1.
It’s heartening to know that if I’m ever kidnapped, someone somewhere would notice my absence and send me a text message such as this. As for its effectiveness, perhaps channelling a message like this through a psychic would be a better idea, assuming I were really, uhmmm….you know…..in that condition.
I apologise for the lack of updates. It has been a month and a half since I last saw my internet stay alive for more than 5 minutes at one time. It is almost like my grandpa giving himself a handjob. Yes, I’ve complained (not about grandpa). I am now on a first-name basis with the customer service department of my internet service provider, and we are fast realising that we can’t stand each other. I am beginning to think that they are intentionally trying to get rid of me so that I can unload my angst on another service provider.
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2.
On a happier note, we threw a surprise party for hubby’s parents as they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. It was a masterful deception and I think all those involved should give themselves a pat on their backs.
I prayed for sunshine, and God decided to make it blazing hot. Moral of the story: Be specific in your requests. “Dear God, I wish for sunshine, but not too much…say about 28 degrees Celcius. Bring out the clouds at 2.18pm so that the floral arrangements I so diligently worked on from 8.00am to 2.00pm do not wilt. And if You choose to let it shower, please do so at about 3.20pm and let it stop at 4.50pm so that the grass doesn’t get soaked ‘coz You know that this is a garden party. And please, please, please give me a gentle breeze so that I don’t sweat like a XXX (no inappropriate words please when talking to God) in my very uncomfortable formal clothing which I am forced to wear because there will definitely be a group photo since father-in-law is obsessed about taking family portraits.” Remember to breath.
Note: Cakes by Audrey (email me for contact information – her prices are very reasonable and her cakes are delicious!), flowers and decorations by Lyrical Lemongrass.
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3.
When I signed up for the Starwood card a year ago, in return for the 500+ ringgit which I paid for the card, I received a stack of vouchers for freebies which included loads of free meals at participating restaurants, subsidised accommodation and cakes. I’d like to think that it’s human nature to leave everything till the end, which is precisely what I did. Come 1st April, I looked at the stack, looked at my husband, looked at our schedules and screamed. There just weren’t enough weeks to use them all up. So in a mad rush, I used one to treat a friend in Sheraton Subang, another to treat a Makan Club member at Al Nafourah Le Meridien, enjoyed a romantic meal with the husband at Villa Danielli in Imperial Hotel and the final weekend was spent at Celestial Court where we bumped into fellow blogger, Fatboybakes, who was doing precisely the same thing – rushing to utilise his vouchers before the expiry date. Yes, free food stresses us out.
Upon comparing the All-You-Can-Eat menu with the ala carte menu, I realised that the difference wasn’t that significant. (Incidentally the AYCE menu is only available for those presenting the Starwood voucher.) But ala carte prices are not exorbitant, ranging from RM8 to RM11 on average.
We gorged ourselves on chicken char siu baos (yes, it’s a halal restaurant), prawn wantan with konnyaku in a spicy chilli sauce, chee cheong fun with shrimps and deep fried stuffed chinese crullers with squid paste in a rather sweetish sauce which I found a little cloying. I liked the yam puffs which contained minced meat and a very faint miso flavour while the husband preferred the spring rolls with shredded roast duck fried to a crisp and coated with sesame seeds. If there’s one thing I’ve disliked since childhood, it’ll have to be sesame seeds, and when I’m forced to eat it, I literally swallow it. We also had the deep fried shrimp bean curd rolls with cheese which was rather ordinary and some very good fried rice with a generous portion of assorted meats. Note that a single serving of fried rice is huge, and can easily feed three. The roast duck was good and tender, and I thought the accompanying sweet sauce just competed with the flavour of the duck. Desserts were just okay; my chilled mango pudding was tinted a shade too yellow and had too much of a jelly-like texture.
Noticing us from a distance, some adorable stray kids dropped by our table and sat and chatted with us. I don’t really think they were stray though, even if they didn’t have tags on their collars, as they had nice round tummies that had most likely seen foie gras and blue cheese. The restaurant was soon filled with loud conversations of Ultraman and digging up gardens for lost treasure. We will not be held responsible for the destruction of any gardens subsequent to this conversation. We are merely entertainers. Children have to be accountable for their actions, even if they’re only 5 years old.
Celestial Court
Imperial Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-27179900
awww, what adorable strays. and S***, how come your food looks so much better than mine???? chis bedebah.
re the inlaws weather, yeah, same thing happened to me once when i was wedding organiser, and i wasnt specific enough in my prayers. it was outdoor wedding so i asked for overcast weather. forgot to say overcast dry. turns out it was a typhoon.
Succinct fella, ain’t he?
Mana anak #4?
I wonder if I can use my starwood card when I get back.
Happy 40th Anniversary, Uncle and Aunty Bald Eagle. 😀
fatboybakes: what makes you think “chis bedebah” is more acceptable compared to “S***”? It should be c*@# be*d+$@h, but of course, nobody will be able to figure that one out. Yeah, the strays are adorable. I should have kept one, at least.
kat: Shhhhh. They’re strays lah. Where got anak ke-4 when you dunno who they belong to? And Uncle and Aunty thank you. They’re a very lucky couple to have such loving children.
heyyy, cute kidslah…now where did i see them b4?? 😉
which is why I never liked vouchers anyway. discount card, maybe? but vouchers…..gggrrrr……what a waste of paper. Wish they would use phone vouchers like those the mobile phone companies keep spamming me with.
fbb: nice way to wake up the ‘dead’.
the cakes matches the flower arrangements !!
love the theme.. the color… so sweet ~
can i have Audrey’s contact pls ? tks ^_^
ah, i see you copied allan’s idea of those puffy crepe paper flowers…whatchew call em ah?
wow, u really gotta give urself a pat on the back for doing those floral arrangements and decor….LOVELY!
Msiagirl: Cheeky girl. 😛
Henry Yeo: Ya lor. So stressful to finish up. Must do game plan oso.
ling239: Yeah, it’s in the details. Ok…will email you. 🙂
fatboybakes: Yeah, I’m so glad Allan taught me how to make those pom-poms that day at your place. I still have loads of crepe paper. Maybe I should pass them to one of the strays. She’s got quite a creative touch.
Chelle: So sweet of you…thank you!
as for the tcho chocolate, no one has picked up the offer so far. will most likely order 2 bars just to satisfy my cat.
great shots! u guys sure know how to throw a surprise!
1. Did you threaten to terminate their service? We did that and now my internet connection speed is excellent *touch wood*! They even follow-up by a few phone calls on alternate days to check if connection is stable. Now that is what i call GOOD SERVICE!
2. Good job with the deco sista. So pretty and sweet. Just my kind of colours. Hahaha. Yeah…last weekends was super HOT! I lost count the number of times i had shower to cool myself down.
3. Awww…i bet those kids came running to you shouting ‘Aunty Meena’, just like the other night hor? Eh, not renewing the Starwood card?
LL, what lovely decor and flower arrangement!
Henry Yeo: If cats are anything like dogs, better say goodbye to da fler then.
cumi&ciki: thank you! Yes, we love throwing surprise parties and have organised several successfully. Contact me if you need ideas. 😛
Precious Sista:
1. I threatened to downgrade, but those id*@ts said I have to go to their outlet to downgrade; they only accept upgrades over the phone. Like wtf, man. I got those follow-up calls too. They’d ask if it was okay. I’d say no. They’d say they’d look into it. Then they’d call the next day to check again. It’s been going on for a long time. I feel like crying.
2. Yeah, it’s your favourite colour, isn’t it? 🙂
3. Hehe…except this time it was “Aunty M” and “Uncle T”…!! Yes, renewed. 🙂 Look out for my next end of year rush in 2009. 😛
BabeKL: Thank you! Love doing stuff like this (more than baking, that is! hehe).
Wooo… bery (very) nice decors. Harmonized colours summore *clap clap*. LOL over the request to God :p
But how come kids will come over and dominate your breakfast?
Well when you do make up for your absence, you do so in fine style!
i’m sure they weren’t called pom poms….
who’s kat calling succinct? wow, that’s a word with three Cs…very useful to know if got that in scrabble.
yaaaaay and you’re back from outer space with that hungry look upon your face! The decorations look lovely! Allan would be so proud! If you need someone to help you use up the vouchers next time, please call meeee. 🙂
Beautiful job with the decor. U should come to Perth to help with our DIY decor for reception next year. =)
What a lovely spread… ooo… if u need anymore help with using up your vouchers, I will glady raise my hand! hehe.
jason: Kids love us. Especially stray ones.
Cynthia: Awwww. Thank you!
fatboybakes: What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
Paprika: Eeyer. Hungry look?? I’m smiling lar dey. Cis bedebah. Yes, you’re definitely on my priority list when I’m looking for a makan kaki. 🙂
daphne: Can can!! 🙂 I wanna go to Perth!
fbb, they’re called pomanders. Are we playing scrabulous or not?
ll, aaahh… Uncle Txx! I was racking my head over what BE’s name was. I kept thinking Jxx – I remembered it rhymed with Txx but didn’t get the consonant right!! 😀
1. Gosh you know I’m having the same problem at the office with their competitor. There are NO decent broadband service providers in Malaysia. GAAAA….
2. Yes, well, be careful what you wish for and all that jazz.
3. How come you didn’t stress me out with any of that free grub? Huh? Huh? 😛
*checks and notes thick skin still intact*
Btw, I happened to have had a very illuminating conversation with one of them ‘strays’ on the multi-faceted personalities of that Japanese superhero…
Cis bedebah!! Where did my comment go??
If you see double, pls amend accordingly* ok?
Thnks!
* Ooh.. haven’t used a sentence like that since I quit from the workforce 9 years ago.. 😀
Great post, great decor, great pics! I obviously need a thesaurus.
(2) and i am amazed by your endless creativity…photography la, writing la and now, party planning/decorating la…just improve on yr baking skills and u might give dear martha a run for her money lar.. 🙂
(4) yay, AI in 22 mins time! Neil Diamond week (aka Carly and David week, me thinks) well, since when it’s not david’s week..*sigh*
kat: One more JXX and I’m not organising no party for you, missy. 😛
Kenny: Ya lor. We should just move to Korea where they have better internet service there. As for the free grub, why u never tell me earlier? I just gave away a free food voucher to a total stranger!!
dee: Thanks, and sometimes you need just the simplest words to express yourself. 🙂
Nic: (2) I don’t think emulating Martha should be my goal, especially after the events in the past year or so.
(4) Wei, this is MY blog ler…how can u introduce a new number wan?? Go stand in the corner. So when you say David, you mean which one ar? Coz both have been pwetty outstanding, dontchathink?
why move to korea? afterall, u’re such jap food afficianado, move to japan la. i hear the internet speed there is so fast, in rural japan, it takes all of 30 seconds for the peasants to download a full length porno movie. in the cities, it takes 5 seconds. poor peasants.
see la, these celebrity bloggers, bow bow bow, we are not worthy. two people blog about virtually the same thing, and look at the response one gets, whilst the other’s blog is like an abandoned hacienda after a hurricane.
fbb: don’t worry, it is just more erm……traffic here? be careful what you wish for, afterwards comments jam your blog up that you spend more time replying than blogging. I don’t know how LL does this.
ll: trying to kill my curiosity, not the cat lah!
Well.. glad you are alive.. ! the cupcakes look really good..! I paid like USD $20+ for a dozen .. for a friend in KL .. 🙂
fbb: how long does it take in malaysia to download said movies 😉
Wah, next year I also want to get a Starwood card.
ooh, simon, if you want card, let me know, at least i can get points by referring you.
james, the aforementioned movies…hmmm, i wouldn’t know, since i never tried, ahem, but if i were to hazard a guess, an average 1 hour tv series, say HEROES, takes an overnighter to download via torrentfiles. its exasperating.
oh, definitely archuleta…well, cook’s been pretty cool too..and why is that dreadlock still in the competition??!!! dunno why but feel like punching him lar, sometimes…
so kesian hor, carly and brooke…guess there’s no need to guess who’s going out next week lar, hor? *sigh*
Oppss…just realised I ‘expose’ your name! Hehehe..sorry sorry sorry.
fbb: i’ve never tried either lol
on another note: exposing yourself? hrm, i used to think this blog was about food only lol
What a beautiful party! The cupcakes are scrumptious! The inlaws must be thrilled!
It’s cute to imagine you and hubby running around KL trying to eat coupons of free meals … I bet we can expect numerous of reviews coming along huh? Can’t wait!
For some strange reason, I suddenly have an urge to come here and say, “Chook, chook, chook, “… 😀
as the saying goes..be careful for what you wish for…hahah..looks like i should be thankful of my internet!
Hi, there, lil’ sis! Just came crawling back from some rather steep mountains after 4 days (am so-ooo not a climber, social or otherwise).
Wah, your lilac-themed decor and flowers are so splendiferous! Only Bald Eagle agrees to have his handsome mug all over the blogosphere, does he? Coz the rest of you got ‘Vaselined’ out a bit. 😉 And your hair is still as lovely as ever.
i’ve been secretly (i use the word coz i don’t think i’ve ever commented) reading your blog and find your pieces very “sense-stimulating”..heheh. really. Love the pics and the write-ups. I decided to comment today because your deco and arrangements deserve an extra thumbs up-very impressive! 🙂