CNY Lunch at Umai-Ya...

It has become a CNY custom to meet up with our friends for a "Lou Sang" session, but by the 6th day we were all a bit tired of pig's trotters, steamed fish, prawns, roast chicken etc all the traditional CNY goodies... So it was quite welcome when CK suggested Japanese food...

Our plan was to go to Umai-Ya at Uptown, which had been satisfactory on a previous visit, but as it was fully booked that day settled for the original outlet at Damansara Perdana.

First impressions weren't positive, with the whole building all looking a bit run-down. The restaurant itself wasn't bad, and the room we were given was quite nice and cosy.

To cap it all off, the food was okay, nothing spectacular, but certainly streets ahead of the usual Jap buffets and everything was passably fresh. The sole exception being the soft shell crab that our friends describe as "tasting funny", upon which I didn't take any, so thankfully I can't describe what that "funny" was...

Fortunately their impressive service looks to be holding strong still compared to our last visit a few years back.

Aren't we going all Japanese today...

Jun Yen with Mommy...

It was quite a hoot with our friends' babies around too. A lot of time was spent feeding them, and in CK's case, changing his baby (!!!). For us though it was mostly keeping them amused and feeding them tidbits...

7th and 8th Tooth...

Yeah, like I said before, wasn't gonna be long before the other one starts teething again...

We were at 1U last Saturday and while wifey was at a particular Japanese cosmetics counter, I kept our daughters amused. Evidently not easy...

While playing with Jun Yen, saw signs of 2 teeth on the lower jaw, flanking her two existing teeth... Haha, apparently I was the first to spot it, as neither wifey nor their Grandma knew...

Frontera Bar & Grill at Jaya One

It's been quite a while since anything food related came onto this blog. It doesn't mean I haven't been eating out, but definitely less than before the babies came along. Nowadays distance and baby-friendliness become great concerns in dining out.

Yesterday night was an exception as Mom offered to take care of JL & JY while we take a break.

Jaya One being a hitherto relatively unexplored place (I'd only been there once for a quick lunch at Wendy's) and being relatively nearby, it wasn't difficult to decide to check out what else they had to offer.

Brussels Beer Cafe was packed solid last night with some event going on. Looking around the rest of the outlets were fairly empty. But then it was a Thursday night, so maybe these places do most of their business during lunch and weekends.

To cut a long story short, settled on Frontera Bar & Grill as somehow Tex Mex food sounded very appetising yesterday, and also I was eager to try Tex Mex stuff outside of the ubiquitous Chili's/Fridays/Las Carretas types.

The place was quite sparsely decorated, but good enough, with small cacti on the tables and lots of red, green and white! They also had a pinata hanging around, very Mexican methinks...

Ordered the taquitos de pollo, beef enchilada, beef chimichanga, and the Horny (???) Margarita and a beer to wash it down.

Wifey's impression at the end of the dinner sort of captured the overall feel of the food. She mentioned that it all looked rather homemade, both in terms of presentation and taste. In this case I'd say it's more complimentary than otherwise.

Won't go into details (and no pics to boot) but suffice to say that it all tasted good, and portions were adequate. The meat in both the chimichanga and enchilada deserves special mention in that it was tender, flavorful and plentiful. The chimichanga was thankfully not swimming in some sauce, which makes the skin go soggy and unappetising.

The bill came to RM115, which is not exactly cheap, but right in line with other Tex Mex joints. Part of the blame has to go to the margarita which costs RM23, but you do get what you paid for as it's really strong! Don't let the size of the glass fool you...

Chinese New Year 2009... Pictures...

Okay, here they are...

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

Hmm... I think your's looks nicer than mine...

Yay! Got angpow from Yeye and Grandma...

Angpows and Oranges!...

Mommy with Jun Lee and Jun Yen...

Chinese New Year mood...

Is it for us???...

Yay! Got angpow from Kongkong too...

These are the first pictures posted here courtesy of the Canon system. All were shot with the 450D, the 17-40L and the Nissin Di622. As of now though all bar the 450D are gone, replaced with the trusty Tamron 17-50 (which I also used on the Nikons) and the 430EX.

7th Tooth...

Past few days Jun Lee has been behaving quite cranky, not to mention pooing a lot, and erratically. Typically this would indicate she's teething again, and yesterday we were proven right.

After quite some time with 6 teeth (2 lower, 4 upper), we spotted a new tooth on the bottom left...

No sign yet on Jun Yen, but if past behaviour is anything to go by, it should be soon...

Chinese New Year... Year of the Ox...

Year of the Ox eh... Does that mean we get more grass???...

Okay lah... since it's Year of the Ox, here's a pic of our kerbau friends...

Taken by the side of the road from Teluk Intan to Bidor. Yeah, I know it's a lousy pic, but it was as close as I got before the Singh chased me off for disturbing his kerbaus... And with a 17-40 lens... never had a chance...

Anyway, I was musing earlier today (while stuck at the traffic lights...) how fast CNY seemed to go by this year. It is doubly odd as not only did it feel like it went by faster, but in reality it is probably the longest CNY break I have had for years...

I think the reason is mainly the babies... We are so preoccupied with taking care of them, playing with them, looking out for them, that before you know it a day has gone by. Weekends pass by in similar fashion.

In my bachelor days the CNY hols seemed to loom long ahead, and indeed there was many a day that was largely spent plopped in front of the telly with a container of cookies and a drink at the ready. There was so much time to meet up with friends, even in far off areas, time to play those computer games, and time to go indulge in CNY picture taking at the Thean Hou temple... And even time to drive down to the city and gawk at the near empty roads...

Now, its whoosh... huh, CNY's over???

Mind you, I'm not saying it's unpleasant. Far from it. I get to spend a lot of time and play with my babies. The journey back to wifey's hometown also seems so much better for it.

It's a different kind of happiness...