His turn

My eldest boy's birthday was a day apart from mine, so we celebrated his birthday on Sunday. I had my birthday brunch on Saturday so on Sunday, it was his turn to celebrate his special day. 

What did he want to have on his special day?? Pizza!! 

We went to Pizza Hut in Aeon Mall for his birthday lunch after the church.

First time dining in this Pizza Hut outlet. And  the concept has changed so much that it was not just the typical pizza outlet now. In the past, one would associate Pizza Hut with its pizza, lasagna, and spaghetti. Now, it was serving more than that and of a fusion cuisine to cater to different and larger clientele. 

For starter, we had the crispy tempura king prawns.

Choice of pizza was beef pepperoni and most of the slices gone to Jay and Jan's tummies.

We also had some greens as in the Ceasar salad. Kind of nice and refreshing; I actually enjoyed and ate a wholesome of it.

I never liked the creamy mushroom soup but since the kids didn't want it, hubby and I took a bowl each.

The new menu that we tried was the roasted ayam berempah (spiced chicken). 

Choice of chicken thigh with wedges and Hawaiian salad or chicken thigh with pilaf rice and Hawaiian salad accompanied by brown dipping sauce. 

Honestly, the chicken thigh was alright. Sweeter and peppery. But I would not recommend this if you happen to drop by here. Better go for its pizza. 

It took quite long for our roasted ayam berempah to arrive on our table. And when it did, it was not that impressive. 

Ok, that was my verdict. My personal opinion. 

On the other hand, the birthday boy was very happy. He asked for pizza, and he got it. Happy birthday, Jay, may all the life's blessing be yours always. 

I am happy

"As long as I am happy", hubby said. It was my birthday last Saturday and hubby let me decided on what I wanted for breakfast that day.

That was how we ended up having a birthday brunch in Boulevard Restaurant. We quite enjoyed the food there especially the dim sum.

It was 10am and we were the first few diners there.

We had 2 new dim sum that we have not try in the past such as this sweet sour beancurd rolls. It was good with filling meat in the rolls.

The deep fried bean curd fish cake was good too. We enjoyed it very much.

The boys shared the plain noodle as well.

And a small plate of crispy pork belly. They were irresistably good.

It was a delightful brunch. A happy, enjoyable meal with my family. And that was what I had on my birthday.

Moved

The kolo mee stall here, which operated by the daughter-in-law of the well-known Green road kolo mee has permanently moved to this food court in Batu Kawa.

Since she moved away, we did not patronise her stall till one morning. A Monday morning which was a public holiday. 

Business was good, as we had to wait for a long time for our kolo mee to come. 

The boys had the kolo mee with char siew oil, so the noodle was slightly red and sweeter. 

Hubby and Jan had their normal kolo mee.

And not forgetting her comforting and delicious dumpling soup.

As for yours truly, I went for Sarawak laksa, which was next to the kolo mee stall. I felt like having something more flavourful, so a bowl of normal Sarawak laksa for me. 

It was alright but the broth was oily. I did not take the broth.

After we were done with our breakfast, we went to emart hypermarket for our monthly grocery shopping. 

Not well

I wasn't feeling that well last week. Down with sore throat and cough, I hardly went out over the school holiday other than necessary errands. 

Cooked meals and stayed indoor most of the time. Jamie was also recovering from his eczema and didn't attend school for 2 weeks. 

Thank God, his skin is much better now and he gladly goes back to school without much trouble. Of course, I have to inform his teacher on some dos and dons so he would be well attended to while he is there. 

On Sunday, just before schools started we went for lunch in Taiwan Siao Jou. The shop in Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce (or mostly fondly called Jalan Keretapi). 

Since I was not well, we decided to have something homecooked. I liked Taiwan Siao Jou's dishes. Simple and nice. And not that pricey. I don't know how much our lunch cost as someone paid the tab. A friend paid for our lunch. 

We did not finished all the dishes so we packed the leftover and had it for dinner. And hubby also bought some tasty fried chicken wings to add to the dishes that evening. 

The chicken wings were bought from one of the coffee shops in Golden Arch.  I also had few as I could not resist it. Cough or sore throat, I must tasted them. Lol. 

TLC for eczema kid

When you have a kid with an atopic skin condition, it is not easy to care for him or her. 

Jamie is born with eczema and as he  is growing up, it gets worse. This year in particular, after his chicken pox. His skin heals very slow and he develops rashes and itchiness all over his body. 

He does not have any doctor or specialist to consult and look after his condition. Usually we just go to our normal GP for medicine and cream when he developed infection or skin rashes got worse. 

Early this month, he developed a serious eczema; rashes all over his body. Some parts of body were covered with scratch marks due to him scratching. A friend recommended us to consult a dermatologist in Normah Hospital. 

So I took him to the hospital one Monday morning but the dermatologist was only available in the afternoon. Since we were there and it was a long drive, I was advised to see a pediatrician. 

So we went to the pediatrics department to see a pediatrician. The doctor diagnosed him with 'serious eczema but not infected'. He also advised for an allergy blood test to determine his allergy. 

Thank God that Jamie was a brave boy, he went through his first blood taking without problem. We haven't know the result as it will only be known when we see the doctor next month. 

And we went home with all the medicine and cream. In our next visit, doctor recommended us to use this new moisturising cream and taking an oral medicine for 2 weeks!! He would finish his medicine course by this weekend!! 

Some TLC tips I learnt from the doctor:

• Use Aquacream in his bath. PH balance shampoo for his hair. 
• After bath, do not wipe dry. Dab the towel to dry him. 
• Apply moisturiser all over his body. If there is any rashes, apply oilment after skin is dry from applying moisturiser. 
• Do not use warm water to bathe him. Mildly cold is better. 
• Skin is very sensitive and eczema is genetic. Sensitive to any external trigger such as heat, dust, sweat, cold etc
• Wear 100% cotton. Shoes to be made from fabric, not rubber or plastic material. 
• Drink more fluid and fruits as eczema kids tend to unable to retain water in their body. 
• Washing machine could cause of skin allergy so washing your washine machine at least once a month. 
• Use hypoallergenic detergent to wash the laundry. 
• Early care is a prevention as serious and uncared eczema could lead to other complication in their lives such as asthma and skin disease etc. 

Hope these tips are useful for parents with eczema children. 

One week after the first visit

Try to resist

I bought this MyKuali product not so long ago. I seldom buy such packed food (other than instant noodle) and I always try to resist buying them. But somehow my curiosity got into me  that day and I ended up buying this pack. Don't ask me how much as I don't remember it. Lol. 

Penang Red Tom Yum Goong. That looked tempting right?? 

One pack of ganishing and one pack of tom yum paste. Add boiled water till the line (half of the bowl) and wait for 4 minutes. 

Very very spicy. Do I like it?? Not really, I enjoyed much better and tastier tom yum. But I did give this a try and maybe I would buy again if I am craving for tom yum next time. 

I promised that I shared with you on the dried squids that I bought back from Sabah. I had it last week. A handful of the mini squids. 

First, I soaked them in the water for few minutes. They could be very salty so soaking them to reduce the saltiness. 

Before

Then I rinsed and dried them with kitchen paper towel.  After that, pan-fried for few minutes, about 2 minutes. Dish out. 

After

Well, they were nice, like the normal squids. Chewy, salty. This was more of a biteable size. Great snack too. 

We were early

It was a Tuesday and a public holiday. No matter how I want to snug in my bed longer, everyone tends to wake up early during holiday. And it was no exception when most woke up before 8 am that day!

So after everyone took their shower, we headed out for breakfast. My man wanted the kolo mee from Kim Joo so we drove all the way there. Parked our car at the back of the Hainan Association building, we walked over to the coffee shop.

So quiet. You know that we were early when there was ample of parking, no crowds and most shops have not opened yet.

And our usual order in Kim Joo. A set of vinegar noodle with its lovely mixed pork soup.

Surprise, surprise. They have their own handmade sio bee. No, we did not try them although we saw some ordered them. Another time for that. 

From one to three

One Sunday we came here for our favourite claypot rice.

And to our surprise, the coffee shop has more stalls operating to serve its customers.

The coffee shop came to life in the evening with the claypot rice stall for months and I guess it was enjoying good business and regular customers that now more and more stalls were opening in the evening.

From one stall to three stalls! There was a fried fritters stall in front of the shop and then this fried stall next to the claypot rice stall. 

They even has the Dayak specialty, ayam pansuh too but only on certain days.

Back to our dinner, we ordered some starters to fill up our rumbling tummies. It would took quite some time for our claypot rice to be ready so we ordered some banana fritters to eat. 

Jan went to order RM2 of these crispy, tasty banana fritters.

And Jamie and Jay requested for sio bee so I ordered 5 pieces for the boys.

The kids enjoyed the starter while we were watching the claypot rice been prepared and cooked. 

Soon our piping hot claypot chicken rice came on our table.

Better stir it while it is hot!

2 big claypots (extra lap cheong and salted fishes) plus 4 bowls of peanut soup for RM32!

My hubby never stopped at one bowl of this soup. He ordered another bowl for RM1.

Satisfying and filling dinner, we couldn't moved after that!! 

Early Sunday

It was an early Sunday for us a couple of weeks ago as Jan had a taekwondo competition that morning. 

And I woke up around 5am that day and since I could not go back to sleep, I decided to clean up my fridge. My fridge broke down after the last repair 3 years ago. The cooler or motor faulty; it was not cooling. 

The venue of the competition was in Aeroville Mall, a new mall in Jalan Stutong Baru.  Our first visit to the mall. 

After dropped Jan at the venue, we went to 38 Food Centre which was a stone throw away for breakfast. Our 2nd visit to this food court.  Our first visit was then.

RM18 of dim sum

I ordered these dim sum for me and hubby while the boys had kolo mee. The dim sum was alright, did not wowed me much. 

Then we went back to Aeroville Mall and had a grocery shopping in Econsave. It is the first outlet to open in East Malaysia. Did not buy much since our fridge broke down.

Jan got 5th placing in her category. A good experience for her. Well done, girl! 

A well spent Sunday morning.