Malaysian in Orange County, Southern California

We have a growing number of members for our Malaysian in Orange County group.  Currently we have about 40 members.

It all started when I met another Penang mom at Pretend City.  We both were attending Parenting Skill program offered by KIDA.  The program was seven weeks long and I only met her on the last week when I heard her talking to her son in Hokkien dialect. We exchanged phone numbers.  At that time she was still living in Costa Mesa and was moving to Irvine in another month.

I still remember vividly on the first week, my husband and I were sitting in the same table as her.  She has fair complexion and never in my mind would ever thought she's from Malaysia.  When she spoke in English, we could tell she is not native speaker.  My first thought was that she's a Taiwanese.  Later, I also met her husband whom is also from Penang.

Second mom I met whom also from Penang was from my son's summer school at Eastshore Elementary.  He was attending Jumpstart to Kindergarten and the other boy was also in the same program.  His mom and a friend of mine were friends.  So we would be standing and waiting together for the kids at pick up time.  We all conversed in Cantonese and initially I thought she was from Hong Kong but not long after that, I found out she is from Bukit Mertajam.  Well, by then I already knew three people from Malaysia and all from Penang.

The next person I met was Bee from Rasa Malaysia.  Another Malaysian friend who lives in Pasadena told me the author for Rasa Malaysia also lives in Irvine.  So out of curiosity, I emailed her to ask if she would love to join us, the three Penang ladies for lunch.  Surprising, she replied and said Yes. 

And from Bee, I also met another two friends, one from Penang and the other from Johor.  And our list grew longer and longer. 

Now we have gathering once every few months.  The purpose is to get together, eat and talk.  Just like back home, we always have conversation over food.  It is fun to be able to see so many Malaysians in Orange County.  If you are reading this post and you would like to join our gathering, kindly leave me a comment here.
 

Carter's Boys Cotton 7-Pack Briefs / Underwear

Back in April 2011, I bought the Paul Frank Toddler / Kids Underwear from Target.  They didn't last long enough.  The elastics became less stretchy after sometimes.  But I like them and used them all till now. 

When it was time to look for some new underwear, I checked out many places and couldn't find something that suit my son.  We prefer something that has shorter length from the waist to the crotch.  Most of the ones we found at Target or Kohl's (made by Fruit of the Loom or Hanes) have deeper crotch to waist length. 

Finally I found the underwear that fits well for my son at Carter's.  And they were having 50% sales during the Labor Day's weekend.  I got the Carter's Cotton 7-pack briefs at $12.  Regular price is at $24 + tax.  I think I score a good deal here.  I bought 2 packs of the size 6-7, Carter's largest size for kids.
    

They have the 3-pack briefs for $12 regular price, sales price at $6.  The 7-pack is a better deal.  I think this is the best offer I've seen at Carter's for the underwear.   

FREE McDonald's Breakfast for Students

Southern California McDonald's restaurants are promoting their healthy breakfast for students to kick start the new school year. 

When students from kindergarten to 8th grade accompanied by an adult visit participating McDonald's restaurants on September 10th from 6am to 9am, they may receive free of charge any breakfast muffin, apple slices and 1% milk.

Shown in the picture above is their Egg White Delight McMuffin.  This breakfast sandwich features 100% egg whites, extra lean Canadian bacon and white cheddar on whole grain muffin.

McDonald's Back to School Breakfast Offer

Students: Kindergarten thru 8th grade
Date: September 10th, 2013
Time: 6am to 9am
Venue: Participating McDonald's Restaurants

Bruxie in Irvine

We now have a Bruxie in Irvine at Heritage Plaza off Culver and Walnut (same plaza as Mitzuwa & Daiso). The outlet just opened last week when I was still in Malaysia. I returned to Irvine last weekend and the first thing I did this week was to pay a visit to this restaurant.




My first impression on this new Bruxie location was, "Wow! They have a lot of seating!" The original Bruxie at Old Town Orange, if you ever been there, the seating space is very limited. I know they do have other locations, but we only visited the one at Old Town Orange. I am glad they have one now in Irvine as it is much nearer to our home and with more tables.






The interior design is very simple and clean. There are two ordering cashiers where you place your order and a condiment island towards your right side. They noted down my name after I paid for my order and then passed me a pager with a number, like one of those pager you get while waiting for a table at a restaurant. They said they will deliver the food to my table when it is ready.

We ordered the Bruxie Angus Beef (savoury) and Crème Brulee (sweet). I also ordered a P&J kid's meal for my son.


Kid's Meal - Peanut Butter & Strawberry Preserve, waffle fries and strawberry lemonade

Sweet Waffle - Seasonal Crème Brulee

Savoury Waffle - Bruxie Burger
We will definitely go back again to try the other waffles on the menu. I am really glad they have the kids' menu that comes with lemonade because my son just happen to like their lemonade a lot. Do check out their weekly special. This week is the Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork and Country Sausage & Egg.








Bruxie Irvine
14376 Culver Drive,
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 556-4894

Lee Kum Kee Non-GMO Light Soy Sauce

Asians can't live without soysauce.  I've been using Lee Kum Kee's Premium Soy Sauce for a while now and I like it.  Not until recently that I learnt from a friend of mine that Lee Kum Kee has a line of soy sauce that is produced using non-GMO (genetic modified organism) soy beans.  I definitely was interested to find out.

When I was at the 99 Ranch the other day, two of the Lee Kum Kee's soy sauce bottles were on sale.  One of them is the same one as my friend showed me at her house.  She usually buy the light soy sauce and it is in the green bottle.  It is on sale for $2.38/bottle.  Regular price at 99 Ranch at Culver Plaza is $3.49.

I bought one bottle of this Lee Kum Kee non-GMO Less Sodium (Light) and will try it when my current bottle of soy sauce is out.  When I look at my current soy sauce bottle, only then I realized that I've been using the non-GMO all these while without knowing.  Well ... you can read the labels to find out.

Thermos Funtainer Food Jar

My son will be starting 1st grade in September.  I am getting a new food jar for him to bring his warm lunch to school.  This Thermos Funtainer Food Jar is so cute.  There are many designs including some superheroes - Avengers, Spiderman, Batman, Starwars, for boys and for girls they have Hello Kitty and Barbie. 

The food jar has a capacity of 10oz and can keep warm for 5 hours and cool for 7 hours.  It has a wide opening/mouth for easy filling, serving and cleaning.  Most importantly, it has stainless steel interior and exterior.  It is also BPA-free.

I chose the Ninja and Fire Truck designs in hope that not too many kids in his class will have the same as his. 

They are on sale at Toys R Us.  Regular price is at $12.99.  I bought it during their sale with the promotion "Buy 1 and get 2nd at 50%."  It means I paid $19.50 (tax not included) for two Thermos Funtainer Food Jars!  That's less than $10 each.  I don't think you can get that pricing at Amazon online.

Buy Backpack and Free Lunch Bag

The promo is back at Toys 'R' Us!!!  Buy any backpack and get any lunch bag $9.99 and under for free. 
The last time we got my son's backpack was 2 years ago and it was the same deal, also at Toys 'R' Us.  But now that Domo's lunch bag has interior damage and his Domo's backpack is slightly too small for 1st grade. So we got him new one this year.

The backpack is a bit too big, but this is the only one without any big cartoon such as Mario, Angry Bird, Avengers, Spiderman and so on.  I hope there is no one else in his class using the same back pack. 

We paid $14.99 plus sales tax for the backpack and the Ninja lunch bag $9.99 came free!