www.demoments.net

Time is short this time, for everyone. However I suppose all of us could still get everything done right as of until now?

This year, I do not have to shop around for cookies because I got the best cookies from Siew Li, a very fantastic baker who is also my secondary school friend

Instead of finding around for the nian kao bargain at the morning market, this year I ordered them instead from a maker which my friend bought from last year. These Nian Kao taste simply the BEST but extremely pricey too, Rm20 for each (instead of RM13 for similar size). Luckily we only buy these once a year…..

We are now waiting for everyone to wake up and we shall leave home today to hubby’s hometown first. Hope it will not be super jam by the time we hit on road later in the morning.

Last but not least, wishing all my friends and all readers out there a very Happy and Prosperous CNY. Can’t wait to read the updates from friends via FB and pictures uploaded on blog on this Auspicious Celebration soon :p

In the past, I never like eating food like Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, or even stinky bean petai. It was late MIL’s cooking that changed it, forever.

Late MIL used to cook using charcoal and to me, her dishes (especially soup) were the best in the whole wide world!

One of hubby’s is the Fish Maw Soup his mum used to cook during CNY.

Simple and light flavour Fish Maw Soup (that consist of only ginger, pork slice, fish maw)

Instead of buying ready dried Fish Maw, late MIL used to dry and fry them herself. Unfortunately, no one, inclusive of her four daugthers, inherited the way she did it. I regretted I did not learn it from her as well.

However she taught me how to boil it, and its pretty easy. Now, getting the best Fish Maw is the only obstacle.

Over the years, I finally found an old Granny who dried her own Fish Maw and it’s simply the best.  Too bad I was late this year, and all her 120 packs were sold.

Today in the wet market, there was another vege stall who recommended her home fried Fish Maw and I decided to try it tonight, because if it is good, I am going to grab all the few packets she still have tomorrow.

Hubby rated my Fish Maw Soup 9/10. I tell hubby I’ll probably learn to boil soup using charcoal later on.

Well, I just have to pray hard that the vegetable stall still has those few packets tomorrow!!!

Update 15/1/2012: Finally got myself three more packs fish maw this morning. Boy, the whole market was extremely crowded. Luckily we woke up so early this morning….

Looking back at all the pictures we took during the holiday, I already kinda miss it and we will have to wait for many more months to come before going to another holiday again. Still remember how excited I was, searching for a rv insurance quote for all of us, since we travel in group.

But now we are back to reality, and it is already the second week since the school restart.

Boys are getting used to their new routine now and starting to love their new school. Didi automatically gets up in the morning. obediently drink his milk, let me help him brushing his teeth and change into his uniform. Korkor on the other hand is still a bit manja, as usual, needs some sweet talk.

Although travel is a bit far out, I fell deeply in love with their preschool. Parents need to personally walk and fetch their kids into and from classroom in the morning and after school. Initially don’t quite like the idea of parking my car, having to walk 2 boys down some more, but now I am very eager to do so, hehe…..because I see plenty surprises, each morning I walk them into their class.

For instant, few days back, I notice a little drum. Both my boys enjoyed drumming and then forgot about my existence. The next day, the was a hand-drawn and painted dragon head pasted to a small vegetable basket for dragon dance. Following day, there was another additional bad dragon head. And today, the good dragon has been dressed up with a piece of long red blanket.

Besides, I also get to see very fantastic hand-made apparatus/toys the kids are playing in the morning upon reaching school. My boys love going warming up at the playground first, before walking into their class.

And today, my boys showed me they painted a big red cupboard house while I saw another hand-painted tall paper tree with orange balls sticking to it (must be mandarin oranges) from another class. Not only my sons can’t wait to go to school again, I can’t even wait to see what is going to appear in their class tomorrow!

So, with a red house, an mandarin orange tree, one good dragon, one bad dragon, and don’t know what else, I think I roughly know what the school is coming up with for CNY. So much crazy effort from the teachers hor, to start off their new little kids on such big painting project!

We started off 2012, with a very busy and hectic schedule. De Bumbo Boys are finally in preschool this year but it seems to make me even busier.

We had to leave home very early due to jam so I have to put the kids early to bed daily. Getting Korkor to school is a bit challenging though. First, they are not used to wake up in the “cooling and dark” condition. Then Korkor won’t wanna let me brush his teeth, not wanting to change into his uniform and only wants Mummy to carry him into school.

I initially planned to just “throw” them and drive off, but because this pre-school practice so much of “Loving & Care”, hence we were encouraged to be there with our kids for the first few days before letting go.

Kids were on their own already by this week, so it wasn’t too bad. B I was exhausted from sending and picking kids to and back from school and tuition,  starting from 7am onwards.

QQ had her wish fulfilled and she has been selected as her school librarian this year.

Gonbei San Starhill

During last Saturday, we utilized our cheap coupons and went to Gonbei San for Japanese Buffet. It was only Rm50/nett per adult and Rm25/nett for kids above 6years old. Great bargain eh!

Food served here is very, very good. Even much better than our previous Shumatsu Buffet @ Eyuzu, Eastin Hotel. Normally I do not fancy Sashimi, but here at Gonbei San, I enjoyed fresh Sashi for the very FIRST TIME!

Kids brought along some toys so they get to play with their cousin and leave us eating in peace

Doraemon Mascott Appearance @ Tokyo Street Pavillion KL

After lunch, we crossed over to Pavillion. Korkor was looking forward to see Ultraman but guess Ultranman went back and Doraemon came over.

QQ was very happy to find some character which is only slightly taller than her :p

The Magnificent 600-ft Long Dragon at Pavilion KL

There was also some CNY performance from Sunny Angels (little girls singing CNY songs) and Lion Dance while we were there.

On Sunday we completed all our CNY shopping at The Garden Mid Valley.

Hence we all now counting down to ushering the arrival of the 2012 Dragon Year in this coming Chinese New Year celebration, which is only FOURTEEN DAYS away

I had a mixed feeling on which hotel I should book while we were in Penang because  this trip was unplanned. Many warned me up front about the old hotels with lousy old rooms.

However we had quite a trouble driving up there because the jam was horrible. It took us around 1-2hours crawling from one small town in Cameron to reach our hotel. I suppose it was a wrong timing to go to Cameron Highland

Newly Refurbished Room @ Equatorial Cameron Highland

But after comparing the price, I finally took Equatorial Hotel when I read that they have refurbished superior rooms stating on their website. It was Rm310.88net with Rm88 F&B credit (with a 50% refundable for unused credit).

Look what we have got ourselves, a very beautiful room!!!!  Love it to the max!!

Kids only wants to be in the hotel room and not else where

After checking into our room, we quickly walked down to Kea Farm which is just around the corner to grab something to eat. Oh my, we were in a great shocked and great dismay how dirty and ugly Cameron has turned into. Indon maids are the one now operating most of the stalls and the crowd made walking around even worst until we had to carry the boys along the busy road.

Without wasting time, we got ourselves one pack fresh strawberries (which is so HARD TO FIND) and some steamed corn back to hotel. Well, I felt regretted of letting the kids eating those strawberries raw like that because it was all spray with lots of pesticides (we saw it in our own eyes at a farm later on :”[ )

Charcoal Steamboat at Brinchang

After a short rest in hotel room, we drove down to Brinchang for steamboat dinner. It was another horror C.R.A.W.L.I.N.G. down all the way and it took us more than  O.N.E hour drive to reach Brinchang which is just a 5 mins drive away, thanks to the very crowded pasar malam which sells lots of junks and nothing about fresh flowers or fruits.

Initially we both told QQ, that Cameron Highland was a very cooling and romantic place, where we could see people with rosy cheeks, selling flowers and strawberries everywhere at all corners in Cameron Highland. Unfortunately it was all only memory and no longer in reality.

Steamboat dinner was still as good as before. However the whole town was so filthy and there was rubbish at every corner.

Beautiful Fire place at the lobby of Equatorial Hotel

After dinner, we took a drive down to Tanah Rata and drove around the places before going back to hotel. Shops looks lousy now and Cameron no longer looks like a place in Malaysia because there were way too many Indonesian operating from stores, Bangladesh tending most of the farms.

Beautiful morning view from our hotel room

We all love it at Equatorial Hotel because it is the only level in the whole Cameron where we could at least see some mist. It was very chilling up there compare to those hotels in Brinchang.

Splendid looking Boh Tea Centre @ Sg.Palas Tea Plantation

So afraid of getting stuck in the narrow winding road, I pulled the kids up from bed very early that morning and we drove into Boh Tea Centre at Sg.Palas. Driving in there was a bliss because there were 2 cars in front of us leading us into that place.

A very relaxing breakfast at Sg.Palas Boh Tea House

View from our breakfast table was simply breathtaking!  We spent quite sometime sitting up there, enjoying the cool breeze.

I had scones and the kids had strawberry cake each. But still nothing beats hubby’s pack of hot and spicy Nasi Lemak in that cool weather :p

Driving out was a bit scary then because our car was at the outside side of the very narrow HIGH HILL SLOPE…..**sshivvverrrrs**

We also visited the Cactus Corner and Bee Farm. Nothing much to see at the Bee Farm but QQ and hubby got some plants from the Cactus Corner.

Nothing beats our standby yummy instant noodle, kids..oh..kids….!

Before we checked out, the kids had some instant noodle. Good to let them eat all time just in case we are caught in a bad crawl again, especially during festive season, sigh….

We decided to take the Tapah road back because I am eager to catch the waterfall. The boys were knocked off in car after lunch at Brinchang because I pulled them up too early. Hubby did made a few stops at some nice hotels so QQ and I went down to catch some pictures.

Driving through Smokehouse Inn and took some shots at the very classy Cameron Highland Resort

I did not have a chance to try out evening tea (or the famous scones, to be exact) at the Smokehouse Inn nor Lord’s Cafe which was closed during Christmas.

But we did made a stop at Bharat Tea House on our way down for tea and toilet trip on our way back home. Reached home very late at night as driving down the Tapah Road was quite dangerous and scary.

Lesson learnt: Although it was a great holiday for us this year, we will never, EVER dare to drive up to places like this during peak holiday…*sweat betul*

Late MIL and FIL would be very happy, if only they are still here today….. *tears*

First time for us being served tea by our younger generation

A niece from hubby family finally got married and timing was great for all of us. If it is not for this occasion, I would not get a chance to travel up to Penang again (I am so in-love with everything in Penang, but unfortunately not hubby..)

By the time we reached Alor Setar, hubby wasn’t feeling good already and I was very dizzy too. So are the rest of our relatives. Probably over heated in the delayed long drive, I think. Thank GOD all 3 kids were fine and I tried to feed them lots of fresh fruits everyday.

Most of us (my two SIL and family, one BIL) were staying in the same hotel with rooms next to each other so all kids get to play together while all the sakit-kepala adults popped in some Panadols, and catch some nap in the afternoon. We did not even manage to drive out to go to Bukit Kayu Hitam as planned earlier.

Upon checking out the next morning (after wedding dinner night), we drove down straight into Ipoh and ta-pau some Salted Chicken from Aun Kheng Lim shop. Hubby love the very strong Dong Guai herb taste so we bought FOUR birds and freeze in our fridge…*YUMMZ!

Aun Keng Lim Salted Chicken (Yim Kok Kai)
No 24,Jalan Theatre, 30300 Ipoh. Tel : 05-2542998

We were suppose to stay and spend a day in Ipoh, but seeing there was nothing much to do (except eating and visiting some caves), we switched plan last minute and drove up Cameron Highland instead. Luckily I had not booked or paid the hotel online, ….*phiew*…

…coming up next…our Cameron Highland Trip (for the first time in the past 10 years!)

It is so easy to travel nowadays with GPS. Good that our GPS only died once and after that, it did a very good job for the remaining of our trip.

Instead of going to Tambun, we went to Teluk Kumbar for seafood. Found out we have two options to dine at Teluk Kumbar. One is Hao You (Good Friend Restaurant) and another further in is Hai Boey (recommended by Sharon and Agnes).

After picking up SIL from the airport, we drove to Hai Boey Seafood at Teluk Kumbar. We picked Hai Boey Restaurant since this place is much prettier than the other.

I did not make a reservation because we did not know if our GPS would work. Great that we arrived at around 6pm, so we still could secure a table, however a bit far in from the beach.

Kids get to play while I went around clicking some pictures while waiting for food to arrive. Definitely a splendid place for family dinners and kids would not get bored waiting for food

Claypot Fish @ Hai Boey

Claypot Fish recommended by many. However I personally find it so-so only and this dish could not even beat the Claypot Talapia served at Wang Hee @ Mahkota Cheras.

Signature Dish: Deep Fried Brinjal, Right: Hot-Sour Steamed Kappa

As much as we like, we try to avoid fried dishes during our travel since everyone was drinking very little fluid and to avoid constipation (especially the kids!).  So you could see we only ordered one fried dish.

The Hot-sour kappa is really nice and I love the sourish gravy!

Tau Fu Fa Dish and Tung Po Yuk with mini buns

We also ordered extremely small crab dishes (done with Fried Salted Prawn and Hot Sour) and everything cost Rm260 for 8 adults. Definitely not cheap but worth the experience since we have not been to this place.

Hai Boey Seafood Address:
29 MK 9, Pasir Belanda, Teluk Kumbar, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.

We had a little trouble getting out of Teluk Kumbar because there was a pasar malam along that road that night which cause a very bad crawl.

However we managed to see the beautiful Penang bridge for the first time in dark and only reaches Alor Setar around 10.30pm.

Waking up very early (both hubby and I usually does when we stay in hotel), I initially wanted hubby to drive me out to tapau breakfast back to hotel. However kids woke up early too, and we thought we might as well drive them out too just in case they woke up crying.

Driving all the way to Genting Cafe @ Island Glades would be my ultimate choice for the unforgettable yummy Chee Cheong Fun but since we were staying in Traders, I found out that we have plenty options around that vicinity too.

Googled for found this alternative Chee Cheong Fun at Macalister Street to look for Seow Fong Lye Cafe. However the place was so quiet as if no one was eating. I should have gone down to check but since I had a back up place on GPS, we drove to Soon Yuen Cafe instead.

Chee Cheong Fun @ Soon Yuen Cafe, Penang

Quite near to our hotel but Chowrasta Market is located just next to this place. Bad decision to drive over into this place but luckily we got a parking in front of Chrowrasta market. Knowing there is no way we could eat in busy places like this with the boys, I quickly run down to Soon Yuen Cafe and tapau whatever I want to buy for breakfast. Even manage to get some fresh fruits from the market.

To get out of the place is another problem since it was a one way street. Hubby had to slowly drive through the mad crowd to get out of that place. Sorry folks! We won’t drive into the lane if only we knew there is a market inside!!!

Dining at the comfort of our nice hotel room

Good to learn that Traders is actually situated so near to so many places. No wonder we saw so many people ta-pau food back to hotel, day and night. Perhaps I can walk myself to the market next time while the kids were still asleep. It is surely Traders Hotel again, if we go to Penang again, next time!

Straits Quay

After breakfast, the kids went down to play in the pool again until we are ready to check out. It was still to early for lunch so we try out luck to find Straits Quay (funny that Straits Quay was not traceable through GPS so trace it using Island Plaza, the building next to it.

Both twin boys were already fallen asleep by the time we reached there. Hubby had to wait in car while QQ and I went down to check what’s in there. There were plenty to buy from a flea market inside this place. It is a nice place to hang around :p

The place is so beautiful and I am sure my boys would love to see those boats and yachts. If only they could see this too.

Roti Babi @ Nyonya Breeze

Since we still got time to kill, we drove back to town for look for this restaurant called Nyonya Breeze which was highly recommended by Agnes. No regret driving back all the way to town because the food is FANTASTIC!!!

We first had Roti Babi, the appetizer for that day. Kids LOVE it!!

Sambal Goreng @ Nyonya Breeze

Sambal Goreng which consist of prawns, eggplant and cashew nuts in a savoury, tangy sauce. This dish is soooo delicious and I am dying to find out how to make this dish. Anyone knows, please tell me ok?

Left: Pee Hu Char with lettuce wrap, Right: Bian Chee

We always think that most Nyonya dishes would be very spicy but looking back at all dishes recommended, none of our dishes were spicy, and yet they taste sooo good. Will surely come back again to this place!

Bubur Pulut Hitam

Penang Nyonya Food certainly taste very different from those we have in Melaka. Definitely worth stopping by at this restaurant, if you ever go to Penang. Now I know why Agnes would surely visit this place each time she goes to Penang.

Full-screenNyonya Breeze Address:
No.50, Abu Siti Lane, 10400 Georgetown,Penang

Mc Queen @ The One Academy

QQ spotted this while we were looking for Nyonya Breeze. You will be able to find CARS at The One Academy, which is just located behind Nyonya Breeze!

Mater  @ The One Academy

This one looks even more REAL! The boys were really excited seeing CARS so REAL!

After that, we went to Queensbay Mall to meet up with a friend, while waiting for 2nd SIL to arrive at the airport. Stay tune and check out where we went next for dinner in Penang with hubby’s family before we drove up to Alor Setar that night

We reached Penang at around 2pm and had to wait a while to check in at Traders which is so conveniently located in the middle of town (surrounded by Komtar on right, 1st Avenue on left, Pranging Mall behind).

Service at the front desk was tortoise  slow but we love our room. Although we could not get any baby cot (they only manage to provide us extra cot mattress), both twin beds were super wide too. Just great for us!

Kids could not wait to get into the pool immediately so we let them play for a while before we proceed to our next makan destination…

Joo Hooi Cafe was situated in the very narry lane by the name of Lebuh Keng Kwee. Standing there while eating our cendol with little kids was extremely dangerous because cars still drives into that very narrow lane

After having 2 bowls standing outside, we ordered another bowl into the coffee shop because the boys ask for more. Obviously they are GOOD!

Besides we also ordered a bowl of Fried Kuew Teow, Asam Laksa, Fried Rice and some fried Lor Bak inside Joo Hooi Cafe. Only Asam Laksa was edible, we find the rest almost tasteless (or perhaps we were too tired).

Thought the boys would want to take a nap, we went back to hotel after that. But kids LOVE being in hotel and they became even more alert! Since the kids did not wanna sleep, we drove to Jelutong for dinner and immediately they fell asleep in car.

Parking wasn’t easy since this place is located at a busy junction. But we were very lucky indeed because it wasn’t that crowded that night.

Hubby had Fish Head Meehoon, kids shared a bowl of Fried Fish Mee Suah while I had me Chu Chap Porridge. Still I like mine over the others, hehe….

We also ordered Thai Fried Oyster, Fried Tau Hu, and a bowl of Peaunt Soup from 2 small stalls attached to this shop.

After dinner, we were suppose to make our way down to Straits Quay but unfortunately our Papago GPS decided to sleep early that night Kids dozed off in the car too while we were driving here and there finding our way without our working GPS. We gave up and ended up back to hotel then.

We were lucky that Kakak recovered just in time for another long 5 Days 4 Nights travel, all the way to north.

I was *jumping up high* when niece decided to get married on Christmas Day because I get another excuse to plan my makan trip, hehehe….

.

Ipoh Crunchy Beansprout @ Onn Kee

On 23/12/2011, we all woke up very early and set out to Ipoh for just one intention, to have Ipoh Dim Sum for the very first time. After a few rounds finding our way, we reached Foh San just before 10am. However we were horrified to see the crowd waiting outside that magnificent building!

Steamed White Chicken @ Onn Kee

Hence we drop the idea of dining there, and drove over to Lou Wong instead which was not ready yet for business. Well, good that Onn Kee is just next door and we were the first customer to arrive there.

BBQ Roast Pork (Char Siew) @ Onn Kee

Chicken was tender and beansprout was crunchy. Nothing special about the rest, and oh yes, they do not eat their rice with the cilli sauce like we have over here at south.

Ipoh Hor Fun @ Onn Kee

Overall, it was a good experience to taste Ipoh Nga Choy Kai. At least we get to dine at the right hour, without having to wait or queue madly with a crowd (as my main concern of dining condition if always my two very kacau boys!

It certainly wasn’t easy traveling extensively with kids too young, what’s more TWO to manage on the same time. I have planned many eateries that I wish to stop by on my itinerary, but we had to cancel off many because it was too hectic rushing to places at times. It was either my boys dozed when we reached our destination or waiting time was too long in some crowded places (certainly not easy to hold position in Food Service Manager Jobs, especially in very crowded restaurant at this holiday season hor….)

Ever since we had kids, I think this holiday is the time we travel most. After coming back from Hong Kong, we made another ad hoc trip all the way up to the north, because a niece want to get married by end of this year (*psst…she wasn’t pregnant, just in case you are wondering)

Everyone thought it was a great idea, since it is school holiday now. I like the idea of travelling to north even more (hmm…hubby knows what I was up to), because I could plan for several makan stops at places like Ipoh, Penang, before we reach our destination, Alor Setar.

To cut story short, although I did not manage to shed anymore weight, I still manage to **squeeze** into all my pre pregnancy dresses now and match it with my new pair of newly bought enzo angiolini shoes. However, with a protruding BIG tummy shown. Hmm…sad, nothing else could be done for that big pregnant like tummy, I told hubby, unless I go for a cosmetic surgery to cut them all off!

In another 2 days, we have to go back to Kuantan again, for another wedding dinner at hubby’s family’s side this time.

I prefer to take pictures than video. In fact, I hardly catch any video during our last trip to Disneyland and I kinda regret for not taking more. The reason is because I always encounter trouble upload them to youtube. If only it can be as easy as using the you tube video downloader, sigh…

After complaining of having roaring in her ears for 2 days, Kakak suddenly fell very very sick, and vomiting non-stop. Her nausea and dizziness was so bad, until she could not get up from bed at all for 3 full days. Doctor thought she was having some inner ear infection so she was prescribed some pills and a jab.

Many told me it might cause by some Balance Disorder problem because she wasn’t having any sign of fever nor pregnant. But even though with the jab, she was still vomiting and feeling very dizzy on the 4th day, followed by serious stomach pain (she complained her stomach was feeling very hot inside and twisting!)

Mum thought something must be wrong with her health because Kakak even lost massive of weight ever since she returned from her hometown after the Raya Break three months ago. We thought of sending her for a complete medical check-up at the hospital, just in case she has contracted some kind of disease from home.

And suddenly I remember a friend who told me about this “jampi” thing which her brother’s maid encounter each time she goes back home. And since Kakak’s hubby is still always calling (I suppose her FIL is still chasing her for all her salary), I suspect something amiss.

Since I was so desperate for help at home, and thought there was no harm trying, I asked Kakak to try chanting “Amitofou” that night and she did as told. Guess what happened? While her stomach was twisting so badly until she had the worst vomiting episode (only plain water as she had not been eating for the past 4 days) until that wee morning and she was so afraid her condition worsen

Surprisingly, the next morning, we find that we have a completely recovered Kakak !!! She was back to normal instantly. How amazing!!

I am not sure if someone has casted a spell (jampi) on her, but she said her FIL did that once to his own brother just because he suspected his own brother stole one chicken. With that story, we can no longer doubt that it could be her FIL’s jampi, what’s more if he wants her daughter-in-law to send back all her full 4 years salary back to him!

So heartless. Cruel hor !!! Sigh…..

Durian season always put us at great joy (plus great expansion of waistline too!)

Last week, hubby got some PLUMP FLESH D24, our all time favourite at only Rm20 for 7 fruits!

The flesh was so thick that we were full after eating a few. But they were also too XO bitter, so I cannot eat much (although I love bitter durians). QQ was complaining as she was expecting some sweet fruits, but unfortunately all seven were super bitter….

Yesterday hubby bought another batch but this round was Durian Kampung. Rm10 for 6 fruits, and most are quite sweet but T-shirt thin flesh. Still, we get to store into 3 tubes of 1.5 Ice-cream container! All of us always love them cold!

At least QQ could savoured them this round and she even add some to her vanilla ice-cream!

Durian is so affordable now and I thought it would be good to make some durian cakes or puff. But still, am too lazy to move my lazy butt. Perhaps I should start freezing them!

Last