PPP Blog Assessment

I finally got an email from PPP, after waiting for... like ages! The have assessed one of my blogs and it didn't qualify for the PPP standard. Well, I was just waiting for them to un-approve it coz I know they don't accept wordpress blogs. They used to... but I think since wordpress deletes all the blogs that do paid blogging, PPP made sure they don't accept blogs from Wordpress. Anyways... I am not sad at all coz I knew my wordpress blog will never pass the PPP audit. I would get nervous though if this blog, expressions and thoughts, gets email from PPP for their blog assessment.

it's me,

Yummy Sunday #3 - pizza

Pizza Hut Super Supreme

The thing with visiting yummy sunday entries is that... you get to crave for what you see. Last week, one of the entries was a slice of pizza. I then started craving for pizza. So we ordered Super Supreme Pizza Hut Delivery. Samantha took one slice, I finished up the rest. There went my diet - out of the window.

it's me,

Walking

When I was young, we used to live in an Army camp because my father was in the army service before. It was a bit hard because of its inconvenience, especially during my time. We used to walk so far to go to school and back home. That time, it felt like nothing. We were so used to it we didn't even care to walk that long everyday for 5 years. So I am used to walking a lot. But what confuses me now is that everytime I go to the mall, I get a pain on the heels. Could it be because of the shoes? Probably not because nowadays, when I buy shoes, I consider comfort first before style. Most of my sandals/shoes are kind of soft especially on the heel area. Do I have a Plantar Fasciitis? According to wikipedia, the reason for this is obesity, sudden weight gain (ouch), shoes with little or no arch support, or inactivity (double ouch) are also associated with the condition. Hmmm... maybe I should start thinking about my weight... probably then I won't feel that pain in my heels when I walk. Or buy special shoes. Ha-ha. Then I have another reason to buy a new pair of shoes.

it's me,

Samantha's Birthday and Petrosains KLCC

Yesterday was our girl's 2nd birthday. We had a family day out... the party/dinner will be on Sunday only. We went to Petrosains KLCC and got a great time with the kids. The kids enjoyed themselves to the brim. Science just stimulates kids' minds. I am glad we went for an educational trip for her birthday. We were actually planning to go to Megakidz Midvalley for kids to play around... but remembered we haven't gone to Petrosains Center in KLCC. So we decided to go there instead. It was a bit crowdy as it's still school vacation. There was a group of students from langkawi who was having a field trip. But the places was huge. So the crowd didn't really bother us. The adventure started with the dark ride. We were not allowed to take photograps during the dark ride so I can't show you here. But it was really fantastic. Really wish I could take photos. But anyway, took zillions of it after the dark ride.

The first thing we did was to get in the hurricane box to see and feel how strong the wind was during a hurricane. It was so strong it could straighten Samantha's curls. LOL!

All the things they did were very mind stimulating. The boy was as curious as ever. It truly was a good exposure for him

The Birthday girl's favorite... digging the sand.

Daddy participated by lying down on the bed of nails. literally!

Samantha was looking really tired after the trip. She slept on my shoulder right after we came out from the center. I took some more photos. Will upload them in my facebook later. (I actually just finished dowloading the photos in my facebook account now.)...My computer is so slow now. I think it's because the computer memory of this notebook is not that much. Will clean it up later and delete some unnecessary saved files. Just showing our photos we took when we visited the Petrosains Center at KLCC. The entrance fee by the way was 12RM per person, and free for kids ages 4 and below. It was really worth going there. Highly recommended especially when you have curious kids.

it's me,

change of templates... again

i know i've changed templates for like the nth time now. i wasn't very happy with the last template i did. i actually got the design from btemplates.com but modified it a bit. but it turned out to be loud and disorganized. now i am back to my 2-column template. i like this one better than the last time because it looks clean. i had been moving from one template to another i feel like i'm needing a mover NYC. LOL. anyways, i hope i'll stick with this for a long time because moving is a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of time.

it's me,

4-in-1 Celebration

Last Saturday, we had a family dinner in the house. We celebrated 4 different special occasions: our wedding anniversary, peter's parents' wedding anniversary, dewi's (peter's brother's wife) birthday which was on the 21st of November and Ita's (my other sister-in-law's) birthday which was on the 25th of November. Only the family members came which was nicer as it has been a long time since we haven't caught up with each other. I prepared barbecue for dinner. Grilled lamb, chicken and beef satay, (mom-in-law brought chicken to grill as well).

The famous chicken and beef satay (barbecue) finally made it to our house: grilled to perfection... and not so perfect because I burnt some of them. Samantha loved them nevertheless.

Marinated chicken prepare by my mom-in-law

I finally got to use my George Foreman grill again... given by friends (Adeliaine and Beram) from Australia. Grilled my lamb chops there.

I have a juicer which was not used for quite some time now. It made its way out of the cupboard also. So I prepared red and green apples, carrots and celery to make fresh juice. Yum!

Had dinner last week with Peter's students in his Bible Class. It was a pot bless (others may call it pot luck). One of them prepared ice kacang and brought ice shaver. We were quite impressed with the idea so I was telling hubby we should get one for ourselves. When they were about to leave, the wife told me that since I loved the ice shaver so much, they decided to give it to us... as a how of gratefulness for Peter for teaching them. Of course we never said no. So last Saturday, I prepared halo halo (Filipino version of ice kacang) for dessert.

As promised, I prepared cupcakes for everyone. I couldn't make cakes for 4. Cupcakes were the best option. Everybody got to blow their candles... I used magic candles to make it more fun for everyone to blow.

I need to practice my cupcakes decorating skills, I know. I need to do it for Christmas. I think I will be busy baking cupcakes for everyone for our Christmas party. Hopefully I'd be able to make it next time. I haven't bought anniversary gift for hubby yet. Will have to decide between silk ties and a normal neck tie.

Anyways, I got a recipe book for cupcakes from Ita and bouquet of flowers from my parents-in-law and a couple of tops from hubby. Thanks guys.

it's me,

Christmas in Sunway Pyramid

We visited Sunway Pyramid over the weekend. Clown themed Christmas decorations were up. Last year was all purple for Sunway Pyramid.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

**********

if you have food photos to show off, you might wanna join us at:

it's me,

Yummy Sunday #2

*Tandoori Chicken

with Oxtail soup

is the best way to warm up a cold rainy night.

*Tandoori Chicken is a semi-fried chicken delicacy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with tandoori masala. Cayenne pepper, red chili powder, or other spices give it a red hue. A higher amount of Turmeric produces an orange colour. In some modern versions, both red and yellow food colourings are used. It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in a clay oven (tandoor), but can also be prepared on a traditional grill. My favorite tandoori chicken and oxtail soup are in Tanjong Bistro, USJ 9, Subang Jaya.

it's me,

Awkwardness

A college-mate of mine found a common friend in friendster. They were connected and through that I was reconnected with my college-mate. He surprised me tonight by a chat in yahoo messenger. He greeted me and said "How are you, Engr"? I felt a bit awkward. For more than 8 years of not practicing my profession, it feels funny when somebody reminds you of your past. LOL. My title for the last 4 years has been a Mom and a Dear... and I'm loving the sound of it. Anyways, we were updating each other of where we were at... he's in Saudi Arabia now, working as a site engineer for Hyundai, a Korean Company. His wife was also a friend of mine. It was fun catching up with each other. I asked how the wife was, and he said she's not that sexy anymore... in fact she has put a lot of weight. Now, she's fat. LOL. I was gonna tell him to please tell my friend to use Fenphedra but I constrained myself from saying that. He might get offended or something. So I just said it's normal for women to change, especially when we have kids already. But what I didn't tell him was... we could do comething about it. Because I, myself, is not so convinced with that. With many things going on, it's truly a challenge to regain one's figure. I have been telling myself to start exercising... but until now, I haven't started yet. I have never really gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight... in fact, I just gained 7 more kgs right after I weaned Samantha off breastmilk. Anyway... so much with weight stuff and all that. This topic can wait until next month... so then I can have something to write on my New Year's resolution. Hehehe. Anyway, I am glad that through technology, we could be reconnected with old friends.

it's me,

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

Today marks the 5th year of my marriage with Peter. Last year when I went to the Philippines for 6 week vacation, I wrote a poem for him to let him know he was in my thoughts the whole time I was in the Philippines. I want to repost it here simply... simply because it's our wedding anniversary.

Shankar, My Love

He’s a tease, a charmer
Very friendly, can make one feel comfortable easily
People are drawn to him
Who’s this guy?

I met him eye to eye
He took us to dinner
No chemistry, nothing special
I was intrigued, Who was this guy?

I went back home
Sent him a message
Thanked him for everything
Sure, you’re welcome, he said.

Who was this guy, I wanted to know
He used to tease, and yet aloof
I teased him back
He opened up.

We became friends
Shared goals, shared jokes
Until we found out,
We shared the same birthdate!

That triggered “it”
Common things discovered
The more we shared, the more we felt
From friendship, love blossomed.

We became one
Now we’re four.
Who is this guy?
Shankar, my love, no other.

(copyright: Janet august 30, 2007) - still unedited

i'd been planning to edit this poem ever since. but until now i haven't done it yet. i' sure i will have a lot of time to edit this.

it's me,

This Blog Was Nominated - An Update

As I have blogged about a couple of days ago, this blog, through the kindness of Aisha, was nominated at Blognetawards.com. I just checked my status today and was surprised to see my friends' support. Thank you:

Farah
Melissa
Bernadeth
Lalaine
Aisha

Josiet

Hope your comments would win too. I saw that they're giving away 250US$ for the commentor that will be picked! Of course, there are prizes for 2nds and 3rds down to 10th winners. For those who want to win by voting and commenting just click this link: vote, comment, and win!

it's me,

Where Are They?

Our neighbor abandoned left their house months ago. We are wondering with the status of the house though. It's not for sale nor for rent. A lot of people have inquired about the house but the owners said it's not for sale/rent. But what confuses us is that they just left the house like that. Nobody's taking care of it. The grasses and weeds has grown up and they're all over their porch and the front of the house is filled with weeds. My husband's concern is that there could be snakes living there already. So he hired a grass-cutter guy to cut the grass. I know it's not our responsibility to do that. But it's our responsibility to make our house safe for the kids. My husband would say keep the house safe for the wife, too. It's not like we could do aluminum fence installation. It's even more open for snakes to come to our house. But I think we did what we're supposed to do: cut the grass and make our place safe for our kids.

it's me,

Body Building

I remember talking to friends once. The daughter was working in a body slimming treatment company. The father was a pastor. We were just talking about what they do inside the room to get the slimming effect. Right from nowhere, the father said he was into Body building too. It took me awhile to get what he meant because all this while, we were talking about beauty treatments and body slimming treatments. Then I realized he meant the Body of Christ which he helps build. Not bad. It was a good joke. But anyway, this is not a joke... if you want to learn more about body building stuff, just visit this website: http://store.bodybuildingfactory.com/pro-hormones.html.

it's me,

wait, there's one more

i just said i was going to sleep already. but when i checked my deadline for my assignments, i was horrified to know that one of the assignments i got was due yesterday. then i realized my time was ahead of US time. phew! good thing i checked first before going to bed. otherwise i'm a dead duck. i got this expression (dead duck) from the movie Khabi Kushi Khabi Gahm which I watched a million times before. anyways, i was going to check for some bamboo shades to replace ours. i used to hang bamboo shades on my window... but got tired of its looks and just use curtains. probably i could find some new shades that i like. wish me best. ciao!

it's me,