Ethan has always been keen to pay a visit to LEGOLAND® Malaysia since it first opened in 2012 but we never got around to do that until recently when we decided to give it a try. I invited Choi Yen and family to join us and after some discussion, she agreed. I proceeded to arrange lodging, transportation and the tickets. Though we’d love to put up the night in LEGOLAND® Hotel, we decided to stay in Pulai Springs Resort instead […]

It is the season to indulge in delicious festive flavors! There is a lovely fireplace waiting for Santa at the entrance of Vogue Café, Renaissance Kuala Lumpur.  We were serenaded with upbeat tunes while having our buffet dinner at Vogue Café the other day. The boys can’t help themselves from dancing to the festive Christmas jingles and more.  I love the view of their lovely Christmas trees from where we were seated.  Vogue Café is the place […]

A week ago, I was carrying Ayden when I heard people screaming. I looked around to discover that they are actually screaming due to the shock when they saw me fell. Only then I realised I was already slumped on the floor. I did not know how or why I fell but I found myself sitting on the floor.  I was still holding Ayden tightly. He was okay. I got up again and continued walking […]

It’s DECEMBER, let’s welcome my favourite month of the year. It is also the month where every where I go, people mispelled my name; MERRYN becomes Merry :P True enough, MERRY we were as we had an early Christmas gathering with friends in a true British style complete with wine, turkey and more at THYME Kiara in the heart of Mont Kiara, KL. THYME Kiara Solaris Mont Kiara 50480 Kuala Lumpur Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur […]

Ethan has been complaining of his shaky tooth and a crocodile tooth is growing behind that shaky one. I told him to pull out his shaky tooth but he said no matter how hard he tried, he can’t. LoL! I told him I’ll pull it out by tying a thread around that tooth and tarik out that gigi. He got so scared that he refused to let me go near him. Every single day he’ll […]

Jingle all the way, Christmas is on its way! Year end is always the best time of the year since it’s the long school holidays and of course the arrival of Christmas and New Year soon after. I love Christmas decor hunting and this year, Eastin Hotel Petaling Jaya impressed me with their Christmas decorations. A lovely snow covered ‘house’ complete with a chimney and cheerful LED Christmas lights lit up the entrance to Swez Brasserie. […]

I don’t frequent the city centre often but today we dropped by Berjaya Times Square to run an errant. I’ve read somewhere that they have a grand musical staircase but the last I was there last year, I could not find it. Maybe I did not look thoroughly.  Today, we found it by chance. I was walking nearby when I heard a beautiful melody and when I looked up, I saw this: The Grand Musical […]

It is the year end school holidays. Time to reward ourselves for all the hard work throughout the year. The haze has affected us badly the past months, so much so that we are afraid to book flights in case the condition got worse and flights needed to be cancelled or delayed. We decided to go somewhere we can drive so that we can make last minute changes in case the haze makes a comeback […]

We brought Ethan to Universal Studio in Singapore for the very first time when he was 3 years old. He did not need a ticket to enter then as kids under the age of four enters for free. Here is our write up on that: 1) Ethan’s first time in USS We went again when Ethan was 5 year old. This time he needed a ticket to enter and this time he can ride on more […]

Hello! We just got back from a fun-filled 4D/3N holiday in Johor and Singapore. We stayed at Pulai Springs Resort the entire time and drove to Singapore on our third day and return to Johor on the same day. We were nervous initially as we have always flown into Singapore, never once took the bus or train what more driving in but we decided to conquer our fear and try it. The only reason of us […]

It is the year end and that means the long holiday is here again. Many of us including myself have already made plans for the family. When we are on a holiday, dining out is simply unavoidable. This puts us at risk of consuming contaminated food or drink because food hygiene standards can be extremely low depending on the destination and the season of travel. Children are especially susceptible to Traveller’s Diarrhoea (TD). We learned […]

Tous Les Jours is a French inspired Korean bakery serving wide selection of breads, pastries, cakes and cuisines. Pronounced, “Tu-le-juru”, Tous Les Jours means “Everyday” in French. I suppose it means this is the place you can dine anyday, everyday. TOUS les JOURS Lot GK08, Ground Floor, Empire Shopping Gallery Jalan SS16/1, Subang Jaya, 47500 Selangor   Tel : +603-5036 7750 I was greeted by freshly baked breads and pastries as soon as I stepped into the […]

Ethan went to school late today as he attended a rehearsal earlier. He’ll be the opening act for a college’s talent competition this Friday (thanks to Piano Station for arranging it) and today is his first rehearsal.  Ethan in the music room while waiting for the hall to be ready. I like how the students padded the walls with egg cartons. I’ve always wanted to do this for Ethan’s drum room but never got about […]

Our first stop for this year’s Christmas decor hunt is Pavilion. It was still work in progress when we were there last weekend. I was at Starhill to get my hair done so I thought why not hop over to have a look at Pavilion’s decor. The outdoor decor. I believe it will be magnificent once it is lighted up come night time.  The boys are attracted to these bears. It’s a mechanical Santa, Bunny […]

The Shell V-Power LEGO® Collection, an exclusive range of buildable Ferrari collectibles made out of LEGO bricks is back with six new models which include: four iconic Ferrari car models; a Shell station with a Scientist LEGO Minifigure; and a Finish Line and Podium with a Ferrari Engineer LEGO Minifigure. A special edition Shell Tanker and a Collector’s Case are added for extra excitement. The model cars in the collection feature the smallest pull-back motor […]

It is prize giving day today in Ethan’s school. He woke up really early to be there and will have to stay back for his afternoon class as usual. We were worried that he’ll be hungry or tired but thankfully the teacher informed us that parents are allowed to attend so the Daddy can bring Ethan out for lunch after he received his prize.  Darling decided to attend without Ayden and I as it was […]

In conjunction with World Celebrity Chef Series 2015, award-winning artisan chocolatier and pâtissier Tim Clark is gracing the kitchen of InterContinental Kuala Lumpur from November 15 to November 20. If you have a sweet tooth like me then hurry over to IVIV (OneSixFive) @ InterContinental Kuala Lumpur as Chef Tim will be in town until 20th November 2015. InterContinental Kuala Lumpur 165 Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur T: +603 2782 6118 We took the opportunity to indulge in […]

I’ve had straight hair for years and am beginning to feel bored with it. Was game to try getting a permanent curl so I headed to Number 76 at Starhill Gallery last weekend to see what can be done. Say goodbye to my rebonded straight hair. My Hair Makeover Menu of the Day: 1. Digital Perm (RM424) 2. Ultrasonic hair treatment (RM265) I saw myself looking like a little lamb with all the heating rods. […]

While most kids have gone back to school, Ethan was still having an additional day off on Thursday as the school was being very generous with the festive holidays. Bored at home, I took both the boys out to the mall. The first thing we saw was LEGO. There is some kind of LEGO exhibition and activities going on and since the boys are so much into building blocks lately, this got their attention.  LEGO […]

Both Ethan and Ayden are not a fan of brinjals so I was initially a little hesitant to try planting it. However, I ran out of veges to plant so I bought brinjal seeds to try planting. To my surprise, brinjal plant grows effortlessly and bear fruits so easily.  Compared to the trouble I went through growing sweetcorn in pots, this brinjal came out as a no challenge. If you have never try planting, you […]

Slide the City is coming to Malaysia!!!!!!! I don’t know about you, but I am super excited! For those of you who don’t know what Slide the City is, Slide the City is a 1,000ft slip n’ slide that is held in a city itself, whereby sliders will slap on their sunscreen, and grab their swimsuits to speed down the massive three-lane slide for the slide of their lives! Watch this: 1,000 feet is quite a […]

I celebrated my birthday with a staycation here back in 2012. We did not have Ayden yet that time. Only Ethan, the lightbulb was with us. The three of us fit in comfortably in the bathtub of our Deluxe room. Back to present, Dorsett Grand Subang is having ‘Kid Stay and Dine for Free’ promo and we took advantage of that for another staycation with Ayden joining us this time. At RM298.00nett per room per […]

Darling is always looking for a good place to bring his business acquaintances for a meal. It is rare to find restaurants in hotels in KL serving non-halal dimsum as mostly are pork-free. I recently discovered that Dynasty Restaurant, Renaissance Kuala Lumpur serves non-halal piping hot Dim Sum at RM12.60nett onwards per portion. Choices range from steamed, baked and deep fried to healthy congee. Dynasty Restaurant Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel Level 1, East Wing, Corner of […]

Late last year we got ourselves a new HP Deskjet 4515 e-All-In-One printer that is able to print content from the Web without the need to connect to the computer. We had so much fun during the year end school holidays making lots and lots of origami printed from HP Printables.  Ethan had the time of his life as it is extremely easy and convenient to print origami templates from HP Printables using our HP […]

It was a nice, sunny afternoon last Saturday. I brought the kids to this popular eatery, 1977 Ipoh Chicken Rice Restaurant in Jalan Gasing, PJ for lunch after Ethan’s taekwondo class. I used to frequent this place back when I was in college almost two decades ago! Oh my, time certainly flies! 1977 Ipoh Chicken Rice restaurant新怡保鸡饭店 107 Jalan Gasing 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor It is as packed and popular as ever. This restaurant originates […]

The emergence of a more health-conscious society in Malaysia are well reflected by the growth of wellness establishments within the country such as gyms, weight management centres as well as organic food and beverage operators. I for one am doing my part in getting my family to eat healthier by planting all of the above organic plants in whatever little space I have at home. Imagine my delight when Zurich Insurance Malaysia Bhd (ZIMB) launched […]

There is this modern Taiwanese mini steamboat place called Two Pesos in SS2 that is always packed with a long queue waiting to be seated. Just a couple of months ago, they opened a new branch in Kota Damansara. I am ALWAYS in Kota Damansara so apa lagi, we quickly hopped inside since not many are aware they have this new branch here so the queue is still tolerable. If you are lucky, you can […]

Today’s post is a little bit jakun ok. It was my first time stepping into this shopping gallery after don’t know how long. I am not familiar with this place as I’ve always thought it is too posh of a place for me. But I was here a couple of weeks ago and the first thing I see is RED CARPET welcoming ME!  Fuiyoh! Nothing makes me feel more welcome than the entire escalator drapped in […]

Halloween is just a couple of days away. Though Ayden is still clueless about what Halloween is all about, it doesn’t stop us from making a simple ghost artwork for fun.  I guided him to trace the outline of his foot on a piece of white paper.  Happy ghosts come in twos. He said they are very cute.  I cut the ghosts out for him to be used as bookmarks but he rather play with […]

The boys love eating corn so I thought why not try growing them? Then I remember that I don’t have a garden for this but it’s okay, I shall try growing corn in pots. I bought seeds to start my sweetcorn project. I planted the entire packet of seeds at once but only two successfully germinate. I transfered those two into individual pots but one sunny evening, Ayden was playing with his ball and accidentally […]

Living in the Klang Valley, there isn’t any beach we can go to. I think it is safe to say the nearest place to go with a decent beach will be Port Dickson. There is this particular place in PD that we are fond of from the very first time we brought the kids over. It is Thistle. I’ve blogged about it here. We loved it so much that we thought of making this place […]

I used to not be in favour of indoor kids’ gym simply because I prefer my kids to sweat it out in open-air playgrounds with abundance of fresh air. Unfortunately this year, we are affected badly by the haze. I know the haze is an annual recurring issue but we are experiencing the worst haze ever this time around with schools being closed and kids are advised to stay indoors. But how long can we […]

It has been quite a while since our last property hunt. We’ve been put off by the ever so over-populated areas in the Klang Valley that we decided to venture a little further away from Darling’s work place but nearer to our current home. Our hunt led us to Olivina Residences in TTDI Alam Impian. These days, people do not simply invest in properties. We like to put our money into our preferred township. Olivina […]

With school being closed from Monday till today and tomorrow too, we have been trapped at home the entire week. Boredom is starting to get into me. Thank goodness today we get to go out for a movie because Nuffnang gave us tickets to the premiere screening of The Walk.   At the movie premiere of The Walk.  Ayden looks sleepy because he is. He woke up much earlier than usual today to follow me to […]

My first ever experience of getting a hair service in Number 76 was at their Bangsar 2 branch. It was quite tricky to get a parking spot there as that area can be really congested. I looked through the rest of their branches and find that the one in Starhill can accomodate my schedule better as I can only get things done on the weekends. Number 76 in Starhill is very busy during the weekdays […]

Ethan’s final exam is OVER! That means we are officially MERDEKA for the year. Although Ethan does his revision on his own most of the time, it does take a great teamwork to get him through the exam period because if you know us well, you’ll know that we are seldom at home. And then last minute when it is closer to exam time, I’ll rush Ethan to do his revision. He’ll have to cover the […]

During our last trip back to Malacca, I requested my parents to bring us out jalan-jalan. Sekali-sekala jadi tourists pulak shiok jugak. I wanted to try the famous Aunty Koh cendol but you know lah, if the planets are not aligned and the stars are not in your favour, you won’t be able to buy it before they run out. Bleh.. So we decided on coconut shake instead. I’ve tried the original coconut shake in […]

Thank you all for the overwhelming support in our recent #SubmerrynSunwayLagoonGiveaway.  You guys managed to make it into one of the popular hashtags during the duration of the contest. I love you all so much, I wish I can reward all of you but there’s only so much I can do :( Anyway, to be fair to all, multiply entries from the same contestant are entitled to only ONE entry for the draw so that […]

When Ayden was younger, he got very afraid of mannequins in the malls as they usually come without eyes, nose, mouth and all. Some even come without a head! LoL! Imagine his horror of seeing a headless person lah. Sometimes he sees mannequins without legs and that scares the heck out of him too.  Only recently he started to accept mannequins as they are; be it without a head, arms, legs or any other body […]

This week has been an emotional rollercoaster. I’m over-joyed because Ayden is fully diaperless at home and also at the playground. There has been no accident for the entire week. He is able to inform me should he need to take a leak or a dump. He even suggested to go shopping without his diapers but I am not ready for that. I can’t imagine the stress of running to the loo every single hour. […]

Solaris Mont Kiara is also widely known as “Korean Town” due to the countless Korean eateries and beauty salons around. One particular cafe however stands out from the rest thanx to their colourful painted furniture outside the restaurant. The furnitures will bring your memory back to school though I don’t remember the tables and chairs in my former school being this vibrant :D The place I’m talking about is situated next to 7-11 and is called Kafe Go […]

The haze has gone into hiding and school is back on as usual. Ayden and I resumed our daily playground routine but this time we are on our own without big brother Ethan around as he is at school.  It has been a week Ayden goes without his diapers to the playground and he is doing great. I observed a funny incident though. Last time with diapers, he love to go down the slide flat […]

I started blogging around 8 years ago. I’ve made many new friends along the way. Some are merely acquaintances I see online but some are real friends even offline. One of them is Chris and she invited me over to her beautiful home last weekend for dinner. Ayden got comfortable straight away with his new friend. They even shared toys. Haha. Ayden and Kikko. See? Aww… He kept himself occupied playing with either Kikko or her […]

It was just like any other morning except school is closed due to the haze and the boys were running aimlessly at home. Out of nowhere, Darling suggested to go make a passport for Ayden and renew ours. I looked at him funny and asked if he was serious as it was almost 10am then and we were still in our pyjamas at home having just woken up ten minutes earlier. He said why not, […]

Last week, I received an invitation to another potluck dinner. I love receiving invitations. It means there are still people out there who likes me and wants my company. It makes me feel so loved :D But I am afraid of potluck. It gives me stress up to level 9999 as I don’t cook. The stress is higher when I am invited by a great chef who is also a marvellous food writer. I needed […]

Oh dear. I have just noticed the last I updated my blog was on the 1st October. I better write something today otherwise it will be covered with cobweb. I actually have many things to blog about but I just don’t have the time to do it. You see, I only have less than a couple of hours a day to work on my blog and that is at midnight when the kids are in […]

At 25 months old, Ayden is finally diaperless at home. It happenend just like that. I was folding Ethan’s old clothes to keep away when I saw his underwear and joked with Ayden if he wants to wear it. Surprisingly, he said YES so I washed it and let it dry. The next day, I asked Ayden again if he really wants to wear the underwear and he said YES. So I stripped him off […]

Do you remember my homegrown organic spinach in milk cartons? If you don’t, you can read about it in this post -> http://www.submerryn.com/2015/08/homegrown-organic-spinach.html Since I find it so easy to grow spinach in milk cartons, I thought why not try to grow sweet potato leaves in it too since I don’t have any soil on land for them? Actually the idea only came upon me when I saw that the sweet potato I bought has sprouted. […]

After a week long of school holidays and an additional day off yesterday thanx to the haze, it is finally back to school for Ethan. Honestly speaking, I was dreading the Monday to Friday that I was supposed to spend with both Ethan and Ayden at home.  The boys, when spending time together for far too long can be quite handful but thankfully this time, both were very well behaved.  They played together most of […]

Did I tell you we got our Sunway Lagoon Annual Pass recently? Sunway Lagoon Annual Pass for the entire Submerryn family. With our Annual Pass, we get unlimited entries to all FIVE parks (Wildlife Park, Water Park, Amusement Park, Extreme Park and Scream Park) for the entire year. The annual pass, priced at RM300/adult (12 years old and above) and RM240/child (11 years old and below) is very reasonably priced considering a single admission ticket to […]

It’s 2am and I can’t sleep. I watched something awful on Youtube and it is haunting me still. It’s a cctv recording of a father and his teenage son arguing. The father took out his gun, placed it in front of his son, dared him to shoot the dad but the son shot himself instead. Without even hesitating, the son took the gun and pulled the trigger. In just a fraction of a second the […]

I was back at my parent’s place in Malacca last weekend. My Dad will always make sure there is breakfast ready on the table each time his kids and grandchildren are home. If he buys something spicy such as nasi lemak or roti canai, he’ll make sure to buy a packet of noodles for Ethan and Ayden.  He knows of Ayden’s latest fascination with fishballs so he went out of his way to get Malacca’s […]

There is this unique triangular houses in Malacca that is popping everywhere on my FB feed. I did some checking and found that it is only 9 minutes away from my parent’s house. Last weekend we were back in Malacca and decided to check this place out.  Surprisingly, when I posted this pic in my Facebook, not many people are aware of their existence. How can you not be aware of such a beautiful place?  […]

When is Mid-Autumn Festival? I heard it is around the corner so we brought the kids lantern shopping today. They don’t sell traditional paper lantern anymore do they?  The first lantern that Ayden chose is the type that has sound and wheels and can move on land but I told the Daddy to get them something more ‘traditional’ as in a lantern that will only light up without those annoying sound and movement.  The Daddy […]

Mid-Autumn Festival is this Sunday. Just as we’ve got our lanterns ready, a surprise delivery arrived at our doorstep last Saturday. To our delight, we received this package from D’King, a premium durian mooncake brand. Took a peek inside and saw two boxes of Vegetarian Snow Skin Musang King durian mooncakes. Individually wrapped, there are FOUR packs in each styrofoam box to retain its coldness. Beautifully handmade, with no preservatives and artificial flavouring added hence we […]

We were driving along aimlessly after dinner several nights ago when we spotted a tow truck getting ready to tow a roller container. Ethan and Ayden are ardent fans of vehicles and they requested for the Daddy to stop so they can see how it is done. It is actually my first time witnessing this too and I must admit I got as excited as the kids :D A roller container is a container mainly […]

It all started from one of my FB postings. My foodie friend commented something and one comment led to another and we ended up planning for a potluck. I volunteered to bring a POT since I don’t cook and suggested for Choi Yen to bring the LUCK. We pulled Xiang into the picture as we know he has a nice house to host us :D Just an impromptu idea that became a reality but we are […]

We brought Ayden to his weekly gym class at BeeBop Circus as usual last Saturday evening. The difference was we woke him up early and was out of the house since morning (as I had some errands to run) and headed directly to the gym at 5pm without him getting a proper nap. I thought he’ll be okay as he has been looking forward to attend this once a week class all week especially with […]

We are always spending time in Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara during the weekdays as I have my stuffs to settle over there. That gives us a lot of opportunities to go food hunting around that area. There is this new township Sunway Nexis, the latest development from Sunway City located next to its ‘elder sibling’ Sunway Giza. We found our new favourite Nasi Lemak there at Rail Canteen, Sunway Nexis. Kluang Heritage, Rail Canteen.  Unit D-GF-02, Sunway […]

Today I shall attempt baking Choco Raisin Loaf using the Sweet Bread recipe but modified to get a chocolate bread as my breadmaker doesn’t come with a Chocolate Bread recipe :( Ingredients for 700g of Choco Raisin Bread: 120ml water 150ml fresh milk (or chocolate milk) 2 tbsp oil 1 tsp salt 3 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder 2 cups bread flour 1 cup self-raising flour 1 tsp breadmaker yeast 1 tbsp butter 3/4 […]