"My chest got knock knock sound!"

Last night, Charlotte told me that her chest was making some knocking sound. I didn't know what she meant because I was in the washroom when she told me this and I ran out thinking what's wrong with her.

She pointed to her left chest and told me "mommy, here, got knock knock sound. why?". I still didn't know what she meant until she pulled my hand and put on her chest. I only realized that she was referring to her heart beat! Somehow, we got into some joke and play before that (it was bed time) and her heart beat was rising due to excitement.

I told her that it is her heart, and it is good sign that it is beating. It is not good when it stops, and she said "when stop means die ah?". I asked her to feel mine, but she didn't feel it (maybe I have to much fats that's why, ha!) and I asked her to put her ear on my chest instead. She said "yes, yes, got the knock knock sound too! like mine!".

Another discovery!

Good Friends, Great Time!

It's been quite awhile since we last took Charlotte to the park during weekend and Pat announced the idea last Saturday morning that if Charlotte is behaving he will bring her to the park in the evening. I was quite worried with the plan as the weather these days is very unpredictable and we will have a hard time telling Charlotte that the plan is canceled if it rains. Thank goodness that it was a very nice evening last Saturday and Charlotte had a long long nap in the afternoon so she woke up refreshed and cheerful. We set 1 ground rule with Charlotte before we headed off, that was to have her agree to end session happily when it is time to go.

She had a great time cycling and playing her scooter at the park. I noticed that she was able to pull the bicycle break this time! We were trying to take pictures of her but this cheeky person kept on making funny faces. This was the best I got...

As she promised, she happily and willingly end the session when it was time for dinner. We were so proud of her!

As we were at dinner, I received a test message from Ann inviting Charlotte to the park Sunday evening. I thought we should skip the session since we were just there then Ann offered to bring the girls if that's ok for us. Pat was more than happy to have a little time off for us (selfish thinking, I know) and we agreed to the plan (Thanks Ann!).

The girls (plus Aiden, Chloe's lil brother) left for the park around 5pm the next day and Pat and I went quickly to run errands and had a quick snack (Laksa & Rojak, Yum!!). We went pick up around 7pm and the girls were all happy, laughing and chat chatting away, sweaty though! We, 2 families made dinner plan and the children continue their night at PSC. Chloe decided to go with our car and the 2 girls had Hello Kitty pancakes that I prepared (I always have food to back up because of Charlotte). They were making funny faces, sharing funny stories and chit chatting while munching the pancakes. It was definitely a very lively journey and they made us a few good laughs too.

It was late when we finally called it a night. The children had a good bonding time, the adults had a greater time catching up. It was a very good gathering, casual but good!

How Much I Love You!

This much!

Lately, Charlotte tells me "mommy I love you!" or "mommy I miss you" very often and mostly out of the blue. It is very sweet to hear this, especially when my at day work was tough and tiring.

Thanks sweetie and I love you very much too!

Birthdays!

No, not Charlotte's.

We were down in KL last weekend for 2 birthday celebrations. Charlotte has been promoted to 姐姐 as Pat's elder brother welcomed their baby boy 2 weeks ago. So, she decided to get her 弟弟 a present and was holding on to the present so dearly until she passed it to her Auntie Angie. When we visited the new born, everyone was talking turn to carry the baby boy and Charlotte too wanted to do that. I had a tough time telling her that she is not allowed to because the baby is very fragile and she didn't know the proper way to carry the baby. But she cried and protested and in the end Aunit Angie was very kind to let her try. I was very worried and very careful with Charlotte when she was holding the baby, but she did well!

Then we celebrated FIL's birthday. It was his 86 if I'm not mistaken and as usual, big meals, birthday cake, birthday song, kids had fun...

If you remember the family photo we took last Christmas, this was only half the Chan family members...

Happy Birthday Yeh Yeh!

Party Time!

Have you ever been invited to more than 1 party in a night? Well, I haven't but my girl did! She was invited to 3 parties last Saturday to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival!

I was first invited by Ann and I agreed to her since our daughters have been getting along very well and they love each other's company. Then on Friday night, Pat told me that Charlotte's PD called up and invited Charlotte for the celebration on the same evening. We actually forgot about it as Dr Sim did put Charlotte's name in the "to be invited" list when she visited him a few weeks back. That's not all, Pat's sister also called and they were having another family gathering as well!

We definitely try to make it to all 3 parties and we did! Do you know how? We first went to Chloe's house. Charlotte and Chloe had an early start that evening and I tell ya, Ann's laksa was so yummy delicious! Pat took 2 rounds (side note to Ann - this is a very high score to beat)!!! We were all too busy eating and I forgot to take any picture. The girls were having delicious macaroni and also baby donuts :)

Then Chloe and Charlotte decided to present some songs as entertainment while we were having our dinner and the girls sang several songs that they learn in school, not forgetting Chloe's little brother, Aiden. He was so cute and sociable, he kept calling "Charlotte!" and tried to join in the singing part...

(Song presentation - London Bridge Is Falling Down)

Since we gotta leave early and I felt really bad that Chloe was going to be disappointed without having able to carry lantern with Charlotte when the sky turn dark. I then try to test her and invited her to join us to Dr. Sim's party and she gladly agreed to follow us! So Ann got her changed and off we left to the 2nd party. The 2 girls were chatting none stop in the car and both Pat and I had gotten a few good laughs from their conversation too.

I couldn't believe what I saw when we arrived at Dr Sim's place. The place was so packed and we see adults, children, babies, lanterns and food everywhere! The girls got their lantern lite and happily wishing everybody "Happy Lantern Festival"!

There was a play area upstairs and half the crowd was there and another were in the clinic reception area, front porch, side garden...the organizer in the end decided to gather everyone at the play area upstairs (it was drizzling outside actually) and we had a big group photo session and a story telling (more for adults I would say).

(Dr Sim - the gentleman in red beside me)

(that's how big the crowd was!)

Then the group was hesitated whether to proceed with lantern procession since it was drizzling. The kids were all looking forward, with their lantern lite and we did go on with the procession in the rain!

That's how we looked in the rain, with umbrellas and lanterns. (Sorry for the picture quality, my hands were so full with umbrella, candles, handbags....)

We walked for a short while then decided to call it a night, especially exposing the kids in the rain. So we sent Chloe home but we continue with the 3rd party at Charlott's kookoo's house.

Charlotte definitely had a lot of fun that night and we were only home after 11pm, way passed Charlotte's bedtime!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival to all!

Education + Charity

This is a back dated post but it is so memorable that I want to make sure that it is recorded.

I had a lunch invitation by Charlotte's school on the 18th Sept (all parents were invited). It was not a free meal but the money earned was donated to help the victims from the recent typhoon disaster in Taiwan. The response is always good anything for charity purpose, more so when we were told that we will be served by our kid.

I had no idea what that was about until we reached the school. I went with Ann and we were greeted by warm welcoming song from the 4yr old and our child welcomed us and lead us to the hall where the transformation was miracle!

Immediately, I was presented with a menu and Charlotte asked politely "妈妈，我可以帮你点餐吗?" (mama, may I take your order?) and she took out the order sheet and started to mark my order. She even helped to explain what's on the menu. I could tell that they had been through a very good training and were so ready to play the role.

The menu prepared was very professional (and the actual serving looked as presented on the menu picture!)

Then she left to the kitchen and prepare the food. I cannot imagine how the teachers managed to plan, organize, train, and execute all the details with young children like them. There must be a lot of patience and love throughout the whole preparation period.

Shortly after, I saw Charlotte came out from the kitchen, holding a tray full of food and she was very careful when bringing me my order. (By the way, she never bring me even a cup of water at home and I was definitely impressed seeing her delivery with a full tray of food).

But we (Ann and I) presented with different delivery from what we ordered, and we were served more than what we ordered! (Ha!) But we happily accepted everything placed on our table. We had Italian (spaghetti), Japanese (sushi set), scramble egg and mushroom soup, rojak!

This was the Japanese set I got, with tempura, miso soup, and sushi rolls. Prety impressive huh?

Then I was sharing this special moment with almost everyone in the family, MIL was practically amazed and regretted the she wasn't there.

I really can't imagine the amount of preparation, training, explanation, love and passion from the teachers to pull off this event and I honestly very thankful and appreciate all those effort.

Recently, I received an email in my mailbox with hyperlinks to some of those videos that they took, during the preparation, and during the event. That answered all the question marks I had on how they managed to get 4-6 yr old children to do all that. Hope you'll find it interesting too...

Video clip #1:

http://www.daai.com.my/movie/player.php?movie=mnews/up_20090918_BL_AiXinCanTing&news=mnews

Video clip #2

http://www.daai.com.my/movie/player.php?movie=mnews/up_20090918_BL_HeartyRestaurant2&news=mnews

Lantern Festival

Just a day after the Singapore trip, we were invited to attend the Lantern Festival, organized by the Sri Tanjung Pinang, just like previous year.

We were quite prepared this round and we know there isn't much to expect as we are not interested with the stage performance, and I don't expect Charlotte to have dinner there even though there will be food served. So we were just prepared to see what's new this year.

It was pretty true that nothing much to "wow" about this year, and most of the activities were for bigger kids (like make your own mini moon cake, Chinese chest game, paper lantern making and etc) except a free lantern for every kid and a rabbit petting corner. We went around, had some snacks and the rest of the time we were at the petting corner. Charlotte enjoyed this the most this year...

We only spent less than an hour there and we headed somewhere else for dinner. So much for Mid Autumn Celebration? Maybe there is something more later...

Unexpected, but Wonderful Week!

I had a planned business trip to Singapore last week but it wasn't as lonely as my usual business trips because I had a bundle with me this time. Just a few days before my departure I decided to bring Charlotte and my parents along. It was a last minute decision but I managed to get flight and accommodation arranged just before the departure.

Since I was flying SQ, I thought I can only afford budget airlines for them but I was very lucky that Singapore Airlines offers great fares for online purchases and we were all on the same flight, same schedule!

The moment we stepped into the Executive Suites, Charlotte noticed a box of surprise addressed just to her on the living room desk. She was the only one being greeted with special welcome! It contains a cookies, a box of juice and a big red apple. I didn't have a chance to take picture of the content as Charlotte immediate opened and ate the cute little happy face cookies.

I needed to get ready for work almost immediately, so I proceeded to the washroom for a quick wash up and the second surprise I saw was the toiletries offered by the hotel...it was L'Occitane! Yup, call me "sua koo" but I was definitely giving this hotel a 2 thumbs up even just after the initial 20min there.

I was glad that my parents agreed to come along, they sure enjoyed their stay and more so that they get to share undivided attention with Charlotte when I was at work during the day. They went everywhere (the city, China Town, Sentosa Island, Underwater World, and etc) and I get to hear the exciting update from Charlotte every evening.

Charlotte greeted me at the door when I came back on the 2nd day and looking like this...

All I can say is she enjoyed the most this trip all she got was present, present, and more present...

I only get to spend short evening with them as I came back from work pretty late everyday. But I sure had the most carefree weekdays, knowing Charlotte was under good care and enjoying herself every moment. Didn't have many pictures to share since my parents aren't any blogger (he!)

I spent my birthday in Hong Kong last year, and I was in Singapore, a paid trip this year. Am I lucky or what? It was unplanned, unexpected but a wonderful week!

What Is Going On?

I couldn't believe that my last post was on Aug 25th. I have no update for more than 3 weeks now! I have so much to share and so much to put down just as a note to myself, a reminder, a record...everyday passes by so quickly and I have no chance to waste a single minute.

I have been pretty occupied since I started this new job. Yeah, when they pay you more than what you asked for they expect you to contribute more in return. It has been a challenge to send Charlotte to school on time in the morning, to be at her school on time in the evening for pick up, I forgot about extra classes that we signed up for her when I was still trying to finish up what I left of after I left office, I forgot about her homework that I need to guide her before her next lesson...Oops! Bad mommy, I know :(

I wanted to post about how lucky I was to have my mom to help out during the school holiday. I wanted to record the wonderful time Charlotte spent with her grandma, how she enjoyed grandma's company, how she enjoyed grandma's cooking, how many new dresses, new shoes, new accessories she got from grandma for no reason, how blessed we all to have my mom to take care of thing at home while we were tied up at work, how sorry I was for my dad that I had to keep my mom with me for a week.

I also wanted to share about Charlotte's new discovery, took picture of herself with our digital camera. I only found out about it when I was downloading some of the old pictures from the camera. I also wanted to put up photos of Charlotte in those new dresses that grandma bought her (I'll try to take better picture when Charlotte put up those dresses again)

I wanted to record about Charlotte told me "mommy I missed you!" when I came home late. I also wanted to record about Charlotte told me "mommy I love you!" and came running and gave me a big warm hug. That was the best and made everything worth!

I wanted blog about my upcoming business trips, I am making plans and arrangements ahead for Charlotte, and I am worried about her.

I only think of those in my head, hoping to have time to blog about it tomorrow. They were all too back dated now and I don't want to do that many back dated post. I'll just let it go and hopefully I will have better discipline to do that for my next post.

Celebrating Merdeka

Two weeks ago Charlotte's school sent out a notice that they were going to have a week of Merdeka celebration and we were told to let the kids wear the traditional attire to school on the 17th-19th, Indian theme on Monday, Malay theme on Tuesday and Chinese theme on Wednesday. And on the 21st (Friday) we get to choose either one theme and let the kids wear to school before school holiday starts. That means, shopping! Yes, we had to shop for the Indian and Malay costumes and rest assured that we have already several to choose from for Chinese costume.

I had no idea where to get Indian costume until one find day I suddenly thought of Little India in Penang! So I told Pat to bring us there on Saturday morning and I shopped from one shop to many other just to look for an appropriate costume for children. I originally wanted the a Punjabi suit, with pants for bottom but Charlotte is quite petite and it was difficult to get a suit which the top and bottom fits just nice. So I bought a suit with a skirt as matching bottom and what do you know? It looked pretty nice on Charlotte!

It was not as challenging to find a Malay costume as getting the Indian's. I just went to a nearby mall and got her a sweet pink Baju Kurung. I was surprised to see that Charlotte looked just like a sweet next door Malay girl after putting on this suit.

This is my little girl in 3 different costumes...I think she looks really stunning and cute! *bias comment*

I didn't have a chance to peek at the school of what was going on with all the children dressed up (all the teachers were also in the same theme everyday!!!) as my new job was just picking up and need a lot of time to settle down. However, I was lucky to spot them when I was on my way to work on Friday morning. I had a morning teleconference on Friday morning and when I was leaving for office was about 10+am. As I was driving out from my house, I saw all of them were coming out from the school ready for the Merdeka "parade" around the residential area. Being a kiasu mother, I turned back and took my camera just to put up on this post :p

(I knew they were going to have the parade as I observed this exact same routine last year. I was working from home back then and I was thrilled to see the "parade" when I found out what were all those noise came from. Charlotte was with another school back then)

Charlotte was very happy and excited when she saw me. She was partnering with her best friend Chloe.

Oh, if you are wondering why were they celebrating Merdeka in advance is because school holiday falls on 24-30th Aug.

Good job to all the teachers and helpers for making this happened!

Been There, Done That.

I had been a SAHW (Wife) back in 2003 when Pat was relocated to the States. The experience that I had then and now is very different. Location aside, back then we were just the 2 of us. Time and schedule were very flexible, we could even stayed up for late night games, movies and pop corns, parties and travels. Eat or sleep, snow or sunshine never bother. With Charlotte, everything must be planned and done in considering of her.

There were many things that I wanted to take the opportunity to do or try when I gained the SAHM status slightly about a months ago. Then I realized that I didn't gain any additional time to do what I had planned to do when finally I as the home project manager. Unlike in the corporate world, there are resources to leverage for any project to be managed, I was practically "THE" manager, "THE" team, "THE" resource to run all that is around at home. From the moment I wake up in the morning till I close my eyes again at night I was occupied with activities and tasks that need to be completed. It was not any easier, but definitely happier.

I was very busy but felt very much accomplished and satisfied. One of those things that I am most happy with is the training for Charlotte to do the morning "perch". Charlotte used to keep for 3 to 4 days, although she didn't really have constipation issue I felt that the keeping habit is unacceptable and it will eventually cause constipation. The training was very successful and she is up on her "thrown" every morning with good output :) Of course this is no magic, the luxury of time that I had without having to rush to office and involved in the process with her (yeah, I practically stood outside of the toilet waiting and chatting with her initially) significantly contributed to the success.

I was also able to prepare healthy meals, of course coming out with a menu can be quite stressful sometimes. The exploring I was able to introduce several more new dishes to Charlotte's liking. Nothing beats the sense of accomplishment seeing empty plates :)

Other than baking, cooking and cleaning (nothing glamorous), I was also able to enjoy the treadmill, watching DVDs, running my fingers through my long abundant piano, spending more times with parents and friends, and also blogging (hehe!).

The only thing we didn't do is going on a holiday. We were considering but then we have concern on the H1N1 outspreading. We feel that it is not necessary to expose ourselves to the risks. To bad, Pangkor Laut Resort will have to wait :(

Now that I am back in the corporate world, I pray that God to continue to look after our family and guide me through my new adventure.

Baking Fever vs. Bento Fever

I have been very much into baking fever for past 1 month since I become a SAHM. Just like when I was so into bento I have been adding new tools to my kitchen. Most of these tools are for beautiful fondant designs. I have forgotten about making bento for Charlotte although I use many of my bento tools on cakes, especially cupcakes.

Last Saturday, Charlotte asked for pancake when we were about to leave for lunch. I offered her to have lunch at the Paddington Pancake House, but she specifically wanted home made pancake, with Hello Kitty on it. Pat had no choice but to wait for me to prepare the order for Charlotte. To be honest, it is really quick to prepare pancake and it takes no hassle at all to draw the Hello Kitty face. I made 4 pancakes, but only put 2 in the bento box. When we had our lunch at the restaurant, Charlotte just wanted her Hello Kitty pancakes and she finished both of it.

The next day, she asked for fairy bread. It has been quite some time since I made fairy bread for her. I was in no mood to prepare any sophisticated fairy bread so I took out 2 heart shape cutters and made her a simple (lousy, I think) one. Again, she ate it all and I was very glad (at least, she didn't ask for fun).

(I didn't even change the bento box :p)

As I am embarking another new chapter in life soon I bet I will not be baking that often anymore. I certainly enjoyed the time and the opportunity that I had to be the CEO of the house and explored new recipes in my own kitchen.

Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Nah...I'm not talking about boys...I'm talking about my Swiss Roll! I kept wondering what could have went wrong ever since that 1st attempt. Actually I tried a couple more times after that, made some adjustments, tried to let the skin side cool and dry a little bit more, hoping it won't stick on the parchment paper but no, still failed. I didn't know what went wrong as I followed the recipe and instruction very carefully :(

I finally thought that I should be referring back to the person who shared this recipe and she told me that it probably due to the parchment paper itself (duh!). She mentioned that the only possibility is due to the type parchment paper that I used. Apparently not all parchment paper is good for this purpose and she uses the Glad specifically.

I so happened to be at a grocery store early this week, I was looking for a new roll of aluminium foil and sandwich bags but then I saw "GLAD Baking Paper"! Just the something that I should get for another try.

Actually the making/baking part is rather quick for Swiss Roll since it is only baking a thin layer and the washing is rather easy too. I decided to try it last night since both Charlotte and I had our dinner early, daddy was not home, and we were a bit bored. She helped me with the process until putting the batter into the oven. Then she lost her interest to follow through and I was crossing my fingers while watching over the oven closely. I took out the cake shortly after it turned brown and let it cool as instructed. Carefully I flipped the skin side down on a new sheet of Glad baking paper and quickly spread the strawberry jam on it and started to roll. I was very happy when the first turn came out clean!! Yeah, it worked, it worked!

See how beautiful it is! I was smiling ear to ear, admiring my own achievement (crazy, I know)...

Then I looked closer, I think I need to work on "tightening" the roll a bit more next time, which I think is easier to accomplish than trying to find out what went wrong to the skin side getting stuck on the paper earlier.

I'm sure going to bake a few more Swiss Rolls this weekends. Free Swiss Roll, any taker? :)

Have A Wonderful Weekend!!!

Birthday Surprise For Brother & SIL

My nephew Isaiah is enjoying his one month school holiday since last week and SIL is asking if there is anything for him to do to pass time. I told her I don't really know what to do with boys, I mean since I don't have one right?

Then a birthday reminder popped up on my cell phone and it is my brother's birthday on the 4th this month, and BINGO! I thought I have just a something for Isaiah. I told SIL and she agreed.

This was what we've been doing this whole morning...a lil birthday surprise for my brother (Isaiah's dad) and I included SIL in this surprise too since her birthday is just a week a way.

Actually, I did many of those miniatures days before as I knew Isaiah couldn't finished doing all that in a day. He was caught with a surprise himself when I told him what to do, he thought we are doing a big cake instead. It took him quite awhile to warm up, but he did the cars eventually.

I bake those cupcakes while letting Isaiah to have a little fun with the fondant. When the cakes were all cooled, I showed Isaiah how to assemble them. I started with the "happy birthday papa & mama" and he got the idea. He asked to let him decorate and assemble the rest.

The three faces represents the three boys (Solomon, Isaiah and Abraham) that my brother has and 2 cars that they owned and a house. Then I saw a volcano! I asked why is there a volcano? What does it represents? He said, mommy la, like volcano sometimes. Oops! (The volcano was the first thing SIL noticed when she came pick up Isaiah, luckily she didn't blow. LOL!).

I think he put a bit too much of sprinkles, looks too busy for me. Isaiah was definitely excited and thrilled to see his own creation and he couldn't wait for his daddy to come home :)

Will see what my brother says tonight. I bet his first reaction will be "huh? how to eat? all the coloring!" Yeah, my brother is a very conscious person. But I'm sure he appreciates the effort from his son :)

*The volcano is on the "b'day" cupcake. Not very clear from top view. Pardon my photography skill :p

My First Birthday Cupcake Creation

It's Pat's birthday today and I had this idea in my head since several days ago, something that I want to try and hopefully to put a smile on both Pat and Charlotte's face. I waited and waited, until this morning, after sending off everyone to school and to work. Finally, I have a nice quiet and peace of mind to work on my little "project".

I took out the fondant, colors, cutters, food picks, trays, rollers and I tied up my hair, washed my hands and...yes, I wanted to make birthday cupcakes for Pat! I just want to make something simple, not so much of fondant as we don't really have sweet tooth, not even Charlotte. Something simple yet meaningful, and hopefully not too sweet.

Honestly, I already know what I want the cupcakes to look like and I just get down to business right away. The clock was ticking and I needed to get everything done before Pat and Charlotte gets home. I did it just barely as Pat came home when I was assembling the cupcakes. Being his usual self, he didn't bother of what I was doing but just asked why I bake again, or maybe he knew?

After dinner, I told Charlotte to wish her daddy happy birthday and told her about this little secret. I asked her to bring the surprise to daddy...

We planned to have a little desert after dinner and I was really hoping to get nice ice-cream treat, like BR31 or Häagen-Dazs but Charlotte wanted McD Sundae twist :( Here I am trying to stay positively, it was good for our pockets and it was good for my diet too. My little princess is very easy to please, yes? :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Experimenting With Fondant

Back dated post...

I got a pack of ready-to-roll fondant for quite some time now but I didn't have the courage to open it. I am the kind of person that prefers to work quietly and alone especially when I want to try on something new. Somehow, privacy and "me time" have becoming something very important to me ever since I delivered Charlotte and had a maid at home (not anymore).

Now that I am a SAHM, I get to do what I want to do rather freely (except I am rather busier now than what I thought and almost couldn't find extra time to experiment new things). Anyway, I was stranded at home last Friday as Pat drove my car off for some meetings that he had to attend (his car is still in the workshop) and I had nothing for lunch. I thought maybe I should just get my hands dirty with the fondant :)

So, I baked Double Orange cupcakes and got myself busy with the fondant. Charlotte has been asking for "caterpillars" and "butterflies" ever since her good friend Chloe gave her one of Ann's creations. My skill is nothing compared to Ann's and I was laughing at myself while making those miniatures. I didn't have enough colors and my "bugs" were all having different colors than it should be and it all didn't look like what it should be either (LOL!)

Then I thought I want to make something simpler. Just small flowers and I started to look for my bento cutters. What I know was all those cutters seem too big for the cupcakes that I had in the oven! (need to do some baking accessories shopping soon) Then I thought maybe it wasn't that difficult to mold it with my hands. I should have learn from the "bugs" lesson but no...easy as it seems, not really. My flowers were all very primitive :( furthermore Pat was home before I finished my "project" and the nag started like bees in my ears.

Please don't laugh when you see what I did...
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The Double Orange was very good at least :) and it was really fun working on the fondant I tell ya. See if I get another chance to do it again, and hopefully I can do it better next time.

Another Day At The Beach

We love the beach at the northern part of the island ever since our last trip. We've been trying to go back for many weeks now but the weather was not permitting. Finally we made it there again last week.

This time the sun set a little later. We were there around 5.30pm but it didn't set until 7.30pm. We played quite a bit at the beach, we build sand castle, we raced at the beach, we jumped, we shouted, we screamed, we laughed...then both Pat and I got tired and we decided to sit down while Charlotte still kept going on and on...

She was very busy working with the sand and water, Pat and I were busy talking...on and off, she asked to be escorted to pick up more water. Only after awhile, we noticed she was like working on a big project. So focused, so engrossed, full of determination...

She said "I'm cooking!". Cooking? Cook what? She said "shell soup" with very serious expression. I looked at the "soup" and was telling Pat that better she doesn't ask us to drink later on... :p

We had to leave just shortly after sunset but Charlotte was very happy and satisfied. She was more than willing to call it a day when we told her so. I brought many bottles of clean water for wash up and Charlotte changed into clean dress before we headed to Batu Ferringgi for dinner.

Another fun weekend, another new week ahead...

One Rare Occasion

I got a very nice dinner treat last night, by Pat, at home...It was one of those very rare occasions and I was definitely very happy about it :)

Pat loves steaks but we could barely find good steaks in Penang. It usually not cooked to our liking, or I should say it's the cut of the meat that is not to our liking. Most of the restaurant serve steaks that were cut to too thin and it came out not as juicy and tender as we expected it to be. We learn that it is important to keep the cut to a certain thickness to conserve the juicy part of it while it is under the cooking fire. But most of the meat here are cut to too thin in order to look bigger in size and when it is cooked it usually taste harder and drier. Also, Pat likes it medium-rare while most of the restaurants locally couldn't keep up to this exactly. So, the best way to satisfy him is to cook it our own.

We found out that at Giant hypermarket at Penang Plaza was able to customize the cut to their customers and we've been going there for our special cut every time we wanted to have our steaks cooked at home and because of the cut and thickness we were able to keep the tenderness and the juiciness of the meat. We went to Cold Storage once but they were not very open for "customize" cut and never went back since then. We did it many times before and Pat loved absolutely loved it! That's why we kept going back to Giant, only the one at Penang Plaza. Pat also invited friends to our house, but many times I was too busy cooking than enjoying.

Back to the point...he asked "how about we have steaks tonight?" yesterday and I was like "does that means I have to cook again?". Now that I am a SAHM I cook almost everyday and hoping to have day off at least for Saturday and Sunday. I guess he got the point and said he's gonna do it this time. I was delighted and agreed to it, of course! This is the only meal that he knows how to cook, and did it well. (He doesn't even cook maggie mee or fried an egg for me, ok?) The first time he did it was when Brenda still around. I didn't have to worry about dirty kitchen and dishes to clean up back then. Although I agreed to the idea but at the back of my head I was worried about the "etc" that I have to deal with after the cooking episode.

Since Charlotte doesn't take steak my role that evening was to only take care of Charlotte's meal. I prepared a spaghetti bolognese with Parmesan cheese aside (Charlotte loves Parmesan cheese) and I feed her while Pat was in action :) I was glad that Charlotte enjoyed the spaghetti very much and it was just a perfect timing that my meal was ready when Charlotte was done.

Tada!!! A nicely grilled Rib Eye with Shiitake mushrooms...

Pat knows I always wanted it medium and he did a great job in keeping it. See how pink and juicy it looked...

Pat usually will have a bottle of red wine but we can never finish a bottle ourselves. I can only take half a glass each time and we usually have another half bottle left and eventually ended up in the dustbin. So, this time he got us an imported, naturally brewed drinks -Bundaberg Ginger Beer

We first had this drink at the Marché Restaurant at The Curve and I didn't know that we have stores selling them. Actually, I like the root beer better than ginger beer but it was great for our meal last night.

Dinner was great and what comes after dinner ---washing!!! I hate this part most and I was hoping to get a dishwasher when Brenda went home. How to escape this part of the game? I assumed it was part of a deal tonight and hinted Pat to get to the washing part while crossing my fingers and expecting to hear "I cooked already, you wash la" kinda thing but I guess lucky stars were really at my side last night, he agreed and proceeded to the kitchen :D

It was really a rare occasion, or I got really lucky :)

Anyway, thank you honey!

Another Bit More

Yeah, I posted the last post a little too soon. When I went to pick up Charlotte from school last Friday, I saw every kid was holding on a white color box in their hand. Charlotte had one too and it was a coin box given by the fire department!

Charlotte's teacher ran out to me and said she went to the fire department and presented the scrapbook pictures to them and in return they gave a coin box to every students in that school. She also said that they got several big size posters as well as other souvenirs like apron and stuff :)

A Little Bit More About The Fire Drill...

Remember the fire drill post? I am very glad that I had a chance to keep the memory more real rather than just post about it without having to show any pictures.

The school took some pictures on that event (it was blogged here) and the pictures were posted on the notice board at the school. Early this week, I was asked to do a simple paper scrap as they would like to give it to the fire department as a token of appreciation. (Actually, I have been doing paper scrap for the school for quite some time already. I volunteered myself to the teachers that I can help out in this area (not that I am especially good at doing it) as I do keep quite a lot of scrapbooking tools and accessories).

Hope you get a better picture of how was the fire drill event from these pictures too...

My little shorty gets to enjoy a real close view...

My First Attempt Of Making Swiss Roll

Now that I have becoming more and more skillful in baking spongecake I planned to try making Swiss Roll as my next challenge. I have been gathering ingredients, tools and methods for the past week for my first experiment today.

I woke up this morning having all the morning plans in my mind (in fact was already thinking about it the night before, heehee!) and one by one I quietly and quickly got the tasks done before I set my hands on the baking tools. I gotten Charlotte ready and sent her off for school, swiped and mopped the floor after returning home, put the laundry in the washing machine and get the eggs and butter out from the fridge to cool in room temperature (trust me, this mommy is very good at multi tasking).

By the time I am ready, the eggs and butter were ready too. I put the butter over a boiling water while started to get busy with the mixing in another bowl. When I was done with the cake batter and ready put it into the oven the washing machine had just finished its washing cycle too. So I get to hang all the washed clothes while monitoring the baking as it was advised to keep a close monitoring in order not to over bake the cake.

Everything went on very well. The cake came out well and I managed to spread Charlotte's favorite mixed fruits jam on it and it was ready to roll. I was so excited!

And....tada!!!

You must be thinking and envying how good I was, right? Look further...

Half way through the rolling I found the skin side got stuck on the parchment paper! Arghhhh!!! See the peeled off skin near the middle part of the Swiss Roll? When I was reading and preparing, I was worried about the cracking during rolling as it is the most common failure in making Swiss Roll. I never expect to have to deal with the skin-stuck-on-the-parchment-paper failure :( I suspected that I could have turned the skin side down a bit too soon and caused the failure like this. Also, the skin looks a little too damp than it should be. Nevertheless, it tasted great!!

I am going to try it again, hopefully will be able to share a nice piece of Swiss Roll with you soon :) As for now, anybody don't mind a piece of ugly but guaranteed good taste Swiss Roll? :D

You'll Be Amused

Chloe, Charlotte's classmate, our neighbour, Ann's daughter. Don't know since when, Chloe has gotten very comfortable with me (which I am very glad) and decided to have me walk her home sometimes. We live just diagonally opposite each other, about 4 units away. Charlotte and Chloe have become good friends, they walk home together everyday, they go to ballet class together every Saturday, they visited each other's house once in awhile and they went for movie too!

One very interesting thing that they do every evening walking home is the way they say goodbye to each other. We will arrive at Chloe house first when we walk from school. Chloe and Charlotte always say goodbye to each as we hand over Chloe to her grandma and Charlotte and I will walk home. Chloe and Charlotte will then "shout" goodbye REPEATEDLY as we walk towards our house :) Sometimes Chloe's grandma walks her home and if she reaches home first she will then stands at the front porch, waiting for Charlotte. They will then say the goodbye in a proper manner before the game starts :)

It has been going on like this for quite some time now and I didn't think much of that. Sometime last week, daddy was home early and he heard the shouting goodbye way before Charlotte reaches home. He was very amused and asked me why they did that. I thought it was fun and I thought it was nothing harmful as the 2 of them found a fun game for themselves, which is also unique for their friendship.

Now that daddy brought it up, me too find it amusing as I listen to them, watching them play this game almost everyday. You'll be amused too if you hear them :)

It's good to have friends around, isn't it?

Fun, Fun, Fun

Charlotte said "I never go to beach before" with a sad face a few times last week and we tried hard to tell her she did but it didn't work out. Sometimes when she says "never" she meant "it has been a long time". So we promised her that we will bring her to beach again during weekend.

The beach that we used to go is only nice if we go in the morning as it faces the West and hence the evening sun can be very unpleasant. We couldn't go there on Saturday morning anymore since Charlotte started ballet lesson and we always sleep in on Sunday morning. So we decided to bring her to the north side of the island instead.

Surprisingly, the beach is still very clean and well maintained. Charlotte was excited and keep saying "this is a new beach hor mommy!". She started to enjoy the sand with her same old set of shovels and spades almost immediately...

The thing that I never expected was she was getting her hands dirty this time too! She dropped her shovels and spades after awhile and started to explore with her hands. She was really comfortable in doing that! That's the true fun being at the beach isn't it (well, daddy was very keen to get her swim too)!

She was exploring the sand, sea shells, dancing, racing with daddy...

and see who/what we met? Dogs, or rather puppies! First we met one, this one seemed to like Charlotte a lot...she kept coming back and wondering what Charlotte was doing...

Then, we met a few more...these 2 seemed to be very interested in me :) See the one finding himself so comfortably sleeping under my legs?

Charlotte had been asking for a puppy a few weeks now but we told her we can't keep another dog as nobody is there to care of them. Her initial reply was "when I go to school, mommy and daddy can take care!". Of course, she doesn't know that my status now is a SAHM but we told her we both have to go to work. She finally agreed to keep that idea for now. But look at these puppies, aren't they adorable? Charlotte was very comfortable having them around too! I think she is ready for a puppy, maybe we will get her one soon in the future.

When we were done, Charlotte said she wanted to have KFC nuggets. So we went to a nearby KFC outlet and let her enjoyed her meal. Pat then thought since we were still quite full from lunch we might just want to get something light. So we went to have our long time favorite, "Lok Lok"! I didn't have to worry about Charlotte because she already had her share.

The Lok Lok store is always packed and crowded. We got ourselves table and I couldn't believe my eyes, look at the variety!

Even Charlotte had quite a bit of this and that too :) Well, I didn't really encourage her to eat more because it wasn't very hygienic, but it was a good experience for her. She even asked to stand up on the stool because she wanted to look at the pot of boiling water in the middle of the table (Oops, sounds like a katak di bawah tempurung)

Oh btw, we went for Japanese buffet on Friday night at Waka (previously from Rasa Sayang) and Charlotte enjoyed the Ika Ebiko (raw squid that was cut into thin strips and top with prawn's roe). Sorry, no picture to show as Pat and I were too hungry by then. Charlotte loves the ebiko sushi usually when we have Japanese food but I didn't think that she is adventures enough to try raw stuff like Ika. We all had a lot to eat, including super duper beef teppanyaki, fresh oysters, sashimi, green tea ice cream...

What I can say is, we did a lot last weekend and I was thrilled to see Charlotte has graduated from super-picky-eater to sot-so-picky-eater :)

Fire Drill

Back dated post...

As usual. we get updates and news on coming activity notice every Friday. A few weeks back, I read that they will be conducting a fire drill exercise for the kids, mainly to share with them what to expect, what needs to be done, who to call and etc. I didn't think much of this activity so I signed the notice and totally forgot about it.

One morning, I came back from morning market and saw a fire engine parked right out side of the school. My heart sunk for a moment and very fast all the bad thoughts flashed in my mind. Then I remembered they mentioned about fire drill training! That was it! They actually called the fire department! I slowed down a little as I passing by the school and I saw there was at least 6 pairs of firefighter boots at the front porch. I couldn't wait to listen to the story when Charlotte came home that day.

The school did a very good introduction and fire drill training for the kids that day. There was a real action where a firefighter showing the children how they put off the fire at the back of the school, how the firefighter rescuing the children (I saw pictures where a firefighter was carrying a student down from the room upstairs), the introduction of the fire engine and etc.

As I was talking to Charlotte about that fire drill, I referred to the fire engine as "救火车" but Charlotte corrected me and said "it's not 救火车 la mommy, it's 消防车!". I knew she did pay attention then :)

For The Better

1st July marked a whole new chapter of life for me and my family. I am now officially a stay-at-home-mom.

My company is actively restructuring and down sizing its organizations due to the slow down in global economy situation. After much discussions with Pat, I volunteered myself when the company announced the option, hoping for more quality time to spend with my family members but I was told that it was not a voluntary program for our department. The idea was put aside since then.

Early May, my maid mentioned to me that she did not want to continue for another year (we had a verbal agreement on that) when her contract ends this year. It was over a very small conflict that we had. She was supposed to finish her contract until Sept this year but I sent her off immediately when she mentioned that. The thing was, she made me lost the trust that I had for her over this incident and I couldn't bear thinking and worrying for what potential risks that we are going to run into by keeping her even for just another day. So we decided that it was the best option to send her off immediately and I told Pat that I do not want a replacement, for now.

After I lost my maid, I approached my manager again for the option. Again, I did not get a very positive response. For the whole month of May I practically running like chicken without heads, multi-tasking almost everything, everyday. I was thankful that I was allowed to work from home quite a bit in my job as it was a global role. But yet, 24hours a day seemed too short to have.

By end May, I managed to get my routine and tasks including work, house chores, child care, meals pretty much under control but yet it was not perfect. It was a very effective slimming program too that I shed 2kg just that. The weight lost was not due to conscious dieting but it was because of exhaustion that put off my appetite most of the time. I approached my manager again by end May and let her know that if they need to work out a "list" or to meet the "quota", I would be happy to name myself. She acknowledged that and I was asked to be patient.

First week of June, I got a meeting invite by my manager and a HR manager was also invited to join the meeting. I thought "this is it!" but...yes, my position was affected but I was not automatically put into the Work Force Managed pool but rather into the redeployment pool. If no job offer by end of June, I will leave under the WFM program but if I reject an offer I walk out the company without anything. You know what I mean? I was like "what???"!!! Does that mean I had to pretend dumb in each interview so that I don't get an offer? I don't want to do that ok? It's a value issue! Anyway, just to cut the story short, please know that it was not easy for me for the last 3 weeks in the company ;)

Looking back, I was worried of all sorts of "what if" when I lost my maid. I was frustrated when over whelmed by work and chores. But now I know that everything happens for a reason. More so, I know God has everything planned for us and we just need to look upon Him. Everything happens for a reason. For this, it is for the better :)

So, who is the happiest person in the whole world right now? Charlotte la, of course! She has my undivided attention all the time :) I am happy that I can run the house, do the chores, prepare the meals and taking care of my family knowing that everything is safe, clean, healthy, and with LOVE!

Cheers to all stay-at-home-mom!!!

How Would You Like Your Cookies To Look Like?

Enough of cakes, it's time for cookies. I am never good with cookies. The dough I make is always wet and soft, the cookies cutouts always stuck on the working surface. But it never stop me from trying :)

First I tried the doggie cookies again as Charlotte took an "order" from her friend in school. I made it with Horlicks this time and I love this version better than the Milo version. It looked better with the color contrast, it also tasted better.

The little bottles were for Charlotte's friends in school :)

Then I tried a new butter cookies recipe and when I was just preparing the dough I found it was a little dry than usual. So I thought this should be it as I always got it too wet and too soft. As I was rolling out the dough, it started to crack here and there :( I had to make the cutouts really carefully and transferring it from the working surface to the baking tray. I was harder than I thought but it worked!

It looked nice, tasted great but still need a little bit of practise on working with the dough :)

It's Just A Matter of Time

Pat and I love durian. In our younger days, it was never too much for us. I would be very surprise to know if Charlotte doesn't carry this taste bud with her.

I tried giving it to Charlotte last year but she didn't quite like it. A couple of taste of it later she called it off. I remembered some of my friend's child (same age as Charlotte) was already enjoying it. I was really wondering how could her taste buds be so different.

It's durian season now and especially in Penang we get to enjoy a wide variety of grades of durian and good quality too. I bought my first batch 2 weeks back and I asked if Charlotte would like to try it. I was mentally prepared that she might not take a lot of it since her taste of food is rather conservative. To my surprise, she LOVED it! I had to control her not to take too many this time as the weather is not good. The next day, she even had it with rice as her lunch!

I bought it again this week and managed to snap a few precious moment of her enjoying the king of fruits...

She was not worried of getting her hands dirty too (Normally she gave up the food if it makes her hands or mouth dirty)! She does inherited our love for durian too :)

Unforgetable Father's Day

Last Friday Charlotte came home with 2 little tokens for daddy. Her school had helped the children to prepare something for all the fathers. In the lunch box (on daddy's hand) it was a sushi made by Charlotte (with teacher's assistance) and a fancy handmade ornament.

It was a tough day for daddy and I was glad that Charlotte's gesture put a little smile on daddy's face.

We will never forget this day. When the time is right I will post about what had happened.

Happy Father's Day, Pat!

Yummy Chocolate Swirl Frozen Cheesecake

I have been baking almost every week lately, mostly improving my skills on some of the old recipes that I (and my family members) really love. Occasionally, I also try new recipes but only on those that really interest me, just like the cheddar cheese cake (I can't mention enough of this).

This week, I made my husband's favorite frozen cheesecake again with chocolate swirl. I did this a couple of weeks back for a family gathering but I forgot to take a picture. So I made it again just for the picture library and shared it with friends.

I tried to swirl with Ribena before, it tasted great but the color contrast wasn't very good because I didn't put enough amount of Ribena to make the purple color stands out. The last chocolate swirl that I made was not quite successful either as I had the chocolate portion to much and instead of making a swirl the whole cake almost looked like a chocolate cheesecake.

I think I did it alright this time although the patterns are still not to my satisfactory.

Before Holiday Ended

After Seremban, it was KL but nothing much to blog about as it was mostly a shop and eat trip and I don't have many pictures to share but one that I cannot miss out.

Charlotte's KorKor (Pat's sister) promised her this dress (Bell's dress from Beauty & The Beast) on our last trip to KL and since then Charlotte had been asking for it. Every time Pat went and came back KL she will ask why daddy didn't bring it home. She asked when we left home for this trip, it took her 2 days waiting and looking forward to it. This was when her patience paid off...!

We stopped in KL for a couple of days and next stop, Cameron Highlands! Unfortunately, the day before we depart for Cameron the hotel called to inform us that they were having water disruption and there was no promise if it would be back to normal by the time we check-in. We gave it a thought and only after a fair consideration of convenience and hygiene, we called off the Cameron trip.

We were back home 2 days earlier than schedule. It was a good thing because I had to help Charlotte finish up her homework before school starts again I myself get a couple assignment from her form teacher too. Will talk about that in separate post.

This was a very good holiday trip, Charlotte was behaving very well, ate well, slept well, played well, and even pooped well :) What more can I ask ;)

Holidays Mean "Out Of Town"!

Right after the Penang Hill trip, we had 2 consecutive nights of dinner gathering with family and friends. Which also means, I didn't have to cook dinner for 2 nights *big grin* but I made a chocolate swirl frozen cheesecake and another cheddar cheese cake for each of the occasion and the guests loved it!

We headed for Seremban on Saturday morning, the car boot was already 95% full when we leave the house, can you imagine how overloaded was it when we came home? Anyway, we met up with family members, had a nice hotel stay, good food, great catch up, everybody just had a lot of fun.

We brought along Charlotte's scooter and she had a big show-off at the park on the first evening there at Seremban.

Then we saw there was a big field where a lot of people were flying kites there. Charlotte had been asking for kite flying for the longest time but because we couldn't really find the right moment to make it happen for her it was still on the to-do list. So we thought that was just the great timing to make it happen and we went ahead to get her another kite (we didn't bring along one) and one for her cousin Christopher. It was daddy's job to make it "fly" but it wasn't that easy, some more Charlotte chose a big kite! Daddy was sweating just trying to get it up in the sky...

We had to catch the wind and only after several attempts and finally her kite flew up in the sky! But the wind only lasted for a short while and soon the sky turned dark. We had to call it off and head out for dinner. Lucky thing was Charlotte had her kite flew high but not Christopher. She was quite contented and willing to leave the park but poor Christopher was crying and throwing quite a big tantrum at that (the boy in this picture is Christopher).

Charlotte actually did a great job in keeping her kite flying up high...

I don't know what happened on the way to the restaurant as we went in different cars, Christopher was back to his normal self again when we met again at the restaurant, phew! We called it a night after a that big great dinner, it was almost 11pm when we returned to the hotel rooms.

I was surprised that everybody came to this trip very well prepared. I secretly prepared Charlotte’s swim suits thought just in case there will be a swimming session at the hotel but to my surprise others also brought along tennis rackets and stuffs. The next morning, before checking out the hotel younger children (mainly Charlotte and Christopher la) were going to swim at the hotel pool, Charlotte’s other cousins and uncles were playing a tennis game while the rest of the adults continued to chit chat at their convenience.

Charlotte shows her improvement in swimming, she was able to move or "swim" quite quickly across the pool when we put her on the float! Once again, Christopher was throwing tantrum at the pool side, he wanted to get into the water and swim like Charlotte but he was afraid of water! We tried to hoax him, gave him the float but still he was afraid and yet frustrated because he couldn't play in the pool like Charlotte. We had to leave him sitting by the poolside with his mommy. We checked out the hotel after a good shower.

Next stop, KL!!!

When Holiday Started...

Movie was just a warming up, we had a lot of planned agenda ahead. First, it was a visit to Penang Hill with Ching Ern and Yan. Charlotte's first trip to Penang Hill was in Aug 2007 (how time flies), I didn't think she would forget about it until I asked her when we were at the foot hill. I should have shown her the pictures before we left for the trip but because I was worried about what if the plan didn't turn out (raining or some other reasons) I didn't tell her about it until we were about to leave the house that morning.

I am always amazed how kids get connected almost instantly and they are so sincere to their friends. Ern and Charlotte hit it off almost instantly, it took a little time for Yan to warm up but very soon they are like good friends for ages! They played together, sang together, ran about together, making funny pose together...

We had light lunch at the David Brown's Restaurant and Tea Terrace, by the time we left it was almost 2.30pm! It was way past Charlotte's nap time and she just snoozed off while we were still taking the cable car down. She slept all the way home, I purposely took a longer route and drove at slower speed so that she could catch up with her nap before reaching home.

It was a fun adventure, thanks to Auntie Wooi Sin and Auntie Cheah Wei for making it happened! Check out what Ching Ern says about this trip here...

Movie Time!

I received a surprise call from Ann (Chloe's mother) last Friday that they are inviting us for a movie on Friday night! Of course it's GO and I was hoping that Pat would join us too (he usually has business dinner on Friday nights). Then Pat said OK! Yippee!!!

We took Charlotte for her first movie at the cinema back in Nov last year. Last Friday, we watched...

photo credit

She absolutely loved it! She loved the movie, loved the company, and guess what? We met a lot more friends there at the cinema! I think kids movie makes good money, 1 person wants to watch but have to buy at least 2 or 3 tickets... :D

Anyway, thanks Chloe for a nice movie treat! Next round will be our treat :)

New Experience With Cheese Cake!

What is your experience with cheesecake? What come to your mind when someone mentioned about cheesecake? It is cheesy, rich, heavy, and you cannot eat much as the guilt builds up as you bite? Well, at least I feel that way every time I have cheese cake...but not any more!!

It is a whole new experience with the cheddar cheese cake! The ingredients are very light, the texture is soft and spongy, the cake melts in your mouth almost instantly! It does not taste as cheesy (surprisingly) and heavy as the ordinarty cheese cake. It is so soft and fine that you will want to eat another piece!

A friend of mine gave 4 pieces to me last week and I told her that I am not much a cake person. I like to bake but I don't like to eat. But I thank her anyway and put the 4 pieces untouched. Until that late evening, I was so hungry and I thought let's just settle the hunger with those cakes instead of have to run out and get something to eat or to cook. I took one, and another one, and another one, without knowing it I finished them all! I sms my friend and asked what that was and she said that's the cheddar cheese cake that she mentioned to me earlier.

I baked it myself and share it with with my in laws and friends, they all loved it!

Thanks Ann!