24 September 2014

of 21 weeks and counting!

I had my regular monthly check up at the clinic yesterday. Adik baby's growing well, so does his mama! I gained nearly 3kg within a month, lucky the gynae said that should not be alarming and I don’t require a sugar test yet, unless if the weighing scale continuously shows a 3kg increment every month! hikss

And oh yes, this is the prenatal check up that I was most looking forward for merely one reason. To know the baby’s gender! If u notice, I mentioned ‘his mama’ in the first para. So that’s the answer, we are expecting another boboiboy in the house!! haha


I am all ok when the gynae confidently uttered…nampak bebird la mama. Well I guess a mother’s instinct never goes wrong, and so did myself this time around. I don’t feel anything unusual or weird with this gravida 5, hence I’ve been putting and keep reassuring myself not to expect a baby girl, and yesterday I was correct. A boy or girl, it is still a precious gift and creation from Allah to us. I whatsapped hubby and he replied…kena train sorang jadik chef laa :p

Yesterday’s evening when I broke the news to the kids, Alhamdulillah they took it quite well especially Idlan since I knew from the beginning he had always wanted a baby girl. He said…takperlah boy pon mesti comel jugak mcm adik xxx (kawan dia). hihi syukur!

So now, a boy’s name hunting process shall begin! :)

Idlan Farhan
Amir Firas
Ammar Fitri
xxxxx 

and that means mama remains as the minority in the house....huhu

22 September 2014

Petrosains Science Festival

 Yesterday, the whole clan went for an outing to Petrosains in conjunction with the Petrosains Science Festival. Kids had so much fun and so did us! (despite the cramped leg and aching all over of course hikss). We boarded a giant cup throughout a dark tunnel to go to the Petrosains exhibition hall entrance, there was a Dinasour uttering the same song that we heard about 5 yrs ago when we first entered the Petrosains, kids got to do lots of activities such as sand digging, car racing, watching a role play show featuring Turtles, Shark and pirates as well as a Dinasour 3D movie, wall painting using a real paint nearby the Esplanade area and what excites them most is that they got to bring back some free gifts after completing the activities.

We bought a family package tix that costs us RM30 (2 adults, 2 kids) and paid additional RM5 for Ammar. Kids below 2 yo enters for free. We then had a quick lunch at Signatures food court at Level 3 (ohh I just heart their westerns…lasagna, burgers or its pasta mmg super delish!) and later went back to enter the Petrosains Galleria. Nothing much over there, lucky we got free tickets from TM Rewards by ‘Like’ its Facebook page. Nonetheless kids enjoyed their 'sesi tembak-menembak' time using the 'Nerf' pistol over n over again for nearly half an hour..naik letih tunggu derang habis tembak :p Si abang siap mengayat "kalo dpt no 1 boleh tak dpt hadiah pistol Nerf?" erkkkkk


Demo - the art of balancing

sand digging using a digger


Kids get ready n standby at Station 1 for a Turtle Show

Male and female turtles


teknik bayang2

budak ni sibuk nak conquer the whole screen. mcm baca mantra jerk gaya :p

abah and his butterflies

at the oil platform. getting ready with a special uniform and a pair of shoes for emergency self rescue

getting down a hole direct to the sea!
 

cuba tgk gigi cantik takkk? hishhh
 
at the Esplanade area nearby the fountain...wall painting

Ammar pon join skali...first time pegang brush :)

bubye KLCC. Parking mahal giler okeh RM20 for 6 hours!

souvenirs sand art! Mlm tu jugak derang buat.

 proud with his creation...tapi abang Idlan yg tolong buat sebenarnya hihi

18 September 2014

Susu pisang di Korea...sedap ke??

Antara checklist yg ada dlm itinerary Jeju-Seoul kami adalah 'wajib beli susu pisang'! Glamer bukan main di kalangan para bloggers. Rata2 kata sedappp banget dan wajib beli. So kat sana, pestaim rasa susu pisang yg dibeli dekat Seopjikoji...selepas penat memanjat bukit dan tangga2 di situ. Time penat, panas, penat..bila pekena benda sejuk ahhh mmg heaven and sgt refreshing! So sedap ke susu pisang nih?? Idlan ckp sedappp dia suke...umi suke..aku and pruzz suke...firas ammar kureng suke..mak ude plak tak suke and ckp rasa mcm antibiotik! haha Harga tak mahal sgt kira okla..sebotol range 1500won - 1800won. Kalo beli 6 botol sekaligus dptla 9000won. Tapi pls jgn convert yer..kalo convert ofcoz rasa mahal hehe.



Susu pisang dan drinks lain yg dijual di vending machine.
 
Selain susu pisang, yg paling aku suke kat Korea ni adalah kopi2 dia...byk brand, byk jenis, merata2 jual kat convenience store depa. Amongst my favourite adalah Caramel Macchiato mcm dlm gambar kat bwh nih...1800won sebotol. Mmg sgt creamy!!


mentos dan biskut pon ada jual kat vending machine kat subway2 depa...senang!
 
Satu lagi yg sedap banget adalah honey almond Kellogg's cornflakes yg mak ude beli dekat Jeju and repeat lagi beli dekat Seoul...adoii mmg sedap tapi mahal giler lah lupa dah harga dia. Bila cari kat Mesia takde plak versi yg exactly mcm dlm gambo tuh...frust acik tauuu!! Idlan pon suke giler breakfast mkn cornflakes sepanjang kat sana..blk Mesia terus tak layan cornflakes sbb tak jumpa yg sedap mcm kat Korea..sabo jela :p

17 September 2014

A short stay @ The Everly Hotel Putrajaya

An adhoc decision made otw back from Kedah enroute KL. Purely because both of us were just too lazy to go back home, what more to the office on the very nx morning. Hence the hunting process begins while hubby continued with his driving hehe. At last we decided to just stay at Putrajaya, Everly was the choice taking into considerations the nicely-decorated rooms n most importantly fit with our budget.

We made the reservation via booking.com, paid rm189 for a superior room (b/fast not included).

Overall review- room was nice n clean, with 2 super single beds n a sofa, toilet n shower are clean, the bed n pillows were vry comfy. It took us only 2 min to walk to Alamanda, passing thru the TGIs Friday n the cinema. We had our lunch at the Burger King, bought some breads n snacks at Cold Storage, let the kids had some fun time at the playground nx to Parkson, went for dinner at the Alamanda's food court and wrap up the day with 2 slices of cakes at 50% off bought from the hotel cafe. There are 1 adult-size infinity pool at 1-1.2mtr deep and kid's pool at 0.5mtr. The pool was super crowded in the evening but we almost conquered the pool ourselves on the vry nx morning..sgt best!

Our one-day weekday getaway ended with having lunch at Homst, a Chinese Muslim restaurant located in Bangi Getaway. The food was super delish! We ordered fried kuew tiow, Msian fried rice, wantan mee, buttered soft shell crab (highly recommended!!) n 2 sets of dim sum. Sgt kenyang okehh sbb portion besar. Nx time we surely will come again :)

Everly Hotel - the lobby
 
The room
 
Kids spent most of their time at adult's pool 

11 September 2014

Recipe: Chocolate banana bottom square brownies

Bought seikat pisang at the office yesterday with the intention of making cekodok pisang for today's brekkie. But the cekodok plan changed into brownies eventually, we plan this and that yet we may end up with something else hiksss. Couldn't remember the source of recipe, but will definitely share the full recipe later (ok dah share!). Good things are best shared aint u think so? :) This beauty is so delish and simple, even the kids loved it as much as i do!



Ingredients:
113g butter
1 cup sugar (I used less than a cup, I’ve always reduce my sugar amount for any recipe taken from internet)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cup banana – mashed (I used 3 medium-size or 5 small-size banana)
1.5 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda bika
0.5 tsp salt – I omitted
¼ cup cocoa powder
Enough chocolate chips, and nuts to your liking

* I use 7x7 square mould.

1. Cream butter & sugar. Add egg, vanilla and mashed banana.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda bika & salt. Sift all together (I omitted sbb malas). Add to the cream mixture.
3. Divide batter into half. Add ¼ cup of the cocoa powder to one portion of the batter.
4. Grease your mould. Add to the cocoa mixture followed by the banana mixture.
5. Sprinkle with choc chips and nuts as much as u want.
6. Bake at 180 degree for 3-40 min or so until cooked.  Cut into 25 squares.
 




07 September 2014

Churros for brekkie!

Churros with milk chocolate dip and cinnamon-sugar coating for today's brekkie. We were supposed to join a senamrobik at the padang organized by TS Kelab Wanita at 730am, but kids woke up quite late, hence senamrobik dlm mimpi jelah!

 
realized that the choc dip i made was quite a lot..but later after they finished up the churros, ammar took slices of bread and ate them with the chocolate..sampai licin bekas tuh! :p haishhhh

05 September 2014

TGI Friday’s Alamanda – halal yer!

Disebabkan TGIF Alamanda adalah the only outlet yg dpt halal certification from Jakim, maka buat julung2 kalinya kami dpt merasa mkn di TGIF yg digembar-gemburkan hebat dan sedap itu. Tepat 12noon kami masuk, dgn konfiden dpt saya katakan yg kami merupakan customer pertama pada hari itu..lengang giler ok, maybe sbb masih awal...or maybe sbb weekdays.

Lepas browse through menu yg diberikan, kami decide utk focus pada menu yg bertanda ‘Fav’ jer…senang citer sbb malas nak pk lama-lama. Masa nak order, saya tanya waiter…kids got free for each adult’s meal right? ohhh time tu barulah budak tu pegi amik menu for kids and pass pada kami..sabor jela.

So menu kami pada hari tuh..New York Strip (medium well) with wild mushroom butter sauce + 2 side dishes (pilaf rice & crispy fries) for hubby, and Cajun Shrimp & Chicken Pasta for me. Utk kids we all pilih spaghetti carbonara & chicken fingers with crispy fries. Air plak kami order orange juice & strawberry milkshake. 

Review: Service not bad, takdela lama sangat nak tunggu. Sebenarnya kami agak cuak takut Ammar muntah sbb dia duk batuk tak berenti ala2 mcm nak kena asthma attack (suspect sbb tadi sakan budak kecik ni berlari-larian dan berkejar dgn Firas sepanjang kat dlm Alamanda tadi). Aduh brape kali tanya Ammar rasa nak muntah tak..nak muntak tak..kang tak pasal mama ngan abah terpaksa tunduk malu terkepot2 kalo kusi lawa depa kena muntah :p Mujurla after few minutes batuk dia dah subside and stop…adess budak ni bikin suspen jer! 

Back to the food review, steak hubby (menurut kata hubby) agaklah disappointing. Toowoomba is much much better katanya. Sos dia rasa biasa, mcm kurang rasa. Steak pon so-so jer. Pilaf rice dia sedap..macam pulut and lagi sedap dari Nandos. My pasta, mmg sedap! First time mkn pasta yg diberi sentuhan Cajun spices, so rasa dia agak sedap dan kena dgn anak tekak nih. Pedas2 sket yet at the same time ada sentuhan creamy Alfredo yg not so cheesy…jadi tak muak. Pasta tu diiringi dgn udang dan chicken breast bersama2 dgn capsicum..purfecto! Air both rasa ok..sedap. Kids’ food pon sedap..fries mmg lazat standard fries rasa macam kat Aussie, chicken fingers kids suka, carbonara dia ok la tapi still far below Toowoomba…Toowoomba nyer carbonara still terbaik and unbeatable so far! Portion food agak besar…2 adult meal+2 kids meal tu agak byk buat kami berempat, makanya spaghetti carbonara tu sentuh 2 sudu je and tapau bwk balik.

Oh citer bab tapau, agak mengecewakan sebab dia Cuma tapau dlm bekas polisterin putih yg choyy tu jer..standard restoran biasa kottt…aisehh dahla bayar gov tax 6% and svc tax 10%, food plak super mahal, patutnya upgrade la sket packaging utk customer take away haishhhh. 

Berapa star nak kasi? rasanya saya Cuma kasi 6 out of 10 kot. Harga mahal, rasa ada ok ada mengecewakan, ambience ok, service ok, mungkin kurang ada regret di sini sebab kids meal dpt free…kalo kids kena bayar mmg rasa sangat tak berbaloi okehh. Next time maybe tak datang dah kot…sebab hubby nmpk agak keciwa sama itu steak hihi




New York Strip - RM59.90

cajun shrimp & chicken pasta - RM32.90

left: chicken fingers, right: spaghetti carbonara

sian abg Idlan tak dpt join sbb sekolah :p Kalo dia tahu ni konfem merajuk 200%

model Digi versi kurus :)

bamboo trees yg sgt cantik dan awesome viewnya!


cantik kan...pathway ni di luar entrance Alamanda tepi Carrefour tuh...ramai la org2 gomen yg kuar kot pintu ni dan berjln pulang ke ofis mereka.

03 September 2014

Review - Skin Food Black Sugar Mask and Serum



These are some of the Korean products that I’ve bought during our recent Jeju-Seoul trip and currently used as part of my facial routine.

Black Sugar Perfect First Serum – 21,000 won
My very first serum in my entire life after 34 years, haha jakun amats I’m telling you. My geng lunch said serum is one of the must-buy items in Korea, hence I just took whatever brand that first catch my interest and attention. I asked the salesgirl what’s your best product range, and she quickly uttered the ‘Black Sugar’ range…so kita rembat yg tu jelah yer. Review:  Nice bottle and packaging nevertheless slightly heavy. The odor and texture is ok. I use it daily every morning after applying the toner n before moisturizer. Any improvement? honestly I don’t know haha sorry if I’m not helping!

Black Sugar Mask Wash Off – 7000++ won,
Can’t remember its exact price, have to go back n dig the receipt. Bought this simply because k.tie said this is super good and effective in removing black heads. The price in KL is around RM40++, and I got it in Korea at about half price cheaper…value for money huh! Review: super love its lime scent…sgt wangi and refreshing! Very dark brown in color, mcm caramelized sugar yg hampir hangus. Its sugar particles are quite rough and coarse, hence it does wonders to scrub your face to remove that stubborn residue. You have to apply some water onto the mask to avoid skin irritation. I use it once or twice a week, and super love the after-effect:)


I am yet to use that Black Sugar Mask Foam, will share my review later yer. Next year perhaps? hehe