A Birthday Lunch @ Valentines Restaurant

We were invited to a friend's daughter's first birthday lunch at Valentines Buffet Restaurant.
They have a wide variety of food, but unfortunately I only managed to take one picture because I was told off by the Chinese cook behind the counter. hahaha...They should be proud of their food! plus there's no sign saying "Do Not Photograph The Food" hahahah...

Anyways, we were the first to arrived coz I've promised to help out with the decorations. Nothing much to do, just blew some balloons but it turned out quite nice. Simple but nice!

J didn't quite finish his lunch and was more interested in the ice-cream. He had a go at making his own ice-cream and sprinkled it with some nuts.

This is the cute birthday cake EVERYONE loved looking at. The ladybug's eyes says "please do not eat me". LOL...

Valentines Buffet Restaurant,

126 Pakuranga Road,

Pakuranga,

Manukau City,

Auckland.

P: 09-577 0220

Tea Time

I'm definitely a fan of TEA. I drink tea everyday. I drink tea during summer time, winter time, right after I wake up, I drink tea before going to bed and wakes up at least four times peeing tea!
I enjoy the light, delicate flavor, compared to drinking just plain water and it's a good way to avoid drinking fizzy drinks.
Don't get me wrong, I do drink water, but I prefer the taste of tea and not forgetting the benefits of it too.
We all know that tea helps our overall health and well-being. They're high in antioxidants, anti-aging, eliminate heartburn, helps in weight loss, good for our skin etc...
Tea also has less caffeine than coffee, so the next time you make your way to the coffee machine, press the 'tea' button.

Ways to brew my fav. pot of tea (timing depending on the quantity of tea leaves, i also prefer loose tea leaves to tea bags) :

• White/Green Tea - steep for 1-3mins, water steaming (not boiling)
• Oolong Tea - steep for 3 mins, water light boil
• Pu-Erh Tea - steep for 2-10 mins, water rolling boil
• Herbal Tea -steep for 5 mins (longer the better), water rolling boil

Enjoy!

Let Kids Play Like Kids

Almost everyday is Halloween at our home. J likes dressing up! He was an Egyptian Mummy yesterday.

Today he was a Pirate. Maybe tomorrow he'll be a SpiderMan or Batman!







J is capable in entertaining himself for a couple of hours.  He's full of imagination and he'll say the cutest thing to his miniature toy soldiers.
After that, he'll move on to another play idea. His recent favourite play was getting one of us to pull him around the house. He'll be sitting in a box attached with dad's belt.

I believe children who are force fed their entertainment with TV and video games will eventually loose the ability to entertain themselves. But when viewed or played in moderation, they're great entertainment.

 Ways to boost your child's creativity:

• Limit TV, computer time,
• Visit the museum, library, see musicals, plays or attend concerts,
• Get activities that have no right or wrong rules - lego, playdoh, creating shape puzzle
• Play 'what if'. Ask them questions like - what if you're stuck on the moon? What if you're a horse? What if you are invisible?
• Let them have free play - with no learning goals or educational purpose. You'll be surprise how imaginative and happy they'll be.

Mom's Birthday.

It was mom's birthday and we went to Daikoku Restaurant @ Takapuna. It's a Teppanyaki style restaurant where the Teppanyaki Chef cooked our meals in front of us on an iron griddle.

It was my second visit to Daikoku Restaurant. The first visit was in Botany and I found both these establishments needed some revamp (furniture, carpet, paintings looked old).
We all went for the 'lunch special' menu which costs only $13.80 and it comes with small portions of miso soup, salad, steam rice, we get to choose either steak/chicken/fish, vegetables and ice-cream for dessert.

This was my fish version with some vegetables (courgette & onions with sesame seeds). The taste was alright, nothing too fancy (no yum yum sauce or butter). I'm sure J liked watching how his food was cooked in front of him as he was quiet (not running around) for that period of time.

Some tips on eating out with young children:

• Eat early. This ensures they're not too tired to eat properly and means the restaurant may not be as busy, less customer so service will hopefully be a bit quicker.
• Bring along some colouring books & crayons - in case the restaurant don't provide this.
• Download short cartoon series on to your mobile so they can watch while waiting for the food.

Daikoku Takapuna
156 Hurstmere Road
Takapuna
09-488 0678

School Holiday Plan

In two weeks time, it will be J's first school holiday! It's 3 weeks of holiday and I'm already thinking: will he get bored staying indoor with this cold/rainy season, will he be watching too much tv or playing video games, where should we bring him, will I be running out of activities for him to do at home??
So, this school holiday, I've planned for J to:

• Join school holiday swimming programne (Mon-Fri, 30mins)
• Go to the library once a week
• Go indoor rock climbing
• Invite some of his friends over
• Dad to build a bird house with J
• Look through my 365 TV-free Activities book for some cool stuff to do

Hhmm...what else can I do? Do you have any favorite activities you do with your kids? Hope I don't run out of ideas...

Swiss Market Day

My husband L, is half Swiss & half Malaysian. He was born in Zuerich, lived most of his life in Zuerich, still have families back in Zuerich and misses some Swiss food.
Our little boy J, was also born in Zuerich and lived 2 years of his life there. He misses the snow in Zuerich!
Me? I lived in Zuerich for 8 years and I misses the architectural, Christmas Market, Gluhwein, the tram, white Christmas...wow..I do miss Zuerich that much? Anyways,

Last weekend, we went to a Swiss Market in Danish House, Penrose, organized by Auckland Swiss Club.  Upon arrival, we instantly felt like we were back in Zuerich. We could hear familiar dialect spoken (Swiss German),  and the smell of warm cheese, creamy rich Swiss chocolate and freshly baked Swiss style bread. There was also some Swiss craft which was interesting for little J.
We went home with some sausages (bratwurst & cervelat), chocolates and bread.

It was nice to have such market, but it would be even nicer if held outdoor like how they have it in Zuerich.  Well Done!

Annies Fruit Bars

I have been chosen to sample a selection of Annies fruit bars and these are the ones sent to me today.

a) Veggie Bar - with apple base
b) Wiggles Berryfruit - with apple base
c) Wiggles Summerfruit - with apple base

I was a bit excited to receive Annies fruit bars, as we're not huge fans of fruit bars, muesli bars or cereal bars because most of them are too sweet, too sticky or too mushy.

Everyone in the family tried the bars (yes, including grandma and grandpa) and these are the feedback:

• Grandma - "Good, not too sweet for me. Not as sticky as other fruit bars. Yes, good. Leave the packaging, can get a few next time." 
• Grandpa - "Hmm..not bad. Taste like 'Haw Flakes'
• The husband L - "Hmm..it's alright. The taste is slightly bland but good for the kid"
• The son J - "Yum! Can I have more? I like...no more raisins"
• My comment - "I actually liked it. Yes, it does taste like 'Haw Flakes' and I like the fact that it's not too sweet, easy to bite and not very sticky. I can easily fit these bars in the handbag and not worrying about it getting crushed because of the texture."

Annies Fruit Bars are good substitute when we're carving sugary food. There's two strips in each packet so I can keep the other one for later or the next day. Prices are affordable too. I'll be looking out for these fruit bars the next time we go shopping.

For more information:
www.annies.co.nz