Birthday Part 3: Celebration at The Doubletree by Hilton

Since our last visit to The Doubletree by Hilton last December, the kids enjoyed it so much, as with all their other hotel stays, we thought why not bring them back again...

Especially when we had an offer from the General Manager himself that we couldn't resist ; ) on top of the children's wish to have a celebration by the pool aka swimming. So we looked at our calender in January and picked the 28th/29th April weekend, since William's birthday fell on that weekend. Vic's birthday, being on the 10th was on a weekday, but as you can see, she had 3 celebrations, the first with Popo Gong Gong, the second at Namaste and Kidzania and finally, the the third and last at Doubletree.

In February, I was already in correspondence with the hotel's chief chef to coordinate the children's birthday cake. They gave us 3 options for the cake flavor based on our requirement, and finally recommended the chocolate blackforest. They were also given the task to source for a Smurfette figurine and a Lightning McQueen toy to place on the cake.

Two days before the check in date, we reconfirmed our reservations, fine-tuned the details on the venue, time and menu. Again, I'm amazed at their thoughtfulness to custom a list of allergy-free food for the kids. Thus, we pre-ordered the Fish Skewer made from salmon, and the baked chicken thighs.

As we are all aware, 28th April is a day in history, with the Bersih 3.0 rally planned in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Although it is a peaceful rally, where people from all walks (no pun intended) gather under one objective, we were not without apprehension, especially with all the road closures. What if the police refuse entry to us? What if we get stuck in the middle of the demonstration? Daddy called the hotel the night before, and the hotel assured us that if we arrived early, we can check in early.  

428 - A Day In History

We left at 830am, as planned that Saturday morning. Daddy took the Smart Tunnel and the traffic was clear. We arrived our hotel within 15 minutes with no signs of a crowd or yellow people or road blocks. Before this, I've already pre-empted the kids in case of the worse possible scenario and they get frightened, but looks like no action, no show. God is good!  

Room 3409

This round, we were offered a suite room on the Executive Floor, giving us easy access to their Executive Lounge. The kids loved it! Naturally, their excitement couldn't be contained and they attacked the cereal bar straight away, immediately after we identified a comfy spot in the corner. From the view on our floor, we couldn't see any clues of demonstration. I was rather disappointed, and thought I could have a live telecast from where we were.

 

William, one day shy of 4yo - with his favourite bread stick which he plays like a sword  

Our room is similar to the one we stayed in last year, but I felt the layout made the lounge more spacious and the bathroom a little smaller.

Part of the room

Part of the lounge - the other end has the pantry cum study area

A complimentary fruit bowl

We had a solid 1 hour plus at the lounge enjoying our breakfast and watching the kids in their innocent excitement. Oh, the sheer joy of staying in a hotel - carpeted flooring, air conditioner 24 hours, lift buttons they can press day long, door bell to the room (another button they can press) and of course, the highlight of their stay, the swimming pool! After our brunch (I cannot call it breakfast now since we were there till late morning), we deposited our luggage in the room before heading out to walk around the Intermark, which was where our hotel was. My previous department, my first job - is now based in the Intermark, but that being a weekend, my former colleagues were not working. : (

The kids ran and screamed. We had to hush them, eventhough there were hardly anyone else where we walked. The building was quiet and many retail lots were still empty.

Doing some school work

Back in the room, they took some fish porridge which Kakak cooked early in the morning, whilst I headed to the Lounge for a bite. The kids obediently slept by 2pm, also due to their fatigue from having slept late the previous night, waking up early this morning, and some very good black-out curtains and a comfy bed (plus Mommy and Daddy's stern reminder that "no sleep, no swimming!").

Let the party begin!

Mama Yeh Yeh, Yee Sam and cousin Theodore arrived around 4pm - another surprise for the kids! We had a little snack at the Lounge again before heading to the pool. Our reservation was for 530pm, but we were slightly early. The Italian restaurant next to the pool, Tosca, already cordoned off a section next to the children's pool with some table and chairs for us. Super!

Tosca Restaurant

Our makan area

 

Looked who joined us for the birthday?!  Smurfette and Lightning McQueen! The hotel staff did a great job in sourcing for the perfect toys and baking this lovely chocolate blackforest cake.  I must remember to write them a note of thanks. 

Is his smile on the face worth all the efforts put in?  You bet!

Daddy stole a kiss from Victoria

A plate of sweet surprise awaited us in our hotel room in the evening

Victoria ALWAYS wanted a little smurfette.  The hotel got her this, and the quality is surprisingly very good (not the cheap China-made ones, although I'm sure this Smurfette was also made in China)

Baked Chicken Thigh and Fish Skewer - snacks for the kids

A family picture - with cousin Theodore as well.  The birthday boy is putting on his silly grin again, and looking elsewhere!

Whilst we all take turns freshening up after the swim, we ate a hearty snack at the Executive Lounge, and "moi" also enjoy a glass of red wine. In my second round, I helped myself to a little whisky and coke before they cleared the place, hehe. Daddy took us all out for a drive to KLCC, and we walked a little bit before the kids start showing signs of tiredness (read, lau gai) and then we headed back to the hotel, said good bye and good night to Mama Yeh Yeh, then split.

Some of the blessings from friends and family - "Thank you" says William 

To Victoria and William, 

 OK, Mummy here again. You know I'll write you these special little notes on special occassions. I know I've been angry at both of you a few times before this, and sometimes teasing you both as babies. You know I love you both lots, and I cannot imagine how my life would be, without the two of you. Birthdays are not so much as sticking candles and blowing them, not so much as the presents and food, but birthdays are a mark of you growing up - physically, mentally and emotionally and taking on more responsibilities. We never stop learning, and never stop growing. 

Take your time, enjoy every second of your childhood - the bad, the good. Never take things for granted, nor the people around you. As you develop your character, remember those with less and not so fortunate. Hugs and kisses always.

Analyzing William's Character

My son will soon turn 4yo in less than 2 weeks' time.

The artist


As I crack my head on how to write this post, William is yakking away about a drawing that he just drew - the focus of his drawing is an umbrella, with two little skinny stick humans, the taller one holding the umbrella with one hand, with the other hand holding the shorter stick human (who, by the time I type this, is also holding its very own smaller umbrella). He has cleverly added in big ball raindrops too. He talks so excitedly about his drawing, describing it to me, pointing out the taller stick human is me - complete with a pocket with "golden money", lipstick and a ribbon on the head.

Yes, drawing and art is his passion. He is so passionate about his works of art until a single line out of his "perfectionist view" will result in a rejected piece or a highly upset boy. He copies pictures, draws from his imagination, draws from what he learnt in school, or asks us to draw for him. If the latter, we are to listen to his brief and follow it closely, and he scrutinizes and guides every stroke to his preference (eg, draw a pig. Pig has to be a certain size (he gives the measurement using his two palms). He uses mainly color pencil or crayons. No water color yet because mummy finds it too messy.

Every girl's dream?


Sorry if I sound like I'm advertising or bragging, but William is indeed highly expressive... in his feelings for me, that is. He is so in love with me that when hubby sees him hugging or kissing me, he'd coyly remind me that one day William will fall in love with someone else, so I'm suppose to prepare my heart now for that day in the future.

With daddy, he is more rough. He pounces and jumps on Daddy, even punches him on the arm and belly, and when he is sleeping on our bed, he somehow knows in his state of unconsciousness that Daddy is on which side and as if a natural reflex action, kicks or whacks poor hubby on the head or chest. To this, I adviced hubby to adopt a Dutch Wife as a protective gear.

This morning, William and I were holding hands as we walked down the stairs for breakfast. At the bottom of the stairs, he said, "Mummy, eventhough you are married, I still want to marry you" which had me bursting out in laughter.

Out of no prompting during the day, he comes around planting kisses on my arm, face and head. Sometimes he hugs me from the back. A couple of weeks back he got too enthusiastic and kissed my legs as well, to which I had to tell him no... just my face will do.

During a silent moment during a meal, I'd look at him just to admire the little boy I have been caring for the past 4 years. How he'd grown. And if he needs more food on his plate. Then he'd look at me and give me his grin, which I call the silly grin, followed by a "I love you a lot, mummy."

He is such a sweet boy. But not without his mischievousness. He is boyish in his own ways, loving to "kungfu" at us or nothing at all. He puts in his sound effects when he kicks and punches and slices the air.

On the same note, cartoons with some violence and kungfu appeal to him such as Tom & Jerry, Kungfu Panda, Lion King.

Indian wife?


If you remember his favourite phrase "Anene"... well he is still into this. Just yesterday, halfway through his bathtime, he needed to answer the big nature call. With shampoo foam still on his head, he sat on the throne, singing "Anene, aneneee, aneneee!!" with the maid waiting and giggling by the door.

Once, when he was singing "Anene" in the car, I teased him that one day he may just marry an Indian girl (not racist here) and she'll cook curry for him everyday. The background to this is that, William is unlike his sister Victoria in this culinary aspect, because he is such a Chinaman that even plain dhall will send him scurrying for water!

William is not without his disobedience. But he does them with so much adorableness that it's hard to get angry at him. But we do still. At this stage, he still thinks its funny to see his parents angry, but only to a certain level, as when Mummy's tone means business and takes out Mr R O Tan, he quickly cooperates. The one thing that irks me most about him is his dilly dallyness. He plays with time when he needs to bathe, or when he needs to clean up.

Ego


And would you believe it that William has an ego, quite big? When he falls down, he doesn't like us to emphasize and ask/talk about his fall. He doesn't like to be "wrong" especially in front of others or even in a mild disagreement with Vic. I blame it on the e.g.o or maybe it's a boy thing?

Sorry is not the hardest word

When he is wrong, he is quick to apologize.  During the times when he is disobedient, I give him his due punishment.  For example, yesterday he refused to pee when he got home, so I told him to stand in the corner until he feels like peeing.  In the meantime, I went to take my bath.  When I came out, he immediately apologized to me and went to pee.  At other times it may take longer to get him to apologize, but he comes around eventually and is quick to be his ownself again, as if nothing happened!  

William wants to do many things at the same time, but doesn't seem to be a good multi tasker.  He talks a lot, so much so I have to tell him to keep quiet for a moment and concentrate on his work.  Or I give him the general, "Mm-hhmm.." reply and he'd follow up with, "What is mm-hmm?" until I answer him properly.

Organic food for Victoria

Eversince we discovered Vic's allergies, we were introduced to the world of organic food! Since then (Sept 2008) we began to try more organic food. I didn't place much importance of having "pure and clean" food back then but today, it's a different story.

Yes, we do indulge in normal, commercialized food. But for Vic, we give her... simply the best! Even the oil that she takes at home is cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. Fyi, I was told that the Himalayan salt is safer and more nutritious than sea salt (due to the possible pollution from the sea).

Here are only some of the organic foods that Vic is currently taking.

Orgran line of products.  Lately I have been cutting down on these, because I find that their products maybe allergy-free, but contains other ingredients like tapioca, sodium bicarbonate, guar gum and some long names that is not so friendly to Vic's condition.  Both kids love their apple & cinnamon pancake mix, but I use that sparingly now ie when I have no time, or no other food to feed Vic.

Organic rolled oats, or baby oats, or oat bran.  Can be of any brand.  This is just the latest we have in the kitchen.  The millet flour is used for bread making, which we tried out today.   A little dry and did not stick, but it is very healthy. 

Also for bread making.  Some sites say this is refined carbohydrate, but I need this to make the bread reasonably edible, so I mix it with other healthier flours like millet and buckwheat.  Intend to get hold of spelt flour (ordered from BIG supermarket).

Quinoa is bursting with essential amino acids, but Vic doesn't like to eat this on its own.  I tried cooking the quinoa with brown rice, virgin coconut oil and voila... she didn't even know she was eating quinoa! 

These curly noodles come in very handy... especially for a quick lunch, or afternoon snack.  As a little treat now and then, I let Vic eat this with a pinch of curry powder from the instant noodle packets.  ; P

Organically grown grapefruit seed extract and wild oregano oil to fight the candida - comes with tonnes of other health benefits.

The organic butter was a treasure discovered at BIG supermarket in Solaris Dutamas.  It is unsalted, and produced from grass-fed cows, with no antibiotics.  The butter on its own, trust me when I say this... is HEAVENLY... and that is even an understatement.  This is what butter is supposed to be, creamy and melts in your mouth.  One cake like this cost RM24.95, considered a bomb to many families, but we are happy to discover this for Vic.  

Organic almond milk.  Vic didn't want this, so I used it with my fair-trade organic chocolate drink this morning.  Not bad.  Yogurt taken by Vic has to be natural with no sugar and additives.  As for soy sauce, we have changed to Braggs - for the time being. 

Organically grown medium-grain unpolished brown rice from small-scale family farmers in Tasikmalaya, Indonesia. 

Does these sound like a lot? I still feel we have more to do for Vic. I can't afford to buy organic vegetables all the time, but the consolation is the vege and meat and poultry and herbs are all ozonized before cooking.

To good health!

Birthdays Part 2: Namaste and Kidzania

April 10th: Namasted Fine Indian Cuisine

Today is Victoria's actual birthday. Unfortunately it falls on a weekday, and on a busy school day too what with tuition in the morning.

William expected a day off from school in the morning because "it is jie jie's birthday" but oh no, they ain't skipping school.

So after saying goodbye to the boy and hubby, I went upstairs to snuggle up beside Victoria in her own room. She woke shortly, and we had her favourite past time, pillow talk.

During this talk, she told me that she dreamt that she opened her bag in school and discovered that I had secretly placed her birthday present in it. She was so happy, she told me. But alas, that was just a dream... but a dream that gave me an idea which I planned to execute before she goes to school.

A few days before turning 7...

She had a simple breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon. Then I sent her to her tuition teacher's home. My Tuesday mornings are always busy planning what to cook and chauffeuring the two kids to and fro. I had the maid prepare stirfry angel hair with chicken cubes and lettuce for the children's lunch, much to their delight as they gobbled down their lunch outside Vic's school.

When I got home, this is where the drama begins... I discovered that Vic had forgotten her water bottle. So as in my previous post, I went back to her school and found just the perfect chance to sneak in her birthday present. Exactly like my little princess' dream! As if everything was orchestrated from above!

But hubby outdid me with his little own surprise for the girl. He ordered fresh pink roses from Cameron Highlands that arrived the day before. Funny thing is, I wasn't let in on this secret either. (Hubby's ain't gonna let any boy be the first to give his princess flowers, he said!)

Mama Yeh Yeh was another surprise which Vic expected, if you can call it a surprise in the first place. She was thrilled to see Yeh Yeh's car parked in front of our house when she came home from school.

Vic took a quick bath, had her hair blew dried, and wore a grey blouse with a sweet pink butterfly belt bought from the UK two years ago.

While she bathed, Daddy quickly hid her flowers in his car boots.

Then off we left in two cars to Namaste Fine Indian Cuisine. Unfortunately they don't have an official webpage, so I linked this to someone's review.

We had a "food tasting" at this restaurant last Sunday, by chance actually, because the first venue ie Saffron at Desa Sri Hartamas was closed. The other good recommendations were in Bangsar and traffic and parking will be a hassle on a normal weekday.

Namaste was not crowded, so the kids especially William and Theodore could run around a bit and we didn't have to feel guilty or embarrassed that they disturb the other patrons. At one point, the inside of the restaurant was devoid of other customers and Vic asked me why. I cheekily told her that Daddy booked the whole place for her... haha!

Once we were sitted, Daddy went back to his car to retrieve the roses, and he presented it to his little princess... I think she looked very happy!

We ordered a selection of food. Vic had her favourite chapati again, although she'd prefer thosei if she could. We had briyani rice, lemon rice, tomato rice, yellow dhall, tikka fish (taste like dory), deep fried meatball, chicken masala, butter chicken, alu gobi and mango lassi.

After dinner, the kids happily put in the colorful candles, we lit them and the candles started to melt within seconds!  So we went into position and started singing "Happy Birthday" and the kids blew the candles out in a blink of an eye.  The lovely home made chocolate muffins were made by a mommy blogger Elaine and I'm truly indebted to her for her efforts. 

April 11th :   Kidzania

We had planned this trip to Kidzania very much earlier. We allowed Vic to choose a friend to join her, and she chose her classmate buddy Ming Shuen.

Due to the heavy downpour this morning, we delayed our departure from the house 15 minutes later, and arrived Kidzania at 1030am. A huge crowd greeted us at the lobby, and I quickly took the two girls into queue whilst daddy look for parking with William.

After getting our tickets, we split - Daddy in charge of the two girls in Kidzania and me with William. All children below 8yo have to be accompanied by an adult, and the best part is the adult have to pay to go in. Food inside was super expensive, and so is every other item. The management sure knows how to reduce payback period!

The girls went straight to medical school the moment they got in. Waste no time, way to go! Again, there was a queue in every shop and station.

With a degree, the girls headed to the Air Asia aeroplane - one wanted to be a pilot, the other an air stewardess. With so many kids and adults in the place, Daddy had to juggle and keep an eye on each kid.  All pictures taken "professionally" is worth RM20, but with CIMB card, you get one picture FOC.  Here is Captain Victoria flying off to London!! 

The two artists... Vic in the middle (no coat) and Ming Shuen on her right

Oh, my Vic... my Dr Victoria doing a mock surgery in the OT. 

What do girls do with a little bit of money to spare? They pamper themselves!  Here they paid for manicure... hope they don't get into trouble with the teacher at school today. 

With a degree, they get K$12 per work they complete, and without a degree, it's K$10. If I understood correctly, each play they go to is K$10. April 11th being a public holiday, the management cut short the session by 2 hours. First session was from 10am-3pm but the kids only managed to enter nearing 12noon. Each child costs RM55, adult RM35. Best to visit on Tuesdays to Thursdays where you can play to your heart's content!

Was it worth it? Well, so long as Vic was happy... but would have been better with smaller crowd and longer hours.

Birthdays Part 1

Two Sundays ago on April Fool's Day, we made a day trip back to Seremban to celebrate the birthday of 4 special people - Daddy, Gong Gong, Vic and William. 

We had a simple chinese dinner at Silver Dragon - our family and Yi Yi's together with PoPo Gong Gong. The birthday cake (thank God for my hubby who insisted there should be one) was to me the highlight of the dinner, what with 4 excited kids waiting to stick the candles in, sing the song, blow the candles and cut the cake! So we had 3 versions of the "Happy Birthday" song sung. 

We let Vic do the honour of sticking most of the candles in (doesn't seem to be enough, so next year we should do away with the big candles and ask for 10 small ones instead), cutting and serving the cake since we couldn't get her a cake that she could eat and as a reward, she got to nibble on some of the chocolate flakes on the blackforest cake.  (Note:  Her inner fold arms developed some rash later)

Wow, so many candles??!  Gong gong looking on, and maybe doing a mental check on the candles to make sure we didn't add an extra year to his age... haha!

Grace and William fooling around.  I asked William to kiss Grace, but Grace kissed William instead!  Haha!

One for the album... missing here is Uncle Julian and Aunty Winnie in the States - and guess what, they are expecting a little baby boy due two days after Vic's birthday... another April baby!  Yippeeee!!

April 10th

Here's a secret...

I can't really keep a secret, especially when it's a good one.  Trust me on other things, but if there's one like a surprise party or something better, I'm bound to let out clues or spill the bean. 

Details on Victoria's actual birthday in a separate post.  Right now, here's what transpired this afternoon.

When I arrived home after dropping Vic in school, I realised that she forgotten to take her water bottle.  So after my lunch, I took a drive out to her school, together with her 2nd birthday present - a 24 piece Faber Castell color pencil set, and was scheming how to sneak in her present into her bag without her realising it.  Turn out that I arrived her school at the right time, as the whole class was off somewhere, and their bags were left in the classroom unattended.  So like an agent on a mission, I walked coolly in, with my sunglasses still on, quietly identified Vic's bag and put in the necessary items. 

I had written her name on her present, so she will know that it belongs to her, and not another child's. 

Feeling quite proud of myself while driving home, I received a sms from hubby instructing me to hide what's on the study table in a cool place and he was specific to say that it was not for me.  I didn't know what, until I arrived home to find... a bouquet of sweet pink roses for the little princes... HER FIRST BOUQUET!  I was pleasantly surprised myself. 

So I did my part to identify a "cool place" and hid the flowers in the fridge.

I just can't wait to see Vic's expression this evening when we present it to her! 


-To be continued-

Not again!

What can I say for the short hiatus in my blog? It wasn't like I was away, nor was I busy with mega projects or happening parties. I was around, just being me, the usual stuff, a little lazy now and then, at other times multi-tasking, maybe the same old boring life you can say.

Stories Untold!

But we've been having some parenting challenges with our little girl, Vic. I don't even know how to begin. Except that, you recall the previous time when I wrote about her sneaking behind our backs to have a bite of junk food, ice cream and then did I mention, she had sweets and Mamee Monster a couple of weeks back?

Oh, the anger in us just welled up! I need to say that we never once suspected our little girl. Moreover, after the previous incident I'd have thought she learnt and understood the reasons and the consequences. But no, one morning when I dropped her off at tuition, her friend mentioned about eating Mamee Monster with her, and Vic admitted. To give her face, I told her I will settle with her at home, and explained to her friend that Vic is not allowed to eat junk food due to medical reasons.

That evening itself, I receive a phone call from a mother friend who informed me out of concern that her daughter told her that Vic has been eating Mamee. What shocked me even further was it was NOT just once, but two separate occassions, and on top of the snack, she also had MUFFINS! The Mamee was also bought with money from a classmate. How can she indulge in such foods when she knows it will harm her? I think she just caved in. Any human would, I tried to reason with myself that if I was her, having "puasa" for 3.5years, I'd also go berzerk and would do the same.

But but but!! I don't say much this time, I let hubby take over because it is very emotionally draining. Having to know that my daughter sneaked behind us. Worse, that she deliberately hid this from us, hoping we'd never find out. As if we were the bad guys.

Is this a normal behavior for kids this age?

On hindsight, isn't it funny how I keep getting information about my little girl's eating junk without even looking or asking?

We told her to sleep in her own big girl room, the one that's been waiting for her to turn 7. I've been telling Vic that she needs to move to her own room now, she being a big girl and all that. But this incident fastforwarded her migration. Sadly, it was supposed to be a promotion, not a punishment, but seemed more like the latter. She obediently moved to her room with her sleeping mates and what a relief that her nights there were uneventful. She even claimed to enjoy sleeping in her own room, not wanting to come back over. Instead, she wanted to rope in my sleeping partner at one point.

That aside, we told her that she's always welcome back for a night or two, just for old times' sake. This was only after a few days - when the weather has calmed down.

Barter Trade

Two days ago, I was checking her bag and found 3 items that we did not buy for her. One of which, she insisted she did not know how it came into her possession, whereas the other two was given to her by a boy in her class. Both incidents, we said no! First of all, things don't have legs. Either she took, or someone gave, and both are equally wrong.

A parent shared with me that her daughter also keep bringing things back that does not belong to her. Apparently kids these days like to exchange things or give their things away. I feel this is an unhealthy habit.

Why should children be exchanging things when they have no need to?

Solution - Hopefully

After much thought, hubs decided that we should give Vic some pocket money. As home CFO, I put the amount of 50cents up, which is enough for her as she does not need any money at all since she brings her own snack to school. There is also nothing in the canteen which she can eat.

So far, she has deposited all her daily pocket money in her piggy bank. As a motivation, I told her that she can reward herself with the money after a few months.