Z's first birthday!

Zach's first 'all fresh fruits only' birthday cake 

(taken a day before Z's birthday, on the 19th July 2013 about midnight)

This post is 3 months late. 

I was quite proud of myself with the cake that I've made for Z. Z's 1st big birthday was on the 20th July, which was a Saturday and it took SJ and I awhile on how shall we celebrate Z's first birthday. We didn't want to make it very big because the birthday boy is too young to know what's happening and we didn't want it to be ended up as party for the parents. SJ insisted that he wanted a really small group of people but I didn't mind to have a bigger group. So, in the end we decided to invite only 41 people consisted of immediately family members & our close friends.

We decided to have Z's birthday party's theme as 'Under the Sea' because Z was very interested with his sea animals bath toys. Those toys could keep him very much occupied during bath time. He loves to look at the fishes in the aquarium too. 

I have also ordered a cake with under the sea animals theme from my friend, HY from Cake Pantry. I wasn't confident if I could make the all-fresh-fruits only birthday cake for Zach. I wanted to make it as Z hasn't started eating any salt or sugar yet and I thought it would be really sad if Z wasn't allowed to eat his own birthday cake. Since Z loves fruits, so this special cake seemed perfect! I went online and searched some photos and write-up about this special cake. Asked HY where I could buy some sea animals moulds & she found them for me in Penang; crab, turtle, dolphin & octopus. Thank goodness the cake turned out well ;)

Getting started; I hardly cook & haven't carved anything in my life since Kemahiran Hidup (Integrated living skills subject) in secondary school. I bought Z's favourite fruits; papaya, melon, peach, grapes. I should have bought more colourful fruits such as green kiwi and pineapples to make the cake more colourful. 

The cute moulds! 

Melon sea animals! They were so cute!

I spent about 2 hours to plan, looking at the websites, cut and think how should I arrange the fruits. I used tooth picks to hold them together at the sides. I cut Z.A.C.H with free hand & I was quite proud with myself. Haha. My brother in law asked me how much I bought this cake and where I bought it. Many people were surprised that I made this. Guess I am really not a domestic person & most people know that. 

We're ready to party!

Ta-daa! My cake on the left & HY's cake by Cake Pantry on the right :D 

Z's birthday was held at Marmalade, Publika Solaris Dutamas KL. We ordered a western fusion buffet and had the whole indoor restaurant to ourselves for lunch. Marmalade gave us free 40 helium balloons and we had them in pastel blue and green. The decorations were also provided by Marmalade. We enjoyed our party and the food was good! Alicia, the owner of Marmalade did a very good job :)

Z with his proud parents. 

Z and his friends. 

Z with all his birthday presents! His biggest present were the swing set by his dearest uncle, JYSC. Z is so blessed to be loved by so many people around him. Z is a lucky boy!

This little boy is growing so fast and he looks different now at 15 months compared to 3 months ago when these photos were taken. I am going to miss the baby Z soon!

To Z, Mommy and Daddy love you very much and will always love do. Grow up healthily & happily!

Lots of love, hugs & kisses from Mommy & Daddy :))))

Z is 15 months now!

My last entry was when Z was 10 months old and now he is almost 15 months old. Time passes so fast especially when you're having a good time & busy. Things at work are picking up really fast and am still trying my best to capture Z's growing up moments.

Highlights when Z was 10 months old (June 2013):

Z - He could point with confidence on the items that we named out for him; orange, car, light, fan, air-con, mommy, daddy, grandparents and more. SJ and I were so impressed and surprised one day when Z was about 10 months old; we put him on his play mat and I asked him where is Orange, he crawled to the picture & pointed confidently while looking at me that was Orange. We seldom read the alphabets to him, we're more of the random teaching 'method', where we just mention him the things in front of us and seldom repeat them but we speak to him a lot. Babies are absorbing like sponge everyday! He was so much more fun now that he is older and we have more confidence in managing and knowing what he wants.

Z gave me this cheeky smile when I grabbed him to sit with me & I said 'Smile' to the camera!

We went for our first beach holiday on the 9th to 11th June to the Redang Island. This city boy didn't like the sand at all. He kept brushing the sand away from his hands, legs and refused to sit on the sand. He only wanted to be sitting on the beach towel. It was also Zach's first get-away with his grandparents, (Kung Kung & Po Po) and Yi Yi. We brought so many things for Zach to this trip; his potty, slow cooker for his solids, vegetables, fruits and lots of toys. Zach slept on his flight to Redang & behaved really well on our way back to KL. I was glad that our holiday went so well and Z didn't have any problems adapting :))

Z fell asleep in my carrier before we board the plane & he slept throughout the flight on the way to Redang. Yay! This was Z's 2nd time being on the plane. This first was in December 2011 to Singapore. 

Daddy & Z's bonding time. 

This was taken on the morning of our last day in Redang. Z was such a serious boy. He is more fun now at 15 months. 

Highlights when Z was 11 months old (June/July 2013): 

My friend, R from Hong Kong came to visit & celebrated my birthday with me! :))) We took her to do some touristy stuffs; visit Batu Caves, Petronas Twin Towers, KL tower and had some must-eat Malaysian food.

In front of Batu Caves before we conquer the steps. 

 Inside of the cave, while Daddy & R went up the stairs to explore further, we took this opportunity to take some photos. We saw many monkeys on that day!

Next stop was the Petronas Twin Towers. We couldn't get the tickets to go up the towers because they were completely sold out by 10.30am! We thought getting tickets would not be a problem since it was a weekday but we were wrong! Lesson learnt: To buy the tickets online way ahead of time. 

We couldn't go up but we could still take photos with the towers behind us. It was such a beautiful day!

KL Tower. Getting tickets to go up was easy and zero hassle. It took us less than 10 mins to queue & made our way up to the tower immediately. 

One of the must try food for friends that visit us in KL; Roti Tissue at Original Kayu Nasi Kandar SS2 because this roti tissue is huge! It's about 3 feet tall. I was just impressed that it was so big! If we order one, I'll call it KL Tower and The Twin Towers if we ordered two :P

SJ & I are food lovers. Naturally we would bring our guest to good eating places around KL. Here's the list of food that we've introduced to R:

1. Hokkien noodles at Ah Wa Restaurant, Jalan 222 PJ. We don't think Hong Kong has dark coloured hokkien noodles.

2. Dinner at Dancing Fish, Bangsar Shopping Centre KL for a good ambience and yummy tasting indon-malay food. We ordered fried fish, satay and a huge variety of food. The chilli and sambal sauces were really good!

3. Breakfast at Antipodean, Bangsar KL. Well, this is nothing extraordinary as compared to western food in Hong Kong but the breakfast in this place was voted as one of the top 10 in KL.

4. Roti canai at Raju's Restaurant, Jalan Gasing PJ. SJ thinks the roti canai here is one of the best & most crispy in KL/PJ. They made them fresh immediately. Other than roti canai, the rest was just ok.

5. Nasi Lemak, Village Park, Damansara Uptown, PJ. Our favourite nasi lemak & it's really good! The king of nasi lemak in Klang Valley. Their fried chicken (ayam goreng berempah) is superb. Their other food such as asam laksa & prawn mee were also quite good too. 

6. Mille crepe cake by Nadeja, 3 Two Square PJ. These cakes were made famous by the same name shop in Melaka and many people would buy these cakes and bring back to KL. They have a branch now in PJ! and

7. Huge Roti Tissue at Original Kayu Nasi Kandar SS2 PJ. There have many other things in this restaurant which are also recommended; nasi kandar, other types of roti and of course teh tarik for the tourists. 

From the list above, we really had quite a feast in R's short trip; 4 days in Malaysia. We could have brought her to more places if we had more time and if Z was older. Our schedule was built around Z's routine. I am sure R will plan her next trip soon and I hope we didn't paint the impression that Malaysians are a bunch of gluttons. 

After we sent R to the airport on the 2nd July evening, the three of us went to a neighbourhood cafe to celebrate my birthday. Last year on the same day, I was heavily pregnant and this year I had Z with me! We used to celebrate birthdays in a big way; dress up well in nice restaurants. But things are different nowadays with a baby. My priorities and needs are different now too. As long I am with Z & SJ, I feel I am the luckiest girl in the world because they both make me feel so happy :)

Going to end this long post with a picture we took at my birthday dinner. Next is Z's 1st birthday! Have a great weekend everybody!