Happy Anniversary, Kurt & Andy!

Kurt & Andy celebrates their 9th anniversary! We celebrated with them at the Damansara Village Steamboat last night. Since we were going to be at a restaurant, it won't be practical to have a cake. So, I made cupcakes instead!

According to Turkish beliefs, if one receives a gift with 7 elephants, one will be acquiring a new house soon. So, here are the 7 elephants for Kurt & Andy. Looking forward to celebrating your 50th year together!

Birthday cakes

We had several birthday celebrants over the weekend. Ai Lian's Karina celebrated her 5th birthday, and Damus celebrated his 3rd birthday. Lia's twins, Jamie and Josh celebrated their 4th birthday. My younger brother celebrated his 34th birthday. Fabulous opportunity to get creative with cakes!










Karina is into pink and princesses, so she got a heart shaped pink cake which she helped decorate.









The brief I got for the boys' cake was: Damus is a dinosaur enthusiast. The twin who love cars (and can identify every model of cars on the road from age 2+, whose favourite TV programme is Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear) wanted a cake with a pool or cars. I made them a car cake last year so I had to think of something else.

I find it really amazing how Damus can rattle off 4 to 5-syllable dinosaur names! And how Jamie and Josh can identify every car on the road! So this is the cake they got. Dinosaurs on an island with a lake and (the twins' mom's idea) a car half-submerged in the lake.

Then the cake for my brother. Chun loves motorbikes. In fact, he's turned his hobby into a business by setting up shop selling motorcycle accessories. So, I thought a motorcycle cake will be nice. Problem was, I was at a friend's house last weekend and I could not find a single picture of motorcycle to copy! So this was what I came out with. Nope, I was never good at drawing... If it doesn't look like a motorcycle, then just call it a buggy lah!

FYI, Jee Goo means second uncle (on mother's side). That's what my children calls my brother.

Revised map to Damansara Village

Sorry if I cost a permanent squint for some who tried to read the previous map I posted. Just figured out how to enlarge the fonts! Here is the map with larger font.

Looking for a place to eat with your family or friends?

Check this place out!

DAMANSARA VILLAGE STEAMBOAT

1067, Jalan Jenjarum
SS23 Damansara Jaya
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: (03) 7803 1832

A UNIQUE STEAMBOAT DINING EXPERIENCE.

• Superior quality low fat clear and Thai Tom Yam soup stock.
• Fresh seafood from Pulau Ketam.
• Velvet smooth tofu, crunchy vegetable & fishcake and Teochew fish balls, otak-otak fish cake, delicate sui kao.
• Fresh & crispy vegetables.
• Friendly and efficient service.
• Dine under the stars or in shaded cool comfort.

FUN ACTIVITIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

• Longkang fishing. Pick up a bucket and a scoop and try your luck catching fast and elusive fish in our gushing “longkang”.
• Vegetable garden. Let the children see and learn how plants and vegetables grow.
• Say hello and take photographs with our team of owls, iguanas, rabbits and guinea pigs.

For directions see map below:-

Good service!

After a dramatic day yesterday, today started really well. I took my kids to the new Tesco down the road from my place. So nice to walk into a supermarket that is spacious and well stocked. Ample parking space and trolleys that didn't have squeaking wheels! As I was walking down the aisles, especially in the produce section, I can't help thinking "these are ingredients which Jamie Oliver uses!". The choices! Wow! Made a mental note to visit that store again the next time I need to do my grocery shopping.

Last weekend, I was at Ikea to get some shelving system as well as bookcases. Sale on in Ikea ma. I was there on a weekend with my children, so needless to say, I was muddled and made some mistakes with my choices lah. Problem was, I had the things delivered to my house. Read: Big items. The bookcases came in long boxes. Fortunately, those were not the mistakes. I'd bought some IVAR shelf 'coz I already have one set. I was hoping to add on to my existing shelves to organise my tiny store area including corner shelves. There was only one piece of the corner shelf left. I bought it thinking I can use it. Then when I got it, it suddenly clicked. Duh! How to use a corner pole with ONE corner shelf? So I had the brilliant idea of getting a furniture maker to cut me the corner shelves according to the piece I had. It cost too much! The size of the other shelves that fitted the corner shelf was too big too. So those shelves and poles had to be returned. Fortunately they could fit into my car! I love my 7-seater car!

Before I left, I called Ikea to ask if I will have any problems exchanging the items, or bringing the items up as I'll be by myself. The customer service personnel told me exactly what I could do. Excellent! Drove down to Ikea and viola, someone was there to help me unload and watch my stuff while I go park the car. Go up to the Exchange & Return counter, got a number and was attended to in no time. The person who attended to me, Lily, was very helpful. She explained that the corner shelf and corner pole I bought was sale items so I couldn't exchange or get a refund for them. I was going to see if I could find something else which complemented those items so I can use them.

Once inside, I asked an Ikea staff where I could find a leaflet on the shelves. She gave me very precise directions to get there. Wow! The staff knew the store well. I tried to figure out what I needed with the information Ikea has on the leaflet, which is complete with measurements, drawings, etc. No luck. I cannot visualize 2-dimensional pictures. Duh! So off I went to where the products were stocked. Caught hold of another staff and shot questions at him. This are my measurements, how many of this and that do I need? Can I use this with that? Are these sturdy enough? How many cans of stain paint do I need for what I want to do? and so on. He answered every single one of my question and gave suggestions. Wow! I was very impressed. Finally got it all figured out and got my stuff on the trolley. Then I spotted something else I needed to get but it wasn't the colour I wanted. Caught hold of another staff to ask where I could find the item. He gave precise location - aisle number and which shelf. I was blown away! Third staff who knew their job!

So of I went to the cashier, paid for my item the whole time thinking I've blown RM70 'coz I won't be able to return and cannot use. Oh, the Exchange & Return personnel who attended to me (Lily) let me keep my stuff behind the counter as they were bulky items. Even put them on a trolley for me so I could just wheel it to the car when I was done inside the store. So I made my way back to the E&R counter to collect my things. I told Lily I couldn't find the items to be used with the non-returnable items. One of the items I had has been discontinued (not producing anymore). *sigh* Then Lily said, "Let me see what I can do". She went into the office for a short while then told me she'd explained my predicament to her superior and they were going to refund my money! Yay!

It's been so long since I've been to a store which have knowledgeable staff, courteous, intelligent and go the extra mile for their customers. I love it!

Thank you, Lily and the other staff who helped me today. You made my day!

What a week so far

It is Wednesday and I have experienced extreme emotions this week. Euphoria to be featured in The Star Metro for doing what I love. I've received lots of phone calls and lovely emails from people who are interested in the games and also from like-minded people who love craft.

Yesterday, I felt a sense of achievement putting together bookshelves I got from Ikea. My work room/guest room looks more organised already even though I have piles of books lying on the guest bed.

Today, I am feeling the pits. When I do something, I try to give my 120%. If not, at least 100%. I am not a perfectionist but I like to know that I've done my best and if my best isn't good enough, at least I've tried. It is not a good feeling to give my best only to be let down by someone else. Maybe that's why I like to sew. I am in control of my creation. From the design to what material I use. If it doesn't work out, I have not done a good job and not because someone else didn't pull their weight. I do not have to depend on anyone to get it done.

Perhaps I have been trying to do too much, juggling caring for my family and work. I sew whenever I can spare some time. I definitely will love to spend more time sewing but I'm committed to do a good job at work, so I do.

I am going to have to do something about what is taking me away from time and attention for my children and time away from what I am passionate about. Just that, the money is quite good. At the end of the day, I have to decide: What is more lucrative? A healthy paycheck? Being there for my children in their formative years? Feeding my creative soul and improving my skills in sewing and baking?

I think the answer is pretty obvious.