Sunday, July 28, 2013

A little girl in Malaysia 2 : Her favorite foods and drinks

She is not a big eater. She eats what we offer. We cook what we feel like and do not specifically prepared something that would only please her. She knows the rule : eat or go hungry.

Malaysian foods are generally more oily and heaty. To not change much her eating habits I got her some yogurts but to my surprise, she refused to take them. Were Malaysian yogurts tasted different compared to the one in France? Anyway, I'm glad that she didn't get sick in Malaysia. Last trip she got a fever the day before leaving to France, this trip she had moderate diarrhea for a week but nothing to be worried about. She takes it from hubby I guess, he has digestive problem usually near the end of each trip.

She loves red bean soup. She discovered my no-sugar red bean version in France, but swallowed three bowls of my mother's red bean + green bean + barley version in no time.

Milo ice is the drink she orders whenever we go to a mamak store. She likes 100 plus and Vitagen too.

She accepts different kind of Roti Canai, and loves this Roti Milo + Banana. Hubby said this is very closed to the Crêpe in Brittany region.

A part-timer. Volunteering to clear tables in Mamak store.

Loved mango and watermelon juices in Perhentian.

Eating Chicken wings in one hawker center, Singapore. She took in a good amount of chicken rice too.

She adores bah kut teh since last trip. Kids in my family usually savor a plate of rice with the bah kut teh sauce.

She also likes different kind of fishes.

She couldn't take spicy food but hubby craves for it. In this case, she got the non-spicy chicken and hubby got the rest.

We had brought her to sushi restaurant many times in France. She only eats rice with miso soup. But this trip she actually ate plenty of sashimi.

Proud to say that she is slowly enjoying durian. As for hubby, we can now count on him to open durians for us.

Still, she is more used to western food. She finished her bread spread with butter without problem. She did try the kaya tough.

We can find easily the French salted butter in the supermarket. Maybe I should buy one for her next trip. The first day we got home, hubby bought 3 French baguettes. When she saw them, she yelled with excitement!

You can tell that hubby had been eating a lot of Indian foods. She just got some chicken and cucumber.

Overall she ate less in Malaysia. She would eat when there were rice : rice + any kind of soup + pork / chicken (the one we used to boil soup). But sometimes she did surprise me, she actually ate some char kueh tiao, she usually doesn't like noodles.

Friday, July 26, 2013

So long, farewell

Time flied, it was time to say goodbye again. Aelig was excited, she told everyone that she was going home.

The trip.
The trip back to France was uneventful. Me and Aelig slept through most of the trip. The seating was crucial, hubby sat between us so Aelig can't play her "interrupting mummy every two seconds" trick. We had to wait 3 hours for the train, I hope they offer a better connection next time. When we got to Nantes station, I hesitated if we should take the taxi. Then we felt it was not worth paying 50€ for something we could do with 2€. It just needed several minutes of carrying (mostly hubby), and thankfully this trip Aelig proposed to carry her own luggage. How I wish taxis are as affordable as in Singapore.

Jetlag
Now we need to cope with jetlag. It goes better this time. I wake up early but I manage to work efficiently throughout the day. Unlike last year I had to lay down taking rest while working. Aelig on the other hand copes better compare to us. She sleeps and wakes up at the usual time. As for hubby, the morning running nose comes back. It is curious that it stopped in Malaysia but comes back as soon as he is in France.

What we brought back
I had told my family that I do not wish to overload our luggages like trips before. We used to carry back cans of 100 plus, packs of instant noodles... those are behind me now. If I miss Malaysian foods, I should eat them in Malaysia. The essential thing for the trip is to bring back many photos / memories with families. And, very important, visit to bookstore so we got books and CDs for Aelig and me. As for hubby, he decided to bring back packs of Teh Tarik and boxes of Ramadhan cookies for his family. He was the one carrying the luggages so he assured the responsibility.

Now
We are slowly adjusting to our life, and putting behind daily routine in Malaysia : breakfast, lunch, shopping, dinner, mamak store. We have to take cold shower in the morning as the water heater is broken down. Aelig asks sometimes when we are going back to Malaysia, and she is already negotiating with her stuffed animals on who she will be bringing next trip. She is also enjoying books and CDs we got from the trip. But she did ask me : Why do I have to go to the sitter? Why can't you stay with me everyday? Such is life my little girl.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Escapade to Singapore : Impression

My impression for Singapore : Safe, clean, efficient.

Signboards were mostly shown in English and Mandarin, and sometimes + Malays and Tamil.

Efficient subway system. They even had staffs standing beside the subway map and showed us the fastest way to get from one place to another.

It seems that everyone is playing with their phones in Subway.

Taxis were relatively cheap, we paid $6 from our Hotel to Universal Studios. From the taxi driver we realized that we drove through a toll without having to pass through a toll station. There were machines hanging on top of a place, every car in Singapore has to equipped with a machine with AutoCard, and the machine charges the AutoCard each time a car passes. What a wonderful system? Imagine don't have to queue or be slowed down through a toll? I wonder why can't Malaysia do the same, at least to slow down traffic jams.

We are neighbors, but Singapore is way more advance and efficient in many ways.

Gastronomy at Fusion Sushi Buffet

Talking about food during our stay in Austin, hubby and me agreed that Musashino Sushi Dokoro is one of the best Sushi restaurants we had ever been to. Never did we expect to taste the same quality of Sushi again, this time in Malaysia.

My sister treated us to Fusion Sushi Buffet in Petaling Jaya. With her Groupon voucher, she paid RM38 per person. We could choose from the buffet bar plus 14 items on the menu. We made a common mistake like a lot of patrons, we attacked the buffet first but the real scrumptious sushis were among the 14 items. Photo shows the buffet items we chose. Even Aelig was attracted by the sashimi.

The Chef from this restaurant used to work in New York so he introduced us to New York style sushi. It comes with yummy sauce.

The fresh salmon slides coated with some herbs. The plate was placed on top of a bunch of ice cubes.

Sashimi cocktail

Tuna wrap, one of my favorites.

 Loved the sauce.

 Mango favor sushi, yummy.

 Delicious combination of herbs and sauces.

The restaurant owner challenges his patrons to try and finish all his 14 items. So far nobody has done it as everyone was already stuffed with the buffet items before even trying out the items on the menu.

I'm not sure if it offers authentic Japanese sushi but it has surely won my heart. Without Groupon offer it will cost RM88++. I had bad impression of Groupon but finally I got a nice experience with their offer.


Saturday, July 13, 2013

Food hunt at Ramadhan Bazar

It is fasting month again for the Muslims in Malaysia. We won't let go of this opportunity to savor more Malay foods, so we went to "Buka Puasa" food hunting in Shah Alam.

Fried stuffs, high in calories, but good in tastes.

Putu Bambu, a Malay cake consists of rice flour cooked with palm sugar, pandan leave and desiccated coconut, steamed in bamboo pipes.

Raw beef and chicken satay.

Satay in process.

Ready to serve.

Fried chicken.

Malay style's Roti Canai.

Fried squids.

Various cooked dishes ready to serve after a long day of fasting.

Roasted lamb.

Fried cempedak.

Cookies and pastries for the festival. I contemplated to buy some back to France, we shall see.

Multiple types of drinks.

The Ramadhan Bazar is full of patrons buying food home waiting the end of the fasting for the day.

Roti John Ayam (bread stuffed with chicken).

At the end of our food hunt, we got a Roti John, some Satays, one Kebab, some fried stuffs and Nasi Lemak Kukus.

Hubby's comment: Let's go again!


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Escapade to Singapore : Marina Bay Sands Hotel Review

When my sister planned a trip to Singapore, she mentioned about the Marina Bay Sands hotel. Apparently it was famous but we have never heard of it. Until we saw the photo of their infinity pool, one of the selling points of this hotel.

The infinity pool is located on top of these three towers.

The panorama view from the pool.

The landscape view.

A view from the kids pool. It was heaven for Aelig.

Night view from the infinity pool.

Another night view.

The spacious bathroom.

We had a two twin beds room. Here is the view from the room balcony.

Overall it was a great experience. The checked-in process was a bit long though. Well, we stayed for free so no complaint.


A little girl in Malaysia 1 : Time with family

This year the little girl manages to spend some fun times with her cousins and my family members.

Time with cousins around her age.

Got her a magnetic drawing board, she just loves it.

Drinking Vitagen, singing and swinging.

A little fun time with grandma and her tiger.

Collecting stones on the road, she does it a lot in France.

Games time.

Drawing time.

Birthday celerations.

Reading time.

A trip to Cinema with the gang, watching Despicable Me 2.

I wish she has as many cousins to play with in France. Currently she is all alone when she is with her grandparents.