Swaying

I was this *shows tiny space between index finger and thumb* to buying a Samsung.

Despite my arguments on how Samsung has a non user-friendly interface (which is still true, by the way), I found myself swaying to the dark side purely due to the superb quality photos and beautiful selfies that Samsung produces.

Up until I found out that I was going to get a company phone with this new role. And guess what it was? An iPhone *rolls eyes*

So here it is, the only reason why I'm still an iPhone fan:

Company phone = no more excuses of not being reachable at all times.

#stillaniphonefan #unfortunately

Rose Gold

I'm sure you know my love for everything Apple. I have been a hardcore iPhone user ever since I jumped on the bandwagon with the iPod Touch back in 2007. I have also noticed a pattern with my iPhone purchases, i.e. it usually lasts for one model change before I get tempted to buy a new one. Hence I have the iPhone 3, 5, 6 and now waiting for the 8. (I moved from 5 to 6 because Apple offered me a replacement phone due to defects... read about it here.)

I literally can't live without my phone, hence it is usually in my hands. I love how hardy the phone is too. Once, I left the phone on the roof of my car and drove off confidently. Turned a fast bend about 100 meters from home, and heard the sound of something being flung off the car. It was about a 100 meters later before I figured out that it was my phone. And yet, it survived! Ian on the other hand, has dropped my phone numerous times. Nothing a new glass screen protector couldn't fix.

Last weekend, I went shopping with my sister-in-laws and came home a few hours later feeling absolutely famished. In my haste to get out of the car, I forgot that I had my phone on my lap. It fell, probably two jengkals onto the road. I thought nothing of it - Ian has done much worse.

Imagine my shock when I picked it up and found that my screen had cracked! OMG OMG OMG.

After calling a few places I found on Instagram, I found a place that could repair the screen (my LCD was still working, Alhamdulillah) for just RM150. Drove over to the place the next day, and they suggested for me to change my housing too as it is slightly bent. Best part... they offered the housing in Rose Gold!!!!!! OMG I love pink! Of course I said yes, and became RM300 poorer.

So, presenting my old iPhone 6 Plus in its new Rose Gold casing. Can pass off for an iPhone 6S Plus kan kan kan? Bolehlah, at least until the iPhone 8 arrives.

I'm in love with pink!

Not to forget, my Lego casing that I lovingly crafted on my own.

OK, bring on iPhone 8, pronto!

The White Screen of Death

Bad news. My iPhone 6 Plus crashed.

I was rather gullible that night. Ian started groveling for the phone, putting his sad face on my lap. So I caved in, despite my battery being super low. The next thing I knew, the phone died and Ian was pissed. I plugged the phone into the charger and left it be.

Unfortunately ten minutes later, I found that it was frozen on the white screen with the black Apple logo. All attempts to reboot, hard reset etc didn't resolve it. I panicked! Hubby suggested that we leave the phone plugged to the charger overnight and hopefully it will magically turn on by the time we wake up. I was sooooo worried... So worried that it even played into my dreams! Three separate distinct dreams about me trying to revive the phone, the repercussions of the dead phone and the worry that clouded my mind.

Why was I so worried you ask? Because the last time I backed up my phone was nearly 2 years ago. *hidesinshame* #noidontuseicloud

Comprehending my worry, now?

The white screen of death.

Despite my super bad mood the night of the incident, sweet Hubby still accompanied me to the iPhone repair shop the very next day. Three possibilities for the cause of the white screen, affectionately known as 'The White Screen of Death'. One, faulty battery. Two, crashed system. And three, motherboard failure. They quickly ruled out battery issues so they tried wiping out and reinstalling the system to check if that was the cause. Fortunately, it solved the issue. Cheap solution too, as a motherboard failure would probably cost four digits to repair. But somewhat unfortunate, cos my worse dreams came true. They couldn't save any of the data inside my phone. There goes all the pictures, contacts and yummy recipe notes I made. *sigh*

However, I am thankful for some things.

1. The last time I copied all my iPhone photos to my laptop was just before we left for Sabah. Hence Aiden and Ian's birthday party photos were safe and sound, and only the photos taken post end April were gone.
2. A neighbour had a nano SIM card adapter readily available, so I was able to use my tablet as a temporary 'phone' throughout the entire ordeal.
3. My last back up contained the bulk of my contacts so at least I wasn't starting from scratch, albeit it being two years too late. (Even my new boss' number wasn't listed and whatsapp flagged him as a spam contact when he tried messaging me! *giggles*)

Restoring from a back up dated 9th Oct 2014. *double sigh*

Soooo hard lesson learnt. Use iCloud wisely and be disciplined at backing up your phone. Need I say more?

iPhone 5 Defects - Free Replacements from Apple!

I have a love hate relationship with my iPhone 5.

There, I've said it. Despite the bigger screen, clear photos, friendly interface and my love for anything from Apple - lately I have been hating my iPhone 5 due to the erratic battery life and the damaged power button. I could have sent my iPhone 5 in for the power button repair during its warranty period, but alas the last date of my warranty ended during my confinement and there was no way I could part with my phone back then. I needed the phone to capture precious photos and videos of Ian's first month!

And so I have been surviving the past year with power banks, spare power cables and using the home button and its shortcuts to lock my phone. Recently, during the first day of Eid - my phone touch screen crashed due to all the photos we were taking, and I couldn't use my home button shortcuts to restart the phone. I actually tried pleading with Siri *laugh out loud* to restart my phone but it kept saying:

Siri: Sorry Liz, I can't restart your iPhone. But you can do it yourself; press and hold the sleep/wake button for a few seconds until the "slide to power off" slider appears.
Liz: Oi, Siri! I can't use my power button lah!
Siri: I'm not sure I understand.
Liz: You are dumb!
Siri: After all I've done for you?
Liz: %(&(%(&^%&%($

Siri 1, Liz 0.

(In the end I waited for the power juice to die out - which meant that I could not use my phone the whole day, and then plugged in my charger to turn the phone back on.)

Anyway, I found out from a fellow blogger that Apple is now offering free replacement for batteries and power buttons, for affected selected units that were purchased between September 2012 and January 2013. You can check if your iPhone 5 is eligible for battery and power button replacement by clicking here and here (respectively). You will need to check if you qualify by entering your serial number. The serial number can be obtained under Settings > General > About.

Don't forget to back up your data to iTunes and erase all contents on your device before sending your phone to a participating Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Excerpt from SoyaCincau.

So when am I going to make the time to do this? *sigh* The last time I checked, it will take 2 weeks to repair the power button. How am I going to survive not having a phone during this period? Or maybe I should just wait for the launch of the iPhone 6 (to be announced on 9th September!), get the new phone, and then only send my iPhone 5 for repair before selling it off?

iPhone 6, nyum!

My Son, the French Fries Junkie

A day shy of his one and a half year milestone age, and suddenly Mummy remembers that she hasn't made a blog post about Aiden's milestone review for the past 4 months! Thank god Mummy makes it a point to record everything on her trusty iPhone, so here goes!

At 17 months, Aiden:

• Loves joining Mummy for her nightly dose of cornflakes and milk, minus the cornflakes.
• Hates vegetables (like Mummy!), even resorting to heaving out the entire content of his mouth whenever he tastes any long beans in his favourite nasi goreng cina.
• Knows how to imitate cat (meow) when Mummy reads out a story book, and dog (woof woof) when he hears our future opposite neighbour's dog barking.
• Still obsessed with cats, now even resorting to pulling their tails!
• Scared of water, pulakkkkk (need to upload pictures of those, soon!) but still enjoys his daily bath routine.
• Knows an SLR camera is used to take pictures - picks it up and puts it at his eye level, and after I snap a picture he insists on seeing the display picture.
• Sometimes stops to pose when I tell him to. Although has yet to understand our requests for him to smile.
• Whenever he hears us ask "nak...?" he would shake his head even though it sometimes does not specifically mean no.
• Knows how to ransack his diaper bag for his pacifier holder, takes it out and hands it over to any adult and gestures frantically for the adult to open it so he could take his binky.
• Raises his hand up to the guard whenever we pass thru the Cahaya SPK guard house! (This one never fails to amaze us, every time!)
• Insists on passing money to the toll booth lady, or the credit card to the cashier.
• Recognises the play area in Tesco, even running up to it all by himself and insists on getting on the token rides.
• Enjoys the impromptu visits to the sundry shop opposite our house, even insisting on walking in all by himself.
• When Mummy comes home, insists that Mummy brings him out for a walk outside the house. If not he will cry his eyes out (must be the boredom of staying at home). When Aunty Awien goes out at night, he would insist on following her too, so we have to resort to going into her car for a few minutes then going back into the house.
• Dah pandai berkawan, and prefers to play with kids older than him. He actually had a very loud hide and seek game with a boy at least 3 years older than him in Macy's just last week!
• When he bumps his head or hurts himself, he would point to where it hurts and insists that we blow at it to make it better (he once actually made ppfff ppfff sounds to show what he wanted us to do)!
• Claps his hand at Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Club House theme song!
• Claps properly with both hands hitting each other (as opposed to only one hand hitting the stationary other hand).
• Knows how to wear a cap then takes it off the very next minute.
• Loves chasing birds on the roadside.

At 16 months, Aiden:

• Muttered his very first word, which was unfortunately "Daddy". Although very rarely used but definitely used when seeing Daddy. Mummy still remains as "mamamama".
• Still obsessed with phones, even wrestling the phone away from the owner whenever the phone rings.
• Able to hold conversations on the phone. Able to say eyooo (hello). Insists on pressing the keypad on the phone or touching the iPhone screen until it lights up before speaking into the phone.
• Refuses to Salam, preferring to give a high 5 instead.
• Knows how to get off the bed, flipping himself over and scooting tummy down to the edge.
• Knows how to go down the split level steps by sitting down near to the edge and scooting his butt nearer and nearer until he is able to slide his butt to the next step.
• Climbs stairs confidently on all fours (with supervision of course). When Mummy holds his hand on the staircase, he would take one step with one foot, just like an adult.
• Enjoys cartoons (Mummy only allows channel 613 for now). Shakes his body and head whenever he hears music.
• When mummy puts on an mp3 on the iPhone, he would hold the phone in his palm and dance.
• Is more creative in manipulating his toys, like putting a ball in a cylinder and the cylinder in a box etc.
• Very adventurous in opening fridge doors, drawers, cabinets.
• When given a toy car, he would take the toy to the nearest uncarpeted floor and roll the car back n forth, making vrooming sounds.
• Knows how to ask for dukung - by raising his arms up to you.
• Loves munching on tempe goreng and popiah simpul.
• Has finally stopped putting everything in his mouth (except for keys and batteries). Loves batteries till he would actually smash the Astro remote on the floor so that the batteries pop out from the back of the remote.
• Puts his leg out to wear his slipper and voluntarily holds his arms up when we want to take his shirt off.
• Has stated imitating the movements of solat.
• Not only points out to something he wants, but makes a fist and unfists his hand to further show that he wants it.
• Loves to wag his point finger "no no no".
• Insists on pressing the elevator door buttons whenever we go out gallavanting to shopping malls.

At 15 months, Aiden:

• Eats by himself using a spoon, refusing help from absolutely anyone.
• When holding a steering wheel (in an actual car or a toy), he would make vrooming sounds.
• Points at something when he wants it or wants to go there.
• Knows how to wriggle himself out of dukung so he can walk by himself. Prefers to walk rather than be trapped in the stroller.
• Cries when we take him out of a playarea or away from doing something he likes.
• Knows how to indicate he doesn't want something (e.g. milk) by shaking his head furiously.
• Knows how to ask for his binky by spreading his palm out (his official gesture for binky).
• Knows how to climb the sofa and get down all by himself.
• Knows how to turn the television on and off (oh no!!!).
• Knows how to salam and cium tangan.
• Knows to wave bye including the rare flying kiss.
• Loves playing and throwing a ball across the room.
• Knows to duck when going underneath a table or a low platform (even though the height is actually higher than him)!
• Knows how to imitate the action of geram by grinding his teeth and shaking his body.
• Knows when he is being reprimanded - either keeps quiet and looks at you guiltily or screams back in protest (depending on how angry we are at him).
• Removes both his crocs slip-on sandals by himself and claps his hand at this achievement.
• Claps his hand when he accomplishes something, like putting something in the right place.
• Loves munching on crackers, keropok.

At 14 months, Aiden:

• Is starting to try to feed himself using a spoon.
• Knows how to comb his hair all by himself (although it looks like he messes it more rather than combing it).
• Talks in baby talk on the phone excitedly.
• Loves french fries and insists on eating them on his own.
• Is starting to imitate gestures, sometimes even imitating Mummy's lion growls when Mummy reads his bedtime story books out loud.
• Enjoys grasping and manipulating things - putting the Lego blocks together and then pulling them off.
• Starting to open and close drawers, even hiding his binkys and other knick knacks in them.

Anyway, these are picture proof of my son as a french fries junkie, back when we were in Singapore in July.

Munch, munch, munch.

When all else fails, there is always sucking.

"I love these fried potatoes glazed with salt!"

Despite being a french fries junkie, he isn't stingy in letting others try them too!

Poor Aiden. Daddy refused to try the saliva infested french fry, and told Aiden to give them to Mummy instead. (Hampeh betul, Daddy!)

Playing peek a boo with a fellow commuter on the MRT.

Cheeky smile.

And cheeky laugh.

I can't believe you're turning 18 months tomorrow, Aiden. Time sure flies. But you will always be the apple of our eyes!

Aiden's First Happy Meal

After the first lame post just a few days back, here's another lame post for you to roll your eyes to. Aiden had his very first Happy Meal! And discovered his preference for Chicken McNuggets over Fillet O' Fish.

Since you're already rolling your eyes, roll your eyes to this one as well. Aiden has found a new obsession on the iPhone - the YouTube application, in particular the Chuggington theme song. Everytime we turn it on, he would sit oh-so-still and focus intently, enthralled by the colours, the movement and the very catchy tune.

The Chuggington craze begins.

Time to prepare myself for everything Chuggington - toys, shirts, bags, books! Similar to Naufal's Thomas craze!

This is the Singapore version of the Happy Meal. You can choose between the corn cup or fries, and soft drink or iced milo. And of course, the Happy Meal toy!

Aiden's first Happy Meal toy!!! *Mummy yang terlebih excited actually*

And like everything else, it ends up in his mouth.

Of Yong Tau Foo

I have been on a diet for the past two weeks. Okay, fine I cheated during public holidays, weekends and when Hubby was in KL. Which means I cheated last Friday till Monday. Which also means that I have been quite disciplined during the weekdays. Every weekday for the past week I had eaten Yong Tau Foo and nothing else!

So today, I decided to prepare my own Yong Tau Foo. Not only can I put tons and tons of stuff in the soup (which probably cancels out my dieting attempt) but it is also a lot more cheaper! The idea came after I saw a lot of delicious Yong Tau Foo ready-made condiments in Tesco, so the only thing I needed to make was the soup. Can't be that hard, right??

For this post, pictures were taken using the Lomo camera application via iPhone.

That's a picture of the traffic jam I have to tempuh everyday on my way back home. Looks beautiful in the Lomo version right?

For any of you unfamilliar with the Lomo picture, this is the original picture.

This is how it looks like when converted to Lomo. And the above karipap like Yong Tau Foo is really delicious. Unfortunately I left it a tad too long in the pot, that the wanton skin disintegrated into pieces, leaving only the inti intact.

I was spoiled with choices, all from Tesco!

Tak pernah dibuat orang - Yong Tau Foo ada Foo Chuk. But it is my version, so who cares!

I had googled for a few Yong Tau Foo soup recipes from the office, and decided to mix and match from the few which looked believable. To start, I fried about quarter of a cup of anchovies in very minimal oil. Then I threw in a bit of shallots, garlic and ginger - all thinly sliced. Then I poured in 4 cups of water and seasoned it with chicken stock, salt and pepper. Suit to taste. Brought it to a boil and dumped all the Yong Tau Foo in. Don't leave it in too long or you'll get disgutingly disintegrated Yong Tau Foo.

Simple right?

Looks more delicious in the Lomo version.

My version of Yong Tau Foo. Nyummy nyummy nyummy. Even the soup was good!

I even purchased the kicap sauce, ready made from Tesco - sangat pemalas kan?!

After a very satisfying meal, I drove to my Aunt's house in Titiwangsa. My cousin's wedding is just around the corner and I was in charge of coordinating the cookies and cupcakes for the main table, VIPs and the bride's family. So we were going to meet the baker to check out the design and of course, taste it! I have always believed that the food should taste as good as it looks!

My aunt's living room. Even though the lights were off, it still looks nice. Hmmm.. I soooo love this application!

The theme is pink and grey.

Look at the delicate design!

I really like her work. I love her attention to detail and how kemas her work is. And the striped cup really made the cupcake look more classy!

Too beautiful to eat!

The Best Japanese in Town!

I previously blogged about prawns at the Best Japanese in Town, but I simply had to write about it again. Reason being, because I had the same prawns TWICE this month!

Last Friday, my sister and I were in Pavillion to find a birthday present for her mother. And after that we went to check out another alternative to Aiden's birthday grounds. By the time we were done, it was close to 6pm and we were hungry for dinner. And Tykoh Inagiku was just walking distance from where we were. It was only the two of us, and we didn't want to spend a bomb on food, so we only ordered fried rice and of course, the nyummy prawns.

You may think, among all the other dishes we've tried before, why particularly the fried rice? Because the fried rice is simply different from any other. We tried asking the chef about the secret ingredient, but he claims it is his air tangan that makes it so good.

Looks like any other fried rice in town right? So wrong!!!

This fried garlic is only made to order with reservation. And because it is so complicated to make, they don't just make it for anyone. Not even when my whole family (including my dad) visits. So it was a pleasant surprise when this time arond, the chef gave us a bowl of these to munch on while waiting!

Two prawns, one for each of us. Notice the blob of yellow mixture beside it? That's a special by the chef just for us - extra secret sauce!!

Ooohhhh so gooooooddd!

And the extra sauce in a separate bowl! We ratah this sauce on its own, and my sister even mixed some in her fried rice!

The fried rice. We told the chef how famished we were, and he was so sweet - he made extra and served our order in a slightly bigger bowl than usual. He even fried a whole salmon (about the size of my palm) and mixed it into the fried rice! On the house!

And below are pictures from early this month. My sister and I had just picked up my iPhone from Maxis and I was eager to try it out. While my brother and his stewardess girlfriend were celebrating her first paycheque so they invited us to have dinner with them.

My sister, the one who always dragsss me to these fattening places to eat!

Aiden joined us this time!

Aiden bullying Uncle Boy.

Finally! Confined to the baby chair while we all enjoyed our food.

The starter salad.

Awien showing off her chopstick skills.

Even though they were both celebrating her paycheque, my sister and I were not included - because we had to pay for our own meal!!!

Fresh seafood. I love my iPhone camera!

This picture is making me hungry.

Really hungry.

Even Aiden had a bite of the delicious salmon. Mashed - because Aiden still has no teeth! It was Aiden's first time having Salmon and he enjoyed it immensely.

Extra sauce for the prawns. But not served in a separate bowl!

Now I know why I have trouble losing weight...

Finally the fried rice is ready.

See... smaller bowl, kan kan?

Aiden: "Uncle Boy, let me go! I want more Salmon!!!"

Aiden: "Aaarrrggghhh...."

And this is Aiden - uncontrollable in the car: