Fly to the moon with Malindo Air

Ok I know Raya is like soo yesterday, but am gonna write about our journey to Terengganu last Eidulfitri. I will break the story into few entries.

Anyway, we were contemplating either to drive or fly. Driving will be much cheaper but to be in the car with two hyper kids for at least 8-hours, is too much for us to bear. Flying will be the best option but it has to be from Subang as it's nearer to us. Kalau from LCCT or KLIA will defeat the purpose nak senang, plus we have to spend another RM200 for cab. So it leaves us either Fireflyz or Malindo Air.

Both at around the same price that time, but Malindo is slightly cheaper so I opt for Malindo. This is our first time flying with Malindo and we were quite worried that if the service is sucks, or seats are too small, or have weird smell (haha I know this is ridiculous) but  thank God, the flight and service is pretty impressive. It's new plane, so the seats still new and pretty. Plus Malindo is new (I think) so macam tak ramai orang, so we don't have to queue at the check in counter. Both inbound and outbound were not full house so we got extra seats, boleh la I BF dengan aman and budak-budak free a bit, Alhamdulillah.

Outbound. Emir is soo happy with the space and he's been running here and there. Zahra on the other hand, missy universe, happily choose to conquer the trolley.

Zahra sits with MrComot and Emir is with me since I need to BF him.

They provide light refreshment, butter cake and bottled water. Not bad considering it's low cost air carrier and only 1 hour journey.

Took this picture because saw the fighting air craft. Is it? Not sure but macam tentera punya.

Puteri lilin. Umbrella is provided by the attendance at the door out.

Feeding kids in the airport. Our flight was at noon, so I packed their lunch siap-siap. Tanak suap dalam flight takut susah and by the time sampai Terengganu nanti lapar sangat pulak.

Mommy and kiddos. I was so comot! But oh well...my tudung only can stay put for 5 mins. After that tertarik2 by hensem boy.

Even though it's 1-hour journey and in a contained space, kids will always be kids. Zahra keep on playing with the tray, tearing the "vomit" paper bag, standing on the seat and Emir is jumping here and there, crossing the seats, etc. They just don't want to stay put. Nasib baik tak tak tantrum je. It was manageable but a handful one, so I wonder how 8-hours jounery in the car going to be. Phewwwwww. Another lesson learnt, even though 1-hour seems like a short period to you, do prepare some activity kits for kids because, 1-hour is like forever to them ;)

Ok, gotta share fun we had in Terengganu later!

The OverAchieved Cleaner

Remember Emir's obsession towards sweeper/penyapu? I wrote about it in this entry. The obsession still pretty much there only it's upgraded a little bit to mister vacuum. Hello sweeper with growling sound!

Vacuum cleaner will be his ultimate toys nowadays. Everytime we reached home, the first thing he did is pointing to the store room, asking me to open it and get the vacuum, then he will ask me to plug it ON. He doesn't want 'silenced' vacuum anymore. So I have to let it run for a while, then off it and tell him the vacuum is hot while tapping at the top, he will tap it as well and says "haaaaat" as a sign that he agrees with me that the vacuum is hot and need to shut it off for a while. There will be slight heat at the top when it's on after some times, to the trick works. 

Then we will continue with the next step, undress him and wash, brush teeth, etc..to prepare for bed time. The drama begins after that. He will refuse to wear the pyjama and run for the precious vacuum... naked. So again, have another round of vacuuming and after dia macam puas hati sikit main, baru dia nak pakai baju and diaper hahaha.

I tried to force-dress him, but susahhhhh, he will kick me and shout and cry. So instead of fighting it, I just let him having a party with the vacuum cleaner.

Emir in action 

High QC ok, bawah kerusi pun kena vacuum.

But the trickiest part is to let him part with the vacuum for bed time. After he is fully dressed, he still wants to play with it and by that dah almost 11 something, so of course la I instruct everybody to go upstairs and sleep. He won't budge a bit with the vacuum and stay put by it's side. I switched off the light and left him downstairs (Zahra and Mrcomot also upstairs already) and he will cry throwing tantrum. Then I try to pujuk-pujuk him and carry him upstairs but he will hentak2 kaki kat tangga and turun balik nak vaccum. Over and over again. Lastly, I had to go upstairs and let him calm down and climb the stairs by himself (it's a bit dangerous as I always be by his side when he's going upstairs, takut terslip kat tangga kan) but only that way works. Then he will come to me in sobs. Almost setiap malam macam ni. Hensem boy hensem boy...

The obsession is not restricted in the house only. The first thing he attacks when we reached my PIL's is also a vacuum cleaner. And last Raya when we were back in Terengganu, we went to one of the relative's house and it was the kids first time there. Emir saw a vacuum cleaner hidden at a corner and he went there trying to get it out, boleh? It was very funny that time, but nasib baik family, kalau stranger it will be.... awkward!

The obsession is mind-boggling because Zahra doesn't has any obsession to this extend. On the other side, hopefully besar nanti pun rajin buat kerja rumah, jangan masa kecik je tau!

Ponty Ponty sat on the wall

Zahra enjoys doing art stuff but she rarely draws. I think she doesn't really like drawing. I even persuade her into drawing (because I love drawing hehe) by buying a lot of color pencils, crayons, give her freedom to draw anywhere she likes, but she just doesn't want to. And yesterday, she randomly pick a lying A4 paper and draws something.

I was busy cleaning up so I didn't join in and casually ask her while walking here and there:

"Zahra lukis apa tu?"

"Zahra lukis ponty ponty"

Out of curiosity what is ponty ponty, I picked the drawing and squealed excitedly:

"Oh my God!! Cantiknya Zahra lukis!"

And I meant it seriously.

Her ponty ponty is actually Humpty Dumpty and personally I think she drew it well, because I never knew she can draw.

"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again"

It's one of her favorite nursery rhymes.

Anyway I was feeling super excited so I asked her to sing the rhymes. We don't really use English for daily conversation so she was a bit confused with the words and pronunciation, but here it goes!

Humpty Dumpty Zahra's version ;)

Handful crafting weekend

I went to Petaling Street last Friday during lunch time, to buy some birthday party goodies (Emir is turning two!). I don't have anything in mind yet, so just went there to buy random stuff that I like and instead of focusing on the party stuff, I was distracted by a lot of crafting stuff for myself and Zahra!

Found this sand art for kids, where it comes with a sticker paper that you peel, then pour colored sand. Zahra loves this stuff so much! It has become her current obsession. The first time I bought was from random shop and it's not expensive, but not cheap either. But at PS, it is dirt cheap, less than RM1 per piece! Depending on the size though, ranging from 60cents to 1.50. But the drill is, you have to buy in bulk, minima is 10 pieces.

 Doing the bambee

As usual, the sticker came with small packet of colored sands and it is never enough. So I bought extra sands for her in 10 rainbow colors! :D

The wall of fame. Just tape a string of baker's twine at the wall in her playroom. 

I also bought her this painting stuff. It comes together with a keychain string, 4 colors of water-based paint and plastic brush. This is a hit too!  Emir is restricted because I'm too lazy to clean up. Pooor little one hehe..

Art is subjective. I asked her what's up with the dino. She said "dinosour ni color rainbow". Ooookaaayyy! Haha!

Anyway, the keychain is two-sided. It has different design at the back which you can paint too. I just noticed it when the paint dried and I lift it up. So we going to paint it later, next week probably. The paint provided is quite a lot and good enough for you to paint both sides with some extra.

It was a very tiring weekend because she saw the stuff I brought home and wants to do all! I plan to give her one at a time but forgot to hide it, so there it goes. Doing art stuff with kids is really energy consumed. You need to hold your breath most of the time when they slip, or mess with the stuff. But it won't be fun if it's not messy right? Tiring but fun.

So plan your activity well. Sand art is more suitable to play outdoor as you can let your kid spread the sand as much as she wants and cleaning will be a breeze as the wind will help, not much sweeping and wiping needed hehe. As for painting, cover the painting area with newspaper or anything that don't need an after clean-up, where you can chuck the whole thing right away. As for me, I used a thick cardboard from my cutting mat which I was about to throw away. Now that I see its function, I'm going to keep it in the storeroom for the next activity.

Mooncake Festival

The kids joined the crowd celebrating mooncake festival last night. The community at my in laws will host this festival every year at the children playground and everybody will be there lighting some candles and lanterns. They also provide some mooncake but mooncake was never our favourite so we had none.

Anyway what intrigues me is the lantern. It evolves every year from traditional lighted candles to led light and then now it comes together with songs. Not just that, it also has a lot of characters for you to choose from.

Emir got the minion and Zahra got the rilakkuma. 

The minions seems like a hit this year because apparently Emir is not alone carrying it at the park. In fact, we also saw a kid holding that exact minion in a car in front of us during the traffic jam on the way back home that night. Both of us squealed "Ehhhh sama macam Emir la!!!" Hahaha. 

My precious!! It comes together with LED and annoying song when you turn it on. I say annoying because it is sooo loud!

 At the park

The electrical lantern didn't last long. They lost interest towards the plastic lantern after they saw everybody is lighting up the candle. Well, nothing beats old fashioned stuff right.

But lighting up candles also last for few minutes only. The rushed to the swings and slides and went crazy playing at the playground. Ahh kids, play time is any time ;)

Hyper Lunch @ Ben's KLCC

We had a meetup with old friends (whom I last met 8 years ago!) at Ben's KLCC last Sunday. Since we are going to a decent place and I plan to eat a lot of stuff there, I armed the journey with a stack of sticker book and coloring pencils so that the kids won't get bored and doing unnecessary stuff.

I even googled up Ben's menu and roughly ordered what I feel like eating in my mind.

Fast forward, Sunday came. Wake them happily, bath and dress in no rush so that they stay happy, give some food to avoid empty stomach which will turn them to monsters. Reached at Ben's as the earliest than others, studied the menu smilingly, and order a plate of  Creamy Tomato Spagetthini which turns out delicious and the kids happily stuffing it which is a bit unusual as they don't really dig outside food.

The laid-back menu. I like the font!

The Pasta. Highly recommended! We also ordered Chunky Mushroom soup with truffle oil, not to my liking. I prefer without truffle oil's version.

Kids having fun with the stickers and color pencils. This is before the food arrived.

All look perfect and dandy..but well, the good times only last for half an hour!!!

After they finished the food, they became restless already and started to jump and climb and playing around! Kids... *sigh*

They've been tapping that thing and MrComot asked them to stop, takut benda tu jatuh. That's when the drama start, lari sana-sini.

The thing is, it's lunch time and the place is packed and I don't want them to disturb other patrons. And when I decided to force them sit still, meaning I have to scold Zahra and hold Emir on my lap, they starting to use their voice. Emir has been crying top of his lung because he wants to get down and run to the escalator, while Zahra wants to see the water fountain. We were at end of wits and decided to end the meeting and go back home.

The crying drama lasts for another half an hour I think..imagine how embarrassed I am. Mesti orang ingat I dera anak hahaha. Emir even cries when we already out from Ben's because we force-strapped him to the stroller.

We stopped at Kinokuniya because the place has this wide fountain view area and kids love to sits there but bila sampai tengok-tengok the glass is covered with book shelves. I think this is the new setting, maybe tanak bagi budak2 lepak sana lama. Bring them to stationary area and that will be a heaven for me and Zahra but after a while, Emir starts to pull off all the hanged stationary and then run to the escalator again!

So that's it lah..we call it a day!

And yes, both of us didn't eat anything for lunch, except the extra bits from the kids pasta and chocolate milkshake & banana peanut butter milkshake at Ben's.

On the way to the parking, this little man doze off while holding his drink. Helooooooo! You should have fallen asleep when mommy slowly devouring her yummy lunch isk isk isk.

So there goes all my imaginary foods and the desserts! I spied Macademia cakes sobsssss..

Seems like eating out with kids is still an impossible mission for us. Nevermind, I'll come again to Ben's on our dating day! ;)

Going crazy with butter cake

We made butter cake last few weekends. It is the easiest recipe I've ever found and not to mention with easiest techniques too, basically you just dump everything and mix it, and they still turn out delicious with nice buttery texture. 

The original recipe was for cupcakes, I've tried it the cupcake way but MrComot request it in cake form so here we are.

Zahra saw this this heart shaped cake pan at Giant and insist to have it.

 I let them do all the creaming and mixing..I help with measuring the stuff and Zahra dumps everything into the mixer. The best part is going crazy with the sprinkles. I had to warn them so many times, don't overdo it, else it's going to be super sweet.

A little bit on the brown side as I put it 190 celcius according to the recipe, but it brown too fast so I lower it down to 150 celcius. It's either something wrong with my oven or different ovens really act differently. So test it and use your hunch! Well, the accurate way will be to use a fancy oven thermometer but I am no a baker so it doesn't matter to me, as long it bakes and edible. So hunch is way to go hahaha.

The recipe was taken from this book that I bought during Big Bad Wolf 2012. 

It's for chocolate chip cupcake, but I omit the chocolate chips and replace it with raisins and sprinkles. This will make 6 cupcakes, so I triple it for the cake. (Pls click for a clearer recipe)

 The texture

Sooooo buttery and yummy! It's a very simple but hearty butter cake. MrComot loves this version of butter cake and request me to make it every week. I on the other hand, prefer fancier cake, like orange and peanut butter, or coffee and pecan, well something like that. But this is very easy and you just need the everyday stuff - egg, sugar, butter, self raising flour. Just that. No milk, or buttermilk, or cream, etc. And with easy technique to. Cream everything, then fold with flour.

The best part is...since it doesn't need any fancy method or ingredients, your kids can be the baker! You guys are going to have a lot of fun together, err...minus the mess! But oh well, mess is part of the fun too! At least if you look it that way hehehe. So, have fun!! ;)

Perfect livin 2013

We went to perfect livin' 2013 held at PWTC last Thursday. Gigih ambil cuti ok. Haha..little things that I treasure. 

The main intention was to survey on the custom book-rack. We wanted to make a small library at the family hall since we don't want to give up any room for it. We already surveyed the stuff in IKEA for DIY,  but we still want to see how much it's going to cost us for a nice custom made. Apparently, it's going to cost us triple of IKEA's, so we decided scrape the customize book-rack idea :(

How I wish I can afford the customized library, it will be super nice *sobs*, but oh well, gotta suck it up and move on.

Anyway, book rack aside, there are soooooooo many nice thing at perfect livin and how I wish money grows on trees, so that I can just pluck them and buy the stuff lol. Oh life...

A few thing that caught my eyes:

 A nice Gorenje fridge with this cute egg holder

Black granite sink. This is super super super want! Granite sink is the in-thing now. It's super smooth and antibac (nano process-no holes). I don't really care about the antibac features but seriously, the sink is so nice! This pic just doesn't do justice. You have to see and touch it by yourselves.

 Cute bathroom sink

With pretty embossed porcelain

 Super cute bucket sink, super expensive too :(

Kids bedframe with slide!!!! I wannnnnnt it forrrr meeeeeee...er...for Zahra, so that I can share it with her haha kidding. Anyway, seriously, this is the nicest kids bed I've ever found. Very kiddy but simple and safe too. I don't know why I never stumble upon this product because there are very famous in www-land, and andes with online shopping is like BFF, so how come I never come across this? Haha..ok whatever, anyway, this is their website: www.tomatokidz.com. They made lots cute and fancy stuff and those stuff are exported to overseas. So u know what I mean right? It's a real deal.

Detailed tiles

Well, that's some of the awesome stuff I snap, after that I kinda forgot to take out my phone and snap some more..because I was too engrossed admiring things they are selling haha.

Anyway.......we bought a veryyyyyyyyy cute blind. Like cutey cute. I will snap it and post it here once it is installed. Bought an aircond for the hall and I can't believe this, I bought a steam iron!!! Not the normal one, but the standing tall like at the shops. Like wtf man! As if I own some sort of boutique. 

Well, my main intention is to iron MrComot's shirt but apparently the steam iron works best for silk, dresses, polyester, material like that, but my husband's shirt is cotton, so it kinda hard to use it you know. I've spent litres of water just for 3 shirt? Gahhhhhhhhhhh. I think I've been conned haha. Well, will post the iron in the next entry.

A few random pictures:

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Sungai Klang! 

Do you know they have mini waterfall..hmm not really a waterfall but got big stones like in the big river. MrComot said it's man made to beautify the river.Well, it kinda pretty (that is why I snap this picture) but somehow all I can see from this picture is the teh tarik water hahaha.

Us at one of the hall. Compulsory pic lol

The goodie bag. Got STAR newspaper I think (didn't bother to flip in until now) and reusable water bottle.

Another interesting thing I found, gigantic posters plastered at the wall, at surau's area. Some sort of tazkirah, while you putting your shoes outside.