Pulau Langkawi is the best island destination - Part 2

We had originally planned to go to Langkawi Cable Car after island-hopping.  To our dismay, it was raining when we reached the station and due to the rain, the cable car had to be closed temporarily until the rain stopped.  We also discovered that the Sky Bridge was also closed for maintenance. Sigh... we may be missing 2 very crowd-puller spots.

Not wanting to waste our time, we headed for Underwater World after checking the map for the next nearest tourist spot.  Mom and Daddy are actually not very keen on visiting this kind of park but for the sake of the kids, we don't really mind especially with the disappointment of the closed cable car.

So, after paying for the fare, Dad 'summoned' all of us to better spend more time in the park with the money that he had parted with to get us in there.  Thinking it is just any normal waterworld, we started our venture without much expectation. We were quite impressed when we discovered that there are a few sections, namely the Tropical Rainforest, Sub-antartica, fresh water, marine life, coral and even the reptilium.

Striking a pose in front of a shoal of fish

Don't the fish look huge? 

The guys posing in front of one of the many enormous aquariums

For an entry fee of RM38 per adult and RM28 for child, all of us agree that this is the best underwater world we've been to, beating even Singapore's Sentosa Underwater World. Oh, after discount, adults needed to pay only RM28 provided we show our Mykad.  Kids can enter with just RM18 but unfortunately we don't carry their Mykads around.

A fur seal, hanging upside down, in its tank

The fur seal, known as a social animal, here seemed to be enjoying life in the water tank.  When we were there, the seals were joyfully swimming around, as though somersaulting in the water.  What's being captured here was one of the seals performing a 'headstand' whilst clapping its flippers.  They really looked contented and happy living in the tank and they even seemed to be enjoying our company as we watch their antics in amazement.

Wyng's eyes literally opened up when he feasted his eyes on the countless creatures exhibited.  Most of these were those he has seen on TV and a chance to see these creatures in real life excite him.

Jellyfish, the invertebrate without brain, nervous system and blood

Mom was amazed with this spineless creature. They seem mysteriously elusive and lethal although superficially they look fragile.

This was one of the many miniature seahorses we saw

Yellow cup coral

We've seen many corals elsewhere but not this yellow cup coral at Langkawi's Underwater World.

Lobophyllia brain coral

The name speaks for itself, brain-like.

Bubble coral

After a satisfying and educational visit here, we proceeded to a duty-free shop just adjacent to this park.  As it was still drizzling, we gathered that the Cable Car might still be closed.  Our plan to visit it had to be postponed to the following day, our last day on the island.

We spent the rest of the evening walking along Pantai Cenang. This place is something like those shops along Penang's Ferringhi Beach.  Though there are numerous souvenir shops, they are almost identical except for a handful of unique shops.

Pulau Langkawi is the best island destination - Part 1

Having been to this island 18 years ago, little did we realise that this island has transformed into a bustling tourist spot, packed with numerous places of interest ranging from the mesmerising marine view and aqua activities to the historical museums and parks.

After our arrival at Kuah Jetty and gotten our rented Viva, we headed for our hotel, Bayview City. Car rental promoters swarmed us like bees as soon as we touched the jetty from the ferry.  So, no worries about where and how to get transport to move around this small but bustling town.  Wasting no time, we drove to the nearest spot, Eagle Square. There, Wyng was intriqued by the giant eagle.  We snapped countless pictures with the breathtaking horizon as our background.

Enjoying sunset at Eagle Square with the boys

Let's fly!

Dinner was just nearby at Saloma Nasi Lemak. Saloma, if this is the name of the owner of the restaurant, is enterprising enough to have her restaurant signage placed in a few places all over Kuah town.  There are various types of nasi lemak sold, from the common rendang ayam and beef to the sambal kerang.  Their speciality is rendang itik (duck) but we didn't try as we don't fancy ducks.  Nice ambience, good food, not too expensive.  We also ordered 3-flavour fish (ikan 3-rasa) from a stall next door.  The 3 flavours were spicy, sweet and sour. Not too bad for our first dinner meal there.

Wyng couldn't resist but blow off the little flame on the table. 

My sinful rendang beef nasi lemak

My rendang beef nasi lemak came with only a few pieces of beef, not enough to satisfy my hunger pang.  We called it a night after dinner and headed back to our hotel.  After being on the road for more than 8 hours, all of us especially Daddy were dead tired.

On the second day of our 3D2N trip, early in the morning, we made a beeline to the jetty to take us for island-hopping.  This was the first time that we woke up sooo early to have our buffet breakfast in the hotel. We couldn't believe the discipline that all of us had by being at the cafe before 8 am.

At the jetty to Island of the Pregnant Maiden

We were supposed to go island-hopping at 3 islands ie Pulau Beras Basah (Wet Rice Island), Pulau Dayang Bunting (Island of the Pregnant Maiden) and Pulau Singa Besar.  Pulau Beras Basah was where we were supposed to snorkel but due to miscommunication, we missed it.  The boys had a swim and frolicked for a while at the white sandy beach.  Without any toilet, this beach was surprisingly filled with soft and fine sand.  

                                                      The boys had about an hour swim at Wet Rice Island

Our next stop was a fish farm where we were supposed to see some of the biggest and most aggressive fishes.  Truly enough, the fishes were swimming aggressively as they were being fed.


Eagle-feeding is something new to us.  Although it was just a short sighting of the birds feeding themselves on the food thrown by the boatmen as we were in our boat, it was an eye-opener for us. 


Pulau Dayang Bunting was our last stop. If you believe in myths, this island was named after a pregnant maiden.   

                                                    Pulau Dayang Bunting (Island of the Pregnant Maiden)
                           Imagine a pregnant woman lying down with the head on the right of this picture.  

                                                             Dayang Bunting Marine Geoforest Park

                                                                     The scenic jetty at the Geoforest Park

                                                                         Let's snap first before we swim


Who would not be tempted to snap some pictures here at the scenic jetty f this beautiful island? 

Our trip to Langkawi was too short

Simply because we didn't get to walk on the much-talked about Sky Bridge.  It was closed for maintenance until further notice when we got there.  There was much anticipation about 'walking in the sky' but all was tarnished as soon as we reached the cable car station.

Langkawi Sky Bridge was closed for maintenance

Not only that, we were taken for a ride (literally we WERE taken for a boat ride to a so-called bat cave) when we were supposed to visit a place called Gua Kelawar (Cave of Bats). Instead, we were taken to this place, as shown below. Even our small boat couldn't get into the cave.  Alas! we were charged an extra RM15 per person for a ride to this place, the fish farm and the eagle feeding place.

Where are the bats?

Pulau Payar is supposed to be a place for snorkelling of which the kids were looking forward to.  But, we were told that this island is far from Kuah and needs about a day to reach. Hence, we had to forego this plan since we had limited time at Langkawi.

We also didn't get to go to Bird Paradise. The only bird we got to see was a talking parrot at Underworld Park.  Go-Kart was a place we wanted to go if there was enough time. Hoe would be enjoying this kind of sports car ride.

Perdana Gallery, we were told about this PM Museum at the jetty. We'd love to visit this memorable place to have an insight of what kind of gifts our former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir received during his tenor as the head of Malaysia then.

We missed these places too Snake Sanctuary and Lagenda Park. I remember passing by this park which is just a stone's throw away from the Kuah Jetty but we just didn't even have time to pay a visit here. What a waste!  Waterfalls, all three of them, Seven Wells, Temurun and Durian, we missed going too.  Just for the kids to experience, we should just drop by Pasir Hitam (Black Sand) Beach.

Daddy said we probably need a 7-day trip to be able to visit all these places.  I really don't mind another visit especially when we haven't even stepped onto the world-renowned Sky Bridge yet.

Crazy about TCG cards

This was supposed to be Wyng's latest craze until we discovered how expensive is this hobby.  As collectibles, one card can cost as much as RM5 or even higher.  A pack of about 10 can be costing something like RM40 or so depending on demand.

Apparently, there are people who go round scouting these cards as collectibles. As collectibles, the price depends on supply and demand. The rarer it is, the more expensive it will be.

Not just that, these cards can be played and there are certain ways of playing them.  We met this guy at Viva who apparently is an avid hobbyist and the owner of the shop which sells an a variety of such cards.  We were also told that there are competitions held each year to determine winners of such card game.

Discovering the high cost of such hobby, Wyng's enthusiasm was immediately watered down, much to his dismay and agitation.  He had been harping us to take him to Viva to buy these cards.

How do you celebrate Mother's Day?

As usual, we have an early celebration as with most of our festive celebrations just to avoid the enthusiastic crowd.  We went out on Saturday night. This time, we tried western food, at Mom's consent, for a change from our frequent eastern savour.

We headed for TGIF, since this restaurant was not so packed then but still there was a short queue outside the restaurant.  We were second in line and only had to wait for a couple of minutes before being seated.

After ordering for each of us, the waiter recommended something that we have never tried before, or rather Mom would never dreamt she would eat this as an appetizer.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Quesadillas

As it turned out, the appetizer is good. Hoe had two pieces and after this, we were already almost half full.

Wyng's Kid's meal which came free with an order of a main course

Wyng, being an unadventurous eater, opted for his safe spaghetti. Emmm, it tasted good, though, different from those that we eat at Pizza Hut.

Sizzling chicken and shrimp

When the sizzling chicken and shrimp was served in front of me, the slimy whitish stuff immediately caught Mom's attention. At that instant, I knew I ordered the wrong dish. The cheesy stuff was so pungent. I thought of Hoe who would love this dish. Needless to say, I swapped with his Californian chicken.

Salmon for the healthy eater,Dad

Always the healthiest eater (most of the time, when we eat out), Dad opted for salmon.

Californian barbeque chicken

This chicken eventually landed in front of Mom and not just fed me but also almost all of us. The portion is exceptionally big and all of us could actually savour a sizeable portion of it.

Verdict, a different kind of meal for this family celebration and about RM200 lighter for Dad's pocket.

So, what's Mom complaining about having such sumptous meal for her day?

On Mother's Day itself, which also fell during exam season, Hoe was assured that he would be exempted from doing his weekend house chore of vacuuming and mopping the floor.  The substitute was none other that the 'woman' of the day, talking about Mother's Day.

As I went about taking over the cleaning house chore, I couldn't stop but whining and mumbling about a very unique way of celebrating this auspicious day.  I had to complete more housework than my normal weekend.  After taking care of the floor, ironing comes next.  And also my normal laundry.  By evening, Mom was dead tired.

What a day!

He's settling down very well

Familiarizing himself with his new school

Making sure he knows where to wait for his transport home

The school's temporary canteen while the new one is under contruction

Waiting place for parents

Settling Wyng in his new school was not a problem at all, much to Mom's relief.

I didn't even need to accompany him on the first day at this new school.  After meeting his form teacher and sending him to his new class, I had prepared to spend at least half or one day at his new school, thinking of helping him to settle down or familiarize with the new environment.

When I returned to his class after buying him some new workbooks and other stuff, he was already in "good hands".  He had an assistant, helping him to write his name on his new exercise books.  His enthusiastic classmate seated behind him gestured to me to let him join Scouts when I asked Wyng whether he prefers Scouts or St. John's.

He even has a guide to show him around the new school.  His new classmate even told me which is the shorter way to the male toilet when I went to visit him during recess.  Wyng is definitely not lost and well taken-care of, I was assured when I saw his classmate taking him to the canteen during recess.  He had suggested that I went home as he didn't need me to be around anymore.

By the second day, he seems to have familiarized himself with the new environment.

He can spell so many words in one night!

This was posted on 12 December 2008 in my previous blog.  Here is a reposting.

Wyng was 5 years and 3 months when this was posted earlier.

I was really amazed with Wyng's achievement with word spelling. One night (about a few weeks ago) I was only testing if he could spell some new words. He may have learnt those words in school as I have not introduced those words as a spelling exercise though they are not entirely new to him as he may have seen them whilst reading story books.

I wrote those few words in flash cards. They are:

tiger

donkey

lion

mouse

cow

owl

(I don't know why my mind went blank and seem to be lost for animal words.It could be due to fatigue.)

Guess what was Wyng's reaction when he saw this word 'owl'. 'Easy la that word'.

He didn't need any guidance on how to read these words. He could read all of them. Next, I proceeded to test him on spelling. I started with the 3-letter words, then 4 and then the others. 3-letter words pose no challenge to him. Even the 4-letter words do not seem to deter him. And, the exercise went on with NO mistakes as I tested him to spell the words, alternating between the easy one and new or harder ones. It was such a productive night with Wyng.

I introduced a new word play concept to him. I told him that 'owl' can be jumbled up to make 'low'. He was amused, as usual and repeat after me.

The next morning, just to ensure he's solid enough to master those words, Mom gave him the same test again. He passed with flying colours!

Lessons # 46 - Sow diligently and you shall reap.

Do your kids have grey hair?

Mine did about two years ago. Mom was very concerned if this boy was going to be 'prematurely' aging.  I am  sure that the grey hair at such a young age is caused by certain mineral deficiencies.

So, Mom googled and discovered that grey hair is caused by zinc deficiency.  And thankfully I still had some a bottle of Nutrilite zinc magnesium supplement in the fridge.  I had bought a bottle or two of health supplement including Vitamin C for the kids but as they grow older, they seem to be choosy and refuse to chew the not-so-appealing supplement.

For a few months, Mom diligently fed Wyng with regular doses of zinc magnesium.   Not wanting to be overly confident, I did notice the less visibility of grey hand on his head.  In fact, after a few more months, the unsightly grey hair are all gone.

Now, after almost 2 years, he has a headful of dark hair.  Thanks to the zinc supplement.

How do your kids use their savings?

This rebellious teen gives me surprises almost every day.

Something wasn't very right when Wyng was in his Qo Qo's room without being chased away by Hoe. This is quite unusual for these two brothers.  Sensing something was cooking, I walked to where Wyng was standing, which was near Hoe's bedside table.  Lo and behold! I saw a a new red box of gadget on the table.  Hoe must be showing off his new stuff to his little brother when I spotted both of them acting suspiciously.

As I opened it, I interrogated Hoe how he got that set of headphones.  Spilling the beans, he told me he bought it with his savings at one of the shops in town near his school.  Apparently, he went to the shop with his friend.  I over-reacted and jumped to the fact that he was having so much of savings to spend on that gadget when he kept asking me to give him money to top-up his prepaid phone.  And, he did it secretly without Mom's knowledge.  His reasoning is that he uses his own savings for the stuff he wants, what's wrong with that?

After a few hours, Mom gained her composure and convinced herself that saving to get something is not really wrong afterall. The question is whether the purchase is something useful or not. Would teens care whether the things they yearn for is useful or not? I doubt so, especially my kid.  As long as his lust is satisfied, he is fine regardless of the means of getting it.  As for doing it behind my back, he knows very well that Mom is not going to succumb to his desire by buying him the headphone, why bother to ask me?

To prevent another 'blood-boiling', take a deep breath first, assess the situation, then decide whether to 'shoot' or not.

Is the kid too young to explain science?

Wyng and I were watching astro's tutor channel yesterday.  I chose to watch UPSR's BM for a while when he pleaded to me that he wanted to watch the SPM channel where a tutorial on Science was on.  Not wanting to pour cold water when he is an eager beaver to learn something educational, I gave in to his pleading.

One of the questions asked in this quiz segment is on variation.  He got the answer correct. Well, probably it was just a wild guess or he may have seen this programme before and could remember the answer.  Another further question on variation was being asked. This time, the question was to choose which one from the answers from A to D is a discontinuous variation.  Out of the options, he chose the correct answer which was 'finger print'.

Mom ignorantly popped a question, " Why is finger print discontinuous?"
Wyng answered matter-of-factly, "Finger prints don't change, it's permanent, that's why it is discontinuous. They don't keep changing."

Mom hates to admit it but she fully understands Wyng's explanation of the term 'discontinuous'. Kids just can see things so clearly compared to we,adults or Mom was just too slow to be digesting scientific facts.

Lesson from the kid : It was truly a simple lesson about variation from the television, made easier by Wyng. 

Do you want to grow up younger like Benjamin Button?

This posting was posted on my old lost blog on 25 April 2009. 


Most of us wish that we could grow younger as we age. I thought so too but after watching this award winning Benjamin Button movie, I've changed my mind.

Who would want to spend the last moments of their life being cuddled in the arm by your loved ones? And worse still, you have your last few words which could not be spoken or rather understood by your loved ones.

Who would want to be your kids or grandkids' playmates when you are supposed to be nurturing and caring for them?

Who want to be mothered or fathered by your spouse as you grow old?

You should watch this movie to get the answers. For those who might not know, this movie won awards for the best visual effect and best makeup. What I like about this movie is the transformation from young to old, not just cosmetically but also physically.

Oh yes! Brad Pitt is such a hunk. 

Is your kid meticulous?

Always very enthusiastic when it comes to new technical and hands-on venture at home, Wyng voluntarily helped Daddy to assemble the new armchair.

"Wait, must count first," he stopped Daddy, who was pleasantly taken aback by his thoroughness, from beginning the assembly before counting the number of screws, nuts and bolts to make sure they are in the quantity as written on the instruction guide.

Watching him counting them painstakingly, Daddy waited patiently for him to complete the audit.

"Yeah, correct," Wyng confirmed.  He was worried that the number of nuts and bolts are incorrect and that they couldn't assemble the chair.

Counting to make sure they are correct

He carefully referred to the instruction guide for each part assembly.  Except for his lack of strength in locking the parts, he did a fairly good job as an assistant.

Assembly in progress

He is meticulous when it comes to such task but rather hopeless when it comes to his school matters.  He tends to forget what page of homework to do, which book to bring or what exactly were the instructions given by the teachers.

Is your kid desperate for computer?

Mine is. After numerous attempts to hack the computer successfully and later being discovered, Mom has learnt her lesson and has ever since been wiser and more vigilant.  Once bitten (definitely more than once) twice shy,  Mom has not forgotten to log off now whenever Hoe is expected to be lurking waiting for any opportunity for Mom's mind to fail or slack.

One evening, Hoe was found busy in the study room, attempting to revive the dinosaur laptop of ours.  This ambitious attempt was aborted  by Mom, of course.  He said if the dinosaur can still work, it will be HIS. Wait a minute. Who has given him the green light to possess the laptop even though its functionality is still uncertain?  He was reprimanded for making that assumption.  What if it works? I do not know how far was his patience taking him to try to boot the laptop. All I know was he didn't manage to go further from there.  The laptop remains on the shelf, collecting dust.

Is there such a thing as brain freeze?

While window-shopping, Wyng walked next to me and held my hand.

Wyng: Mommy, do you know that there is no such thing as a brain freeze?

Mom : Yeah, the brain doesn't freeze. (Mom has to say this as it is a fact, isn't it?)

Wyng: It's just the blood vessels at the roof of the mouth that expand and when blood rush in the blood vessels, we feel like a pain. Our brain does not have any pain sensors. So there is no brain freeze.

Mom's mind is thinking,"Really?". Thanks to all the science documentary programmes and books that he reads. Wyng really gets me thinking and googling to find out the scientific truth of what he said.

Is the sun the smallest star?

When I created the title of this blog, I didn't mean to say real lessons given by my kid to me.  But, Wyng has been feeding me 'lessons' or pieces of knowledge, predominantly about science, whenever he learns them.  He learns all these from his books as well as the television programmes he watches.

"Do you know that the sun is the smallest?" Here goes another one of his questions to me, always trying to test Mom's IQ.

"Huh?" Mom was a little startled.

"You know,right? The sun is a star. And it's the smallest star of all the stars in the space." Wyng explained factually.

"How do you know? From TV or the book?" Mom started to get curious.

"TV la..." was his response.

What is the cause of his diarrhea?

He would die for a cone of ice-cream. He asks for it whenever I take him out, whether it's for grocery shopping, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or any outing.  At times, when Mom had bought him one, he would ask Daddy for it on the same day.  So, he got 2 in the same day! It's like oxygen to him.  It's like candies to most kids. He never gets bored of eating ice-cream.

Well, ice-cream is still better than the junk potato chips or even candies, Mom will buy a tub or two of ice-cream and store in the fridge.  Taking it on a daily basis, sometimes 2 cups in a day if I don't stop him, the tub is gone quickly.

Still perplexed as to the reason Wyng still complains about having sporadic diarrhea at school, it struck my mind that he takes ice-cream at least once a week. At times, he could be taking it once daily for a few days consecutively especially when there is storage in the fridge.  Now, the puzzle seems to be solved.

Ice-cream is made of dairy products! This boy is mildly lactose intolerant and no wonder he still gets diarrhea despite stopping him from his breakfast milk. This is definitely going to be bad news for Wyng.  From now on, ice-cream is a 'controlled food'.

When the kid's eating habits change

From preschool days, Wyng had always shunned egg yolk each time I serve him hard-boiled egg.  It came to a point when he totally rejected hard-boiled egg.  He didn't even like soft-boiled egg until recently, something like last year.  He slowly was able to accept soft-boiled egg.  Ironically, he has no problem with omelette or scrambled egg.  Maybe, he just didn't like to see egg yolk separated from egg white!

Then came one fine day, when there was an extra omelette that Mom cooked for Qo Qo.  I had asked him to take the egg since Qo Qo would not be back home for lunch.  He already had his egg, by the way.  He proceeded to scoop the watery egg yolk and sipped it. And he did that until he finished all the egg yolk!

Wyng doesn't take cheese but when we went for pizza the other day, he sprinkled a lot of cheese powder on his pizza after watching Qo Qo and Daddy did so.  In fact, he loved it. Funny, there was a table not far from us where the middle-eastern guy actually poured cheese powder straight from the bottle by removing the cap so as the cheese powder poured freely right onto his pizza.

So, Mom had to make sure he promised to take cheese the next time Mom serves him anything with cheese.

Spaghetti..he wasn't crazy about this food until this year when he asked me to cook it for him for his lunch. Previously, he didn't want to even try whenever we had spaghetti outside.  He had home-cooked spaghetti a couple of times at his aunty's house, out of no choice as that was the only food being served by aunty. Since then, I believe he started to develop a liking to it.  Now,he seemed to be crazy about it.  He frequently asks for spaghetti as his lunch.  But, he hates the mushroom that goes with it.

For dining out, he used to love claypot chicken rice. Now, he rejects it. Oh gosh...His favourite food at hawker stalls now is dried pan mee (flat noodle), minus the anchovies and black fungus.  So crazy is he about this food, that he will ask for it each time we stepped into a hawker food eatery, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Looks like this boy's eating habits are going through some changes, again.  Lesson for Mom is to keep trying to offer him food which he used to reject.  He may have developed some liking to certain food.  Once, he has tasted it and likes it, there'll be no stopping him, based on his pattern, so far.

When your kids are growing faster than you think

It is when:

1)He is wearing adult-sized clothes. My kid is wearing pants size 31 at the age 14+ (14 years and 4 months to be exact).  Hoe is not fat but he is just 'thick' and fleshy.  His limbs are heavy with lots of flesh.  The same goes for his slightly bulging tummy which he is trying to keep it flatten.

2)You keep buying shoes for them. Wyng outgrows his shoes much faster than Mom realises.  Kids' size shoes don't fit him anymore. He may probably be able to wear the maximum kids' size for just a few more months.  He is now wearing the smallest adult size I can find in the market.

Hoe doesn't fit his old sneakers and old school shoes anymore.  Mom doesn't realise this until the day when he was having problem choosing an old pair of sneakers for the Qing Ming festival.  None of the old shoes and sneakers fit him except for the pair he currently wears for his sports activities.  So, all those unfit shoes have to be cleared from the shoe rack.

3)  Your kid chooses his own clothes.  Hoe, in his teen, begins to demand for t-shirt of his liking.  He prefers t-shirt with humorous wordings.  Gone were the days when Mom just buys whatever she likes without even checking with Hoe.  Now, Mom has to make sure whatever she shops for her teen kid will be liked by him.  Jerseys, especially those with football club embroidered on them, are his favourite.

4) Your kid would not abide to your authoritarian commands.  Hoe, in his rebellious teen era, never fails to raise questions whenever an instruction or strict command is given. No longer will he do exactly as Mom says.     How I wish he could be more obedient? Sigh...Sad to say,up to this point, Mom has to admit that she has yet to find the best way to handle this defiant child.  I just can't help but sum up that teenage drives me up the wall.

5) Your kid, like most kids of this modern era, loves the loud, rapping music blaring from the radio.  He loves Hitz FM, much to the dislike of Mom who normally tunes in to Light & Easy in the car.  If he has his own choice, he will play all the latest noisy songs.

The lesson is for Mom is to catch up with these growing kids, if not faster than them or else you will be out of their world.  Realising these also mean that age is slowly but certainly creeping closer to us.

Do you feel guilty if you don't cook for your kids?

I do, especially when the reason for not cooking is not due to my busy schedule.  I only cook lunch for my kids as dinner is taken care of by my Mom.  She's already going to be in her 80's but she insists on fulfilling this noble duty of providing food for her grandchildren, my children, while she is still able.

In order not to feel guilty, I cook for them, even just a simple fried egg meal.  It's is still a home-cooked meal, much better compared to those MSG-laden food.  After each round of cooking, I feel great that I have once again, fulfilled my role as a mother.  What is my role, as a mother, if I don't cook when I can? With my flexible schedule, it would be lame to say 'not having time' as the reason for not cooking.

My satisfaction is even higher if I can cook up my own recipe for the kids.  Nothing is more fulfilling when the kids give me a thumbs up for a yummy meal.  That makes my day and motivates me to be more creative in terms of cooking up some new recipes for them.  It's all about passion, not so much of experience.  Cooking for a picky kid like Wyng is a challenge.  If and when he likes and finishes Mom's food real fast, it's worth the time spent in the kitchen, Mom deduces.  Mom cannot afford to be lazy since Wyng is still in his active growing stage.

Despite sticking to my obligation, I allow myself to take time off from cooking only one day on weekdays and during weekends.  My Saturday is packed from 10am to 5pm, so cooking if definitely not possible.  As for Sundays when we go out most of the time, if I ever cook, it will be just simple snacks since we normally have late breakfast.

Lesson learned from cooking for my kids: At the end of the day, the feeling of having done my part as a nutrition provider surpasses everything else.  I will feel bad not cooking when I can.  No other feelings is worse than this.  At least I can tell my kids in future when they've grown up, "I am a good mother who cooked for you."

Do you still celebrate wedding anniversary?

Yes, we do. There are no romantic candle light dinner or roses as surprise gifts. We are contented with a meal celebration with the kids.

This year is unusual because Daddy had forgotten about this important day until Mom sms-ed him the day after the anniversary. Mom remembered on the important day itself but only at 8pm. Since it was a Tuesday and Daddy was working then, he suggested to have the late celebration on Saturday.

Each time whenever there is such celebration, the kids are the happiest. We ended up at a Japanese restaurant again.  We never get bored of dining at such restaurant, by the way. Mom does't really mind as long as the food is cooked! They are oriental anyway, Mom's favourite. Western is out! Mom doesn't have much liking to steaks, salad and its sauces and cheesy stuff.

We've never eaten at Sakae Sushi before. Last Saturday's was our first.  Strangely, we find the food not as good as Sushi King although Sakae Sushi originates from Japan which is supposed to be better.  What we like best is the 'self-service' ordering system where we picked our choices at a monitor screen at our table. The con about this system is the kids tend to order whatever they want conveniently without parent's approval as the monitor is just at the table, next to the water dispenser. The food is also served reasonably fast.

'Rong' (on the background), Wyng's Chinese name, the name of the Japanese restaurant

Self-service refill of water at each table, cool

Good for Hoe, he served our drink for us. This will make him 'contribute' his part for this meal.  Wyng, as usual, was so intrigued by the plates of sushi on the conveyor belt which is just right beside him.  He couldn't resist opening some of the covers of the sushis and at times, he mischieviously blocked the movement of the belt that he got a stern look from the chef working in the kitchen, just beside the belt.

'Bird-like' sushi ordered by Hoe

Sushi rice maker, discovered by Wyng

It was Wyng who pointed to us about this sushi maker in the kitchen.  Our table was just in front of the kitchen, next to the conveyor belt, as pictured here.  He was so excited each time blocks of rice dropped from the machine.  It was also an eye-opener for us.  We've never seen sushi being made by machine.

Curry Katsu Don for Hoe at RM15.90

This curry chicken rice which Hoe said was similar to the dish he had cooked before.

Soft crab sushi shared between Mom and Dad

Mom's Gyu Kinoko Don (beef) at RM15.90

Mom's rice tasted quite good although the presentation didn't impress us.

Sashimi, 5 pieces of them, at RM9.90

Emmm.. fresh and delicious.  Hoe and Daddy savoured their favourite salmon where Mom just observed.

Overall, Sakae's food lacks presentation, something we were surprised of.  The taste is reasonably good, so is the service.  However, we find that the variety of sushi on the belt cannot beat Sushi King.  At Sushi King, we were so enticed by some of the sushi that we couldn't resist and just picked them from the belt.  It's not the same here at Sakae.  We looked at the sushi, wondered what they were, put them back and didn't bother to try them.