Kindness From A Neighbor

Our neighbor who lives opposite our unit gave me a very pleasant surprise a few days ago.  When our house door bell rang, I opened the door without first checking through the peephole who it was thinking that it was Alycia who was back from school. When I opened the door, I was shocked to see my neighbor (who has a slight resemblance of Tony Fernandez) who lives opposite our unit standing there! Smiling at me 😀.  He hardly ever smiled at us and always has a serious look hanging on his face.

He is an Indian bachelor and we hardly talk to each other except for the occasional hi and bye.  He did strike a conversation once when he commented that Cass was very pretty. That was about 2  years ago.


I could see that he tried hard to appear relax and friendly the moment the door was opened.  It was a pretty awkward moment for me.  I could see that he felt awkward too. On his hand was a big plastic bag with a packet of coconut buns inside, which he passed to me while telling me the story of how the buns came about. He told me that he had queued up for almost an hour to buy the coconut buns from Hiap Joo, a very well-known bakery in JB (popular for their coconut buns and banana cake) the previous night.  This bakery is perpetually swamped with customers with long queues, it seems. He wanted to buy only a packet but then he was told that he had to buy like 10 packets?  He was talking so fast that I could barely catch every word he was saying.  He further added that the buns were very nice and still fresh as he had reached home at 12 midnight. He said that he gave some of the buns to his sister, friend and then remembered that I have 3 daughters.  I tried very hard not to appear awkward and was suppressing myself from laughing 😆

And you know what? After he left, I actually googled Hiap Joo Bakery JB to find out if what he was saying was true muahahaha!  But I couldn't find any information that says that there is an MOQ for the buns🤭

Though we felt awkward, the ice was finally broken. All these while since he moved in 3 years ago, our girls and I had the impression that he wasn't very friendly. And I actually have the suspicion that he was errr, gay, as I see young men coming in and out of his unit regularly.  Till today I still wonder what he does for a living. The hubs thinks that this man doesn't have to work as he is always walking around the neighborhood and working out in the gym. I have never seen him in a corporate suit but he drives a Volvo.  We suspect that he must be the son of some tycoon and he really never needs to work.  Anyway, that's his life and I have no right to poke my nose into his personal life.  But it was so sweet of him to have thought of us when he bought the buns 😊

Papa's 75th Birthday ~ 19 August 2018

On the morning of papa's birthday, despite having had a very heavy and sumptuous dinner the previous night, the hubs brought us all to dig into yet another very heavy meal for brunch. He chose Indian food as papa is a huge fan of spicy food. According to mum, papa eats curry almost every day.

It was our very first time trying out Vishal Food & Catering Restaurant @ Brickfields. The restaurant was bursting at its door with patrons when we stepped inside on a Sunday morning.  Thankfully we managed to get a table pretty quickly. And thank God it wasn't a hot and humid day and the heat inside the restaurant was bearable for me. But papa and Roy were sweating buckets after scarfing down hot and spicy food.



As a Chettinad restaurant, Vishal specialises in the spicy and aromatic cuisine that hails from Tamil Nadu. Heady curries are heaped onto rice (choose from biryani or white rice) on individual banana leaves. Scoop up the rasam, warm rice and dhal into your mouth and that will guarantee your place in the queue that snakes around this joint every Sunday.

Once we were seated in a "mess-hall" setting, huge pieces of banana leaves were laid on our table.  The girls were excited that they were going to eat from fresh banana leaves. Then  a staff came by our table to serve us the accompaniments for the rotis and rice. His tray was loaded with individual plates of the usual favourites of varuval chicken, mutton, bean curd, egg, fish curry, etc. that you can add on to your meal if you wish.  We were also given a 3-in1 tray filled with curry, dhall and chutney where we can help ourselves to for our rotis.





The hubs ordered a plate of mutton nasi briyani and the portion of the rice was really huge! So was the piece of mutton bone!  It was so good that he ordered another plate for us to share so that we could all leave his plate of rice and mutton alone 😆


All mine and keep your hands off my mutton rice!

I love the vegetarian accompaniments for my tosai:



Feel free to help yourself to these mouth-watering accompaniments for your rotis and nasi.




We enjoyed our Indian cuisine very much and were really stuffed to the max.  But the hubs suggested having cakes and coffee next! Very typical of him.

Address:
Vishal Food & Catering Restaurant
22, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Phone:
03-2274 0995;  03-2274 1995
Email: vishalfood@hotmail.com


After brunch, we walked to the Indian stalls located opposite Vishal to have a look-see.  The hubs was intrigued by the beautiful garlands sold at the roadside flower stalls. He suggested getting a garland for papa, the birthday boy. What a brilliant idea! What other way to make my simple papa happy than to gift him with a garland on his birthday.













Next, the hubs took us on a short city tour of KL around the vicinity of Little India Brickfields, Central Market, Petaling Street, Bangsar and Jalan Parlimen. Having lived in KL for 27 years, I've hardly had the time to visit all the touristy places in and around the Klang Valley. KL indeed has many beautiful and interesting places to visit. But to the hubs and me, living in KL has always been a mad rush from one place to another and being caught in perpetual horrendous traffic jams.

No prize for guessing who put the flower behind the hubs' ear eh?  😆





Our next stop was at Naj & Belle @ Bangsar for cakes, coffee and juices and another surprise for papa. This will be told in another post 😉

The Long White Socks

A relative gave us a brand new bundle of white cotton knee-length socks from Marks And Spencer a few years ago. The socks are of excellent quality. She had bought them for her daughter but the girl didn't like those holey socks.


When your kids breach the 6 years old mark, it is TOUGH to get them to wear anything that they do not like.  Post-millennial kids are a whole lot of different species from Gen-X kids.  Had I dare to reject what my mum bought for me to wear 30 years ago, my life would have been really tough. I remember mum bought a bright pink long jumpsuit for me for CNY when I was 13 years old and I hated that jumpsuit. I felt like a clown wearing it but I was forced to wear it on the first day of CNY. And that was the only time I wore the jumpsuit. Later I resorted to wearing my school PE T-shirt during the remaining days of CNY that year as I felt like I was in my skin better in the PE T-shirt vs. the clown's jumpsuit 😆  But I still obeyed my mum and pleased her by wearing what she had bought for me.

When I showed the socks to Cass, she didn't like them the moment she saw them. There was no way I could make her wear those socks to school. She rather wear her torn socks than to wear those brand new socks. I have been keeping those Marks And Spencer socks for 4 years now, gave more than half of them to my niece and now there are still a few more pairs left.  Before the socks turn yellow and loose elasticity, I brought them out from the closet recently and tried to convince the two younger girls to wear them. At least to sleep!

In my best effort to try to entice Cass again to wear them, all she said was "NO WAY  am I going to wear those ridiculous socks.  You can give them away!"





This morning, I took out the socks and tried my luck to entice Drama Queen to wear them. But I already knew what her answer would be.

Me - do you want to wear these socks?

Sher - YOU THINK??! (SARCASTICALLY!)

Me - You used to LOVE these socks remember? You used to like everything princessy!

Sher - yeah, that was like 10 years ago mum.  Ooops, MY BAD!!


It looks like these beautiful brand new white socks will be given to our helper again. I can fit into these socks but me wearing them? For jogging? No way!

My drama queen, with a wicked sense of humour really cracked me up with her snappy answer this morning.  But most times, her sarcasm and arrogance piss me off. Wonder where she got the genes from 🤔

Dinner At Jogoya Buffet KL @ Starhill Gallery

My eldest sil from Hong Kong treated us to dinner at Jogoya Buffet KL at Starhill Gallery on her last weekend with us.  She wanted to bring us to some classy fine-dine restaurant with good food  and good service. The hubs asked around and one of his friends suggested Jogoya.  It was a mistake that he listened to his friend. We were utterly disappointed with the food there.

We should have Googled for reviews on Jogoya first before the hubs even booked the place.  Both the hubs and I had been too busy with our own things and work that we had forgotten to Google for the reviews on the restaurant before he booked the table.

No doubt, the buffet spread at Jogoya was very wide and looked gastronomical.  Ambience was pretty conducive too.  There were crabs, huge prawns, clams, abalone, scallops, oysters, mussels, all types of fish cooked in a variety of styles, sashimi, sushi, Dim Sum, double boiled soups, sharksfins soup, Japanese food, Chinese food,  Western food, fresh coconut water,  Haagen Dazs ice cream, New Zealand ice cream, awesome spread of desserts and many, many more. I was really excited on seeing the panoply of food on display when we first stepped into the restaurant. The restaurant is so huge that one can actually get lost inside.  There were so many types of dishes that we did not even managed to try every single dish. BUT somehow, something was missing and it was the quality of the food served.

My sil who is very persnickety about the quality of the food that she eats was the first to notice the quality of the food, especially the seafood. Being a well-traveled gourmand who enjoys fine dining and fresh seafood,  she was obviously disappointed. But being a very happy person generally, she laughed it off.  Even the four kids were not too pleased with the food except for the ice creams where Haagen Dazs and New Zealand brand ice creams were served. Most of us stuffed ourselves silly by scarfing down scoops after scoops of Haagen Dazs ice creams.  Towards the end of the meal, we ordered two types of fish, steamed ala Chinese and those were pretty good.  The sil who was worried that the kids were not full wanted to bring the kids to another place for pizza but we adults objected as they already had a lot of ice creams swooshing in their tummies.  Moreover Cass and I had to sleep early as we had to wake up early the next day for Cass' full day motivational camp in school.

Overall, the quality of the food is not comparable with the price. At RM132 nett per person (total bill was over RM1k), the quality of the food is really lacking.  It will obviously be our first and last time dining at Jogoya.  But we had a great time bonding and laughing.  I am very sure that this experience will be a joke that the sil will talk about repeatedly each time she comes back to Malaysia and dines with us.

Homecooked Meals

The mil was away for a few days with her  visiting eldest daughter and grandson from Hong Kong early this week. So I had an extra chore for the few days that she was away.

Cooking is not really my forte, though I can excel at it IF only I have a full-time helper to help me in the washing, chopping and prepping, especially the aftermath of cooking and eating. The thought of peeling and chopping garlic and onions turns me off.  And the washing of greasy pots and pans!  I know I am spoilt like that and Alycia takes after me. I never needed to cook all my life as I had my por por who was an excellent cook to dish out 3 meals for us everyday.  She even washed our dishes while we lazed around. Best por por in the world. Sadly, she did not live long enough till today to allow me the opportunity to cook for her and wash her dishes.

On Monday, I grilled chicken drumsticks for lunch;



Chicken drumsticks were marinated with organic extra virgin coconut oil, turmeric powder, coriander powder, curry powder, black pepper, salt and Lea & Perrin sauce. Fifteen minutes before the heat in the oven was turned off, palm sugar syrup (Gula Melaka) was drizzled on the drumsticks.  It was my first time grilling meat with coconut oil and thankfully, the smell of coconut oil wasn't overpowering. The 3 fussy eaters walloped all 6 drumsticks.




Finger licking good with drumsticks gnawed clean by the littlest fiery creature!




The next day, I cooked mushroom sauce to go with the grilled lamb that the hubs' chef cooked in his kitchen.  The mushroom sauce recipe was taken from Recipe Tin Eats, my favorite Japanese recipe blogger  who is an Aussie.  I tweaked the recipe by swapping canned / packaged beef broth with homecooked chicken broth.  I boiled half a pot of broth using chicken keel, carrots, onions and potatoes.





Wholesome goodness mushroom sauce!  The green onions are from my balcony garden!



The girls loved the mushroom sauce and I am SO proud to say that for the first time in our history of having grilled lamb at our house, everything was scarfed down, even the greasy lamb skin! 😆 We are not lamb or mutton fans. Not everyone can tolerate the smell of lamb or mutton. But this time, I win them over with this winning mushroom sauce! Definitely a keeper.

Black Friday Coupons

Lately I have included some basic strength training in my exercise regimen before I start my early morning jog.  This includes arms, legs and body stretching, squats, frog jumps, spot jogging, jumping jacks, push ups and bicycle crunches. The most energy and stamina zapping strength training for me is frog jumps.  This exercise can maximize the calorie burn within a couple of minutes. It is intense, innovative and something that will elevate your heart rate like never before. I often go breathless after frog jumps /frog hops but  feel great as I begin to sweat. Next is my usual morning jog.

 A good pair of running shoes is very important to me when I run.  Good running shoes prevent tripping and injuries to the feet.  I always stick to brands like Nike and Addidas.  The outer soles of my Adidas running shoes are starting to peel off and I almost tripped on the dangling soles while running a few mornings ago.  I keep forgetting to look for a  new pair of running shoes each time I go shopping at the mall.  Cass has been reminding me to change my running shoes as she's worried that I may fall.  Thankfully for 2018 Adidas coupons on Black Friday and 2018 Black Friday shoes coupon deals,  I can get discounted running shoes without having to make a trip to the shopping mall! What I need to do now is to double check my running shoes size and at a few clicks of the mouse at hasoffer.com, my running shoes will be at my doorstep in a few days.  I just love receiving parcels!  Don't you, too? ;)

Ok, sharing time now!  Let me share with you the various Black Friday coupon deals from hasoffer.com:

 


There are coupon deals from various popular brands of running shoes and sports apparel with 20% off, including Black Friday Nike coupon deals.  The choice is limitless.

 

Now that I have shared these coupon deals with you, be sure to utilize them soon as they  have expiration dates.

Generation Z Kids Problems

Today I spent RM250 on Drama Queen’s eye glasses and it is the cheapest available plastic eye frame at the optical shop. Knowing her trend of having to change glasses three times a year, I told the staff to find me the cheapest possible eye frame. It’s Drama Queen’s second pair of glasses in under 3 months!

And I had to walk for 15-20 minutes under the sizzling sun from the kopitiam to the stationery shop to get her a pair of scissors first, then walk to the eyewear shop and back to the car park, drenched in sweat and cussing away.

Because she couldn’t be bothered when I told her to take very good care of her glasses, she broke the frame out of her carelessness and lackadaisical attitude.

Because she didn’t listen when I told her not to read in dim lightings, the power on her right eye increased.

Because of her stubbornness, I had to pay RM250.  Is this even fair?

Me – I am going to take money from your Savings account to pay for your glasses. It’s totally unacceptable that I have to pay for two pairs of glasses in less than 3 months.

S – Up to you…

Me – No, I think I shouldn’t take from your Savings account. The money is for your college. You have to work for me FOR LIFE FOR FREE!

S – Don’t I already?

Me – Without any complaint and eye-rolling and to do whatever that I ask you to! Get it? NO COMPLAINTS!

S – Whatever..

Last week I spoke to a friend with a 14-year old son and she told me that her son is rude to her too, with eye-rolling, “whatevers”, grunts and disobedience.

Is this a post millennial / Gen Z / iGeneration or whatever you call it teenager issue that we parents are facing now? I was never like that towards my parents when I was a teenager. I would not have lived through the next day peacefully had I dare to be disrespectful to my papa.

Do your teenage children behave in a disrespectful manner to you?