Our Day Out at Nuffnang Friso Family Day Out

Warning! Be prepared for a mile long post about the event. We had so much fun and I sure have a lot of photos to share.

We headed to One Utama from our house in Seri Kembangan quite late even though the Nuffnang Friso Family Day Out starts at 10.00am. I had a splitting headache and a flu to boot in the morning (hence the lateness) but I definitely will not miss Nuffnang & Friso event for anything! (Sorry all if I brought unwanted virus there! Huhuhu)

Breakfast in the car while heading off to One Utama. A can of Belgian Chocolate for me and Vienna Coffee for Zaini.

Arrived Kizsports & Gym at around 11.30am, and missed the earlier part of the event. Raimie went straight away to the play area and were out of our sight within seconds!

Our photo at the entrance

For us parents, there was a talk by Ms. Evon Tan, a nutritionist from Dutch Lady about the benefits of Friso. What we learnt about Friso Gold : it contains a nutritious combination of prebiotics (FOS), probiotics (L. reuteri), nucleotides, selenium and mixed carotenes not forgetting DHA, AA and SA for a child’s overall development. A good milk for our children, don't you agree, parents?

Listening avidly to Ms Evon Tan's explanation about the goodness of prebiotics and probiotics

It was informative and engaging and plenty of Q&A session for us bloggers to get a chance to get prizes too! Zaini and I both got car shades. Chan Lillian of The Obnoxious 5xmom was also there to give tips on raising children.

Chan Lillian herself

Towards the end of the talk. Me ogling Marcus.Cutelah budak Marcus ni... seb baik takde anak pompuan, kalau tak leh buat menantu. Wakaka!!!

I must say, we were well taken care of during the event, lunch was even provided for us!

This is our first ever attending a bloggers event and it was so much fun! It was like being in a bloggers natural habitat. Hehehe... It was really nice to see fellow bloggers in their elements.

One of Raimie's tooth (the gigi kapak, no less) finally fell off today at the event after weeks of being loose and wobbly. Now that's a milestone!

The lunch buffet line. I must say, the bloggers attending this event were one orderly lot. No jostling and no pushing for the food. Yeah, we are a civilised lot, aren't we?

Can't wait to dig in. The nasi lemak sambal was quite good. Zaini got pretty excited with the Maggi goreng spread

Raimie, in the snack room. Quite a spread for the kids. Sandwiches, pies, fried chicken and fruits plus orange juice. But Raimie prefers milk better. Lucky there were two booths handing out Friso milk samples there for his milk needs! Here, Ramie with all teeth still intact in his mouth

Raimie minus 1 tooth, happily chomping away the scrumptious food

Parents and kids alike waiting patiently for the magic show

Mr Banana with one of the kids during the magic show

A blogger fan/stalker shot of redmummy

Photos during the prize giving ceremony:

ku E accepting her prize - RM100 voucher

The grand prize went to Sawanila.com. Congrats! You guys truly deserve it. (But so envy you all lah... hihihi) They look like a loving couple, don't they? Pose manja gitu. Jangan marah... :D

Didn't go back empty handed, as we got a RM100 MPH voucher. Cool, eh? No photo of me because my backup photographer (i.e. Zaini) was nowhere to be found. I don't think he expected us to get anything. Heh heh.

Me & Raimie mugging for the camera after the prize giving ceremony ended

Parents looking at the printed photo before heading off elsewhere. Goodie bag, t-shirts, lunch, hampers and other cool prizes (for some lucky souls), free milk and can drinks and photos too. What more can we ask? Thank you Nuffnang & Friso. We love you!

For the camera one last time before hitting the mall.

Our newly acquired stock of Friso Gold 3 & Friso Gold 4 and Dutch Lady milk too. There's always an ever ready stock of Dutch Lady milk in our kitchen and today we got more. Thanks Friso & Dutch Lady.

For the rest of us who didn't get that free trip to Disneyland Hong Kong, another cool prize is still up for grabs. Hurry up and blog about the event. One of us can be the proud owner of a cool 32" LCD TV from Sony.

Did we mention we love Sony? We have Sony TV, DVD, Digital Camera, the whole works. If there's a Sony washing machine or fridge, we'd probably bought them too!

psst... Nuffnang, I need a new TV. Haven't bought a new one since 2000. Time for a new TV, I say. *^-^*

Dinner At Chicken Rice Shop

Been awhile since we last ate at The Chicken Rice Shop (TCRS). Decided to have dinner there as we were undecided on where to eat. At least here, we get 10% off our bill!

We chose the twin feast set at RM38.90 and boy, it can actually feed 3 people, no problem!

As always, I aimed for the mango kerabu. It was nicely balanced and not so hot (in fieriness not in temperature). A bit disappointed with the rice, because it was lumpy and sticky.

Rice, soup and chicken

Fish ball soup, mango kerabu nicely topped with peanuts and dried shrimps, pai tee and pak choy with oyster sauce

Sony's Picture Of Happiness

Did you guys know about Sony's current contest : Picture Of Happiness? I'm a bit late knowing about them, but it's never too late to join! Everyone still have a chance to submit a photo. Hurry Hurry Hurry and win some nice camera from Sony!

Crabtree & Evelyn Vouchers For Me!

Look what I got! Lady luck must be shining on me last week. Not only we got a cool hamper from Dutch Lady, I got a RM150.00 Crabtree & Evelyn vouchers too.

At the moment, I'll just keep it and most probably will give them to someone as I am not a user of their stuff.

At The World Of Effective Learning - II

After finishing the Ear for Music module, we were approached by one of the HELP students (who were facilitating the event) and were asked whether we were interested in signing up for the Group Puzzle Game. Heck! Why not?

So, how did we fare? First place, of course! And a hamper for the prize.

A family photo

Our hamper

Full cream milk and strawberry milk for Raimie to last a fortnight. Belgian Chocolate canned drinks for me and Vienna Coffee for Zaini. Will most probably give out the 1-2-3 and 4-5-6 milk powder out to someone.

Raimie is so physced he wanted to return tomorrow. Hahaha... we can't hog the limelight too much, dear!

A Fun Time At Dutch Lady's World Of Effective Learning

Had a fun time at Dutch Lady's World of Effective Learning at Mid Valley Exhibition Hall. Entrance is free, and visitors get to experience life from a children's perspective here.

I guess the aim of this interactive exhibition is to educate parents on the importance of empathy as an important aspect of parenting skill.

We tried out everything and even participated in a team puzzle game.

Raimie trying his hand at writing with the giant pencil. I tried too, and boy! It was really hard to write with it!

This module serves to remind us parents that picking up a pencil is not an easy challenge for kids especially when they are tiny.

Zaini trying to button up the pyjama.

This module is designed to let parents experience the same frustration felt by toddlers when learning to dress themselves.

Me, trying my hand at feeding. I failed miserably.

This module serves as a reminder for us parents not to be angry when our kids spill their food.

Raimie, game for a challenge.

This module empahises on how each child is unique. Some are adventerous, some are wary. It is important for parents to deal with each child differently.

Raimie trying to follow the tune played earlier.

This module shows how taking up a new instrument can be hard.

Raimie having fun chalk drawing.

There was even a solar system module and it was cool. I'm afraid no photo of the planets were taken since I didn't know how to take photos in the dark! :(

Waiting for the other group to finish the puzzle game. How did we fare in the game? Stay tuned!

Friso Brings My Family Out

Malaysian school holiday has just started and no school until next year! Argh! Being cooped up in the house with a rambunctious, talkative and inquisitive 6 year old boy can be a challenge. Raimie is our only son, so it is inevitable that we have to be his playmates at home. (Man, he is one bossy kid when it comes to playing with us. I wonder whose traits he got that from?)

What to do, what to do during the school holiday? Especially now we have to tighten our belt a bit and save money (have to set aside some $$$ for Raimie's birthday on Dec 2 too! Cakes doesn't come cheap nowadays, and the thought of baking him one scares me. The kitchen might explode! Muahaha)

Photo: that's Raimie on his 5th birthday. My, almost a year gone by already... We never missed each other's birthday. Don't need to be a big celebration, a peck on the cheek and a wish of a "Happy Birthday" from our loved ones are enough.

OK, back to activities for the school holiday - luckily there's Friso Family Day Out on Nov 29. Nothing brings out the "kiasu"ness in me than freebies and this event is open to the first 120 bloggers who writes in. Cool! Sure hope we can be in that 120 spot.

I'll be looking forward to the event as there will be talks on nutrition and parenting experiences, magic show and lots of prizes to be won not to mention a chance to meet fellow bloggers and budding bloggers (that's your kids, parents)!

I know Raimie loves playing and tumbling around the kids' gym and meeting new friends. Got free samples of Friso milk or not? :D After all that running, jumping and screaming, the children will need something healthy and nutritious to drink and what better than milk? Yummy!

We always do something together on the weekends - be it assembling paper models (that we have plenty of stocks), playing jigsaw puzzle together or playing video games or just simply spending it at nearby parks. Family Day doesn't need to spent out and about - what is important is the time we spend together not how much money we spend on him. Right? What is important is the bond you have being a family and communicating with each other. It is especially important to make a point to spend time as both Zaini and I work and don't have much time to spend with Raimie on weekdays. (The bane of modern life, I guess)

Photo : Spending time at parks in Putrajaya - this is almost a weekly event for us, if the sun favoured upon us otherwise it's the shopping complexes tour instead!

Photo: Raimie and Zaini enjoying a bicycle ride during a treasure hunt event.

Photo: Enjoying the cool breeze in Bukit Tinggi.

Photo: Dinner with the rest of the clan eating Ikan Bakar. It is important to spend time with Raimie's aunts and uncles too.

Of course, taking a vacation together and going to Disneyland won't hurt either. Wink wink. Hint hint. *^-^*

Give us a chance to hug Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!

p.s. That's us with Mickey & Gang at One U in 2006.

(Sure nice if we can win a 3 Days 2 Nights trip to Disneyland Hong Kong for 2 Adults and 2 Children from Friso, eh?)

Wanna join too? Shimmy over to Nuffnang website for more info. Hurry! (Or better, don't hurry and give me chance to win that Disneyland trip. Hehehe)

Having Lunch At Chinoz

Had a nice lunch at Chinoz the other day. But the Malaysian in me, when eating western food, still craves for some rice (and because I think the portion was too small for us big eaters). Hehehe

We were still hungry after our lunch and ended up buying 2 large pizzas afterwards.

Pan fried seabass

Herb breaded chicken

A nice chocolate brownies with ice cream to end our lunch.

AirAsia's Free Seats

Update:

Zaini managed to get 3 seats free to Singapore for travel in August 2009. Free doesn't mean we won't need to fork out any cash - we'll be paying RM400++ for the taxes and admin fees!

Anyone managed to snag those free tickets? We tried to book some seats for our holiday next year, but so far we are unsuccessful in getting the free ones. But if you fail, try and try again until you are successful, I say. *^-^*

Check out AirAsia.com for more info.

A Quintessential Malaysian Breakfast #2

Nasi Lemak is a coconut flavoured rice with spicy sambal, fried dried ikan bilis (anchovies), cucumbers, roasted peanuts and hard boiled eggs.

Lovely to be eaten simply with the above or with accompaniments such as chicken or beef rendang, sambal sotong (cuttlefish), kerang (cockle) or paru (beef lung which is my favourite).

Not confined to being just a breakfast item anymore, Nasi Lemak can be enjoyed 24 hours a day!

What is your favourite Nasi Lemak accompaniments?

A Day Out At The Playground

Raimie wanted to go to a playground on the weekend, and we thought we might as well go to Alamanda's playground so that we can let him play there and do some shopping.

We were quite shocked to see the state of the playground now. I know that Malaysians are not known for their maintenance culture, but the state of this playground and in Putrajaya is ridiculous.

And a pretty common sight, the cleaner sitting while busy sms'ing away rather that sweeping all that rubbish and a maid looking after her charge. The children's parents were nowhere to be found. I find it sad that fun time with one's own children can be delegated to a maid instead of you playing with them.