A Little Update

Wow - the month of June has suddenly vanished! 

Gosh - half the year is gone! Been so busy lately that I've not got much time to blog! Main reason is that now I'm taking cake orders! If you are interested to order mini cakes, cupcakes, cakes and macarons, kindly email: crumbs.my@gmail.com.

Anyway, celebrated my 9th wedding anniversary on 21st June 2012. Went out for lunch at Jarrod & Rawlins, Bangsar. Fancy place with nice food. Hubby bought me 2 pots of phalaenopsis orchids and a mini hi-fi system. 

Marissa also celebrated her 4th birthday at the ballet school - I didn't manage to take any pics using my camera but the celebration was captured by the photographer there. Still waiting for the pics! 

I baked a Hello Kitty ballerina cake for Marissa and ordered Hello Kitty macarons from Crumbs.

The children also completed their first term of Speech & Drama classes at KLPAC with a very good performance! Unfortunately I forgot the camera again and needless to say....am still waiting for the other mummies to upload their photos and videos on facebook. 

The children also started art classes at Joy Arts Club, The Strand Kota Damansara. I purchased a groupon for 1 month unlimited classes. Both are in the same class. The class starts off with a story telling followed by art/craft session related to the story. 

Looking forward to July : going to the MPO and Istana Budaya. Thinking of visiting KL Bird Park too..... oh and I need to redeem my Groupons (True Fitness one month unlimited gym entry and facials at Jean Yip One Utama). Probably will purchase a Groupon for fencing classes for Evan.....  and go for a complimentary couple photoshoot at Covershots....... and attend a few baking/cake decoration classes if time permits!

Cameron Highlands

We had a refreshing family holiday and church family camp up in the cool highlands of Camerons. Ate loads! First stop was breakfast at Ye Olde Smokehouse. Pricey but food was nice. Took lots of shots here. Scroll down to view!

We went sightseeing at Boh Tea Plantation and MARDI  - pics below:

Many strawberry farms here - we visited one of them. Free entry. Some farms even allow you to pick your own strawberries. Bought a box of strawberries and strawberry jam. Yeah - shopping like a tourist!

Another place we visited : Butterfly Farm. Not much butterflies though but they do have other insects and animals e.g. scorpions, spiders and snakes. Tickets cost RM5 per adult and RM2 per child.

The photo below was taken at Cameron Valley Tea Plantation. Breathtaking view here - better than Boh Tea Plantation. There's a cafe here selling cakes and drinks too. 

We also had meals at Lord's Cafe (Tanah Rata) - famous for their homemade chicken pie and buttery scones. Very reasonable pricing here.  Another recommended cafe is Uncle Chow's Kopitiam (Tanah Rata). I love their  homemade scones! We also had lunch at The Lakehouse (Ringlet) although the prices were ridiculously high..... because of the terrible traffic jam in Cameron Highlands on Agong's birthday! We couldn't get into Tanah Rata or Brinchang.Yikes!

Then our church family camp commenced at Chefoo Methodist Center Brinchang. The speaker was Bro. Steven Low who spoke on the theme : Keep the Fire Burning. I was deeply touched by God's word during the entire camp. The children had their own sessions at the camp - thanks to a volunteer family from another church who kept them occupied with loads of fun activities. The children even did a short performance on the last day of camp (see pic above). 

All in all, it was a relaxing break although it would have been perfect without the traffic jams! Note to self - no more going to Cameron Highlands on a public holiday or school holiday - and next time, splurge and stay at YTL's Cameron Highlands' Resort (perhaps for my 10th wedding anniversary?)

Kuali Cake Decorating Challenge 2012

Kuali organized its 2nd Cake Decorating Challenge recently at the atrium of Tropicana City Mall, PJ. I've heard about the challenge last year when I was just beginning to dabble in cake decorating. This year, Kuali had 2 different categories for the challenge : beginner/amateur and open/professional. 

I was unsure whether I should take part or not because it's kinda scary doing cake decorating in a mall with judges looking at you... not to mention all the onlookers! Yikes! Eventually, at the very last minute, I submitted my entry... 2 photos of my cake creations. A week later, I received an email from Kuali stating that I've been chosen as one of the 10 finalists of the challenge! They selected another 10 finalists for the open category as well. I also found out that there were over 90 people who submitted about 300 cake photos for the challenge! Wow! 

The theme for the beginners category was 'Sea World' while the open category was 'London Olympics'. Every finalist was also given a figurine related to the theme to replicate at home. The beginners had to replicate a leaping dolphin. I made a mermaid princess riding on a carriage pulled by a pair of dolphins for the cake topper. Anyway.... the cake was supposed to be a true blue color instead of the pastel blue.... cos the organizer didn't allow me to use my own blue color! That made me waste quite a lot of time just to color the fondant........ and it didn't turn out as blue as I wanted! Well.... that was the major mistake on my cake! Was disappointed that I didn't win although overall I must say it was a good learning experience (should have just used my blue fondant!). But I didn't return home empty handed that day - all finalists received a goody bag from the sponsors. 

I didn't bring my camera along that day so I pinched this photo from Kuali's Facebook album! Do I have what it takes to be a cake designer/sugar artist?

Sports Day 2012

The Malaysian Homeschooling Network group organized a Sports Day on 28th May 2012. Lots of hard work and effort went into organizing this event - kudos to the organizing committee! My two kids and I had a great time.

About a dozen stalls were set up by various families selling food, drinks, snacks and handicraft.

 The event kicked off with a pom-pom dance for the kids to warm up.

After that, the kids competed in various events and races. Marissa had to roll a huge ball and Evan had to use chopsticks to pick up sweets!

They both won silver medals for their team effort!

The kids had a tug-of-war towards the end of the program.