We checked out the newly enhanced Swiss-Garden Beach Resort in Kuantan last weekend. SWISS-GARDEN BEACH RESORT KUANTAN 2656-2657, Mukim Sungai Karang, Balok Beach, 26100 Kuantan, Pahang FB: SwissGardenBeachResortKuantan Phone: 09-548 8288 WHAT’S NEW? Swiss-Garden Beach Resort Kuantan has undergone some major upgrading works (in stages) to keep up with times and meet guests’ expectations. It has recently changed to new beddings and lightings for their guestrooms. The resort has also recently launched the all new SPLASH pool for kids with […]

It has been almost 5 months now since Ayden started attending drumming lessons. I shared his videos in this blog as well as on Facebook and received many inquiries from curious moms wanting to start their little kids on drums too. I will continue sharing so you can see his progress and to know what the exam songs are for Trinity Rock & Pop Drums new syllabus. If you are planning to start your kid […]

Ethan celebrated his 11th birthday in July while Ayden turned 5 end of August. I often wonder, where have all the time gone?  My boys are growing so fast, soon it will be back to only me and Darling when they both leave home to further their studies. Will it be honeymoon period again for us? Will Darling still see me the same as the beautiful bride he married back then? While it is not […]

You’ve watched Ayden play the simplified version of Uptown Funk from his Grade 1 book. You’ve probably watched me trying to play that same song too. Yes, the keyword there is TRY as I am still unable to play it accurately today. Now let’s see how big bro Ethan does it but of course he’ll be playing the ORIGINAL and COMPLETE version of Uptown Funk. 

I’ll just put it up in the blog that Ethan received his 2nd Poom Black Belt in Taekwondo last weekend so that I won’t forget. This is because it takes quite some time before he can take the next grading test. I remember he took the 1st Poom Black Belt grading test about one and a half year ago. I guess it takes a longer time to climb the ladder in the black belt category.  […]

Hello hello! It’s time for another update on Ayden’s drumming. The new Trinity Rock & Pop Drums 2018 syllabus has really some awesome songs in it such as the classic hit Billie Jean and recent hit Uptown Funk and Seven Nation Army. The rest of the songs are quite catchy but I am not familiar with them yet Ayden is determined to learn them all. These days Ayden spends less time on electronic gadget because […]

Another quick update on our little drummer Ayden. As mentioned earlier, he started attending drum lessons in June this year. He is into the 4th month of drumming and enjoying every moment of it.  Here is Ayden playing Seven Nation Army. If you have not watch any of his previous drumming videos, I’d recommend you to watch this one. He totally enjoyed playing this song and it shows as he shakes his head while playing […]

Both my drummer boys are on a roll. They are churning out drum covers faster than I can update my blog  Ethan’s primary school teacher requested for two songs from him – Despacito and 我们不一样 WO MEN BU YI YANG. Ethan gets help from his drum teacher to teach him. I’ve shared 我们不一样 WO MEN BU YI YANG earlier so here is Ethan playing Despacito:  Drummer Ethan @ 11Y1M If you are keen to watch Ethan’s previous […]

 Drummer Ayden may be too young to know who Michael Jackson is but since he learned the song Billie Jean, he is hooked to the rest of MJ’s songs. For those keen to start your little ones on drumming, this is one of the 6 songs available in the 2018 Trinity Rock & Pop Drums Grade 1. Ayden is into the 4th month of learning the drums and here are other fun songs he […]

 Malabar Spinach is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron and calcium. It is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. It can be used raw in salads, stir-fried or soups. We never run out of Malabar Spinach as we grow them at home. To grow Malabar Spinach, first we need to purchase a pack of this vege as our starter pack. Pluck the leaves for cooking and save the stems for […]

After sharing a video of Little Drummer Ayden playing Uptown Funk in my previous post, it’s time to share Big Brother Ethan’s latest drum cover. Can you imagine how great a neighbour we are with these two budding drummers at home?  Ethan’s drum cover this time is a Chinese song – 我们不一样. I don’t know the meaning of this song but I like listening to it. Ethan learns to play shuffle beats on the hi hats for […]

Ayden is into the 4th month of learning the drums and has shown vast improvements as he practices regularly at home. This is the best age to be learning music as he has all the time in the world. He is not burdened with school nor homeworks so he can enjoy playing the drums as and when he wishes. Ayden learned another song over the week. It is his favourite song – Uptown Funk. I […]

I used to use the fire stove to make chicken essence for the boys. You can read my tutorial on how to make chicken essence the traditional way. Today, Little Chef Ayden will be sharing how to make chicken essence using the pressure cooker. It is much easier and faster this way. We use our Philips All In One Cooker so we have the option of either making it really fast using the pressure cooker function […]

31 August 2018. While the nation celebrates our independence day, our little Ayden officially turns FIVE! At such a tender age, he already requested to celebrate with his friends in the Mandarin enrichment class he is attending.  We celebrated his birthday earlier as it is always a holiday on his birthday as it falls on our National Day.  As usual, Ayden and I baked his favourite moist chocolate cake a day before the celebration. I […]

Ayden grows up seeing big brother Ethan playing the drum and piano. It influences him to learn the piano and take up drumming too.  I use big bro Ethan’s old books to guide Ayden on the piano but that’s about it. He never pursue it further unlike drum. He requested for us to enroll him for formal lessons under Ethan’s drum teacher and we did back in June. It has been almost 3 months now […]

Today’s post is quite backdated. It was dated way back to the 4th day of Hari Raya this year.  This is the story… I have an active Whatsapp group of my former schoolmates. Not of the entire school but about 52 of us. There used to be more but some members left because the group is too noisy for their phone. They claimed that their battery drained quickly because of our never ending chats. We […]

It is no secret my boys love chicken rice. It’s the first thing they look for whenever we dine out. Today we’ll be sharing this quick and easy one pot chicken rice recipe that I’ve been cooking on lazy days. It’s so easy even little Ayden can cook this himself on busy days. All he does is just throw the ingredients into the pot and the rice will be ready in 15 minutes.  Ingredients (for […]

A brand new day on a brand new week. Today I would like to share Ethan’s latest drum cover – It’s My Life by Bon Jovi.  According to Ethan, this song is easier to play compared to the more challenging BURN he did previously. BURN remains as his most challenging cover todate.  Ethan is still very much passionate about drumming. We are lucky he has an equally passionate and patient drum teacher to guide him […]

Ethan turned 11 on Saturday. For the first time ever, we allowed him to celebrate with his friends. Since he is a big boy now, I gave him the task of creating the guest list. He was given the responsibility to invite who ever he wants without me questioning it. He also had to personally invite them and get their parent’s contact number without my assistance. I only came in the very last minute to […]

We celebrated Darling’s birthday at home. He never wanted anything lavish for his birthday as I guess he knows he’ll be the one paying for it in the end  What can we do for the breadwinner of the house on his birthday then? I assisted the boys in preparing some surprises for their Daddy. First and foremost, we never mention anything about his birthday throughout the week. We pretended like we don’t remember but as […]

My mom’s the best. I was back in Melaka last weekend. Not long before that, I mentioned to her that I will be coming home for the weekend and I’ve invited a dear friend to join us for lunch at home. Not that I’m cooking though. And just like that, she cooked up a storm and prepared a feast for us.  She cooked all these: Babi Satay Buah Keras My mom taught me how to […]

During our recent trip to Thailand’s most beloved resort town of Hua Hin, one of the highlight was to experience Vana Nava Water Jungle. The name “Vana Nava” comes from ancient Sanskrit. VANA means jungle/forest and NAVA means sea boat which represents the seaside city of Hua Hin. It is Asia’s First Water Jungle as well as the first ecologically aware community water park in the region. Vana Nava Water Jungle literally transformed an empty […]

We have left over rice from yesterday so I thought, “let’s fry it” and immediately our Little Chef Ayden said he wanted to learn to fry rice. That’s when I realised I have never teach him this simple survival dish – FRIED RICE. It will come in handy when he leaves home to further his studies in the distant future. My rule for fried rice is pretty simple; just make sure to use multiple coloured […]

Hua Hin is a beach resort town in the southern Thai province of Prachuap Khiri Khan. Well known for their beaches and multiple waterparks, it is ideal for families to enjoy the sun, sea and sand in the tropics. Previously if you wish to go to Hua Hin from Malaysia, you’ll need to fly to Bangkok and spend a couple of hours journey via train or car to Hua Hin. We almost took the train to […]

When are we celebrating Parents’ Day? Some told me it is in June yet some said it is in July? Anyway, Ayden learned to recite a simple poem for mother and father in his Mandarin enrichment class recently. He kept pestering me to learn it with him but try as I might, I just cant do it. Finally to make him happy, I tricked him to record it so I can watch it all the […]

Ethan’s latest drum cover. This time he played Ellie Goulding’s BURN. It is one of his most challenging drum cover todate. I am his biggest fan. I love watching him play especially to this song ♥ Drummer Ethan @ 10y10m

Last week, immediately after the end of Ethan’s second semester exam, we packed our bags and drove up to Resorts World Genting for a weekend staycation. The boys are always the happiest being up here enjoying the cool breeze. We brought them to catch the first viewing of SMURFS live on stage at Genting International Showroom which is being held from the 26 May – 24 June 2018. After Smurfs, the boys went back to the room […]

I homeschool Ayden. I think I have said that too many times. The benefit of homeschooling is we have the leisure of time in our hands. It is up to me to draw up a schedule for little Ayden and learning is not confined to home only. I bring him out on week days when there is lesser crowd in the mall. We go to the bookstore to read some books. Sometimes we’ll buy the […]

SMURFS SAVE SPRING My boys and I are one of the lucky few to catch the very first viewing of the Smurfs special 60th anniversary show live at Genting International Showroom yesterday thanks to the lovely PR team from Resorts World Genting. This 70-minute, two act musical extravaganza features live actors singing and dancing in full Smurf costumes. La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song La la la-la la la, Smurf it all […]

I was clearing my purse the other day and found these tickets:   A couple of entry tickets to Parenthood Playland. I dont even remember where and when I got these from but thank goodness I found it back on time as the expire date is on the 15th of May this year.  So we took the boys to Sunway Pyramid last Sunday to utilise these tickets before they are deemed invalid.  It was our […]

I used to teach before I became a stay at home mom. Back then, I received many red pens for Teacher’s Day. Too many in fact. So many until I don’t know what to do with them  And then there are mugs. And more mugs. And many more mugs. LoL! Ethan will be celebrating Teachers’ Day in school tomorrow. I told myself we will not give pens nor mugs as Teacher’s Day gift.  For the past […]

It’s been a week since I last updated my blog. Our entire nation is having ELECTION fever and now that we have created history and have a brand new government, all eyes are glued on our handphones for constant updates. I checked my Whatsapp and various news portals every 5 minutes till I have no time nor interest to blog as I doubt anyone is keen to read anything other than our country’s political updates […]

The boys and I, we are cookie monsters. We love cookies especially those crunchy and buttery ones. I have a friend who bakes really delicious chocolate chips cookies and though she was very generous to share the recipe with her close friends, I do not feel right to share it here as it is her family’s ‘secret’ recipe. I continue searching for good recipes out there that can be shared with our readers. I searched […]

How many of you watched The Greatest Showman? I heard it’s good but can you believe we did not manage to catch it in the cinema?  Anyway, here is Drummer Ethan’s cover to Rewrite The Stars. It is his first time playing BOTH the piano and drum for the same song. He learns the piano piece from YouTube. As for the drums, his drum teacher guided him. It is also my first time combining two videos […]

Bitter gourd is one of the healthiest vegetables known to mankind but not many children like to eat it as the name suggests, it can be bitter! It is a surprise that little Ayden loves eating bitter gourd. I did not cook bitter gourd throughout big brother Ethan’s growing up years as that boy totally dislikes it. Recently, I was craving for bitter gourd and decided to fry some for myself. Ayden took a bite […]

The other day Ayden saw this on our limau purut plant. I took disposable chopsticks to pick it away and throw in the bin but before I can do that, Ayden told me to take a picture of it to send to the Daddy. He always send random pictures to the father via Whatsapp. It’s a caterpillar right? The boys asked me why is this caterpillar without bulu. I don’t know how to answer them  […]

We were in KL for dinner today and on our way home, we saw these beautifully lit up trees along Jalan Ampang.  I am quite impressed. The streets look quite magical with these trees beautifully wrapped in fairy lights.  Can you see the difference? Two shades of lights are used – white and golden. The first picture is with golden fairy lights while the second picture is with white fairy lights.  Nice isn’t it?  Can […]

Not too long ago, a book distributor Pansing Distribution Sdn Bhd sent Ayden a recipe book – Instant Pot Miracle Cookbook. We do have a multi purpose pot that Ayden has been frequently using but it is a Philips All-in-One. However we are still excited to see if we could use the recipes in this book and apply it to our multi purpose pot.  This is Ayden’s very first recipe book so it is quite […]

The boys love pizza but I am too lazy to make the pizza dough from scratch. When we have pizza at home, it is always the quick and easy cheat way – we use flatbread for our pizza base.  We love thin crust pizza so flatbread is actually perfect for this.  Since we bought our oven late last year, the boys have been enjoying pizza at home quite often. The good part is they can […]

Lost World of Tambun. I hear this name often thinking it is just another dry and wet park which we already have so many in Malaysia hence I never go out of my way to plan a trip here until recently. I was planning a local getaway for the boys for the week-long school holidays and the Daddy suggested going up North. I narrowed down our option to either Penang or Ipoh and the Daddy […]

Can you smell it? I CAN! 5 more schooling days and we’ll be enjoying the week-long school holidays. Are you excited? Or are you horrified to have the kids stuck with you 24/7?  Haha! Well, let’s start planning for this school holidays then. As usual, the boys will pester us to bring them up to where the weather is cooler. It is only an hour drive from home yet the temperature was as low as 15° […]

On Thursday (8/3/2018) after midnight, I was ready to go to bed. I set my alarm as I have to wake up in a few hours to prepare the boys for class. Suddenly a message popped out on my FB Messenger from Elie. She alerted me that my boys’ pictures are being used by one sick fella claiming them as his own. He even named the boys differently and was very consistent in his story about […]

Ethan is 10 years 7 months old. He has been playing drum for 5 years now. These days, he loves playing commercial songs. He learns these songs from YouTube and at times, gets assistance from his drum teacher to help him with the more complicated beats.  This is his latest drum cover – Fight Song by Rachel Platten. This week is also his school’s first term exam so yeah, fight on Ethan! For me, what […]

With just a blink of an eye, we are into the 3rd month of 2018. Where did the time go? Before I know it, the celebration for Chinese New Year is over. Luckily, I managed to bring the boys to see one final lion dance before Chap Goh Meh is over though. It is the first for Ethan this year as he missed the one we caught on the 7th day of CNY as he […]

For parents with children going to Primary 1 in 2019 & 2020, it is time to register online for your child at https://public.moe.gov.my Online registration is only for schools in Peninsula Malaysia and only parents are allowed to do the registration on behalf of their children. I registered Ayden today. Here’s how you register ONLINE. Step 1 Go to https://public.moe.gov.my Step 2 Create an account if you are a new user or simply log-in if […]

I homeschool elder brother Ethan during his preschool years. I’m doing the same with little Ayden presently. I wonder how other young children aged 4-5 years old are able to learn in a classroom seating environment as from my observation, both my boys require tremendous individual attention during their formative years. What I love about homeschooling is they can learn at their own pace, anywhere and anytime of the day. This way, Ayden gets ample […]

It’s the 5th day of Chinese New Year and we are back at home but are still very much into the Chinese New Year mood. Today, our Little Chefs tried roasting for the very first time. Since we are still in CNY atmosphere, the ingredients used for our roast are also very much CNY influenced.  The Little Chefs roasted delicious chicken drumsticks with plum sauce. Plum sauce is one of the most important ingredients […]

Alright, where do I start? I was invited by Bernama to be one of their esteemed panelists for their LIVE, English language talk show, ‘The Nation’ on Monday, 12th February 2018, speaking about CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN MALAYSIA.  As I’ve mentioned in my previous blog posts, I wasn’t feeling well the past weeks with me and the boys down with some kind of bug going around but this is a topic I feel strongly about. I advocate outdoor playtime […]

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. How many of you practice going vegetarian on the first day of Chinese New Year? It is believed, abstaining from eating meat on the first day will enhance longevity. Additionally a vegetarian dish helps to purify and cleanse out the body as well.  There is this one vegetarian dish that is extremely popular on the first day of Chinese New Year – Loh Hon Chai. My mother […]

There was a burst pipe in front of our house. The contractor who was working on it brought an excavator and a huge dump truck to our place.  Both my boys watched them in awe. They kept talking about the excavator; pointing to each part of it. The contractor heard them and asked if they would like to go on a ride on that excavator. Imagine the boys’ surprise and delight! They said YES immediately.  […]

Ethan is currently without a teacher for piano. His previous teacher has her own studio now but it is far away from us. She is also teaching in a music school not very far away from us yet not very near either but we are unable to commit due to time and distance factor.  To pass his time, Ethan uses YouTube as his guide. He learned this song, “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana […]

I guess I better update a little over here otherwise you may think I’ve disappeared. The truth is I am very much around but have been busy lately. We are busy creating YouTube tutorials for the upcoming Chinese New Year hence the little disruption on the blog. Here’s my YouTube channel in case you are interested -> https://www.youtube.com/submerryn1 Anyway, I still actively update my Facebook so if we are connected on FB you will know that […]

It’s the beginning of the new year and that means time to get busy again with DIY Chinese New Year Angpow decorations.  We’ve been receiving requests on doing tutorial videos for the many DIY Chinese New Year Angpow decoration written tutorials I’ve shared in the past years.  I was not into video making then hence there were no video tutorials for them but we are now so I’ll be sharing all our Chinese New Year […]

Is the Baby Shark craze still on? Ayden listened to this song when he was very little but recently it became a hit all over again.  Since the boys has nothing much to do during the school holidays, we recorded this Baby Shark Dance and Drum Cover by Little Ayden and big brother Drummer Ethan.  Hope you enjoy the video:   Check-out the compilation of their music videos here.

We went back to both Darling and my hometowns last weekend. The journey back to my hometown in Melaka was extremely tiring due to the most horrible jam we had ever encountered. We started our journey at 11.30am only to arrive at my mom’s place at 5.30pm with one quick stop at KFC along the way to fill our empty tummy  If not for my cousin’s wedding, we would have made a detour back to KL […]

Hello! How is the long school holidays treating you guys?  We are busy as ever… busy doing nothing  Today we found time to bake something for the coming festive weekend. Our little chefs baked Darling’s favourite cookie – Almond Cookies. It is super simple yet the Daddy and the boys love it so much hence we bake this often. Almond Cookies Ingredients for Almond Cookies: 115g salted butter (1/2 cup) 90g fine sugar (1/2 cup) […]

Ethan plays the drum and piano a lot during the school holidays. It keeps him occupied. Ed Sheeran’s PERFECT is trending again since the release of Perfect Symphony with Andrea Bocelli and it prompted Ethan to play this song.  This is also the first song he learns to play by himself. Take a listen to his drum cover to Perfect: Check-out the rest of their music videos here.

There is this restaurant lounge and wine bar nearby our place that we hang out frequently as their food is quite reasonably priced. Located at Menara Lien Hoe along Persiaran Tropicana, this resto-lounge is generously spacious with an extensive wine cellar and a delectable fusion menu. Moreover they have this promo of KIDS EAT FOR FREE on weekends with purchase of adult main meals. Last Sunday, Lavo held a Christmas Colouring Contest for children. We love their festive coloring […]

Christmas is in the air. It is my favourite season of the year. Our house is filled with one Christmas medley after another. These days we spend our evenings in the music room with Ethan playing on the piano while the rest of us singing to the tune. Ayden is slowly learning the lyrics to all these songs. Here is Ethan playing When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter on the piano:

During our recent trip down South to Johor, we stayed at KSL Hotel & Resort.  KSL Hotel & Resort Johor Bahru is the largest integrated resort in Johor. The hotel contains 868 rooms, suites and 20 function rooms. Besides located in the city center and near to Singapore-Johor Bahru causeway (5minutes), the hotel is also connected to a shopping mall. The fact that it has an astonishing 868 rooms, the 4 elevators can be pretty crowded during peak season. We […]