pandora

Our (potentially) free anniversary, trips and presents!

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Pandora Essence Bracelet

It’s our anniversary last week and I bought a new charm for my better half to add to her new Pandora Essence bracelet. This bracelet is a new one that I bought for her last month, the previous Pandora bracelet is full to capacity!

Pandora Essence Charms 2014

I chose the Intuition charm coz I like the backstory and text – it says “The wisdom of the soul/Follow its guide” and it’s priced at RM 633. It’s a little more expensive than regular Pandora Essence charms coz it’s made with 14k gold.

Pandora Intuition

I went very early in the morning and bought it with my credit card, hoping to get RM 300 off (more about that later) but unfortunately I was too late. Not to worry though, I use my Maybank credit card quite often so it’s just a matter of time!

Pandora Essence Intuition

I actually learned of the Maybank I <3 100% Cashback Every Day promotion when I bought a LEGO Movie set for my dear. I was surprised to see the promotional banner for it just inside the store. The kids are really into Lego nowadays and we just bought another LEGO CITY box originally priced at RM 179.90 for the kids when we went back to Sibu during the weekend.

Lego Cashback

The kids love exercising their creativity with LEGO and we have happily indulged them in this mind building investment – it’s better for them to build something than to be stuck to the iPad playing games the whole day and we are collecting the LEGO CITY series for them to create their very own city!

LEGO Maybank

I bought them three sets of LEGO since they’re so into it now. Yup, we got them all in Sibu as a present for them and we plan to give them one when I come back and leave the other two for Christmas.

KitKat Oreo

It’s always fun to spend with my Maybank credit card since there’s a chance I would get the item for FREE with the 100% cashback promotion. I also bought our flight tickets back to Sibu during the weekend and the return trip to KL using my credit card.

Krave Cereal

We went to Hat Yai last weekend and I used it to purchase some candy for ourselves and the kids at the grocery stores over there. It’s cheaper in Thailand and there’s no minimum spend! I travel so much that my credit card is authorized to go around the world anyway.

Panettone Cookies

Christmas and the festive season is coming very soon and it’s always good to get presents for friends and loved ones. We bought two boxes of panettone (an Italian sweet bread loaf eaten during Christmas and New Year) and a pack of holiday cookies made in Germany as gifts for my dad and our friend Arthur before we flew back to Sibu for the weekend.

Hokey Pokey Squiggles

You might want to begin using your Maybank credit card for the festive season for everything from presents to trips to dining, depending on your inclination coz there’s a chance you’ll get a 100% cashback – making your purchase free! There’s no minimum spend required and the campaign lasts until 31st January 2015.

Sarawak Sambal Laksa Paste

I even used it to buy Sarawak sambal laksa paste from Sibu to bring back to KL. 🙂

Flight Sibu

Don’t have a Maybank credit card? No worries, just apply for one and you just might get a free trip with the I <3 25,000 Bonus Air Miles campaign! Get more details about how to apply for the premium credit cards and the promotion at the I LOVE 25,000 Bonus Air Miles site.

DQ Blizzard Thailand

You can also win yourself a Polo Sedan with the I <3 5 Polo Sedan by just applying and spending with your new Maybank credit or charge cards! You will also get complimentary gifts from spending certain amounts and this campaign period is from now till 28th February 2015.

LEGO City

There’s just plenty of love to go around this festive season, whether you’re an existing or new premium or regular Maybank credit card owner. I’ve been with them exclusively since 2008 and I’ll be using my Maybank credit card for *everything* daily from petrol to dining to take advantage of the I LOVE 100% Cashback Every Day campaign!

A very LEGO x Pandora Essence anniversary

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Emmet

We just had our latest anniversary and I surprised my better half by going to the official LEGO shop in Malaysia and getting something for her. I wanted to get the Emmet figure from The LEGO Movie but you can’t get it now. You have to get it in one of the official LEGO movie sets.

lord business evil lair

I got the Lord Business Evil Lair (RM 349.90) from the end scene in the movie coz it has all the LEGO characters that she likes. We plan to build it together with the kids…and GLUE IT ALL UP WHEN IT’S DONE!

That’s a joke from the movie, BTW. Haha.

LEGO Minifigures Pack

I also got the collectible LEGO Minifigures (RM 14.90 each) which are all the rage now. I picked three – one for my dear and one each for the kids and let them choose. The big one managed to get the one that she wanted (a spaceman with spacesuit) and the little one got a cowboy. My better half got a princess with a dog frog.

I didn’t get one for myself since the big one has two Player 1 LEGO minifigures (you don’t know what is inside until you open it) so I’ll select one as my own avatar. smirk

LEGO Store Malaysia

I also got an official LEGO ice cube maker (RM 30) which makes the red brick sized LEGO ice cubes. I thought my dear would appreciate it in her overnight oats endeavours – I suggested freezing bricks of LEGO milk or using it as a mould to make see-through raspberries suspended in clear gelatin LEGO bricks as a food decoration.

Lego Shop

My better half has always been very thoughtful with her gifts and I love that she keeps me in her heart and always thinks of me in everything she does. She got me a very nice pair of flip flops coz my favorite pair I bought from Club Med Bali has literally been worn to rags. She also got me lots of imported chocolates!

ling food

She always keeps me fed with her delicious home cooked food and writes thoughtful and loving cards for me too.

one i love

I’ve been keeping our story with Pandora charms and the last one I got her was a Princess heart with zirconium and gold crown. I also wanted to get her a new Pandora bangle style bracelet last month since her bracelet is so full now that it’s impossible to fit any more charms!

pandora princess charm

I had casually asked her what she thought about the Pandora Essence line (which is a new line meant for a more mature audience) and I remember her telling me that it’s nice but it’s a bit unfortunate that it’s not compatible with the regular line.

pandora essence collection

Well, since her Pandora bracelet has already been filled to capacity (we’ve been together for almost two years) I thought I’ll bring her out and surprise her with a visit to Pandora to get her fitted with the new Pandora Essence bracelet!

love essence charm

I also got one Pandora Essence charm to go with the bracelet – these charms are not interchangeable with the regular line but it’s nice coz it won’t move around – there’s an inner coating of some kind which prevents it from shifting. The first charm I got to start is aptly called Love.

pandora essence

Pandora Essence has many different charms named after characteristics e.g. Caring, Determination etc and I thought it’ll be nice for her to wear a new bracelet while I get her old one cleaned since I can get that done free of charge (due to my almost monthly patronage of Pandora). I plan to build our stories on Pandora Essence for the time being and get *another* regular Pandora bracelet for her after it’s filled…

LEGO purchases

…so we can continue creating more new stories in the future on a brand new bracelet! <3

Our anniversary: Shark breakfast, Body Shop, iPad mini

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vday pandora

I know, some of you might be wondering why we have so many anniversaries. Haha! It’s coz we do the monthsary (monthly anniversary) thing that I think is a great way to show love, affection and keep the relationship exciting! I love the homemade crafts that my better half usually comes up with. I like to cook something special for her too!

ipad mini

Our actual anniversary is coming up though and my dear already gave me a wonderful present – it’s an iPad mini! I had an iPad 2 and was constantly gaming and reading ebooks on it until one day it *stopped working* and my loss didn’t escape the notice of my better half.

ipad 16gb

It’s one of my greatest pleasures to read ebooks on my iPad and I have been missing that coz I don’t like reading on dedicated ebook readers like Kindle, nook etc – I own one and hardly use it – the lack of back-light just didn’t do it for me since I mostly read in low-light conditions.

engraved ipad

She even got it engraved! <3 body shop cny special

I got her something from Body Shop. I saw the Chinese New Year special gift bags, and one was called Oriental Deluxe (RM 128) and featured all sorts of Japanese themed body shampoo and lotions – the cherry blossom (sakura). I thought that it would be nicer than the RM 88 one since we’re planning a trip to Japan!

ling poh

It also comes with a red loofah and it’s more meaningful to us coz of our upcoming Japan trip so I got that for her. I do think that the stuff there is slightly overpriced though – RM 20 for a hotel sized body shampoo bottle! It’s all good though! 🙂

pandora heart locket charm

Of course, tradition dictates that I give her a Pandora charm. It has become one of our anniversary staples and I want to keep it going since every charm tells a story of our relationship. She had made me this sweet vow exchange in a Pandora box during the previous anniversary – it’s two hearts, she wrote in one, telling me that she loves me and the other is empty for me to write.

pandora ang pow

The Valentine’s Day collection for Pandora is out and there’s a charm in there that’s shaped like two hearts! It’s actually a locket – it’s magnetic and opens up to show a red interior – one says Me and the other You. I thought it was like bringing the wonderful vow she gave me to life, and on a charm!

pandora valentines bag

I also know she’s a big fan of collecting nice ang pows and Pandora has a promotion where they gave out one pack of ang pows for a purchase of RM 888 on a single receipt. I didn’t qualify since the charm I got was RM 295 so I asked the nice staff at Pandora at TCM if they could make an exception.

pandora red packet

They had to call the Pandora Marketing Manager (Mandy? Wendy?) of Malaysia to get her approval and I explained over the phone how my girlfriend was a big fan (maybe it helped that I have a consistent purchase history too – at least once a month) and it would be much appreciated if she can make an exception and release one of coveted the Pandora ang pow packs.

pandora story

She was really nice about it and so was the staff at Pandora in TCM – cheers for that! I reckon this was the best “gift” of all, although I didn’t purchase it coz I had to do so much to get it. Pandora is quite strict about giving them out since it’s tied to the RM 888 promotion so thanks for giving a regular customer one! It totally made my better half’s day!

butter poached shark

I also cooked butter poached shark for breakfast! BTW, these are not the endangered species (contrary to popular belief, 70% of shark species are non-endangered, even according to the most conservative Sea Shepard type estimates and lots of people eat them nowadays in an effort to eliminate by-catch waste). I didn’t think it would be good but the shark surprised me! The meat was surprisingly tender and delicious and it was totally different from the shark meat that I’ve eaten before (either sandy or fermented like hakarl in Iceland).

pandora me you charm

I’ll post up my recipe tomorrow! I’ve got lots to write now that CNY is nearly here, just had my first pun choi session last night too! 😀

Let’s Go to the Mall!

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cny decorations

It’s Chinese New Year soon! There’s less than a week till my favorite holiday and here’s the little preparations that we’ve done. Yup, the title is a HIMYM reference. 🙂

two charms

I bought the Christmas tree Pandora charm for my dear – there’s a gold star one without glitter and a silver one with glitter and I asked her to choose which one she wanted, which turned out to be the second one.

pandora wrap

We went for lunch at Goku Raku Ramen and while waiting for our food, she opened the small pouch wrapper and I put it onto her Pandora charms bracelet.

pandora christmas

It’s another new charm to add to our story! I missed both the RM 50 voucher *and* the 40% discount promo but it’s all good.

hot katsu curry

I had the Hot Katsu Curry Rice (RM 25.90) which was a 20 minute wait. It didn’t taste all that good – the creamy Japanese style curry is overpowering but the fried chicken itself it alright. I didn’t manage to finish it though.

ultimate tonkotsu

She had the Ultimate Tonkotsu (RM 23.90) and the Yuzu Honey (RM 6.90) drink.

2tb

I had to get another external HDD on account of the massive amounts of stuff I’m collecting so I found a 2 TB one for sale at Harvey Norman’s (which is actually an Australian company, I still remember their radio jingle from 3AW when I was studying in Melbourne) for RM 459.

sous vide supreme

We also saw a line of Sous Vide Supreme appliances for sale with the MasterChef US Season 1 winner being the product ambassador! I thought she did Southern cooking and don’t remember seeing her even touch the sous vide water bath in any of the episodes but it’s not as expensive as I thought – 3k for the water bath and vacuum sealer.

corduroy shirt

My dear was kind enough to buy me some CNY clothes! I now have two new shirts courtesy of her. <3 vitamin gummy bears

I got some interesting vitamin gummy bears for the kids…

ang pows

…and we saw that the mall has a free exclusive cushion and ang pow packets when you spend RM 188 in a maximum of 2 receipts. We were thinking to get something to add to the clothes when I suddenly remembered that I *already* have spent that much on the external HDD (RM 459)!

new shirts

My dear also thought of the Pandora charm, which I totally forgot about (RM 211) so we managed to get two sets of the cushions and the ang pows (red packets). I thought that was quite funny, how to add on to the stuff we’ve spent when we already have bought more than that earlier.

namechoco sand

Gotta do some last minute CNY shopping for snacks this weekend before I go back to Sibu! 🙂

Our anniversary: Cardboard apartment, Christmas pudding, Murano glass charm

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godiva craft apartment

My dear gave me a really *wonderful* present during our anniversary. It so happens that our anniversary also falls on Christmas so I had two gifts! She made this apartment out of craft paper and cardboard on a Godiva chocolate box base I had given her.

vows exchange

The entire creation is very intricate – there’s a lot of detail to everything, including a vow exchange, appropriately put inside a recycled Pandora charm box. <3 mailbox

It’s very beautiful and creative, and the Godiva box used as a base is a bit of an inside thing. She had given me the *cover* the previous month and now it’s a set with the *base*. I had originally given it to her as a trilogy of premium chocolates. Haha!

cardboard apartment

The gift is actually a MasterChef Australia dinner @ the apartment. Geddit? She got 4 x RM 50 worth of vouchers from winning a contest – thus, the apartment inside a cardboard apartment. 😀 The questionable thing about the vouchers it that they state that each one can be used on a per table, per meal basis. I thought that was a bit dodgy – this was the first prize of the contest!

christmas present

She had already known about the set dinner, it’s something we both like since we watched Season 5 together. She was prepared to pay the rest of the balance and use just a RM 50 voucher due to the rules but it turns out that the supervisor accepted all the vouchers, so that’s good.

chocolate covered pretzels

I also got a box of chocolate pretzels as a Christmas gift! 😀

secret candy surprise

This is something that stems out of when she always used to cook for me. I’ll eat from her Tupperware boxes, wash them, and fill them with “secret candy surprises” so when she opens them, she’ll see her favorite candy as a gesture of thanks.

murano charm

I got her something that had always been missing from her Pandora bracelet, which is a Murano glass bead charm! She had originally mentioned that it seems a bit uncomfortable and clunky but I had seen her looking at it in the brochures so I got her a nice pink and purple one!

christmas anniversary

I also got a cute, red box to keep the charm inside. I found it while browsing through the Christmas stuff aisles and thought it would be nice to hide the charm in since I always seem to give her the same thing each anniversary. Heh. I also bought a tiny card to write a message to her.

christmas mini pudding

Pandora also sent me a RM 50 voucher for being a Pandora Club Member. Unfortunately, I had listed that I wanted to cash it in at Paradigm Mall instead of TCM and it expired on the 31st December 2013 so I didn’t get to use it at all!

pandora murano charm

I also got her another charm as a Christmas present – thus, this is the anniversary where she got two charms instead of one! I got her a Christmas tree charm so she’ll remember that this is our anniversary which coincided with Christmas! smirk

boiling christmas pudding

It was quite late when we did our gift exchange and I had bought a small Christmas pudding just for this dual-celebration.

christmas pudding

The mini pudding is quite nifty, you just need to dump the entire packaging into boiling water for 20 minutes! The wrapper is heatproof and it warms up the Christmas pudding nicely. It tastes good – there’s lots of brandy inside (thus the Tidak Halal sticker) and just the right portion for two.

loving

We had it with a scoop of ice cream to end the night with. I’m lucky to have you dear! Thanks for the thoughtful and loving MasterChef dinner anniversary gift and the house which you built. *hugs*

Our November pine cone anniversary

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november anniversary

It’s our November anniversary! 🙂 That’s one month from the end of the year and I remember how we started in Melbourne in February – one year from the start of the year. I wrote about How I Met Your Mother in Melbourne when we went to Australia for a trip earlier this year. I wanted to get her something to remind her of that.

raw kangaroo roast

I cooked her a kangaroo roast while staying at Citadines on Bourke, a serviced apartment that’s the second most expensive hotel we stayed in while we were there. The most expensive was Rydges on Swanston where we spent our second night there coz all the rooms were booked out – it was Formula One finals in Melbourne, and I didn’t know – the basic room cost AUD 680 per night (RM 2,100).

gordon ramsey duck

Anyway, we both cooked for each other this anniversary – I made Gordon Ramsey’s Pan Fried Duck with Parsnip Purée and Madeira Jus and she made a wonderful rosemary Chicken Maryland for me.

rosemary maryland chicken

She said it was the best dish I’ve ever cooked, counting the Poached chicken breast with beetroot and nectarine purée so I probably need to replace that in Best of sixthseal.com. Haha!

chef

I’ll write how I made the duck later. It was the most technical thing I’ve done to date…or according to my better half, the least technical, but the most delicious!

cone

Anyway, back to Melbourne, she really liked a pine cone that we found on Phillip Island but unfortunately we couldn’t bring it back.

pandora christmas 2013

Pine cones are everywhere back when I was in university. I started this blog in April 2002, back when I was still studying in Melbourne. I know that Customs might give us a hard time if we attempted to bring it back (they’re quite strict on plants and eggs which can introduce blight into the country) so I said I’ll get her one next time…

pandora pinecone

…and so I did. smirk

hair ring

I tried to tell her I didn’t get her anything and gave her a complimentary hair ring that was in the Fullerton Bay Hotel, Singapore room toiletries (quite a nice hotel). I don’t think she believed me though, coz I always say that each anniversary.

pinecone

This is from the Pandora Christmas 2013 Collection. It’s a pine cone with red accents and I got it for her as an anniversary gift and also an ode to our first vacation together.

pandora our story

I got a bit OCD and wanted the heart to face inwards so I fiddled with her charm bracelet a bit. Heh. It really does tell our story together. I’m lucky to have her in my life and I’m glad that we’re together.

Happy anniversary to us in the month of MOREvember! 😀

Him: Ramen Burger Dinner / Her: Expensive handbag

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pink handmade handbag

I have often joked with my better half that I won’t be able to buy her an expensive designer label handbag for at least for a couple of years. It’s a bit of an inside joke, she doesn’t want it from me but it has become a running gag for quite a while…so I decided to give her one on our anniversary.

It cost me all of RM 5.90. smirk

I saw this pink 3M corrugated board (it’s not cardboard) at Borders and decided to make an “expensive handbag” for her. It’s in her favorite color too! Haha!

3m pink corrugated board

I wrote:

VERY!!! EXPENSIVE (& big) HANDBAG

on the front and cut a 1” strip from the corrugated board to make a “handle”. I had to use multiple industrial grade staples and some 3M surgical tape to seal it too, it isn’t an easy material to work with. Inscribed on the other side is:

WARNING:

  • Sharp Edges Can Cut
  • Won’t Last Long
  • Very Flimsy

with arrows pointing to the top

expensive handbag

and:

SOUNDS BAD, BUT LOOK INSIDE DEAR!

with a crudely drawn quasi-logo and our anniversary date.

bag inside bag

It’s actually a bag inside a bag inside a bag!

pandora club member

It’s like those Russian nesting dolls that goes into each other. The first bag is my handmade one, the second is a Pandora paper bag, and inside that is their latest Autumn 2013 handbag charm! 🙂

pandora handbag

I have thought about doing this since last month and hope she didn’t notice the charm in the catalog. I am a Pandora Club member, which I hear will have benefits along the lines of 30% off later next year. I was told membership is automatic upon the purchase of RM 3,000 (didn’t even know I had amassed that much) and I have a feeling that a lot of the club members are not females but their boyfriends or husbands who gets it for them. I wonder what their marketing would make of that.

ling gift

My dear on the other hand laboriously made me a menu which is also about how we tend to celebrate our anniversary. It’s like a menu from one of those gourmet burger bars that’s all around but hers has an intriguing option:

ramen burger
Ramen noodle patties!

custom menu

I chose that along with the pork patty (menu says highly recommended and asked me to think thrice about ordering the beef patty haha). I also have toppings, sauces, drinks and dessert!

anniversary menu

She gave me a yellow smiley sticker to put on the handmade burger menu that she made to indicate what I wanted and she cooked me a very delicious dinner the next day!

pandora bag charm

I love my dear coz she’s always very thoughtful and I know that I’m very lucky to have her.

loving us

It was a great anniversary as always! You’re the best dear! *hugs*

Summer truffles, our own garden and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches!

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tuber aestivum

This is what I got my better half for our anniversary! It’s summer truffles or Tuber aestivum. It’s not as good as white truffles or black truffles but it’s something I can afford without breaking the bank – a small chunk of Perigord black truffle the size of a snail can cost RM 2,000 – if you can find it!

white truffle aroma

I’ve never found truffles for sale here. I’ve seen olive oil infused with white truffle flavor (which usually costs around RM 100 for 200 ml) but that’s a very different thing. White truffle flavor isn’t white truffle, it’s synthetic, but it’ll make a good condiment (some people call it the mediocre chef’s crutch ;)). It tastes good and that’s what you get when you order thick cut truffle fries.

black truffle aroma

But there are actually no real truffles inside that bottle of olive oil. It’s just chemicals for flavor. One step up would be the 1% truffle oil infusions where you do get a few small shavings of truffles (equivalent to 5% fresh truffle) but is also rounded up with artificial truffle flavor and aroma.

truffle oil

This would usually set you back around RM 200 or so for a 200 ml bottle. I wanted to get this one actually since it has that distinctive truffle aroma I wanted my dear to taste.

However, I saw real summer truffles from Italy! It’s just 35 grams (50 grams if you include the water) and it comes in a tiny bottle that I thought would be perfect for a present!

summer truffles

I’ve wanted to get her some truffles since she’s never had them before. This is just about what I can afford right about now and I thought it’s nice to get real truffles for that price!

herb garden

My dear got me this! It’s a living garden – or rather a herb garden that she made and stuck with all sorts of notes. I love it!

(and also a toothbrush and hand washing liquid – she has a very practical side that I love)

I’ve been taking care of it ever since! I water it a little every day and give it some sun (recently started putting it outside at night so it’ll get some dew too). I thought it’s a perfect present, she’s always so thoughtful. We can now harvest our own herbs from our own garden! 😀

pandora autumn 2013

I also got her a Pandora charm from the new Autumn 2013 collection.

pandora charm

I thought this one was quite relevant and she said something that I felt quite happy about – the charm bracelet has our own story! I’m glad she liked it.

food processor

I also made dinner for her (more about that soon). It was a working day so I had to rush here and there, running about like a madman trying to get everything I needed.

cookie ice cream

It was a very nice anniversary that we rounded up with a nice chocolate chip cookie sandwich filled with ice cream from Good Humor.

hb ling 7th

I’m glad to have her in my life, it has brightened it much and I’m all the better for that! <3 pandora 2013

I love you dear! *hugs my dear*

Our wonderful anniversary: Burgers, durian mooncakes and home made gifts!

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sixth anniversary

It’s our anniversary today! 🙂

I had told my better half that I totally forgot about it, thinking it was Monday. I think I managed to really convince her I dropped the ball (all the better for my surprise) for once. Haha!

fat boy burgers

We have traditionally celebrated it the night before leading up to midnight. Last night, both of us were craving for burgers so we headed down to Publika. S.wine was booked 14 tables in so we headed to old faithful – Fat Boy’s.

This place has special significance to us and the burgers are good so since it was a special occasion, we custom-made our own burgers instead of getting one off the menu.

I had:

hb burger

Honey Oat Bun (RM 2)
Lamb Patty (RM 14)
Guacamole (RM 3)
Bacon (RM 3)
Fried Egg (RM 2.50)
Beetroot (RM 2.50)
BBQ Sauce (RM 1)

Total: RM 28 (with 4 add-ons!)

She had:

ling burger

Sesame Bun (RM 2)
Pork Patty (RM 11)
Coleslaw (RM 1.50)
Mozzarella Cheese (RM 1.50)

Total: RM 16 with just 1 add-on (she didn’t even want sauce!)

custom burger

It’s a stark contrast to our personalities – my burger was so large and messy it was more like eating a sloppy Joe. Yup, I always believe in eating burgers with the hands – it’s just a burger joint, it ain’t fine dining. I think a lot of the people here think Caucasians eat burgers with knifes and forks (and pizzas too for that matter – never fails to makes me chuckle). Burgers are meant to be grabbed with our hands so a huge bite can be take out of it! 😀

alcohol milkshakes

It’s a special day so I also ordered an “spiked milkshake” (contains alcohol) to share, which this place excels in. Burgers and milkshakes go together like cigarettes and lung cancer. smirk It’s just meant to be consumed together. I had previously enjoyed their Chocolate Malt Stout (combination of chocolate ice cream, malt, and stout for RM 18) but opted for the Bourbon Street today.

bourbon street

It’s a New Orleans style boozy shake with vanilla ice cream, malt, Nutella and bourbon for RM 23. We’ve always shared a drink together when we go out – the beverage I mean, we don’t drink alcohol much. Her policy (which I found rather charming) is to order one drink only and share that. It’s a good thing they have complimentary ice water here though. The milkshakes here are really thick – they’re generous with the ice cream – and full of malt!

bon odori

There was a Bon Odori festival going on and my dear wanted to check it out so that’s what we did after dinner. We bought a durian mooncake home. It’s RM 5.50 and about the size of a X-mini speaker. It’s tiny and it’s meant for our anniversary cake! 😀

brownie crush chips

We headed back after that and settled down to eat the durian mooncake with some good California chocolate ice cream and Seth Greenberg’s Authentic New York Brownie Crunch Toffee Chips. The latter is a wonderful concept – just the crispy edges of brownies, complete with endearing story of how the daughter only ate the edges, leading to the product’s inception – and costs RM 18.70 for a 113 gram bag. It’s a good topping for ice cream and fun to eat on it’s own too. We both thought the durian mooncake was mediocre though – tastes too much like dodol (durian paste) to me.

durian mooncake

My gf had wanted to book tickets to watch a movie but there’s nothing good going on that we haven’t seen so we went back to snuggle down and watch a movie at home. She handed me my anniversary gift at 11 pm.

It’s a beautiful hand made photo frame documenting our moments together! The “photo frame” started out life as a Godiva chocolate box and she even put a ribbon on top (for hanging) and an adhesive backed hanging clip! I really appreciate the time and effort she took to make this – it means much more to me than something you buy. Thanks for the awesome gift dear! <3 godiva photo frame

I said I’ll go and take a photo of it in the kitchen (where it’s brighter) and then sneaked back with a Naraya bag filled with gifts. I told her I haven’t forgot after all. Haha!

pandora heart charm

I don’t think I can pull this off much longer though. 😉

heart pandora charm

I got her a Pandora charm! I’ve been meaning to get her one for ages but I just bought an iPhone 5 for her so I had to save up for it. It’s a heart with a gold arrow going though it. I’ve been looking around for a meaningful one and I’m glad she liked it! It’s better than truffle oil, I hear. smirk

hand made card

I also made her a card, which used up 3 sticker packs and massive amount of double sided tape (one of the sticker packs wasn’t self-adhesive). She loved it, and I’m glad I can hand made (kinda) something for her, even though it’s not as awesome as the one she always makes for me.

half anniversary

Despite the apparent simplicity, it’s one of our best anniversaries! We had lots of fun together, enjoying each other’s company. Love each other and appreciate what you have in life. It’s something we both believe in! I’m lucky to have you dear! *hugs*

My girlfriend’s two birthdays!

by

Birthday #1

ling birthday

This was my brainchild and happened on the day before her actual birthday (we flew to Siem Reap for her birthday vacation). I had planned a series of surprises for the week leading up to her birthday. 🙂

Patchi chocolates

patchi

The first was chocolates from Patchi. This has a special meaning for us (not the brand itself) but coz one of the first gifts I gave her was from Royce, followed by Godiva and this the trilogy of “premium chocolates”.

patchi chocolate store

I got their signature collection from MidValley – she was actually wondering what shop it was and I remember walking in the first time, saying I’ll get her a box and she looked at the price tag and said she doesn’t want it. I know, she’s really an *awesome* person like that.

patchi chocolates

I decided to drop the subject since I knew her birthday was coming up and I wanted this to be one of the presents…and thus, I gave it to her as the start of the birthday gifts. 🙂

24 pink roses bouquet

pink roses

I also planned to walk into her office with a bouquet of flowers that I got from Bloom (which actually has great service compared to Giftlab, the latter has rude delivery guys). I got the 24 stalks of pink roses at my condo, and drove out to her office with the intention of surprising her by walking in unannounced.

girlfriend birthday

It was foiled coz she was already standing outside, ready to go out. I didn’t make it in time before she headed out for lunch. Oh well, it was still a good attempt. 🙂

Giant macaroon birthday cake

giant macaroon

She didn’t want a birthday cake coz she already had some and I remember her saying something about macaroons when we first met that I’ve kept in my mind ever since. I ordered a giant macaroon in lieu of a birthday cake – I got two of them in fact, one pink (salty chocolate) and one red (lime flavored).

macaroon cake

I also got 3 candles for her 30th birthday and pretended I was too tired to stay up…before surprising her with the giant pink macaroon. Well, it’s not exactly gigantic (there are bigger ones) but it’s hard to maintain the crispiness when it’s huge. This size was pushing it.

macaroons

She liked it though and that’s all that matters.

Pandora’s box(es)

pandora

This was a series of surprise gifts I sprang on her. She was staying over since we had an early morning flight (turned out we didn’t have time to sleep at all). I bought her a charm bracelet and three charms from Pandora coz I remember walking through a mall with her and the little ones once and she looked wistfully at the collections.

I made a mental note then to get this for her birthday. 🙂

pandora charm bracelet

I actually asked the Pandora sales person to wrap it in 3 different packages (one of them I just took in the box since I wanted to present it to her in Siem Reap and it’ll be hard to pack a bag without her noticing) so I can do my sequential surprises. smirk

I gave her the charm bracelet first and apologized coz it’s empty and I didn’t have money to buy her charms.

pandora box

She said it’s okay, she’ll just wear the bracelet like that.

I said I bumped into a friend who told me I needed to get a charm chain coz if the charm bracelet accidentally opens, all the charms will drop out (thanks Wendy!).

pandora bracelet

…and I gave her another box.

I said that’s it, sorry about it being so empty and while she asked if I was going to put it on for her…

pandora charm protector

I then presented her with the third box, which contains a pink heart charm. It’s supposed to mean something which I only told her.

pink heart charm

I said that’s all I had, no more surprises (but notice I only gave her 3 boxes when I bought 4?). She was touched though and I’m glad I managed to make her happy during her birthday. 🙂

Birthday trip to Cambodia

birthday trip

We didn’t sleep at all and I drove to the airport the next day. I had booked a very nice boutique resort in Siem Reap which did all my requests for her birthday trip.

happy honeymoon

They wrote “Happy Honeymoon” on the bed and had a bottle of champagne chilled in an ice bucket waiting in the room.

campagne

I also arranged for a Cambodian birthday cake to be presented to her. I got this in advance since it was her birthday the *very day* we flew. We arrived in the morning so we had a day of going around Siem Reap (will post more on our trip soon) and I had to pay for the birthday cake without her knowledge, pretending to go out or forgetting stuff in the room while I was actually talking to reception about when to reveal the surprise.

The birthday cake was presented to her by the poolside (she was puzzled as to why I wanted to hang out there and was annoyed by the mosquitoes). The staff came out and sang “Happy Birthday” and a bunch of French guests there wished her a happy birthday too!

cambodian birthday cake

It was a 3D/2N trip, I told her to bring her passport and I’ll handle everything, from flights to currency, it’s her present so just bring herself! I gave her some USD so she can get back to the resort in case of emergencies though. I’ll write more on the trip later, the last surprise was close to midnight of her actual birthday when I gave her the Pandora charm that I had secretly packed to complete the dual charm collection.

It’s “I LOVE YOU” with a heart made of pure gold which I had hidden all the way from KL. <3 Birthday #2

checkers

This just happened last weekend! Ling and the two little ones came over to my place coz it’s closer to town before getting ready. We had a sit-down birthday dinner at Checkers. It was Florence’s idea – cheers for making it two weeks later so I could do the birthday vacation surprise! 🙂

cakes

The food was pretty alright – they had a decent cheese and bread selection…

hors d oeuvres

…and they had some nicely plated hors d’oeuvres.

lamb

But I thought the best part was the mutton / beef / chicken satay station and the fresh oysters.

tiramisu

The little one took this so it’s a bit blurry:

birthday photo 2013

Happy birthday dear, I hope this was a memorable one for you. I love you always. *hugs*

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