Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle) - Christopher Paolini

I read the first 3 books in the old school "cover, pages, physical, tangible book" form. This, I got in the kindle ebook form to read on my kindle app on my iPhone and iPad. I'm so loving the kindle app on my iDevices as I would probably cause myself bodily harm in the form of carpal tunnel syndrome the way I have to angle my wrist to hold the books to read in bed, not to mention the way by torso has to twist to get to the light source of my bedside lamp. Moreover, I can read WHEREVER I want to, and I do not have to lug around my books with me on my holidays and vacations. Maybe I should do a review on the Kindle app. Yup, I will.

I have only started on chapter 1, where it's a recap of the story so far in the first 3 books. I really do appreciate this chapter as this book has been years' past its supposed release date. I got to reacquaint myself and had quite a few "oh yeah!" moments when I remember a crucial detail of the story.

Critics have not been kind to Christopher Paolini's later books (you can go google all the reviews as I am too lazy to tell you more). But I actually liked the later books as well. Well, no way as much as the Harry Potter series, but still, quite a bit.

Review - HIlton Premium Club (Asia)

Thanks to my sister-in-law, I was introduced to the benefits of being a Hilton Premium Club member. We like to take the kids for a little getaway once in a while, and KL Hilton is a favourite destination being next to KL Sentral as my son loves to go for train rides around town or even for a fun ride on the ERL to KL International Airport.

It costs around RM700 per annum to be a member, and it's really worth it. In our 3-night stay in KL Hilton alone, we've saved at least 3 times that amount, if not more. Being a member gets you a bunch of vouchers (or certificates as they termed it). These entitles a member to a range of accommodation discounts, free stays, dining benefits, free meal and free upgrades. It also entitles a member to discounted dining at most of the food and beverages spots of the hotels. It's most beneficial to dine with one other guest (i.e. 2 persons in total), as this qualifies for the 50%. Personally, when we put up at KL Hilton, we'll engage the service of a babysitter (RM30 per child per hour) and head on down to Senses (we discovered Senses as we were hankering for some real deal juicy steaks done the right way, and Prime at Le Meridien was fully booked for the night) for some  fantastic tenderloin, a glass or two of muscat (yes, I like sweet wine, and I love dessert wine with my meals, I'm NOT  a snob in that sense), decadent chocalate with truffle ice cream, yes, truffle ice cream, it's divine. Trust me. This bill alone would have come up to RM800 plus, but with the 2 person dining discount, it's only around RM400 or so, and IT. IS. WORTH. EVERY. SINGLE. SEN.

More info on the discounts and details can be found at the Premium Club Website.

NOTE: This is not a paid or sponsored review. I paid for this product/service.

Terry Fox Run 2011

 

This year marks the second time we are participating as a family. Last year we didn't bring Anne along as we feel that being 6 month old is a bit too young. Next year Jon should be running alongside either Daddy or Mommy as he would be too old for the stroller by then.

Seeing that it was a leisurely stroll (yes, there wasn't even an opportunity for a brisk walk as it was that congested, even coming to a complete stop at a few spots that had a bottleneck), I took the opportunity to observe the other "runners" alongside. One of the first things I noticed was the strollers used, typical of human nature, making comparison between ours and theirs. We had a Maclaren Quest Sport and a Safety 1st jogger unit. Our new Quinny Zapp Xtra sat at home as I deemed it to be to "fragile" for the roads (yes, we noticed that there were quite a few other QZXtra being used by others). I saw quite a few real jogger units used, those with the giganto wheels equipped with brakes and all, and these were all used by the mat salleh families, only one local family used these type of strollers.

Next observation was the inconsideration of this year's runners. Normally the "wheelers", meaning those on bicycles and skates get flagged off first, followed by the runners and then the families with young children and strollers and all. I see almost everyone just rushing off at the first flag-off signal. A malufying Malaysian behaviour indeed.

And the bitching was rampant among the females, especially the young ladies in their late teen and early twenties. Who is wearing what, and all that. Aiyooo...... enough la, come off it already!

There was also a group of people singing Beatles' songs. I was kinda straggling really slowly, letting them all overtake me as I wasn't too keen on dreary tunes like "Michelle" and "Yesterday" at that moment. Moreover, some of them really, really cannot sing.

Well, that said and done, we had a great time and having said that, I personally feel that for an event that has so many families with young children, last year's venue of Titiwangsa was much more well suited for this.

Bring on Terry Fox Run 2012.

Review - Happy Baby Happy Melts Organic Yoghurt Snacks

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Yoghurt. Organic. Happy Baby. Need I say more?

I happen upon this by chance when I was mucking around in the organic section of Bangsar Village Grocer during my weekly grocery madness run in the supermarket aisles. My 18 MO toddler loves these snack (my 4 YO preschooler likes it too). They come in a variety of flavours. I've seen banana mango, strawberry, and mixed berries. Personally I prefer the banana mango flavour (so I tend to buy this as I sneak a piece or two every time I give the kids some, hehehe). They are pretty full-flavoured, with the sweetness of the fruits and tanginess of yoghurt. Though they melt in the mouth, if too many chunks are crammed into the mouth at once (like how my Anne does it if left to her own devices), they tend to get a bit pasty and gooey. At around RM23 or so for a pack of 28g, it is a bit on the pricey side, but the nutritional value is worth it, and not to mention  a HAPPY BABY.....!!

NOTE: This is not a paid or sponsored review. I paid for this product/service.

Humming about the kitchen

Baking relaxes me. Well.... if my cake turns out yummy in the end, then it relaxes me, otherwise it's just more stress and angst, isn't it? Woo.... shaaa.... Woo.... shaaa.......

Attempted to bake a hummingbird cake today, using this recipe. Turned out pretty decent, if I do say so myself (so tak malu, kan? self praise..... sooooo the international disgrace :p )

Mommy... and more

Every mom are posting about their babies and how life evolves around the bubs (I have 2, one born in 2007 and the second one three years later). Well, this is one about Mommy who is TRYING to get a life of her own, "trying" being the key word here. I won't be surprise if at  least 30%, no... 45%, wait, ..... 55%    $#@%!*^$!!!     75% of my content is about my kids.

Like most, if not all moms, I enjoy my "me" time either cooking/baking, shopping, at the gym, reading, watching TV or a movie, enjoying a glass, or two or three of sweet wine or muscat/moscato (yes, i like sweet wine as opposed to the "high class" dry, oaky woody stuff. If I want to taste that, I'll stick to my chinese tea), or just simply "widen my horizon" in front of my MacBook (for non-techies and non-Mac-cies, a MacBook is a laptop by the Apple Mac company. Yes, I'm a bloody snob).