How shall I put it?

Last Sunday we had shrimps for dinner. We went to Bubba Gump at The Curve.

Edwin, Catherine and I went for shopping spree. Objective: to find white dresses for our cousin’s wedding next month. Theme: obviously WHITE.

The itinerary for the day was scheduled as such:

1st stop: Nichii at F&N Business Park KL (Since it was on sale, we thought my as well check it out)

2nd stop: Midvalley City (I wanted to check out the kitchen utensils at Carrefour which was on a 70% slash)

3rd stop: Home

However, when we reached the Sungai Besi highway, the jam leading towards Loke Yew was super duper jam! Found out that they had some marathon thingy or something of equavalent. I made a quick decision to skip the plan and wanted to head straight to Midvalley. We rerouted and headed towards Midvalley when halfway, i mentioned that I feel like going to IKEA. Edwin seconded. So we went to IKEA. It was also because Nichii is available at The Curve too.

Reached IKEA, bought some quilt covers and Kibbles’ cushion. Went over to The Curve, checked out Nichii, did not find a good looking white dress. Left to check out the flea market where we bump into Serah. Wanted to pass her Kibbles cushion but we put it in the car…Will pass to her in a few days instead.

Catherine noticed Bubba Gump and decided to call parents in-law for dinner together. As none of us have tried Bubba Gump before, we thought it will be a perfect time to do so. Met Melvin too… but he suggested that we should not go for it as it is yucky… Anyhow, we checked it out anyway… taste is depended on a person’s preference eh?

So in we went… and we looked around in amazement, feel like a child again - discovering something new and extraordinary… we got lost in Forest Gump’s world… Why? Coz if you remembered the movie,this is a lil history of how it came about:

The Bubba Gump restaurant is named after the movie’s main characters Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue and Forrest Gump. Bubba suggested the shrimping business and ultimately Forest pursued the idea after Bubba’s untimely death when they served in the Vietnam War.

Our feast at Bubba Gump…

“Life is like a box of chocolate” - Forest’s bench

look at the shoes…

We were seated upstairs,  the room has all Forest’s and his family’s photo hung all over the wall…the pictures look very nostalgic

Thematic settings in the restaurant is based on the movie.

If you have watched the movie, you will know what this represents

This is a very cool concept: It’s for customers to get the server’s attention and service. Instead of the usual snapping and whistling to get the servers attention, this is how its done… when you flip it to ‘Stop Forest Stop’ it means you need services from the servers.

‘Run Forest Run’ means you do not need any service or attending to. Cool eh? But the servers really need to be REAL attentive and alert.

Dessert and special drinks menu attached to a ping pong bat… ingenious!

The menu is filled with shrimps dishes… prepared in all style you can ever imagine! I got a lil worried as too much prawns will get my tongue itching….I decided not to order any main dish as we had ordered too many appetizers, besides i knew the portion will definately be huge! I decided to pick from everyone!

Here were our feasts-

Cat’s cocktail: Medal Margarita (hand shaken cocktail - it serves out at least 5 glasses! Worth it for Rm24.00)

Ed’s drink: Tropical something, can’t recall…but according to him, it tasted like some cough mixture

Myself: I had ‘pure and neat’ H20… LOL - just iced cold water….

Parents in-law: Father - Ice lemon tea, mother - Can’t recall either…

For appetizers we ordered:

The delicious garlic bread… comes with the dinner set my parents in-law ordered… it somehow reminded me of ‘Cheezels’…

Salad…

Shrimper’s Net Catch - Shrimp steamed in beer to tender perfection and served with Bubba’s garlic spice and cajun spice. It’s half-half.

I totally forgot what this is called… Something with ‘American’ in it… Served with tortilla chips with spinach and roasted red peppers, artichokes, and monterey jack cheese. This is yummy!!!!

The main dishes:

Dixie Style Baby Back Ribs: The yummy beef ribs… melts in your mouth!

another beef dish (the meat was RAW!!! Cat’s a carnivore!!!)

Mother in-law ordered this - Salmon and Veggie Skillet

Shrimper’s Heaven : 4 types of prawns done differently, accompanied with 4 types of sauces..

I wanted to try the yummy looking desserts but I couldn’t take in anymore food, I was stuffed with prawns!!!! I vow to go back just for the dessert the next round….:)

Overall, it was a great environment and ambiance - cozy and unique…. It’s like Forest having open house to everyone….!!!! We had some fun on this particular Sunday as food was being shared and jokes were flowing like it’s ‘Happy hour’ Till the next round, I will share some of the in-house jokes that I feel is just classic…hahahaha

21st Birthday…

21 candles finally are here,
I must admit, I waited all year.
So many obstacles, around tried to steer,
Passion for greatness; truly sincere!

A bit more mature, mind fairly clear,
Path in the making; future career.
Wisdom chooses an open ear,
Your charming smile, people adhere.

Youthfully bold, conquer your fear,
Never hesitate to shed a new tear.
Your beautiful actions, many revere,
A trusting shoulder, always hold near.

This is the age where the person who turns 21 gets a key pendant to represent ones freedom…. from their parents - well, at least they thought!

I was once that age, full of enthusiasm, excitement, horns growing to it’s fullest - Ahhh! Freedom, ahhhh adulthood! Sweetness… but little did I know, the road is long and windy. It was a great and fulfilling year for me then… full of hope, dreams and vision. I was flying around the world as a cabin crew and definitely taking on the world. With no mum nagging at me, buying anything I like without having mum’s consent, going anywhere without curfews (well, it still applied at home though but once at other countries, i spread my wings and flew high!). Trying out all sorts of ‘nonsense’ telling the world that i am an adult and i know what i am doing, so butt out of my face…. Scoot!!!

Once turning 22nd years, reality starts setting in…. The responsibilities, the hardship of over spending and having to repay all my credit card loans - spent more than i earn was the worst i could have done. But what could I do then? I was young, getting all the privileges from buying the latest fashion and accessories from around the world where none of your friends could get it back home - that’s life, that’s ELITE!!!! Getting all the envious stare and comments from your peers, it’s just Oh-so-good-a-feeling… This lasted till i was in my late 20s….

Now looking back, i did not have any regrets during my 21 years old days. Those were the days and moments that got me to where i am today, moulding and leading me to the path i am to take today. having experienced everything so that i will look back from 30 years down the road that i have lived life the way i am supposed to and not a single regret on it… I can tell my grandchildren that my life have been a rich and vibrant one, topped with lessons that made me a better person.

Serah, my God-niece, who celebrated her 21st birthday recently made me think back when i was ‘once’…. May Serah be blessed with lots of experiences that will bring her a meaningful life. Anyhow, whatever we thought we had planned or want to plan, is in fact according to GOD’s Will for us. Our path has been shaped - it’s how we follow it.

Captured moments:

Peter preparing yummy food….

more yummy food…

Kibles: Offering himself as “the MAIN dish” for the night? EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW NOT FURBALL!!!!

So learned….”Come study boy!” said ‘Ba’ to Ed…

This is a classic… LOL

Ahhh… Serah’s friends… Don’t they all look similar??? Especially in heights (well most of them)

Come on ladies, where are your Manga characters pose?

Where my food???? Hungry till cannot sit straight d!

‘Chow’ time…

Yum…. can’t get enough

The birthday cake : Alexis’s Cholcolate Bittersweet. Expensive but absolutely no regrets and worthwhile… YUMMMMMMMM

Serah can’t wait to make her wishes and get a chomp of her cake…

Family photo…

With Goong-goong and Por Por

With aunties and uncles (minus ‘mua’)

And last but not least…. Ed and I

“Directress, you have to learn up the Para Para dance so that you can teach the students for the up-coming family day at Titiwangsa this Saturday!” said Ms. Theam (our kindy principal). “You have got 3 days to get it right!” We, directress all stared blankly at her, wondering how in the &)&&#)($&(* are we going to achieve that!!!!

We had discussed and agreed to doing Para Para dance like a month before hand. I had downloaded the videos from Youtube with the help of Ed converting and burning the files so that I can bring it to kindy for viewing and ‘practice’. As usual, dilly dally to the last few days and panic buttons were pushed and all of us Directress are running around like headless chicken.

Probably is talent that we have in us, we managed to get the hang of how Para Para is being danced. I chose the simplest version with a nice catchy tune (in fact, all of us were humming it now and then - LOL, it got stuck in our heads!!!! Dang!) I think we would be ‘eating’ Para, ‘drinking’ Para, ’shitting’ Para and ‘dreaming’ Para these few days till Saturday!

We managed to ’show’ and ‘teach’ the children - it was a funny sight. We trying to keep up to the beat and movements (also trying our hardest to look like we have been doing it for years!!!!) Children being fast learners, some of them actually got on quite well!!! In fact, they could be better than us “old farts” with rusty bones…. ;P

Here is some info on what ‘Para Para’ dance is:

Para Para is performed using mostly arm movements; very little lower body movement is involved save for perhaps moving one’s hips or stepping in place, although a few routines require more detailed leg motions. It has been speculated that it is a descendant of the traditional Bon Odori dance, however there is no known link. The dance originated from the early days in the 80’s when men working in the VIP room in clubs would choreograph dances to impress the women. The dance style then grew from there. The dances are performed to fast, upbeat music such as Eurobeat, Hyper Techno and Eurodance. Fans of Para Para dancing often call themselves “Paralists”.

The dance we are to do:

**KING KONG…KING KONG….**

As promised, here is an introduction of what Montessori is all about. (with reference to my post ‘A day at My Montessori’)

‘The name ‘Montessori’ derived from the founder, Maria Montessori.

Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a “blank slate” waiting to be written upon. Her main contributions to the work of those of us raising and educating children are in these areas:

· Preparing the most natural and life-supporting environments for the child

· Observing the child living freely in this environment

· Continually adapting the environment in order that the chid may fulfill his or her greatest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

In 1907 she was given the opportunity to study “normal” children, taking charge of fifty poor children of the dirty, desolate streets of the San Lorenzo slum on the outskirts of Rome. The news of the unprecedented success of her work in this Casa dei Bambini “House of Children” soon spread around the world, people coming from far and wide to see the children for themselves. Dr. Montessori was as astonished as anyone at the realized potential of these children.

One distinguishing feature of the Montessori method, at the pre-school age, is that children direct their own learning, choosing among the sections of a well-structured and stocked classroom, the curriculum including Practical Life (fine and gross motor skills), Sensorial (senses and brain), Language, Mathematics, Geography, Science, and Art. The teacher’s role is to introduce children to materials, and then remain a “silent presence” in the classroom. Montessori schools pride themselves on seeing and meeting the student’s personality and intellectual needs, rather than viewing them as part of a classroom process. The students are encouraged to teach and to help each other.

Primarily applied in preschool and elementary school settings (and occasionally in middle- and high school), its method of education is characterised by emphasising self-directed activity, on the part of the child, and clinical observation, on the part of the teacher (often called a director, directress, guide) — to stress the importance of adapting the child’s learning environment to his or her development level, and the role of physical activity in the child’s absorbing abstract concepts and learning practical skills.

The potential of the child is not just mental, but is revealed only when the complete “Montessori method” is understood and followed. The child’s choice, practical work, care of others and the environment, and above all the high levels of concentration reached when work is respected and not interrupted, reveal a human being that is superior not only academically, but emotionally and spiritually, a child who cares deeply about other people and the world, and who works to discover a unique and individual way to contribute. This is the essence of real “Montessori” work today.

“Supposing I said there was a planet without schools or teachers, study was unknown, and yet the inhabitants - doing nothing but living and walking about - came to know all things, to carry in their minds the whole of learning: would you not think I was romancing? Well, just this, which seems so fanciful as to be nothing but the invention of a fertile imagination, is a reality. It is the child’s way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so passes little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love.”

- Maria Montessori

I baked a cake and some cupcakes for my mum’s birthday this year.  I baked her cake and cupcakes 2 days before i fell sick. Planned to decorate it on the same day i was to bring the cake to her birthday dinner. My dear hubby assisted me in decorating the cake and cupcakes too! He saw that i was going to faint while doing the deco.

Here is it : My first attempt on my own…. A Super Moist Chocolate Walnut Cake/cupcakes, topped with Chocolate Frosting.

I have never in my 30 plus years ever saw ‘twin’ egg yolks. Best thing was, every single one were the same!!!!

Did a heart shaped small cake, iced the cake with yummy Van Houten chocolate melts.Had to leave the frosted cake over night before actual decoration.

Decorated all these within an hour… not exactly how i wanted it to look but i would say it’s not bad…

Those tiny coloured hearts were done by Ed.

Mom was happy (i think..), brother loved the cupcakes, i pushed the icing aside before taking a bite though…LOL, it was super sweet!

All in all, with some fever, sore throat and cough - I DID IT!!!! Now let’s see what other design should i make…probably a ‘Sheep’…. (baaaa…)