Kids Gardening/Crafts Project: Cress Egg Heads

School's out!

As a parent, I understand that parents will be busy finding interesting activities to fill up their children's days. A really fun and cool activity to do with your kids is making these adorable, cute cress egg heads.

Fun gardening and craft activity to do with your kids

Children will get to learn about gardening (how seeds germinate and sprout), responsibility (they must remember to water their cress every day) as well as being creative (decorating their egg heads' body). My kids were definitely very excited doing this project and watching their seeds grow. Every day after they arrive home from school, the first they do is check on their sprouts and water them. I also joined in the fun and planted my cress in a shallow plastic tray (round ice cream cover would work well).

What you will need:
♥ Egg carton
♥ Empty eggshells half
♥ Cotton wool
♥ Spray bottle
♥ Cress seeds or other small seeds such as chia, mizuna, arugula, flax.
♥ Several toilet paper roll
♥ Marker or magic colour pens

You can get mizuna, arugula or cress seeds from gardening shops (like Ace Hardware) or gardening websites and chia and flax seeds can be found in organic food shops.


What you need to do:
1. First, you will need to draw a face on the eggshell halves with the markers (broken edge should face up).

2. Stuff the egg shells with cotton wool and spray with water until the cotton wool is very wet.

3. Arrange the egg shells in the egg carton and then sprinkle on the seeds onto the cotton wool. Spray once more with water and leave in a sunny spot. Since Malaysia climate is quite hot, it is recommended to spray twice a day - it is important to keep it moist or else the sprouts will dry out and die.

4. Wait for about 4-7 days, your sprouts should have grown quite high by now.

Day 2

Day 3

5. Decorate the toilet rolls with marker pen (buttons/ties/ribbons) then balance the cress egg heads on top of the tube. You can give your egg head a haircut  whenever you are ready to harvest some for your sandwiches or salads. ;)

Have fun!


Do also check out my posts under these labels for more ideas:
Cooking with Kids
Things to do with kids




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Red Lobster Malaysia, Intermark Mall, Kuala Lumpur

Red Lobster, the world's largest seafood restaurant chain has opened its doors at the Intermark Mall, marking its debut in South East Asia. This iconic American casual dining seafood restaurant chain from the USA first restaurant in the US was opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida by founder Bill Darden and has since grown to over 700 restaurants across the United States, Canada, Middle East, South America, Japan and now Malaysia.

Red Lobster in Malaysia is operated by the Secret Recipe F&B Group in partnership with Darden Restaurants. According to Mr Ray Bauer, Managing Director of Franchise Operations, Asia for Darden Restaurants, Darden has invested into partnerships in cultivation of lobsters and aqua farm facilities for sustainable supplies in the country.

I was invited here for a food review here over the weekend, and I am happy to have gotten a taste of the Red Lobster seafood dining experience. 

To start, we had their famous Cheddar Bay biscuits - loved the warm savoury cheese biscuit (texture very similar to a scone). All orders will receive unlimited, complimentary servings of this. Other starters that we had were the lobster pizza (RM36.90) and the Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp (RM22.90). The pizza had a crisp thin base and was topped with Maine lobster chunks, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. But my favorite starter has to be the shrimp, coated in their signature batter, then tossed in coconut and deep fried to crispy perfection and served with a pina colada sauce. Really yummy!

Both soups that we tried were really delicious too - I had the lobster bisque (RM11.90 per cup, RM19.90 per bowl) and it was creamy, rich and came with generous chunks of lobster. I also tried some of the New England Clam Chowder (RM10.90 per cup, RM17.90 per bowl) and it was also very good. Creamy and loaded with clams and potatoes.

As for the mains, we tried some of their signature combinations - Bar Harbor Lobster Bake (RM109.90), Grilled Lobster, Shrimp & Scallops (RM99.90), Crab & Roasted Garlic Seafood Bake (RM74.90) and Lobster &Steak Burger (RM69.90). These are great for sharing as they are served in pretty large portions.

Bar Harbor Lobster Bake - a roasted split lobster tail, tender shrimp, sea scallops, mussels and linguine in a savory broth

Crab & Roasted Garlic Seafood Bake - Alaskan king crab with shrimp, sea scallops and potato wedges. We got a special tutorial from Mr Ray Bauer on how to shell the crab legs - and thanks to him, I'm now a pro at it! :) Found the crabs to be a tad salty, but still pretty good and it's really fun to eat (so easy when you know how, the meat just slips out effortlessly each time).

Grilled Lobster, Shrimp & Scallops - a split Maine lobster tail, skewered shrimp and wild caught sea scallops with wild rice pilaf. My favorite dish of the day, I really loved the meaty, tender lobster. For this dish, the scallops were the larger variety, and plump and skewered prawns were very tender and juicy too.

Other than seafood, Red Lobster Malaysia also serves steaks, pastas and chicken dishes. All meats served here are certified halal and no alcohol is used in preparation of the food.

Lobster and Steak Burger - beef burger patty topped with cheese, and onion rings. Served with grilled Maine lobster and French fries on the side. I did not try this, so not sure how the burger patty is.

And to end our meal, we had two rich desserts, the Double Chocolate Torte (RM15.90) and cheese cake (RM15.90). Really sinful and good!

By the way, they also have live Maine and Rock lobsters for diners to choose from. The Rock lobsters come from Sabah. They can either be steamed or roasted with a crab-and-seafood stuffing at an additional charge. The live lobsters can range from 600g to 1.5kg. Seasonal price, but for a rough idea, the price will be RM27 per 100 grams for Maine Lobster and RM56 per 100 grams for Rock Lobster.

Verdict: Overall, I was impressed with the quality and freshness of the seafood. The dishes that we had were certainly good and well-prepared. My Top 3 recommendations would be the Jumbo Coconut Shrimp, Lobster Bisque and Grilled Lobster, Shrimp & Scallops. 

Opening times: 11am to 10pm daily.

Location: Red Lobster Malaysia, The Intermark, Ground Level, Lot G-17, Intermark Mall, 348 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2181 4855

Website: https://www.facebook.com/redlobstermalaysia




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Hotel Review: Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, Malaysia

One of the loveliest staycations we had this year was at Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar. Pullman is the upscale international hotel brand of Accor, the world's leading hotel operator.

Once parked, we head up to the spacious, modern lobby and got ourselves checked in. We're in room 2022, a grand deluxe room up on the 20th floor. 

How creative... Pull-man... get it?

The hotel is quite new and rooms are well-maintained. There are a total of 513 contemporary-style rooms and suites, starting from deluxe room up to the presidential suite. All rooms come with a bath tub, and those staying in Grand Deluxe and above will also find a coffee machine and Roger & Gallet premium toiletries.


A spacious 41 sq m, we liked the modern interior of the room. The king-sized bed was comfortable, and there is also a pillow menu for guests to choose from for their comfort. Our room also comes with a LCD TV, iPod docking station, work desk, seating area, and free wi-fi.

Location wise, it is located close to MidValley Megamall and the KLIA express rail link station is just 10 minutes away from the hotel.

Bathrooms are also spacious, with a separate shower and bath tub.

Bath tub in all rooms

Even if it rains... no problems! We can still have fun in our "indoor pool"

Roger & Gallet toiletries (in all room categories except Deluxe rooms)

Coffee/tea making facilities with Italian espresso maker

Safe, dumb bells and even a yoga mat. 

Work desk

Pillow menu and docking station

Welcome gift.... a box of macarons ;)

Guests staying in Grand Executive room categories and above can also enjoy access to the Executive Lounge on the 26th Floor. There is a cocktail hour between 6-8pm - we came upstairs for a look, and were amazed to find a pretty good array of canapes and bites. We skipped this as we were having dinner pretty soon at La Cucina. Breakfast is served either at LINK or Executive Lounge (for those eligible).

Kids enjoying their breakfast up at the Executive Lounge

Sending some love to you all!

Oh see what I spotted - sumos! No wonder I feel so much at home here...

And then we spotted a Lamborghini parked at the hotel entrance...

And of course, every staycation is not complete without a visit to the swimming pool. There are 2 pools here - adult and children's pool as well as a jacuzzi. There is also a fitness centre on the same level.

Fitness centre

Hotel lobby

At present, the hotel has 4 restaurants/cafes for guests to choose from - LINK, Petit Cafe, The Lounge and La Cucina. More restaurants will be opened by next year, as well as a spa.

We were pleasantly surprised with the high quality buffet at LINK, the hotel's all day dining restaurant. We had our lunch here on the day we checked in - good variety and delicious food. And it's also the busiest buffet we've ever encountered, but luckily we were slightly early so we missed most of the crowd.

Petit Cafe located in the lobby, serves quick bites and cakes.

The Lounge, to unwind with some cocktails or Pullman's signature tapas menu, Tapastry. They also serve afternoon tea here.

Cabanas for chillaxing

La Cucina, a really awesome restaurant serving delicious Mediterranean inspired cuisine. Had two enjoyable meals here - steak lunch and dinner.

You can find lots of great art around the hotel.

Thank you to Pullman KL Bangsar for the wonderful, memorable stay!

Verdict: The location means that it's easy enough for us to get to without running into too much of a jam, rooms are spacious and the food is great, making this a great place for a staycation in KL.

Room rates: Prices start from RM288++.

Location: Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, No 1 Jalan Pantai Jaya, Tower 3, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2298 1888

GPS Coordinates: 3.115850, 101.6632

Website: http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7962-pullman-kuala-lumpur-bangsar-/index.shtml


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