Yesterday's dessert from My Elephant, Section 17

So yesterday I had Thai food, and today my colleagues and I headed to Nirwana and had froyo for dessert.

Dieting is never an option for me. But trying to cut down on food is also a Goliath battle of its own. 

So, right now, for a start, I've started playing badminton on Thursdays. I haven't figured out what to do with the rest of the week but I guess badminton is a start.

I have never been concerned about my weight, but it's hard to shut everybody up ("ehhh, dah bersemangat awak sekarang!") and going to stores and they don't have your size can be a little too much to bear at times.

In the meantime, I look forward to see the end-result for @amirhimself who has taken on the NST weight loss challenge. It's hard work, this losing weight business.

Now what should I have for dinner tonight?

the talented Audrey Kawasaki

Layan feeling blues, coz 2 of my colleagues' last day is tomorrow.

People say friendship lasts forever, so here's to another chapter to our lives. I don't see them as leaving, I see this as a road that suddenly diverges... yada yada you know the flow, pick up robert frost you know how this works. I've lost too many colleagues for the past 4 years in this industry and I'm blessed to have them as good friends outside the office.

okay I go layan k-pop now. heard that showdown tonight will cover k-pop. hwaiting! ~

Photo credit: The talented Audrey Kawasaki

Thought about Neri when I saw this.

iPhone cover at Tokyu Hands, Yokohama

I have decided that my next camera will be an iPhone. Next year perhaps.

Dinosaurs Alive! Or maybe not.

Took the kids to see Dinosaurs Alive! (yeah it comes with an exclamation mark) at Pusat Sains Negara last Monday.

You know when I was a kid (yes we are skipping a light fandago on memory lane here) there were 2 things that I remember loving. Dinosaurs. And Pusat Sains. Oh add Smurfs too and Jem & the Hologram. I wanted to be an archeologist, I knew all the names to all dinosaurs (my favorite was the Triceratops -- how can you not love the Triceratops? Those massive ceratopsian horns look equally cute on its babies). During my brief elementary years in Kota Bharu, Pusat Sains came to Kelantan for 2 weeks and I WAS THERE EVERYDAY. But of course I never grew up to be an archaeologist, and Jurassic Park ruined everything.

Dinosaurs Alive! was a major disappointment. Yes I do know that there will be big synthetic dinos screaming their lungs out whenever you walk pass them. But I didn't expect that it would be a 5 minutes stroll along a badly lit route which reminds me of a cheap haunted house you normally find at funfairs. -_-

And now I get why Malaysian kids will never dig science. Pusat Sains Negara is falling to pieces. The science stuff hardly work and it's disheartening to see such a giant place be filled with decrepit items (probably the same items I touched back when I was a kid). Geez. Please Malaysia, make science sexy again.

But if you still wanna check out them dinosaurs, do go. Don't say I didn't warn you. 15 bucks for adult, 6 bucks for kid. But I didn't pay for my kid coz I got a coupon off a newspaper the week before. Who needs to watch Extreme Couponing. I've lived in America, we survived on coupons baby!

That is all. I'm feeling like a dinosaur myself today. ArggggghhhHhhHhhHhh.

No parents should ever bury their children but I guess for all of us it would be twice as painful to bury our parents too.

Al-Fatihah to Chah's beautiful mother.

You know how kids tend to give you minor heart attacks on a daily basis?

Last Saturday baby Emre chipped his front tooth coz Rumi jumped on him. I was pretty relaxed about it because I didn't see any blood but my heartbeat was beating like a jungle drum and my head welcomed a headache that wasn't there in the first place. One thing about the si kecik is that he's a tough one, he cried a bit, we took him to the dentist (y'all should really visit Dr. Fauziah & team in Melawati) and everything is back to normal – sans half-a-tooth.

On Sunday I tried to make my kids call me 'boss'. When they are big enough I'll demand a party on Mother's Day for me and my friends. Tee hee. Hope you had the opportunity to tell you mothers how much you love her. Come on, admit it, you don't get to say it often, no?

Happy 3rd birthday Idris Rumi. Go on, break some hearts. Love, Ibu.

Chicken Chop

The family wanted to do an early birthday celebration for kid Rumi (he's turning 3 on the 8th!) so we decided to make chicken chop with brown sauce. My girl Sara C suggested the Mccormick ready-made chicken gravy and 2 hours before making the gravy I found this video on youtube. 


The gravy turned out very good! (I've never made chicken chop before, mind you). We bought the frozen chicken chop (already bread-crumbed) from a shop in Greenwood [Iwani Halal Frozen Food] and it took less than an hour to get everything ready. SIL made her delicious potato salad, and we added veggie balls and fruit cocktail (mixed fruit, susu Ideal with nata de coco) and a Thomas-themed cake. Ta-dah! 


Wait, I'm not sure if 'bread-crumbed' is the right word, but you get my point.


Not looking forward to work tomorrow. The department is in shambles, morales are low (not mine) but it's tough to be positive about work when everybody around you is just so negative. Guess I just have look ahead and keep my head high. I worked so damn hard to get to where I am now. I don't feel the need to apologize for getting the better attention, the better pay or the better bonus, no? Work as a team, but by the end of the day, you still need to push yourself to the limits especially when you have a demanding boss.* 


Enough ranting about work. I cleared my credit card today. My shoulders feel less heavy now. 

* If you can't stand the heat, leave the kitchen. And that's that. 

My husband is awesome because he has in-built GPS Japan system. In KL he is a bit fail when it comes to directions but in Japan, he is awesome-des. He said he's done with Japan and if I want to visit this place again next year, I'm on my own. On my own, with these crazy train lines!?! Die.

So I kinda went overboard with spending at Universal Studios. So unlike me to be wasting so much of my hard-earned money on souvenirs. But to make me feel better, I shall think of it as 'I can do whatever I want with my money I worked so hard to earn them!'. Yeah. Then I realised I have not been to Tokyo, Disneyland and Ghibli Museum. I am officially doomed.

Thoroughly enjoyed Osaka albeit a short one. I was aware that there will be a lot of walking, but with 2 kids in tow, there is no way for us to travel light. On the night we arrived, we hit Dotobori, a Petaling Street place of some sort, but with more life to it.

Will write about Universal Studio Japan if I have time. I think I overshopped there. Huhu.

See this? Sprinkle lemon on them then eat them. Yes, bite the bones. Taste like ikan masin. I would have enjoyed them if I didn't have a bad cough. No worries, ample time to savor it again!

Haven't had the Mos Burger yet. I am reminded of why I love Yokohama so much. It's so serene and full of old people! Well, in a way. Yesterday we went to Negishi Park Forest to check out the sakura and just chilled. The kids enjoyed themselves.

Check out the grandma rocking the DLSR!

Gangster cilik Negishi Park. She was upset that Rumi took her twig. It was not ever hers. It belongs to mother nature! Aku lempang kang budak comel ni kang.

Hai.

Ok that's it for now. Gonna catch up on my Korean drama. Yes yes I know I'm in Japan right now. ;p

Landed in chilly Narita late evening. Then took a 2-hour drive by bus to Yokohama. The kids are having high fever (the day before departure baru nak demam!) so you can imagine my restlessness throughout the flight. Gets more difficult when both boys want their Ayah for comfort.

Hope this kind of weather will help the boys recover faster. We got a lot of jalan2 to do!

YOKOHAMA, APRIL 2010. First agenda when I get there! Left for Narita today. Praying for good health and fine sakura blossom weather. See you on the other side.

Few more days to go till we fly off to my favorite land. Bags still unpacked.

One of my favorite place for carbonara if you ask me is Citrus, BV2 (near Borders Express and Canoodling). If you're tired of the ostentatious noisy ambience over at Delicious, Plan B or whatever franchise the Big B can come up with these days, head over to Citrus. Give it a try. On another note, our visa application has been approved yesterday and I am over the moon. Finally, a well-deserved break. I've been working non-stop since I came back to work after giving birth to Emre last year! Now all I need to do is figure out how to pack for four...

You know what I love about having kids?

Reasons #96232753: I get to order kids meal and eat it! Mwahaha.

(what? save budget what)

So at Del1cious today, my kid Rumi had a breakdown, he was cranky, he wants cake, he wants to roll around on the floor, he wants to go pharmacy, he wants the world as his oyster.. in other words, he was undecided. Moments like these, I don't throw a hissy fit. I prefer to take the I'm-just-gonna-watch-you-throw-your-tantrums approach (which most of the time doesn't work, really) but I don't want to shout at my kid or pick-him up and risk getting hit by him you know?

What I'm trying to get at is, there was this young mother with 2 kids giving me a dirty look. I know what she was thinking -- why am I not doing anything? I chose to ignore her because mothers tend to be judgmental of other mothers, we do it all the time. But yeah, whatever.

So I took Rumi to the pharmacy, came back, and had a fairly uninterrupted lunch. Until I heard the same mother yelling at her 4-yo kid (who decided to run away with her phone) for the entire restaurant to hear: WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MY PHONE?!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MY PHONE?!! Adoyai. Now that's a psycho mom. I may be a lousy mom but that woman really needs to chill man.

No wonder muka ketat je minah ittew. *roll eyes*

I'm 35 today. syukur & shukran.

Sent via BlackBerry from space.