Aidan’s 1-derful Birthday!

Last sunday we invited  a bunch of people to celebrate Aidan’s first birthday.

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It was a very low-key and intimate event held in our humble home in Dublin. A bbq in the park was on our mind too but we felt it could be inconvenient what with the unpredicatable weather. And besides, Aidan would be most comfortable at home too if he decides to take a nap.

Two families couldn’t make it due to work commitment,  but we still had close to 20 people coming over. The initial plan was to just invite 10 people as I was worried that I couldn’t cope with the preparation of the food.

First to arrive were Uji and  K.Serina. They  came at 10 am when I was still in my jammies!  They made cute finger sandwiches for the guests.

Uji hard at work

K.Serina, her kids and my cousin helped a lot with the decorations. I had no theme in mind, my only aim was a colour coordinated look with matching napkins and paper plates.  I did secretly wished mom was here, she’s fantastic when it comes to hosting parties and  I think I only inherited 10% of her talent, oh god help me!

Bought the deco at a local DIY store.

Matching 1st birthday hanging swirls

and even a matching balloon! I found all this by chance

We kept the food as simple as possible and ordered kuey tiaw as the main dish.

It was yummy!

A bbq was running at the same time so there was plenty of food to offer.

Tasya brought 72 sticks of satay, thank you so much dear! And sorry to hear your nails turned all yellowy because of the kunyit

For the desserts, hubby went on a quest to find that special cake. I wanted something french, and finally after hopping a few french cafes in town he found one . I met with the pastry chef 2 days before the big day and suggested to him if he could do it into individual portions, saves me a job on the day just in case Aidan becomes clingy.

Chef Oliver made it just like how I wanted it to be!

Tasya to the rescue! Thanks for helping to serve tapi apa marah- marah ni? hehe

We also had an unexpected second cake, my mom wanted to be a part of the celebration too and so she ordered a cake through one of the Irish websites to be delivered to our home. She’s full of surprises, thank you mom!

This was a hit too with the guests and I agree, it was really good!

On top of the 2 cakes, K.Serina gave us kuih bakar which she personally baked herself and my cousin made her signature pudding jagung. So as you can see, food was overflowing and at this point of time I regretted not inviting more people. I wished family back home could hop on the first plane to Dublin and be part of this momentous moment.

And this is us early that morning. Hubby : 'Cukup ke ni ?' Hehe.

The bbq was constantly burning from 12 to 7pm, hubby did a great job grilling the meat, fish and prawns and Chef Bob gave a helping hand too when he came later that evening

The birthday boy and his daddy

Towards the end of the evening, we didn’t take as many photos. I missed so many photo opportunities with some of the guests , heck – I don’t even have a photo of the 3 of us.

But at least I have one of my little tyke!

We ate and ate, took seconds (and thirds )...

Played a game of giant snakes and ladders and I won first! We had a good laugh with this one...

Played House of The Dead on the Wii...

Sang Happy Birthday and silly me for not buying any candles..

opened presents...

And at the end of it all, Aidan was one really happy boy! Thank you all for coming!

So that’s a little recap of the party. I guess first birthdays will always be a big celebration, Aidan would probably never remember it but I wanted to do it for him.

Hopefully one day he could look back at these photos and say, ‘Mummy did this for me ?’ ( So don’t go sending me to a nursing home, boy!)  Apart from celebrating Aidan’s milestones, it also marks a year of us being parents.  We hope the next time we celebrate his birthday, the family will be there too and it would be a big plus to have all his 14 cousins.

Till then, I’ll end with 15 more shots of the party in the slideshow.

( Unfortunately I can’t remove what’s been put up there, so fast forward if you find it boring!   )

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Champs Elysees

I regret not taking French seriously back in secondary school but I am glad I know the basics, enough for me to survive if ever I get lost in France.

arc de triomphe

I remember back in F2, Mademoiselle made us sing a lot of French songs and the one song that lingers in my head to this very day is ‘Aux Champs Elysees’- such a chirpy and happy song.

I can even sing along if it’s been played, although I don’t really understand the lyrics.

So this tune kept playing in my head while I was walking along the famous boulevard.

a pretty scary moment to get the perfect shot!

We made many trips here as our hotel was just around the corner,and it was terrific for meals and shopping.

yummy french pastry, my favourite- pain au chocolat

There are rows and rows of fabulous cafes/restaurants to choose from and the atmosphere is lively especially in the evenings. The photo below was taken pretty early in the morning and that explains the emptiness.

a glimpse of me in the left upper corner

So that’s it this time, this was meant to be be posted last week but I didn’t get a chance to do so. I was gonna put up a few more posts but looking at how busy i’ll be for the month of September, I doubt so.

I am only wishing for one thing now, I wish I was back home with my family for the month of Ramadhan. It’s my 11th year away from home and my last raya was back in 1999, how sad and pathetic!

So till my next post, ‘Selamat Berpuasa dan Beribadah Di Bulan Yang Mulia Ini’.

Picture Perfect

lovely work of art

We initially wanted to skip this visit since we’ve been here before, but the day tour included a trip to Notre Dame that we just couldn’t say no.

The sun came in just in time and perfect for photo taking, we had a photo of us taken about 9 years ago here and we wanted to have an ‘after’ photo, just for comparison. It was kinda funny though, I had a good laugh comparing the two and I looked really young and silly back then with my short bob – everyone wanted a piece of the cameron diaz/natalie imbruglia look! Heheh.

such intricate work

There was a massive crowd out at the square too – you could feel everyone’s awe and excitement and it was just fun being there. The exterior is absolutely spectacular and it’s a must to explore all sides of the ancient and gothic cathedral.

While he was busy taking photos of the gargoyles and statues, I made a little escape to the rows and rows of crepe bars by the side of the building to grab a nutella crepe. I think no trip to Paris is complete without having one!

eerie gargoyles

So that’s a little recap about our trip to Notre Dame, my second favourite spot after Musee De Louvre.

Sorry this entry is dead short, I just wanted to put up the photos for memories- y’know what they say, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’.

An Evening in Paris

oh dear! a long way to go...

The supposedly 10 minute walk to the Eiffel turned into a 60 minute walk (we got a little lost along the way) that I became really hungry midway.

we took the night tour of the River Seine

So we went looking for a nice little French Cafe along the River Seine and whilst we were having dinner, it started to rain.

With no brolly in hand, we had to wait for the lashing rain to fade away.

worth the walk

Finally, we arrived at Eiffel Tower and although I’ve been here a couple of times before,

I really love how they illuminated the Eiffel so uniquely blue this time!

underneath the Eiffel

We later took the late night cruise along the River Seine and the romantic city was brightly illuminated with beautiful lights.

It was a superb ending to the night and definitely worth every blister.

The City of Love

The highlight of our recent trip was probably the hotel which was only a 10 minute walk to Champs-Elysees and Eiffel Tower.

The location made it really handy to get around especially when you want to avoid using the metro.

Touring on foot is so much more fun, although you suffer with aches and pains later that night.

AND, the hotel even provided us with lovely L’occitane toiletries, heavenly!

With our very busy lives and sometimes working (slaving?) up to 100 hours a week, all you need is a good break to recover, rejuvenate and soothe those tired puffy eyes. Right?

Right!

so french!

Friday the 13th

As promised in my previous entry, I will tell you what happened on that dramatic MH020 flight to Paris.

Our flight was scheduled to fly out at 2320pm on Friday the 13th. As we were on the tarmac and getting ready for take-off, I began to feel a little uneasy when suddenly there was a blackout on board the plane.

My worries were confirmed when the pilot announced there was an electrical failure and we would be returning to the terminal for engineers to sort out the problem.

Anyway, it must have been something minor as we were in the air 40 minutes later. And I was glad it was now Saturday the 14th, phew.

So for the first half of the journey, I was happily watching ‘Penelope’ and even managed to get a little snooze. Also, to keep myself occupied for the 24 hour journey to Ireland, I had prepared myself with a book, an interior design magazine and a little notebook to pen down useful ID tips for our new home. Perhaps I was a little too ambitious as things took an unexpected turn.

The second half was definitely the one we shall remember for the rest of our lives.

Just as we entered the 6th hour, the pilot announced a need for a doctor.

We introduced ourselves and the steward brought us to the back of the plane where we met with a 59 year old Japanese man who had crawled to the toilet and in desperate need of help.

The poor man looked completely pale, though feeling extremely weak he was able to tell us a little bit about himself. A French nurse also gave us a helping hand and it was then that we realized we were the only 2 doctors on board. Oh dear!

The man had vomited a lot of blood and was very weak to even stand-up. We laid him on a blanket at the back of the plane and checked his vitals (blood pressure, pulse, blood glucose etc) while hubby began organizing medical notes for the French medical personnel.

To make it short(Yes, this went on for 7 hours!), things went a little bit panicky when he had a second vomiting episode which was probably 2 cupfuls of fresh blood. We needed more space so this time we moved to the middle part of the plane, other passengers began realizing something serious was going on with all the commotion!

We started him on an intravenous drip for fear of his BP dropping and even did an ECG for completeness. From then on, we took turns checking his vitals. He was stable the rest of the journey and hubby (I only deal with kids remember?) was happy we didn’t have to divert the plane for acute medical attention.

We were all very worried about him, and yet he was more worried about his meeting in Italy the next day and his luggage if he was to be admitted into hospital.

As we were preparing for landing in Charles de Gaulle airport, surprisingly he asked ‘How can I pay for your service?’. We reassured him saying no form of payment was needed, however he insisted that we email him. He gave us his card and we will definitely write to him one day to ask about his outcome.

We said our goodbyes and felt relieved as we left him in good hands of the French Medical Personnel. We do still think about him though, as we can imagine being ill in a non-English, non-Japanese speaking country would be terrifyingly daunting.

As for us, we hope that we will never go through another encounter like this again. It was our first experience working together and what a challenge being in mid-air and what more, with no proper medical equipment! Thank goodness, Hubby kept his calm which help eased the intensity of the situation. I think we made a good team though

So to Mr S, we wish you a speedy recovery and a safe journey home to Japan.

Bonjour!

We have arrived safely in Paris.

The journey was really tiring due to lack of sleep.

I will update more about the dramatic events that ensued on board the plane in my next entry.

As for now, I am feeling lazy and I really can’t wait to sleep in my own bed!!