Bento Crazy?

Got bitten by the Bento bug while surfing the internet and saw some blogs by mothers who are Bento crazy. So went shopping at 100 Yen and Daiso and found some of the stuff. First of all, what is a Bento without a container right? Bought this at 50% discount from Home Harmony.
Seaweed with puncher of happy face..........more tools - the cake/bread/cheese molds and on the top are the egg molds ..This is what it looks like on cheese. Pretty cute, right? Ok, this is just the beginning. Have not use the other materials yet...and sorry, the photo is upside down as I took the photo from the other side. Emmmm...you can see the bullet train with the yellow tracks on the side ...yah, that is anoher addition to Ben's collection of trains from Daiso. ....and this is Ben enjoying it. Actually he did not. Once he saw the green stuff on the cheese, he rejected it. "Sai hei!"....so I am keeping the bento stuff for myself! Ha ha...will test out on Jack on this Tuesday.

Friend, HL's trip to Australia

We sent off our friend, HL to the airport as she will be going off to Canberra. Already an Australian PR, so she will be (sob, sob) going there permanently. I dont know what else to say, so instead I will show the photos instead.

We met up with her family who also sent her off to the airport. They included her 2 very active nephews. One was 5-years old and the other was 3. So this is the best photo I can get of the 3 squirming children. Haha! Ben made fast friends with them.

Running up and down in the airport.....

And this is Ben taking his breakfast...he loves hash brown.

Yam Cake

Friend C was asking how come so long did not see Ben on the blog. So here is my active toddler.

As you can see, the current "in" thing for him is a set of spoon, fork and knife which he takes with him to sleep as well! No more Thomas the train. The set of cutlery came along with a mini kitchen/shop from Tesco. Cost me only RM60 compared to some other brands which cost a few hundred RM! Of course, the other brands had more variety...but this Tesco one would do and keeps him somewhat busy. Why kitchen, you might ask......I did noticed that he loves to do "masak-masak" so this would be a better investment. He does not really like Legos though and instead he loves to kicks and throws the structures (which I build!) instead - the destroyer. However he does like setting up tracks and loves puzzles - must take photos of the kitchen and puzzles one day.

Relaxing on the chair....oh yah, just a note of my little guy - he speaks pretty well, he can tell what he wants, etc...but of course, this does not mean we give in to all his wants! Haha.....only thing is that I have yet to teach him Hokien and Mandarin. He can tell us when he is sad. He will put down his head, almost touching his chest and tell us, Ben sad...Ben sad....

He is almost potty-trained (phew!) - except when he is sleeping. He sings pretty well and can remember nursery rhymes (to my surprise!)....

...unfortunately I have not been successful in weaning him off the bottle ....so his tooth decay is pretty bad...sigh.

Ok, to make this entry more interesting, thought that I will blog about my yam cake which I made today. You start off with rice flour - 3 cups.

...and one tablespoon of minced garlic, a bit of dry prawns (according to kuali, it is supposed to be 150gm - quite a lot!) and one yam cubed or sliced......

Put everything in the wok and fry it for about 15 minutes or when it starts to smell nice.....Back to the rice flour, add 6 cups of water into the flour. A pinch of 5-spice powder and salt, stir and then add all the stuff that was stir-fry.......All done - just need to steam for about an hour.
Final ingredient - the green spring onion on top and voila! Yam cake. Easy right?

Friend, Melanie birthday at Oriental Pavillion, Jaya 33

Celebrated friend, Melanie birthday at Oriental Pavillion with loads of food...hehe....typical Malaysian, wouldn't you say it? There were 4 of us....HL and our PUP teacher/friend, Cheng. Don't we all look lovely? I thought this is a pretty photo. I was very fascinated with their kai lan....Don't you think it is pretty cool (but oily! hehehee...because the leaves of the kai lan have been deep fried first before being sprinkled on top)....... What would a birthday party do without a cake, right????And the birthday girl.....Mel!!! Hope she had a wonderful time with us! Love and blessings from us, Melanie!

Another photo of brother with Ben

This is a photo of Ben with bro last year. Bro really loves kids ... dont they look great together...? In fact, Ben inherited some of bro's features ......Looking forward to going to Auckland next year since bro will be purchasing a house with 4 rooms. Husband already promise! Hehe......Must get there in time for the baby's full moon! :)

Brother with Ben

This photo was taken when brother last came back. Sigh, time sure flies by...it was almost 6 months ago when it was CNY. Brother has gone for his Europe trip mid of the year (read all about it at the blog on my list - ahem, bro, I hope you have updated it). And now he is joining the club - parent! Yes, sister in law is pregnant and will be due at the end of February. Bro will surely make a great father with his love for children. :)

Other Photos of Clearwater Sanctuary

This is a photo of the balcony of our room...pretty isn't it? Facing the lake....or mining pool... The lone tree........

....a lot of beautiful lotus flowers....

Ben and his bright yellow car...pushing everywhere he goes...perfect place for him...

Haha...most photos are their behind as I cannot run fast enough to be in front.

Our room...notice the beautiful blue car.....bought this at an Ipoh toy shop. There are many there! Many varieties as well.......battery operated, push with lights, etc...all above RM200 plus! This one is basic with pedal wheels just like what my brother had when he was young. Love it...for only Rm60! Make sure his legs has more muscles! :).......Mercedes of course!

More photos of the surrounding mining pool...

....The swimming pool....

...and they even have a water slide into the pool

Nearby slide which is part of a playground next to the swimming pool. Quite a nice relaxing place for parents with an active toddler. Definately will go there again. There will be a special promotion during the Puasa Month for obvious reasons - only RM188 net!