Weekend in Peek-tures

Did everyone had a great weekend?

I met up with Glam Girl who is 6 months pregnant now, soooo excited for her *squeals* She is so athletic and toned, you can't even tell that she's pregnant!

We had this crispy-licious pork knuckle that came with potatoes and sauerkraut at Healy Macs, Straits Quay. It was so good that the couple at the table next to us were eying the pork knuckle and asked the waiter to cancel their own order to change to the pork knuckle!

Dropped by Kar Mun's new education centre for her grand opening. The refreshment bar was so colourful and cutesy!

Bubs and I helped Hubs put together an Ikea bookshelf, i.e. Bubs attempted to count all the little screws and thingamajigs and I documented it on camera.

We gatecrashed visited Mig's new condo. He brought out some soft toys for Bubs to play with but I don't think he approved of how we were playing with them instead ;)

Pavilion and Publika at KL

Mall hopping is a must do in KL so what better way to embrace it but to just join the crowd ;)

We were tickled pink to find that Pavilion at KL has a whole section dedicated to Japanese goodies at Tokyo Street. There was a distinct vibe with colourful streamers and funky characters walking about.

Come dinner time, Fairy Godma was kind enough to drive us to Publika which was probably a toddler's dream come true in a mall with wide open spaces, artsy installations and all rounder fun, fun, fun. 

We walked past a gorgeous florist outside the BIG grocery store that makes really unique and elegant bouquets.

Speaking of the BIG grocery store, my eyes were wide with wonder at all the funky stuff they were carrying, Fairy Godma had already pre-warned me not to "squeal or hop around" (her exact words, not mine).

I mean take a look at this - lettuce still growing hydroponically in the store itself, talk about fresh!

Leafy trees and a gigantic T2 stand inside BIG!

There was only so much my mind could take from all the internal squealing I did so we took a break for dinner at Ben's General Food Store ... which lead to more high pitched squealing. Every single thing about Ben's is so cool.

 Remember those old school enamel plates? Ben's manages to make them look uber cool. Plus they're unbreakable (I think) so they're toddler friendly. The mushroom pizza had to be one of the best I've ever tried and the dollop of mascarpone cheese in the centre is sheer genius.

More exploring Publika - too bad most of the arty shops were closed by the time we were there. I was a little surprised at how huge and spread out it was. There were soooo many cool looking cafes that I wanted to eat at that I wished I was a cow with four stomachs to fill!

And a pit stop at Wondermilk at Publika before heading back for the night. If it helps, Bubs loved the milk there ... I'm not a huge fan of drinking milk so I was glad Bubs was there to help me drain the cup dry ;)

KL: The food!

With the amount of food we ate in KL, I think we packed on the pounds while burning a hole in our wallet. Gardens at the Mid Valley was our playground for the past few days and we were impressed with a couple of the restaurants there.

Hokkaido Ichiba was a hidden gem. It looked deceptively small from the outside and comprises of 3 sections: Kita No Zen (restaurant), Hokkaido Ice Cream (ice cream parlour) and a Japanese grocery mart inside. The food served was so mind blowing-ly fresh and amazing that we ate there twice!

 The unagi was grilled to perfection with no burnt bits or sickly sweet commercial tasting sauces. It was lovely and had a decent portion that went perfectly with pickles and rice. 

The sashimi with sushi rice was absolutely stellar! The pieces of salmon sashimi were thickly cut, luscious, silky smooth and for a simple dish, this totally stood out.

I am a sucker for anything salted caramel so Hubs looked at it dubiously when it was served. After taking a single bite, Hubs, Bubs and I were fighting each other for more of this, The butterscotch sauce and flaked almonds added a touch of sweetness to the salty caramel and waffle - it was utter perfection.

There was also Plan B at Mid Valley which serves a delightful breakfast. Do you know how hard it is to pick and narrow down desserts when there were 1001 gazillion yummy looking things tempting us?

I am a sucker for beautifully poached eggs, avocado and carbs of all kind. This tasted as yummy-licious as it looked.

Fairy Godma couldn't believe her ears when we told her that we ordered French toast at Plan B. "But this is something you could make yourself!" she spluttered. True, but it wouldn't be done on such gorgeously thick slabs of bread, nor served with grilled bananas, macadamias or served with a generous dollop of thick cream. 

Grins all around after all the food we've been having ;)

And just in case you need anymore convincing that we weren't well fed, there were DelectableTreats by Su desserts that made a very luxurious and sinful breakfast in bed the next day. The giant peanut butter macaroon (RM10) was worth every single bite of it!

KL!

We took a mini trip to KL to visit friends that had newborns and had so much fun hanging out, ignoring bedtimes, nom-ing lots of forbidden food (cakes, juices and ice cream almost daily for Bubs!) and going my darnest best to boost the retail industry ;)

I had to check out the hype about H&M and dragged Hubs and Bubs to trek across Lot 10 all the way from Pavilion KL :D 3 whole floors of cheap chic for her, him and little ones and it was packed full of shoppers crammed like sardines. I walked out empty handed though - all the items I'd eagerly looked forward to was sold out or ran out of my size at the shop.

I couldn't help popping into a few stores ... or two ... or three.

I went a little crazy going "oooooh, I want that!" at most of the places we went to. Bubs had the time of his life riding in shopping carts, he actually cried when we pushed the cart back to Ikea.

The Ikea wooden train set was a huge hit with Bubs though can I confess that Hubs and I are stumped over how to make the rails end in a close loop without any pieces leftover? These things are like an IQ puzzle to us!

I splurged royally on myself - Melvita argan oil, Sephora pencil eyeliner in khaki (lasting power wasn't too good but for RM21, the colour and quality was pretty amazing), Fresh Sugar Rose (onto my 2nd tube now, this is how much I love this stuff!) and a few updates to my wardrobe ;)

Daiso & Watson Goodies

I'm one of those people that can't walk into Daiso or pharmacies without coming out empty handed. While browsing in the store, lots of cutesy little stuff would catch my eye and I'd go "ooooh, I so need that!" or "how amazing that would be!" and before I know it, I'm happily clutching my purchases and Hubs making remarks about how easily fools and their cash are parted ...

Case in point - I walked into Daiso looking for unbleached tea filter bags for loose leaf tea.

I walked out clutching the tea filter bags ....... along with a teddy bear shaped rice mold, a smiley face puncher thingamajig to punch onto dried seaweed to make Bubs happy and a lint removing washing machine whatchamacallit.

The lint removing washing machine whatchamacallit was an Absolute Necessity. Someone, who shall remain unnamed, included a used Mamy Poko into the washing machine. The diaper was washed extremely clean, however the tiny little cotton fibers inside exploded and covered most of our clothes with it. I tried re-washing them to no avail and promptly grabbed these lint removing thingies from Daiso the moment I spotted them. They look and feel weird, like a ping pong ball covered with a plastic loofah. After popping them in for a wash with the lint-y clothes, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the lint did indeed come out. Yay for Daiso!

I've been looking around for the Ped Egg for ages since I first heard about them from online forums so I was squealing with joy when I spotted these babies at Watson for RM49.90. These things are meant to be a modern version of the pumice stone to remove callouses and other gross skin on on your feet. The plastic felt slightly cheap and I was a hesitant about applying too much pressure (these are shaver blades after all!) but found them to be really gentle.

It looks and works exactly like a cheese grater, lol and you'd be surprised at how much flaky dead skin you'd find accumulated inside the Ped Egg after a good use. I like to put on a really thick moisturizing cream like Moo Goo or good old olive oil/coconut oil on my feet and wear thick socks after these and wake up in the morning to nice, soft feet.

Am I the only person on this planet that hasn't heard of a konjac sponge to scrub your face with? It looked really bizarre in the packaging - it was still moist. After removing makeup, I apply cleanser to my face and instead of washing the cleanser off with water, I use the konjac sponge to scrub my face with it. It is incredibly gentle and honestly, I felt as though I was using a dense wedge of sponge cake all over my face. My skin felt softer and I couldn't stop raving about how amazing it is! I'm still contemplating a Clarisonic but the difference in the price tag (3 digit price tag vs a 2 digit cheapie one) means that I'll continue holding onto the konjac sponge for a little while longer :)