My Chinese New Year (2012)

I actually wanted to blog about something else but nevermind, we can talk about my Chinese New Year celebrations first . This year not so best because my grandmother's neighbor was having a funeral. The chinese usually held funeral for 2-3 days. So no bunga api & mercun to burn to respect the dead & grieving family. Also we couldn't lepak at the porch as usual...so we just stayed indoor, TV pun tak bukak sangat. I don't even took much pictures. No picture of me or my family just because we did not wore hijab on any of the pic. Just some pics of my kids. My cousins were late so i did not took their groovy CNY outfit..believe me, they dress to the nine macam nak nyanyi concert! Most of the activity was eating. We ate, we sembang..that were all we did. Enjoy some pictures below.

WOW...angpows! :D

My uncle giving out ang pows. Every year he would wear quirky  headbands. This year was angry bird, last year was devil's horn i think. Yes, he is a funnyman.

2012 is the year of Water Dragon

What we had during CNY's eve family feast. The ikan bawal steam & its chilli paste were so delicious!

Also, on the day of Chinese New Year we went to our other grandmother (malay side) to have afternoon makan-makan. Lots of yummy food were served and we were full to the max. Dah la malam tu ada BBQ at my chinese family's house pulak. Both side also suka makan, any occasion also mesti makan. Malas nak cakap banyak, just refer to pictures below of what we ate on that noon.

Coney dogs. Yes macam A&W punya but lain sket rasanya.

Fruit salads. Nice!

Makaroni goreng. My favourite!

Agar-agar milo. Super sedap!

Ada jugak fried mihun, lempeng pisang, cakes but tak sempat nak snap semua. One more thing that i want to highlight is that we had good coffee made by Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee maker that we had there. Memang impian coffee lover to have this machine at home. You can have a good coffee ala Starbucks at your own convenience. You can choose either Mocha, Cappucino, Latte or Espresso. The coffee is really good, creamy & foamy, just like those expensive ones. The machine cost about RM300 (not sure of the price) and you also have to buy the capsule (coffee & milk) that cost you RM27 per box of 8 (means you can have 8 cups of coffee). My husband & i actually thought about buying it but rasa macam tak perlu pun ada, dah la capsule die mahal. Anyway, i think it is a good buy if you love coffee and always spend your money to buy good coffee outside (particularly at Starbucks or Coffee Beans). I insert some photos of the machine for your reference. Anyway, i bukan promote or jual this machine ya..just sincerely to share with you all. 

Dolce Gusto coffee maker. Makes good coffee  at home!

                                                 

The behind box contain capsules. 8 capsules for 8  cups of coffee.  I bought Latte Macchiato

Ok dear, that is all. Hungry already? Me...i am craving for coffee right now! Haihhh...

Half Chinese

Today is Friday. Monday is Chinese New Year. Tomorrow starts 4 days of CNY holiday. Every Malaysian knows that. So why i still telling you? Just because....i am excited to go back to my hometown tomorrow to celebrate Chinese New Year with my chinese family. For those in the dark, i am half chinese, my mother is chinese. I know you might think that i don't look chinese at all. Yes i don't, i also wonder why. But most people say i look more like my mother. My mother don't look like typical chinese, doesn't have sepet eyes and round nose. So keluar la me, yang muka more to malay than chinese. In fact, all my siblings don't look that chinese. The closest to chinese is my oldest sister, she has the sepet eyes and she speaks fluent chinese as well. I malas nak insert pic of us siblings because hard to find any decent one. Later on la ok?

Back to the Chinese New Year. We are close with our chinese family. I know some of mixed marriage don't really know their chinese side due to some constrains that only they know why. I don't see any problem with other religion & race. We respect each other and know our boundaries, and my chinese family understands that very clear. So no problem with us mingle around, being close with them and share any celebrations. 

So i am very excited to go back for CNY. Already changed my ang pow money. Yes, i give out ang pows and my children collect ang pows from them. Good investment or not? Hahaha..On CNY's eve, we are having big family feast where all family seat together having dinner. And the days will go on and on full with eating activities. No wonder my diet always fail!

Will tell you my story when i am back, complete with pictures. For the chinese, Happy Chinese New Year! 

P/S: My husband is half chinese as well. His mother is chinese, adopted & raised by malay. He look alot like chinese, very obvious to the point that it is annoying when everytime people question of his race.

The kids, me & Midvalley

Remember i told that my husband was down with chickenpox? Well..he was infected right before the long new year weekend, that particular Friday night. We were actually already plan to go out on that weekend and also to watch new year fireworks at Putrajaya. But all plan was damn when he got infected. The weekend before that the kids were quarantined at home because of chickenpox and they were so eager to go out. So if another weekend paksa them to stay at home again because their father pulak kena quarantine kesian la pulak kan. So i determined to bring them out...even though i am aware of the risks, guarding my kids alone in busy public place. So here is the story of my experience going out alone with my hyper kids.

My sister (who is staying with me) plan to go to Midvalley that Saturday. So i decided to tag along and the kids were so excited & happy being able to 'jalan-jalan', especially my girl Dania who now will cry whenever anyone get out from the door because she wants to follow them out.

We reached Midvalley around 12 noon. Since my sister had an 'appointment', we parted ways. I was hungry because tak sempat breakfast, too busy siapkan my kids and myself as well. So i went to Delicious for lunch. I chose Delicious cafe because dah lama kempunan nak makan their Spicy Seafood Spaghetti and also their red velvet cupcake...and also because Delicious cafe has tables outside in the open air where my kids can run around. Means, i won't have to strap Dania in babyseat which she will eventually scream to break lose from it or my Adam won't have to jumpon his seat or stand on it while waiting for the food. Both of them will behave like that whenever we go out and eat..tak tipu ok! So they're free to walk or run around the space with my close guard (because ada kereta yg pass by now & then).

Something happened there. My girl kena ngorat dengan this cute boy. Not exactly ngorat la...but this boy was fond of Dania and follows her closely everywhere. He did not talk or touches her, just follows her. After sometime Dania starting to get scared and ran away from him. He still follow her..so cute la seeing them like that. Here are the photos for you to get clearer view of the story.

See the boy in denim shirt? He is the cute boy that kept following my girl.  The other 2 boys were with him.

Dania started to ran away from him..so funny la!

Still...he came close. A closer look at his face, cute right??? 

Haha...i am not sure if i still find it funny if some boys will do the same to Dania in 10 or 20 years time!

Ok, continue story. After lunch we went strolling around the mall. As usual my kids insisted to ride those 'coin rides' (tak tahu nak panggil apa benda alah tu). I also brought them to Jusco kids land where you can change tokens to play with the machine slots or also ride the 'coin rides'. Pening kepala bila pegi sana. Dania was hogging the ball machine refused to go anywhere while Adam wandering around the place, out of my sight. I was sooo worried whenever he was out of my sight. Nak tinggal Dania lagila tak boleh..if i carry her she will scream like mad kicking around and everyone will look at me macam i am the worse mother in the world *sigh*! Things went on like that for the longest time..chasing them, calling them to follow me. Was sweating in a full air-conditioned mall.

After that Adam bising nak minum Chatime because he saw few people was holding the cups. He love Chatime as well because of the 'bola-bola' (pearls). Whenever i stop to look at something he started to merajuk and repeating annoyingly he wanted Chatime. Okla..okla....jom gi cari Chatime!

At Chatime my sister came. Lega sket ada orang to help watch my kids. Took the opportunity to go into some shops. Banyak Sale going on but tak puas nak browse around. Last shop is La Senza, where i shop for almost half an hour. They got this buy 2 free 1 bra and i bought some. While shopping, my sister & her fiance took care of my children. My kids, being themselves ran around the mall, screaming most of the time. My sis and fiance were breaking sweats to keep up with them. Sampaikan SA La Senza pun dah kenal anak i. Malu sungguh. Based on the experience, my sis & his fiance were terrified of having kids..hahahaha..poor them!

Okla..that is all for the rambling post. Letih tak baca? I am quite proud with myself that i survived the challenge going out alone with the kids...plus sweat and all. In the end everyone was happy, no one lost or hurt. Luckily i was wearing appropriately, if not i would have look like a mental woman.

Adam At Kindergarten

As been told, my oldest child, Adam started his school last Thursday at Little Tots. Everything went on well without any tears. Adam, as expected not a cry baby and so far enjoying his new life. First day i did waited till the assembly ended baru balik rumah. Second day i just left him at the gate. Surprisingly he was fine with it and did not even turn his head when waving goodbyes..menonong je masuk school. Kinda sad at first, seeing him easily bid goodbyes and went on with his new life (school)..but well..i should be proud right..he is a big boy now! Maybe ikut mak die kot, tough je kat skolah tak peduli parents ikut ke tak. I hope he will be like this as well when he enters primary school. Exactly like a boy should be. In fact he should show a good examples to his sister, afterall he is the oldest abang in the family.

As for the school, i do not know what to expect yet. All i know that it is an English Medium pre-school where most of the time the teacher converse in English which i think good for Adam to familiarize some English words instead of asking me the meaning whenever he watches cartoon. Another good thing is, every Friday there would be a full Pendidikan Islam education which teach student to recite doa, pray and some basic arabic. I also like that each classes only have about 10 kids which is good because the teacher can focus more on each student and have personal touch with them. Unlike me last time, one class have about 30 kids. But last time was different, kids our time were more obedient and scared of the teacher. Not like now..macam2 kerenah, teacher have to master some child psychology to handle them.

Well, here are some pictures of the school and Adam's first day experience.

Gone 2011, Come 2012

Did not blog for some time. Don't have time to. Lots of stories to share but too lazy busy to do so. Seriously, when i have free time i rather relax than composing a blog post. 

Ok 2011 has gone..bye-bye. Overall, 2011 has been good to me. Nothing to shout about and nothing to be sad or regret about. The biggest positive thing about 2011 is that i finally wear hijab and decided to be a better muslim, insyaAllah. Me and husband are more concern about our daily solat. It is our priority now and we will try perform our solat properly before anything else..well..most of the time (ada gak yang tertinggal). Not that sebelum ni tak solat but now, i can say that we are more concern about it. 

I ended my 2011 with a family trip to Pahang. First stop to Cherating and then visited my sister in law's house in Kuantan. Had a good time there thanks to the host. Right after the trip, both my kids kena chicken pox. Luckily they're okay now..but guess who yang kena next? No, not me..i am the superwoman in the house. It's my husband. Poor him, habis bertompok badan dan muka. Having a fair skin make the spots even more visible and uglier. Better him than me right? Tak sanggup i kalau ada bekas campak all over my face! Nevermind sayang, i tak tinggal you walaupun parut tu tak hilang...cuma jalan jauh sket je bila kita keluar..hahahahaahha..ok that is a joke!

For 2012 i hope more great thing comes our way. I don't have any specific resolution. A fat lady always wish that she can shed some weights right? Year after year i am still fat :) ! So this year i won't do that same old resolution again. Instead i just want to be healthy & happy..but not overweight & in denial..hahaahaha!

This 2012 my son Adam will start going to pre-school. I enrolled him at Little Tots. Very near to my house and also his nanny's. Entahla macam mana ragam die nak gi school. Naughty ke...obedient ke...fast-learner ke..kuat berangan ke...haihhh...! I will blog about this soon. He starts tomorrow. 

What else to share. Ya, i just got my 1st tier bonus (next tier will be on March). The company gives every staff a 1 month bonus. Ada la sket duit buat bayar apa yang patut & beli apa yg tak patut. Not much, really. Sekali kuar gi mall je dah habis beratus. I splurge my money on bras! Shop at La Senza on their sales and also Wacoal. I seldom buy bras, i only have few that i would wear sampai hancur. So i decided to buy more quality one to replace some yang memang in sad condition. Also bought a new stainless steel frying pan which is on 60% discount. Still contemplating to buy either a beanie bag or a new closet to store my children's clothes. The rest of the money i tak tahu dah pegi mana...makan itu ini..kuar sana sini..in the end bank balance dah tinggal sikit..iskk..iskk..iskk! Well, on a positive note...ada orang hutang i Tony Romas...still waiting for him to recover from chicken pox!

Got others story to share but i guess too much been told already. Other story is for another post in future. Sorry no pictures this time. Okla i tempek some pic from our Cherating trip. Happy new year & i wish everyone of you have a good year ahead. Cheers!

     

Adam was scared of the water. We insisted him to be in the pool.  Dania in the other hand, was having fun !