Marble Painting

Ever since Penang implemented its no plastic bag campaign, some supermarkets were kind enough to leave empty cartons near the cash registers for shoppers. Hubs had been complaining about the pile of empty boxes in our home so I put it to good use by following this post. It incorporates a few of Bub's favourite things: marbles, paint and mess - not necessarily in that order.

The idea is uber simple and works perfectly for children that don't want to sit still and paint. Plus, you get to explain some scientific stuff about friction, slopes and velocity.

You'll need:
Marbles
Paint
Paper
Large box (you could use a shoe box too)

Bubs started out by placing a sheet of paper in the box and then painted a marble.

He then rolled it around in the box and was instantly amazed by the "tracks" it left behind.

He got excited and painted more colours and experimented with multiple marbles in the box.

Looking at how they whizzed around the box. I almost felt like singing rollin' with my hommies, but realised the movie Clueless is almost 2 decades old ;)

Proudly holding up his artwork with his sludgey-looking hands.

O' My Georgetown! Books, Arts & Crafts Fair

I'm so proud of how the arts scene in Penang is thriving, what with all the weekend markets and art exhibitions. Island Plaza hosted O' My Georgetown - Penang's first books, arts and craft fair and I couldn't resist heading over for a peek.

Bubs was mesmerised with the pair of giant, mustached cardboard bunnies right at the entrance.He wasn't that keen on the arts and craft section so Hubs took him over the books section while I'd a quick browse around the area. There were sooo many interesting tables that covered photography, thought provoking literature, card making, book binding and even fashion.

Milly Milk Ville had whimsically painted wood pieces crafted into wearable jewelry and the cutest range of cloth binded journals.

 

Check this out - illustrations of nothing but kitty cats! Pouty, grumpy, cuddly furballs in all colours by KLoh E Le Chat. I couldn't resist picking up one of the tiny, hand painted cat pictures that kind of reminds me of Bubs, half mischievous, half devil-ish. 

The Listen to My HeArt charity art sale and exhibition organised by the Malaysian Resource Centre for Hearing and Speech-Language (Marches) had a range of paintings done by individuals with autism. 

One of the most intricate and delicate work of art was by Timeless Realm, her paper cuttings and illustrations were so gorgeous and I wish I could afford to bring back a piece. 

I thought I'd seen everything at book fairs but I was blown away with the antique books that Leo Books had for a reasonable price. There were books by Charles Dickens, Shakespeare and even a copy of Debrett's Peerage from the 40s. The musty, intoxicating smell of old books, the feel of the thick paper and gilded covers had me browsing for ages. 

Some of the inscription on the books fascinated me more than the actual content. This copy of Lorna Doone was a prize presented o a student of the St. Martin's School during the mid 30s, just look at the impeccable cursive handwriting! 

I came back carting these gems - a 50 year old Enid Blyton book, a 30 year old Dandy and what I thought would be the perfect introductory book for Bubs (when he's a little bigger) to myths and legends. 

And of course, my lil super hero refused to leave without this Super Hero Squad annual ;) This book kept him busy and very quiet while I was browsing through the OMG fair so Hubs insisted on rewarding him with it.

During the Weekend

Bubs had an invitation to his kindy friend's party at the play centre at Gurney Plaza. Hubs and I didn't even realised that there was an indoor playground there, it's just one floor above Popular at Gurney and relatively new.

It was Bub's first time at an indoor playground and boy, did he had fun there romping, jumping, sliding, crawling and climbing. The ball pit was a hit with the small and big kids alike; I was half tempted myself to go in and just wallow amongst the balls.

 

Enjoying cake with his best buddy the birthday boy. I found it sweet each time the birthday boy's parents asked the birthday boy to go over to cut the cake, take photos, etc, he'd grab Bub's hand and say "come, let's go!". Bubs ended up in quite a number of their family photos ... oppps ...

We'd dinner with Hub's family at 1881 Chong Tian which is a string of old pre-war houses renovated into a boutique hotel. It was flawlessly decorated with lots of beautifully restored antiques. You're allowed to wander around the ground floor and the upper floors are strictly for hotel guests only.

A touch of greenery in the indoor courtyard.

The restaurant serves Chinese dishes and I highly recommend the pork ribs. They were sooo good and we were all fighting each other for them.

Mum in Law picked the dessert: fried pancakes accompanied with a tureen of peanut soup. Hubs couldn't stop drinking bowlfuls of this creamy, decadent dessert.

Overall, we found it to be a nice place for quiet dinners, especially for families that enjoy traditional sit down Chinese food, though slightly on the pricey side.

1881 Chong Tian
38 Jalan Pintal Tali, Georgetown, 10100 Pulau Pinang
Phone:04-263 1881

3 Things

There were 3 things for the week that definitely made me feel awesome :)

My love of anything and everything green tea has expanded to these packs of green tea Kit Kats and Oreos I found at Jusco. Each time I see a green tea Kit Kat, it reminds me of the time where Hubs went to Japan for a business trip. Bubs and I were supposed to tag along but we didn't manage to get Bub's passport and visa done in time so Hubs went by himself. I requested for green tea Kit Kats, he said he couldn't find any and I told him to go look harder.

Then the huge earthquake of 2011 happened and Hubs was stranded there. When he managed to get a flight out and reached Penang, I literally flung myself (and Bubs as well, since he was a tiny baby and I was carrying him) into his arms, sobbed tears of joy that he was back ... people in the airport were all staring at me like I was a nutter ... when I calmed down, my first question was "Did you get me green tea Kit Kats?"

*face palm moment for Hubs*

Fairy Godma loaned me the best book I've read all year - John Green's The Fault in our Stars. Don't let the young adult label put you off, this is very well written with brilliant dialogue and some intensely heart wrenching scenes. I think I was already sobbing uncontrollably about a quarter into the book. I got a bunch of his other books at 30% off from Popular and slowly savouring them.

Toys R Us finally had the minifigures from the Lego movie and the Simpsons in and one of the staff was kind enough to help me feel through the blind bags to find the Panda Guy. I was a little amused to see grown men standing at the counter and feeling their way through the blind bags methodically while most of the kids weren't interested in them! I'm really hoping to find Mr. Burns - all rounder evil dude - and Ralph Wiggum (Me fail English? That's un-possible). Too bad they didn't release an Edna Krabappel or Sideshow Bob minifigure. Bubs have been given strict instructions that these are Mummy's toys and he'll inherit them when Mummy's reallllllly old ;)

K-Pot

We stumbled upon K-Pot by accident after our favourite Japanese restaurant around the area was closed. While browsing through its menu by the door, we spotted a few Korean families going in so it looked promising. Plus there was a huge sign on the wall stating that they don't use any MSG or preservatives.

The bright and cheery interior which can comfortably seat quite a number of people. 

 

 

The owner was helpful in recommending dishes for us as we aren't very familiar with Korean food. All of the food came served with a small dish of kimchee and fresh salad, plus iced rice tea is free and you get a tall beaker of it. The udon (RM9.50) was for Bubs and served piping hot in a clear broth that was flavourful. If a sprinkle of seaweed could be added in, it'd be the perfect dish.

The K-Pot topokki (RM12) came with julienned carrots, fish cakes and topped in a sweet and spicy sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the topokki was fresh and chewy and although I initially complained it looked small, the soft rice cakes were quite filling. Hubs tried some and broke out in a sweat: apparently I'm so used to eating fiery hot chillis, I never realised it was that spicy. 

Hubs had the kimchee fried rice (RM14.50) which at first glance, looked boring but it wow-ed both of us. The tangy, crunchy kimchee was a nice accompaniment to the smoky fried rice and this really tasted home cooked.

As Hubs was ravenous, he ordered the cheese kimbap which was like a Japanese sushi roll but without the wasabi. It had preserved raddish for a nice crunch though Bubs made a face and poked it out. To my delight, K-Pot also has a bunch of Coca Cola in - check this out - glass bottles, that's right, just like old times and I was allowed to bring the glass bottle back, yayyy for little bits of happiness :D

There was a table of Korean high school students next to us and I was fascinated with how polite they were. When one of the restaurant owners came in, all of the students immediately stood up, bowed and greeted him. Talk about manners, I'm impressed!

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at K-Pot given that the portions were decent and prices very reasonable. The dishes were simple, nothing fancy but has that pleasant, home cooked vibe. A bonus point was the incredibly friendly and kid loving owner that played with Bubs and even gave him free lollies.

 K-Pot
Address: 98-G-33 Prima Tanjung, Tanjung Tokong, 11200 Penang
Telephone:012-405 7421

Drained

image credit

It's been such a draining week with my laptop crashing (folks, backup your data, I cannot stress that enough), work getting so hectic and a nasty flu bug going around the office.

A couple of pick me ups - Bubs pleasantly surprised me by being able to read C A T. His school doesn't teach reading or math so I've been trying to teach him phonics and counting at home so I was  delighted that I seem to be doing something right, I think :D

Hubs mysteriously hinted that my love of Lego and the Simpsons will be coming soon in the mail. *squeals* Can't wait!

Happy Mother's Day

Hubs had to work on Sunday so we had a very low key pre-Mother's Day afternoon treat at my favourite coffee joint - the very old school Toh Soon. Finding parking and a table there is a pain but the super rich coffee and that charcoal toasted kaya bread make up for it.

The best bits of being a Mum, to me, have to be all those tight cuddles and the sloppy kisses. I love our bedtime stories together and early morning cuddles. The best memories I have of my Mum is her teaching me to read from Peter & Jane books (I still have those slim hardbacks)

Happy Mother' Day to all you Supermums!

Ipoh in Peek-tures

A quick round up of our recent weekend to yes, Ipoh again :)

We started off with a slice of blueberry cheesecake at Allegra. The thing I love the most about their desserts is that it's not cloyingly sweet and you can taste the quality of ingredients.

Being creatures of comfort, we went back again to Bougainvillea City Cafe for lunch. This time, we managed to try their much touted white coffee burger - we are in Ipoh after all, the town of white coffee :) The beef patty was succulent and juicy and the flavours went really well together. I also enjoyed the mixed fresh salad at the side which is a refreshing change.

 

Hubs was craving for some Ipoh dim sum and we really didn't want to brave the morning crowds so we found one that serves dim sum for dinner. Yoke Fook Moon is located at the same street as Ipoh's grand dame of dim sim - Foh San, and it was quiet and pleasant during dinner. To my surprise, it was air conditioned and clean, almost like a Chinese restaurant but with middle aged ladies carrying trays full of piping hot yummy morsels. The chee cheong fan is a must try: the slippery soft rice noodles with its smoky tasting soy sauce, shallot oil and a smear of sambal was out of this world fantastic. Bubs and I went crazy over the musang king durian egg tart (seasonal) - the rich egg-y custard laced with sweet, creamy durian cased in a flaky, buttery pastry. I regret not buying extras to tah pao!

Yoke Fook Moon
No 67-69, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh
Telephone : 05-241 6589
Business hours : 6am-10am, 6.30pm-11pm.

For dessert, we drove to Vanity Haus at Canning Garden for the famed brownies. The cafe reminds me of an aunt's living room filled with Venetian masks, oil paintings and damask wall paper. Perched on top of one cabinet was an old school typewriter which Bubs was curious about. I told him it was a prehistoric computer ;) No menus exist in this place ... and no chalkboard/mirror menus either. The poor waitress had to repeat the choices on offer from table to table. The Nutella brownie was dense, rich and very intense, albeit a trifle smaller than what we expected.

Vanity Haus
8, Jalan Keliling, Canning Garden, 31400 Ipoh,
Telephone:  05-5458761

Met up with Fairy Godma the next morning and oooh-ed and aaaah-ed over her HUGE hotel room. It looked like a 60s Hong Kong hotel on the outside but the inside was lush! They even had a mini cinema free for hotel guests.

JJ Swiss Rolls were on a couple of "things to eat in Ipoh" blogs so we headed off to find it ... errrr ... except we got really lost. We kept driving past where we thought it would be, we blamed the GPS and then each other, we asked for directions until I got so frustrated, I called the shop. Jennifer was really nice and stayed on the line with us as she provided clear directions for the new location of the shop.

The shop is well known for their mind boggling variety of swiss rolls, where else would you be able to find spinach and cream cheese with cashew nuts Swiss rolls? The Swiss rolls are low sugar plus do not contain preservatives so we were reminded to finish them within 3 days and to keep them refrigerated. I stared at the gigantic chillers that lined the wall end to end and tried to make a choice. They had wolfberry, passion fruit, carrot cream cheese (I kid you not), yam, corn ... Durian was unfortunately sold out so I settled for cempedak (RM18) and chocolate hazelnut (RM18).

I loved the soft, fluffy texture, it was almost like eating a cloud :) The cempedak filling was really good and complemented the simple vanilla roll. Hubs wasn't impressed with the chocolate hazelnut though and said it was nice, but nothing extraordinary. Bubs had his little mouth stuffed with both and waved a thumbs up ;)

JJ Roll
127, Jalan Bharu, Off Jalan Kampar, 30250 Ipoh
Jennifer : 6016-520 9933

 

We headed to Missing Marbles again for lunch. The beef tataki was served with lime slices, bonito flakes and a myriad of fresh vegetables; it reminded me of yee sang for some reason and it was a refreshing dish on a hot day.

The lychee, vanilla ice cream and creme brulee dessert was fairly simple but wow-ed us to no end. Tempted to go find a blow torch just to replicate this at home.

Wandered around the area where a tiny flea market was in progress. There were artisan soaps and a DIY card making section.

Found this gem of a jewelery boutique where the owner can be found tinkering over her own creations.

Kristy Collection
Jalan Sultan Yussuf, Ipoh, Perak
Telephone:+6016 7630 935

 

No matter how many times I walk through this sun dappled area with its old crumbling buildings, uneven brick walkways, I always want to stop for just a bit and stare at the surroundings.