More Graffiti and Walks

The graffiti artists have become more and more sneaky. You can hear them conferring in hushed whispers but you never really catch them in the act. You can tell when they have struck again by periodically checking their favourite sketching places.

This gives under table acts a whole new meaning. 

One graffiti artist turned himself in by excitedly repeating "eh-mo!" over and over again while pointing under his chair.

The best way to deter graffiti is to bring the younger artist on walks, preferably very long ones. He gets all excited at the prospect of walks and shouts "walk walk! shu! (shoe)".

We spotted piles of discarded trimmed tree branches. I was sorely tempted to drag a few back for an arts and craft session but gave up the idea because there were ants on some of them.

I'd to snap off a "steeck" for Bubs who demanded one. He likes to hit the ground as he walks.

And then he insisted on helping Hubs wash his car, dipping his hands into the bucket full of suds, sometimes slapping the bubbles onto the car, sometimes smacking the bubbles onto his chest (he probably thought it was bath time), trying to pick up the hose to water the car but ended up hosing himself instead. As they say, the more hands, the merrier :)

The Gremlin Strikes Again

Le Petite's a mum-to-be and the other day, her mum thought she was going to the Botanical Garden then immediately cautioned her not to look at monkeys. We were all mystified why couldn't she look at monkeys until she explained that it's a pantang for pregnant women to avoid looking at monkeys lest your baby ends up resembling one!

I thought hard about it ...............

Hubs must have watched gremlin movies while I was pregnant, LOL

Look out gremlin like Bubs is:

Out of nowhere, he'd run and hop onto the windows, holding onto the bars, rattling them. Natural born gremlin instinct, me thinks.

Once when he was unbelievably quiet for a few good minutes, I saw a gremlin run out with oven mitt clad hands. What astounded me was how he even got them on both hands without any help.

And where the gremlin goes, he leaves behind a path of mess and destruction. Often, poor Elmo is the victim of his misdeeds.

Remind me the next time I'm pregnant, to avoid watching any gremlins at work.

My Cousin's Big & Colourful Indian Wedding

My cousin J got married in a lavish Indian ceremony at a temple and it was a feast for the senses, incredibly bright and colourful, festive music playing, the scent of incense burning and the solemness of all the rituals. The earlier part of the ceremony was done separately with the bride and the groom going through the rituals separately.

My cousin J looking so pretty and radiant in her wedding saree. Look at how elaborate her hair is with all the tiny jasmine buds and jeweled accessories. She even had her ears pierced for the wedding!

Her handsome husband K with a flower garland around his neck.

It was a photography nut's dream come true ... I couldn't help myself exploring the temple (and hopefully didn't get in the way of anyone or offend anyone) taking so many colours. I spotted a pair of tourists at the temple who were also fascinated with the wedding.

Most of the guests were decked out in gorgeous sarees and dresses of all colours. Even the little ones looked festive.

My aunts also got into the spirit by dressing up.

 Unfortunately Bubs threw a tantrum so we had to leave early. Congrats again to the happy couple! :)

Team Building at the Spice Gardens

Who doesn't love team buildings? A chance to skive off work *ahem* I mean to bond and foster closer relationships with fellow team members ;)

I was a little doubtful when I first heard that we were going to the Spice Gardens at 2pm. Images of the hot, blazing sun and swarms of mosquitoes went through my mind but everyone assured me that:

• Trees would provide shade
• Free flow of mossie repellent

Nevertheless, I was well prepared. Desperate times called for desperate measures so I glammed up in my proven mossie repellent gear.

Everyone looked incredulously at me when I turned up for work wearing a long sleeved top, jeans and kung fu granny white socks with white sneakers.

"You'll sweat buckets there!" was a constant warning.

The humidity and heat were indeed stifling but to my surprise, it was a rather fun walk with my team. We groaned, we moaned but away from the air conditioned, carpeted office, away from our computers and e-mails, we were having animated conversations, stopping every now and then to pick out the best trail, poking fun of each other and whip out cameras. There were plenty of pretty spots to take photos.

And even more pretty spots to take a breather :p The giant swing has to be everyone's favourite. All the girls sat in it while the guys demonstrated chivalry by pushing us.

The Spice Gardens has so many picturesque nooks and crannies that many couples come here to take their pre-wedding photos. We saw a couple there that day. 

True to the tradition of hiking in Penang, somewhere near the peak, there was a rest area with free lemongrass and stevia brewed tea. There's something refreshing about drinking hot tea on a hot day when you feel hot ;)

My manager was the only person game enough to remove his shoes and give the reflexology path a try. I tried it once before and all I can say is ouch! Can you see how sharp the little pebbles are? It's supposed to be really good for your body's circulation but I think I'd be too busy gasping from pain and hopping from end to end to get it over with.

We finally reached the mini restaurant where we gratefully asked for cold drinks and feasted upon the tree dappled view of the sea. I was totally drenched in sweat but achievd my goal: not a single bug bite :D

Ballet Chic, a Coin Purse and Vintage Books

Chescada just got back from a week long trip to Hong Kong. I'm so jealous, especially when she showed us her H&M haul as well as all the food photos!

She has the most enviable wardrobe, she's wearing what I call ballet chic, grey lacy cardigan with a black, pleated midi skirt. If she wasn't wearing the cardigan all day at work, I'd have stolen it.

She got us each a cute little silicon coin purse and a chocolate shaped lip balm. There was a scramble for the coin purses for us to pick our favourite colours and I was so happy I got blue! When she brought out a box full of chocolates, we told her to save it for tea time until she pointed out that they were actually lip balms, LOL.

Dad passed me a box of old books and I was happy to find some vintage ones. These belonged to my sister and are probably even older than me. The Ladybird early readers are still in fantastic condition and when I opened the hard back cover, feeling the familiar papery smoothness, that whiff of old paper, the beautifully painted illustrations. The best part to me is the intricate designs of the front and back pages that all Ladybird books used to have: pale blue background with curling leaves and iconic fairy tale characters all spread around: the Wicked Witch with her hand curled around a red apple, the Gingerbread Boy running merrily, the Shoemaker hard at work ... all these brought back a flood of memories.

And these books! Tell me which girl growing up in the 80s didn't want to be either Jem and the Holograms or She-Ra?

Going Vegetarian at Quay Cafe

I was thrilled to find Quay Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant that serves more interesting vegetarian dishes apart from the usual economy rice options. It's located at what is popularly known as bank street in Penang and nestled in a heritage building (it's the same block as Digi to be exact).

The interior is very airy and spacious, in a loft style concept. I love the exposed brick walls and naked light bulbs hanging down from the ceiling. The simplicity ties in with the food offerings at Quay Cafe - basic, honest and unpretentious food. There are many long wooden tables and chairs, offering customers an option for communal dining. Cutlery is self served and all customers are expected to bring back their empty plates and cutlery themselves at the side of the restaurant (like school canteens).

We couldn't help but ordering up a storm just to try a little of everything.

Assam laksa (RM5) was good. Coming from a laksa lover who has sampled quite a few vegetarian options, I'd say this is pretty similar to the non-vegetarian option thought I didn't really find it filling.

The bento box (RM15) is an interesting concept as people tend to equate Japanese food to be primarily seafood based. Hubs found it to be bland but then again, we tend to be more partial towards strong flavours.

Nasi lemak (RM7) was nice, it has a piece of faux fish (fauish? fiux?) and I wish they had chunks of cucumber to go with it. If I'm not mistaken, they used brown/unpolished rice and when cooked with coconut cream, it is very rich and filling. We loved this and would order it again.

I'm a fan of old school desserts and couldn't pass up a chance to have peanut soup, it's served hot and it was lovely.

Also took the chance to have an outfit of the day photo taken against the gorgeous brick walls ;) The beautiful, intricate lace and satin skirt is a birthday pressie from Aussie Godma, thanks babe!

Quay Cafe's food is a little on the pricey side but is one of the better quality vegetarian restaurants that I've tried. It'd be a good place for vegetarians to bring their carnivorous friends as it has a chic kind of ambiance and the food is similar to non-vegetarian options. 

No 2, Church Street Ghaut,
10300, Penang
11am – 2.30pm
Closed on Sundays

Mini Quiche Bites

I made Mini Quiche Bites for Bubs, wanting to break out from his usual pasta/porridge choices. He took one look at it while it was baking in the oven and was all excited, shouting "cookie". It did look a little like cookies from his toddler point of view, they were round, they were baking in the oven ... even though they weren't exactly sweet, these small quiches are perfect for a quick meal hot from the oven and an even better snack when they're cold from the fridge with a squirt of ketchup :)

No exact ingredients measurements because I went by gauging
To fill up a 12 hole muffin tray you'll need:
3 - 4 eggs
5 tablespoons of grated cheese (I went with Parmesan)
Puff pastry sheets
Dash of cream
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
Few sprigs of fresh rosemary (chopped)
Pepper/salt (as needed)
Optional: diced streaky bacon for extra flavour

1. Oil the muffin tray very well (trust me on this)
2. Cut the puff pastry sheets to fit the inside of the muffin tray
3. Beat the eggs until smooth.
4. Add in cheese, cream, mushrooms, rosemary, bacon (if using), salt/pepper to the egg mixture and lightly beat to combine
5. Fill the muffin tray with the mixture
6. Bake approx at 180c for around 15 - 20 mins

Happy Mother's Day

We turned Bubs's play-with-paints art work into cards for Hub's mum and my mum for Mother's Day this year, complete with photos of how the painting was done, crayon scribbles for extra colour and casual snaps of him. I *think* I wrote the Chinese word for "happy" wrong ... oh well, I'll just say Bubs did it ;)

Happy Mother's Day to all you mummies & mummies-to-be. Yes, being a mummy is tiring, frustrating at times but feeling his sticky kiss on my cheek, his arms wrapped tightly around my neck and his delighted shout of "mar-meeeee" is more than worth it :)

A Rockin' Good Dinner

Hard Rock Hotel opened in Penang a couple of years ago and when it first opened, I dragged Hubs there just so I could get a Hard Rock pin.

I've a tiny collection of Hard Rock cafe guitar pins of different cities, each guitar is shaped from an iconic feature of the city, eg: Penang's one is formed from a beca (trishaw). When Hard Rock cafe started operating in Penang, we had lunch there and it was disappointing. The food wasn't at its best and so not worth its price so we put Hard Rock out from our minds and haven't been back until ...........

It was the closest place that had kid friendly meals (read: hygienic) since we were at the beach and we were starving so with a bit of misgiving, we went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. And I'd to eat my words! Both the food and service were amazing this time around.

We were greeted warmly and the staff went out of their way to made us feel very welcome. They got Bubs a balloon and I loved that they gave mini packets of crayons so your kids could scribble on the kids menu. Kids meals are a standard RM18 with a (one time) refillable soft drink/milk or you could pay RM22 for an upgrade to a milkshake and the cup can be brought home with you. We opted for the mac & cheese with a choc milkshake.

Bubs's food arrived super quick which impressed me - I mean you could argue that kids meals take little to no time to cook since it's usually simpler and the portion's a lot smaller but still, it makes us parents happy that little tummies don't have to wait long to to be filled. Bubs was unusually enthusiastic about his mac & cheese so I sneaked a few bites myself. It was really good that I kinda wished I ordered this for myself! I've eaten quite a few kids meals mac & cheese at restaurants and they usually taste pretty plastic-y or over salted to death but the flavor of this one was really well flavoured.

My Pulled Lamb (vinegar flavoured) sandwich, pay an extra RM8 to change from fries to onion rings and Hubs's Classic 10 oz Burger. The lamb sandwich was fantastic! The vinegar-y tang complemented the soft, shredded pieces of lamb served on burger buns very well though the portion was ginormous, I really struggled to finish this but gave up. Hubs's verdict on his burger was a thumbs up and again, a very generous serving.

Bubs and I matched each other in denim.The staff that night were incredibly friendly and even went the extra mile with their service. I wanted to bring back the empty milkshake cup but didn't want to chuck it into my handbag and I asked for a plastic bag. The wait staff did even better than that - she went to the kitchen to wash the cup and lid for me before placing it in a bag.

Would we go back again? A resounding YES from Hubs, Bubs and me :) 

Island in the Sun

Fairy Godma was back in town and was conveniently staying at a beach side resort. She offered us the use of her hotel room to wash off the sea water and sand in exchange for spending time with Bubs. How could we turn down such a generous offer? ;)

We reached the beach close to sunset and it was a gloriously hot day. It's been a loooong time since we'd last been there and I loved everything about it. From the feeling of sand between my toes, the salty tang of the seawater, the roar of the waves slapping the sand. That part of the beach was slightly deserted, there were a few couples strolling about but it wasn't packed with people.

It was Bubs's first time walking on sand and he didn't really like it at first because he kept sinking into it, LOL. It was also his first time being that close to the sea and it slightly freaked him out. We had to lure him closer to it by using his beach ball (best RM5 I've ever spent at Daiso!)

 After he got comfortable with sand, he loved it to bits! Being the cheapskate mummy, I didn't get him any beach toys but made full use of plastic bowls and kitchen ladles. He kept scooping the sand with the ladle into the bowl, pouring it out, smacking sand around, flinging it everywhere. He got sand everywhere, over his face, in his hair, his legs and arms were all covered with it. Didn't help that it stuck to the areas where I vigorously applied sunscreen. 

Hubs was trying to build him an island to maroon him on it but gave up after realising you'd need buckets full of sea water to fill the trench. Fairy Godma sat next to Bubs to help him build sand structures (not castles because those piles of sand looked nowhere near to being castle like)

It's pure bliss to have Bubs occupied by digging and digging and digging so I could take photos non stop. He was probably ecstatic that for once, his parents didn't care that he's getting all dirty and grimy. You can't leave the beach without at least wading in sea water so Fairy Godma and I coaxed Bubs to join us right at the edge of the water. Bubs initially looked worried at the sound of the sea rushing to shore and the waves that lapped over his feet but grew to enjoy it.

If it took a lot of persuasion to get Bubs on the sand earlier, it darn took even more honeyed promises to get him out from the beach and back to the hotel grounds. Surprisingly he got on so well with Fairy Godma's mum, they were, well, having a ball (pun intended) playing barefooted on the grass. He raised his arms up high to throw the ball over his head but didn't realise the ball fell behind him and was trying to look around for it,

He also went splashing with Fairy Godma in the kiddy pool (no photos because yours truly went wading in with him) - he did a cool version of mimicking swimming, arms moving up and down above his head and a half crouch walk in the pool.

Again, more dragging him out from the pool tantrum-style and this time to his very first bath in an adult bath tub. And sorry yet again for the lack of photos as by this time, we were so tired and hungry, we just wanted to go for dinner asap.

Fairy Godma - thanks for inviting us to the beach and to make use of your hotel room. You've no idea how much fun Bubs had that day, sand, sea and bath tub, probably the kiddie version of striking the lottery! The next time you come back to Penang, you know who to look for ;)

Shan's Children Home

My mum used to be a member of the Pearl Jaycees (that was really popular back in the 80s) and we were used participating during charity events, particularly children's homes like the Salvos. So when a few colleagues organized a trip to Shan's Children Home, it brought back many memories.

Penang Shan Children's Home caters towards orphans and disadvantaged children and relies on donations for their daily needs. The location is in a slightly eerie place, you have to drive through an old grave yard to reach it but once you reach the home itself, it's a very clean and cheerful place.

 

Dr Chandran, the Home's administrator, brought up a couple of very good points. When they first stayed there, they were a little frightened but they came to feel that there's nothing scary or macabre about being surrounded by our ancestors, the people before us and it's a reminder that sooner or later, we will all rest peacefully there. He also mentioned that in this age of pleasure and leisure, it's good for us to take out time to help them. It made me think ... when I'm gone, do I want to be known as someone who had a wardrobe bulging with clothes or as someone that helped put a smile on others?

We spent the afternoon playing games and chatting with the children there. It took a few games for them to really get into the spirit and to start having fun, giggling, laughing and just being themselves. Can I tell you how well behaved they are? Seriously, they are so disciplined and self restrained in a way that had all of us amazed. When goodie bags were handed out to each child, they lined up patiently without shoving or rushing to the front. During tea time, before they ate slices of cake, they prayed fervently, mouths moving silently to prayers, hands firmly clasped together. 

The part where I nearly had tears was when they were given bottles of Vitagen. You could see the delight in their eyes over an unexpected treat, being able to choose what flavour they wanted and even when they wanted a second bottle, they were shy about asking and when we gave it, they were just so happy. It made me realized how lucky we've been when we have so much and others that are less fortunate have so little. It's so richly rewarding to give and see how joyous the children are.

If you're keen on helping them out, you can contact them here:
Penang Shan Children's Home
679-D Jalan Mount Erskine,
Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang
Tel/Fax: 04-2292186 / 016-4127711
shanchildrenhomepg@yahoo.com

The Bedtime Ritual

As much as I love being a mummy and spending time with Bubs, I crave for a little slice of "me time" every night when he's asleep.

The bedtime ritual starts like this ...

After a satisfying bath with demands for me to make MORE buh-bels (bubbles) and covering most of the floor with soapy suds, Hubs brushes Bubs's teeth and trust me when I say it's a chore to brush all 12 of his milk teeth. Bubs squirms away whenever he sees the toothbrush coming, says a very loud "MAI" (no) and shakes his head very firmly. It takes a lot of cajoling, threatening and pleas for him to open his mouth for us to brush. Even then, whenever we try to brush his lower teeth, his tongue covers them tightly and refuses to budge.

It takes a few tries to get him to bed. Sometimes he'll demand to be rocked to sleep, sometimes he say "kot! kot!" wanting Hubs to put him in his cot and pat him to sleep. Othertimes he'll go sing a few bars of "ABC" which means Hubs then has to sing the alphabet song over and over as a bedtime lullaby.

When he's finally asleep, I need a little wind me down :) My poison of choice? Ice cream, particularly Haagen Dazs green tea or Baskin Robbins chocolate peanut butter. And lurrrve a good scented candle and a even better scented body oil.

Wandering About Town

Have you all been enjoying this recent slew of public holidays? So have we!

We wandered about one of my favourite areas in town: the colourful heritage area near Little India after dinner at Woodlands. This is me dressing the part in my white boyfriend-ish kurta-like top complete with heavily jeweled sandals.

 An old school pedal bicycle plus a pay phone: two things that you don't see often nowadays, let alone together!

Spotted this incredibly cool vintage Morris Minor complete with a green rubber horn at the side of the car. I was so tempted to squeeze the bulb just for the heck of it.

Bits of crumbling paint on an old house. If you look closely, you can see a small plant beginning to grow on the top of it. It struck me that this house was probably brand new during my grandparents time but might not last through when I become a grandparent myself. This is why I love snapping photos of these areas, to preserve whatever memories there might be left of Penang long gone by.

It was a beautiful evening. This building houses both the Eng Loh kopitiam and a budget motel. Mum told me that before swanky hotels were commonplace in Penang, visiting relatives would stay a night or two at these motels.

The Baba Nonya mansion nearby is a gorgeous and vivd hue of mint green. This was filmed for the Singaporean hit series Little Nonya.

And if you're looking for even more colourful treats as cheap as chips, try the Indian costume jewelry shops around the area. They have rows of rainbow coloured bangles, bindis and other accessories.

Watercoloured Stripes with Scooter Boy

Have you been loving stripes lately? There's something nautical and fresh about stripes and they're such a wardrobe staple as they seem to come back in season often.

I was attracted to the watercolour-ish look of these chunky stripes. The blurry shades of blue popped beautifully with a necklace my Mum gave me.

This is my baby step into mixing stripes with dots. The black shorts have tiny little swiss dots on them and to add on chaos to the clashing prints, I added gold glittery flats.

We got a Micro scooter for Bubs, it's designed to be used from age 1 - 7 (or approx 20kg, I think). It comes with a little attached seat for when they're still small to push with both legs and you can remove the seat and change it to a handle bar when they get better coordinated or taller.

Bubs was doing a happy little dance while waiting for Hubs to fix it. He kept calling it a bicycle and was sooo excited because he's seen Elmo on his tricycle.

Off we go! This was just seconds before he fell over, LOL. I'd no idea how he could fall over from something that had 3 wheels and was pretty stable. He got this freaked out look and kept saying "pom pom (fall down) ah!" It took us a lot of coaxing for him to get back on the scooter.

And after a few days, he refused to sit on it by himself unless we're hoovering behind him to get ready to catch him if he falls. He decided it'd be far more fun to put Elmo on it and push Elmo along.

Chocolate Soy Mousse

A long, long time ago, my parents would take my sister, brother and me to hotel buffet lunches every Sunday. It was our thing and a much anticipated one too. There would be dazzling arrays of dishes to choose from, white clad waiting staff that were friendly to us little kids and of course, the best part were the rows of scrumptious desserts.

Back in the 80s, the most sophisticated dessert I'd ever seen and tasted was chocolate mousse. I was amazed at how it looked like ice cream, tasted like ice cream but yet wasn't ice cream and didn't melt. And the name! Mousse! I kept calling it a chocolate mouse and when Mum corrected me, my 7 year old mind conjured up images of an edible chocolate moose.

So I got all nostalgic and reminiscing about my childhood dessert when I saw this post (recipe included) for an easy chocolate soy mousse that didn't require a lot of fancy ingredients.

Get a bar of chocolate ... I choose to be naughty and got a few more than the recipe recommended just for that extra chocolaty taste.

And a block of soft tofu. Yes, people, I go organic where possible.

Break the bar(s) of chocolate into chunks and melt them over a pot of boiling water.

Blend the uncooked tofu with the melted chocolate, chill and serve.

Tadaaa, instant chocolate soy mousse!

All About Bubs

Cup of Jo's post about being initially disappointed on having a boy resonated with me. To those that know me, I'm such a girly girl, I can't stop shopping for pretty things and thought it would be incredibly fun to dress a little girl up in little tutus and play with Barbies. I remember confiding my fears in Hubs when we found out that Bubs was a boy.

"I don't know how to play with boys ... what on earth do you play with boys?" was a constant wail.

All that changed when we met Bubs for the very first time. He's a little bundle of energy, even from the very first day - he'd cry lustily whenever displeased, gulp his milk down hungrily like it was the best thing he'd ever had and kick his little legs around.

At 19 months old now, it's like having a mini whirlwind in the house. He fidgets when sitting down, runs around non stop, swings open the fridge and never fails to rush to Hubs or me screaming "ma-meee, da-deeee!", demanding a bao bao.

Like Joanna, I view the world now through his little boy's eyes. Things that were mundane before, such as soap suds, strays or stones, become objects of wonder. What do you do with little boys? There's nothing you can't do! Everyday is a new learning experience and constant activity for Bubs. Here are a few things we do together:

Bubs is at the stage where he's fascinated with wovvs wovvs (dogs) and miaooo (cats). Every time we go on walks, he tries to spot strays and waves frantically to them. This photo was taken at a kopitiam where he was fixated with the cat there.

I'm ashamed to say that Hubs and Bubs are both early risers and they mercifully let me have 1 - 2 hours extra in bed on weekends. When Bubs decides that I've had enough sleep, he bounces on the bed excitedly to show me his latest discovery of the day hidden in his hands: pebbles

It was our first time exploring poster paints together and we made such a mess. We didn't have any brushes so we improvised with a spoon, a fork and our hands.

I got cheap Popsicle makers but the plastic looked really flimsy so I didn't really want to eat anything from it and put it to good use by making colourful ice blocks for Bubs to play with during bath time. Bubbles and other kitchen utensils are his favourite thing right now. We've an assortment of bowls and spoons kept in the shower and Hubs said "so anytime I can't find something from the kitchen, I can find it here?"

Can't wait to create more fun memories and see the look of wonder and amazement on his face :)

My Everyday Face

Every single morning, I roll out of bed and when I look into the mirror, I give a little eek! If Bubs was good the night before and if I get my 10 hours of sleep, then all's well. Otherwise ...

Freckles are my bane. They are one of the things that somehow look cute on others but so out of place on me :( I don't even understand how I get them as I'm very particular about not stepping out of the house without some form of SPF on. And let's talk dark eye circles, I've always had problems with them but if Bubs is getting through a fussy growth spurt or a difficult teething period, they end up looking like bruises.

So to avoid looking like an extra from The Night of the Living Dead, these are my everyday essentials ...

Can I tell you how much I love Bobbi Brown's BB cream? I used to use a separate sunblock, wait for it to dry, then tinted moisturizer on top because I felt the SPF 15 in tinted moisturizers were inadequate until D told me about this BB cream. It has SPF 35, it feels more hydrating and has a slightly thicker coverage so it hides some of my freckles. To conceal all my tired looking bits, I use Bobbi Brown's Face Touch Up Stick. It hides my dark eye circles (they've a separate concealer for that but I prefer products that multitask), lightens freckles and annoying little zits.

I'm a blush addict - there's something about a swirl of colour on my cheeks that just makes me look more awake and lively. I can't narrow my favourite blush down to just a single shade but my current to go colour is MAC's Briar Rose (limited edition from the Venomous Villains collection). I've a soft spot for Maleficent, the elegant, evil sorceress from Sleeping Beauty.

Happy Birthday!

Birthdays for Hubs and I have been low key events now with usually just a cake (why hello, Humble Beginnings) at home. Can I tell you about my love for mille crepes?

 Delicate layers and layers of cream filled with cream, chocolate bits and dabs of peanut butter. Bubs was excitedly shouting "cake", before me could stop him, he bent over the box and used his mouth to steal bites of the chocolate shaving on top :)

Bubs had a blast blowing out the candle, it took him more than a few tries and yes, I'm pretty sure the top of the cake was splattered with his attempts (sorry to those that I gave pieces of the cake to)

A joint effort birthday card from my two boys.

 

And one of the best presents ever - my first durian of the season ... soooo so good. I'm one of those weird people that eat durian with a spoon and a bowl. Love the taste but hate the lingering smell on my fingers that I just can't get off, no matter how many times I lather up my hands with soap so this is the easiest solution. Bubs and I were fighting over this bowl of durian, he kept saying "more! more!"

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes, cards and pressies :) I feel so loved and blessed.