Birthday Celebrations

It has been a month of birthday celebrations. My daughter, SweetTeen, turned 15. Then my dad-in-law had a large-scale celebration for his 76th birthday - invited all his relatives and close friends. My mom also turned 76, and just a few days ago my son, CoolTeen, turned 19. I suppose I would have to give him another nickname next year when he's no longer a teenager.

Just a quick recap of the birthday cakes that we had this year....

SweetTeen loves stars,
so I made fondant stars for her chocolate cake

Dad-in-law's pandan layered cake. Can't take
any credit for this because I ordered it from a bakery.
Love the fresh cream chinese peaches - a symbol
for longevity

My mom's chocolate mousse cake, also bought
from a bakery. See the difference between professional
and amateur bakers? :)

CoolTeen's snare drum cake. It looks simple
but the fondant decorations
took me the whole afternoon to create.
Now I remember why I seldom make fondant cakes!

CoolTeen received a rather creative present from one of his friends who knew that he liked Milo...

The whole box with the logo on the cover
was homemade - a treasure chest of Milo bars
and 3-in-1 Milo powder!

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook this morning and I was amazed at how much I could identify with it. This is Katrina Kenison reading from a chapter from the book 'The Gift Of An Ordinary Day'. It reminds me to appreciate my children every single day, for they are truly precious gifts.
Warning: tissues needed!

Aloe Vera Dessert

We were with some friends sometime before the Chinese New Year, when someone mentioned that he always gets aloe vera leaves from his grandma's garden in Malacca to make tong sui (Cantonese for a sweet soupy dessert). He offered to bring some back for me since I always enjoy a bowl of chilled tong sui on a hot,humid day.

The aloe vera leaves were HUGE, bigger
than any that I've seen. I suppose the soil
in Malacca must be rich in nutrients!

Cut off the side thorns then slice off the skin
 with a vegetable peeler

Slice open the leaf, then cut into strips

Cut the fleshy pulp loose from the skin

Cut the flesh into bite-size cubes

Throw it into a large pot, add water and red dates.
Boil, then add sugar according to taste.

And there you have it, a simple and tasty dessert that's good for the skin :)

Money & Happiness?

I saw this on Facebook today and I think if everyone truly understands the correlation between money and happiness, this world would be a better place.
The video is a little long but worth your time watching it :)

2 Weeks Of CNY Celebration

It's been a wonderful 2 weeks of Chinese New Year celebrations as I stuffed my tummy to the max. I know I am going to regret it but as Garfield the cat  says:

It all started with the reunion dinner at my older brother's place the week before CNY. We had a barbecue this time, something different from the norm. Too bad I was busy eating and forgot to snap photos!

Then came the reunion dinner at my parents-in law's place on the eve of CNY. We had steamboat. There's nothing like sharing a meal around 2 pots of boiling soup...in an air-conditioned home, of course!

Then came the customary lunches and dinners, as I visited my parents, relatives and friends. 

Tossing the yee sang for many blessings
in the coming year

SweetTeen collecting her angpow

This year's gathering with my long-time friends was a little bitter-sweet as there was one child missing among our kids. One of my friends lost her 17 year old son to leukaemia just a few weeks ago but we were glad that she and her family decided to join us for our annual CNY gathering. 

Valentine's Day fell on the 5th day of CNY and since hubby was still on leave we decided to have a simple lunch at Levain...but I guess lots of people had the same idea as the place was filled to the brim and we couldn't even drive into their carpark! So we headed further down Jalan Tun Razak and ended up at Delicious instead.

I had quiche - something like an egg and meat pie

Love their desserts!

And on Chap Goh Mei, the last day of CNY, we finally managed to locate our favourite claypot chicken rice shop, Restoran Makanan Teow Chew which had shifted from their previous premises to Taman Segar, Cheras.

My family loves this place because the food
is quick and tasty

Finally...the opening of my kids' angpows after which hubby will deposit the money into the respective kid's bank account for their future use.

My kids tell me that everyone has been generous
in their giving this year :)

Remember last year I posted up a video showing a lion dance doing the shuffle dance? This year it's the 'Gangnam Style' lion dance...

Some More Pics

The weather has been extremely hot lately and this morning when I opened my handbag to get my lipstick this is what I discovered...

My lipstick had melted into a misshapen gooey lump!
Ah well, at least I've got an excuse to go buy
another lipstick!

Many of my son's friends now have their driver's license. At first it's quite a thrill to be able to drive but after a while, with all the traffic jam, driving around doesn't seem so fun. So they car-pool. 

One day, a few of them decided to go to the mall. One of my son's friends drove over to our place and since my son was the designated driver for the day, we allowed his friend to park his car at our porch. When I peeked into the car (after they had left, of course!) this is what I saw...

The strange things people keep in their car:
notice what's in the compartment near the gear stick?

Here's a closer look...I was giggling so much
that I forgot to focus my camera.
Answer: dentures
(might be his dad's or mum's)

I think it is good to have marked pathways for the blind. Have you noticed them around town on the pedestrian walkways? They are yellow with raised stripes for the visually disabled to 'feel' with their cane, to help them stay on the pavement and off the road when they walk.

However. there's one pathway that really defies logic. Do you see where it leads to?

Some friends invited us to a German restaurant in Bangsar and being meat-lovers, hubby and I feasted on pork knuckles, Bratwurst sausages and rack of ribs...yum!

On another occasion we were invited to a vegetarian dinner and when this arrived on our table it looked like soup with lovely chunks of meat, right?

Wrong. It's all vegetarian...which means it's not meat 
although our brain may tell us otherwise!
 I marvel at how it closely resembles the real thing.
Truly a work of art, and a tasty one!