Of rest(au)rants!

Now, I don't usually brag over a new place that I have tried.
But this one is worth mention.
I have heard of the excellent durian cake from this place some 4-5 years ago.
Recently in one of my old school friend meetings, we had intended to meet here.

But fate had it that I never made it there till now.

BonBon, located in Damansara Jaya, near Atria.

Indeed a place where great food and great people meet.

It seemed that everyone knew the owner in the short 45 minutes that we sat there.
And there was even one older couple who walked in and asked if the owner had reserved his favourite slice of cake for him!

The menu is not that extensive. The cake menu on the other hand is to 'die' for!

The breakfast menu looked good,

but we arrived too many minutes late for us to order from the breakfast menu.

So, we opted for the set lunches.

Hubby's rosemary chicken set lunch - with ice lemon tea/coffee/tea and ice cream.

My Sichuan noodles which was slightly spicy and totally YUMMY !!!

It's a pity they don't have this permanently on the menu!

Local set lunches are dependent on what they can cook for the day.

And our desert - vanilla ice cream with chocolate powder.

"Take it from me, it's yummmmmyyy !!!"

Christopher tired all our food due to his unceasing "mummumm, mummumm!"

****
And on Sunday, while everyone was out,

Christopher was following me around

And he saw that I brought out my camera.

"Pose boy, we take picture, ok?"
He obliged. And posed perfectly still with just a hint of a smile!

Mummy says "sitting pose, so I shall sit and maybe pray?"

"And another one of me resting ok mummy?"

And so I rant, "I am so proud of you, son! "

Pictures galore

The long promised shot of my 'angel' at the steering wheel.

***Last weekend***

Stumbled upon a new discovery while we were on our way to an electrical shop in SS2,
SS19 Petaling Jaya 888 Food Planet

Highlight of the meal but TOTALLY SPICY!

Fried 'tan' (long shelled clams) with four angle beans and chilli paste (+ little spicy cili padi/small killer chilli)

Above pic : Teppanyaki chicken + rice

Below pic : Pan Mee (+ supposedly real anchovies soup)

AND at last we managed to visit

Sun Yin Loong Kota Damansara

to eat the much talked about

Fried spaghetti with sausages

and (no pic available coz we were too hungry)

fried spaghetti with egg and 'luncheon meat'

VERDICT : Totally yummy! Simon, we will go again!

We wanted to eat there but

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..

..

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When stressed out....

OK, I am stressed.

I know I am stressed when TV stresses me out further.

My heart was beating at the rate of a thick cup of coffee taken on an empty stomach.

Especially so when Ida and Tania got stuck in that irritatingly hot sand! And then when they didn't take the correct flight connection.

And the that irritating couple had to go annouce they are NUMBER 1 !

Oh my gosh, the worse of all egos! And yelling foul names to a person you are dating on national TV sure ain't cool, man!

This is the first time TARA has made me stressed. I mean, TV is meant to make you relaxed no?

But I so did not want G to win. I mean, Tish is find....but oohhhh....the arrogance of G! (bleh!)

It was not a race of who will be the winner. But a race of please beat them so they won't win!

OK....a few months of recuperating and patiently waiting for the next TARA IV.

Some programmes really get you hooked!

Stressed out!

For 3 nights coming, I have slept at 10.30 and woke up at 4+ am.

I am not sure why. Maybe the workload.....

• 2 weeks of giving training followed by
• 1 week of system testing followed by
• 2 weeks of closing the books followed by
• 2 weeks of preparing for system upgrade followed by
• Months of issues following a system upgrade

And all our leave has been frozen till perhaps the moon turns blue or the system stabilizes or I get pregnant and deliver and go on maternity!

Had so much coffee that day that I started to act really weird and say really stupid things.
In fact right now I think I can see myself sitting there typing this to all of you.

What a Christmas this year would be!

Never happened before(s)

So, we left for Ipoh on Friday evening, directly after my day's work.

It was raining and we were caught in a jam just as we hit the highway. But hubby managed to recover the time lost!

We arrived at 7.30 pm. I was FAMISHED !!!

Helped with getting Christopher seated and prepared for his dinner, unloaded the stuff from the car and off we were again.

Aneka Selera, Ipoh Garden, here we come!
It had been ages since I last ate there, partly becuase it is not a very baby friendly place. And we were gaming for some seafood, coz seafood and active toddlers don't match!

Incident #1

We ordered 2 ice kacang, sotong kangkung, balitung, satay and fried soft shell crab.

I have only eaten balitung once in my life. So, I was not very good at it. I tried one or two and couldnt get the sill little morsel out.

After trying a few time, I would pass it on to hubby to get it out for me instead!

Hahaha...after a while hubby was complaining that it was too much trouble eating this silly thing! He was nearly out of breath!

All our laughing and sucking must have caught the attention of the tables nearby coz one by one we saw them ordering balitung as well!

One husband and wife couple was sitting facing us and MY, THEY WERE DOING A FAST JOB!!!

I told hubby if this challenge was in Amazing Race, we would definitely arrive last at the pit stop! :) I looked at the man at the other table sucking, to get some tips on how he did it! The way he was doing it looked different, so I asked hubby to look too!

Hubby tried again and then he showed me perhaps the 'trick' to getting the morsels out!

I looked at him! WHAT !!! You mean you have to suck from the other end?

You see, I was sucking on the wrong end all this while. And even at that tiny hole, I managed to get 1 or 2 morsels out from the shell.

What more if it was supposed to be from the 'bigger' end, the job would have been easy peasy!

GOSH....I am still blaming hubby for not telling me earlier! All the trouble and all the wind in my tummy is still upsetting me!
***
Incident #2

Half way through my "sucking" dinner,I felt my phone vibrate. My hand being slimy and dirty, I left it! Then I felt hubby's phone vibrate. OK....

I finished up a bit more and washed my hands. Took my phone and saw that it was my mum who was calling.

I called back.

Oooohhh.....Christopher was screaming in the background.

According to my mum, he had not stopped crying since we left, after his dinner!

He walked around, pointed to hubby and mine wedding photo and cried.
He walked to the main door, pointed outside and cried.
He stood at the door and cried.
When grandma tried to close the door, he pushed it open and cried.

As soon as we arrived, I called him from outside. He was still waiting at the main door. And he cried.

Into mummy's arms and he smiled.

This happened 2 times throughout our stay in Ipoh. And all other times, we left while he was sleeping.
***
Incident #3

Now Christopher has a nasty bump on his head. Nasty enough to grant me a non-stop nagging Ipoh trip.

So, we had to get a new product for bruises that is in the market now, something called "A-Bruzzy", a traditional medicine for reducing the swelling of bruises. Recommended by an 'aunty' from my parent's church in Ipoh, we bought it at about RM14 and in Watson at KL. Ipoh pharmacists were going "what is that?" though!

We also had to get some gauze and plaster to create a soft cushion there to protect the area in case he hits his forehead again.

And kungkung and popo have also decided to get him Thudguard, a new product to be shipped from UK. This product will cost them RM200+ and would be Christopher's Christmas present from them.

They have never shopped online before or given their credit card number online.

Somethings never happen and will never happen. They have decided to give MY credit card number (since it is already out in cyberspace anyway) and pay me back in cash!

Oh well....

Back to Ipoh II

Just realised that the last time I was back in Ipoh was during Chinese New Year. It has been too long a time. Time for the youngest to meet the oldest again.

My grandma's (mum's side) birthday falls in this month and it would be good for her to celebrate her birthday with her great-grand-son.

The last time we all saw my grandma was when my uncle left for New York. And in the airport, my grandma was putting in alot of effort to make my son laugh and accept her carrying him.

Her efforts really touched my heart. She really loves kids, especially kids of within the same family.

And for all her forgetfulness, she remembered my son's chinese name.

So as a mum, I have to put in the effort too to bring my son over to spend time with her.

A child's laughter brings out the best in us. What wonder.

'Deadly' bite

Just received word my aunt from Malacca is down with chickengunya and denggi. Called her yesterday and it was a sorry state that she described herself to be in.

Fever for 2 weeks since, 3rd week still having fever on and off.
She couldn't walk earler and now can only afford to drag her feet. The pain is like a terrible bout of rheumatism (if it is anything like srthritis rheumatoid, I know how that feels like).
Earlier her face and body was filled with puffy rashes and she said it looked so scary and ugly.

She is a single woman, independent and strong. There was no need for hospitalisation for her given that her body is strong enough to fight off the virus. But she has to depend on someone to take her to the clinic everyday to have her blood tested.

Lesson learnt : Exercise and eat well while you are young. A healthy body is the only hope for us to withstnad whatever we have to face - latest virus wise and old age wise.

Funnies for the weekend

Christopher was tired out. He had been up since 7 am. And mummy who was really teary eyed due to lack of sleep decided to take the short cut and plop him in front of the TV with Fun Song Factory while she went about her business of cooking, boiling barley, making breakfast and getting ready for church, all in the slowest motion possible.

At church, mummy was on ushering duty and daddy was nursing a sprain ankle, so WY helped carry Christopher who was almost going to sleep by then.

Worship ended, congregation clapped.

Up goes Christopher from the crook oh WY's hand, blurry eyed (very much like mummy earlier) and clap!clap!clap! he went. Nothing much happening, snuggle he went back to sleep.

Then there was the introduction of new comers some 10 minutes later. Congregation clapped.

Up goes Christopher from the crook oh WY's hand, blurry eyed (very much like mummy earlier) and clap!clap!clap! he went. Nothing much happening, snuggle he went back to sleep. (again!)

You bet, it created quite a roar from the people sitting behind and beside my son. Want to get invovled, want to clap hand. People clap, I also want to clap. But I am sleepy too....zzzz....
***

Christopher LOVES sitting with daddy at the steering wheel. I know I shouldn;t have indulged in this lack of safety luxury, but we are only allowing him to do it when daddy is in PARK.

So, saturday night and we were on our way back from Puchong. He was a wee bit cranky at 11 pm and wanted his way at the steering wheel. But "NO! Mummy says only when the car has stopped. Now daddy is driving you have to sit quietly, boy!" Crying and arching and tantrums....but after some 5 minutes of telling him repeatedly, he quitened down and accepted his fate!

Snuggled down and decided to nap instead. So, happy were we driving home.

Daddy reached home and parked the car!

POOF, his eyes shot open and ZOOM he made a bee line for the driver's seat! And what a cheeky grin he gave me sitting in his daddy's lap moving teh steering wheel. It didn't help that daddy went "brroommmm....vrroommmmm" and moved the sterring wheel too. So it was a good 10 minutes of fun behind the wheel for him.

"Like that also fun ah?"

But daddy is secretly proud of his son I reckon....coz whenever he wants to go over to sit at the driver's seat, he will distinctively call out "Daddeee....". And what more of a boy can you make of it when he loves to sit with his daddy at the driver's seat and play preted with him.

"Like that also can..."
***

On a mummy proud note, Christopher has started babbling words. It was a "ooohhh" and "aaahhh" and "wwaaaahhh" previously, but now he does try to say a few words.

1) ights (lights)
2) dy bear (teddy bear)
3) ar (star)
4) ound, ound den (round and round the garden)

He also tries singing twinkle, twinkle little star and round and round the garden. And he does actions quite perfectly.

He had to perform on Sunday evening at my inlaws place.
Pat your head.
Where is your shoulders?
Hop little bunny.
Bye bye.
Flying kiss.
....and loads more....

I am not a performing mum, so he was left alone in his little performances with me nagging "Hai, don't make him perform like that lah!" on deaf ears.

(some pics to come soon.)

A moment of silence

Just read Mommykin's postings on the loss of a child.
And also read what the mummy who loss her Matthew wrote in her new blog.

Once a mother, always a mother....even in the description in the blog.

And thank God, we know there is a better place after death.
And that in death, the child is only sent back to Sender.
And the Sender loves the child everlastingly.
Till we meet both of them again.

***
Footprints in the Sand


One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."
- Mary Stevenson

Things are looking up

Everything has more or less cleared up - health wise - in the household.

Thanks to all for your prayers.

So, weekend was back to inlaws, church, swimming and our latest project - house planning!

And Christopher wanted a say and a do in everything!

"I think I want this table and chair, daddy!"

"Maybe we can get this rocking horse as well?"

"Don't I look cool?"

"Mummy has blown up my float. But I still want her beside me! Mummmmeeeeee..."

"My latest conquest! To climb every stairs I see!"