Parenting Class Part I

Hi all….it’s been a really long time since I updated this blog. I know that I kept on saying that I will update it but yet never did. It’s not that Arman didn’t let me use the computer, in fact, I monopolize the computer most of the time. And it’s not because Arman doesn’t take us to new restaurants anymore, cause he does. We continue taking pictures of food at the new restaurant but yet I still do not feel like writing the reviews.

Restaurant Review: Chan Dara

For our Anniversary this year, we didn’t have the chance to do our annual tradition of going away. So to celebrate, we decided to have a lunch at Chan Dara. Arman had tried this restaurant with his colleague before and thought it was pretty good.

Birthday Cupcakes

Few weeks ago, I had the chance to learn Wilton cake decorating using fondant and gum paste. The classes meet 4 times of 2 hours each. Even though I came in with a very minimum experience on baking, I had fun and learned many things….and of course spent a lot of money on the tools too.

Yesterday, on Arman’s birthday, since we didn’t manage to go to Disneyland due to Andrew’s illness, I decided to bake some cupcakes and decorated them. This is my first project since I finished my course, hopefully I can do a lot better next time. Here are some pictures that I like to share, let me know what do you think of it considering I am a newbie in this field.

PS: Special thanks for Arman who has been very supporting through out my courses. From paying the course, buying the tools, taking care of Andrew while I am in class and throwing me ideas on how to decorate them. Thanks to Andrew for saying that all cakes that I made are pretty, you keep me motivated, baby! Also thank you to Wenping, Shinta and Angel who have been very helpful and kindly shared tips and information. I have much to learn from you all.

Updates

Hi…hi…hi, I am back…

Yup, it’s been a very long time since my last posting. After Andrew got over his stomach flu, a week later, he got a pink eye. And since I was the one who spent most of the time with him, on Andrew’s third day of having a pink eye, I got it too.

Luckily on Andrew, the pink eye only lasted for 5 days, and he had no fever, no sore throat and no ear infection that commonly are the symptoms of a pink eye. Unfortunately on me, I had a very severe sore throat and ear infection. As the sore throat disappeared, I had a bad cough for nearly 3 weeks. And when both Andrew and I were finally healthy, Arman got a severe sore throat followed by a bad cough. But don’t worry as of now, everybody are healthy.

About 3 weeks ago, Andrew started his preschool and I started my Wilton cake decorating class. We have been having a hectic week follow by a hectic weekend where Andrew goes to his Yamaha Music class on Saturday and Parent and Me Swimming class on Sunday. The very hectic schedule only left me with 2 days to take care of the unfinished household works.

Hopefully, soon enough, once we adjust to our new schedule and I can start posting more on this blog. Until then, have a good weekend everyone!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Andrew!

Happy 3 rd birthday to my dear son, Andrew!

May you always be blessed with good health, endless happiness and everlasting love!

May you grow up to be a fine boy, smart, patient and friendly!

When you were born, I thought how tiny you were and I was looking forward to see you grow up. When you turned 1 year old, I couldn’t believe that it’s been a year since you were born.

……And when you turned two, I thought, it wasn’t too long since we celebrated your 1st birthday. Boy, how fast time flew.

Esther’s Special Sushi Rolls

During my college year in San Francisco, one of the food that I liked to make was my own style of sushi. Just simple ones though. I continued making so in Jakarta before I got married. I still remember making some for Arman so that he could have it for dinner on our way to the fitness center. Last Friday, I thought of making it again after my mom gave me my sushi bamboo rolling mat. So here is the recipe. You will find 2 type of sushi that I made this time. One is filled with Chikuwa and Crab Stick then I put it into the Tempura batter and deep fry it. The other one also is filled with both Chikuwa and Crab Stick, but in addition, I also added the crushed deep fry Tempura batter. I used the same Tempura flour that I used in my Tempura Vegetable recipe. It doesn’t have the English name and therefore I am putting the picture instead.

Fun Summer with Everyone

I was writing on this posting with the song from Barney and Friends playing continuously on my head. Andrew likes to sing (or at least try to sing) this song. Fun…fun…fun…fun with everyone….

This is how I described our summer. This summer, we had a lot of fun. My parents, sister and brother in law came to visit us in LA for a week. We took them around LA and here are some pictures.

The picture above shown all of the women wore Batik. By the time we all dressed, Andrew insisted on wearing Batik too. So there we go from the Grove to Universal City Walk in our Batik.

A week later, we drove all the way to Milpitas to visit my sister, Jq. Our favorite activity that we had during our stay was walking around the complex. Andrew enjoyed having fun at the park, climbing a rock, posing on rock and some more.

We were all excited yet nervous waiting for my sis to go on labor. As soon as the doctor confirmed that she was not yet ready for delivery, we made our way to San Francisco. It was a fun short day where we enjoyed different kind of sushi at our favorite restaurant Sakana Bune. I didn’t have the chance to write a review on this, beside it was a treat from my brother-in-law. Thank you, Bert! Hopefully, I can write a review on this on my next trip to San Francisco. In short, this is the best Sushi restaurant that I can find in the US with reasonable price.

We then went to downtown San Francisco and quickly visited the newly built Westfield Mall and took some pictures at the mall and in front of the cable car. Our San Francisco trip was ended with a yummy famous Boudin breadbowl of clam chowder.

On our way back to Milpitas, we visited a far relative of ours. Andrew got a chance to meet with more friends, play with their toys and kissing the adorable Gabby.

During our stay at my sis’ place, Andrew was having a really good time playing with our good friend’s son, Nicky. Here are some pictures of them wrestling and swimming.

On my previous posting, I posted a picture of me and my older sister, Nat and how look-a-like we are. I think that is one of the reason why Andrew loves her so much.

A week later after we were back in LA, my brother came to visit with my cousins. Can’t believe how grown up they are now and even a lot taller than I am.

Being far apart from family, make you appreciate more of the time that you get to spend with them. I love my family and hopefully we can get together again soon. What a fun summer!

Twins or Mother & Daughter???

My older sister, Nat, and her husband came to visit us last weekend. We took them to the Grove. After we picked some items from Victoria Secret, the cashier who rang us up, asked if we are twins. I said no, we are not. The next question she asked was whether we are mother & daughter. My sister said, which one do you think is the mother. The cashier pointed at me….hiks…hiks…hiks…

The More Reason…

Today, we came back from San Francisco. Arman went to the airport to pick Andrew and I up. On the way home, Andrew was sleeping and continued to do so as entered our house. As I opened the door, I saw a bouquet of flowers and some toys on our dining table. Apparently my sweet husband has prepared them as a welcome home surprise for us. Thank you, Daddy! This is the more reason for me to go on another vacation with Andrew. Hahahaha, just kidding, Daddy!

The Best Medicines

When I am feeling blue, especially lately due to the stress that I’ve been having through out our secret mission, I always count on my 3 best medicines. They are:

1. God – the One who continuously listens to all my problems, the One who gives me good health and guides me through every steps of my life.

2. Arman – the one who continuously supports me with all the most comforting words, who never asks for more than I could give, the one who always try to be the ’superman’ in our family so that we don’t have to suffer.

3. Andrew – the one who always cracks me up with his cuteness and the one who with his own ways try to comfort me when he sees me sad or cry. (Andrew saw me crying these past few days, he quickly grabbed a tissue and wiped all my tears then said mommy, don’t cry)

With these 3 best medicines in the whole world and kind supporting words from other members of the family, relatives and friends, I am sure I will be able to go through everything. Thank you all!