Thursday Breakfast

Breakfast today is with Cass alone.  Drama Queen left the house at 7:30 a.m. today with her dad to attend a 2-day Ukulele camp.  The big girl, as usual prefers to sleep in. Noodles are never her kind of food. She prefers bread, pau, pastries and Western food.





We had char meehoon, Penang white curry noodles, red bean tong sui and Teh C at the coffee shop.  I think I over ordered, oops, carbo overload!! And  I've not been exercising since the school holidays started! 😜





Dinner today will be easy peasy for me to handle as I am only cooking for 2 kids. I'm going to clear my fridge and whip up fried rice.  Cass is going to learn something new today - I will be teaching her how to peel and chop garlic and onions. I'm going to make her my next kitchen assistant! I am already enjoying the fruit of my labor coz I can already sit back and relax while Drama Queen cooks in the kitchen.  With 2 assistants, I hope I can leave 90% of my kitchen chore to them very soon 😀

Happy Thursday everyone 💗

Instant Straight Or Wavy Hair

Cass used to have beautiful curls on her hair when she was a baby.  The curls at the end of her soft locks made her look like a real-life doll with big eyes and rose bud lips.  How I miss my baby girl at that age.  As she grew older, her hair grew even curlier and now her entire head is filled with lovely big curls. When her hair is let down, it looks like she has just permed her hair.   I told her that when she grows up, she never have to spend money to get her hair wavy.  But Cass prefers to have straight hair.  She asked me if she could have hair rebonding. I told her that the chemicals used are too harsh for a little girl like her. I have never liked having chemicals applied to my hair.  Years ago before I had kids, I forked over the dough at a high-end hair salon on rebonding but the harsh chemicals took a toll on my scalp, resulting in dandruff and an itchy scalp.  It took years for my sensitive scalp to heal.   I told Cass that when she starts to earn money in future, she could get long straight weave hair to satisfy her desire to have long straight hair.

My hair is super fine and limp, much like baby hair.  On bad hair days, I wish I had some ready wigs or hair extension at home, like a deep wave weave or silk base closure to conceal my hair for an instant make-over.  My erstwhile neighbor owns several wigs.  I didn't  realize that she wore wigs until very much later when I noticed that her hair would be long and straight on one day and bob cut the next day.





Would you wear a wig? Or get a hair extension? I think it'll be fun to try on some!

Our Monday, 27 Nov 2017

We went to UTC @ Puduraya in the hope of renewing our passports at about 4pm (the office closes at 9pm everyday) but were utterly disappointed when this notice greeted us at the entrance of the Immigration office.   The numbers churned out for the day had reached the maximum and we were asked to come back the next morning. What bummer!




Since the hubs had planned to spend the entire evening with us, the girls suggested going to Mid Valley Megamall as Alycia and Drama Queen wanted to get some new pants and warm clothing for their holiday in Hong Kong.  The two sisters will be flying alone to Hong Kong without any adult supervision. It will be their first ever overseas flight without their parents or grandparents accompanying them. We are not even getting them any airline escort as it costs too much to hire the service from Cathay Pacific. The cost is USD50 per child and the ticket has to be upgraded to a costlier one.  I am getting more and more worried as the day of their flight draws nearer. After all, they are only 12 and 13.  Though they look matured and sometimes act matured for their age, they are still little girls in my eyes. Drama Queen is not even a teenager yet.  Alycia will only turn 14  two days after she reaches Hong Kong. And again, she gets to spend her birthday overseas.  This girl is so lucky!

Ok, back to foodie talk!  After we left UTC, we went to Mid Valley Megamall.

While I brought Alycia and Drama Queen to shop for their clothes, Cass had tea and cakes with her dad at Alexis.




After 1.5 hour of shopping, we had a sumptuous dinner at Han Room.

The hubs ordered the RM338++ set menu:





Clay pot coral shark's fins soup:




Succulent grilled Spanish style pork ribs:



Chilled star fruit juice  accompanying the grilled pork ribs to refresh your throat after a meaty dish.




Sea clam and fresh 'huai shan' with minced green ginger.



Radish cake "typhoon shelter" style:



Braised fish maw with yam, fish and Chinese cabbage:



Crispy soft shell crab with abalone sauce claypot rice:



Dessert of chilled peach resin in snow pear:







Camwhoring time after a relaxing and sumptuous dinner.



Happy girls with bags of  new clothes for their Hong Kong trip!





Sorry for the less than perfect photos as I had forgotten to put my phone into my handbag in my haste to rush out of house.  Thankfully the girls brought along their Samsung phone (which is my old phone) to help me capture all these pix.

Thank you to my dear hubs for being extra patient with us today. He spent half a day today  and another half day with us the next day just to get our passports renewed without a complaint 💗😘😘

Ki:m Fresh Korean Seaweed, Mid Valley Megamall

I love eating crispy seaweed as snacks as they're one of the best low carbs snacks to munch on without the guilt. Seaweed is rich in minerals, most prominently calcium, copper, iodine and iron. It is also rich in protein, fibre and vitamins, specifically vitamin K and folic acid, while being low in calories and fat.

At where we live, it is very difficult to find seaweed that is free from salt and sugar. Most of the packaged seaweed products available at our supermarkets are laden with salt, sugar, oil and some with MSG and preservative. This turns me off instantly.

I was so happy when I came across Ki:m Fresh Korean Seaweed while shopping at Mid Valley Megamall.  The kiosk opened a few months ago.  After sampling the seaweed, I bought 3 packets @ a promotional price of RM10.



The sheets of seaweed are freshly rolled in a machine only when there are orders. You can tell the kisok sales person your preference, i.e. with salt or without. I wanted without salt and oil but was told that oil is a must-have ingredient.  So I settled for 3 packets without salt.










Each packet consists of 3 large pieces of seaweed.  To retain its freshness, it's best kept refrigerated.




I eat them straight from the packet on its own, cut them into strips to go with noodles, rice, porridge, bread and even yoghurt. Perfect for making sushi.  Yums, love it.  It would be even healthier if the seaweed can be prepared oil-free but I guess the oil gives the seaweed sheets the crispiness and prevents the sheets from sticking together.  As it is freshly prepared, you can be rest assured that there is no  rancid oil taste. You can test taste first before deciding if you'd like to buy.

Will definitely stock them up again before the promotional period ends.

Ki:m Fresh Korean  Seaweed
LGC-23 Mid Valley Megamall (opposite KFC)

Sherilyn's Graduation From Primary School

Today is the graduation day for Primary 6 students at Drama Queen's school.  It felt like it was only just recently that I attended Alycia's graduation but that was exactly 2 years ago.   Before I even realize it, soon it will be Cass' turn 3 years from today. Time really flies. I can't wait to attend my daughters' university graduation. How. I. Wish.!!  When will the day come?

On stage, the graduating pupils had to go through a 'tea ceremony' where each of them held a disposable paper cup with tea to serve all their teachers. The school planned to have a 'students massage parents' session too but they had to scrap this off at the eleventh hour due to time constraint.  Thank God it's scrapped off, else it would truly be awkward!   Guess this is the newest trend on graduation ceremony from SJKC schools?  I see many schools catching on to this trend.

Tea ceremony is a typical Chinese devout way to express their gratitude to parents or the elders for being raised well.




After the tea ceremony, the parents were asked to go up the stage to look for their child, congratulate and hug the child, followed by photography.  I saw some teary eyed and emotionally overwhelmed students and parents.





One with her team mates in the Gleneagles inter-school Junior Care Search Champion competition recently.  Oops, looks like someone's little brother photo-bombed the photo!


One with B, Drama Queen's bff since they were in nursery when they were both three.  Too bad they will be separated when they start their new chapter in life in January 2018. Thankfully B lives in the same neighborhood as us and it would be easy for her and Drama Queen to meet-up.



Cass and Alycia came to cheer on Drama Queen. As usual, the big girl is anti-photography with me. She hates it that her pix are in my blogs 😭  How I miss  Alycia's early growing up years when she was ever ready to give me her sweet dimpled smile for the camera. I miss that Alycia so much 😢



Tomorrow marks another 'Today In History' event for Drama Queen.  The UPSR results will be OUT, jeng jeng jeng!!!!

Our Sunday, 19 Nov 2017

Drama Queen needed a red blouse urgently for her graduation performance on Wednesday.  So off we went to H&M @ Avenue K to hunt for one.

Since we were there, I told Alycia to look for some clothes for Christmas but nothing much caught her interest except for a beanie hat. Of all the clothes at H&M, she liked none except for a beanie hat and some pullovers and jackets meant for  autumn/winter! I told her straight that there was no way I would be getting her a beanie hat and thick clothing as we won't be going to any winter countries in the near future.  She would be a laughing stock if she were to don on a beanie hat in our sizzling weather! In the end, she settled for a Rolling Stone tee. Oh. My. Gawd. I think that the tee with a tongue sticking out is so hideous and looks worn out as the color is in the shade of fading grey. I got it for her anyway. It's difficult to get clothing for this girl. She doesn't like dresses or skirts, no singlets or anything sexy. No pink or girlish colors too. Duh!




After shopping, we had lunch at Urbean Cafe located at the Lower Concourse Level (opposite The Loaf). We thought that this cafe only serves coffee and cakes but the selection of items on their menu is pretty wide.

As my tummy still isn't behaving very well lately due to the course of antibiotics, I wanted something light. I had mushroom soup, which was very yummy and soothing for my tummy.




This couscous and alfalfa sprout salad with chicken breast is surprisingly good.  A spoonful of it and my stomach was blown away.














Since our part-time helper came yesterday, Alycia and Drama Queen decided to cook dinner.  They cooked fried Mamak mee while I oven-grilled some steak that the hubs had marinated a couple of days ago.









Using a whole head of organic cabbage, a carrot, eggs, Baba's fish curry powder, lots of chopped garlic and onions and oven-grilled steak, the Mamak mee was pretty good.




I took a few forkfuls of noodles and a bowl of fried curry cabbage...




Our oven-grilled steak:


I have always wanted to try grilling steaks in the oven but most of the recipes that I  found from the internet require partial frying on the stove and then transferring the skillet into the oven. I was too lazy for that and grilled the steak for 15 minutes in the oven with a little olive oil.  The outcome was awesome. The meat is tender and still juicy, though a little well done.  We loved it.

Saturday - 11 Nov 2017

It's been a long and exhausting day for me today, a day that's filled with suspense.  I spent 7 hours at Gleneagles Hospital to give moral support to Drama Queen and her team as they face off with other schools in an inter-school care champion search organized by the hospital. The champion school will be adopted by Gleneagles Hospital for the year 2018.  All the 10 teams were very good and competition was really stiff.

Drama Queen's team - Team Plaster Caster:






Team Plaster Caster presenting their case:


After the 10 schools completed the first Challenge, the students and parents proceeded to attend their respective workshops - the students attended a first-aid and basic medical general knowledge workshop while the parents attended a bento-making and CPR workshop.




Below: Parents and teachers seated together at the bento-making workshop; and the bento set that I made. I know it's really, really hideous. I am so ashamed of it.  I have absolutely no patience when it comes to shaping and cutting out tiny eyes, nose and ears to decorate a bear formed out of rice.  Thankfully I never really had to decorate my girls' food to entice them to eat. My 3 piranhas have always been very easy eaters and they gobble down whatever food that's placed on the dining table.



Workshop on CPR for the parents and teachers:




Round 2 of the Challenge revolved around a quiz on medical and diseases general knowledge. Points from answering the quiz will be added to the respective teams' points bank. The team that accumulates the most points will be the champion.

After quiz was lunch:




After lunch, the two winning teams went on stage to face-off in a final round of quiz before the name of the champion was announced.

And the champion for the Gleneagles' Junior Care Champion Search went to our school, woohoo!!!  I can't believe we beat Davidson (another popular High Prestige school), St John's and Methodist.  However, it ain't Drama Queen's team that won but another team. Nonetheless, I am so proud of both Drama Queen's team and the winning team. The winning girls gave a superb performance and were brilliant in answering the medical pop quiz.  For the top 10 finalist teams, they get a free entrance ticket to Kidzania too.








Drama Queen's team on stage to receive their prize from the dashing and handsome CEO of Gleneagles Hospital, Dato' Dr Adzuan Rahman, a medical doctor by training.  The consolation prize is a cool smart watch, something that Drama Queen has always wanted. She was so happy!



The champion team gets RM3,000 in cash and it's to be shared among the 3 team members. How awesome!!


Group photo:



After the event ended at 4 p.m., we walked over to Kuroshio Market situated beside Gleneagles Hospital to have an early dinner. Drama Queen had to have a quick bite as she had to be in school by 5:30 p.m. for her school concert. She is participating in an ukulele and a dance performance.


Hubs and I shared this delectable grilled lobster platter:


Drama Queen's dinner:



Take-away cakes for Alycia and Cass:


Today has been an intensive, long and hectic day for Drama Queen. She got back from her school concert way past midnight and it wasn't until 2 a.m. that she finally managed to plonk herself onto her comfy bed. Her plate has been full to the brim the entire year and it will only slow down in mid December. Next up will be her school's canteen day (an event which she has been busying herself with since last month), her graduation and another dance performance next week, her free trip to Kidzania end November and an ukulele performance at a shopping mall on 9 December 2017. I can't wait for my busy girl to bounce back into the kitchen to help me out coz the mil will soon be overseas for 3 months and I will definitely be needing a kitchen assistant then.