So one of my new year resolutions this year was to lose weight.
The last time I went on a diet was a month before Aiden's Star Wars birthday. I went on a strict 3-week Paleo diet and lost like nearly 7kg or more. All because I needed to fit in this tight army green pants which was part of my Rey outfit. But immediately after that, I 'celebrated' by feasting on cake, desserts and carbs. Slowly but surely, I regained what I had lost. Our Pangkor Laut Resort was the tip of the weighing scale for me. Hence... the new year resolution.
I started my diet on my first day at work. (I knew that if I went on a diet while I was at home, I would be even more tempted to raid the fridge.) A friend recommended EzDiet, so I decided to purchase the 7-day Atkins meal plan from them. While waiting my week's meal to arrive, I filled the days by going on my usual Paleo diet.
A week's worth of meals.
A typical three-course meal for a day. Paleo was so strict, that I was supremely overjoyed with the fact that Atkins allowed eggs, soy sauce, and even dressings!
And here are some of my dugaan during the diet. An anniversary dinner for my in-laws at Jibby Chow (I nibbled on some of Hubby's leftovers plus a bite of cake), Aiden's cousin came for a sleepover and they requested for so many sinful things (I hidu bau jer), and a team lunch makan masak lemak ikan patin (I drank plain water only). Oh dugaan sungguh!!!
The spread at Jibby Chow. Telan air liur jer lah...
Pizza and ice-cream.
Anyway, this post is not about my boring diet (what is there to blog about, other than being lethargic, tired and cranky??), but rather to chronicle my eating adventures post diet! Yes, after 2 weeks and 3 kgs lighter, I had to pause my diet regime to make way for soooo many food-filled invitations.
It all started with the company dinner to celebrate our First Oil Date (FOD). Everyone raved about how the food was going to cost RM400 plus per person without alcohol - wagyu beef, sashimi, lobster bisque and fresh oysters to name a few.
Check out the spread. Memang besar godaan malam tuh. And a very memorable momento from that night; a drop of oil from our very first oil production!
Longgggg story about my outfit. I was supposed to go home to change into this very dreamy grey dress for the night. To cut a long story short, it rained cats and dogs that afternoon, and I got stuck in a massive traffic jam going home. In the end I decided to turn back and just wear whatever I had in the car (a new Zara top I had purchased over lunch).
Can you spot me?
The next day, I attended a farewell. Superb buffet feast by Le Meridien, and I simply couldn't resist having plates after plates of salmon sashimi! I stayed away from rice, but I failed miserably at the dessert section.
Missing my old teammates!
The next day, I attended another farewell, this time at Kanna Curry House in PJ. How can one resist curry??? Hence, my first plate of rice in two weeks. *cries*
I'm amazed when one professes to not knowing the existence of Camera 360!
As if nasi daun pisang for lunch wasn't sinful enough, I had a birthday tea-party with the gang pagar sekolah afterwards. Since it was also our resident baker's birthday, it wasn't fair to ask her to bake her own birthday cake. Hence yours truly had to come out of retirement and bake a chocolate cake; and since our whatsapp group is full with discussions about dieting, I decided to make a weighing scale and measuring tape out of the cake!
And as if lunch and tea wasn't sinful enough as well, the gang pagar sekolah regrouped that night for a birthday dinner at Stesen83! I succumbed to temptation and had grilled lamb. *sigh*
The next day, we had birthday invitations and two kenduri engagements to attend. In a nutshell, diet ke laut lah. All sorts of carbs went into my tummy that day. From that super adorable TNT popcake, to nasi briyani with daging dendeng.
Next day was Sunday, and we stayed home most of the day. But of course, my maid makes a mean cekodok pisang and cekodok bawang. I couldn't stop munching on them. Then we made a quick pit stop at my in-laws (they served us laksam and oat cookies *huwaaaa*) on the way to our weekly grocery shopping. And... I had rice for dinner. Kononnya last plate of rice before my diet officially starts again. Memang I belasah makan that night!
Little did I know that my teammates had arranged for a Yee Sang lunch today at Chynna, KL Hilton. Ok-lah, I decided to postpone my diet for another day. How can one say no to Yee Sang, right?
Yee Sang with sliced salmon. And a huge plate of steamed fish! Not visible in picture - buttered prawns, roasted honey chicken, stir fried asparagus, and my absolute favourite - chinese pancakes!
Here's to a prosperous new year of the rooster.
Anyway, I am back on my diet tomorrow. (No more cheating, promise!) I haven't had the courage to step on the weighing scale since I busted my diet, so hopefully I am not back to square one? Wish me luck!!!
Let me start this blog post by telling you a story.
Once upon a time, there was a mother who was so fixated on throwing a Pokemon party for her soon to be 3 year old son. She was convinced that it was the best party theme for her boy, since the said boy could name every single Pokemon on the Pokedex. But unfortunately, every time she asked for his consent, the boy would resist and insist on having a Thomas party instead. Since he was so persistent, she conceded defeat, and started making preparations for a train party. One fine day, about two weeks away from the party, she started browsing through Thomas cake ideas on the Internet. She showed the birthday boy a few examples for his consent. Unfortunately, none of the cake made the mark. As she was scrolling through the pictures on her phone, suddenly the boy pointed out excitedly to a picture of a cake and exclaimed, "This Thomas!!" The mother sat there with her mouth gaping open, as her son was pointing to a Transformers cake. And suddenly it clicked. Due to his son's pelat dialect, when he said Thomas he actually meant Transformers.
*rolls on the floor laughing*
Yes, that was a true story, by the way. But in the end, we stuck to the Thomas party theme after all. (Sorry Ian, after all the preparations we made for the Thomas train party, I couldn't just magically change everything to Transformers in a snap of a finger! But Alhamdulillah, once we brought the trains out and he saw how it whizzed around the dessert table, he warmed up to the theme.) You can read about my Thomas Train party DIY adventures here.
Since I violated my own self-proclaimed rule of one party per year, I consoled my husband by promising him a small guest list and a simple no-frills venue. (He laughed when I said small guest list, but hey, I proved him wrong!) We had the party at McDonald's in Denai Alam, and I am so glad we decided to have our small party there. McDonald's was quite accommodating too; they allowed outside cakes and such. And since I told them that I would be baking everything on the dessert table, they agreed to let me setup my dessert table too. They even allowed me to plan the party room layout, and blocked the party area way earlier than normal so that I would have ample time to decorate the room. (Good to note that they don't allow costumes and outside entertainment during the party.)
Speaking of a small guest list, since Ian doesn't go to school thus has only one friend (his neighbourhood sweetheart, Dafiya), I decided to invite my gang pagar sekolah, Cahaya SPK gang, three of Aiden's best friends and our closest family to the party. Definitely the smallest party we've had to date!
The minute Ian walked into the party room, he beamed his best smile and ran to the dessert table. He got so excited, as he knew that the entire party was just for him... No sharing required! He was so happy, it made all our effort for his birthday bash, so worth while! It also made my heart strings ache for the baby that's no longer there. Ian, please don't grow up too fast! *sob sob*
Refused to leave the dessert table, hence he had his Happy Meal by the train tracks.
So sporting, he even agreed to put on the McDonalds birthday hat!
Held on dearly to the cake knife, as if someone wanted to take it away from him!
Anyway, I'm sure you're waiting for photos of the dessert table. Disclaimer though; since the table was already so crowded with dual way train tracks, I had to compromise on the number of baked goods and candy I could put on the table. Also, since the trains whizzed around the train tracks, I needed to make sure that their journey wasn't obstructed by any platters and such. Here's a video of the first ever interactive dessert table we've done to date!
The dessert table. While I was busy setting up, the McDonald's staff and even a customer came up and asked for my permission to take photos. The staff explained that they've never had such an elaborate themed party, while the customer wanted the photo for inspiration purposes. I do hope I've inspired her!
Here's a closer look.
Thomas 3D cake. Moist chocolate cake - Ian's favourite.
Rock candy spilled out of the tunnel. Green and blue Nutella macarons too.
Trains carried rock candy around the Island of Sodor.
James and Percy carried (pretzel) logs.
Thomas and Percy butter cookies. They were so popular, my hours of work disappeared with just one big bite! *giggles*
'Grass' vanilla cupcakes.
Thomas and Bertie the Bus also had their own track, underneath the cake stand.
A quick selfie before the kids tore the dessert table apart!
We also had a personalized milestone chalkboard, documenting Ian's vital details.
I also had a small corner to showcase my own birthday cake. A second moist chocolate cake (so that guests don't have to wait till end of the party to taste it) and a red velvet cake, both baked by yours truly. Till today, Ian still proclaims, "Ian's birthday Thomas, Mummy's birthday red cake!" *chuckles*
I am so glad we decided to stick to a small guest list, because even with a handful of kids, they literally took over the entire party room. (All parents got kicked out of the room and into the public area right outside where they had their adult meals.) Immediately after everyone finished their Happy Meals, the McDonald's party coordinator closed the party room doors so that the kids could play some games. Yes, not only did McDonald's provide goody bags for each kid, they provided two party coordinators to supervise the kids and arrange for games and gifts too!
Kids enjoying their Happy Meals. And just our luck, the Happy Meal toy that week was a Thomas train ruler!
Parents enjoying peace and quiet outside the party room. Gang pagar sekolah!
A quick photo with the Cahaya SPK gang. Can you see the party room in the background?
They then closed the doors, and this was all we saw.
Ian insisted on joining a game of musical chairs.
Next up, it was time for cake cutting. In the weeks leading up to his birthday party, Ian had been humming the birthday song non stop! So when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to him, he was absolutely delirious with joy.
Check out Ian's happy grin.
The impromptu hug that Aiden gave Ian. Siblings love!
They sang the Happy Birthday song twice.
Again with the pursed lips. Memang sampai esok tak padam lah, Ian! In the end, Aiden had to give Ian a hand.
In all the excitement, the cake must have moved quite significantly because the name topper fell. Aiden helped put it back, unfortunately terbalik!
Cutting the cake.
Last photo with the gang pagar sekolah. Thank you for coming, ladies!
The sole reason why I can never move out of Cahaya SPK. Love you girls!
At the end of the party, we discovered in dismay that we forgot to take a family photo during the cake cutting session!!! Terpaksalah amik gambar with bare cookies, empty cupcake platters and a handful of macarons.
It is exactly 90 days to Aiden's 7th birthday. And he's already asking whether he can start choosing a theme for his birthday. Aaaccckkk!!!
Kick-starting my backlog of birthday party posts. This blog post is dedicated to the simple (yes simple!) preparations I made for Ian's birthday party back in November.
Unlike Aiden's Star Wars birthday party early in the year, the hype leading up to this was unbelievably laid back. Somehow, I took it easy... way too easy, I must say! I scouted the event location the week before India, traveled to India, came home from India and literally had exactly 7 days before the party.
A picture is worth a thousand words, hence here are some photos of my DIY adventures for Ian's Thomas Train birthday party:
After hours of research online, we decided to do a 3D Thomas cake for the party.
Moist chocolate cake. Recipe here. It was a buttercream nightmare, but I persevered because Ian loves this particular chocolate cake!
Too many edges to the cake (fondant nightmare!) hence I had to cover the cake with fondant, half by half.
The middle joint is clearly seen here, but with some brilliant camouflage.......
Tadaaaaa... no more middle joint!
The side profile of the cake.
This took a good 3 hours to do. Cookie toppers - Thomas and Percy!
You must be waiting for photos of the dessert table! Well two engineers tried to attempt this, and failed miserably. It took a lot of hair pulling and screams of exasperation to fit the train tracks on the table. The end result? Wait for the next post!
Yes, we had the party at McDonalds! In keeping to the spirit of keeping things simple, I decided to use the provided invites, rather than making personalized ones.
Decided to forego personalized printing on the boys' t-shirts. Instead, I decided to do some sewing! Purchased plain t-shirts from MD Textile and coloured felt from Daiso and Mr DIY. Couldn't get the exact Thomas blue, but this was close enough, I guess?
Okay, I cheated with this one. *giggles* I looked online for a pretty Thomas poster, then paid someone to design the wordings to make the banner (7x6 feet) for the dessert table backdrop.
Last but certainly not least, I found this chalkboard milestone poster online. Using simple editing on PicMonkey, I managed to personalize this for Ian in less than an hour. Super proud of myself!
Just for the record, some free printables for Thomas the Train parties here.
That's it! Told you it was a simple setup. Now stay tuned for the next blogpost - Ian's 3rd Thomas Train Birthday Party.
