Happy Happy New Year

This was one of my best new year's eve celebrations. Read more about our story from my other blog.

Taken outside Pavillion.


Picture taken from our hotel room on the 27th floor of Sheraton Imperial. That was the fireworks from the Merdeka Square.


Fireworks from the Merdeka Square.


Picture taken from my bed. The view from my bed is the KL Towers. The entire night, I just lay on my bed watching the lazer lights display at KL Towers.

Didn't manage to snap good pictures of the lazer lights show and fireworks because of the window obstruction. Switched my camera to 'glass display' mode but still didn't manage to snap good shots. It's high time I get another camera.

Happy 2008

We will all be checking into a 5-star hotel in KL today for a one-night stay and count down to the New Year. Not letting anyone know which hotel we'll be staying just in case there are stalkers out there LOL! Hopefully our plan to go to the fish spa in Pavillion will materialize. You heard of this spa where you can immerse your feet in water and be 'massaged' (more of sucked and bitten) by a school of tiny fish? Hubby and I are raring to try that out. Also hoping that we can bring the gals for a monorial ride round KL.

What are your plans tonight?

To everyone, here's wishing you all a very happy, healthy and fruitful 2008! May 2008 see a rise in our blog PR and more offers pouring in!

What Puts A Smile On Her Face

What can really put a big smile on Alycia's face is food! Like daddy, Alycia is a discerning foodie. She can really tell what's tasty and what's not, just like daddy. Even from a baby, she has already shown great interest and liking in food. Some people say that Alycia looks very much like daddy, hopefully her size will not balloon up like daddy too!

Creative Combination

This is how Alycia ate her rice bubbles - with Yakult. The gals had rice bubbles for breakfast yesterday. While Sherilyn likes her rice bubbles with fresh Marigold HL milk, Alycia who doesn't fancy fresh milk asked for Yakult instead. This creative combination tasted good and is healthier too.

A Month Of Celebrations

December is always a month full of celebrations in the Yap household. First it's Alycia's birthday, then mil's birthday, then Chinese Winter Solstice Festival (we only celebrate when mil is around), next is Christmas, followed by hubby's birthday and finally a celebration to usher in the new year.

Today is hubby's birthday. Though I've known him for more than 2 decades (go figure out how old I was when I first met him), this is the 18th year we are celebrating his birthday together. It's just any other ordinary Sunday today. After church, we went to Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant for dim sum, then hopped to the Japanese restaurant next door to eat California roll before heading home. I'll write a post on the dim sum review at Ah Yat soon and why hubby had to hop to the next restaurant. So stay tuned......


Hubby bought a pandan layer cake for the gals to cut and blow candles yesterday.

Poopie Prunes

When we went shopping for groceries the other day, daddy bought the gals a packet of prunes. When we reached home, they requested to try the prunes. I just knew they would not take a liking to the prunes as they have never liked dried fruits and anything that's black in color and squidgy. True enough when the packet was opened and they saw the black colored prunes, they ran away. So I had to convince them that it tastes just as good as prune juice (their all-time favorite drink) as prune juice is made from prunes. They were really reluctant to try it and after I had convince them to take a small bite, they spat out the prune and said it's poop, black poop and pushed my hand away. I don't fancy prunes either, so now the packet of prunes is left in the fridge. Now I am finding a way to conceal the prunes in their food. Maybe I should try making them some banana and prune pancakes next week!

Salmon Fish Head Noodles

You've got to try cooking this - salmon fish head soup. It's so tasty and sweet and goes very well with noodles. Last week, I bought a salmon fish head for RM7.50 from a nearby mini market. My maid pan fried the fish head and then simmered it with some water, tomatoes, ginger slices and chopped garlic for 2 hours. We then added some organic tofu, organic vegetables and homemade fish balls to the soup and serve them with vermicelli for dinner. Very tasty and wholesome meal for toddlers.

Yummy Treats

The gals enjoying their Gelattisimo Italian ice-cream at Gardens @ Mid Valley on X'mas Day. Though the ice-cream is not cheap, the queue was incredibly long. Alycia chosed a strawberry flavor, mummy chosed a Macademia caramel for Sherilyn and daddy had a tiramisu flavor. Mummy who does not like sweet stuff now did not order any.

Fine Dining At Villa Danieli Italian Restaurant

We had a sumptuous Italian dinner at Villa Danieli Italian Restaurant @ Sheraton Imperial on Thursday when hubby redeemed this RM250 dinner from the voucher he received when he renewed his memberhip with the Starwood group. Members of Starwood Preferred Club are entitled to benefits offered by the Sheraton group of hotels, Westin Hotel and Le Meridien Hotel. The dinner was to celebrate hubby's birthday in advance.

Baked escargot and fried calamari - starter for hubby.


Seafood soup for me.


Baked cod fish as main course for me.

Lamb shank as main course for hubby.

A pepperoni pizza and spaghetti (picture not taken) for the gals.

Desserts - apple pie with vanilla ice-cream and I think that's a lemon meringue. The desserts used to be really good but this time, I didn't like them at all.



All in all, hubby paid less than RM100 for this fine Italian dinner. In addition, we even got a bottle of red wine and a cheese cake on the house.

When we reached home, the gals sang 'Happy Birthday' to daddy, blew the candles on the cake and had cheese cake for supper.

Hop on to my other blog to read on.......

Confinement Ladies

I have just booked a confinement lady (CL) over the phone. She is charging RM3,000 for 1 month (some CL charges RM2,800 for 28 days). That's the current market rate and it's freaking expensive right? I am also required to pay RM500 as deposit to her. Is this the norm to pay so much as deposit to a CL? I didn't pay any deposit to my 2 CLs previously. What if something bad happened to this CL and she can't work for me? I actually got her name from a list of good CLs recommended from one of the mummy's blogs. I am supposed to fix a date to meet this CL soon to pay her and to discuss further our terms.

Anyway, if anyone of you has any good CLs to recommend, I'd appreciate you giving me their contact numbers.

So Much Food

Daddy loves to give us surprises, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not to pleasant. Daddy told us he wasn't coming home for dinner last Friday as he's busy with work. After our dinner at around 8pm, he came home and with lots of food - food from the pasar malam and desserts from Gardens @ Mid Valley. The gals and I were really full but no one could resist sinking our teeth into the food that daddy had bought home.

This was what he bought:

Polor pau (pineapple buns), egg tarts, chicken pies and chicken buns from Mr Cook's at Gardens, Mid Valley. I love the polor pau, very tasty with lots of pineapple bits.


A chocolate coated waffle, cheese bun and potato and ham bun from Sun Moulin Bakery at Gardens.


Tasty steamed fishballs from the pasar malam (the gals love these).


And this very tasty fried vermicelli Thai style with fried chicken and crunchy sambal belacan. Tasted so good but I was so full I could only taste a bite of the chicken.

We Can Huff and We Can Puff

My eldest brother, Ray and his wife came from Singapore last week and we celebrated his birthday at PJ Hilton. When it comes to candle blowing and cake cutting, Alycia and Sherilyn are always the happiest. Whoever in our family celebrates his/her birthday, the gals will always get to blow the candles and cut the cake. They blew off the fire from the candles with all their might till the cake was covered with their saliva. My brother was really happy to be able to celebrate his birthday with his 2 nieces this year.


1...2...3..... blow..... blow....blow......we can huff and we can puff mummy......



and I can cut the cake too....

How Do You Like To Eat Your Crepe With?

Some people like it with a dribble of honey, some like it with maple syrup, peanut butter, strawberry jam or ice-cream but my gals like to eat their homemade crepe with yoghurt for it tastes just like ice-cream and it's healthier too. I prefer to eat them plain, nothing that's too sweet.

Megakidz

Not only did Alycia and Sherilyn have tons of fun at Megakidz last week but daddy also had a great time at the art and crafts section. Daddy has always been adept in his art and he has a very creative mind too. One of the reasons why mummy fell for him was because of his romantic homemade cards! Anyway back to Megakidz, daddy paid RM40 for two plastic moulds and had a whale of his time painting them. There was also a sand art section and it's free.

The Birth Month Tag

Have been tagged by my good blogging pal.

Rules of the tag:

1. Pick the month of your birth.
2. Bold the 5-10 things that most apply to you.
3. Strike out everything that doesn't apply to you.
4. Place the list of all the months under a cut.
5. Tag 6 people from your friends list to do the same.

Tagging time, but only tagging 3:

1) Sweetiepie
2) Annie Q
3) Hui Sia.... good filler post for you :)





JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.


FEBRUARY:Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.


MARCH:Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.


APRIL:Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.


MAY:Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.


JUNE:Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.


JULY:Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.


AUGUST:Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.


SEPTEMBER:Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.


OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.


NOVEMBER:Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.


DECEMBER:Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Shocking Maid Stories

Yesterday, I got an even bigger shock when my neighbor told me that she had seen my maid kissing her Nepalese boyfriend at the gate of our house. That was about one month back before we found out about their dalliance. Goodness, how can my maid be so cheap and bold as to do this to a boy whom she barely knows at my house in broad daylight, a boy whom she has never even gone out with? Can there be love just by seeing each other and exchanging love letters? I just don't understand these maids. Are they killing boredom and stress by seeking such cheap thrills? I wonder what would have happened if hubby and I were always at work and left her alone at home? I presume she would for sure invite her boyfriend back to have even bigger thrills and excitement and land herself in hot soup just like my previous maids.

I am really speechless. I better explicitly make it clear to my new maid about my expectations next time. My neighbor told me that she prefers older maids to younger maids as they are not so itching for boyfriends. But based on my experience, most old maids do not have the stamina needed to perform household chores satisfactorily and I would have to end up doing them. Would you prefer a younger maid or an older maid?

Bedtime Exercise

Alycia and Sherilyn always seem so energetic and lively just before bedtime. They will jump on my bed as if it was a trampoline, they will play hide and seek with daddy, they will crawl under the baby cot, crawl round the room, crawl behind the curtains, roll on the floor like a log and make cycling motions with their legs and do everything unimaginable. Are your kids like that too just before bedtime?

Durian Season Is Returning!

It's the start of the durian season now and they are freaking expensive. Several days ago, hubby went to a durian stall with his friend and spent almost RM70 for 2 durians. After eating the durians at the stall, he packed home a box with only 5 seeds of durian. Funny, I used to go crazy over durians and craved for them but now, I don't really fancy eating them anymore. This time, I found them terribly sweet, had a bad aftertaste and felt like puking after eating them. Instead, Alycia and Sherilyn were fighting with each other over the durians and ate most of them!

Know What We Ate On X'mas Eve?

KFC!! My all-time favorite. Hubby was very busy with work on X'mas eve, so we did not go out to celebrate. Early that morning, I told him that I had a craving for KFC and told him to get some home for dinner. Hubby being the guy who loves to pull my leg told me he's busy and said KFC is not a healthy food for a pregnant lady. So thinking that he would not pack KFC home for dinner, I told our maid to cook dinner. After I had finished dinner with the gals, hubby came home at 8pm with 2 boxes of KFC dinner plates, a box of nuggets and a large box of mashed potatoes. Though I was quite full, I still ate 1 piece of KFC and some nuggets.






What a simple and cheap X'mas Eve dinner we had - no stuffed roast turkey or minced pies but 3 simple homecooked dishes plus KFC to replace the freaking expensive turkey! I bet you all had a sumptuous X'mas Eve dinner eh?

Have You Been Binge Eating This Holiday?

What I hate most about the holiday season is that I can’t seem to stop eating. Yesterday was a day of continuous eating out for us and this morning, hubby cooked us scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon for breakfast. There are still a huge Christmas log cake, fruit cakes and a green tea cake in the fridge waiting for us to gorge on. This weekend, we will be checking into a nice hotel here for a short holiday and this spells another round of binge eating. I feel so fat now that all I can think of now is to pop some diet pills to help me shed some pounds and curb my appetite. Just kidding, how can I be popping diet pills when I am pregnant but I may very well be popping some after the delivery of my baby next year. Have you been binge eating this holiday too?