Mariuca

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Tesco Thursday!

Bummer! After finally deciding to give Tesco Online shopping a try yesterday afternoon, I ended up at the check-out counter with much anticipation only to be let down because there were no available delivery slots for today!

B and I never did care much for Tesco all this while and we usually get our grocery shopping done at Giant, Cold Storage or Village Grocer. But after hearing rave reviews from BFF LJ about Tesco online shopping and home delivery service, I was of course enticed!

Frankly, I was expecting cluttered and disorganized online shopping at Tesco. I was however, pleasantly surprised at how simple it was to navigate through the site. The search feature also makes it easy to look for specific items.

My shopping List

I spent yesterday afternoon registering on-site; happily taking my time browsing through the promotions available, reading about the Tesco voucher codes to help you save more, and checking out the many different brands carried by this grocery market, which were not bad actually. In fact, certain items were priced lower compared to those available in the other supermarkets I mentioned earlier.

All in all, I was pleased with my Tesco online shopping experience and what I enjoyed most was the convenience of relaxed shopping in the comfort of my home-office. After selecting all 24 of my items, I was all set to check-out and make the final confirmation for my order. It was only then that I came across a section saying that delivery would depend on availability of slots and it is advisable to check for free slots prior to shopping … which I did not!

Apparently, the earliest available delivery slot is this weekend, which would be too late for me. My bad for not checking the delivery slots before happily shopping so I guess there will be no Tesco delivery guy arriving at my doorstep today!

Fully Booked!

Anyway we ended up doing our grocery shopping at our usual Village Grocer late yesterday evening and now I’m all set to cook for B’s birthday dinner tonight. I’m planning to cook a main dish plus dessert and based on my ingredients below, can you guess what I’ll be cooking?

Inspire me Masterchef!

Wish me luck and Happy Birthday Love, ILY!

MARIUCA LOVES

LADY JAVA

Monday, March 25, 2013

Happy Birthday Mom! *

Long time no blog update, woe is me!

No excuses on my end except for sheer laziness and lack of mood to happily update and share the things happening in my life. Birthdays make for a wonderful exception though and since I celebrated my mom’s birthday with the rest of the clan recently on March 14, I am finally updating my blog today.

Table for 12

Holiday Villa, Subang Jaya

Holiday Villa Buffet Dinner was pretty good and the theme that night was ‘International and Oriental’. B and I were the first to arrive so after being seated, I made a stroll down the buffet area to see what’s cooking!

First to Arrive!

Salad & Sushi

Oysters on Ice

Dessert Spread

Something Fishy!

I gotta say the spread did not look as varied or delicious as the Ramadan buffet spread we enjoyed as a family last year in Holiday Villa. The staff was very attentive however and I liked that they informed me on the promo/discount available with the buffet dinner when I called the hotel to place reservations for that evening.

My parents and the rest arrived shortly after and soon the feasting began!

Mom and Dad

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cute all over!

Chocolate cake from Mel!

We ♥ You

Ali and Intan

Birthday Kiss

With Twin # 1 Ritz

Despite the lack of variety that night, it was still an enjoyable buffet and I stuffed myself silly with fresh oysters … and crispy butter prawns … and spicy Malay dishes … and sweet desserts … it was after all a buffet, which I usually take to mean as me trying out a little of almost everything offered unless it’s something that I really don’t eat like lamb.

Yes to Oysters!

Spicy Crispy Prawns with a whole bunch of other stuff!

Fresh Salmon I love!

Seafood Tempura

Something Vege

Bread Pudding

Local Delights

Something Sweet

The kids were busy playing as usual so they didn’t eat much. Issy threw a tantrum and it was so cute to see the twins trying to calm her down in their own little ways.

Grrrrr ....

What's wrong Issy?

A rose for u!

Hmmm ... I like flowers ...

Now let's play!

Issy wants a hug!

Eat up B!

As always, I had the most difficult time thinking of a fun and creative gift for my mom this year. Pretty disappointed with my lack of creativity but still hoping my cash in a card gift was much appreciated by mommy dearest. Next year, I will think ahead 3 months prior to the actual birthday and if I still can’t figure out something super creative and meaningful for my mom, I just don’t know what to say for myself!