Merry Christmas!

This holiday season has been amazing with meeting up old friends, enjoying family meals and beating the crazy Penang jams by chillaxing at home. 

My brother-in-law very kindly carted Red Kettle's fruit cake for me all the way from KL. Bubs and I have also been busy with holiday cookie baking.

Nothing says relaxation better than a good book (usually not a zombie fan but the Girl with all the Girls was one of those books that I couldn't put down), using Bub's artwork as a bookmark and a generous wedge of the above-mentioned fruit cake, which was truly delectable with generous fruit and nut chunks.

On Christmas morning, Bubs woke up in tears because Santa didn't leave him a thank you note for the cookies and milk he left out. I glared at Hubs, who had told me the night before that Bubs was too old to believe in Santa notes anymore. It took a lot of persuasion for Bubs to stay in the bedroom while I ran out at 7am to pen a thank you note in my best cursive and giftwrap something from Santa. 

Bubs also loved the box of Christmas crackers or "merry poppers" from my cousin Jean. I couldn't stop laughing at the look of shock and immediate recoil on their faces when Bubs and Hubs pulled their first cracker together with a loud SNAP. 

Xmas Festivities

December has been a whirlwind of celebrations and emotions for us. I'm still in denial that next week, Bubs will officially be a primary school kid already! Where did that chubby newborn that refused to sleep through the night go to?

Bub's Xmas Festival at school was a bittersweet one. He was so proud and eager to show us his speech, songs and dances, but at the same time, it was the last day of school so he wasn't looking forward to that either.

As usual, the parents were greeted with colourful Santa origami and crayon-coloured paper stars that each child made.

Thankfully the weather was clear and we were able to have morning tea outside. The children baked the butter cookies themselves earlier and this was Hub's favourite. The parents chatted together about the activities, primary schools, worries and traded cherished stories about what the children did playing together.

We were so proud of Bubs :) He performed beautifully even though there were a couple of times where his shoulders tensed up and you could see a determinedly stoic look on his face when he held back tears. Little confession: I was nearly in tears myself at this point, haha! Each child brought back a stocking stuffed to the brim with artwork and a tiny origami ornament.

To celebrate this transition from small boy school to big boy school, we revisited one of our favourite cafes: the Alley. Bubs was flipping through the reading selection at the side.

No place for a tree? This is an ingenious way to still add a festive touch.

The best cronuts and churros in town served with a generous scoop of home made ice cream and salted egg dip (RM18) which is slightly on the pricey side but soooo good and worth every single cent.

Glam Girl was generous in gifting Bubs a couple of tickets to the Gurney Paragon indoor playground. which he thoroughly enjoyed. The biggest hit was the ginormous slides that lead to a pit filled with gazillions of rainbow coloured balls. Bubs was so enthralled, he even dove straight into the balls and swam with them!

Nutty for Granola

I used to eat the greasiest or sweetest things I could get my hands on for breakfast quite a while back. Think along the lines of nasi lemak drenched with squid sambal, curry flavoured instant noodles topped with a deep fried egg, sugary cereals with cold Milo ... mmm. Now that age (and an expanding waistline) is creeping up on me, breakfasts have simplified into sourdough, yoghurt and granola. I've developed a strong liking now for good granola topped with either a splash of milk or yoghurt. 

Amzin' Graze has an incredibly yummy range of granola and can be purchased online. I like that they're a small, local startup and incorporate Asian twists into their granolas, such as green tea, gula Melaka. Shipping to Penang was fast with the items packaged securely to minimise damage.

This is my favourite: the gingerbread granola that came with puffed barley and such a strong Christmassy scent that it flavoured the plain yoghurt. Bubs loved finding random pieces of candied ginger hidden amongst the granola.

If you prefer doing your shopping offline and looking for a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of heavy traffic, Shia's Homemade Granola has a cafe in the middle of Georgetown, Penang. The menu is kept simple but no less wholesome and delicious with offerings like smoothie bowls, almond milk and

Popicles! This is the chocolate peanut butter one (RM6) made from almond milk and sprinkled with her signature crunchy granola. To be honest, I was hesitant about ordering this as I've a fear of sickly sweet almond scents like marzipan, but Shia's version was very light and fresh. I finished this down in no time.

The cafe is  slightly on the tiny side and fits only a couple of tables but don't let that deter you from visiting this cosy nook. There are also a handful of Penang themed souvenirs and tidbits from artisan food makers in addition to their own granolas available for sale.

Shia's Homemade Granola
+60 12-455 6769
No.1, India House, Church Street Ghaut, 10300 George Town, Malaysia

Little Things in Life

We'd been kept incredibly busy the past few weeks with work, kindy and getting prepared for the new year ahead. These are a handful of stuff that kept us relatively sane. 

Bubs is really lucky to have cousins slightly older than him and generous in giving hand-me-downs in tip top condition. This dragon hoodie tee is one of his favourites.

I am in awe that Bubs made this (with the teacher's guidance): a strip of colourful fabric woven by himself on a mini loom, nestled in a paper origami box.

And this cute pirate treasure map he made one day at home when he was bored.

We got books and bookmarks for his kindy mates as a farewell present.

Plus this made me all teary-eyed: primary school uniform shopping! I can't believe that my baby is no longer tiny and will be stepping foot into Standard 1 next year. We've been busy stocking up on stationeries, lunch boxes and everything school related.

I've been consoling myself with these yummy bites that are so addictive, they carry a warning. The salted egg texture with bits of crispy curry leaves go perfectly with the potato/fish skin slices. These are crazily priced though (SGD16 per pack) and with the weak exchange rate at the moment, it's more of an indulgence than a routine stress reliever.

Little Journeyman Cafe

I was practically salivating after seeing all the gorgeous photos of melting raclette taken at The Little Journeyman Cafe, so one fine day, I persuaded Hubs to take us there for a pre-dinner snack. It was a little tricky to find but thank goodness for Waze. 

It's tucked in a tiny lane, within the same meticulously restored heritage houses as the Musuem Hotel, offering simple but delicious quick eats such as pastas and small bites like toasts and fries.

The inside of the cafe is sleek, minimalist with only a few tables set up but thankfully, it offers air conditioning plus wifi. We were there pre-dinner so there wasn't too much of a crowd.

Bubs picked the matcha toast (RM5) and we added a scoop of alcohol-infused rum and raisin ice cream (RM5) on top of it. Hubs also had the salted caramel latte (RM13). Hubs peered doubtfully at the slab of bright green toast and helpfully pointed out that it looked like something out of Shrek.

The toast was an slice of white bread with a generous spread of matcha that Bubs thoroughly enjoyed. Hubs gave the excuse that alcohol spiked ice cream is bad for kids and quickly polished that off before Bubs could even have a try.

The star dish at the cafe was the raclette on crispy potatoes (RM25). There were also little chunks of bread, a handful of cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and some rocket tossed in balsamic. The highlight is the waiter slicing warm raclette cheese onto the dish in long, creamy tendrils. The 3 of us perked up at the sight of the golden mound and eagerly dug in. It did not disappoint us at all. The flavour of the cheese was rich and complemented the cubed spuds perfectly. The potatoes were a little soggy and not as crisp as I would have liked them to be though the cheese more than made up for it.

Little Journeyman Cafe
Phone Number: 016-2335097
Address: 66, Jalan A. S. Mansor, 10050, Penang.
Opening Hours: 11 am to 10 pm. Closed Sundays

Outfits of the Week

One of the nicest things of living in Penang is that you can never run short of cool backdrops ;) And yes, my Cambridge Satchel has been one of my best buys this year. It's so versatile with a top handle plus a long shoulder strap as a cross body option. 

My cousin got me hooked onto scarves. Initially I was a little dubious but she convinced me to treat it as an alternative to a statement necklace. It took me ages to find a bright, silk one in Penang and I'm still learning how to knot it neatly.

This bright turquoise jersey wrap dress was a gift from Aussie Godma and I love how fast and easy it is to layer over a camisole.

Because ombre (especially in shades of my favourite blue) makes my heart beat a little faster.

All Prepared for Xmas

Bubs has been busy in a whirlwind of frenzied Xmas preparations. At school, he's hard at work rehearsing for their upcoming annual Xmas Festival. Bub's incredibly proud that he's performing but also sad that it's his last year at kindy, Hubs is warning both of us not to shed tears this time around!

Bubs is also hanging out a lot with his older cousin whom Bubs hero worships. Whenever I'm busy with work, Bubs hangs out with him and there's nothing the two of them like better than to be glued to electronic devices.

To stop his little Bubs brains from turning to mush, we've kickstarted Xmas card making. We did a fairly simple one this time around.

Bubs used blue watercolour paints on on thick art paper. He also sprinkled salt on for a speckled effect and left them out to dry before writing his Xmas messages inside.

He then glued felt shapes and glittery stars on them.

All ready for family and friends this year!

Bubs is also looking forward to the first of many play dates with his little chums before December comes to an end.

And also collecting treasure from his Lego Star Wars advent which was a Xmas present from his cousins :)

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Bubs and I have been relentlessly nagging *ahem* reminding Hubs to take out the Xmas tree from storage since November. One fine morning, Hubs finally put up the tree amidst whoops of joy. We played Xmas songs, sang out loud the lyrics that we knew and hummed the ones that we didn't know.

We blew dust off the ornaments, recalled happy memories of each one.

"Look, Mummy, I made this gingerbread man from clay when I was small!"

"Awww, we made this felt snowman together!"

"Teacher made this paper crane one last Xmas for me!"

"Remember the time when you were tiny, you snuck out and unwrapped all of the little giftboxes ornaments on the tree?"

"Well, I wanted to see what was inside ..."

My heart filled with equal parts love and wistfulness, looking at my not-so-little-anymore boy as he scampered about, carefully picking the right spot for each ornament. His face is losing its baby-fat from his cheeks; they no longer wobble whenever he runs, his limbs becoming longer and leaner but that expression on his face is still the same. Giddy with excitement at the smallest things. Hopping and skipping about whenever he's delighted. Throwing his arms around me and planting kisses on my face. I wish I could freeze this moment forever.

Here's to the beginning of a lovely festive season :)

Bub's Art

Recently Bubs likes to doodle random things on blank pieces of paper that he scavenges around the house. I've tried persuading him to document them all in an art journal but he refuses so whenever he leaves little drawings, I snap photos of them.

This was a superhero colouring book but he got bored with colouring it so he stuck the stickers on the blank side and started drawing his own version of them. Sooo cute and he's very proud of his artwork.

This is this other passion: sketches of robots. I've to admit, the frenzied glint in their eyes do have a certain charm to them ;)

He loves his Chalkapella tee which is the perfect canvas for his creations. Bubs is learning how to spell and his scribbles are sometimes so funny that we can't help but to snicker at them. He figured out the word "nite" by sounding it and asked if that's how to spell the Dark Knight. Technically he's right (or should I say rite?) so we left it as that. The other day, he told us that he wants to "meet a parrot, Mummy, M-E-A-T!"

And we're working on farewell gifts for his schoolmates for his last year at kindy.

Graduation

Bubs was enthusiastic about his kindy graduation. He practised his songs, dances at home and kept reminding Hubs and I to prepare our speeches for it. Bubs even let the cat out of the bag by showing me the surprise song that the teacher taught them for the parents and warned me not to tell his teacher. On the other hand, I was dreading this momentous milestone; I tear up at anything sentimental and not keen on the idea of my sweet lil baby growing up so fast. 

When the teacher started talking about how hard the children have prepared for this day, his shoulders started rolling in, his face glum. The moment the 6 year olds started singing, Bub's eyes turned red and he started sobbing. It went on like that for every single performance, they had to pause a few times for Bubs to go to the washroom to clean his face :(

Bubs cried so much that he even set one of the other mums off! She started dabbing her eyes and was emotional during her speech.

Hubs and I were impressed with all of the crafts Bubs worked on for his graduation. He made a beautifully decorated drum out of a Milo tin for the Rasa Sayang song. There was a star crown that Bubs was reluctant to remove at the end of the day. I was particularly amazed with the hand woven cloth bag that he made himself. Each 6 year old worked hard at their loom with brightly coloured yarn throughout the school year, finger knit a chain of loops for the straps followed by sewing the bag up all by themselves!

We were treated to morning tea with the graduating class and by then, Bubs was back to his old, cheerful self. The 6 year olds set the table beautifully, complete with placemats and napkins.

It felt so different to have Bubs being so attentive to us for a change: he poured tea for us, carefully picked up cakes, buns and fruit with the tongs. Plus it was fun to see how he and his friends chatted to each other about who could eat the most food at one go.

The children were getting antsy at being indoors and having to sit quietly that by the time the teacher opened the door for outside play, they all surged into the garden. Most of the girls sat by a bowl of water, scrunching the butterfly pea flowers into it while exclaiming excitedly as the water deepened into a shade of indigo.

Another group of children were equal parts fascinated and respectful with the tiny caterpillar cocoon they found at the tip of a leaf.

And that was it! My not-so-quite-a-baby-anymore has graduated from kindy and will very soon be stepping into primary school :)

Misyal Buyit

Hub's friend recently opened a cosy boutique right in the middle of the heritage area and she was more than welcoming for me to drop by and play dress up.

Don't let the size of the shop fool you, she has a huge range of stock, mainly Asian inspired and while some aren't on display, she's more than happy to find clothes that she thinks will be a good fit for you.

I felt like a kid in a candy store! The ruffles and cute prints attracted me to this fun skirt. Hubs helpfully pointed out that the ruffles made me look like a jellyfish #thankshubs

Making the most of the recent off shoulder trend coupled with my other love: florals.

Hub's friend pointed out that I've an affinity for the colour blue ;) For some reason, this reminded me of a quirky Alice in Wonderland.

I really liked this lacy peplum top and thought that it'd be a versatile option for work when paired with a pencil skirt or a casual day out with shorts or jeans.

Random shot of antique Nonya glassware that she also carries in the boutique.

The peplum made its way back home with me :)

Misyal Buyit
Telephone: 017-469 3618
Address: 23 Cintra Street George Town, Malaysia