Blessed Twentieth Birthday

It's almost the end of March, and I guess I'm done with all my 20th birthday celebrations already. Here's an appreciation post and also a summary of how I've spent my blessed birthday. 

This year I've gotten so much more than what I deserve. I've received surprises from friends and family, good meals treated by different group of friends and also good time spent with all my loved ones. I didn't expect this year to be so overwhelmed, since I didn't even plan anything with anyone, expect for Daniel. But yeah, THANK YOU PEOPLE! You guys are the reasons why this post is up on my blog ❤️ 

18th March 2016:

Starting with the first surprise prepared by three dearly girlfriends, aka IDOTS. On the day itself, we were supposed to meet up, like usual. The girls came to picked me up and as I opened the back door of the car, they shouted "Happy birthday". I was so surprised that I immediately closed the door and started laughing (I don't know why I did that, but it happened the same way during my 19th birthday surprise in my room). Seeing car made balloons with letters hanging on wasn't all of the plan yet. Suddenly, Daniel just popped out from somewhere else *AAAHHHHH* Yup, he was the special guest to my surprise! 

"HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY ANNOYING AMANDA" 

People out there may not know how much these letters mean to me. We girls have always been asking for "letters" from each other and the answer will always be "no letters for you" or "nah". I'm truly glad that I have finally received three from IDOTS. Thank you girls! Oh yeah, thanks Justin and Daniel for being our camera man and light man for the whole photography session. Your services are great and we would like to have two of you again on any future celebration hehe!

20th March 2016:

Moving on to my birthday eve.. My whole family gathered with relatives for dinner at my aunt's house. Every Sunday is a family day for us and we will most likely stick together especially when it's night time. While I was enjoying the beautiful view at the corridor, all of them came out to surprise me with a cake. It was a simple and enjoyable night. Too bad I don't have any picture of us celebrating. But... 

 

I managed to take a short clip of them surprising me ❤️ of course I was a happy kid.. I like it when people get me cake because to me, it's a must to blow candles and eat cake on birthdays. Thanks family & relatives, my birthday hadn't started yet they made me like a happy baby.

21st March 2016:

The third celebration, was on my actual birthday with Daniel. He brought me to a very romantic and cozy Italian restaurant, called Ciao Ristorante at Kampung Pandan (click here for review). 

After dinner, he suggested that we go Acme Bar and Coffee, Troika for my favourite sizzling brownie. Never get bored of this. My all time favourite dessert!

This place looks awesome at night. Thank god it wasn't a rainy day, 

so we could to enjoy outdoor seats.

Fake candid taken by boyfriend.

Daniel passed me a big box (with my pressie inside) while we were on the way to Troika. I was pretty excited but he insisted that I couldn't open it in the car as he wanted to enjoy my reaction towards the gift. The very first thing I saw in the box was a random card written by Daniel. It wasn't a very fancy handmade card but the content cheered me up a lot, especially the words "hey, princess" (he doesn't call me that normally so I better appreciate). I bet I don't need to mention what's inside of the box, since many people know what it is already. Thanks boyfriend for such precious gift, you've successfully surprised me.

23th March 2016:

Fourth celebration! This time was with my dwarf baes. We planned to try out Anne Elizabeth, a restaurant located near Cheras Leisure Mall since it was kinda popular on Facebook last month. Uhm, no review for this restaurant because I only tried one food and there's nothing much to talk about. However, I don't think that this is a good place to dine in. I don't really like their services, and the food offered are not up to what I expected it to be. 

Birthday gifts from the girls.. Haha aren't them cute? Scroll down to see what I have gotten!

29th March 2016:

Last one, a great meal treated by my university buddies last night at The Ships! Why is it on 29th March? Because we finally finished all our midterm yesterday and we have all the time in the world! I really appreciate it even though it was a short time spent together. Thank you girls for the delicious meal, it was so great!

Okay, done with all celebrations and here comes the gifts:

1. Bead bracelet in sterling silver with Tiffany Blue enamel finish, by Tiffany&Co.

2. Chanel inspired bag in bronze, by Jellytoyboy (this is from one of the Chanel designers).

3. Sony Alpha 5100 (one of my must-get cameras with interchangable lens).

4. Smartphone holder from Hush Puppies.

5. Hand cream in a very adorable container from Etitude House.

Okay, thats all for this post... Goodbye to my favourite month of the year, and yay I'll be heading to Hong Kong tomorrow for a short getaway! Pretty excited! Till my next post, see you!

20th Birthday Dinner at Ciao Ristorante, KL

Hey, it's another food review from me! So yesterday was my 20th birthday and I reserved it for Daniel, as he said we would be having dinner together. I was craving for risotto and Daniel suggested that we could try Ciao Ristorante. He found this restaurant online and it's actually a great place for both casual dinner and all type of events (mostly weddings).

Ciao Ristorante @ Jalan Kampung Pandan. 

It's a cozy and romantic looking Italian restaurant, located very near to Zouk Club KL.  

I was amazed by the services provided at Ciao Ristorante. Ample parking area, warm and welcoming staffs, and perfect ambience! You wouldn't believe how cozy is it without your personal experience here. Although it is romantic, the lighting wasn't too dim, so we still managed to capture many photos ❤️ Yup, I love taking photos and any restaurant that has good lighting is considered good for me!

We were placed next to a big glass of window, where we could enjoy the lights and bushes outside. Great spot! I really like how they have arranged us at a quieter room, I did not feel interrupted by noises at all.

Credits to the boyfie ❤️❤️❤️

He was extra patient on my birthday and took like 857392103 photos of me haha.

Complementary breads and sticks. 

Wild Mushroom Soup (RM 24)

Ordered mushroom soup because I needed something warm. The waitress knew that we were sharing our food, thus she separated the soup into two portions.

Risotto di pesce (RM 82)

Squid ink Italian rice with mixed seafood and parmesan cheese (I guess lol, I'm probably right). This dish was the reason why we were there in Ciao. Daniel went online to find the best risotto in KL and this is one of the found results. According to the menu, the risotto was supposed to be in light tomato base, but since classic recipes are available upon request, we decided to get my favourite style which is the squid ink recipe! Wooohooo! I don't regret at all.. It was so great. Oh yea, the actual price was RM 72 for two pax only, unless you request for classic recipes then another ten bucks will be charged.  

Funghi misti (RM 40)

Large pizza with tomato base, mozzarella and assorted mushrooms. Almost every time, Daniel would suggest pizza whenever we have Italian food. Not sure why, but I don't mind because I love mushroom too. We couldn't finish (as always) lol, and the waitress told that they serve pizza in half too. Oh no we should have ordered half instead of the whole pizza.

This is definitely a place that I would strongly recommend to people around me. If you like Italian food like me, this place is for you. If you are looking for a great place for a romantic date or dinner, this place is for you too! Seriously I was fully satisfied with the dinner. Birthday dinner well spent. AWESOME!

So I guess that's all for this review and also the first part of my birthday night. 

More to come so stay tuned ❤️ Btw, another photo by Daniel ❤️

More information: http://ciao.com.my/

Braces

"Happy Braces-less Day! "

Today marks a very meaningful moment in my life, finally I'm no longer with my braces on. YAY! Have been wearing it for about 11 months and now I have my teeth looking straight. I know braces is getting common nowadays. Some people probably think it's no big deal to have been through this process, but to me, it's a big deal. I've been wanting to fix my smile ever since I was a primary school student. Of course, I failed to do so because I didn't take any further action about it. Until last year, right after my 19th birthday, I decided to make my very first step to visit the dentist. 

Just like most of the them, I had to extract 4 teeth to get a better alignment. Removing my teeth was the toughest moment in the entire journey. I was really impatient and wanted to get my braces on as soon as possible, so I made frequent appointments to get the extractions done fast. I had two teeth extracted first and after a day, I went back for another two teeth extractions. I probably had not eaten proper meals for a few days. Just got my stomach filled with Milo and very thin porridge.

I started my braces journey on 18th April 2015. I couldn't eat many of my favorite food, couldn't bite like ordinary people. And my smile was awkward and unnatural for months and months.

11 moths ago.. (I uploaded these onto my instagram, if you remember)

10 months ago.. When my sister and I were still wearing braces.

And how I look now.

Some of my friends be like "wah so fast" when I told them that I would be removing my braces on the beginning of March. Actually, the truth is I could've removed it even earlier. But I insisted to wait until March, because I thought I need a little bit more of adjustment. And finally... I'm done! The only thing is that I would still have to wear retainers. It's okay, I don't mind as long as it's good for my teeth.

All time and effort spent are definitely worth it. At least I am confident with my own smile now. I am very contented with the result. Thank God.