Monday, 31 May 2021 ~ Random Updates

I've been busy at home again. Ever since the Covid cases kept surging uncontrollably for the past one month, we've decided to stop Maria our part-time helper from coming. My SILs from overseas have been very concerned as we do not know who Maria mingles with the moment she leaves our home and we have a highly vulnerable person at home.  So I had to bite the bullet and broke the unpleasant news to Maria again. Since the first lockdown on 18 March last year, Maria had to stop working for us temporarily several times (for several months during each lockdown).  Thankfully Maria has been very understanding. She's been a gem to us for the last 9 years and I pray that Maria will be able to step into our home again soon.

Without Maria helping us, post-meal times are my kill joy.   And it doesn't help that the two chefs in the house love baking and cooking. And I have to do most of the cleaning of their aftermath. Oh my poor hands!! 😓  

This chicken satay and peanut/satay sauce were made from scratch by Sherilyn.  They're delish but the kitchen post-cooking is my nightmare, every single day. Though she helps to clean up, it's pretty slipshod work and I still have to clean up after her.

Haru is trying to catch a light shone on the wall with a torchlight by Cass.  It's entertaining watching her catch shadows and lights everyday. She's a joy in our lives (except for someone who finds her a nuisance😑) for all the laughter that she brings.

Unsuccessful Attempt At AstraZeneca 3rd Opt-In Registration

I sat down in front of my computer at 11:50 a.m. today at the https://www.vaksincovid.gov.my/daftar/ website hopeful of getting a slot for our 18-year old daughter for the AstraZeneca 3rd batch opt-in vaccine. Her details were pre-keyed in by 11:50 a.m. and at the strike of 12 noon, I hit the SUBMIT key. As expected, nothing happened. The site was unresponsive. I hit SUBMIT again and a '504 Gateway Timeout' error message popped out.  The system evidently buckled under the frenzy of millions of people trying to get a slot.  We were also informed at 12:05 noon that the registration was only going to open at 12:15 noon instead of 12 noon. 

After what seemed like more than 100 tries with more weird codes popping up and the 'Daerah' section greyed, Alycia took over. She repeated what I'd been doing - reloading, hitting the back key and re-keyed in her IC number and mobile number but we were unable to get into the registration system.   The both of us tried in vain for 1.5 hours until registration closed.  

GREAT!

What's next? 

Wait for notification from her My Sejahtera app for the National Immunization Program or next batch of opt-in vaccines.

In the meantime, it's going to be weeks of home quarantine for the girls. Cass is bearing the brunt of the cabin fever and kept asking if she could follow me to the nearby supermarket and pet shop to get supplies.  I have to keep turning down a dejected girl. Thankfully she has Haru to keep her entertained and keep the laughter rolling throughout the day. Poor kitten has to bear with Cass' tempestuous affection till she sometimes jumps away from Cass' lap to escape the rough man-handling 😆

This is Haru's latest place of solace -- she sits on the table and gazes outside to observe every living and non-living thing with awe and perhaps wondering how's it like to be living outside.

Haru's Visit To The Vet

Cass and I brought Haru to the vet's today for her 3rd vaccination and dewormer tablet. As Haru already knew what to expect, she was very aggressive today, especially when the doctor trimmed her sharp nails. She hissed (of course, she hisses at every stranger), snarled and growled uncontrollably. A man who was at the clinic with his cat commented that Haru snarled like a serpent 😂

Scaredy cat waiting to pounce on the doctor's hands 😂

After this vaccination, Haru is ready to be spayed! I will coincide the procedure with Sherilyn and Cass' school holidays, which is in another week's time, so that they can help to care for Haru after the surgery.

Curiosity almost killed the cat. Someone almost saw Haru sniffing the fruits and all hell will break loose if she saw it.  By the way, Haru wasn't interested in the fruits but the strings on the two bunches of bananas. She has an obsession with strings and thinks that all strings are some kind of interesting objects that can flip and retaliate when flicked and swiped  😂

Chicken Paitan Ramen and Sous Vide Chicken

Wednesday, 12 May 2021 ~ Today's lunch is Chicken Paitan Ramen (original and spicy flavors) with Sous Vide chicken breast, by our in-house chef Sherilyn.

This is one tedious meal with many steps. She started off with boiling the chicken soup with dashi, kombu, chicken feet and chicken breast for hours yesterday.  The ramen eggs were also prepped yesterday and marinated overnight in the fridge.  The chicken breast + garlic + onions were blended in the TMX6 and then sieved and added back into the pot of broth.  

Multiple steps are involved to bring out a milky white soup that's umami (hence the name Paitan/white soup in Mandarin).

Every step involved is homemade -- from the broth to the ramen shoyu tare, ramen eggs, Sous Vide chicken breast, chili oil and even the ramen noodles.  The noodles dough was prepped from scratch and churned out using a noodle maker.

This is an inexpensive meal with chicken breast and feet, eggs and flour for the ramen noodles but chef Sherilyn makes it taste like one from a Michelin star restaurant 😋

Haru In Our Home

Cass is sitting for an online test here, with her beloved Haru on her lap 😆.  Boring online classes and tests are not so torturous anymore with her favorite pet on her lap keeping her company.

Cass is so smitten with this kitten😸

Haru hates wearing a collar. I bought her a pink collar with a bell on it but she gets berserk each time  the collar is put on her neck. We tried putting hair scrunchies on her neck and they don't stay long on her neck too.

Yesterday Cass put on a cat leash on Haru and it was hilarious! She refused to walk with the leash on and Cass had to drag Haru on the floor, like a mop 😆

Collar out, hair scrunchies out, leash out too...

Haru The Terrorizer

Haru can be a terrorizer at home.  She damaged our mozzie netting door in the kitchen with her sharp claws -- she loves clawing her way up to the top of the net like a monkey. Today the entire netting fell off from the door frame!  Someone is of course fuming mad!  

When her 'sakai' mode is turned on, she chases her favorite people and bites us on our ankles. I've got one painful inflamed wound on my leg now.

Two weeks ago while I was out with MIL, Cass left Haru out of the cage during her online class.  She didn't watch Haru who was roaming happily in the kitchen and on our dining table, sniffing our food and drinks.  Haru hopped onto our kitchen counter top and I think she must have hopped over the cups and knocked down her father's cup!! It was a big big mess with broken glass and water all over the kitchen floor. Cass couldn't leave her desk during the online class and left the mess there for me to clean up when I got home. I wanted to leave the mess for her but we couldn't even get into the kitchen with sharp bits of glasses scattered on the entire kitchen and dining area floors.

I. Was. Enraged. With both Haru and Cass 😡 

Cass had the cheek to send me a Whatsapp message telling me what Haru did but didn't clean up the mess!

Sometimes when the rascal wants to get out of the cage, she will scratch, dig and splash the litter sand all over as a sign to protest being locked up!

Despite the felony this goblin commits, we're still very forgiving parents and sisters. We still love her to bits.

Haru looking very much like the tiger from Maybank logo, don't ya think so? 😸