My Favourite Soft Toy

This is my favourite soft toy -Winne the Pooh, given by Uncle Ten. He was the first visitor we had from Singapore after we moved to PJ. Uncle Ten bought the bear for me while waiting for my parents to pick him up. Hmmm ... my parents should have kept him waiting longer and I will get more toys! *Greedy*

Five things I love to do with her:

1. Poke her eyes

2. Pinch her nose

3. Share my deepest secret with her

4. Hold her close and give her a bear hug

5. Last but not least, suck my thumb in front of her and make her jealous, 'cos she does not have a thumb to suck, haha!

Another Major Decision

We made up our mind today, signed on the dotted line and surrended a cheque to the property agent. My responsibility of a property scout has finally ended.

Daddy and I decided to settle for a corner terrace house in TTDI, just next to Bandar Utama. We liked the environment in TTDI, especially the forest reserve at the TTDI hills, which we like to think of it as the "lungs" to filter off the air pollution. Another major consideration was the proximity to Daddy's office, which is about 5 mins' drive away. We only have one family car right now and have no intention to get another yet, so having Daddy's office and all other amenities within 5 mins' drive is very important. Well, Daddy is pretty disappointed cos he does not have reasons good enough to buy his dream car yet.

It was not an easy decision because this 36-year old house is still in the original condition and needs a major overhaul from the sewage system to the roof. We hope to complete the renovation before Chinese New Year next year as that is the time our current rental agreement would end. But the people we talked to think it is not possible. Looks like I will have a new responsibility in 3 month's time - construction site supervisor!

My Thick Succulent Pink Lips

I saw a heap of ripe dragon fruit in the wet market yesterday and bought one. I do not recall Sofia ever tried this fruit, especially this type, where the flesh is pink in colour instead of white. "She should like it", I thought, since it is quite sweet when ripe.

I gave her some after lunch today and yes, she loves it! The pink colour from the fruit stained her lips and Sofia looked so kissable with her pink succulent lips.

Kaya - My First Success

The kaya supply in my fridge has ended and my mum has gone back. I nervously went to the market this morning to buy the ingredients for making kaya later today. Coconut ... eggs ... pandan leaves and sugar ... the ingredients are easy ... what I lack is the 30+ years' experience of making kaya. I have made a few attempts before back in Kuching but all failed miserably.

I had everything right, ingredients ... measurements ... but the kaya just did not turn out right.

It was supposed to turn out like a paste, with jam-like consistency but it looked more like a egg custard. Ooooohhhhh, failure is bitter.

This time round, I made sure I understudied my mum aggressively for two months.

Hooohooooo, success is sweet!

Bubbles @ Musikhaus

I brought Sofia back to Musikhaus again today, to let her try another child development program similar to Kindermusik. The last time when we came, we put her in "Village" class and she was all over the place. So the principal asked us to try "Bubbles" this round which is more suitable for toddlers who can walk already.

The class went ok but I think Sofia was a bit scared of the teacher who was a bit on the loud side. So much so that she cried quite badly during some activities at the beginning. We brought her out of the room, gave her a Mickey mouse sticker and she felt much better after that. We joined the class again, fortunately the remaining activites were more suitable for a first-timer like her and we could actually see her smiling. Phew!

In the end, I decided to sign up for a 10-class course for Sofia, to keep her occupied and stimulated rather than being cooped up at home disturbing FeFe all day long.

Home Alone, Almost ...

It has been a quiet week since Daddy is away. I try not to venture too far away or to places I am not familiar with in his absence, in case I get lost and end up in land of no where. This is my mum's last week in KL with me and I tried to show her around as much as possible. It has been a great two months and she helped me a lot with cooking and taking care of Sofia, while I was tied up with househould stuff or work. I know she misses home, her friends, and Singapore TV programs, etc.. Yes, my house is one of those which do not have Astro installed. I cannot find the time to watch TV, neither does Daddy, so we decided not to have it installed and see how it goes. Surprisingly, we are fine so far! My mum certainly likes Astro, there is a Hokkein channel and she likes the program they air.

Anyhow, I tried to keep her more occupied by teaching her how to read Lianhe Zaobao on the internet and I think she enjoys it! At least it helps her to keep in touch with the happenings back home.

We also brought her to the Mid-Valley Megamall, Gardens, Pavilion, Sunway Pyramid, etc and introduced KL shopping to her. Hopefully the next time she is here I will know my way around better and make her stay more interesting.

I reluctantly send my mum to the Aeroline pickup point at BU during noon, it was hard to say bye-bye cos it felt so alone without a family member with me. Of course Sofia is by my side but it is different. She can't give me an opinion when I need one or help me plan the meals next day. Guess I just have to bear with it for the time being till Daddy returns.

A Trip to "France"

It was weekend again and the weather was good. We came to learn of this French-themed resort, Colmar Tropicale by Berjaya, couple of days ago and was glad it takes about 40 mins to drive there. So Daddy and I decided to hit the road again and bring everyone there for some fun. I promised Daddy to share part of the driving so that he too, can enjoy the ride.

The trip took longer than 40mins cos the last 10km was uphill and windy, Daddy had to be very careful when navigating the curves and watch out for oncoming traffic. But the view was fantastic! We were also surprised that Genting was quite nearby but via a different branch on the road.

We reached there after more than an hour's ride, the resort certainly looks interesting from far! Then Daddy asked me why didn't we plan for a night's stay here instead of a day trip? I was not keen on spending nights away from home partly becos food preparation for Sofia would be troublesome and I am not sure if the place is interesting enough to spend so much time there.

Fortunately, we made it a day trip cos we finished exploring the entire resort within 15 mins. There was a pond with fishes and few swans which kept Sofia entertained for a while, but there was practically no entertainment for adults except for golf and spa. Or did we not know about it? The golf course was huge and looked very inviting, but we were not golfers. Food wise, it was bad. There were few choices and queue was long and food was not tasty. We tried the pizza restaurant and it was the worst pizza we had for as long as we can remember.
Despite all these, we enjoyed the cold air at 2,600 feet above sea level. Unfortunately just as we were going to the rabbit farm and horse trail after lunch, it began to rain ...
We packed everyone into the car and drove around the hills, hoping it would stop after some time and we can visit the rest of the attractions. But our precious cargo, Sofia was sound asleep by then and we had no choice but to call it a day.

It was a good chance to have Daddy and Sofia spend some time together cos Daddy is travelling again and she will be missing him badly!

Cold Food

Have you ever been served cold french toast with kaya and cold pie? It was my second encounter today and I promised myself to write this down to remind me NOT to eat the food served on the country's national carrier anymore. I hope this is only happening on the domestic flights in Malaysia and not on the international flights. If it does, it would really be a disgrace.

I have grown to like kaya on toast over the last few years and have been working hard to master the skill of making kaya from my mum. Kaya is best eaten on charcoal grilled bread with a generous helping of butter. To perfect the picture, a cup of hot coffee from freshly grind coffee beans would fit best. But the air stewardess served everyone a cold and limp french toast with a dash of kaya. As I tried to swallow my first bite, I wonder in my mind when was this toast made, 12 hours ago?

On the way back to KL, I had hope these guys would serve everyone warm dinner. After all, the flight was delayed for more than an hour. Were they late cos the chief was trying to whip up a good dinner for everyone?
"Hi Madm, would you like to have a pie or a sandwich?", the pretty air stewardess asked.
"A pie would be good!", the pie lover in me answered.
Unfortunately, the lovely picture of a hot sizzling pie vanished from my head the moment it was served. It looked cold, as if it has not entered the oven at all and felt cold. I really felt reluctant to give up on the innocent pie and tasted a piece of the crust. IT WAS REALLY COLD!!!

This is it! The next time I step into the national carrier for domestic flights within Malaysia, I am going to BRING MY OWN FOOD!

Brush! Brush! Brush!

Sofia loves to brush her teeth, more so if I put some toothpaste for her. She will suck the toothpast off the brush first and enjoy it before getting into action.

You should look at the way she brush, like someone cleaning the toilet bowl? Haha. And she can brush for a long long time, so long that her saliva comes dripping down from her chin!!!