Into the new year

No fancy meal for New Year celebration. Just stayed at home, cooked meals and relaxed with family. 

On the eve night, hubby bought home some chicken satay for supper. The kids stayed up till midnight, so they requested supper when the dad went out earlier.

RM0.80 each, hubby ordered 30 sticks of satay chicken. Initially we wanted its pork satay but they were all sold out!! So, chicken satay would do. The strong lemongrass and marinade were so tasty and flavourful. The kids preferred pork more but they did enjoyed the chicken satay. 

No, we didn't finished the whole 30 sticks. Left some for the next day. 

On New Year morning, hubby and I went here for breakfast. Initially we wanted to bring MIL to 3rd Mile Bazaar for wet market and breakfast but she didn't want to go so we ended up just stayed within MJC.

We had our usual breakfast of kolo mee and pork liver soup. After that, we went to nearby mini mart to get our vegetables and meat. 

Just when we reached home, a friend called and asked whether we were interested to buy duck bak kwa!!! Oh yes, duck. That was the first we ever heard and seen. 

RM55 per pack. Imported from Johor, arrived on the New Year eve. We bought a pack from her; will taste this dried meat delicacy during CNY.

Our New Year lunch was like this. Fried chicken wings, satay chicken, stir fried eggplants with minced meats and stir fried kangkong with pig's blood cubes.

In the afternoon, hubby, mil and I shared this mussels and scallop pillow dumpling that we bought from Grandma Bak Kut Teh. 

Big dumpling with a lot of fillings, so it called for sharing. Definitely 1 person cannot finish it all without feeling bloated. Lol.

I also made a bowl of rojak for everyone. We used the rojak paste and crushed nuts bought from Sri Aman. 

Dinner was more or less the same. Hubby went for his overnight fishing trip in Santubong around 4pm.  The kids and I spent the evening talking with mil before calling it a night at around 9pm. The next morning slightly after 6am, I sent my mil to my BIL's house, as they drove back to Kapit that same day.

That was how we spent our New Year!!

On the first

 It was New Year day. The first day of 2021.

No countdown on the eve but the kids stayed pretty late to play online games and waited for the dad to come home. The dad forgot his house key so someone needed to open the door for him. Jamie and I slept early that night but woke up by the fireworks and firecrackers during the midnight. 

The next morning, we had our breakfast at our favourite coffee shop, Y. Y. Cafe. Then around 10 am, hubby and I went to Aeon Mall for a quick shopping and membership renewal. So we bought food from the supermarket for lunch. 

Our New Year lunch has been colourful and in variety as each has their preferred food. 

I bought this ayam golek for RM20.48. We tasted it before and we liked it better than its previous teriyaki and pepper roasted chicken. This chicken was more moist and fit our tastebuds. 

RM12 for both pizza since Jan and Jay love pizza. One is pepperoni while another is meatball flavour. 

Hubby always tried to go healthy version so he picked up this variety sushi for RM15.90. Mostly went into the kids' mouths as expected so his backup lunch was this saba and chicken karaage rice (RM8.90).

I picked up this okonomiyaki with takoyaki set (RM9.90).  I like takoyaki. 

Wgen at home, I just heated up the food in microwave, chopped the chicken and cooked some white rice; and lunch was ready!

And not forgetting the cucur sayur and cucur pisang that we bought at Y. Y. Cafe when we had our breakfast earlier. 

And that was our lunch on the first day of the year!

Connecting

The newly completed bridge (Jambatan Darul Hana) connecting Kuching City South and Kuching City North is an unique and latest tourist attraction in Kuching.

The RM35M bridge is a 336metres S-shaped pedestrian bridge in Kuching Waterfront. 

Last month, we had our maiden walk on the Darul Hana bridge. The view of the Sarawak river from the bridge was something. Definitely different from how you view or take photos on the sides of the waterfront.

But it was even more beautiful at night when it was lighted up. Saw few friends posted in their FB on their night walks there. Hope we get to walk under the moonlight next time.

Darul Hana means place of peace and tranquility in Arabic. May the new year brings such to everyone. Connecting different races and religion together under one roof.

Wishing everyone, Happy New Year 2018!

Reminiscing 2016

This is the last post for 2016.

So much has happened this year. The good, the bad and ugly. Bittersweet year but we survive and thank God for his guidance.

January

Schools reopened; my eldest in Primary 4 while the 2nd child started his primary school.

Febuary

CNY was a great and wonderful for us; a time of family and friends come together.

March

Hubby has his relocation to a Sri Aman and would not know when he would be able to be transferred back home.

April

My princess is turning 10 and we had a simple lunch celebration for her. An eventful month for Jan and Jay as they had their first repertoire, enrolled in new tuition centre, and entered a colouring competition.

May

We spent a short family holiday in Sri Aman during the school holiday.

June

We caught up with our friends over a lunch, my almost 5-years old freezer had a problem and I went for a follow-up check-up and everything was fine.

July

My beloved uncle passed on and was in a better place. And check out on how we celebrated our first Sarawak Independence Day

August

A birthday month for me and Jay but it was also a sickness month. Everyone in family was not well and hit by viruses.

We had a simple Chinese dinner with my mil, sil and bil to celebrate our birthday.

September

The youngest turned 3 in September. No big celebration. And my sil safely delivered a healthy baby girl.

October

Passing of a relative and my little niece admitted in hospital for lung infection.

November

A very busy month. Exam, not 100% well. Kids did well in their final exam. And my blog is officially 9 years old.

December

A quiet month with premature empty nest syndrome for me!! 2 older kids were off on a 3-weeks long holiday and I had that loneliness feeling. Thankfully I have one young kid to hold on to and accompany me through the quiet weeks. And not much Christmas celebration this year. What we did on Christmas Day? Attended morning mass, had afternoon siesta and a wedding reception to attend to in the evening.

That wrapped up my 2016 calendar.

Wishing everyone "Happy New Year" and hope everyone has a wonderful, happy and blessed year ahead. See you all in 2017!

Celebrating new year

My 1st post of the year.

But let me bring you to the eve of new year where I were celebrating by having a family dinner in this cafe.

Did not take photos of the food as mostly were what we had in the past except this super delicious steamed seabass.

It rained that night and continued to New Year. We had an early sleep on the eve so missed out on any firework display in the midnight.

Woke up on the new year, feeling chilled from the outside weather. Even my Japanese roses were moody and did not bloom much.

We went to our favourite food chain for breakfast. The children's wish came true. Happy breakfast on New Year day! Lol.

1st breakfast of the year

After that, we had a CNY shopping in Plaza Merdeka. We spent few hours shopping for new clothing. 

And we went home buying these new clothing for the children. And yes, CNY shopping is earlier this year. ^^

Hubby said we over-spent on the new clothing so we had to settle for something cheaper for lunch. Lol. So for our late lunch, we went to Kim Joo in Ewe Hai road for its vinegar kolo mee. Well, we did not mind such well-known, delicious kolo mee and mix pork soup at all.

*recycled pic*

For the rest of the afternoon, we spent some time clearing and keeping the Christmas tree; and had an epic afternoon nap. 

That was how we spent our New Year. A splendid and happy new year. Hope you had a wonderful new year day too.

Miscallaneous Picture #48: After Christmas

After Christmas, we had a relaxing and cooling weekend. 

We attended a private family reunion cum cousin's wedding dinner on Boxing Day.

Went to the newest mall around, VivaCity before the year ended. Lovely Christmas merry-go-round props there.

My boy joined his sister in wearing glasses starting last Sunday

Today is New Year Eve! And what a wet and cold day it is!

In just over a month, we would be ushering the Year of Monkey. Ooopps, time really flies fast. Time to shop for CNY decors, goodies and clothes. ^^

I used to collect these beautiful cards made by Mouth & Foot Painting Artists as a kid. Surprised that hubby got them this year so I am going to keep them well.

Wishing everyone A Happy New Year!

"For I knows the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

~ Jeremiah 29 : 11

Resolution? Nay

No, I am not going to make any resolution this year if I meant not to do it. However there is no harm looking back at my 2014 resolutions and see how I have fulfilled them.

Basically my 2014 new year resolutions were these:

1. More exercise

I did not do much and instead of being fit, I have turned fat! Maybe too much good food in Sibu and I hardly can lose those post-pregnancy bulges.

2. Go for vacation

I am glad that I achieved this resolution. Been to Thailand and brought the kids to Cameron Highlands for holiday last year. This year? Maybe a trip to Johor.

3. Juicing

Lazy to make fresh juices in the morning and ended up relying on those ready-to-drink juice packs.

My old juicer not functioning after sitting in idle for more than a year. We bought a new one in November and hopefully I am hardworking in making juices for the kids.

4. Procrastinating

Still need to improve in that department. Since Jamie, I have been taking my sweet times in doing things. Not that efficient like I used to be but cannot blame me, right? Age is catching up and I am a mother of 3. ^^

For 2015?? Stop making new year resolutions. Lol.

Extracted from Coffee Girl

2014 | reviews & snapshots

Well, it was a wonderful yet challenging 2014.

It was my 10th wedding anniversary. The travel bugs got me too last year with few vacations with my family. In March, I went to Bangkok and Pattaya with hubby, then KL and Cameron with hubby and 2 older kids.

The kids were doing fine in Sibu, and hubby was busy with works as well as travelling. However he had a bad luck in June when he was involved in a self-accident. A terrifying incident but luckily he was not badly injured. As for the car, he claimed total lost and insurance company paid him a certain sum. After more than 5 months they contacted hubby and told him on the payout. So we only get the payout this month.

Hubby got promoted in August and since then he has been flying in central Borneo to oversee the branches. He will be moving to Miri sometime this month as main office is there.

Jamie celebrated his 1 year old birthday in Kuching on his maiden flight back to Kuching. And not forgetting we had our family studio shooting too in September as well as my younger brother was hitched!

The kids and I moved back to our Kuching home in mid-November. After staying in Sibu for a year and 4 1/2 months, kids and I are back here. A new challenge for me for the very first time as a full time sahm. A beginning of my solo parenting of 3 young kids.

From my smartphone and digital camera, this was how my 2014 looked like! A lot of happenings but all went well in the end.

To another wonderful year. Goodbye 2014, and hello to 2015!

Jan-Apr

From top (clock-wise): a family shot on 1st day of CNY, Jamie at going 6th month, in Elephant's Camp in Bangkok, souvenir shop in Bangkok, Jan on her 8th birthday, sun-bathing in Pattaya, kids on their most well-behaved manner, me enjoying good food

May-Aug

From top: beautiful cotton tree shedding white flurry in Padang Merdeka, Kuching, Family vacation in Cameron Highlands, my girl relaxing in CH, hubby had a car accident and resting in hospital, Hari Raya visiting, selfie with my birthday boy, a box of custom-made birthday cupcakes for Jay's 5th birthday 

Sept-Nov

From top: brother's big day, family photo on Jamie's birthday, hubby gone to Paris, I got my 1st LV, attending few weddings and took a photo with hubby in one of wedding

Dec

From left: a beautiful church wedding of a girl cousin in St Peter Church Padungan, Jamie with his 1st Christmas tree, our Christmas tree; Jan with her new school uniform getting ready for the new 2015!