Husband’s 40th birthday at GSK (pizza parang)

People say life starts at 40 and that every habit that you’ve moulded yourself into will become your way of life. Well, he is a health enthusiast at the moment. He has his morning jog before 6am and another one in the evening after coming back from work. Over the weekend, he is in his running shoes 3 times a day. I guess that means he is off to a good start at 40.

Since his birthday falls on a weekday this year, a staycation is not an option. Hence, I racked my brain to figure out what is best to be done for a milestone birthday. Since he seems to like Pizza Hut a lot, I thought of spending some money on really good pizza. Something fancy like wagyu. However, there were not many recommendations I could read about. Until I came across ‘pizza parang’ on Instagram. It’s a family-friendly place that serves Western dishes and, most importantly, delicious hand-tossed pizza.

Easy parking. Slight walk up the hill to the restaurant.

Grass Stream Kitchen (GSK)

GSK is located at Paya Rumput and opens at 6pm. I made it clear to Mr Husband that we are to leave early from home and beat the office traffic so that we could reach the place before the crowd comes. Indeed, we did.

We ordered a meaty pizza (RM60), a tiramisu (RM15), a mocktail (RM10) and sirap bandung (RM5). The server would cut the pizza in style with his parang once it is ready. Not bad for a 40-year-old party show. No clowns or fire-eating stunt, just pizza cutting. Personally, I would go there again and try other versions of the pizza because the crust was crunchy and nice, whereas the toppings were full and superb. The ambience is nice too. It does not open every day, thus, one should check their site first.

Huge pizza portion
Iced water is available for free. Nice to know that they have healthy choices
ordered the mocktail – a mix of coke and grenadine syrup
Tiramisu – love it
Can also easily tapau our own food as packaging is provided. Even the pizzas are served on paper plates that are easily disposed off.
I muted the sound cause I was too giggly

As for his birthday gift, I got him a Minecraft Limited Edition wallet. It was pretty sleek. I would use it if I were a man. I bought it from Fossil at Sunway Putra Mall during my convocation weekend. The sales rep was a very nice young man who helped me decide what to buy. The wallet was worth at least 5 times more than the birthday dinner. I hope he will treasure it well.

Comes in a nice metal box and a fabric casing

There was also a mini Minecraft indulgence cake I bought from Zowacakes. The size was just enough for me to cut out a few portions for his nieces, who love cakes. I still prefer the cakes from the usual Italy Cake House. Ha ha.

The cake was RM45. Ferrero bouquet RM35. All for love!

Visiting my brother

I made a quick visit to my brother today because I saw an IKEA advert a few weeks ago.

The IKEA advert was about a mother-son duo who went shopping together at IKEA. The son was planning to move into his new home, just around the corner and bought new furniture for the house. Throughout the video, the son is depicted as a child running adult errands. This goes to show that children will always be children in their parent’s eyes no matter how old they are.

My brother is in his early 30s and lives alone, an hour and 40 minutes from where I stay. While he is independent in knowing how to pay his house bills and such, there was something in the IKEA advert that prompted me to pay him a visit.

Moms are said to be the life of a home. When my mom died, a lot of people’s attention was towards my father. They were concerned about how he would fend for himself every day knowing that the daughters live far away tending to their own family, the youngest son also has his own family to look after. Leaving this single brother who unfortunately is not on good terms with my father. They were able to be civil to each other when Mom was still alive. However, once she died all the remaining grace was out of the door.

My brother moved out. My dad was not bothered. In short, they were fending for themselves once Mom was gone. Now that my father is in a relationship with our prospective step-mother, it left me wondering about my brother. If my mom could call from the grave, she’d probably be asking if he is doing well. If he is eating. If he is lonely. Because moms usually take care of those things for their sons when they used to live together. No matter how much they’ve grown.

It also got me thinking, if one day me and my husband are not around, will my kids look after each other as they embrace adulthood with all the responsibilities at hand? I would love to think that they would but it’s something that would slip our minds if we don’t ponder on it enough. If all siblings take care of each other, no one would have to be homeless or end up alone on the streets. I would hate for it to happen to our family.

So for my ‘wellness visit’ to my brother’s house, I decided to bring him some home-cooked meals. It took me just about 2 hours to get everything done. I made him spaghetti bolognese, shepherd’s pie, baked macaroni cheese, rice with potato sambal, fried rice, burgers, grapes, fruit salad and a potato salad. I even bought him a 1-litre carton of Bright Cow milk because I wanted him to try something new. The theme is pretty much Western for now.

He was well, alhamdulilah. The house was clean. Probably because my sister gave him a heads-up. He admitted that he vacuumed and mopped the house just before we arrived. He even put Sponge Bob on the TV for my daughter to watch. Something kid’s friendly, he said. My visit to his home was short. But I am thinking of making this a routine visit every 2 or 3 months. So that he knows that even mom is not here anymore, we siblings are still here for him and care for him just like mom used to.