Larger Than Life

Where have all the good men gone 
And where are all the Gods?  
Where's the street-wise Hercules  
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? 
Late at night I toss and I turn  
And I dream of what I need
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 
'Til the end of the night 
He's gotta be strong  
And he's gotta be fast  
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 
'Til the morning light  
He's gotta be sure  
And it's gotta be soon 
And he's gotta be larger than life

Every time I hear this song while watching Shrek 2 (like for the 123,204,057th time already), I remind myself I needed a hero, larger than life.

Somewhere in my blog posts I have mentioned how our fridge is pretty small for most of my cooking and baking rendezvous. And somewhere in the tiny mentions here and there, He heard me. Yes, hubby heard my complains and cries, and decided to get me (I mean us) a larger-than-life fridge! 

My initial plan was to release the first photo on my blog, but a papa-razzi (my daddy) had leaked a sneak peek shot on FB, so I think some of you might have seen the awkward model posing with the appliance. And so here is the official unveiling, minus the model!

Somehow it was fated that we would be together. We had left just the right amount of space for our future fridge, knowing that current one was rather small and would need an upgrade sooner or later.

Due to logistic reasons it took a week to arrive to our home, so you can imagine the kind of anticipation we had for it. Upon settling it down on its spot, hubby and I spend a good 30 minutes looking and admiring it, with awe, despite the fact we were to rush back to hubby's hometown. The criteria that we looked for was a large capacity, and for hubby, he wanted a cold water dispenser. Hence this hero comes with a filter that makes the water taste somewhat fresher. And now I can look forward to new mischief from the kids with the cold water.

Once I transferred all the things into the new fridge, there was still so much space that I went wild putting all kinds of dry cooking and baking items into the freezer, and suddenly it felt so small once again.

While we adults are busy with our new home appliance, Sanju is having fun with one of his own. Meet Iron-dog. Our household iron, dragged on the floor by the cable, becomes Iron-dog. He walks his 'dog' everyday before nap. Happy family.

Impromptu Father's Day

Klang never fails to amaze, as far as being a foodie goes. We did hear reviews about this old time western restaurant in Port Klang, but we did not plan to head that side, till one fateful day.

We were about to embark on our short but loooooooongggg awaited holiday at Kuantan and we decided to eat something light because we knew we were gonna pig out on the next few days. This was just on the eve of Father's day. But due to hubby working on the Saturday, I felt like a weekday instead.

We dined in at the D'Tavern restaurant in Port Klang, which used to be some pub those days. They had a stage for live band, but news is they do not have performers.

As always, our plan of light food, went missing. Seeing the lobster on menu got us excited and we immediately ordered some.

Here are the boys (including the older boy) waiting for the food. Kids still behaving.

The view from the father's eyes, kids are being adorable.

By the time the food arrived, the kids were too hard to handle. Lobster was the reward for hubby's patience with the kids.

Despite the reputation of a pub, D' Tavern provides a nice and cosy environment for family dining. They have a separate smoking dining area, and service is really prompt by their old-timer employees.

And once at Kuantan,we were still eating in the name of Father's Day. On the first day we had our dinner at Pak Su Seafood Restaurant for their famous stuffed crabs.

 A big hi-5 by Jeev, although he ate almost nothing.

 So this was our spread. Before.

And after.

We were these hungry and angry birds who had to endure a number of trips to the beach and swimming pool in less than 12 hours.

It was indeed an eventful unplanned Father's Day celebration because the kids tested our patience to the highest level, particularly to hubby with their clingy-ness. Happy Father's Day from the kids and myself!

 

The Kids Unplugged

I have not been blogging lately, and I have got several long overdue posts to be updated but what can I do, I am facing severe writer's bloc, as a symptom due to overdose of kids' fussing, tantrums and stomach flu. Ask hubby how we are saturated to the max enduring all the kiddy mischieves and tantrums. And so I thought, why not post something light, and let the pictures do the talking, of the kids' mischieves.

During our recent trip to Kuantan, we picked the kids up from their sleep. Hence, during our arrival at Teluk Cempedak, the boys are in their sleeping pants.

Jeev never fails to give me his hi-5 post, this time with a stylo mylo use of glasses.

At the same time Sanju is trying to act as the sweaty hunk in his Superman tshirt, with his jammies.

And within minutes of arrival at the hotel, while waiting for our room to be ready, Sanju had an adventure of his own, with Jeev of course, and decided to treat us with this pose. 

And later some more. See how Superman tshirt doubles up as a cape?

 I think he just spotted a hot chick somewhere.

And some lovey sleeping moments in the hotel.

 

I just love snapping pictures of them sleeping. It captures the innocence of the child inside them, that rarely shows on the outside. True story.

See how attached Jeev is with his Ironman? So attached that we nearly lost Ironman's head in Kuantan hotel. Once back Ironman went for double attachment procedures. One with UHU gam, followed by super glue to set the glue in. This formula was discovered by accident, by yours truly during my endure to get my kid his IRONMAN back. If you happen to publish my formula any where, please give me credits.

And don't miss the botherly love in an actual bathtub. Instead of the small one they have to squeeze in at home.

 

When at home Sanju likes to sit with his ALL loves on the sofa. So attached, yet again.

And this is how our legs get tangled during nap time. Somehow Jeev loves to sleep at the footboard of the bed.

Sometimes we play cards before nap. Literally PLAY.

And the boys bring a whole new meaning to the word 'playmat'. They use it to the direct meaning of the word. They just PLAY the MAT. Nothing else.

 

They are a category of their own, which I am yet to discover. Till then, happy weekend!

The Parents' New Groove - Help International School

Parenting takes us through a variation of stages. From babyhood, into toddler-hood, and slowly into kiddy life. Ok I know it does not stop here but lets just take baby steps and cruise slowly. From my days of collecting baby cloth diapers, into baby solid feeding, and now into full fledged cooking for the three boys at home (hubby included), life is not the same anymore.

And now that Sanju has started his playschool, we the parents, have got into a new groove, that is school-hunting!

Last weekend I had an exclusive invitation to attend a the Help International School's (HIS) special preview for bloggers and parents. Yes, you read it right, the famous higher learning institution is now starting their own international school, right from pre-school up to upper secondary, and they have an impressive concept cooking.

Their motto “Vita ad plenitudinem”, which in English means “Life in all its fullness”, is reflected in their curriculum with the objective to provide educational experience that is both holistic and global.

Dr. Gerard Louis, Principal, HELP International School, gave a brief introduction of the school's curriculum which is modeled after the UK National Curriculum. The primary school is based on the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) which is a comprehensive, thematic, creative curriculum with specific learning goals for every subject. This is rather a more interesting approach as compared to the usual topical based curriculum that we usually have. The International General Certificate in Secondary Education (IGCSE) with Cambridge International Examination and London Edexcel is the curriculum for the secondary school. 

We had the Principal introduce the teachers one by one, who collectively have almost 400 years of experience, both locally and internationally! Every one of the teachers gave a brief introduction of themselves and their teaching plans for the school, and we are amazed at their sense of leadership and presentation.

And whats more interesting is that, together with education, they also have an emphasis on creative arts, music and sports. And all these elements are going to be collaborated into the teaching curriculum to achieve their goal, Life in all its fullness.

The good news is HIS is having a special preview on the 27th of July, at the HELP University. Do attend and witness their impressive line up of educational experience by yourself!