BelangZ

I'm In Milk Haven! Since I was young, I love drinking milk... the liquid ones, not powder - so it is quite costly for my parents since my siblings and I, as my mom put it, " Minum susu macam air paip! " (Drink milk like tap water). She tried reducing the milk consumption by implementing a few methods: 1) Bought milk powder as a substitution - FAIL since dad's Nescafe susu did not taste as good. 2) Limiting the milk usage only for Nescafe susu purposes - FAIL because as long as the carton is in the fridge, and of course when mom is not looking, we will bedal it like tap water! Dutch Lady was not our first choice, it was Marigold - because it was cheaper. My parents finally solved this issue by... waiting patiently for us to grow up and go to colleges. Without us at home, the milk lasts a bit longer in the fridge. This is good news because last I checked, 1 liter of milk costs about RM5!! When I was a little girl (about 15 years ago, am I that old??) it costed ab

New Year Sight Seeing! Date: 1 Jan 2012 A sunny day out with Hasben and Kimi at one of the peaks of the Great Dividing Range. Kimi is too small to play in the playgrounds and of course, being down right lazy, I did not prepare anything for a picnic. So we ended up just enjoying the beautiful view of the mountains and snapping a few pictures - just to make some memories on the first day of 2012. Beautiful flowers~ Statue of a doggy mascot Kimi no likey! Majestic tree Brisbane is straight ahead! How do I know...? It says so here!

A New ( -ly Bought ) Sewing Machine~ Date: 7 January 2012 It's a wonder how I have never own a sewing machine. I love sewing and making things. However,  wonder no more! Because on my 2nd wedding anniversary, Hasben and I spent our special day by going to garage sales ( sweet right? *Sarcastic* ) and found a 10 year old Janome sewing machine! We bought it for $15 after negotiating it from $40. The sellers were such a sweet couple...~ Just needs to get rid of the old machine... = p Another purchase was a Kenwood cake mixer thingy which I really need to make doughnuts with. No more aching hand like what happened in " Doughnut or Do-Not? " Back home, my mind was already planning all sorts of projects that I can make with my 'brand new' sewing machine. I have bought some pretty cloths during the New Year sales. As promised to Zana, the first thing that was created from ol' Janome was her nursing poncho so she can feed baby Alisya any time.. any wher

The Life of a Pee-Poo Mom! When I was pregnant, I bought 7 CDs. Thought I'd train my unborn kid to be environmental friendly. I imagined no money wasting on those disposable diapers and a beautiful world not-filled with dirty non-degradable nappies. So Kimi turns 2 months and a half. Time to turn those lovely imaginations into reality! Hmm ... Not exactly how I hoped it to be. He pees and poos... And pee some more... Owh, did I mention poo? This results in washing the CDs... Again and again. Collecting them for machine wash is a bit too unhygenic for me. So I opt to handwash them. Man, this is very challenging I tell you. How did our mothers and grandmothers survived without diapers?? I ended up with alternately wearing Kimi the CDs and the disposable ones. Maybe not 100% saving the planet... But I give myself a B+ for effort, hihi! To those moms who exclusively CD-ing their babies, I salute you! You have got to be super hardworking, patient, and not to mention alert! Kim

Date: 27 December 2011 It was exactly 1 month ago that I bid Malaysia goodbye. I miss it so much! Okay, emotional session over. Here in Toowoomba, the Malaysian students like to occasionally have small get-to-gethers. Each family (wife to be exact) will bring special delicacies to share. Me, the undomestic goddess, is in panic mode! I like to eat but not cook... or bake... or fry even. Half an hour preparation to be gulped in 5min... ( @ _ @ ) However, like it or not, I got to find something to bring. Fruits are an option but it spells out clearly "Lazy-bum woman". Bringing nothing at all will eventually cause my whole family to be black-listed from any events. So during Boxing Day sales, we bought a little doughnut maker at Harvey Norman - half price! This is not from a garage sale... Yup, you read it right. I actually bought something NEW! With full of eagerness, we went to Woolworths (people here call it Woolies - how cute is that? But Memol is cuter =)) and stoc

Date: 21 December 2011 Yes! Yes! Yes! After nearly 1 month in Australia, we finally moved-in to our own house! The location is very close to my uni and the rate is below $200/week - suitable for a pokai student. Oh yes, the rental here is paid weekly, not monthly like in Malaysia. All renting process must go through an agent with a very systematic procedure.  At first I was quite shocked ( eyes bulging, heart pumping and all that = D ) with the rental rate, especially after converting to Ringgit! I still have not yet adapt to the currency change. I keep on converting every cents. From the outside, the house may not be so appealing. Houses in Toowoomba are generally very cute - some look like rich Malay kampung houses, some very cottage like, and some are modern. Mine on the other hand looks suspiciously like a setinggan . But don't judge a house by its setinggan -ness! The interior is super cute, ala apartment gitu~ Very suitable for my little family. Now it's

Date: 22 November 2011 Mama wanted to eat out for lunch, preferably Steamboat or Tomyam. It was perfect timing since it was the last day of my confinement period. Hip hip hoorayyy !!! So off we went to Taman Dagang to try Q Thai Village which was thankfully openned during lunch time. However, no steamboat for us since that menu is only available after 5PM ( sad face, dissapointed tummy ). The set up was very nice, thumbs up for the interior designer d(^ u ^)b We ordered the usual - tomyam, ikan 3 rasa, kailan ikan masin + sotong goreng tepung and ayam pandan.  For drinks, I ordered fresh mango blend - yummy!!! Although I was not suppose to have cold drinks, I just could not say NO! Everything was delicious except for the fried squids, it was undercooked. Once they rectified that problem, all is well. Everyone was super full to the point that no one was talking. Little Rayyan is also enjoying his meal~ For 6 stuffed adults, the bill was RM120++. Maybe it's on the exp

Temptation Straight on Your Door Step! To be more precise, on your mailbox! This danger is a threat to our wallets, thus our savings. The more we fall for its scheme, the closer we are to starvation! I am talking about pamphlets ... Yes, in Malaysia we do have the occasional junk mails in out postbox or thrown randomly on our car porch - sometimes left untouched to the point of rotting. But here, the situation is 5 times more critical! Nearly everyday we can expect at least 4 pamphlets in our mailbox, ready to influence us with the deadly words: Sale!; Half price!; Old price $XX New price $XX!; We're the cheapest in town!; If you can find cheaper elsewhere, we'll shoot ourselves! (I made this one up). It is the battle of supermarkets and retail shops. They are selling practically the same thing, just needs to beat their competitor's price. Everyday, I will eye my mailbox for new pamphlets. Hasben and I will sit together, browsing through them and shouting to each ot