The Gruffalo's Child

Matty and I had been looking forward to watching "The Gruffalo" over the weekend. We've been reading the book before bedtime for the past week just to get  ourselves in the mood.

A day before the show, my hubby went to pick up the tickets. It was only then that we realised we had bought tickets for  "The Gruffalo's Child", and not "The Gruffalo". My hubby blamed it on the layout of the HK Ticketing website. But I think he  underestimated the difficulty of buying tickets online, facebooking, msn-ing, and youtube-ing at the same time. MEN!

Luckily, Gruffalo was in the show too. He's the one that Matty really wanted to see. And although Matty hasn't read the Gruffalo's Child yet, he enjoyed the show a lot. It was an hour long show, with lots of singing and dancing, and some interaction with the characters in the show. After leaving the theatre he told us he wanted to watch the Gruffalo again! I guess we could since the show is still on, but spending another HK$400 each for a children's show is a little steep. I'd rather save it for the Barney show coming up in April. In the end we got him the Gruffalo's Child book and a CD of the Gruffalo's songs instead.

The Amazing Race For Milk!

Matty almost had no milk to drink last night! Usually our helper Suparmi would give us ample warning before we actually ran out, but this time, for whatever reason, she just informed us in the morning that we had nothing left. Neither of us, both working full-time, had any idea of this, so we were forced to search high and low for a new source. When I asked her why she didn't tell us earlier she just picked on the easiest target in the flat -- my hubby. She said she told him on Saturday...something my hubby denies. But with their track record, I don't know who to believe. 

Anyway, my hubby went to at least 4 different places in Kowloon City to hunt the milk down, but failed. We then drove to Lok Fu, where my hubby took off his jacket and ran across the street towards the shops as though he was in the Amazing Race. Again he came back empty handed. The last leg of the Race was at Festival Walk, in Kowloon Tong, after Auntie Edna managed to locate one last can at the Watson's there. We stopped the car next to the KCRC station, where Matty and I watched Da Da sprint up the flyover leading to the shopping mall. It was a funny sight, since he hasn't exercised for such a long time. But I'm so glad he did, after watching him down a Mcflurry with added caramel just an hour earlier. Life was fair afterall...well sometimes at least.

Superglue? Rubber? Waterchestnut Cake!!

With less than a month to go before Chinese New Year, I started testing out my waterchestnut cake recipe  again. I actually make it every year but I just never remember to write down the exact recipe so I usually have to experiment a little before the new year. And although I thought the paste didn't thicken enough in the process, the waterchestnut cake turned out fine. I was a little surprised actually.  Before I forget, heres the recipe. I adapted it from the Cheat Eat blog.

Ingredients:

• 250g waterchestnut flour
• 950ml water
• 12 waterchestnuts (can add more if you want)
• 220g or two and a half slabs of yellow sugar
• A little oil for greasing your pan

Method:

1. Grease the foil pan with oil. I got mine a few days ago. They usually just have two sizes. I picked the smaller one.
2. Sift the waterchestnut flour.
3. Mix about half of the water you'll be using with the flour.
4. Peel and chop, or crush the waterchestnuts. I usually put it in a gladlock type bag and just crush it with a wooden spatula or a knife handle.
5. Melt the sugar in a pot with the remaining water. Add the waterchestnuts and bring it to a boil.
6. Turn the flame down to as small a flame as possible and pour half the flour mixture in, while continuously stirring.
7. Turn the fire off, and pour the remaining mixture in the pot, while stirring. It should thicken while you stir.
8. Pour the mixture in your pan and steam for 30 minutes, or until transparent. I usually cover the top of the pan with foil to prevent water droplets from falling into the pan while steaming.
9. Eat! Or wait until it cools first.

My waterchestnut cake is on the less sweet side, so if you like really sweet stuff you can always add more sugar. Or if you like it softer you can add more water too. Its really quite flexible. ENJOY!

White Hair? I Is Scared!

We've recently been wondering AGAIN when Matty will sleep by himself, in his own bed. Don't get me wrong, we still love sleeping with him. It's just that he's really getting too big for our bed. And because he likes to sleep on top of the covers, both my hubby and I barely get enough blanket-area to cover ourselves. We really felt the impact of the shortage of our blanket real-estate this past week when temperatures have dropped to single digits in the morning.  But it looks like Matty has no plan to move!!

The other day after his bath,  Suparmi, my helper,  asked Matty when he was going to sleep in his own bed. And this was what he said: "Matty sleep in Matty bed when Da Da and Ma Ma have white hair!"

A little shocked by what Matty said, I did my own follow-up a little later:


ME:                           "So when will you when sleep by yourself?"





MATTY:                    "When everybody's got white hair."




ME:                            "Why?"





MATTY:                     "I is scared"




ME:                            "You're scared of white hair?"




MATTY:                       "Yes."



ME:                              "What if Ma Ma has a few white hairs, is that okay?"




MATTY:                     "Yes"



ME:                            "So you're just scared if all my hair is white?




MATTY:                    "Yes."




ME:                             "So when will everyone have white hair?"




MATTY:                      "When Matty is 20!"


Well, he sure knows how to make things clear. Although I know Matty will definitely not sleep with us until he's twenty-- its quite obvious he has not plan to leave our bed any time soon.

I later asked him about Santa, but he didn't seem to recall ever seeing Santa's white hair. I guess thats because the santa he saw (Da Da) last month had bits of black hair sticking out.

Anyway, I guess if we really, really, want to get Matty out of our bed.... all we need to do is bleach our hair white! Um...... lets see how desperate we get.

Big Brother, Matty

Matty has a very sensitive respiratory system, according to his pediatrician. Recently he's been wheezing occasionally--usually when Hong Kong's air pollution is very high or when the renovators next door decides to open the door to let the dust out!

Over the weekend, when little Hayden and 小波子 came to visit us for the first time, Matty started wheezing, and coughing again. We haven't confirmed anything yet, but we think Matty could possibly be allergic to our cats. He doesn't usually play with them that much. It was only when little Hayden and 小波子 came over that everyone started playing with them more. Matty recovered soon after he rested in my room.

But even if Matty is allergic to our cats, I don't think I have the heart get rid of them. My hubby agrees. They are just a part of our family now. I guess we'll just try to groom them more and see if things improve.

Anyway, despite, Matty's runny nose, and coughing, Auntie Annie let Matty hold 5-month-old 小波子. Its the first time Matty held a baby that young. I don't know how nervous he was but I can tell he was trying his best not to drop him.

While little Hayden and 小波子 were there, Matty also tried to act like a big boy, because he knew he was obviously older than them. At one point, he went to the bathroom to clean his hands by himself. He even shut the door! Yes, I was a little worried, because I couldn't open the door with him standing on a chair next to the sink! Luckily he was okay. But this "big brother" character didn't last long. Just as I turned my back on him he was squashing Hayden in his yellow car. Sigh. Boys will be boys.