A Day Of Fun At Mega Kidz @ Mid Valley Megamall

Today is the 3rd day in a row this week that we had spent at the shopping mall. We were at Mega Kidz @ Mid Valley Megamall to attend my friend's daughter's 6th birthday bash. Mega Kidz is a place every kid would dream to go.


When Baby saw Barney, I thought my Barney-crazed girl would open her mouth to watch in awe her favorite cartoon hero but her reaction was the exact opposite as I had expected. She was terrified of the purple dino, whose face looked out of shape and very un-Barney except for the body... and she clung on to me and daddy like a koala bear while screaming in fear...

Baby jumping on the Air Bouncer. This is pretty fun and she jumped so much till her pants almost dropped muahahahahahaha!!

Alycia and Sherilyn with M the birthday girl, my classmate's 6yo girl who is the same age as Sherilyn. They also attend the same ballet school.

Baby going down the slide, which is almost 2-storey high with her nervous Alycia jie jie waiting to catch her beloved baby sister...

Alycia, the bestest jie jie in the www helping Baby cross the suspension bridge which is about a storey above ground...

Hubs and I also climbed up the play equipment and crawled through those kid-size tunnels. I tell yer, if you'd tried this, gawd, this is back breaking and bone cracking. I felt slightly nauseous and dizzy when I came down after climbing up, crawling through and contorting my body into those 2-3 storey high tunnels to reach to the top of the slides! Good exercise to burn off the calories that I had piled up these few days!

Guess How Much These Helium-Filled Balloons Cost

We saw a booth selling animal-shaped balloons at Pavillion. Just make a wild guess on how much these helium-filled balloons cost. The helium makes the animal shaped balloons look like the animals are walking. The balloons can be brought back to the shop for helium replenishment at a charge of RM3 per filling.

These animal shaped balloons cost a whopping RM35 each!!! The transparent balloons with smaller balloons inside costs almost RM50 each!

I would never buy such expensive balloons for my girls as I think they are an utter waste of money. Would you?

Last Minute Xmas Shopping

We spent our whole afternoon doing last minute Xmas shopping at Pavillion today. Initially we had planned to go to Mid Valley Megamall -- first to the movies and then to complete our Xmas shopping. But when we saw the long queue of cars at all the entrances of Mid Valley Megamall, we made a detour and went to Pavillion. The Xmas décor at Pavillion is really grand and there is a very Chrismassy atmosphere at the mall. We love the Xmas trees that were almost 3 storey high and the humungous reindeers at the concourse area of the shopping mall. The mall was packed with people snapping pictures. Many people were doing last minute Xmas shopping like us. Most of the shops were packed with people though there were no on-going sales.

We stepped into a boutique that specializes in kids’ shoes as I wanted to get a pair of good shoes for Alycia. But there were too many shoppers and there were no sales assistants to help us to check for shoes. I am surprised that many parents are willing to spend over a hundred ringgit for a nice and comfy pair of shoes for their kid. It’s always stressful to shop for clothes and shoes for my girls before major festivals like Xmas or Chinese New Year. That’s when I’ll shop for their shoes from online stores. One brand that’s worth buying is Startrite. They have a wide selection of shoes for babies and children from shoes for pre-walkers to shoes for toddlers, school shoes, non-school shoes, English classic shoes, boots and many more. Here’s an interesting video that I’d like to share with you on how to select shoes for your kids from Startrite. If you have a toddler at home, you really have to check out this video.

Water Baby

Ever since Baby had a first post surgery UTI attack after a swim in the Hard Rock Hotel Penang pool in December last year, I had tried to keep her away from public pools. But Baby's pathetic pleas to daddy to bring her down to the pool each time her 2 sisters go swimming never fails to move daddy. Daddy would normally put Baby on his shoulders when he's inside the pool so that her bottom will be kept dry. But lately this fella is getting braver and wilder and she would act like a fish out of water and yearning to get back into the water. She would struggle and wriggle her way out of the inflatable boat and into the water!


Pictures taken in November 2010.

Baby in action. She managed to climb out from the inflatable boat, clung onto the boat and kept kicking the water with her legs.

She did not even cry when daddy submerge her briefly under the water! It's more than a month now. Thank God she did not get a UTI attack after 2 swims in the pool in our condo. She will definitely be getting more dips in the pool soon :)

O Gourmet, Bangsar Shopping Complex

One of the places that we like to frequent to pick up good snacks is at O Gourment @ Bangsar Shopping Complex. The bakery at O Gourmet has a good range of healthy bread for the health freak and diet freak (like moi) and delish cakes and pastries. My hubs lurves the danish pastries from the bakery. He normally buys like 10 pieces and they are all chomped down in less than an hour by us all. The bakery and cake store at O Gourmet are frequented by many Caucasians.

A galore of healthy nuts and they are a tad pricey. I bought some organic flat almonds, walnuts and almond flakes. I normally munch on nuts when I'm hungry.

The girls were lucky as we bumped into a Santa Clause (a gwai lo one some more haha!), who gave the girls very good pressies - teddy bear for Baby, stickers and nail stickers for Sherilyn and some sparkling paint for Alycia from ELC. Check out Baby staring at the weird looking man muahahahah!!

After lunch at Chillis, we bought some cakes from the bakery ...

I'll bet you would want to pick a slice of everything as all the cakes there look so sinfully heavenly!

This is where we got the cakes from...

And we picked these 2: tiramisu (love this) and a cherry cheese cake...

... and also a chocolate walnut brownie (not in pic).

Zhong Meng Restaurant, Tapah, Perak

There is this 'tai chau' restaurant in Tapah that serves really good 'sang yue' (ikan haruan), 'wong sin' (eel) and 'theen kai' (toad) dishes. The restaurant has been around for many years. I think the owners get their supply of these fish and toad from the nearby rivers and jungle. My dad loves to bring us to this tai chau restaurant to savour their few signature dishes. Price is very reasonable too.

Here's what we had the other day, on our way back to KL from Ipoh at Zhong Meng Restaurant, Tapah:


Sang yue (ikan haruan) cooked with vermicelli. MSG is 0% and the soup is not salty. The only ingredients that I could taste is sesame seed oil, some pepper and salt. This dish is suitable for kids as it is rather bland yet tasty. The fish is very fresh.

Stir fried sweet potato leaves with fu yue (fermented bean curd)...

Stir fried sang yue (ikan haruan) with spring onion, big onions and ginger. This is really good, very fresh and tasty, iLike~

Stir-fried wong sin (eel)...

We also ta pau the eel dish for my hubs and mil to sample the freshness of the eel.

So if you are making a trip up North, remember to stop by this tai chau restaurant to sample their sang yue, wong sin and theen kai dishes. Oh yea, they have petai dishes too. One thing you have to bear is the restaurant's loo! Can't help it as the restaurant is housed on a pre war shop.

Konnyaku Jelly Craze

Whenever we are back in Ipoh to my parents or whenever my parents are here in KL, Alycia will surely bug my mum to make Konnyaku jelly. She enjoys helping my mum cut the fruits into bite size and throwing them into the jelly moulds.

Here's our pineapple flavored Konnyaku jelly with red dragon fruit and kiwi fruit, ready to be put into the fridge...

Of all the flavors, we love strawberry and pineapple the best. I don't allow them to eat too much though as there are coloring and other food additives in the jelly powder. The best is still to make agar agar from dried agar agar strips. Those are more natural.

Flowers For Christmas

Christmas is just a week away. During my trip back to Ipoh last week, we had done our Christmas shopping for my dad and mum. We also had a Christmas celebration done early before we returned to KL. For those of you who will not be going back to celebrate Christmas with your loved ones, you can still send them a gift. Fresh flowers ordered from Tampa flower delivery will surely put a smile on your mum’s or your wife’s face.

Sleeping Kids

This is how the kids slept during our stay in Ipoh last week (in my bedroom):

I have no idea that it would be such a breeze to wean Baby off co-sleeping with us. Now, she no longer wants to sleep on our king-size bed. She only wants her jie jie's bed! And she actually sleeps longer on her Alycia jie jie's bed than on our bed.

Another Tooth Dropped

One of Alycia's bottom teeth had been shaky for the past few months. She had been spending her past time shaking the tooth with her fingers and tongue, trying to shake the tooth out. Finally the tooth came off while we were in Ipoh. We were in the car and then all of a sudden she happily announced that her tooth had dropped haha!

Gross stuff...

That night, the tooth grand-fairy aka granny came and put an angpow under Alycia's pillow when she was fast asleep and she woke up to a pleasant surprise to see 3 RM1 notes in the angpow.

Tsunami Village Cafe, Penang Island

On our 2nd night in Penang, we went to this place called Tsunami Village Cafe. This restaurant is located midway to Tg Bungah / Batu Ferringhi. The cafe is by the seaside. We wanted to have something light for dinner as we were all stuffed with Pasembur rojak, char koay teow, ice kacang and chendol, which we had in afternoon. By the time we reached the restaurant (took us half an hour from G Hotel to this place), it was already close to 10pm. Too bad it was pitch black outside the restaurant and we could not admire the scenic view of the beach.

Stir fried lala...

Steamed fish...

Inchi cabin chicken (hubs seems to love this chicken!)...

Plain baked crabs....

Cheese baked lobster with button mushrooms - very cheesy. Baby loved this dish. It has all her favorite ingredients in one appetizing combo...

Everyone has been telling us that the seafood here is very good but honestly, I was too stuffed to appreciate the food. I only nibbled a little of everything and drank a whole coconut to expel the heat from my body. I had stuffed myself with too much heaty food the past 2 days. Plus it was already 10ish pm... eating supper is a no-no for me.... bad for health and bad for my waist line too! When I went back to the hotel, I quickly made myself a glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice haha. I never leave home without my lemon or lime, health freak hor.

Aigner Bathroom Set In G Hotel Rooms

I was pretty surprised to discover Aigner body shampoo, Aigner hair shampoo and Aigner body lotion in the bathroom of our room at G Hotel, Gurney Drive, Penang. Wow, not bad for a room that costs around RM300+ a night! There is even complimentary soft drinks and Kit Kat in their mini bar, apart from the complimentary bottled mineral water, coffee and tea. The only downside is that the bathroom is not fitted with a hand-held shower faucet. The toilet is also not fitted with a faucet. That will be very inconvenient for guests with babies and toddlers.

But don't you think that the Aigner bathroom set is free hor... use all you want when you are a guest there but those are not for keeps k. Don't put them into your luggage or you will be asked to pay hah!

Pool Side Fun At G Hotel and Gurney Hotel Penang

During our recent holiday cum surgeon appointment in Penang recently, the girls enjoyed themselves to the max at the pool side of the hotels that we stayed in. On day 1 we stayed in G Hotel, a trendy hotel located along Gurney Drive and facing the sea. On day 2, we checked into Gurney Hotel. While the girls had fun playing at the pool side, we adults (hubs, MIL and moi) ate everything that was on our eating list. Nothing was missed out this time. Hubs even went to this restaurant by the sea named Tsunami Village Restaurant near Tg Bungah for seafood, on the recommendation of his friend. We were supposed to have dinner there but only reached the restaurant at close to 10pm and ended up having supper instead!

At the pool side of G Hotel...

Jacuzzi at G Hotel...

Baby who was not allowed swimming at public pools could not contain her excitement and when I wasn't looking, she stripped herself down and wanted to jump into the jacuzzi to join her 2 jie jies and daddy, muahahahaha!!!

I promised Baby that if she continues to be UTI-free for another 5-6 months, she can go swimming when we go to Penang in June next year for her next post-surgery ultrasound scan.

Me, paint balling @ Gurney Hotel. The activities and facilities at Gurney Hotel are much better than G Hotel and the hotel is more kids-friendly...

Pool side fun @ Gurney Hotel.

We will definitely check into Gurney Hotel again next June. We find that the rooms at Gurney Hotel are more kids-friendly and the pool side area is a haven for kids. Among the facilities available are archery, billiard, paintball, gym, a huge sand-pit with beach sand for kids to build sand castles and super duper fun slides at the pool. My girls lurve the pool side area!


Though G Hotel is trendy and new, I find it not very kids-friendly. Imagine there is not even a hand-held shower in the bathroom, so how to shower a toddler? Thankfully Baby had no problem when I put her under the shower and told her that it's raining... and she thought that it's cool haha!!

Lunch At Hai Nan Town, at Tanjung City Marina Weld Quay, Penang

On the day we reached Penang, we had lunch at Hai Nan Town Restaurant. This restaurant serves very tasty Nyonya and Hainanese food. Hai Nan Town is located next to QEII at the Tg City Marina Weld Quay and is a trendy eatery facing the scenic waterfront.

The facade of the restaurant...

We saw a Star Cruise ship decked at the marina... and hoped that one day we can hop on board one and cruise to some parts of the world...

Assam prawns... tastes as good as the ones from Sin Kheng Aun coffee shop in Penang...

Braised chicken with hard boiled eggs. This is a hit with my girls...

Braised turnip...

This pot of assam pomfret fish is simply delish and tastes as good as if not even better than the one served at Sin Kheng Aun. It has generous amounts of ginger flower, big onions and other spices which makes the sauce really flavorful...

Loh bak and deep fried popiah...

Chicken curry - very delish!

We liked the food so much that on our last day in Penang before we returned to Ipoh, we made another stop at this restaurant and ordered the assam fish and braised chicken again. This time, we tried the chicken curry, loh bak and deep fried popiah. We will definitely patronize this restaurant again when we make our next trip to Penang in June 2011.

Penang Here We Come!

We will be traveling to Penang in a few hours. Yesterday during our drive back to Ipoh, hubby and I were discussing where and what to eat. We have roughly planned what to target in Penang this time. Since we will be staying at G Hotel @ Gurney Drive this time, walking to the hawkers centre at Gurney Drive is not a problem. Oooh, I am so going to attack the Pasembur rojak, prawn noodles, lobak and fried koay teow! Hopefully I won't pile on the kilos after this trip as I won't have the time to exercise for 3 days.

And oh yes, I finally bought a new lappie yesterday!! Have been meaning to buy a lap top for years and finally got to do so, just in time to bring it with us to Penang. My main intention of getting the lappie is to let the girls while away their time doing more useful things like reading and practising Math and playing educational games on the internet rather than stay glued in front of the idiot box. The lap top will also serve as my back-up just in case my desk top computer konks out. This will be my birthday present to Alycia who will turn 7 in 2 days. Expensive birthday present hor? RM2,500 for a birthday present, she's one lucky girl!