Santa's Galore

While in Bali recently we really didn't get to do much shopping. We choose to relax and spend time at the pool rather than go on tours and sightseeing. However, on the third day we thought that we should see a little more of Bali and not just be confined to the hotel and its surroundings.


So after an early breakfast at the hotel we went for a tour to Kintamani and a few other areas. Our first stop was to Tanjong Benoa. Over here the famed attractions are watersports and other sea activities. With two kids in two we were a little reluctant to try anything. The one thing I wanted to do was go for a submarine ride which I had read about. Alas, the guide said that the operation had gone "bangkrut" or belly up. Doh!!!


We did take a look at some great loking hotels in anticipation of our next visit. On this side of the island it's a little less hectic than Kuta and can be more relaxing but less fun. All depends what you're looking for I guess.


We headed up to the volcano next and the journey was long and the kids were of course not amused. Not wantign to eat when we ahd a food stop and wantign to eat as soon as we started our journey LOL Well we survived. We saw loads and load of shops selling all kinds of handcrafted goods. From shrines, to animals, to people to anything you could imagine.


As we headed up to the mountain the road was lined with shops selling more and more of the same handcrafted goods. We didn't stop as I was overwhelmed. Besides I was looking for more Santa's to add to my collection Ho Ho Ho


I did see a few places but the driver said we could go there ont he way down from Kintamani. So I ahd to patiently wait. Argh...Truth be told when we reached the point to view the volcano we were a little disappointed with the view...okay so it was a real volcano but I did really prefer the Grand Canyon because we were quite a distance away. Doh!


On the way down we saw the rice paddie filed on the mountain slope of Tengglung which are in pictured in my previous post (along with most of my pictures of Bali). The view there was excellent but the natives were trying very hard to push their wares. I would have mined but they were kinda desparate and I know I should ahve bought sommething because it was really very cheap but I would have no real use for it apart from gathering dust besides I already have a vacuum for that LOL

After that we stopped at some of the shops selling Christmas stuff. Unfortunately they didn't have many Santa's and the one thing else that I wanted was in short supply. Doh!! Anyway, we evenually stopped at a Christmas shop and I had a field day. Wifey was in the car with the resting kids and I was on my own in a shop full of Sant's holding millions of rupiah LOL I practically grabbed everything I could. I left behind those that were of lower quality or too big to handle.

I managed to fill up a box full and serriously had I know I was underweight instead of thinking I had exceed my baggage allowance I'd have got even more DOH!!! Anyway, there is always a next time LOL SO you can see my booty at teh bottom of the post. Some old looking some new looking but all Santa's. Even have duplicates which I had wanted to give to my brother and sister....alas they have not made it there yet muahahahah

To give perspective...the small round Santa in the middle is about 3 inches high

In the end, we finally caved in to the kids and let them have adip int he pool as soon as we got to the hotel. ALl their tiredness and complaining disappeared. We stayed in the pool until dark and it was excellent as the pool area was quiet as it was less crowded. There was an office function held on the pool beach and parts of it were cordoned off...but it was okay as we didn't need that much space anyway. We actually went around the whole pool in stalth mode...believe me it took a long time to get around the immense pool.

I love Bali!!!!

Rockin' Getaway

Woo hoo I'm so glad that we went fot the vacation. The body may be tired but the mind is refreshed. What is it with holidays that it somehow drains the body so. Mind you we were mostly lazing around the pool and only went on a tour on one of the days. Anyway I'll just let the pictures do the talking!

Getaway

Yahoo....It's only a few hours before we go off a much deserved holiday! This year has been terrible for me...with the last parts of my MBA being completed under some serious office pressure. The less said the better!!

Anyway, I can't wait to go away with the family for a much needed retreat!! We're taking our little 10 year old neephew along too. He and my little girl are always at odds with each other and I hope they'll be able to keep it in check during the vacation. I will try my best to keep them apart but don't think I'll have much success as usual. Anyway, wifey and me are going to enjoy ourselves regardless hohoho

It's also a great way to start the end of the year festivities. We've already finished some of the decorating and will have a little more to do when we return. Nothing elobrate or over the top...just lights lights and more lights LOL Wish we had those Santa's in sleighs that we could put up on the rooftop hohoho

Hopefully we'll have some nice pictures when we get back in a few days. Until then see ya! :)

Going Italian

For the longest time my favorite restaurant has been Tony Roma’s and it still is but I’ve rediscovered a new place that I have not been going to for a while. It’s called Italiannise. I remember going to the branch in 1 Utama and enjoying the experience. Not only were the food portions hearty but the music was excellent. Hey listening to Sinatra croon while eating Italian food has that effect.

Well last week we had lunch at the branch in the Garden’s. We were pleasantly surprised as they now had a kids menu. To top it off, they also had a new two course menu. Now it was a little difficult to choose from the menu because everything looked and sounded so good. While we scrutinized the menu the waiter brought some Tuscan and Herb bread slices and served them with Olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The Tuscan bread was simply excellent!!

We ordered next and the little one decided on a Pizza Margarita, which turned out to be pretty good. Wifey had the Minestrone Soup and Shrimp Linguini. The soup was rich and flavorful and the linguini was more than enough to feed a small army of hungry wolves. I was surprised at the amount but it was tasty and full of fresh shrimp. I myself had the Pizza Caprese and Pepperoni and Meatball Calzone. I enjoyed the pizza more than the Calzone but it was still pretty decent. We couldn’t finish and had to pack half the linguini. We couldn’t even finish it for out lunch the next day!!

Again it was not only the food that was good but the ambiance. The restaurant was cavernous and overlooked the Klang river…not the prettiest sight but still with Sinatra music playing I told wifey that we’d be there a lot more especially at Christmas as it had that soothing feeling.

Yesterday, we went again, this time with my nephew in tow. My little girl wanted the pizza again although we wanted her to try something else. My nephew had the spaghetti Bolognese, which was full of meat and truthfully, he wiped the plate clean with the bread. He said that the sauce was so good. By the way this is not a paid post or sponsored post. Wifey had the clam soup and grilled chicken with wedges and broccoli. She enjoyed the fresh clams on shell. Then the chicken came….it was a half a chicken but that was not all the way it was plated gave it a very homely look. Very appetizing. I had the minestrone soup and the Sausage Carbonara. The portion was huge again and it was simple yet very tasty to say the least. Wifey and me just had our respective leftovers for lunch again and it was still delicious.

I actually can’t wait to go again. This time I want try their bruscheta and grilled chicken Milanese or Risotto with asparagus and chicken or maybe the grilled beef skewer with rissoto…doesn’t the sound of it just make your mouth water….I know mine does…

Mamma Mia I canta waita goa againa!!

Pictures source from Italiannise Malaysia website.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Well I’m not talking about my blog but the malls. (I love going aroud to all the malls at Christmas to see how well they've decorated.) Everywhere you go you see Christmas trees springing up and hear the sounds of carols playing. Does anyone know why they are called Christmas Carols? If you do, please let me know before I google it…I never really wondered that until just now…why not Christmas Sues or Christmas Marys…why Christmas Carols? LOL

To me Christmas is the most wonderful time of year. At home we’ve already started on decorating the Christmas tree…I had an idea for the lights and while it turned out right…it’s a tad bright. Anyway, that can be easily rectified by hiding the lights behind the ornaments. As usual around this time every year I start looking for a new tree topper…nothing really wrong with the old Angel we have but I want something different.

Just like the lights…nothing wrong with the old ones…except I wanted something a little different. Wifey was a sport and helped me scour the malls looking for the lights. I tried so many places and they were all sold out and finally at the last place I looked they were in abundance. So I grabbed five boxes just to be on the safe side although I really needed two. Thus we ended up putting three sets on the tree and like I said earlier…the tree is a little bright.

Over the weekend we were trying out different ribbon combinations and could not come to agreement so in the end I let wifey decide and she came up with a good combo. The little one not to be left out wanted to help too with unwrapping and putting up the ornaments. My nephew who is with us for a few days was also roped in to assist. It was a fun time but we ain’t done!!

Yesterday we went around to Robinson’s to check out their decorations and ornaments. We had a fun time fooling around with the tree skirts. I told my nephew about the time I went to the US and brought back a whole bunch of tree skirts for the family. As I was passing through local customs, the officer asked me what they were, and I said tree skirts but he didn’t understand and asked me if they were for caroling and I said Yes to avoid further confusion. So I had my nephew put on the tree skirt as a smock… this tree skirt was designed like a Santa suit and he looked hilarious…in hindsight I should have taken a picture. Maybe I’ll get him to do it again.

Tonight we’ll get down to a little more decorating…probably finish the tree and maybe start on the outside. The Santa’s are already out and once the tree is done we can start moving furniture about to accommodate the decorations. Over the years the collection has steadily grown to ginormous proportions. Plus I’ve even bought a few new things already this year. Ho hum… thank goodness Christmas comes but once a year…but to tell you the truth I wish Christmas was everyday!

The Concert

From the title you’re probably thinking about Beyonce or something bootylicious, right? Nah, nothing so fancy but it was to me, just as exciting and entertaining. The performers were none other than my little girl’s pre-school students.

I must say that I was not really expecting much since the last time I went to a kiddie concert was close to 17 years ago when my twin nephews had their first concert. I must say that times have changed…for the better. No to take away anything from their performances but it was more so the sophistication of the teachers and performances that they choreographed. Wait wait wait…back up a minute…did I just say sophistication and pre-school concert in the same breath. Well yes I did. I was pretty much impressed with most of the performances and apart from one where the teacher took center stage (not going to comment on this….maybe the kids were having an off day…yeah sure) everything was very well coordinated. Believe me I’m a complainer and will complain about everything but this time I found little to complain about and a lot of kudos to be given to the teachers who managed to turn a bunch of noisy kids into pretty well oiled machines.

We’ve known about the concert fro sometime now and have been asking the little one what she would be doing but she would say “nothing”. We of course assumed that for four year old kids they would be doing some jumping and singing at the top of their voices or something along those lines. As the day to the concert drew closer we probed even more but all we could get out of her was that she had to shout the word “batik”. Not much to go on was it?

So we resigned ourselves to an average show at most. With the little ones just having a small role to play. After all the school had said when we enrolled her that there might not even be a concert for kids her age as they had to wait for a long time. Even her costume, while it was nicely colored was just a pair or pajamas. Our expectations were low although we were still pretty excited to see her in her first concert. Actually that alone was enough to make us happy.

On the day of the concert we were pretty much in a hurry. I didn’t read the notice properly and thought that the concert started at 9.00 am so I was rushing everyone and being a real pain. Finally we left and reached the place in fifteen minutes although I allocated 30 minutes since it was pretty far and in unfamiliar surroundings. (Note: I tend to get lost a lot and must get a GPS system because I’m hopeless when it comes to directions). Well I didn’t miss the road and found the place easily this time. So we were really early. Fortunately the concert was in a nice auditorium and waiting was not that stressful plus we also got pretty good seats. After passing off our little one to the teachers we settled down to wait. Fortunately there was some refreshments and drinks provided which helped a little.

After about an hour and a half (yes we were very early okay) the usual speeches and pleasantries started and it was followed by the graduation ceremony for the older kids…yes folks you do get to graduate from pre-school too. So trooped in a bunch of kids in their tiny graduation gowns and mortarboard’s. They looked adorable to say the least. Everyone received a scroll.

It was then that the concert commenced. We were really impressed by some of the performances and were really entertained. We had to wait patiently for our little girl as her groups turn was close to the end. One by one the shows went on and apart from that teacher who stole the limelight it were so entertaining. Son it came to our little ones group. The program said that they would be doing a Samoan themed performance in a Malaysian style.

The lights came on and we looked for her high and low and finally spotted her at the anchor position on the far left which was close to were we were sitting. She seemed to be looking for us in the crowd but could not see us as the lights around the audience were out of course. The performance started and…I started recording. The quality of the recording is pretty bad as I was more interested in watching her rather than recording but I wanted to save this moment for eternity even if was just to hear her say one word. This is what we saw…

Hello Dolly!!

I want Emila’s cute handmade dolly because I secretly like playing with Dollies…wait that didn’t sound right. Seriously, I’d like to win it for my dear little daughter to love and cherish. She’s at that age where she hugs her favorite dollies to sleep every night. Audience cue ... Awwww

(word count 50)

Happy Birthday Emila –
you’re really an extraordinarily gifted person who loves giving. May you have many happy and healthy years of success in all your endeavors.

Malaysian Safari?

Recently I posted about a trip to Bangkok and the fun time we had at the Bangkok Safari...well this has got nothing to do with it! LOL Last month the family went for a little restaurant hopping to celebrate our wedding anniversary and my birthday, which is only a day apart.

No this is the first ime we've done this but I was pretty down then and wanted to just celebrate. hehehe

A moment of peace...

On the day eve of my birthday we went to Tony Roma's of course...my favourite joint (which reminds me that I haven't been there in a week because of that blasted flu). I'm not going to elobrate cause the food there is excellent and we always have a good time. Then on my actual birthday we ended up in Chili's for another wonderful meal. The day after that was our wedding anniversary...now for that I wanted to go to somewhere different. Oddly enough someone in the office gave me a keychain that day and it was from Africa. The tagline was out of Africa...after the movie. That reminded me of this restaurant near my place that goes by the same name. So i actually googled it and found that it was a great restaurant that was highly rated by one of the expat magazines, which meant one thing to me....authentic.

My fav ribs...all 10 of them just for me...unfortunately could eat only 3...

Okay so we watch TV when we're out too...wife and her darn spy cam

To think that it's been around for ages and was so near by (five minute drive) that I have driven past it many a time and that had great reviews and that we had not been there at all. So we of cours decided to go there to celebrate our 16th wedding Anniversary! We didn't really want to eat that much because it was the third day of celebrations but the minute I saw the Johannes Burger with blue cheese grlled on an open flame...I had to have it and it was excellent. The next time I want to try the Broewars sausage....

Entrance to Out Of Africa

The restaurant was actually quiet when we got there becaues we went early and pretty soon it was filled to the brim as there was a group of visiting African students and their Malaysian and South African counterparts there for some gathering. The pictures below don't realy do justice to the place as the athmosphere was really great and I'd recommend this place to anyone.

My Johannes Burger with melted blue cheese

We were still enjoying ourselves actually. So we went for the fourth day of celebrations. It was Saturday and we went to Bubba Gumps in the Curve. They had a set menu promo and it was the ribs again for me...but this time it was babyback ribs which gave Tony Roma's a run for their money. Being loyal is one thing...good ribs is another LOL It's always fun when the family goes out...in fact I rather go out because at home I'm glued to the TV like a moth to flame. LOL

Nelson mandela was there to say hello...NOT

Entrance to the bar...err...or was it the toilet... That deer gave up it's life to bring us closer to Africa and it's preserved wildlife...pun intended LOL

This was the set at Bubba's

My favourite gals...

Green Jeans

My good friend and fellow Genie Marzie is having another one of her fab contests over at her Mariuca's Perfume Gallery blog. This time it's in conjunction of her upcoming birthday and the prize is a mini Green Jean's Mens Perfume.

I rememeber having a bottle of baby Blue Jeans a long long long time ago and I think I still have the can it came in somewhere around the house. Winning this Green Jeans perfume will bring back some memories considering the fact that wifey did own an awesome pair of green jeans before...er the denim kind that is hehe

One of the rules of the contest is that I have to guess how many mini bottles of perfume Marzie has in her collection. Boy that is gonna be tough cause I think she has a million or so hehehe

Anyway after some sluething my official guesses are 130, 133, and 135. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed and making a Genie King Wish that I guess right!!

ALAKAZAM