Simpulan Bahasa In Comics

I can't believe Cass likes to read Simpulan Bahasa (idioms in Malay) and she is not even in Primary 1 yet!

At the Popular Book Fest yesterday, I bought two books on Simpulan Bahasa in comics form.  Back home, her eyes have been glued to the books, even when we went out for lunch today... all the way in the car right up to the restaurant and until the food arrived!  Hmmm, this is the right time for her to start drinking in all the boring stuff, which she finds interesting!  By the time she is taught Simpulan Bahasa in Primary 1, it would  already be at her finger tips! ;)

Short Stay At Hilton Sentral (26 - 27 July 2014)

We are back from our 2-day 1-night stay at Hilton Sentral!  We did not realize how hazy the KL skyline is until we checked out from the hotel this afternoon. Now we are choking at home. The haze is pretty bad :(

Here are some of the pictures taken during our short staycation:






We stayed at the Executive Floor as usual, to enjoy all the benefits that come with it such as complimentary food three times a day and free WiFi at the Executive Lounge.  Hubs booked two rooms - Cass roomed in with us and the other 2 girls slumbered with their grandma.

Check out my computer addicts. While waiting for the buffet at the Executive Lounge to start, they hogged the 2 computers at the lounge and messaged their friends in Facebook. Can't believe my kids are more Facebook addicted than I am *roll eyes*


Cass who has her daddy's foodie genes truly enjoyed herself with the buffet spread.  This year she is matured and tall enough to get food on her own.  This rascal now refuses me to take food for her.   She gets so much thrill selecting her choice of food from the sumptuous buffet line.




A pose from the camera-shy tween...








Our breakfast at the Hilton Sentral coffee house this morning. Love their buffet breakfast to bits.  But I find that as I age, I can't possibly stomach so much food anymore, which in a way is good as I actually feel healthier eating lesser.


I shared this heart-shaped waffle with Sherilyn.  I decorated the waffle with chocolate syrup and boysenberry sauce ;)



I ate mostly fresh fruits, freshly juiced fruits, Japanese cuisine, muesli and eggs at the breakfast buffet.  These days, I hardly indulge in bacon and sausages (which was once my favorite) and pastries anymore. And I have totally weaned myself off deep fried food!  *feeling awesome*!!


Cass shared her roti canai and dhall with me.  I used to love roti canai, still do but am controlling my portion.




Before we checked out from Hilton Sentral, the foodie hubs bought some mooncakes from the hotel, which cost a freaking RM22++ each for a pathetic sized mooncake!! I would never splurge on such an item. But for my man, splurging on food and enjoying them makes him really happy.

After we checked out from the hotel, we went to Mid Valley Megamall for lunch and shopping.  I bought some more Rainbow Loom bands for the girls.  This time, I bought them the kit as well.

After an enjoyable 2 days, this is the aftermath...


Piles of stinky and damp clothes.



After washing and hanging out 2 full loads of dirty laundry, house cleaning, bathroom washing and finally at 7:45pm, I now have the time to post this up ;)

Short Staycation

Today we will be off on a short staycation at one of the 5-star hotels in town that hubs is a member to.  These hotel getaways are our yearly affair for the past 9 years and the kids enjoy and look forward to each stay.   For me, I think it is more of a chore haha!  Well, I used to enjoy these stays but that was when we had the luxury of maids to help up with doing everything. Oh, how I miss those 'princessy' days of mine where I had 2 maids to help me out.  Those were the good old days. Nothing is perpetual.  Things in life are fluid, as with happiness and sorrow. 

Now, I am alike the maid.  How I hate packing, unpacking and doing the laundry after the 2 days of fun in the city but oh well, the kids love it, so I have to love it begrudgingly just so to see my angels happy. Oh well, that's motherhood, did I not mention many times?  Motherhood means having to 'enjoy' doing things that you do not enjoy.

The picture below was taken in one of our many hotel stays about 8 years ago, at Hilton Sentral...






Here's wishing all my Muslim readers "Selamat Hari Raya" and happy holidays to everyone else! :)

4 Tips for a Healthier Family

Do your kids enjoy fresh air and exercise? Do they eat sweets in moderation and never complain about their brussel sprouts? If they're anything like the rest of America's children, they could probably have healthier habits. But what can you do to instill them in a culture full of fast food and TV?  Here are just four tips for getting your kids off the couch.

1: Make It Fun
Your children may or may not be interested in joining you for your morning jog. If you put them on a soccer field, however, they'll cover the same distance without complaining or even realizing what they've done. The key to curbing childhood obesity is through engaging, interactive activities that don't feel like exercise at all.

2: Don't Ban Sweets
Anything you forbid will become instantly attractive to your children. A better strategy is to allow junk food in moderation so they'll understand that sugar and carbs aren't the enemy. Overindulgence is.

3: Add, Don't Subtract
In the same vein as the above, it's better if you don't throw out all the hamburgers and immediately start forcing your kids to chew tofu. Instead of making them pine for lost favorites, gradually introduce new, exciting ways to eat healthy foods that will become their favorites in time.

4: Change Your Habits
At the end of the day, there's no such thing as a quick fix to better health. If you're serious about raising your children with positive attitudes towards food and fitness, you'll need to change your routines entirely. Visit sites like KingInstitute.org to learn more.

Cass The Number Cruncher

Cass is still very much into number crunching ever since she got hooked on solving Math sums more than a year ago.

Now that she has mastered additions (up to 5 digits and even more sometimes), she has moved to subtraction and is now pretty adept with numbers involving hundreds. N

Cass' latest craze is doing mental subtraction with numbers involving 100 with a two-digit number (eg. 100-26, 100-36, 100-73, etc), done without doing any written calculation. She can come up with the correct answer in just seconds using her mind along with her fingers.  I am impressed that she has now beaten her 2nd sister and at times, she is even faster than her eldest sister in mental subtraction. And she has not even attended any Math enrichment class or mental arithmetic lessons.  But she told me adamantly that when she goes to che che's school next year, she wants to join the mental arithmetic class and take part in Math competitions!  I'll see....

Cass bugs me to give her Math sums whenever she is bored. She hates being bored and cannot stand doing nothing. She loves to work her brain up with Math sums.  In a way, she is making me work out my brain too and I have to work my brain really hard to get the answer before she does!  All done without any calculator, on the go!  Even when I am driving! lol!

I am now training Cass multiplication. As of today, she has mastered multiplication by 2, 5 and 10. She is now working on 3s. This is by far my proudest achievement from Cass and honestly, I did not do much to stir up her interest in Math. I have very little time to read to her, what more teach her Math. It is during the free time that we have while waiting for our food to arrive when we eat out, in the car and in our hospital visits that I teach her Math.  Hopefully Cass' interest in Math will never wane. 




Cass at 6 years 3 month.
She brings along her Math workbooks whenever we go out!  And nope, it is not my idea ok.  She does it out of her love for numbers! :D

Mixed Fruits Ice-Blended Smoothie

Lately, I am back at churning out fresh smoothies for my darlings after a short hiatus!

After seeing how effective a full mug of smoothie can help Cass evacuate her bowels, I have been diligently swirling out a medley of fruit smoothies for the girls for the past few days.

Today I made ice-blended orange + apple + kiwi + fresh lychee + chia seeds smoothie for the girls.



Within less than a minute, my smoothie guzzler downed a glass of smoothie.

 


And it produced the same powerful effect on her guts today, an hour later!  After lunch, she surprised me with something on the throne. 

For someone who has always struggled with constipation, being able to make her dumps effortlessly without pain is a victory. 

This mommy just has to spend 20 minutes each day peeling and chopping fruits and happily pressing the buttons on her Blentec to produce 3 full glasses of rich and refreshing smoothie :)

I. Hate. Katsaridaphobia!

I. HATE. PHOBIAS. 

I. HATE. COCKROACHES.
 
And I have Katsaridaphobia! That's fear of cockroaches.

Cass always asks me this: "mummy, why do God have to create cockroaches?"  Or "why did God create bad people, why did God create moths, etc. etc?" 

Why do phobias even have to exist?!

Of all the insects and objects in this world, why do I have to fear something so small?  In fact, I am terrified of any insect that have flappy wings that can fly, especially those than emit bad odor like our 'siew keong' (aka cockroaches in Cantonese). 

And you know what? I always think I have sixth sense.  This morning when I woke up at 4:45am, I just had this hunch that a cockroach is lurking in the house!  And I am damn right.  My sixth sense has never failed me.  Just as I opened the bathroom door, OH MY GOD!  I saw this really huge black ugly roach slowly creeping on the floor... right smack in the middle of the bathroom!  So how the heck am I and the girls going to use the bathroom?  I felt like screaming my lungs out.  I quickly woke up the hubs.  I did not care if he would say unsavoury things like "eeyer, why wake me up so early and blah blah blah".  I just needed him to get rid of that enemy in my house!

Thank God my sweet hubs pulled his butt out from bed. I quickly passed the bottle of Sol-U-Guard spray (from Melaleuca and damn good in killing roaches and mozzies, savely) to hubs.  He quickly sprayed the tea tree oil solution on the fler but as elusive as the roaches are, it just managed to disappear itself right before our eyes.  I was horrid.  As long as the fler is not caught, it could just be anywhere - it could be on my bed or under my pillow!  EEEEEWWEEEEE!!  I wanted to flee from my own home!

I had no time to waste. I could not afford to waste all my time finding the elusive roach.  I had chores to do and I had to get the girls up for school.

After the girls had gone to school, I bugged the hubs to find the roach no matter what!  He so kindly helped me find siew keong by moving the bed to check under the bed.  He even pulled the heavy king-size mattress up to see if siew keong is clinging on to its dear life underneath but no, it ain't there.  Then hubs surprised me by propping up the super heavy divan bed to check inside while calling out "siew keong, where are you?"  LOL!  My hubs, he is sweet like that lar.  He makes me fuming mad all the time with his MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig)attitude yet can make me giggle like a silly teenager. But the bad news is siew keong is still no where to be found!

I have just gotten back from the mini mart with a pack of cockroach bait and have just placed a bait in every room and bathroom.

I hope siew keong's body will be found tomorrow, else I will be living in fear!!  Dear Lord, please get rid of my fear of cockroaches, pleassssse!  Amen.

Impeccable!

Today Cass surprised me when she used the word "impeccable"... in an impeccable situation with the correct expression!

The MIL made some pesto sauce today.  After Cass tried it, she said "mummy, the pesto sauce tastes impeccable!"  I was impressed and asked where she learned the word from, to which she told me that she heard Kent saying "your cooking is impeccable" to Barbie in a Barbie movie!  She had watched that movie infinity times.

So there you go.  Watching TV ain't that bad after all, provided you screen what you let your kids watch ;)

How time flies.  It feels like it was just yesterday that my baby C was in my tummy...



And I remember those baby C days. Those days were a nightmare to me, for 15 months. If you have been reading my blog long enough you will know why. But her charm did pull my heartstrings just at the right way despite of what I had to go through with her.

Baked Wraps With Beef Bolognese

There is still a big portion of beef bolognese sauce that MIL cooked 2 nights ago for our spaghetti.   Since Cass and I prefer bread vs. spaghetti noodles, I bought a pack of wholewheat Mission wraps this morning and made Beef Bolognaise Wraps for lunch!

First, I spread the beef bolognese sauce onto the wraps and topped it  with a slice of cheese.  Seal each wrap by pressing the sides with a fork.  Then baked in the oven for 15 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius.




Cut the baked wrap into half so that it is easier for Cass to eat. 
Serve with cool cucumbers, organic raw alfalfa sprouts and avocado.
And here is Cass' wholesome lunch,  tadaa...



One thing though that I do not quite like about Mission wraps is that there is preservative added.  IF I have the time, I will definitely make my own wraps and pita bread. IF I have the time that is... haha!

 

Cass liked it so much that she ate one of my halves, which means she chomped down three halves or 1.5 pieces of wraps. This girl sure has a ravenous appetite!
 

Muscovado Sugar

Recently, my mil started to use organic Muscovado sugar to bake bread and cakes. When I first saw it, I was stunned. I have never heard of such a sugar for the life of me! But I knew for sure it must be more superior than white or brown sugar.  My mil only puts in good stuff into her bakes, makes and cooking.



 So I googled Muscovado sugar and here is what I found:
 
Muscovado sugar takes its name from the spanish 'mascabado' (meaning unrefined). Also known as Barbados sugar. This sugar is pure, wholesome, unrefined, natural cane sugar. It is also called 'poor man's sugar'.

Muscovado sugar retains all of the natural ingredients of sugar cane, making it wholesome and healthy. High in nutitional value, comparable even to pure honey.

Muscovado sugar is unrefined, with a high mineral content. Common in South America and south east Asia, but comparably more difficult to find in the USA.

Usage
It is used just like normal sugar. Excellent for baking, cooking, and as a coffee/tea sweetener.

Production Process
The production process is very traditional. The main ingredient is natural cane sugar, but some of the other ingredients are small lime (called kalamansi or calamondin, often described as a cross between a mandarin orange and a kumquat) and fresh coconut milk. The coconut milk is used in the heating process to prevent the sugar cane juice from foaming.

The heating process evaporates the water content and the cane juice will gradually thicken into a gooey liquid. This liquid is sun-dried. The hardened sugar will then be pounded to produce the natural, unrefined muscovado sugar.

Nutrient value
Compared to normal white sugar, muscovado sugar retains all the cane sugar nutrients. High in minerals: potassium, calcium, iron, it has more health benefits compared to normal white sugar, which has zero nutrients, as the refining process to produce white sugar has practically eliminated all traces of nutrients from it.

Grandeur Teppanyaki @ Taste Enclave, Avenue K

This blog post is supposed to have been done about two months earlier. That was when we first visited Avenue K and had lunch at Taste Enclave, a swanky atrium (some may call it high-class food court) comprising 16 stalls and 4 mini restaurants, serving a smorgasbord of local and international cuisines.

As usual, I find it too time-consuming to do a post on a restaurant or eatery.  So  this post is going to focus mainly on pictures (well, not too crystal clear ones as the lighting at Grandeur Teppanyaki was a tad dim) and not so much on my review of the restaurant.

The highlight of our lunch at Grandeur Teppanyaki was this teppan chawan mushi.  I was awed when the teppan chef told me that he was going to prepare our teppan chawan mushi, which is traditionally prepared steamed.

First he stir fried some fresh mushrooms on the hot steel plate.  Then, he placed 3 huge onion rings on the hot plate...





Then he poured in the egg mixture inside the onion rings and added in the mushrooms...




Then let the egg mixture cook inside the onion rings on the hot plate...
 


Dish out from the hot plate and serve nicely on a plate.  Very impressive indeed as it was our first time trying out teppan chawan mushi.  But honestly, I still prefer the traditional steamed chawan mushi as the texture is smoother.




These are part of the dishes off the menu that we ordered and they were all very yummeh!



Love this teppan fresh mushrooms and abalone. Excuse the dim and black background as the table is black in color and the entire food court is not very brightly lit up.











We enjoyed our teppan lunch very much and would definitely come back again to try other dishes.

Rating on HFM's scale = 8/10


Grandeur Teppanyaki @ Taste Enclave
L2-6B, L2-8, L2-9, L2-10 Level 2, Avenue K
No. 156, Jalan Ampang
Kuala Lumpur City Center

Our Saturday - 28 June 2014

Today is a Saturday but everyone in the family was up at 5:45am except for me. No no, I did not wake up any later. Would you think I am that lucky to be able to sleep through until the sunlight pierces through the blinds in my bedroom?   Perhaps, but that will be when the girls have all left the nest years down the road :)   I was up at 4:45am as usual.

Alycia and Sherilyn had to be at the stadium before 7am for their school sports day.  After hubs dropped them off, he went to the wet market with the mil for marketing.  I brought Cass to the park and sweated it out for almost an hour.  It's been a while since I last brought her to the park and she so missed the park.  Cass stopped to smell the flowers, to look at the bees and to admire pebbles and all sorts of stuff from the ground :)

Later, I fished out 4 boxes of brand new jigsaw puzzles for Cass from our 'not now but later' cupboard. In this cupboard, I store all the pressies that the girls receive but can't use them now, to be used later.  Cass received these jigsaw puzzles from her doting aunts and uncle on her 3rd birthday but was too young for them. Now that she is 6, it is just the right time for her to play with them. My little jigsaw puzzle wiz is back in action and she is absolutely delighted to have 4 new toys!  Cass used to be very adept in fixing jigsaw puzzles when she was 3 years old. She has the patience greater than mine and her 2 sisters to spend hours on end to fix her boxes of jigsaw puzzles.

And by 3pm, everyone knocked off, including moi and my jigsaw puzzle wiz, who has been up on her toes the whole day.

Happy weekend to all my dear readers! :)

Master's In Counseling

You've already earned your bachelor's degree. Maybe it's in Psychology or Behavioral Science because you already knew you wanted to become a counselor; maybe you've only recently gained an interest in social work, and you're looking at counseling programs to see if they're the right fit for you.

Whatever your reasons for pursuing a master's in counseling, it's important to know what to expect when you enter an accredited program. You'll save money and effort if you follow a plan. With understanding and dedication, you can obtain your counseling degree in as a little as four semesters.

Here's what you need to know about getting your MS/MA.

License Requirements
All states require a master's degree to practice as a counselor. The program also needs to be accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), which is a given at most major universities but may cause problems if you attend a state or private school. You can also choose to get certification from the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), but while it isn't strictly necessary, it does look good on a resume.

Focus Area
All Master's Degrees in Counseling come with a focus area. For example, you may specialize in the mental health of children or families, or you might become a marriage counselor for troubled couples. You can also give yourself an emphasis based on settings instead of people. If you want to work in a school, you can focus on educational counseling; if you have dreams of revitalizing your neighborhood, you can take classes in community management and social cohesion.

Courses
Since you've already obtained a BA/BS, your master's program will focus exclusively on psychology, communication and social work. You can expect to take classes in everything from human behavior to crisis intervention. You might also be asked to take statistics and surveying classes to understand both causes and trends in poverty, crime and addiction. At some schools, like Wake Forest University (WFU), you'll also be offered opportunities for real-world counseling.

Post-Graduate Employment
There are many ways you can use a Master's Degree in Counseling after you graduate. You don't actually have to become a sit-down counselor; you can take your knowledge and experience and apply them to research, case studies or the administrative side of the mental health industry. You can work in schools, churches or even private businesses if you desire. It's entirely up to you and how you choose to serve the world with your counseling skills.

Conversation With The Rascal

Cass can be a very sarcastic and saucy 6-year old at times, retorting answers which are quite disrespectful to the elders.

Here is a conversation (in Mandarin) with her grandma today. I find it sarcastic yet jaunty and funny at the same time.

Grandma - Kay Li, you were late for school this morning right?

Cass - yes! How do you know?

Grandma - of course I know!

Cass - if you already know, then why do you even have to ask me huh??

Grandma - (speechless)!!


And at times, she has a wicked sense of humor too and can be very imaginative.

While eating honey stars and moon for breakfast yesterday, she found a pair of conjoining star with moon.  She was amazed and came to me saying this "mummy, look!  A star and moon joined together, kissing!  Just like a boy and a girl hugging and kissing!"



This rascal is physically, mentally, emotionally and financially challenging to raise. But I just love her to bits!

Overnight Oats With Coconut Milk

The influence of the social media site is incredibly  powerful!  A few friends of mine posted pictures of their overnight oats in their Facebook page last week. Within a week, almost everyone in our circle of friends started to make overnight oats!  The overnight oats sensation spread like wild fire and now, I see postings of overnight oats each time I hop over to my Facebook newsfeed!

Since oats is supposedly a super-food, the kiasu-ism in me nudged me to try it too! And I did and what do I know? I am now looking at oats in a whole new perspective! With renewed love :)

I have concocted a few recipes of overnight oats over the last one week, using whatever ingredients that I could find in my fridge and whatever ingredients that I could easily get.

Today, I had overnight oats with coconut milk (santan). I was too exhausted last night and did not soak the oats. I only soaked the oats with fresh milk at 5:45 this morning. I tossed in some pine nuts, chia seeds, pecan, walnut, macadamia and almonds to be soaked with the milk and oats. Since I could get a packet of fresh coconut milk this morning, I soused the oats into some coconut milk just before I ate them and sprinkled a few dried cranberries and crunchy corn flakes to add some colors and texture to my bowl of goodness.




The verdict?
Very creamy, refreshing and very santan-ny which iLike! Did I tell you that I so love santan?  On some days, I will drink half a packet of santan to get the oomph and kick that I need to get me through my tough and long days.  And oh boy, that bowl of  wholesome chilled oats was so filling and I think that it can last me through lunch!  This is anytime healthier and more wholesome than nasi lemak or noodles.  Anytime!

Hazy Days Are Here Again!

The yearly haze is back as promised!  I have been living in KL for the past 23 years and there was not a single year that we were spared by the threat of the haze.  There was also not a single year that we were not threatened by the possibility of water rationing.   This year has been bad.  We, the Klang Valley folks were lashed with water rationing for almost 3 months and it looks as if we would have to be slapped with another round of water rationing that would last for at least 3 months until the next rainy season begins!

Looking at how dry and hot the weather has been, compounded by the El Nino effect, the haze looks set to choke us all in the days, weeks and months to come.

Oh rain, please come. We. Want. Rain.!  Let it rain, let it rain!!

This is the KL skyline at 2:30pm today.  How is the situation at your area?

3 Alternatives to Supplements

If you're struggling to increase your daily intake of zinc or vitamin C, you may have been advised to turn to dietary supplements. But with all the health scares surrounding these little pills, how can you trust them? Here are three ways to say no to chemicals and hello to natural health boosters.

1: Herbs
Many supplements are nothing but herbs and plants mixed with unnecessary compounds. For example, ginger battles nausea just as well as motion sickness medicine, and stinging nettle has been scientifically proven to combat inflammation. You don't need these things boiled and mass-produced to enjoy their utility.

2: Tablets
If you don't want to take a pill to increase bone density, companies like Calsura offer some of the best calcium tablets on the market. They dissolve in water with all of the same benefits of calcium supplements but none of the risk. That's because they work by absorption, allowing the nutrients to maintain their value and work effectively within the stomach itself.

3: Broad-Spectrum
Vitamins Unlike supplements, which are created to answer a specific deficit in the diet, broad-spectrum vitamins are designed for overall health and wellness. They can also be made organically and with natural ingredients that won't upset your body's natural balance.

Don't buy into the hype that says supplements are your only hope of healthy living. It's nothing but propaganda from greedy companies who want your money! If you're serious about strengthening your body and improving your clarity of mind, consider these three alternatives to supplements.

Antique Stamps

During our recent stay at my parents in Ipoh, my mum finally exposed to the girls some of the old 'treasures' that belonged to my brothers and me.

The girls are now old enough to appreciate these 'treasures', hence my mum unlocked the 35-year old cabinet that all the hidden old 'treasures' have been kept all these years after my brothers and I left our nest.

Apart my beloved collection of pencils, Sanrio and Disney stickers and stationery items, these stamp albums were once dearly cherished by my brothers and me.

If you are 'old enough', you would have probably seen these old Malaysia stamps....


Cass was delighted to see such a lot of stamps!  This babe of mine seems to have a deep interest in stamps collection and has been keeping stamps that she sees from our envelopes.





Do these stamps look familiar to you too? Some of these are stamps from London back in the early 1980s.



Stamp albums aged over 30 years. Some of the stamps in the albums are dated in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I think our antique stamps would have probably cost a lot now!

Who wants to buy? ;)

Breakfast at Nutmeg @ Bangsar Village

Nutmeg is currently the favorite breakfast place for the hubs.   We had been to Nutmeg umpteen times since trying it out for the first time early this year and yet, we never seem to get cloyed of the food, though we keep ordering the same items from the menu.

Enough said. We had breakfast at Nutmeg again yesterday.

Enjoy the pictures and I hope they will make you drool :P

Spanish Fritata...






Baked eggs... this is very yummy and I think it should be pretty easy to prepare it myself at home.  I promised the girls that I will try this egg dish soon.

 




Side order of mushrooms.  My girls are big fans of fresh button mushrooms and no matter how much mushrooms we order each time we dine at our favorite restaurants, they will always be polished off within seconds! Most of the time, hubs would order another bowl of mushrooms.





Belgian waffle with vanilla ice-cream.





Nutmeg Big Breakfast. I love their in house produced sausages, which ain't very salty. The deep fried mac & cheese wedges are yummeh too but all I had was just half, shared with Cass.  If you have been reading my blogs, you would have read that I have now steered clear of eating deep fried food and feeling too good and healthy to even want to have anything  deep fried  in my body :)

 





And the damage done for a 100% satisfied breakfast .... for 3 adults and 3 kids who have humungous appetite....






I think the price is pretty reasonable as what we had for breakfast was enough to keep us all full and satiated until dinner. With a lunch saved, I think the amount is well justified :)

Cameron Highlands Trip (9-10 June 2014)

For the life of me, I have never ever liked going to Cameron Highlands.  To begin with, I am born a very very poor traveler -- with the most dreaded motion sickness striking me when the road is windy and sea sickness when I am on a boat or ship.  As fate has it, my dad's hometown is Cameron Highlands. Ever since I was a newborn baby, I was destined to travel to the highlands to visit my grandparents. Even as a newborn baby, I would puke in my sleep, in my mom's arms.  I would dread going up to the highlands during CNY each year and during my grandparents' birthday.  I would puke all the way up and puke all the way down *bleh*!  My younger brother, Roy is just as bad a traveler as I am! I remember vividly that my dad would stop his car to let us puke at the waterfalls and sometimes, he would wash the potty filled with stinky vomit at the waterfalls.  I have never hated anything more than going to Cameron Highlands.  I was so glad when I married my husband and do not have to make yearly trips up to Cameron Highlands again  haha!

But after more than 10 years of not visiting Cameron Highlands, I started to miss this place slightly. My girls have been bugging me to bring them there.  No doubt, it is a place with lots of places of interest, breathtaking view and jaw-dropping view of the tea plantations.  So this school holidays, I inally agreed to bring the girls to Cameron Highlands!  We took the new road up, via Simpang Pulai, which is not that windy. I felt only a little nauseous.  However, we had to take the old road down, which is the snaky and windy roads, so that we could exit from Tapah and head back to KL.  And shiats, I was darn nauseous!  And I hated it!!

Thank God, my girls are blessed to be really good travelers. They can read books and watch movies in the car without getting dizzy and nauseous.  And they enjoyed their stay in Cameron Highlands SO much that they are already talking about the next trip.  I told them that in our next visit, I will bring them jungle trekking and also trek up to Robinson Waterfall.

For the love and sake of my girls, I think I will have to endure another nauseous trip up Cameron Highlands.  This time, we will exit from Simpang Pulai and use the new road to get back to the low land and then return to Ipoh for a night before heading back to KL.

Here are some of the pictures taken during our Cameron Highlands trip. Enjoy! :)

Alycia and Sherilyn with my mum at my Aunt Irene's house in Tanah Rata





The girls with their doting grandparents at Aunt Irene's cozy cottage. The girls were amazed to see a fire-place inside the house and a cute little chimney outside the house.









The girls with their Irene koo por, posing in front of the fire-place.


Thank you Aunt Irene for your warm hospitality and for arranging the horse rides for the girls :)


We stayed at Hotel Casa Dela Rosa while my parents stayed at Aunt Irene's house.

 




Cass calls her granny her 'best buddy' and my mum calls her  'honey bunny', LOL!!


Upon arrival, we visited different tea plantations and took loads of pictures. We were all awestruck by the awesome view of the tea plantations.









Aunt Irene arranged a horse-riding session for the girls at the Race Horse Spelling Station.




Sherilyn and Cass enjoying their lavender ice-cream at the House of Lavender.




At the House of Lavender with mummy dearest :)



Enjoying melt-in-the-mouth scones with fresh cream and strawberry jam and teh tarik at the Bharat Tea House.  The tea house overlooks the breathtaking view of the Bharat tea plantation.









Photography time at the Smokehouse Hotel, after a tucking into some really delish scones and tea at the Smokehouse coffee house.








Be warned that if you want to enter the Smokehouse Hotel solely for photography purpose or to enjoy the beauty of the lush greenery and flowers without patronizing the hotel or the coffee house, you will be nicely told off by the hotel staffer to leave.




We had a blast in Cameron Highlands despite the nauseous 1.5 hours journey going downhill.  Seeing how much the girls enjoyed themselves plus the precious bonding with my parents, the nauseousness in the car was all worth it!