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It’s Been Good

29 Jul

Hubby and I are not working the last two days because of the public holidays. We have had a long four day weekend and the girls have a week off from school this week. Unlike in previous years where we’d take the opportunity to go away, this time, we decided not to go anywhere and just enjoy the city. So far, we’ve been having fun, doing simple things together – going to the movies, eating different kinds of food, shopping, sleeping and just being carefree.

We also managed to do separate things – hubby and I golfed with friends, M1 visiting and hanging out with her friends and M2 catching up with her TV shows. Bottom line, everyone is happy.

Today, we take a short road trip to a fishing village just to eat some seafood. Awesome meal awaits us. Then we come home to sleep it off so that tonight, we dine with my sibling and his family.

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So I Can Have Your Coffee?

10 Jul

Starbucks

I was running late for my lunch appointment when the iMessage came. It was M2 and the Drama Queen act unfolded…

“Can I have the Italian Starbucks? The one in the kitchen.”

“It’s normal coffee that I drink. Are you sure?”
“There’s no sugar in it.”

“Yeah, I’ll add sugar.”

And I thought that was the end of this, then…

“Guess what? I passed 200m and shot put.”

It was standard school sports that morning, so I was getting an update on it.

“That’s good.”
“But I don’t think I passed long jump!”

“Oh well…”

“Cause I fell flat onto the sand”
“It hurts…”
“My leg hurts!!!”

“Oh dear”
“Ouch!”

“My eye hurts…”

“Oh no”
“I call you now…”

“There’s sand in my eyes” then pause, then the request came.

“So I can have your coffee?”

I think Drama Queen was at her best here. Yes, I did call and yes, she did have my coffee with lots of sugar added, as reported by M1 later.

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Exploring Kuching

4 Jul

It is my first time here in Kuching and boy, it feels so much more humid! Perhaps this is because back home, I am always in my car, zipping from here to there instead of walking.

Dinner was walking distance from the hotel but felt like quite a distance. Must be the humidity…

We went to the famed food court for seafood. Apparently TripAdvisor recommends this place. As there’s so many of us, we took 3 tables and decided every table would eat differently. My table had these choices.

After dinner, we walked it off at the waterfront before calling it an early night as tomorrow it will be an early start.

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The Breakfast Test

23 Jun

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Do you realize that those breakfast menus that you find available in hotel rooms, either hanging at the doorknob or placed on the table, are fun things? When the girls were younger and we traveled without them, we always made it a point to bring this home for them.

The menu was known as ‘The Breakfast Test’ because looking like a test paper, it was a ‘challenge’ to fill in the blanks and check the boxes, like in a real exam except that there’s never a wrong answer! Such a confidence booster to prep for real exams. Back then, it was such a big deal and something both girls looked forward to having besides the usual gifts galore.

They are much older now and sadly, this little fun thing to do seems trivial to them now.

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Will They Like Us?

10 Jun

Not our typical timing to have a party in the middle of a work week but hubby and I hosted a potluck party at home last week. It was a continuation of the good company over golf and lunch that I extended the impromptu invite to my friends to our home. The catch to the occasion was simply to have everyone prepare a home-cooked dish to share.

The build-up to the occasion was very exciting especially with our WhatsApp group chat. Everyone showed their food preparation process and kitchen prowess.

Pretty soon the guest list grew, with the addition of hubbies and children from an initial ladies only affair. I worried the house would explode with so many bodies at once but thank goodness, it held. There were little groups here and there – the children in the living room, the men at the garden terrace while the ladies hogged the main dining table.

My girls were worried with children coming, they’d have to play host. “What if they don’t like us?” “What should we talk about?” “What should we do?!” So many concerns. Later on, I would find out that even our young guests had the exact same thoughts as my girls!

Well, the food spread closed all gaps as there was boisterous merry-making, laughter and more laughter, children and adults alike. Any thoughts of “will they like us?” vanished as it was a great potluck party for everyone!

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I Don’t Eat My Kind

29 May

Not too long ago, M1 openly complained that M2 has been very soft and called her a tofu; M2 took to heart her association with the food type.

We went out for dinner on one occasion and I happened to order tofu and scooped some for M2 to eat but she declined and said,”Mummy, I don’t eat my kind.”

“Huh?”

“She’s a tofu and she doesn’t eat her kind,” M1 explained.

Ahhh… What a clever new excuse to avoid food that one does not like.

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Am I Italian?

19 May

It was during Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year that we discovered some very enlightening facts about hubby’s side of the family. Hubby’s uncle and cousin had painstakingly researched the family roots, tracing back to his great-grandfather, who was born in 1881 and emigrated here from China.

This means his grandfather is the first generation of the clan, hubby the third generation and my girls the fourth generation. I was awed because on my side, my only sibling and I are first generation; my Dad came from Singapore.

During the PowerPoint presentation, the whole clan learnt of the beginnings of the ancestors: how they met, when, where and all. There were even mug shots of the great-grandparents and it was one of the mugs that I commented, “Gosh! He looks European! Almost like an Italian!” to which M2 overheard and perked her up.

“Am I Italian?” she said.

Tickled by her question, I merely raised my eyebrow. She persisted.

“Am I Italian?”

I rolled my eyes and ignored her.

“Hmm. I must be because I like pizzas!” she decided and beamed.

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Times Have Changed

13 Mar

It was a Wednesday and for two days in a row, we were going out for yet another dinner with friends. Hubby was just informing M1 about our plans.

“Going out again?! Why?” questioned M1.

Well, impromptu plans can coincide with plans made earlier. Indeed times have changed when it used to be the older questioning the younger but it’s the other way around now.

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All We Do is Eat

7 Feb

These past few days and the next few, it seems that all we do and think about is eating and eating well. Perhaps it is still the festive Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year that is in the air that we are making the extra effort to meet up with friends (and family) for the must-have Yee Sang for good luck along with hearty sumptuous Chinese meals.

We’ve been calling Chinese restaurants all over town to book tables only to be turned away as they have been fully booked. It looks like we are not the only ones with this eating mission in mind during this festive period. After all, Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days and there’s still a week to go.

Despite the set back from the more renowned restaurants, we managed. Today, I am booked for lunch with a girlfriend and later, dinner with friends and their children. Then the gastronomic adventure continues, with hubby and the girls, with dinners on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights with different groups of friends, culminating with a family dinner on Chap Goh Meh, the 15th and final day of the Lunar New Year on Friday!

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The Reunion Dinner

30 Jan

This is what the Lunar New Year is all about, the Reunion Dinner. The mass exodus by the working people to their hometowns for this all important occasion with the family. This year our Reunion Dinner will be with my mother and my only sibling and his family. The Dinner is all the more significant with the inclusion of my niece who came back after graduating from college.

We opted for the occasion to be at home instead of going to a restaurant. Over the years, dining out became an option to entice people with the idea of just dining with no hassle of cooking or cleaning up. We tried this before but the matriach of the family feels this is very rushed and not personal. In other words, too commercialized to savor the true meaning of a reunion in comfort.

So we will enjoy dinner with mostly home-cooked meaningful dishes and some pre-ordered delicacies. Bottomline, it is not just the food that matters but the family being together. Tomorrow we travel to hubby’s hometown to be with his family.

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