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 :)