Date Night

Today, Mei-mei had a party to attend. Ah Ma also had a dinner with Uncle Sin Jeow and his business partner. That left Ah Kong, and as we planned to stay out the whole (nearly) 4 hours instead of going home and back out to pick Mei-mei, he was left to settle his own dinner. 

We had done so many research, but still could not decide on where to go. In the end, since it was still early, we headed to Noordin Street to check out this yakitori place called Koshien Yakitori Japanese Bar and Restaurant. We were even lucky to get street parking right opposite the shop. But as it was a corner lot where people would turn into the carpark, we decided against that slot and opted to pay for the (most likely to be expensive) parking. 

We ordered some food and started off with the snow beer:

Snow beer in the making

Koebi karaage

Then we had skewers/yakitori:

We moved on to sake (but it was not the right pick)

Daddy had placed an order for more food and just before these arrived, he went to the loo. Luckily I did not start eating, it wasn't our order 🤣

This was our last order for the night. Wasn't too great. Will give it a pass if we ever visit here again. 

It was a nice date night. Slow and easy dining. We finished a little too early to pick Evelyn, so we headed to Gurney Paragon just to walk walk until it was time to pick her up. 

Bayu Ferringhi

Ah Kong's tenant had moved out of the unit after living there for 10 years. He had asked daddy to go over and remove something (it ended up being many more tasks that that!!). So we decided to head over after karate and lunch. 

You also brought your laptop along so that you could attend your online tuition classes. You were so excited to see the condo. You obviously had no recollection of visiting it. The last time you came, you were only 1 years old! 

Here you are in the room that you "jom" to be yours:

Daddy ended up not removing the tubes which Ah Kong had initially asked him to do. But he had to move the clothes dryer to the drying yard, try to fix the dry kitchen sink, remove the screw plugs left by the tenant, fill up the holes in the wall and fix the spoilt light in the living room. 

Was chatting with Ko-ko and he asked to send photos. Here's a photo of the amazing view from the unit:

Daddy finished up just as you finished tuition. Then we hopped back into the car and headed home. 

More Drain Covers

 These are my collections:

Tengachaya

Himeji

Nara

I thought that I had taken more photos than these.. looks like you took even more than I did in the end. 

Drain Covers in Japan

Before heading to Japan, I came across many posts mentioning the many different and beautifully decorated covers. You noticed me taking photos of them and so you also started looking out for them (on top of the eki stamps). Here are your collections:

Geography Assignment

Your team had met up at Vilmund's house on Thaipusam. Then last Friday they came over to the house after school. And at the end of the evening, you had nothing to show for it, other than 2 really heavy mounts of "Mountain" made of soaked paper Mache. Aiyoyo!

So on Saturday, I suggested that you all redo the mountain. In the end, I dropped you off at music class then picked up some supplies which may be useful for the project. Went home and started on the balloon. Had to get Ah Ma to help pick you and get lunch so that I can finish up on the layers of the "mountain". This was the initial output.. looks like an octopus:

You told me looked like a dog:

Well, you had to skip ballet lessons again. And your friends also changed the location to meet up to our house again. You all worked hard to redo the project. Even hesitated to take a 20min break when we brought back snacks for tea time. In the end, you all cleared the nuggets and fries and continued with the project. You managed to finish up by 6.30pm. Even had time to play badminton out in the garden before your friend's parents came to pick them up. 

And this is the end product:

You called me today to tell me that your team received full score. And teacher laughed when you all told her the MVP is me since I went out to buy all the things that you needed. 🤣

Cherry Tomatoes

I had the dried cherry tomato seeds sitting on the island counter for quite a while. And finally before heading off to Japan, I quickly dumped them into one of the pots in the back garden.

When we came back, it grew and had flowers. This week, there were fruits too. Kakak even covered the fruits with a plastic bag to ensure that they are not eaten.

Look at the flowers. I even shook them as this is supposed to help with the pollination. 

And guess who is the one eaten them cherries?

CNY Lunch with the Phuahs, and Going Home

The meal was changed from lunch to dinner, as Ko-ko was heading back to KL via the 4pm train. 

Ah Ma was cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Menu was supposed to be Hainanese Chicken rice, but it ended up being a full fledged lunch, with many other dishes to complement the steamed chicken!

She had also planned to cook "kon cheen har", but gave up as it was late and she was probably tired. In the end, daddy took over as he had peeked at Kor Poh cooking it for our CNY dinner in Ipoh. It was a success!

Frying up the prawn before frying with the garnishing

Forgot to take the end product before it was all snapped up!

There were only a few prawns so everyone took just one at most. 

All too soon, it was time to head to Butterworth. Said your goodbyes to everyone and we headed off. This time we've learnt our lesson. Daddy did not bother to follow the queue into the station. Instead he parked the car and we walked the short walk into the station.

We were a little too early and the way down to the train was not yet opened. Waited a little and then it was opened. And off goes our precious.. 

Carriage E

Happy Birthday, Ah Ma

We left the Ipoh house after lunch. Today's drivers are daddy (in the BMW) and Ko-kor (in the Mazda). We took a slow drive, with daddy up ahead and Ko-ko behind (very close.. too close for comfort at times). 

After unpacking when we arrived home, we had time to relax before getting ready to head out to Kirishima.  

The restaurant was packed! Daddy ordered the food and we also drank the sake which was parked from our last visit.

Cheers! Many happy returns

Enjoying the meal

We also got the waiter to help take a family photo:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AH MA! 🎂

Second Day of CNY

The second day of Chinese New Year is always a relaxing one. We don't need to wake up too early, breakfast is eaten leisurely and with dinner to be eaten in Toong Hoi, it means no need to have any preparation for dinner. 

Covered the seung wan yuen in flour for Chim Poh to bring along with her when she goes to visit her brother. 

Putting on the red dots

Kor Poh cooked our usual lunch, which is chicken porridge. Of course, this is no simple chicken porridge. It's filled with lots of goodies such as abalone and dried scallops.

Then since we had nothing to do and we needed to pick up Ah Ma's birthday cake which I had pre-ordered last week, we headed out to Etre bringing along with us Ariesse and Vianna. 

Pretty girls

I ordered some cakes and savories and we tried them all. Daddy also ordered more.. so we had quite a lot to eat!

Before heading home, we went around to Ferment Boulangerie to pick up some break to bring home to Penang. 

Shortly after we arrived home, it was time to head out to dinner as our reservation was 6pm. Had a quick change and off we went to Toong Hoi. We thought that we had arrived early, but there were already other tables with patrons enjoying their meal. As with last year, the seating was rather tight, although we were put along a walkway, giving us a little more space than it would have been with other seats. We had 2 tables for us. 

Food was served quickly:

Lou sang

Everyone stirring it up

Next came the fish. Unfortunately, it was undercooked so we had to send it back to the kitchen. The same happened for the other table. The fish was quickly replaced with a fresh one. 

We had the suckling pig too (George's new favourite. He enjoyed it the week before when they ate here):

There was this roast chicken:

The usual dry fried prawn (kon cheen har):

Tofu in pumpkin sauce:

Fried vegetables. I liked this dish:

Broccoli with sea cucumber:

Noodles.. this was yummy, but our tummies were bursting by then:

This cheeky boy was daddy's best friend as he was waiting and waiting for the roast suckling pig and his table's portion was delayed while we had ours. So daddy gave him some off our plate, along with a whole sauce to himself. He even for a leg from daddy!

The food was certainly below what we're used to eating here. The food came out much faster than we're able to finish up, that they keep having to change to smaller plates to make space on the lazy Suzan. 

But one thing I'm thankful for (and thanks to Natalie Kor-kor for the treat) is that we get to rest in the afternoon, instead of slaving in the kitchen. Especially Kor Poh and Chim Poh who are the chefs in the kitchen and who need to prepare everything weeks leading to CNY and even go to the market early in the morning of CNY. 

We then went back and then brought out the cake we had picked in the afternoon for Ah Ma's birthday (tomorrow).

We took it out earlier as Kok Beng Chek Chek and family had to hit the road and head home soon. 

Ah Ma blowing out the candle

With Ah Kong

With the youngest generation in the family

I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the cake. Then it was time for "drinks". One last round before everyone heads home tomorrow.