is better) and only until they are really dry that you can stack them or pack them into cellophane bags.

So now I understand why for such a tiny wedding cookie favour, they can sell it for a higher price than fully decorated cupcakes! Cos need to factor in air-cond cost .. and all the waiting time .. and painfully painting each and every one in tiny details!!!!

If you know if any other way of drying it faster or have a better royal icing recipe, please do share it with me pleazzzzzzeee!!

Garden Cake & Cupcakes

Late Friday evening, SIL called to order some cupcakes for a housewarming party that she was invited to by her immediate neighbour. She didnt know what to get them at first and then she remembered that eldest SIL and her daughters were at my place learning to bake a orange butter cake and some cookies. So she wanted some cupcakes ... and at the same time helped me promote them lor ... so thanks to you Vivian.

















The same night, my niece called to ask if I could bake her a birthday cake as well .. and she wanted it by tomorrow as well ... same deadline by SIL! I panicked a bit but nevertheless, I did promise her that I'll bake a simple one which she didnt mind. I dont have the heart to turn down the little girl. Birthdays are very important to the younger generation mah, right?

So late Friday evening, i went out to get some groceries. Quickly baked a chocolate cheese cake the same night and let it rest to cool overnight. Next morning, I woke up at 4am to bake an orange cake and 2 batches of cupcakes, left them to cool and quickly frosted them.
















The most easy theme would be the garden theme and since I have ready made fondant flowers in hand (made them earlier for mom's birthday), I used them in the said "garden".

I finished this at 9am, just in time before Bryan wakes up. He was pretty excited to see them. And so was I.

Extended Preschool Hours in 2011

We just got notice from Bryan's kindy that according to the Ministry of Education's new regulations, preschool hours have to be extended by one hour with effect from 2011. Is it the same at your kid's preschool?

Bryan goes to a Montessori kindy and they have 2 sessions a day. I can't recall what time the morning session starts but the second session starts at 11.45am till 2.45pm (so thats 3 hrs). With the new regulation extended to 4 hours, his session for 2011 will start at 12.15pm till 4.15pm!

Actually we are quite excited about this and it kinda fits our requirement better ... hehehe. You know why? Cos right now, our prince wakes up late and of course, to start with, he sleeps late lah. And he does need his afternoon nap. The moment he steps home, he gets changed and will ask for milk. Right after milk, he will automatically doze off in the sofa. So nap time is around 3.30pm till 5.30pm. With the nap in between, nights are torturous for us! We will all be trying to go to bed by 11pm (that's already considered late for me!) and he will still be very hyper with his badminton & tennis racquests asking for game after game!!! Aiyoh!

So with the new timing, our plan is to allow him to wake up late (he can sleep till 10.30am) and then prepare for school. If school finishes at 4.15pm, we reckon he'll reach home around 4.45pm and after a shower and a glass of milk, its time for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Channel 613 - hurray!!!! So that means, he wont have a chance to take a nap! And with that, we are hoping that his battery would run out no later than 10pm and then its PEACE for all of us ... woaah! Cant wait to embrace 2011!!!!!

Selamat Hari Raya .. woohoo!!

Selamat Hari Raya guys!!! Hope you all have a joyous celebration with your family & friends back home. Most importantly, don't rush and drive safely to your destination. Its better to be late than to never reach home.

For the rest, wishing you a happy long weekend, relax and enjoy the traffic-free streets of Kuala Lumpur *wink*.

For me, I wil be staying back in town, try to bake mom a cake as its her birthday this weekend. Take her out for a hair-perm followed by dinner.

Take care all and see you again after Raya ok???

Visiting Ikano

Our Sundays are usually spent lazing at home. Its the time to do laundry, clean the kitchen and hubs would usually be washing both cars and touching up on paint here & there. Also because we are too tired run after our hyper-fella all over, so we (actually me) prefer to just sit put at home.

However, last Sunday, we decided to drive to Ikano for a visit to Macy cos they were having a sale. Its time to get a 2nd set of curtains for the house. Those that I installed since we moved in last Nov are still hanging up there without a single wash .... Disappointed to note that mostly are only 20% discount. No not worth rushing over I guess. Didn't decide on any cos the sale will continue till Sept, the salesperson said. So ok lar, no rush. Moreover, have to come back and double confirm the measurements.

















As usual, Bryan was all over the place. There were quite a number of play-stations (like pics above) at some of the corners, so that kept him busy for a while, hopping from one to another. We took him up to the pet corner .. but what a pity, the cats were not out yet. Bryan loves cats. He does not really fancy dogs or anything else .. but cats .. even if he sees them at the street corner or anywhere, he would want to run to it and touch it. Dogs - only if the dog is small in size. The bigger ones, he does not like. Smart also lar . nanti kena hentam by the big dog how .. hahahaha.

It was a short visit, lasted only 2 hrs door-to-door. And on the way back, Bryan fell asleep in the car. Continued sleeping when we reached home. And we had 2 hrs of bliss. I napped as well. The end :-)

Cake for MIL

It was my MIL's birthday last Saturday and luckily I called my SIL to ask if they have ordered a cake or was she expecting me to bake one. My SIL said "of course we expect you to bake lar" ... so there I went, at 9pm on a Friday evening, baking a cake (1.5 hrs), waiting it to be cool down (2 hrs) and another 2 hrs preparing the icing and trying to ice the cake! Didnt manage to finish it the same night so woke up at 6am the next day to finish icing it.


















I am definately not a pro in baking & cake decorating. Only a total beginner and learning from internet off & on. I try my very best to do the best I can and honestly, my cake does not taste super good but its not too bad either!

We had a 10 course dinner (thanks to elder BIL's expensive taste that cost all of us quite a bomb!) and tummy was filled to the rim! So we requested for a tiny tiny piece of the cake each towards end of the dinner. I personally thought it was a wee bit dry (would have been better if it was slighly moist) but it was really not too bad. It was quite ok. As usual, icings are all sweet and I purposely layed a very thin layer on the entire cake. If you are into cake decorating, you will understand how tedious and difficult it is to lay a thin layer of icing!!! The thicker they are, the easier to lay and faster to lay it as well. We probably only ate 10% of the cake at most! Rest MIL & SIL took it home.

So Sunday, we would usually go back to MIL's house for dinner. As we were early, I looked in the cupboard & fridge and did not see any cake wor. Asked hubby to ask where was the cake cos I thought I would like to try a decent piece and see how it taste mah. Then she said, she has given away the cake! Distributed to friends wor! Which is totally strange cos my MIL is one person that would keep things in her fridge ETERNALLY! And at the same time I noticed there were 2 pcs of cake that she must have bought from the market that morning! Nevermind. Then hubby asked her, why you distribute the cake away and then you buy cake again from the market?? I didnt even bother to stay there to hear her answer. I felt like so bodoh. Already never tell me that I am suppose to bake until I ask, then late night start baking and icing and early morning wake up to finish it. Then now easily give it away.

There was a strange feeling inside me. I kept wondering ... if its really too sweet or even too big a cake, why didnt you ask if we wanted some to take home? I was trying to think of all possibly excuses why she gave the whole cake away like (1) too high cholestrol, not good for her mah (2) too sweet also not good cos she is diabetic (3) she cant finish the whole cake(?) - but then why buy 2 pics from market hor? Nevermind.

At the end of the day, I do my part. But if you wish to throw it into the drain also I dont care.

Thanks Facebook!

That I managed to find so many long lost friends. Its really a gem to rekindle both primary and secondary school mates after 20 odd years!

Had a tea party at my place last Sunday with some of them and it was really really nice to meet all of them again. After all these years, there are still so many things that are similar (even looks, my god!) and so many funny stories to share about what we used to do in school,etc.


















December would be another busy time as I have at least 3 other friends returning from abroad. Cant wait for that to happen.

Undecided

Life is hitting a cross road .. cos I can't decide. Usually I am one who knows exactly what I want. But now, I cant decide. I cant decide if I want a Coach handbag, Burberry long purse or a Mulberry bag!


































Should I thank Paul the Octopus??? No lah! You think I so "keng" meh. In fact, I hardly watched a single match in full.


As life hits a certain number, strange things can indeed happen! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hubby blames it on menopause!!!! And I'm totally fine with it ... hehehee.

Bryan's 1st Report Card

Due to laziness, I have not been updating my blog. There you go .. my confession .. hahaha. But having to experience our first ever parent-teacher's meet and having to experience receiving our son's 1st ever report card was a bit nerve-recking I shall say!

Nothing shocking but we were surpised to find out from the teacher that Bryan is a very polite boy (really?? he screams all the time at home if he wants something and loves to hit & bite his mom and poh-poh .. and that's polite??) and he actually sits down for his meals (huh, are you sure??)

But then again, yes, I have to admit that he is kinda polite when it comes to strangers. Yeah, he loves to greet anyone on the street or if there is someone in the lift when we enter. He would say "Hello Uncle!" or "Hello Aunty" to anyone in the mall or even "Hello Kakak" when he sees the maid next door! But when it comes to us at home, sorry lah. I think he knows very well that he can bully us in some ways.

I always thought that I will be a mom that will not expect or force my son to excel academically. I thought that B's are good enough and although A's would be good, its not really necessary, as long as you have tried your best. So seeing Bryan's so-called "REPORT CARD", I felt a bit different than I thought I would feel.

Bryan got a B for fine motor skills! I mean, fine motor skills wor! How can that be!!! Since he was months old, he would want to do everything himself. He would want to touch everything. He would want to taste everything. He would want to walk everywhere! As he learnt to speak, he would say "Bryan hold" or "Bryan touch" or "Bryan eat" or "Bryan try". Even till today, he still loves to say "Bryan try" everytime he wants to do the things we (the adults) are doing!! So how can he still get a B for fine motor skills??? To me, he has got excellent fine motor skills! Aiyoh!

Ok .. ok .. I better cool down. After all its only first year at kindy. And I have to remind myself that I am not supposed to feel or behave negatively if he gets a B - remember!!! Ok, ok, cool down liao.

He also got a B for emotional development initiative. Its ok then. Its good. Cos then there is room for improvement. Right?

Koi Fish Jelly

Getting really busy at work these days. Will have to be in Bali again whole of next week to host a conference for 80 pax, so imagine lah the work that is needed.

Nevertheless, I miss baking and decided to hit the kitchen again on Saturday evening while Bryan was at my mom's place for the afternoon. I decided to embark on a jelly adventure and managed to churn out 2 new types of jelly that I have never made before.

The first one is a koi fish jelly.

Second, a mixed corn jelly using my mini flower & mooncake mould. Cutie pie looking hor?

So what's cooking in your kitchen these days?

Malaysian Ice Cream!!

You wont believe how happy I was when I saw it! Do you guys remember the good old malaysian ice cream? I used to love it soooo much! And my favourite flavour was thick milo!!!!


We were in Cameron Highlands last weekend and I got to taste strawberry flavoured ones and oh boy ... they were darn good!



Bryan taste it for the very first time and at first, he just wanted to hold it .. until I taught him how to suck it! And then, he never gave it back to me ... LOL!


Sorry for not updating my blog for quite some time. Will update more in a couple of days okie? Thanks for dropping by!