Chinese New Year celebration in Kuala Lumpur 2013

Our 2013 KL trip was very nice. There were trips to Mid Valley Megamall, JUSCO Taman Equine, Pavillion, IKEA, a quick stop in TESCO extra Ampang, KLCC and that's about it. Forget to mention Zoo Negara and KLCC Aquaria.

As usual, KL trip was more like makan trip and window shopping attempts.

Subway's meal was great. But I couldn't make up my mind of which meat filling to go with the sandwich. I ended up having a Veggie Delite.

We're staying with my sister-in-law and her husband. Darrien acquainted with her uncle soon enough.

While Wife was busy shopping for our New Year clothes, Darrien and me spent time at Midvalley's Jusco playground. It was empty and our boy was shoving and riding every rides and games there.

We had our CNY reunion lunch at Pavillion's Suki-ya restaurant. For its famed paper thin beef, mutton and chicken. I couldn't remember how many trays I had. Probably ten trays!

Each tray contained 8 pieces of meat and using chopsticks, I picked up 4 pieces of meat and let them boiled in the given soup.

Just nice. A mouthful of really aromatic, delicious, hot meat! Bon appetite!

Hello Kung Kung and Ma Ma

Pavillion was decorated with lots of red lanterns.

Main stage in Pavillion

We finished our lunch at around 12.30pm and we waited more than two hours for its acrobatic lion dance (which only lasted for 15 minutes).

Almost every evening, while in KL, I tried to bring Darrien for his run in the playground.

 

He loved the evening walk very much.

Ultraman's gesture

Can you see the playground?

During the New Year day holiday, we drove to Zoo Negara for Darrien's second visit of his life. He was excited and kept looking for the 'new' animal whenever we reached another enclosure.

Darrien took one of the stalks left by the staff, to feed the big-horned bull

The animal show was good and we enjoyed the animals' perfomance.

Sugar cane was sold for RM3 a piece at the elephants' enclosure.

Darrien tried hard to pass the cane to the elephant but he couldn't reach the trunk.

Frustrated, Darrien threw the cane towards the Jumbo but it missed. It ended into the drain.

We spent four hours there. Weather was cloudy and the boys enjoyed the trip much.

After the day trip, we ate our lunch at the famed Nak Won BBQ Korean Restaurant at Ampang. As the days passed, we even ate at their parent restaurant at Taman Desa.

Private dining area

Common area

For a total bill amount of RM96, we ordered marinated beef which came with the side dishes

Fruit salad as side dish

We had their steamed egg in hot bowl.

Darrien's favourite dish

And their pancake too.

I almost forgot about the meat. As the kids were with us, we asked the waiter to barbeque the meat.

Juicy beef

The soup base tasted like the Chinese taucheo but nonetheless very nice.

Happy Chinese New Year 2013!

Sons' progress

Darrien had attended Tadika Fatima for a month.

He brought his first masterpiece back. Lots of circles. Big and small. A triangle and a rectangular. Different strokes of colours. Even a coloured circle.

During his second week at school, he drew an apple and had it painted.

On his fourth week, he showed me his knowledge on number 1. His teacher probably wanted him to write vertically.

 His patience wore off. But he managed two horizontal lines filled with his number 1.

Jacob had his first solid food at his late 5 months of age. Porridge which is 'mashed' through a sieve.

My first solid food?!

He's very accomodative and finished all the five teaspoonful of fine porridge.

Here goes..

Hmm...

One more, please

This mashed porridge is very good!

My sons, Jacob and Darrien

How to change disposable diaper

Do husbands change diapers these days? If I were a Daddy twenty or thirty years ago, it would be a joke. In our society at least. But it will be a disaster should a husband doesn't know how to change diapers today!

I do change diapers. Lots of them. More than thousand times. I would not say that it's a dirty job. Baby less than one year old who drink breast milk or cow's milk, how bad the poop can be?

Jacob poop every day. Sometimes, before his evening bath or after his morning bath. Right after his morning feed.

When the 'smell' comes, the first thing that I look for, will be the wet wipe. I'm not that systematic and things are left around here and there. Pull out three pieces of the wipes from its packet. It's sufficient and at RM0.05 a piece, it's good to be frugal.

Alcohol free to prevent dryness

I normally put his chest resting on my arm, so that his back is facing me. His legs seem like standing on the floor but actually his weight is on my arm. Normally, I don't lay him down to avoid his poop spilling out from the diaper. Untape the diaper and remove it.

This is the most messy part. I'll take a wet wipe and clean as much as possible. Leave no stains behind.

Take another wet wipe and wipe the back thoroughly and the anus.

With the back cleaned, I lay the baby down. Starting from genitalia towards area between skin folds, make sure no yellow stain is left unwiped.

 

Well, that's about it. The last part will be putting on a new diaper. Simple but needs some practices. A friend of mine lamented that he could change a diaper in a minute. The fastest I can do probably 5 minutes. I wonder how he can manage so fast?

Husband should cook this simple dish

I believe that husbands should cook at home once in awhile.

Like this simple dish which can be done in 40 minutes.

Maggi's 5-Spice Mix (I grabbed from Mydin supermarket randomly)

Ayam's Green Peas (Any brand will do. I was in a hurry and didn't even bother to check the price)

Half a kg of chicken (Make sure the date on the label is the day it is bought)

I soaked some fragrant mushroom and black moss since my son likes them. While waiting for the mushroom to soften, why not wash some leafy vegetables like baby kailan?

Let's start with the dish. Simply follow the instruction given on the Maggi's label.

Boil some water. Put in the 5spices mix, chicken (do wash the pieces of meat), shredded mushroom, black moss, green peas (how much? suka hati lah).

Then, stir the mixture every now and then so that the meat cooked evenly.

The meat should be ready in 30 minutes. So, while waiting, I got myself a bowl of muesli.

True, a lot of waiting period. Then, why not proceed to cook the baby kailan?

A lazy man like me can cook, so can you!

The result? It's really nice. Your spouse will like the dish. Your children will love it. And of course a husband will earn credit for his effort.

All the best in cooking the dish!