Cooking during the holidays

I do miss cooking during normal work days as my helper would cook instead since I come home late almost everyday or I would be too tired to. So I would usually either cook weekends (which has been more rare now) or during school holidays.

Here's what I made..

Pork short ribs stew with pumpkin, onions, carrots, tomatoes. My first time cooking this and it was purely my own recipe and concoction. Very nice! Would def cook this easy one pot meal again!


Linguine with lemon, garlic thyme mushrooms (all thanks to Nigella Lawson's cookbook given to me by my students.



And Country Beef stew (using beef shin)


Cooked these on separate occasions. After each cooking, I always have this sense of satisfaction from watching my hubby and children dig into it and finish it all up. My cooking also helps break the monotony of my helper's cooking as she keeps cooking the same old stuff. After a while, I purposely arrange to eat out.

But nevertheless, I do wish for myself to put in more effort in preparing meals for the family so that eventually, my kids could join me in cooking together! That's really my dream.

Great malay food in Ang Mo Kio

One day,my colleague excitedly recommended me to try Mee Soto at Ang Mo Kio. She swears its the best she has tried so far. So I decided to go with my family to try since AMK is not that far from my place.

Its in a newly renovated food centre right at the first row of stalls. I ordered gado gado, mee soto drumstick as well as mee rubus.

The gado gado is so-so. Not something I would order again. The Mee Rebus is quite nice and the gravy is thick and tasty!




But the best is the Mee Soto. It must be the specialty of the shop since they sell so many versions of mee soto which was set to confuse a non-Malay like me...They also have Mee Soto Dinosaur which simply means mee soto with chicken carcass...

Initially when I tasted the mee soto, I didnt find it special. But it kinds of grow on you and the more mouth you take, especially with the special chilli provided, it taste more rich...and best of all, the soup is not oily!

I will definitely be back for more mee soto. Next time round, I will try their satay especially beef tribe satay!

Here's info of the shop! Do drop by if you are around that area.
YUNUS & Family
Block 724, #01-54
Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6
Opening hours 11am - 10pm, closed on Sundays

Sightseeing in Penang-Day 2 and 3

Had international buffet breakfast at hotel before setting out to the butterfly farm. We took a cab there and the taxi driver had to wait there for us as it would be difficult to get the cab after that.

We were the first visitors to arrive at the park. It cost us $27 ringgit each adult and the children did not need to pay since Caleb is still below 4 years old.

Its a very nice place for the children to roam about and enjoy the sights. There were so many butterflies all over.


Aside from butterflies, there were also many other animals like ducks, turtles,



fishes,


monitor lizards, oriental water dragon..



The surroundings were quite nice..




There is also a nice indoor gallery with lots of interesting insects and reptiles which I have not seen before.


There were so many different species of butterflies. So amazing




We also had the opportunity to touch the giant millipede. Only Danielle was scared.


We all had a wonderful time.






After that, we went to Gurney Plaza for shopping and dining. Went to a Hong Kong Cafe for lunch. Ordered wanton mee, beef noodles and beef rice (for the children) as well as egg tarts which was delicious.



At night, CT and I played pool while the kids were busy playing with the arcade machines. And for the record, I beat CT by just one ball!



We had dinner at the nearby seafood place. Didnt expect the fish to be so big. So in the end, we were struggling to finish. Just 2 adults and 2 toddlers for 4 dishes- steamed fish, butter prawns, stir fry clams and vegetables.



After a very filling dinner, we went to our hotel beach for a stroll to see the sunset.


The next day, we went to two shopping malls. Initially planned to go Penang Hill but because the tram that brings us up the hill was under construction, we couldnt go. We took the kids on a bus ride to town! The bus is very new and nice. Moreover, its very cheap to travel. We should have considered this the first place, instead of taking taxi.




This is the view from one of the new shopping mall.


Our last dinner at Penang was spent eating street hawker food. There were so many different stalls! Were spoilt for choice.



Though the weather looked threatening, we thank God that He held it up for us as we were eating.

We had fried oyster omelette, penang assam laksa which I loved, Chee Cheong fun which Danielle loved, fried rice, fried char kway teow





The kids seemed to enjoy the food too!




After dinner, we did more shopping at the mall.
The kids had fun playing hide and seek in the shops. Sigh


After our shopping, we took the public bus back to our hotel. It was drizzling.

Back at our hotel, we had rojak as well as mua chee which we bought from the dinner place.



The kids enjoyed eating that too!





Cant believe this would be our last night in Penang..just when I was beginning to enjoy myself here..

Holiday in Penang-Day 1

During the March Holidays, we decided to go on a short trip to Penang as I told CT that I needed a much deserved break and we also had some points in our Krisflyer card that was expiring.



It was Danielle's first time taking the aeroplane. Was thinking how she would react in the plane. I guess my fears were unfounded. Both Caleb and Danielle slept throughout the whole trip! (even skipping their meals on board)





Both CT and I had peace in the plane flight which was good. The flight time was only about an hour plus. So we arrived sooner than we thought..

Taking a cab at the airport was a hassle. I am still wondering- there must be a better way to get to our hotel. But nevertheless, we did the touristy way and paid $70 ringgit for the cab fare to our hotel-Holiday Inn.

Upon reaching the hotel, the kids went straight to the Kids Club Room.


After checking in, we brought the kids to the beach, then for a swim at the pool.



I dont know why but for some strange reason, I didnt take any pictures of the swimming pool.

After taking a nice warm bubble bath, we went for dinner at the nearby food court, Long Beach.




It was only about 5 mins walk from our hotel.

We ordered lots of food..

1) Fried Mee Sua for the Kids.


2) Beef and Chicken Satay which the kids loved very much!


3)Fried Oyster Omelette


4) Penang Char Kway Teow


Also had a huge steamed pork bun with hard boiled egg.

The kids did some drawing while waiting for us to finish our dinner.


After dinner, we walked down the streets through the night market


Saw a horse crossing the road as well. It must have been from the beach as they offer horse riding there.


Anyway, we dropped by a small mini mart to buy some tidbits before heading back to our hotel. All along the whole stretch of road, were small shops selling handbags, wallets, t-shirts, toys etc etc. Very similar to our pasar malam (night market) in Singapore, minus the food stalls which we have in Singapore.

When reaching back to our hotel, the kids wanted to go into the Kids Club Room. So they spent some time there playing and reading.


Cant wait for our sightseeing tomorrow!