Lovely Blog Award & Best Blog Award

I am so glad that JoanneT has pass this award to me, and later accidentally found my name on Cynthia list as well :P :P It has been quite awhile for me to receive such a meaningful award and really appreciate these award dear :) Thank you so much :)

The rules for these awards are:

1. To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

And now, I wish to pass these awards to my lovely blog pals:

1) Ai Peng
2) Mummy to Chumsy
3) Esmeralda
4) PeiWun
5) Coffeesncookies
6) UmmiRosma
7) Linda
8) Hweili
9) BoeyJoey
10) Mery
11) Enan (Maggie)
12. HN
13. Anggie
14. KristyTsen
15. Fussy Mum

Not-So-Perfect Sushi

I know my sushi doesn’t look very good there but that’s the very fist time after maybe ….. 7-8 years that I pick up the bamboo matt and roll out my sushi again. Hence I think those pictures certainly means something to me and a must keep (post) for me :P I used to be quite good in making sushi when I was in the UK where hubby (bf then) always asked me to make! Make! Make! and then we will eat that so call 'sushi-of-love' for our breakfast, lunch and also dinner, straight chilling from the fridge in the cold winter days :P I think my not-so-secret secret ingredient we all love most is the mayo!! And now I am making and sharing those sushi with my little girl …… really didn’t anticipated that ever in my life :)

The funny thing is she dare not to touch the sushi at the beginning, must be wondering what’s that white thingy with the black wrapper at the side :P She is afraid of food in black looking colour ……. but me and hubby didn’t coax her or anything, I just place the sushi in front of her while me and hubby let her watch us gobble down our sushi in no time :) Finally she made her first move and thank god, I am glad that our little picky eater at home loves it as much as her daddy and mommy does :)

I think she took 10 small sushi for her dinner that night :)

'I Sea U'

I must jot this down before I forgot .........

While Angel sleep over with her grandparents for couple of weeks, I miss her so much and would called her every 1-2 days just to listen to her voice. Her vocabulary is not very strong yet so she would just babble and babble over the phone for 15 minutes with all her baby talks ^_^ Although I can’t understand a word of hers but I sure enjoy listening to her sweet little voice over the phone ... hoping that it will make me missing her less (but at the end, I miss her even more .....)

M: Hello Angel ~~ … Call me.
A: Hello ....... Mommy ~~~

M: Good Girl *smile* Are you being a good girl today?
A: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x (her babbling)

M: Did Kung Kung and Ah Mah bring you to kai kai?
A: x x x x x x x x (her babbling again)

M: Kuai (乖)…… is it ? So you did go out to kai kai .....
A: x x x x x x x x x x (her babbling again)

M: Oh …. Oh …. (Pretend to understand what she is saying) So you be a good girl ok?
A: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

*After talking and singing a few songs to her*

M: OK …. Mommy 'sayang' Angel ok?
A: x x x x x x x x ....... 'I Sea U' (suddenly she say it in a very soft tone)

M: What did you say …….... ?? (holding my breathe)
A: ....... 'I Sea U'

M: ……………………………………. (holding back my tears this time)
A: x x x x x x xx x x x x x x

M: OK lah, Angel, You are Mommy’s Good Girl …… Mommy love you very much OK? Come say ‘Bye Bye’ to Mommy (Have to cut the conversation short)
A: Ok ..... Bye Bye …. (she must be waving bye bye at the same time)

Once I put down the phone, I nearly broke down in tears because I missed her so so so so much but yet, feeling very contented at the same time. Sometimes it’s so hard to imagine that my 2 years old little girl who is still babbling all these while would suddenly say ‘THAT’ to me over the phone *sniff sniff*

Just in case you are wondering ...... I SEA U is how Angel’s pronounce I LOVE U

A New Header and Layout

After 8 months of having the previous red hot header, I think it’s time for a new one. I start with a while / purple idea in mind but didn't know how I ended with a pink header instead. Once the header is up, it doesn't go with the burgundy layout anymore :( So no choice …. but after searching for hours for a decent template, I totally gave up. At last, I have to custom made my own layout from scratch (i.e. from a piece of blank sheet) using MS word, Power Point, Paint brush, Photoshop, etc :( :(

It takes few days and a lot of try and error to put them together and finally, my new blog look is up and running!! *Wipe sweat* I didn’t know how I manage to get them right at the end but I need to thank hubby for his 'help' too :) :) I think it certainly worth the effort + time spend and it’s really nice to see a brand new look in my blog too :) Although I am not that fancy about Pink (I'd like to have white ...) and although my first custom made theme is not perfectly done but I think I am contented with it for now :) After all, it’s my few days of sacrificing my beauty sleep :P

^ ^ Bye Bye to my beloved 8 months old 'Old Header' and the Burgundy red layout, love the colour still :)

^ ^ My New Header and layout ..... simple, bright and very Pink! Can't believe I've done it finally :P Do you think it's a bit too bright / pink??

Our Precious Bonding Moments

Normally it take place in the very early of the day before we even brush our teeth or late at night before Angel went to bed, or sometimes before/after Angel’s afternoon naps ….. That’s our most precious bonding moments where we would snuggling on the bed, and she would be her happiest self and me, the happiest mother on earth cuddling her tide, just like the very first day that she was born .......

We would snuggle inside the warm and cosy comforter for hours, laying side by side staring and smiling at each other for no reason, at times talking and singing any song that comes into our mind, or observing each other from head to toe. I love to touch and feel her little fingers and see how tiny there were still, stroking her soft black hair ...... whilst she loves to poke my eyes (o.O), squeeze my nose, sometimes trying to blow her first morning bad breath onto my face (@_@) and then giggle on the bed happily. Sometimes she would do her koala bear sleep on my tummy but as she is growing taller, she has to stretched herself up to my chest now and I could still smell the last bit of her baby smell from her after shampoo hair. Later in the day, we would also do some 'flying session' where I would supported her up using my leg like a Supergirl, or she would do her balancing stunts using my legs as her platform while I hold on to her hands, or sometimes I would tell her some stories but not from the books (I make them up :P :P), doing some funny voice together, where she loves to follow whatever I say or even making some funny sounds. If the camera is nearby, we would be sticking face to face trying to get a glimpse on the tiny display on our camera checking out our latest pictures, sometimes I would also recoding some videos of her doing various funny actions, or at times taking some Mommy and daughter pictures in our ‘just wake up’ looks and have a good laugh on it :) I love these moments we spend together lazing around doing nothing and we are having such a great time laughing and hugging and kissing each other on the cheeks ....……… until hubby comes in and ‘spoilt’ the fun, hahahaha!! *Just joking*

That’s our most precious bonding moments together ……. what’s yours?

Scribbles On The Wall [2Y3M]

Yes .... another milestone achieved again :P This is what happened when I take my eyes off her for a few seconds while doing my packing. The bad thing was, I always anticipated these on 'our' walls but nope, she done this on her Ah-Gu’s (My brother) wall instead. Urrgghhh!!!! This is her first time and I felt sorry for my brother’s clean piece of wall now decorated with Angel’s scribbles :(

So I show her the scribbles on the wall and told her that she has made the wall dirty and sad. She asked me to wipe it clean (hahahahaha!!) but I demonstrate to her wiping with a piece of wet cloth won't take that off either. I make some story up that it is not the right thing to do as Ah-Gu do not like 'flowers' on the walls but now she drew some flowers on it which is not so nice to do. Then I asked her to walk to her ‘naughty corner’ and stay there for few minutes while she was sobbing for my hug. After few minutes, I give her a big hug and stood her in front of the wall again, asked her if she wants to draw on the wall and make the wall sad again ….., she look at me, nodded and wanted to start scribbling on them again. Once more, I lead her to her little naughty corner and repeat the same thing and told her that pens are meant to scribble on papers and not the wall. She remains at her naughty corner for a few minutes again with some sobbing and crying for a hug. After another hug and I stand her in front of the wall for the 3rd time and asked her whether she wants to draw on the wall, she look at me, then she said, “No! Don’t Want!” then I told her she was doing the right thing and give her another hug (although Angel's grandma keep teasing me that she won't have that patient and time to do all that!!! Her way is smacking! :P :P) The next morning, I handed her a pen and stand her infront of another piece of wall and asked whether she wants to draw on them again, she hesitated then told me “No! Don’t Want! Don't Want! Not Nice ~~~!!” and starts to look for the piece of paper I gave her yesterday :)

I think a few minutes of explanation and make her understand the consequences, making her own decision to do / not to do it and also given her another better choice (i.e.drawing on a piece of paper) really worth the extra afford and time spend in the long run. At least she understands why she’s can’t do it and hence don’t feel like doing it, instead of she wants to do it but she was afraid to do it because I said so ….. Maybe this workds for some kid and not for others so I think the most important thing is to find a method which works for BOTH you and the kid. No one method is the BEST or the WORST but only the Most Workable and Suitable method according to the kid's personality.

I am glad that it all ended well :) But still …… the poor wall with Angel’s signature on it, I am glad that it’s not a huge piece of art work that she decided to do that day, phew!!

1-2-3 … Lets Hug! Secret Code

1-2-3 …… Lets Hug!

Angel loves to hug and kiss us everyday, lots and lots of them too and I love to hold her in my arms while she smudges her saliva all over my face like a happy little puppy :) …… So whenever my ‘fuel’ or her fuel runs low and need a ‘recharge’, I will call out her name, kneel down to her level, stretched my arms wide open and say
M: Angel, Come ~~ …… Mommy Hug Hug ~~

She will put down whatever she is doing, run quickly towards the front door at the far end, then starts counting
A: 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……
Then she makes her fastest but clumsy run and landed on my chest and then give me a big big hug

M: Oh …… Mommy Love You ♥♥♥
A: Oh ……… B~~B~~~~~~~~
(She will mimic my voice, my motherly tone, gazing into my eyes and even making my face and ‘sayang’ my hair just like I use to sayang hers)

I really hope that time would stood still at that moment of time ^_^

*********************************************



Secret Code

I use to sleep very late at night and normally when I finally going to bed (around 2am), hubby and Angel have sound asleep already. I don’t have any night lights so I will have to tip toe to my side of the bed in total darkness and lie there wondering if I have waken Angel up (she is a very light sleeper). Sometimes Angel will wake up at that time if she sleep very early that night. If she is, I will normally carry her out form her crib on the other side of the room and we will snuggle a bit on my bed before I put her back to her crib again. So to know whether she is awake or she wants to show that she is awake (from the other side of the room) but not to wake up the daddy in slumber land, normally me/Angel will use our secret code while tossing on our own bed

If me,
M: Psss …… Psss ……
A: ……………………… *silence* (Oh …… she is sound asleep)

Sometimes me,
M: Psss …… Psss …… Psss ……
A: Psss …… Psss …… Psss ……

M: Meaw ……
A: Meaw ……
Responses mean she is awake

Or Sometimes after I lie down on my bed, I will hear this,
A: Psss …… (Angel is checking whether I am still awake)
M: Psss ……

A: Psss …… Psss …… Piss ……
M: Psss …… Psss …… Piss ……
After a few times of Psss! Psss!, I know that she wants to come join me on my bed,

Then there was once after our long exchange of secret code
A: Psss …… Psss …… Psss …… Psss ……
M: Psss …… Psss …… Psss …… Psss ……
Suddenly we heard,
D: Psss …… Psss …… Psss …… Psss …… o.O

Opssss …… I think our night long “Psss! Psss! Psss!” and some animals meowing and wooffing have waken poor daddy at 2am, hahahahahahahaha …… so sorry dear ~~~ >’’<

Since then, Angel and Mommy’s secret code is not just for 2 of us anymore but 3 ...... if daddy can’t fall asleep at night ^_^

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheese Cake

I am a cheese cake lover so these will be another of my favourite bake for sure - The Cotton Soft Japanese Cheese Cake ^_^ So embarrassing to say that I still don’t own a cake mixer until this day but yet, I am so desperate to try out this recipe so I asked hubby and Angel’s grandma to give me a hand when it’s time to whisk those egg whites :) So you know how desperate I am to get this cake done :) After googled on the net, I found a nice Japanese Cheese Cake recipe from this site here and decided to give it a go.

The outcome ….. the cake is so soft, very fluffy and extremely delicious with that extra hint of lemony taste :) Simply superb!!! The texture and flavour are very much alike to those I bought from the bakery. Even hubby loves it very much and the cake is gone within 2 days :) I even gave Angel a tiny piece to share and she told me they are “nice” even before I asked for her comment with her mouth wide open chasing for the rest of the cake ^_^ This recipe is definitely a keep for me, so to all Japanese Cheese Cake Lovers out there, why the wait?

Ingredients
140g fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g cake flour /superfine flour
20g cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
*1 tbsp lemon zest (optional which I added in)

Method
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar + salt and whisk until soft peaks form. *I add in lemon zest last.

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

(above quoted directly from the original recipe)

Notes:
- may add in some lemon zest for the extra ummpphh!!
- may change the lemon juice for orange juice too :)
- if using springform tin, always line it with aluminium foil to prevent water sipping in from waterbath. - waterbath means 'bake the cheesecake pan while it's sitting in the couple inches of water in the larger roasting pan. It is also called Bain-Marie.'

^ ^ You can see a darker hand in the picture which belongs to hubby, and a hand with nail polish which belongs to Angel's grandma. The kitchen was so happening that night ^_^
*P/s: However I noticed that my cake will 'fall' a bit after it was cool down and also it has some 'water vapour' inside (although it’s still soft and cottony). Anyone know what is the reason please??

Up –The Digital 3D Movie

^ ^ The gigantic posters along the hall way
This is the latest Disney Pixar’s animation movie that we’ve watched over the weekend and it’s our first Digital 3D movies too. We pay 240 Baht (RM24) per ticket here in Paragon Cin*plex Bangkok and again, the ticketing lady there is so nice enough to highlight the 4th row seats in their theater will have the nicest angle of watching the 3Ds movie ^_^. This round, we didn’t bring Angel along and luckily, we didn’t!! As hubby said, this might not be an interesting movie for Angel’s age (maybe more for older kids) as she is still too young to understand their conversations and stories and we were sure that she will not sit through the entire movie. I don’t know whether I heard it wrongly or not but I did hear a ‘snoring’ sound from the back row seat sometime after the movie
starts! What a waste!!!

The story starts off with a very funny animation which is very funny and touching. But once into the main story, I kind of feel 'sorrow' towards the old man as the story goes *sob sob*.…….. The movie is about how the little kid (the old man) met his childhood sweetheart who also share a lifelong dream for a great adventure. As they grew up, getting married, starting their own family, they were still hoping that one day their great adventure will come until a sad abortion happened …….. they manage to support each other and as they grew older day by day, until one day the old man's wife have to bid farewell to the old man and their happy moments together as a family. And the poor old man feeling lonely and hopelessly, and beginning his journey to travel to this one place as to fulfill the dreams of his departed wife, and finally only realized that her lifelong dreams has actually being fulfilled with the happy days spending with him :)

This movie can really contemplate so much about the meaning of love, life, happiness and dreams from message behind the simple story lines (I won’t want to go into that as I will have a never ending post to write) but in terms of a pure movie leisure, ……. I don’t think kids at Angel’s age will get the idea of the entire life and death thing at this moment and also, I find that the story line is way too gloomy for my liking for an animation :) The dog chatter part is also a double minus from me!! But apart from that, it’s still a good movie to watch as the 3D animation is awesome especially in the scene of the canyons and the storms are extremely real and magnificent. The story lines and conversations are very simple for older toddlers to understand too and I am sure with some guidance and explanation from the adults (it's a PG rated movie), older kids can easily picked up a lot of good moral values such as, helping a friend in need, not afraid to chase after ones dreams, not letting go easily, etc. from the animation too. This animation is also very good in terms of sparking a child’s imagination where everything is possible and yet incorporating some reality (love, life, family, friends) which revolving around us.

^ ^ Hubby with his Terminator-Like 3D glasses ^_^
I have seen a lot of good rating for this movie but I would still give this movie a 3-Star out of 5 for my own rating, not because it’s bad but because it’s kind of gloomy for me after watching :P I heard that Malaysia will feature this animation sometimes in August. Catch it if you have the time and of course, don’t expect anything, BRING A TISSUE, watch it with an open heart and who knows, you might comes to love it. Maybe I have put in too much expectation in this movie after watching Ice Age 3 …… or maybe I prefer a more jolly happy movie when it comes to an animation after all :) So who's planning to watch this?

* the above is not a movie review but only my personal experience and thoughts after watching the movie :P

Masak - Masak Time

This is the beginning of another of Angel’s new development – pretend play. Pretend play is very important for young toddlers as they absorb these experiences and make senses of their world most effectively when engaged in such imaginative play. I have always incorporating some form of imaginative play with her at home but she doesn’t seem to enjoy it very much until now. Although it’s just a beginning stage for little Angel but I am glad to see that she is more into the idea of such play and also starts serving me some ‘imaginary coffee’ or ‘imaginary breakfast’ too if not from her Minnie Mouse cookery set :)

^ ^ Angel the Chef is super busy with her soup on the stove and the eggs in the oven :)
^ ^ Time to fried some fish too …… curry fish I suppose?? LoL
I will have to pretend to ‘enjoy’ all the dishes which was brought upon me or else, she would throw a fit until I give in and start ‘eating’ :P Most of the time she would told me, “Mommy~~, Eat!! Eat!! Bro-kli ~~(brocolli) / Ca-rut (carrot)!” etc and I will start telling her I have no utensils to eat them then she will quickly go and look for the fork and knife or even the ladle which comes with the set for me. If I were to praised that her cooking is so nice and yummy, she will smile away happily and most of the time, squealing in joy too! She is such a happy little girl :)

^ ^ Ok …. It’s serving time! Let’s see what Mommy have to say ….. :P

^ ^ Sometimes she would pretend to eat them up herself and tell me they are “Nice ~~~” too :)

Blowing Bubbles Finally [2Y3M]

All these while, Daddy and Mommy were the one who are handling the tasks of blowing buddles until few days ago, we found out by coincidence that our little Angel actually knows how to do the job perfectly!

All of us shouted out unbelievably while giving her a big applause that day ….. including the photographer *LoL*

Angel ~~, Angel ~~, My sweet little Angel ….. You are growing up so fast,
Making mommy doesn’t dare to even blinking mommy’s eyes,
Afraid to have missed any of the precious moments,
Of your every first, every word, every action and every sweet sweet smile ....
You will always be mommy's little Angel, Mommy's most precious little Angel ♥

Prawn Soup Noodles (虾面)

When I asked hubby what shall I cook for dinner that day and he joked with me that he wanted to eat homecook Prawn Soup Noodles(虾面). Hahahaha ….. I really feel like bagging on the wall but ……. everything must have the first time right? :P So after getting the necessary ingredients and peeling the prawns, suddenly hubby was so ‘helpful’ enough to throw away all the prawn shells which I kept for making prawn soup (>”<) So to make thing simple, I have decided to get the Prawn Noodle Paste instead. Save me some work and time for boiling the soup too :P So to make a bowl of hubby’s favourite Prawn Noodle, that’s what I have prepared to complete my “King’s” favourite dish. That’s basically what I can recoup from my memory of how a bowl of prawn soup noodle consists, right?

1. Home fried Ju-Yao-Zha (crispy pork lard)
2. Fried Shallots
3. Steamed peeled Prawns
4. Kang Kung
5. Steam Chicken
6. Boiled eggs
7. Noodles and rice vermicelli
*(all have been fried / cooked)

^ ^ My preparation for making a Prawn Noodles


^ ^ Arrange nicely on the bowl before pouring the soup
Preparing all the above were quite time consuming, especially slicing and peeling the shallots. Preparing the soup was easy and even added some fish sauce and some seasonings to make it suit our taste. Then all ingredients were arranged nicely in a bowl and pour in the soup, walahhhhhh …… it’s done!!!!

^ ^ The instant prawn soup paste I am using, very nice and very spicy ^_^
Hubby commended that it’s the nicest Prawn Soup Noodles that he has ever eaten and gave me 2 thumbs up and even asked me to cook that again for the next day and the day after. Hahahahaha ……. I think the Prawn Soup Noodle taste good too but just that the soup is a little too spicy for my poor taste buds but hubby just love the ‘ummpphhh’ from the hot and spicy prawn soup perfectly! So the entire pot of soup and all those you’ve seen in the pictures were polished off by hubby in no time. He surely have a huge appetite that night but poor me with my poor ‘lack of feeling’ tongue after the meal :P

Bento#5: Sunflower Field Bento

I am browsing through a Japanese bento magazine in the bookshop and suddenly came across a lovely sunflower bento kyaraben hence decided to make one Sunflower theme bento for my 'Queen' too. I have used finely chopped baby corn in her porridge but never try steaming method but decided to give it a try. So the sunflowers were make up of baby corns and some of them I dye it with some beet root for a darker colour (some faded already when I steam them :P), while the stem of the sunflowers were made from thinly sliced French beans. As for the soil, lightly stir fried some beet root in the frying pan (coz I don’t know what else to do with it :P :P) while the middle part of the sunflowers were decorated with some kei-Ji (Chinese wolfberries) and carrots. A sun was added hoping to brighten up Angel's day and oh gosh …… now that I look at the picture then only I realised I have forgotten to give my sun the eyes and a sweet smile too >_< *slap forehead 5 times*

Angel is having a bento with Baby Corns, Carrots, French beans, finely chopped Beet Root at the very bottom, Spinach Meat Balls and some Cherries ^_^
For added protein + fibre, I make Angel a Steam Spinach Meat Balls seasoned with tiny bit of light sodium soy sauce and corn flour. I have added some Kei-Ji (chinese wolfberries) on top of the meat balls hoping to add some natural sweetness into it. As for fruits, I have some cherries in the fridge so it goes into her bento as well. Needless to say that this simple looking bento has taken me quite some time to complete again …… (Need more practising still :P)


I have retain some gravy from the steam meat ball and was added into Angel's rice before serving as my little ‘Queen’ doesn’t take rice very well without some soup in it. She loves everything but not the French beans :P The fried beet root surprisingly taste so sweet which added some flavour into her meal. Overall, I like this bento as much as Angel does ……. although she might not seen a real sunflower before but at least she has seen it in her bento for once :)

Ice Age 3 ... Here I Come!! [2Y3M]

As you know, Angel is such an active child and even when watching her favourite educational DVDs at home, she will still keep moving on her seat, moving her pet pet, kicking her leg, touching the sofa from top to bottom, stand up sit down numerous time, jumping up and down and swaying her body dancing to the music, etc. But yesterday, we have made a daring decision to bring her out for something interesting for her for the very first time …… Angel’s first movie in the Cinema!!

^ ^ 7:05 PM: Getting ready holding Daddy’s hand going to kai-kai at such wee hour and it’s raining too …….
She was so happy that she finally gets to go out kai-kai even during a rainy night which hardly happens :) So we brought her some spinach bread for her movies treats (sorry, no keropok or sweets for Angel) before trying to get a cab. We wait and wait …… 5 minutes later still no sign of daddy with the cab and finally Angel gets impatient and decided to take things into own hands …….

^ ^ 7:10 PM: All set to go go go ……. Waiting for daddy to get the cab.

^ ^ 7:15 PM: “Aiya ……. Taxi ~! Taxi ~~!! ………. TAXI ~~~~!!!!!”
So finally we arrived at Siam Paragon Shopping Mall at around 7.35 PM and straight to the Paragon Cineplex ticketing boot. We were looking for the IMAX / Digital version (superb sound quality and vision!!!!) but the show time is too late for Angel then we saw - Ice Age 3 : Down of the Dinosaurs at 8:10 PM …. Great!!!! Watching movie here is rather expensive then in Malaysia, RM16++ per person and the theatre is quite full too. When we tried to buy 3 tickets, the ticketing girl is nice enough to tell us that Angel doesn’t required a ticket and she even nice enough make to place an empty seat beside our seats so that Angel could have a seat for free :P (You know why I like Thais now :D )

^ ^ 7:35 PM: Siam Paragon … the Shopping heaven!! But we are not going for shopping this round ……..

As the entire Siam Paragon Shopping Center is putting up signs of “No Photos” in the premises like most shopping malls in western country (Hhhmmm….. I wonder why???), but we still pretend not to noticed the signs but turn our camera flash off so that we don’t get too obvious while snapping like mad :P :P But of course the photos turn out to be not so nice but what to do …. :P Once she reached the cinema, walau ….. Angel was like the monkey out of the cage ^_^ She was so excited to see the luminous flour lightings in the cinema hall, keep jumping + giggling and stepping on those lightings until she acts deaf to our calling and run and jump like a ‘loose horse’.

She was so happily wonder around and watching at the pretty lightings on the ceiling and squealing with delights!! ^_^ So after a good 10 minutes of pulling her back for some ‘nice talking’ and start her with lesson no.1 – she cannot running freely in the Cinema compound, calm her down and some ‘threats’ to go back home if she still running like ‘mad’, it did make her stand still for few seconds before her legs and body starts to get uncontrollable again. So she was zooming in between those movie patrons touching everything, destroying the maroon colour queuing bars separator (while I put them back one by one), making her stand at the corner and constantly conveying to her the dos and don’ts and yet trying not to spoil our day, hahahaha …. I think only mommies with extremely active kids will know what I meant!!! *wipe sweat*

^ ^ 8:00 PM: Finally calm down to take some decent pictures ^_^

^ ^ Ain’t those ceilings look so prestigious and well designed?

^ ^ Angel : “Mommy and Daddy, don’t be mad at me ….” >_<
So it’s time to enter the Cinema Hall ...... We were in hall 8 and she was a bit horrified when I first brought her into the theatre because it’s so dark! She dare not make a move in my arms and I managed to make her seat down on her seat for awhile (1 minutes :P :P) before she starts getting uneasy and started to get cranky. I then took our my secrete weapons no. 1, the Nestle Cereal - Honey Stars! She loves it to bits and really do not make a move sitting on the chair waiting for her snacks patiently. And the most embarrassing moments was when the commercial of the movie stopped, suddenly she shouted “MOMMY!!! MAKE~~!!! MAKE~~~!!! %%&&$$@@##%% …….” babbling loudly to me and everyone in the cinema looks at our directions giggling LOL *Sorry* So I starts her off with lesson no. 2 …… let her know that she needs to keep her voice low once entered the cinema so that everyone can hear the movie and she seems to get the idea pretty well and babbling to me softly ever since but still ‘forgot’ about it on and off which was really funny *embarrassing*

^ ^ 8:10 PM: Angel First Cinema Experience!!! A very interesting and funny movie …….. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

The movie was about 90 minutes + commercial 40 minutes which makes it 2 hours ++ in total. We have prepared to go home any minutes if she starts fussing. But surprisingly, she has been sitting on her seat very obediently watching the movie with me constantly feeding her the Honey Stars for the first 1 1/2 hour. She constantly giggles and exclaim to the funny scenes and uncontrollably burst out, “COW ~~!! ELEPHANT ~~!! LION~~!!” etc along the way loudly until I reminded her about lesson no.2 again *wipe sweat*. Then at the last 30 minutes, she starts to get uneasy and wanted to wonder off in the cinema and even accidentally pull the hair of the movie patrons at the front roll and starts crying but we manage to clam her down with Secret weapon no. 2, her Spinach bread and her bottle of juice but it didn’t last very long and phew .....I am thankful that the movie has come to an end finally.

So finally, Angel’s first movie experience turned out to be not so bad without any big fuss and I AM SO HAPPY!! Actually I didn’t get to concentrate much on the movie but I do think that it’s an interesting movie for kids as the story line is very fast moving, lively and extremely funny conversations, a lot of ancient animals for kids to learn about their living in a entertaining way, a lot of interactions between animals talking and playing sparking the imaginary side of a kid, no lengthy and dragging scene to keep kids interested and also with very fascinating, warm and humorous story lines + good opportunity for kids to learn good family and friends values in this movie. Thumbs up!!

^ ^ 10:30 PM: Time to go home ….. no sign of sleepiness at all!!!

When we finally make our way home, it’s already 10:30 PM and Angel is still as alert as she was during the days. We really did have a great night out with our active little girl tagging along for her first movie today and hopefully there will be more of such interesting and lively kids movies to come so that we could bring our little Angel out for another movie excursion again soon :) Today is your day Angel and another new experience accomplished!! I am sure with a few more exposure to the cinema down the lane and constant guidance along the way, she will gets to learn a good movie manners soon :)

It's not a bad start Angel, I am really proud of you :)

*Anybody watch the newest Disney Cartoon “Up”?? Is it a nice movie??

Coca-Cola Chicken Dish

Another new dish for my 'Baby Boy' and Me .........

I love Coke and everything with coke from the 'Cola Lollipop' during my childhood years to now the cool and freezy Coke straight from the pump / fridge in a hot sunny day. Maybe that explains my ‘size’ I am right now (Urrrrggghh!!!!!) but I just can’t resist the feeling of the sweet and fuzzy drink flashing down my throat giving me the most satisfied and cooling sensation in the hot weather nowadays. But somehow, my carbonated bottle of coke in the fridge doesn't last very long and before I could get to finish 1/2 of it, it turn ‘gas-less’ already and hence, drink it would be such a horrible experience and throwing it away would be such a waste! Therefore, I am so happy when I saw the sweet mommy HN is sharing this lovely recipe in her blog here and cannot wait to try out my own ‘COLA’ Chicken :) Here is what I do with my first and ever Coca-Cola Chicken Dish :)

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Ingredients:

(a) Main:
2 chicken thighs (Cut into desire size)
1 whole garlic (Peel and Smashed)
Few slices of Ginger
Few Stalks of spring onions (white stalk only)
1 Star anise (optional but I think it bring out the taste of the dish)
1 can of Coke (around 325 ml)
Soy Sauce to taste
Oil

(b) Seasoning
Soy Sauce
Chinese cooking wine
Corn Flour

Methods:

1) Marinate Chicken with all ingredients in (B) Seasoning, rest aside
2) Heat up wok with oil, add garlic, ginger and spring onion, stir fried until fragrant
3) Add in Chicken and continue frying for few minutes, add in some soy sauce to taste
4) Pour in can of Coke and add in Star anise, mix well
5) Once boiling, turn to medium heat and let it simmer for 30 – 40 minutes until sauce is thicken, stirring if necessary
6) Once sauce thicken up, stir fry in high flames until chicken were well coated with the sauce
7) Serve with rice

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My first and ever COLA chicken dish turn out to be as nice and tasty as HN promised :P My 'Baby Boy' really like this dish and of course ........... A big thank you to HN for sharing such a nice and delicious recipe with me :)

p/s: Did you notice that my chicken is so dark in colour?? It’s because the ‘kepoh’ me wondering why my dish looks so pale in colour in the middle of the cooking process (not patient at all la!!) so I decided to add in some dark soy sauce hoping to ‘beautifying’ the colour. It does looks much better at the beginning but once the dish starts to thicken up, the sauce changes to a darker colour, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! >.<

p/s2: Please don't use Diet Coke for the dish or it will taste bitter >.<

To A Wonderful Friend - Yoki

This is such a back dated and belated post but still, I would like to put it up and say a big Thank You to a super wonderful Multiply friend of mine, YOKI for her wonderful gesture and trouble she took to sent me these lovely gifts for me and Angel :)

Thank you so much Yoki .... I really appreciate your kindness and I love the egg mould so much, would definately try the oat prawn (I think I will be hook by it :P) as well as those lovely gifts for my little Angel. I can't wait till I see them in person soon (as you know, I am still away :P ) *hugs and kisses to u*

Nice gifts from Sweet Sweet Yoki

The Daredevil Duo

Lately I have been quite occupied due to the visit from the Lovely ‘Daredevil Duo’ shown below who are still so ‘daring’ to travel like nothing happened and went out shopping day and night despite the nerve-racking H1N1 cases happen around us here in Bangkok and also globally є{>III<}є. For myself, I was quite hesitant to go to public places if unnecessary due to a young toddler tagging along but these 2 Daredevil really are very heroic and fearless when it comes to H1N1 vs Shopping! є(∩_∩)э As I am typing this, they are now already out enjoying themselves doing their nails in the shopping mall and won’t be back until the shop are closed, hahahaha!! I think they are most probably one of the few who will actually wear a mask in the shopping mall as if making a statement that “Although it’s a critical moment and even though we have to wear our mask and making us can’t breath well, we still very determine that we want to do our shoppings!!!” *laugh*

^ ^ The Ultimate Daredevil Duo posing on their flight to Bangkok. Presenting Angel’s Grandma (my Mom) and Angel’s Yi-Yi (my Sister) …… aka The Shopping Queens!! :P :P

Of course our little Angel also is the happiest little person on earth these few days as she finally gets to see her beloved Grandma and Yi-Yi and clinging to her beloved Grandma like a leech since she arrives!! She was pampered and treated like a queen, unlimited supply of her favourite food and snacks every single minute until her belly starts to show already. Whatever she asked, her wishes was granted instantly and that’s why when she saw her Grandma putting on her outfit ready to go out shopping, she would cry loudly to protest so her Grandma have been wearing her normal home wearing out to shopping these few days …… *Alamak є{>III<}є *