Health Freak Mommy

Mini Cyclone On 25 January 2012

2012-01-26T14:13:00.005+08:00

A bizarre and freak 'mini cyclone' happened yesterday evening at around 7pm that lasted for almost an hour. During the mini cyclone, winds were howling and moving very very swiftly. The rain was very heavy too. From the 5th floor of our unit, we could see deck chairs and dust bins flying into the swimming pool. Big, tall trees that were once rooted majestically on the ground were swaying forcefully. Windows on our unit were vibrating very strongly and I really thought that some of the windows would be blown off the window frame when the strong winds were blowing. As usual, we could hear the eerie howling of the wind very loudly followed by the loud pelting of the rain on the windows. The bathroom windows were banging fiercely back and forth on the window frames. My 3 girls who recently watched a documentary on earth quake were screaming that an earth quake was coming! The wind and rain were so strong that we could not go out to the balcony to keep the clothes. But when clothes hanging began to fall off the rail and the umbrella clothes hanger was almost blown away, I had to go out to salvage the clothes. Our clothes needed to be washed again. Rain water was seeping into our kitchen windows through the small gaps. My helper and mil had to cover the gaps with lots of rags.

This morning when I went out to jog, I was shocked to see the entire neighborhood which was in a total mess! Many trees were uprooted, some fell onto cars and I saw a Proton Waja that was completely wrecked by fallen trees and a lamp post. The nearby shop houses and business centre looked like a post-tsunami hit area with fallen trees and lamp posts everywhere, mud was everywhere, the sight of the totally wrecked car added gravity to the storm that took place yesterday. When I reached the park, I was in for more shock. The entrance of the park was blocked by a very huge tree that had fallen but I managed to walk my way in. Inside the park, there were more fallen trees. The park looked like a jungle and devoid of people. I saw many residents snapping pictures of the post mini-cyclone sight. I overheard many people talking about how bad the storm was and joined in the conversation with the people whom I knew.

Did anyone experience the mini-cyclone yesterday?

From Guitar To Recorder

2012-01-26T12:54:00.001+08:00

My eldest daughter has changed her mind. She now tells me that she does not want to learn guitar anymore. So no need to buy her a les paul bass and no need for guitar lessons. I told her that it is good that she learns a musical instrument to which she told me that she wants to learn how to play the recorder. I used to play the recorder too when I was in the school band. But I had to quit as the practices were often held in the afternoon under the hot sun in the big field. I ‘melted’ after each practice and often had fever after being exposed to the hot sun. That's how fragile and sensitive I am to the hot sun.

Our 1st Day of the Water Dragon 2012 Year

2012-01-23T16:42:00.005+08:00

It's been a pretty quiet chor 1 for us. No friends and relatives visiting just yet as almost all our friends and relatives have gone back to their respective hometowns to celebrate CNY. We expect people to start coming on chor 3 onwards. As per our family's custom practiced since decades ago from my side and the hubs' side, the first day of CNY sees us eating fried vegetarian vermicelli and loh hon jai (a vegetarian dish). We do not always eat such dishes on normal days, so having a meat-free day today is well accepted by everyone. I'm really enjoying my peaceful and stress-free CNY holiday where business volume is zilch. I have the time to snack as I wish. Shelling almonds and peanuts is time consuming and I hardly have the time to do nut-snacking on normal days.... except for pre-shelled nuts. I even have the time to nap twice a day tee hee hee... How very peaceful and relaxing * syiok*

Ang pow giving ceremony...

Here's wishing all my readers a very very happy year of the water dragon!

Disappointed and Burning Mad!

2012-01-19T18:35:00.004+08:00

I am getting really worried over rascal #2. Despite me telling her repeatedly that copying in a test is a very grave mistake, she still does it. Nope, she did not copy in her school test but in the worksheets and Math questions that I set for her. The other day, I gave her some Math questions to solve. She is very weak in sums involving a line where numbers are missing and she has to fill up the boxes with the correct numbers. I have had a tough time teaching her this and for many days, she still could not grasp the concept. Several days ago, when I marked the paper that I had set Math questions for her, she got the sums all correct. I was so happy thinking that she finally got it right and had mastered the concept. I pat her head and shoulders and praised her sky high!

The next day I gave her another set of questions, which I set myself. When I went to the table to see how she was doing (as my motherly instinct told me that this girl would still be up to mischief again), I noticed that the answers were all correct too but this little cheater is not a pro cheater. There were no workings done! The paper was clean with the answer neatly written! I immediately knew where she copied the answers from. It was from an exercise book, with the times table printed on the back cover! The Math questions paper was on top of the exercise book as she was trying to hide the book!!! I was so so so mad with my little cheater that I could feel myself transforming into the most evil mom on earth with fangs and long sharp finger nails slowly emerging from my breaking skin!. I pinched her arm and ears. I hit her hand. I was burning with anger that she still cheated despite me telling her umpteen times not to do it. I was very very heart-broken and disappointed. I was also very regretful over hitting and pinching her so hard. How is she going to fare in her school exams soon? How will she fare in her Linus test soon? I hope she will not cheat and be kicked out from school. I am so worried over this girl. I really don't know how to manage her. I have told the hubs that it's best that we send her to the daycare cum tuition center located a few doors away from the hubs' office. She is very excited to go to the daycare centre as her best friend Berlyn is also attending that daycare. I think with teachers and peers surrounding her, she will be better disciplined. It will be better for our already strained relationship. I wonder what and how I have failed in teaching her.

Upholstery VS. A Complete Change

2012-01-17T18:28:00.000+08:00

Our sofa set is only 3 years old but the beige color has now turned into a dirty shade of brown, no thanks to 3 rambunctious kids who jumped, doodled, puked and peed on the seats. I have told the hubs that our sofa set needs a change as the existing one is making my eyes sore. But a new set would cost quite a bit. He suggested upholstering the sofa set with a nice cover. This would cost way cheaper I think. I should check the price of upholstery fabrics online and come up with a proposal for my big ‘boss’.

The Lowest Point In My Life

2012-01-17T10:04:00.005+08:00

The years 2008 and 2009 were two of the worst years of my life. I was never overwhelmed with so much worries, fears, disappointments and loss of hope in my life than in those 2 years. From May 2008 until June 2009, I was in and out of hospitals every single month, watching my beloved baby girl suffer in pain. Some days were like a total nightmare, especially when the test results showed that those nasty bacteria were resistant to all the 'safe' antibiotics. I will never forget the words of the paed when he told us that the only antibiotics that could kill the bacteria may cause her bones to stunt. Those days were horrible. Waiting for the results of her urine tests were killing and I had to go through this every single month for over a year. Her babyhood was spent in and out of the hospital. Antibiotics was part of her daily life. I was in nursing scrubs several times too when I accompanied Baby to the OT room and to the X-Ray rooms. I hate to think of those 2 years. It still hurts me when I look at those pictures of us in hospitals. I hate to have gone through those difficult times with her. And I wish I never ever have to live through those 2 years again.

Lucky or Monotonous?

2012-01-14T18:48:00.005+08:00

So many of my blog friends and Facebook friends have commented that CNY is just a week away and yet they have so much to do. I guess that I am the only one who is 'lucky' enough that I don't have to do any CNY preparations!

Pre-CNY 'chores' that most people celebrating CNY need to do:

Buy new clothes - I sell them, so I can get lots for myself and my 3 girls at the click of my mouse. So no need to make a mad rush to the mall, queue up for fitting rooms and to pay :D

Change new notes - We still have a stack of new notes from last year that were not used :D

Spring clean the house - we spring clean the house everyday, thank God for giving me a helper :D

Bake cookies - I never have to do this! This morning, the hubs brought us to our usual supplier of CNY cookies and bought 6 types of cookies and my mum is also making some. So sweat free for me :D

Planning CNY dishes for the first 3 days - never had to do any planning too as my dear MIL will be the cook. In years that she was away overseas, the hubs brought us to dine in the hotel :D

Decorate the house - my hubs and mil will normally be the house decorator, so I don't have to decorate or buy any CNY decor too :D

So am I considered lucky? Or I have a pretty monotonous and boring life? :D

Hard Habit Finally Broken!

2012-01-13T12:44:00.003+08:00

After a little close to 7 years, she finally stopped sucking her thumb! It was certainly not easy to break this habit for she had sought so much comfort from sucking her thumb right from the start. The ultrasound scans often showed her sucking her thumb, while she was comfortably all curled up inside her cocoon, during my pre natal check-ups.

She would suck her thumb whenever she was sleepy, bored and during slumberland. She did not like the pacifier nor the boops, so her own thumb was her best pacifier and solace. I used to find her really really adorable whenever I saw her sucking her thumb when she was a baby. I still thought that it was cute when she was 3 years old and still sucking her thumb. But I did not think it was cute anymore when she still sucked her thumb when she was already over 6 years old! I encouraged her to stop sucking her thumb and made up stories that her teeth would jut out like a rabbit or monkey's teeth if she continued sucking her thumb but that did not manage to deter this willful child of mine. Yep, she has a head as hard as her mummy's head! That's why we often clash. All of a sudden about a month or two back, I noticed that she did not suck her thumb anymore when she was asleep. Her che che, who is a very good watch dog and whistler blower would always report to me if her 2 younger sisters did anything naughty or wrong. So I asked her che che if her 2nd sister had stopped sucking her thumb and she said YES! I said really?? And she resounded a YES! Finally my Standard 1 baby girl is no longer a baby. She is now done and over with thumb-sucking, which was once the hardest habit for her to break.

I wish and pray that all of a sudden one fine day, this rascal will surprise me by jumping out of her dilly dally skin and tell me "mummy, I am a new me. I don't dilly dally anymore!!" I dare not imagine how she will fare in her exams. She is the polar opposite of her che che who is more serious in her studies and she can be given an award for punctuality. I hope my rascal will again give me the least expected surprise and make me really proud of her one day.

I Love Them So Much!

2012-01-13T12:24:00.001+08:00

Last night while surfing the net for some birthday ideas for my friend who is getting married next month, I came across this jewelry website which offers such exquisite diamonds I have never seen before. Just look at these laboratory diamond earrings, aren’t they breathtaking? I am going to share this website with my girlfriends, it would be a wonderful gift to give our friend for her wedding. Now the problem is, we might not be able to choose which eco diamonds and jewelry to buy for her… shall we start with the yellow earrings first? My favorite color is blue and the pair of blue dazzling diamond earrings has caught my attention!

En Ginza Cafe @ Tokyo Street, Pavillion KL

2012-01-12T19:19:00.007+08:00

My foodie hubs who is in the food and beverage business loves trying out food at new places and places that he has never been to. After having known him for over 20 years, I have gone to countless numbers of eateries, restaurants, 'tai chau' places, fine dine restaurants and shack-like damn good food places with him. And our eating jaunt is still on-going... with him growing side ways and forward and me maintaining a still svelte figure *cough cough*

When we were at Tokyo Street on the 2nd day of the New Year, we had our second lunch for the day at Ginza Cafe. I told the hubs that I was not interested in another lunch but my hubby just being him, went ahead and ordered a plate of seafood spaghetti and a big juicy burger! I tried hard to refrain from pecking on the food as I was still pretty stuffed from the Ochada pearl tea, Kindori ice cream, Japanese buns from Loaf and our lunch at a Japanese restaurant 2 hours ago but the green tea bun was too alluring and stared at me. Being a green tea fan, how could I say NO to anything that is made with green tea? So I tried a bite and I immediately let out a "yUuuuuuuuuuM" when my teeth sank on the juicy beef burger. The beef burger was indeed delish! The green tea bun was a tad dry though. The seafood spaghetti (pic not taken) was also very good and was whacked in no time by my 3 spaghetti lovers.

Verdict : will definitely have a 2nd visit to Ginza Cafe! This time, we shall try the seafood green curry and tofu cheesecake. Soon, soon, we'll be there again!

Mega Busy Day Today

2012-01-10T06:47:00.004+08:00

Today is set to be a mega busy day for me. I am expecting 4 huge bags of stock from 4 of my suppliers. Today, Unify will be coming to install broadband internet too. Praying hard that my internet connection will not be disrupted during the transition from Streamyx to Unify, otherwise nothing gets done but will only lead to a huge pile of work undone. This is a very busy week for me as I must rush out all my customers' orders before CNY, lest I see complaints written all over my FB wall or worst - phone calls from some impatient customers. I told the girls that tonight I am not going to cook dinner as kakak has to help me with the QA check of all the clothes. We will be going downstairs to the the Japanese restaurant at our condo for dinner. The girls are so happy to be able to have Japanese food for dinner on a school going day, which is something that we rarely do. Wishing myself good luck and hopefully everything will proceed smoothly. I am so looking forward to the long CNY break. That's the only time of the year when I can take a well deserved rest as business is usually very slow during this period.

Room For Rent

2012-01-09T16:07:00.003+08:00

When I first came to KL more than 20 years ago to study in a college, my mum sent me to stay in the hostel provided by the college. On the day I arrived in KL and saw the condition of the hostel, I almost wanted to run away! Gosh, it was in a pathetic condition. The bathrooms were filthy and never washed!! Being a clean freak, I volunteered to wash the bathroom. I almost wanted to puke when I scrubbed the toilet bowl and the bathroom floor. I could not sleep at night as students who stayed there were chatting loudly at night and some quarreling the whole night. I enlisted my then boyfriend’s help (now hubby) to find me another place to stay. I wanted to move away from the hostel as soon as possible! After a week, I moved out. My boyfriend found me a place to stay at his classmate’s friend’s house. It was not a choice room to rent. The owner was somebody’s mistress and I could not stand her young son who was a spoilt brat. The landlady was also very money-minded and calculative. Though the house was clean and neat, the bus-stop was located about 15-20 minutes’ walk away from the house. Each day I had to endure fear by walking past a quiet playground and some lonely alleys. Many times, I stumbled upon flashers and perverts during my walk to and fro the bus stop. Again, all these prompted me to hunt for another room to rent. But the mission was not easy as I had many conditions, mainly the price, the location and condition of the house and who the landlord / landlady is. So I stayed in the current place for 6 years and endured many frightful moments before a watershed incident in 1996. As I was walking to the bus stop from my rented room one morning, my handbag was snatched by a motorcyclist. I took it as a sign from God that I should move out as soon as possible.

I then rented a house in a new neighborhood and sub-rented the rooms. The first time I was brought to this neighborhood by my then boyfriend, I fell in love with it instantly. I wanted to live there forever and yes, I am still living in this neighborhood now but we moved out from the rented house and now have our own condo.

Finding a room for rent these days is so easy. We do not have to go to 7-11 shops to check out room to let ads or drive round neighborhoods to find rooms. Websites like ibilik.my – Malaysia’s largest room database is god-sent. You can sieve through rooms for rental at the click of your mouse at the comfort of your own home. If you are looking for a room to rent either for yourself, for your girlfriend or boyfriend, do check out the link provided above.

Public taxis with the ibilik.my ads. Finding a room to rent now is just so easy!

Hokkaido Mille Crepe Cake @ Tokyo Street, Pavillion KL

2012-01-08T17:47:00.003+08:00

Lately, there has been a lot of hype on Mille Crepe cakes. This cake-like-dessert is actually French and the name originated from the many layers (hence Mille) of crepes and cream used to make it. My first try of Mille Crepe cake was at Food Foundry in Section 17, PJ. My hubs was addicted to this cake. At one point of time last year, he was so fanatic over the Mille Crepe cakes from Food Foundry that he would drive us to the cafe at 10pm to satiate his craving LOL!

While we were at Tokyo Street @ Pavillion last week, my Mille Crepe cake craze hubs bought 2 slices of Mille Crepe Cake from Arthur's Hokkaido Mille Crepe Cake.

Our green tea and original Mille Crepe Cake from Hokkaido Mille Crepe Cake.

Verdict : texture is softer than the ones sold at Food Foundry. The original one tastes almost the same as Food Foundry but texture is much softer. I love the green tea flavour. In fact, I love everything green tea, even my perfume is green tea scent :D
Best eaten immediately after it has been served, otherwise the cake will become so squashy that you cannot even lift it up with your fingers, like in our case where half the slice of cake was not eaten immediately and left in room temperature. It sort of 'disintegrated' and the mushy cake was just too yucky to be placed into my mouth.

Pissed Off By A Customer

2012-01-06T13:22:00.010+08:00

I am really pissed off by a customer today when she called me today and said that I was 'action' when I told her that I do not accept orders over the phone and I do not practice reservation without any payment. My online store's policy is that reservation of clothes or for any item will only be made after full payment is made. 2 years ago when I just started my online business, I had allowed customers to reserve an item without payment but after a few bad incidents which left me with clothes that were never paid for when the customers disappeared and never replied my calls and emails, I decided to put a stop to non-payment reservation.

After my encounter with a handful of MIA customers (some were my regular), I have to put my foot down and say no more reservation and no more down payment for reservation. Last year, I had a reseller who paid me a 50% down payment for stock worth over RM500 but she never came back to collect her stock. My countless numbers of emails, text messages and calls to her were never returned but thank God, I managed to sell all the stock! Thank God for helping me out as the items that she ordered were specialized items, which not many people will buy.

Many times I had reserved an item for a customer and turned away the next customer who is interested, only to be informed by the first customer much later that she is not interested anymore. Needless to say, the second customer was not interested anymore later. The result is I had lost both the customers. Hence, I have made up my mind that reservation of an item will only be made after payment is made... and on a first pay first get basis. Ordering will only be taken if they are made through email or Facebook message. No verbal reservation will be accepted anymore.

Now back to this customer. She had re-assured me profusely that she is very genuine in her purchase but she can only pay up after 1 month! That item is not even RM40! I told her that as per our store's policy this is not possible but she snapped at me and said "you cannot be so action you know" in Cantonese... at which time I could feel my blood turn hot from my heart shooting up to my head. I tried hard not to blow up and raise my voice but told her that she cannot say that I am 'action' as a store's policy is a policy and it cannot be tweaked however way a customer wants it. I don't think any online store will entertain a customer's non-payment reservation through the phone and with payment only to be made after one month, unless if the person is the seller's good friend or relative. Customers like this really spoils my day.

Recently a customer called me up when I was on a holiday, put words in my mouth (when she did not read my earlier messages to her with all the terms and conditions of purchase) and asked for a refund. Thank you God again for helping me to settle this matter amicably. Now she wants to order from me again but I am very hesitant to accept this order. Money cannot buy happiness and money is not everything. Of course, I have good customers too. I have several generous customers who paid me tip by asking me to keep the change. On the whole, most of my customers are easy going and some are heaven sent haha! I do pray to God to send me only good customers, customers who will not spoil my day and make me to believe that I am all out to cheat them. Oh please, I am here to do long-term business and my store is not a fly-by-night store. And let me tell you, some customers are out there to cheat sellers like me by tricking me into believing that they had made payment but in actual fact, no payment was ever made!

Hectic Life Of School Kids These Days

2012-01-05T17:40:00.007+08:00

I think most kids in this generation (Z) are stressed out kids, unlike kids my era, aka the Generation Y kids. School-going kids these days have to wake up before 6am, leave the house at 6:30-6:45am for school and only to reach the door step of their home at 2ish pm... and finally having their lunch at close to 3pm. For the past 2 days ever since school reopened yesterday, Alycia and Sherilyn have been waking up at 5:45am, leaving the house at 6:30am and only reaching home at 2:15 - 2:30pm.

Yesterday Sherilyn's ballet class started at 6:30pm. By the time this Miss Dilly Dally finished her lunch, it was almost 4pm! Yup, she will sit, talk, walk around, whine a bit, fight a bit with her sisters or the maid, KPC here and there and after much threats from me and with me removing her unfinished food, it was already close to 4pm. After her shower and more dilly-dallying, it's time to leave the house for ballet. By the time she reached home after ballet class, it was almost 8pm... and that's when she ate her dinner. Even with dinner, I have to keep rushing her to finish her food, rushed her to shower again, rushed her to dry her hair, to wear her jammies and kick her to bed by 9:30pm, so that she has enough shut eye for her brain to function optimally the next day.

This year, Alycia who is in P3 is compelled to join at least 1 extra curricular activity in school and I have encouraged her to join Mental Arithmetic, albeit she is a tad reluctant as she wants to join the Robotics Class. Both classes are fees based, not free. She is already having swimming lessons, Mandarin tuition class twice a week and I am contemplating sending her for Art class. With the extra curricular class that will start soon, everyday of her week will be filled with activities. I wonder if she will have the time to complete her homework. I don't remember my primary school years being that hectic. I only have very fond memories of playing with my brothers and neighbors every evening from 5pm - 6pm, where we can cycle within 5km away from our house, buy snacks and sugared doughnuts from the 'ting ting roti man' on his bike, fly kites, climb tree, play marbles (oh this is a game that is slowly dying!), catch tadpoles in the drains and everything that we could think of that fun can be created outside of the house! I am indeed sad that my kids can never enjoy this outdoor fun now for the outside world is no longer safe like it used to be 30 years ago. Can't belive how my mum can have the peace of mind to allow me to cycle alone to a river located about 3km away from my house and I was just 9 years old then! And I was allowed to walk alone to the nearby sundry shop to help her buy groceries when I was just 8 or 9 years old! Life then was just so peaceful and serene.

Lunch at almost 3pm and Alycia told me that she had left her purse in her classroom and dared not enter the class. So she did not eat anything yesterday. She only had a mug of milk at 6am to last her until 2:30pm! I gave her a looooooong lecture and told her what she should have done.

End Of Holidays, Yipee!

2012-01-03T17:30:00.003+08:00

I can't believe that the 6 weeks of school holidays is OVER and I am actually looking forward to school-going days again LOL! Tomorrow Sherilyn will join her che che in the 'big girls' school'. God please help Sherilyn to be able to cope well, just like how Alycia did. Please help Sherilyn NOT to dilly dally as she has to be ready and be at the lobby at 6:30am for the van driver to pick her and her che che up. And pretty please dear God, help Sherilyn not to turn out to be the top 10 from the bottom in class in her exams. Help her to change over a new leaf and be a good girl. I like her boldness, her confidence and her gift of gab but I want her to be more serious in her studies and not yak yak yak in class. It's not helping that her best friend in kindy - Berlyn will sit next to her in class! I really hope they will remain BFF but not yakking too much while lessons are on-going as this will definitely take a toll on their studies.

From tomorrow onwards Alycia and Sherilyn will have to wake up by 5:45am to get ready, lest they are late. If 1 person is late, the whole van load of students will be late for school too! This means I have to be up first at 5:30am!! Jeez, after having the luxury to wake up at 6:45am - 7ish am during the school holidays, I have to adjust myself back to the old grind. But waking up early has its advantages too. I love running around my condo compound when it's still pitch black and breezy, before hitting the gym and by the time I reach home, it is not even 7:30am yet! Hopefully I can get some work done before Cass wakes up. I am not sending Cass to school yet, still trying to drag it to mid of this year, due to various reasons. Hopefully by God's grace, my baby girl's urinary tract will show some gross improvements. And hopefully she will not fall sick every single month like Alycia did 5 years ago, when she starts pre-school in June this year.

When we went up North during the school hols 2 weeks ago, I got a shock of my life when we were in the car. On our way to to Penang, I realized that my vain pot had smuggled her musical box, filled with all her vanity stuff in her Smurfette bag. Before the trip, I was too busy packing and clearing my work that I did not have the time to perform a spot check on her bag, like I used to. And more surprises unfolded later when I fished out an abacus and a whole bag of paraphernalia that she had taken from her room *cough and gasp*!!

Baked fried rice in whole coconut

2011-12-31T13:34:00.002+08:00

Tried something unique at Kao Lee Dim Sum restaurant in Ipoh Garden when we were in Ipoh recently. It's fried rice baked with cheese in a coconut. The rice was very flavorful with the aromatic taste of coconut. Dim Sum served in this restaurant was quite good too but the rat incident and the long haggle between my dad and the restaurant staff over the issue of over-billing us left us with a bitter taste and we vowed not to go there again.

Our 2011 X'mas

2011-12-26T00:11:00.003+08:00

After morning church service today, we spent our X'mas day at Sunway Pyramid. First at Tony Roma's for their delish ribs and later spent the next few hours at the mini indoor theme park of Sunway Pyramid located on the ground floor.

Picture taken on X'mas Eve... Cassandra's X'mas pressie from daddy, which is a princess set in pink, including the klik klok clogs, which she adores to bits but is however a tad hazardous for her to wear.

The girls' maiden ride on the ferry's wheels. They have never ridden on one before, can you beat it? haha!

The bumper car rides are the girls' favorite and they spent almost an hour in total queuing up for 4 rounds of rides. Each person is charged a whopping RM6, though only one car is rented. Hubs spent over RM100 just on all the rides. The owner of these rides must be laughing all the way to the bank throughout the 6 weeks of school holidays as the mini park was teeming with kids and all the rides ain't cheap.

Dong Zhi Reunion Dinner At Han Room @ Gardens, Mid Valley City

2011-12-23T16:48:00.005+08:00

We had our Dong Zhi Reunion dinner at the Han Room restaurant last night. This Chinese restaurant is hubs' favorite Chinese restaurant and he even has membership at this restaurant. He often brings his customers to dine at Han Room @ Gardens, Mid Valley and has tried many of the dishes on the menu. After a few recent lip-smacking and finger-licking moments with the Spanish Pork Ribs with his friends and customers, he ordered a huge portion of this dish for us to try last night.

The Grilled Spanish Pork Ribs is the chef's specialty. The pork meat was very juicy, uniquely flavorful and indeed bone licking good, really down right tasty till the bone! Would give a double thumbs up for this dish, which does not come cheap. I choked when the hubs told me the price for that place of porky dish! Quickly asked for the left overs to be packed back for our lunch today!

Double boiled fish maw, sea cucumber, dried vegetables (choy kon) and mushroom chicken soup in a pumpkin.

Butter prawns - another lip smacking dish which will surely have you lick the platter clean! Love the deep fried shredded eggs.

Stir fried Chang Loong Choy with fresh lily bulbs - a common Chinese restaurant veggie dish.

Braised tofu with crab meat and crab roe... and there was also a fried rice, which is Alycia's favorite. She is the 'fan toong' of the family!

Plain tong Yuen with ginger syrup, which was on the house. I never liked plain tong yuen and as a child, had trouble swallowing the starchy balls down my throat. My later maternal grandma would sort of force us to eat them on each Dong Zhi festival hehe. The number of tong yuen you have in your bowl signifies your lunar year age. So I had to eat 15 balls when I was 15 years old! I prefer tong yuen with black sesame and peanut fillings.

What Type of User Are You?

2011-12-23T16:36:00.000+08:00

I have several credit cards but I hardly use them. I do not like the feeling that I owe someone some money. I like to be debt-free. Some of our friends have a string of credit cards from almost all the banks existing in our country, including owning some rfid credit cards, which they use conveniently for just about any purchase. They do not mind paying back in installments to the bank. This practice is a part of their lifestyle. In fact many of our friends are doing this. What type of credit card user are you - the light user or the heavy user?

Back To School Soon

2011-12-23T16:25:00.001+08:00

In less than 2 weeks’ time, the new school term will begin. Gosh, what a relief!! Apart from the exam seasons, I actually much prefer school going days than school holidays. A one or two-week school break is bearable but 6 weeks is a little too long. The kids are bored at home. They kill time by watching TV, playing iPad and laptop most of the time, whenever we are not out. I have completed back-to-school shopping for Alycia and Sherilyn when we were back in Ipoh last week. When it came to shopping for a school bag for Sherilyn, she was actually indecisive as there were just too many choices of bags! From Princess to Minnie Mouse, Hello Kitty, north face backpack, Dora and even a backpack that comes with a removable water-proof protective cover, we just could not decide which one to buy. Can you guess which bag she chose?

What's In That Pressie?

2011-12-22T16:40:00.006+08:00

The hubs carted back a really HUGE X'mas pressie late last night. When the girls saw the pressie, they thought that it was yet another pressie for them but no no, it's mine, haha! I am itching to know what is beneath the gift wrapper. Could it be something that I have been eyeing from Ikea? I have penned down a few items that I want from Ikea and have been bugging the hubs to bring me to Ikea to grab them with my gift vouchers but my man is always bogged down with work. But he likes to give surprises hehe.

I hope the pressie is either a little side closet next to our big closet, to put Cass' clothes. I am also hoping that it is the clothes hanger I told him about. And I am wishing that it is this water-saving tap too. Our kitchen tap now gushes water out at a really heavy flow at the lift of the lever. I think half a liter of water is used just to wash a spoon that is not oily! Our water bill is shocking at almost RM100 a month! Piped-in gas another RM120 and electricity bill another RM400+!! Horror!

This water-saving water tap from Ikea comes with a flow control function, thus saving us flowing amount of $$! I snapped this picture when we went to Ikea last month. In fact, I have taken pix of all the stuff that I want from Ikea so that I can go straight to the section to check it out when we go to Ikea next.

Can you spot the BIGGEST pressie? It's MINE, HO HO HO!!!

Here's also wishing everyone happy Winter Solstice festival, Merry X'mas and flowing happiness throughout 2012!

Down Memory Lane

2011-12-21T12:25:00.004+08:00

I was going through my pictures folder to save some pix into my thumbdrive when I came across this pic. This picture was taken almost 4 years ago at our old house. Can you recognize the cute little girl seated next to Alycia? Barb - I almost forgot that you came to visit us 4 years ago :D

Sherilyn was seated on the lap of our previous Cambodian maid. She was not even 3YO then.

Orange Sorbet @ Hai Nan Town, Tg City Marina, Penang

2011-12-17T15:01:00.004+08:00

Our first stop for lunch when we reached Penang for the past 2 trips was at Hai Nan Town Nyonya & Hainanese Restaurant @ Tanjung City Marina, between QEII and the ferry terminal. We like this eatery, though it is slightly more expensive than Sin Kheng Aun (which is also the hubs's favorite eating place for decades) because the ambience is more conducive, cleaner, has air-cond and the toilet is a far cry from Sin Kheng Aun's pre-war one. Our favorite dishes are pomfret fish assam, braised chicken for the kids, jiu hu char (braised turnip) with fresh lettuce leaves, deep fried spring rolls and pan fried prawns. This time, we tried their orange sorbet for dessert :

10/10 for presentation, 9/10 for taste and 7/10 for price. Will definitely try this again next year, when we make our year-end 'pilgrimage' to Penang :D

Lazy Bump!

2011-12-16T17:11:00.005+08:00

After a visit to the hair saloon just now, we stopped by a road-side stall selling fresh coconut to quench our thirst on this sizzling afternoon. When we told the man that we wanted 4 packets of coconut water, the seller told us that he does not provide service to chop off the tip of the coconut and pour the coconut water into bags. When we requested him to do it, he told us arrogantly that he does not sell coconut water in this manner. He then pointed to the soya bean milk stall next to his and told us buy from the soya bean milk seller instead, as though telling us "too bad I won't sell to you. Drink soya bean lar, it's more convenient"! Most people would find it very troublesome to lug home 4 huge and heavy coconuts, spend half an hour chopping off the tip of the coconut to get the coconut water and flesh, and messing up the kitchen, just to have a glass of refreshing coconut water to drink.

Wonder why some people are so lazy when it comes to earning money. Money is hard to come by. Make hay while sun shines. I'll bet he will earn double or maybe even more if he sells not just whole unopened coconuts but also fuss-free coconut water. No wonder that bugger has such a gigantic beer belly, lazy bump!

Cute Things She Says

2011-12-15T23:44:00.005+08:00

During shower time just now...

Baby - when I grow up I will buy you many things and sayang you. I will go to the market to buy you lots of food. I will spend a lot of money on a big bungalow for you too.

Me - what will you buy me from the market?

Baby - yummy mushrooms, fish, 'char siew', hanger, panties, (and then named out a long list of things that she will buy for me in future.... when I am OLD, LOL!!)

Baby - and I will buy maggie mee for daddy because he likes maggie mee. But I won't put a lot of salt for him when I cook. I will put LITTLE bit of salt on his maggie mee and some vegetables, just LITTLE bit salt only.

Me - will you take care of me when I am old?

Baby - yes. I will also take care of che che, er che (sister no. 2), koong koong, granny and everyone. I love everybody.

My sweetie pie at 3 years 8 months.

Earning 4-Figure Income From Home

2011-12-15T23:37:00.003+08:00

Four and a half years ago, I knew nothing about blogging, uploading pictures into blogs, computer codes (which looked like a foreign language to me), pdf page counter and other IT jargon and terms. From a person who is not very IT-savvy, I learned everything from scratch, google searched for information on how to manage a blog and how to monetize my blogs, made several phone calls and emailed friends for help. The first few weeks were very challenging and I had many, many long and sleepless nights trying to make my blog look like a blog and trying to drive traffic in! Writing to the US advertisers to get my blogs approved was another tall order. But my hard work paid off very well. From a full-time housewife earning zilch, I was earning a 4-figure income from blogging and now I am even an online store owner. See, you don’t have to go out to work to earn money. You can earn 4-figure income from your home wearing your jammies and that's what I do, LOL! One of my friends was even earning a 5-figure income from her dozen of blogs when the global economy was still strong 4 years ago. Now, I guess the paid posts bubble has burst.

OMG, Neglected For Over A Week!

2011-12-13T18:52:00.005+08:00

OMG, just realized that I have neglected this first 'baby' of mine for over a week. Have been away in Penang for a few days and am still in Ipoh with the girls and my helper. After our trip from Penang, I felt a tad under the weather and feel slightly better today.

You can hop over to my dot com blog to read updates. Meanwhile, here are some pix taken in Penang.

The girls in the jaccuzzi @ G Hotel, Penang

Check out my hau por model wannabe LOL!

Night view of Gurney Drive from the 14th floor of the Executive Lounge @ G Hotel

Surfing the net at the Executive Lounge

My not even 7YO daughter, who is always dressed up to the nines in necklace, bracelet, headband and hair accessories. She is always the fastest to pose whenever my camera is fished out from my bag.

Sweet splash of freedom for Baby! Her surgeon said no problem to go swimming, yay!

A crabby lunch at Tg Tokong before heading to Ayer Itam to tapau asam laksa for my dad.

My Precious Baby Is 8 Today!

2011-12-05T16:28:00.004+08:00

10 years ago, I stayed at the maternity ward of SJMC (Sime Darby Medical Centre now) but not for the delivery of a baby. It was for a Laproscopic Ovarian Drilling of both my ovaries so that I could conceive. A year later, I stayed at the maternity ward of PMC but did not have a baby too, but lost a pregnancy. That was the saddest and most painful day of my life. Staying in a maternity ward twice and hearing cries of newborn babies but leaving empty handed is a very painful experience. The following year, I stayed at the maternity ward of SYMC. This time, I was the happiest woman in the ward. I had a beautiful baby to cradle in my arms. That was 8 years ago on 5 Dec 2003. That day will forever be the happiest day in my life. Thank you very much dear Lord for Alycia. May you bless her with many more happy birthdays and grant her good health and happiness always.

Pic of Alycia at the same age with Cassandra now - 3.5YO

Funny Conversation With Cassandra

2011-12-02T12:52:00.005+08:00

I had wanted to jot down this funny conversation with Baby last night but I was so sleepy that I dropped all my work and went straight to slumberland.

I was feeding Baby her before bedtime soy bean milk and we were watching SpiderWick (a thriller for kids on goblins and unruly creatures) ...

Me - baby, what if these monsters entered our house and climbed up your bed? Scary eh?

Baby - this is NOT real.. this is only a movie, it cannot be real, YOU SILLY!

Hmmm, my 3.5yo baby girl out-talking me yet again!

After she had finished her milk, I stroked her hands and legs...

Baby - why are you touching me mummy?

Me - why? You don't like me to touch you and sayang you?

Baby - is it because I am C-U-T-E?
and then gave me her cute smile :D

Cassandra at 3 years 7 months

Do You Allow?

2011-11-30T18:26:00.001+08:00

Alycia will turn eight in a week’s time. I have been asking her what she wants for her birthday but she could not settle on something that she really likes. Over dinner last night, she told me that she has decided on what she wanted for her birthday. She said she wanted me to allow her to download the full version of some online games, some of which I have not even heard of the names before, like Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 or Pea Shooter. Though these online games are not very costly, I am however not that in favor of my girls playing with such games. Do you allow your daughter to play with such online games?

What Makes Her Happy

2011-11-28T06:03:00.001+08:00

Some of life's simplest and greatest pleasures for a 3.5YO girl - munching on a plate of honey stars while watching the TV. And I caught this rascal chuckling to herself as she stuffed the honey stars into her mouth, one by one whilst watching a comedy on TV... over breakfast. I wish I had the luxury of time to do this too - no need to work but just eat, watch TV, sleep and have everything taken care of!!

Lazy Sunday

2011-11-27T16:08:00.005+08:00

I'm feeling really lazy today. Though I have some work to complete but nah, I am just too lazy and in a holiday mood haha! 10 more days and we are off to the North for our yearly 'pilgrimage', the trip that we must commit to for the next 9 years. Can't wait to stuff myself fat with Penang and Ipoh food. We are dropping our plan for a holiday in Singapore as we are unable to grab the SGD888 package at Universal Studio / Sentosa Island. All the decent hotels in Singapore are also fully booked or priced sky high around X'mas, which is the time that we intend to go. Anyway, we are looking at another holiday spot now, somewhere that's not too far.

Happy long weekend peeps!

This is often the first thing that they will do whenever they are back from a long and hot morning walk at the park - by sprawling themselves on the cool floor and then let out a satisfied giggle.

Loh Mai Kai Within A Pau

2011-11-25T17:38:00.002+08:00

This must be the perfect marriage of dim sum for lovers of Char Siew Pau and Loh Mai Kai. The creators of this dim sum deserves a pat on the back for marrying the Char Siew Pau with the Loh Mai Kai to deliver something that's so unique. My good friend gave me a few boxes of this unique looking pau when she went to this dim sum place in Sri Petaling. A box of this pau is enough to fill you up for lunch or dinner, if you are a small eater.

A whole Loh Mai Kai with something that tastes like abalone is held inside the pau!

Sorry, I cannot tell you the name of the dim sum place as the name is printed in Chinese and I can't read Chinese. Anyone please? Anyway, you may call this number to make inquiries :

140 Jalan Radin Anum
Sri Petaling
57000 KL
Tel : 019-382 5455

A Bag Of SURPRISE from Alycia's School

2011-11-24T13:54:00.003+08:00

A week before the school holidays started, Alycia gave me a shock when she brought home a heavy bag of curtains from school! Her teacher had asked her to bring the dirty curtains home for a spin in the washing machine! Oh my, what a big pack of end-of-school term surprise her teacher had given me! Her school involves all the students in the cleaning up of the school. Each student has to bring his/her own cloth to wipe the windows every week. Students are also compelled to bring old newspapers to the school for their recycling project. Now, they even rope in the kids to bring home the curtains for a wash LOL! This is the first time in my life that I have seen a school getting the pupils to bring home curtains for cleaning. Well, I think this is better than hanging a dust-covered dirty curtain in the classroom eh?

Baby's Singing Prowess

2011-11-22T05:33:00.004+08:00

Baby's next favorite pass time is creating her own songs and belting them out, complete with some twists to her waist and butt. This girl is really good with her words and lyrics, though at times the tune would go a bit out. She can create songs related to just about anything from her family to a song about snakes (that's because we recently witnessed the guards at our condo catching and killing a long snake at our condo!)

Yesterday, she created a song called "My Family", which goes like this, to the tune of Auld Lang Sye:

I love my family
Because they bring me everywhere
I love my mummy
I love my daddy
I love everyone
Because they are my family.

Baby - mummy, how do you like my song? It's "My Family" song. Cool eh? Did I sing well?

Me - yes, very nice and very cool!

LOL! Not bad for a 3.5YO girl who has not even started pre school yet eh?

Healthy Roasted Vegetables

2011-11-20T19:17:00.004+08:00

The girls have a grand aunt whom they adore, who lives a few floors beneath ours. We often cook and share our food together for dinner. The other day, she made something that's healthy and packed with anti-oxidants. She roasted beet roots, pumpkin, baby sweet corns, carrots and zucchini.

Jamie Oliver's recipe - roast beet roots with a drizzle of Balsimic vinegar, olive oil and salt.

Roast pumpkin, carrots, baby sweet corn and zucchini, with a drizzle of olive oil and salt.

Since the portion was so huge, we kept the roasted vegetables in the fridge and ate them chilled the next day, yums! Here's another way of getting your kids to eat colorful vegetables, to pump in anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals into their little bodies. My kids love them and so do I!

Cute Stuff She Does

2011-11-20T19:01:00.003+08:00

My 3.5YO baby girl's latest frenzy is cutting papers with a pair of scissors from Mothercare, meant for cutting finger nails. She can spent close to an hour cutting papers and that's bliss to me, for I can have 1 hour of peace and silence to do my work. But I make sure that she is seated next to me, under my watchful eyes.

The other day, she hijacked some of my expensive colored papers and cut them into strips. Then she ran to me and said in her sweetest voice "mummy, look at my bunches of flowers! Later, can you please give me a plastic bag to put them, please mummy?"

My sweetie pie with her home-made bunches of flowers :D

Sherilyn

2011-11-19T16:17:00.003+08:00

Rascal #2 has finally graduated from pre-school. Can't believe she is going to Primary 1 next year. I earnestly hope that she will make some changes on her attitude towards her studies and discipline, will place importance towards punctuality and will have an intense liking of what she will learn in school. When Alycia was in pre school, I remember I had the same fears and worries on how she will cope in a Chinese school. Alycia fell sick and had to skip school regularly when she was in pre school. Consequently, she had some catching up to do in her studies. I remember she always made my blood boil too whenever I had to do revision with her before her exams. All that changed when she started going to Primary 1. All my fears and worries were unfounded. She did very well and I am surprised with the rate at which she picked up Mandarin and master Mandarin, in view of both her parents speak and read no Mandarin. I hope the same goes for Sherilyn too.

A pot shot of Sherilyn doing her revision. She ain't the type who will sit restricted at the table to pore over her books. She needs movements and lots of 'spices and flavor' to her study methodology.

What Makes My Day

2011-11-19T16:14:00.001+08:00

What would really make my day is receiving notes of thank you and commend from my customers. Today I received three such notes from my customers, telling me how much their kids love the clothes that they had purchased from my online store. And one customer placed another order immediately :D Some customers have asked me to consider setting up a retail shop to sell my merchandise, complete with point of purchase displays and fitting room. But I seriously do not think that I can handle this at the moment as this would mean being away from home. I would perhaps consider renting a kiosk at shopping malls to sell my merchandise, only on weekends, but that would be years later when my youngest is old enough to take care of herself.

Sleepy

2011-11-19T16:05:00.001+08:00

I have had a late night yesterday but still had to force myself out from bed at 7 this morning. Waking up to a brightly lit sky is something which is pretty rare for me, for I have been used to getting up at 5ish in the morning when it is still dark outside, ever since the kids came along. I had spent the entire night sorting out and packing my customers’ orders. Business is normally at its peak about 2 months before Chinese New Year. I am feeling the effects of insufficient sleep now. My head is heavy and eyes droopy. But I have to force my brain to work. I have a few online assignments to dish up, one of which is on xanax detox addiction abuse withdrawal. I think I will just take a cat nap after this post. A 10-minute nap does wonders to the body and mind.

Conversation With Cassandra

2011-11-18T14:29:00.004+08:00

It was pouring outside during lunch time today.

Baby - mummy, the rain is good for the trees right?

Me - yup. We all need to drink water to live. The trees need to drink water too.

Baby - why mummy?

Me - so that the trees will grow taller and taller.

Baby - like Jack and the Beanstalk right mummy?

Me - yeah, clever girl!

After lunch in the bathroom...

Baby - mummy, what will happen if I eat soap?

Me - bubbles will form inside your body and the bubbles will come out through your nose, mouth, ears and eyes, scary right?

Baby - and what will happen if I eat this? (pointing to the water hose)

Me - you will die if you eat the water hose!! (LOL!! This rascal loves asking me cheeky questions when she already knows the answers.)

Cassandra at 3years 7 months

My most promising model at Old and New Stuff For Sale, donning on a cute cheongsam and Chinese embroidered shoes.

A Bento Set A Day

2011-11-16T06:42:00.006+08:00

Here's yet another Bento set prepared for my kiddos...

Grilled salmon with butter and garlic, Terriyaki chicken and sushi, washed down with a mug of murberry-beet root-carrot-apple juice, with grapes as starter and Rocky sticks for dessert.
And no, I am not that ambitious and I don't have the luxury of time (though I would love to) to whip up such a luxurious lunch for my kiddos. It's my hubs and his chefs who cooked up the storm, for one of his customer's functions for that day. I heart days like this, when my hubs sends his staff to deliver hot food to our doorstep, for I don't have to get myself all sweaty and have my face, hands and clothes tainted with choking cooking oil :D

Weekend Midnight Supper

2011-11-11T06:41:00.004+08:00

The weekends are here again, super hooray! Business will be slower over the weekends and that's the time I can breathe. I really do need the breather and catch up on my sleep as I feel sleepy all the time lately, a result of being severely sleep deprived.

Weekend also means midnight snacking with daddy for Alycia and Sherilyn. Last Saturday, daddy brought them out to buy supper of fried crabs and fried Hokkien noodles. The 3 of them had a whale of a time chomping down the noodles and sucking on the crab legs and claws till way past midnight. Me? I don't touch food after 9pm and have the will power to say NO, even to the most delicious of morsels put right in front of my eyes and mouth, with salivating aromatic smell permeating my nostrils. Can you resist? tee hee...

A Bento Set A Day

2011-11-09T13:41:00.004+08:00

Here's one of the bento set lunches for the girls, prepared last week:

Jackfruit and grapes before the meal followed with mushroom pasta, fresh coconut water and a Loacker Mini wafer for dessert. The mushroom sauce was pre-prepared a week ago and stored in smaller portions in the freezer. Whenever I am busy, all I need to do is to reheat the sauce, broil some pastas and voila, my kiddos have hot piping food for lunch.

She Says...

2011-11-09T08:54:00.004+08:00

One of Baby's latest favorite things to say to me is "when I grow up, I want to work hard, earn lots of money and buy everyone a big bungalow house to stay, ok mummy?"

This morning, she said this to me "mummy, when I grow up, I will work very hard, earn lots of money, so that you and daddy don't have to work anymore. I will give you and daddy lots of money and buy you all a big bungalow house ok?"

Awwww, that's really sweet of her to say that. And I hope that she will keep to her words. I can't wait to stop working and don't have to do anything but just be a lady of leisure tee hee...

Cassandra at 3.5 years old.

At Delicious Cafe @ Dua Residency, KL.

Delicious Cafe @ Dua Residency, KL

2011-11-07T19:14:00.007+08:00

We had lunch with Alan Yun and Emily at Delicious Cafe @ Dua Residency, KL today. This is our first time at the Delicious' outlet @ Dua Residency. The ground floor houses Delicious Ingredients and the 1st floor houses Delicious Cafe.
Delicious Ingredients is a deli that carries a mix of gourmet ingredients, freshly baked breads and day-to-day food items, serving both the residents of Dua Residency and other walk-in patrons. Delicious has always been our family's favorite pasta place. I love their Pesto chicken and flourless orange cake.

Creamy pasta with ham - the girls' all-time favorite.

Today, I tried Delicious' Gado-Gado, a traditional Indonesian salad, that is pretty healthy. All the vegetables for dipping into the peanut sauce are broiled. The Gado-Gado was tastefully and beautifully served on a huge petal of a banana flower. I noticed that almost every table had a plate of this wonderful dish. It's rated 10/10 on HFM's food meter. We all loved the sweet peanut sauce that went really well with the bean sprouts, deep fried tofu, fried Indonesian crackers, turnip, boiled eggs and other vegetables.

Juicy delicious beef burger...

Grilled chicken with basil and pesto sauce, another favorite dish of mine from the Delicious kitchen. Love the flavorful Pesto sauce on the chicken.

Fish and chips...

Turkey ham and cheese sandwich...

Chicken chop - nothing to shout about.

Check out this little mouse who's eyeing on the Berrilicious Chocolate Pavlova. The crust is meringue with cream, topped with fresh strawberries. I find the crust too sweet for my palate. It would be a crime to wipe off this sweet delight, really.

Carrot cake and chocolate banana cake. These 2 sinful morsels ain't exactly my choice. I would have chosen my favorite flourless orange cake and chocolate brownie but they ain't exactly my other half's favorite. So this time, I had to give in to his choice, which in a way was a blessing as I did not indulge myself like I would if they were my favorites.

[Level 1 - DELIcious Cafe]
8 AM - 3 PM
6PM - 10PM

[Ground Floor - DELIcious Ingredients]
9 AM - 9 PM

Telephone Number : 03-2166 2066
Address : Dua Residency
Lot 1.1, Ground Floor Dua Annexe,
No. 211, Jalan Tun Razak,
50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tranquerah @ Red Carpet Avenue, The Strand Encorp

2011-11-05T16:46:00.004+08:00

We were invited by our good friend - actor, model, entrepreneur and restaurateur Alan Yun to his newly opened Nyonya restaurant - Tranquerah @ Red Carpet Avenue, The Strand Encorp recently. Alan Yun also co-owns another restaurant - Pin Xiang in Damansara.

Alan Yun was very generous and ordered over 10 mouth-watering and appetite-whetting Nyonya dishes for my family and I to feast on. We finished almost every dish and left the restaurant feeling really satisfied *BURP*! There will surely be another round of makan at Tranquerah very soon. This time it will be with a group of my blogger friends and Alan's celebrity friends. It will be a eat-and-blog session, something which iLike!! Did I tell you that one of my secret ambitions is to become a food critic cum food writer? Oh, who does not like to get free food all the time, a reward that comes with the writing eh?

So here goes the pix of the scrumptious dishes...

Refreshing drinks...
Pink kebaya (watermelon, lychee, strawbery with yoghurt),
Green kebaya (Lime and apple),
White kebaya (lemon juice)

Our very first dish was Top Hat - the hat was very crispy and fresh and the turnip very delish. Every single strand of turnip was wiped off from the plate!

Ikan Cencaru Sumbat, delish!

A must-have at Tranquerah - authentic Ayam Pongteh, a traditional Nyonya chicken dish cooked with lots of shallots, herbs, spices and potatoes. Very delish! We liked this dish so much that we even 'ta pau' the left over sauce home, tee hee hee!

Sambal stinky beans aka petai with prawns.

Gerang Asam Fish, another lip smacking dish

Kerabu cucumber and Cencaluk egg omelette

Deep fired crispy sotong rings, very delish too

Cendol with shaved ice and gula melaka and fresh santan. Top notch taste, love the fragrant gula melaka. Really sinful delight!!

Bubur chacha, very rich with lots of aromatic gula melaka and fresh santan, perfect for those with a sweet tooth..

Mee Siam - this dish is a signature dish of one of the local celebrity chefs...

Check out the assortment of decades-old Nyonya style window frames hanging high up on the ceiling

Traditional batik print moulds attached to the wall as decor.

The 3 angels sitting on an 'old bus stop at Jalan Tengkera, Melaka'

The 3 angels with Alan kor kor...

Tranquerah - Malacca Nyonya Cuisine
No. 62A - G, Jalan PJU 5/22
The Strand Encorp
Red Carpet Avenue
Kota Damansara
47810 PJ

You can also inquire about this restaurant by commenting in Alan Yun's Facebook page and Like his page too! This handsome guy is one hellavu guy.

A Bento Set A Day

2011-11-03T06:29:00.003+08:00

Here's yet another bento set of the day:

Homecooked Jar Jiang Mien with organic spinach curly noodles, papaya soup with sweet corn and roasted pork ribs and Musang King durian as starter. Yummy?

Breakfast For A Health Freak Mom

2011-11-01T10:25:00.008+08:00

The hubs got me my favorite brand of cheese from Bangsar Village on Sunday. The brand Food For Friends is synonymous with healthy food and organic food. I love their range of organic tortilla chips. And I found out on Sunday that Food For Friends even have a range of cheeses - low sodium ones that is, and I'm excited! My girls love cheeses but I am not too keen to feed them with too much cheeses as they are loaded with sodium and preservatives. But Food For Friends cheese is not salty and have very little ingredients, so I don't feel the guilt when giving them this brand of cheese. Yeap, the lesser the ingredients in any food label, the more natural the food is.

So this has been my breakfast for the past 2 days:

Food For Friend cheese on a slice of toasted Anzen organic bread, topped with sweet pineapples. Very quaint combination eh? But it's tasty!

Check out the label - only a short list of ingredients, which iLike!

Cheese on toast in the toaster...

A health freak mom's breakkie! Even my 3.5YO toddler likes it, healthy eh?

Our Sunday

2011-10-30T17:12:00.002+08:00

Today is a pretty quiet and domesticated day for us. While Alycia has just finished sitting for her final exam, Sherilyn's turn is next week. Alycia has gone out with daddy to do some shopping, leaving me with #2 and #3. We had to tell a white lie when Alycia left the house with daddy. Our standard white lie to Baby whenever her sisters get to go out and she can't is that her che ches have to attend TUITION muahahahaha! And she believes us, though at times she can sense that something fishy is going on.

Happy Sunday and welcome to a great week ahead everyone!

A Walking Shopping List

2011-10-29T14:14:00.004+08:00

Lately I have been so busy that I don't even have the time to write out my shopping list. So I rope in my 3 girls to remind me. Yes, even my 3.5YO baby girl is now being trained to remind me to do things tee hee hee! Yesterday during shower time, I told Baby that she has to remind me to buy 3 things, namely lemon flavored toothpaste, baby oil and toothbrush for kids. I told her to repeat after me the 3 things that I have to buy. This morning I asked her again what she has to remind me to buy. She remembered the first 2 items instantly. She even remembered that I specifically wanted lemon flavored toothpaste. The 3rd item, she mentioned baby powder and when I said NO, she was quick to say, "I mean baby oil"!. Not bad for a 3.5YO toddler eh? Next, I shall train her to memorize the Times Tables haha! I think she should be able to remember as chants of Times Tables memorization from #1 and #2 are like music in the background in our home lately. After all, kids absorb information the most effectively from newborn through 6 years old.

CD Duplication

2011-10-29T13:50:00.002+08:00

One of my hubby’s most worthy purchases is his Sony camcorder. The camcorder has been recording many precious moments of our three girls since their births. I still have the video of Alycia, taken 7.5 years ago when she was just a few months old. My hubby and I will watch with pride and laugh heartily each time we watch the video of our first daughter sucking on a big pear excitedly when she was 6 months old. That was Alycia's first taste of a pear and she bawled uncontrollably when the pear was taken away from her. Watching these old videos often make me feel very emotional. My hubby is very protective over those CDs of videos taken of his 3 angels. He would get really annoyed whenever he sees those CDS scattered everywhere. He even wants to get bulk cd duplication of each of those CDs, lest they go missing or get damaged.

Childhood Ambition

2011-10-29T13:45:00.001+08:00

Did you ever notice that most toddler girls and small girls have a liking for ‘masak-masak’ or pretend cooking? My girls have countless numbers of toy cooking sets. They had 2 toy kitchenettes in the past but we had given them away. My eldest who will turn 8 years old in a month still likes playing with ‘masak masak’ with her sisters. She has told me many times that one of her ambitions is to be a chef or Food Preparation Worker - Manager Jobs. Perhaps she will follow her daddy’s foot steps and take over his food catering business.

Bad Day!

2011-10-28T14:38:00.003+08:00

Today has been a very bad day for me. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. My database with details of my customers' orders have been corrupted and I could not find my thumb drive which I use to back up the data. Even if I could find it, it's a few days not updated. I have been spending the whole morning and over lunch trying to recover the data that is corrupted. I have not even eaten my lunch now and it's almost 3pm. Just no mood to eat anything. The corruption must have been caused by a 'Circular Reference' problem by Excel. Damn it, what the heck is that I don't know how to solve this problem now.

One of my suppliers has been a pain in my neck and I am so going to walk out on them once I have finished utilizing my prepaid amount I have with them. Just feel like ditching this ass h*ole supplier right now. Most China-man suppliers I like that and this is the 3rd time I am faced with such unprofessional suppliers. I ditched the first two suppliers too, out of their sheer 'unprofessionalism'.

During the midst of my busyness and havoc just now, Baby spilled all her soup and messed up the entire dining area.

Sigh... sometimes I feel like giving up on this online store. Just don't do anything and concentrate on my 3 kiddos. Yes it's helping me make money and I enjoy seeing the accounts in my banks and Paypal account grow fatter by the day BUT the stress is just too much to bear. But being a workaholic, I don't know if I can do it or not.

Hmmm, I really need to do some soul-searching....

A Bento Set A Day

2011-10-27T11:41:00.003+08:00

For my 3 kiddos's lunch...

Fried rice with chicken cubes, mustard green, purple sweet potato cubes, cucumbers and fried eggs. Organic papaya, green bean ice lollies and lotus root soup.

They have a different bento set everyday to perk up their mood and appetite. Today they are having something simple as there's fresh wholemeal-walnut bread. So I am preparing mackeral fish-egg-nori sandwich with old cucumber soup.

Agitated!!

2011-10-26T16:13:00.002+08:00

One of the things that irritates me to my bones is that no matter how hard and careful I try to hide my pens, rulers, note pads, scissors and rough papers, they will still be 'stolen'. My girls have eyes as sharp as an eagle's and they know just when to prey on my things. And my helper, eeessh, hate it that she keeps arranging my things and keeps them in a different place and then tells me "I tak tau" or "I tak nampak" when queried! That's her standard answer when asked if she has seen my things. Each time I need some rough papers to write on, I have to spend 10 - 15 minutes to rummage through my drawers and search through every nook and corner before hot lava spews out onto the culprits. Gosh, absolutely hate this!!

Sherilyn's Pre-School Graduation and Concert

2011-10-25T12:23:00.003+08:00

Sherilyn has been in pre school for 4 years and there was not a year that I could attend her concert due to various inevitable situations. I told myself that no matter what, I must take the effort to attend her concert cum graduation this year. I did not want her to have memories that her mummy never attended a single concert when she was in pre-school. So on Sunday, all of us - the whole jing gang of daddy, mummy, koong koong, granny, kakak, Alycia and Baby gave Sherilyn our support and watched her perform in her concert and graduation ceremony.

There was no regret, though I hated the wait before the concert started. Sherilyn danced very well in her event. She rocked, gyrated and twisted her butt and body like a dancer would and the whole performance was very entertaining as the dance was full of vivacious movements.

Red Bean + Green Bean Ice Lolly

2011-10-23T06:35:00.002+08:00

Here's another healthier alternative to eating ice-creams - ice lollies made from red bean + green bean tong sui (sugar reduced).

And my ice-cream crazed baby girl loved it anyway... and it's healthy too, as beans are high in protein, fiber and iron.

Two Musketeers

2011-10-20T19:48:00.003+08:00

Sherilyn may not be as tolerant as Alycia with her baby sister. Nonetheless, they make very good playmates, dance mates and song mates. They love dancing and belting out silly songs together and do pretend plays together. Lately, Sherilyn has been teaching her baby sister her ballet movements too and it is really heartwarming and hilarious to see them hop, jump, twirl and boogie away.

This afternoon, my mum reprimanded Sherilyn for being naughty and whiny. She of course whined and cried. In fact, this 6.5YO rascal cries every single day *shake head* When Baby saw her che che crying, I think she felt for her che che. Baby then started to pray, while my mum was still reprimanding Sherilyn ...

Baby - Dear Jesus, please help Sherilyn to stop crying...

My mum ignored Baby and continued to reprimand the bawling Sherilyn.

Baby - Dear Jesus, please help Sherilyn to stop crying, please help Sherilyn to stop crying, AMEN !

Baby kept chanting this loudly until I burst out laughing. The scene was really too funny and tickled my funny bone. What a good way to laugh away my stress LOL!!

My 2 musketeers. They make my blood boil, yet they can make me laugh very hard. If only they can be good good girls and be in top notch behavior all the time...

Horror Of All Horrors

2011-10-19T15:45:00.001+08:00

The video footage of the 2yo girl in China whose body was run over twice by a van and then run over by a lorry made me sick to the pit of my stomach. It was a horror of all horrors, the worst I have seen so far. I am sure every parent out there who watched the video footage of this horrible accident would have felt the same – shocked, disgusted by the driver and the passers-by, disturbed and worried of their own children. I felt like throwing up after watching it on TV last night. Then I got worried sick. This accident can happen to anyone. When Alycia and Sherilyn were in school today, I kept thinking about them. Before they left for school this morning, I nagged them profusely to be extra careful and never to walk haphazardly on the road. I felt like buying my precious babies some bell helmets and protective suits to protect their bodies from harm. I can only pray to God to watch over my 3 girls always.

My Kwai Lui

2011-10-19T08:07:00.005+08:00

Spending over 10 hours on the computer each day is NOT fun. This causes aches on my neck and shoulders. While I do exercise almost every morning, the aches will emerge if I work a few hours straight without doing any stretching exercise to my neck and back. That's when I will rope in my 3 girls to give me a good anti-stress massage. Alycia can really do a good job. When I asked her how she can be so good in her masseuse skills, she told me that she practiced massaging on her best friend in class and asked her for her opinion on which method felt nice! I had a good laugh when she told me this.

My kwai lui giving me a massage on my temples, while I mark the worksheets that she has done.

Durian Season Is Back!

2011-10-16T15:21:00.003+08:00

The durian season is back! While I get really excited and happy to see those durian stalls by the roadside, the durian season spells FAT for me, for I will surely be gorging on them several times in a week throughout the durian season. Though I am on a low-carb diet, durian is something which I am too weak to say NO to. I eat durian for breakfast, I eat them for desserts and I even dream of eating durian!

Even my 3 girls love them!

Alycia and Baby having durian for dessert after lunch!

Rare Sight of Big Bright Orange Moon

2011-10-14T10:24:00.004+08:00

Last night at 9ish pm on 13 Oct 2011, my girls saw the moon but the moon looked pretty unusual. Not only was it big, round and very orangy, there was a butterfly-shaped halo surrounding the moon. They were screaming "WAH, look at the moon mummy, like a butterfly!" And I managed to zoom in and capture the picture with my Canon IXUS camera.

Sighting of the moon with a butterfly-shaped halo taken from the 5th floor of our unit.

Anyone saw this unusual halo on the moon last night?

Korea Campbell Grapes

2011-10-12T16:05:00.002+08:00

The hubs bought a bunch of Korea Campbell grapes when he went shopping with the girls the other day. My hubs, he loves to try new food and things that are unique. This bunch of Korea Campbell grapes is no run-of-the-mill grapes. My girls and I call these grapes 'jelly grapes' for they taste just like grape-flavored jellies! The skin is hardly chewable and sour. To eat the flesh of the grapes, one has to suck the flesh out, as you would when you eat jelly from a small cup. Pretty unique and tasted pretty unique. But there will be no second time. The flesh is sourish and lots of tiny seeds are buried inside the flesh. Except for the strong 'grape-flavored jelly' taste, I could barely swallow any flesh. Nonetheless, RM12.90 was well spent trying out an out-of-the-world grapes :D

Master of Electronic Gadgets

2011-10-12T12:29:00.001+08:00

My youngest daughter must have inherited her IT and electronic savvy-ness from her daddy and mummy. At 3YO, she mastered the laptop and iPad2. She even knows how to attach the cables that look like monster hdmi cables onto the laptop and start up the laptop on her own. Now at 3.5YO, she knows how to switch the TV from TV mode into DVD mode, choose her own DVD and play them. She knows how to read the numbers on the remote control and she is now the troll sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

Finally She Did It!

2011-10-11T11:38:00.004+08:00

This is something which I must pen down. It is Baby's achievement at 3.5 years old. Nope, it is nothing academic but it is something that we can be very proud of. It is a big achievement for her and for me for she can now poo poo in the great big white throne and no longer in her diaper! Super hooray for my baby girl! For years, she has been shunning the potty (both the small and big potty) and I was frigging worried how she will fare when she goes to pre-school next year. She would surely be the laughing stock of her classmates and teachers if she still poo pooed in her diaper. But thank God, my worries are unfounded. My baby girl has now conditioned and programed her body to poo poo at the same time everyday on the great big throne, just like an adult. She can now say good-bye to her chronic constipation problem too. My prayer to God to strengthen Baby's bladder continues...

My cutest model at Old And New Stuff For Sale.

Frozen Konnyaku Jellies

2011-10-08T15:50:00.003+08:00

The other day, I made a batch of Konnyaku jellies with fresh fruits. I made them when Alycia and Sherilyn were having their Mandarin enrichment class and Baby was sleeping. I wanted them to have jellies when their lesson was over. So I put the jellies in the freezer so that they can coagulate and chill up quickly. But I had forgotten all about them, until the next afternoon! After thawing the frozen jellies for about half an hour, we ate them and yes, they tasted delish, like fruit sorbet with jelly. Hmmm, I think the next round I will freeze some jellies too. Frozen jellies are kinder to the waist line too and healthier than ice creams :D

Frozen Konnyaku fruit jellies... I'll bet no one has tried this before!

Ranting.... And A Wholesome Bento Lunch Set

2011-10-05T23:18:00.001+08:00

This week has been another mega busy week for me. I keep telling myself that I have to slow down on my online store business but the workaholic in me just can't help it. Alycia and Sherilyn will be sitting for their final exam in 2 weeks and I have started to give them exercises, especially in Math and BM (for Alycia). Alycia is pretty good in most of her subjects as she pays attention when the teacher teaches her. While this girl will do what I ask her to do, she can be pretty lazy and needs lots of pushing to do the worksheets that I give her everyday.

As for Sherilyn, each Math session with her can drive me suicidal, I kid you not and I mean it. I always tell her that she has left her brain somewhere and she has to find it and put it back into her head... coz she never listens to what I say, always jumps the gun and never remembers what I tell her. People like her needs lots and I mean LOTS of Math practices everyday. It's not easy on me as I have to work and she needs me to be next to her to keep reminding her what and how to do her Math (step by step, all over again and again!!), though I had taught her the same thing over and over again for more than a year!

I think you can pretty imagine how stressed up I am. Imagine there is stock at every corner of my home waiting to be checked and sent out. Imagine Alycia and Sherilyn keep asking me how to do this and that. Imagine Baby climbing all over me. All these plus cooking, computer work and my daily morning exercise regimen. At the end of the day, I am drop dead tired, like a buffalo who had slogged all day under the hot sun in the paddy field.

Enough of ranting, this is what I whipped up for the girls today. Something that's easy to prepare, fast and wholesome.

A bento set of
1) Tuna and egg mayo open sandwich with nori sheets and sliced cool organic Japanese cucumbers

2) Purple carrot and cranberry juice

3) Homemade jellies with fresh cut fruits inside the jellies

4) Organic papaya

5) Steamed tapioca, which is Alycia's favorite.

Healthy mou?

Scrapbook photo album and Photobook

2011-10-05T18:00:00.001+08:00

I have tons of pictures of my girls stored in the hard disk of my desk top computer. Those pictures were taken since Alycia was a baby. I cannot even remember when the last time was that I developed those pictures into hard copies. Many of my friends are into scrapbook photo albums and Photobook. I am seriously contemplating getting one of these too. BUT, the problem is I just cannot squeeze out a day or two to sort out my pictures.

2 Tough And Busy Days

2011-10-01T20:02:00.005+08:00

Baby has been down with fever and a bad tummy. It looks like a stomach flu. Yesterday, hubs brought Alycia and Sherilyn to stay at Double Tree Hotel to utilize the complimentary 1 night's stay at the hotel. The offer expired yesterday. It was extended for 3 months and as usual, my busy hubs only utilized it at the eleventh hour. So last night was a pretty quiet night for me as I was home alone. Baby was very sick and slept the whole day. Though the other 2 older monkeys were not at home, I did not have a peaceful time at home nor did I get a peaceful night's sleep. A mother can never sleep in peace when her child has a burning hot body. I was sponging her body practically the whole night. At one point during the day while she was sleeping on the couch, Baby was hallucinating and kept whimpering "I don't like the sticker up there", while pointing to the ceiling! This happened to Alycia too when she had high fever when she was a toddler. She told me that she saw a snowman outside the window!

After 2 very tough and busy days for me, Baby is now showing signs of recovery. Her appetite is slowly coming back but I am reminding myself not to be too happy and not to over feed her, lest all comes pouring out again. Her tummy is still recovering and must not be made to overwork. Praying hard that she can eat pretty normally again tomorrow. My pile of stock that has been lying on the floor of my living room for the past 3 days is finally cleared today. It was such an eye sore to see those mountain-high stock scattered everywhere and I did not have the time to sort them out. Now, I wish to have a relaxing and good Sunday tomorrow. Happy Sunday everyone!

Just back from school and having her lunch. Alycia hugging her life bolster and she misses her life bolster very much, after a long day at school.

Book Worms

2011-09-30T07:03:00.003+08:00

Check out my 2 book worms poring over their favorite books over breakfast on a Saturday. They used to have their butts glued to the couch in front of the TV during breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays but I told myself that this had to stop. Now, I can't even stop Alycia from reading at the dining table, a habit which she has picked up from me. I always read when I am at the dining table. I have always been reading when I have my meals, so that no precious time is wasted. Do you allow your kids to read at the dining table? I know some parents find this irritating though.

When Was The Last Time You Received A Card?

2011-09-30T06:52:00.003+08:00

I cannot recall when was the last time I ever received a greeting card from a friend. Ever since eCards ruled over physical greeting cards and holiday cards, more and more people have started to use eCards as a faster, cheaper and more convenient means of sending wishes to their friends and family members. But I miss receiving a real tangible greeting card. I still get thrills finding a colored envelope lying at the bottom of my post box, with my name written on it, and I love to see handwritten name and not those printed ones. When was the last time you ever receive a greeting card or a holiday card in your post box? Or you can’t even remember?

Kids Sleep The Darndest Ways

2011-09-29T12:45:00.002+08:00

There was a birthday party held by one of the residents at the pool area on Saturday and a balloonist was hired to decorate the function room. Though we were not one of the guests, the balloonist could not resist Baby's request for a flower balloon. So the kind balloonist made her 3 flower balloons. And my Baby was so happy that she refused to let go of her balloons, even in her sleep.

Lorong Seratus Tahun, Scott's Gardens, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur

2011-09-28T10:21:00.004+08:00

Recently we found a place that serves authentic Penang food at Lorong Seratus Tahun @ Scott's Gardens, where the newly opened Tesco at Old Klang Road is. Well, not sure if it's really cooked by some chefs from Penang but the food did taste authentic and I loved it. Scott's Garden is a new shopping mall (with Tesco being the main anchor tenant) smacked in the middle of Old Klang Road KL. The kopitiam style restaurant was packed to the brim when we arrived, which was more often than not a sign that the food is good.

So here's what we had. For those of you who love Penang food, get ready a hanky to wipe off your drool...

This plate of char koay teow cost a whopping RM22.90 but it was quite justifiable with 7 medium-size prawns... only 6 prawns here as my starving hubs pecked one just as the plate was placed on the table...

Nasi lemak set with Penang lobak...

Fried rice for my fan thoong aka rice pot Alycia...

Fish balls noodles soup... this is however nothing to shout about.

Prawn paste chee cheong fun. Love this plate of carbs as I love prawn paste. The prawn paste was thick and the noodles smooth.

Breakfast set... kaya was sandwiched between the toasted bread. I liked the caramel kaya so much that I asked for another serving, at no extra cost.

Ice Kacang topped with a scoop of ice cream...

Food was great but I do think that the plate of char koay teow was over-priced. There will be a second visit to this kopitiam, when we next shop for our groceries at Tesco.

Cassandra Writes And Draws

2011-09-27T09:58:00.002+08:00

For the past few weeks, Baby has been writing and drawing. She can now recognize almost all the letters of the alphabet and numbers as well as write them. Whenever she writes a letter or number, she will proudly show me what she had written. I think it is a big mile stone for her since I did not do much to teach her, apart from letting her play with my iPad2 and laptop to learn them on her own.

Here, she has drawn a cat or was it a dog? Whatever it is, all her drawings of living things now look the same - with a roundish face, 2 eyes, nose, ears, hair and a big smiley face :D

Cassandra at 3years 5 months

RM4.99 shop in Viva Home Mall

2011-09-25T19:38:00.004+08:00

For those of you die-hard fans of Angry Birds or have kids who have been swept away by Angry Birds, do check out this RM4.99 shop in Viva Home mall @ Jalan Loke Yew. But sorry, I cannot remember the name of the shop. It was pretty late that night when we stepped into the mall. We had to hurriedly shop and pay as the workers were already pulling down the door shutters. So I did not really take notice of the name of the shop. It has the same concept like Daiso and 100 Yen Shop and sells almost the same stuff. There are even good quality and nice belts and hats. We spent quite a bit from this shop.

Angry Birds merchandise aplenty...

Was so tempted to grab an Angry Bird clock but I know that it will surely be kept in one of my drawers once it reaches our home.

Skype Chatting With Granny

2011-09-24T10:48:00.003+08:00

My mum has finally installed Skype and a webcam to her desktop computer. Now, she calls us to chat with us regularly. She would also show the girls what she had bought for them or made for them. But each time she calls, I need ear plugs and some Panadols for my headache as the girls will fight and holler in order to get the best position to see and chat with granny!

Flattered!

2011-09-24T10:32:00.001+08:00

There is this man in the gym who likes to comment on my appearance. Each time I step into the gym, this man in his fifties will come up to me with sweet words flying everywhere. He will comment about my complexion, my small body frame and would ask me how I manage to still look young and slim despite having 3 kids. He would even jokingly ask me out for a drink and ask me to introduce girls who look like me to him *roll eyes* ! While I am flattered with the praises, I nonetheless feel that he should not behave this way and sometimes feel appalled when he talks. My hubs said that it’s an indecent proposal LOL! Now, coming back to having a flawless complexion is not difficult. One just needs some discipline by exercising regularly, drinking lots of plain water, eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables, avoid cheap acid cigars, stay away from deep fried and oily food, keep stress at bay and get enough sleep, though I must admit that I am still working on the last requirement.

She Ain't Heavy, She's My Baby Sister

2011-09-22T23:02:00.004+08:00

Alycia often asks me why her baby sister is so 'weird'. When I asked her why she called her sister weird, she told me "because she does not talk like a baby. She talks like a 6 year old girl"! She told me that she wished Cassandra is still like a crawling baby and will always be cute LOL!!!

Just now while tucking them into bed, Alycia revealed her 'secret' to me... which touched the pit of my heart.

Alycia - mummy, do you know that every morning before going to school, I will lie down next to Cassandra? I will pinch her cheeks like "eeeeeeshhh" (and showed me how 'geram' she pinched her baby sister's cheeks) and kiss her cheeks.

And as she was telling me her 'secret', I was wondering if they were twins in their past lives. I am really touched and amazed with Alycia's love towards her baby sister. I know she misses her baby sister a lot while she is at school.

Alycia also revealed another secret to me... that she has been secretly carrying Cassandra whenever I am busy and not looking! I have always forbidden Alycia from carrying Cassandra, lest she drops the fragile little thing onto the floor. But how am I to be angry to see such strong love and bond between these 2 sisters?

She ain't heavy. She's my baby sister! I love pinching her cheeks and carrying her to bits!!

After-School Socializing

2011-09-21T16:29:00.005+08:00

For the past 1 week, my 6.5 year old girl has been telling me to pick her up late from school. School dismisses at 12:15pm but she has been instructing me to pick her up at 1pm instead. Once her daddy picked her up at 12:15pm on the dot and she came home bawling and whining for a good 1 hour!

Sherilyn - mummy, tomorrow pick me up at 1pm ok? Don't come at 12:15pm ok?

Me - WHY??

Sherilyn - you always say that I give you lots of stress mah....so you come late and pick me up, less stress for you.

Me - and what else? Why do you want me to come late?

Sherilyn - so that I can help Ms P (her principal) stack up chairs and I can finish my homework there. I can also play with my day-care friends.

Me - so do you want me to send you to daycare? (Since last year, I have been contemplating sending this girl to daycare in the hope that this will help discipline her)

Sherilyn - NO NO! I don't want daycare. I just want you to pick me up at 1pm. Please don't come early OK?
(Today she reminded me countless number of times to pick her up at 1pm again tomorrow.)

And so this social-butterfly comes home a very happy girl everyday ever since I gave her 45 minutes of after-school play-time in pre-school, for her to mingle with her friends, complete her homework and to feel good helping her teachers :D

Top model at Old & New Stuff For Sale...

Our Saturday

2011-09-20T20:06:00.004+08:00

We were invited by Shir Lin and Jeff to Joshua's 3rd birthday party @ Sierramas club house on Saturday. Shir Lin and Jeff are the girls former Sunday School teachers and they have now migrated to Singapore. The last time we went to Joshua's party at the same place was exactly 3 years ago for Joshua's full-moon party. How time flies and it really did seem like it was only recently that we attended his full-moon party.

While Sherilyn and Baby enjoyed themselves, my soon-to-be 8yo girl told me that it was boring. I guess my girl has outgrown birthday parties with clowns, balloons and toddlers. She has now graduated to the next level, to the tween stage or red alert stage ?? I hope not. My precious baby is really growing up too fast!

And now let the pix tell the rest of the story of our party. Thank you Shir Lin for inviting us and see you again at B's full-moon party perhaps?

Do You Have An Insurance Plan Yet?

2011-09-20T10:35:00.002+08:00

My friend’s husband was brutally attacked in a robbery a few years ago. While she was Skype chatting with her husband one night, the connection was cut off all of a sudden. An intruder had entered the house of her husband, who was working and staying outstation. During the scuffle with the robber, her husband’s arm was almost severed. Somehow, he managed to rush himself to a nearby hospital and the arm was saved. He was however on prolonged medical leave and got a large sum of compensation from his insurers. Many of my friends do not have an insurance plan for themselves or their children. Do you have an insurance plan yet? If the answer is no, do check out www.wholesaleinsurance.net right now.

Fong Lye Taiwanese Restaurant @ Gardens Mid Valley, KL

2011-09-19T16:37:00.004+08:00

One of our favorite Chinese restaurants whenever we shop at Gardens is Fong Lye Taiwanese restaurant. We were there again recently and this time, these are what we ordered:

Deep fried sweet potato balls. I find the balls a tad too chewy, which suggests that too much flour is used. I prefer the ones sold at our pasar malam, which are softer and has more sweet potatoes. Nonetheless, we noticed that almost every table has a plate of this deep fried 'bombs', which look really alluring and too hard to say NO to.

A meal at Fong Lye will never be complete if we do not the 'sam pei jie' chicken dish. This dish is cooked with basil leaves, Chinese cooking wine, ginger and garlic. On the right is 'mein seen' in red wine soup.

A set of fish slice cooked with tomato sauce and fried egg, a dish that most kids will heart...

Chicken cooked in rice wine set - my favorite dish. I almost never got tired of this dish during my 3 confinements. During my confinement, I could finish every single drop of the wine soup served to me, as no salt was used to cook the broth.

Jar Jiang Mien set. Tasty but I think I can cook a better one for the kiddos. I think this one is too black and too salty for my kiddos.

If you are planning to have lunch at Fong Lye @ Gardens Mid Valley, you better be there early, to beat the peak-hour periods. There is always a long bee line outside this restaurant on weekends and peak periods.

Sherilyn And Cassandra

2011-09-17T05:59:00.000+08:00

Baby and Sherilyn make good play mates. While Alycia takes her nap on most afternoons, my 2 other energizer bunnies will be playing. Sometimes Baby will take her nap too. But for Sherilyn, she hardly ever naps in the afternoon. She will play and play till no end. But sometimes when she's an angel, she will obediently bring her homework out from her school bag to do without any coercion from me.

Here, Sherilyn and Baby are in a playful mood. While Sherilyn is practicing for her spelling, Baby climbs onto the same chair.... and Sherilyn gives her a hug and calls her 'my bolster'. If only they can be such loving sisters everyday and not fight and squabble.

Painful Nape and Shoulders

2011-09-16T10:52:00.003+08:00

I have been having this nagging pain on my nape and shoulder blades lately. I think the pain is caused by spending too much time sitting in front of the computer. To relieve the pain, I use my loyal OTO Hans machine to give me a good electrifying shock to loosen up the veins, nerves and muscles on the achy parts.

So here I am - typing and getting my treatment in front of the PC. Being a multi-tasker, I also mark the work that I give to Alycia while getting my treatment :D

And oh yes, nothing beats the massage from warm, little hands from my 3 angels. I bribe them for a good massage everyday ahahahaha!!

Bribing My Kids For A Good Massage!

2011-09-14T22:47:00.003+08:00

Lately I have been having stiff and achy neck and achy shoulder blades, a result of working too long on the desktop computer. Sometimes I will 'electrify' my neck and shoulders with the OTO Hans machine to loosen up the nerves and sore muscles. But what I really love and need is a good massage - with human hands! So I have to rope in my girls to do it but the only way to get them to do it willingly is with bribes! And the TV is the reward. "NO TV if you don't massage me!!" How pathetic eh? I need to bribe my kids with kick backs to get them to give me a good massage! But the bribe is all worth it. My girls, especially Alycia can really do a good massage job, at the right points on my neck and shoulders. After each massage, I feel really good. I can feel my stiff muscles, veins and nerves all loosened up after the 15-minute massage session from my girls :D

Down Memory Lane

2011-09-13T15:16:00.004+08:00

As I was going through my pictures folder on the computer desktop, I found some old pictures of Alycia and Sherilyn taken several years back. Looking at the old pix brought me back in time to the year 2005 and 2006. Gosh, can't believe how fast time is zooming past us. It really felt like it was just yesterday that I was at the coffee house of PJ Hilton having buffet lunch with my hubs, Alycia (who was then 3YO in this pic) and Sherilyn (who was then 1YO+) ...

I can still remember vividly that day when this picture was taken.

and that's us in May 2005 @ Genji Japanese Restaurant, PJ Hilton, when Sherilyn was only 3 months old and Alycia was 17 months old.

I can also remember crystal clear the events that transpired on that day. Good times will always be etched in our memory, don't they?

Funny Conversation With Baby, My Assistant

2011-09-09T09:52:00.003+08:00

Funny conversation with Baby yesterday:

Baby is normally topless at home as she sweats easily. As I was bringing her to the bathroom to pee, I can't help but notice her protruding guitar-like bones on her body.

Me - Baby, you are so so skinny, like a skinny stray dog...

Baby - Then you give me some of your fat ok...

and then pretended to 'transfer' some of my fat to her own body with her tiny hands, LOL!!!

I was like huh? This 3YO girl talks like an adult. Where did she learn to say that?

2nd scenario

Whenever Baby sees her Sherilyn che che straying away at shopping malls, she will yell out to her che che, " hey come back Kay Yi!! Bad people will catch you, then cut all your hair, change your clothes, chop off your hands and legs and you will never see mummy again! Come back Kay Yi!!"

She is also a very good monitor. Each time we get into the car, she will remind her #2 che che to lock the door if daddy forgets to press the door central locking. She knows that her 2nd che che is very mischievous and she never fails to remind her che che to behave LOL!! I think she will make a very good class monitor in future.

Vitagen Ice Lollies

2011-09-06T09:15:00.004+08:00

Good quality ice creams like Haagen Dazs, New Zealand Ice Cream and Baskin Robins are very costly. My hubs like to buy these ice creams and I think it's such a waste of money to splurge on branded ice creams. I will never buy them for sure for I am an el cheapo! My girls love ice creams and so does everyone else in the family. Since I don't know how to make ice creams and don't have the time, I made the easier and faster version - ice lollies... with Vitagen, Ribena, yoghurt drinks, red bean tong sui and freshly squeezed orange juice. They are a hit with my girls and cost way cheaper than expensive branded ice creams.

Ice-lolly moulds from 100 Yen Shop costing RM4.90 and 4 bottles of Vitagen... total cost is less than RM10... cheap and nice!!

And my girls love them just as much as the 5-star ice-creams. So why not? Make my own el cheapo ice-lollies LOL!!

Japanese Kindori Ice Cream @ Tokyo Street, Pavillion KL

2011-09-05T12:05:00.003+08:00

Our last stop at Pavillion was at Kindori Ice-Cream. Kindori Ice-Cream uses 100% blast frozen fresh fruits, 100% fresh milk, no colouring, no preservative and made on the spot! It's the ice-cream for health freaks and diet freaks as it's not very sweet. It's my kind of ice cream, iLike!

My strawberry + pineapple Kindori ice cream, very Kindorilicious!

Website : www.kindori.com.my

Reading Spree

2011-09-05T10:11:00.002+08:00

Lately, Alycia my 7.5YO has gone into an explosion of reading as a hobby. Initially, she only liked to read comics, sports news and celebrity wedding news. But lately, she is obsessed with Geronimo Stilton books and books on adventure, mystery, humour and ghosts! She can go on reading continuously for 6-7 hours reading 1-2 thick books, resting only to take her shower! I have tried introducing her to Enid Blyton books but this fella is only interested in books that I mentioned above.

The Loaf @ Tokyo Street, Pavillion

2011-09-04T10:35:00.006+08:00

Our first stop and purchase at Tokyo Street, Pavillion was at The Loaf. Hubs had heard about the tasty Japanese-style bun, Oyaki which is a cross between bun and doughnut with fillings. There were 5 flavors on display that day, namely green tea, lemon cream cheese, chicken mushrooms, chocolate walnut and almond with cheese.

Oyaki can be found in most of the bazaara in Japan and outside Japan during the Japan’s Festival celebration. The Loaf has modified the traditional Oyaki to The Modern Taisho Oyaki by using Butter Roll Dough stuffed with more than 10 varieties of sweets and savories ingredients each to bake in oven instead of using the frying pan.

The Loaf kiosk @ Tokyo Street, Pavillion...

Our pick - all 5 flavors, which entitled us to 1 free piece.

Verdict : very tasty indeed! Sure tastes better than doughnuts and buns. Very unique and not too sweet. Because of the petite size of the bun, I can easily chomp down all 6 for my dinner and if I did that, that would corrode me with a fat guilt and send me into an insomnia spell for I would be raring to hit the gym the next morning to run away all the calories!
My favorite is the green tea and almond flakes with cream cheese. Will surely get another half a dozen the next time we go to Pavillion.

Singing Jigging Sisters

2011-09-02T05:10:00.002+08:00

2 potential singers in the making...

Baby is taking after her #2 che cheh as she loves singing too. Lately, she has been creating her own lyrics for songs about anything and everything... a song when mummy is angry, a song when she gets scolded and whacked by mummy (these 2 songs never fail to put a smile back on my face whenever I am angry with her), a song about holiday, a song about taking her bath and the list goes. This fella sings all the time. I am indeed very impressed with this 3YO rascal! With good vocal training, I am pretty sure that these 2 girls will be very promising singers in future :D

Mummy's Little Helper

2011-09-01T15:13:00.002+08:00

My little earnest helper who will help me on mornings that I have parcels to be collected by the courier guy. I have taught her how to separate the consignment notes and to place them in 2 separate stacks. She can do this job pretty well! Well done baby girl!

My skinny 3Y 4 M girl, who looks just like an Ethopian baby when she's topless.

Our Raya Holiday In Ipoh

2011-08-30T17:10:00.003+08:00

The girls, all set for their journey back to Ipoh yesterday, to meet koong koong and granny over the Raya holidays.

We are now back in Ipoh and enjoying all the good old Ipoh hawkers' food. We went to Kwong Heng and Chun Tien in Ipoh Old Town for lunch today. But the queue and wait were horrid. The coffee shops were a sea of people. Even bowls and cutlery were not properly washed. And #2 and #3 did not behave themselves. Pretty stressful for me and I told my hubs that the next time we go there, we better go without the #2 and #3 so that I can enjoy my food.

Logging off now to enjoy a massage on my mum's Gintell massage chair and then my 2nd round of jogging to burn off some fat, before digging into a sumptuous dinner tonight!

Do You Allow Your Kids To Read In The Car?

2011-08-28T19:13:00.006+08:00

On most Sundays, my girls will each borrow a book from the church library. Once they get into the car, they will enthusiastically read the books that they had borrowed. I think that reading in the car is better than having their eyes glued to the 2 screens watching DVD in the car. I don't like my kids to be such TV addicts.

Though I had told my kids many times not to read in the car, lest they get dizzy, they keep telling me that they are just fine! No dizziness or motion sickness. I can't believe that they are fine reading in the car coz I am one lousy fella who will surely have a bad bout of nauseousness if I ever read in the car. I remember one incident. I was 8 years old and had read a book that I borrowed from the library in the car, all the way from my school back home, for a good 20 minutes. When I got home, I got really nauseous and then developed a fever that left me puking for many days! Maybe it was just mere coincidence but that incident had developed a phobia in me reading in a moving vehicle.

Do you allow your kids to read in the car?

Pix of my girls reading in the car, taken today, after church... on our way to Xenri Japanese Restaurant. My girls read their books for 20 minutes in the car and were fine. No motion sickness and no nauseousness! Thank God! I would have puked!

My Kind Of Breakfast

2011-08-27T12:38:00.004+08:00

While most Malaysians prefer to dig into a packet of nasi lemak, char koay teow, porridge, fried noodles, chee cheong fun and kuih for breakfast, my kind of breakfast is pretty simple and wholesome. I still prefer bread (strictly no white bread. Only wholemeal bread or multi-grain or multi-seeded bread) or the occasional whole wheat cereals.

Here's my kind of breakfast : a mixture of tuna with hard boiled egg, raw onions, a squeeze of lime juice, chopped spring onions, mayo and ground pepper... spread on a warm toasted wholemeal walnut bread. Yums!! And a big mug of hot green tea to wash away the fat and to jump start my metabolism.

Miss Dilly Dally

2011-08-25T15:13:00.002+08:00

Rascal #2 is the most 'lau hei' girl I have ever met. She has no urgency at all in completing her homework and has no sense of punctuality too. She dilly dallies away everyday - to school, to tuition, to ballet class and just about anywhere *BIG sigh!!* Everywhere that she has to go to, I have to pull my hair and remind her to no end to hurry up. The moment I leave her alone, there she goes... ding dong ding dong wasting her time.

These days, the only way to get her to do her homework is to forbid her from having dinner if she does not complete her homework. But this girl will only start doing her homework the moment we are about to eat dinner, sigh!!

Do you have a child who is like this? I really need help for I really don't know how to manage this fella!

A common scene every evening. While everyone is eating dinner, this fella will be struggling to complete her homework, crying and whining.

Out-Talking Me

2011-08-24T11:09:00.003+08:00

Yesterday after dinner, Baby went to the kitchen drawer, rummaged through it and found a packet of cheese rings. Then she ran to me with high hopes....

Baby - mummy, can I have this?

Me - NO, its' rubbish!

Baby - no it's not rubbish! It's cheese rings!

Me - yeah, cheese rings are junk food and junk food is rubbish. Cannot eat.

Baby - but M kam moh bought it (my sil bought it). It's so long d. If you don't eat it, you will waste it. Don't waste food!

O_o, I was lost for words. My 3-YO girl managed to out talk me to trick me into giving in and I did, albeit only 5 small rings :D

My online store's most highly paid junior model!