My Little Sprouts!

Her 1st ever Doll House!

2011-11-20T22:04:00.001+08:00

Hello all! Firstly, gonna wish you all a happy school holiday(especially to teachers and daddy or mommy with cutie pies)! * nod nod Yes, we have indeed slack in blogging(since mama has been miserably busy these days)... anyway, this is our latest project: Little Sprout's Paper Doll House.

Again, to parents who have little kids, don't throw all the paper boxes away... it's quite resourceful, certainly a really good material for making toys!

Mama patched up and covered the printing on the box with kitchen rolls. To exempt such fuss, you can actually use a print free paper box.

Juan Juan helped to paint the 1st layer, she requested 'pink' as the wall colour. Mama helped to paint another 2 layers after each layer's paint dried.

The paintwork outcome....

Mama bought some adhesive wallpapers(RM3.60 per roll) from Mr DIY(hardware-outlet). The wood-grain's slightly cheaper, sorry... can;t recall the price.

The doll house's interior after pasting the wallpapers...

A little touch-up... such inconspicuous difference!

The interior: McD holder arm chair, tissue box bed, cardboard shelves and cupboard. It took mama approximately 2 days to furnish the house.

A little surprise for Juan Juan: Her 1st little ~~Barbie~~ dolly and some kitchen appliances. She actually slept with her doll and had her company wherever she went.

Juan Juan's new toy and she loves it!

My beloved girl happily playing with her new set of toys!

p/s: Sorry for not being able to blog hopping regularly, wish you all a lovely week ahead!

The Adventure of Me and My Pal!

2011-10-27T11:50:00.009+08:00

This morning it happens mama stumbled across Issac's eXperiences. He was kind to share a contest held by Nuffnang, in which 50 lucky Nuffnangers are entitle to win a pair of tickets to the premier of The adventure of Tin Tin(show in Cinema 10 Nov), at GCS Midvalley at 9:30pm on the, on the 2nd of Nov this year! The rule is to blog about an adventure you would like to go on with your pet and leave the permalink to your post here!

To My boy, My buddy, My best pal, Husky the mischievous and adventurous... I always had a dream with him, to travel to the every corner of the world, hitch hike, back pack or even camping with my sleeping back and pepper spray(well, since I was with him, I'm not gonna worry much about my safety, just in case)... why not hotel or motel, well... you know they won't take him no matter how handsome and cunning he was(Sigh).

So, what about money... we certainly need a bundle of the of the Washington notes(You know RM won't carry us far) for our endless journey?! Worry not, my buddy here knew a couple of tricks, which substantial to sustain our journey. He was trained for it even before he celebrated his 1st Birthday, and we enjoyed the time playing together, mocking each other... missed it now from time to time...

See what I meant... a few tricks to sustain our journey, beg, fetch, roll over, jumping over a ~~fire~~ hula loop... he was good at playing death too! Just hope he won't do it when I was under attack... fingers crossed, since he was so afraid of loud noise, the assailants might fired a bullet on us, that might frighten him and he was likely to scamper away... geez!

Perhaps we could drop by the seaside, wondering if we could hitch hide a pirate ship to the other end of the world... well, I reckon being hired and working on the deck of a cruise, that would be more practical. I don't see my buddy would enjoy the water pretty much, hopefully he won't get himself into sea sick... else that would be pretty icky and gross when he threw out his lunch!

So buddy, how about exploring the wildwood, perhaps we might stumbled upon a faery or two... I reckon by exchange a favour or two, they might lead us to an ancient tomb with treasures and more quests. Perhaps we could hire a goblins to carry the treasure back to the mortal world, we could buy a little cottage in the field of sunflower( I won't mind if you prefer daffodil). Then you might get to howl your lungs out without bothering our not so animal friendly neighbor, running across the field and sinking in the puddle of mud without worrying others calling you a freak... how nice was that!

How I wish to watch the breaking dawn while sun rising above the horizon... with you again, my late pal, Husky(Oct 2002- June 2008), R.I.P would you, I know you're staying pretty close to me, just in my heart... till we meet again in my dream!

-With lumps in my throat, your best friend forever!

Ipoh Makan Places!

2011-10-25T20:02:00.002+08:00

This is a procrastinated post, a continuation of our Tambun, Ipoh trip! Special thanks to Auntie Claire, who took the troubles to highlight and emailed to mama all the Ipoh signature makan(Dining) places prior to our Ipoh trip. Auntie Claire, your kind efforts are most appreciated!

On our 1st evening at Ipoh, we took Auntie Claire's suggestion and planned our dinner at Different Taste Restaurant, Bercham(with GPS of course).

DIFFERENT TASTE RESTAURANT
No 72, Persiaran Bercham Selatan 2,
Desa Kencana, Bercham,
31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 6012-502 1132/6016-558 6499 (Arun Tan), 6016-791 4711 (Elven Lok)
Business hours : 11.30am – 9.30pm daily. Closed on Fridays.
GPS Coordinates : E101 7′ 40.3″ N4 37′ 58.4″

The Longan drink...

The cook to perfection, delicious Lala dish(RM17)...

The bouncy yet meaty fish balls(RM5x5 pieces), must try!

Here's the hero, the signature Claypot Crabs' Dong Fun(grass noodles), this taste heavenly. 3 thumbs up(RM40)!

The next day, after having our hotel breakfast, we drove to Nam Heong Old Town for its authentic Ipoh Coffee and famous egg tarts.

Kedai Makanan Nam Heong
Jalan Bandar Timah
Egg tarts and Cha Siu pastry from Nam Heong Dim Sum are sold at RM1.30 each (buy 10 free 2).
Opens from 7.30am to 4pm ( sold off as early as 2 pm)

Quite packed with patrons, we stood for 10 mins before seated.

Fresh Eggie Tart, flaky crust and tasty filling.

Kopi Bing(Ice Coffee)

The hot coffee, taste good. We ordered Barley for the Sprouts, but it didn't turn up... just forget it!

We actually planned our lunch at Lou Wong for Taugeh Chicken(Bean Sprout Chicken) at Jalan Yau Tet Shin. Sadly it was fully seated, so we resorted to the Onn Kee restaurant next door.

*Don't get us wrong, this night scene pic was actually taken on the 1st night of Ipoh stay, when we brought the Little Sprouts to Ipoh Town at night.

Fish and meatball soup, taste ok.

Herbal drinks.

Scrunchy Bean sprouts, love the texture and its gravy/ sauce!YUM!

Mama prefers the chicken to be more succulent, but the sauce/ gravy really good(especially with chicken rice)!

Kuew Tiaw, nothing really special... perhaps Lou Wong's would taste different?!

We didn't forget to tapau(Take away) Ipoh's signature Salted Chicken with herbs(RM17 per spring chicken). We also bought some Heong Peah and other snacks from the souvenir shops at Jalan Yao Tet Shin.
* sorry, didn't snap any pic because distributed and sapu the snacks even before mama realize.

Last but not least, we also stopped by in front the stalls in front of Sam Poh Dong Temple to bought some Ipoh pomelo, it taste refreshing with tinge of sweetness! Slurp!

The Lost World of Tambun!

2011-10-18T22:18:00.004+08:00

We have gone here, the Lost World of Tambun of Ipoh, Perak on last Saturday. We reached Tambun 40 mins before the park opened at 10am, so we brought the Sprouts to a near by McD to kill time in its playland.

Park Rate(Per Entrance): Adult RM45; Child RM38(Kids below 90cm FOC)
Since papa booked the tics online, he was offered a promotion rate at RM36 per Adult and RM30 Per Child.

The Little Sprouts had a great time in its Petting Zoo. The zoo only charged RM1 per each pack of bird seed and animal's food grain.

Juan Juan: Hi Mr Raccoon, wanna be my friend?
Mr. Raccoon: Sorry whelp, we only want food!(narrated by mama)

Guinea piggies....

Friendly ferrets...

Free bucket and net for the Sprouts to snatch and play with the fish... but Geez, the fish were too smart to be caught by the rascals!

They sprouts enjoyed petting and feeding little rabbits... beside rabbit, there were also sugar glider and assorted type of birdies to entertain the kids!

Juan Juan feeding finch on her palm... the kids got freak out when the Victoria crown head attacked them!

The kids were quite impressed with the skink...

Boa constrictor hanging on the branches without caging... pretty cool huh?!

The Sprouts love goats, they probably wish to bring it home...

After spending more than an hour in the petting zoo, we moved to the theme park. Quite dissappointing cause not much of rides could offer to the kids nor the adults.

We had a cincai lunch break before get the Little Sprouts into the water...

Juan Juan posing with her crepe with ice cream... man those crepe costs mama more than RM5!!

Sharing is caring...

Time for the sprouts to dip into the water...

Posing with her signature pose...

The man-made beach of Tambun Water Park...

We spent a night at Lost World Hotel(~~RM250~~ RM190), with complementary breakfast and 2 free Lost World Hot Spring and SPA tickets

Lost World Hot Spring & SPA(RM15 per entrance) at night, it looks quite happening with rock music and colourful laser light!

It was a splendid night for the Little Sprouts!

Coming up next, Ipoh Makan post...

1st Ferry Ride to Pulau Ketam...

2011-10-17T18:21:00.001+08:00

A continuation from previous post(Logos Hope Bookfair here)...

We took a domestic ferry at Jetty Pulau Ketam, South Port to Pulau Ketam(Crab Island, a local fishing village).

The interior of the ferry...(Ferry timetable here)
Charges: Adult RM7 per way
Kids(6-12 y0) RM4 per way

After 35 mins of ferry ride, we touched down the island at around 1:20pm.... all were starving to death.

Mama browsed through internet and found this restaurant has a better reputation compared to others in the island...

Pulau Ketam authentic seafood fried bee hoon(RM30)... taste so so so so...

Juan is getting better with handling chop sticks.

Pulau Ketam signature fish balls(RM12)... taste tsk tsk tsk...

Deep fried sotong(RM20), tad too chewy... good for facial exercises(Teasing mode)! Total price: RM 67.00

Personal verdicts: The cook probably experienced mood swing that day...

The Little Sprouts got intrigued by the titbits stall...

The temple...

The fish village...

Before on board the ferry, we bought a cup of home made ice cream for the sprouts(RM2).

Some junk food from Pulau Ketam(RM10 for 3 packets).

Logos Hope, The Floating Book Fair!

2011-10-07T22:35:00.004+08:00

(Friday, 7th of Oct) Today papa brought us to the World's Largest Floating Book fair on Logos Hope(official site here). This is the vessel's maiden call at Port Klang Cruise Centre, Malaysia (from 29th of Sept to 23th, Oct 2011).

We reached PKCC 15 mins earlier before the book fair started at 10am...
Car parking: Weekend RM3; Weekdays RM2 per entry

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday : 10.00am- 10.00p.m
Sunday: 1.00pm- 10.00pm
Entry fee: RM1.00 per adult, kids below 12 FOC
Closed on Mondays

There were 400 unpaid volunteers from over 45 different countries and nationalities on board. Their missions are to bring knowledge and promote reading around the world.

Upon entering the cruise, we were briefed about Logos Hope by a Japanese and a South African volunteers.

The book fair consist of 2 cubicles, which filled with over 5,000 titles of books. Since the cruise traveled around many countries, the books they offered were priced in units instead of currency(100 unit=RM8).

Fiction price ranges from RM8-RM16.

Cooking book slightly pricey, from RM10-RM36.

Enid Blyton hard cover storybook, RM8.

Medical and Health...

The 2nd cubicle was entirely occupied by children books...

Children books about Christianity, RM12 each.

Little Brother got engrossed flipping a hard cover hand book(RM4) and showing it to other kids on board.

We were then proceed to The Journey of Life corridor. There was a pre-recorded story telling along the walkway, which Little Sprouts couldn't be bothered. They were playing hide and seek and chasing each other till the end of the corridor... thuh~!

Theater that showed the crews' life and work of the ship.

The international cafe, the staff incharged were a Korean and a Swiss(brewing coffee).

There was a kids corner for Little Sprouts to get involve in children activities. The staff was from Papua New Guinea and she was very friendly, playful and kind to my Little Sprouts. Very nice to meet her!

Little Brother played on his own for more than 20 mins before he joined his Jie Jie and Miss. Papua New Guinea.

Papa and mama enjoyed a cup of milk coffee(RM5) and cappuccino(RM8) while Little Sprouts were entertainted by the staff.

RM1 items up for grabs...

Before leaving, one of the crew folded balloons for Little Sprouts, they were just too good at cheering up the sprouts!

That concluded our Logos Hope tour! My Little Sprouts were so happy and got excited on their next visit... well, perhaps next year my dear!(wink)

Juan Juan got herself an Alien vs Monster read a loud(RM4); mama got a hard cover adventurous fiction for RM8 and a hard cover Christmas carols(consists of 15 songs with CD) for RM12.

We were then traveled to South Port... to be continue!

Craze for Books!!!

2011-10-06T22:21:00.001+08:00

Mama was lucky to win Big Bad Wolf preview passes from "Face the Invasion contest"! Thank you Bad Wolf! Today mama not only has got the privilege to raid the big book sale, but also got to meet Auntie Kathy, Small Kucing Kor Kor, and their friends! Yay, double the happiness!

Auntie Chee Yee led mama from Sri Petaling via UPM to MAEPS, Serdang. Thank you Auntie Chee Yee, most appreciated! We reached MAEPS at approximately 11:15am, took a free tram to Hall A and waited about 45mins before entering the exhibition hall.

We raid the Children session once we got in the hall!

Below are mama's book loots, wakakakaka!

These are all RM5 items...

Lightning McQueen for Little Brother, Rage from RM8-RM10.

Juan Juan's favourite.... true enough, she can't stop flipping these 2 books(especially the Monster villains)until she set for bed.

Disney Pixar hard cover storybook collection, RM12 each.

Little Sprouts' favourite pop-up books(RM10 each).

RM8 Hard cover Christmas and Froggie storybook.

Little Brother's favourite dinosaurs, he claimed, "It's mine!"

Most expensive book of the loot(RM15), Litle Brother's favourite insect, butterfly!

RM10 Kids' Encyclopedia, they love it, especially the Animal book with various wild animals echo and sounds!

RM10, hard cover sounds books, which are still remain in the package.

Children storybook series(RM8 each), recommended by Auntie Chee Yee.

Beside Children books, mama also purchased some fiction(RM6-RM8). Off late, mama started reading some romance fiction, which inspired by Auntie Cleffairy, Auntie Chee Yee and Auntie Kathy.

Total damage: RM299

Happy Reading Everyone

Morning Breakie...

2011-10-02T08:19:00.001+08:00

Inspired by Auntie Ling and Auntie Cleffairy's "Egg in a Toast", we had this beautiful toast for breakfast this morning!

First of all, cut out the center piece of a wholemeal bread with your favourite cookie cutter.

Toast in a frying pan with little butter at medium low heat.

For Little Sprouts, mama made them a well-done "Egg in a Toast" with chocolate syrup. However Juan Juan refused to take the toast and only ate the cut out piece. Papa commented the toasts taste even better with chocolate syrup.

Mama prefers half-done toast, and we had our breakfast with a glass of freshly blended celery cum Granny Smith apple juice! Bon appetite!

I Dream a Dream of Gingerbread Cookies!

2011-09-29T22:20:00.000+08:00

Well, it all started with the Gingerbread story mama made up few days ago. Ever since then both little punks kept questioned mama with all sort of Gingerbread trivia. Sigh... mama knows it is kind of early for some Gingerbread cookies, but reckon it might be a good idea to solve the Question marks in Little Sprouts.

Original recipe here, mama make some changes of the ingredients according to own liking.

Ingredients

Gingerbread dough

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup hot water
2 eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground nutmeg(optional)

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter(soften)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup icing sugar
1 and a half tbs milk
food dye

Step 1: Mix both sugar, shortening and hot water in a large bowl.

Step 2: Stir in eggs, flour, baking soda, salt and spices, then knead into a soft dough. Cover and refridge 1 hour, or 3 hours at room temperature.

Step 3: Roll out dough to 1/4 inch, cut and bake 10 mins in preheated oven at 175C.

Our very 1st batch of Gingerbread cookies! The Little Sprouts couldn't stop nibbling even before mama apply the frosting.

Step 4: (High speed) Cream the butter until smooth for frosting. Add vanilla extract, sugar and milk at low speed. Distribute the frosting, add desire colours, mix well and start decorate the cookies when it's cool.

The dough itself yield about 4 batches of Gingerbread cookies, the residual dough mama attempted to build a cosy Little Sprouts' dream Gingerbread house!

For my beloved Little Sprouts!

~Happy Weekends to All!~

Art Attack- Mr. Lady Bird.

2011-09-26T10:33:00.002+08:00

This is a copy-cat idea from Little Prince Kor Kor's school project(here), we just added a little pouch as suggested by Juan Juan.

Step 1: Stapler together 1 and a half paper plate.

Step 2: Let the Sprouts colour the entire plate with red colour.

Step 3: Paint the 1/4 of the plate black(Top). Glue the fillers and legs with black sugar paper.

Step 4: Thumb prints time for the Sprouts.

Step 5: Paste the googly eyes or paint it with concentrate white and black colour.

Less than 1/2 hour simple craft, Mr Lady Bird done!

Breakfast for Kids!

2011-09-22T10:11:00.000+08:00

Today we gave our wholesome breakfast a little twitch(Inspired by Auntie Annie Q and Auntie Barb).

First of all, both Little Sprouts chose their desirable cookie cutter. Then mama assisted them to cut off the center on the bread.


*Mama still hasn't get used to the new version of Blogger, hence couldn't adjust the picture properly.

Afterward, layered the cut bread with another piece of bread with spreading. Juan Juan preferred butter spread while Little Brother requested for peanut butter.

Sprinkled with colour beads, Juan Juan's breakfast done!

Little Brother wanted 'Stars' for his bread!

Aside from the wholemeal bread, they also have a glass of carrot juice to start their day!

When Papa Was Not Around...

2011-09-18T23:17:00.001+08:00

It has been 2 weeks since papa has gone to Vietnam. Little Sprouts' Ji Be De(paternal 2nd uncle) was kind enough to bring both of them and mama go 'Kai Kai'(Outing) over the weekends. Today, Ji Be De, Ah Gong and Ah Po fetched us in the morning at 10:30am and brought us to Taman Tun Dr Ismail for its renown Claypot Rat Tail Noodle(Lou Shi Fun).

Both Little Sprouts were hungrily waiting to be fed, gluttony Little Brother started to chew the table...

Its sambal belacan(Shrimp paste) condiment for noodles has tinge of spiciness and fragrant, which complimented the claypot Lou Shi Fun.

Ji Be De ordered Jasmine Tea(RM6), smell and taste just nice .

The restaurant's signature Claypot Lou Shi Fun(RM15), it was topped with a raw egg and covered with minced 'Oink oink' meat.

Ji Be De kacau(mix) and incorporated the dish before distributed to each of us...

The sufficient wok heat Lou Shi Fun, it has quite a lot of 'Oink Oink' liver(not oily though). The noodles was springy, it tasted much better than any of the Lou Shi Fun that mama can remember. Well, at least the picky Little Sprouts were able to finish the portion we served them, and asked for a 2nd serving.

Ji Be De ordered a large portion of seafood noodles(RM16). It consists of squid, prawns and cubed chicken. Taste 'ok' to mama, still mama prefer the mouth alluring Lou Shi Fun... too bad,
everyone kept 'walloping' the tasty Lou Shi Fun before mama can have another serving.

We also had a huge bowl of dumpling soup(RM12). The dumplings were delicious but the soup was tad too bland to mama's liking.

The leftover seafood noodles for papa(virtually).... *stuck tongue out!
Total bill for 4 adults and 2 children after 6% Tax=RM51.94

Mama Kitchen Restaurant
Location : Taman Tun Dr Ismail next to Claypot Brothers
GPS Coordinate : N3 08.535 E101 37.764
Google Maps : CLICK HERE
Address : 48 Jalan Datuk Sulaiman, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur
Contact No : 03-7729 3030
Business Hour : 11am to 3pm for lunch, 6pm to 10.30pm for dinner
Off Day : Thursday

Boy's Bloopers...

2011-09-13T22:43:00.002+08:00

Jotting down my 2 years old darnest says...

Ah Gong and Grandson, the word 缘 (Yuan) means 'Fate'.... being able to relate to each other is type of Yuan and should be appreciated.

Last Sunday at Ah Po's house, while Little Sprouts and their cousin brother were happily playing upstairs with Ji Be De(Paternal 2nd Uncle). After awhile, Little Brother, Ah Xuan came down with trails of tears on his cheeks, complaining his Jie Jie bit him on his right thigh. After exhibited the bite mark to other family member, he picked up a plastic toy hammer and walked up the staircase...

We: Where are you going?
Ah Xuan: *Ai HAMMER Jie Jie!!!

*Ai= Want to

Mama personally likes this pic- taken at Desa Water Park during Raya Holiday.

Yesterday morning Little Brother complaint of tummy ache, he consistently telling mama and Ah Po he wanted to 'Poop Poop'(pass motion). He sat on the potty umpteen times and tempted to do biz, sadly it was all false alarm, finally he claimed...

" I think got gas lar...!!"

Last Thursday, mama bought Little Brother a Doraemon musical lantern(RM17.90 before 20% discount). The next day he performed an operation on it and showed it to me...

"See, bird nest inside!" *Faint

Little Sprouts' 7 Links Challenge!

2011-09-08T22:34:00.004+08:00

Last week mama was honorably tagged by Auntie Lena of Frozen Wings to take up the 7 Links Challenge. Since Auntie Lena is a marvelous cook and an awesome pastry baker, mama had chosen the 7 Links among posts that related to baking and dessert making, here we go...

1) The most beautiful post :Little Sprout's School Holiday: Project P

The Icy Lollies itself might be inconspicuous, it's papa's Little Dotty's beautiful heart and efforts that counts! Juan Juan made the lollies from scratch, she chose and bought the ingredients, it took her some time and hard work to make these little Lollies before presenting it to her beloved papa as a Father's Day gift.

2) The most popular post :So Close Yet So Far

These little morsels gained the most comments among My Little Sprouts' foodie posts!! Congratulation to the French Macarons!

3) The most helpful post :Sugar Rush Christmas Eve

Mommies and daddies readers found this was a cracking idea to have an inexpensive chocolate fondue at home!!

4) The most controversial post:Rainbow Marshmallow Pudding for Little Sprouts!

This recipe actually required 4 uncooked egg whites, which mommies readers puzzled whether it's safe for the little sweetheart to consume.

5) The post that did not get the attention it deserved:Hearty Cupcakes from My Little Sprouts

Poor Little Hearty Cupcakes Juan Juan made during school holiday... of course the comment dropped like a sky rocket as everyone were happily having vacation(Laugh)!!!

6) The post that was surprisingly successful :Disaster Turned Goodness

We didn't mean to make these tarts but since Little Brother tumbled more then half of the egg tart mixture over here , we miraculously created something that tasted much better than the Cantonese egg tarts we made the day before...(scratch head)!!

Guilty Little Brother...

7) The post that I'm most proud of : 'C' for Cookies~!!

This is the maiden bake of Juan Juan(when she was 2 years 3 months old) with her dearest papa. This post always remind me how far she has gone through her baking journey...(Sob)

Juan Juan running away with chocolate chip cookie...

Finally, thank you Auntie Lena for the interesting tagging! This is an exciting tagging game and hopefully you too will enjoy passing around the tags!

~Keep well and wishing all a wonderful weekend!~