CNY Decorations in the Office

Chinese New Year mood is officially ON! 

This year we bought ready-made decorations to save time. All of them are sponsored by YT. 

 

Except for one big 春 wording on the glass wall hand-made by Elaine using red packets. 

Hope these decorations will boost up the mood and cheer up everybody in the office. 

I'm due today!

Hubby and I have been trying for some months after we are married. We had no success and consulted a doctor friend. Most people wouldn't care to go for check-ups because it's only been a few months of trying. However, due to our age, we want to get pregnant soon and were concerned that there would be risks if we waited too long. So, both of us were checked and found out that hubby's sperm count is very low. It was not easy to receive the news. Basically, we can't have baby through the natural way but need medical assistance to achieve a higher chance. 

After much consideration, I did 2 times IUI - Intrauterine insemination. It doesn't give me much pain but some discomfort. I had to self injection the day before the insemination procedure. But each time I did the treatment, I was given hope and that hope was crushed each time my pregnancy test showed negative results. We chose this procedure as it was cheaper and the procedure was shorter. But the chances of getting pregnant is too low for our case. 

Dr encouraged us to go for IVF/ICSI which cost more but will give us a higher probability of conceiving. We gave it a try. In Dec 2014, I took the treatment. It was not an easy journey for me. The daily injections were giving me the toil. It was not painful but emotionally draining. We had hoped and prayed for a miracle. But when we received the news of my blood test, I was heart broken and broke down in tears. 

We continued to pray and ask God for a miracle but we weren't as diligent as my mother in law. It's almost like... "Ok God.. if You give us a child, we will be happy and glad but if no baby, we will still continue to love You and serve You". And in August 2015, I found that I was pregnant! Naturally! You can't imagine the joy it brings to our family! My doctor was delighted too!

So to cut story short...it has been a great 9 months experience carrying my miracle baby. Baby is due today but she doesn't want to see mommy and daddy yet! She must be having a good time and feel really comfortable in my womb. Hahaha.. but we are so excited to see her! Can't wait to hold her in my arms. 

Sangkaya Signature Coconut Ice-cream

I love ice-cream and a few of my favourites are mint with chocolate chips, chocolate and coffee. I'm not a fan of coconut ice-cream and if I have a choice, I wouldn't choose coconut flavour. But this is an exceptional. I have never tasted any coconut ice cream so rich in flavour and so creamy. This will be my first ever coconut ice cream that had shot up into the top of my ice cream flavours list. It was a treat from my husband's brother. I'm glad he brought us there. =)

 

Err...No.. You can't find this in Ipoh. The shop is located somewhere in Damansara Uptown. I saw an outlet at Sunway Pyramid which I think it's more convenient for many as it's quite difficult to find a parking space at Damansara Uptown. Price of a bowl of Sangkaya Signature coconut ice cream is about RM10. The bowl is actually the coconut shell..which is the reason why the ice cream tastes even much better. I'll definitely eat this ice cream again. =)

Wrapping paper from RM2 shop

There is a boom of RM2 shops mushrooming around Perak. I like to check out the place from time to time for good bargain. Sometime you may find things that are really worth the 2 ringgit but sometime, it could be more expensive than buying elsewhere. 

This wrapping paper was bought from the RM2 shop nearby Ipoh Parade. They came in 3 pieces. One pink, one blue and one gold. If you use the other side of the wrapping paper, it's silver color. So you get 4 colors with RM2. Not bad huh?

I've used it to wrap some gifts during last year Christmas. Aren't they classy and expensive? Haha..

Valentine's dinner at Zakka Loft

We didn't plan anything for Valentine's dinner this year. Hubby just came back from a business trip and was tired. But we made it a point to have a special dinner together. We went scouting for a restaurant around Bandar Baru Medan, hoping to find a good restaurant with decent price and not too crowded. 

First stop, Food & Desire.. heard it serves great food here. But we had no chance at all that night. It was full and even though we saw a few empty tables, it was also fully booked. Saw my friend having dinner there and was told that she booked her table 2 weeks earlier! >.< Then, we went to check out a few restaurants along the same row of shops. Hmm.. maybe Japanese or Korean? We tried Michelangelo's pizzeria, no luck. Although the boss told us the waiting time is only 10-15mins, we were too hungry to wait. 

So we hopped in to Zakka Loft opposite the pizzeria, which was quite empty. I thought, why not? I ate here before. The food is not too bad. It's just that the menu does not have much varieties. Zakka Loft serves some healthy drinks and mostly bentos. Hubby ordered a chicken curry bento and I order smoked duck toast. I did not like my food at all. The only thing I like was the nachos that serve as a side. =.=' The salad taste funny to me with sour plum powder and the taste did not match with the smoked duck. The toast was slightly burned and the smoked duck was too dry. I had to 'steal' my hubby's curry sauce to eat with the toast. Hubby said his bento was not bad. Next time, order bento to be safe. 

Smoked duck toast at around RM16.90 (can't remember the exact price)

The restaurant was decorated like a playroom. There are carrom (strike & pocket table game), jenga (wooden block stacking game), card game and this on the floor which I forget the name. 

wall decoration

When we first stepped into the restaurant, we didn't know where to sit. The layout was a bit confusing to me.. there are big tables which can fit in 10 people and low coffee table with sofas. There is not many table for 2 so we opted for a big table with high chairs so that we could eat comfortably. 

Overall..it was Ok. After all, we just wanted to fill our stomachs and had some time alone since it's Valentine's. *wink*

obligatory selfie of the day

Zakka Loft Cafe opens every day from 1pm to 11pm except on Mondays. 

Address : 2, Jln Medan Ipoh 1C, Medan Ipoh Bistari, 31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: 013-4888503

Chest of Drawers

Looking at my chest of drawers, I feel really fortunate to have engaged with a trustworthy contractor who has done a great carpentry job and at a reasonable price too. I liked a white color chest of drawers from IKEA. It has exactly the size I wanted. But to get that, I need to travel about 3hrs to Kuala Lumpur as Ipoh does not have IKEA and then, carry it back to IPOH and assemble it myself....and it's not cheap too. With the addition cost from the travel, that's just too troublesome and too much effort. 

IKEA Birkeland Chest of 6 Drawers with size 109x52x112cm (WxDxL) at RM1090 (£200)

It's a beauty, isn't it? But too bad..It's out of my reach...

Some other chest of drawers I found on the web that I liked

Hubby and I tried to search for a suitable one in our local furniture stores but none suits my requirements. They were either not the right size or the color does not match our room's color or they were too expensive. In the end, we asked our kitchen cabinet contractor, Hisham, whether he could spare some time and fabricate one including installation within a week as we wanted to have it before the wedding. (This happened last year dec 2013 and after all other renovation jobs were done)

I drew a sketch of the chest of drawers I would like to have and consulted Hisham. Consultation with him was a brisk. Everything I asked for can be done. Since I wanted big drawers of different sizes, he suggested to use a better quality drawer slide to hold the heavy drawer. I'm ok to pay extra, as long as the drawers are stable and last me at least 10-15 years. (so greedy)

So, after waiting for 1-2 weeks, the chest of drawers are completed. It is fixed permanently to the wall. The color material also matches with our wardrobe and dressing table. Very nicely made! It cost me RM750 but I have everything I wanted for this chest of drawers. Size was 110cm Width x 110cm Height x 52.5cm Depth. Drawers size from top to bottom: 20cm, 20cm, 25cm, 30cm

Top drawers: Hubby's and toiletries; 2nd drawer: mine; 3rd drawer: Hubby's shorts and Ts; bottom drawer: Towels