All About Bubs: At 7 Now!

The days are long but the years are short: in a blink of an eye, my lil baby (he crossly told us today that he's not a baby anymore) is now a young boy. "I'm almost a teenager now!" he pointed out. So this is an update on what my almost-teenager has been up to since he started Standard 1 this year in a big boy's school.  

We've been doing creative writing at home this year. Although his spelling leaves very much to be desired, I found this to be a very cute piece. Told Bubs that this now constitutes a binding contract which I expect him to follow ;)

Bubs shows less interest in reading though he'll happily flip through books to look at pictures. His latest passion is now collecting Pokemon erasers and can spend ages flipping them over each other (must be a boy game). I've tried showing him how we used fingers to try to shoot the erasers off the edge of the table but he preferred flipping them.

He still loves his sweet treats.

And loves burning off energy by being unable to keep still for a few minutes at the most. I sometimes pity his classroom teacher that has to guide 30 plus boys every weekday.

He loves splashing around in the pool but still steadfastly refuses swimming lessons.

Me: What if your girlfriend is drowning? How will you rescue her?
Bubs: Call the lifeguard.

BM Eats

Hub's friend took us on an eating spree at Bukit Mertajam recently and we discovered a couple of gems that I'd love to share with you guys.

Yoong Kee Eating Shop is an old school, no frills eatery that serves simple, hearty Teochew dishes. It is a local crowd pleaser and has been in business for decades, as evident by the original 3-digit phone number displayed on its signboard. The place gets packed pretty early so it's best to go before peak time.

We left the ordering to Hub's friend, who quickly rattled out a string of its most popular dishes. The Teowchew style steamed white pompret was a must have with its tangy clear sauce. Hubs, who is a proud Teochew nang, loved all the dishes and kept wolfing down bowls of piping hot white rice.

I only had a small portion because I was saving my apetite for supper, which was ...

That's right, the famous duck egg char koay teow in BM. Hub's friend directed us to this stall, which is right next to the Fresh Food Court. It only starts at 8pm but opens well into the dark of night. During the day, it operates as a car wash but come night fall, it dishes out fragrant platefuls of charcoal stir fried noodles with creamy duck eggs. Even before the proprietor starts his business, a steady stream of customers lined up patiently awaiting his arrival.

Ok, time for a lil confession. I was taken aback at how young the char koay teow seller was. And he was unbearably friendly to all the customers! With a pleasant smile on his boyish face, he was chatting to nearly all of them. He took down special requests with a quick grin as he deftly hefted his wok over the blazing sparks of the burning charcoal stoked fire.

What was this madness? I was accustomed to grizzly old sellers with surly looks that snapped at you if you so much as to request a slight variation. Most of them had ready phrases like "if you can't wait, don't eat!" rolling off their tongues.

And so with bated breath, we drove back with the hot packets of char koay teow as our suppers. I requested for an extra duck egg fried sunny side up at the side even though I know my cholesterol levels will be protesting.

My goodness! It was one of the best char koay teow I'd ever had in my life. The special soy sauce that I saw him splash added oomph to the flavour. The duck egg stir fried into the noodles was deliciously silky-salty and even though Hubs initially complained that the extra egg on the side was overkill, he quietly sneaked a few extra bites from my portion when he thought I wasn't looking ;)

The Super Long Weekend

Apologies for the radio silence over the past couple of months as we were caught up in a mad tangle of work and school. The bright side of this week's super long weekend (Merdeka, Hari Raya Haji and the bonus extra day off on Monday) is that we get a chance to spend time with family, friends and just lazing about at home. 

I was sooo excited that Marini was back in town because it's been ages since we last met! She was my roomie way back when we were in our teens and until today, I still remember how she took care of me when I was delirious with fever. We'd the luck to be in the same city again during uni, spending many a day at cafes, trawling through warehouse sales plus enjoying pub music.

This time around, she brought her sweet cousin as we chilled out at China House. The place was packed to the rafters with crowds of people but the cakes added with the gorgeous decor was well worth the wait.

After our desserts (Marini is in <3 with the Red Velvet), we popped over to Sixth Sense, a clothing boutique just next door which attracted us with its stunning plant displays. They had some really nice clothing with a cute range of homeware - think macrame plant holders, marble tile coasters and wooden bowls - that even Marini couldn't resist getting a cute white lace top.

#plantgoals

Random Things

Random things that put a smile on my face :)

I have been obsessed with plants lately! I keep a small indoor collection of air plants, orchids and a baby fiddle leaf fig. The giant air plant with wavy leaves is a xerographica and I am so in love with how it adds a touch of drama. I'm still trying to figure out its light and watering needs. I've killed the smaller xerographica by putting it too long next to a sunny window and then frantically trying to make up for it by over watering it.

My orchid finally bloomed, yay! This was such a huge achievement for me as it's been kept solely indoors and grown without a medium. I didn't even know what colour it was going to be as the nursery owner wasn't sure either.

I'd been eyeing this Uniqlo paperbag-styled skirt for months and when it finally went on sale, I snapped it up in an instant. It's midi length and a lovely shade of red, most importantly, it has pockets! Whenever I wear it, I feel like I've stepped out from the pages of the Handmaid's Tale.

Nasi Padang Minang at the Transfer Road coffeeshop. It's been a while since we last visited because it gets packed during lunch time because of its wide selection of heavily spiced dishes.

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a creepily delicious book that is perfect for late night reading. It starts out as a standard vengeful ghost story of a woman that was accused of witchcraft and executed. Her spirit now wanders through the streets of Black Spring. As you unravel through the intricate layers of the story, your perception over who is the true monster starts to shift. Not giving away any spoilers but the mob mentality in Hex reminded me of Marina Abramović's Rhythm 0 performance.

My very own Captain America hard at work fixing a whole bunch of Ikea stuff <3

Minions under the Moon Light

Bubs was thrilled to bits when I told him about the open air cinema at Butterworth which is screening Despicable Me during weekend nights. He insisted that we make a proper picnic of it, "lots of snacks, Mummy!" I was feeling nostalgic too. My Mum used to tell me of her movie nights when they were growing up in Kelantan. A projector and a screen would be set up in a field and everyone would turn up with mats to sit. 

Hubs and I were well prepared. Mats? Check. Snacks? Check. Drinks? Check. Bug repellent? Check. USB fan? Check.

It was such a communal event, people of all ages and races were sitting on the grass close to the screen. Thankfully, the weather was brilliant, clear skies with a touch of night breeze.

Bubs had so much fun with the "movie picnic"! He enjoyed sitting under the moonlight, the sights, the sounds and got so engrossed in the movie that he was pretty agitated at some points when kids were standing up in front of him. We simply moved the mat, fan and picnic basket around to a clearer spot.

At the end of the movie, we had a quick walk around the field where Minion mania was in full swing.

There was a cool gigantic minion shaped from artifical flowers on the ground.

Plus an inflatable ginormous one that Bubs was fascinated with.

Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 will be screening at the Dataran Pemuda Merdeka, Butterworth every Fri and Sat night, from 8pm - 10pm. Parking can be around around the area and it's well lit with lots of people milling around. Admission is free.

Victoria Green Corner

Victoria Green Corner is one of the most intriguing cafes that we've been to in a while. It serves hearty, Nonya-influenced dishes but in a retro chic ambience. It's located just opposite the field at Westlands High School (pretty close to the old CRC restaurant) and parking is relatively easy during non-schooling hours. 

I fell in love with the place the moment I saw its cool door, complete with an old bicycle at the side and lots of greenery in the tiny garden.

Potted plants that dot the inside of the cafe add a cosy touch and what made the place even more inviting to me were the piles of books on shelves all around Victoria Green Corner . I can see myself spending many an afternoon just flipping through the books.

Antiques, such as this vintage mirrored sideboard and framed Chinese robe adds to the appeal of this place.

The assam laksa was the star dish with its thick soup generous with fish chunks and perfectly balanced with the right amount of piquant sweetness. What differs Victoria Green Corner's assam laksa from the rest is its use of sardines, instead of the more commonly used ikan kembung. An old friend's mum told me that sardines make the spicy broth taste sweeter. Even Hubs who usually can't stand the strong, fishy scent of sardines had to admit that this soup was superb.

Hubs ordered a medley of dishes with rice for Bubs: teriyaki chicken, sweet and sour pork and stir fried veggies. It made for a very pleasant dinner.

Victoria Green Corner
Telephone: 604-2275311
Address: 43, Jalan Padang Victoria, 10400, Penang
Opening hours: 10 am to 9 pm. Closed Mondays

Bits and Pieces

D finds it amusing that I usually teach Bubs based on hands on activities. When he was a toddler, I introduced the alphabet by letting him trace letter shapes in coloured salt on a tray and forming them with play dough. We explored addition and subtraction by counting marbles. Science was in the form of freezing tiny toys in ice blocks and using them as bath toys to see what could melt ice the fastest. 

She asked me to think of a fun concept to teach Malay.

Challenge accepted.

I present to you ... the penjodoh bilangan tray. Penjodoh bilangan is known as classifiers in English (I'd to Google that), eg: school of fishes, slice of bread, stick of butter. I wrote some commonly used penjodoh bilangan from his textbook, such as biji, batang, etc and gathered objects for him to match them to the correct classifier.

Bubs was excited because we usually use workbooks to practise Malay. He was hard at work grouping the items together.

The only tricky bit I had was including 1 of his milk tooth as an object (sebatang gigi if you wanted to know).

"Mummy, I thought the Tooth Fairy took my tooth away!"

Just finished Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. It's an easy read with short chapters and spiked with cute illustrations but really thought provoking.

My bonsais are in tip top shape at my dad's friend's bonsai spa :)

Fashion Friday: Flirty Florals

Here're a couple of outfits during weekends that have been lifesavers during this hot and humid weather.

I couldn't say no to a 20% off for my birthday month at Warehouse so I added a couple of tops that I hope I'll be able to get heaps of wears out of them.

Most of the shops are still stocking bardot and cold shoulder tops but I don't want to spend too much on what I think might be just a trend so I got this Warehouse piece which comes in a cute tropical print. I paired it with an old Forever 21 tube skirt that I found at the clearance rack which has a quirky asymmetrical waistband and hemline.

I'm a huge fan of florals so I couldn't resist this magnolia print sleeveless top. I think I also have a bit of an obession with black pencil skirts which I find so versatile.

The cutest part of this top is the scoop back fastened with a bow.

This is an old Miss Selfridge crop top and has all of my favourite elements: baby blue, florals and a ribbon tie at the back. 

The Ais at Chulia Street

Sis-in-law brought us to the Ais, a cafe serving artisan ice cream crafted from with uniquely local flavours at Chulia Street, as a Mothers Day treat and I think we've fallen in love with the place. The owners pride themselves on serving delicious, low sugar and all-natural frozen treats. So passionate are they about their offerings that they not only generously invite you to sample their wares but also patiently explain the ingredients behind it. Some options are sugar-free and there are even vegan options (dairy free). Also available on the menu are waffles and kefir.

There were interesting ice cream flavours such as butterfly pea, Horlicks Kit Kat and even Nutella Guinness (yes, they have a liquor-base range as well!). Each one of them tasted so good that it was hard to narrow down our choices.

Bub's choice was a no brainer: chocolate on a cone. This is one of the Ais's sugar-free choices and the intensity of the chocolate really shone through. I was more than impressed with both the flavour and texture; it's usually difficult to make ice cream without sugar as you'd usually end up with a grainier texture, but the Ais's version was good. The owners mentioned that they had many trial and errors in whipping up this for diabetic friends and it was such a hit that they decided to start marketing it.

Hubs and I shared a double scoop of Horlicks Kit Kat and charcoal cheese. The Horlicks Kit Kat was a crowd pleaser with everyone as it wasn't overly sweet. It had a pleasant, malty taste with bits of Kit Kat and a creamy texture. Charcoal cheese was definitely a unique pick: think of a milder, less salty version of Cheezels but in a vanilla base. I really liked it and it's a flavour that I'd return to.

The owners mentioned that during durian season, they add in seasonal flavours like durian and cempedak so I can't wait for them!

The Ais
Telephone: 016-7223843
Address: 473, Lebuh Chulia, 10200, Georgetown, Penang.
Opening hours: 2pm to 10pm. Closed Mondays.

Of Mini Celebrations and Updates

Happy Mother's Day to all that are celebrating!

Bub's left me at a loss for words with this beautiful pink paper bloom that he made for me. Hubs shouted a dinner at S.Wine Queensbay where the food was great and service was top notch. This was the beer brined pork chop with bacon fried potato cubes.

We all loved the desserts: chocolate orange cake - of course Bubs had to had the fondant Lego minifig and S'mores cookie with a giant dollap of peanut butter wedged in between.

Presents from friends for my birthday.

My dad's friend is an absolute artisan when it comes to bonsais and I loved how he helped arrange the layout of my latest acquisitions. This is my ginseng bonsai, I can't wait for the aerial roots to form.

I'm not sure of its correct name but both the nursery owner and my dad's friend calls this one as a rosita. It has sharp thorns when mature, something I'm not too keen on but it looks amazing when potted with a rock.

Bubs is nuts over badminton lately and begs Hubs to play with him on a near daily basis. If you're looking for kids sized rackets, the factory outlet at Udini Square carries a decent range.

He's also trying out busking part time ;)

And though his spelling leaves much to be desired, Bubs has been on a scribbling craze, doodling on spare bits of paper with little stories and comic strips, which gives me the fuzzies more than any store bought card <3