Back On Track

After my appointment with Prof yesterday, we are now back on track.... For what, you may ask? Well, for me to get pregnant again of course!! LOL LOL LOL

Seriously though, Prof has given his OK and has started me on metformine and prescribed fert pills to help along. I now have to maintain a constant sugar reading of between 4 -5 to minimise any risks related to my diabetes.

It was a surprisingly short wait at the hospital, so we managed to get home before the peak hour traffic, and since hubby was going back into the office leaving us girls at home, I only made noodles for dinner.

BEEF & VEGETABLES NOODLE SOUP
you need:
3 - 4 'pieces' of mee suah, rinsed briefly
200g beef slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1-inch piece ginger, sliced
1 Tbs oyster sauce
500ml water
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
veggies of your choice - i used frozen corn and peas
how to:
heat both oils in a pot and fry the garlic and ginger. add in the beef
slices and brown well. add in the oyster sauce and water and bring up to boil.
if using carrots, then add in now. as i was using frozen corn and peas, i only
added them just before i added in the noodles.

once the broth has boiled, check seasoning and add in the veggies and
noodles, and simmer briefly until noodles are done. the noodles i used i.e. mee
suah tend to get mushy really fast so i only cooked them for about 2 minutes,
then quickly served.

Aina was being her cheeky self yesterday so she only ate a few mouthfuls, then only slurped the broth. After dinner, she asked for a box of (Mama's) low fat milk and drank that :-s

AM

Saturday at The Curve

It was unplanned.

Aina was making a fuss about going to TokMi's (something she's started to do every weekend now) and since Babah had to work so he said he'll send us and come pick us up after his stint at PWTC.

It was off to The Curve with Mama, TokMi and TokYah...... :-)

After the photo stop in front of e@Curve, we headed to Tao located inside e@Curve for our late breakfast of coffee (iced chocolate for Mama & Aina) and croissants. The patio was a nice place to have coffee (or even iced chocolate ;-P) but not very child friendly as the seats were high, set with high tables. Yes, the place was a club/lounge in the evening, but I think alternative seating arrangements should be made available for the 'day crowd' which will obviously mean families bringing in kids. At the moment, they are having special promo on the coffee & croissants which claim to be the 'cheapest in town' for only RM5 per set. You can choose from latte, cappucino, etc. I am not a coffee person, so I stuck to my iced chocolate which was a wonderful not-so-sweet concoction with a nice dollop of vanilla ice-cream on top :-D

Aina has fascination with all things Christmas I think, and she loves to touch the sparkly decoration and ornaments (which kid doesn't right??)

TokMi bought her a cute Christmas 'sock' with a candy cane and bittersweet chocolate in it. She seemed a bit overwhelmed at all the deco around her, so in most pics she kida looks 'lost' LOL

see what I mean.............?

TokMi took Aina into one of the kiosks selling ornaments and deco, and bought Aina a small set of deco to play with

in the second pic above, Aina is seating down with Mama's huge shopping bag on her shoulder. In the huge bag is her sock of candy & chocolate, and her little box of tree deco, LOL LOL

Our lunch at Sakae Sushi :-D Aina shared Mama's Beef Ramen
I have just one comment about Sakae Sushi - the servers should make it a point to check if the customer is familiar with their way of ordering i.e. vie the individual computers set up at the tables. Good thing I'd been to one of their outlets, or else we'd be so upset that no one came by to take our orders, LOL LOL LOL

Nicely decorated tiny Christmas Tree

The red decorations were the ones TokMi bought for Aina to play with.

And before someone goes of ranting about that little tree, please just think of it as just a toy! Besides, duit raya, ang pows and Christmas presents have always been a part of our family since we come from a mixed parentage. Half of our family are Chinese Catholics so we observe almost all major holidays in the calendar just for the sake of enjoying the spirit of family and merriment :-D

And.... while Mama was Facebooking while watching TV and TokMi took a short nap,

after Aina's 'handy work' of opening up the 'presents' LOL

Needless to say we had a huge shock, not to mention a very comical moment when Aina proudly told TokMi to wake up to see her 'surprise' for TokMi! LOL LOL LOL

She's opened up all the 'wrapped presents' in red paper to see what were the 'gifts' inside, only to find small blocks of styrofoam which she proceeded to breakdown and scatter all over TokMi's room.... :-p

feigning ignorance after the damage

We all soon got ready again to go out for dinner at Aina's favourite place. As soon as we got up the escalators to the ground floor of 1 Utama in front of the Supermarket, Aina confidently led the way, LOL LOL LOL

what's left of Aina's dinner @ Chicken Rice Shop

On the way home, we stopped by Cake Sense to buy Aina's donuts....
Aina enjoying her donut while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD

...and this is how she looked when Babah came to pick us up :-D

Babah decided to go to the Drive-thru to get Berries McFlurry and a Large Coke, both of which was also enjoyed by Aina... LOL

pssst... she'd actually rubbed her face on TokMi's back when she hid behind TokMi during a suspenseful scene on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (yup, MICKEY MOUSE!!!), and TokMi had jsut poured powder on herself. Hence, Aina's 'powdered look' LOL LOL LOL

Menu Makan-Makan....

Yesterday we had a simple menu made up in my head along the way home as I was stuck in the crazy after-rain traffic jam. It was also due to the crowd visiting the KL International Motor Show. Imagine, it took me a full 20 mins just to clear the parking ramp and get onto the road!! I only managed to reach hubby's office at 6.05pm, by which time we'd usually already be at the toll plaza nearing our home :-s

Anyway, in the morning I'd asked Ana to take out a container of beef from the freezer. I was supposed to go buy veggies but I was too lazy to cross the road during lunch to go visit Cold Storage, then I was too tired from traffic to stop at the shops on the way home. In the end, we ended up with an impromptu peas & carrots dish LOL

Beef Curry
you need:
200g beef slices (I used tenderloin)
2 Tbs sweet soy sauce - marinade
1 tsp thick soy sauce - marinade
1 pc cinnamon stick
1 stalk curry leaves
to blend:
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small piece ginger
1/2 pkt meat curry powder (I used alagappa's)
1 Tbs. Nek Nor prepared
sambal tumis (optional - I used this in lieu of chilli paste!)
1/4 - 1/2 pkt santan (I used the reduced fat M&S brand)
1/4 tsp stevia leaves (or sugar/sweetener) - optional
salt, to taste

how to:
heat oil in a pot and bring up to almost smoking. add in the cinnamon stick and reduce heat slightly. add in the blended paste with the sambal and curry leaves. fry till fragrant and almost dry. add in the marinated beef together with the sauce. cook until beef is almost done, add in the santan and seasoning and finish cooking, making sure to stir the sauce so that the coconut milk does not split.

It was a most satisfying meal, and since I used beef tenderloin, it didn't take long to prepare.

Oh yes, the latest craze at the office is this...... LOL LOL LOL

Yup, it's crazy!! And it aint' cheap ok!!! It costs RM0.80 per piece and that's daylight robbery if you consider the fact that you can buy a whole solid piece for RM1 (RM0.60 sen if you know where), cut it in half and just make a little batter, add some spices and deep fry to get the same results!! LOL LOL LOL BUT, I guess laziness and convenience prevails, and thus our Cafe gets to make a huge profit on something that costs basically nothing :-D :-D :-D

AM

Aina Visit Tok Nek Kedah.....

On Monday morning, we left Penang for KL but had a dozen stops along the way that it took us 7 hours to reach home LOL LOL LOL

Our first stop was of course Tok's house in Bandar Baharu. Well, it's actually in Lubuk Buntar, but since the exit we take is at Bandar Baharu, it's easier to just say that LOL

Aina had a great time exploring Tok's house ~ playing on the swing, gallivanting in the yard, playing other people's toys.

After Tok's house, we back tracked a bit to go to my Mak Su's house as Mom wanted to get some roselle buds to make syrup for Qesha. We had an early lunch there before continuing our journey back to KL. No, we did not eat at Mak Su's house, we just went to the nearby warung.

We made a dozen more stops along the way, and finally reached home around 4.45pm. Dinner was takeaway from Penang Village as we were all too tired to do anything LOL.

Tuesday morning, Mom took Aina to 1 Utama to go buy Aina's trucks and tractor which she'd promised from the day before. Mom just LOVES to buy stuff for Aina, which I always tell Mom is a waste of money because Aina has the attention span of any typical 2-year old!! LOL

Anyway, Aina had fun looking at all the "Mismas" decorations, and if you see the pics below, she'll make sure to pose with an ornament in her hand LOL LOL LOL

I have asked Babah if he'll be free this weekend as I plan to take Aina to go see more "Mismas" decorations near our place.We'll just have to wait and see if that works out.....

Till then, take care to all....

AM

Aina Goes to Penang..... :-)

On Saturday, we left for Penang at 7.00am with a pit stop of sorts in Ipoh to visit Grandma (maternal). When we arrived Ipoh, we were shocked to see that her water pipe had been stolen, leaving an impromptu water fountain in front of her house, threatening to flood her entire front lawn.



Fortunately, she'd called my uncle to come over and Dad made the initial call to Syabas to make the necessary repairs. Good thing her water meter was left behind, or else we'd have to make a police report :-s



After ensuring that all was in order, we continued our journey to Penang.



Dad had targetted to arrive Juru in time for lunch, so that we could have lunch at his favourite stall which served piping-hot deep fried pomfret with a whole lot of other kampung dishes. Needless to say, we were all stuffed! Even Aina enjoyed her rice with fried chicken :-D



It was onward to Penang after lunch, and traffic was not as bad as expected on the Bridge. We arrived around 12.30pm, dropped our stuff in the apartment and left Ana with Mom's maid before heading to Tesco to buy some basic essentials.



After resting for a bit, we headed to Tg. Tokong, Mom's favourite seafood place. Aina, who'd fallen asleep in the car on t he way there, looked totally lost when she woke up!! LOL

We ordered two plates of grilled prawns, 1kg of baked crabs, 10 sticks of chicken satay (Aina's menu) and 2 pcs of grilled stingray. Needless to say, it was all gone by the end of the meal :-p

This is the name of the restaurant, located by the sea next to a Chinese temple. To get here is a bit tricky, and the only reason we know of this place is that Mom used to come here as a child LOL So, you can imagine how many generations have been running this place....

After our meal, I had Aina pose with Ana since she didn't get the chance to play by the beach as it was drizzling lightly. The retaining wall that the two are perched on is new. It was damaged previously during the tsunami.

This is the view of the carpark from the restaurant :-D

On Sunday, our breakfast was from Jelutong Market ~ nasi lemak and murtabak. Aina had a bit of kuih as well. Then, we headed to Alor Setar to visit Dad's uncle. Mom wanted to stop and have her bowl of laksa and beehoon soup in Town but since it was still too early, we gave that stop a miss and headed straight to my granduncle's place.

Then, it was time for lunch. We left the house in Bee Bee Park and headed to a nice, cozy under-the-shade restaurant in town which served a lot of dishes ranging from gulai to ikan bakar, to kerabu and masak lemak. Great! Imagine, there were 5 adults who had all things imaginable in one plate, plus drinks... and the bill was (approx.) RM37 :-D :-D :-D

We then left for Kulim to visit my Tok Su who'd just gotten back from his Hajj, then detoured to Junjung to visit my Tok Cik who also just got back from the same trip. By the time we reached Junjung though, Aina had fallen asleep so I waited with her in the car while Mom and Dad went down to chat for a while.

That afternoon, we arrived back to the apartment at 4.30pm and rested a bit before our next gastronomic adventure... :-)

We left the apartment around 6.00pm and headed to the insudtrial area opposite Pulau Jerejak. There's a small stretch of beach there where Aina can play for a bit before we head for the Ikan Bakar place not far from the beach area.

Dinner was a simple (??) fare of grilled siakap, grilled pomfret, grilled stingray, 1 bowl of tom yam soup, 1 bowl of mixed veg soup and 2 plates of white rice divided among us...

I am really sorry that there aren't that many pics of our plates and food but honestly, it was much more fun to just dig in and enjoy the meal that I'd only remember to snap the pic when my hands were all stained with food or the plate was already empty!! LOL LOL LOL

Yep, our trip this time did not involve the visit to Line Clear or even Kassim Mustafa as this time around we were looking for the 'other' stuff to binge on :-D We only managed to sneak in a trip to Chowrasta to buy the compulsory jeruk jeruk the morning before going to Alor Setar.

In my next entry, I'll write about Aina's visit to Tok's place in Kedah.........

AM

Take A Break....

Nope, not with the familiar red & white choc wafer bar but with these.........

a steaming hot mug of MILO

(accompanied by my purple gloxinia and CD of popular hindi songs)

MY HOT MILO:

4 tsp. MILO

3 tsp. milk powder

1 pkt. stevia (or sugar/sweetener of your choice) -
optional

150ml hot water

~ stir well and enjoy!!!

a hot cup of mushroom soup

(with wholemeal bread if I am too lazy to go out for lunch!)

Work has been piling up, so these are 'reinforcements' to keep me going at work. It'll be crazy-busy until April/May 2011, after which we will start to slow down again....

Pray hard for all of us, and let's hope we make our upcoming projects ROOCCCKKKK!!!!

p.s. BORNEO, here we come!!!

AM

Aina Rides the Train...

Sunday morning, as planned, we took Aina for her long-awaited train ride. We decided that since it was a Sunday, the commuter might not be the best choice since the wait might be too long. So it was just the LRT from Kelana Jaya to KLCC.

As expected, Aina was excited. But as soon as the train started moving, she immediately became quiet. She slowly ate her MILO cereal one at a time, eyes focused straight ahead, moving only to feed herself. It was so weird!!! And she only looked around by sneaking side glances...! Really weird! And her Babah oculd not stop laughing at her.... :-p

We arrived KLCC, and Aina got back her spunk, happily jumping and running. We looked around to buy me a pair of sandals but nothing caught my eye, so we headed over to Chilli's for lunch. For starters, we had the beef queso with chips; Aina had the hotdog from the kids menu; Babah had grilled lamb; Mama had the smokehouse steak; and for dessert, we had the molten chocolate cake. The cake was yummy, but SO BLOODY SWEET!!!

During lunch, we told Aina that we'll be going back on the train after lunch to go home. She immediately frowned and said "no... no...". We burst out laughing, not quite knowing what to do if she decided to scream when we got on the train.

Before leaving, I stopped at the baby room to change her diaper, then made her formula in case she'd want it later. She was tired and sleepy by then so when we wanted to leave she was grumpy and started crying as she was happily playing with the things in the baby room. So, to keep peace, we took her to Toys R Us. Babah was not too sure about my choice but I said that Aina will only take what she wants, IF she wants something. She'll not grab everything in sight and throw a fit if we say "no". Aina will play with everything she can play that is on display, but if you ask her if she want's it, she'll say "no..." and move on to another toy. If and when something catched her fancy, she'll take it and say "bayar Mama", so you know it's check out time :-)

Thank God, so far she's only wanted toys that can fit Mama's 'pocket' LOL LOL LOL

Anyway, after purchasing her baby set, we left and safely got on the LRT. She immediately dozed off in my lap, and all the way, it was raining heavily. We were worried, since we didn't have an umbrella with us, but I did have Aina's raincoat in her diaper bag. Thankfully, by the time we reached Kelana Jaya, the rained had subsided a bit, so Babah went off to get the car while we waited under a bit of shelter. Aina was already awake by then and she looked around and told me "Mama, raining". Yes, I acknowledged that it was, then she asked me "um-bey-ya?" No, I told her we had no umbrella so Babah had gone to take the car.

We arrived home safely around 2pm, and Aina immedaitely told her Kakak Ana to open her new baby's packaging and started to play with it. Needless to say, that occupied her for hours after that.... ahahhahahhaaa....

Next weekend, Aina might be going on a trip so watch this space :-)

AM