Baby's Full Moon

According to Chinese custom, when a baby turns one month old, a ceremony is held to celebrate his first month of life known as "full moon". This coincides with the end of the new mother's confinement period and both mother and baby are formally introduced to the relatives and friends for the first time.

During the full moon celebration, eggs, dyed red to symbolise luck and blessings, are given to relatives and friends.  Eggs are chosen as they represent fertility and their round shapes symbolise harmony.  It is believed that if you have a boy, you give out an odd number of eggs and if you have a girl, you give out an even number of eggs.  Relatives and friends will give ang pow or gifts such as clothing, toys, diapers and baby care products.  It is like a Western baby shower, only celebrated one month after! 

Last Saturday, my colleague held her baby's full moon with a buffet spread for guests by the poolside. Invitation was sent via facebook

• • Saturday, 11 February 2012
  • 18:00 until 22:00

• Prima Setapak Condo (Level 3 - Hall near Swimming Pool), Jalan Genting Klang

• Come and see our lil one LIVE! Light dinner buffet will be served ^.^ Kindly RSVP SOONEST so we can make further arrangement.

A few ex-colleagues turned up and it was great to catch up with them. Of course, it was also great to see the happy healthy baby :) 

Till next week, congratulations again to the new parents!

Lake Toba

My colleagues and I have been talking about going away on a trip and one of them has always wanted to go to Lake Toba for years.  One day in September last year, after lunch, we just browsed the airasia website and decided there and then that we would be going to Lake Toba from February 4 to 7, 2012. 

Lake Toba is in Sumatra, Indonesia.  It is 100 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide.  It is the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world.  Samosir Island within the lake is the island within the island of Sumatra.

The flight is scheduled to leave LCCT at 11.35am when we booked and was retimed to 2pm.  We reached Medan airport at 1.45 pm and got on the car to Lake Toba.  The trip took about 8 hours inclusive ferry ride to Samosir Island and dinner at Rumah Makan Bayu Lagoon.  For dinner, we had ifumie goreng spesial

nasi goreng spesial

and indomie goreng spesial

The ferry ride took about 50 minutes

We checked in Samosir Villa Resort at 10pm.

Five of us stayed in the family room called Ekoantum with 2 bedrooms, a living room, a tv, a refrigerator, a kitchen, bathroom with hot shower and a balcony overlooking the ocean.

The other two stayed in deluxe room.

The next morning we woke up at 6am in the hope of catching the sunrise but it was cloudy... just our luck. 

After breakfast, we started our tour of the island. We went to Tele where there is a tower you can climb for panoramic views of Lake Toba and Samosir Island, hot spring, Simanindo ~ Museum of the Batak People, Ambarita ~ Stone Chairs where the King held conferences and beheaded criminals and Tomok - Tomb of the Sidabutar Kings.  

We were back in the hotel at 5.30 pm just in time for our body massage in our rooms.  One hour costs 100,000 rupiah.  We planned to have dinner somewhere nearby the hotel but it was raining so we had it in the hotel.

We tried again to watch the sunrise the next morning but it was also cloudy.  We checked out at 8.30am and left for Medan.  We went to see a waterfall and a temple.  We checked in Swiss BelInn at Medan at 7pm.

Before we checked out the next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel where we ate the local delicacy called bika ambun.

On the way to the airport, we stopped by Erna Bakery and bought bika ambun and lapis legit for our colleagues who didn't join us.  The flight took off from Medan Airport at 11.35am and reached LCCT at 1.20pm.

Do we regret coming here? No.  Would we be coming again? Unfortunately no. The travelling time is way too long. 

Till next week, looking forward to go on another overseas trip...

Happy Chinese New Year 2012

Goodbye rabbit year

Hello dragon year

Not much of a celebration this year.  No card, no hamper, no loh sang and no open house :( 

Decorations are all around the shopping malls, though.

 It's dragon year so dragons are everywhere

Fortunately, I still received ang pow... less than last year but better than nothing

Today is Federal Territory Day which is a public holiday for Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.  It's the 10th day of Chinese New Year and let's just enjoy the prosperity meal at McDonald's.  The meal consists of double prosperity burger (I choose beef so it's juicy beef patty dipped in aromatic black pepper sauce with onions sandwiched in sesame seed bun), soft drink (I choose Sprite, no ice, of course) and french fries. After all, it's only available during the festive season and with every purchase of a prosperity meal, 10 sen will be donated to help local charity.

Till next week, looking forward to go to Medan.  Yippie!

Dinner at Samosa Cafe

Another discount deal website is Everyday. 

Bought two coupons for grilled chicken chop/chicken manengo/grilled lamb chop + mushroom soup + drink (honey lemon/ice lemon tea/longan lemon) at Samosa Cafe & Catering located at No.32 & 34, Jalan Siput Akek, Taman Billion, Cheras.  Paid RM11.90 instead of RM27.70 for one coupon. 

The Everyday Coupon is valid from November 7, 2011 to February 7, 2012 and we used it on November 7, 2011. 

                                    We both chose the same 

~ grilled lamb chop ~

 ~ mushroom soup ~

~ honey lemon ~

Was it worth it?  For RM11.90, yes...

                               Till next week, more coupons?

Haircut

Apparently Groupon is not the only discount deal website.  There are others and one of them is StreetDeal.my. 

Paid only RM88 instead RM438 for rebonding/hair colouring/perming + Hair Treatment + Professional Haircut + Wash + Blow (any hair length) at Cleo Hair Design Studio, E-0-05, Pusat Perdagangan Kuchai, No. 2, Jln 1/127, Off Jln Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur. 

Redemption period is from November 11, 2011 to January 11, 2012.  It's new year and I decided to cut my long hair.  I kept it long for far too long so what better time to make a change than the new year :) Without appointment, I just went there on Saturday, January 7, 2012 and got my hair cut and coloured.

The result... as usual, my black hair just refused to give way to other colours... so everyone just commented on the short hair but not the colour... hmmmmm

Till next week, let's change hair colour again

Visiting new mother in HKL

Last Friday, January 6,2012 at 11.02 pm, my colleague gave birth to a healthy baby boy at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Hospital Kuala Lumpur commonly known as HKL has 49 different departments and units including administration & finance department, pharmaceutical department, training and research, 27 clinical departments and 12 clinical support services.  HKL is now the largest hospital under Ministry of Health and is considered to be one of the biggest in Asia.  It is a government tertiary referral hospital with 83 wards and 2,302 beds. 

We visited her the next day at 12.30pm.  The visiting hours for Saturdays and Sundays are from 12.30 pm to 7.30 pm whereas on weekdays, from 12.30pm to 2pm and from 4.30pm to 7.30pm.  This was my first visit to HKL. 

We didn't come empty-handed, of course :) We bought her Eu Yan Sang Herbal Bath for post-natal ~ hope she will use it ~  It is made from herbal ingredients and is specially formulated for mothers during their post-natal period as it helps to expel wind, relieve tension and stress.

My colleague was lying on the bed with her new baby next to her bed. Needless to say the new mother is completely exhausted, overwhelmed and greeted by round the clock checkups by nurses and need to rest and recover so we left after an hour. 

Till next week, congratulations to the new parents on the arrival of their new bundle of joy!

Celebrating Christmas 2011 and mourning on new year 2012

"On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds, 

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!"

Tomorrow will be the twelfth day of Christmas and the fifth day of the new year 2012.

Christmas is the season of giving ~.^

and most importantly, Christmas is all about spending time with family.  This time around, I spent it with my grandmother, mother, sisters, brother, uncles, aunts and cousins.

As for welcoming the new year, I did exactly the same as previous years.  I just sit back home and watched tv on new year eve and spent the new year day at the airport catching the flight back.

On the first day of this new year, I received a devastating news: my grandmother has passed away. I may not be there with my family as we mourn her loss and make the arrangements to lay her to rest but my thoughts are. 

Till next week, may her soul rest in peace.