Our little boy turns 2!

Our little boy turned 2 recently, and we had a simple family get-together on the weekend before his birthday to celebrate.

Hubby got some helium balloons to decorate the house, and the birthday boy was so fascinated by them! Those things kept him occupied for hours on end.

We ordered a chicken pie and bacon quiche from Fatboy- both of which were delicious. We also bought some satay from Satay Station in Mont Kiara- rather pricey at RM1.10 per stick, although they were larger than the average satay elsewhere. I also found a recipe for bacon-wrapped prunes; which sounded rather interesting so I decided to give them a try. They turned out pretty decent; glad I found another addition to my pathetic repertoire of party food! :p

The birthday boy received loads of lovely gifts! A tricyle, a remote-controlled Lamborghini, a pair of sandals, angpows, and a 'Thomas and Friends Big Big Loader'! And all this is not even including what his mummy and daddy bought for him. We adults had SO MUCH fun figuring out how to assemble the 'Big Big Loader'; and watching it go round the track was simply amazing! It could go up and down, round and round, load and unload stuff, plus reverse and perform some sort of 3-point turn to go the opposite direction! Wow, toys have really come a long way! O_o

'Canggih-manggih' toy!

Check out the birthday cake- incorporating planets (which he loves) and Elmo in a rocket! Cute huh? I surfed for ages to find a suitable image of the planets, and another image of Elmo in a rocket; and merged those two together. Hubby did some further touch-up using Photoshop. The cake itself was from Secret Recipe, and it cost us another RM25 for the icing picture. The cake wasn't anything spectacular (Chocolate Banana), but I guess the fun part was the customised picture... :)

Happy birthday darling! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Another year older...

We had dinner with family members at La La Chong for my birthday, and it was great, as usual. No photos though, since we did not bring our DSLR.

But here are some photos (taken using a handphone) of the delicious birthday cake from Lavender bakery in MidValley; with chocolate and orange flavours, and crunchy biscuit bits inside! Reminded me of the Jaffa Cakes I used to eat in London when I was a student.Very nice indeed.

Thanks hubby for planning the dinner!

Sigh.. another year older. Birthdays can get depressing really.. when you think of it as another year closer to the grave. Morbid, I know, but it's true, isn't it?

SIGH.

Birthday lunch at Zipangu, Shangri-La Hotel

I have been dying to try out the Japanese buffet at Shangri-La’s Zipangu for the longest time, so we decided to dine there for my birthday last weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were having a Sakura Spring Promotion from 4th April to 14th May 2011, and that the buffet was 50% off! What a steal!

We were a bit hesitant at first, given the recent situation in Japan, and any potential of consuming ‘radioactive’ foodstuff. We were assured by the staff that the hotel imported food from other countries, so we decided to go ahead.

Posters everywhere explaining that the food was not sourced from Japan...

I really enjoyed myself at the buffet. The selection was rather limited compared to other buffets, but the food was good. The sashimi was delicious and fresh; with a good selection available. The oysters were of a nice size (bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to oysters); and there were scallops as well! I didn’t see my favourite grilled eel- ‘unagi kabayaki’ until much later (after I had dessert!), so when I went back to try that, it tasted yucky! Not surprising, since I was virtually bursting at the seams, and grilled eel has a rather mushy texture which does not go down well on a VERY FULL stomach.

Other highlights were the teppanyaki dishes- in particular the lamb rack teppanyaki. That was really nice; tender and flavourful. The prawn tempura could have been improved; I felt that the batter was slightly too thick, lending it a rather chewy texture. I wouldn’t have said anything if this was any other establishment, but hey, this is the Shangri-La.

And ohhh… the desserts! Again, the selection was not extensive, but I really enjoyed them. Especially the HUGE strawberries! That was absolutely lovely with the cream… ahhhh, strawberries and cream- what a girly dessert!

The ice cream (which you had to order, but is included in the buffet) was delicious as well, especially the green tea flavour. I also liked the various cold fruit-flavoured teas that were on offer- there was cranberry, apple and lychee flavours. Nice and refreshing.

We’re going back again for lunch in May; am definitely looking forward to it!

Craving for a holiday...

I have just spent a week at home with the kids. It's a company policy that I have to take some block leave every year, so I coincided it with my parents' holiday to China.

It has been a rather physically tiring week, with lots of yelling- i.e. phrases like 'Don't play with the wires', 'Cannot beat mei-mei', 'Sit down!', 'Don't put your fingers in your mouth', etc etc. Phew. I really wonder how stay-at-home-mums cope. Hmmm.

I'm seriously craving for a holiday. We're hoping to take a quick break sometime in end Aug, after hubby's exams. I've done loads of research over the past week- we're looking at either Bangkok or Bali. I've even reached the stage where I've drawn up an itinerary! :p

Hopefully we can sort out the babysitting arrangements for the kids...

Family Day 2011

My company organised a Family Day at Sunway Lagoon last weekend. We brought No.1 along (not No.2 though- she's much too young); and we had a great time!

Walking around with 2 backpacks and a stroller was not easy- no thanks to the terrain and the many steps we had to negotiate. Hmmm, not very toddler-friendly.

Our free time started only at about 11 a.m- we did struggle for a bit when the little one was fighting off sleep (he tried, but could not fall asleep); when that passed, he was up and about again. We headed for the Wildlife Park, gazing longingly at the water attractions along the way. It was SOOO hot- wished we could dive right in! And the slides and 'water features' looked like so much fun!

Isn't this water playground so cool?

Our little boy had fun at the aviary, where birds were free to roam around. He followed some birds around, saw chickens (!), swans, etc.

The funniest thing happened when we were at the mandrill (a species of monkey) enclosure. One of them came up to our little boy against the glass and showed its huge pink butt! A 'game' then ensued between monkey and boy- where one paced up and down inside the enclosure, and the other followed outside! It was absolutely hilarious to watch.

The resident pelican

Freaky-looking hairless mouse

We then had a quick lunch (KFC) and went off to explore the Surf Beach. It was our little boy's first contact with sand, and he just sat there, diligently scooping the sand into his yellow pail. We did let him soak his feet in the water for a while, but it was way too hot and he was getting tired, so we decided to get changed and head home. Phew- changing a toddler there was a real challenge. The restrooms were not well-equipped and were not very clean. It was hard wrestling with a wriggly toddler- trying to clean him, change his diaper and clothes, all with him seated in the stroller! >.<

We only managed to see a tiny fraction of the park though, guess we'll be back in the future when the kids are older!