Little Chumsy's Blog

Archive for the ‘family’ Category

A friend in Facebook posted this tip on how to save money. It is very easy to follow and on the last week of the year, you will see your result. Am going to do this for myself and Ashley too.

Want to try this out?  We are already in the 19th week now.  You can either start Week 19th as the 1st week or put in $190 into your piggy bank and continue from there

One of our favourite activities is going to the park on weekends. We try to go every Sunday morning or evening.   Ashley normally brings her scooter or her bike to the park. Hubs and I would take turns to look after her when one of us is running. Besides riding, Ashley loves to feed the fishes and turtles in the lake. We would bring bread or buy fish food at the entrance for the feeding.  When I am done running, Ashley wants me to run with her too so I’ll go another small round with her by my side.  A great way to spend some quality time with the kiddo when she’s growing.  I reckon that getting outdoor air is better than shopping mall air *wink*

 The missy surprised us when she told us that she wanted to join this group of people who were doing aerobics at the park.

Last weekend I decided to make some quesadilla for dinner after seeing the recipe from Pinterest (where else eh?).

Got some tortillas from Jusco.

The ingredients – peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese.

Firstly heat the pan and add some olive oil. Then put in a piece of tortilla and flip it a few times.

When air pockets began to form, spread the ingredients on the tortilla. I added some ham,  cheddar cheese and honey mustard.

Cover it with anther piece of tortilla.  Flip it slowly once.

Cut into quarters before serving  Everyone loves it and I think we’ll be eating more of this for dinner.

We had a rather quiet weekend which was good. We didn’t go out except for Ashley who went for her Maths and dance classes. I was busy catching up on my TVB dramas online while the missy did these …

got her grandma to play dominoes with her

I put some cool cucumbers on my eyes for relaxation because I was watching too much dramas online and when she saw me doing it, she wanted to do the same

Having ice-cream after a good work out at the park

How was your Chap Goh Mei, everyone? We ended the Chinese New Year celebration by watching 2 lion dance performances yesterday. In the morning, we headed out to TTDI market for their annual Chap Goh Mei celebration. Ashley loves lion dance. She used to be so scared of the loud music that accompanies the performance.  Here are some photos taken yesterday.

Red and Yellow lions at TTDI market

Another one at the feng shui master’s house.  The troupe setting up the place for the stunts which will be carried out on top of these metal poles.  They had lined the ground with padded mats and one of the lion dancers also went up to the poles and test each and every one of them to ensure that they are placed correctly.   I bet they did many hours of training with latex mattress under the poles.

Gravity-defying stunts on metal poles

Ashley was delighted that she gets to see so many lions yesterday

This is the first time I bought the Emperor Chicken Herb and Spices Mix from the Claypot brand.   Decided to try steam chicken instead of braised or fried.

The foil and plastic wrap are provided in the packet.  Just rub the chicken with the spices and wrapped it with the given wrappers.  I bought a kampung chicken this time and steamed it in a wok.  It takes 2 hours according to the instruction but since I didn’t have enough time as Ashley needs to eat before going to school and I started late, I only steamed it for 1 hour.  Luckily the bottom part is cooked when I opened it.

The yummy steam chicken.  I love the herbal taste and I am going to buy the spices again.  Have you tried this before?

after celebrating the Chinese New Year in our beloved hometown, Ipoh It was a lot of fun to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.  Been eating nonstop too.  I also got to meet up with my bffs and we had a great time catching up.  Oh, we even went clubbing one night at the latest and most happening club in the city – House, Ipoh.   Though the music is too loud, it’s way past my bedtime (am really getting old) and I do not know the name of the  songs that were being played, we had a wonderful time.

Traffic jams on the road.  This scene is so like KL.

Ashley and her gung gung

Chopping down delicious homemade cookies at my friend’s house

We also managed to visit the Kinta River Walk on the first day of the Chinese New Year.  There are lots of LED-lighted trees along the river which looks kinda pretty at night.

All of us are still on a holiday break and will start work/school on Monday.  How is your Chinese New Year celebration?

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice Festival which is known as Dong Zhi in Chinese. It is a day where families get-together and eat tang yuan (a sweet dessert which consist of glutinous rice balls).  As we will be at work tomorrow, I made the tang yuan tonight so that mother-in-law can offer some to the ancestors during her prayers in the morning.    Ashley couldn’t wait to roll the the colourful balls.

Waiting for mommy to start

I bought some colourful rice flour from the market this morning.  The pink flour got its shades from the dragonfruit juice hence there are some black seeds mixed with it.  Ashley rolled most of the tang yuan   We have big, medium and small sizes in pink, yellow and white.  According to the information I gathered online, the round shapes of the tang yuan symbolizes wholeness and unity.  The elders say that the different sizes signify a family which consists of the parents, children and grandchildren.

I cooked the tang yuan in a pot of hot water.  Once they float, it means that they are cooked.  Then I scooped them up and put them into a bowl of ice water.  This will make the tang yuan tangy   In another pot,  my mil cooked the sweet syrup with ginger, sugar and screwpine leave (pandan leave).    Add the tang yuan in when the sweet syrup is done.

Ashley prepared a bowl for her daddy who was so happy that his little one rolled the tang yuan tonight.  He said they are the best he had ever tasted

Have a Happy and Meaningful Dong Zhi Festival Everyone.

I am running out of ideas on what type of soup to boil for the family.  Been scouring the internet for more ideas and I chanced upon Beetroot soup.  I have tried beetroot (steamed) which was one of the vegetables I had to eat for the “Lose 10 Pounds in 3 Days Diet” and I didn’t quite like it.  Anyway I decided to try boiling a soup with it   When hubs heard, he said “Huh?  The soup is going to be so red and Ashley won’t like it”.  Well he was wrong

The soup was so sweet and nourishing.  The ingredients :- pork  bone, carrots and corn and boil for 2 hours.  Just add a pinch of salt after the soup is boiled.  It didn’t turn out very red and Ashley drank it

When we were in Phuket, hub’s cousin suggested that we dine at Baan Rim Pa, a famous restaurant with a magnificent and panaromic view of the Patong beach.  He made prior reservation even before we arrived in Phuket  Baan Rim Pa is an open air restaurant in a two-storey teak house.  It is perched on a cliff just above the sea.   We can hear the sounds of the rolling waves crashing onto the rocks below while dining.  Awesome.  The food was very delicious too.  I didn’t take any photos of the food that night because I didn’t bring my camera along, only the freaking heavy iPad. The first two photos below are taken from Baan Rim Pa’s website.

The view of the restaurant.

We sat at this table that night.  

This is the view from where we sat, looking down.  The waves were strong and ferocious as it rained halfway throughout our dinner.  Thoughts of Tsunami entered my mind.  Morbid, I know.  I am crazy like that

Ashley and Sophie playing before dinner was served

According to their website, its menu features Bann Rim Pa’s Royal Thai Cuisine, dishes formerly found only in the Grand Palace of Thailand.   We had fish, Green Duck Curry, Tom Yum Gong, Thod Mun Pla (deep fried fish patties)  and a few other dishes with exotic names    So if you are in Phuket, don’t forget to drop by Baan Rim Pa for good food with spectacular view.

The kiddos donning their raincoats in the Tuk Tuk car.  They love sitting in the Tuk Tuk.  It was drizzling after dinner and we went to walk around the Patong area for some sightseeing / shopping.  The men wanted to see if they can find the Famous Smoke Shop there and also to try the delicious pancakes being sold by the roadside.  That’s all on our holiday in Phuket