Malaysian Wife, Australian Life..In Bali

Little Girl, Big Attitude

2012-01-30T20:39:00.002+08:00

A conversation between a 60-something woman & a 2-something girl:

60+: Ayisha, jom sembahyang (let's pray)

2+: *shakes head*

60+: Look, telekung Ayisha ni, jom sembahyang (here's your prayer headcover, let's pray)

2+: *shakes head*

60+: eh....jom sembahyang jom (let's pray), you can wear this, pray with me

2+: *shakes head*

60+: come Ayisha (shoving the telekung to her)

2+: I PRAY ALREADY!!!!

Isk isk isk...ok, she did already pray...but the day before lah!

She then followed my mum to her room, took her praying gear & showed it off. Sabo jek.

She's been busy helping Cik Limah with the door gifts for the wedding, especially the ones for the kids. But she only agreed to help after Cik Mah made a deal - '2 chocs in the pouch, 1 choc for you'. She stopped after she's got 4 chocs, 3 with supervision and 1 without. Sneaky Squeaky!

Michael is still in Bali and will be joining us in a few days. Ayisha's missing him so much, asking for him whenever she remembers and whenever I scolded her. I think she dreams of daddy a lot too cause she woke up from a nap saying scary things like 'let's go outside. Daddy's here, sleeping in the garden'. Erk!!! Goosebumps!

Can't wait for Michael and the rest of my siblings to arrive in this next few days!

Back for 2012 Wedding of the Year

2012-01-28T14:10:00.001+08:00

Ayisha & I are back in JB.

This time, for my baby sister's wedding!!! Auwwwww!!! I still can't believe my kanak-kanak Ribena sister, Limah, is getting married. But she is, in a week's time.

It might not be a Twilight wedding with super hot Cullens as she dreamed of but I'm sure it will be 10 times more incredibly awesome especially with us super-hot-non-white Hasmonis. :p

with her equally cute kanak-kanak ribena soon-to-be groom

Entertaining Guests Before & After Sydney

2012-01-27T00:04:00.000+08:00

Michael’s been giving me a hard time about writing things in my blog like “which I’ll talk about later” or “will blog about soon”. To him, it translated to “never going to happen”. He still feels this about our Paris trip, which I truly hope & believe that I WILL blog about…someday lah :p But for now, to prove him wrong, I’ll talk about the cool places we went to with our guests recently, that I said I would in my previous post. Tee hee…

Our friend from Sydney, Ronny, came to visit with his gal pal Reni (Ronny & Reni..hehe). We’d always try to see him when we’re back in Sydney so this time, since he’d be traveling around Bali whilst we’re in Sydney, he decided to come stay with us for the week before we left. They’ve both been to Bali before so their trip was mainly about hanging out with us, especially for Ronny & Michael, to have some good quality guy-time together.

One touristy place that we did do together and which I’d totally recommend people do, was to GWK Cultural Park. If you’ve never heard of this place before, I’m sure you’ve seen the picture of it associated with Bali at least once before, especially on one of those touristy postcards. It’s the picture of the big statue, the GWK – Garuda Wisnu Kencana.

familiar now?

We’ve passed this place & heard about it a few times but we never got around to go see it. The park, what used to be an abandoned limestone quarry, is so huge and breathtakingly beautiful. There’s different laneways & stairs to get to the different statues, accompanied by related stories of the rich history & culture written on the stones around the place (and by the tour guide on the loudspeaker :p). When you get to the very top, the view is simply amazing. (Note: I hate stairs, but this place I really didn’t mind!)

If you haven’t seen any of the famous dance shows in Bali like kecak & barong, you can come here and watch it at one of their theaters, for free. They have different shows at different hours so might be worth checking beforehand.

Ha was so excited to meet the dancers

There are lots of places to eat from little warungs to big restaurants as well as different souvenir shops. There’s also other interesting stuff to do while you’re here like riding on a segway and flying fox. So it could be a full or a half day trip for the whole family, covering a lot of different things.

The boys enjoyed their segway rides and Ayisha had too much fun chasing them around this massive open space park.

best buds

boys will be boys..they're riding for ages!

Squeaky had a turn too!

Ronny enjoying a creambath in our fav spa in Ubud

when in Ubud, go Sari Organic!

View at Sari Organic after dinner..walking back after sunset not recommended - too dark!

When we got back from Sydney, guess who came to stay with us?

Ronny (without Reni) again! They went to Gili and Jakarta while we’re away and supposed to go back to Sydney on the day we arrived in Bali. But Ronny decided he still hasn’t had enough Michael-time so he changed his flight and stayed with us for another week.

It was loads of fun having him around. Ronny is one of the most likeable, fun & generous people I’ve ever known, even Ayisha had a great time with Uncle Ronny. He’s one of Michael’s friends that I am very comfortable being with & talking to about anything even without Michael around.

On the last few days he’s with us, we took him to White Sandy Beach in Candidasa.

Michael & his beach babe

Ha with her baywatch dudes

It was too much fun we ended up staying there much longer than we planned. Initially we wanted to take him to Aquaria but at the last minute Michael found a great deal at Nirwana Resort for 50% off, so we tried there instead.

It was MAGNIFICENT!

There’s really nothing wrong with Aquaria but this place is just so much better, we love it! The whole place is lots bigger and gives a different relaxing vibe. The rooms, the pool and the restaurant are more spacious and that little bit nicer.

inside our room

from outside

pool time

awesome pool view

The only minus was that the food was not as great as Aquaria. We did have some late night room service (ice cream & chips :p) there and breakfast was included (even for Ayisha!) and they weren’t too bad. Actually, their French toast was quite excellent, very thick and goodylicious. They’re soft & fluffy inside and crunchy on the outside, drizzled with icing sugar & honey…yummmmmmmmmmm.

Other times we would explore other cafes around Candidasa. The first we tried and one that I was pretty excited about, was The Dining Room, ranked #3 in Candidasa. We passed it everytime we went to Candi. I was always curious to go as the place looks so very inviting, with the hot oven pizza out front and the open space dining, we can see the lovely décor and beautiful setting of the place.

The Dining Room interior

It started off pretty good, with a lovely Mediterranean welcome and feel. We're served with complimentary yogurt drink, bread with hummus and cold towels. Service was excellent, menu not too pricey. But….the rest of the food was not as expected. They weren’t bad but it just wasn’t satisfying. Maybe I expected too much but I was glad we went there; at least I know what it was like and not just drool when we passed by next time.

Feeling quite bad for dragging Michael & Ronny to the Dining Room, I googled for the #1 place to eat in Candidasa and hoping our next dining experience would be much better.

Vincent’s was listed and it hit the mark in every way possible. The place was not as grand as The Dining Room but it’s still very inviting and looks so very comfy and relaxing. The service was top notch; the waiter memorized our plentiful order and got it all right. Service was prompt, price was reasonable & the food was EXCELLENT!

I don’t know if all restaurants in Candi do this but we were served with complimentary food here as well. It was just hot dinner rolls with garlic butter but seriously, this alone was so much more satisfying than the whole meal from the previous night. From then on, every single thing that we ordered – drinks, appetizers, mains & desserts were just ooohs & aaaahs and ‘you gotta try this’, ‘no, try mine’ moments. I know the act of swapping plates at public places are sometimes frown upon and we know people who doesn’t share food, even with their spouse (other than Joey Tribbiani :p) but we do it all the time. At Vincent’s we were swapping more frequent than normal because we both didn’t want to miss out on the other’s dish, I think we might’ve embarrassed Ronny a lil bit. Isk...

My favorite?

The Crème Brulee!!! It was by far, the BEST I’ve had in Bali..possibly better than the ones in Paris (eeeeeeek…have to go again to be sure :p)

See, after coming back from Paris, I was constantly craving Crème Brulee (ngada2) so would order it everytime we went out to eat if it’s on the menu (very rare). But none ever came close. Normally you get the crème caramel version and even that I think the instant ones you get from the supermarket are way better.

So when we saw it on the menu at Vincent’s, we just HAD to try it. Served pretty generously in a soup bowl, topped with that crunchy sugar bit on top that excites your tummy when cracked with your spoon and oh-so creamy on the inside – it was perfect. We went back the next day for seconds!

Didn’t get a picture of it but here’s one of Ayisha’s dessert – chocolate mousse cake, which was heavenly as well.

It was a very short stay at Candidasa but it was a very much needed & rejuvenating holiday indeed. Vincent’s, I’ll be baaack!

Dora for Squeaky, Edward for Me

2012-01-26T07:40:00.039+08:00

Our Christmas joy,

Ayisha's:

Dora overload

Mummy's:

Edward overload

Not as much as Ha's but I also did get a movie voucher from my Kris Kringle to watch Breaking Dawn, finally! Woohoooo! So that alone is worth more than 1000 Dora, sorry Squeak! :p

Lucky for me it was still playing in Sydney while we're there. I tried to watch it in Bali with my girlfriends but the whole cinema scene here is not so happening lah. They couldn't even tell what's going to be screening until the day itself and no bookings are allowed. I was making peace with the idea of watching it on DVD later on but I guess I was destined to watch Mr & Mrs Cullen's wedding on the big screen - "Thanks for waiting, Edward" (echeh..kikiki, over gile!)

I went with my sister, Wa, who also got her ticket from her Kris Kringle. There's only 6 of us in the cinema, plenty of room for us two to drool & hyperventilate throughout the movie. I enjoyed every single bit of it. Part II, hurry up already!!

Yuz, Wa & I were talking at Xmas about how we couldn't understand why some people dislike Kristen Stewart so much (this includes Michael, he couldn't stand her!) We thought she's just such a natural beauty. We were looking through the book that I got above (from my MIL btw - I know, she's pretty cool) together like a bunch of schoolgirls. It was full of big, colorful photos of scenes & behind-the-scenes from the movie. Kristen was looking all perfect in each and every one of them.

Anyways, the book also included interesting facts (for us Twihards :p) like how not only Stephenie Myer, the author, made a guest appearance at the wedding; the screenwriter, the producer & the art director I think, were also there and they came as 2 couples - one supposed to be friends with Charlie from work and the other Renee's friend from school. :p

Also the fact that the scene where Bella fell awkwardly just before giving birth & caught by Edward, that was not Kristen Stewart but a life-size doll of her.

And, the birthing table was one of the 4 available in the world, the latest & most hi-tech one, cause you know, Dr. Carlisle Cullen only wants the best. :p

And and, it also gave out some little details about movie Part II that includes the creation of the honeymoon house!!

Obsessed, I know. Ok lah, I'll stop now. Till Part II, or till the original DVD of Part 1 that may include deleted scenes & special features blah blah..hehehehe

Happy Australia Day!

Our Chinese New Year Hols

2012-01-25T14:32:00.000+08:00

Like Malaysia, Bali embraces a lot of celebrations (read: public holidays). But instead of getting a week long school hols & 2 off day at work, we only get 1 for Chinese New Year. There’s not really much going on here except for the mandarins, lion dancing and fireworks. Even our Chinese friend (err..we only have 1 here) didn’t celebrate it so it’s just a long weekend for us.

So what did we do?

I started by sending Ayisha to Peekaboo with a babysitter – her teacher from school so that Michael and I could celebrate our belated anniversary.

What were Michael & I up to?

We went B.O.W.L.I.N.G!!!

I know it's blur but I wanted to remember that I won by 1 point :p

Way back when it’s just us, we went bowling all the time. Michael & I, we’re not very sporty. You know how you hear of couples that run together, go to gym together, cycling together etc.? We’re not them. We can play sports, never particularly good at anything (me that is) but our definition of tennis is Michael hitting he ball to my direction while I remain static in one position and just move my arms. Fun!

So bowling is one ‘sport’ that we both truly enjoy with each other & it can get very competitive too. So that day was a lot of fun! I could’ve played more than 2 games but I didn’t want to overdo it, what with my clumsy-when-pregnant self. Plus, Ayisha’s only away for 3 hours and we wanted to do lunch. So we did and tho we thoroughly enjoyed our quiet time together, we can’t help talking & thinking of Squeaky lah. We’re so used to having her around all the time, it’s a bit weird.

We’ve never left her with a babysitter before so I thought sending her to Peekaboo would be fun for her, even without mummy & daddy. I was wrong. Her teacher said she didn’t play anything for the whole 3 hours. Just clinging and asking for us. Poor Ha, she couldn’t wait to get out of Peekaboo when she saw us. ☹

I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with us leaving her but the rest of the weekend, she was extremely well behaved!!

We then went to Ubud. I booked Michael in for a pampering session at Alam Wangi Spa. He said it was a pretty weird experience for him. I didn’t know where the place was so a dude on motorbike picked him up (motorbikes in Bali = scary) and they went through some back alley into the Monkey Forest (monkeys = double scary for me). But once he was there, the same dude gave him one of the best 90 min massages he’s ever had. After that he was served with drinks and cake by the pool, totally relaxing. He even felt good long after the massage. So…Phew!

Our anniversary ended with a nice dinner at Kafe Batan Waru. The food and the service at this restaurant are excellent. It was packed but the service was still prompt. Their menu boasted the best gelato & sorbet in Bali, so it would be silly not to try!

We ordered the chocolate gelato & mango sorbet and OH MY GOD!!!! They are truly, THE best I’ve ever tasted and we’ve tasted a LOT. Mango sorbet is Michael’s favorite and chocolate is Ayisha’s (and mummy's!) so every ice cream stop that we do, it’s almost always chocolate & mango.

The texture’s just so different from the rest, extra smooth & soft & creamy, doing just wonders in your mouth. The mango flavour is very subtle and yet extremely satisfying and the chocolate one is just so choc-a-bloc full of choc flavour. I can eat scoops & scoops of it, everyday. So if you’re ever in Ubud, go to this Café even just to order a scoop of gelato or sorbet.

"I'm in heaven.."

Happy Anniversary babe!

Another reason that we’re in Ubud was to meet up with our friends. Michael’s friend was staying there for her holidays and my friend was also doing a daytrip to Ubud that same time and due to time constraint, we decided to bring everyone together to our favorite restaurant – Sari Organic.

It was a very short get-together but it’s so good to see Odie again. She’s still the same as I last saw her. How I wish she’d stay longer so we could catch up more! Michael’s friend, Yin, I don’t really know but she's lots of fun, I wish we could spend more time together too. The short time that we’re all together, we got along so very well so it felt so rushed and sudden when we had to say goodbyes. We hope they like Sari Organic tho ☺

Odie & Yin with their respective partners..n food!

the walk is always nice

The next day, we decided to take Ayisha to Peekaboo again. This time, mum & dad stayed. She was not sure in the beginning, clinging to Michael with no smiles. But when we’re all in the play area, she was off to her usual cheery self. More exciting for her, not long after we arrived, guess who showed up????

Her best friend Freyjah!!!

that's her!

and her equally cute sister, Freylah

daddy having too much fun

busy busy!!

So eventhough it was a day off school, she still got to play with her best friend. She was there with her little sister and her mum & dad. So we had a good time catching up with her parents too. It was such a wonderful surprise, as it wasn’t planned at all. This time, Ayisha didn’t want to leave. :)

Ending 2011 & Welcoming 2012 in Sydney

2012-01-20T11:21:00.004+08:00

We're still here! Still in Bali and we're all doing good :)

I thought about blogging all the time but we've been super busy. We spent the last week of 2011 and 1st week of 2012 in Sydney, celebrating Christmas & New Year. I was out of touch with the internet world almost the whole time we were there, it was that hectic.

The week before and the week after Sydney we were busy entertaining guests in Bali. We went to some cool interesting places together which I'd talk about sometime soon yeah. Then this week we were just getting back into our Bali routine - Ayisha back at school, Michael back at work and me back at doing household chores ie. organising my cleaner, gardener, pool, rubbish & laundry dudes (slap me, slap me now).

Sydney was so much fun. We did a lot of stuff and we couldn't believe 2 weeks went by just like that. There's so much to write about and share but I'm just going to sum it all up the best I can with loads of pictures.

Whenever we're back in Sydney, the priority is always to spend as much time with family. But it's always hard because we'd try catch up with friends too and do a lot of other things during our short stay there. This time, we really tried our best to do almost everything with family. Never enough tho, but there's absolutely no shortage of loving for our Lil Miss Squeaky who enjoyed every bit of it. There's plenty of special moments & memories shared with a lot of...

Baby Jack time:

Check out our cool curls yo!

One is blonde and the other brown but they're so much alike!

Picnic with Aunty Vicki & Uncle Darren, waiting for Christmas Carols

Jack, a year younger than Ayisha, is such an awesome little kid. He gives great hugs & kisses and he's just great with everyone and anyone. I love spending time with him & can't believe we're missing so much of him growing up!

Abbey time:

They do a lot of dancing (or rather jumping :p) together!

Smile!!

Abbey, a year older than Ayisha, is a very grown up little lady. She talks with such amazing expressions on her face and they both jumped with joy everytime they see each other. They do have problems with sharing sometimes, especially with the many new Christmas toys around. But it's all in the name of luuuurve as there's plenty more hugs, kisses, giggles and special girly times between these two.

Grandma time:

Ayisha got spoilt by grandma a lot a lot! Enough said ;)

Poppy time:

Poppy's stories are the best! He read every single word - even the thick books :p

How cute is Jack??? heheh

Then, there's Christmas at the Laidlers. Ho! Ho! Ho!

My sister Wa who's living in Sunny Coast has been joining us for Christmas this past few years. This time was extra special as her husband & new baby got to join us too. It means a lot to us as we got to see baby Aariz for the 1st time and we're so proud to be the 1st ones in the family to get to enjoy him! He's super chubby and oh-so-cute. Ayisha LOVES him. :)

Christmas eve - checking out the neighborhood's lovely Xmas lights & decorations

Fake snow's so much fun!

Christmas day at my inlaws has always been so wonderfully crazy and joyful. It started really early with a big breakfast of muffins, crumpets, bacon & eggs (we drove straight to our halal butcher for our beef bacon after arriving at the airport!)

Ha with Abbey & her breakfast plate

Then there's the overflowing presents eventhough we have Secret Santa/Kris Kringle organised. We just couldn't help it. It's more and more becoming about the kids now, everyone just couldn't resist. There's so many cool toys out there for us (oopsy, the little ones) to play with nowadays.

this is just half of the presents

Ayisha was pampered with presents after presents from everyone - with a whole lot of Dora, from Dora Princess dress and pyjamas to soap & lotion & travel pack bag and loads of crayons, colors, books & stickers and a whole lot of purple stuff too, surprise surprise!

..and we're just getting started. Check out all the Doras behind daddy!

After presents we do the next best thing - more eating! Christmas lunch has always been so satisfyingly wonderful with everything on the table - stuffed turkey, 7-hour lamb, roasted chicken, fresh prawns & oysters complete with accompanying side dishes of potatoes, salads etc. This time was no different. I didn't get to take good pictures tho - too hungry!

After the mains, the whole table has to be cleared for the plentiful yummy DESSERTS!!!!!! This time, my good friend Yuz joined us for Christmas. She brought Baklava from her special Lebanese shop that was just the BEST I've ever had. She bought a plate for me last time I was pregnant and this time my tummy got lucky again!

There's also my favorite South African dessert with layers & layers of chocolate, cream & special S.African biscuits by our friends - Cindy & George, who's been joining us for Xmas every year, now with 2 kids - Bella & baby Michael.

layer cake between the coconut balls & cookies - table's not full yet!

Then there's my MIL's yummylicious fruitcake - with lots and lots of custard and I made trifle topped with the awesome-licious fresh summer fruits & berries!

From then on, it's just all you can eat, all day long - perfect day for stretchy pregnancy pants :p In between, all we did was just relaxing, playing games and just chilling & chatting. This year, we have Abbey's bouncy castle set up at grandma's backyard. Super fun!

Ladies' Tea Party - this tea set is the coolest. Thanks grandma!

Play doh fun with Abbey & Bella

Dora painting lesson with Aunty Yuz

For our New Year's eve celebration, we all agreed that we didn't want to do what we did last year - half asleep waiting for midnite in front of the tv.

So my SIL, Vicki organised a popcorn & pizza party (Laidlers received a super cool popcorn machine & we all received a pizza oven from my MIL!) at her new place, which we love so much! She hosted it so well, with a lot of fun games to keep us up till midnight.

6 hours till midnight - popcorn, chips & dips

Laidler boys behind the fresh DIY pizza ingredients

Laidlers' close family friend, Anna Maria with the pizza ovens

Mine with LOTS of cheesy goodness

Kids' fireworks - 3 hours till midnight

It ended it with an extraordinary cake that came complete with your fortune for the new year. It was a pretty great start to the new year, thanks Vicki!

In between the Christmas & New Year celebrations, we managed to squeeze in a few things together including:

A visit to the tram museum just 5 mins from grandma's. No, we're not using our kids to get on old tram rides!

Another day was spent on a real train ride for a full day in the city. I've always wanted to go the very famous Fish Market. So we went there for lunch and got ourselves a seafood platter. The lobster & oyster mornay were sooooooo gooooooood!

We had extra large chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I bought one each for everyone. Big, big mistake! Ayisha ate MINE as well..pergh...

Note to self: Ha = 2 person when it comes to dessert, just like me

Later that day, we stopped by Town Hall to see the Lego Art Exhibition showing in the city. We thought we would get to play with the blocks but it's more an artsy fartsy kinda thing. Pretty cool stuff tho..

Daddy promised I'd see some kangaroos this time round, Lego osso can lah...

we did get to push some buttons at the Lego shops

Hafta be quick or daddy's gonna take over!

We also spent some time at Darling Harbour which was splendid. I always get a nice warm fuzzy feeling when I walk around Sydney and see the Bridge, the Opera House & the Harbour. Haven't been here for a while and it's changed so much. They have a big playground area that includes excellent water play and carousel. Great for taking the kids on a day out in the city!

Lesson learned, no sharing when it comes to chocolatey creamy stuff - thank God for $1 babycinos!

Another day was spent catching up with my friends in Sydney that was set up ages ago. We met at Azi's new awesome place in Balmain. It was a superfine day with great company & extremely delish food!

Getting crafty with aunty Azi

My trifle looks so plain next to Azi's crazy yummy cheesecake that melts in your mouth!

pool time with baby Aariz

Another day was spent visiting family in Kiama - the Laidlers' favorite holiday spot. We spent all day with Tom's aunty and her family and had a truly fantastic day.

Getting in touch with his feminine side on his pink floaties

Another thing that's been keeping us busy in Sydney was our house that we left behind. Our friend that's been looking after the house all this while had to leave. So we had to clear all of our stuff and do lots of cleaning, to get it ready to be rented out properly. It sure brought a lot of memories as it was our first home together as a family. Ayisha got to spend the 1st 3 months of her life in this house. We were extremely homesick. Definitely made us stop and think about moving back in!

Ayisha helped with some of the cleaning but at the end of the day...

...it was hard work!!

saving the last chip in my mouth for later

It's been a crazy 2 weeks so she didn't have a lot naptimes. But a kid's gotta do what a kid's gotta do!

Do Not Disturb

Quiet time before bed, watching Dora Princess with her 'princess veil' towel - made specially by grandma

time out on her favorite bean bag

All in all, it was a perfect ending to 2011 and an exciting new beginning to 2012. We left Sydney with 3 bags full, with a whole load of Timtams and one 30kg bag full of Ayisha's Dora and toys.

Partying at Peekaboo

2011-12-15T23:57:00.031+08:00

Michael, Ayisha & I were out partying last weekend! Woohooo! But, errrr..with a place called Peekaboo, you know it's a kid's party yeah?

For the past year living in Bali, out of us 3, Ayisha has had the most invites for parties. Lucky for me, I got to join all of these parties. Michael, not so much. This is because almost all invitations that we receive for her specifically state 'for mums & kids only'.

It took me a while to get used to this actually. In Malaysia & even Australia, most kids parties (esp 3 years old and below) would include both parents or don't really specify otherwise as it's a gathering of family & friends. Like, how many friends does a 1 year old have? Or to be exact, it's actually an excuse for the parents to celebrate and have a get together, with the added excitement of a fancy birthday cake & a chance for us mums (yang over) to put together the ultimate party bags. I would find myself asking my friends here for confirmation 'mums only eh?' few times, just to be sure.

Firstly, I don't want Michael to be the odd one out. Secondly (and most importantly heheh), if he's not around, then I would not have any help with Ayisha. Which means I wouldn't be eating or gossiping as much. I mean, that's what spouses are for, isn't it?

So without Michael attending the parties with us, I would miss out on the girls' gossip because almost all of them have help & their helper would be the ones attending to the kids. Also, I won't be eating as much or it wouldn't be quite satisfying because I would be distracted from time to time. I wouldn't even finish a box of Teh Botol (a very popular party drink). Which is totally ok, because they are after all, Ayisha's parties anyway and and and.....at the end of the day, I would normally get extra food to take home (bungkus sih!) because the hosts would notice me not eating much.

That's the best part here. They always have plentiful food leftovers and they're all oh-so good. So everyone would end up with something to take home and it's normally a full heavy meal consisting of rice, noodles, chicken, beef and a few vegie dishes complete with desserts, no matter what time of day the party was held.

So last weekend was one of the rarest occasion where we were ALL invited. It's Teagan's 3rd birthday party and her mum, Sri decided to make it a BIG one!

It was held at Peekaboo Kids Play & Cafe, a very huge, newly opened, fantastically equipped kids play centre in Sanur, just 10 mins from our house. It was absolutely fabulous! It is just a perfect venue for a kids (and ma & pa) party.

The place is so new, I don't think it's officially opened yet. It was owned by one of the mums at school and Sri's good friends with her so she opened it for the day, for the party.

The place is like kids' heaven. Lots and lots of toys to play with and explore. To tell you the truth, Michael & I were some of the excited parents that 'use' their child to 'explore' some of the wonderful toys there. I just love it. I was torn between joining my girlfriends who were laughing hysterically about something or joining Michael & Ayisha at the BBQ play station - it's THAT good.

Ayisha had a great time playing with daddy, with her friends or even by herself. Michael & I both had a chance to sit down and enjoy the party food and we took turns looking after Ayisha so the other could catch up & mingle with our friends. Well mostly me lah cos Michael only knows a few - what with the 'mums & kids only' invos. :p

Anyways, it was such a great day, we were there for hours. We could've gone on and on but the place was booked for certain hours so we had to let go of the BBQ station. Sri prepared all of the food herself - appertizers, mains, nibbles, desserts and the cake both for the kids & adults. They're all just so very good.

The only thing missing was the bungkus/tapau part. The centre requires food to be packed & boxed and because almost everyone came and a lot of us stayed for ages, there's really nothing to take home. But hey, we didn't need to anyways. I left with a tummy full of extra desserts and 6 times of going back to the cooler box for Teh Botol, just because I can. :p

"quick daddy, do it now, no one's watching!"

mini carousel at the entrance

filling up for the 10th time

"I'll take this one please.."

"beb, we need a coffee break..these parents are too much"

"this is the way we wash our hands..."

kids' meal time at the kids room

"ok daddy, can I have a turn now"

lovely birthday cake for the lovely birthday girl!

high on my 5th Teh Botol

the awesome BBQ station - the lights lit up and made sizzling sounds! Ha had a change of clothes, that's how long we were there!

Almost Half Way There

2011-12-13T22:59:00.000+08:00

I'm about 4 1/2 months pregnant now. Wow, that went by pretty quick.

I don't think I look pregnant yet but I definitely feel & look fat. I went for my monthly check-up last weekend and found out I've put on 2kg in a month. My clothes are feeling rather tight around the tummy and my arms. Don't really understand why the arms but they absolutely feel like at least a kilo fatter - my sleeves keep getting stuck at the elbows when putting & taking my top off.

As discussed in my previous pregnancy as to the shape of the tummy, I think this time it's a watermelon too. Which means it's not pointy at all but rather spread out flabbily across (belambak gitu). Which means, when my friends see me they say 'hey, you're still not showing yet but you do look a bit chubbier', while poking my hips. Which also means, I think I'm having a girl.

With Ayisha, we didn't find out the sex of the baby. The whole surprise element is apparently a very Aussie thing to do. Drove me crazy but I went along with it. This time, Michael told me that it's only fair for me to decide whether or not I wanted to find out. He of course, would still like it to be a surprise. We could find out on our next scan, which will be in another 2 1/2 weeks in Sydney while we're on our Christmas holiday.

At first I thought it would be nice to have another surprise. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like I really wanted to know. One reason for this is because like last time, we're struggling to find a boy's name. Actually, this time we're struggling with a girl's name too. So at least if we find out, it's half the stress of trying to find a name that we both could agree on. So for now, I have decided that I would want to find out, but it would be a secret (ala2 Marion Caunter gitu..ahaks).

For the past few days, I've been feeling quite alright. I was feeling really good for 2 days straight, being able to cook breakfast, lunch, dinner and playing outdoor and swimming with Ayisha. But I bragged about it to Michael & my friends too soon and that 2nd night, I vomited like I've never vomited before. I'm still feeling nauseous and faint but it's not all day every day and I don't feel too weak to do stuff. I checked my diary from last time that I was still vomiting at 4 months but very rarely. So, pretty similar.

The difference this time around is that I've been having some pain on my backside. It's literally, a pain in my butt. The right butt. I can't really point out the pain but when I'm moving positions and walking after sitting down and even sneezing and coughing, I can feel a stabbing pain. It's pretty bearable but it's just a bit annoying. My midwife Kim, an Australian who's been in Bali for more than 20 years, said it's pretty normal. It's probably the age thing too. Urgh.

Another thing that's different this time is that I am pee'ing sooooooo much more, day and night. Sometimes not even a sip of water between my 1st & my 5th one! With Ayisha, I only started waking up in the middle of the night to pee during my 3rd trimester. This time, I started waking up constantly weeks ago. Actually, from the first paragraph till this very sentence, I've gotten up 4 times to do wee wee.

Other than that, I'm doing pretty good. I do feel a bit more relaxed & chilled this time around. Not that I care less but I guess having been through it all made me feel like it's all going to be ok and not worry and google about every single little thing. The anticipation and excitement are still the same. It still felt pretty awesome to hear the baby's heartbeat for the 1st time on my last check up and I can't wait to feel it moving. Kim said that I should feel the baby moving soon if not already, especially now with the 2nd pregnancy I would've known what to expect.

Honestly, I still have NO idea. Last time, I only felt for sure of any movements at 23 weeks. So, if I'm still as clueless, it would be another month or so till I feel anything!

Either way, I hope it'll continue to grow healthily, strongly and safely and I'll continue to have a smooth and lovely pregnancy. Now excuse me, I gotta go pee...again!

Little Stars Christmas Performance

2011-12-09T23:24:00.000+08:00

Today, Ayisha's school had its annual Christmas Performance. Last year, Ayisha was still new, having been only 1 month to playschool. She was about 17 months and one of the youngest in the youngest Starlet 1-2 year olds class. She didn't even get on stage because she was clinging on to me for dear life. Her class performed the Christmas Angels song, with the Starlets supposed to be wearing white. I dressed her in white pants and white t-shirt and was feeling so left out when all the other mothers dressed their lil girls in pretty lil dresses. What was I thinking? I still cringed a bit when I thought about that day but didn't matter. We were amateurs back then. :p

This year, she's in the Moonbeam 2-3 year olds class. Still one of the youngest amongst the other Moonbeamers, but hey, we've been to playschool for about a year now ok. We're seasoned playschoolers, hehe. Her class was supposed to be wearing white again this year and lo & behold - she's got the perfect white dress this time, a present from grandma for Christmas last year that she can still fit into.

I didn't know what song they're going to perform but I was so sure it's Jingle Bells because Ayisha's been coming home after school screaming 'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way' and laughing her heart out after '..o'er the fields we go, laughing all the way..hohohoho!' the last few days.

We were so ready....

Starlets wearing green as Xmas trees

Or were we?

Moonbeams wearing white as snowflakes

I was straining my neck amidst the crowd of eager parents with my camera sticking out to see where she was but she's nowhere to be seen. Even the song's not even familiar. Can't remember what it is now but it sure wasn't Jingle Bells.

Where was she????

I thought I saw a glimpse of her hair behind the curtains next to the stage, with her teacher carrying her but she didn't get on stage lah. She didn't even perform.

Soon after her class finished, I saw her with her teacher looking for me in the audience. She cried upon seeing me and came clinging with the saddest, whispering sobs, burying her face onto me. At that point, I was feeling so guilty for telling her last night how I would clap and wait for her to get on stage bla bla, making such a big deal out of it. Isk....When in fact, it doesn't really matter at all. I don't care if she gets on stage or not. She's been keeping me entertained almost everyday.

I guess being the centre of attention, having to perform in public is just not her thing. Like mummy, bit shy mah. That's ok Squeaky, I'll take you Karaoke'ing soon enough :p (ok, I actually took her ONCE in JB when karaoke'ing with my sisters and she sang Justin Biebs' Baby Baby song...erk.)

I told her that it was really ok and that she can sing & dance for me when it's just the two of us. So the moment we stepped into the comfort of our home, she's as happy as she can be, showing me her moves.

The rest of the day was spent playing with our neighbour Ela, who was one of the Starlets performing in green. Ela & her mum Claire were sitting next to me while we waited for Moonbeams to come out and like me, she was anxiously waiting and cheering on for Ayisha. She continuously asked her mum when she couldn't see her on stage, I thought that was so sweet :)

I had a wonderful time catching up with Claire and the girls had a lovely playdate - dancing, running, swimming, lots of eating and not forgetting, giving us the most special Christmas performance - Old McDonald Had a Farm..ahaks... I love u, Squeaky!

'oink oink here..oink oink there..' isk..apa2 jek lah! :p

Nusa Lembongan Island Getaway

2011-12-08T17:41:00.004+08:00

Our friends from Sydney, Ces & Reanne, have left us this morning. It's been great having them around. Bit unfortunate that they're both a bit sick on and off. And few days before they left, even Michael got sick too. :(

However last weekend, right after they got back from Gili, we did get to go away and spend some time together. We went to Lembongan Island, about 20-30 mins boat ride from Sanur beach.

I'm not a big fan of boat rides, especially more so now that I'm pregnant. I wasn't sure how bad my sea + morning sickness would be even if it's just a short 20 min ride. But I was assured that the tide's low and the boat ride's fast and smooth etc. Plus the fact that Michael has already booked a 2 bedroom villa in one of the nicest resorts in Lembongan, so I sucked it up and went along.

The moment we arrived at the boat office, we felt like we're on holidays already. Complimentary drinks and being chauffeured for 2 mins from the office to the boat! The office (called Rocky, how's that for a boat company?) was really close to the beach so I thought we'd just be walking, but nope, they drove us to the nearest stop to the boat and carried our bags.

waiting for departure - that's our boat on the left

The boat ride was not too bad. It turned out to be quite choppy that day but I was so glad it only took 20 mins. Any longer and I'd be projectile vomiting and feeling awful the rest of the day.

Lembongan is very BEAUTIFUL. The water's clean and crystal clear, great for snorkeling. The beach was full of boats tho so there were no sun beds or umbrellas or people hanging and swimming at the beach. But of course, Squeaky and Michael had to have a dip in the water & play with the sand.

Lembongan beach

quick dip

Lembongan is a very small island, known for seaweed farming. It's actually very famous for its surfing breaks as well as diving and snorkeling. For people like me, it's just a fantastic place to chill. And that's exactly what I did for the next 2 days - reading, sleeping, eating and a lot of relaxing and doing nothing. I didn't even go check out the island with the others because it's so hot for me and I didn't want to slow them down (using the pregnancy excuse again! :p).

We stayed at Lembongan Island Beach Villas and booked the 2-bedroom villa. It is very comfortable, complete with kitchen and separate bathrooms. It also comes with a balcony and a lovely plunge pool. There's a LOT of stairs at this resort, the higher you go, the better the view lah. But I was so very glad that Michael requested the lowest one for me (not a big fan of stairs either!) . Even from there, we still got a pretty amazing view of the beach as well as the magnificent Mt Agung, the highest mountain in Bali, on a non-cloudy day. It's also a mere 5 steps to the big pool, breakfast area, lobby and into the other shops and restaurants. I think even Michael was grateful he didn't book anywhere up further. Or if we did, we'd stay put and order room service all the way through :p

balcony of our villa

view from the plunge pool in the villa

Mt Agung behind the clouds

our room with the yellow towel, close to pool & breakfast area

the main pool with an amazing view as well

Ces & Re very comfy on the day bed next to pool

those stairs go on forever!

ready for a date with daddy whilst mummy napping!

Overall, Lembongan is a very quiet, slow paced, laid back, peaceful small island and very suitable if you just want to get away from it all. There's really not much to do there but just snorkel, swim, eat, relax and repeat. It's very easy to get to and with the short boat ride, I really wouldn't mind going back there again for a mini getaway if we feel like needing a holiday.

waiting for the boat back to Sanur

Upon returning from Lembongan, I made vegetarian lasagna for dinner (recipe from here). Well, Michael's boss was supposed to come for dinner but he cancelled at the last minute. Which is fine because I haven't been cooking proper dinner for my guests since they got here. Haven't made lasagna for ages, and oh my GOD..it's soooo delish! heheheheheh

Michael missed Australia cheese so much so Ces & Reanne brought a kilo block of cheddar cheese with them. I topped the lasagna with that cheese and it looked so good, I think it's the best looking lasagna I've ever made! :p

Staying In

2011-11-30T11:05:00.008+08:00

We actually have guests arriving from Sydney last weekend. We took them to Ubud on Sunday for the Monkey Forest (again!! someone's super happy :p, I stayed outside) and then to our favorite Sari Organic restaurant. They absolutely loved it. They're now in Gili for the week and will be back with us this weekend.

In the meantime, on weekdays, it's back to just Ayisha & me and we've been spending a lot of time indoors. See, with me being all pregnant and sick, I couldn't stand walking around for too long, even by myself as I get quite faint and nauseous. I didn't want to risk passing out having Ayisha in tow so we don't go out much anymore, just the two of us.

Playing in the garden & having a swim are also pretty rare because of the same reason. Poor Ha :( Luckily she goes to playgroup 3 times a week. I used to be doing errands while she's at school but I couldn't even do much of those anymore and Michael sometimes helps send & pick her up so I can have a extra rest at home.

So I've been trying to keep her entertained indoors without resorting to too much Barney, Dora & Babytv.

So apart from looking after me, ie. accompanying me to the toilet bowl, patting my back & serving me drinks after, here's what she's been up to:

1. Keeping me entertained - singing, dancing, twirling, playing her musical instruments, after which she'd take a bow asking me to clap for her excellent performance. I don't know where she learnt this bowing thing. But she does it with much gusto - head fiercely down, eyes closing in satisfaction and hand on the chest politely. So cute lah...hehehehe

2. Play-doh time. She's been playing a lot with this lately and it's something that we both can enjoy together for long periods of time. Tho sometimes we do fight over the Play-doh knife and which shape to do next :p

3. Big sister training - she plays & talks to her dollies, teddies and Pooh more and more. Wrapping, feeding, bathing and putting them to sleep. The training also includes her talking, singing, peek-a-boo'ing and tickling my tummy. She calls my tummy her 'little sister'.

4. Because I can get bit boring sometimes, she'd ask to talk to Michael at work everyday. So there'd be a phone session (sometimes 3-4 a day) of her & Michael chatting away like smitten lovers.

My friends would come over to see how I'm doing and they'd bring their kids, so Ayisha would get some outdoor fun times then.

2 heads are cuter than 1!

Lately, she has a new look. If she remembers she'll put it on when we leave the house.

Sweetness Is..

2011-11-29T11:02:00.015+08:00

...unexpectedly getting pampered for no special reason on no special occasion.

It was just another Saturday. Days before that, Michael has been telling me that we're going to be doing something special that weekend but he didn't want to tell me what it is. Drove me crazy but I really do love surprises so I went along with it, asking casually what to bring, what to wear etc, thinking he might slipped. But he didn't.

So where did we end up?

He dropped me off at my favorite Spa place in Ubud, where he booked me for a half day treatment of a four hand massage (woohoooo!!), a body scrub, a facial and hair creambath. I was ecstatic :))

It was a total surprise because I really thought we'd be doing something together. The treatment of course, was out of this world crazy fabulous. Just what I needed after lots of days feeling blergh & nauseated.

Where did they end up?

Where he'd always wanted to go - Monkey Forest, Ubud. (thanks for THAT not being my surprise! :p)

Ayisha was very fascinated with the babies & their mummies

I would totally freak out if they do this to me...

...or this!

Dad & kid had LOADS of fun. Apparently Ayisha knew where she's going and she's been excitedly telling me 'see monkey', 'see monkey' all morning but I didn't know and thought she's looking for her 'Monty Monkey' book.

I was told she had one of the best times. When she saw me again, she's all 'mummy massage, Ha & daddy see monkey!' and she couldn't stop telling me all about the baby, the mummy, the black one, brown one, daddy throw banana, monkey touch Ha's kaki (leg) and everything about their day together.

"u really missed out, mummy..."

Thanks you two. You know I'd be just as happy to be getting a surprise where we'd be doing something together as family. But appreciate not being included to play with the monkeys!!

My Mum's Trifle

2011-11-25T17:50:00.000+08:00

I don't mean to brag (ok, actually I am :p) but when it comes to making trifle, I am one of the best. The fact that there's really nothing in a trifle that could go wrong is the main reason why this is true. Layers of soft yummy cake, fruits, custard (mmmmmm...), jelly, whipped cream and more fruits - how could it not be so good? You can never fail with trifle. Unless if you make it ala Rachel from Friends - putting beef sauteed with peas & onions in it!

I may not be known as making the best cakes & bakes in my family but they know that trifle is my thing. It's always a hit when I make it. I've also shared this with a lot of my friends, some of whom have become such an expert at making them, even better mine. This is true because one time, Michael actually asked me to learn how to make it from my friend when she served her trifle, without realizing that I've made the exact same thing for him few times before. Isk..

There's really nothing much to it and I've seen a lot of trifles with similar ingredients to my mum's recipe. So there's no big secret. But what I'm going to emphasize is on some details of making it look good and taste better, especially for 1st timers. For example, Michael doesn't like it if the cake's too soggy. Or my sister told me her son complained that hers didn't look like mine. Something about the jelly & custard looking awkward. Some friends have the layers all mixed up and some wanted the exact type or brand of stuff that I used because the ones they made didn't taste quite the same as mine.

So here's how it goes...

Ingredients: (by layer)

1. 1 packet Swiss roll - I prefer vanilla or chocolate ones with cream filling. If there's none then the jam filling would do (like pic below). However I find the jam filling or other fancy ones too sweet & meddle with the whole trifle flavor. So I'd try to find the cream filling ones if I can.

2. 1 large tinned mixed fruit cocktail - mixture of peaches, cherries, grapes & pineapples ones. I bought the tropical fruits one by mistake once with papaya & nata de coco in it, didn't turn out as good.

3. Custard - made from 3 tablespoon custard powder & follow the instructions on the packet accordingly.

4. 1 packet Jelly- in Malaysia, Nona jelly packets, previously known as Alsa. I normally use the strawberry flavour one.

5. Whipped cream - optional (I use it on special occasions or when I feel like indulging)

6. 1 large tinned peaches - you can use strawberries or other pretty looking fruits but I've always used peaches. They're good to have and add into my ingredient number 2 if it's not enough to fill up the swiss roll layer.

Method:

1.Make the custard first as per packet instructions, stirring constantly. You don't want it too watery or too thick. Adjust the amount of water/milk for thickness.The consistency is that of a refrigerated condensed milk. A bit thick but still smooth and flow-y.

2. While letting the custard cool, layer the swiss roll & the fruit cocktail.

a) Swiss roll
It's important to slice it the same size, 1 - 1 1/2 cm. When you arrange the slices, there's going to be gaps in between so fill those up with the last 1-2 slices of roll. Cut it up in small pieces, flatten it firmly in between the gaps. Doesn't matter if it looks ugly, it'll be covered with fruits. But you have to make sure there's no gaps and it's all EVEN. If not the custard or jelly will seep through and ruin the layer & the shape of your trifle.

b) Fruit cocktail

Use a spoon and spread the fruits on top of cake. No need to drain the syrup out. As you scoop the fruits, whatever amount of syrup that comes with it, just spread it over. I used to pour the rest of the syrup on top of the cake but with Michael, I leave out the leftover as I don't want the cake to be too soggy. Again, try even out all the fruits, with no gaps or no bits sticking out higher than the rest.

3. By the time you layer a) and b) the custard should be cool & thick enough to spread on top of the fruits. Spread evenly, pressing & covering the bumps of the fruits, leaving a smooth custard surface.

4. Cook the jelly as per packet. Let the jelly cool a bit. I normally slice the peaches and clean the dishes and by the time I finish, the jelly temperature would be just about right. But if you buy the ready-sliced peaches, then you wait a bit lah :p Make sure it's not too hot as it'll cut through the custard, making it lumpy or making holes that the jelly would end up blending with the custard and you won't get that nice jelly layer. Not too cool either cause then the jelly would almost set and when you pour it, the jelly won't look all smooth.

Don't pour the jelly directly from the jug/cup/pan. Hold a spoon close to the trifle and pour the jelly on the spoon, letting it flow slowly. Move the spoon slowly from one end of the dish to the other while pouring, till the custard surface is evenly covered.

As a precaution, prepare extra jelly mixture. If the trifle gets lumpy or is uneven that you can see the custard layer, just keep pouring the jelly till it's all covered. There'll be a thick layer of jelly but at least it'll look good and more jelly doesn't mean less yummy. Or an alternative is to have extra peaches & arrange them really close together to cover any imperfections.

5. If you're having whipped cream, let the jelly set fully before you spread the cream. Then arrange the peaches.

6. If you're skipping the cream, let the jelly half set before you arrange the peaches. If it's fully set, the peaches will slide around & not sit firmly.

7. Cling wrapped & keep in fridge overnight for best results or make it early morning and have for dessert after dinner. It won't taste as good if you have it any earlier.

see the left one where you can see bit of custard? I ran out of jelly! That bowl is for personal consumption:p

I love making this to bring to people's house cause it's a sure hit or when having people over because I can make the night before and concentrate on preparing the other dishes on the day itself. There's rarely any leftovers and even if there is, it's one of those leftovers that you're glad to find sitting in your fridge the next day, for your own indulgence. :)

Enjoy!

JB - KL - Bali Again

2011-11-22T13:26:00.000+08:00

We're now back in Bali. As always, it all felt too quick.

We arrived late Sunday night. Delayed flight with Air Asia separating mother & child when we did our web check-in. What's that all about? It was ok that Michael & I got separated but to separate Ayisha too? We emailed our complaint only to be served with 'you should buy your seats' automated response. When we requested to be seated together at baggage drop off, the staff said she couldn't help. On the plane, we were hoping good people would kindly swap seats with us - same ones, only different rows. But they both wanted to be directly behind their other family members and refused to swap just across the aisle. The thing is, in the middle of the flight, one of them moved to the front next to her family who happens to have an empty seat next to them and another lady moved to who knows where. One came back every now and then (maybe to check if we took it!) then at the last minute, came back way after seatbelt signs were up again as we're about to land and Ayisha's all buckled up on Michael's lap for landing. It's one of those times when I just could not believe how inconsiderate people can be. Thank God Michael & I weren't separated too far & Ayisha was asleep most of the flight so we could still take turns for toilet breaks & meals and didn't really need the extra room for her.

By the way, I didn't buy seats because I've done web check-ins even before they made it compulsory and we never got separated. Logically, when you're on the same booking & check-in together, surely you'd want to be seated together right? If they really want to make that extra money, just put it in the ticket fare from the very beginning!! It's much less annoying.

Having said all that, with the amount of flying that we've done with them, we have been pretty lucky I must admit. We rarely had flights delayed and before Ayisha started paying full price & got her own seat, we almost always got an extra seat blocked between us, giving us the extra room. So yes lah, we will be paying the extra RM6 per seat the next time.

Excuse my rantings. I normally try not to write anything negative about people, places or experiences as I thought maybe it's just a one-off thingy and only happened to me at that particular time. But this is just plain stooooooopid.

I think it's my pregnancy hormones. Michael said I'm pretty feisty lately. Example - we came across some really impatient, pushy (they even pushed through Squeaky!), cutting queue people both leaving Bali & Malaysia. Normally we'd just look at each other, rolled our eyes and laugh it off. No point getting upset over such petty things. But this time, I actually went up and asked them to go back behind the line. And the people that pushed through Ayisha? I actually scolded them. Pretty useless because I don't think they understand or maybe pretend not to - buat derk jek. That's why I normally didn't bother with these type of people anyway. But that day, I just couldn't stand it!!

I should really remember to control this especially so now that I am pregnant. I remembered being very happy, calm and all things wonderful when I was pregnant with Ayisha. This time I am more emotional too. Like, crying-watching-Kim-Kardashian's-fairy-tale-wedding emo. What the *toot*?

So happy thoughts, happy thoughts from now on.

Now THAT'S out of my system..

The rest of our time in JB was spent hanging around & chilling. We didn't do our usual food fare round JB because I couldn't stomach the famous chicken chop or mee rebus. Urgh. The only thing that I feel like was my favorite Ice Kacang place!

normal order - grilled fish, baby crab, fried bun

char kuey - all finished..

sambal lala, extremely delish with the fried bun

We then went back to KL for the groom's reception. It was fantastic. Lots of catching up with family from everywhere, good food all around and just such happy wonderful times. Ayisha had a blast!

The highlight of the day for the kids (and their mummies or daddies too lah) was when we had the Ambor-ambor session, a Johor tradition where the oldest member of the family will throw coins to the guests. A little bit like throwing the bouquet to the single ladies, I guess. It was said that the coins would bring lots of luck and good fortune. To me, it's just a chance to have a little bit of fun and it's too funny sometimes to see some of the adults trying to catch & fight for the coins amongst the smaller kids. :p

This time my aunt decided to leave the task to the bride & groom - no one admitting to be oldest I guess hehe. So I just stood close to the dais holding Ayisha up high and made pleading eye contact (ok, I might've shouted just a lil teeny bit somewhere in between) to the bride to throw them our way. It worked, we got lots. heheh. Either she feels sorry for Ayisha cos she's too small to fight for herself or she's a bit freaked out of the crazy cousin she just married into :p

Just us, Hasmoni girls - I have loads of nephews tho!

eh...wait ah..not for many many years ok..

BFF

L.O.V.E.L.Y!

with daddy after picking flowers deco around the hall!

We left a lot of the photo-taking to the professional photographers because it was all too hectic. It was such a mission to take the WHOLE family with the bride & groom - Running kids (and adults) everywhere...

All in all, it was a beautiful day.

I got some macarons as gifts to my aunty and the bride & groom - thanks to the fabulous K.Yani aka the Kitchen Guardian. Got extras to spread the love of these little lovelies with family and some to take home. I've been craving for them after having too much while in Paris. We tried once here, sold in Carrefour but they're ok lah. No where near as good as these ones. Absolutely yummy. Love the chocolate, salted caramel, cookies cream, passionfruit white choc - all lah!

what's left as of yesterday - only 2 left today!

po-pol one for Ha of course, went looking for macs upon waking up from her nap

Presenting...

2011-11-15T08:58:00.001+08:00

The next Squeaky!!!!

A lot of you guys are absolutely correct! We are going to be a family of 4 by May next year, Insya'Allah. :)

We've had 'the code' on our fridge for the last few months but people who came to visit and saw it couldn't guess the right answer. So, bravo bravo bravo!!!! :))) And thank you for the wishes too, we're very very excited!

I am 3 months pregnant now and just had my 1st scan few days ago in KL. Looks pretty much similar to Squeaky's 1st scan but I think the nose is not as flat.heheehehh

The whole experience is very different than when I had Ayisha, except for the morning sickness. Urgh..I forgot how horrible morning sicknesses can be. By the way, it should be called all day sickness too. I was weak, nauseous & blergh the whole day most of the time and really not up to doing anything.

Then the 2nd trimester came and I don't know if it's a mental thing or what but the nausea has somewhat subsided and I think I'm not as weak. Well, I can do the Hokey Pokey with all I might again with Ayisha instead of just sticking my hand out and shake it all about whilst lying or sitting down. Poor her.

She's been taking all this pretty well actually. Whenever I have to go to the toilet to throw up, she'd come with me, pat my back and also offer some of her 'uwek uwek' with me. 'Ha uwek uwek too, mummy', and UWEEEKKK she goes pretending to vomit in the toilet bowl.

I am eating ok, not a whole lot of cravings. The only weird thing was that the first few weeks after finding out I was pregnant, I had to have toasts with Vegemite every morning. I am not a big fan of this Australian favorite Marmite/brovril-like spread (don't ever mention to any Aussies it's similar to Marmite!) Even if I did have them, I'd spread lil tiny non-existent layer on the bread. But this time, I had to spread it really thick, almost like spreading Nutella! Yummm....I could do some thick layer Vegemite toasts right now.

Anyways, I hope everything will go smoothly from now on and I'm strong again to look after my family.

20 / 5 / 2012 = 4

2011-11-14T16:57:00.003+08:00

It's no 11/11/11 but it's a pretty important number to us.

Can anyone break the code?

In JB After the Wedding

2011-11-14T11:57:00.011+08:00

We're now back in my hometown, JB.

The 11.11.11 wedding was good. It was just great to be surrounded by family again. It went pretty quick tho. I didn't get to spend that much time with my aunty and cousins because we're following my parents back to JB soon after the wedding. But we''ll be back this Friday for the groom's reception and I can't wait for that one! It's always much more fun when it's the family's side of the wedding.

The big day started really early but luckily Ayisha was all in a good mood, despite the lack of sleep. She's all shy at first but soon she's all 'Up & down & shake, shake, shake" in the middle of the crowd.

Ha with the groom, Uncle Amir, right before the solemnization

Doa right after the akad, at one point Pooh too has to make doa :p

my aunty & cousins with the newest member of the family

My aunty Mona is my mum's younger sister. We've always been close to her family, spending Eid & other holidays together ever since we were little. They're all younger than me so when we're small, my older cousins and myself would boss them around and make them play whatever we want to play - you know, we're the teachers, they're the students, we're the doctors, they're the patients. We're always the thieves and they the polices in Police & thieves - that sort of things. At one point we even put make-up on the boys!! Sorry, aunty Mona! :p

I got pretty close to my aunty when I started working in KL over 10 years ago as my late grandmother spent lots of time at her place at the time.

From then on, I watched her endure the pain & heartbreak of taking care of and then losing her husband to cancer while my cousins were still in school. It was very hard for me to see that. She remained strong and went on looking after her 6 children all by herself, pretty successfully too if I might add.

When my grandmother passed away soon after, we were both at her side and I got closer to her as she became a great reminder of my wonderful grandmother.

She also saw me through my relationship with Michael and was one of my biggest supporter when everyone else was being quite negative. And now, she's one of Squeaky's biggest fan and she has and will always be a big part of our lives. Her kids are pretty awesome too, especially the girls!!!! :p

So I am very happy for her and her family for this very important and joyous moment of their lives - the addition of a new family member. And am truly looking forward to the many others too!!! :)

with the bride & groom at the bride's reception

Can't wait to be back in KL for my aunty's side. In the meantime, we're just here chillaxing in JB!

just re-arranging my mum's cushions..

..and getting very comfy

Home for 11.11.11

2011-11-10T16:20:00.000+08:00

We're going back to Malaysia tonight!! Wooohooo!

My cousin is getting married tomorrow, along with the many other couples who've chosen this sexy date to tie the knot. I know this for a fact because his solemnization is as early as 8.30 am, the only time left his Imam's available - all other slots are booked out!

Not a problem, I love weddings. Furthermore, this is FAMILY. So I'm super excited to be back for this one. :)

After the wedding, we're going back to JB with my parents & Limah (ice kacang here I come!!) and will be back in KL the next week for the reception on our family's side (the groom).

Not sure when I'll get to update next. So till then, here's some pics of Squeaky!

Playdate with Putu Ela - our friendly neighbour & also friend from school!

Watch out daddy! I'm taking over!

Chatty McChatterson

2011-11-10T11:02:00.001+08:00

Ayisha is actually a quiet, shy little girl. It takes her a while to warm up to other people and she normally sits quietly until she's comfortable to join in. Even when she does, she's pretty tame. Not really running or jumping around. Talking? Not even a 'hi'. I guess a lot of kids would be pretty reserved too at first, especially to strangers.

People would always ask me 'is she not talking yet?' because she's all so quiet. I'd normally just answer with a simple 'yeah, just a lil bit'. I was not about to force her to talk and sing especially to people we barely knew (I do force to family all the time tho..heheh). Besides, I am glad that she's cool in public, giving a well behaved impression lah konon2. kikikiki.....

But man, the things that came out of her mouth when she's with us, I could hardly believe it. Sounds so grown up, so mak nenek like that. Makes me laugh all the time.

This morning, she was trying to grab her Monty Monkey book that was right on the bottom of her pile of books. Of course, the other books scattered all over and she goes:

'Oh my God!! Banyaknyaaaaaaa (lots) books Ha!'

I also love when she says 'Please, thank you, sorry and excuse me' without me reminding her. I hope she'll get used to saying them and continue to do so at all times. (she still needs lots of reminders!) It sounds so very cute too. (sume2 pun cute lah!)

'ops, sorry mummy! sakit?' - after she accidentally or sometimes purposely bumped into me

'mmm..yummy, thank you mummy!' - when eating her meals (and very hungry)

But then again, she also say things like, 'Look mummy look! Big BOOGER! Big BOOGER!', after picking her nose. Erk..I should stop getting so excited everytime I clean her nose.

I hope she doesn't do THAT in public tho!!!

no lah, I'm not that chatty!

Our Eid Adha Meal

2011-11-09T07:35:00.000+08:00

Eid Adha was celebrated last Sunday here in Bali. It was pretty quiet as not a lot of people celebrate it. It's pretty much like any other Sunday. However, they do have a gathering in the park for prayers and then later the slaughtering of Qurban.

I didn't plan to cook anything for Eid because we're supposed to go to my friend's house for a whole roasted goat meal. But Ayisha's been rather sick so we ended up staying at home. When I woke up that morning realizing that we're not going to have any special Eid food, I just had to do something. With limited stuff in the pantry, I made instant pulut kuning (yellow sticky rice) using rice cooker and chicken rendang - very easy ones from here & here, with a few missing ingredients. We also had some serunding (meat floss) that we brought with us from Malaysia, so that was pretty much our meal on Eid morning. Oh, I also made some custard sauce to go with the jellies I made for Ayisha the day before and chilled a can of fruit cocktail as our Eid dessert.

Squeaky's Eid plate

Glad I made something that morning because Michael's friends from work came over and I got to serve them my pulut kuning for lunch. They actually came to bring us a leg of fresh goat. :) Very intimidating looking set of leg tho, with the foot still attached. I didn't really have a real look especially after hearing Michael carrying on about how he didn't expect to see the skin & bits & toenails and all. But he did take a picture.

nice & sexy

Michael decided to take over the cooking of the goat (thank God!) and made roasted leg of goat from this recipe & roasted vegetables. (forgot to take a picture before it was carved!)

It turned out pretty good. It's got a very wonderful flavour but it wasn't tender enough which was a shame. But still, it's ok lah. I made Nigella's Yorkshire pudding to go with it, after seeing her making it on Nigella Bites the day before. It was LOVELY!

For dessert, I made strawberry crumble from the many strawberries that's turning bad because Ayisha suddenly decided she's not into strawberries anymore. I splashed some balsamic vinegar onto the fresh strawberries ala Jamie Oliver and made the crumble like normal - butter, sugar, flour crumbled together and topped with cinnamon.

what's left of it, sodap tau!!

So that's our Eid Adha meal!

'Man Look'-ing My Bag

2011-11-05T17:14:00.001+08:00

My husband forwarded this to me the other day and I laughed & laughed & laughed!

It's just hilarious. This happens to us all the time, every time. :p

Whenever he's looking for something and it's in my bag, he'd always ACCEPT the challenge and along with a big sigh, would rummage through my bag. Sometimes he just pours everything out and STILL, couldn't find what he's looking for.

Of course, 97% of the time he's just having a 'man look'. You know, searching/looking for stuff the way a man does; quick-scan-thus-missing-what's-right-in-front-of-your-eyes kind of look.

Oh and yeah, there are times when his key is really NOT in my bag and is actually somewhere else. My mistake (tho very rarely lah, right ladies? :p). So you can imagine how doubly frustrated he is after going through all that trouble with my bag.

Having said all that, I know you still love my cheap $10 bag that I've had for ages. The one that looks small but can surprisingly hold and fit your cap, glasses, camera, wallet, keys, all of Squeaky's stuff and mine as well!

I told you I don't need Uncle Louis V's bag...;)

Wedding of the Year

2011-11-03T08:46:00.005+08:00

Sorry Katie, this is not about your royal wedding to Prince Charming.

It is the wedding of the other Prince Charming, the one that I've been anticipating for at least for the past 3 years, the one that I'd surely be hyperventilating over.....drools drools drools......

Pic from here

Are you invited?

I SO VERY AM!!!!

Ladybug

2011-11-02T15:30:00.005+08:00

Last Friday night, Ayisha's school had a fundraising Halloween Movie night. We've never celebrated Halloween before and I don't think it's big in Oz either but in Bali, they seem to celebrate everything, so we just go with it lah.

Kids were supposed to come all dressed up and as I didn't want to spend money for something that she'd only probably wear for 2 hours and because I am so not creative, I dug out her old clothes bag and found her ladybug outfit. We got it for our friend's Safari themed birthday last year (which she only wore once, hence the not wanting to buy fancy outfits no more) and thank God it still fits her!

The wot wot headband was given by my sister Wa last year - Thank God too Ayisha included it as a 'to take' toy when we moved to Bali. At first I wrapped it with black paper & red flowers to make it look more ladybug-like. But she said 'sakit,sakit' (painful) when I put it on. Must be my 'rough' handicraft sticky taping. So I unwrapped it all and left it as is - there goes all my creativity in the bin. It was HORRIBLE by the way so no big deal :p

As usual, Ayisha was all excited to be going. 'Movie night, movie night', she'd chanted. Not like she knew what it was at first anyway. More so as we were picking up Freyjah on the way to join us. She was screaming with joy when she saw Freyjah and they had this little chat and giggle at the back in the car while we're on the way there. I thought that was just the cutest. :)

We got there a bit late and the movie - Monsters Inc, was just about to start. It was dark and very Halloween-y, with pumpkins & bats decorations everywhere. Ayisha got scared 'Ha bit scared, go home now, go home' all the way inside and didn't want to let go. Even Freyjah couldn't calm her down.

We actually survived the whole movie, with kids running around and playing as the movie was held at the school playground!!!

Overall, it was ok. Ayisha wasn't that impressed. The whole night and whole day next day Ayisha would say "no more movie night, Ha bit scared..no more..no more'. The only thing she did enjoy about that night was Freyjah, of course. Oh and the pop corns.

Ever since then, whenever we leave school and Freyjah's still there waiting for her parents to pick up, Ayisha would ask Freyjah to come in the car with us, 'come Freyjah, come'.

Yes Squeaky, I wish we could take her home too!

Ha Jewelry

2011-10-28T17:15:00.050+08:00

Would anyone like to place an order?

She learned how to make the pasta necklace at school and when she got home, we've got a production line going.

She's loving school. She doesn't cry anymore when I drop off or pick up. Big girl. It happened very gradually tho.

First she'd cry and hang on to me till her teacher has to really pull her away. But as soon as I was out of sight, there's no more crying. After few times of that, she would still cry but she would let go of my hands and took her teacher's hand, not so much drama lah. She also has a new teacher that she loves. So that helps.

Then, not long after, she just started walking away from me, no cries. And this is all because of a very special girl, her very best friend - Freyjah. She's almost 3 but they're in the same class for 2-3 year olds. They were in the same class last year too and even from then I could see Freyjah would always look out for her, trying to make friends, hold her hands etc. But back then Ayisha was very resistant to everyone.

Now that they're both a bit older and can communicate with each other, they're having so much fun together. The teachers would tell me how they'd go everywhere together, playing a lot in the playground and in the classroom & would just laugh & laugh.

Freyjah is just the sweetest. She waits for Ayisha every morning to take her hand and play together and after school, she would walk with Ayisha till she's safe to me and would even sometimes carry Ayisha's bag and pass it to me - just like how the teachers there do it! She's so much like a big sister and would look out for her & keep her from harm from other 'bigger' kids. I noticed this one day when I dropped her off early & followed them into the playground to play with the trampoline. There's some big kids there jumping around & Freyjah protected Ayisha and said 'careful, there's a little baby!!'. :p A few times when I came early for pick up & took a peek, I caught her sitting on Freyjah's lap. I wish I could take that girl home or that she's old enough to babysit! :p

Like today, when I dropped her off, I didn't even get to go inside. Freyjah came to greet her, Ayisha quickly let go of my hand, stood next to Freyjah and gave me this "ok mum, please leave now" look. Not even a kiss goodbye. I was the crazy woman begging for a kiss and goodbye wave. I even wanted to go inside to keep her bag (and hang around & sibuk2) but of course, Freyjah took it off me and off they went. I waited outside to see if she's ok (sticking my neck out to get her attention!) . She didn't even glance back! Sabo jek.

No, I didnt cry lah. OK, almost. But I'm ok. This is what we wanted right, for her to be happy & comfortable even without me. Really, I'm ok.

Can I have a hug now please??????

Fun Times With The Ellenders

2011-10-25T11:11:00.004+08:00

About a month ago, the Ellenders came to visit and stayed with us for about 2 weeks. It was great having them around and Ayisha had lots of fun.

Damon & Rachael Ellender and their two wonderful kids, Caitlyn & James (Ayisha's favorite of course :p) live next door to my in-laws back in Sydney. They're one of those neighbours that are so very close to the Laidlers, they're like part of the family.

So when they decided to come stay with us on their holidays, we couldn't be more thrilled. They did a lot of exploring around Bali and they also did some relaxing time at the house & around Sanur. They LOVE Sanur!

Ayisha on the other hand, looooves Caitlyn & James and they're very good with her too. One of the things that Ayisha really enjoyed was that the Ellenders are a very musical family. When we joined them on long trips in the car, they love to sing all these different kiddies song, mummy & daddy Ellender included. So Ayisha was truly entertained and was so excited especially when she knows some of the songs that she can sing along too. :)

We got to join them on the trip to Candidasa and the Kuta water theme park - Waterbom, something that Michael has been bugging other guests to do but never succeeded. But with the Ellenders, he won the kids over and got his Waterbom adventure.

he's such a big kid

a lot of pool time

celebrating Damon's birthday in Sanur

playtime with James

getting comfy for movie night

A Year of Bali

2011-10-24T16:25:00.000+08:00

It's been 1 year. Unbelievable. How time flies. Apart from the horrifying 'shaky' situation recently, it's been a pretty fantastic year living here.

Life here has been pretty cruise-y & relaxing. Lots of exploring new places, hanging out at the beach, pampering & massages and just enjoying the very laid back and simple living of the people of Bali. Furthermore, with the cost of living and the prices of goods, necessities and bills being pretty cheap, really, what's there to complain about?

We're fortunate enough to have found a fabulous house where we could call home and our landlord's happy to continue letting us stay for another year. We've also received wonderful visits from friends & family throughout the year that helped make our stay more memorable and we've met some interesting & lovely people along the way.

Of course there's a lot of stuff that I miss both from Malaysia & Oz - friends & family being the biggest thing; to the little things like Oz's hot chips, chocolates & gossip magazines or Malaysia's mamak stalls, Gardenia bread (it's a bit hard to find good soft bread here!) and ice kacang with chocolate syrup.

But if we leave Bali, we'd surely be missing all the big things mentioned above, as well as the little things as below:

1. Cheap parking & ever so helpful parking attendants

- Some places you go to like the beaches and some shopping centre, you'll get charged about only RM0.60 per entry. In a lot of other places - it's free. Regardless of whether they charge you or not, there's almost always a parking attendant to help you find parking, park the car and control traffic (ie. stop cars for you!) when you leave. You don't even have to look left right, front or back when parking or leaving. Just hear them guide you, "trus, trus" (straight), or whistle till you're perfectly safe. I thought this is just so cool.

2. Fresh & cheap fruits & vegetables

- I remember a friend in Oz making a comment about how expensive it is to eat healthy. Fruits & vegies are just expensive back home. Not to mention the organic ones. But here, they are super cheap. Ayisha's school serving strawberries for snack time cheap. Eating organics aren't that much more expensive too. Some places, like one organic shop near our house, sells much cheaper fruits and vegies that we felt we should eat organic! Then there's the endless roadside stalls that sell juicy watermelons, corns, papayas and sweet potatoes. We definitely eat more fruits and vegies here than anywhere else we've ever lived.

3. Help is cheap
- Having a Pembantu (helper) is very common here both for the locals and the expats. Some households have more than 1 pembantu. A lot of people are quite surprised to know that we don't have one, even though I'm not working. Over here, especially if you have kids, you have pembantu lah.

However, I do have a gardener, a pool cleaner, a pickup/ drop off laundry service and a house cleaner. They all come about 3-4 times a week. The price for all these? Cheaper than having a maid back in Malaysia and cheaper than what our friend in Oz paid for a cleaner per session. The service? OUTSTANDING.

They do an excellent job, very honest with great work ethics and just some of the loveliest people. I don't have a problem with them at all. I can call any one of them at any time and they'd try accommodate our needs as best as they can even on their day off. Sometimes I do feel a bit wrong having all this help when all I do is take care of Ayisha. Like one time, I have the pool dude, the gardener and the cleaner working at the same time - to my front, left & right. Ayisha was napping and it was one of those rare moments when I was sitting back on the couch and wanting to watch some tv. Upon realising all these people working hard around me, I got up and went to the kitchen to 'busy' myself instead!!!

But then again, we would never be able to afford all this help if we're back home. Also, like Ibu Eiloh, my cleaner who lives in our neighbourhood, she used to come knocking on my door every other day to ask if I needed help and she was just so ecstatic when I finally decided to have her come clean the house. So, I guess we're helping. :p (Iyooolah tu!)

4. Simple living & loving life people of Bali
- I love how the Balinese and the people of Bali live here. They are very spiritual people and there's nothing more important than their rituals, ceremonies and other many celebrations they do here every month. Other things are put on hold when they join together and help each other as a family whether there's a wedding, birth or death in the community. A lot of roads get closed when ceremonies happen but it's the norm. No one gets frustrated, everyone is accommodating and no honking or impatience on the roads seen when there's groups of people marching & parading on the streets with food on their heads and music playing.

People always seem happy here too. No matter where they are or in whatever situation they're always smiling. Being on the roads of Bali can be quite stressful but if you just go with the flow& relax, you'll find yourself smiling too. ie. one motorcyclist almost got knocked over and after realising he's ok, he's got such a relief, thankful, big smile on his face - I can't help smiling too.

Family is important. There's the ceremonies and occasions they have almost every week that keep them together as a family, then there's also the simple going to the beach/park family time after work & on weekends. I guess as they're not stuck in traffic or trains after work and the close & easy access of the many parks & beaches, they get to enjoy a lot of family time together.

At the end of the day, it really doesn't really matter where you are as long as you have your loved ones with you living & growing together. I do however feel very fortunate and so blessed for the opportunity of living here, to learn and to remind me of what is important in life. All and all, it's been pretty amazing. Here's hoping for another year of happiness, fun, blessings and lots of love.

All Shook Up

2011-10-14T10:57:00.000+08:00

At 11.16am yesterday morning, I felt my 1st ever major earthquake. It was numbing, panicking and extremely terrifying.

We've felt tremors quite a number of times before while living here, being located where we are. But they're normally quakes from far away like Java or Sumatra that we only probably felt it like for a second. Shocked me at first, but when Michael assured me of how common it is, I started to sort of gotten used to it. There's like 60 quakes reported in Indonesia from July to Oct this year alone!

But this time, I knew it was different. Ayisha & I were downstairs, playing with a pouch of coins and when it happened, everything started to shake and the coins were scattered around. The house was shaking noisily from the glass sliding doors & windows surrounding us. Things on the table were moving around too and it kept going on and on. We looked at each other, with me just shocked and not knowing what to think and what to do. When the shaking didn't stop I grabbed Ayisha, my phone and the keys that were on the table and ran towards the door. Ayisha was very calm, until I accidentally bumped her head on the door while rushing to get out of house (my bad!) So that was the only time that she cried, just for a little while. It broke my heart nevertheless, both from causing it & from the scariness surrounding us at the time.

Once outside in our garden, the shaking was still going on, with the glass door still rattling. I looked around and saw the water in the pool was doing major waves & splashes. That was when it occurred to me that a tsunami might follow after the quake as I felt this was a pretty major one. I was freaking out.

At the same time I called Michael who's at work. No answer at first which just freaked me out more! Tried again and I got through and he asked me to get out of our house area in case anything fell off it. So I rushed out the back door into the clear area next to our skatepark and waited for him to drive back from work.

While out there, a neighbour of mine was running back to her house, to check that everything was ok. She told me the others were panicking too and went straight to pick up their kids from school. I was just so relieved that Ayisha was on holiday as I couldn't imagine not being with her at times like this.

Another neigbour, who is taking care of an elderly, walked around to the open area as well and we shared our experiences of the quake. She told me that she managed to call her husband who's in Java and he said nothing was going on there. That was pretty scary cause I knew it must've been really close to Bali.

While waiting for Michael and not knowing what would happen next, I managed an sms to my eldest sister to tell her about the quake and send my love to all. That was when I got a bit sad and emotional.

Michael arrived soon after and we hugged like crazy. He told me the quake was in Nusa Dua (FREAKY!) but there's no potential tsunami (PHEW!). Michael went quickly inside to get the notebook for updates on the quake. I followed him in, silly cause I know it's safer outside. But at times like this, all you can think about is to be together. We stayed outdoor for quite a while and went back inside when everything's calm again.

We received calls & smses from family & friends and we're glad to tell them that everything's ok. I called my mum to tell her we're ok and she told me my sister had called earlier - I knew I could count on her.

Michael went back to work soon after. Then a second quake happened. It was milder & shorter but still pretty scary. I went outside immediately with no bumps (dah expert konon-konon :p) and called Michael at work. He said the alarm at work did trigger and he ran out but some of his colleagues didn't even move because it's quite mild. They used to work in the Padang office before where quakes are pretty common. So they're quite an expert.

Everytime we felt tremors, we would always talk about how we'd need a plan of attack ie. what to do, where to go if we get separated etc. But we never really did have any. Maybe we didn't really think or actually accept the fact that something could happen so very close.

Last night, we did. This weekend, we're putting in the alarm to help us especially at night when we're all asleep. And today, I started packing our emergency bag.

We are all ok now and would really like to thank you guys for all the thoughts, love & prayers sent our way. Truly appreciate it.

Life is precious, God is Great. Love to all!

The Little Things She Remembers

2011-09-29T23:21:00.004+08:00

A 2 year old's memory is a fascinating thing.

It really amazes me when Ayisha knows where we're going & what's coming even before we parked the car. Even more so when we don't go to those places that often.

Here's what she said when we were at these places recently:-

Venue: Oenpao Chinese Restaurant

Last visited: 2 months ago

Squeaky: "Bubur!" (rice porridge)

Reason: Whenever we come here, we always order the bubur for her.

Venue: Carrefour Shopping Centre

Last visited: 2 months ago

Squeaky: "Ha drive car car, pinn pinn!"

Reason: Carrefour has trolleys with little cars attached where she can sit in & pretend-drive while I shop.

Venue: Murtidana Convenience Store

Last visited: 1 week ago (but for the reason below, it was 1 month ago!)

Squeaky: "white & choc ice-cream"

Reason: ONCE, only once, I bought her a vanilla+choc ice cream in a cup when I stopped there one day cause I was craving for a Magnum :p

Venue: Mandurah Spa, Sanur

Last visited: 3 months ago

Squeaky: "Mummy no massage! No massage, Mummy!!!" whilst shaking her finger & head to me.

Reason: Really, what do you think?

By the way, I wasn't going to have a massage at Mandurah Spa this time. We have special guests from Australia visiting right now and like all other guests, it's a must-take spa place in Sanur.

We're a bit busy enjoying our guests' company so will update more with pics soon!

Another Poo Poo Convo

2011-09-24T14:42:00.000+08:00

Me: Busuknyaaaa .... (so smelly)
Ha: Naaaw!! (belum tanya dah jawab!)
Me: Poo poo eh?
Ha: No! Mummy (softly).....
Me: What?
Ha: Mummy poo poo!!!

eh eh budak ni...

Verdict? Ayisha poo poo lah!!! :p

There's Something About Ellie's

2011-09-22T11:26:00.003+08:00

Last weekend, we celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary. It was actually 2 weeks late but we were busy with Eid & Father's day still. It's Michael's turn to come up with something this year so he took us to Nusa Dua to celebrate.

Nusa Dua is easily the poshest place in Bali, with all the big 5 (or more) stars hotels & resorts surrounding the area along with the shops & restaurants that charge ridiculously for even a bottle of mineral water. So posh, that you have to drive through a security check at the main entrance of the popular Nusa Dua area itself.

Waaaaaaaaaaait!

We DID NOT stay at one of those posh hotels lah. :p We did not even have to drive through the security check. Which means? It's a cheap cheap place in Nusa Dua mah! :)

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait again...

It is however, ranked #5 of places to stay in Nusa Dua (as per Trip Advisor) called Ellie's.

Simple as its name, a complete opposite of the super modern, crazy busy & elegant Haven. Tucked in a very small street in the middle of the busy Nusa Dua bypass, it definitely represents the quieter & more charming side of Bali. It screams Balinese the moment you drive into the entrance of what's more like a Guesthouse than a hotel. It's actually like a big 3-storey Balinese house with a few rooms to 'rent', complete with rooftop balcony that gives you an excellent view of Nusa Dua. There's a lot of chill out area too with lots of books, magazines & dvds to borrow. It's a definitely cool place to stay with a bunch of people and book the whole place. They give group booking discounts too! It has its own private swimming pool and a breakfast area (included) and truly, with its very welcoming owner & staff, it really really feels like you're one of their personal guests.

So what did we get up to at Ellie's?

Eat our complimentary cake upon arrival :p Very lovely gesture!

Checking out the view from the rooftop terrace

View from the top

Pool area, our room's the left one on that 2nd floor

You know any of our trips wouldn't be complete if we didn't check out the beach, right?

We went to Jimbaran beach, very close to Nusa Dua, famous for its seafood + sunset dinner. Rows & rows of restaurants along the beach offering incredible BBQ dinners for you to choose from. A friend whom we just met that day at the beach suggested the Mentaga Restaurant (who happens to be a chef at the Four Season's nearby!), so we were eager to try but that place was mega packed with group bookings, we couldn't find a place to seat! So if you happen to get to try this place, let us know if it's THAT good kay.

Jimbaran beach

"Can you make me a bigger castle this time?"

Wonderful ladies that sell fried goodness at the beach

macam-macam adaa!

the BEST ever!

"Noooo! Who says we're sharing??"

Sunset

The next day, Michael took Squeaky for a stroll at Nusa Dua beach where you can have a glimpse of those expensive pools & hotel rooms from the pathway along the beach. It's actually a nice walk there and super fun for Squeaky who's enjoying the ducks at the pond.

walking around the Nusa Dua beach-resorts area

waiting to feed the ducks..where are they?

Where was I?

Enjoying my anniversary gift at Div Spa, one of the BEST I've ever had. If you're in Nusa Dua, Kuta or Jimbaran area, TRY this place as they offer free pick ups from these area. If you stay at Ellie's, you get 30% off.

Being in Nusa Dua, the price can be considered extremely reasonable. The surroundings, the ambience and most importantly the service & quality are top notch. So the overall value for money is quite unbeatable.

This place came highly recommended by David, the cool owner of Ellie's. He told us the Spa owner once worked at the Maldives for a few years and has worked at the Bvlgari Hotel, Bali - probably the most super extravagant expensive hotel in Bali.

If you come here, you'll definitely meet this wonderful lady, Komang and her family as their house is actually in the Spa itself. She'll greet you at the gate like you're one of her special guests visiting her home and welcome you with drinks and some homemade treats (if you're lucky and she happens to be cooking!). There's a few beautiful huts outside her house, made into their Spa room. Very lovely indeed.

I tried the 2-hour green tea rejuvenation treatment that comes with an hour aromatherapy massage and it was just heavenly. Komang also gave an option if I wanted to have more massage time and less bath time (of course lah more massage). And overall the treatment took about 2 1/2 hours with no extra cost! Normally a body treatment comes with a Balinese massage so this was my first time with aromatherapy. And lucky for me, my first time was, according to Komang, the only one in Bali that's similar to the one that Bvlgari Hotel offers. So if you're like us and going to Bvlgari is like a never never going to happen kinda thingy, just go to Div Spa and get a Bvlgari treatment for a fraction of the price. If you don't need a body scrub or wrap then just go solely for any aromatherapy massage in their menu and ENJOY! We are definitely taking our future guests here for their ultimate massage experience.

That night, we had a very lovely Italian dinner at Pepenero. We really couldn't fault this place. The place & ambience are so very beautiful, from going up the steps to the eating area as well as a magnificent view from the top.

thank God we were there early, it was packed when we left!

The menu is very extensive and super impressive. We took a long while to choose what we wanted cause everything sounded so yummoo! The food was totally excellent. We were served straight away with various complimentary bread & breadsticks with dipping olive oil AND a super yummy bruschetta as well.

The price - surprisingly pretty reasonable, about RM15 for a full plate of homemade tagliatino in prawn & cuttlefish creamy sauce. Definitely one of the best value for money experiences we've ever had.

Squeaky totally loves it!

Thanks guys, for one of the most amazing anniversary celebrations I've ever had. I don't know how I'm going to top this off next year. Squeaky, help! :p

Self Portrait...

2011-09-16T16:28:00.001+08:00

..of a 2-year old.

Spiky hair, one vertical + one horizontal ears, kinda round eyes, straight nose combined to the straight mouth - not bad. Not bad at all. :p

Squeaky's about 2 years 3 months now. I haven't written much about her progress in details lately. So here goes:

- She can call out her friends' name clearly. Altho the first one that she picked up was 'James' and the second was her good friend's 'Teagan'. I hope it's because of the fact that the latter is a 2 syllable word and not because of the fact that James is a BOY. But she did smile extra widely whenever she said James' name. Ergh. I'm beginning to agree with Michael - No boys till at least 30!

with Teagan, going to a birthday party (kecik2 dah ada geng par-tay!)

- She can't call her friends' mum's name yet but she knows which mum belongs to who. One time she heard me taking to Sri (Teagan's mum) on the phone and after hanging up, she asked me "Teagan mummy?" (busybody, I know)

- Apparently she uses purple everytime in class at school too. I can spot hers miles away from all the others.

- She fakes her laugh sometimes. When Michael makes silly jokes or when Michael and I are laughing about something, she'd join in and pretend to laugh her heart out - heads bopping up and down, hands covering or slapping mouth, tummy, legs and everything. Over tul.

- She's wearing slippers now. She walks funny at first but after a while she's putting them on by herself and walking comfortably.

- She's learning numbers well, thanks to the numbers mat & magnetic numbers she got for her birthday that she constantly play with. And of course to Baby TV's Charlie & the Numbers party, which by the way has the coolest numbers song in the planet, even Michael knows the whole song!! :p She can sing 1-10 and recognize the numbers too. But if I ask her to count more than 5 things, she'd go '1, 2, 3, 4, 5', then jump to '8, 9, 10'. :p She can also only show numbers on her fingers up to five (1, 2, 3, 4...Hi-5!). She can do 7, just because at school they sing 7 days a week with 5 and 2 fingers shaking about. But she still hasn't grasp the others.

- She's also pretty good with colors, shapes and puzzles. Purple remains her favorite color. The funniest pronunciation of color is "ell-owh", sometimes with squinting eyes with the "owh". Know what it is? YELLOW lah!!! :p

- She can CATCH a ball! yipppee! (cause I can't!)

- She's singing full songs of everything & anything. She also makes up her own lyrics ie. "Where is Ha's bag?" (Where is Thumbkin) when looking for her bag and she teaches me new songs from school or even 'correcting' me, since I stopped staying with her at school. I do miss it a lil bit sometimes hehehe. Makes me want to hang around just so I'll know the right lyrics to her new songs! :p

- She's observing & imitating more & more of what we do. Michael sometimes weigh himself at night before sleep. He'd step on the weighing scale and pointed a torchlight to the scale because we only have the dim light on. One morning, Ayisha stepped on the weighing scale, ops herself, stepped down again, looked in daddy's drawer, took out the torchlight, stepped on scale again and pointed the torchlight down, just like daddy. I was laughing & rolling around it was too funny.

- I love how we can have almost full-on conversations with her now. Sometimes serious, sometimes funny. The other day, it smelled like she's done a pooey nappy so I asked:

Me: Ha poo poo eh?

Ha: Nawwwwwwwwww

Me: Busuuuk (smelly) ah, poo poo eh?

Ha: Nooooooooo!!! Ha push*.

Me: Come mummy have a look.

Ha: Noooo noooo, Ha push mummy! (getting a bit angry)

Me: Tengok jap! (quickly grabbing and having a look)

Ha: No poo poo. Entoooooot je!!! (puuuuuuush only!!!)

Verdict? No poo poo, she was right. :p

*push = fart, in the Laidler dictionary

A Little Piece of H.A.V.E.N

2011-09-15T09:59:00.008+08:00

Did you think this was our only Father's Day gift?

S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E!!!!

This is where we celebrated Father's Day on the weekend, although a week late!

For you, daddy!

One of the main attractions to Bali is the wide range of accommodations on offer. There's just so many to choose from, be it villas, hotels or even guesthouses, depending on where you want to be and how much you want to pay. You'll surely find something of value for money as they are all normally pretty amazing and the hospitality and service quality are often quite excellent.

So because we want to take advantage of this and since we're already in one of the most touristy tourist place on earth (read: cheapskate), we just drove about 20 minutes to Seminyak to stay in an elegant little place called THE HAVEN, where we stayed over the weekend and pretended like we're on holidays. It's just walking distance to what's dubbed as the trendiest beach in Bali - the Double Six Beach and surrounded by rows & rows of little shops & restaurants. It's a perfect spot for us as we really did feel like we're away from home.

As we didn't have to deal with airports and getting tired from long journeys and all, we got to soak up all that The Haven has to offer for the full weekend. It was just lovely!

The morning starts with buffet breakfast included in the package:

This is how you do it: lick jam, put some on bread, lick jam on bread

They have fresh raspberry & strawberry sauce for the fruits

..and for the waffles & pancakes too! LOVE EM!

that's my happy + hungry face

After breakfast, we do a lot of chilling by the pool - about 4 steps from our room!

Our room - just behind the sun beds

Lots of pool time

like father, like daughter

Ice cream stop after walking through the shops

There's a lot of beach time too. This beach is one of the nicest in Bali, definitely. The sand is not white but it's one of the softest & powder-like sand ever. It's surrounded by lots of trendy cafes with such relaxing atmosphere and it offers one of the best sunsets I've ever seen.

The Haven has a beach club that offers shuttle to the beach and complimentary sun beds & towels. We went to the beach club once and another time tried one of the cafes nearby.

one of the cafes with the very cool bean bag chairs.

breathtaking

Haven at night

Ha at night :p

It was a short 'holiday' but it was lots of daddy time and a whole lot of fun.

Ok, I have to confess tho, technically, it wasn't so much a surprise for Michael because he was the one that picked the place and handled the bookings. He was just so good at these stuff, he managed to get further discounts on top of the almost 50% discount on last minute rates. So we got a fantastic deal.

I did want to surprise him with a 'getaway' for the weekend but since he'd already plan this one - just for some 'us' time as we won't be having much weekends together after this, I just threw in "make this your Father's Day treat ya" when he made the booking. Hey, it's the thought that counts right? :p (I tried Squeaky!)

We did get him these tho. We covered them with a blanket and when he got home from work, Ayisha pulled the blanket and went "Surprise"!!!

ps: These canvas pictures are SO cheap!!!! RM30 each printed & framed and that's the biggest size. (again, no surprises there but it's just so ridiculously cheap, I have to share! :p)

The Man of Our Lives

2011-09-08T17:04:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was Father's Day in Australia. Malaysia and most other countries celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of June. At the time, as we were busy with guests and Ayisha's birthday, I told Michael that we'd follow the Aussie one in September. (sebenonya lupa beli hadiah..sshhh!)

And so September came, and the 1st Sunday of the month? We're still busy celebrating Eid in Malaysia. (lupa lagik sebenonya! sshh sshh!)

I know a lousy blog entry won't make up to giving you the best Father's Day gift that you deserve, but I hope you know that you are the BEST dad Ayisha could ever ask for. She's so you in a lot of ways and I am so very thankful for that :)

Oh and you know Squeaky loves you right????

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY! Thank you for being there for me, always always...

Our Joyful Eid Celebration

2011-09-06T14:27:00.003+08:00

We're now back in Bali after a week of celebration in Johor Bahru. It was a BLAST. Michael, Ayisha and I had such a wonderful time. Everyday was just busy busy busy, eat eat eat, laugh laugh laugh and play play play. It's so good to be back home with everyone, getting to visit relatives and friends that some I haven't seen for ages. As always, Ayisha's the most super duper busy one, with lots of cousins to play with.

Her pre-Eid activities: play, play and more play....

2nd last day of breaking fast with the family

high on Eid cookies

pre-Eid gift, big bump from tumbling down the stairs

The above incident happened whilst I was busy gossiping with my sisters and she was running around with her cousins. She's normally good on the stairs but because she's not as fast as her older cousins and busily trying to catch up, she went tumbling down at the 3rd step of a 6 set of stairs. I was stunned as I saw her neck going all funny while she tumbled. She cried for a little bit and 'mat, mat' (minyak gamat) all the way through and slept soon after. It was a mighty BIG bump. Thank God it was only that.

The next morning, trying not to remind her of that traumatic experience, I only mentioned for her to be careful while we're going up the stairs together. She then said "Ha run round round (circling her hands), oops fall down and bang! (hands on the head)". Then she giggle giggle giggle. She thinks it's funny and explained the same way when people asked about the bump.

lucky to have a nap amidst her busy play 'schedule'

Michael's pre-Eid activity - indoor games with his boys

my pre-Eid activity, trying out new cookie recipes

Then Eid arrives.....

our theme this year - po-pol color of course - Miss Ha's pick

with some of her cousins

Queueing up for Eid packets

1st in line for daddy's!

Chilling with the boys

Rockin' with the girls while visiting one of the many houses

boys' Kempas football tournament

The winning team - so kiasu. My mum's deco became the 'trophy' (yg dah 10 tahun tak cuci tuh!)

sparklers with daddy at night time. She's a bit scared of the big boom boom ones!

Eid this year is also doubly special because on the 4th of Eid, my baby sister got engaged! Congratulations to the both of you. :)

us chicas stick together :p

Ayisha with her favorite aunt and cousin

more playtime

then it's time for goodbyes

This is probably the longest Eid holiday that we got to spend together as a big family so there's a lot of bonding time especially for Ayisha & her cousins. After the engagement, my brothers and eldest sister started leaving Johor for KL one family at a time. It was soooooooooooo quiet after they left :(

I managed to squeeze in 2 visits with old school friends on my last day there. It wasn't a big gathering but it was still lots of fun with plenty of stories & laughs shared. It started at about 3pm till almost 8pm. So much for my innocent "only 1 more house" answer to Michael who stayed home with Ayisha who was napping. He knew me all too well when it comes to catching up with old friends with his "how long lah, in hours not houses" re-phrased question. :p We would've carried on all night long if some of them didn't have to leave for KL that night.

thanks girls, it was too much fun!

Oh, of course no JB visit would be complete without a trip to the famous chicken chop shop, Eid or not. :) It was packed out as usual, Eid or not!

Things That Make You Go 'Aahh'

2011-08-27T08:10:00.005+08:00

1. Waking up for Sahur and seeing my dad in his sarong up to his middle, heating up food for us all.

Yes good people! We're back in Jay Bee.:) Left Bali yesterday arvo for a 2 1/2 hour flight to Singapore and it took us about the same time to cross the causeway to get home. Crazy Friday night + people shopping & going back for Eid traffic. Ayisha went from 'see Cik Mah, see Cik Mah' to 'twinkle twinkle, mummy sing, twinkle twinkle' to 'zzzzzz' in the car.

2. Anticipating the arrivals of my siblings & their family.

This year, all of my brothers and sisters will be coming home for Eid. It will be a blast! I am so looking forward to just hanging out with them and catch up on things. I also can't wait to see Ayisha being all 'grown up' hanging out with her cousins.

Hang on, except for my sister, Wa who'll be spending Eid in Sunshine Coast. Why do I keep forgetting this? Must be because for the longest time, I've always spent my Eid with my 2 youngest sisters. They were always around, they're the babies! So I keep forgetting how grown up she is now, have her own family to be with and that there will be times where Eid will be without her. It's also her birthday today, so altogether now "Happy Birthday Wa"!!!!! I truly wish nothing but the best for you and may all your wonderful hopes & dreams come true! We love you and we miss having you around. It will NOT be the same without you, remember that. Ok, this should be 'Things that make me go 'UWWWWWWWWAAA''.

3) Having a Celebrity making an appearance on my blog.

Of course lah I have to say something about this. :) Wonderfully surprised, amazingly shocked, a lil bit embarrassed and butterflies-in-my-tummy giddy! Surprised because I truly didn't see it coming. Yes, we know each other's passwords and I know he was helping me with the video but it was supposed to be in DRAFT so I could share the wonderful lyrics to Ha's 'Shake, shake, shake' song! :p (how cute is she doing 'shake to the right' TWICE? All also cute lah!)

Shocked because just a day prior, I've just read one of my favorite blogs, where her husband did a very lovely post for her. I was touched by it because I've only just recently followed her blog and I didn't even know her in person but am just amazed by the kind of person she is with all the things that she's done. The thing is, I haven't got a chance to share this with Michael yet (yeah, he layan my blogworld stories). I didn't even 'mental fax' this to him so it was freaking me out a bit. (I'll share more about 'mental fax' one fine day but it's basically sending messages using your mind and imagining the recipient receiving it. Crazy I know, but it works!)

Embarrassed because we're not that big on showing the mushy love stuff part in public and also because I really didn't feel that I deserve such heartfelt appreciation. What, didn't you read my 4-Ingredients cooking? Lazy, lazy me!

And giddy because it reminded me of all the endless emails, letters & cards that were sent during our 4-yr long distance relationship. We don't do cards so much now because Bali doesn't have Memory Lane or Hallmark card shops (excuses!)

So enough gushing! Most importantly.....

I really want to take this opportunity to wish all my wonderful, supportive, amazing, lovely friends, family, fellow bloggers and readers a very Happy Eid Fitr, Salam Lebaran, Selamat Hari Raya and from the bottom of my heart, Maaf Zahir & Batin.

Celebrity Entry

2011-08-26T09:30:00.001+08:00

So this is Mike, Yan's husband writing today's blog :)

This all came about because our crappy home internet wouldn't upload this great video of Ayisha below, so I am uploading it at work. Shhhhh!!!

On top of doing this little upload, I wanted to take a few lines to say how much I love my wife :)

She is the most kind, most giving, most loving, most thoughtful person I have EVER met, and to get super cheesy 'she makes me want to be a better person'

(Feel free to leave now and have a little throw up!!!)

But not you Yan, you need to keep reading, I have more to say to you:

I love you so much, and somehow when I feel that my love for you is so huge that I will explode, you manage to make me love you even more :)

Thank you for everything, and thank you for taking care of me and Squeaky, all day every day. We would be lost without you.

You are so beautiful.

I LOVE YOU

For all of you that are still reading, here is a little clip of Ms. Ha kicking it for her fans at one of our favourite restaurants. Enjoy!!

Olio Olio

2011-08-25T10:10:00.000+08:00

When it comes to cooking, I am pretty bad at following instructions. I love recipe books but if something is too complicated with a lot of steps involved and has a bunch of ingredients that I don't even know, I'd lose motivation.

So when we were packing our books to come to Bali and Michael asked 'ok, which ones would you really really really use?', I only picked one - the 4 Ingredients Book.

It's a birthday gift from my sister and it's perfect for me. I love how all the recipes only have 4 or less ingredients (not including 'to taste' stuff ie. salt, pepper, water) and the instructions are mostly only 1 paragraph long. This is the only no-picture recipe book that I would want to look at more than once.

Some of my favorites from this book:

1) Caesar's Fish

- 2 fresh white fish fillets

- 1/2 cup caesar salad dressing

- 1 cup crushed cornflakes

- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven 160c. Arrange fish on lined baking dish, drizzle with dressing. Psrinkle cornflakes on top, bake for 10 minutes. Top with cheese & bake another 5 mins.

2) Chicken & Jarlsberg Casserole

- 6 chicken fillet breasts

- 6 slices jarlsberg cheese (I use cheddar or any other available in fridge)

- 420g can cream of chicken soup

- 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven 180c. Place chicken in casserole dish & cover with cheese. Mix soup & milk, pour over chicken. Bake for 1 hr at 150c.

3) Creamy Meatballs

- 750g minced beef

- 250g lite sour cream

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp garlic powder (I use fresh garlic)

Combine all except half sour cream. Roll into balls. Brown in frying pan & place casserole dish. Dilute reamaining cream with 2 tbs water. Spread over meatballs & bake 160c for 30 mins.

* I never brown them, just put in dish & in oven - how lazy can I be?

I've tried them all more than once and they're always always yummm. Easy right?

They also have recipes for salad dressings, sauces, dips, veggies, snacks, desserts and more. Haven't tried them all yet but the ones that I did, all so good lah!

Another source of my quick easy recipes is of course - the internet. When I look for something that I crave for or something to use up the almost expired stuff in my fridge, I'd start the search with 'easy, quick or simple' in the front.

One recipe that I found way back in Sydney when I was trying to look for other things to cook besides using Kicap Manis , was the Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. Something so very easy to make with the simplest ingredients yet oh-so yummy. I've modified it a bit to make it our own Olio Olio - as Michael called it, using crabstick meat & broccoli. And as promised to my good friend Amz, this is what I made for break-fasting, just for you.

Let me warn you tho that I am quite bad at:

a) giving measurements - everything is 'to taste' (agak-agak, sesedap rasa, sesuka hati)

b) food presentations - I just don't have the talent to present the food nicely ala Masterchef's

c) taking photos - I have no idea which angle to take pictures from to make it more enticing :p

So on most part you'll need to use your imagination and more importantly, your taste buds to make it specially yours.:)

Spaghetti Olio Olio

- garlic

- Olive oil

- broccoli

- mushroom

- crabstick meat

- chicken broth/stock cube (optional)

- salt & pepper & water

Oh, and spaghetti of course. I used only a quarter pack of spaghetti for 3 of us, as we're on a low carb diet and include lots of broccoli & mushroom. So, really up to you. Agak-agak, sesedap rasa, sesuka hati. :p

Method

- Cook spaghetti al dente, set aside

- Heat oil, saute garlic

- Put in crabstick, then broccoli

- Put in chicken stock (I added bit of water as mine's cubed)

- Salt & pepper to taste

- Mix in spaghetti when ready to serve

Yo you! Keep away from the food!

And because it took me a while to put up a recipe for you and Ramadan is almost over, here's another one that I made 2 nights ago.

Chicken Udon

- udon noodles

- nori sheets

- chicken breasts (slice thinly & marinade with chopped garlic, light & dark soy sauce)

For soup,

- chicken broth (I use the bone from the chicken breast & boil)

- onion

- garlic

- ginger

- white pepper (lots of it)

- salt to taste

Method:

- mix all soup ingredients & let boil

- pan fry the marinated chicken (only when ready to serve)

- boil udon separately, drain & put in soup

- put cooked chicken on top and garnish with the nori sheets

So Amz, that's 5 non-rice recipes for you!

Ayisha's Sleep-Without-Mum Diary

2011-08-22T08:30:00.003+08:00

When Ayisha was born, we agreed to a plan to breastfeed her till she's 2. There wasn't really any written down step-by-step plan to follow, it was fairly straightforward - task: feed your child, period: 2 years.

But now that she's 2, we don't really have a clue on what to do next. When I shared my concerns to friends & family, I've been getting some mixed responses;

- You're still breastfeeding? She's 2!

- Why do you want to stop? Because all the books said recommended breastfeed until 2?

- Just do it now, cold turkey. It'll only take 1 week max..

- You're not working or anything, just let her breastfeed till she's ready to stop

- If you want to get pregnant again, try and stop feeding

- You've done it for 2 years, you don't have to feel bad for wanting to stop for no reason

I don't really have the heart to stop cold turkey, so we thought we should do it gradually and start with the night time ones.

Ayisha sleeps in a mattress next to our bed. Even though it's easy enough for me to flop to her mattress in the middle of the night, I felt like I should teach her to fall asleep by herself without relying on me so much, or my boobies to be exact, for comfort. Some 'expert' books would say I'm 1 1/2 years late, as a lot of them learn from 6 months onwards but we tried it before and both Michael & I were not strong enough to let her cry herself to sleep. Sorry Squeaky!

So for the past few weeks, I was telling her how she's a big girl now and she has to sleep by herself bla bla. Then one night, after we finished reading, she went 'night mum, Ha sleep, mum a'stairs" (downstairs). To be honest, I was quite sad! Felt like crying and all. But I left her, closed the door and sat on top of the stairs and just as I was telling Michael how sad and how useless I felt she called out 'Mummy!!!' and I jumped up immediately, went to the room and made myself comfortable on her bed. Who's the baby mah??????

Few days after that, without much thought or planning, Michael decided that night would be the night. He made me stay in bed and he tended to Ayisha, trying to get her to sleep. She was crying of course, calling out for me and carrying her books around for me to read. Screaaaaaaming! I was crying under the covers too and at one point told Michael that this was too hard and I can't do it. But Michael assured me that her cries are just to win us over, as there's no tears, just screams. And he did comfort her and not just leave her to cry. He was lovingly firm. He sang, read some more books, carried her around a bit, calmed her down. Lied down next to her and then she fell asleep. When she woke up in the middle of the night asking for me, Michael tended to her too and got her to fall asleep, again, without me.

The next day, I took her cup-shopping for her big girl's cup milk at night time. She was all excited and happy at first, even wanted to use it for her daytime nap. But when night came, the cup got chucked out. There was surprisingly no crying but a LOT of stalling. More books to read, no air-con, no fan, switch it off, back on again. Massage her legs, massage her hands, itchy here, 'Mat' (minyak gamat/ointment) there. Then Michael took over again, lullabying her to sleep. This time, she woke up in the middle of the night but I let her cry a bit and just before I started flopping down to her mattress, she fell asleep again, on her own. Progress!

The 3rd night, after reading her books, she was trying to get me to feed her, I started singing her new favorite song 'Shake, shake, shake'. Then she sang it over and over and over again and she started standing up and 'shake, shake, shake'. Ok, wrong song Mummy! So I got her to calm down again and sang 'Hush Little Baby' instead. I had my back facing her so she couldn't get to my shirt and she would nudge me to sing again whenever I stopped. I must've dozed off first because the next thing I know, she was hugging me from behind, asleep. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww....:(.

She woke up in the middle of the night screaming 'meow meow, big meow meow'. Hang on, that's mummy's nightmare! I was supposed to be scared of cats, not her! So I calmed her down a bit and she fell asleep again. She woke up again in the early morning and I gave her morning feed early, because I missed it. Again, who's the baby here??????

Last night, she tried to get me to feed her to sleep again, very angelic and all. Turned with my back facing her again, started singing 'Hush Little Baby'. Then she was asleep. She slept through and only woke up at 5ish this morning and I fed her early again.

I'm not sure if she sleeps longer now or she just learned how to fall back asleep on her own. One of the 'expert' books said that everyone wakes up every 3-4 hours but as adults, we learn how to put ourselves back to sleep. With babies and toddlers, they need help to do so, hence the waking-ups in the middle of the night. Some babies learn how to do this quicker than the others, or some parents are better at teaching them to do this, depending on how you feel about it. I believe that there's no right or wrong way, just what feels right FOR you and for your child.

I was once told that if a baby doesn't sleep through, it means that she's hungry. This always makes me feel bit bad because it felt like I'm not giving her enough food during the day or not breastfeeding her enough.

So in this case, I'm going to go with that 'expert' book and also because Ayisha refused her big girl's cup in the middle of the night then I concluded that she just wants me for comfort and not because she's hungry.

It is getting easier, both for her and for me. Michael has been great AND understanding all around. I do feel now that most of the time, it wasn't Ayisha that was difficult to stop, it was probably ME who was a bit reluctant to let go of this BIG part of me for the past 2 years. I am still yet to drop the daytime feed but already, I am missing it so much and feeling like she's slipping away from me or something.

But we're doing okay and hopefully from now it'll just get easier and better. :)

Balinese Art, Anyone?

2011-08-19T15:30:00.002+08:00

Out of all the drawing & coloring pads that she has, my note diary is always a top pick when inspiration comes.

Big circles are so last week. She loves them small nowadays.

1 is her favorite number (the only number she can draw lah!) :p

This is Mummy. What, can't you tell?

Done for the day.....

Nge-Spa in Bali

2011-08-17T10:03:00.059+08:00

If you come to Bali, you cannot NOT go to at least one of their many Spa places for a pampering session. They're not only cheap compared to anywhere else in the world, they're also probably some of the best - offering excellent quality & service as well as using the finest & most natural ingredients.

Ideally, I would've loved to go to the Spa every week if not everyday, but I'm not that vain lah. Ok, maybe a little bit but we still have a mortgage & some bills to pay so I'm doing my bit by keeping the pampering session for special occasions or pick-me-ups and PMS'ing moments. So, once a month eh at least? :p

There's so many to choose from here depending on how much you're willing to pay. You can have a 1/2 hour, 1-hour or 2 hour of Balinese, Aromatherapy or Hot Stone massage for as low as RM15 or as much as RM200. The massage itself, particularly Balinese, I think is the same. It's the ambience, the service and the lil extras (towels, sarongs, choice of oil, free drinks etc) that you pay for. But if you don't really know the difference between sandalwood & frangipani oil or you don't care about old sarongs, I'd say just go with the RM15 one! The staff might not clean your feet before you start but they still serve you with a smile & more. ;)

If you're already having a massage, might as well opt for a body spa treatment. A body spa normally includes a 1-hr massage, a scrub or wrap or mask, and a floral bath at the end. Some even include a yoghurt application (which is heavenly) somewhere in between. Then there's a choice of which scrub/wrap/mask you wanted to go for. Chocolate, mud, seaweed? Or the good ol' Lulur - famous here & in Malaysia for brides-to-be and the very traditional Balinese Boreh - known to soothe aching muscles and/or relief cold & flu.

If massages is not your thing, then have a Creambath. When I first saw this treatment, I thought it's something to do with having your body washed & dipped in a bath tub full of cream. My sister thought that too. It's NOT. This is a traditional treatment strictly for you HAIR. It includes a hair wash, a beautiful cooling heavenly cream of avocado & aloe vera smothered on your hair while getting the ultimate head & hair massage, a shoulder & hand massage that ended with a final wash, hair tonic and semi-blow dry. That's a lot of TLC for your hair. It will be the best 1 hour of your hair's life. I also believe this treatment helps reduce my hair fall problems that I have since giving birth to Ha.

If you feel the need of pampering other parts of your body as well, then there's always the usual facial - again with different kinds to choose from, pedicure & manicure on offer. They also have fish spa here. Michael, Tom & I tried it for the first time while my in-laws were here and the boys were giggling like a bunch of schoolgirls! It was a pretty interesting experience and your feet definitely feel like a million bucks after.;)

We have one Spa that we've been to a few times called Mandurah Spa. It is recommended as one of the best spas in Sanur & closest to home. The body treatments & creambath are great. The price is probably mid-range, about RM90 for a 2 hour body treatment but because there's loads of other cheaper places, this one's reserved for PMS'ing moments and bringing guests (especially from OZ) who still thinks it's super cheap - AUD30! Another mid-range spa in Sanur is Cosmo Spa, also voted one of the best in Sanur, some say in Bali. I've never had a session there but Michael had a deep tissue massage once, recommended to help fix his back one time and he said that it did relieve his pain and it's one of THE best. My MIL and our friend Jess also had their pampering sessions there while they're here and they love it too.

I also have a favorite (read: good & cheap) reflexology place in Sanur. It's located on the 3rd floor of the Hardy's supermarket, one of the places that I go for my groceries and I strongly feel that they fixed my blocked ears one time, after I specifically asked them to work on my feet to fix them. They also have free Wi-fi (they have free Wi-fi everywhere here!) so you can still blog while getting your feet massaged ;)

Other places in Bali are also full of massage places & Spas. Kuta has loads of them in all shapes & sizes. Again, depending on how much you wanted to pay. Seminyak & Nusa Dua are more upmarket. They're still pretty cheap compared to say, Australia but I'd rather spend those extra money on pancakes & ice creams and have my pampering in Sanur. I did go into one of the best and most famous Spa in Seminyak called Prana Spa, just to check what it's like with my MIL. It is exquisite! Lovely setting and just so expensive looking. We went in, took some brochures and left. My MIL was happy with the ones in Sanur too. :p

However, if you are staying in Ubud, you MUST have a pampering session there. Don't worry about Kuta, Sanur or anywhere else. Book one there and have a half day or full day session if you can. Ubud is probably THE best place for a Spa session. And while you're here, might as well opt one where you can be close to nature - having your massage in the middle of the paddy fields or enjoying your flower bath with the birds chirping and the river flowing behind you. They have loads around to choose from and they are very reasonably priced too. So much so that 7 out of 20 of Things-To-Do (as per Trip Advisor) in Ubud are for Spa places!!

I had the opportunity of trying 2 out of the 7 mentioned while we were there with my in-laws. At the time, I haven't had any me-time for ages and was busy busy busy with guests, sick child and a birthday party so Michael promised me all-you-can-take spa time while he looked after Ayisha & spent some quality time with his parents. So few days prior, I went crazy on Trip Advisor to look for the best Spa experience in Ubud. I love Trip Advisor. We use it a LOT in our travels especially for hotels and the reviews are extremely reliable.

Anyways, so I wanted to have the close-to-nature Spa experience that Botanica Spa & Cantika Spa offer but I also wanted to try the much raved about #4 Jaens Spa, which doesn't have the nature bit but comes with lots of excellent reviews.

After much deliberation and a 'do both lah' green light nudge from Michael, I opted for Botanica Spa and Jaens Spa. Unfortunately, Botanica was fully booked but I did have a look around and it's very peaceful, private and surrounded by nature, just lovely. I also managed to ask a lady that just had a session there and she said it was her BEST ever.

A bit disappointed but quite relieved that it's full actually because Cantika is much cheaper with better reviews. My only reason for choosing Botanica first was because of the Ayurvedic treatment - something I'm curious to find out about.

Cantika is excellent! It's set out in the open in the middle of paddy fields but still very private. It's actually on the way to the fabulous Sari Organic restaurant I talked about before. The products are all ORGANIC. I went for a facial and a traditional massage and I can really feel the difference with the products that they use. A tiny unique detail that I notice here is some sort of a plant that they burn underneath the massage table - where the hole for your face is. So while you're lying there, you're inhaling this very subtle but relaxing scent released by the plant. It was just beautiful.

The next day, I went for a half day package at Jaens Spa that involved a four-hands massage, something that I've always wanted to try in Ubud because I don't see it a lot anywhere else. It's 4 hours of total relaxation and pampering that includes the 4 hands massage, a body scrub, yoghurt application, a floral bath, a creambath and a pedicure, as well as a choice of light healthy lunch (which was YUMM) all for RM150. And of course there's free drinks all around. ;)

The 4-hands massage is out of this world! I don't know how I'd go back to 2-hands after (cheh eksen, last week dah massage 2-hands jek :p). It's unbelievable how in-sync the two masseuses are and it made the 1-hour felt so satisfyingly long! If you're not in Ubud and you really want to try it, they do pick-up from wherever you are in Bali at a very reasonable price. They also offer to look after your kids if you need to.

The pictures of this place on their website may look a bit old and not too attractive, but they're really NOT bad at all. It's very tastefully decorated, super clean and nice, including the toilet. Oh, but be careful with the soap dispenser because I broke theirs while I was there. Ooooooopsy! :p

Jaens Spa is probably the best but it's a bit too far for me to have a regular or even 'special occasions' pampering session there. So now I have a new favorite Spa place called To Day Spa. It's only 5 minutes from my house and it's super cheap. I've only tried the Creambath here but it's by far, the BEST one I've ever had. This is the newly opened Spa that I took my mum & sister to for free treatments almost every day this past few days. They said it was pretty good too.

Besides being cheap & conveniently close by, they also have more options to the treatments ie. 6 types of facials and 3 types of creambaths with an option of 6 types of cream - chocolate, green tea, strawberry yogurt or even mint sorbet. How much do you want to give that a try? Oh, by the by, they also offer more options on the body parts that you want to pamper.

So the one for Miss Vjayjay, sounds VERY interesting actually. It's supposedly done by a midwife and offers all these amazing benefits, the main thing being to prevent cervical cancer. They also offer Pap Smears! I don't know about you but as much as I'm curious to find out about the treatment and reap the benefits that comes with it, I still think I'd be too embarrassed. (MALUUUUUUUUUUUU sih!)

The Payudara (boobies) treatment - I don't know, I might be a little bit open to it. But again, a lil bit maluuuuuuuu too!

I've only actually seen one place that offers a treatment for your Vjayjay and the place looks a teeny bit dodgy and one other different upmarket place that offers treatment for your boobies, both in Sanur.

But To Day Spa has it all!! With the creambath being only RM9 and the 2 hour Body Spa for RM25, don't you feel like going to To Day every day? :p

The only thing better than To Day Spa is the home delivered massage that we've been getting for RM15 per hour. Mbak Ketut & Yuni have been wonderful with all my guests that have been staying with us. Our guests normally wanted to have a quiet night especially on their last night in Bali for packing and chilling with us so the least we could do is offer them a choice of having a massage in the comfort of their own room. :)

By the way, Happy Independence Day to Indonesia, To Day!

Look Who's Here

2011-08-16T18:17:00.003+08:00

My youngest sister aka Ayisha's favorite "aunty-who-I-made-clean-my-poopy", Cik Limah was here!

My sister came to pick-up my mum. She arrived late on Friday, had 2 full days on the weekend and they both left yesterday. When I brought my mum back to Bali, we wanted her to stay for the whole month of Ramadan and leave with us when we go back for Eid but she didn't want to be away from home too long and she wanted time to prepare for Eid. We didn't want her to travel back on her own, so my sister came as she was the only one who could make the short trip for this purpose. Not like she needed too much convincing ;)

It was her first time in Bali but because it's Ramadan, like Moi, doing the sightseeing stuff and exerting yourself ie. walking in Ramadan is a big NO-NO lah. Why? Because we can't have ice-cream while strolling down the beach. hehe. And like I mentioned every Ramadan too, using fasting as an excuse is a big NO-NO to Michael. So to be fair, we did go to ONE beach in Bali, Double Six in Seminyak.

This is another beautiful beach in Bali, surrounded by lots of beautiful people and interesting cafes. Bit expensive tho. Even their beach chairs cost more to rent than in Sanur - where some spots have them for free. My sister did have fun there with Squeaky playing in the sand and dipping their legs in the water a bit but we didn't stay too long. My sister was ready to shop on this short trip of hers, and not in markets mind you, air-conditioned souvenir shops please. :p

I took her to the same place I've been taking all my visitors to shop - Krisna at Sunset Road. This place was recommended to me by taxi drivers as THE place to shop for souvenirs. It's air-conditioned, huge and the prices are still very reasonable. In the beginning, I wanted to take people to the markets, particularly Sukawati, for the shopping. But I was told that Krisna has similar or even better quality products. And eventhough you can't bargain like at the markets, most of the stuff are already cheap and some even cheaper than what you could've bargained for.

Proof - when I went to Ubud Market with my MIL, we bought some fancy slippers and I haggled like crazy for the 6 slippers that we got between us. I was pretty proud of my achievement too. RM10 per pair from RM30 first price quoted to me (well the crazy guy quoted my MIL RM60! chet!). Then I went to Krisna and saw the exact same pair for RM6!

I would still bring my visitors to the markets, especially Ubud Market just to have a feel of it and experience the haggling bit. But if they just want to go in, get stuff and get out and not worrying about losing one another (esp your kids) amidst the markets and the heat, then Krisna it is! So, in the 4 days that Limah was here, we went to Krisna TWICE! That's how much fun it is. ;)

Souvenir shop next to Krisna - eh no lah, not the reason why I bring people to Krisna kiki :p

Besides shopping, what else is another acceptable Ramadan activity while in Bali?

Menge-SPA of course! For the first week that my mum was here, I kept bringing her to this new Spa place near my house. They've just recently opened so that first week they gave free Spa packages for the 1st 20 customers every day. During the days that my sister was here, they did a 'bring 2 guests get free packages' deal. Talk about excellent timing! So my sister (and my mum of course) went 2 days in a row and had themselves pampered after a hard day of shopping. She did about 2 1/2 hours per session and only paid about RM30 altogether because she had extras on top of the deals like Chocolate Scrub to go with her Spa and Vanilla Milk cream for her Hair Creambath.

After all that hard work, it was then time to break-fast. So as dinner was the only time I got to show off all the yummies that Bali has to offer, we went out for breakfasting on both nights. We took her to Flapjaks on the first night for some good yummy pancakes (ok this one's not Balinese, but we LOVE pancakes and they do THE softest, fluffiest, yummiest pancakes here!) and ice creams.

"Yes u washed my poo-poo but am still not sure if we should share"

"OK lah! This is how much I love you!!"

On the 2nd night, we wanted to take her to a famous local Warung for some local treats like Bakso (meatball soup) and Nasi Uduk Ayam Kalasan (coconut rice & fried chicken) - sort of like Nasi lemak but lighter and tastier. The chicken that comes with it is TO DIE FOR! This little famous place is mentioned in the Lonely Planet, a MUST-GO if you're here. Very cheap too. But of course, it was packed out on that day! So we went to Restoran Renon instead, which is always packed on normal days but pretty quiet on that day. It's a very popular halal Chinese restaurant in Bali. A lot of Muslim tour packages to Bali would include this place as their lunch or dinner stop. It's a huge place with very prompt and excellent service and everything on the menu is extremely tasty.

So in conclusion, if you don't have a lot of time in Bali and you're not fussed about doing the touristy sightseeing stuff, there's only 3 things you have to remember to do - food, Spa and Krisna!

It was a short trip for my sister but Ayisha enjoyed every minute of it.

She's all 'Cik Mah', 'Cik Mah' all the time that she even cried her heart out when we dropped Limah off at the Spa and couldn't wait to go pick her up after. Luckily we're going back for Eid soon, at least I have that to assure her when she asked for Cik Mah again. :)

"See you soon!"

Of Rice & Leftovers

2011-08-08T17:35:00.003+08:00

On the weekend, Michael decided to cook Sushi for break-fasting. To those who've tasted Michael's homemade sushi, they would've agreed with me that his Sushi is pretty incredible. It always looks so wonderful with all different types of fillings you don't get on a sushi train and beautifully cut too. It tastes even better. I was super duper happy cos I looooove sushi and of course, I get the day off cooking!

So we went to Carrefour to get our Sushi stuff. Carrefour here is awesome! I would've loved to go to Carrefour every week for our groceries because they've got excellent stuff and lots of choices. But it's a lil bit further away than all the other supermarkets that I normally go to so whenever we do go to Carrefour, we'd go a little bit crazy. We'd by different cuts of beef & chicken and yummy homemade sausages. We'd also get some spices & bits and pieces that we've never even used before just because we don't see them at the other supermarkets :p

And don't get me started on their hard-to-resist ready-to-go food section. What with the different breads and croissants, pastries, pastas and all the other yummy stuff. We bought a few Quiches because my mum doesn't like sushi (well, for us too lah!). I wanted to get some eclairs and fruit tarts but I can sense the rolling eyes coming so I just had a look. (again, how strong am I?)

When we were at the rice section, I reached for glutinous rice cos I was craving for Serimuka and eventhough I've never made it, I knew it has glutinous rice so there I was salivating when Michael came reaching behind me and thanked me for finding the sushi rice. I wasn't really looking for his sushi rice but went along with it lah. :p I did look after but there was no sushi rice and we forgot what type of rice we bought when we made them back in Malaysia so we thought maybe glutinous rice would work.

Well, it didn't. At least not to Michael's standards. He wasn't happy with the rice. I thought it was not that bad. Even with the wrong rice, the fillings were amazing! Michael made the normal crab meat & tuna plus chicken, beef and salmon which he mixed & matched with cucumber, carrot & egg. There's also mustard, mayonnaise & soy sauce involved and I don't know what goes with what but they were all yummm!!!

preparing the beef..berasap2 tuh!

So I wanted to try make Serimuka today but we haven't got pandan or green anything so I made Pulut Kuning (yellow sticky rice) instead. It's my first time and it didn't look very kuning at all but Squeaky loves it. She just had 2 servings. So I hope it's ok. But then again, Squeaky loves everything rice so can't really rely on her. Oh well, we're just gonna eat the rendang (don't be too impressed, it's an instant one :p) with bread if it's no good.

Sorry lah, I tak puasa today..toast anyone?

We seem to be eating a lot of bread for sahur lately, to go with the leftovers from break-fasting the day before. Not so much Michael because of the low carb thingy but definitely me and my mum. I didn't think I cook that much every day but even after break-fasting and sahur, there always seem to be a little bit of leftovers left.

Michael and I hate to throw food away so we'd keep them in the fridge hoping to eat them later. But there's not a lot of 'later' moments to have them during Ramadan and the fridge was getting overloaded so yesterday, I made minced beef curry using the leftover minced beef from our Mexican meal and chicken crepe from the leftover chicken tomato dish I made few days ago that's actually a dish combined with the sauce from the roasted chicken 2 days prior (OMG, banyaknya recycle!)

Shredded the chicken and rolled them in the crepe and baked them with a topping of sour cream (leftover from Mexican!)+ mayo + mustard sauce & cheese. I didn't put any pictures here cos they don't look so good but believe me, they're YUMMMOO! Just in case you don't believe me, the crepe is inspired by the recipe that I got here. Mine looked maybe almost as good. So, ok lah right???? hehehe

Update (9/8/11): Ok, I lied. My sister just called to tell me that I have indeed made Serimuka one time when she was visiting me in Sydney. I must've blocked it out cos it was neither a pretty sight nor taste! She agreed that it was not green, but said it was quite yummy (God, I love her!) :p

Ramadan in Bali & A Ha Story to Remember

2011-08-03T23:18:00.003+08:00

It's the 3rd day of fasting here in Bali and so far it's been pretty good. It all seems like business as usual here because the majority of Balinese are Hindus. But on the first day of Ramadan, while I was out and about, I did get a lot of 'Happy Ramadan' & 'Happy Fasting' wishes from friends & strangers including the cashier & parking attendant. I thought that was just lovely! :)

I wake up at close to 5am to prepare for Sahur - something I have to make sure I do because my mum is here and she needs to take her morning medications and we break-fast at about 6.18pm Bali time. So, woohoo! :p

Friends & family back home have been wondering if we have Pasar Ramadan (food stalls selling breakfasting goodies) here. YES, apparently there is one near our house. Not just that, we also have Pasar Sahuran dong (food stalls selling pre-dawn goodies) and I was told they are pretty awesome.

However, we haven't checked them out yet. The main reason for this is because we are trying to eat healthier & lose some weight. We've been talking, talking, talking about it but it's really hard for me to resist those cookies & cream ice cream for dessert or put lots of butter & cream in my pasta. So while we're discussing our personal goals during the eve of Ramadan, Michael made an executive decision to really start this healthy business now. We're trying to cut back carbs & processed food and include lots of fresh ingredients.

I still cook what I used to cook like Bakso noodles on the 1st Ramadan and roasted chicken last night. But I cooked 1 instead of 2 packets of noodles and baked 1 potato each instead of 3. I also included lots of vegies and made no-added sugar fruit juices and fruit salad ( does this make you wanna go 'watermelon, watermelon' too?)

So it's only been 3 days but man, I MISS MY CARBS!!! :p Im so tempted to make some sweet stuff for breakfasting as well but I don't wanna ruin our (Michael in particular) diet. He has been really good with his food intake and he's even walking to and from work - about 40 mins each way as his Ramadan exercise. I haven't been doing anything (does putting Ayisha in & out of her carseat count?). Plus, he's really strict! So how lah!?

On the first day, I made chocolate banana bread. My justification were that the bananas were going off because Ayisha didn't want them anymore (salahkan anak pulak!) and that I gave almost half of it to the neighbour (tunjuk baik konon padahal guilty cause I made dessert and scared of his 'rolling eyes' disappointed look). Today, I feel like making bread & butter pudding WITH custard to go with my Mexican meal. But I can't let it sit there at the table and eat it while Michael looks on. It would make me feel worse if he did have any. Actually I'm more terrified of his rolling eyes. So am updating this blog to stop me from preheating the oven. (UPDATE: I did not make the pudding! How strong am I? :p)

That 1st day of Ramadan was also Ayisha's 1st day of school for the new intake. She's in the 2-3 year old class now called Moonbeam. I am a Little Star mum expert now as I just see her off to the classroom and leave. Didn't even peek after. (OK, the new classroom doesn't have a window that I can peek from!) She cried of course, as with other kids of all ages on their 1st day there. But the teacher said soon after it was all so quiet. No more sobs. Phew!

She is so much fun to play with nowadays. She'd point out to me all the cool interesting stuff from her seat while we're driving ie. 'look mum, look!' when she saw a toy shop. She reminded me of stuff ie. a bag of groceries left on the trolley after shopping. She copycats things that you didn't even notice you're doing. Like the other day I asked her to massage my feet. She did it for 5 seconds then asked me to do hers. Then she 'hang on a minute' me, picked up her book, laid back and pointed her feet to me to continue my massage!

I love that she understands and sometimes listens & obeys me. It feels like Im doing something right as her mum. hehehe. Like the other day on the flight back to Bali, she was singing her lungs out almost throughout the whole flight 'Where is Thumbkin, where is Thumbkin?'. When it started getting dark and the lights went off and things seemed pretty quiet, I was getting a little bit embarrassed by her singing so I told her to quiet down cause other people might be trying to sleep. She kept quiet for a while. Then came really close to my ears and whispered 'Where is Thumbkin, where is Thumbkin?' with one finger on her lips. Gerammmmmm tau....:)

I also had one proud mum moment upon arriving at Bali airport that day.

We requested wheelchair assistance for my mum but somehow, the Bali Air Asia staff didn't get the instruction and there was a lot of waiting around when we touched down. To make matters worse, the staff that did show up and attend to us has only been working there for 2 weeks and didn't have a clue on how to handle wheelchair situations.

At one point, I was left by myself with Ayisha and my mum in a wheelchair and was asked to follow a custom officer who was walking way ahead of us in the midst of the crowd. I carried Ayisha to catch up to the officer and tried to push my mum at the same time. I thought I'd be ok because I've pushed trolleys many times before while carrying Ayisha but I was going nowhere with the wheelchair.

Just as I started to push and trying to keep up with the officer, Ayisha suddenly shimmied down from me and said 'Ha down, mum push Jiddah' complete with hand gestures. I was so so touched I could cry!! I was going to put her down & try move us anyway but her thoughtfulness & awareness filled my heart with enormous gratitude that this little person can be so very considerate.

Later on, she held on to my shirt and was almost running trying to keep up with us whilst giggling away. The officer, who probably just noticed & felt sorry for Ayisha who kept bumping into strangers and trying to hang on tight to me, picked her up and went way ahead of us. Ayisha would normally hesitate & cry if taken by strangers abruptly, but she turned to me, giving me this 'Im ok mum' look with the biggest smile, my paranoia of her being taken away from me forever subsided.

I know this might seem trivial to some but I want to treasure this moment especially for my wonderful Ha. This is so you won't EVER forget how special you are and how very proud you made me. :) Thank you, Squeaky!

When in Jay Bee..

2011-07-29T02:39:00.002+08:00

Ayisha and I just spent 2 weeks in my hometown, Johor Bahru. To those who doesn't know where is where in Malaysia, "You know Singapore right? Just next door." is my standard answer.

JB rocks! I am sure if Ayisha could remember the things that she did everytime we were there, she would've agreed with me.

It amazes me how when we arrived at my parents' home in Kempas (which by the way, is the coolest place in town yo and will be talked about in a different post) 2 weeks ago, Ayisha remembered which room was supposed to be our bedroom - next to Cik Limah's, my youngest sister and possibly her favorite aunty (will tell why later), where her toys are - upstairs in the storeroom, and where the fridge is - of course, where her lil mini magnet toys reside.

The house is no mansion but to a 2 year old, I thought she'd be confused with the many little set of stairs and doors that lead to mysterious & unoccupied rooms because only 1 of the 7 of us siblings still lives there. No lah, we don't have 7 bedrooms, we shared! But she didn't get lost and she knew where to find me - in the kitchen most of the time!

The last time we were here, Ayisha mastered the art of going upstairs all by herself. This trip, she mastered the going downstairs part unaided - wobbly and terrifying for me to watch, after she 'no mum!' me for trying to help. But she's got it!

Also, the last time we came back, she entertained the family - my parents, youngest sister Limah, my elder sister & family (they live 2 doors down), my cousin's family (they live next door) with dancing and moving to the nursery rhymes that I sang to her. This time, she sang and danced by herself and sometimes 'no, mum!' me again for helping her sing. Her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle, Buai Laju-laju (the swing song), Fruit Salad and Skip to My Lou.

She loves hassling Cik Limah and constantly on the lookout for cool cute things that she could 'sneak' into her room. She's very fond of her, too much I would say, that one night, while I was on the phone, she pointed her bottom to Cik Mah and directed her to the toilet. She made my youngest sister change her very poo-ey nappy!!!! The first time she ever asked someone to clean her (I have to force her everytime!), and probably the first time for my sister too, judging by the towel wrapped around her nose & mouth and her reluctant fingers cleaning Ayisha's bottom! Hence, the favorite aunty title :p

She also loves playing with her cousins - we'd sometime walk down to their place and play with their toys and almost every night my sister and my cousin would bring their kids to play with Ha while the girls gossiped or ate durian. :p

My father would come home almost every evening bearing goodies for me - durians & goreng pisang cicah kicap (banana fritters dipped with soy sauce) - only in JB ok!

Other things that I must have when I come home and managed to go to this time around:

1) Chicken Chop at IT Roo Cafe - the BEST chicken chop in town, rated the Number 1 thing to do in JB by Lonely Planet, enough said!

Well not really, I have more to say! :p My family has been a fan for ages. Going to Hwa Mui Restaurant (related to IT Roo, only few blocks away and exactly the SAME chicken chop) with my late grandmother was one of the best memories of my childhood with her. I LOVE it! If u go to either one of these restaurants, try their other local stuff. The noodles are pretty outstanding and their simple nasi goreng is simply the best! All the drinks are tasty - from the sirap bandung soda (of course mah!) to their fruit juices. Even the complimentary peanuts that they serve before the meal comes are deliciousooooo!!

I didn't take any pictures but you can see some here (that bakery the blogger talked about also sells THE BEST bread!)

2) Ice Kacang place, used to be at Tepian Tebrau, moved a few places and now it's opposite English College (EC) - JB is the only place that has chocolate syrup on this colorful yummoo shaved ice dessert. Don't you dare order any other drinks when you come here. Must have with tahu bakar (grilled tofu, not your typical vegetarian meal!), cakuey and kerang rebus (cockles) from the next stall and seafood yummies from the next stall to it - grilled fish, baby crab, fried pau with sambal lala (meleleh air liuuuuuuur). Check out some of these yummoos here. (The bread mentioned was those fried pau! Sooooooodap gila!)

3) Mee Rebus Hj Wahid - again, ONLY in JB. If you order Mee Rebus anywhere else outside Johor, it won't be the same, even if the menu says 'Mee Rebus Johor'. They have a few branches around JB now but the closest one to home is at a the food court in Angsana shopping mall. Have a look at how a bowl of Mee Rebus is prepared - the lovely ingredients so skillfully combined, with a quick dash of vinegar & soy sauce and topped with those crunchy bits that I do not know what they're called but just oh so wonderful! Check out the pics here, also at Angsana! ;)

4) Murtabak Johor (some say Singapore) - again, no other place do murtabaks like Johor! Bali's murtabak is slightly better than the KL ones, but none can even compare to the Johor ones!!! There's a few branches as well and they do normal ones for RM5 and special ones (extra eggs & meat) for RM8. They even have a CHEESE one now for RM10! I have a few packets of the special ones in the freezer right now to take back to Bali. Michael LOOOVES em! (pssst..Im getting sleeping, google the pics yourself lah okie doks )

5) Beef Kuey Tiaw at Sedap Corner - Sedap means yummy/tasty. So what do you expect? They do THE best beef kuey tiaw. The traditional kuihs are very tasty too. Bit expensive maybe but some bigger than normal size and waaaaaay yummier. The pulut panggang (shredded chicken in glutinous rice wrapped in coconut leaf) is just SO SO goooooood! I had four of those big and chunky servings of goodness and that's AFTER my beef kuey tiaw too! Again, ONLY in JB. I don't know why they don't have their branches anywhere else. They've been around forever and have a few branches in JB. I had mine at Angsana, again! :p

6) Kacang Pool at Bomba - a simple minced beef dish cooked with beans and topped with a sunny side up, eaten with a chunky toast with butter. Air liur meleleeeeeeh lagik!

This is me in a true blue Johorean mode. Food, food, food and there's plenty more yummy goodness around but the above are the ones that I managed to fit in on this trip.

We are in KL now at my sister's place and Ayisha is enjoying her playtime enormously with her cousins here. ie. forgot NAP time.

We're going back to Bali tomorrow to welcome Ramadan with my husband who can't wait to see for himself that Squeaky is NOT a teenager yet. And oh, we're bringing Jiddah (my mum) along!

Happy Ramadan and lots of blessings to all, Maaf Zahir Batin!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2011-07-26T01:30:00.001+08:00

This is for Michael, who's all upset thinking that he's missing out on so much of Ayisha growing up & all worried that he wouldn't recognise her anymore just because I told him she can now sing this whole song instead of humming and saying the last words (star, are, high, sky) of this song.

Don't worry, she's still your little Squeaky!

Chilling in Kuala Lumpur

2011-07-16T01:43:00.003+08:00

We've safely arrived in KL early morning yesterday. The flight with Ayisha was breezy, thank God! She's extra good all the way from Ngurah Rai Bali airport till we arrived at my sister's place here. PHEW!!

I wasn't sure how I'll cope after being so dependent on Michael to carry Ayisha, carry the bags, fill up the immigration forms, feed me on the plane bla bla. All I have to do when we go on any trips is pack the bags and have Ayisha buckled up with her infant seatbelt on me for take off & landing, making sure her ears are good (ie. feed feed feed).

I even packed up my carry on bag super duper efficiently with only 1 dolly allowed and purple colored crayons on board only. Squeaky was very well behaved, alhamdulillah and also thanks to Air Asia 'We Care' counter & mum with toddler signage.

Ayisha is really enjoying herself here in KL surrounded by her playful cousins. She skipped her afternoon naps and went to sleep way past her usual bedtime. She was too busy playing and having fun. She's also eating a LOT here. At first I thought she's just following whatever her cousins do. But when she actually asked for food even when her new bff (my 3 y.o nephew) wasn't eating, it made me wonder if it's actually my cooking that she wasn't really into. erk...

I love watching her having a ball with my sister's kids. I didn't really plan to do anything while in KL but just spend time with them and hopefully see my brother & his family here tomorrow as we're going back to JB on Sunday to spend time with family there.

I did invite some friends over for lunch today and it was good quality time spent with 2 good friends from high school. I love the friendship that I have with old time friends. I haven't actually been that good a friend to them or other friends here - what with me being out of the country most times and giving short notices & limited options to catch up when coming back. So I was extremely happy and grateful that they spared some time to see me & Ayisha and brought their family too.:) Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it!

My youngest sister & my mum also arrived from JB today to bring us back this weekend. Ayisha's still a bit shy with them but she's warming up. I'm sure by the end of 2 weeks in JB she'll be best buddies with Cik Limah again and copycatting Jiddah's moves all around the house.

Meantime, these are for Michael who's missing his Squeaky like crazy. We miss you too! And yes, you are right. Sorry for not taking the camera as advised because it wouldn't "fit into my perfectly organised bag". Now am regretting it as I couldn't capture perfect wonderful moments of her and you have to deal with yucky quality phone pics!! :p

BabyTV time

Play Doh with Isaac

Just Us Two Again

2011-07-13T14:35:00.001+08:00

Grandma & Poppy have left Bali yesterday after almost 3 weeks with us. Michael is back at work and now it's just Ayisha & me again during the day.

It felt really quick tho. The first week we went to Gili Meno, the 2nd week we had Ayisha's party and she's all sick. The last week we did a bit of shopping and also spent a few nights in Ubud. On the last night, we took them to the famous seafood dinner at Jimbaran Bay. We had an absolutely amazing time going around Bali and spending time with them.

Every now and then Michael would ask how Im doing having the inlaws around bla bla. And in all honestly, I didn't mind it at all. (my FIL reads my blog :p) Seriously, it was not a painful time or difficult thing for me to do. The language thing may still be a bit of a barrier to me because I sometimes couldn't understand when they talk too fast and I think sometimes they couldn't understand my Manglish too (plus, my FIL a lil bit deaf, even after taking him to the ear candle thingy here hehe). But I do love having them around. I love seeing Michael and Squeaky with them and they're just simply some of the nicest, generous, loving people I know. (did I mention my FIL reads my blog?)

Quite sad to see them go as we're just getting used to having them around all the time. Ayisha was even a little bit clingy to them on the last day - 'Ma, Py, Ha,...Ma, Py, Ha'. She even thought she's gonna go on the plane to see Baby Jack & cousin Abbey!

It's all so quiet now. We've had some really wonderful memories with them while they're here and I am so happy that Ayisha got to spend this time with them at this stage of her life. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Last one at the airport

But no time to be sad for too long as tomorrow morning we'll be flying to Malaysia to see Ayisha's other grandparents - Tok & Jiddah!

It'll only be just Ayisha and me. It will be the 1st flight with just us two and also the first flight that she's gonna get her own seat (read: pay full price) as she is no longer an infant.

Now that she's 2, she's starting to seem a whole lot bigger to me. She's got a whole lot of attitude too.

The terrible two's are so terrible, EW EW EW! After being all sick, she's gotten more and more clingy and very demanding too. The clingy part, I don't really mind except when I'm PMS'ing or when I need to do poo-poo so badly she'd cling to me like I'm gonna leave her forever. The demanding part is another story. Trying to be consistent is pretty hard ie. no means no, but I remembered my sister telling me this is super important. When she's screaming so loudly and no other distractions work, you just felt like giving in. It helps having Michael around a lot this past few weeks. He's pretty strict with her, I sometimes felt like crying when he said NO firmly to her. She listens tho, then goes 'MUMMMMY!!!!!!' hoping to be rescued. I have to be stronger.

I don't know what it is about turning two but she calls me 'Mummy' now instead of 'mum' and she calls Michael 'Daddy' instead of 'dad'. She's talking talking talking and 80% of the time now, I do understand what she's trying to say (that's what I think anyway!) :p

The other day, she was trying to say something but I couldn't figure out what it is. She goes 'Pi,Pi'. And I'd do the normal guessing game 'Nappy? Strawberry? Wee wee? Gigi? Baskin robbins?' This went on for a while until she got all frustrated, shook her head, sighed and gave me this giving up 'urgh, forget it mummy' look and continued about doing her business. Pity her! Sorry lah mummy don't understand!

One conversation that will always yield the same answer from her goes as below:

Me: Ayisha sayang mummy tak? (do you love mummy)

A: No (without even looking at me)

Me: Sayang daddy tak? (do you love daddy)

A: Yes (cheekily beaming)

Chet...

She's singing too. Not just every last words but more and more words now although 'Are you sleeping' is still 'ha hu heeping' but she gets the melody right, high pitched and all. hehehe. It's just so funny.

She plays independently a lot now. She loves going on the swing & slide that we bought for her birthday. Few times she was on the slide all by herself while poppy & grandma were here. She also made sure all her dollies had their turn, taking the steps and slide all the way down.

She likes pretend cooking with the new kitchen set that grandma got her. She also does a LOT of coloring and drawing.

One thing that we do need to do now that she's 2 is to stop breastfeeding. Urgh. I really don't know where to start and how we're going to cope but I hope we'll be ok!!!

Come back soon! We miss u already..