Cadbury Dairy Milk Share Bag

During the fasting month, Cadbury held a contest on its Facebook page where they gave a list of 11 situations in which you want to share your Cadbury chocolates with. Contestants must come up with list no 12 and are required to email the no. 12 list. Little that I know, my entry was chosen to be one of the lucky winners. I was excited when they emailed me to give my details.

 Last week, a courier guy came and gave this box to me. He said it was a cake. I didn't know there was a chilled option for couriered items.

I opened the package and there was a brown box. Inside the box were 2 packs of Cadbury Dairy Milk. You know how exciting it is to receive a parcel but the happiness is doubled when the parcel contains yummy chocolates! The next day, I gave 2 bars each to my colleagues and staffs. Such happy day.

Babycakes' First Birthday

OMG i couldn't believe that I did not post about Babycakes' FIRST BIRTHDAY and she'll be TWO end of this month OMG OMG OMG!!! This post has been in my draft folder for so long gaaaaahhhh! Oh well, I know it is basi but what the heck.

I started making preparations months before her birthday. I started buying things progressively so that I don't splurge at one time. I did not have a specific theme for her party simply because it is her 1st birthday and she doesn't have any favourite cartoon character just yet. Plus, it was also a belated raya open house. I printed the cupcakes and cut the circles and made my very own toppers. Tedious, but very satisfactory knowing that you made it all by yourself.

I am proud to say that I made her tutu myself. There are so many tutorials online and it's so easy. It's just a matter of rajin & malas, nak atau tak nak. Of course I can just buy one off the shelf but when she grows up, I can proudly tell her that Mummy made your tutu for your first birthday! I bought the material from some flower shop in Kajang and started working on it and even had Babycakes to try it on a few days before her party. I bought a pink sleeveless romper for her to wear with the tutu to create the ballerina look. Not that we're going for a ballerina themed party but I couldn't find any t shirt that is suitable for her so the plain pink romper with 2 butterfly appliques will do.

Most of the party deco and stuffs were diy. I know how easy it is to have a party planner do everything but it comes with a hefty price tag too. Plus, we don't have an exact theme going on so it's a matter of mix and match. I cut some coloured papers in cupcake shapes and made a little guestbook for it.

Party favours were all diy too. Bought some party loot bags, balloons, balloon sticks and some other stuffs including a small square face towel which comes in handy to wipe off sweat and stuffs from the kid's face and hands. The stuffs were bought at a shop somewhere in Taman Manja. They're much cheaper than Balloon Buzz, Party World and the like. I had a hard time looking for the sugar biscuits but eventually found a kiosk in Giant Sek. 13 Shah Alam. The kiosk sold them by the grams but the owner sold by the tin too so I ordered one tin from her and bought some small clear plastic bags. SIL bought some small puddings to put in the bag as well. I also printed some thank you tags and stapled it together.

I bought a deal from one of those deal websites for 6 pieces posters. Of course they're Babycakes' pictures. The big frames were from IKEA (love the vibrant green & blue frame) and I added Babycakes' name and Happy 1st Birthday wordings on it. SIL also bought marshmallows and we made marshmallow pops the night before the party.

I bought a few pieces of '1st birthday' balloons in pink and purple, which are so adorable. They can be found here.   We used an old blackboard for the deco, and other deco were all diy. Everybody helped to hang the balloons, even my dad helped blow the balloons the day before.

The menu include nasi minyak, ayam merah, dalca, roast lamb, mashed potato, salad, some kuih, apam polkadot and of course, Babycakes' birthday cake in the shape of Pinky Polly. We also celebrated my dad's birthday, which falls a day before Babycakes' birthday.

Overall, it was a huge success. We have friends and relatives and Babycakes received a ton of gifts.We are so looking forward to her 2nd birthday but this time it will be more small scaled and intimate. I am in the midst of doing some crafts for her party and I will share it once the party is over, hopefully not as long as I take to write this post, insyaallah.

bake a cake

I have always loved baking however I can't bake fancy schmancy cakes. I can bake a decent cake for a small party (or makan2) or to bring as a favour when visiting or just to simply eat. There are times when my cakes don't turn out as expected and there are times when my cakes turn out perfectly. It is never a 'sure case' because each recipe is different and sometimes things just don't go your way.

On Monday evening, as I was picking up Babycakes from the nursery, her sitter told me that they will be having a raya open house on Wednesday evening and she said parents are welcome to bring some kuih  raya. Irene kept on saying 'esok malam raya! esok malam raya!' Anyway, I thought kuih raya is a bit too boring so I opted to bring a cake instead. So on Tuesday I bought a box of Pillsbury Devil's Food cake mix. I don't think I want to bake a cake from scratch, on a weeknight so this invention comes in really handy.

That night, I set to work when hubby took Babycakes out to the nearby shop for a while. I get to bake in peace and not fear of Irene playing near the hot oven. After the cake is baked, I let it cool before I began frosting it with some homemade chocolate frosting. I have a bar of cooking chocolate and I used half of it mixed with some butter, icing sugar and condensed milk and melted it in a double-boiler (a bowl on top of a pan with boiling water- make sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water though).

I started frosting the cake past midnight when Babycakes has gone to sleep with her daddy. If I were to do this when she was awake, I bet the process will take much longer and messier. I don't need to deal with such thing on a weeknight no less. Past midnight, the house was quiet and serene and I get to work at my own pace. Btw, I read a tip on the internet to put some parchment paper below the cake before frosting so any frosting that drips will drip onto the paper. See the 1st pic, you can see strips of parchment paper below the cake. After you are done, remove the paper and you will have a clean, mess-free cake board. Thank God I found this tip on the internet. Why didn't I ever think about it before? *slaps forehead*

Once the cake was done frosting, I put it in the microwave oven (to store because the cake might invite ants) and the next day, I brought it to Babycakes' nursery. I wish I have some m&m to decorate but that will do.

homemade pizza

Last week, I was feeling extra hardworking that I wanted to make my own pizza. I bought the ingredients the day before so I could have homemade pizza for dinner on Friday. I bought a Betty Crocker pizza crust mix, not the frozen, ready-made ones. All you have to do is add 1/4 cup of warm water to the mix and mix together and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The toppings on my pizza was simple. I put some tomato puree, chicken hotdogs, mozzarella cheese and cold chicken lyoner. I used Gourmessa brand. This is the type of meat where you can make cold sandwiches with. Once the dough has rested, I spread it in a round baking tin before putting the toppings. I baked the pizza for about 15minutes.

 Before the pizza went into the oven.

 Pizza fresh from the oven. Just look at the cheese!! The house smelled so good when the pizza was baking.

The almost-finished pizza.

Taste-wise, it is not as great as Pizza Hut, I must admit. Maybe because of the minimal ingredients and I simply used tomato puree anyway and not some fancy schmancy tomato sauce. If I had Prego spaghetti sauce, I would have definitely used it but I didn't have any. As for the cheese, it was not as gooey and stringy as Pizza Hut's mozzarella cheese.So next time, maybe we'll just call Pizza Hut Delivery.

home made donuts

Towards the end of Ramadhan, my aunt hosted a berbuka puasa. Obviously I can't be going empty handed, right? A cake came to mind and I did bake a custard sponge cake which was very easy to follow and required very little ingredients. But unfortunately, I misread the oven temperature. It reads 90 degrees celcius but I mistakenly set the oven to 190 degrees celcius instead. So the top of my cake was burnt and the cake ended up 'bantat' because I kept opening and closing the oven door to check. The cake went straight to the dustbin. So sad. 

That didn't stop me. I opened my scrap book and searched for a recipe of something that I can make, something which I have all the ingredients in my kitchen. i stumbled upon a donut recipe which I kept years ago so I decided to give it a try. I have a packet of instant dry yeast in my kitchen along with other ingredients. I then started working on the dough. Working with yeast can be tricky because you want a fluffy donut and not a stiff and dense donut. AS i mixed the ingredients, I kept chanting, please make this work or else I'll have to resort to buying some kuih along the way.

After the dough was ready, I covered it with a cling wrap and waited patiently for it to rise. This will make or break the donuts. You know what they say about a wait kettle never boils? Same goes to a donut dough. 30 minutes feels like forever! I let it sit on the kitchen counter and kept myself busy. When I checked again, I was so thrilled to see that the dough has doubled the size, which is exactly what I wanted. Phew. So step 1 was a success. Step 2 was making the donuts, which proves to be very tricky because the dough keeps sticking to my hands. I thought that it doesn't 'jadi' because the recipe says it should be a clean dough and it shouldn't stick. I then put some flour on my hands before I shape them. My fear is that the donut will become hard. I've no picture of the shaped donuts because my hands were sticky. 

Transferring the shaped donuts into the frying pan is yet another tricky task. It stuck on my fingers again.Who would have thought that the donuts actually rise and spread even while frying? Luckily I didn't shape them into really big donuts or I'll end up with giant donuts. I find it easier to use a tong to pick up the donuts than using a ladle.

I ended up with quite a lot of donuts. I covered some of the donuts in caster sugar while some were covered in a mixture of caster sugar and cinnamon powder. When I pressed the donuts, they feel fluffy. I can't taste them because I was fasting so I just tawakal. I even gave a few pieces to the security guards at our condo (the one in the blue container). I hope they liked it.

As for my donuts, it was a hit at my aunt's house. Everybody loved it! They said it sure looks and tastes homemade all right. ;) I only get to taste half of it but I was so happy that it worked out well and everybody was happy. Yeay! Irene too loves donuts so I will make it again one day, Insyaallah.

July in a nutshell

I just realized that I did not write a single post in July. That shows how busy I was. Right. :P

Anyway I know we only have a few days left before Ramadhan bids goodbye but I believe it is not too late to wish everyone Salam Ramadhan & Selamat Berpuasa.

OK truth be told, I only went for terawih once (so far) at the mosque near my parents' house. At that time sis and sil stayed home so they helped look after Babycakes. I wore my pink telekung which my friend Sara gave me, which she bought in Jakarta. To my surprise, I was among the few ones wearing coloured telekung! There were probably 3-4 other people wearing coloured telekung but the rest were white. So it made me think, I saw all over the internet all kinds of telekung being sold from pink to green, colour blocking to denim. But at the end of the day, I think people still prefer white for their telekung.

On a different note, we have been breaking fast a lot at home and I would cook simple dishes. Thank God my husband is not a picky/fussy eater who wants gulai/kari/sambal at every meal. He's already happy with just chicken or vegetable soup and fried fish and omelet. Alhamdulillah. We do break fast outside too but not at the hotels because the prices were just ridiculous. We've been to Tropicana Golf & Country Club, Royal Lake Club, Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) and Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club. We also went back to Ipoh to break fast with mil on the 2nd weekend of Ramadhan. And we had my grandfather's 100th birthday celebration and break fast at his house on 27 July 2013. I must say that the month of Ramadhan brings our family closer because we would all break fast together and when we are all at our own homes, we would whatsapp each other of what we are having for break fast. I only managed to take a packet of bubur lambuk near Masjid Wilayah on the 1st day of Ramadhan. The bubur lambuk is really nice.

Last weekend too, sis, mum and I went to get our hair done. It is our 'annual raya thing' to do where the three of us would go and have a nice hair pampering session at the salon. Babycakes too had her hair cut by the hairstylist. It was her first trip to the salon. The story behind it was, the previous week, my hands were itchy so I took the scissors and started cutting her fringe but I am a lawyer, not a hairstylist. Plus, it's not easy to get her to sit still (even though I cut her hair while she was eating roti canai). I ended up cutting her fringe a bit too short. Poor kid looks like Temenggung Jugah. If you don't know who Temenggung Jugah is, shame on you! I'm sure we learned a bit about him in history classes. Since I freaked out upon seeing how short I had cut Babycakes' fringe, I decided not to continue so her back hair was quite long she ended up like having a mullet. Oh my poor child. After her visit to the salon, she now looks like she's sporting a pixie cut. I must say that her hair is a bit too short to my liking but oh well, hair grows, right? Hopefully she'll have a nice hair come raya time.

I did travel outstation to Muar for work, once during Ramadhan. The drive to Muar in the morning wasn't that bad because I had a nice mug of kopi-o for sahur. I was fresh the whole time. But coming back from Muar, I went to Mahkota Parade for a while. I left Melaka at about 2pm because I don't want to get stuck in traffic by the time I reach KL. I eventually reached home at 4ish and I straightaway went to take a nap. 

As for shopping, thank God for the  convenience of online shopping. Only thing is, you must make sure that the size fits. In my case, I had to return an item I bought from thepoplook because the size was a bit too big for me. Too bad they deducted 5% for 'restocking fee'. I ordered the same thing again, only in different size and different colour. I still haven't bought my raya shoes yet and I am in dire need of a nice pair of court shoes. This weekend will be the 'last kopek' for shopping so let's go all out, full force, shall we?

Till my next post, Insyaallah. Bye for now!

O Wise One

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, i got my wisdom tooth extracted. Oh boy it was such an unpleasant experience. It started a few days before that when I felt a slight pain in my tooth. A few months back, I had a filling done at the wisdom tooth. Now it has started to feel painful for whatever reason. 

That morning I went to dye my hair at Solaris Mont Kiara. At that time I can feel the tooth aching but it was still bearable. After I was done at the salon, I went to Guardian pharmacy to look for a painkiller. The pharmacist suggested that I go to the dentist because painkillers are a temporary relief. She pointed out to Solaris Dental Centre which was nearby. I was contemplating to go but I am pretty sure that it will cost me a bomb. I called hubby and he asked me to go home first. I eventually bought a medicine from Guardian. It's a traditional medicine and has a picture of watermelon on its box. It's a powder substance and you are supposed to spray the powder onto the affected area. I went home and did it but it didn't give me any relief.

I can't focus on anything and the slight movement by Babycakes would irritate and annoy me to the max. I told hubby, that's it, I'm going to the dentist. There is one dentist in the area where hubby always sends his car for servicing so we went there. I went up only to be told that they don't accept walk-ins. You have to make an appointment but if I want to wait, I can wait but it'll take about 2-2 1/2 hours. I was so angry. I started searching for nearby dentists on the internet and made phone calls to ask if they accept walk-ins. Thankfully, one dentist in Kepong does so off we went. 

So there I was at Lau Dental Surgery and there was one patient inside the room while another was waiting. My turn came and I went in. The dentist checked my tooth and immediately said "kena cabut" I was like "cabut? hari ni? now?" He said 'Yes. kalau tak cabut, you tak boleh tidur malam ni" I was like whoaaaaaaaaaaaa but I don't have a choice, do I? He then injected me the numbing gel on the gums and left me for about 5 minutes. In my mind, I kept telling myself, it's gonna be ok, it won't hurt, childbirth hurts even more but of course that didn't work.

When the dentist came, he poked my gum and asked if I feel any pain. He told me to let him know if I feel pain. He then started to extract my tooth and at one point I can still feel the pain. He was surprised and said "sakit meh?" -___- He then said to the nurse "tambah ubat" to which he injected more numbing gel on my gums. Then he continued to extract my tooth and within seconds, craacccck! the tooth was out and he immediately gave me a cotton ball to bite on. phew.....

This was the view from the dentist's chair. As I was lying down, all sorts of things came to my mind.

As you can see, the dental clinic is not the most sophisticated dental clinic. It is very basic, in fact it is located in an old building by the Kepong main road. But they practice hygiene as how it is supposed to be and they did the job well so I am not complaining. The best part is, they accept walk-ins and they don't do appointments. I don't get why a lot of dental clinics must be by appointments anyway. What if someone was in severe pain? When I paid for my fee, the uncle asked me "ok or not? walk-in better or appointment better?" I said to him "of course walk-in la. If i wait for my appointment date, I'll be pengsan already coz of the pain." 

Do you know how much was the fee? A mere RM60 for a wisdom tooth extraction. I was surprised, but good surprised because I was prepared to pay RM100 or more (from what I know, dental works are always very expensive) so I was more than happy with the fee. I walked out of the clinic with a numb face and a happy heart.

What makes me wonder was, WHY IS WISDOM TOOTH CALLED WISDOM TOOTH IF IT ONLY BRINGS PAIN, SUFFERING AND MISERY AND NEEDS TO BE EXTRACTED ANYWAY?

sane but insane

The title sounds a bit off, isn't it? Well have you ever thought how something could keep one sane and insane, at the very same time? Impossible you say? Let me tell you how it is possible.

A couple of nights ago, we went to KL Tower after hubby bought a deal on Groupon. So off we went and reached KL Tower at 8pm. There are a few attractions now that it is the school holidays. Not sure if they are available all the time or only during school holidays. Anyway, we went up to the viewing deck to have a magnificent view of KL. However, I must say that the beams kinda obstructed the views.

  

Unlike Sydney Tower Eye, the glass windows are all clear and there are even seats all round.

At least the beams/frames at Sydney Tower Eye did not obstruct the view, right?

Anyway, back to the sane/insane story. There were a few stalls selling souvenirs, snacks, toys, and goodies on the viewing deck. One of the stalls sold a wand with a transparent globe which has spinning led lights in it and below the globe is a figurine of Psy. Wait, there's more to it. There is a small button where when you push it up, the led lights will spin AND play the famous Gangnam Style song. Well, not the whole song but only this line where Psy sang "heyyyyyy.....sexy lady....opp...opp..opp...oppa gangnam style". Which kid doesn't know or like Gangnam Style, you tell me. And that particular line happens to be Babycakes' favourite part of the song because her daddy would sing and she would start doing the gangnam. Now she can even sing that line by herself but it sounded more like "eeyyyyy...tey yay yay yay...opp..opp..opp". So when she hears that particular line and see the spinning bright lights, she got excited and the salesgirl gave the wand to her.

 We had to buy it for her because when we tried to return the wand to the salesgirl, Babycakes would start screaming "oppp!! opppp!" Kids nowadays. -___- It was only RM15 so not bad.

 Look how mesmerized she was with the wand. We didn't remove the plastic cover yet at that time. 

Now here comes the annoying part. That Gangnam Style song is already annoying as it is so imagine if you have to listen to it a thousand times! It doesn't help that it is also one of the songs in her cd that I compiled, which we had to listen to every.single.time we get into the car. -___-  Add that to the never ending "heyyyyyy.....sexy lady....opp...opp..opp...oppa gangnam style" and you have a recipe for insanity. It made hubby and I go insane BUT it kept Babycakes sane. When we couldn't take it anymore, we switched off the wand and said to Babycakes, "Opp tido!" And she would be like, "Oppp do?" "Yes, Opp tido. Dah malam, Opp penat, dia nak tido ok? Esok pulak kita main Opp." She then didn't ask for it anymore. So at least we had a peaceful drive home that night. It worked!

newsletters

Subscribing to online shops' newsletters are dangerous because not only will they flood your inbox, they would also send you updates every other day, if not every day. And if you have itchy fingers like me, you will be tempted to click on the links and open the websites with the intention 'just to take a peek, you know, in case they have something great on offer or if they are having a sale or if the item(s) that you have been eyeing for is on sale.' It gets worse when you subscribe to newsletters from online shops selling baby clothes. There is always one or two (or several!!) items that would catch your attention immediately and the items seem more attractive when the price is very reasonable or the items were on sale. If you have a daughter/baby girl, it gets worst because baby girls' clothes are just so freaking cute and adorable and pretty and sweet gaaaaahhhhhh and you would imagine how pretty your little girl would look like in that particular dress. To comfort myself, I would tell myself 'the thing is on sale! I might as well buy it now than later. What if it's sold out? I can always keep it for future use, right? When else to buy if not now?' and the list of justifications just get longer. Now that raya is near, I would tell myself 'Baik shopping untuk raya dari sekarang, kalau tangguh nanti takut tak sempat/harga lagi mahal time puasa/kalau beli sekarang, takde la terasa sangat bila duit keluar sebab nanti lagi banyak benda nak beli. Beli sikit2, lama2 jadi bukit.' Yes. I am wise like that.

Sigh it is bad for the bank account. Bad bad bad.

crazy over videos

You know how the Japanese always comes up with something unique, weird, out of this world, cute. quirky and creative creations and inventions? I mean, just look at the stuffs at Daiso. They have practically everything and the best part is everything is sold at RM5. Everytime I go into Daiso, I will surely come out with something. 

Anyway, I came across these videos on Youtube and I was in awe.  This is the edible version.

And this is the non edible version.

If you have the time, go ahead and watch other videos and see how amazing those things are. It sure takes main masak-masak to a whole new level, isn't it? However if I'm not mistaken, the edible ones are already banned because it contains harmful chemicals. I mean, looking at how the candies/foods transform is evident that there must be tons of chemicals involved but it sure is fun to watch all right.