Happy Birthday Ah Kong

Ah Kong turned *beep* (oops censored..cannot be disclose) on the 14th and since he was in China with Ah Ma (enjoying a lobster dinner to celebrate his birthday.. OoooOOoo..) we had a belated birthday celebration when they got back. As we had such a good time Feringghi Grill the last time, we headed there again to celebrate his birthday.

It was a good thing that we had booked the table in advance. As most tables along the window was for 4 and there were 5 of us, we were seated in front of the kitchen. You can see the people in the kitchen moving around, preparing our dinner. As with the list time, the waitress brought you a nice comfy cushion from the bar so that you can sit and dine comfortably.

We were served drinks then soon our orders were taken. You started to complain about being hungry. Good thing we were given a basket of bread and you ate that happily. When the waiter started to cook (prepare to be more accurate) my soup (yup.. in front of us) you started to exclaim loudly about being hungry again.. Soon we were all served our appetizers. Then we had this and that then finally our main course. Wow! The food was amazing. And the restaurant was full house.

After we had tucked away all the food, daddy took out his camera and tried to take a picture of us, but you were feeling cheeky and refused to pose nicely:

At last he got one decent picture:

I managed to get one of you with daddy too:

I wonder where you learnt to show the "peace" sign when taking pictures

Then as I had informed them when I made reservations that it was Ah Kong's birthday, we had a simply sinful chocolate mud cake for the birthday boy:

After the birthday song, blowing out the candle and serving the cake, we were also served the final course of the night.. the petit four. Yummy... there was no more place in my tummy for the chocolate but somehow you managed to squeeze one into your little tummy.

As we were leaving the ladies (Ah Ma and I) were each given a rose. A lovely celebration. Happy Birthday Ah Kong!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Last Monday was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Uncle Sin Chuan called daddy to ask if we'd like to go to Uncle Sin Tien's house just for the kids to play with the lanterns. So we had a shower then had dinner and got ready to go to Uncle Sin Tien's house. It was daddy's first time going so we had to get his address as we also needed to register at the guard house.

We arrived before Uncle Sin Chuan and family. Only Uncle Sin Tien was at home as Aunty Ean Na had a dinner.While daddy took a "house tour" you settled yourself in front of the TV, flicking through the cartoon channels.

We'd brought along your "Cars2" lantern which we had bought a while back. We'd learned our lesson from previous times so this time daddy made sure he picked a lantern which did not play annoying songs really loud non-stop. We wanted one with a simple light, but they only had flashing lights.. oh well.. as long as it does not play those songs!

Uncle Sin Chuan came with the more traditional paper lantern, not those glassy transparent paper which we had last time, but these ones did not have lights. It was lighted using candles or tea lights. He'd bought tealights to put inside.

Daddy took pictures of you all with your lanterns:

Abby proudly showing off her Hello Kitty lantern

All smiles with your lantern

Ian was very interested in daddy and his camera. Everytime daddy wanted to take a picture, Ian would go in front of the camera to pose:

We managed to get a picture of the 3 of you together.. not an easy feat:

After a while it got too hot and we all went inside to enjoy the air-cond comfort and to snack a little:

Steamed yam and mooncakes

One last shot of Ian before daddy called it a day and kept his camera:

While They Were Away...

Ah Kong and Ah Ma took a holiday with some of the Ban clan to China, visiting Ah Tai's "village" in China as well as one of the Kor Poh who's still living in China. They were there for over a week.

So during this period, our schedule was similar to that when Ah Kong and Ah Ma went on holidays to New Zealand and Australia earlier this year. We dropped you to school, then picked you up from school, dropped you home, wait for you to settle down then go back to work.

While we're at work, you're told to start doing your homework by 2.30pm. And of course, I'd leave my mobile phone with you and then.. then phone calls begin. The moment I reach my desk, my desk phone starts ringing. You even speed dial me on the phone. It's easier for you, although you do know my office phone number by heart!

And of course if anyone calls you, you'd immediately "report" to me that so-and-so had called. Even more updated than the news!!

Ah Kong and Ah Ma are now back from their holidays and so my office phone does not ring so often anymore. Somehow while I was about to pull my hair everytime my office phone rings last week, but now I seem to miss your calls now that you're not calling me.

At Long Last

Your giant truck and the 2 cars are completed. We got you this Lego set for your birthday. It's called the "Highway Transport" set. It took us a long time as this set has 3 things to build: the white car, the red car and the trailer (that can also be considered as 2 parts as we needed to build the front and back part of the trailer).

We'd build a little then rest then build a little and rest and forget all about it then start over again.. And each and everytime we build the parts of this set, it was like a treasure hunt, having to search for one part then another.

At long last this is the end result:

well worth the time and effort we all put to complete this.

New Hairstyle??

After a bath, I will dry your hair thoroughly and you'll always make sure that you flatten your hair while I like to make it stand. Looks so cool.. What do you think??

Had to make sure the picture was not a full body picture *grin*. I like your hair this way.. And you smiled nicely for this picture.. although picture quality was not very good.. used my phone's camera.

Today's Lunch

So what was for lunch today? Uncle KK was visiting from Singapore. We tried to go to some places for lunch, but as it was a public holiday today, most "well known" places were packed! So in the end, we went to our usual Kuay Teow Th'ng shop for lunch. Mummy walked a few shops away and ordered Char Kuay Teow for us. When it arrived (before your Kuay Teow Th'ng) you took one look and said "Mummy, I haven't eaten Char Kuay Teow for a long time.." Aiyo... So daddy ended up having to order one plate without chillies for you.

Happiness:You cleared the whole plate, except for the taugeh and the prawns.. Daddy called you a "true blue Penang kia". Next thing to train you to enjoy is Hokkien Mee!

Some More Colouring..

Had these things laid out on a little corner in the living room. You'd finished your homework and so we decided to do a little something fun...

Yup, a little craft session. I'd been collecting toilet paper rolls for a while and it's cluttered a little corner in my room and if i didn't use them up soon, daddy's going to have a fit!! Had seen a good idea at this website so decided to do this today:

You started off painting your toilet roll blue after I'd helped you draw the lines and cut part of the roll. Of course, you being the non-conformist decided that your roll was to be multi-coloured instead of single colored like (boring) mummy... who followed the instructions to a T.

So what did we actually create? These...

Yup, octopus. You started off painting yours blue then decided to add a little red and when I told you that you'll also have to colour the insides, you wanted it to be green..

And yesterday evening after the paint had dried up, we used the puncher to make blue dots to be the "suckers" on the octopus' legs. We stick those on the legs then finished with the final touches of the eyes.

Here's my red octopus..

That was a fun session...

Monkeying Around

.. while doing your homework.. Nothing new when it comes to you doing your homework.

Monster face:I was trying to get a picture of you busy writing.. but..... nope no such chance...
..why is the pencil tucked behind your ear??!!
.. hey, why aren't you writing?? ..told me to take a picture of your homework:

Ah.. at last.. a picture of you writing your homework....

..which you wrote for a few seconds before asking to take a look at my pictures.

Coloring Contest

The night before you had to sleep early (like a school night as today was a big day for you. Weeks ago, when I got back from work, you told me "Mummy, there is a coloring contest. I wanna join". And when I checked your homework pouch, there was a form. During dinner I asked you to tell daddy what you wanted to do. This is what you told daddy "Daddy, I want to join the coloring contest. You know there will be food for parents on the second floor." You even watched as I filled up the form, and even inspected the form when I had filled it up!

So this morning you woke up the moment I told you to wake up, all excited to go for the coloring contest. The theme for the contest was "Merdeka". Jing Ee's mummy had told me that she had told her you will be coloring the "Jalur Gemilang' which was the same thing you told me. We were rather early but there were already quite a few contestants all waiting for the contest to start.

Here you were sitting on the newspaper, waiting for everyone to come before we started:

Are we starting yet??
At about 9am, the organizers started the program. Before the children got to the important task of coloring, first there was a briefing, followed by "warm up" exercises:

Can you guess what was going on with all the children opening their mouths? Nope.. not exercising their mouths, but singing the national song Negaraku:

Parents were not allowed to hang around while the children were coloring. So some of them left while the rest of us went to the second floor for some light refreshments. Daddy and I also went off to wait for you to finish and for the prize giving ceremony. Before we went off, we did manage to get pictures of some veteran contestants:

They came all prepared with a table and chair/stool to ensure maximum comfort while coloring.

When I went down to have a check on you, I found that you were no longer in the car park where the contest was held. One of the volunteers told me that you should be on the first floor playing the games while waiting for the prize giving ceremony. You later told me that you play hopscotch, seven stones and Malaysian quiz.

At 11 the parents adjourned to the 3rd floor where the children were already gathered. Songs were sung before prizes were given away. Then we all adjourned.

Nope.. no prize for you today, but you were happy nonetheless as you got some small prizes while playing the games (except for seven stones) and they even gave all contestants a small souvenir before they went home.

Should We Get a Bigger Tub?

Took these pictures of you one of those days when you decied to squeeze into that tiny bathtub which was used when you were a baby. Yup, we still keep the tub. It's in quite good condition still:

Bath time is never fun without your rubber ducky and the rubber tortoise..

P/S: Didn't get very good pictures as I was too lazy to put on the flash :(

A Scary Twenty Minutes.. Or So...

We went out for our usual Saturday night dinner when on the way back, we noticed a funny sound. So daddy had no choice but to stop on a road (with very heavy traffic) to check. He could not even get out of the car so Ah Kong had to go down to check. Oh no.. it was a flat tire!

So we all got out of the car and had to stand by the roadside while daddy and Ah Kong searched the car boot for things which they needed to change to the spare tire. You were very sacred, trembling as we stood in the dark. It was especially scary for you when the traffic light up behind turned green and all the motorcycles and cars drove by.

We stood there under an umbrella as daddy changes the tire while Ah Kong stood by the roadside waving his reflector, keeping the vehicles away from daddy.

At last, the spare tire was changed, and we drove the short distance home. Yay! Our hero for tonight, daddy!!

Mr Vain?

As Saturday is Ah Ma's "day off" we got showered and dressed to go out for dinner as usual last Saturday. I picked a t-shirt which had the printing of a necktie. As I was getting you dressed, you told me "Mummy, I want a real tie." Aiyo.. where do I find a tie short enough for you???

So I said "OK, I'll go look for one to buy for you..". Then you said that you wanted a belt to wear with your pants. You went to your cupboard and came back with a belt AND a cap. Wah.. someone is very vain today.

As we were going out, daddy asked "Where are you going all dressed up?" and then followed with "We're going to a place with no air-cond." Evil daddy!

That was not the end of it. You made me rush upstairs as everyone else was going out the door to get you a pair of socks. You insisted on wearing shoes instead of sandals out for dinner. Now, tell me again were we going out for dinner together of were you going on a hot date??

P/S: And the story of the tie does not end. You've been reminding me about buying a tie for you still. Do you have anywhere in particular which you plan to wear the neck tie to??

A Present From Afar

A package came from afar for you recently. Aunty Pam who visited us in May got a friend who was going to Singapore to mail out (from Singapore) a present for you. It was a Lightning McQueen t-shirt along with a Lego catalogue. Wow! After having the shirt washed, you requested to wear it to school.
So when you wore this t-shirt I got you to pose for me so that I could send a picture of you wearing the shirt to Aunty Pam.
Your mouth is all funny because I got you to pose while you were eating breakfast *grin*

Hurt Himself

When I saw my phone rang with the school number, my heart sank. I was wondering if you were ok. Mr Tan called to tell mummy that you'd fallen during physical, but you just had some scratches on your face and knee. They had already put some cream on your knees and you were ok. As Ah Kong was going to pick you up today, daddy decided to tell Ah Kong that you'd fallen down before he picked you up with scratches all over.

I called you when you reached home to check on you and you told me that it did not hurt anymore. When we got home, you were your cheerful self and then we saw it clearly:

Quite a bit of scratches on your right cheek and also on your knee:

I guess it didn't hurt though, as you did not complain about it being painful when daddy gave you a shower. Ok then, looks like Humpty Dumpty had a bad fall, but Mr Tan managed to fix him all ok. Phew...

An Important Question..

We went back to BM yesterday to celebrate Nanna and Grampy's 42nd anniversary yesterday. On the way back, you suddenly asked me "Mummy who am I going to marry?". Yikes.. that got me stumped for a while. I'm not too sure if daddy heard your question or he suddenly had selective hearing, leaving me to answer your question...

So I said "When you find a girl you love then you can marry her (when you're older!!)". But noOOooo.. .that wasn't a good enough answer, I obviously did not answer your question. You asked me again "But who will it be??". Gosh... "Um.. whoever you meet when you are older and love". You did not seem satisfied but thank goodness we reached home just on time. You got distracted and forgot all about it. *phew* Please don't ask me such difficult questions next time. Keep them for daddy, ok??

Homework Time

I left you in your room to do your homework with strict instructions to finish and not leave your room while I took a shower. Before I even started on my shower.. I heard the room door open and you were standing in front of me, saying "Mummy the song Morning has broken sound like this...". After your little performance you were sent back. And less than 10 minutes later my room door was opened with you telling me something else.

After I was ready, I went to check on you and nothing much of your homework is completed!! Aiksss... When asked what you were doing instead of your homework, you said "Nothing.. maybe dream a little". Ok, one point for honestly *grin*

And as I am typing this post, I can see you from the corner of my eye, dreaming, looking left and right, counting the columns you have written (for Chinese homework) and sharpening you pencil. Even walking over to give me kisses. Any excuse to delay doing your homework.

Of course there is one more thing you have not done yet: Ask me "Mummy, why do I have to do homework?"...

Free Samples

.. from Jusco, Tesco and especially Cold Storage since we go there with you very often. Yup, that's your favourite and on "good days" you get a sample for pasta, ice-cream and milk. Certainly makes your day. Some days if our timing is off (too early or too late) then you'll get no sample and keep asking my why there's no "stall" which gives our free sample.

I especially have to remind you when we go to the supermarkets on weekdays. I guess sometimes you forget that it's a weekend, so no sample. Just a little sample and it makes your day!

A Celebration

We had wanted to go somewhere special to celebrate and of course to celebrate with you. So we tried this restaurant and was told that children were allowed in this restaurant. Yippee!! I was initially upset when I called one of the restaurants and was told that it was a fine dining restaurant and children were not allowed. Then I tried a few other fine dining restaurants and found out they'll allow children. So it was decided that we'd try out Feringghi Grill in Rasa Sayang Hotel on Saturday.

It was lovely. We got a nice seat with the view of the trees outside and you were delighted to see people para sailing until it got too dark. The nice waiter even brought you a cushion to sit on as you didn't want a high chair. We ordered food and were soon served the most sumptuous food that evening. Too bad I'd forgotten to suggest daddy bring his camera, so the pictures were taken with my crummy phone's camera.

We started off with out pre-dinner drinks. Then we were served nice fresh bread followed by their Amuse Bouche. Next came the appetisers. Here's daddy's appetiser:

Torched Tuna

You and I had soup for as our appetizer: tomato soup for you and Soup Trio for me. Before the main course, we were each served a sherbet. Then came the main course:

Macaroni & Cheese for you, what else

You proclaimed it to be 10 million, zillion fingers good.

Here's daddy's King's Cut Prime Rib

As for mummy's main course, I had beef tenderloin. As my camera refuses to allow me to take anything nice with it, I will not post a picture which will only be injustice to my delicious steak!! Of course, dinner was complemented with a bottle of wine:

After we were done with dinner, the waitress brought out a cake. Wowee.. chocolate cake. Daddy sang me a birthday song while you only whispered the words to the song. So shy..

The cake was heavenly. So rich and chocolaty. Then as a finale, the waiter brought out some chocolates which he promised he'd give you in the beginning of our meal if you finished all your dinner.

A truly wonderful celebration. Muakks to my 2 great guys!

P/S: I wonder when we get to go again.. *grin* Must make sure we're armed with the camera the next time.

Keeping Teddy Entertained

You woke up in a good mood this morning and rather early too. So we didn't need to rush to get ready and have breakfast. As we were getting ready to go down, you said that you wanted to bring Teddy down. So while I was getting your breakfast ready you said Teddy wanted to watch TV (wonder if it's YOU or Teddy who wants to watch TV). And after I got you to sit down and have breakfast I saw Teddy "watching TV" like this:
Yup, you stacked two pillows for him to sit on, making sure that he could see the TV clearly!! Could not resist taking a picture *grin*

And since we were quite early, you even got to watch TV with Teddy on the sofa until 8am. When it was time to leave you insisted to leave the TV on for Teddy as he still wanted to watch some cartoons.