Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Shen and Mel!

It's my sister's birthday weekend and unfortunately the office has planned a white water rafting trip which I can't escape from. But I'm looking at this as another way for me to rid myself of my fear of water (which was the main reason why I took up diving all those years ago!).

Wish us all luck at the rapids!!

Shen, shall we get the parents to make it up to you for leaving you alone on your birthday with a trip to Japan in spring?

Anyway, Rommel and I are off to watch the Michael Jackson "This is it" movie.

Happy Halloween! Happy Birthday Shen and cousin Melissa, the two Halloween big babies....

Senior Citizens Luau 2009

My mom volunteered my sister and I to bake cupcakes for this year's Senior Citizens Luau. What we didn't was that there were going to be more than 300 people at the event. By the time we found out, we'd already committed anyway so away we went...

The event was on a Friday night so we had to bake everything on Thursday night. I rushed back from work early and between 6.30pm to about 12.30am, we baked 420 cupcakes. I was back in the office at 7am the next morning and rushed home at lunchtime to decorate the cupcakes before rushing off for a meeting that evening. Talk about madness!! It didn't help that the announcement of the privatisation of one of my companies came at that time. Sigh...

So anyway, here are the cupcakes before we started decorating.

A shot of the decorated cupcakes.

Here I am with Rose, our new Cambodian maid. She's spreading the icing onto the cupcakes while I decorate with the sugar flowers.

We stored and transported the cupcakes to church with these boxes from Bake with Yen.

And here they are ready to be distributed in church. I decided to use these paper flower cases as a base as it ties in with the Hawaiian theme.

Are we ready to go professional? I don't know...

MIGF 09: Sagano, Renaissance Hotel

Rommel emailed a link over sometime 2 weeks ago, reminding me that this month is the Malaysian International Gourmet Festival (MIGF).

After scouring the MIGF website, he decided that the best deal seemed to be the one in Sagano. So of course, at the next available dinner slot we had (which was 2 Saturdays ago), my sister, Rommel and I decided to check it out. I was a bit disbelieving that the price for the entire set was RM119 (without wine) so I actually called to confirm it.

Since it is a Japanese restaurant, we decided we could dress up in kimono. This is my first time in a proper kimono, all other times I've always worn yukata because the weather is just too warm. Here my sister is fixing my obi in her room.

And now, the food:

The appetiser platter:
* Foie Gras Finger Sushi with Sweet Black Pepper Sauce
* Sea Urchin Egg Tofu with Sea Urchin Sauce
* Live Oyster with Japanese Citrus & Chili Paste

Salmon sashimi with Mango and Wasabi sauce

Paper-wrap Sea Bream with two kinds of Sagano Seafood Sauce

Grilled Marinated Wagyu Beef with Vegetables

Deep Fried King Prawn with Butter Cream Sauce (my favourite course in the entire meal)

Hokkaido Scallop & Shimeji Mushroom Rice in Japanese Pot with Cream

The menu

We had fun in the tatami room while waiting for the dishes.

Since we decided that it was pretty value-for-money, we took our parents there again the following Saturday. Of course my sister wore kimono again.

I felt like dressing comfortably that day and opted for a Calvin Klein dress (80% off at the FJ Benjamin sale 2 weekends ago!) and my favourite cream M&S cashmere cardigan. Here I am knitting Rommel's winter cap while waiting for the food while my mom looks on. She's wearing a kimono-inspired dress from Blum Singapore.

Nom! The offer lasts til the end of the month.

Restaurant: Sagano, Renaissance Hotel
Tel: +603 2162 2233
MIGF menu costs: RM149 (with wine), RM119 (without wine) and RM79 (light menu without wine).
Note: Quote the MIGF menu when ordering. If you order the MIGF menu, you can sit in the tatami rooms for no extra charge (otherwise it's RM100). Corkage is RM80/bottle.

Sage tonight? Yes please...

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight. Godbro Sunny and wife Mona are back in town so we're off to feast with them again!

Every time they come back from Indonesia, we make it a point to feast. The last "big" feast was during their wedding week earlier this year - the chef's menu at Sage, a full Chinese banquet dinner at the PJ Hilton and a romantic evening at Chalet, Hotel Equatorial - all on separate nights, of course!

So, tonight, it's Sage again. We first took Sunny and Mona there at the beginning of the year. All of us thoroughly enjoyed it and so I think it's almost become tradition now that everytime they're back we head there.

I haven't been to Sage in a while actually - a combination of trying new places, trying not to eat out so much and having been out of KL for holidays - so it's a welcome treat. (I can't say the same for my mom who is practically there at least once a week, so much so that the staff there are way too familiar with her.)

I've been a bad blogger though. I have all these slips of paper with that particular day's chef menu on them but I've just left them around my room. I should scan them all one day and post them up. :D

Other posts I've not been able to blog about:
- NeroTeca: Took Rommel and my sister there for lunch last Saturday and we had fun!
- Sagano: Great food for a great price! My sister's blog about it here.
- Trips to Phuket and Singapore: Plus foodie pics.
- Knit FOs: a couple of winter hats and scarves in preparation for London!

I've been tagged

These words are in Portuguese, which mean,

"This Blog Messes with my senses"

Thanks so much Annie for tagging me! I always look forward to your very inspiring posts and your projects are always so well made!

The rules are:

1. Show the above tag in your blog.

2. Post these rules.

3. Link back to the blog that tagged you.

4. Make a list of the 5 senses and what each one represents for you. (I have change this and added pictures)

5. Tag five other blogs, and let them know by leaving them a comment.

My 5 senses are:

1) Sight: I love the beach and of all the beaches I've been to, one of the best is Khai Nok Island in Phuket. If only I could wake up everyday to a sight like this!


2) Sound: of what else? of waves rushing to shore.... (My sister is relaxing on a hammock at the Lone Pine Hotel in Penang.)


3) Smell: of durians.... because we've been having durians at home lately. (Here is my niece Ashley licking her fingers after all of us gorged ourselves silly with durians in Penang.)


4) Taste: My most favourite of all local dishes - assam laksa from Air Itam in Penang. Nom..


5) And finally - Touch: Nothing feels softer than cushy yarn... My sister sent me a box of goodies from London...

People I'm tagging:
Shen
Celine
Danielle
Angie
Chia Wern

New pictures of old FOs

Sometimes it's fun to dig out my old FOs for a little photoshoot....

Here's Lydia cowl - take 2. I still haven't weaved the ends in for this. Lazy me...


I would like to claim that I made the shrug in the next 2 pictures but sadly, no I bought it in Bali at this cute little Japanese-owned shop called Kunci Bali. It's situated along one of the main streets of Ubud near the famous Dirty Duck restaurant. We happened to pass by after our massage and SangSpa.



Snow White - one of my most used shawls.


And the Green Fairy....

Knit FO: Mom's Birthday shawl

For my mom's birthday this year, on top of the usual handbags (well, we've decided that by buying each other handbags, we can all use them!), I also crocheted her a shawl.

I chose this lovely gold and brown yarn at Jet Sun in Sg Wang, as recommended by the aunties there. My memory is very poor now and I cant remember the name of this yarn. The pattern is from one of my numerous Japanese crocheted shawls books. (My knitting books now take up 2 shelves in my room....)
* The shawl pin is actually my sister's hair pin. I took these pictures in her room since I was using her dressform as my model.

I'm dreaming of...

.... lazy holidays and balmy beaches.

I know I've been quiet of late, busy with work and whatever else... And internet at home has not been cooperative so I haven't been bothered to even turn on the laptop.

So I've decided to "steal" pictures from my sister's Flickr page.

This is my knitting corner in our room at Pangkor Laut. Wish I could be back there just chilling, spending time at the amazing spa and chomping on delicious food.


We also had fun trying out batik painting...


My finished piece.... It now hangs on my room door.


Just a quick knit update:
- Lots of FOs to blog about:
1) Completed another cap, this time for Rommel.
2) Crocheted a shawl for my aunt's birthday this month. All washed, blocked and pictures taken. Just need to post pictures!
3) I started a winter scarf last night for my sister and I to use this winter. Simple garter stripes using the softest yarn I have - and at GBP10/skein, it's also one of the most expensive yarn I have. Misti International Chunky, bought at Loop in London last year.

Oh ya, I bought loads of yarn at Spotlight during our trip to Singapore (Hari Raya weekend) - Almost for S$2/ball! What a deal.... Pictures to come!

Ta!