Little Friday Jaunt

This morning while our girls were in school, I had a little jaunt in KL with the hubs and the mil in search of street food and food supplies for the hubs' catering events.

First stop was at Unifrozen @ Jalan Chan Sow Lin for the hubs to get his catering paraphernalia. Then we went to tuck into our favorite Ipoh style 'kai si hor fun' (flat rice noodles with shredded chicken) and bean sprouts at San Peng. It's one of the best 'kai si hor fun' and bean sprouts we could find in KL and comes really close to the real deal in our beloved hometown of Ipoh.

After chomping down a bowl of noodles, my foodie hubs said he wanted to eat Indian rice, which is supposedly one of the best in KL.  Oh. my. gawd!  I was SO full already. 

He brought us to the famous SS Spicy Restoran at Kg Attap to tuck into some Indian rice.  It was my first time there.

Upon entering the little stall under a tree, the smell of fried chicken and Indian curry wafted in the air. Oh. my. gawd. Though I was full to my throat, I was drowning in the aroma of Indian food, which is one of my favorite cuisines.  Hubs was beaming with excitement. He is happiest when surrounded with food.  He quickly got a plate and began to help himself to the scrumptious dishes.

SS Spicy is located beneath a huge tree in Jalan Kampung Attap and has survived for more than 20 years with no real identity, except for their tasty food that has customers coming back for more. Going by the many names their customers have concocted including “Bawah Pokok”, “SSSC food stall”, “Sivam corner” and “Suresh Corner”, this little stall has its roots firmly planted in the area. Serving the best of Indian cuisine, the stall serves customers from all walks of life, regardless of race and religion.

This dry style chicken varuval dish caught my eyes and I told the hubs to scoop out a few pieces for us to try...

After waiting for 15-20 minutes, the super crispy deep fried chicken (kampung chicken drumsticks) arrived, right out from the hot pot of oil and sizzling hot. I dared not lay my hands on the chicken, lest I get a badly inflamed throat right away.  By the time we finished the plate of rice with dishes (one plate shared by 3 of us), we could not stuff the fried chicken down our throats anymore. We doggy bagged the chicken home for dinner.

By the way, the fried kampung chicken drumstick costs RM8 each!   Total bill came out to RM41.50 for the 3 of us (only 1 plate of rice with a few small portions of dishes) and 3 pieces of fried chicken.

The plate of rice that we shared.. I had forgotten to snap a picture and only remembered half way through eating... The deep fried fish was sinfully delish too.

After tucking into 2 heavy meals, we went to Lee's Frozen where hubs bought his supply of frozen meat, et al.  

We reached home just in time to receive Drama Queen and Cass who got back from school. 

I truly enjoy little jaunts like this when the kids are in school 😁

Women And Motorbikes

With the cost of petrol rising steadily, it is no longer economical to drive a small cc engine car.  I own a Hyundai i10 with small engine. When the hubs first bought me the car for my birthday exactly 3 years ago (how time flies!), it only cost RM50 to fill up the petrol tank full to the brim.  These days, it cost almost RM80 to fill the tank up!  And the quarterly servicing does not come cheap too!

With all these added costs and stress of being caught up regularly in the infamous KL snarled up traffic, I sometimes have fleeting thoughts of switching to a motorbike!  No no, I am not talking about the regular kapcai motorbike. I am talking about those cool and low motorbikes for ladies, like a Vespa. I could have the motorbike modified and sprayed in my favorite color, PINK 💗

Would you mind riding on any one of these pink motorbikes for ladies?


I could have the motorbike fixed with cool accessories for a more practical use.











I would still use my car only when I need to Uber my children around.  Most of the time, I would drive the  motorbike around my neighborhood to get groceries and run errands.  So much time and money can be saved with a motorbike. Getting a place to park with a motorbike is easy peasy too, not to mention cheaper fuel consumption.

Owning one of those cool accessorized motorbikes for ladies is a fashion icon too. Seriously, I really wouldn't mind owning a cool pink motorbike for ladies.  It wouldn't cost a bomb too.

One great site for buy and sell motorcycles and their accessories is iMotorbike.my.  It's a one-stop site for motorbike enthusiasts. Do check them out.

Samo Is Sold

The little Samoyed pup is finally sold, after 9  months. Samo was sold 3 weeks ago at age 10 months old.  😭

After piano lesson on that Saturday, we strolled next door to the pet shop. We could not see the white fluffy Samoyed that we named Samo anywhere in the cubicles, waiting for Cass to visit her. We went inside the pet shop and asked the assistants if the white Samo was sold and to our greatest disappointment, we heard the word "YES, Xiao Pai is sold!"  For a moment, Cass almost teared, and so did I.  😢  The pet shop girls had named her Xiao Pai.

We then learned that Samo was sold to a pet cafe in Kepong at a whopping price of RM8,300! When Cass heard that Samo can still be traced, she asked if we could bring her to the pet cafe in Kepong. But it's way too far for us baby girl.   In the car on our ride home, Cass persuaded me to bring her to visit Samo on her birthday.

The next Saturdays that followed, we saw new cute little pups in the pet shop but none of them tugged at our heartstrings the way Samo did. Cass has nothing much to look forward to after piano class on Saturdays now. We now hope that the owner of the pet shop will import another Samoyed. Well, maybe this time we will buy the Samoyed... but until and unless we move to a landed property. Slim chance for now...








Good-bye Samo. May you be loved and showered with lots of hugs and love everyday at your new home.

Cobs Organic Popcorn

Cobs organic popcorn is by far the best (healthy yet tasty) ever popcorn we have ever tasted.  We still like Garrette's popcorn, but we find their range too sweet (and pricey too) and doubt that they use organic corn.  We still buy Garrette's popcorn occasionally on cheat days.

I chanced upon Cobs organic popcorn while browsing at the organic food section at Jaya Grocer. Cob's organic popcorn has this irresistible combo of organic raw cane sugar and and sea salt on sun-ripened organic corn with just the right proportions of sweetness and saltiness. The popcorn is:

Gluten free
Cholesterol free
100% organic
GM (genetically modified)-free ingredients
Kosher certified


I am definitely going back for more! It's a healthy snack that our girls and I can snack on sans the guilt.

Good Laugh

The hubs came home just now, with his sweaty shirt taken off after a run at the park. As he was walking towards the lift area from his car, he saw a teenage girl jog past him. He called out to the girl -- "wei, wei, where are you going?" thinking that she's Alycia as the girl looked just like Alycia. But the girl ignored him and ran away even faster. 🙀

Upon entering the door of our house, the hubs asked me whether Alycia had gone jogging. On hearing this, Alycia darted out from her room. The hubs then told us about his embarrassing moment calling out to the girl. We all had a good eye-tearing guffaw, especially with how he was looking - a fat shirtless man wolf calling out to a girl in the dark (it was 9pm).  We all hoped that the girl wouldn't remember the hubs' face, else she would blacklist him as the humsup pervert who lives in the condo 😆😆

Guitalele

Drama Queen has always wanted to learn the ukulele.  This year, her school engaged a teacher to teach ukulele to the students on CoCo days at a fee cheaper than that charged by music schools and freelance teachers. She jumped at the opportunity and signed up for the class.  She has been pestering me for a new guitalele but I ain't going to buy her one just yet, lest she loses interest in this musical instrument. She can use Alycia's ukulele for the time being. If her interest in ukulele is still strong by next year, I shall buy her a new guitalele. Just in case you are wondering what's a guitalele, check it out at MusiciansFriend.com

Miss Efficient

Lately, Cass has been pretty efficient at completing her homework, mainly because I have a 'reward plan' in place for her.  On her daily in-house timetable, she gets 1/2 hour - 1 hour of screen time on the phone IF she completes all her school homework, tuition homework, homework from tiger mom and practises her piano everyday. If she doesn't plan her time well, if she dawdles away her time, she gets no reward and goes straight to bed at 9:30 p.m.  Bed time on school-going days is set at 9:30 p.m.

This morning, she got up at 7 a.m. despite it being a school holiday. She must have been woken up by Drama Queen who needed to go to school for UPSR preparation classes. After downing a packet of Izumio, Cass poured out some organic passion fruit cookies into a bowl and began doing her school homework while munching on the cookies. This is a rare sight to behold. With a time-table  in place, Cass is so much clearer on what needs to be done everyday.




Cass has also been very good during Mandarin tuition class lately --  earning the 1/2 hour - 1 hour of screen time is subject to her behaving REALLY well during Mandarin tuition class.  So she has to earn her reward with no temper tantrums, no disobedience and no nonsense. Kids are just like adults. They need rewards to spur them to work hard and to behave well.

During the school holidays, Cass gets extra hours on her phone as long as she completes all that has to be done for the day. She's happy and I'm happy. Win win situation at home!  👍😊

Whilst The Kids Are In School

Whilst the kids are in school, we do naughty things together.  Just kidding 😆 Nah,  we go to makan places that we don't normally bring the kids to and eat food that we don't usually order when they are with us.

Yesterday we went to the Mamak restaurant after collecting my car from the service center.  We had spicyllicious food. The nasi lemak with sambal sotong was super duper burning but absolutely bang on! 👍


 


After breakfast, we went to the supermarket to get some groceries; then to a newly opened fish market (Sui-San Fish Market) to get some fresh fish. I was too stuffed to put in more food into my mouth but hubs and his makan buddy, Alan Yun ordered grilled salmon and sashimi from the fish market. At Sui-San Fish Market, you can pick the fishes of your choice and have them cooked to your desire. There's a wide selection of fresh and frozen fishes and the prices are reasonable too.

When the sashimi scallop arrived, my curiosity got the better of me. Not that I was hungry or love rawsome seafood, but I  was eager to get a taste of raw scallop. Not bad. It was very sweet and fresh, albeit with a tinge of fishy smell. I dipped the raw scallop with lots of wasabi to safeguard my guts from bacteria.  Did you know that wasabi is antibacterial and can safeguard your guts against H. pylori?  That's why the Japanese eat their sashimi with wasabi.

 

Ginger To Prevent Menstrual Cramps

My latest natural remedy to relieve menstrual cramps is ginger powder.  I mix 1 teaspoon of pure Bentong ginger powder with 1/2 cube of ginger brown sugar to about 300ml of warm water.  This ginger tonic is not only aromatic but very soothing.  I drink it 2-3 times a day on the first two days of my Aunt Flow when I experience cramps. On non-menstruation days, I drink this tonic once a day.




Ginger has been effective in relieving inflammation and pain, and it can help alleviate the pain associated with menstrual cramps. Ginger also is used for nausea and an upset stomach, symptoms that sometimes accompany menstruation. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends taking ginger two to three times a day while you are experiencing menstrual cramps.




I bought the pure Bentong ginger powder from a TCM clinic and the ginger brown sugar cubes from an organic shop. If you are unable to get these from your area, you can  boil ginger roots with a little brown sugar.



Warning! 
Although ginger tea is generally considered safe, it does have a few side effects. Do not drink ginger tea if you have peptic ulcers, as it might worsen them. Using too much ginger might cause mouth irritation, heartburn and diarrhea. Avoid ginger if you have a bleeding disorder or are taking blood-thinning drugs. Talk to your doctor before taking ginger if you have gallstones.

Peanut Root Soup For Growth

The big princess has been obsessed with gaining some inches to her height, no thanks to some insensitive people who always harp on her height. To me, I think she's perfectly fine with her height. At 13 years old going on 14 in December 2017, she is about 156cm. I am only 158cm and her dad is not a 6-footer. So blame in on the genes! Why do these people like to comment on her height and compare her with her peers? DUH!!

As a result, the girl has been skipping rope 2-3 times a day, doing sit-ups and bicycle crunches several times a day, playing tennis (once a week), running, gymming and swimming (occasional) and spot jumping every single day with the hope that these exercises will encourage a spurt in her height.

Her loving grandma is trying to help too by boiling peanut root soup, a popular old folks' remedy  for children's growth. It is the 'Grow Tall Soup' very popular amongst the Chinese community.



Cleaning the roots is a tedious and time consuming part in the the preparation of this soup. Soil clings to the roots and you will need to soak and scrub them thoroughly, else the soup will be murky and sandy. When you buy peanut roots from the market, it comes with leaves and stems which are not required. Only the roots and peanuts are used to make soup.

Ingredients:
Peanut roots
Meat (pork or chicken)
Red dates (optional)
Wolfberries or goji berries (optional)
Dried mushrooms (optional)

We only used peanut roots and lean pork.





Method
 1. Soak, scrub and rinse the roots several times to remove all dirt and grit.
 2. Blanch the meat in some boiling water to remove dirt, blood and bad smell. Discard water.
 3. Bring water to a boil, add all ingredients and bring to boil at medium heat. Once it boils, simmer for about 2-3 hours or longer.
 4. Serve warm. The peanuts can be eaten - they are soft and  yummy.

Though peanut roots are widely used by the Chinese folks to aid in the height development of children, to be frank, I am not 100% convinced that they work. I had drank loads of peanut roots soup when I was a kid but still  I am only 158cm tall  😁 Nonetheless, there is no harm trying as the soup is both delicious and nutritious. The whole family can drink it.  To grow tall and healthy, I strongly believe that genes play a crucial part. Next is a balanced diet and exercise.