You're such a tease, Walmart.

At first you make me think I'm going to get a great deal on some printer ink..

I should have known you were "just kidding"

Just coz it looked pretty :)

At some point last week,  we had

Pork Chop with Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Stir Fried Asparagus with Garlic and Tomatoes

Hainanese Chicken Rice with skinless chicken breast, stir fried Yau Choy and chicken broth soup.

The Latest Addition to our Angry Birds Collection by Mama

 Lazer Bird

aka Purple Space Angry Bird

aka Big-a-bong ( apparently that's the sound he makes when he hits them egg-snatching pigs, according to the little boy )

The Fridge

Experimentation and Improvisation

I had gotten some bao/chinese dumpling/bun flour from a trip to dallas in May, and thought I'd give it a whirl.  I had never tried steaming buns before, and I was sure it was going to be a horrible failure.

Well, as it turned out, it didn't LOOK too bad, but it certainly didn't taste like home.

I  made the filling too sweet, and nowhere near what I was used to, but in my defence, I followed the instructions on the package to the best of my ability.  I'll just have to try something different the next time.

Anyway, since I didn't think they would turn out okay, I had a Plan B as well, and that was to fry the filling in Popiah skin.  That one turned out okay too.

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I suppose one should always take change in one's stride, but I have not been looking forward to Facebook changing my profile to the dreaded TIMELINE

I think that if you use Facebook on your phone or tablet, you are converted to the timeline much earlier, and I usually just open it up on the laptop. I was hoping that by some glitch in their system, that I would be spared it as everyone around me started getting theirs converted and I still had the old format.

Alas, t'was not to be so. *sigh&

Dinner at Our House

It is soooooo hot in the summer time - it was 108 F for a high today.

Which brings us to the dilemma of making meals.  The oven is out of the question on these dog days, and I come from a culture where we don't traditionally eat sandwiches or salads for dinner, so I naturally gravitate to stir frying each time.

Tonight we had stir fried beans with carrots and glass noodles,

Stir fried "tomato" chicken and tofu with vegetables

served with some simple stir fried thin spaghetti noodles, asian pear and grapes.

 

On days like these too, I am thankful for those little mini microwaveable cakes ( shared with the hubs and the little boy ) that are wonderful with a dollop of frozen yogurt.

Just like Daddy

"Look Mummy, I have a beard and moustache just like Daddy!"
( courtesy of some bacon )

Some say "Splash Pad", some say "SprayGround"

But to Jaxon, the water feature that has just opened over at Nelson Park ( dubbed Nelson Splash ), is just fun fun fun!

We were on our way home from Sabrina, Holly & Tyler's joint birthday party, and thought we'd stop by the park to have a look at the splash pad.

Of course, once the little boy caught sight of it, there was no way we could just turn around and LEAVE :)

I always keep a change of the little boy's clothes in the car, and so we took off his shirt and let him loose :P

It was evening when we got there, just a little over 8 pm, I think, and there was a glorious sunset in the background. It was still warm enough to splash in the cool water without getting too cold either.

I mean, just look at that face! :)

I know we'll be back several more times before the summer is over, for sure :)

Blimey, a food post!

I haven't posted food posts in a while.  Now that we have stopped doing Letti Thursday all together since Grandad passed, I need extra "inspiration", I guess, to do one.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED taking pictures of the food I made - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Well, a blogger friend of mind, Pris, decided to be brave and made some Chai Tow Kway ( Fried Radish Cake ) the other day.  Since I haven't had this "hawker food" in almost a decade, I decided to give it a try.  And amazingly enough, I had all the ingredients - I mean, fish sauce?  pickled radish?!  rice flour !? It was like I was hoarding these ingredients just to make this dish :)

 

I followed the recipe featured on Rasa Malaysia, and surprise surprise, the hubs was very impressed! He was singing its praises and all that, even when I told him it had "fish sauce" in it. LOL!

That, along with some stir fried Japanese Eggplant/ Brinjal, some leftover hot wings and yellow watermelon, dinner was yum yum good!

On the Sewing Front

I haven't made any dresses or shirts, or any more pillowcases,

but rather, what I HAVE been making, are these....

the ones that are "spotlighted or highlighted" are the ones that I have made for the little boy. Throughout the next few photos, you will notice that they are not looking very snappy, but then when a 3 year old plays with you day in and day out and makes you perform as he believes an angry bird and pig should perform, you would be a little worse for wear as well.

They are made out of felt - not the best/most durable thing out there, but they were cheap and easy to deal with, and was what I had left over from some Felt Board projects I did with the little boy.

Most seasoned seamstresses would probably roll their eyes in sheer horror at my "handiwork", but hey, for someone who has hardly any experience in sewing, I think I didn't do too shabby... except for this "space mask" for Sad Bird in the next pic. That one was pretty bad. LOL.

BUT more importantly, the little boy enjoys playing with them so much and is sooo appreciative that it just doesn't matter.

It makes me happy to see that little face light up and the little boy start squealing in delight whenever he is surprised with a new bird/pig to be added to his collection. :)

He found a little piece of black scrap felt in the room, and gave Green Space Angry Bird a cape! :)

Are you watching

Curiosity land on Mars too? :)

Overzealous

Someone had some passive aggressive issues or SOMETHING.

That's one way

to beat the heat...

 

while giving the grass a much needed drink.

A Wedding

Last Saturday, we attended Xiaqi's wedding at Jacob's Dream on the ACU grounds.

Xiaqi is Xia Yu's sister, and if I'm not mistaken, was previously a dance teacher in China. She certainly looks the part, what with her petite-ness and poised elegance.

It has been an unrelenting summer ( as well as spring, but that's another story ), and so it was no surprise that for an outdoor event, the wedding was scheduled for 9:50 am.

Even though it wasn't sweltering by the time the nuptials were over, we were still glad to be in the air conditioned family room at University Church for the reception.

Needless to say, our little boy, who is usually not too shy, made a few little friends there as well :)