Europe Holiday 2009

Sometime during the end of March, Sham & I went on a 3-week holiday to Europe. We spent time in the UK, Switzerland and Germany.

It was a wonderful, wonderful time (Yes, it was at this holiday that our child was conceived. We made good use of our time there, you see)

We met up with old friends, made some new ones, had a 3-day stay at the beautiful Lake District, went on a 5 day road trip to northern England, took long, leisurely walks around the lovely lakes of Geneva and tried all sorts of different delicacies at different places.

Oh we had a ball - a holiday we'll look back at with great joy in the years to come!

Here are some pictures.

We're Back With NEWS!

Well, it has been long. I have no excuses. Apologies all around.

Much has been happening in our lives. I'll tell of them all in stages here.
So stay tuned.
Yes, Sham & Mel are back... and we're here to stay!

The biggest news Sham & I have to share is.... we're pregnant!

I'm 14 weeks into my pregnancy now and boy what a ride it's been so far!
But I'll write more about my very eventful first trimester later on.

For now, Sham & I and our families are just delighted with the news.
Most of all, we're SO grateful to God for blessing us with this gift and we're totally looking forward to this next phase of our lives as parents.

Our baby... our firstborn (WOW!) is due late December and we just can't wait to see him/her. Watch this space!

The Lazy Wife's Dinner

If I may say so myself, I'm actually a pretty okay cook.

Granted, I may not yet know the difference between fennel and fenugreek, understand if meat and fish curry powder really does produce difference tastes, or see why I need to distinct between green & red chilies, but well, I can whip up some fairly decent Indian dishes for my husband and I.

Indian cooking is a LOT of work though and there are days when the I abhor even the thought of chopping 1 more garlic or slicing 1 more onion! And on these days, I thank God for the the genius who invented instant pizza. More specifically, the genius who invented this!

Introducing the lazy wife's easy dinner - Dr Oetker's Ristorante Pizza!

It's just great, I tell ya! They come in 6 different topping and with a thin crust, most of which we've tried and are YUMMY! And considering that it IS fast food, it's actually pretty healthy too! And filling. And DELICIOUS. And so easy to prepare. And DELICIOUS. And cooks really fast too. And SO.VERY.DELICIOUS!

It's an absolute life saver!

P.S. - Mums, if you're reading this, we have this nothing more than twice a month, I swear!

Our Langkawi Getaway

So Sham & I decided to utilize our free stay and flew to Langkawi last weekend.

I must say, the Berjaya Beach and Spa Resort, Langkawi is a great place to stay! We were lucky, it wasn't very crowded the weekend we were there. We were told, the place the place gets SO crowded sometimes, it looks like a circus!

So thank goodness for our good timing!

We were treated with excellent service the moment we arrived. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. I was very impressed.

Oh and they actually upgraded our room from the already fabulous Premier Chalet on Water, to the Executive Suite on Water!

Here are some photos of our stay...

It was a short but very memorable stay... one of many, many we plan to take!

Our First Valentines

So I got flowers and a teddy bear this Valentines.

But it was my husband taking my car to the mechanic and getting my spare tyre sorted, without me asking, that totally won my heart.

That, and the pink helium baloon my brother-in-law pinched from some restaurant to give me.

It's always, always the little things that matter :)

My Favourite Girls

This photo is of me and my favourite girls, taken over Christmas at our place, when we had them over for dinner with their significant others.

Life has taken us to different phases in life and to different parts of the world and we don't get to meet as much as we'd like to, but when we do, it's like not a day has passed since our last meet.

Except that we're older, better, stronger... and still connected by values that bind us, the laughter that sustains us, and this fabulous bond of sisterhood that feeds us.

I love you, gals!

The Goat Farm

Two of my ex-uni mates, a very entrepreneurial couple, recently decided to invest in the goat business. Apparently a lot of money was to be made in goat meat! They'd bought a goat farm in Kuala Selangor some months back and have been asking us to come visit for ages.

So, just before Christmas, Sham & I took some of our friends and siblings there for a visit.

Man oh man... what fun we had! I'd never been to a goat farm before, so everything was so new! My friend, Anand, took us on the grand tour around the farm. I thought it was all so cool - the baby goats, the mummy goats, the big papa goat, goat houses, goat food! He explained the mating process, the birthing process, the milking process, the grazing, the feeding, the buying and selling. Apparently, a lot of work goes into producing the perfect goat!

Anand got his workers to prepare our lunch at the farm and they cooked up a feast! Chicken, wild boar, vege, dhal, all fried, cooked and grilled to perfection! Yummm!

It was such a swell time! To be so close to nature, surrounded by tall trees and with friends you love the most is simply... bliss!