Sun Motor Hunt 2009

Some of you may know that we are fans of treasure hunting. Not the type involving maps and shovels and 'X marks the spot' of course, but those involving tulips and cryptic clues! Not surprising, since I am a huge fan of word games. I absolutely love games like Scrabble and Boggle; my mum taught my sis and I how to play when we were little kids, and I've been hooked ever since! :)

Back to hunting- well we don't get to hunt much, but it certainly is something that we would like to get into more. This year, we finally had the opportunity to join the famed Sun Motor Hunt; and boy, what a great time we had! I was looking forward to the hunt for weeks and we made the necesssary care arrangements for the baby so that we could have a day off to go hunting. The hunt was stressful and tiring of course, but it really was so much fun :)

The hunt was divided into two legs- with Leg 1 further divided into two parts. Our time management was rather poor and we spent more time than we should have at Part 1, resulting in a domino effect that saw us rushing through the last few questions of the hunt, thus missing some simple questions! Drat. Ah well, I suppose practice makes perfect....

Almost 300 cars participated in the hunt..

We ended up in the top 100, and given that this was our first attempt at the Sun Motor Hunt, I thought this wasn't too bad at all. We won Samsung vacuum cleaners, which we gave to each of our mums, since they both could do with one :)

Here's a question that drove us all nuts:

Q: Property of topsy turvy fish found right here
A: Lot 733

Stumped? Read 733 upside down...

Guess we have to pay a lot more $$ in treasure hunting tuition fees! (I.e. pay $$ to enter more hunts to learn)

Our new Nikon D5000

We finally decided to go out on a limb and buy a DSLR camera, despite our Panasonic Lumix being only about 2 years old. The excuse? Indoor shots of the baby look so much clearer. Ahem. Plus, there was a Nikon Fair at Midvalley, and there were pretty good deals on offer, so it seemed like a good opportunity to get one.

After much research, we settled for the Nikon D5000. It’s a pretty decent camera with Live View mode and video recording.

Suffice to say, we're having quite a fair bit of fun with it...

Has it been almost 7 months already?

The little one will be almost 7 months old soon. Wow. It seems like only yesterday when he was this tiny little thing that could fit into the crook of my one arm. He's growing well and fast; praise God. He looks like a little boy (as opposed to a little baby) already... Children really grow up too fast; sigh.

Some updates:

• He is rolling all over the place now, so we have to watch him even more carefully. He's also sitting rather sturdily, although he still topples over sometimes. Haha.
• We've managed to wean him off his pacifier, which has not been an easy task. Phew. He has taken to sucking on his lips instead, which is quite funny to watch. Without the pacifier, putting him to sleep can be dreadfully tough at times, and sometimes I just feel like screaming my head off. But we haven't caved in yet.. hope it stays that way. The downside is that we need a bit more time to put him back to sleep when he stirs in the middle of the night (sometimes I have to cradle him for a while), plus somehow he always seems to get up around 5-ish, and we end up putting him on our bed so that we can continue to get some sleep. All in all, that makes it two wakings for me- and although short, they are certainly disruptive to a good night's sleep. Am feeling more tired than usual as a result. Sigh.

That aside, it has really been lovely to see him grow and develop.

• He has a rather peculiar habit of curling up his toes and clenching his fists when drinking milk. So 'kan cheong'....
• He loves exercising his legs- he kicks really hard, sometimes even when he is being carried; his legs can look like fleshy windscreen wipers! Our dear Michelin baby :) He also enjoys swinging his legs, which he can do quite well when he's sitting on the edge of a lap and his legs are free to dangle.
• Blowing raspberries is another favourite pastime of his. There are days when he's at it all day..
• He likes to 'talk'. So much babbling- not funny when you're trying to sleep! Yak yak yak :)
• He's been eating solids for about a month now, and he really loves it. Yum. Except broccoli. He cried after just one spoonful. Can't blame him, I'm not a big broccoli fan either. :p
• Bathtime is something he really enjoys- especially when it comes to kicking up a big splash. Tsunami in the bathtub I tell you...
• For some reason he's starting to make 'smacking' motions with his arms.. thus ending up 'smacking' himself on the tummy or his sides.. or our faces! With his arms flailing wildly, looks like he's trying to fly! :)
• He's figured out to turn himself in all directions in his cot, sometimes ending up with a hand or leg stuck in between the bars. So dangerous, gosh. Cot bumper? Doesn't help much. He now folds the thing up to check out the scenery outside the cot.. and plays peek-a-boo!
• Absolutely adore his chuckles.. he enjoys us tickling him, blowing on his tummy or face, making funny faces, pretending to nibble on his toes or dancing while being carried in our arms. So cute.

We love him so very, very much.

Teambuilding retreat in Kuantan

Recently I had the privilege to join my company's senior management team for their teambuilding retreat in Kuantan. There was lots of eating, singing, dancing, and many cool games.

The most memorable game was the 'Caterpillar Walk', which featured team members sandwiching balloons between them and completing a walk that involved picking stuff up from the ground. Not easy when there are 5 people moving up and down in tandem, while trying not to drop or burst the balloons! Plus... picking up a large coconut with one hand makes the task harder.. haha :p The grand finale to this game involved crushing against each other to break the balloons; now this was really really hilarious! I bet some of the photos, if seen by others who were not there, could easily lead to- *ahem* -dodgy conclusions!

We were also given the task of building a rollercoaster out of straws and masking tape.. and here is our creation! Cool, huh? Thanks to our team leader, who is, amongst many other things, an engineer by training as well...

A rollercoaster by another team; note the disconnected track..

which they argued provided a thrilling twist to the ride! Haha :)

We didn't win this challenge however.. we lost points for using up too many straws! Not environmentally-friendly enough, apparently. Cheh. We were most unhappy with the result. Hmmph.

We also had a 3km beach run at 6 a.m. on the first morning! Imagine that. Plus all the other games- bowling, beach volleyball, etc.. it was really tiring. Most of us were limping towards the end of the retreat, haha.

It was hectic, but I certainly had a few fun-filled days. I also had the opportunity to get to know my colleagues better; it was certainly eye-opening to see their quirky sides :)

And hubby managed the little one all by himself while I was away- well done!

Mooncake Mania!

For some reason we ended up having a lot of mooncakes this year. Too many, I might add. In fact, I think I still have 3 in the kitchen.. I blame the mooncakes for my recent weight gain. Cheh :p

Anyway, I didn't realise that mooncakes came in so many flavours these days! There are even some that come with meat floss, which sound odd but actually taste really nice. Another one of my favourites is Tai Thong's Jade Custard. I tried their new Honeydew & Peach flavour- and truth be told, that turned out to be quite yucky. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Here are some lovely snow skin mooncakes that were yummy.. with exotic names like 'Red Lantern- Snow Skin Kirsch Lotus Paste with Cheese & Raspberry' and 'Blue Moon- Snow Skin Lotus Amaretto Paste with Blueberry Cheese Feuillantine'.

And the packaging! So elaborate. I ended up buying this box of 4 since the pink box was just so cute. One particular flavour here stood out- 'Bamboo Charcoal Hazelnut', which had a pitch black exterior and a lovely chocolatey centre.

Can recycle this to store little trinkets..

We also considered buying a lantern for the little one to play with, and checked out the new canggih-manggih designs that were out there for sale. Wow, there are battery-operated fish lanterns that have wheels, plus moving fins and tails! RM30+! Crazy. Toys have certainly come a long way since the time we were kids. Hmm.

We didn't end up buying a lantern in the end (will wait till he's older).. but his grandma surprised him with one. How sweet :)

A chicken that flaps its wings and turns its head; plus it does something rather strange- it tilts forwards and the beak touches the floor, thus causing the chicken to go backwards! Until now we're not sure if that's how it's supposed to work.. but hey, it keeps him occupied! :)

Our little darling turns 5 months old today...

Time flies. The little one is already 5 months old. He's growing well, and so far, he's a pretty good-natured baby. Hope it stays that way...

According to my mum, he's already learnt to turn over, but I'm still waiting to see it with my own eyes though. Hmm. A bit sad that I don't have the privilege of witnessing that first turn, but hopefully I don't end up missing too many 'firsts' along the way. Sigh- the downside of being a working mum.

There's really nothing better than to give him a cuddle at the end of a long day at work (though I suspect it probably benefits me more than it does him.. haha). Better give him as many as I can while he still lets me...

Thumbs up for Up!

Have you watched Up yet? If you haven't, you really ought to see it. It's a lovely movie; funny, heartwarming and thought-provoking all at once.

*spoiler alert*

Flying away with the help of balloons? Cool! Talking dogs? Errr... And the scene with the two old men fighting was just hilarious! Incidentally, Russell- the little kid, made me think of my little boy.. round face with 'no double-eyelid eyes' (Where are they?? They keep disappearing when he opens his eyes wide. No hope la...) Haha :p

On a more serious note though, I wonder what a scrapbook of my life would look like. What will I file away under 'Stuff I'm Going To Do'? Hmm. I remember the exact moment when old Mr Fredricksen discovered his late wife's cherished memories.. and it got me thinking. Life may not turn out the way we expect it to, or the way we hoped; but there will always be something wonderful to be discovered, if we choose to open our hearts to it.

p/s: If you're going to watch Up, remember to be there early. The short film screened before the movie is just precious :)

Back to Banquet

It was mum-in-law's birthday recently, and we ended up having a quiet and pleasant meal at Banquet, Bangsar Village II. It's quite a challenge to bring the little one out; there are other factors to consider when deciding on where to eat, besides the obvious- the food! Haha. Banquet is quite spacious, and Bangsar Village II is rather nice and quiet, unlike some other malls which are insanely crowded.

We had the Baked Escargot with Parsley Butter Sauce and the Honey Truffle Prawns for starters; the escargots were yummy and garlicky, and the prawns were simply divine! Lightly fried and coated with honey, this was definitely the highlight of the meal for me. I virtually ate all the vegetables that came with the prawns and used them to mop up the sauce! *drool*

Garlicky escargots

Honey Truffle Prawns- delicious!

I went for something rather boring- pasta; so I won't bother to go into details here. I'm just a huge pasta fan.. sometimes I really have half a mind to move to Italy. Anyway, hubby went for the Burgundy Cheek of Wagyu, which I thought was nicer than the one we tasted at Café Café.

The best part was that our little boy fell asleep when we started our meal, and stayed asleep throughout until it was time to cut the cake. Such a dear, huh? :)

Harry Potter, Angels & Demons

After a fair amount of planning and co-ordination, we managed to find time to watch 2 movies recently- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Angels & Demons. Harry Potter wasn't really that great; it was more of a teenage love story or sorts. Plus, it was rather weird seeing sweet and smart Hermione getting her knickers in a twist over Ron. Hmm. I went back and ended up reading the last book just to refresh my memory on what happens next. Oh gosh, I'm so excited- can't wait for the next 2 movies! In case you didn't know, they're breaking the last book into 2 movies. Hope they are as action-packed as the book.. :)

Angels & Demons was also a bit of a disappointment. Director Ron Howard certainly took quite a few liberties with the storyline. There were just too many 'Eh?' moments for me. What a shame- the book was simply amazing. I remembered being glued to it, devouring page after page. The Camerlengo's speech in the book was wonderfully heartfelt and thought-provoking, but it was hardly featured in the film (if my memory serves me right).

Ah well, at least Rome was captured beautifully in the film. And Tom Hanks' hair looks less ridiculous now... Heh.

Cute cupcakes!

I ordered these gift sets for my colleagues; didn't make it in time for the traditional full-moon, but hey, better late than never. The problem was there was no delivery service available, so I had to go and pick them up myself.

The cupcakes looked so cute, and they tasted quite nice as well. Not too sweet :)

Took a photo of all the different designs, don't they look too cute to be eaten? Haha.