Catching Up on Old Times

I had the chance to meet up with a few of my college mates. There was a bit of confusion on the meeting place, but we managed to meet at Old Town in Baru Baru Bangi - although one of my friends waited at another Kopitiam nearby before realizing his mistake. It's been almost 8 years since we graduated from UPM, however when we reminisced on old times it didn't seem like it was that long ago. None of us have changed much physically, except for the extra pounds, but all of us have been through life changing moments. As much as we hated to admit it, we have grown older and more mature, but maybe none the wiser.

For me personally, it was really nice to see them again, the people who were there with me through a not so great period of my life. I was very upset that I had to study in UPM for my degree instead of going to US. However this small circle of friends made it not only bearable, but memorable. I wish them all the best and hope to see them again soon. Thanks again Fairuz for organizing on a moment notice.


The ladies


The gentlemen

Farewell Yeo, Chit, Joshua and Justin

Chit's family used to live across from our old apartment. We we're neighbours for almost a year. Chit was very helpful especially with advise on how to raise a baby here and also she gave me tons of Joshua's clothes for Zade to wear. Her husband Yeo is a PhD student at RMIT, and he finally submitted his thesis last week. They will be leaving Melbourne to go back home. So today Aileen, May, Tien, myself and the kids had a little get together with them at Unimews to bid them farewell. I wish your family all the best. Thank you for all your help and for being wonderful friends. I hope that we'll meet again when I go home to Malaysia, and may our friendship continue to grow.

Max Brenner

Since I was in the city for the AIAC13, I took the opportunity to catch up with a good friend of mine who recently transferred from RMIT to Monash. Ever since she told me about Maxx Brenner, I've been dying to try it out. So we decided to meet at Melb Central as there's an outlet.





It looks like a typical cafe, but instead of serving coffee, they serve chocolate. From chocolate blocks, truffles, beverages and desserts. My head was spinning just looking at the menu. Everything looked so good, I just didn't know which to order. I was actually quite full after the big lunch at the conference, so I decided on something small. On my friend's recommendation I settled on the Milky Max Cookies which was served in an old-fashioned milk bottle while she ordered the Chocolate Cinnamon Babka.

It is as good as it looked. Too bad I couldn't really enjoy it as I was still full. Anyway I definitely will go again to try more of their offereings. I bought a box of the dark chocolate eggs for Zade. He just loves them - and I do too. Yummy.






Later I stopped by Es Teller to get some dinner since I was too exhausted to cook. The nasi uduk tasted ok, nothing to shout about. What happened next was not too good. Zade vomitted when he's sleeping that nite and again the next day. He was also purging for a couple of days. I started vomitting the next day and continued for the next four days. It was just awful. This is my worst experience with food poisoning. However, to my surprise, Zade recovered much faster than I did. Anyway, I'm definitely staying away from Es Teller.

Family Reunion

Kak Long and Aidan


Zade, Aidan and I by the beach at Pangkor


Mia, Zade and Aidan at breakfast


The long wait for the ferry at the Pulau Pangkor jetty


At the zoo


The three stooges


Before Kak Long and Aidan's departure

Eid in Melbourne

This year, I celebrated Syawal with Mama and Zade in Bundoora. It was low key but great fun and not as tiring as it would be back home in Malaysia. We cooked the traditional dishes such as rendang daging, ayam masak merah, kari kambing, nasi minyak, nasi himpit, kuah kacang and lontong. We also managed to bake some cookies and cookies. On the 1st day we just ate raya food and took some pics. Zade looked rather handsome in his baju melayu.





On the second day, I invited my friends from uni over to celebrate eid with us.






Later in the evening my neighbours in unimews came over. Zade was happy having his friends over. We all had fun eating and talking all nite.






Niza was not around the first week of Syawal. When she finally came back from Sydney, we invited her and Qistina over for raya dinner.

Joshua's Birthday Party

Tonite, Chit invited us for a makan-makan session. She ordered nasi lemak with chicken curry from a restaurant in the city. Since its Ramadhan, we went right after breaking fast and Maghrib prayers. The food was delicious. Julie was nice enough to bring a large platter of karipap, nyum-nyum. After dinner, Chit brought out an ice cream cake fo the birthday boy. Zade and I split a piece, yummy.

One of Chit's friend, I forgot her name, was so keen on Zade. Since Zade still has stranger anxiety, he will not let go of me. She persisted, and at the end of dinner Zade finally gave in and she had a chance to hold him.


Malaysian mommies.


Mama, I'm hungry.


Joshua turns three.


Zade's first birthday party invite.


Amoi and Zade.

D' Tasik Seafood Bangi

I read a review on D'Tasik in the Star newspaper during my maternity leave. Wanting to eat good seafood before leaving Malaysia, I decided to give it a try. It must be pretty good since it landed a spot in the paper. I'm quite adventurous when it comes to food, so I invited my in-laws to join us for dinner there.

It's located inside the UNITEN Campus, behind the Residence Hotel. We went on a weekday night, so it was not surprising that there wasn't a big crowd, which was nice. I was looking forward to a quiet dinner so that I could enjoy the food and the company of my family. The restaurant is actually built a lake, hence the name. During the course of the night, we were entertained by strollers, which was nice and made the atmosphere more relaxing.

We had sweet and sour fish (I'm not sure which kind though), butter prawn which was my favourite, sotong goreng tepung, tom yam, beancurd and fried kailan. Everything turned out quite delicious, especially the prawns, which made me really happy and satisfied. Customers also had the choice to pick their own seafood, but I just ask the really nice and friendly waitress to pick for me. And there's a range of special concoction to quench your thirst. The special ice kacang looked awesome, but it didn't really tast that great. I had one of their special juice which was not so bad, though I've forgotten the name.

We finished off almost everything. I was so full, that I didn't have any dessert :(. Maybe next time. The whole dinner for 7 adults came to less than RM200 which is a really good deal. I'll give it a four star rating.