29

29 years!

Yes, that's the number of our anniversary this year on 22nd June 2015

and BOTH of us forgot about it! until our eldest daughter reminded us about it...

Alhamdulillah syukur 29 tahun bersama, susah senang suka duka... Maka nikmat Tuhan kamu yang manakah yg kamu dustakan? Ar-Rahman

After 29 years ~ 8 children, 1 DIL and 1 grand-daughter

Langkawi 2015

I have not been to Langawi in few years. It was always a yearly vacation for my family and I. But, everyone grew up and we just became busy with work and other things.

Here I am in Langkawi today on a much needed vacation. The flight here with Air Asia was a breeze. I am here with my brother. We managed to get cheap air tickets. About rm70 both ways.

We have been to Langkawi numerous times. So this trip was about doing things differently, seeing the changes in Langkawi and finding new restaurants to try.

Upon arrival at Langkawi Airport, we rented a Kelisa for rm150 for a three day use. Pretty decent price as it was not peak season. The car was in good condition too- strong cold aircond, enough speed, good radio connection.

First place we visited was Berjaya Langkawi Resort. We wanted to stay there too but it was fully booked. But, its a must see everytime we are there because the view was breathtaking.

Day 1 on this island and I feel absolutely relaxed and rejuvenated. This i what a holiday should be like.

At Home: Get merry and bright!

 Rituals are an important part of our lives, even if they can be boring at times.  My official marker for winter is an appointment to get the tires changed on our car.  It's happened. Winter is officially here, even if we only had a dusting of snow followed by torrential rain.

 Each year as I  approach the end of November, Christmas creeps into my thoughts.

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 While I love to look at all the seasonal additions other people make to their homes, and I marvel at the time and creativity it takes to decorate, I keep things as simple as possible.  I'm a vicarious decorator,  enthralled by others' efforts and the numerous possibilities without the physical work and outlay of cash.

 Here's a good example.

Every time I visit my daughter's house I am greeted by her inviting red door (now there are boxwoods in the planters) ...

and covered porch large enough to have two tables, a bench (made by her dad) and a chair.  

This space is calling out for Christmas decorations now that the cushions are stored for the winter. 

Don't get me wrong, my daughter  doesn't need my help to decorate, and she's very independent.  For the last several years she's had some great looks for her front door, but this is the first Christmas for the bench on the porch. 

 2013 Wreath made from  her garden shrubs 

2012 Sparkle and glam wreath 

2012 Glowing snowballs and white sparkle twigs

  What I liked about the feather wreath and snowball planter was its longevity into the winter months.  If you are putting effort into a project, you should aim to get the most from it. 

This is a "what if" post... what if I had that porch.  If my daughter is reading this now, she's rolling her eyes. I'm always on about something, and in the end she'll do her own thing as daughters usually do.

Let's start with the boxwood planters on either side of the door.

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I have the cedar and my daughter has lots of silver balls.  Anchoring things because of the high winds is always a challenge.  I use tree ornaments and stick a wooden skewer  through the top and down into the soil.

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Then there's  twigs and berries to add height and colour.  This is a great solution when planters bank a door because the added height and colour would be at eye level. 

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Following the dictate that simple is best, here's an idea to build on. This is an easy look to achieve and it invites modifications.  Not sure where you would ever find  gigantic pinecones in our neck of the woods, but you could certainly carry off the rest of it and make some bright additions.

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How about a plaid blanket or plaid pillows for a nice splash of pattern and colour?  A definite considering plaid is very in this year (so I've been told).  I'm thinking about the  red plaid scarf my daughter just purchased.   It  could be folded around a summer pillow and pinned.  A piece of fabric would achieve the same look.   Presto!  Job complete - one plaid pillow.

Here's a simple idea along those lines I just whipped up.  I know how much my daughter  loves happy little signs!  Not!  

or.....

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 you could make burlap cushion covers with stencilled polka dots (a great kid friendly project)....

or

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 you could use a  plain red blanket and blend it with  the summer white/black cushions for a very graphic look

... and 

Just a few simple changes to pillows 

and add bright arrangements for the table.... 

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Then there's always lanterns and greenery for the tables.   Get the spay paint out if you already have black lanterns.

Lit twig balls are always a big hit, and they could be added to any container depending on the size.  You can also spray paint twig balls and just go with colour and no lights. 

Why not take an idea from my sister Vera's  red bird themed Christmas pot from last year?  It continued to look good for months after Christmas. 

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Love the idea of skates in a swag for the front door.  This would be super easy with a red door and lot of accessible greenery on one's  property.   And I just found my daughter's  little white (now yellowish) skates in the storage room clean out!  Ideas! Ideas!

Or just give in and put a  plain old wreath on the bench. How simple is that?

No pressure!

What are you doing with your entry for Christmas?

Japanese food for my birthday

Birthday

Birthday

Birthday

Birthday

Always family first :)

We had Japanese cuisine for my birthday at Royal Selangor Club. 

Ko-ebi = fried battered tiny prawns. My all time favourite! We had two orders of this.

Edamame = a must have when eating japanese

Unagi = another must have!

Shrimp tempura = drool

Agedashi tofu = :)

Teriyaki cod fish = with crispy skin

Chicken katsu = ok ok

Japanese garlic fried rice

Beef teriyaki

After that meal, I still preferred Sushi Zanmai. So, the next day we headed to 1 Mont Kiara for my sushi fix. I was so much more satisfied!

My fav from Sushi Zanmai:

I even love their ginger!

Bank holiday weekend

This weekend was all about exercising the brain with chess and scrabble. The two games which I never get bored of and suitable for the rainy London weather. Yesterday was the first day since I was here that it rained heavily the entire day. Its a sign the summer is almost ending!

I have to admit that I am more confident in chess than scrabble. I played four games of scrabble with my brother yesterday and I lost all four! On a positive note, my loss was probably because I was a bit rusty. This morning I played three more games with random opponents and won two out of the three games. I am waiting for a rematch with my brother :):) 

Suddenly I realised how useful it is to have a brother. When I want to play tennis or ping pong, he plays with me. When I want to play chess, he does not mind playing too. He was also all gamed for scrabble too. Even when I ask him to cook food for me, he will do it!

The one thing he will not do with me is ballroom dancing.... Geli geli

For lunch I made something so simple but it turned out to look artsy-fartsy.

I showed my brother this picture of the egg I made:

My bro was saying he does not like eating eggs and he said my egg looked like it didnt like itself too because it was puking all over itself.

So I edited the picture:

Happy Bank Holidays!

Headlines!

Dad on the front page of newspaper. So excited for him!

Meet my New found love - wholemeal burger:

Luxembourgish evening

My cousin was kind enough to organise a Luxembourgish evening for me by inviting  a few of her friends over and preparing a few Luxembourgish delicacies. I am thankful for her kindness and effort in prepping everything. It was a good experience to try Luxembourgish treats.

Food served included:

1) "Fierkelsjelli" (pork in aspic/salty jelly) Salted jelly with cold pork on bread - I must say I am not a fan of cold meat and salted jelly was salty! At first I thought the salted jelly was coagulated fat.

2) "Rieslingspaschtéit mat Saumon" (pastry with salmon in Luxembourgish white wine)

"Rieslingspaschtéit mat Fleescsh" (pastry with meat in Luxembourgish white wine)meat pie and salmon pie with salted jelly

3) "rei Ham mat enger Cornichong" (smoked ham with pickled gherkin)

4) "Kachkéis"(soft cheese)  Luxembourgish cheese - it was an acquired taste which I couldnt swallow. It left a smelly smell like cow smell in my mouth.

5) "Iertsebulli mat Mettwurscht a Kiischtercher" (soup of peas with a Luxembourgish kind of sausage and marinated & fried pieces of bread) - it was a mixture of peas, celery, lorre and topped with sausages and fried bread, like croutons. That soup was good and warm.

6) "Feiersténgszalot" (cold meat salad with pieces of carrots and beans)

It was a good effort from my cousin to prepare all these food.

"Bananenbowle" For drinks, she soaked sliced banana with grape juice and then poured champagne into the bowl later. Taste like champagne!