Planters Haven revisit

The last time we went to Planters Haven was over 5 years ago.  That time we concluded that we couldn't possibly live so far away since we would have to travel to work daily.  Hubby's friend who did buy some land invited us this time as his durian trees were fruiting.  

I thought it would be great for the kids to see the trees.  And maybe help pick some fruit from the ground.  In reality.... 

The moment we got out of the car:  Do we HAVE to go there?  Can we stay in the car?

As I was dragging them to the trees:  OWWW!! This grass is so poky!  This is the WORST durian place!  We want to go home!!

Gahh city kids.

Ow ow ow!

Turned out picking durians wasn't a walk in the park.  The trees WERE located pretty far back and it wasn't easy walking on uneven ground through the dry grass, fallen branches and whatnot.

Gave up and left the durian-hunting.  We just spread out our picnic mat.  I brought snacks for SE since she hates durian.

Ahhh a nice place to si... eh what's that? Ant??

And because of the presence of an ant or two, the kiddo decided to boycott the picnic mat.  Luckily hubby was well-prepared.

Ahh now this is the life

All right, this picnic isn't so bad

Many plots were still vacant.  We found some fruit trees nearby.  Ciku and longan fruits were not ready, but rambutan was.  Made JE get off her chair and participate in fruit plucking.  To the same tune of:  OW!  Something scratched my foot! Look got blood.  Are there ants here? Can I go now?  I don't want to pluck rambutans anymore)

I have rambutans. Now can I go?

If we weren't with the others, I'd have liked to scout around to find more treasures.  Maybe another rambutan tree or other kinds of edibles. As it was, we called it a day.  A good trip by my standards and a day out for the kids.

Yayy! Finally can go home!

Pizza time

The girls were asking to make pizza.  The last couple of times I made the dough from scratch, which requires lots of pre-planning for the dough to rest, kneaded and then rest again overnight.  This time I took a short cut hehe.  The bit hiding at the bottom of the photo is Mission wraps.

Lesson learnt from previous times, have lots of cheese (another half is not in the photo) and bacon (you can never have too much bacon!) besides the other ingredients.

Ta-dah!

The kiddos were NOT putting in some of the ingredients - onion, garlic, pineapple.

All righty, let's start

Mummy wants sesame seeds on her pizza...

Done! A toast to our hard work!

Let's check out the taste. Mmmmm

Can never have too much cheese!

I was thinking we should reduce the quantity.  We made 6 pizzas since had already used 2 wraps (8 in pack) earlier.  But we had 4 for lunch and the rest for breakfast the next day.  So it looks like 6 is fine after all!   I thought the wraps were fine, the kids said they prefer homemade dough.  Will see where I am on the hardworking/lazy spectrum for next time hehe.

More CNY pics

It's still in the middle of CNY, but things have quieted down for me.  One more post to round off.

On  Day1 of CNY, some little guests came over.  My girls insisted on wearing their cheongsams again.   Took a photo of all the RED-RED.  These kiddos will grow up fast (while hopefully the adults don't grow old fast!) and look different very soon.

Smile for the camera!

 '
Dinner at my parents' place for Day2.  We had it out on the patio so pictures are a tad dark.  Need to note these down or next year we will be asking ourselves, last year what did we have ar?  Did we eat inside or outside the house ar?  Hehe.

Lotus leaf rice, pandan chicken, fried wanton, bbq meat with lettuce, pasta salad...

The kids had their usual table.

Want to join our table?

Probably no more CNY events for me, though hubby still has some lined up.  At least this year I had two work-related (as in FOC) CNY makans when previous years there were none.  Huat ah!

Gong xi fa cai!

CNY 2019

Gong xi fa cai!  Happy new year everyone!

We always have a lull in activities for Day1 of CNY.  Went to Midvalley to take photos - the girls have nice cheongsams this year so I wanted a traditional Chinese setting.

Happy new year from us

The previous night's festivities ended very late so we couldn't start the morning early.  By the time we got to Midvalley Gardens the crowd was already there and we had to wait our turn at the photo spots. Then had to quickly snap and go as others would be waiting.

Gong xi gong xi!

A table setting

Blossoms and birdcages

Simple happy one!

Overall guess the photos turned out ok.  There were spotlights placed at the photo spots which wasn't always an advantage as some areas turned out too bright and others too dark.

Popped across the bridge where the theme was Lego...

Us and Lego guy!

Managed to find some lunch (MV was packed) and headed home. Mission accomplished.

CNY eve

Hubby decided on steamboat for CNY reunion dinner and prepared/organised everything. JE wanted yee sang so he got that too.  I confess I didn't lift a finger.

The spread

Total for dinner was 10 adults and 5 kids.  The group is a little smaller - minus MIL (though she hadn't been coming round the last couple of years due to age) and a couple of maids.

Some of the people

And fireworks after dinner.  Lots of them, so much they couldn't be finished after 2 nights of playing.

Scared! Want hold with Papa

This is my laziest CNY yet! (Good thing as I was on standby for work... but turned out I didn't have to work that much)

CNY Preparations

It's always the same... will realise with a jolt that CNY is dawning near.  This round, me being in a project going live and having its first financial closing, I had to postpone preparations.  I ended up working the whole weekend when I was supposed to be out buying things.  Luckily managed to catch up the next weekend (thank goodness Thaipusam was on Monday!).

Made a few edibles - cornflake cookies, peanut cookies, seaweed crackers - and bought a few more.

Snacks, check!

JE asked a few times when people give angpows. Of course I assumed she was excited to receive them. Then the morning of CNY eve, she called me and was wriggling around in embarrassment (she's always like this... e.g. when giving people a birthday card she had made).  Turns out she was GIVING me an angpow.  It contained RM11. She had apparently prepared the same for the Papa and kakak, raiding her coinbox and distributing its contents.  I was touched. My sweet girl!  But had to explain to her that only married people give angpows and she can put the money back.

An angpow for mummy!

New clothes - I'd ordered online much earlier.  Hubby takes care of angpows.  What else... some decorations for the house.

We are making decorations

Can lah, we're good to go!