BelangZ

While everyone else around the world is celebrating Chinese New Year, we too had our own version of 'makan besar'. The dads had this spontaneous plan to make satay and kuah kacang despite the rumours of Cyclone Marcia hitting Toowoomba this weekend. They stayed up late at Kimi's house preparing the ingredients for the satay, which the Malays call 'cucuk sate'. The initial plan was to BBQ at Hodgson Vale Park but since it was drizzling, we had the get-together at Iqbal's house instead. The food was in abundance! There were cookies, lontong, nasi impit, beef/chicken/lamb satay, MKR cheesecake, jellies, beronok or kuih sagu, fruitcake and honeydew. Naturally, the food proportion exceeded our eating capabilities, which led to lots of leftovers, which is good because everyone had the chance for takeaways, meaning no cooking dinner tonight! (can you see how complicated this sentence is?) Eat eat eat...  Dinner is served. Sambung makan k

Hasben was so excited, promised to make me some curry puff using Mama's frozen chicken curry. He said that Kak Su suggested using this for a ready-made, hassle-free dough: He didn't want to admit it but he needed my help to actually put the plan into place. The moment I saw this rectangular shaped curry puff, I knew some intervention was required. With my help, you could say they looked identifiable.. But after deep-fried, yikes! If I didn't tell you we were making karipap, you wouldn't have even guessed, right? They don't even look healthy to eat, but thankfully, Mama's inti made them tatsy (^u^)

I have been obsessed with Lamaze toys since before having a kid (colourful!!!). They are very pricey in Malaysia, hence I have been collecting them through garage sales, Vinnies and eBay. Anyways, I am currently teaching Kimi about tools. He likes the Disney cartoon Handy Manny, which is so adorable. His Lamaze toolbox contains only a saw and a hammer. So I thought it would be fun to add some new ones. Using scrap fabrics and pieces of old towel for the stuffing, I made a screwdriver and a spannar. Honestly, they do look kind of weird, but Kimi can easily identify them without a problem, so that's a good sign, right? "Cepat belakon, Ibu nak ketip gambar ni... "

No one had ever told me that babies' nails are their ultimate weapon, kind of like Wolverine. They are very sharp and seems to grow faster than you can cut them. Even when they are short, they are still ever so torturous. I have been injured countless times by Afi's razor pinches and scratches. Yikes! Cute, chubby but OMG... Makes you scream in agony. Look what Edward Scissorhands had done to himself! 

Oat! I have a bag full of oat, given by Durra before her return to Malaysia. Oat is good for your health... But Hasben doesn't like it. It will take 5 years for me to finish it alone. So I made cinnamon oat porridge English style (strong dislike by all), oat chicken porridge Malay style (Hasben gave up on the third serving), oat cekodok goreng (Hasben loved it but failed to capture Kimi's heart) and finally, oat cookies (with chocolate chips so you know Kimi can't resist). Man, the things you do to please a small family! Kimi waiting eagerly while I shaped the dough: In the oven: Ready! I have this much left. What shall I make next? Oat curry with oat roti canai?

Date: 8 February 2015 Another Sunday adventure with my little family. Our itinerary for today was to visit Ipswich's water park. By 2PM, we were already packed to go home because it was a really hot day. Beautiful sky along Warrego Highway .  We decided to check out Lake Apex in Gatton as most of our friends have been there for BBQs and picnics. It is a nice little lake, with many species of birds and ducks. The kids's playgrounds were quite good. There's a shaded and gated area which is very suitable for toddlers like Kimi, and a more challenging one for older kids. My absolute favourite is the bicycle-train thingy, which was loads of fun! There are a few BBQ shelters too which makes it a great spot for a family day out - lovely play area, comfy BBQ facilities and awesome scenery!

Maidenwell is a 1.5 hours drive from Toowoomba. It was suggested that we poped by Coomba Falls before visiting Bunya Mountains. On our way!   Reached Maidenwell!   At the car park.      The old steps next to the newly built staircase.   Material by Wagners (applied for a job here but was rejected, haha!)   The view was astonishing, truely as if we were transported to some mystical land. The boulders surrounding the waterhole creates an amazing secluded feeling.   Breathtaking!  We had a picnic lunch here, at about 11am. There were a few groups of people already there, splashing and swimming. And by 12pm, more people arrived for lunch. The little land area was packed and we had to leave to allow others to settle. However, the waterfall was just a trickle that day. It was a hot summer day, so Hasben was quite disappointed that he couldn't take a dramatic water fall picture.

Kak Milin was kind enough to pass down some of Iril's clothes to Afi. Since he was born, I hadn't spent a lot on his clothes - mostly reusing Kimi, Iril & Zhorif's. Rezeki, Alhamdulillah. Anyway, this baby Kimono is gorgeous, found it in one of Kak Milin's bag. It had some yellowish spots but because it was made from organic cotton (I'm assuming quality, expensive material), I felt that something must be done! TRANS-FORM! Okay, now it looks too girlish... Erkkk!