Raptor Watch 2011

"Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) hosted the 12th Raptor Watch event at PNB Ilham Resort, 10th Mile Tanjung Tuan, Port Dickson on the 12th and 13th March 2011."
It is a festival to celebrate the return of the migratory birds of prey or better known as raptors on their journey back to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere.

Thanks to Daddy (who likes this sort of outing), we are glad we joined in the fun, on 13th March, the Sunday the school holidays began.





The grounds in Ilham Resort has been set up with tents, with different companies either selling goods, or promoting their club. Monoculars and binoculars were at various booths where we can use to watch the raptors when they flew passed.





They were for all to use, and free!


We were actually a bit afraid the girls may break the thousands of dollars binoculars, but nobody seemed to be as worried as us.









It's not a guarentee that you may get to watch the raptors, but we were lucky, they were circlying above when we arrived, and appeared again later in the evening.

(That's what our camera could take. Well, Daddy thinks he should get a zoom lens for these kind of shot.)

When the raptors appear, the real bird watchers whipped out their own equipment.


There were face/body painting as well, all contribution will go to MNS. Of course, we all, except Daddy, went for it.
Isn't the owl cute?







The event being held next to the sea, the girls were so eager to move on and play at the beach. It was 3pm, HOT! But nothing is going to deter them.




It was low tide, very suitable for the girls to splash about (we were not really prepared for the trip, it was kind of impromptu, that's why the girls didn't get changed into swimming costumes).




Zaria seemed to like getting dirty wet.




There were crabs to be found as well.




Besides the beach, we explored a near by hill, with a 20min climb, got us to the lighthouse in Tanjung Tuan.


View from the hill.


Although it was a hot day, we all had fun! This might just become our yearly event.

Back Dated : Chinese New Year Shots

(Just For The Records)

Last year, during Chinese New Year my dad was diagnosed of having a 14cm tumor in his liver. After his surgery, he recovered well, and for this year's Chinese New Year all of us were glad to see him, although thinner, looking good.

It's another year of blessing, and good health is all we wish for.

Salt & Sesame Biscuits

*sweep away the cobwebs on this site*

Gosh, I’d been neglecting my blogs. Being busy is one, feeling sluggish is another one. Every night, when I get the kids ready for bed, I too feel like hitting the sack together with them. I'm still trying to get used to the school routine, and all the homework coaching.

I really have to buck up. Back to a recipe I wanted to share, another savoury biscuit.

When I saw this recipe, I thought I had to try it. Sesame + savoury, should be good. I have this thing about sesame, especially black sesame. So far I’d already posted 2 recipes using black sesame as the main ingredient, and then this one, it shows you how much I like black sesame.

♥Recipe for Salt & Sesame Biscuits♥
Adapted from 在家亲手烤饼干by中村佳瑞子
Make 20 pieces

You'll need : 
50g unsalted butter (leave butter out until it gets to room temparature, i.e. soft to the touch)
1/2 tsp salt (recipe calls for 3/4 tsp but it was a bit on the salty side, so I think 1/2 should be better)
2 tbs milk
20g black sesame
100g low protein or cake flour

Method : 

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Mix butter with soft and beat until soft and fluffy. (I used a hand whisk)

3. Whisk in the milk a little at a time until well corporated.

4. Add in black sesame, and mix well with a spatula

5. Stir in the sifted flour

6. Roll the dough out to about 6cm x 2cm block. Wrap it in cling wrap, and leave in the fridge for 30minutes.

7. Cut the dough to about 5mm pieces. Place them on a baking sheet. 

8. Bake for 15 to 18mins.

Unfortunately, sesame is not my daughters' cup of tea, so it was only the hubs and I who ate them. Less man more share, I don't mind actually.

一厢情愿

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you'd probably recalled posts about Zara and her very first boy friend; a boy who's captured her heart for 2 years. Even though on her last year of kindergarten, the boy has already went to Standard 1 and attended another school and they never met again, Zara still thought of him as her boy friend. o.O"

After being in Standard 1 for 1 month +, she came home 1 day declaring she has found another 'boy friend'. When I went to pick her up the following day, she excitedly pointed out the 'boy', R, to me. R sits several rows away from her, is really cute, looks like a goodie-two-shoes, with a radiant smile and deep dimples. Well, if I was her age, I'd probably like the same boy too.

A couple of times when I was there to pick Zara up, after the last bell rang, I saw them running out to the waiting area together Zara chasing after him to the waiting area. o.O"

In the car, she likes to share with me what happened to R and herself, here are some to share.

Zara : "Mom, today I kissed R."
Me : *have to sound like it's not a big deal* "You did?"
Zara : "Ya, I did."
Me : "Where did you kiss him?"
Zara : "Well, I blew him kisses." (and she showed me how she did it, 1st kissing her palm, then blowing the kiss out)
Me : (a bit shocked, but found it funny too) "And what did he do?"
Zara : "He dodged them, like this and like this." (moving her body left and right) And she smiled, like it's no big deal he dodged her kisses. o.O"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zara : "Mom, every day I walked out to the hall with R after school"
Me : "You walked side by side?"
Zara : "Oh, well, he ran really fast, and I just chased after him and keep up with him."
o.O"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me : "Zara, you said R is your boy friend, does he treat you like his girl friend?"
Zara : "Ya, he does, he walks with me after school." (more like she chased after him) o.O"
Me : "And you are his only girl friend?"
Zara : "No, he has 3 girl friends"
Me : "And you are fine with that?"
Zara : "Ya, I'm fine. Because he's not married yet so it's ok to have so many girl friends." o.O"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the best one.... yesterday on our way home from school.
Zara : *happily*"Today R talked to me."
Me : "Oh, what did you talk about."
Zara : "I touched him, and then he told me 不要摸我 (Don't touch me)." *laughed*
(Faint! This is 'talk'?)
o.O" o.O" o.O"

But........ I'm amazed at her confidence, and her perserverence, and the way she looks at things light heartedly. Way to go my girl!

长大

♥Zara♥
Finally, 6 years and 3 months old, she had a shakey tooth (lower central incissor).

As she has 2 new teeth sprouting (her 1st permanant molar), and caused the gums to be pushed back and bleed (she spat out blood when she was brushing her teeth this morning! Gave me a shock!), I brought her to the dentist to have a look.

Since we were there, I got her shakey tooth extracted.


As for the bleeding and pushed back gums, it's common when the permanant molar sprouts. And to think all the teething problem is over!

~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~

♥Zaria♥

Just the other day, I called her mei-mei, and she told me "Don't call me mei-mei. I'm not small any more. I'm 5 years old." o.O"

This girl has grown up. Yup. Since she was able, she has been sleeping with 1 finger in my belly button.



Daddy has been reminding her that she's older and has stronger fingers now, and she shouldn't be poking my belly button any more, or she might actually puncture my belly button and blood will start gushing out like a fountain.

That did deter her a bit, and slowly, when she's concious, she'll retract her finger, and then, just leave her hand on my belly when she goes to sleep.

Cheese Sticks

I made these for Chinese New Year, and my eldest absolutely loved it. She told me these are like home made Cheezles, very healthy. Ha.

We all know using best ingredients is key to baking, but sometimes, we just thought.. what if??

That's what I did this round. The first batch I baked, I used parmessan cheese in a block. It cost about RM30 for a 200g block, very expensive. Then the 2nd time, I thought, what if I used powdered parmessan, which is RM20 for 500g. More than half the savings!

Anyway, here is the recipe. If you could, use the good parmessan, that way, you can really taste the fragrant of the cheese.

♥Recipe for Cheese Sticks♥
Adapted from 在家亲手烤饼干by中村佳瑞子
Make 30 pieces
You'll Need 100g unsalted butter(soft to the touch)
20g castor sugar
1 egg (room temparature)
60g parmessan cheese (use the ones in a block and grate yourself if you can)
160g low protein flour sifted


Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Beat butter until soft and fluffy (I used a hand whisk).
3. Add it sugar and further beat until well mixed and mixture becomes pale.
4. Add in the egg, and beat until well corporated
5. Using a spatula, mix in the parmessan cheese, and then stir in the flour.
6. Wrap the dough in cling wrap, and leave in the fridge for 30minutes.
7. Cut or roll the out the dough into desired strips. Place strips on a baking sheet.
8. Bake for 15 to 18mins.

Connected Tots

In this post, I mentioned about how brain cells need to connect for learning to happen.

Here is a video that shows you a connected tot in action. It is an interactive video, watch it, and you can choose the different ‘answers’ at the end to see what the little girl did to help her mom.



The girl in the video has learnt about magnet, and she had made a connection between magnet and metal, and apply that learning to help her mom. This is a connected moment.

If you want to read more about connected tots, and brain connection, do go here to understand more.

My girls, are extremely good in applying what they have learnt or heard from us in our daily conversation.
Here is one example. Zara (6yrs 2 months) has seen me frying frankfurters for her. I’d always asked her to stand far away, because the oil may splatter while the frankfurters are sizzling. See what connects me with the frankfurters?



What a connection.