Big Feet

Alycia is not only tall for her age, she has big feet too! The other day I bought her a pair sandals. My sil from Singapore who was in KL then saw the pair of sandals and commented that they were very pretty. She tried on the pair of sandals and to everyone's bewilderment, her feet fit the pair sandals just right... like Cinderalla who fit the pair of glass slippers hahahahahah!!! Imagine a 38 year old can fit into a 6.5yo girl's sandals! Alycia definitely has big size genes, thanks (or no thanks?) to her daddy :D

Mesothelioma

Many factories and offices still use asbestos in their building construction. Did you know that asbestos can be deadly? Asbestos causes causes causes mesothelioma, a cancer that is associated with exposure to asbestos. If you or anyone you know are suffering from Mesothelioma, you can file a claim for compensation from those companies responsible for your pain. Just click on the link above to know your legal options.

Jelly Mooncakes

My hubs' friend gave him a box of jelly mooncakes last week. I think they look really attractive but taste wise, I would rate it 5/10.

Clockwise from top : yam paste filled jelly mooncake, red bean paste filled jelly mooncake, red bean paste and 'chendol' jelly mooncake and lychee jelly mooncake (this tastes the best of the 4)

Macro shot of the jelly mooncakes:

I still prefer the traditional mooncakes over modern ones with fanciful flavors like tiramisu, coffee, red dragon fruit, strawberry and all that jazz. I prefer those made with low sugar, minus the duck's egg yolk and especially like the 5 nuts mooncakes. What's your favorite mooncake?

Nando's Delivery

Last week the pipe-in gas supply to our condo was disconnected for a day for routine inspection and maintenance by Gas Malaysia. Just a few days ago, I received a flyer on Nando's home and office delivery and my girls were all excited when I told them that we will have Nando's for lunch instead of eating homecooked food.

With RM50+, we had these:

Half a Peri Peri lemon herbs chicken, an assortment of beans salad, BBQ sweet corn and a chicken strips set that came with herbs rice. Everyone enjoyed the chicken except for Alycia, who told me that she preferred the box of roasted chicken rice that daddy packed back from our favorite coffee shop. So I guess we will not have Nando's chicken for lunch again for a very long time. Even if we were to eat Nando's chicken again, we will eat it at the restaurant. Nothing beats having piping hot chicken served at the restaurant.

Homecooked Catered Food

After having homecooked catered food for a month, I finally stopped the service. I just can't stand the salty dishes and the 'wok loh' (burnt wok residue) covering the food most of the time. Most days, we get curry (chicken, fish or beef) and my kids can't really eat spicy food. If it's a stir fried or braised chicken dish, most of the time, the chicken meat will be covered in black sauce, making the chicken look as if it were burnt. Can't stand those sauces, sugar, oil and salt that this caterer uses. 80% of the food would go to our helper everyday and we are paying RM280 a month for the food! So starting from tomorrow, I shall take over the wok again!

Here are 3 dishes that we received yesterday:

Sweet and sour fish. This is pretty tasty but there were only like 6 pieces and definitely not enough for my 3 gals, my helper and me.

Curried sotong balls and stir-fried long beans. Everyday there will be 1 'fast food' like fish balls, sotong falls, fake crab stick meat, fried wanton, sui kau and other packaged food that we can easily buy from the supermarket.

Break-In

When I was jogging round the neighborhood yesterday, I bumped into my old neighbor. She told me that her house was broken into my thieves last week. I am surprised this had happened as our neighborhood is very tightly secured by patrolling guards and CCTVs at every junction. My neighbor said it could be because the lighting behind her house was spoilt and the thieves could have climbed into the house in the pitch black darkness at night. It’s time she replaced the spoilt lighting with a Sea Gull outdoor lighting and have the light turned on throughout the night to prevent future break-ins.

Term Life Insurance

We have just received the revised insurance policy for Baby several days ago. Hubby had changed our insurance agent and revised the insurance policy after the previous insurance agent failed to help us get a single cent incurred during Baby’s 3-week hospitalization stay last year. We hope this insurance agent will be more efficient, reliable and pro-active. But we hope we will never have to make any more insurance claims ever again. Have you taken up a term life insurance policy yet? If you haven’t gotten one yet, go and buy term life insurance from a trusted insurance agent or search for one online.

My Man The Handyman

My man is a real handyman at home and in his office. There is nothing he can’t do, most of the time. Whether it is the electrical items that need fixing, or the lightings, or the furniture or even the kids’ toys, he will surely know how to fix them, most of the time. Even when the door stopper of our main door was faulty, he knew how to fix it back without getting help. Just give him the right door hardware accessories and he will know how to fix the problem in a jiffy!

Do You Shut Down Your Computer When Not In Use?

My good blogger friend told me that she never shuts down her laptop. Her lappie is turned on with more than 15 websites opened... 24 hours a day, 365 days! I was amazed when she told me this. She even obtained an extended laptop warranty from the supplier of the laptop. My desktop computer will surely slow down and ‘hang’ if I let the computer run for 24 hours. It will run smoothly again after a reboot. Do you ever let your computer run for more than 24 hours?

Pool Water Turned Green

We wanted to bring the 2 older girls down for a dip in the pool but when we saw that the color of the water had changed from bluish to greenish, we freaked out. The pool pumps must have been spoilt. But a few residents were still seen swimming in the pool, unfazed by the scary condition of the water. After 2 days, the entire pool was cordoned off while repair works were being done.

Need To Get A New Mattress

One of the things that I must buy is a new back-supporting mattress. The mattress that we have been sleeping on for over a decade seriously needs to be replaced. The other morning, Baby’s diaper leaked and the pee soiled a big section of the mattress. Though I had sprayed anti-odor and anti-bacterial chemical on it and aired it for a day, the stinky pee odor is still there. It feels gross to be sleeping under a mattress that had been stained with pee, poop and vomit umpteen times!

Baby's drawer

Baby has recently dominated my drawer! It all started about a month back. We were all suspicious on why all my pens and papers were always missing. Alycia and Sherilyn also blamed each other whenever their things go missing. Then one day, I discovered that Baby had been stealing our things and putting them into my drawer, AHA! The thief was caught red handed when I saw her stuffing things into my drawer. No wonder I noticed that she had been running to my bedroom all the time and would spend a few minutes in there.

Some of the stuff in my drawer (which she now claims is hers) are Sherilyn's old flash cards from preschool, rubbish which I had thrown away - pos laju docket papers, used plastic bags, old coloring books which were all used, etc. The other day, she even stuffed Esberitox (meds for runny nose) into the drawer. She had apparantly climbed up the table, grabbed the box of Esberitox and stuffed it into her drawer. Oh yeah, she also hid some of our junk food (fish muruku and Cheezels) into her drawer LOL!!!!

Cool Girls With Cool Grandparents

Check out the girls with koong koong and granny! All in sunnies and cap and ready to go for their morning walk during the school holidays.

All Done Finally !

After spending half a day sitting in front of the PC, I finally completed all 15 online assignments and 2 non-paid posts! Gawd, it is indeed stressful having to purge out 15 ads in half a day. There were plenty of interruptions from the kids in between and I also had a whiny, fussy Baby who isn't feeling too well. She's having the sniffles and a slight fever. She's terribly crabby and wants me all the time. It's past midnight now and I could barely open my eyes. I am hitting the sack now.

A Truly Mischievous Rascal

When we went to the massage parlor last Sunday, our 3 girls were tagged along too. Both hubby and I needed a massage very badly, so we had no choice but to bring the whole jing gang along. When I was on the massage table, rascal #2 wanted to climb up the table to lie down with me. When hubs was on one of those massage tables with a hole for the face, that rascal went under the table to peep at her daddy! Gosh, this rascal is truly mischievous!

Get Assistance From AllsUp.com

Most insurance companies do not approve applications for medical insurance from those that are disabled. Similarly, those with congenital disorders will also not be covered by the insurance. In the U.S., allsup.com will help those with disabilities to obtain social security disability insurance and Medicare benefits when they receive a small service fees from the applicant. I would have hired such a company to help me get medical insurance coverage for Baby if there was such a company in our country. Hubs and I spent a big fortune on Baby’s surgical and hospitalization bill last year and we were unable to claim a single cent from our insurer as her condition is congenital.

No More Toys Or Tents

My girls used to have 2 lovely play tents but both the tents are spoilt now. One was in the shape of a yellow school bus and another in the shape of a school. When they play, they can be really rough and they would turn the tents upside down! Now they are bugging their yes man daddy to buy another tent. They saw some cute nemo tents at the toy store the other day but I told them no more toys or tents!

Bad Night

Baby is having the sniffles and today she is feeling a little feverish. No wonder she kept crying and telling me that her right leg hurt last night. She must be feeling achy all over because of the fever. The whole of last night, she kept tossing, turning and latched on to her comfort tools almost the entire night! I wanted to creep out from the bed to write a review on cheap auto insurance online which was about to expire but the moment I left the bed, she shrieked! It was a bad night for the both of us.

Address Labels

One of the tasks that I find being a chore is preparing the consignment notes for my customers before I courier the parcels to them. Everything is hand-written and sometimes I have to write over 50 consignment notes in an hour. If I buy those address labels and stick them onto the consignment notes, work will be so much easier for me. I am also considering getting a dot matrix printer so that I can print the details onto the consignment notes.

Science Jobs

When I was in school, my favorite subjects were Chemistry and Physics. I loved science subjects and did pretty well. But I did not end up working in the science field later in life. My 2 brothers did well in their Science subjects too and both of them majored in Science in Uni but they did not land themselves science jobs either after graduation. They are doing pretty well now.

No More Toys

My girls are not good keeper of their toys. Their toys are often spoilt after a month or two. That’s the reason why I never buy them expensive toys. They even have the ability to ‘dismember’ the parts of their dolls. Very often, I see the Ferrari parts of their toy cars scattered everywhere on the floor, between and under the couch! I have not bought toys for them for ages and they know that I have forbade them from getting new toys because of their irresponsibility.

A Challenge To Alycia

Alycia has been longing to have a PS3. She has been bugging me to buy her a PS3 but I said NO! I am not letting my kids get things too easily without working hard for them. I had to work hard to get what I wanted when I was a kid. I had to get good marks in my exams in order for my parents to get me stuff that I wanted. I told Alycia that she has to work hard to earn her PS3. Her godfather has promised to get her a PS3 too if she turns out first in class for her exam.

Rustic Furniture

If we have the money to buy a big house to live in, I would love to have some rustic furniture at our porch. I just love rustic furniture. When I go to a place with rustic furniture, it makes me feel as if I am in a holiday resort by the hills. My favorite kind of rustic furniture are those made from logs with the seat cut into shorter, smaller logs and a round log table. Someday, I will have a log set in my garden :)

Stubborn Girl

Rascal #2 is such a stubborn little girl. Just now when she came back from ballet class, she sat on the floor and was in a grumpy mood. I told her umpteen times to change and take her shower but she turned a deaf ear. Later, I told her four times to finish her cup of water but she ignored me. She just likes to test my patience. Finally I brought out the cane and she finally drank the cup of water. As I sat in front of the PC to type a review on steel buildings, the cane was on my lap. I needed that so that she would complete her homework too. Without the cane, this little rascal just won’t listen, sigh!

Purple Cane Tea Restaurant

One of the restaurants that I really love going to is Purple Cane Tea Restaurant. Purple Cane has outlets in the Klang valley and Ipoh. I used to love going to the Purple Cane Tea House in Ipoh when I was 16 and 17 years old with my classmates after school. Those days, we loved ordering the stir fried longevity noodles and the ham+cheese toast. We enjoyed the food, the ambience, the tea and chatting there. We could spend hours there sipping tea and talked nonsense, particularly about BOYS and bitching hahaha! 2 decades on, I still love going to the Purple Cane restaurants for lunch and dinner. The dishes are all uniquely cooked with tea leaves.

Deep fried salad prawns...

Steamed smooth tofu with tea leaves and deep fried shrimps....

Steamed eggs with Chinese wolfberries (gei chee), tea and tea leaves. I find this dish very unique.

Deep fried chicken with garlic and stir fried 3-beans (stinky beans aka petai, long beans and four-angle beans) with preserved veggie and tea leaves...

Machi (glutinous rice flour bags stuffed with black sesame paste). iLike this!

Stir-fried vermicelli with seafood.

I would rate the food 9/10. The food is low in MSG yet tasty. Price is reasonable too.




Purple Cane Tea Restaurant branches in Klang Valley:
1. The Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, No. 1, Jalan Maharajalela, 50150 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2. Shaw Parade, Lot GL-02, Ground Floor, Shaw Parade, Changkat Thambi Dollah, Off Jalan Pudu, 55011 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
3. Mid Valley Gardens, Lot LG-206, Lower Ground Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


Website: www.purplecane.com.my

Feeling Sluggish

My energy level is at an all-time low for the past 1 week. I wonder if this has got to do with my hormones playing tricks on my body. I got back my menses recently. All these are all related to the hormones wrecking havoc within me. I feel so sluggish that I had skipped running in the morning several times this week. Perhaps I should try the best creatine powder to help me get back my lost energy.

Nutrisystem Diet Plan

I read from a magazine that a few well-known celebrities are on the Nutrisystem diet plan. But does nutrisystem work effectively on a long-term basis? I don’t think that a diet plan will work effectively on a long-term basis if you don’t watch what you eat and if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. I always believe in eating everything moderately, eating up to 70% full (never 100% full!) and EXERCISE regularly.

Cleansing Your Body Internally

Some people tend to be constipated all the time, feel bloated, tired and sluggish and fall sick very easily. Many of these problems are caused partly or largely by eating and drinking foods and drinks which are not what nature intended us to eat and drink. But it’s hard to control what we eat as we have too much temptation surrounding us. I believe in eating everything that your heart desires but eat in moderation. And I believe in detoxifying my body regularly. I even eat psyllium husk every morning, which acts as a colon cleanser. Do you detoxify your body too?

All I Need Is Lots Of Sleep And A Vacation!

When I read the health section of the Sunday Star newspapers last week, it dawned on me that I may be suffering from chronic fatigue. The symptoms listed in the article in the newspapers match the symptoms I am suffering from now. No wonder I feel tired all the time despite getting 7 hours of sleep. And no wonder I have some acne on my forehead. But the acne isn’t very serious and I don’t need an acne product that works. All I need is 10hours of sleep for 1 week straight and a good vacation!

Testosterone Creams For Your Man

Is your man suffering from low sex drive, hair loss, impotence and is overweight? This matter is serious and is no laughing matter man! These problems will surely mar his self-esteem and perhaps your relationship with him. If you think he needs help and is shy to consult a doctor, you can suggest that he tries some testosterone creams. But don’t take my advice for it ok? I am just suggesting. Just click on the link here and do the reading yourself.

Do You Believe In Diet Supplements?

There are tens of thousands of vitamin diet supplement brands in the market. Do you think they really work? Are they just scams and a waste of our money? Worst, they may cause more damage to your body than help. I have never taken any of these diet stuff and I hope I don’t ever have to resort to them. I still believe in hard work and sacrifice to see true results. Yup, exercise and control your food portion!

A Wide And Interesting Collection

I’ve got customers looking for all sorts of clothes from my online store. Most of my customers shop for office attire, many of them buy smart casuals and dinner dresses. Once I had a customer who wanted 9 units of dress in yellow for her bridesmaids. Sometimes I have customers looking for prom dresses and dresses to wear for a church wedding. I have even sold clothes to women aged 60 and above! Yup, my collection is for woman of all ages from infant to infinity age 

Daily Morning Walk

When my parents were here during the school holidays, the girls looked forward to waking up early every morning. Every morning, they would go for a morning walk with koong koong and granny round the condo compound that has a very nice junglewalk-like trail. And then they would walk to the nearby coffee shops to buy breakfast. Back home, everyone would eat nasi lemak. Sometimes they would eat roti canai and drink teh tarik with koong koong at the nearby mamak stall. Yup, my girls love nasi lemak! Alycia can stomach the spicy sambal very well too.

All set to go 'walk walk' with granny and koong koong, complete in sports attire, caps, sunnies and even a binoculus!

Wake Up Cheh Cheh

Alycia dozed off at the dining table chair 15 minutes before we were to leave the house for the restaurant for a dinner. She was curled up comfortably like a worm on the chair and didn't want to leave the chair. She wouldn't budge when I called her. It was Baby who woke her cheh cheh up.

Tapping on cheh cheh's leg, baby said "cheh cheh, wake up... wake up cheh cheh.... we are going for dinner now..."

Affordable Health Insurance

One of our greatest regrets is that we did not take up any medical or health insurance for Baby while she was still in my womb. We only found out that there is such an insurance for the unborn child after her surgery last year and when our claims were rejected by the insurance company. Had we taken such an insurance for Baby, her surgery bill amounting to over RM50k would have been covered by the insurers. My advice to couples expecting their baby is that it is important to get your child or your unborn child an affordable health insurance. You never know when you will need it. We had spent a big part of our savings on Baby’s medical bills and surgery bills and these are all not claimable from our insurer.

Xenri D'Garden Terrace @ Menara Hap Seng

Since Xenri started their first outlet in Old Klang Road (Wisma Elken), this upscale Japanese restaurant has been doing pretty well. My famliy and I love their food at the Wisma Elken branch. The food is fresh, tasty and price is reasonable. Now, the Xenri at Wisma Elken is having buffet lunch too and the price is pretty reasonable and they serve good quality food. Their latest outlet (opened last year) is at Menara Hap Seng in KL.

We went to Xenri @ Menara Hap Seng to try their buffet lunch 2 Sundays ago. We were quite disappointed as we did not expect the same buffet range as what we had at Xenri Wisma Elken. Overall, the food was satisfactory only and the beef in the sukiyaki was bad and tasted horrid. That was my major turn-off. I told the hubs, next time just stick to Xenri At Wisma Elken.

Fresh sushi...

My plate of grilled protein....

Cozy and classy setting at the restaurant....

Japanese appetizers....

Buckwheat noodles with deep fried soft shell crabs...

Shireen's angels enjoying macha....

After our buffet lunch, we had a photography session at the ground floor of Menara Hap Seng. Till today, my girls are still very fascinated with fountains!

Xenri D'Garden Terrace
Lot 2.04, Second Floor
The Podium
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P Ramlee
Kuala Lumpur

Restoran Green View @ Jalan 19, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

If you want to get superb sang har meen (fresh prawns noodles), Green View is the place to head over to.

The prawns are fresh and the noodles are very well done. We had a plate of sang har meen and steamed crabs for lunch 3 Sundays ago. It was a light lunch but very satisfying. My 3 angels enjoyed their lunch as all of us are seafood lovers.



Here you go, get ready a piece of tissue paper to wipe away your dribbling saliva....

The sang har meen


Macro shot of the yummy big prawns....

Even Baby ate the noodles and loved them... but I rinsed the noodles with some hot water to get rid of some of the sauce and oil before serving her. Baby is also another crabs and prawns lover!


Steamed crabs - so fresh, sweet and juicy....

Daddy's crab makan kaki....

Love the pandan flavor coconut water but it's frigging expensive at RM5 each!


Live crabs are placed in big baskets outside the restaurant....

Location :
Jalan 19, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
No. 6 & 8 Jalan 19/3
46300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
(Located near the famous Rothman’s roundabout)
Cuisine : Chinese
Ambience :Comfortable

My Saturday

My parents are in KL again, yippeeee! The girls have been missing them and have been counting down to the days granny and koong koong would be here again. This afternoon the weather was perfect - not too hot but cloudy and breezy. So the girls went swimming with granny and koong koong for almost 2 hours .... again... until their skin got all wrinkled and 'chlorinxicated'.

We had good old Ipoh food that my dad brought from Ipoh for lunch this afternoon. I ate so much till I felt so queasy after my lunch. I made myself a big mug of lemon juice and drank it the whole afternoon to ease the queasiness. We were all so stuffed that we had a late dinner at 8pm. We went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and my dad and I decided to walk there to burn off some calories (though it was drizzling) .... while the kids and my mum took a car ride there. After dinner, it was still drizzling but my dad and I still insisted on walking home instead of getting into the car. I tell yer, I felt so much better after the half an hour walk (15 minutes each way). Knowing that I had burnt off at least 80 calories from the half hour of brisk walking also burnt off my corrosive guilt of eating so much carbs today :P

Tomorrow is going to be another binge eating day for us. We will be having buffet lunch at our favorite Japanese restaurant - Xenri. It is a an advance birthday celebration for my mum.

I better hit the sack now as I have to pull myself out from bed to run at 7am! But I MUST wipe off the cob webs from this blog before all my readers stop visiting my blog! Have a great weekend peeps!

Get The Right Shoes For Your Kids

When Alycia was younger and was my only child, being a first-time mum, I was quite clueless when it came to buying the right shoes for her. She started to walk at 10 months old and could walk quite stably at 12 months old. But she used to trip quite a bit when she walked and I thought she was plain clumsy. Some kids are just pretty clumsy and tend to trip / fall a lot. Later, I found out that it was the sandals that made her trip all the time. After I got her a sturdier pair of baby shoes with anti-slip soles, she stopped tripping.

Getting your child a good pair of shoes is very important so that he/she will feel comfortable in them and will not trip easily. Did you know that babies’ feet don’t have bones and are just soft cartilage which can easily be pushed out of shape by badly fitting shoes? Even socks that are too tight can damage their feet at this crucial stage.

Getting your child an ill-fitting pair of shoes can also risk your child’s feet from being severely hurt. I am sure you had heard and read about some kids’ feet being caught in a moving escalator when they wore this particular popular brand of plastic shoes.

Shoes are one of the things that I find very hard to get for my 2 older girls now. When they were younger, I could easily shop for nice and affordable shoes from shoe shops and shopping malls. I find that shoes for girls aged 5 years and above are very limited in choices and they are very costly too. That’s why I have resorted to buying my girls’ shoes from online stores. One very cool online store for baby shoes and kids shoes is startriteshoes.com. They have a wide selection of shoes for babies and children from shoes for pre-walkers to shoes for toddlers, school shoes, non-school shoes, English classic shoes, boots and many more.

There are even handy tips on how to care for your kids’ feet and shoes at startriteshoes.com. If you have a toddler at home, you really have to check out this video here.

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