Just another boring post (because I am in the middle of doing something interesting now! Which is much better than this post. Will reveal soon!)
Come to think, it's so mean of me to say that this is a boring post, because it's our 6th anniversary of marriage!
But to be honest, it is indeed a boring one! Not the marriage, I mean this year celebration. Huh, 6 years and already bored of it haha.
Well, we made a promise last year to take a leave from work and spend day time together doing fun stuff, or just go anywhere sans the kids.....but fast forward a year after that, this is how we celebrate it
.... at work.
No holiday, no day off, no nice dinner, not even a card! Gahh!
We were so busy on that day and and we just wish each other "Happy anniversary sayang. Me love you so much". Rushed readying the kids and ourselves for school and work, then off to work and then come back home, had simple dinner...wow..I even forget what we had for dinner, must be very plain every day food, and then doze off to Disneyland. Just like another routine.
And the next day, we said, dangggg we should do something for that special day. But the next day also went by, also in routine, and plain as ever.
Goshhhhh.. I should push myself and do something right? It won't be fun anymore to celebrate it backdated.
Anyway, some reflections of 6 years being married, with two kids - totally random rants:
1) We are doing well, I think so. Or at least that's how I feel. But things are harder sometimes with the kids. I still coping with the hectic lifestyle..no more stress, but don't have the satisfaction
2) Talking about kids, I always have this thought of quitting. From work, for real. People are driven with different thing and at this stage, I am driven by being with my kids and time freedom. It's no fun to be stuck at office, in office hour. We've talked about this, but don't have the push to do it yet. Mostly because I am not ready to loose my earning.
3) My husband is such a wonderful companion and I thank God for all the blessing.
4) We still have disagreement over something..but mostly it's just petty thing that I often brush it off...as I am too old to fight I guess. Drama is no more interesting.
5) Busyness - when will we ever run from it? Maybe this is just another stage in marriage. A part of us to strengthen the constitution that we are building.
That's all I guess?
Wow, it does sound boring haha.
I am thinking of doing something else in my life, not about marriage but more about my personal achievement. But I don't know where to start. And mostly I don't have the gut to do it.
Anyway, 6 years and going strong I hope! Will work for it of course. Just need to add dash of sprinkles, glitters and rainbow ;)
Somebody turns 23 last May (well..if you can count properly, you may want to flip the number *cough cough*, I won't be able to do this trick next year!! gahhhh) and the day fell on Friday, working day it is. It was years ago when we had our last quiet dinner sans the kids so I hinted my husband "bestnyaaa if we can have our dinner just two of us. Possible tak if we ask mak to pick up the kids from school and we pegi dinner kejap?"
He just kept quiet so I think not possible la. I don't really mean it though because I never leave the kids just to go out mcm ni and I miss them like crazy. But at the same time, I miss trying out new place *without kids* because it will be too distracting if I bring them along. Such a dilemma.
So anyway, that Friday I didn't expect anything special so I just wear my casual jeans and shirt and suddenly on our way home MrComot turn on the GPS and ask me:
"Ok, so where we are going?"
I was like, whaaaaaat? If I knew earlier I would have worn a dress or skirt hahaha.
Apparently he asked his mom to pick up the kids and arranged for this quiet dinner. Knowing his tight schedule, I'm quite surprised and feel alaaaa syahdunyaaaaa haha.
So alang-alang takde budak2, I said, let's try Gyu Kaku!!
Gyu Kaku in Publika
Grilling pit. There is real charcoal underneath and the pot is designed to suck in the smoke so you won't be smelling all smoky. It's quite hot but the temp is controllable and the staff will occasionally check it for you and adjust the heat. Or maybe the staff adjust the sucking air? I'm not really sure though
The Harami. Highly recommended! The slices is so tender that it melts in your mouth.
Forgot the name...but ok je la.
Three dipping sauce
23 *ahem* me with beef tongue! Highly recommended! The tongue is tender and chewy at the same time. Sooo sooo good! We had 2 servings of this.
In case you wonder ;)
We had some miso soup, assorted veges, squid and scallop as well but counldn't care less to snap the pic as we were busy grilling haha. Anyway stay away for from the garlic scallop! It's priced at RM25.90 and for A PAIR came in neatly tucked in aluminium foil, sans shell. Only 2 pieces! I find it rather expensive and not that nice pun. If you like scallop, just go ahead enjoy it ;)
All and all, it's quite interesting dining. But it's kinda expensive to me..the bill came slightly above 200 for 2 of us and looking at the diners there...mannn..ini memang tempat org kaya. Everybody dress branded stuff from head to toe! Kidding I don't know what brand their tudung is hehehe. But I spot a lot of Chanel that night! And this one mom with small kid wearing that quilted Chanel handbag and Chanel espadrilles. Pheww..definitely not my circle ;-)
Anyway, if I go there again, I'll definitely order the harami and beef tongue!
We took a small walk after that wandering inside Publika but nothing much to see/shop. I pun dah tak ingat ada butik apa...but not my cup of tea la.
Very spacious
Found this touch screen directory, which is NOT working. I tried two machines which stands at each ends and both are out.
After a long walk, finally we found our place!! Ben's Independent Grocer! Duh...typical married couple hahahaha. This is my first time browsing stuff in BIG (ye la..selama ni Giant, Tesco, Jusco je hehehe) and their stuff is amazeballs! I think the market is more to the expat instead of local. Local2 mana nak beli menda2 pelik ni sangat. Hmm... come to think, I will!! If I have extra cash hehehe.
Red mango!! Wonder how it tastes like.
Look at the eggplant, so shinyyyyyyyy!!
Kale!! Most fav vege in US food blogger. One of the superfood. I haven't seen this in normal hypermarket. Quite expensive but forgot how much though.
Arrays of tomatoes! My fav fruits!
Apparently this is is how white onion looks like, when a recipe calls for it.
Because I always thought the white onion is the one I'm holding LOL! Ok yg I pegang tu dipanggil golden onion rupanya.
Pearl onion. So....cute?
Golden raspberries
Fancy schmancy spread
And sauces
And peppercorns! Ada rose peppercorn okkkk. Does it hot and smell rose?
Extra fresh hydroponic vege. You can cut it out straight from the planter. Woww... I wonder if it works that way at home.. I mean, will it grow if I do this hydroponic thingy? I looks easy..but nothing is easy right hehe
Volcano rice, whatever it is
Condensed milk out of a tube. So convenience! Practical for whom use it like a few times a year (like me!) hehe.
Abundance of cheese goodness. I can stand and stare this section forever!
Didn't get any present for my birthday (well, I already bought something though and will post it later when it arrives hehehehe) and believe it or not, se-posh2 Publika, ada Daiso ok!! So apa lagi..Daiso la tempat I lepak and I chose this two cute notebooks and declare it as my birthday present can? Hehehe!
It's for me to jot down my random thought on craft ideas.
It's almost half a year since I converted the kids from babysitter to playschool environment. I've blogged about it once, how they are happy and doing all those artsy fartsy thingy. The thing is, it's not everyday like that. In fact, it has been 6 challenging months to all of us. The morning never been easy where all the cries will suddenly come out aboutnot wanting mommy to go to work, want to be home with mommy, i don't like school, etc. But it's getting better nowadays. I think, after the 6 months, the kids will finally accept the fact that have to get up and do something.
At least for Zahra, thing has been better. She rarely cries (except when I picked her very late due traffic jam and she will have this moment don't like the idea of mommy working, on the next morning) and sometimes excited pulak nak pegi sekolah. She started to have friends and things she likes about school. As for Emir, it's quite unpredictable. He was okay on the early months, then he had this meltdown for about a week, then back to OK and bouncy..then currently, has this separation anxiety, not with me, but with his daddy! He's very attached to MrComot this few days and will wail his heart out when we leave him at school. Pening!
There were times when I told MrComot "I'm giving them another month. If things are not better, I'm going to send them back to babysitter!". So much pressure.
Thanks God the whines and wails are reducing..because I don't think it's healthy to switch them back to babysitter. I mean..sekejap sekolah sekejap tak sekolah. Confused budak2 tu.
Ok, enough the rambling. About their latest activity at school.
This school has their quarterly event - the birthday walk where all birthdays will be celebrated 4 times a year. Ye lah..kalau buat ikut real birthday, macam hari-hari pulak ada birthday kan because there are lots of kids there hehehe.
So since Zahra is January baby, she is involved in this 1st quarter birthday walk. Parents are encouraged to join but not compulsory but since this is her first, of course la I nak join
Ok lets the picture do the talking k
My kiddos having morning snack. I don't know why he made the sour face. He is fine though..throughout the event
I love this picture. My hensem boy ni suka makan. But this is the first time I observe him at school. So, the school has 3 different break for the kids, first is baby khalifah (BK) which is Emir's group, then little khalifah (LK) which is Zahra's and the last one is junior khalifah (JK) which is for 5-6 kids. So imagine Emir is taking his own sweet time to eat from baby khalifah until junior's time! He never stop! When I asked him to join the baby's class he will point out to the cereal asking for more!
Birthday walk ceremony - all the LK and JK. BK is playing in their own classroom.
After a while Emir notice I'm here so he's running to join in the LK and JK
We are celebrating earth day too. I pledge time!
Zahra doing the birthday walk. Since she is 4yo, she has to round the sun while holding the earth 4 times, to indicate how a year goes by, while they sing the months of the year song for each year. I also had to do some slides about her and the teacher will discuss the slides content with the kids. Few...so much work for the parents ok. Not that I'm complaining, it just made me realize, sending children to school is a hard work for parents too! It's not like you can just send them off and ok! See you at 6! You have to get involved, bukan lepas tangan macam tu je*lap peluh*
Early lunch time. Emir is among the first at the table haha
Zahra being independent. She's a total different at home. Kalau kat rumah, susah nak makan and I have to do everything for her, suap dia makan, pick the crumbs, lap hingus, pegang botol susu
All the Jan-Apr babies at the birthday table
Blowing candles
And cutting cakes
After everybody is full, we were entertained by....
Magic show and clowns! Like seriously? Haha so much fun! The magic show is pretty entertaining, even I had good time watching it. There were few tricks that made the kids go crazy, like the one when he pull out a long long long strip of paper from his mouth. The kids jump off their feet and berebut pegi tarik the thing ok haha. And there was this time he fanned out confetti, all the kids jumping here and there try to catch it, that he had to shout "Sittttt!!! Sitttt!!" LOL.
Chicken dance time! Zahra and Emir love it much that they keep on doing the dance at home.
The crowd
Queuing for balloons
Art attack time. The got this scratch card and it will reveal the color underneath
Emir with his big balloon
Being laid back and carefree
You see me not
You see me yes
The "I don't care what other's doing, I got my own sword" moment
Frozen moment. They blast Let It Go song this time and everybody is singing it. Wow..Frozen is such a phenomenon. The kids even asked for encore and it is like over than 4 times I guess?
The kids had so much fun that day. I can leave them to sleep at the school and pick them later since they are full-time khalifah, but I have no heart to do so I just bring them back after the event. Suka lah budak2 tu get to stay with their mommy. Tak jadi I nak kemas rumah. Well, house can wait
We gave the kids and teachers some souvenirs for fun.
The night before, Zahra busy packing the goodie bag. It was a bit last minute so I didn't manage to go to Giant and buy candy/jelly/whatnot. So only toys inside, got fun stack-able pencil, glow in the dark thingy, stickers and the party blower.
Fabric covered button brooches for the teachers.
Also done last minute, helped by my colleague in the office hahaha
Happy birthday Zahra! Even though it's 4 months late. Anyway she still keep on asking me for a real party (we threw a proper birthday bash for her last year and she still remembers it) and I keep on saying when you are 5 sayang!
Berapa banyak party dia nak pun I tak tau. But from her action, I notice that it isn't really about the party, it's about getting presents because she keep on saying "I want to open a lot of presents! Nanti mommy beli baby doll baby alive yang boleh makan tu satu, make up barbie satu, bag trolley barbie yang ada gamba repunzel, aurora and snow white satu...bla bla bla ok?". Panjang betul list dia!
Kids nowadays..it's hard to bring them up without being materialistic. I know I don't spoil her much because I always reason out on buying stuff..but I'm not sure if it's enough. Sigh.
