School done

JE's school year is practically all done.  Exams are over and now classes are being rotated to make way for the SPM exams.  JE has about 2 days of school every 2 weeks.  Not that much is happening during these 2 days.  On the off days, mornings look like this... the yellow hippo was placed by me on top of her to disturb and wake her up, but no go.  She eventually woke up in time for lunch.

Zzzzzzzz

She did work very hard during the exam so I guess she deserves some time off.  

Food at home

For weekends, I would be head (and only) chef.   Though I dream of being able to produce great food, reality is I don't have the knack for it.  So I am happy that food from my kitchen has been edible so far.  Sometimes components end up with issues like being over/under-cooked, over/under-seasoned or just plain problematic.  Still, we never had to order a pizza or something at the last minute heh.  But to my surprise, my kiddos actually say they like Mummy's cooking!  JE, my normally not-so-appreciative teen, said she looks forward to the meals I make.  Which boosts my pleasure and confidence no end. :)

Let's see we have been eating... might as well note this down in detail for my records.  Once I have a maid, the cooking probably will be handed over.

Pasta salad with pan-fried chicken

Roast chicken and veggies with mash potato

Fish soup with lime juice/cili padi and veggies

Salmon with assorted roast veggies

Wraps (love the colour of these spinach wraps but the taste isn't distinctive)

Burgers with home-made patty, a simple salad

Roast chicken leg with baby potatoes, simple cucumber/tomato salad

Shabu pork wrapped around enoki 

Fried fish with tofu/assorted veggies

Lok-lok van

My first private lok-lok experience!  I'd always liked the concept of these trucks.  There are all the concerns on food hygiene, which I'm not that particular about since the sticks are put into boiling hot water to cook.  Well the sauces are not boiled of course, have to trust our fellow humans not to dip raw food or saliva inside?  Anyway an iron stomach is always a good thing.

Photos turned out nice against the evening sky...

 

Our very own truck

We can take anything we want!

I have an uncle who moved to Canada with the family.  Various members will come to Malaysia every so often, which will be our excuse for an extended family get-together. 

Noting here that my bro's family couldn't make it for this event as they got influenza A, one after another.

Yak yak yak

Food for SE's lunch

My first task every morning - make lunch for SE. From thinking this job was temporary until our helper returned, I'm still holding the job 6 months later.  We have settled into a routine - each week would typically contain a rotation of salad, soup and sandwich.  SE would prefer zero dressing but I insist she doesn't eat things completely plain, so her salads would have a small portion of dressing - lime/lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, salt etc. Putting some pictures here for my own record. 

Baby potatoes, chicken, salad

Poke bowl-style

Chicken salad one side, chickpea salad the other

Beef brisket, sweet potato, lettuce+tomato with lime dressing

Pasta salad 

Quinoa salad

Lentil salad

Soups with rice/pasta would be in a tall container hence not as photogenic and I can't find pictures.  :)  

Status of new maid

I had been fortunate enough to locate a suitable-looking replacement soon after our maid Jane 'absconded'.  BUT our agent was offline when her profile was posted up by the agency.  By the time she responded to my message, the profile was already listed as taken.  FORTUNATELY the first taker didn't work out and hurrah, it was green light for us!  We settled back to wait out the 3 months or so it would take for processing.  THEN after all that time, it seemed the new person would arrive right before or smack in the middle of our Bangkok trip.  Come on... how often are we away??  Haha.  Still, worst case she would be able to stay at the agency first (for a fee).

We left for Bangkok thinking we would have a maid again upon our return.

HOWEVER.  In the middle of our holiday, I received a call from the agency... our new maid had gotten pregnant and everything was off.  Right when all her documents were ready, on the eve of her flying to Malaysia!  

Oh no. We are still kakak-less

Sigh.  That night and the next day after the call, I was busy scrolling through available profiles.  Luckily there were quite a number posted, I selected and interviewed one, accepted and now the process has started.  Again.  Another 3 months or so.  Fingers crossed until she arrives.

Bangkok Day7 - Home

Last day... hubby suggested having lunch there to avoid rushing.  Good idea as the airport food court had plenty of choices with super reasonable prices (contrast to what we encountered in KLIA2 ahead of this trip!).

We expected to reach KLIA at 8pm.  Ended up reaching home at 1am that night!  First our flight was delayed.  Still ok, reached and had our dinner.  Surprisingly it took a while getting Grab.  Strange as I'd always assumed getting transport to/from KLIA would be easy.  Finally got into the car, then encountered a traffic jam.  At that time of the night??   I checked Waze way after we started and it was still over an hour home.

Anyway, reached safely.  I like our travel style (so far only 2 trips heh) - don't bring so much, don't buy so much, see/eat/enjoy and just buy some snacks home to share.  We didn't even purchase check-in baggage this time.

Our Bangkok loot

Bangkok Day 6 - Chinatown

One more day in Bangkok... what to do?  Decided on Chinatown - I hadn't been there before and I thought hubby the Cinapek would like it. 

It's a nice day

Got this temple which we didn't go in

Mummy bought some pineapple. I refused to eat

It's a little like Petaling Street but way bigger.

For lunch, surprisingly hubby picked a simple place - I'd expected him to go for the likes of abalone and sharksfin.  Or he was just too tired to walk further. :)  Anyhow, enjoyed our noodles, porridge and dim sum.

For our last dinner in Bangkok, decided to try a Vietnamese-Thai place instead of our usual 'canteen'.  Food was good!  Actually we have had consistently high-quality food this trip.  

Pork bone soup

I have since successfully replicated this pork bone soup at home heh.

Bangkok Day5 - Floating market

Day5 was easy - booked a tour for the Railway and Floating markets.  All we had to do was make it to the pickup point on time.  Then a comfortable bus with informative and entertaining local guides.  Ahhh nice change from all the walking around!   Reached the Railway market in 1.5 hours.  First observation - they were making good money just from toilets!  After the journey, many headed for the simple toilets at the first cafe despite it costing THB100/RM1.30 to enter.

An actual market is literally a step away from the train tracks.  The vendors quickly pull in their wares and overhead canvas right before the trains arrive.  Despite there being 2 trains during our visit, I didn't manage to get a good picture with the train as it was too crowded and the trains do not linger.  

After the first train

The ground was uneven and hubby opted to wait in the cafe.  The guide had explained that prices at this market were controlled by the government and sure enough, things were pretty cheap.  Coconuts were only THB20 when we saw them at THB50 in Chatuchak the day before.  Most of the things on sale were wet market items though - fresh meat, seafood, salted fish etc.  I wished there were more things for tourists.

We shall explore

Some souvenirs here?

Anyway not much time before we had to re-board the bus for the next destination.  The floating market wasn't far.  Hubby had some trouble getting on/off the long-tailed boats, luckily no mishaps.  Sitting on a boat which brings you to stalls would have been such a nice way to shop!  The guide had already informed it was tourist prices here. So we desisted appearing interested even though we noticed some things we hadn't seen before.  

Relaxing

After the short boat ride, lunch was at this cafe.  Not bad in terms of service, price and taste - even an orchid to decorate the coconut!

Lunch

Floating market is below

To my surprise, there was a third destination after lunch - Buffalo cafe.  This place had a pair of white buffalos with their calf.  Some photo ops too with the landscaping.  And a cafe with very decent offerings.

Now this here, my friends, is not a real buffalo

Coffee, ice cream and cake

We headed back to Bangkok after this stop.  A good day indeed!  Of course with these tours, it helps to have a positive mindset and not have sky-high expectations.  Being the chief tour planner, I do enjoy getting a break and letting professionals take over. 

Reached Bangkok with time to walk around CentraWorld mall.  Spoilt for choice, we finally picked a place for dinner.   

Who wants some crab?

This shaved ice dessert we ordered came with 4 generous portions of toppings on the side.  Only thing hubby had ordered TWO desserts which weren't easy to finish!  The first one came with multiple pieces of bread some more.

Dessert 

Bangkok Day4 - Malls

Started the day with the hotel buffet breakfast.  We found it average and didn't justify the many good reviews (these people must be unused to better buffets hmmff) on the booking site.   Oh well, still managed to fill our tummies to the brim.  

Buffet for breakfast

Plan for this day was just shopping malls.  JE had a few things in mind so off we headed to Siam Paragon.  She found the Smiskis hippers (glow-in-the-dark figures which sticks on phones) she'd been looking for.

Happy JE

Check out the pretty cakes!

We try the Sunny Orange and the Banoffee

We ended up walking around the shopping area - so huge!  If I'd been alone with hubby, he'd have been complaining non-stop haha.  As it was, he continued to struggle with walking so we didn't cover that much ground.   Checked out the GENTLEWOMAN store... I hadn't heard of this Thai brand earlier.  Encountered two Malay-speaking groups while in the store.

Might as well check it out

Steep stairs

Not everything was expensive but we didn't find anything suitable.

Just take a picture 

Back at the hotel, JE happily unboxed the Smiskis which are sold in a 'blind box' format.  I don't get this... why can't customers be allowed to pick the one they want?  It's not a cheap thing.  *grumble

Now which did we get?

 It was a tiring day but looking back at the photos now, I wouldn't mind doing the same thing again. :)

Bangkok Day3 - Chatuchak market

Next day, off to Chatuchak market!  Took Grab to accommodate hubby's mobility issues.  Sigh... when my top criteria in hotel selection included a nearby BTS Skytrain station to avoid traffic jams and save on costs, also to experience a little more of Thailand.  Well, what to do.

Arrived at Chatuchak!

Many stalls

Of many kinds

The place was huge!  I had no idea how much of the market we were covering.  However my target food/snack section was nowhere to be found.  Lunch was at a random stall with available seats, but food turned out to be excellent.  My simple seafood Pad thai was yummy with tons of squid pieces - good value at THB150/RM19. 

Cheap and good

Walked around more after lunch but didn't actually find much to buy.

The huge avocado smoothie SE was holding below, cost only THB95/RM12.  Good marketing to give a complimentary skewer of fruit with each drink.

Some smoothies first

Weather was initially hot but it started to rain and we didn't pack umbrellas.

Sky turning gloomy

Called a Grab and had to wait pretty long.  When the app alerted the driver had arrived, it was quite the experience having to dash aorund in the pouring rain trying to spot the car - didn't want the driver to cancel and having to wait again for another!  Eventually made it back to the hotel albeit rather wet.