Manson's Little Mansion

Godparenting #1 - Chinese New Year shopping

2012-01-23T01:51:00.002+08:00

Last year, I made a resolution on my birthday. Instead of wishing something for myself, I wished that hub and I may fulfill a good cause: to be godparents to my nieces RK1 and RK2.

This decision was made after a deep consideration on my sister EK's physical condition - A widow, sole breadwinner in the family, and recently doctor found out her glucose is way off from normal. In short, she's not too well.

I made the 1st move by inviting RK2 to stay with us during Christmas holidays when my SILs came back for family gathering and stayed with us with the rest of Manson grandkids. RK2 enjoyed herself so much she looks forward to stay overnight with us since then.

It's Chinese New Year, so I offered to buy them new clothing for the 1st time. RK1 and RK2 absolutely enjoyed their shopping experience, and they both get to choose their own clothing.

From left: RK2 (age:8) and RK1 (age:14)

Hub commented why RK1's dress so short? Well, that's suppose to go with a black legging, dear.

RK1 got another blouse to match with a black legging

(She desperately wanted to change her 12yo wardrobe so now she finally got some mature-looking clothing that suit her age)

Money just cannot buy the happiness of my little sweethearts.

I am pleased RK1 & RK2 spent wisely and it was within my budget set too.

There shall be more happy moments in my life with these kiddos, I'm sure, and this is just the beginning of it.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year. May the year of dragon brings you energetic, exciting and great prosperity in life.

Baby sister's birthday dinner

2012-01-21T11:59:00.002+08:00

Papa, JV, EK, Me, BM

B, thanks for the birthday dinner last night. It was a great meal.

Here's to you, my baby sister

2012-01-20T16:06:00.002+08:00

To my dearest sister - BM,

I wanted to tell you how much I love you and since today is your birthday, I wanted to shout it out loud to the whole cyber world. You see, you were such a cheeky kid before and you used to drive me nuts.

Even now, you're still the same cheeky one except you've grown up and you're enjoying a good life, married a wonderful man and have a successful career. And I always love you because God has sent me a fabulous baby sister. How can I complain?

If you don't mind, here's how your cheeky face look like:-

Then: Our beautiful late mom, nephew BW, You, nephew GW

Now: You - Married and still cheeky

Please don't be mad at me because you deserve to be praised. And in case if anyone ask me what my pretty baby sister is doing right now: My gorgeous sister is a make-up artist and you can check her out here.

God bless you always, BM.

Have you got a baby dragon yet?

2012-01-19T14:11:00.000+08:00

Hello everybody! Happy New Year 2012! Oh how I miss my blog journal… Hope you all are well dearies.

This year (2012) is my auspicious year – The year of Dragon. *Rooooar* Chinese generally believe the year of dragon is an auspicious year. Since Chinese New Year is just around the corner, I'm more or less officially entering the 3^rd cycle of the year of dragon. Am I that obvious in revealing my age? Oh gee, my hair has already started betraying me if you know what I mean. *wink*

Many of my friends and relatives are planning to get a baby “dragon” this year. Some are confirmed and some have arrived. How about you married ones out there? As for me and hubby, we decided to have an "express baby dragon" asked for my niece RK to be our goddaughter.

This lovely girl RK has very special relationship with us, or rather me especially. When my sister EK gave birth to her 7 years ago, My late brother-in-law asked me to enter the labour room to accompany my sister instead of him. He said he was not ready to witness natural birth process. Being single at that time, I braved myself and my inner motherly instinct took over. I witnessed the whole delivery process (and I practically cheered EK to breath in and out till the baby came out). The gynaecologist was impressed with what I had done to help a smooth delivery she thought I must have got many kids. I had the privilege to cut baby’s umbilical cord and welcome the baby. What a joy!

Sadly, baby RK hardly know her father. She was 2 months old when her father passed away. Praise the Lord for His kindness. Such sadness quickly came with a blessing in disguise. Soon I was introduced to hubby RM. It was my mother-in-law who spotted me after the funeral and decided to introduce her son to me. We exchanged text, chat, met and immediately clicked and started courting. Baby RK was the reason we spent time together and eventually tied a knot. Isn't it a coincidence their names start from the same alphabet too?

Photo courtesy from Ms Kristy Tony taken during Christmas gathering 2011 at Aunt Juliana Michael-Makajil Residence. Hubby RM, "express baby dragon" RK & me

I’m having a great year to start with and I hope this year will be a great for you all too.

My boys: Dibo & Husky

2011-08-11T00:34:00.000+08:00

Recently my blog writing has come to stagnant. I've been very much in a "doggy mom" mood for my boys: Dibo & Husky. I'm loving being a pup momma, what can I say?

Back in six months ago, hubby and I adopted these puppies -- Bandit Bambangan a.k.a. Dibo and Husky Hinava. Day by day we watched them grow -- from puppies to teenage pups, and now they're growing real fast into becoming adult dogs.

We don't have any kids yet. So naturally our parenting love goes to these pups. Just like any mom and dad, we often spoil our "children". Hubby and I often would sneak to the back of kitchen just to check on the "kiddos" if they're doing fine, or watch them sleep for a while and be content that they're growing well. To discipline them, we learn to observe their behavior and we watch Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer to be a pack leader.

Now, at eight months old, we're yet to determine their breed type. They're turning "teenage" and grow larger in size. They've also started to know neighbor "female" friends.

Me and my boys. Husky loves giving me kisses :)

Left-Upper Right: Husky, Dibo

The pups asking for food from their pup poppa.

They love to eat and will do anything for food especially Husky.

To date: High jump reaches 4 feet.

Time flies and I missed their childhood when I can just carry them in my arms. Now they can punch me in my tummy and do "flying kiss" where they'll jump as high as they can to lick my face.

Well, we know we better move on and continue our home improvement projects that we've delayed for long time. Hopefully we can have our house warming and blessing done this coming December, and me and my boys will celebrate our birthdays together.

Photos: Thanks to my sister - Jenny & BIL - Ken Min. :)

Today's blessing :)

2011-07-10T20:55:00.001+08:00

Be humble. Trust always and a great deal in divine Providence; never never must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite contrary winds. I say it again: trust in God and Mary Immaculate; be faithful and forge ahead!

- Saint Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (1865-1942)

Happy Sunday everyone. :)

Daily Blessing

2011-07-06T13:12:00.000+08:00

I constantly need spiritual boost. And the simple, inspiring quotes from the saints of Daily Blessing recharge me every time. Just to share with you, I love today's email which reads:

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous,
teach me to serve You as You deserve:
to give and not count the cost,
to fight and not heed the wound,
to toil and not seek rest,
to labor and not seek reward,
save that of feeling that I do Your will.
- Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Amen.

Hope your day will be blessed with abundant positivity too. Have a blessed Wednesday.

Dream Green Sofa

2011-07-04T16:22:00.004+08:00

This looks like my kind of dream sofa... Inspiration from BHG

Our current sofa set has pink covers sewn by my MIL.

No offence, mommy, but I'm not the girly-pink-fancy kind of girl.

Tadau Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) - 30th & 31st May 2011

2011-06-11T19:09:00.000+08:00

Hey friends! Have I gone M.I.A in May? Well here's what I've been up to for my buzzing month of May. :)

Since last year, I started helping my MIL and her partners run their "cafe lounge" business in KDCA. They won the bid on a cultural house named Walai Ranau, which literally means House of Ranau. It's a wooden little house raised up and with high roof shed. I was hired as cashier cum book-keeper. It was quiet fun for a family and friends business.

We started operating business since 16/5/2011 and ended on 31/5/2011. During the last 2 days -- the peak of Harvest Festival celebration turned out really crazy this year. The crowd, whether local or tourists would hang out in the cultural village till wee hours, drunk and some even refused to go home. The weather was humid, with no rain for few days, for that we sold lots of mineral water, isotonic drinks, soft drinks and beers. My MIL would cook some pusas, some snacks for customers to eat while drinking. Budweiser beers were particularly in good sales though, and I became the "Buddy" girl whom customers kept coming back to buy Budweiser beers from me. Ha!

Super duper hot hot sunny day. My job was to set up my stall and wait for thirsty people to come.

Ha! You got me sis. :) There were times I was so bored I kept texting with hubby and others. Don't have a smartphone, so I didn't have my angry bird game with me to kill time.

Young pretty ladies of Walai Ranau performed a cool traditional dance with their full costumes on.

Pictures courtesy from SIL Rose Mary Thaddeus Manson. Thanks sis! :)

Weekend Makeup Makeover

2011-04-25T22:19:00.000+08:00

My sister Bibiana has just completed her course in professional makeup. She came over to my place with nieces Rowena and Rosanna for little weekend makeover project. Here are some of my favorite shots with hubby's Nikon D60:-

How did you like the makeover? I love it! Bibiana was so inspired she started blogging too. To know more about Bibiana's inspiration in makeup, you can check out The Little Beauty ~ Makeup Journal.

Bringing pups to vet for jebs

2011-03-06T18:08:00.000+08:00

This morning Dibo and Husky were scheduled for 2nd vaccination. But it was my 1st time taking them to the vet accompanied by my sister Bibiana. Pretty nervous though for what's unexpected but surprisingly they were super steady and cool! No crying when they took the jebs which makes this proud pup momma so happy.

This is how behaved they were when waiting for their turn outside the vet clinic on a sunny Sunday. Oh, and they enjoyed riding in my car with no messing around. That's my boys. :)

YouTube - earthhour's Channel

2011-03-02T22:49:00.001+08:00

Hey earth links, let's celebrate Earth Hour. :)

I used to wonder how life would be without our lovely home called earth. We realised our efforts to save energy for 1 hour does make great impact to the whole world, not just slightly lower electricity bill.

Hub and I have pledged to participate in Earth Hour and turn the lights off for 1 hour. How about you?

New valentines - Pups

2011-02-15T00:10:00.004+08:00

Hi all! It's now passed Valentine's day. How have you spent time with your loved ones? As for me and hubby, this year's celebration top up with new love -- pups. My brother Canny reluctantly gave away these pups because he didn't have the time and space for them. So, they came to our house. :)

Pup #1 - Bandit Bambangan @ Dibo
Dibo is fun, playful and a big eater. He's got a beautiful and unique feature that my sis Bibi, a makeup stylist said as if he had drawn eye liner on his eyes. Cute! :)

Pup #2 - Husky Hinava @ Hushky-Boy
Husky's like a lion or huskyish. Cute huh? :)

They definitely have lighten up our lives and will keep us busy from now on. :)

Organise my Home office

2011-02-05T01:12:00.002+08:00

Yeay! I de-cluttered my work desk. :)

These bills and receipts were accumulated since last year. Imagine that's how long I've been "taking my sweet time". So now I've aimed to sort out what's in this basket and get to do filing.

I created categories and labeled the shoe boxes. This makes it easier for me to set up filing later.

My little office companion -- Jumbo, happily sitting in my pen holder.

Once receipts are cleared, I found myself a cute rattan basket for small items. Nice!

Here goes the bills and receipts to respective categories and get sorted out, ready to be filed. Those unnecessary papers would be either reused on the blank side or dispose off.

I was too embarrased to show you the "before" desk condition but am now happy to share with you my "after" effect of home office organise.

Fortune cookie

2011-02-05T00:32:00.002+08:00

My little niece, Rosanna gave me a fortune cookie. The little note stuffed inside the cookie reads:

"Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought"

Oh wow! To live life and simplify. That's exactly what I need. I'm yet to improve my time management at home because I kept postponing my home projects.

So no more lazy bum taking sweet time. I'm starting my 1st project -- Organise my home office.

I've done google search on "How to organise home office". I'm so glad that there are many tips available on the internet. Some bloggers even shared their inspirations on home organise. One of my favorite blogs is Chez Larsson. Benita is truly my inspiration to be happy living in our own home and make it lovely and comfy.

So action time! Till I update my progress. :)

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-01T19:00:00.004+08:00

For those of you who celebrates Chinese New Year -- Gong Xi Fa Cai!

I started this year with lots of good arrangements. Praise the Lord. :)

I've not only joined a good company, have a good team mates at work, and we've been having lots of fun at work and outside of work.

At home, our new house is taking its shape, feeling more homey, although I've still got lots to sort out. I'm taking comfy steps to make things work now. Really looking forward to exercise my creative mind for home makeover and craft projects, so I can share with you all here. :)

May the year of rabbit brings you the best of luck and even greater joy, prosperity and happiness. Cheers!

* Pics from sources

Chez Larsson: Green

2011-01-18T00:07:00.001+08:00

Where can I get the green elephant fabric? Anybody. Check out here's to Chez Larsson: Green to my new inspiration.

My favorite theme colour. Thanks Benita.

Cookie Momster

2011-01-17T23:51:00.001+08:00

My sister-in-law Florence wanted to bake some cookies for Christmas. She kind of got a recipe in her head to try out and so we did. First badge was an experiment and it tasted bitter. Too much baking soda. So we tried and tried until we perfected the recipe to our taste.

Yum! Yum!

So come this Chinese New Year, I might just bake my own cookies instead of buying. It's getting real pricey buying Chinese New Year cookies nowadays. Thanks sis for the recipe!

Be inspired!

2011-01-17T23:41:00.003+08:00

I've made my new year resolution. I want to be inspired and get jazzed up in my daily life. Although I may have started it a little slow but it's better than never.

Here's my two adorable nephew and niece -- Luke Arthur and Lavanya Claire. I had great Christmas holidays with my sister-in-laws and their kiddos to sum up a good year.

They are my inspiration to be happy in life.

Goodbye 2010. Hello 2011!

2011-01-14T01:42:00.000+08:00

2010 was a year of many changes for me.

Hubby and I achieved our greatest goal -- We finally owned a house and moved-in in August 2010.

Then, I quit my job. I decided that I wanted a totally different position and I found a job that helps me slowly adjusting my mind to "unwind" from hectic schedule and stressful work environment.

I've found great peace of mind reading Unclutterer and Zen habits. I also subscribe to read some of my favorite blogs through Google Reader for daily blog reading. My interest is into crafty blogs, home decor, home organising, cooking, baking, and parenting. My daily must-read is Chez Larsson. Benita is my mentor in home organising, craft and creative thinking.

So goodbye 2010. And HELLO gorgeous in 2011! I'm excited to draw out my plans and carry out in this year which I'll share with you next time.

As we move on, I hope you'll have a great year ahead too.

Happy birthday to me!

2010-12-28T13:54:00.001+08:00

Picture source

Happy birthday to me! I've just celebrated my 34th birthday on Boxing day - 26.12.2010

I've been so busy with Christmas: Assisting my MIL in hosting Chritsmas lunch, invited carolers to dine with us, Christmas gifts shopping, etc.

My life is truly turning into a "green" leaf. This year 2010, is such an exciting and fruitful year for me and hubby. I'm thankful to God for His wonderful protection and blessings to me and my family.

I'm so so bliss.

Thank you and love you all.

Stewed chicken feet

2010-11-17T16:44:00.006+08:00

Last Sunday, hubby decided to set me a cooking challenge.

He drove me to Lido wet market, went straight to a chicken seller
and grabbed a bag of chicken feet.

Ok dear, so I got the message -- he wanted to eat stewed chicken feet.

That's quiet a challenge! Cause I've never cooked it before.

Of course I was panicked for a second, but thanks to Google search.

We did research from how to prepare chicken feet for cooking,

to how to cook stewed chicken feet.

Plenty of tips available! So we did the experimental version.

It was a success! Yummy~ ^^V

Rosanna's 6th birthday party

2010-11-07T01:38:00.000+08:00

Remember I did a special DIY project for Rosanna's birthday?

Well, it turned out to be the most memorable birthday for her. I'm so so happy for her

I didn't manage to keep a copy of the card for myself cause all were given away.

Rosanna asked her mom if she could bake a birthday cake for her to bring to school.

Even though Evelyn may not be good in baking, but she did it anyway.

Her talent as a seamstress has turned the cake decor beautifully with

pink polka dots ribbon tied around it.

Lovely!

Rosanna happily received birthday gifts from her friends.

Evelyn told me that a week before, Rosanna distributed her birthday invitation cards.

On that day, all her little friends turned up and brought her birthday gifts.

She was thrilled! Who wouldn't? :)

Hand washing time! They all lined up to the washroom to clean up before meal.

Cheeky Rosanna still get to play a little with her little friends.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6 candles. Now she's 6 years old.

How time flies! This little girl is growing up so fast. Unbelievable. ^^

They all said Grace before meal.

May God bless this little lovely angel and make her wishes come true. :)

Alrighty! Candle blowing time. Everybody sing "Happy birthday to you..."

Yoohoo! Happy birthday Rosanna Ku.

Aunty Jumbo loves you much! :)

Rosanna and her mom, my elder sister -- Evelyn

Pictures courtesy from sis JennyReo n hubby Ken Min.

(Thanks for making time to attend Mei's birthday party)

The Manson family

2010-11-03T22:56:00.002+08:00

Here's to my super fantastic hubby and his family. Thanks for making me part of your family. I love you so much. It is amazing how God has sent me a great lover, now husband and his loving family.

The Manson family: FIL, RM, MIL, F, R, C

Oh, look at my hubby, isn't he cute??? He's still my cute guy now. ;)

The Manson siblings: C, R, RM, F

On the day we became Mr. and Mrs. Manson. Like it just happened yesterday...

We had a family reunion for relatives from my father in law- The Wong Loong Clan on 23/10/2010. Whole family attended. MIL was the caterer for the event catered for about 800 people. RM arrived from Sipitang with her children: I, H and A. Sadly, her hubby F had to go offshore to work. :( F, her hubby S, and daughter, little L flew back from Kuala Lumpur. C brought all the daughters: Au, As and An.

The kiddos. All are growing up so fast!

Before all have to return to their respective homes, we had a family gathering - Bbq dinner.

We also celebrated lil L's 3rd birthday in advance.

Happy birthday lil L :)

It was really nice to have the whole family gather in our "little mansion".

R and I missed all the laughters and fun we've had. Can't wait to see them again during Christmas soon.

May God bless our family. XOXO :)

*Pictures from Manson family photo archive, RM, MV

Heyoo!

2010-10-13T22:13:00.001+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

Wow... It's been like ages since I have so many things and changes in my life. Deadlines, house moving and change of job. Yes, peeps, I made a very daring choice in exchange for more personal freedom. I'm glad I've made it. Thanks to all those who have supported me in my idea. Changes are good. :)

Back to my our mansion. We've not done much to fix the house yet and everything was still in a mess, waiting to be sorted out. My MIL's kitchenwares were left unattended because we're yet to get storage shelving sorted out.

Till then. Take care and God bless!

Yours truly,
Penny Manson

Who wants some vanilla ice cream?

2010-09-14T10:11:00.006+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

Do you know what this UFO-like thing is? Well, that's my mini ice cream maker. Hee! :)

I've long thought about how nice it would be that when we move into our "mansion", I can do lots of desserts and enjoy at home. So when we finally got our refrigerator (after almost 2 years of living without one), last night was "the" night to make some home made desserts while watching Crime Scene Investigation (CSI): New York at Channel AXN.

The recipe was very simple given by a kind lady, named Grace, who sold me this cute gadgy at mudah.com.my. You can check here for more details. Grace also gave a copy of her English translated ice cream recipes which are super easy to make. I chose to make the simplest recipe -- Vanilla ice cream.

Recipe?

1 can of NESTLE cream (approx. 300g)

1 small can of condensed milk (approx. 400g)

2 tsp of vanilla extract

Mixed all the ingredients with my fantastic kitchen assistant's help -- PHILIPS food processor, then poured into mini icey-creamy maker before patiently waiting for it to set.

I wished I could tell you how it taste like. But the chilling and hardening process took longer than I expected. I started making the mix at 10PM last night, and by 1AM, then only it started to get hardened. The reason? Yeah, I kept it at the fridge, instead of freezer, which was suggested by hubby in the 1st place.

Okay, my mistake. But mistakes are meant to be made so more ice creams can be made, right? ;)

I shall reveal the answer by this evening. So anyone wants to be my "food tester"? :)

p/s: I've also made mango pudding last night, but I'll save your appetite for next post. ;)

Penny Manson

Kuih cempedak (Cempedak fritters)

2010-09-12T02:21:00.003+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

I know I should be updating on the house move and the condition as requested (by some of you). Honestly house moving was really, really tiring. Since we've moved into our lovely home on 29 Aug, we've been sleeping like dead logs. So, so tired. Anyway, as I settled down with our home, I'll continue to update, I promise. :)

I want to share with you my exciting experiment in making kuih cempedak. I've checked on Wikipedia, there's no English name to this fruit -- Cempedak. All that's known is that Cempedak is a cousin of Jackfruit a.k.a. Nangka. Well, it was given to me by my mother in law. She asked me make sure to eat it. Since I've got some baking ingredients, my initial thought was to bake a cempedak cake. But hubby kept begging for kuih cempedak (fritters), so ok lah, I'd fry them all.

The Jackfruit's cousin, once ripen, has a strong smell and unique taste -- honey creamy, aromatic, and super sweet! Really is best to make kuih cempedak. I did my own batter and it turned of so crispy and yummy! Even hubby agreed. Yeay! :)

My jackfruit's cuzzies all soaked in the batter ready to go for a hot oil bath. ;)

Low heat fry using sun flower cooking oil, the kuih was slowly fried to golden yellow and the unique aroma even attracted hubby to enter kitchen for a peep.

Tadaa! Yummilicious!

Look at that... It taste soooo heavenly... :)

This is what was left after I fried the kuih. Sorry, no "before" picture. ;P

In case if you're curious on what I've done to the batter, I did my own batter mix (approx. measurement) using the following:

1 cup of self-raising flour
1tbs of sugar (It's just to give some sweetness to the batter, the fruit itself is very sweet)
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup of milk (I only have evaporated milk, so I used that)
some water (adjust the batter mix until it becomes smooth thick cream
Cooking oil to fry
Just soak the fruits in the batter and fry

Wow wee! The kuih is so crispy, after some hours still remained crispy. Now, I just don't understand why would some selfish, inconsiderate vendors want to add plastic straws to make their kuih taste crispy and hope to sell more for profit but risk others' health!? Bottom line: Home cook food is the best!

Penny Manson

Signage for Margaret's Passion

2010-08-19T14:52:00.006+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

In preparation for setting up a flea market stall for Margaret's Passion at Megalong @ Mega Long Shopping Complex last weekend (14th & 15th Aug 2010), my responsibility was to design an interesting signage for our stall.

Since Evelyn is a seamstress, I went digging at her shop looking for some ideas for our signage on the eve of the event. I grabbed almost all her collections of buttons, ribbons, beads and stuff.

Then just when I was about to start, there was a blackout from 7pm until 11:30pm. Arrggh! What a bummer... Anyhow, I started almost 12 midnight and finished my design at 4am.

At 12am, I was still thinking, and the board was still blank.

But hubby was already sweet dreaming away...

Then at 1am, ideas started popping out and design started to appear... Yeay...

By 2am, more ideas bursting out from my head... The signage is finally taking to its shape...

Isn't it gorgeous? :) Especially when it's done by hand... I'm loving it now... :)

Found these lovely buttons to light up the signage... Cute!

Tadaa! Here's our signage. It's done! :)

I couldn't believe that it's done! And it was already 4am! I need to go to bed...

Ha....... :) I'm so, so happy that my job is finally done. Despite only slept for 3 hours, I was dragging myself like a zombie for the rest of the day, still, it was a great outing with the sisters, good job to myself!

I'm so pleased that the signage has attracted many to come forward and look at our stuff. One lady even gave me compliment for the beautiful, cute and sweet signage! Teehee!! :)

So when is our next date to participate for flea market? Let me settle with my house moving, I'll then talk about it. ;)

Cheers everybody!

Penny Manson

No more deadlines, please

2010-08-09T11:10:00.001+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

I've been super occupied with these list of things piling up waiting to be done:-

Work - deadline: No deadlines, only instant
Wong Loong Family Tree update - deadline: 15 Aug 2010
Home Reno - deadline: 15 Aug 2010
Home moving - deadline: 29 Aug 2010
Little sister's pre-wedding (Makan Pitas) - deadline: 31 Aug 2010
Little sister's church wedding preparation - deadline: 17 Sep 2010

At times I thought my head just can't cope with so many things at a time, but thank God, I'm still alive! Ha!

My great way for a-get-away from hectic thoughts is to think of moving into our new home soon. My mind can just start unwind and calm down. Exactly, this would be my, no, it's "our", me and hubby's comfort zone, our nest, our little mansion for us to settle down as a family. Ha... Isn't this every little woman's dream for happiness? When I think of my happiness, our home, I can just smile and dream away a little, and think no deadlines... :)

Here's a peek of my inspiration on my art craft project search for DIYs:

Look at what I've found! More pennies for my thoughts! Geez! ;P

Picture via Re-Nest

What an amazing and beautiful craft work! Since the Bank Negara Malaysia has discontinued the use of one cent, I thought this would be a brilliant idea I can make out from my collection. You can read further here.

Okie dokie. I'm chucking my Monday blues away for more happy thoughts. Hope you all have a great week ahead. God bless you all! :)

Penny Manson

DIY Birthday invitation card for Rosanna Ku

2010-07-16T10:07:00.004+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

Remember my niece Lil' Rosanna? Or we would call her Mei-Mei (The little girl) in the family.

Mei-Mei with her birdie eyes

Well, it's her birthday coming. She's celebrating her birthday on Monday, 19 July 2010 at school during school recess. She has asked her mom for a "homemade" birthday cake so she could bring to school. And my job? It's to design her birthday invitation cards for her little friends and teachers at school.

Mei-Mei and Uncle McD at Kingfisher, Likas

Mei-Mei is turning 6 this year. Since she loves Disney characters so much, especially Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, I've decided to design her invitation card with the theme she loves most. :)

I stumbled on a fantastic website that creates Mickey and Minnie invitation cards for sale from Lisa's handmade invitation cards. Since it's impossible for me to order from Lisa, I decided to do my own version of DIY birthday card for Mei-Mei. There was no tutorials in Lisa's website, so I used whatever materials available for me.

My mouse head pattern cut out according to size and shape

FYI, I only spent less than MYR10 to make 40 cards. It's for a quick do and totally low budget DIY project. Of course it's done with patience and lots of love for my little niece. ;) I used art papers (for mouse head and content of card), manila cards (to add extra colours), plastic buttons and fabric ribbon for card accessories. Managed to make 40 cards for her.

Partially done product

Mei-Mei carefully check on her name list and wrote each name with care

Mei-Mei has invited 22 little classmates, and 13 teachers in her kindergarten. She personally wrote all the names on the invitation cards all by herself. Took her awhile though to complete the loooong name list, with a couple breaks in between to stretch her little fingers and continued her beautiful writing. I was so moved by the big efforts she has made, and I think that's so, so cute!

** Hi! thanks for following up on Rosanna's story. Here's to catch up with what happened on Rosanna's birthday. Enjoy!

Penny Manson

My home office - Part 1

2010-07-10T13:44:00.004+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

Today I officially started my home office project from a very humble beginning. As you can see my home office has only a desk and chair and that's totally okay.

The desk is a give-away from my boss (Mr. Fang) which I love! The chair? It's only temporary, found it somewhere at a corner of my house. I've already got a kind donor (My lovely sista -- Jenny) who is giving me not one but two! (Yoohoo!) executive chairs. So it's going to be a 'He" and "She" exec chairs soon.

I totally don't mind the "bumps and bruises" of the furnitures at all. I've seen bloggers actually "revived" some old furnitures and they look even more gorgeous than their "previous life". I'm loving the idea of "giving life to used items". And in support to "green" idea, hubby and I will not buy anything new unless necessary.

So what kind of home office I have in mind? Nothing fancy, all must be practical. Here's what I discovered from Design*Sponge, they featured some of my faves and fantastic ideas I think I can accomplish.

The simple shelving... (Image via Design*Sponge)

My ideal look of a work station... (Image via Design*Sponge)

The green wall... (Image via Design*Sponge)

The little pegline thingy... (Image via Design*Sponge)

Alright. I'm hanging on there to my thoughts until I put these ideas up. Meanwhile, hope you all enjoy my likings. For more ideas, you may check this place out! :)

Have a superb weekend, dearies!

Penny Manson

Home Office Storage on a Dime!

2010-07-08T15:37:00.000+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

Well, I've long been thinking about having my own home office. So when we purchased our house, I've specifically requested a room for "our" home office. Yes! It's been approved by my director -- hubby. Yeay!

I came across an interesting headline from BHG.com and found many lovely ideas. How nice if we can always spend very minimum cash to do beautiful makeovers to our house. Just a little sneak peek, here's some of my favorite decor ideas.

(pictures extracted from BHG.com) Check this out! for more ideas.

To some of you, maybe you've been dreaming of having your own office or workstation someday. Let's spare some time to create our comfy space for our own business. When mine is done, will update you soon. ;)

Have a great day!

Penny Manson

Do-it-yourself (I can do it!) Steel can lanterns

2010-07-08T13:00:00.019+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

We had a wet kitchen extension -- 20' x 25'. It's huge, huge enough to allow my MIL to cook and serve guests of say 50 people at once I think. My Director-of-the-Mansion a.k.a. hubby has requested a little "Man's corner @ Mini bar" and I've allowed that. Weehee! This means I can organise my girlies' drinking session at home too! Huhu~

I know this picture hardly shows the kitchen area because now it's still under reno and the place was dark with bright sunny shining in. The allocated "Mini Bar" corner is on the left of this pic. I can't wait to start my own decor soon.

Anyway, my idea for our mini bar would be rustic, if possible build one with salvaged planks for the counter top and put up cozy lightings to compliment the atmosphere. I'd love to have these steel can lanterns to spice up the atmosphere. They look so lovely and romantic and not difficult to make.

* Picture extracted from Design*Sponge.

Thanks Karen @ Maggie Makes for the great idea & Kate @ Design*Sponge for sharing it

Moreover, I love the energy saving idea. ;) So if you're ready to grab a hammer for knock-knock, go check it out!

Okay, and if anyone have empty coffee cans that I can salvage, do let me know, ya? ;P

Have a great day!

Penny Manson

House Cleaning #1 (Repost from 28/6/2010)

2010-07-07T16:54:00.004+08:00

Greetings! Kopivosian!

I dunno what I've done, I just lost the previous post. He're I'm re-posting my house cleaning progress again. (Jangan marah, ya :)

Last weekend, I've decided to take a day off from work to sort out my own stuff. One of the things I'm yet to start is cleaning our new house. After the paint job done by Hans (our part time paint guy), he left paint stains everywhere around the floor lace. So hubby and I started cleaning the lace around Bedroom 2, at upstairs. While chatting, I decided to clean the switches. Without realizing the effect of my hard scrubbing, my hubby was totally amazed with the result.

Look at my hardworking hubby concentrating on his floor lace scrapping and scrubbing.

I've used a simple cleaning solution with these items: Flat scrapper, scrub pad, cleaning towel, AMWAY L.O.C. multi-purpose cleaner -- my best cleaning buddy. Love using it, since it's gentle to my sensitive skin, and won't cause skin irritation. I pressed 2 droplets into a pail with half water full and did my cleaning for the next 4 hours.

This is how I did it. Photos were self taken using my Sony Ericsson K530i.

Wipe clean the surface of the switch and start scrapping the paint stain on the surface. Some paint stains are freshly done by Hans, but when I started scrapping harder, the old paint stains surfaced.

At some stage, stubborn stains were so difficult to remove. I had to use all my finger strength to scrub until it look clean and shiny.

Here's how one of the switches looked like: Dirty, old-looking, with stubborn paint stain. A once cleaning dummy (of me) never thought that we could save ourselves some bucks from replacing the switches until I cleaned them.

Tadaa! The secret of reviving the dirty old-looking switch -- Is to use the items I've just mentioned and scrub with love and patiently.

Talking about patience, my hubby has since assigned me to clean the rest of existing switches, the total 28 nos. So far 19 were scrubbed, 8 more switches to go. Yeay! :)

p/s: It's very tiring, but it's worth the efforts! Every cleaning comes with a good meal as a reward. :)

Penny Manson

2010-06-14T13:39:00.005+08:00

THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BOBBY & BOY

Last Sunday, I went to Papa's house for lepakking when hubby's not around.

Look what scenario I found? Whenever BB is not in, Bobby will go to Boy. Bobby was willing to move to the max to get closer to Boy. How lovely...

I don't know why is that that they always have love-hate moments:-

If BB's around: Boy bullies Bobby, Bobby barks at Boy, Boy get scolded by BB.

If BB's not in: Bobby gets attached with Boy. If Boy bullies Bobby, Bobby don't mind... But wait until his mommy comes home...

I guess Bobby just want to be loved...

2010-06-14T13:24:00.004+08:00

KOPI & ROTI

Recently I've been thinking about removing my earthly attachments. One of them is my everyday mood booster -- Teh-C.

Or should I blame my papa for grooming me to be a tea drinker? Ever since I could remember since 2 or 3 years old, papa always take me to Inanam kopitiam for breakfast. We'd share the same cup of tea, and he poured some into a saucer to let me sip slowly. Now, we'd have 1.5 cup of tea sometimes. First, we order 1 cup each, then when finished, order another cup again to share with each other, half-half.

So that's 30 years of tea drinking, and particularly Teh-C, and the never-can-forget "yamcha" experience with my papa.

Today I've decided to give a try of kopi instead. There's Borneo 1945 Museum Kopitiam around my office area. Tried the Borneo white coffee and set of toast. Kopi is aromatic, but I wished it was hotter so I can sip the kopi while it's still hot. Kaya butter toast is at average.

So where else can I enjoy a nice cuppa? Please let me know, I shall tag my cuzzie Celine along. ;)

p/s: The original toast was supposed to be round, the picture you saw was taken only after I've had some bites. So hopefully no query on the size of toast ya. :P

2010-06-11T17:13:00.007+08:00

Home Sweet Homie!

Oh I'm so so excited that finally we're moving in to our new house soon!

Home reno is progressing very smoothly.

I'm yet to jot down the progress and share with you. Will update our house progress soon kio!

Best regards,
Penny

2010-02-05T12:11:00.008+08:00

MY BUDDY

This picture was taken on my wedding reception 30.12.2006 at Dewan Tun Fuad Stephen

(L-R) Pang Zhen Hui, Me, Sharon Liew, Heather Sario

Have you ever wonder how many childhood friends you can keep in touch for life?

Heather Sario, a friend whom I've met since I was 8 and she was only 5. We both came from different family background, yet we became buddies to each other and still is today. We used to say that we'll be buddies till we grow old (Thanks to Glen Nettle's buddy system, very long story to cut short) Now, we've been friends for 25 years... Gosh, Heather! We've just hit our silver anniversary for our long-running friendship! Definitely must celebrate this. ;)

On Tuesday (2.2.2010) Aunt Joanne Sario called to ask for our confirmation to Heather's wedding reception. Though I was still waiting to receive the invitation card through my sis Jenny, But OF COURSE i'll be attending my BFF's wedding!

So tonight is the night! Can't wait to have dinner with her, and listen to her love story with hubby-to-be, Chef William Mahi. Of course lots of updates to catch up with what's happening in KK: friends, family, life, married life (Obviously she's joining the club soon)

At first, I wasn't sure if she'd be okay to dine at kopitiam style restaurant, but what this city girl prefers is to be comfy with "hometown" atmosphere. I took her to Kim Fah (Beaufort) Restaurant next to Wong Kwok Restaurant. My hubby discovered this blogger's recommendation and we tried it before. We ordered Asam fish belly, sayur manis with belacan, and triple flavour pork ribs. This pretty foodie really misses the local taste so much, kesian..

I'm so happy that she's getting married soon. Thank God for making us a buddy match. We still enjoy that "special buddy" relationship till now.

My best wishes for her happy, happy married life to come n many, many more cutie kiddos to come!
I love you, BFF! XOXOXOXO

p.s. Dear, sa to ko ndak jeles jgk kan?? Tangkiu! :* :)

2010-02-02T23:53:00.011+08:00

Finally! We have a place to call
"Hamin Dagai" (Our Home)

Well, it's not exactly that we didn't have a home before this, but because this was the 1st house we bought, so both hubby n I are super excited about it. In fact, we've made the offer since Feb. 2009 and after a whole year of long wait, we finally got all paperworks done.

Will update on the progress. We're yet to start the home reno, more shopping and purchasing later on.

2010-02-02T14:28:00.013+08:00

Me & My Mr. Right

02.02.2010

This photo was taken at our wedding reception held at Dewan Tun Fuad Stephen, Penampang on 30th Dec 2006

I found this picture while sorting my picture folder in my laptop. There were pictures which I've scanned from the hard copies taken during our wedding.

It feels as if it was just not long ago that I started courting this wonderful man, my Mr. Right, my hubby. Now you can see my ticker above showing how long since we got married.

Looking back, we really had great time courting each other. Perhaps I should compile my stories for you guys some time in the future? :)

Anyway, this year is a great year for us. Since we finally owned our own "nest", we can finally settle down. This can be another chapter to tell.

Hubby's birthday is coming this 7th. Now all I want is to plan a romantic event for us... Hmm... n I'm still thinking of what to do for that day...

2010-02-02T14:02:00.004+08:00

恭喜发财！Time flies soooo fast!!

Here I am counting the events just for February, i'll be celebrating:-

07th Feb. 2010 - Hubby's birthday
13th Feb. 2010 - Dinner Reunion at my Papa's house
14th Feb. 2010 - 1st day of Chinese New Year (Get ready angpows)
14th Feb. 2010 - Valentine's Day (A day to remember our love n life conpanion)
15th Feb. 2010 - Visit Papa's house. Give angpows to children, (Nephews n nieces) the unmarried or yet-to-get-married siblings. But since years back, our family started the custom for married daughters to give angpows our parents instead. In a way, this is to show our filial piety towards our parents during the New Year.
21st Feb. 2010 - My childhood buddy Heather is getting married... Woohoo! Congrats! How I missed you girl sooo dearly...

2010-01-02T12:06:00.005+08:00

Trip to Tg. Aru Beach

30.12.2009

The kiddos want to go and play sand but no swimming. 5pm MIL drove her school bus full of kiddos n SILs followed along. BILs and friends went to island for a day trip. Me n hubby drove there to meet up with them. Weather was great. Earlier light shower make the air fresher, very refreshing.

All kiddos of Caroline, Rose Mary n Florence

From left: Holly, Luvie, Arthur, Isadora, Annette, Ashley, Audrey

Lovely sistas

Sexy post ay?

Kiddo Luvie's 1st time walking on the beach kaki ayam

(bare feet) As soon as her bare feet touched the sand, she started feeling the strange ground, eventually she ran around the beach.

Proud mama Florence's daughter loved the beach

Arthur superboy chasing waves

Scenic sunset view at Prince Philip Park, 1st Beach

Serene view of 1st Beach, blessed with good weather for sunset viewing

Boatmen crossing the horizon

Youngsters surfing

It's wonderful to be able to have a beautiful beach.

Let's preserve our beach for our younger generations

2010-01-02T11:31:00.002+08:00

Cuzzie Shasha's Wedding
29.12.2009

Natasha Robbie Makajil married to Phan Dhin Lam Vy

Venue: PUTERA Ballroom, Bukit Padang

Natasha, daughter of aunt Juliana Michael Nanak

(My MIL's youngest sister)

Siblings of Natasha wearing traditional Kadazan costume. Very interesting intermarriage, Natasha is born Kadazan-Malaysian and Lam Vy is born Vietnamese-Australian. Adorable loving couple. All the best for them.

Gorgeous ladies (SIL Rose Mary, me, SIL Florence)

BILs: Sham (Florence's husband) n Fabian (Rose Mary's husband)

Sham's childhood friends: Sree n Simi.

The 3 of them formed the 3 stroogers

Sree's no-name dance and cuzzie wearing Papar Distric costume

Sorry, hubby. Didn't manage to take his pic.

He's a camera shy-guy anyway ;)

2010-01-02T10:58:00.006+08:00

Happy Birthday to me!

26.12.2009

Yes, how old am I now? Kind of lost track, n that's not really a big deal. Most importantly, I wished to thank the Almighty for giving me a wonderful hubby who's still loving me soooo much! My family, my in-laws for having been around and still stay close as a family, enjoying good health, peace and prosperity.

So, we planned a bbq stemboat - kampung family style. As early as 7am, hubby n I went to KK wet market for steamboat ingredients. Loved the experience for the fact that it's so much cheaper to buy at the market than supermarket.

Didn't take many pictures of our ingredients though except for my favorite (and everybody's favorite) steamed prune cake.

1st time organising family steamboat at kampung. SIL Caroline helped in preparing food.

Carolling from Maang Christian Community that came around 10pm n sang us joyful, merry Christmas songs

All SILs surprised me with a cute elephant cuppy. I loved it! So sweet of them. XOXOXO

Lucky me! I received not just 1 but 2 cakes for my birthday! Yeay! Kiddos celebrated happily with me. Thanks all! Love you, hubby! Thanks for everything!

2010-01-02T10:38:00.006+08:00

Merry Christmas 2009!
25.12.2009

It's Christmas time! It's always an exciting time around year end awaiting many wonderful events to be celebrated.

On Christmas Day, MIL and SILs cooked lunch. hard to resist kampung meal. MIL cooked steamed chicken, soy sauced chicken with mushroom n veggies, curry chicken, etc... Yum-yum... Mommy's cooking n home cook food is always the best food in the world.

My Christmas pressie for MIL. She's such a lovely mom, always owed her BIG thanks for having a wonderful son who married me. Muah :*

2009-12-08T12:54:00.015+08:00

LEEN'S STEAMED PRUNE CAKE

Lately I've been so into FB's Cafe World... Playing as if I was starting my own little cafe. How I wished it would come true... (Boss, jangan marah ya...) Wondering where to start, I browsed through some simple baking recipes, and look what I've found... (It was a wild click)

Got all necessary ingredients except for ovallette, which I didn't know what it was. Anyway, mixed everything accordingly and put to steamer. Well, I actually forgot to grease my stainless steel pan before pouring my cake batter. Still it turned out okay.

Hubby almost fell asleep waiting to have a slice of it. He knew his wife hardly bake bah... ;) Anyway, it was worth waiting. Hubby loves its soft, moist and aromatic taste. By the time we were done enjoying this slice of yummy-licious cake, it was almost 11:30pm. (No wonder the belly looks bigger...) XD

Cake was enough to feed a family of 10 and my 2 colleagues

To try this recipe (Malay) : Kek Prune Kukus Leen

2009-10-30T14:21:00.003+08:00

It's Durian Season!

Evelyn, my 2nd sis is the queen of durian in our house. She heard that a family friend's organic farm is bearing abundant organic durians ready for sale... It was RM5/kg. Lil Rosanna begged her mom to buy some durians, so she did. Memang kaki durian (I'm totally not a fan). As soon as my hubby heard there are durians (free makan) at home, he stormed right away to help open the fruits and have his fingers dip in straight... Look at what gems she's got:

They look so yummy in my thought...

See how big a fruit is??? It's bigger than Lil Rosanna's mouth!!!
This lil gal is really the next kaki durian after her mom...

2009-10-14T17:25:00.002+08:00

Eee!!! I want to own this kind of kopitiam!!!
I love the atmosphere, sooo classic n cozy
Location: Wisma Merdeka, 2F food court

From entrance: Feels as if I was gone back to the past

Cozy... Cozy...

Classic feel

Where to get this kind of table n stools?

Love the decor

Nice railing

I can't rate the food because haven't tried all the food served at the stalls. But this place is definitely best for yamcha lah