honeymoon at Cyberview Lodge Resort

Every year we celebrate our wedding anniversary with a mini honeymoon. This year, it was a decision between The Saujana (which we have been to twice before) and Cyberview Lodge and we're glad we chose the latter.

We were greeted very warmly at the reception and check-in was quick and pleasant. We were also served a cool ginger drink and offered cold floral-smelling towels to freshen up.

The room was huge. Bigger than any I've ever been to. The bathroom was also very spacious. I love the timber flooring and warm wood furnishings.

Nice huge, flat-panel TV.

Sitting area with mini kichenette. Includes full-sized 1-door fridge.

We had dinner at Bistro Cascata - the romantic fine-dining Italian Restaurant. It was a quiet Sunday night and we had almost the whole restaurant to ourselves.

Complimentary lovely warm bread served with sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and olives.

Caesar Cascata. RM25++

Fettucinne Al Salmone. RM32++

With a 20% discount with Citibank credit cards, the bill came to only RM52.44. Food tasted good and service was excellent.

After a good night's rest (felt a bit weird not having Joseph's feet in my face or his knee poking my back), breakfast was also lovely. No photos because we were busy eating. Juices served included orange, pink guava and starfruit. I tried to eat healthy and stuffed myself with dragonfruit, kiwi, plums and yoghurt.

Posing lazily on the hammock.

Koi pond - our lovely view from inside the Verandah Restaurant while we had our breakfast.

We didn't venture to the spa because pregnancy and spa just don't go together. Besides, it's pretty pricey. We were just happy to lazy around in the spacious room and surf the internet (which is absolutely FREE!). We did go for a swim but the pools although lovely to look at, are really not suitable for swimming because of the lack of depth. Darling says they are more for procreation rather than recreation :-)

Swimming pool looks like fish pond but that's actually because of the stone flooring which makes it non-slippery. Good for pregnant women!

Overall, we had a lovely stay and will certainly keep this place in mind when we need another short break without travelling too far.

If only it could be like this everyday.

fun with chopsticks

We had Dim Sum Eat-All-You-Can for lunch at West Lake Garden Restaurant in Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel today.

On the way to makan...

The food was good. Darling was happy with the fresh oysters and salmon which was quite unexpected in a chinese restaurant.

Joseph was happy to play with the chopsticks.

He said, "Chopsticks can be like see saw".

Chopsticks also can be like drum sticks.

Here I don't know what he's imagining...

He also did enjoy the food.

Here he's feeding himself cake.

And stuffing himself with crackers.

Happy with Nana and KongKong.

We can go home now....da boss is full!

sing song videos

After much persuasion....Joe finally obliged me with these 2 videos...

Little Miss Muffet....




Jonah, Jonah have you heard....Said the Lord "Go preach my word!"
Jonah said "that's not for me", took a ship and flee to sea...

happiness is...

...stuffing my mouth with ice-cream and making a mess!

bedtime fun

Joe always has fun at bedtime. He loves making a mess of my bed....

Sommersault...

Trying to do a hand-stand. He saw this in a book and he said, "hand become leg. Leg become hand."

Climbing 'mountain'...

pics for yee yee to see

This is a rojak kind of post.... no story. Just pictures for yee yee to see.

Four blind mice... taken 13 August 2007 (the day before yee yee went back to Dallas).

Joe arrange his animals..... beauty pageant style! (ignore mess behind!)

Trying to get my hyperactive boy to pose for a picture...

Here you go..... my darling son and me!

Food Foundry Petit

I read about this place in the newspapers last week and decided to check it out. Food Foundry started in Section 17 about 2 years ago and we've been there. The food is good and the prices very reasonable. The only setback about the Section 17 place was the lack of air-con which meant that people could smoke anywhere and I just couldn't bear the stench of cigarette smoke.

So we checked out their new branch in Bangsar. Located in Lorong Kurau, it is set within a row of shop houses in a residential area. The place is nice and quiet and parking is ample and free. Just my kind of place.

I ordered the Carbonara with mushroom and chicken (the pasta changes daily). The portion was more than enough for me and tasted just creamy enough. It cost RM13.90.

Darling had the Grilled Chicken Chop (RM13.90 also). A huge piece of juicy chicken thigh was served on a bed of mashed potatoes.

Unfortunately they didn't have any of their famous Mille Crepe that day so we had to go elsewhere for desserts. We shall certainly go back to try more of their good food. Where else can I enjoy Carbonara for less than RM15 in a nice quiet place with free ample parking?

traffic jam

This is the first and thus far, only time Joe has obediently posed for me to take a picture. He lined up his cars and said, "mama see...I make traffic jam." Then he will point to the car in front and say, "must wait for this car to move".

yong peng again

We spent the Hari Raya weekend in Yong Peng. Joe declared "Ah Koh's house is wonderful! Got monkey....got squirrel....got so many toys..."

It was the usual mess-the-whole-house with Brandon. This time Joe learnt to 'drive' this go-kart kind of car.

He had fun playing 'bang-bang car' with Brandon and also with his father (looks a bit oversized eh?).

Looking like a professor...

I'm hunting for treasure la...

Fun at Ikea

Photos of Joe's latest antics for yee yee's viewing pleasure...

Joe put this huge rubber band on his head and said, "mama see....my hairband."

At Ikea....messing with the display tables and chairs...

Peekaboo....can't find me now!

Hiding again....

Here I am!

Joe likes this slide and tunnel very much.

ahh....finally a trolley that's just nice for me. Come on mama...let's go pay money.

who needs expensive toys?

Everything in the house is a toy for Joseph.

Stools can be wheelbarrows.
Or drums...

Or his gym equipment...

Or simply to make him feel taller.

And the living room is one big obstacle course.

He can single-handedly mess up the entire house but when it's time to clean up, he will say, "Papa, help me." or "Mama, help me."

I read somewhere that boys are born naturally rough and active. It's just an innate nature. I guess I should look on the bright side and thank God that he's strong and healthy....and very imaginative.

grafitti on my table

I came home from work yesterday to find this on my dining table.

So I ask the only potential suspected culprit, "Joseph...why is my table green?"

Joe says, "Mama see....I draw rainbow!"

Mama : ?????? Am I supposed to smack him because I've told him so many times can only colour on paper....or am I supposed to praise his artistic ability....???

To laugh or not to laugh

Joe says the funniest things. I really wonder how he thinks of such things.

• Big bad wolf huff and puff and blow mama down the toilet. (Points to the toilet bowl while he is peeing)
  
  
• Humpty Dumpty sat on the tuffet so cannot fall down. (He's been reading about Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muffet)
  
  
• I open the door bigger and bigger so you can come in. (When I tell him mama is too big for his imaginary car which he 'makes' out of all the pillows on my bed)
  
  
• Mama, you bend down. (When I tell him I'm too tall and the roof of the bus he's driving at Jusco's playland is too low.)
  
  
  
• One nen nen, two nen nen, three nen nen... (He counts his dad's nipples and another mole which is coincidentally the same colour as the nipples).
  
  
  
• Your nen nen look like bumpy road. (What's with Joe and nen nens???)
  
  
  
• My sai look like snake. (He checks out his faeces in the potty)
  
  
  
• Ask Yee Yee to buy checkered shirt for mama and nana. (He and his dad were wearing matching checkered shirts.)
  
  
  
• Nana shirt got hole. Ask Yee Yee to buy new shirt for nana. (When he sees a hole in my mom's old t-shirt)
  
  
  
• Ask Yee Yee buy battery. (Whenever his toys or our clocks run out of battery...haha! He thinks Yee yee prints money!)
  
  
  
• Dear Lord, bless Ah Ku....no more smelly car.... (He prayed on his own after I commented Reuben's car was smelly)
  
  
  

The icing on the cake must certainly be when he tricked Reuben 2 weeks ago. It was the lantern festival and we were downstairs strolling around the pool. He ran to the little playground and I pointed out to him the puddle of water at the bottom of the slide. I told him, "It's wet. Don't slide down." So he didn't. Later when Reuben went to play with him at the slide, Reuben sat at the top of the slide and Joe said, "Ah Ku slide down". As soon as Reuben started to slide, Joe said, "wet wet!". And then splash! Reuben got his bum wet. Joseph laughed. We laughed! Reuben got tricked by a 29-month-old kid.

This photo is for yee yee's viewing pleasure. Reuben has been teaching Joe that this sweet lovely lady next to him is "Ah Ku's girlfriend". "Ah ku's girlfriend" is Joanne.

The cute chubby baby is not theirs. Obviously la.....they're not yet married mah. Reuben 'borrowed' baby Rachel from her parents for this photo.

my cheeky boy

My cheeky boy likes to climb into this position in his highchair. He calls it the 'stuck' position.

We then tickle his backside and he laughs.....happy to be tickled.

Then he'll say, "somebody please come and help me!"

tooth no more

I visited a friend's dental clinic yesterday to have my tooth extracted. Yes, even dentists need extractions.

That's my tooth.....clean, caries-free, perfectly-sound.

Adult human beings have 32 teeth. Or are supposed to have. I happen to be one of those whose jaw is just not large enough to fit all my large teeth. With one lower lateral incisor congenitally missing, I only had to have 3 good premolars extracted for orthodontic treatment. That was completed way back in 1993.

Unfortunately, I also have impacted lower wisdom teeth. Yup, two of them. So after much hesitation, I finally braved myself to have the right one removed by a lecturer when I was a dental student in my third year. I had a horrible post-op experience when I took Ibuprofen for the first time and discovered to my horror that I'm allergic to it. My eyes swelled to the size of golf balls in half an hour. It took a visit to the A&E, a steroid jab and 4 days for the swelling to subside.

A year later, the upper wisdom tooth overerupted and was biting on my lower gums. Another extraction followed.

I kept putting off the surgery for the left side.....until I was about to leave the civil service. I got a friend of mine brave enough to have me as a patient, and the tooth came out in several pieces. That was in July 2006, I think.

Over the past year, the upper right wisdom tooth has again slowly but surely been overerupting. In the last couple of days, it had been causing much pain every time I bite. Looking into my mouth, I could see the indentation of the tooth on my gums.

No choice.....have to take it out even though I'm about 5.5 months pregnant.

Dr Jean is a very gentle and competent dentist friend. It was a rather painless procedure. In fact, her topical anesthetic was so effective, it even numbed my lips and tongue.

So now, I have only 24 teeth left (all caries-free, restoration-free). Joseph has 20 teeth. That's not a huge difference is it?

2 dinners and a winner

Monday night, darling and I decided to go out for our usual date. It had been postponed from the week before because of my stomachache. Izzi's Restaurant @ Damansara Utama was having a fantastic promotion - 75% discount off food for HSBC credit card holders. Being the kiasu people that we are, we decided to dine there. We arrived there at about 7.30pm and was shocked to find a big crowd waiting outside. Not wanting to wait, we eventually ended up at Champ's in Centerpoint Bandar Utama.

I tried the much-talked-about 'Damn Shiok Hokkien Mee' (RM18.90) while darling had the Ipoh Sar Hor Fun (RM16.90). The hokkien mee did live up to it's name. The soup was really damn shiok - sweet, tasty and slightly spicy. The pork ribs were very tender and the meat easily fell off the bone. Prawns were huge and other ingredients were generous.

The Ipoh Sar Hor Fun however was not what we expected. Sar Hor Fun, as we know it, is like the local Wah Tan Hor. This was more like Kuay Teow Theng. Nevertheless, darling thought it was really good. Tasty soup, smooth chicken, naked prawns (that's what it says on the menu) and very smooth hor fun.

The next day, darling had a pleasant surprise when he was announced the winner of this year's Monash University Pro-Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research.

The prize is a RM10 000.00 research grant. Yeah, it's only for his research. Not for my shopping pleasure.

my winner!

Feeling in a celebrative mood, we decided to try Izzi's again. It was also the last day of their fantastic promotion. So this time, we arrived there at about 6pm. No crowd outside, but inside was already full house. The waitress took down my name and told me we'd have to wait about 30minutes.

Just before 6.30pm, they called for us. With rumbling tummies, we (darling, me, my mother and Joe) made our way inside, sat down and quickly placed our order : Izzi Dough Ball (RM6..80), Izzi's Chicken Wings in teriyaki sauce(RM11.80), Caesar Salad with chicken (RM22.60), 2 orders of Spaghetti Carbonara (RM15.80), Pollo Tropicale pizza (RM24.80) and Tofu in Ginger Sauce (RM10.80).

The service was pretty efficient and the food came quickly. The Izzi Dough Ball arrived first. It was soft, fluffly and warm, served with garlic butter.

Next came the Izzi's Chicken wings. Juicy and tender enough. Caesar Salad was also pretty good.

Then came the Spaghetti Carbonara which is our all-time favourite. Joe also liked it very much. He enjoyed feeding himself.

The pizza was so-so. I prefer the crispy thin-crust ones from Domino's. In our excitement, I forgot to take pictures of the food until we were half way thru eating.

clockwise from top right : spaghetti carbonara, Izzi's chicken wings, pizza pollo tropicale, another spaghetti carbonara, Caesar's salad.

The tofu arrived last and I remembered to take a picture of it. This was japanese tofu, fried and drenched in sweet sour ginger sauce. Pretty good.

I was thinking that we might have to tar pau whatever we couldn't finish. But we did finish everything! Yup, everything! And the most satisfying part.....we paid a grand total of only RM28.46 after the fantastic discount!