Happy Kitchen: Doughnuts

In our recent home trip, I received a gift from Aunty Ivy. It's something that I've always wanted to play with but due to my busy schedule during the weekdays, mummy kept it aside until the recent Golden Week Holiday (China's week-long National Day holidays). This was the first thing on my holiday activities to-do list...

Happy Kitchen edible toy doughnuts 

The contents (all in powdered form, mainly just starch and flavourings)

The ingredients were super easy to prepare. Just add water and mix to form a paste.

Next, press the paste into the doughnut moulds

There you have it... cute mini doughnuts!

The toppings

Adding some finishing touches to my little doughnuts

Done!

They may look like doughnuts and smell like doughnuts but they certainly don't taste like doughnuts!

They look quite like the real thing, don't they? Mummy didn't allow me to eat them but I did take a small bite just to know how it tasted like. Anyway, the fun part was in making it, not eating it :)

We Adopted a Panda

... a toy one, that is haha :) It was love at first sight during our recent trip to Ikea and daddy thought there's no better place to "adopt" a panda if not in China. It was also inexpensive at only RMB29 (less than RM15) so mummy gave her nod of approval and the cute little panda came home with us. Introducing Le Le 乐乐, my new companion...

Soft, fluffy and cuddly :)

It all began here...

My new BFF

Now, this post is not so much about how much I love Le Le. It is where Le Le originated from that surprised us. It is easy to assume that Le Le was locally made. We thought so too but we were wrong. Out of the hundreds of toys that I have, I can safely say that 99% of them are made in China. Le Le falls into the 1% because she is made in Indonesia!

Isn't it ironic that something so China-related and bought in China was not made in China? ;)

Presents

I received some very nice birthday presents from my loved ones recently...

Not many but I love them all!

Ceramic tea party set from Aunty BS, mummy's childhood buddy

Mould & paint kit from Yee Ma (together with an ang pau)

An interesting and informative book from my best friend, Aaron

Hello Kitty playhouse from Kau-foo

Cute pair of blouse and shorts (Marks & Spencer), also from Kau-foo

And the following are all from daddy and mummy... 

Bop It XT... I'm now playing the "Master" level and I'm really good in this (better than daddy!)

My very first two Geronimo Stilton books... I love it! I'd curl up at a cosy corner of the sofa, read this on my own and laugh aloud when I come across something funny hahaha...

6-in-1 collection of my favourite Where's Wally books (bought at a further price reduction of RM49.95 )

UNO Spin (daddy, mummy and I are hooked to this and we play this every night after our dinner)

In deep concentration... putting stickers on the furniture of my Hello Kitty playhouse

Once again, a big thank you to Auntie BS, Kau-foo, Yee Ma, Auntie Stephanie (Aaron's mummy) and not forgetting Ah Ma, Gung-gung, Yee Por and Yee Ma for the angpaus! 

No Playing on Bed!

Mummy is a cleanaholic and she imposes all sorts of "rules" pertaining to cleanliness around the house. One of them is "No playing on bed or sitting/sleeping on bed with clothes that have been worn outside the house". My bed is strictly for sleeping (with clean pyjamas on) and it has to be CLEAN at all times.

Well, one fine afternoon, I broke this rule. I've never played on my bed before so obviously, I've either forgotten or was not aware that this rule exists! With loud music blaring from my very own CD player in the bedroom (the one I won from my sports carnival), I was having a great time playing "doctor-doctor" with my stuffed animals when mummy walked in.

Dusty toys strewn all over my bed!

She was about to grumble at me but when she saw this, she broke into laughter instead...

Pooh bear with an ill-fitting stethoscope hahaha!

Thanks to Winnie the Pooh, mummy did not scold me but told me to put the toys away and reminded me not to play on bed again. She wanted to change the sheets immediately but was too lazy to do so. Instead, she just wiped the bedsheet with a damp cloth. Crazy, eh?

Made In China

I like to read labels and find out where things are made, especially my toys. A few days ago, while digging for her winter jacket hidden deep inside one of the compartments of my wardrobe, mummy stumbled upon a bag of toys... my baby toys, to be exact.... toys that have been put away years ago (I think after I turned 2).

She took them out for me to see (and play, of course). Boy, they were like new toys to me! I had no idea at all that I once played with these toys. I could only remember a few of them vaguely. Mummy takes very good care of my toys and things. She cleaned and wiped every single one of them before storing them. Therefore, these toys came out of storage looking clean and new...

Toys from the past... just some of the better quality ones that mummy put away for "safekeeping". She didn't buy many toys for me too. Most of them were gifts.

I had such a toy? How come I don't remember anything at all?

So many nice toys... I miss being a baby :)

Later, I started inspecting the toys one by one to find out where each of them were made.

Fisher Price... made in China

Baby Einstein... made in China

Lamaze... made in China

Playgro... made in China

Tolo... made in China

"Everything is Made in China! Why ar?" I asked. Daddy gave me an answer which I didn't really understand but nevermind...

One of mummy's favourites... this Tolo "krak-krak" toy still looks very new after so many years :)

Creative Play: A Convertible

I love to play with my mini rocking chair. Yes, it's for playing, not for sitting. If only mummy could appreciate my creativity rather than constantly nagging me for cluttering the house with it. (She hates the sight of my rocking chair turned upside down lying around!)

On most days, it is converted into a carriage for my soft toys. This is done by "hooking" the rocking chair to the back spare wheel of my police jeep. This is my favourite way of playing with the rocking chair.

Driving my "kids" to school

Occasionally, I will also turn it into a high chair. A foldable stool is placed in the centre to make a tray.

A double-decked high chair for Tom the bear and his friend...

This is also one of my favourites... as part of a choo-choo train "coach".

Chugga chugga choo choo!

And lastly, as a rocking chair once in a while...

One rocking chair, four functions!

My 1st MPO Experience

Last Sunday, I finally went for my very first MPO (Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra) concert. The day was quite an eventful one, I would say.

On the morning of the concert that we have been waiting eagerly to attend, I woke up with a big smile on my face. I looked perfectly alright until I crawled into daddy's arms and snuggled under his armpit. My body felt warmer than usual and the beeping sound of the thermometer confirmed daddy and mummy's worst fear... I was down with a 38-ish fever. A few days earlier, mummy was down with fever and cold too and I must have caught the bug from her. It was inevitable cos I kept sticking close to her despite being shooed away repeatedly. Sigh...

I was given a dose of paracetamol right after my morning milk. In the meantime, daddy and mummy had to determine whether or not to bring me along. They discussed other options (Plan B), thought long and hard, imagined all the possible consequences and even contemplated "dumping" me at Mah-mah's house and go ahead without me *sobs*. By the time they came up with their decision, my fever had already subsided haha! So, off to KLCC we went.

Our concert tickets... daddy bought the RM30 seats (with 10% discount for Petronas Mesra cardholders)

I slept in the car throughout our 30 minute journey there. Upon arrival, I looked rather listless and refused to walk. I wanted daddy to carry me...

The mighty daddy carrying his 20kg+ princess everywhere he went!

We reached KLCC at 12pm and headed straight to the Signature Foodcourt for lunch. After lunch, we still had some time to kill before our 2:30pm matinee so we walked around the outer display area of Petrosains.

Daddy bought me something from the Petrosains shop

Yay, concert time!

This was the theme we chose... Summer Beach Party. Too bad we couldn't dress to the theme. We had to wear smart casual... no shorts, sleeveless (for men) or slippers!

Walking into the hall, my first words were "Mummy, it's so orange!" (referring to the lighting) I had expected a dark hall like in a cinema haha. I finally saw all the orchestra instruments in real life! I could identify a few of them while mummy told me the rest one by one... the harp, tuba, violin, cello, double bass etc. As we were seated in the middle of the auditorium, we had quite a clear view of all the musical instruments. (Photography was strictly prohibited in the hall)

Daddy and mummy have been to many MPO performances before this but this was their first Fun For Kids show. It was a very interactive and engaging performance and I enjoyed it very much. Mummy caught me tapping my fingers to the rhythm. We also did actions, clapped to the beat and during the last two pieces, I even got up and danced to the Carribean calypso and Samba hehehe! When asked if I would like to come back for another show, I gave them a resounding "YES!"

After the concert, we headed straight home. I slept in the car again on our journey home and to mummy's horror, I was feverish again. This time, it was just low-grade hovering around 37-ish :(

Back at home, she gave me a quick bath and cooked me a simple but yummy dinner. I downed the whole BIG bowl of meesua soup with fish, carrot and egg. I was given another dose of paracetamol after that. I then spent the whole night playing with that "something" bought from the Petrosains shop earlier...

Wisdom Bead IQ Puzzle (it was only RM8.40 after a 15.5% discount for Petronas Mesra cardholders)

With 180 possible arrangements for the flat triangle and 2 possible arrangements for the pyramid ... it looks easy but it is NOT!

There are 9 levels to this game. I played the 1st level for kids. It was too easy. I played the 2nd level for teenagers, it was easy too. I played the 3rd level for "elders", it was ok but not challenging enough. I played the 4th level for adults... well, this suited "my level" hehe.

Hooked to the game...

I did it!

My fever was gone just before bedtime and it never came back again after that. Yippee!