august happy mail! - part 1

Hello!

August went by so fast, i haven't had enough time to finish and to do my favorite things! I went back to my hometown last weekend, and we celebrated my older brother's birthday. Dad treated us to a great sunday dinner (i will share some picture in my next post), we sang the Happy Birthday song to him (my brother), we had baskin robbins ice cream cake (mint flavoured), little edward running around and it was just so much so much fun!

Here, i am very pleased to share with you my superb incoming mail last month, with very lovely birthday gifts attached!

 My new pen pal from The Netherlands, she found me from Brinja's blog (i left a message there and she reads my message!) >_<

Thank you so much for contacting me Ageeth!

 I love everything in the parcel,  everything are so vibrant! You know what Ageeth, I am started to love pineapple print lately, eyeing on a pineapple pattern wax seal stamp and i absolutely love that pineapple pouch and the print you hand stamped.

Thank you for the cute clipper tea bags (how did you know that i'm collecting tea bag? hehe) with matching little envelopes, you are so cute!

Pretty paper ephemera, she pretty much made / craft everything on her own!
Another very talented lady, oh~ im so lucky to be able to know you all!

Here it comes again, Sami's summer mail!

Beautiful cherry hand-stamped cloth tape with lovely postcards!

Have you ever seen any notebook with 3D paper glasses? >_< too cute! 

And a travel guide, map & postcards for my reference. Please wait for me, someday i will be there - Port of Vigo ("O Berbés")

My first penpal from Bulgaria - Diana had a super adorable baby boy! I know so little about Bulgaria (please tell me more), but it sounds like an amazing country to me. Bulgaria has the most beautiful postage stamps!

She sent me a 10 sheets super long letter which i enjoyed reading every bit of it! 

 Thank you so much dear Diana, those origami papers, stamps & doilies are pretty and useful for my next snailmail!

Yen Fong's happy mail! No doubt, she have a great sense on choosing beautiful stationery, has been a collector for beautiful paper & ephemeras. If you are stationery-lover and wanted to get some well made stationery, feel free to visit her online store.

 Look how cute is the Instax mini film she took with her newly bought succulent plant for her new home!

I was totally addicted to the beautiful papers and ephemera she sent! 

谢谢你

Aki chan sent me a huge parcel with many lovely goodies and a sweet birthday gift this time!

 An absolute summer greetings parcel for me!
Seashells postage stamps & crystal drop seal / Japan scenery seal flake stickers / little cute fork & spoon / yummy blendy stick & coffee / sightseeing map (i will go to visit you someday aki) & a pack of yummy puff cakes (not showing in the pic it as i have nearly finished it >_<)

 Tadaa! A canvas tote bag with beautiful cooking/food inspired print for my 30's birthday, how beautiful it is? She just knows me so well! We have been writing to each other for about 4 years if not mistaken, I can't believe how fast time flies. Wish for many more years to come, more laughter, more joy, more love and more SNAILMAIL!

 I just can't help myself staring at these lovely postage stamps!

Summer seashells!

And very adorable unique shapes moomin postage stamps, i may need to frame them up! aww~ makes me happy just to think about it!

Not finished yet, there is a part 2 coming soon!

my birthday, all about food!

Happy 30th Birthday! Yays.

My partner's birthday is just 3 days apart from mine, so we always celebrate together! My brother will date us out for dinner every year on our birthday, it's like a tradition!

Last week, he treated us the best birthday dinner @Alexis Bistro & Wine Bar. It was our first time dining there and we enjoyed it because the food were pretty good, specially the signature tiramisu! So here's some of the delicious food we ate, "beware!" the food images that might causes you to salivate! Hehe.

 

 This was mine - Moroccan style lamb racks with roasted eggplant, topped with cheesy sauce & fresh pomegranate. I love grilled egg plant, but don't really fancy the taste of this roasted aubergine might be because of the cheese sauce, the lamb rack & mint sauce taste very light~ but overall was still good!

 My boyfriend's favorite, forgot what the dish is called~ but it was certainly a delicious herb roasted chicken leg. It has the crispiest skin and the meat was so juicy! Yum!

My brother ordered Angel Hair Oglio Olio, this is actually my favorite! Well, maybe you might not know yet, i love seafood more; especially shrimp, or shrimp family~ and that's in there are crayfish, aka crawfish!

 Here comes our birthday cake, also forgot what this cake is called!

It taste so good, my brother asked if i can bake something like that >_< 

I answered: "of course no, as homemade always taste different and better! HAHA"

pardon me please~

Now this taste delicious, something different, it was no ordinary tiramisu! It's layered with silky mascarpone and coated with caramalized almonds & mixed nuts. And the plus point, a touch of cognac! Oh, tasty, i'm in heaven!

The gardenia plant that my dad gave me has bloomed just a day before my birthday and it reached full bloom on my birthday! Although this seems like a small thing, but i feel really fortunate & amazing!

Wish for many more wonderful things and memories to come!

outgoing mail july!

Hi,

Fell a little bit behind on snailmail this month as i had one week off from work and family came over, but will be back into my usual routine next month. No more skipping yoga class, no more excuses not to be in my craft room (because its holiday!) and i got many new postage stamps to use!

 My mail to Cassandre

Paris, France

 My mail to Naoko

Aichi, Japan

Seed packing - most enjoyable weekend activity.

Harvesting, drying, collecting, saving, packing and posting!

Can you imagine how i feel when i think of my pen pal will/able to grow something very nice in their garden like i have?

Sometimes, the tiniest seeds produce the most amazing things.

SO TRUE!

july happy mail!

Last 2 days of july, and i can't wait to start the new month! My favorite month of the year - H E L L O   A U G U S T ! Me, my partner, my brother was born in August and my country Malaysia independence day falls on 31st August~ haha, so i strongly believe it's my lucky month! Yays. >_<
I look forward to write another few more letters this weekend, meanwhile let's see some of the very happy mail i received this month!

 Jocelyn beautifully hand drawn envelope!

 She sent me my favorite magazine, stickers, memo pads and her hand drawn house map / layout of her house because of i have asked her what does her house look like in the previous mail.

 I sent something to little Suzy (Jocelyn's beautiful daughter) in every mail, so its has become a habit for me to
send 2 letters in an envelope every time! One for mama, another one for Suzy!

Vice versa, little Suzy sent me something she wrote/draw, little bits & pieces attached in her mama's snailmail to me in every return mail! I love being in this type of "mother & daughter + pen pal" relationship where I am totally comfortable and feel warmth with.
I feel so loved!

 Yumi's "always-the-cuteest-mail"! I guess you might familiar with her for those who had read about my snailmail post.
Yes, she is the lady who always sent me the most kawaii parcel.

 It even looks cute from the back of the parcel! Hehe.

 There's always yummy treats from her! 

This time she sent me a pack of chirashi sushi mix, i have never try this type of sushi before, so excited to give it a try.

 Pretty handwriting on beautiful letter set + ye6ypawka (Cheburashka: Russian classic cartoon character) mobile strap + royal jelly essence face mask (i needed this so badly in the extremely hot weather in KL lately)

 Box of Iyemon Cha (a kyoto based tea company) - Japanese roasted tea with roasted rice (sweet Yumi have already unfold the tea box).
I will share some with my other pen pal too!

 My very first pen pal from France.

Cassandre (I love her beautiful name so much!) - a talented artist who loves making things with her hands. Visit her etsy shop if you love delicate handmade jewelry. 

 Colorful & glittery letter with lemon gummy, neon paper clips, shiny ink pen!

 a closer look on the happy mail!

H A V E   A   L O V E L Y   W E E K E N D  ! !

weekend story

Hihi,

We had a really great raya holiday, my family came visit us last weekend. We were feeling like a tourist, pretty much eating all the time, finding good food, sight-seeing, window shopping & playing with my little nephew. Here are some of the random photos i took with my phone.

Edward - my 1 year 3 months old little nephew, he's such a naughty cutie pie and he grow up so fast!

Mom brought me a lot of homemade & homegrown food.

Old-cucumber for a pot of hearty chinese soup!

 

Shin kee beef noodles @ Petaling street

I think this is the best beef noodle i have ever eaten in town so far!

I love the paper-thin beef slices, it's fresh and raw, then the piping hot broth gets ladled over the top, hits them and cooks them just right! Delicious.

Apam balik aka Malaysian-style pancake that filled with peanuts, sweetcorn, melting butter and caster sugar!

Molten chocolate souffle - a delicious dessert we had in a cafe, next dessert i wanted to try and make!

Things i shop for myself, i should say for my pen-pal too! ^^ There are so many pretty postage stamps, it was so hard to choose!

Dad gave me extra okra (lady's fingers) seeds to grow after he saw the pictures of my okra plants i have sent him last week! hehe~ my okra plant started producing fruits (i should say its a type of vegetable >_<) I will share some of my garden update photo soon.

good things

Hello!

My long awaited moment of the 'bloom' has finally come! The white clitoria ternatea (aka white butterfly pea flower) i grew from seeds last 6 months have finally bloomed this morning! From the info, white clitoria ternatea is a rare species, its quite hard to find in any of the plant nursery here.
Oh! I was so happy when I saw the bloom, it's hard to describe how excited I am!

 Isn't it gorgeous? Pure white butterfly pea flower, can't stop staring at it! Hope it will bloom some more.

Things I've been doing a lot lately, picking, seperating  soaking & boiling red beans!

Made candied red beans for this - Matcha red bean chiffon cake!

My family will come visiting us this weekend, i will make it again for them ~ I'm quite proud of myself by not giving up & keep trying until I succeed on making a great chiffon cake.

My office will be closed starts tomorrow for a week for Hari Raya long holiday! I bought something i think its nice & yummy for my lovely boss who celebrate Hari Raya, hopefully she will love it.

Just finished wrapping up. Simple packaging, hope she likes it!

 Having lots of fun decorating snail mail envelopes, trying many creative ways with different type of craft supplies - washi tapes, labels, paper doilies, maps, stickers, pretty designed promotional flyers, nice postage stamps...etc!

 Bought a lovely book last weekend, its about recipes, cooking stories & faith in daily life from some Japanese chef & gourmet foodies!

first week of july, some random shots

First week of July have passed, do you think life seems to pass more quickly as you get older? the year seemed to come more and more quickly every year, and I'm going to turn 30 next month! People said turning 30 is a milestone in any woman's life, and i hope all things will be good and going to be better and better.

Some of my comforting classic home cooked meals lately.
 

 Stir fried brussel sprouts with oyster sauce, it was addictively crunchy!

My brother visited over the weekend, he cooked us a really delicious dinner.

Stir fried beef slices with ginger + scallion by him!

 My partner's favorite recipe - minced meat & tofu sauce tossed noodles

 Made extra minced meat sauce for the next day packed lunch!

 Braised soy sauce & honey chicken wings for our movie night at home!

Bought some of these locally grown golden mangoes, fair price & yummy!

In love with their strong, sweet, fragrant and fruity aroma.

Made some mango puddings for after meal dessert.

My late night activity, slow-cooking garlic infused oil.

Today, I'm going to do some late night baking~

It's time to harvest my spring onions, gonna make scallion oil noodles for pack lunch tomorrow.