Nose to Tail Eating

A few weeks back, we had a "Chan Kar" Oh-Toh dinner (sans Sim & Eng and Teon & Cheryl and sadly, hubby, as he had a business meeting) at Elcerdo at Werner's Place courtesy of Dad & Aunty. It's a restaurant solely dedicated to porcine lovers including all the usually inedible parts, hence the tagline "Nose to tail eating". The owner's a German who lived in Spain but the cuisine is a mixture of European, Spanish and Mediterranean specialties.

I have been there 3 times so far (4 actually if you count the once where they messed up the reservations and we didn't have a table so they had to usher us to Deutsche Bierhaus opposite but they still gave us 2 suckling pigs on the house) and each time, the place is packed to the brim! I don't think they can even entertain walk-ins as reservations usually need to be made a couple of days in advance.

Highly recommended for porkie lovers but amazingly sinful as you can guess so make sure cholesterol levels are in check. The must-order is a roast suckling pig that's sooo.... juicy and succulent and has none of that gamey taste as the piglets were fed a special diet of corn or something like that. The meat is air-flown in from Denmark I think. But before savouring it, diners have to go through a ritual of chopping it up with a plate and then smashing the plate in a wooden bin for good luck! (The plate has to break or else they'll make you do it again and again till it does. Otherwise no luck.)

FIL demonstrates how crispy and succulent the suckling pig is

Apart from that, the Jambon (cold-cuts), pork shoulder and bacon-wrapped anchovies are also great for meat-lovers. The paella is the best I've tasted in Malaysia, Werner will make sure of it. He once took away ours just as we were about to dig in and brought us another fresh one as he found the first a bit too crusty while serving it.

A divine dining experience but not for the faint-hearted (read : high-cholesterol) or when you're feeling poor.

Amenorrhoea no more

Yup, the monthly inconvenience has begun again...

After not having my period for 17 months, save for the lochia discharge after delivery, my ovaries have been kickstarted into action again. By what, I don't exactly know but my guess is the reduction of night feeds as Nat is sleeping through the night more and more (although not everyday).

This is not fun I tell you...

The sleeping series

We seem to take lots of photos of Nat snoozing as it's the only time we don't have to worry about blurry photos.

Crouching baby, half-hidden Patrick

Bouncy-bouncy

Stretch snooze

My favourite, courtesy of Julian Oh

On Val's bed in dad's old house

Thumb-sucking

At The Curve

Mum's house, Ipoh

Couch potato

She loves this make-do bed

My Daughter is a Samseng!

"Samseng" literally means gangster. Just watch and you'll see what I mean.



So, this was the reason for the bellyquakes I felt when I was pregnant...

Watch Nat play ball

Show me the money!

No la... where got money to show? With a baby, what we used to call our "lifestyle fund" has been severely depleted to the point that begs the question : "WHAT lifestyle?"

Anyway, we have to constantly look for ways to spend less so here are a few things we have adopted to save money, pre- & post-parenthood.

1. The internet - no longer need to buy volumes of encyclopedias or pay for newspapers or spend money on stamps, paper & envelopes
   
2. Use open-source software or freeware
   
3. CD & DVD burners (read between the lines)
4. SMS - debatable 'coz some people end up spending more money on an SMS conversation than simply making a short call
   
5. Induction cooker (we love ours!)
   
6. Digital cameras - no more expensive batteries and film and less printing costs (C'mon, how many people actually print their photos these days?)
   
7. Rechargeable batteries for all our remote controls (of which we have several)
   
8. Energy-saving bulbs (get some cheap ones from IKEA. RM19.90 for 3!)
   
9. Menstrual cups - funny thing is, I only used mine 3 times before I became pregnant
   
10. IPL - saves time tweezing & money waxing. Tweeze and wax what you say? Any part with hair la.... Seriously, I'm so glad I did this
    
11. LASIK surgery. Okay, a tad extravagant but I'm saving on glasses, lenses, solutions and powered goggles and not to mention the inconvenience in the long run, aren't I?
    
12. Laundry balls - With these, I save on detergent as well as softeners. All I need is the hot water from my 5.5kg Electrolux, throw this Magic ball in together with a handful of scrubber balls for good measure and Voila! I have fresh-smelling clean laundry. Come to think of it, are our clothes so dirty that we need to use detergent on a daily basis? 1 Magic Ball cost me less than RM130 and will last for 3 years based on once daily use. That's less than I spend a year on my SA8 and Comfort! Best of all, I can also wash Nat's clothes without worrying about skin irritation caused by detergent
    
13. Cloth diapers and I don't mean the normal "lampin". These ones can hold 3-4 times more urine and keep babies' bottoms bone-dry and can even be used at night with an additional insert! I have yet to try them but will be receiving my order come Monday. Can't wait!

Feel free to add your money-saving tips. I'd be more than happy to try them out. In the meantime, I'll wait patiently for us to be able to convert our cars to NGVs. I was told an RM8 full tank gives you 150km mileage and when that runs out, you can switch back to petrol. The only thing you lose out on is boot space.

Material girl

Nat loves her labels, literally!

Finally defeated...

Could it be real?

... yup, the "Chu" is finally down!

Strangely enough, she actually fell asleep on her own, right smack on Patrick the dog's red butt! How cute is that?