ZOOROPAZOO

I’ll blog lesser ‘coz (as usual) I’m busy with the final Grand Slam of the year ~ US Open~ I’m not playing but watching, hahaha Glad that Rafa is in the quarter-final, go further please!

 The lab

This is actually a day after the last post (after I got myself feeling better by the music). I used to read that one will be happier when eating sweet stuff like desserts. So I proceeded to have this experiment & see how true it is… Anyway, this was only carried out after a satisfied lunch@Kluang Station (again), Ikano. Then we stepped into the lab (the place for experiment must be a lab right?) The lab is Paddington House of Pancakes@The Curve. Its name makes me relate to the smarty Paddington Bear, you know this investigator bear?

Nicely presented. Little guy was irresistible too… he kept shouting for more!

For not taking a risk, to order a basic combination is always safer. So this is one of the most basic among many choices in their menu & it costs RM10.90 for just 3 little tiny pieces of pancakes with a scoop of ice-cream… I would tell I was actually “enjoyed” more with the quietness in the restaurant because Sunday is lazy day… ok I don’t mean the pancakes are not good, they’re tasty but for those who can bake I’m sure the price is relatively a lot. I like it being so soft & moisture yet tender. And a side note, it should be better if it comes with a cup of hot coffee but the big guy ordered a lime lemon blended, too sour! it almost took away my sense of taste!!! Anyway, I walked out with a better-feeling me. I was sure it’s not the sweet remedy but I got my mind relax.

 Press, press, press…

We couldn’t just go home without fulfilling the little guy’s wish ~ ToysRus ~ his fav toysland currently. He still doesn’t know which toys are meant for boy/his age so he simply stopped-by anywhere to touch. But the most favorable is to press those button & produces light and music. I bought him a Mickey Mouse flashcard for counting. Hope that’ll keep him occupied during the long hour journey in the car next week

Happy 14 months old Sweet Darling

I just couldn’t find the rhythm last week, towards the weekend… that was so unproductive of myself

He likes walking like this now; can you see him so naughty?…

Shopped at 1U like without directions coupled with XJ was quite difficult to handle recently, he always wanted things going his way… I would like to relax my mind and take a breath before heading for some inspirations. I was caught by the colorful lanterns (the decors for Mid Autumn Festival) so I stopped-by for a while. Dinner time was another headache because many restaurants were full. What’s worse than you can’t find a place to stuff your stomach when you’re dying for food?!… The little guy throwing tantrum, throwing things on the floor… I don’t need opus x to calm myself. How I wish I can jump into the swimming pool to swim a few rounds leaving one big guy and one little guy doing whatever they prefer but leave me alone! …

I truly enjoyed your music. It heals my soul… Thank you!

I was lucky at the end as there was this going on my side at least ~ A sweet voice from a young lady singing one of my fav songs from Shunza. They are 4 members lifeband. That was magical, the tense in my head slowly released with the beautiful flow of rhythm in the air… The best part was when hubby brought XJ to walk (he enjoys walking by holding our hands now) so that I could enjoyed thoroughly. The guys can play the instruments excellently but the one can play both modern & traditional I admired the most. I totally melt in one Mandarin song (a duet by Han Hong & Sun Nan in The Myth, a Jackie Chan’s movie). I went down to have an “upclose”. I was moved by the beautiful pieces of music. I could feel my tears scrolling down at any second & I hold it but I couldn’t prevent the “sentimental-side” of me take charge at that special moment! “I’m like that one”…

Another 35-min for another brand new day, a late greeting “Happy Merdeka” !

they are NOT good! 

Normally I’ll never easily “trust” others when they recommend a particular restaurant is good but my mind was swayed a little everytime I pass-by the pan mee stall in Ikano. From a small outlet to a larger two-shop adjacent outlet plus always full house so there must be reasons to justify it. It’s either the prices are cheap or they have very good food. I decided to check it out last Saturday. I can tell you now, it was a WRONG choice (for us). I just felt rather silly to spend about RM30.00 for nothing special but pan mee! My Spinach-pan mee (RM9.90) while hubby’s Veggies & Mushroom-pan mee (RM7.90) so we would have high expectations… The thing is too blunt & flat esp the soup and the bowl of homemade fishball (RM6.90) is disastrous… you know how it feels when chewing a fresh one right? So it’s the opposite here! We shared one herb tea (RM2.80). I was really surprise that why it’s always packed with customers while such quality & price?! I don’t mind paying a big FAT bill (as we used to & still doing from time to time in food hunt) if the food is good. Anyway, how do I know if I do not try in the first place?…

That’s the Ben 10 ball; Standing on Chuggington; A touch at Thomas…

Spend almost 45-min at the newly opened ToysRus@Ikano. It’s very spacious than those in 1U, MV, BV & KLCC. I was glued to The Sylvanian Families. Hubby brought XJ searching around. XJ kept raising his hands (this means he is excited) & shouted when he saw a pool of balls (he loves to kick & pat). He just couldn’t let us leave the area even by an-inch so papa can’t escape to buy him the BEN10 ball. Problem after that was he wanted to play immediately when we shopped along… We gotta distracted him with something else quickly before he yelled…

Brought it home ~ RM978.00 after 40%, it’s worth…

After snack & tea time@Kluang Station (my fav tea place), we headed to Samsonite store@Jalan Universiti. It’s not too early to get things prepared for our 1st overseas vacation with XJ next year. A durable luggage is vital among others. Although I’ve been studying some camcorder reviews, it may be crossed on the list because I’ll just bring along something handy. Actually I don’t know the different between a camcorder and a handycam. A digital camera for me is enough for travel purpose. What I’ll do is to upgrade the memory card, that’s it. A big discount up to 50% is very rare at Samsonite so we can’t missed the deal. And the 10 years warranty gives me some sense of assurance… We took the strong one instead of the stylish looking one which is not as tough as the one we chose.

~ no guilty at all… ~

I made myself from moderately to very seldom, oh I mean eating fast food. I guess it’s normal that a food may suddenly tasted so well to you when you stopped eating it for some time! The previous Sunday (a very lazy late afternoon), we went to McD at Sunrise, Mount Kiara. I freed myself to eat 6 pieces of nuggets & french fries without feeling guilty. The nuggets are so crispy & dipping with my fav BBQ sauce seems perfect ;-)  I never go with french fries without chili cause/ketchup… while hubby enjoyed his cheese burger & coke. XJ had a few spoonful of Strawberry sundae which made him so glad that he can share our food whenever we eat together

~ XJ is so glad to tear the tissue without me nagging ‘coz I’m lazy on lazy Sunday… ice-cream, slurrrrp… ~

~ lovely walk, isn’t it? ~

Sunrise is always our place back then especially after married but before the “biggest intruder” (who else if not XJ!) came into picture. Yeah unlike those hippee places but we like it for not so packed with people and prefer less human-pollution esp noises & quality of air… caffeinated drinks@Coffee Bean, light meal@Secret Recipe, ice-cream@Lecka Lecka/Baskin Robbins, we usually hang out there. And a stroll around the fountain area is simply relaxing (but not the flea market). Normally the last stop would be the Korean mini market for some snacks. Hopefully XJ will familiarize with our lifestyle but no rush… How nice if we can stay in Mt Kiara… too early to dream… back to reality!

~ Hope u always cheerful, Happy 13-month old! ~

Yes it’s granted by my man!

Ok it’s actually my hubby surprised me with a Biography of my favorite guy ~ Rafael Nadal (aka Rafa) last weekend. For those who follow tennis, I’m sure Rafa is no stranger to you. He is so perfect (in my naked eyes) for both his personality & his excellent skills in mastering the art of tennis + his beautiful muscular body! I’m a bit bias here, don’t tell me anything about Roger. (Just like when you’re mad about BMW, you normally don’t like Mercedez or vise versa kind of thing). Because of Rafa, I can see tennis can be so much creative rather than the Tim Henman’s kind of old fashion games.

~ The muscular Spaniard & some of his pix inserted in the Biography ~

Tell you, I never ever expect that my boring/orthodox/conservative man will bring such a wonderful & pleasant surprise to me! Not that he never buy things for me but he usually asks me first whether or not I like to have this or that particular thing, this is no fun at all… I know it’s simply a small book but it’s sufficient to fill my complacency at this  juncture I’ll love more anyway…

I’ll keep my Rafa for time being because I’m half way through Angels & Demons which is so much exciting than watching the movie. My personal opinion tell me Tom Hanks is not “eligible” for the character of Robert Langdon ‘coz he’s not smart/cool-looking enough, my choice would be George Clooney if I’m the Director!

Note: I have no intention to disturb your feeling about your idols (if any) as the above is written based on my personal opinion

Do not blame the kids for being naughty, rude, disrespectful and so forth. As parents especially we need to evaluate what we’ve done because those are most probably the outcome of us spoiling our kids from the very beginning. I guess all parents doing it but they just do not realize. “To what degree we’ve spoilt our kids?” this is important. Very often, we wish our kids happy so we give in for what they wanted or they will be upset (coupled with the fact that kids today are highly demanding) Gotcha, this is the one! If we continue to be like this, the kids will take advantage undoubtedly and it becomes a practice in the routine. They hardly accept what we tell them if we only correct them at a later stage…

Some live examples:-

 ~> My mom bought this Mickey bolster for XJ ‘coz she knew XJ loves Mickey although he already had many of this mousey toys…

~> Hubby let XJ plays the joystick (this is quite an expensive gadget) ‘coz he keeps wanting to touch it…

~> Myself? hehehe… I let him hold my digital camera after doing some recording of him ‘coz he shouted to see the replay with the risk of the camera may fall down anytime...

~ I try to limit to only something like these & don’t go overboard + keep it to the minimal… ~

And very common people will tell me your XJ is still too young to understand when I said I scold him for this & that. In more serious events, I’ll beat his palm for him to remember that’s not meant to play. (All these combined with explanation) I think it’s better to guide them as young as possible. If not when do you think it’s the right time as a child is always a “small kid” in the eyes of a parent. Of course I’ll cheer him too or he may think I’m the dictator! I hope my rational will trigger in every situation so it strikes a balance… I see the population in spoilt children is growing large and I don’t want to be one of the contributors.

I’m not good in doing food reviews like many bloggers smart in playing with those tempting words ’til you salivating in front of your PC! Anyway, what I love to is only share the food which I think is delicious or worth trying so the content may be very flat. Hope the pics of food make u guys feeling better…

~ Remember this photo I posted earlier & I said don’t be fooled by his very innocent look?~

Note: can you imagine how close we are sitting with next table, the stroller behind XJ is belongs to the family sitting next to us, XJ’s stroller is “parked” by the waiter nicely near the entrance.

This is actually some where in June. Finally we had an early dinner@Fong Lye Taiwan Restaurant, Gardens. We always wanted to try their food but the long queue disappointed us & we normally just quit to other restaurant instead. (I’m sure you can see people sitting on the sofas outside the restaurant waiting to be called-in if you’re frequent to Gardens) Most probably we were rather early that day so still had some empty places waiting for customers to fill-in. Most of their meals come with set and it’s NOT CHEAP but all I can say is you won’t feel you’re paying extra for their extraordinary delicious food! It’s absolutely going right with our tastebud

~Simply snapped these 4 ‘coz little monster wanted to snatch the food, climbed on the table & shouted!… ~

Fresh Tomato Fried Egg with Fish Fillet set (mine) is seriously for those who love strong tomato fragrance & fish of course so it’s surely my choice. Ginger Spring Onion Beef set (hubby) is covered with lotsa freshly spring onion! The beef slices are well-marinated. It comes with the appetizer platter. I don’t know what it’s called but the different things ~ sweet & sour pickles, crunchy fried meat snack + one couldn’t remember (hahaha…) plus a nicely served radish with pork soup. I love it all, it’s a perfect combination! Only one thing I’m a little uncomfortable is the tables are very close to each other. It’s not convenient to family with small babies/kids. They may choose a smaller furniture for more spacious to the comfort of customers.

~ at Manhattan Fish Market ~

We switched to the alternative plan. We didn’t take leave on Friday due to the unforeseen circumstances in hubby’s work. Initially I wished not to bring XJ for injection on his actual birthday ‘coz I want him to happy throughout the day but my idea didn’t work out… So I hope he is delighted or satisfied at least after a visit to Aquaria KLCC on Saturday! Yes I’ve been wanted to go there long time ago but many reasons delay my visit ’til recently.

 ~ wanna join them swimming… ~

Reached KLCC around 11am so had our breakfast@MFM. Just with a simple one ~ their signature Fish N Chips (mine) & Creamy Seafood Pasta (hubby) + Iced Lemon Tea. You know XJ got tasted our food this time & he was happy that he can shared our food as he always staring at us when we are eating. He fell asleep soon after the meal so we walked a while@Isetan & checked out the luggage bags too. We headed to Aquaria right after he awake. I guess ticket price has gone up ~ RM35.00 for adults (with Mykad).

 ~ can see what my cheeky boy doing? ~

I was a bit worried that XJ might scared seeing huge fishes swimming & you know it’s dark inside Aquaria. I knew I was wrong not much later & I was glad! XJ was so excited to see here & there… I’ve expected that we both couldn’t really see & explore the fishes while bringing along XJ but never mind if he enjoyed ‘coz I want him to expose to more new things from now onwards. I was pretty surprised to see his gestures ~ he must be thinking “how come these fishes can swim above my head…” & he tried to touch & catch it!!! Ok my experience in Aquaria KLCC is nothing much to explore actually but it’s exciting to see little Sharks & Stingrays so close! Oh the Piranhas are fierce looking & Sea Horses are cute Luckily XJ poo-ed right after we stepped out from there. Relax & had a cuppa@Coffee Bean, hey XJ shared my banana muffin too after milk! Straight back home, bath & dozed off for 1 hr & XJ 2 hrs at least!

~Souvenirs bought ~ family portrait with frame, photo frame magnet & rubber magnet~

It got me long to complete this ‘coz it was super busy over the weekend & catching up the Wimbledon Men Final yesterday night. I want to say THANK YOU for the birthday wishes to XJ in the earlier post!

~ Get prepared ~

So the day is finally came. It’s myself too excited & I woke up@6:30am on Saturday! Quickly got the chores done. I love the cool weather … Perhaps XJ knew a bit of celebration so he didn’t get to afternoon nap We collected the cake, get prepared, fetched my parents & headed to MidValley. It was still early so we strolled@MPH. OK we held a family dinner cum mini party@Citi Cafe, MidValley. It was a BBQ Buffet Dinner. We settled@the reserved table first while my father toured to the food area. It seems like we reserved the cafe for a private function ‘coz not much people or due to World Cup fever?… Anyway, it’s just perfect for us!

~ The Most Favorable People ~

My eldest bro & family + my 2nd bro & family reached a bit later while we were eating. My 3rd bro SMS-ed me since they couldn’t came back from Penang since my 3rd sis-in-law’s EDD is getting real near. (My 2nd bro & family wished not to appear in my blog & I’m not sure abt my elder sis-in-law + her son but I guess my elder bro who is sitting opposite me in the pix shld be ok

~ Part of The Food ~

Besides the pasta which is not quite good & I didn’t even bother the raw seafood (I don’t eat raw food), the rest are tasty especially grilled salmon, grilled mutton with herbs, BBQ-prawn & satay are my fav that night! Desserts look colorful as usual, I love the chocolate moisture cake to the max. XJ was so tired by 8pm but he tried to hold the sleepiness & played. But I must say he was very good boy & just shouted for 1 or 2 times during the entire buffet. Adults & kids enjoyed the food & fun. We left@9:45pm & headed to my parents’ place.

 ~Cutting Cake~

Birthday song singing & cut cake session. XJ kept grinning & I blew the candle on his behalf. Can you spot the little Mickey Mouse figurine? It charged extra RM1. This Swiss Choc cake is a little sweet. We just had some very tiny pieces & kept it in the fridge first.

 ~ Nice Pressies from The Most Lovely Person ~

Quickly we went on to the presents opening session which was exciting to my nieces & nephew The robot dog “Lele” (from my 2nd bro) is the 1st one which caught his attention ‘coz it moves everywhere with music, flashing lights, barks & waving tail… Fisher-Price’s Walker cum Ride-on (from papa) is XJ’s fav ‘coz he always press the Lion’s nose for music whenever we go to ToyRus so his dream comes true… He kept chasing the battery-operated Thomas the Engine Tank (from my elder bro), he grabbed the animals on wheel in this Playskool Jungle set (from me) but still don’t know how to play on the structure, BIG ANGPOWS (from my parents & 2nd bro again) of course the content not the packet while the Wooden Blocks (from hubby’s elder sis) has to keep for a little longer coz I’m sure XJ will just bite the woods instead of playing…

~ Hey, thank you u guys who attended XJ’s party & the presents! We had a wonderful moment together ~

This is a compilation of us strolling at The Gardens recently. We are such a crazy like going there 3 weeks (during weekend) in a row… Anyway, there are reasons we love this shopping mall now. It’s nearer to us compare to 1U & Ikano and it’s not so crowded being the primary reason!

Ok this one is after dinner. We actually bought the Buy 1 Free 1 mocha blended@San Francisco & we found this quiet place for us to sip peacefully as there are some comfy sofas but my little monster doesn’t allow us sitting… he wanted us to carry him to explore. Most probably he was curious too as we seldom go to this part. It’s actually near the lobby (not main entrance but adjacent) to Gardens Hotel if I’m not mistaken.

We kinda like some very simple dinner@Food Garden. When eating with little fella, sometimes we have to be real quick and the most simple one is preferred unless we want to try a special cuisine/restaurant. My Korean BBQ Chicken + Rice is not bad. This little fella is fascinated so much to the fountain but I guess is more to the colorful lights which were kept changing! He can remember the place so well. Whenever we walk thru the “bridge leading to Mid Valley Mall, sure he will looking for the fountain down there!

And the Nursery@Isetan is very clean and well equipped + nice surrounding too. I had Terriyaki Chicken Bento set c/w miso soup & green tea while hubby took Thai Fried Rice set c/w tomyam soup (very tasty I have to say!) & a piece of watermelon. And XJ bumped into his best buddy ~ Mickey Mouse so that he raised up his hand like waving so we gotta stopped-by a while outside of this home furnishing shop. And I scolded him for always blinking his eyes nowadays when he knows we are capturing some of his shots…