Have you heard that the winners for Alliance You:nique Picture Card’s Sweet Family Moments contest are out?

It was difficult to decide on the Grand Prize winner, so they decided to have two winners. And these are their card designs :
from HOOI SIEK YI (761019-XX-XXXX) and

from LIEW WEI YIN (781004-XX-XXXX).

The list doesn’t end there. Find out from their website to find out who the 2nd (10 winners) and 3rd place (20 winners) winners are with their winning designs, and the same time, you may want to book mark that site or join You:nique’s Facebook Fan page to get informed of their next upcoming contest.

You:nique : Great Rebates; Great Rates; Great Rewards; your card, your choice; your design.

Last year, my RM99 cake mixer broke down on me half way creaming icing for the cupcakes I made for Zara’s birthday celebration. Since then, I’d been asking myself the question, should I get another RM99 cake mixer? Or should I go for a good one?

I’d been looking at the Kenwood models, wanting to get one which is made in Italy or England, but I found the RM2xxx ones are all Made in China. No way I’m going to pay so much for a China made machine.

I asked around those baking gurus, most of them are using KitchenAid, and if they were not, they planned to get one in future. Then I saw the KitchenAid Artisan mixer in Tropicana City, and that’s it, my search for a mixer is over. KitchenAid it is! Fully Made in USA (except the bowl which is from Korea), it’s beautiful, and comes in various colours.

We didn’t get it immediately because Singaore is selling almost RM700 cheaper, and we were wondering if we should make a trip down south to get the mixer.

We made about another 4 trips to the same shop in Tropicana City looking and touching the machine, waiting for a price reduction (and contemplating at the same time); even Zara started questioning, “Why do we keep coming back to this shop?” and she even learnt, “Not everything I want, I should get. You like the cake mixer so much, you also didn’t buy, right?” 🙂

Anyway, last weekend, I told Daddy, enough of waiting, I want to get it!! And we did! So happened there was some promo running, and we got another RM100 reduction on top of the promo price.

And here is my new toy…… (oh by the way, Zara insisted that I should get the pink one, but we didn’t listen to her, and chose a colour that matched our Oak-coloured kitchen).

What a beauty, don’t you think?

I tried it out yesterday, and baked a butter cake using a simple recipe from Donna Hay.

Put all ingredient into the bowl and mix it.

So easy, so quiet, so smooth…

Baked it for an hour +, and viola.

Daddy is expecting some bread to be baked soon. o.O”
Tell me if you have a good and easy country bread recipe to share.

Visited my MIL over the weekend and told them (SIL & MIL) about Zaria’s lung crepitation, and the rash that Zaria is having (the same rash that Zara had). My SIL has a friend who is a Chinese doctor, and she told us we should let him have a look at the girls. Thinking that he’s the same type as my Chinese Doctor, we agreed.

Dr Low happened to be a specialist in Acupuncture and Osteorpathy, totally different from my Chinese Doctor who uses mainly herbs for tuning.

I thought he wasn’t very good with kids. While he was checking Zara, Zaria touched his desk calender as a cartoon drawing caught her interest. Dr Low raised his voice and said, “Eh, cannot touch my things!”. That startled Zaria and made her cry. Bad start.

One by one he checked the girls. It seems my girls have liver problem (from the blue hue in the white of their eye) and internal fever (forehead warmer than cheeks); and then the doctor checked their spines, he claimed Zaria’s spine is absolutely crooked (right butt cheek has a dimple but not left; protruding stomach), and because Zaria has a crooked 4th toe (since birth), he concluded Zaria has gall bladder problem too.

Before the girls started their ‘treatment’, I thought I will be the guinea pig, since I constantly feel tired, I’ll let him check on me and treat me first. One looked at the age spots (or oil seeds, what do you call them anyway?) that I have around my eyes and neck, he claimed I have appendix problem. But it’s genetics I told him, all my family members have them; he said, then it meant genetically all of us have appendix problem. o.O”

So I was brought to the treatment room and was told to remove my clothes. (I made sure Daddy was with me throughout) With just panties and bra on, he started feeling my spine. According to him, I too had a few discs slightly out of place. He will do Osteorpathy on me; which is actually a massage on the spine, and also some exertion to try to align my spine. According to the doctor, once the spine is aligned, the nervous system will function properly, and I won’t have any ailments. Before he started, he pressed a few of my meridien, and asked me to rank the pain I feel. After he finished he again pressed on these meridien points and asked me to rank the pain, the pain should vanish or lessen (which is true for me for some points). After this, he poked 4 acupuncture needles to my calf to further improve the ‘alignment’. This treatment made me ~RM330 poorer, and each treatment will only make me 10% better (which means I have to come for 10 sessions and spent RM3300 to get 100% better).

It was then the girls’ turn. Zara volunteered to be first. Dr Low did moxibuxtion on her, which is to bring a lighted ‘herbal cigar’ (the girls called it Magic Wand) close to her meridien points to provide heat for 10 minutes or so.

When it was Zaria’s turn, she didn’t really want to corporate, remembering the scold she got from the doctor. She was crying, and it was difficult to coax her to lie down. To make things worse, in the middle of the treatment, she moved her leg and kicked the ‘cigar’. I wasn’t in the room (Daddy was with her, since I have to be ‘resting’ after my treatment), but it seemed the ‘cigar’ landed on her big toe and burnt it. She wailed and it took a while to calm her down. As though this incident was not enough, while the moxibuxtion was done above her belly button, Daddy was asking Dr Low some stupid questions, and when Dr Low was answering his question, he didn’t realise the accumulation of the hot ashes at the end of the cigar, and suddenly the hot ash just dropped on Zaria’s belly (I saw it this time). Zaria gave a loud scream and wailed. Since it was coming to the end, we just stroke her and calmed the traumatised her for the last few minutes while the moxibuxtion continued.

Once it was done, Zaria clung on to me like a koala, and kept saying she wanted to go home.

The girls’ sessions cost RM100 each (and extra 1 time RM20 each for our registration or the creation of our files). We are all supposed to go for follow ups, but I’m not sure if we will be going again. It seems a bit mumbo jumbo to me. What do you think?

Zara called Dr Low, Dr Harry Potter, because the ‘cigar’ to her is a magic wand. When I asked Zaria if she liked Dr Harry Potter in the morning, she replied, “No. I want to burn him for dinner.” o.O”

Just got to know about Alliance Bank latest You:nique picture card, it’s a credit card where you can personalize the design, and also customize your own credit card feature. For example, do you want better rebates? Better financial rates? Or better rewards?

Wonderful isn’t it?

I wonder if I can apply more than one card since I would like to have each of the girls appearing on one card. Here is what mine will look like:

Now hop on to this website and check out their Sweet Family Moments contest, and stand a chance to win yourself some great prizes when you apply for the card.

And check out the You:nique Picture Card fan page at Facebook.

I have to clarify that my company is not rich, and normally we travel with a tight budget, but this round, we had 4 Americans travelling together (all first time to India), and so for their sake, a better hotel was chosen.

This is the continuation of the trip.

♥The Roads, Buildings and Traffic♥
Roads in Bangalore are dusty, narrow and bumpy. Drivers are constantly pressing on their honks, and 2 lane roads turned into 6 lanes because no body stick to their lanes, and all cars just squeezed into whatever space there’s available on the road, causing traffic congestion every where.

Just a few km away from the hotel, we saw little shacks at the road side, made from 4 sheets of planks and a zinc roof. Children were playing topless, while their mothers cooked from a stove outside of the house. These houses were built just next to the main roads. A skidded car could have knocked down the make shift stove or even the house. (Compared to this rv camping seems like a luxury.)

At traffic lights or a busy junctions, there’ll be beggers trying to get money from the people in the cars, and sometimes, we saw vendors trying to sell things like phone chargers, stationary from car to car.

On the street : Buildings in Bangalore; I understand in Bangalore, only the rider on the motorbike needs to wear helmet, but the pillion riders are not required; a shop providing kiddy rides which can be rented for parties.

There are lots of street vendors selling all kinds of things from coconut, roasted nuts, drinks, yogurt, cucumber slices and even rice.

We saw some signs with witty phrases for users of the road.

Motor rickshaw waiting for customers and one of a main shopping street, Brigade Road, in Bangalore.

♥My Little Adventures♥
The first day to work, I was in the car with a colleague who is also in India for the 1st time. 10 mins into the journey, the driver turned the car into a tiny lane, and stopped in front of a shaby looking building (as the car was arranged by the office, we didn’t think the driver had any bad intentions). We asked each other, “Is this the office?” The driver got down and with a big grin, told us apologatically, “Sorry sir, sorry mum, the wheels punctured. Give me 5 mins.” And then off he went like an expert and got the tyre changed in 5 minutes, as though this is his daily routine.

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On Wednesday and my first visit to the yoga class, I went through the gym and took the lift there to get to the pool side where the lesson was conducted. A hotel employee was with me in the crammed lift. I realised it took forever for the lift to climb 1 floor so I asked him what happened. He took a look at the penal and exclaimed, “Oh shit! Lift stuck!”. Oh great! My first time using this lift and I got stuck!

He immediately rang the emergency alarm, talked into the intercom. “Lift stuck. Guest with me.” To kill time, he made small talks, “Sometimes this happened.” “Very hot right? No aircon here.” (oh yes! it was like a sauna). A moment later, we heard some people outside telling us to wait and probably working on the problem. 5 minutes later, the door of the lift opened, and we were back at the gym.

The over-zealous staff pressed the 1st floor button before I could get out, and the door was closed again; and guess what? It went dead again! The same routine happened, the guy pressed the emergency alarm to ask for help, then people shuffling outside, and 5 minutes later, the lift moved and the door opened with us on the gym level again. This time, I immediately dashed out and used the stairs before the staff did anything.

See, this is a 6~7 star hotel, and the ‘sometime this happened’ just annoyed me!

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On one of the evening, a colleague brought me shopping. She’s hired a small car, and in the car was her friend and her friend’s daugther, the driver, and the 2 of us. The aircon in the car wasn’t working very well, and the taffic was really bad on that day. The winding and bumpy road, and the driver’s constantly stepping on the break didn’t help. After about 30mins we were still on the road in the hot car, the smell from our sweating bodies started to fill the car up, and I felt sick. When we arrived at the shopping street, I felt everything was spinning, and I had to tell my colleague I wasn’t well. It was after I threw up in the toilet and a hot chicken soup later, that I felt better. India’s traffic is just not for me.

♥Security♥
After last year’s bombing of 2 top hotels in Mumbai, the security in hotels, office buildings and shopping malls have tightened. All cars before driving into hotels or office premises will have to be scanned by security. They checked your booth, and under the car to see if there’s any hidden explosive. And to enter a building, you will need to submit your bags for checking or x-rayed.

In this shopping mall next to the office, the guards were checking bags at the main entrance, but I saw some people entered from the side entrance without going through a check. o.O” I wonder what’s the point if it’s not consistant.

This guard was very unhappy I took a shot of her searching through my bag. What the heck, I’m a tourist and I just acted blur.

♥Sight Seeing and Shopping♥
I have a full day on Saturday as my flight was night time, so I went exploring with 2 English ladies I met from yoga class.

We did a little sight seeing. More of the driving through the tourist spots like the town hall.

And a stop at Lalbagh Garden, where we were conned INR350 each for a guided tour.

The driver also brought us to 2 silk shops where we were able to buy silk and cotton Kurtas and pasmina shawls at a very good price.

We also made a trip to the supposedly shopping street Brigade Road, and it was a dissapointment, so dusty and dirty and the shops there were not interesting.

What I love best is the various curry pastes, bryani rice mix, premix roti flour, soup packs that I bought back home. They all had terrible packaging but I’d tried 2 of them and they were exceptionally good (MSG free and very tasty).

I have to say, besides its horrible traffic and dusty roads, I rather like India, the food, the people, the shopping. I was careful not to drink anything with ice, bottle water was always opened in my presence, and even with teeth brushing, I used mineral water, so I have no stomach problem.

I think since I have a multi entry visa for a year, I probably may go for a trip there on my own.

My very first trip to India took place from 31st March to 4th April, to the city of Bangalore. It was for a short work trip. I have heard a lot about India from Daddy’s work trips, so I had some expectation set.

Upon arriving at the airport late on Monday night, the office driver (seems this is the most popular mode of transport in Bangalore, where offices hired cars with driver to ferry staff around) greeted me with my name card held up. I was addressed as “Mum” or “Madam” from then on.

♥The Hotel – Leela Palace♥

I was put up in The Leela Palace. Upon identifying me at the reception, the staff walked me up to the room, and briefed me the facilities available in the hotel. This is the first time I have my check in done in the room in a hotel; after signing a form, and giving the staff my credit card details, she gave me a tour of the room showing me where things are. The room is big, luxurious and comfortable, the kind fit for a royalty (and I think the kind of hotel ‘Princess’ Zara would love).

I managed to further explore the facilities the following day. All corridors have high ceilings; there is a huge and beautiful garden, a nice pool (never tried it), and a luxurious spa.

Everywhere is decorated with fresh flowers. I love the way they put fresh flower petals and/or floating candles in dishes every where in the hotel.

The service there is impeccable. I had the concierge helped me carry my bags to the room (if I didn’t want to go straight back to the room when I got back); buffet breakfast came with service (fruit juice, freshly made Dosai, prathas or eggs sent to your table); Ice tea and light juice is served in the gym.

What’s more? It has a daily Yoga session held at the pool side from 6am to 7:15am. The instructor is a small bony man who flexes his body effortlessly. I dragged myself out of bed every morning to attend. A great feat for someone who normally wakes up after 7:30am daily. It sure charged me up for the rest of the day.

♥The Food♥

If you love Indian food, you have to love food in Bangalore. When our Indian food tastes very much like curry powder mixed with water, the Indian food in Bangalore is so refine. The bread or roti, dhal, savoury yogurt, curry, vege patties, cottage cheese (paneer), they are all so delicious. It’s so easy to be a vegetarian there because of the variety of vegetarian dishes. However they are all quite fattening because of the ghee used in cooking.

Breakfast was included in the hotel, and the food there was good, especially the coriander chutney. I had it with anything and everything.

Lunch was catered and we had it in the office. Love the bryani and yogurt.

I never knew Indians could make soup so delicious. Dhal with mint, chicken soup, tomato soup, yums!

A meal like that in Leela, costs me INR1220 (~RM100).

Non-Indian restaurants normally served multi cuisine dishes. I had Indian food in Japan, so I must have Japanese in India too right? Not really very nice. Ravioli and toasted brie was yummy.

The best meal was at Sahib Sindh Sultan Restaurant at Forum mall (supposedly a fine dining restaurant), where the chef offered to pose for the camera. Lunch for 3, came up to INR2073 (~RM180)

After a meal, you’ll be brought a finger bowl with a piece of lime to clean your hands; and then you are offered some of spices (beetle nut, fennel seeds, cloves, cardamom) to help with digestion, some of these spices are sprayed with a layer of silver or wrapped in silver and some sprayed with chocolate or sugar. I tried the Paan (beetle nut wrapped with leave) as well, and boy, it was horrible. It’s like eating grass with cheap lotion. I had to spit it out!

Now, aren’t all these photos nice? I was chauffered daily to work, hotel->office, office->hotel. If you blind folded me on the journey, this would be all that I see.

There are more photos to come which will show you what it’s like on the street.

Do you realise that in Malaysia when a hotel room costs you less than RM400, chances are the hotel will be pretty horrid?

During the school holidays, we decided to bring the girls to Cherating for a holidays. We booked 2 nights stay in Holiday Villa for RM270/night (from the net), Holiday Villa you know, should be ok right?

The rooms were decent and it’s challet style, but the pool is another story.

When we brought the girls to the pool, I noticed that the water was brownish, thinking it was maybe sand from the sea, I didn’t stop the girls when they jumped into the pool, gulping down some of the water in their excitement. When I got into the water to join them, then only I realised it was filth and not sand. My skin has this slimy coat, on top of that, I can smell poops and urine. People were swimming fully clothed, and their kids were in diapers and all. Ewwwwwww.

I suspect that’s how the girls got sick.

We checked out the 2nd day (even though we booked for 2 nights), and moved to Legend Hotels next door, for an additional RM100 per night. The pools were nicer and cleaner, but the rooms were pretty basic with a leaking toilet and smelly pillows. RM370 and still you get crap?

For the girls, they were not as fussy as us in terms of cleanliness, so they had fun. Two things though, Zara was asking us when we’re going home, and Zaria was requesting us to go back to the hotel with rafters (which is Holiday Villa).

For the duration we were there, we spent most of the time in the hotel, but we did try to explore the fishing villages around and event went to Chukai for brunch.

Girls at Holiday Villa Cherating

Girls at the beach in Legends Hotels – Both were fascinated by the cheap bubbles we bought them; They were playing ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ with the waves; Zaria spent most of the time at the shallow steps at the baby pool, refusing to go any where deeper where her feet couldn’t touch the ground.

Chance upon this extremely crowded coffee shop in Chukai called Hai Peng.

On our way back, popped by a village stall to have kuih still baked using wood fire

Another stop at a fishing market, where the girls have some keropok lekor (not the crunchy), and we had some satai ikan (some otak-otak style) snack.

Continue from here, here and here, this is the last piece, I’m keeping the best for last.

Now it was a coincidence that Daddy was in Japan too the 1st week I was there. He arrived 2 days later than me, and he was staying in Shinjuku (新宿). Here was a conversation that took place before he left for Japan :
I asked him “Should I check out and move to Shinjuku to stay with you?”
He replied, “Of course not. What would people think? We are there to work you know?”
Hello, we’re married right? Even if we’re working, we should be sleeping together at night, no?
That’s Daddy, so full of his principals, no abuse of work trips, no taking advantage of the company, etc etc. Anyway, I side track.

So we didn’t meet until the weekend. On Friday (27/2) I moved to Shinjuku after work, and met Daddy at, Hotel Century Southern Tower, the hotel he stayed in, which has beautiful view of Tokyo from the room and more luxurious than mine.

On Saturday, I was really keen to go to Hakone (箱根), a 2 hr train ride away, to look at Mt Fuji from afar. Daddy didn’t want a taxing trip, he was more keen to do some exploring of Tokyo; so Tokyo it was.

We headed to Ueno (上野), a nice place to check out local produce. There were lots to see, and things were cheaper than Shinjuku; but when I wanted to buy some seaweed and green tea, Daddy thought it was better to buy from reputable source. He said the things from the street vendor didn’t look like it was good quality.

Ueno – Ameyoko Shopping street

At a Fish Market – fresh clams and fish; live crabs and prawns for sale; recommended cooking style provided for reference. How thoughtful.

For lunch, we had the best Udon in a restaurant stumbled by chance, I was attracted by the sign which said, 手打ち (Japanese : Handmade). I normally prefer Soba over Udon, but this was good. I had mine cold topped with Vege tempura.

After Ueno, we went to Asakusa (浅草), walked around Nakamise (仲见世), a shopping street (mainly souvenirs) leading to Sensoji Temple (浅草寺).

A monk at the entrance of the Asakusa subway; Nakamise shopping street; an orange tree on Nakamise

Around Sensoji

Our main purpose for coming to Asakusa was to check out Kappabashi Dogugai Street, which is lined with stores selling table and kitchen wear, for we love to shop for such things. We probably spent more than an hour there, hopping from one shop to another, eventually buying a few plates. With the strong Yen, most things turned to be quite expensive.

That night, we had dinner at Soba Daian restaurant, again attracted by the 手打ち (Handmade) sign at the entrance. We shared a portion of sashimi, soba, salt grilled fish collar, tofu sashimi, and dessert; all were absolutely delicious.

It felt rather strange that we’re eating and shopping without the girls, and the hotel room was so quiet without their chatters. However, it was a lovely Saturday.

On Sunday, after checking out and a quick breakfast, Daddy took the train to the airport for his flight home, and I took the train to Takao-san-guchi to meet up with my colleagues. We wanted to visit Mount Takao or Takaosan (高尾山), a mountain which was awarded a maximum 3 stars by Michelin Voyager Pratique Japon. There were 4 of us, my 2 other non-Japanese colleagues (who were from a different site), and our Japanese colleague cum guide.

This greeted me as I got out of the station. A beautiful village at the foot of Takaosan.

Instead of hiking, we took the cable car up, but explored the top of the mountain on foot. The view and the air is so different from downtown Tokyo. There are different hiking trails leading to different places. We first went to Yakuoin Temple, built more than a thousand year ago, and then to the peak of the mountain. We saw small little shops and restaurants scattered around. On a clear day, it seems you can view Fujiyama from Takaosan, but we didn’t manage to see it. Here are the photos :

The mountains around, can’t tell which is Fujiyama; Hachioji can be seen from the top; the cable car that took us up Takaosan

Around Takaosan

Around Yokuoin Temple : A beautiful bell hung from the roof; cleansing area at the temple; donor’s names on bamboo; Tengu or 天狗, Japanese mytological figures

Shop and stalls in Takaosan; steam bun for sale; a boot washing area with brushes provided for hikers at the Takaosan-guchi station.

By the time we’re back at the Takaosan-guchi station, it was close to 3pm. Our Japanese host mentioned that she’d made reservations at a restaurant, and we had to wait 20mins for the bus to send us there. I was really hungry and wondered why we couldn’t just go to any restaurants near the station. The bus ride took another 10minutes, through winding roads and small alleys, and when we arrived at Ukai Toriyama, I knew why Michiko took the trouble, she wanted us to experience the ultimate Japanese dining.

The restaurant is in a big traditional Japanese garden, with little streams and ponds scattered around thatched-roofed country-style cottages.

The beautiful Japanese garden that houses the restaurant

A cottage for private dining; tradional lantern; a place for tea; Japanese water feature

Michiko booked one of these cottages for lunch. Served by a waitress wearing kimono, our full course lunch took us almost 3hours to finish.

Seasonal vege appetiser; local raddish stew; clear soup with pigeon meat ball

Fresh water fish sashimi (the sea water fish is still nicer); grilled seasonal fish; Dumpling in red bean soup

The rice comes with grated sticky yam, I didn’t really like the sticky slimy feel

Waiter helping to grill our meat. I have grilled chicken tigh, I’d never tasted chicken so delicious before; my colleagues have beef

All that food for 9,000Yen per course per person. Luckily my colleague was paying.

By the time we’re done, it was already dark outside, and the place still looked gorgeous.

That was how my beautiful weekend ended. Good company, good sight-seeing, good food.

I still have a post on Japan with more photos, it takes a long time to sort out the photos and post them, so it’ll come later. Meanwhile, lets talk about some cultural difference.

Here are 2 things that I found :

Credit : Hotel Gran Spa

Onsen Culture
The onsen that was located in my hotel, has 5 indoor pools and 1 outdoor pool (all heated of course from natural hot spring water). There’s a sauna and a steam bath, and also a pool with cold water. There’s a public shower area with partitions. Each comes with a shower, a tap, a stool, own set of toiletries on a low top (you are meant to sit on the stool to bath). The side partitions are not higher than 2 feet (you can’t really cover yourself if someone is using the shower next to you).

The first time I stepped into the room where the onsen is, I was wrapped in towel, and all the other females who were stark naked stared at me.
Ok, so we have to be naked once we stepped in. When you are in Rome, do what the Romans do. I walked out and did the same, nobody knew me anyway.

The ladies come in different age, shapes and sizes. I’d seen 1.5yrs old to probably 80yrs old walking about.
Nobody covered themselves when they moved from one pool to another. Nobody paid any attention to people’s body parts like I did. I couldn’t help it, I’d never seen so many naked bodies live before!
Some of them come with a friend, and they’ll be chatting to each other with their lower body submerged (hey! there’s still the upper body).

Some of the friends shower together. Imagine, taking shower with your friends? I’d seen women exfoliating themselves, standing with their legs lifted on the stool, and talking with their friend in the next shower, taking their time.
I don’t think I have friends who are close enough to do this with me. Even if I did shower with a friend, we’ll probably pretend not to look at each other, and quickly have our shower done. Not the Japanese, they shower, they talk, like chatting over a cup of coffee. A few even asked each other to help them scrub the unreachable places!

Then my colleagues told me the onsen in the Hotel that I stayed is quite famous in Hachioji, sometimes they have department events there. Imagine! Your colleagues and you all together naked! Although the females and the males are in separate sections, but still..?
I can’t imagine myself doing that with my co-workers.
Or worse still, being in the onsen with your boss? Yikes.

Bathing with their kids
While we were talking about my reaction to the onsen culture over dinner with a few closer Japanese colleagues, one of them suddenly sighed. (The conversation went something like this.)
“My daughters don’t want to bath with me any more.”
But how old are they?
“20, and 16.”
Since when they stopped?
“When they were about 12.”
When you say bath, do you mean you give them a quick shower or was it more to spend time with them?
” To spend time.”
I think 12 is about right they stopped.
“But some daughters allow their father to bath them even when they are in their twenties.”
Then I turned to the only Japanese female colleague present, what about you, when did you stop?
“Around 11~12.”
Would you mind bathing with your father at this age?
“Of course! But I don’t mind bathing with my grandfather.”

I don’t think there’s any thing dirty about the father bathing their daughters, but I don’t think I want my girls to be taking even a quick shower with Daddy when they have reached puberty.

There are more to come on the Japan trip, however, here are some short ones not on Japan :

Now have you heard about goreng pisang seller putting straws into the oil to make whatever they are frying crunchier? Do you believe it? I didn’t until last week.

Zara and Zaria love Keropok lekor, so sometimes I stopped by this stall to buy some for them. Last week, I parked right in front of the stall, and after getting some, I was busy passing the keropok to the girls, wrapping the bottom with tissue first where the girls could hold.
I saw the seller pouring oil into the wok. You know those cheap oil in plastic bags?
After the bag was empty, I saw her dipped the plastic bag into the oil. That caught my attention, and I stopped what I was doing, sat upright and watched again, the corner of the bag where she dipped into the oil had actually melted. I thought that’s the end, and then she dipped the bag further, melting the rest of it in the hot oil, leaving only the corner which she was still holding on. And the smirk on her face, as though she was enjoying poisoning the oil.
I didn’t look further, I quickly took back the keropok where I’d given to the girls drove off, swearing never to buy again.
I’m not sure if only that stall is doing it, or all stalls do it, but really…. BUEK!!

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Now for something nicer…

We always go to the wet market on Saturday with Zara. It was drizzling last Saturday, so I told Zara she should stay at home. She kept saying she wanted to follow, but I insisted she shouldn’t.
Zara then said “I waited for you for so long already, now you want me to wait for you again?”
I didn’t know what she was saying, “I don’t know what you mean you waited for me for so long. When did you wait for me?”
Zara replied, “You went to Japan for so long right? I waited for you for so long to come back.” Ouch!

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After one of their fights, Zaria came to complain, “I don’t like Zara any more.”
“Mummy send Zara (to) ah Kim’s house” o.O”
To her, Ah Kim’s house must be like a torture chamber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I asked Zaria, “Tonight should we watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?”
Zaria replied, “The boy got a lot of blood one?”
I didn’t get it the first time, so I asked, “Why got blood?”
She said, “Because, the boy (Harry) got-blood of fire.” o.O”