Happy Mother's Day

A large shoutout goes to all moms today!

Especially mine.

Too bad I'm not home to celebrate Mother's Day with her this year and last year, but I know that to her, distance does not matter. 

She provided us with much tough love and the type of education that we can't learn at schools.

Mini Ash & Mom

She taught us that we can't always get what we want.

That life is hard and you have to work for things you want.

That eating too much potato chips and chocolate will result in horrible episodes of tonsillitis (my life story as a kid).

That you will wake up from a fainting spell after hearing her yell the house down out of concern. Fainting freaks her out.

That no matter what, family will never desert you.

That most men can be assholes.

That Mozart and Beethoven are awesome.... and Bartok is not spelled as "Buttock".

That a talented person will not get far or pass his/her exams if he/she doesn't practice.

That going to orchestra concerts is one of the pleasures of life as a musician. I used to wish I lived under the stage at the Malaysian Philharmonic. She took me to my first orchestra concert and I loved it.

She's also our cheerleader, helping us sail through rough patches and dark episodes.

Our lawyer, when we need some support and back up through unfair times.

Our teacher... no, literally. She teaches music for a living. Tough on us when she needs to.

Our friend.. when we have our gossips sometimes and laugh about silly things. She laughs till she cries sometimes. It's really awesome.

Our coach.. pushing us to strive to be better, so we get far in life.

She's the wisest person and my inspiration to be where I am in the music field. I'm living both our dreams of learning music on a tertiary level and I could not have done it without her. There was doubt, and even some arguments because I thought the dream was too far fetched.

Here I am now, in New Zealand, learning in a music conservatory, blogging about what a terrific mother I have. Happy Mother's Day, mom. I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day to mothers out there!

If you haven't called to wish her yet, you're welcome for the reminder. :P

xxx,

Ashley Mah.

Mom's Birthday Dinner @ Taman Sari Brasserie, Istana Hotel.

There's nothing better than having some sane, relaxing family time. No rushing to tuition, to work, or yelling at each other, or doing housework. Haha. It was my mom's birthday a few days ago and we've gone to a buffet dinner at Taman Sari Brasserie, located at the Istana Hotel.

After being abroad for 9 months, I've learnt to value family time more. I've to say, this dinner has been the highlight of the week for me. I'm quite happy to be around to celebrate mom's birthday back home with the family as I've missed both my sister's and dad's birthdays. Nonetheless, feels great to be home.

It was quite a treat for us - especially Kim as her SPM just ended and she's finally out to have a food gorging fest. There was quite a range of food - it was an international buffet, which catered to my craving for more Asian foods and Kim's Western food cravings.. so no sibling arguments. :)

Brace yourself for the making of the food coma.

The sweet tooth's playground.

They had quite good desserts! I quite enjoyed the Panna Cotta and the jellies. Also, I liked that the desserts came in small servings. That way, I got to try a little bit of everything without feeling too stuffed.

Mom & Dad grabbing some grub.

Fresh seafood.
I like prawns but at times like these, not enough to peel off the shell. Hehe 

Kim made a beeline for this.

Their Nasi Briyani and Arabian Rice were quite good. I miss having them.
It's so difficult to get anything close to these in New Zealand.

Ice Kacang! 

Fruits? Not today! Hehe

Snapped a picture of dad's platter.

Anti clockwise from the centre ; smoked duck, mushroom salad, baby octopus salad, roasted lamb and tomato basil pasta. 

Toilette mirror camwhoring with Kim.

Been awhile since I bothered dressing up. I don't really dress up much in Wellington so I took the effort that day.. So that's my OOTN a.k.a Oufit of the Night. The top was a hand-me-down from a cousin and I always thought it was hard to pair it with something. Polka dots ain't really my thing.. but I guess it worked ad looked fine. :)

Happy Birthday to the true superwoman that Dad, Kim and I love. <3

Mom being mom didn't realize anything even when the cake was brought in front of her...until we started singing. Lol

Mom's friend and Jon came to join us for dinner too. Could tell that mom and her friend had a ball catching up. 

While the adults did that... 

..we camwhored. Haha! Was great to spend some time with sis doing this nonsense again. I used to have an album called the AshKim Camwhore Series but my stupid iTunes wiped it off along with my other albums on my iPhone in NZ. -_-

By the time the cake came, everyone was so glad that there was only one piece. We looked in slight shock when dad proposed jokingly that we have Hokkien noodles for supper. Hahahahah anymore and I was going to burst!

Another family photo cos it's so rare to take a proper one. <3

Can't believe how tall this woman grew while I was away. Tsk..

Can't believe how tall these two grew since I was away..

The 3 of us are friends since forever. From these twin towers were babies, to PS1 days, to now.

Proms...dates.. and more...*cough**cough*.

It was one of those awesome nights spent with family. It was really nice to see mom so happy since my return and catch up with her at random times of the day, face to face rather than on Whatsapp. She was wonderful to fulfill my needs here and took me to eat whatever I craved for since airport day. 

Love you, mom. 

May you celebrate many many more birthdays to come! xoxoxoxo

Good food & good company makes a good night.

xxx,

Ashley