Time really flies... In a blink of an eye, my princess turns one and we decided to organize a small gathering celebrating her birthday last weekend... Just a small party where only relatives are invited... The party was being held at 'Marmalade, Publika'... Frankly speaking this was not the first venue as at first we decided to organize it at 'Jkids (children playground where we can source for our own food provider), Paradigm Mall'... We even paid deposit for it and we are dead serious that this will be the venue... But after giving some deep thoughts, we decided to abandon the plan as there are only a number of kids around... 

So a quick search around 'Google' and it seems that a lot of people like to organize kids birthday party at 'Marmalade'... Went to the restaurant for a quick look around and I'm liking it already... The decoration is kind of cozy and it serves our theme really well... Ohh is a 'Hello Kitty' theme by the way... 

Decoration of the day... Just some simple 'Hello Kitty' add on here and there to make it a 'Hello Kitty' theme... Notice the yellow gift pack??? This is something that I would like to brag about as it is custom made by yours truly!!! Nice??? Lots of credit goes to the queen as well as she's the one who source for all these 'Hello Kitty' theme items... 

What I really like about 'Marmalade' is the freedom for us to customize our own menu... They do provide us some samples and we can mix and match to our liking... Below are the menu that I've chosen...

 Garden Salad...

 Spaghetti Prawn Aglio Olio...

 Chicken Lasagna...

 Chicken Drummettes...

 Mini Cheeseburgers...

 Mini Bacon Fritattas...

 Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes...

Mini Tiramisu...

As for the cake, we go for something simple and not 'Hello Kitty' theme cake... Don't really fancy those cake as it gives me an impression that it is not edible!!! Maybe too adorable that I'm unwilling to stuff it in my mouth!!! We ordered 'Lola' cake from 'Wondermilk' which is just a floor down from 'Marmalade'... Really convenient if you ask me... But we do ordered it earlier just in case and this 'Rainbow Lola' cake is made to order according to them... Not really sure about it as it seems so normal...

 Custom made cake banner...

Princess of the day!!! 

Still remember the day she's born and now she's a BIG girl now... Happy Birthday Princess!!! 

Is not easy being father... For 'Mikayla', I have given up most of my spare time now... In fact I don't have any spare time left!!! I've allocated all my time for her... So is no surprise that I didn't update my blog for such a long time...

So am I complaining or what??? Definitely no... Taking care of her is something that I'm looking forward to every single day... I must admit that I'm really tired sometimes but is definitely worth it when you see her grow everyday... Bit by bit, inch by inch... And every morning when you open your eyes and see her sleeping soundly beside you, priceless is the only thing I can say... 

Blogging is not the only thing that I neglected since the birth of 'Mikayla'... My DSLR is staying in the drybox most of the time now... Now the only bag that I carry when going out is my princess diaper bag!!! These are some of the recent photoshoot of my princess... Enjoy and I'm signing off here as is time for me to sleep!!! Yawn... 

I know is a bit too late to post it but still better late than never!!! Since the birth of my princess, I'm busy doing what a daddy should and neglected my blog... But I promise I won't let it die... So please visit my blog whenever you're free to check on updates but frankly speaking update will be much lesser compare to last time!!! 

Here are some pictures of what we have for our reunion lunch this year... Hope you enjoy the pics...

Took these pics a few months ago... Well they have changed... Niece is so much taller and talkative now while nephew is learning to crawl (still chubby though)!!! Time flies...

Ever since I had a very bad dinner experience during 'Valentine's Day', I've decided to stop going out for dinner during this supposedly romantic day!!! Nothing can ruin a romantic day faster than a bad dinner!!! Food quality were downright lousy and we have to wait for more than an hour before we were being served... And the best part was the portioned of the food being served... It was a joke and not forgetting it was super duper expensive!!! 

So this year, I've decided to cook for my darling (more like a guinea pig to me!!!) and I will be cooking salmon this time... I spent a few days thinking on the recipe and this was the outcome!!! Actually I'm very proud of myself for cooking all this without any help!!! Not forgetting this was my first time attempting to cook salmon!!! 

Grilled salmon with caramelized onion mashed potatoes and sautéed asparagus top with my home made sauce... Not bad huh!!!

Okay now I will go through the process of cooking this dish (bear with me please as this was my first time attempting to cook salmon and I'm damn excited to be able to pull this off!!!)... 

First, cut the potatoes into small cube and throw it into a pot with water covering all the potatoes... Add some salt in for flavouring... Bring it to boil and lower down the heat... You're done when the potatoes turn soft and mash able...

Take one asparagus and cut it around 2 inches long... Use it as a guide and cut the remaining bunch to the exact specification... You don't want your asparagus to be in different length as this will not look nice when serve!!!

Next is the onion... Peel off the skin and slice it up...

Very minimal marinate for my salmon... I marinated it with a little bit of soy sauce and black pepper... 

Add lots of butter and black pepper for flavouring and you're ready to mash!!! I've added a little bit of fresh milk in it as well...

Besides that, I've added some oregano to enhance the taste of it... 

Viola... Mash potatoes done... 

Now is time to caramelize the onions... Heat the pan up with some butter and put your onions in when the pan is hot...

Remember to stir frequently and reduce your heat so that your onions will not get burn easily... Add some salt for flavouring...

Add the caramelized onions into the same pot where you mashed your potatoes earlier...

Stir and mix it around and you're done with your caramelized onions and mashed potatoes...

Heat up the pan with some oil and we are ready for the asparagus... Chop some garlic and sautéed it with the asparagus...

Add some oyster sauce for flavouring and your asparagus is ready to serve...

Before putting the salmon into the grilling pan, lightly oil the salmon (remember to oil both side) instead of the pan... Skin side down and cook it for around 3-4 minutes and you're ready to flip it over and let it cook for around 3 minutes on the other side and your salmon is ready!!!

Nice??? I like how the diamond charred mark turn out... Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside!!!

Now for my self made sauce... I heat up some butter and squeeze half a lime in and add a dash of fresh milk... Throw some dried rosemary in and finally some sugar and reduce the sauce... Once it thickens, turn off the fire and you're done!!!

Plating time... It is up to you on how you wanna plate it... But I like mine this way!!!

Caramelized onions and mashed potatoes on the bottom, grilled salmon in the middle with some home made sauce on it and top it off with the sautéed asparagus!!! 

Total cost = Less than RM100.00

Satisfaction = Priceless!!!

That's all for the recipe of my 'Valentine's Dinner 2012'... Prepared and cooked specially for my beloved darling!!!