Colours of hibiscus

Tomorrow is a public holiday. Our 60th National Day.

Happy National Day, Malaysia!!

Share with you few photos of our national flower that I took not so long ago. These bushes of hibiscus were along the walkway when I did my morning walk. Aren't they lovely??

Introspecting over frozen yogurt

One of the natural and healthiest dessert is frozen yogurt.  Packed with wholesome goodness (low calorie and fat), number 1 frozen yogurt brand in Europe and Asia from Spain, llaollao (pronounced as "yao yao") is available in The Spring Kuching.

Freshly made from skimmed milk, the creamy, gluten-free yogurt is simply a joy to enjoy as a dessert or a meal on its own.  The condiments include a wide range of toppings, sauces and crunches.  There is too much temptation not to pamper yourself with this chilled sweet goodness.

Yours truly had a little indulgence one day. No kids. Just me and my me-time. Spending few hours in the shopping mall. I could really need this little break. Maybe I would make it a once-a-month thing. *wink*

I got this free voucher from hubby so I decided to use it up on my visit to the mall. I spotted llaollao at the ground floor and took me quite sometime to decide on what to have. Finally, my perfect choice of natural frozen yogurt has been made.

Fresh fruits and sauces

Sweet condiments

First impression. What a pretty and tasty looking dessert!! My perfect combination of chocolate muesli, dragon fruit and white chocolate with coconut sauce till I did not have the heart to eat it.

Medium tub for RM14.90

First taste. It was smooth, tantalizing and delectable. There was something addictive about its texture. The tangy coconut sauce plus the crunchy muesli were yummy. Those who love pungent taste, you would love tye coconut sauce on top of the yogurt.

I finished the whole yogurt by myself so you know that I enjoyed it.

Price-wise. Nothing less than RM5. Luckily I had the voucher to try it out otherwise I wouldn't be contemplating it at all. Wouldn't mind having it again if aoneone pay for it. ^^

Simple at home

Jay's birthday was yesterday. We did not planned anything much for his special day. Initially, our plan was just had it simple at home with a cake and pizza order of his favourite flavours.

However on Thursday after school, he told me he would like to invite a classmate over. The classmate stays nearby so I decided it would be fine for the boys to get together and have some fun. After all school holiday is here!

Pizza

Ice cream with DIY toppings and chilled drink

So sticking to my original plan, we had pizza and cake plus I prepared cold Ribena drink and ice-cream dessert for the kids. And a simple wall decoration for photography and to make it more lively. When was the last time I get down busy with balloons and stickers with the kids?? ^^

Everyone had fun; the noise level with 3 boys in the house was unimaginable! Any how, I were pleased that Jay enjoyed his birthday. Were happy too that he wanted to share his special day with his best friend.

Happy 8th birthday, Jay! You are big boy now.

Goodbye thirties, Hello forty!

Okay, I am officially 40 when I wake up to a beautiful morning today! Do I feel any different?? No. Everything is the same. I feel the same. Not sad, but rather I am embracing myself and my life. Hahaha.

The years come and go. It has been a whirlwind journey but I am looking forward to the continued journey with my loved ones. More to learn from one another.

Here is my wishlist, hope to get it done.

• Taking care of my health - must be good to my body and mind; must start to eat healthily, exercising more and have quality rest.
• A family holiday - at least once a year, we have a little family getaway, spending times together and doing things we love and enjoy
• Saving for the kids - Kids grow very fast in front of our eyes and soon, my eldest would be going to college. Okay, I know I sound dramatic here, but she is 11 years old now and don't you think in another 6 or 7 years, she would need some fund for her tertiary education and the 2 brothers follow soon few years after??
• Get to know Him - learn and understand his words, do more good deeds, learn to love myself and others, appreciate life and be grateful and content for who and where I am

A big Happy Birthday to me!

Back to the grind

July has been an eventful month for me. First the Europe holiday and then the in and out of clinic/hospital for me and Jamie due to skin problem.

How relieved I am that my Europe travelogue has come to an end. But the adventures, the travelling, seeing many iconic buildings, structure and beautiful places were not to be forgotten. 

Now that I am back to the grind; busy with the kids and daily routines again.

Here is a little update on happenings and what to expect for the remaining year.

1. Skin allergy
I developed skin allergy while I were in Europe. 2nd time after a short recovery from the first allergy. Very bad reaction till I had to call for doctor while we were transit in Turkey on our way home. Still the rashes did not subsided but new bumps and allergy appeared after I were back home. Finally decided to consult a well-known dermatologist with Jamie since he also has some kind of skin allergy all this while.

Thankfully Jamie was diagnosed with eczema and dry skin. He has no allergy to food.  As for me, I went for a blood test to determine my allergy and the result came back after 2 weeks. Non-food allergy. I couldn't catch the term but in layman term, it is something like my antibody attacking my body. So the reaction and rashes. I am currently on a 6-weeks course of this medication to clear my problem.

2. Birthdays
Yes, my birthday as well as Jay's are just around the corner. And I feel my eldest boy has grown so much this year.  And the youngest also celebrating his birthday the following month. No plan for a big celebration though.

3. Clearing and donating
I have been clearing our wardrobe of old clothing to be donated to the less fortunate people.  The wardrobe looks much neater, lesser clothing and clutter.

4. Full day
I have been contemplating to get Jamie to do the whole day session sometime this year. Discovered that he was lazy and reluctant to listen to my teaching so I found out that he was slow in catching up with the vocab. So full day in kindergarden is an option. But since it is almost to the end of the year, I would enrol him into full day next year.

5. Manis app
I discovered a new reward app not so long ago. Manis the universal loyalty app, rewards you with vouchers for snapping and collecting daily receipts. Still a long way for me to accummulate and redeem any vouchers.

6. Family holiday
Yes, after been home for few days, hubby and I had been planning for our next holiday. We would be having our family overseas getaway at the end of the year.

7. Wedding bells
My sister is getting hitched!! She is registering next month and will hold her reception in December after we are back from our oversea holiday. So yours truly would be busy playing one of the bridesmaids. Couldn't wait. ^^

Before we flew

Our dinner before we flew to Europe. Noodle dinner in Old Town White Coffee.

Long time did not have meal in Old Town. Hardly go to the outlet in Kuching. One thing about the Old Town in KLIA was it has charger points so most patrons came to eat and charge their electronic gadgets. We were few of those that charge their handphones that day. *wink*

We spent a certain time in Old Town, killing times playing with our gadgets while waiting for the time to meet our tour group.

For dinner, I went for something light so I had the chicken hor fun. Nicely seasoned and I like it. A very comforting food.

Chicken hor fun (RM12.90)

Hubby on the other hand, went for thicker taste so he had a bowl of curry mee for dinner. Very spicy looking.

Curry mee (RM12.90)

Our drinks.

White milk tea

Honey lemon

Gastronomical diary of Europe

Now, come the best part. FOOD!

It was a food adventure for me in Europe, in pursuit of local delicacies. Tasting this and that. Everyday was a new day with new tasty dish to look forward to.

If you asked me which breakfast I liked, I enjoyed the English breakfast the most because of its bacons, hams and sausages. However I loved the pastries especially the flaky and tasty buttery croissants from Paris.

French breakfast

We were lucky to taste some of the local snacks and dishes while we were there.  Nevertheless we did missed home so on certain days, so we were hunting for rice and Asian cuisine then. Overall, I simply enjoyed the dining experiences in Europe. Hope my Europe holiday would not be the last. *wink*

London

We had load of cherries in London!! £3 per cup. So sweet and juicy.

Medium rare beef steak

We did have our beef and salmon steaks as well as fish n chips in London. Meant to go to Burger & Lobster but we did not have much time.

We missed rice by 2nd day so we were scouting for rice that evening around our hotel vicinity after our Harry Potter tour. Lol.

And we found an Indian cuisine there. We had its lamb briyani. Oh my! Very good. Different from what we have in Malaysia. Lesser spice but fluffy and softer rice. The lamb was chunky but tender. The dhal was good as well and so were the big sized papadom.

Papadom with condiments

Briyani

Dhal

Lamb chunks in briyani

Paris

Must have escargot and macaron when one is in Paris. No foie gras, escargot would do for me. Lol.

A 3 course French dinner consisting of escargot as starter, duck confit for main and apple pie for dessert.

I managed to try macarons and chocolate (nutella) crepe in Paris. Not a fan of sweet snack but I did enjoyed myself with these 2 snacks.

Escargot

Lamb

Duck confit

Apple pie

Macarons from Pierre Hermes (Lafayette)

Enjoying chocolate crepe while looking at the Eiffel Tower

Under the recommendation of our tour manager, we went to this small Chinese eatery which is few minutes walk from Lafayette for lunch. The beef noodle was comforting. I had the economy rice there. The dishes are weighed and charged by grams.

Beef noodle

Chinese economy rice

Bruges

Belgium is famous for seafood especially mussels so a big pot of mussels cooked with white wine (1kg) when we were in Bruges.

And for the first time, I tasted rabbit meat. Rabbit cooked with cherry wine flemish style.

We had a Chinese course (5 dishes + 1 soup) in Brussels that evening.

Rabbit stew

A pot of fresh mussels

Potato croquettes as side dish

Beer

Warm chocolate

Cologne

The famous German pork knuckle is not from Cologne but we did tasted one very good pork knuckle in Cologne. And we also tasted the German sausages but shared among the other members of the tour group so no photos of the sausages. According to the tour manager, the best was from the train station next to Cologne Cathedral.

German pork knuckle

Accompanied by salad

Amsterdam

Other than the breakfast buffet in the hotel, we only got to taste the snacks from hot dog stands in Dam Square before we were been rushed to the airport.

We tried the meatballs as well as the hot dog buns. We added our own condiment.

Hot dog stand

Meatballs

Meatballs after condiments added

My hot dog bun