Rewards from Taking Survey - KFC/Pizza Hut/Ayamas vouchers

A registered post was sent to me by the survey company but some way somehow it got lost.  The survey company contacted me 12 days ago, informing me that they will resend my rewards that I redeemed through normal post.  

It arrived in my mail box 2 days ago. Though I have been receiving these vouchers many times before, I always have the thrill of opening the envelope each time I receive them.

Taking survey is rewarding.  I tried not to miss any surveys allocated to me by the survey companies that I joined.  Because each completed survey I take, there are points given.  Through these points I could either redeem money by cheque, KFC/Pizza Hut/Ayamas vouchers like this one, McDonald's vouchers, shopping vouchers at major local super/hypermarkets, or I could choose to give charity donation.  Each individual survey companies reward their members differently.   

To participate in taking surveys, one will have to register as a member with the survey company.  An email will be sent to the member's registered email informing them of any survey waiting for them to complete.  At times, you might not qualify for a survey but it's ok, there are more coming through from time to time.   It normally takes 5-30 minutes to complete a survey, each surveys are different.  By taking market surveys, it gives us the opportunities to voice our opinions on the products/services that are already in the market and also of those new products to be launched in the near future.  

My New Domestic Helper

My new domestic helper is much smaller and not as noisy as the previous one..I am talking about my new Samsung vacuum cleaner here, not the human helper one would thought, ^.^

Our old Singer Vacuum cleaner of more than 10 years finally called it a quit.  It produced a burning smell when I used it about 2 months ago, I was so scare it would burn and explode, so I prefer to stop using it rather than hurting myself.  We redeemed it from Cosway after collecting enough coupons by selling boxes and boxes of moon cakes then.  It did a good job like any other vacuum cleaner but surprisingly our new Samsung vacuum cleaner though smaller in size has better suction powder in comparison, the new Samsung vacuum cleaner is lighter and more portable for me to carry up and down the stairs.

The new Samsung Vaccum cleaner, the last in stock.   The price is relatively reasonable.  A newer model is already out in the shop to replace this one but we do not mind the older model.

 Our old Singer Vacuum cleaner, I always have the problem in keeping the wire in place.  It uses the washable dust bag, I am really glad that Clet was the one who help to clean the dust bag all along. 

 the old and the new

 it is a bagged type, collecting all the dust into the bag convenient to dispose off when it is full. No more washing of dust bag.

very basic with only 3 types of suction nozzles, it's good enough for me.  Just hope that it will lasts.

Additional Member in the family - My Niece

We had an additional member to our family today.  Our little niece is born at 3.58pm this afternoon to my youngest brother, Albert and SIL, Shirly.  Little baby niece weighed at 2.98kg, 50.5cm long was crying out loud in the first hour after birth, I guess she was hungry, because SIL hasn't had any breakfast nor lunch before going into labour.  She got a little quieter after being fed some milk.  Here she is, 

Today's Brunch

On a lazy Public Holiday like today, I got up really late, at 10am.    I took the opportunity to get some online works done the night before knowing that I could get up a little late in the morning.  

I knew that my girls are hungry at that hour in the morning, I quickly prepared this set of brunch as soon as I got up.  Simple with just bull's eye egg, baked beans, sausages and white bread cut into snowman and star shapes.  They had the bread with sliced cheese.  I received thumbs up for this brunch, probably they were really hungry :DD  Crystal even requested me to prepare Star Shapes cheese sandwiches for her school's tea break bento tomorrow.

Private Functions at Hoffbrau Steaks

We were having a bit of a hard time trying to decide where to hold Pearl's birthday party recently.  Initially we decided to have a dinner among ourselves, only the four of us in the family, and buy Pearl a birthday present of her choice, but she has grown another year older and wiser, she wants to invite her cousins and friends to her birthday party.  Without discussing with us, she took the liberty to invite her classmates to her birthday party.  I got to know about it when one of her classmates' mother came to ask me where is Pearl's birthday party going to be because Pearl has invited her daughter to the party. 

We started to look for a suitable place in town to have the party, it was not easy.  We need a place where is suitable for kids and adults,  most importantly with a special menu for kids.  As we all know feeding the kids at the party can sometimes be a challenge to parents. The kids can just refuse to eat if the food are not suitable for them.  

If we were in Texas area, we will definitely choose the Hoffbrau Steaks as our venue for the birthday party.   It is one of the restaurants in Dallas tx to have special room for private functions, they also have got kid's menu to top it all.  The price is very reasonable.  There are 6 types of set meals to choose from the kid's menu,  they are, Chicken Strips, Hoffbrau Mac N'Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Hamburger, Cheeseburger and Corn Dogs, all these meals are served with steak fries or steamed broccoli, and a beverage.   With so much choices, the kids would be happily place their order for the meals they want.  

Hoffbrau Steaks is one of the best restaurants in Dallas for dine in and catering.  If you are Dallas, check out their restaurant at the following address:

7601, Campbell Rd,

#725 Dallas,

TX75248

Tel:972-735-0800

Steamed eggs with minced Pork

I am not a fussy eater, so long as I am not asked to take those fatty animal fats.  I always buy lean pork and slice away any fats attached to it when I prepare my cooking.  Clet always finds lean meat tough to consume.  He got the idea from the school canteen and came out with his superlicious and solid steamed minced lean pork with eggs.  It is one of the favourite dishes which our girls love to have for lunch from the school canteen.

Our girls can never get bored with fried egg and they are very much of the meat eaters just like their daddy (no matter how I convinced them to eat more vegetable).  Once tried on eggs with minced pork, it has  since became their favourite dish.  We could see their smile on their face when they see this is served on the table. I believe this is also the all time favourite for many of us.  

Clet's version of Steamed eggs with minced pork look like this,

First Day Cover / New Stamps for The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

When I first arrived at the Main Post Office in KK just before 8am this morning, there was already a long queue in front of the entrance.  I told myself that there must be a first day cover released today, but I am not sure what theme is being released today.  The crowd seems to be very excited telling each other how early they have been here at the post office.

I did not line along with the queue because I do not need to take any queuing number from the counter, I just need to buy stamps to send my products off to my buyers as usual.  

Before the door was opened, the post office staff informed the people in the queue that there are limited numbers of First Day Covers for everyone, for those who have registered their names the day before will get theirs and no additional are available for sale if they want more, some might not get a complete set.  With no idea of what's being released, Clet and I proceed to buy our stamps at the other counter.  

After almost done with sticking the stamps on our posts, one of the elderly lady holding her First Day Cover envelope and stamps on her hands and puzzling how to place it on the envelope, with her asking for help, I moved over to help her out.  I was surprise to see this special release of these new stamps for The Diamond Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II, there is also stamp for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife Catherine.  These stamps are so nice that I want to have them instantly.  The best is the Duke and Duchess has actually arrived in Kota Kinabalu last night, they are actually here in Sabah for their 2-day visit.   It is very meaningful day to have the First Day Cover.

I asked for the elderly to take a photo of her envelope and stamps

queuing up

I quickly queue up (the queue has became shorter by then) hoping for a chance to get this set of stamps.  Luckily Clet helped to queue up on the other line which he got his turn before me.  We did not manage to get any First Day Cover's envelope and folder, they were all sold out.  But I am happy to get hold of 2 sets of the stamps.  They are meant to be kept for my 2 little girls. 

another line of people queued up

the new released stamps, 2 designs

Stamp of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to commemorate the royal visit to Malaysia, at RM1.50 each

First Day Cover stamp design

A "stamp on stamp" design, with an older stamp which was released on June 2, 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it is now being re-released after 60 years, the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty on the throne.  RM1.50 per piece.

I ended up late to work this morning (slightly la) because of this, I can't kept my excitement having those stamps that I showed them to my colleagues, they all got excited too..one of my colleague walked all the way to Tanjung Aru Post office to buy these stamps but returned with disappointment that these stamps have not arrived to their post office yet.

I would have missed this fabulous First Day Cover if I hadn't gone to the main post office today.

Prince William and His wife, Catherine visit to Sabah

It is our great honour to have the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge to visit Sabah after touring Kuala Lumpur from 13-15 September 2012.  They are here to represent their grand mother, the Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II on her Diamond Jubilee tours, making her 60 years reign as Queen.  

They began their Asia Pacific Tour from Singapore on 11 September 2012 where they had a tour at the Orchid Garden. They were presented with the Orchid named after them.

Their next stop will be to Kuala Lumpur and Sabah.  I am sure the airport and the hotel that they will be staying will be packed with greeters under strict royal protocol, though I am in Sabah, I don't think I will be able to have a glimpse of Prince William and his wife, Catherine in person. It's a working day, most of us will be on our work desks.  

The Duke and Duchess will proceed to visit Danum Valley, a virgin rainforest deep in the centre of Sabah, where a conservation is done by Royal Society to protect the precious ecology in the area.  It is an interesting place to visit but I have not been there yet. Danum Valley is a paradise to Birds watchers and nature lovers.  Amidst much controversial, I guess they will proceed to Danum Valley as planned. 

image from tourmalaysia.com

McDonald's Collectible Toys : Strawberry Shortcake - Orange Blossom

To avoid disappointment, we went to purchase the last release of the Strawberry Shortcake's friend, the Orange Blossom, on last Saturday.  This time we just bought the toy figurine without having the Happy Meal.  That's made the collection with only Strawberry Shortcake's Friends without the Strawberry Shortcake herself.*sigh*.  

Clet has asked for his friend's help, whose wife is working with McDonald, to get hold of the Strawberry Shortcake figurine but unfortunately there is no stock left.

These figurines are so adorable, of course it would be nicer if we have the complete set of them as collection. At the moment they are placed on our girls' bed head frame like this.

We shall watch out for the next McDonald's Happy Meal collections to add on to our girls' collections.

McDonald Kid's Meal Toys/collectibles : Strawberry ShortCake & friends

This bunting at McDonald has attracted many kid's attention.  After knowing the Strawberry shortcake & friends figurines at McDonald 2 weeks ago, our girls have marked the introducing dates for the next appearance of the other figurines.  We were a week late to get the Strawberry shortcake figurine, they were all gone out of stock, only managed to get the Raspberry Torte while it is on for grab.  

Our girls do not want to miss out their chance for the next one, the Plum Pudding figurine, which was introduced on the 23rd August.  They kept reminding us to go McDonald on the day itself, since we have already promised to them before hand, the Daddy always fulfill what he had promised, though it was raining and even after dinner from grandma's place, we drove all the way to McDonald, ordered 2 kid's meals to get each of them a Plum Pudding figurines.  Pearl almost finished the whole burger by herself and we joined force finished the other kid's meal.  I later found out that we could actually just buy the toys without having to purchase the kid's meal.  These collectibles are scented by their individual flavours.

Two sets of scented Raspberry Torte and Plum Pudding from McDonald

The next appearance would be the Orange Blossom, coming out on the 30th August 2012 and last till 5th September 2012.  Don't think our girls want to miss that too...see whether they will remind us or not *.*.  We would have been able to get the whole set of the 4 Strawberry shortcake figurines if we hadn't missed out the first one, that's the Strawberry Shortcake "sigh"

Raya Visiting

Hari Raya is the time to visit our Malay friends. We visited 2 of our Malay friends on the first day of Raya. We started off with a visit to our new friend, Mohd Sharul's home just before noon. A simple traditional Malay food is readily served on the table when we arrived. And this was the first time our girls tasted the the curry and rendang dishes.  

A picture with Mohd Sharul and his wife, me taking picture

simple but delicious home cooked dishes, not hot & spicy at all, just suit our taste, our girls really like the chicken curry and beef rendang with the ketupat

our next visit was to Juriah's home (lovely lady in light blue).  Her family home is opened for visiting on the first day of Raya, we have been there for the last 3 years, no invitation is needed for the visit. 

Food is served at Juriah's home

As I am still pretty full from our previous visiting, I walked around Juriah's home to pick some Raya Kuey and cookies with my assitant

So many types of cookies to choose from, we just picked some that we would like to try

some of the kuey and cookies that we picked

Juriah's garden.  The entrance to the fish pond behind our girls.  While I was enjoying the cookies, Clet walked around the garden to take some pictures of the plants, these plants are as healthy as ever.  I noticed that their garden have more green plants than flowering plants.. 

We will come visiting again next year.  

Kids Eat Free Everyday at Pizza Hut

Not long after we have ordered our meals at Pizza Hut City Mall yesterday, Clet spotted the banner says "Kids Eat Free Everyday" at the door.  When the waiter came around to serve us the drinks we asked him what this promotion is about.

"Kids Eat Free Everyday" promotion started on 15 March 2012, I remembered we have been to Pizza Hut a couple of times since March this year but we only got to know it yesterday.  

The promotion offers every RM20.00 spent entitles to :


~ 1 "Kids Eat Free" meal. Linited to 1 meal per kid
~ Valid for kids below 8 years old or below 120cm in height,  whichever applicable.
~ For dine-in only.
~ Not available in Pizza Hut Genting Highlands.
~ Not valid for purchase of Group Party Packages.
~ Terms and Conditions apply.

Our bill came up to more than RM40.00 that entitled us to claim for 2 "kids Eat Free" meals though Crystal is more than 8 years old and taller than 120cm in height.  

"Kids Eat Free" meals

We ended up with extra serving of Spaghetti bolognese and Chicken Meat Balls, these "Kids Eat Free" meals also come with soya bean drinks.  Not bad at all.  But our girls have already whacked their Carbonara   pasta by the time the "Kids Eat Free" meals were served, can take in any more food. Well, with me around there is no problem having extra food, I am quite a big eater...  

Hotel Booking Websites

With airlines periodical promotions nowadays, it has made travelling more affordable to many people.  Once we have booked our tickets to our chosen destination, next will be to look for hotel accommodation.  

Instead of flipping through the Yellow Pages like what we used to, now we can just go online to search for hotels around the world, compare prices, check on the room availability, their localities and make reservation within minutes.  

I was told that making reservation on hotel accommodation on line can be cheaper in many cases, some offer reward points in monetary value for next booking through their websites.  Here are a list of websites that we can browse through to shop for hotel accommodation at our convenience.  

1. Booking.com
2. Hotels.com
3. Zuji.com
4. Wotif.com
5. Pyotravel.com
6. Tripadvisor.com
7. Asiarooms.com
8. Agoda.com
9. Expedia.com
10. Asiatravel.com

We are already in the 2nd half of the year. Soon it will be a long school holiday starting from mid-November till January 2013.   Year end school holiday is the time where parents take the opportunities to go for family vacation.  A lot of planning needed to make the vacation a memorable one.  50% job is done when we secured the hotel reservation.   Which website do you normally go for to make your hotel reservations?  Please share your experiences with us.