A (Calcium Rich) Dose of Reality

In my day, we fed our baby dolls with bottles. Kids today are so much more pragmatic.




Boobie Buddies are made in the UK.

If You're a Bird in KL...

You might want to seriously think about flying south.

Saturday morning around 9am I heard a shot. Yes, a shot! I went to my window and saw a gang of gun man gathered down below shooting birds out of trees!

Wha? The birds were falling down dead and people were just milling about in the street going about their Saturday business.

I took a few shots from my window, but was afraid I might catch a stray bullet...

Maybe they were tranquilizer darts?

Accidents Happen

That's why pencils have erasers, right? Well, I tried not to beat myself up today after I accidentally kicked over my water glass.

Sad as it might be, things break. But when I went to clean it up I discovered this:

My dust pan broke? What the - ?

Be My Baby

Gravytrain is having a BABY! Last week, one of our friends threw her an amazing shower!

We downsized the people food into Malaysian baby food and had to guess what we were eating.

Shhh. I brought the roti canai. Turns out it's good regular and pureed.

Ain't just baby likes the bottle.

It's too bad you need to have a baby to get such a fun party!

This Just In

You may wonder what the news of the day is in Malaysa. Well, let's take a look, shall we.



Let's see... Oh, yes! Ok, here's something interesting.



A delay in denim delivery? No! Pretty gripping stuff. But don't think we don't pay attention to the international scene.


Yes, yes he is. Couldn't agree more.

Front page news, folks, front page.

Let Them Eat...Bread!

Ah bread - my favorite carbohydrate.

Unfortunately, in Asia the staples of the diet are rice and noodles. Bread takes a backseat - like back of the bus back. If people eat bread here, they want it to be sweet and light. You can easily polish off an entire loaf in a single sitting because the bread is nothing but air. That's why I was so excited when a group of us found out about a bread making class at the Cooking House in Sri Hartamas.

Our originally scheduled class was postponed (the chef contracted Dengue Fever!!) and Chef Lee stepped in.

We set out to make four loaves - ciabatta, baguette, pita and multigrain - that would be suitable to feeding a European!

When baking bread, you need to use a flour that has a high gluten content. This is what makes the bread hearty, not light like a cake flour might. In the past I've used Canadian Strong flour, but in Malaysia, you just look for a sack of "Gluten Wheat." (FYI, it's not that easy to find).

For the multigrain, we simply soaked what we would normally eat for breakfast, and added it to the dough.

Unfortunately, Chef Lee took the easy way out. We had an industrial machine do all of our kneading. I think the class would have been much better if we'd hand kneaded at least one bread.

All bread needs to proof - the rising process. I don't have one of these at home. But a cozy, warm spot should provide a nice substitute.

"How do I know you're really bread?!"

Chef Lee demonstrates how to roll a baguette.

Still learning...

Now we must score the baguettes.
Perfect 10!

We mixed some black olives and sundried tomatoes into the ciabatta. Oh yes, we did.

Finally, it was time to pop these dough boys in the oven.




We've got bread people!

Say cheese sandwich!


Lunch is served...

After stuffing ourselves, we still managed to have a few loaves to take home.

So, what does a real, live European have to say?

"Is niiiiice!"

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday, Mr. Happy and I celebrated two years of wedded bliss. It seems like just yesterday I married him in Cape May, NJ.

And then again in London.

Our life together has taken us from the hustle and bustle of New York.

To prim and proper London town.

To the fast and furious Dubai.

To the slower SE Asian pace of Kuala Lumpur.

Tonight we celebrated at home with a special dinner that was topped off with....

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!

Apologies for the blurry shot, my hand trembled in anticipation of this dessert.


So gooey good!


Technically, you are supposed to bake this in ramekins. Alas, I do not have ramekins here in KL so I used a small casserole dish and upped the bake time to 18 minutes. It was purr-fect. And not too difficult - check out the recipe.

I leave you with some fond images of our wedding day.

(obviously, you must hit PLAY to actually see the image...)

The Best Things in Life are Free?

I saw this sign outside my apartment building.

Sure, 70RM (approx. $20) seems reasonable for a free haircut. Sure.

Bride's Hour

A friend of mine recently told me that, in India, they refer to sunset as "Bride's Hour."

It is the time of day when the natural light is at its most flattering. Therefore, prior to an arranged marriage, parents schedule the bride and groom-to-be's first meeting during Bride's Hour, when they will most likely find the other person attractive.



I responded to my friend that we have the same exact thing in America.






We call it "Happy Hour," the time of day we are most likely to over look a stranger's faults (especially if he's buying!).

Movin' On Up

A la the Jeffersons...

Mr. Happy and I have moved to a DEE-lux apartment in the sky!However, in our case, we would be better portrayed as George and Weezie's neighbors who were...

...levelheaded.

Moving is the WORST. And Mr. H &I have moved around a lot since we met each other. It took a lot of motivation to get us to move again within the same city. But I LOVED the new apartment.

So we packed our boxes.

And more boxes.

And a few suitcases.

And more boxes.

And soon we were cleared out of the old.

And into the new!

We've not got three bedrooms (instead of one), a proper kitchen (!), and lots and lots of amenities.

Care to stop by for a dip in our 50 meter swimming pool?

There is piped in music under the water.

There's a 80% chance that your breast stroke will be set to "Eye of the Tiger".

How about a bite to eat in the apartment cafe?

Or a BBQ on the roof?

Feel like working out? Well there's the gym by the pool.

(I adore admiring the koi while workin' it out).

And one on the roof.

Have little ones? There are several play areas to occupy them...

...while we have cocktails on at the sky lounge.

And if I've run out of milk for my coffee, there's a mini-mart in the building too!

There's also a games room, a dry cleaner, and, supposedly, a theatre (though I've not found this yet).

I literally never, ever have to leave. So hopefully YOU will come to visit US soon!