Goodbye WhatTwoEatHere!

So, we have decided to bid farewell to our food-blog of which has been inactive for one year (I think). 

We started WhatTwoEatHere because back when we were still not married, we both enjoyed eating, and doing reviews on them makes so much sense and it was fun. 

Well, we still enjoy eating but now with two kids to handle, there is just no priority whatsoever to take photos at all. We usually just dig right in. 

But shutting it down brings a certain kind of sadness to me because of all the hard work there leh - all those words and photos. We decided not to continue paying for its domain (.com) and return it to .blogspot.com which is still absolutely fine. 

There are 170 posts on WhatTwoEatHere, but we will no longer be posting food reviews there, because it is a lot easier (and practical) to do all kinds of reviews here, since this is my main place. 

Moving forward, we will do our food reviews here - those that we can stop and take photos of before we jump right into eating it of course. Again, we are not food experts but we know what we like and what we don't. We don't represent everyone, but I would like to think that our tastebuds are same-same but quite different so some of you may be able to relate. 

Like, you like it but your other half does not like it. 

Trust us, we've been there, done that. 

Maybe for the sake of the many years with WhatTwoEatHere, here are some facts. 

• The idea to start a food-blog together happened when we were having lunch at Kampar Fish Jelly Restaurant at Sungai Nibong.
• Yes, our first post was on Kampar Fish Jelly. 
• We started on 22 February 2012. 
• Many of you did not know this, but I wrote every post - yes 170 posts, but the "He says" was written by Adrian himself - using his own words and style. 
• Some posts were sponsored by the restaurants but most of them were on our own. 
• We did not say good things because we were paid to review their food - it was all honest opinions. 
• We were once invited to a hotel to do their food reviews but we had thought that it was on their buffet line so we went ahead and ate their buffet foods - then, they started bringing out their special 'Raya' meals. We were of course a little embarrassed and so full after that. In our defense, they should have communicated clearer on what they wanted us to review, instead, they left us seating there waiting, and we were hungry. Hah. 
• Le Roy helped us with our "logo" and we even made name cards to give out - shameless us. Hah.
• Few months after launching the food-blog, Hooi San helped created a cartoon us. 
• We even printed a WhatTwoEatHere banner - we were so into the food-blogger idea. Hah. 
• Most of the food photos that we took were from my iPhone and some with Sony's camera.

So yeah, watch out for this space for more yummy food reviews and travel stories (hopefully) and maybe some other babies-related posts. 

Thank you for staying with us all this while and reading our nonsense. Hah. Hope you are entertained and you get the information that you need. 

Till next time, bye now. 

3D2N PARKROYAL Penang Resort.

We had initially booked for a night at Angsana Teluk Bahang for a quick staycation with Adrian's family but we canceled it when the Government announced the MCO 2.0 - then, we booked for a 2-night holiday at PARKROYAL Penang Resort when the MCO was lifted and people can go outside again. 

PARKROYAL Penang Resort was chosen because they have a few attractive promotions ongoing and we decided to go ahead and book with the hotel directly through their website. 

We booked the 'Rediscover Your Penang' promo and decided to take the bigger room to accommodate more of us. 

There were a total of 5-adults and 4 children (under 6yo) and we booked a Premier Seaview Room (RM655.60 for 2-nights) and Family Seaview 1-Bedroom Room (RM743.60 for 2-nights). 

Then, I sent an email for additional requests like a baby cot for each room, rooms to be connecting (if possible), and to be on a non-smoking floor - which turns out all rooms are non-smoking at Parkroyal, and for any complimentary room upgrades. 

A few days later, they emailed back and confirmed all the abovementioned and upgraded both our rooms to a higher room category.  

The Premier Seaview Room for Joe Sern, Jaryn, Jacob, and Joash was upgraded to a Family Seaview 1-Bedroom room, while our (Adrian, MIL, Alex, Sofia, and myself) Family Seaview 1-Bedroom Room was upgraded to a Family Seaview 2-Bedroom Room. 

We could not get the connecting rooms but we were on the same floor. 

The Family Seaview 2-Bedrooms Room comes with a King-sized bed and two single beds - no bathtub and no trundle bed - huge balcony space and huge bathroom space and we have got 2 TVs. 

The room was clean but there was a funny pee-like smell when we first walked in but the housekeeping team quickly came over and sprayed air freshener all over the room. I did not really smell it but Adrian did and it was bothering him a bit too much. 

There was also no minibar, the fridge and 'pantry' area was hidden in the cupboard - which honestly was not very smart because we had to boil our water (using the kettle provided) on the work desk which was quite far from the pantry cupboard - what a funny not practical placement.

The bed and pillows were okay, and the bathroom is a win, please. I love (so much) the big vanity area with plenty of space to put our things. The lighting was amazing to put makeup on or to pinch pimples etc. It does not feel crowded in there, so for me, that is a huge plus. 

The table and chairs on the balcony was another plus for us - because it is our new 'staycation thing' to do (not that new lah actually) - to bring our drink and put on some songs and chill outside. Sometimes we converse, and sometimes we just do our own things, together. 

They have 2 big swimming pools (one with water-slides) and plenty of beach chairs for you so no need to go earlier and 'jom' seats. Heh. They also have grassy areas to play futsal, badminton, and ping-pong, and hammocks. 

Entrance and exit to the beach also equipped with a place to wash your feet (or your body if you want heh). 

Buffet breakfast is a-okay - quite a lot of choices. The original price per adult is RM70 but our promo comes with a 50% discount so we paid RM35 per adult. Let's just say that I would not pay RM70 for the buffet breakfast, but RM35 okay can. 

We spent close to two hours in the Koko-Nut Kids' Club on our check-out day and I was honestly very impressed with it. You have to book your clots in advance because they are usually fully-booked - but really if you have children, you would want to send them there to play a while. Super fun! 

If not mistaken, you can leave them there to play if they are 5-yo and above or something, and free of charge okay - for in-house guests only.

Overall, I can (and probably will) come back for staycations here. The rooms are newly renovated (if I am not wrong) so it is really nice. 

For now, let you all have a virtual feel of the room for 13-seconds first. Heh. 

Till next staycations, bye now. 

Dreaming of Holidays.

I have lost count of the number of times I've dreamed of going on holidays with family and friends - and my dreams were always cut short by Sofia's kung-fu kicks. I would wake up immediately and tell Adrian about my short dream - short but was enough. Hah. 

We always ask ourselves where would be the first place we would go once it is safe enough to travel - and the top 2 destinations are either Japan or Australia. 

Japan - because Adrian has never been and I have and it is so nice please, and also the fact that people of Japan are very clean and proper so even if it's safe enough to travel and all, we would still prefer to go to a country that is more "risk-free of covid-19". Hah. 

Australia - because we have been to a few parts of OZ and loved it. I would like to go to Perth again just because my first time there, I was having bad morning sickness with Sofia and didn't really enjoy it to the fullest, and the fun fact that I actually forgot to bring most of my clothes because I was too focused packing for Alex and Adrian. Oh, wells. This time, we will most likely go to Tasmania and maybe Sydney since we didn't spend much time in Sydney the last time we went. 

Ini semua cakap angan-angan can okay please. 

Then again, if you ask me, I would vote for Japan because it is really a very nice country to visit. I've been to Kyoto and Osaka and it was lovely, and I have stayed in mountain resorts with private onsens. 

And also cos I deleted ALL my Japan photos from Google Drive and there is absolutely no way to retrieve them back because of more than 60 days already. So sad okay!

So, we need to go back to make new memories together, and to help me heal my sadness over so many Japanese photos I took in 2014! :(

But in all seriousness, this travel-deprived-feeling is getting to me. Thankful that we get to do some domestic staycations for now. 

Till next time, bye now. 

Sofia's First Birthday Party!

This is a super long overdue post because I had no blogging mojo - till today. Heh. The mojo is back so here I am. 

Sofia turned one last year in December and fortunately, we were able to have a small party outside of our house because our house cannot fit more than 20 people, please, and since her birthday is 3 days away from Christmas, we thought of just making it slightly bigger to celebrate Christmas as well - sort of. So, we expanded the invitation list and before we know it, 100 people responded yes. 

This party-planning was very different from Alex's time because, for Alex's party, I had months of preparation for decorations and stuff but with the current pandemic, we were quite sure that we will not have the luxury to celebrate with family and friends because of the SOPs implemented. 

It was (I think) the end of November only we decided that we are able to go ahead with the planning and for me, the hardest part of it all was finding the right place. I called a few places that are kids friendly and SOP-following that could cater to about 100 people and it was tough. Many places could only cater up to a maximum of 40 people because of the social distancing. 

Rachel suggested Heily Monroe Garden Bistro by the Sea, and since I have not been there to taste the food, we organized a last-minute

family dinner to do a taste-test - macam like do wedding pulak. 

I fell in love with the place the moment I got there because not only was it big (in space, it was also very windy and dreamy. We ordered and ate and we were quite happy with the food. 

Long story short, we took a few days to think about it, and we were very hesitant to say yes to that place because of the price but when Adrian said, "But the place is no doubt very nice" - I was 100% sold and we booked that entire place for the evening. 

Once the venue was confirmed, everything else flowed right in, and with the help of my sisters and Adrian's sisters, it was a success! 

For me at least. Hah. 

The theme was 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' because this is the first song that Sofia responded to and we sing this quite often to her, and Heily Monroe fits this theme really well. 

Vanessa and Kelly were in-charged of decorations so everything was super pretty please. 

We did a buffet catering with the restaurant because it was way easier and does not cost as much as if we do a sit-down dinner - with 100 people no joke man. 

Those are the planning part of Sofia's first birthday party - and yes I am aware that she may not remember any of it but like I mentioned before (over here) - it's really for the parents. Heh. 

I am very thankful that my husband is on-board with the idea because he is so busy with his work and when he says, "Up to you, baby" - I am on cloud nine, please. 

A little reflection on this baby girl - when we found out her gender through the gender reveal party, we both got very emotional, and I was surprised how emotional it got us - more to Adrian for sure. I think we didn't expect the reality of having a girl until that gender reveal and we were speechless. 

We took one night for it all to be processed and when we were done being emotional, we celebrated the counting down, and boy, it was a hard few months counting down to her arrival. 

More of her arriving in this world story here. 

The thought of having a baby girl did not set in until I actually held her in my arms (on my chest) right after she came out fresh from the oven (my hoohaa). I held her as they were stitching my hoohaa and as I was fighting the pain down there, she peed on me and I laughed. 

It was such a mother-daughter bonding time, to be honest. I held her tighter (after she peed on me), and I told her that her day was waiting outside and we get to reunite soon. Then, she fell asleep - on me. IT WAS SUCH A MOMENT. I will never, ever forget that feeling. 

I did not get to have that with Alex because he was a Caesarean baby and they took him away from me after he came out. They only let me kissed him once in like seconds. Meh. 

With Sofia, I felt that immediate bonding, and I was excited to let her latch on me. As tired as I was after pushing her out and having to care for her by myself the whole night, I also remembered feeling the overpouring joy that lasted me the whole night. 

I crashed the next day when Adrian came to visit and fetch us home. Heh. 

Anyways, Sofia is finally one year old and it made me think how come time passes so fast with this one. I breastfed her for 6-months and she started sleeping through the night at about 9-months old and now, she is going to start walking soon and my ovaries are going to explode because she is such a cute bola - I want to squeeze her so bad. 

Thank you all who came and gave presents and angpows because we are so blessed. Sofia is really blessed to be loved and cared for by you all. 

Charity made a video from the night and more photos below (compilation from many of you). 

Dear Sofia, 

You are finally one year old and we celebrate you because turning one year old is such a huge milestone - especially for your parents. Heh. It means that you are very ready for sleep through the night and the good thing is you started sleeping longer at about 10-months old, so you actually didn't need to go through the cry-to-sleep-training - and we are so ready to sleep longer than 4-hours at one go. 

You are a very different baby from your brother and we are still figuring a way to manage you hah. You are louder, braver, and tougher - from what we can see now anyway. 

That's why I call you my samseng girl - because you are really one samseng baby. You do not fear the cane or our 'tiaks' and you always managed to escape by smiling or laughing. You are no doubt your dad's biggest weakness because he does not seem to be able to 'discipline' you the way he did for Alex. You became dady's girl the moment we found out about your gender. 

I remember telling your dad that even though you are our second-born, you will be loved the same and receive the same attention as your brother - although naturally, your attention already has to be divided the day you were born. 

But I know this for sure, that I (we) love you the same as we love Alex. We will love you both differently because both your love languages are different and different does not mean bad. It means your parents are always trying. Heh. 

Oh, I love you so much, my baby girl. We are going to have so many twinning outfits and twinning photos - till death do us part. Hah. 

Our prayer for you is that you will grow up well, strong, always be in the best of health, and may you know the Lord as He has created you and placed you in this family. May you walk in His ways and find your identity through His eyes, and not ours. 

Love you, Sofia Koay. 

Happy One Year Old, Sofia Koay Yi Jia!

This is the only family photo from that night - because playing with his fellow buddies more important for Alex - which is quite correct. Hah. 

Till next time, bye now.