ZOOROPAZOO

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.

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.

This was a brunch treat by my 2nd bro for his 2 sweetiepies’ birthday. It’s an earlier celebration too on last Sunday afternoon@Shabu Garden, Kuchai Entrepreneurs’ Park. You know the day before was XJ’s birthday party & he wanted to play those new toys (his presents) ’til midnight + we were out the entire day on Sunday & watched Wimbledon Men’s Single Final (happy to see my fav guy won, vamos Rafa at night so that’s what I said it was super busy! OK straight to the food without further delay…

Same people attended XJ’s party went there. The restaurant turned into a chilled room ‘coz the heavy rain  has just stopped. Still cool even the staff adjusted the air-con to a warmer temperature but I love it since we were having shabu so that’s perfect! I roughly went through the menu & I let my bro decided for what to eat ‘coz my principle is I’ll go for whatever on the table when someone’s paying the bill & some more I saw everything in the menu are nice… For me, the lamb sliced is the best among others. I had yee mee, prawns, abalone mushrooms, veggies, fish cakes & a lot a lot more… I love the individual burner & pot ‘coz it’s more convenience. We all chose normal soup (shld be a name for it) for base while hubby wanted tomyam. I like their handmade fish balls, fish cakes & others ‘coz it’s fresh. I love this restaurant too for its cleanliness, quiet + simple decor. We’ll normally look for such kind of place for family get-together occasion & will definitely come back for more rounds!

Catching up with each other then proceeded to cut cake session. As previous years, there were 2 cakes of the girls’ choice. Actually XJ shares the same birthdate with my eldest niece Y. Ok Y’s Kings’ Pandan Layer cake & Q’s Starbucks’ Chocolate Cake. They both tasty but we just had a small piece for each. The birthday presents were given to the girls together with XJ. Although the girls are almost stepping into their teenager-hood, they are still very “daddy & mommy’s girls” most of the time esp the younger one Q! hahaha Thank you bro for inviting us to this lovely party.

…  …  … zzz … zzz … ZZZ… ZZZ…

~ The “aftermath” of too much socializing events but it’s good for mama & papa ‘coz we enjoyed the food peacefully finally :-)  ~

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…

because he is VEEEERY LAZY (how lazy?… ok he is willing to let fungus grows in the washroom if I’m not the one who clean it!) This laziness started to develop after married. Haiz… ! He seems never know how to appreciate & take care of people’s feeling… This is a bit frustrating ok. And I’m the one who take care of all XJ’s stuffs when going out. If I ask him help to put into the backpack, he will just throw in everything & never take some initiatives to arrange properly in the compartments & ‘coz of this I’m kinda fed up & rather stay at home & read!…

BUT living together as husband & wife, we should learn to tolerate here & there. And I think it’s important to prevent the unnecessary arguments which is not good in front of the little fella. And I stick to the belief “No One Is Perfect” so our laughter will go on… Go as promised, I threw him a treat@Italiannies, Gardens for an earlier Birthday-cum-Father’s Day Celebration yesterday. He wanted something simple so we just ordered their 2-course meal promotion.

I guess yesterday wasn’t a good day for us or whatever. XJ was more disturbing than usual since he was in the sleepy mode. His style is like that, his active level will reach to the peak before he dozed off but it was rather long wait yesterday! He tried to kick those tableware to the floor! I was just recovered from a heavy flu with blocked nose. So u know it hardly tastes good whatever go into my mouth. Appetizer~ Pizza Caprese & our drinks ~ Iced Lemon Tea & Lemonade served pretty fast but we waited more than 30-min for the Main course ~ Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Glaze as the staff told me prob with kitchen! Then u know what? My silly hubby said the food tasted not quite right for him & pushed all to me. U know their Main course is in big portion, how can I finish & I don’t like wasting food… That’s what I said he never good in taking care one’s feeling. I was pretty much upset & that’s the most disappointed meal I ever had (with him)! I tried hard to hold my temper but surely he knew.

BUT the FACT is u guys are always the SWEETEST THING to me!

 ~ Happy Father’s Day to My Father, the Papa here & all Dads!~

Yeah things settled to the normal routine after the long year end break last week. Everyone seems celebrated in jovial at the highest level having checked it from one blog to another. It’s good to get oneself relax after busy at work, school exams, house chores, etc the entire year. So when touch to the reality after much fun was rather difficult as I called it the “post-holiday syndrome”. Not just me alone, my colls claimed they just couldn’t get up from bed after many late night sleeps (or early morning sleeps???) whilst I secretly discovered my eldest niece written one of her X’mas wishes is “there’ll be no school forever”.

Myself?… get back to workplace but save money in Jan for the preparation of CNY in Feb! So near already… This is what hubby & myself had last Sat for late breakfast, my all time fav~ Dry Wantan Mee with Curry (mine is medium but hubby had big one) + the very yummy Honey Roasted Chicken Drumstick (we shared this ‘coz it’s a quite a big one!). So it costs about RM18.00 which is much cheaper than eating at the shopping mall… Good food not necessarily expensive one!

My little monster?… I guess he overplayed during the long break with us & his cousins. He is always shouting as he requests to play or continue to play. I’ll show u guys what he enjoys the most recently in the next post…

This is 3rd day on 2010 but this is my first post of this year, it seems like everything starts afresh! Actually I was off from 30th Dec so it’s one stretch holiday & as usual, getting lazy as the “post-holiday syndrome”! Anyway, I guess I enjoyed a lot although I couldn’t really complete what I’ve listed for this hols. A total relaxation on first & 2nd off-day were marvelous! I did nothing but reading + listening to the music! (this is what I’m looking for…)

Just spent a little while@1U on New Year Day. It was quite a big crowd but strangely the traffic was smooth along the way?… Had something filled in stomach@Lammeeya. Mine is Original Lam Mee ~ the broth is tasty & the serving is not enough (for me) if I’m in real hungry. Hubby’s taken Dry Curry Noodle which was disappointed-ly too spicy. Both Royal Milktea+ Iced Lemon Tea are good. Not very impressive with their service…

I had bought enough shirts + pants to XJ for CNY I think. Being the 1st time mom, I’m very excited in buying nice clothes for baby, hahaha… I’m fall in love with Pumpkin Patch. It’s just worth it when it’s on sale so I grabbed a few pieces for XJ. First think of XJ everytime go for shopping & totally forget about myself. So quickly go get some pieces too yesterday@MV before the sale ends. Quite satisfied for what I got for myself but definitely not enough. Hubby will always hunt for his clothes at the very last minute as previous years but I think men are pretty easy to get it done.

Had dinner with parents + 2nd bro & family then went to his house to have a “mini, kid-style party” as invited by my youngest niece. It’s just her excuse for wanting to eat McD nuggets, hahaha :-D  XJ was too delighted & only fell to sleep@11.30pm which was very late for a mere (about 6 months old) baby! Ok I gotta go for some chores before it piles-up!

If we are not going to shop for things like clothes, grocers & books we like to spend our time@Bangsar Village just to eat & a cuppa ‘coz there has not much choices but only the expensive one! I remember there’s MPH at BV II but how come I couldn’t see it already? I do need free web directory to check on this!… Firstly we stopped at Chatterbox to have our stomach filled up. We had a very simple meal there so I didn’t snap. Mine was Nissin Noodle with Ham+Sausages+Egg+Chicken Wing+Mixed Bean while hubby’s was “Wat Tan Hor” with Beef. The waitress served us showed a very sour face, I guess she was scolded by the manager or customer earlier. So it was not so impressive here…

We went on to ToysRus to get an idea of XJ’s X’mas present & also tried to observed which one has got XJ’s attention the most. But he didn’t show much interest for most of the toys except some with lights & music. Tell you, he still love playing the belt. Any belt, the belt in his stroller, the belt in his bouncer & my sling bag’s belt… He can play for without bothering us even we call him…

Flipped the magazines@MPH for a while. This MPH is small & seems not many books on the racks so we walked out with empty handed. Saw some kids decorating the Gingerbread House. One gotta pay an amount (I don’t know how much) only then can proceed to make your own Gingerbread house. Those completed one were placed on the table & that were so nice & colorful! XJ was fallen asleep so he didn’t see it.

After some walk, we stopped@Marmalade Cafe. I’ve heard people said it’s baby-friendly restaurant-cafe so I would like to experience. OK what I like here is it’s quite spacious between one table to the next one. XJ got up from sleep & he was full of energy. He too explore the environment. He was so excited to look at the colorful wall with cute painted graphics. When he’s excited/delighted over something, he will try to touch, kick & open his mouth like want to bite! So cute of him We just shared a healthy meal, Turkey Ham Sandwiches with Spinach + Cheese. It’s not exactly the sandwiches we normally eat with wholemeal bread but it’s some kind of wrap I don’t know what’s it call. But it was very nice. If you have this by your own I guess it can fill your stomach for lunch. It looks simple but it’s RM17.00! The only thing I complain is the watermelon juice ‘coz I think the watermelon is overly-ripe & it leaves some weird taste in the juice.

That’s how we spent our afternoon@Bangsar Village.

Ok, today is MY BIRTHDAY! I decided to have it celebrated “moderately” which means I don’t want to go to the expensive restaurant ‘coz a big hole burn in my pocket since the early of December. I guess half of my pay already gone although my paycheck will only receive in end of the month… (I seldom spend like this but this is the year end sale season so it’s simply a great bargain most of the things!) Although it’s a treat from hubby, I don’t want him spend too much either.

We had an earlier celebration last Sunday,  simple dinner at Manhanttan Fish Market(MFM), Ikano. This is a place I want to try their food since long time ago ‘coz I have been listening many compliments from my colls, friends & blogger friends too. It’s ‘coz my hubby he doesn’t like fishes hence I prolong my idea to taste testing@MFM. (So he is not as smart as my nieces who loves eating fishes, hahaha…) But that night he said I have the “privilege” to choose whatever I want so I want MFM without negotiations!

Dory Fish in Garden Herbs                         Grilled Platter

Garlic Rice                                          thousand island, chili, fresh garlic

Of course XJ had his milk first before we started our meal. Our initial planning was to order main course + drinks for each + sharing a piece of cake & 2 scoops of ice-cream. But we just couldn’t fill in any more since it was quite a big serving! My Baked Dory Fish in Garden Herbs is fabulous. The fish is juicy with the thick fragrance of herbs. I squeezed the lemon juice on it & it reduced something even nicer! And the garlic rice is yummy too. Normally I’ll give 1/4 of the rice to hubby but I finished all that maybe I was really hungry… His was Grilled Platter also c/w garlic rice. Oh I must say the prawns are so fresh & the butter melted in it was too perfect! My hubby a big rice eater almost surrender. And the fishes + fries dip with thousand island & chili sauce while rice add-on the fresh garlics, fantastic!

Tropical Breeze +Iced Peach Tea          Little Froggie Swimming

So happy that I didn’t make the wrong choice to have Tropical Breeze. It’s so cooling. This is recommended if you feel your body is heaty. His was the Iced Peach Tea, not bad either. Their beverages range has not many to choose but I’ll give my thumbs up for their food. It’s worth for money. I’ll definitely visit again & try other food. Ok, see my little monster… he just loves to do this recently. Like a froggie trying to swim!