Blog hiatus of some sort

This year, I've found it hard to catch up with updating this blog.  Family activities and work that became more demanding were the culprits but I'm not complaining.  I'll still maintain this space and start some forms of backtracking once I get more time on my hands. 

My other social media accounts (FB and IG) are more up to date, head on over there if you're interested.

Here's our 2017 in photos.

6th birthday!

Reflections at Golden Sands Hotel, Penang

Sky cable at Langkawi

Chinese New Year weekend at Berjaya Hotel Langkawi

Celebration of Leaning at school

Reena's 12th birthday celebration

Singapore with family

 

Butterflyfarm visit

Weekend at Hatyai, Thailand.  Elephant camp.

Langkawi weekend with family

 

Mangrove tour, Langkawi

Swimming day

Grade 1 Top Scholar Awardee!

Hari Raya weekend at Malacca

Submarine museum, Malacca

The Great British Circus Show at Queensbay mall carpark

Anime convention at Penang

Lunch with all the kids :)

Kooza, Cirque de Soleil at Singapore

My breakfast birthday cake with Elmo, Universal Studios Singapore

Yayoi Kusama exhibit, National Gallery Singapore

Farewell dinner for Vishnu before he went to his university at Texas, Ferringhi Garden

My birthday weekend staycation, Rasa Sayang Hotel, Penang

Lito's Penang business trip

Fave dinner place, Sushi Tei Queensbay Mall

Deepavali family dinner, Nada Lama at Equatorial Hotel

Deeparaya school performance, Grade 2

Ravi's cousin's family visit, Deepavali.  Kek Lok Si temple

Miyao-Toki Factory Sale of Mikasa Dinnerware

Lots of design to choose from

Last month, I got a tip from a Penang expat FB group about a dinnerware factory sale. Apparently, the brand Mikasa houses their factory at Miyao-Toki (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd at Kulim, Kedah.  Since I was on the lookout for bowls, I took note of the weekend sale date and wazed ourselves to the address.

Sale items were actually those that didn't pass quality control (QC).   Tiny speck of black dots, very subtle paint smears, very small chips, minor deformities, etc caused plates/bowls/cups to be on the sale bin.  If not for the red marks around the defect area, it's quite difficult to see why it was tagged 'no good' (NG).  I buy dinnerware for everyday use, not to show it off only during special occasions, so these minor defects do not bother me at all.

I got a a pretty good haul of 5 big bowls (RM10 each) and 6 medium sized bowls (RM5 each).  Sarah chose one cup and saucer for her tea (party) set.  Ravi picked one big mug for himself.  Total cost was slightly over RM90, a fraction of the cost if I buy all those items in a mall!

When we reached home, I googled more about the Mikasa brand.  Their online site showed very expensive prices.  The RM5 bowl I picked up sells $39.99 each or RM177, while the RM10 bowl costs $59.99 or RM265!  Felt really proud of my bargain purchases =)

Next sale weekend is 19-22 May, 2017.  I've informed friends and colleagues about it and some are very interested to visit.  I've listed the factory address below.

Ravi picked one big coffee mug for himself

Fruit plates (RM6) and holiday plates (RM10)

Big serving plates (RM25) and clay pots (RM70)

She got busy choosing her tea party set

Lots of plate variety and prices (starts at RM4)

Big serving plates were also available

My RM10 bowl costs $59.99 or RM265!

While the RM5 bowl sells online for $39.99 or RM177!

This is the factory facade.

Miyao-Toki (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd
67, Loron Perusahaan 4, Kawasan Persusahaan Kulim, 0900 Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia

Reena's 12th birthday party

My stepdaughter Reena turned 12 years old last week.  She requested for a movie theme party at our apartment. I only had 2 days to prepare but it turned out pretty well, Reena said so herself :)

I made a movie ticket e-invite to send out to her friends.  Printed, cut up and decorated movie related items around the living room.  Ordered a simple movie themed cake from the neighborhood bakery, ordered pizza and sushi from delivereat.my.  Prepared several teen related games.  Cooked penne with a tomato/pesto cheesy sauce.  Stayed up very late Friday night to set up everything, all to ensure a nice, cozy party for our birthday celebrant.  

Happy birthday Reena girl!

Miyu, Reena, Sarah and Max

Pardon the bare table, the pizza and sushi haven't arrived yet =)
Reena and Sarah with Deborah and Jing Yi

Got this simple movie themed cake within 24 hours!  Yummy moist chocolate cake with a not-so-sweet cream frosting, RM120 from Jenny's Cakeshop.

Right after she blew her birthday candles 

Reena's e-invite for her friends

Happiest birthday Reena!!!

Another day at Monkey Beach

Sarah and I took a roundtrip boat ride from Taman Negara Pulau Pinang to Monkey Beach last Sunday.  No hiking for me until my right toe broken bone completely heals (I have another late post on that!).

There were several friends who hiked from the main park entrance, stopped briefly at  Monkey Beach to rest and meet us before they continued on to a lighthouse further up the trail.

I was content to laze around the free plastic chairs scattered around the beach front with a small book and some gentle sea breeze. Sarah busied herself with rope swinging, swimming in the shore, horse back riding and exploring the beach side.

It was a very nice 3 hour beach stay.  Sometimes it's easy to forget that we live in an island, with good enough beaches just nearby.   My little monkey wants more of you Monkey Beach, we'll see more of you for sure.

Swinging away at Monkey Beach

Waiting for our boat ride

It's a hat day too!

Lazing around 

There were several swings along the beach for kids and kids at heart.

Trying to catch small fish

There was a small stream from the forest which leads to the sea.  She had fun playing on that strip.

Horsing on the beach with Antwa, the horse.

Time to head back about 1:30pm

Friends from Broadcom, Intel and Tessolve.