A Quiet Sunday

It is 9am Sunday morning and the house is unbelievably quiet – baby’s asleep, Pepper’s lounging god-knows-where, hubby’s oncall and the weather is looking desperate out there.

I have been up since 6am – fed and played with the baby and packed hubby’s lunch and dinner since he will be staying the night at the hospital.

Thanks to Tesco online, I have just done my grocery shopping for the week and the items should arrive at my doorstep tomorrow evening. I used to enjoy going to the store but ever since having a baby, the online option is probably better for me. No more worrying about looking for the nearest parking space and handling a cranky 3 month old whilst pushing a fully loaded trolley. Their service has been super efficient and always arrive at the scheduled delivery time. From baby nappies to chillies, from coconut milk to shampoo, the items have been spot on too.  Basically you can get just about anything from the store and it gets easier with every order as you can make a favourite list making everything just a click away. I wonder if Malaysia has the same service?

Anyway, if you’re wondering what happened to Mr Crab – we had a big (big meaning plenty of leftovers to survive another meal) lunch yesterday and here’s a photo of it

Ketam Masak Lemak

Dihidang bersama nasi panas dengan

Udang Goreng Kunyit

Alrighty, Master Aidan is screaming for attention.

TTFN ! ( That’s Ta Ta For Now from the Disney channel )

A Day Out at The Docklands

We were at the Maritime Festival held at the Dublin Docklands over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Replica of the Jeanie Johnston. The original ship was used to carry fleeing Irish immigrants to America in the era of the Great Famine.

Not always you would see majestic tall ships lined up along the River Liffey so we knew we had to come here to see what it was all about. Interestingly,you could also do a little tour of the various ships by paying a really small fee.

River Liffey

Infact I have always wanted to come here to capture a photo of the River Liffey and the pedestrian walkway was ideal as it offered a scenic view of the river.

I have to say, they have done a really great job doing up this place. Back in 1997, you would think twice coming here even though it was just a 10 minute walk from the city center.

Checking out the summer market

I didn’t find anything interesting at the summer market. I was hoping to get something crafty for Aidan but to no avail. Ah well, maybe some other time I’ll be lucky.

Irish grandpa

There are a few nice eateries around the place including a Malaysian Restaurant which had Selamat Datang at it’s entrance.

Malaysian Restaurant

And a funfair too, which I used to love back in my student days.

Funfair

The heat was too much for me that I took shelter in one of the malls. All in all, it was a great day out with the family and parents-in-law. Hopefully there will be more exciting things to do this summer.

Not quite my pre-pregnancy body, another 5 kg to burn

Picnic in the Park

Birdie mid-flight

Birds flying high,
You know how I feel.
Sun in the sky,
You know how I feel.
Reeds driftin’ on by,
You know how I feel.

It’s a new dawn,
It’s a new day,
It’s a new life,
For me.
And I’m feeling good

( Micheal Buble )

Another birdie

We’ve had such a nice return of glorious spring weather recently that we spent a good 5 hours in the sun, walking along the pier, enjoying the gentle sea breeze and taking photos of old rusty boats and sea gulls. It’s true that having a camera does make you extra aware of what is around you.

The scenery behind us exudes a sense of calmness and serenity that we felt refreshed after the walk

I made him climb the steep steps so that I could take a photo of the cloudless sky

Our usual weekend haunt would be the fishmonger and we bought sea bass, salmon and prawns. I was tempted to buy the live crabs and lobster but as our freezer is currently packed to the brim, we had to settle for the fish.

Spoilt for choice

Friends joined us for a spur-of-the-moment picnic in the sun and we had another dose of fish and chips. It is always handy to have a picnic mat ready in the car with summer coming along real soon.

My RM10 tikar came in handy

I wonder where we should go next ? I just hope the weather will be kind to us for the next couple of months and my idea of the perfect picnic should include Nasi Lemak too.

Sunshine Through My Window

View from my bedroom

After the freak snow storm in February, it’s nice to have the sun out again. It has been sunny all week and I hope it stays that way for a while.

After a very hectic week at work, we decided to have an easy weekend. Saturday we went all out cleaning the house, I did my share of laundry and cooking and he went all out with the hoover. I think the best investment you could do for the house is a good reliable sturdy hoover!

Come Sunday, it was grocery day and time to stock the fridge and kitchen with food. But before that,  we wanted to check out Blessington which is only a 25 minute drive from our house. The last time we came here was roughly 9 years ago in 2000 with my parents.

In search of Lake Blessington

It was a pleasant drive all the way to Blessington, probably because most people were in the city celebrating St Patrick’s. There were a lot of cyclists though and  I know my brother would really love cycling here!

Found it!

As usual there were very little signs along the way, so we got a little lost. Eventually we found the lake.

Lush green countryside

9 years on, all I can say it has not changed that much!

We were this close to the lake

I wish there were more touristy things to do here but I figured the Irish like  to leave things natural and untouched.

One for the family back home

And here are photos of us. Thanks to my SIL, my parents now know the existence of this blog. They have been asking for our photos you see.

Another one for the family!

Finally, this is how I look like today!

Not the most flattering pic!

ps : Happy St Patrick’s Day!

I had big plans to go to the parade but seeing that half a million people will be in the city today, I decided against it! Besides, hubby is on call saving lives…haha…poor him!

Come Dine With Me

Last Friday night I had this sudden craving for Chicken Rendang and so we rushed at 8pm to the local Malaysian/Asian store looking for ingredients.

We couldn’t find any galangal or tumeric so that dampened my mood, I could make a simple version of it but I knew it wouldn’t taste the same. We did find some frozen crabs though.

The very next day which happened to be Valentine’s Day, a few friends decided to pay our new home a visit.

Luckily I was in the mood to cook and with our kitchen well stocked with food, I made ‘Nasi Lemak with Sambal Ayam and Sweet and Sour Crab’.

Food prepared with love

I should have taken a close-up of the Sambal Ayam and Sweet and Sour Crab, as always hubby was too busy munching away! And that is why we never have photos of home cook meals…heheh.

Time for dessert!

The meal was followed by tea and New York Vanilla Cheesecake which wasn’t homemade by the way

I-know-I-look-like-a-WHALE-at-29-weeks!

I was tired at the end of the day, but it was all worth it!

A Snowy Day

The Lounge

We have successfully moved into the new 3 bedroom house last night, yea!

I know the next few days will be a great challenge finding out where everything is as we are slowly sorting out our clothes, shoes, books etc and at the same time making the house more livable for the both of us.

As the house is still an utter mayhem, we had indian takeaway 2 nights in a row.

Anyway, to our surprise we woke up this morning to a very snowy morning which is so, so rare in Dublin.

And although I was still tired from from the weekend move, we couldn’t say no to the generous amount of snow falling in our backgarden.

Hubby went all out building a snowman with his bare hands! He insisted on making a bigger one but I said, NOOOO!

The pom-poms were actually meant for my niece, sorry Amber!

He’s so proud of it too, heheh.

Hubby built this snowman with no gloves, crazy! Merah merah tangan!

Sunday Drive

The Outlet at Bridgewater Park

It was wet, cold and windy over the weekend but that didn’t stop us from going out.

We made a quick stop at a friend’s house in North Dublin where she prepared a yummy meal of nasi ayam and 30 minutes later we were on our way to The Outlet at Bridgewater Park, Northern Ireland.

As I am only down to only one pair of jeans, I made my way to Gap looking for one that wouldn’t burst my budget. I really love the fact that the pound is getting weaker against the Euro and you can get some pretty good deals for below a tenner! I remember my mother-in-law getting a pair of jeans at Marks for only £4.99 which is definitely a steal. Heheh

The shops

These photos were actually taken during our last trip here months and months ago but I only decided to put them up now.

Hubby playing around with photoshop

We drove back to Dublin that night and had kebab in one of the turkish diners in town.

It was a Sunday well spent.

ps: you’ll probably see less updates in the coming weeks as I have to study for a Paediatric course lined up for end of November

Weekend ramblings

I was on-call on Saturday and thank god there were no major dramas in the ward.

Rushed home midday Sunday, took a quick snooze and made our way to a friend’s BBQ.

There was a lovely spread of food,

Homemade burgers

that we didn’t know what to have!

Ikan terubuk bakar

Though it was drizzling at times, we made the best out of the sudden rays of sunshine.

Had to leave the party early as I was going be on-call (again!) the next day, didn’t think I could survive 3 nights of no sleep!

And so I slept like a baby that night…zzzzzz

Nothing beats home

Lots and lots of cheese

Picture taken last Sunday.

There was a funfair and Music Festival during the Bank Holiday weekend and for once, the little town was vibrant and alive with music and street entertainers.

We went to check out the food at the funfair but didn’t find anything much to our liking. Nothing beats the ‘pasar malam’ back home though.

A Glorious Sunday

It was great to have the weekend off for once.

Did some catching up with an ol’ friend and she made a lovely lunch of briyani, yums!

But earlier that morning as the weather was super glorious, I went for a stroll along the harbour enjoying the breathtaking views of the bright blue sea. If only the weather was like this all year round!

It would be nice to own one of these!

I should have taken a photo of hubby’s hospital but was too busy enjoying the view, heheh.

The hospital would have been to the extreme right of this photo unfortunately it’s not in it, maybe next time then!

Beautiful seaside town