60th Birthday Tea Party

No, I'm not 60 thank you very much!

But my father-in-law turned 60 recently, and what better way to spend it than having an intimate tea party in style?

My father-in-law is someone I deeply respect and look up to. He is a true gentleman, wise and full of warmth and care. He is practical, patient and gives invaluable advise with an institution of experience. He is a man full of acceptance (well he accepted me despite my flaws!) and he's like a father figure that I never had. And last but not least - he gives out love and care in abundance to his grandchildren. And anyone who loves my kids that much, will always be in my good books and thoughts.

It was a charming teatime spread. I was going for simple elegance (and by simple I meant whatever I had in the house...) *chuckles* For this special occasion, I brought out my Noritake chinaware. I had also recently purchased a gold platter which matched nicely with the fancy gold etching on the Noritake plates. I kept the clutter on the table to a minimal too.

As for the spread, I served various pastries (Pain au Chocolat, Peach Danish and Apple Strudel), chocolate strawberry tarts, churros with dark chocolate dip, good ol' mee goreng and of course, the birthday cake - a Hummingbird cake (lovingly baked by my sister in laws).

(A Hummingbird cake is a cake that is primarily made with oil rather than butter. Contrary to the name, there are no birds in this cake. *grin* Instead, its key ingredients, such as pineapple, bananas and nuts are thought to attract birds - hence the name!)

Happy 60th birthday, dear father-in-law!

Aiden looking mighty proud with his chocolate strawberry tarts. I filled the tarts with chocolate sauce while he helped dunk the strawberry into the chocolate.

A tasteful affair, set for eight. (Churros were in the fryer, hence the empty plate beside the chocolate sauce.)

Next time, I'm going to try and serve dainty sandwiches, sweet macarons and scones with clotted cream, ala Carcosa! What say you?

Moh Kito Berbuko with KL Tower!

Aaahhh, I'm such a Nogori food lover at heart.

I was immediately captivated by the catchy tagline of KL Tower's latest promotion...... for their Ramadhan Buffet! "Moh Kito Berbuko" literally means "Let's Break Fast", in the Negeri Sembilan dialect.

If you are the type to plan early and hate spontaneous impulses for fear of disappointments *looks at the mirror and waves at myself* , then I am sure you'll be glad to know that you can now start planning your "Buka Puasa" experiences at KL Tower!

The Ramadhan Buffet @ KL Tower runs from 23rd June till 12th July 2015, starting from 630pm to 10pm at Mega View Banquet Hall, KL Tower. If you purchase the early bird special (before 30th April - that's just 2 days away!), the buffet is priced at RM79++ for adult and RM47++ for child. Meanwhile, from 1st May until 15 June 2015, the Ramadhan Buffet is priced at RM89++ for adult and RM53++ for child. Normal price for the Ramadhan buffet is RM99++ for adult and RM59++ for child. Free for child from 1 to 3 years old and free entrance to the KL Tower Observation Deck.

If the price isn't enough to entice, how does Gulai Tempoyak Ikan Patin, Asam Pedas Ikan Pari and Nasi Kerabu sound? Oh my, I'm even salivating as I am typing this. Wait - there's more... These scrumptious 'Kampung" cuisines are carefully crafted by Chef Ismail. (I have personally tasted his mouth watering delicacies at Rebung, have you?)

But wait, I'm not done yet.... you can even meet him every Wednesday and Friday at the Ramadhan Buffet @ KL Tower! If you're lucky, he may even be generous enough to share the recipe for his exquisite "daging salai masak lemak cili api"! *wipes drool off my face*

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and plan your Ramadhan gathering with your loved ones today at Ramadhan Buffet @ KL Tower. Get one (1) pax free for every ten (10) paying adult. Prayer rooms are available.

If you see me there, don't forget to wave! Moh Kito Berbuko! 

Menara Kuala Lumpur

No. 2, Jalan Punchak Off Jalan P. Ramlee, 50250 Kuala Lumpur

T: +603 2020 5444

W: www.menarakl.com.my

F: www.facebook.com/officialmenarakl

Aiden's Big Hero 6th Birthday!

My boy is 6!

Cue wails, cries, tears… from the Mummy. My boy is 6? Really??? Oh my, the next time I blink my eyes, he’ll start ‘big boy school’, and the next time I blink my eyes he’ll move to university and date girls, and then the next time I dare to blink my eyes, he'll be married with kids!

*sigh* I'm such a drama queen. But seriously - time flies and suddenly the baby that I carried, the toddler that used to run up to me for a hug, and the boy that loved to cuddle up to me to sleep, is suddenly six years old. Who no longer needs frequent hugs, and sleeps on his own bed. *sigh*

Anyway..... this year Aiden the big boy was very adamant that he wanted Lego Star Wars as the theme for his birthday. However, since I decided that I was going to combine Aiden and Ian's birthday for later in the year, I was then left with the daunting task of convincing Aiden to settle for another theme. We went back and forth with so many ideas, but finally narrowed it down to Phineas and Ferbs or Big Hero 6. And since you only turn 6 once in your life, we decided that Big Hero 6 would be a very appropriate theme! (I guess the promise of a Baymax shaped cake clinched the deal too!)

You can read here about all the preparations for the party. 

We had to drive two cars to Aiden's kindergarten. One to cart the cake, cupcakes, goody bags, party packs and not to forget - Ian and the maid; while the other was filled with balloons. Since I was responsible for driving the first car, I drove really slowly, decelerating at every single road hump or pot hole, while the maid carefully protected the cake. Upon arrival at the school, I carefully carried the Baymax cake into the classroom. Aiden and the kids were ecstatic when they saw the cake! Cautiously navigating through the eager and excited kids, I finally reached the end of the classroom and carefully placed Baymax onto the teacher's desk. Well guess what - the minute I placed it down, Baymax decided that it wanted to lie flat on his back! *uurrrggghhh*

Thankfully Hubby was there to save the day. He managed to find a bowl to prop Baymax up, and taped it to the desk as a support. (This is why I don't bake cakes for a living - too much stress!)

Beaming excitedly with his cake!

Big Hero 6 pennant banner decorated the simple cake table. Again, kiasu me brought my own cake and cupcake stands!

We had Big Hero 6 cupcake toppers too!

The class birthday reminder.

Aiden and his class posing with the cake.

The teacher asked him to make a wish before blowing his candles. He hesitated (as if making a wish) then blew hard! 

I asked him much later, what he wished for. And he answered "I wished for a telescope - because I want to see the moon and the stars... they are so beautiful!"

Cutting Baymax's leg - because his Baymax's body was not stable! *grin* And Aiden didn't even need help to cut the cake! He's a big boy now... *sob sob*

My baby is 6!

Family photo.

Next - pizza for the kids.

Hours and hours of preparation... and in just minutes the cake was dissected to this.

Reading the doa before enjoying his pizza.

Ian posing with his favourite Kakak Danya. Well actually, I think he was more attracted to her water bottle!

The three boys in my life.

Next - distributing Baymax balloons to the kids.

Then Aiden personally handed out each personalized Baymax first aid kit pouch to his friends. Malu malu pulak dengan Danya!

Love these pictures of Aiden with his friends!

Not to forget, his class teacher!

Since Aiden missed Rizq and Amzar (his best friends from his 5 year old class) so much, I made one for each of them too!

Next up, his birthday present. Since he is such a pro at riding his bicycle, we decided to buy a new bicycle as his birthday present. So we brought him to our local bicycle shop (aptly called Kedai Basikal) in TTDI Jaya. Aiden was absolutely spoiled for choices - but in the end, he chose a lovely green bicycle (matches Mummy's foldable bike).

The excited birthday boy choosing his birthday present.

The little one wanted to join in the fun too!

Ian looks like he really knows what he's doing!

Posing with his chosen bike.

We brought the bicycle home, and as soon as we arrived, Aiden hopped on the bike and officiated his present by cycling from our porch to the end of our lane and back.

Back in the house, Aiden proudly exclaimed that because it is his birthday, he was the boss for the day. And everyone knows that the boss gets to make the decision, hence I asked him what he wanted to do next. First he asked for Kidzsport... then he changed his mind and asked for a movie. So after a shower, lunch and rest, we got dressed for the movies.

On the way to the movies, I asked whether he wanted to eat anything for his birthday, before we went into the cinema. Initially, he said "I don't want to eat, Mummy - I just want hotdog and popcorn at the movies". Then he overheard an advertisement over the radio for KFC, and immediately added that he wanted KFC too! So of to KFC we went!

Last pose with his birthday present before we headed to the movies.

Posing at the shopping mall car park with his other birthday present - Maxsteel sword which lights up and says 29 different phrases!

We watched Home (Rihanna)... it was a beautiful movie. I actually teared up when Rihanna finally found her mum. (Must be that time of the month!) Aiden enjoyed the movie too, but he refused to admit so. Ah, a boy's ego!

After the movie, we headed home for a birthday dinner with the in-laws. They came to the house with another birthday cake for their first cucu. Aiden was thrilled over all the attention he was getting, while Ian was simply delighted that there were so many people in the house - he readily laughed and smiled at everyone!

Happy Ian stealing Aiden's thunder by laughing gleefully right after the birthday song.

Ian looking excitedly at his brother blowing yet another birthday candle.

We also served what was left of Baymax. Look at how Ian handled poor Baymax's head. *chuckles*

My two boys!

Happy 6th birthday Aiden. May you grow up to be smart, strong and soleh. Thank you for all the joy and laughter that you have brought to our lives. We love you to itty-bitty pieces!

Much love, Mum, Dad and Ian.

Premiere of Avengers: Age of Ultron

I used to be a big fan of Hitz.fm. If I remember correctly, a popular song that was played over and over again back when Hitz FM was the radio station to listen to; was Zombie by The Cranberries... I was probably 13 years old back then!

Hitz.fm has grown up with me throughout the years. It was (and still is) the number one radio station on my radio preset memory. Back during the days when I was dating my boyfriend (now husband), I even managed to convince him to change his radio preset to Hitz.fm as well! (It used to be Era.fm - see how opposites attract??!!) Since I listened to Hitz.fm all day and all night (studying), I used to win lots of competitions from Hitz.fm - I won CDs, free tickets; I even won RM700 once when I played "Call off the Bomb" (or something like that). I even had a mix tape which I used to record all of my call-ins to the radio and my conversations/winnings with them.

However, slowly but surely I discovered that I couldn't relate to the music on Hitz.fm anymore, and I found myself preferring to listen to Mix.fm and even Lite.fm *gasp* It must be the age! (The only announcer I know offhand now, is Ean... the rest are newbies to me!) But I guess it was just meant to be, because that fateful afternoon, I tuned it to Hitz.fm, heard the cue to call, called in (hey, the radio station number was still in my favourites call list!) and actually won four tickets to watch the premiere of Avengers: Age of Ultron!

So yesterday, Aiden excitedly dressed up in his Iron Man costume and went walking around in One Utama. As usual, he got so much attention from fellow shoppers in the mall - which he enjoyed immensely. One person queuing to buy tickets at the cinema actually stopped him and asked him to pose for a photo!

Iron Man posing on the escalator, much to the onlookers amusement.

Queuing up to pick up our complimentary tickets.

Our premiere tickets.

While we were in queue for our tickets, the entire Avengers troop decided to stop by and mingle with the crowd. Tony Stark in a handsome suit, enthusiastically beckoned for Aiden to come forward to take a picture with him. Surprisingly, Aiden refused! *chuckles* He must have been quite overwhelmed seeing all his favourite superheroes standing right smack in front of him! Finally, he agreed for a photo with the condition that I joined too... so I became Black Widow (or issit Pink Widow?)

Captain America, Tony Stark in a suit, Iron Man Aiden, Black Widow *grin* War Machine, Hawkeye and Nick Fury!

While waiting for the movie to start, we headed to Chilli's for dinner. Iron Man apparently loves hot dogs and fries! To prep him for the movie, I asked Aiden to name all the Avengers that he knows. He answered, "Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor... the one with the eye patch, then the girl... black something, and the one with the arrow." Wow, full marks Aiden!

Iron Man loves hot dogs.

Iron Man posing with his team mates in front of the promotional poster.

So how was the movie? Well - I don't want to spoil it for you or anything, so I won't give away too much. In my humble opinion, the movie was a tad too heavy for kids... I know because Aiden fell asleep mid way. But it was great for the adults - I loved the relaxed comedy, witty punch lines and the chemistry between the cast members. That sweet romance bit between Black Widow and Bruce Banner (is she becoming the Hulk whisperer?), plus Hawkeye being a family man, was a much welcomed relief from the hectic pace of the movie. Captain America and Iron Man are officially the leaders of the Avengers. Loved the bit where Thor showed a brief look of panic when Captain America managed to slightly move his hammer (hence he is worthy, after all?) And last but not least, I didn't really understand how Ultron went rogue??!! How can a peace-keeping artificial intelligence program decide so quickly that terminating the Avengers (and eradicating mankind) would be the best thing for the world i.e. "peace in our time"? Plus how did Jarvis/Vision remove him from the internet; why didn't Ultron just load himself back onto the internet? Hmm.. I wasn't entirely convinced there.

As an afterthought - what exactly did Thor see when he went (in crude terms...) swimming? So if it's another Infinity Stone, why not take it back and bring it home to Asgard instead of creating Vision and letting Vision keep the mind stone? Is this possibly a cross-over to another Thor movie after the last one featuring the Aether? Hmm... 

Oh, and I missed oh-so-handsome Loki and Miss Pepper Potts who were noticeably absent throughout the movie. 

Hubby in his 3D glasses, mimicking a sleeping Iron Man.

Iron Man - you slept through your own movie?

At the end of the show - Hitz.fm announcers giving away Avengers merchandise.

Thank you Hitz.fm for the tickets! If you haven't bought your tickets to the Avengers: Age of Ultron - do so now! Just don't be surprised if the younger kids fall asleep. *grin*

Our Revamped Garden

Our revamped garden!

I have been procrastinating pictures of our revamped garden for oh so long!

If you missed my last post about the garden, I wrote here about how we left the fate of our garden to an experienced gardener. Well here are the end results. Lush, green and weed free - I can't hardly take the credit for it at all; it's quite clear I don't have a green thumb!

Well, instead of making you wait any longer, let's start. 

Here is the portion of the garden right by our front door. We included a long-ish shaped pot between the plants too.

I love the leafy plant (Pisonia Grandis) right by the front door, mainly due to it's vivacious green hue.

The plant with red leaves (Loropetalum Chinense) are now shaped into 5 round bonsai, complimented by the sweet pink flowers (Orlenda Pink) by its side.

Next up, my favourite corner!

My Bucida Trees (also known as Geometry Trees) now droop downwards, gracefully shading the corner.

These Torenia Fournieri flowers (also known as the Wishbone Flower) have been quite challenging lately. Although they look very very pretty, they have been dying left, right and center!

Remember how it used to span from one end of the corner to the other? Well so far, I have changed them out twice, and only the middle ones are surviving!

Just behind the Torenia flowers, we placed a beautiful pot to compliment the bonsai tree. We also placed a spotlight inside the pot, and the effect of the light emitting through the holes of the pot is absolutely picturesque at night.

Moving on, miniature Christmas trees (Juniperus Chinensis Crismas), with orange flower shrubs (Crossandra Infundibuliformis Lutea) and Chinese Croton shrubs (Excoecaria cochinchinensis) planted in between, line the walls opposite the living hall.

Here's the view towards the back of the garden. 

Five round shaped bushes (Loropetalum Chinesense Chinaie and White Jasmine) line the u-shaped living hall window.

Ruellia Purple Shower (Acanthaceae) blossoms just by the bushes.

You cannot see them in this picture because they only bloom in the morning.

But when they do bloom (without fail every single morning!), they bring so much colour to the patio! Seen here are also step stones with a wood grainy finish and pebble stones which separate the patio area from the garden.

The flowers compliment the weeping willow tree (Salix Babylonica) so well, don't you think?

The rock that they found in our garden is still a decorative piece for the patio corner, surrounded by Graptophyllum Pictum Rosea Variegata and Chinese Croton shrubs (Excoecaria cochinchinensis).

Love the big beautiful pot too. When the gardener brought the Chinese Evergreen leafy plant (Aglaonema Araceae) and the crawlers to the patio, I wasn't quite convinced that it would work. But when he placed both into the pot - it looked so pretty! I guess this is why we paid him good money for his work!

The view towards the front of the garden.

Next up! My roses by the back door are flowering beautifully too.

Just last week, we had 7 beautiful red roses blooming simultaneously!

Just beside the roses, the magnificent Red Button Ginger (Costus Woodsonii also known as the Dwarf's Lipstick *chuckles*) stands proudly in the sun.

You can see how they are thriving beautifully just by the back door.

The bushes with long yellow leaves (Codiaeum Variegatum Cultivars "Croton" Puding) by the dining window is flourishing nicely too.

Here's a close up.

Last but not least, Hubby's favourite corner, which is right at the back of the house. Our Frangipani Tree is also looking good - we saw a bout of pink flowers just last month. Hopefully they appear again soon!

Anyone sitting at these chairs would actually have the best view of the garden - refer to the first picture of this post.

I have to admit, Hubby's lalang actually look pretty good lining the sides of our back wall. The purple shade actually matches the small dainty flowers of the Taiwan Beauty (Cuphea Hyssopifolia). Now I'm just waiting for the other plant with the woody stem to start flowering because I was told that they produce purple flowers too!

Update - the purple flowers are blooming! Looks so beautiful against Hubby's lalang! 

We also bought a variant species of the willow tree and planted it by the garden set, to also provide some clever camouflage for our clothes rail.

Before I end this post, don't let me fool you into thinking that I am now an avid gardener who knows the scientific names of the plants residing in my garden. A lot of that came from Mr Google Images, who was friendly enough to help me out with my absolutely hilarious key words such as "pokok bunga ungu" or even "batang keras bunga merah"! *grins*