31 December ~ Last Day of 2022

2020-2022 weren't easy years for us.  The days were filled with so many uncertainties, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness.  The past two years have been turbulent for us but nonetheless, a pretty good chapter.  Though everyone in our family got infected by Covid this year, I thank God that we managed to fight this invisible enemy and won.  But we can't rest on our laurels for this enemy is still lurking around, waiting to pound on us again. Our lives will never be the same again as Covid will probably be around forever, but as human beings, our resilient nature has thrust us forward into a new normal.

Our dinner on the last day of 2022 was at Seng Kee Kitchen again, our favorite neighborhood restaurant.  

When hubs went to settle the bill, the generous and affable lady boss from the restaurant gifted this CNY set to us. Love this set of three ceramic bowls that come with lids.  The lady boss gave us bowls and chopsticks for CNY this year (2022 CNY).

Can you believe that CNY is in another three weeks? We've just celebrated Christmas and now we're ushering yet another major festival!

And this wraps up 2022. And now onto the new year ahead >> 2023 and all the adventures awaiting us.

Wishing all my readers a better year ahead, good health, good wealth, and an abundance of blessings.  

Best foot 🦶 forward, everyone!  Happy 2023 💪

How To Clean A Burnt Iron (Removing Burnt Cloth From Iron)

Last week Sherilyn burnt the new black pants that she bought from Shein whilst ironing it.  She was in a hurry to go out with her friends and had spent almost the entire day baking cakes.  

After spending the whole morning and afternoon baking two flour-free orange cakes (one for her grandparents in Ipoh and one for her grandaunt) and two chocolate cakes (one for her friend's birthday and another one for her grandaunt), she hurriedly ironed her pants for her girls' night with her former classmates.  Minutes later, she ran out of the room to show me her burnt pants with a big chunk of cloth that was stuck to the iron! She was totally devastated that her favorite pants couldn't be saved, not even after chopping off the long parts to make it into a pair of shorts. The hole is on the pocket part.

The cakes that Sherilyn baked. 

I think I know what she did that caused the big boo-boo. She of course said she did everything right and yet the pants got burnt. Oh well.  We've all been there and done that too.

Anyway...

The mil was fuming as the iron is an expensive one gifted to her by her eldest daughter who bought it from Hong Kong.  MIL told Sherilyn to clean up the iron or buy her another similar iron 😂

The damage done to the iron looked really bad. The fabric from the black pants melted and was glued to the hot iron.  The black pants was a total loss and no way could it be saved as the big hole was right smack in front.

As Sherilyn was already running late, she didn't have time to Google ways to clean a burnt iron.  She was busy dolling up herself for her dinner with her friends.  Alycia, begrudgingly volunteered to help as she wanted to use the iron.   She spent almost an hour googling ways (while cussing) and tried half a dozen of methods but none worked until she tried VINEGAR + BAKING SODA!  And voila, it worked like a charm.

The piece of burnt fabric came off from the iron's soleplate in one single piece, like a piece of thin crispy seaweed.  Cass, Alycia, and I were awed to see the burnt fabric peel off like magic!

Method

Make a paste with equal parts vinegar and baking soda, dip a clean microfiber cloth into the paste, then rub it in small circles over the soleplate.

She used rice vinegar as we'd run out of synthetic vinegar.  Be sure to use a microfiber cloth.

On another note, Sherilyn also used rice vinegar to remove a big patch of matcha (green) stains off her white pants just a few days ago when she spilled hot matcha on it.  This careless girl damaged two of her favorite pants in less than two weeks.   The green stains came off almost completely from her white denim pants after the pants was soaked in rice vinegar and baking soda for three days.

The burnt piece of fabric peeled off from the iron's soleplate after rubbing the iron with vinegar and baking soda with a microfiber cloth.

After the burnt fabric is peeled off, continue using a microfiber cloth and filtered water to scrub off the stains off the soleplate.  

The iron is now 99.9% clean like before!

Wednesday, 21 December 2022

Today I brought Haru to the vet as she's having slight diarrhea.  It's not the runny stool kind of diarrhea, but a tad more frequent kind of diarrhea. Haru has a very sensitive digestive tract since her kitten days and from my two years of observation, feeding her chicken kept in the fridge for 2 days may be the cause of upsetting her tummy.  Her tummy doesn't tolerate overnight meat well.  I thought cats are very resilient animals that can feed on any meat, even raw meat and road kill, and scavenged food scraps by the roadside, but Haru seems to have a human tummy!  She is gluten-intolerant and cannot be fed too much, albeit she seems to have a bottomless pit with a ravenous appetite.  Haru will never be a fat cat as her tummy is such that she has to be on a keto diet with no grains and cannot be overfed 😹

I brought Haru to the vet pronto as we won't be in town from 24 - 27 December.  I'll be taking the ETS  train back to Ipoh with the mil, Cass, and Sherilyn to celebrate Christmas.  Hubs has to work during this time.  I actually wanted to send Haru to a cat boarder but the boarder is fully booked.  I looked around for other cat boarders and they were all fully booked for Christmas too.  Alycia volunteered to stay behind to cat-sit Haru and I gladly accepted her offer, with pay to thank her for her help.

Haru now treats my chair as her night bed. At around the same time almost every night, she would swipe on my leg or scratch my chair to signify to me that it's HER time now to use the chair.  This bossy cat wants me to buzz off so that she could sleep on my chair. The moment I leave my chair, up she jumps onto my chair and snuggles up comfortably until the next morning.  She would not budge even with me sitting on her legs and tail, which is otherwise her pet peeve at other times of the day 😄

Our Precious Haru

Haru saved me from a cockroach! Of all the insects in the world, I fear the darn roach the most.  It's the most disgusting, stinkiest, and most annoying pest ever.  I know it's an irrational fear but roaches are simply gross and they flap their stinky wings and fly toward you to scare the shit out of you.  Growing up, I had very bad experiences with roaches and developed a chronic phobia of roaches.

When I discovered a cockroach the other day, I yelled out to Haru to come as Haru loves to catch insects.  I knew that Haru would surely be able to swipe the gross fella with her paws very swiftly. While she was at it, I quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed my bottle of Sol-U-Guard.  

With just a couple of swipes with her paw, the roach struggled to fly. I quickly sprayed a copious amount of Sol-U-Guard on the roach and then it gradually stopped moving. Phew!

Good job, Haru!

Throwback - Alycia was comforting Haru here, who was terrified of the continuous fireworks on Deepavali night a couple of months ago.

Someone just loves to sleep on Haru's bed! 😹😸

Old Treasure

I found some of my old photos taken when I was working at Southern Bank (now CIMB Bank).  These photos are over two decades old.  They were taken circa 1994 ~ 1997 during my tenure at the Corporate Human Resources Division (CHRD) where I worked as a HR Officer.  I spent 8 years at CHRD and created lots of memories and friendships as well as gained tons of invaluable experience in this department.

Taken at our bank's annual dinner and dance.  If I remember correctly, that was in 1993/1994.

The Corporate Human Resources Division team.  I'm seated fourth from left. Irene, on my left was my supervisor and she's now living in Australia.  The lady wearing glasses in green baju kurung was the HR Manager.

I'm the one in a yellow blouse.  On my right is Shareefa and we still keep in touch.  On my left is Ayu, my assistant. We were in charge of staff loans that year before I got rotated to the Recruitment section where one of my duties was to interview candidates.  The girl on the extreme right is from the Kelantan royal family and she's in charge of the Training Dept.

Are Silicone Products Safe To Use?

Silicone was recognized by the FDA as a safe-to-be-used food-grade material (food-grade silicone) in 1979.  Silicone is a lab-made material that consists of several different chemicals such as silicon (a naturally occurring element), oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. Usually produced in liquid form or flexible plastic, silicone is used for cooking, baking, medical, electrical, and other purposes.

Like plastics, silicone can include a mix of chemical additives, fillers, and raw material impurities.  In general, silicone has fewer chemical additives than plastics.  Food-grade silicones that are FDA-regulated should not have any fillers.  If the white shows through in the silicone when twisted, pulled, or pinched, the silicone contains a filler.  And if it cracks or loses elasticity, this indicates the inclusion of fillers in the silicone.

Whether you are looking to purchase household silicone utensils or custom silicone molds, always opt for silicone products that are made from the best silicone materials, such as those manufactured by Newtop Rubber.

Silicone Baby Fruit Feeder Pacifier

Newtop Rubber uses food-grade and medical-grade liquid silicone materials to produce high-quality products. As a source manufacturer, they have better price advantages than intermediate traders and stricter quality control.

Silicone cookware has made cooking and baking super convenient.   Not only are the colours of these quirky utensils captivating, these silicone moulds, muffin cups, cake pans, ice moulds and what nots have paved their way into almost every household around the globe. 

BPA Free Food Grade kitchen Storage Bag

Most food-grade silicone utensils can endure very high heat. However, heat tolerance for silicone cookware varies.  It is still possible for silicone cooking utensils to melt if they are exposed to extremely high heat, causing silicone liquid to leach into your food.  If this happens, it is important to discard the melted utensils and food. Do not expose silicone cookware at temperatures above 428°F (220°C).

 

Silicone Mold For Cupcake Decoration

Not only is silicone cookware heat-resistant, they are freezer safe, and oven safe, but only up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit or 220 Celsius.  Due to its bonded composition, silicon is non-biodegradable, non-toxic, and non-recyclable.  Although silicone products are non-biodegradable, they can however be recycled and remoulded into other products.

As silicone is considered chemically stable, experts say it’s safe to use and likely not harmful.

If you’re looking for a silicone overmolding supplier for your business or for bulk purchases, check out Newtop Rubber for an extensive range of silicone products.

Thursday, 1 December 2022 ~ Random Updates

Hello December! 

We're on the last leg of our journey in 2022, yo! We survived another year of the pandemic, even though every single member of our household got infected by Covid this year. Alycia got infected twice within a span of 4 months. Thank God she's spared from getting infected the third time when almost everyone at home was down with Covid recently.

Sherilyn is still having a dry cough and had to skip school this morning when she felt nauseous.  She's supposed to sit for her SPM Trial Biology paper today as she missed a week of school last week due to Covid and now has to sit for the paper tomorrow instead.

Alycia returned from yet another short vacay in Ipoh and Penang with her college mates on Monday.  This girl can really play hard and study hard as well. I hope she'll succeed in getting another year's scholarship from the university for her second year of studies next year.

Cass came home from school today and gleefully told me that she fared better in all her papers in her recent final exam. She dug out all her old papers from this year's Mid Term Exam as well as last year's Final Exam and compared the marks and proudly showed them to me 😁

After I'd cooked lunner for Cass today, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to cook rice for her! So I  quickly blanched some soba noodles for her. It was already 3-ish p.m. and Cass would be back by 3.40 p.m. and cooking noodles is always the quickest.

Oven grilled wingettes and drumettes. 

Japanese Chocolate Persimmon

My SIL from the UK is in town.  Yesterday she went grocery shopping and got us some Japanese chocolate persimmons, one of the finest persimmons around.  At RM28 each, it's our first time trying these elusive persimmons.

Chocolate persimmons have a very sweet and sugary flavor with subtle spice-filled undertones. The fruits are named “chocolate” for their brown, variegated flesh, not for their taste. 

Aside from the color of the flesh, chocolate persimmons taste very much similar to regular persimmons with orange and yellow flesh.

13 November 2022 ~ Traipsing Around @ Pavillion Bukit Jalil

It's been almost two months since Cass started figure skating lessons at the Blue Ice Snow Park @ Pavillion Bukit Jalil.  Spending my Sundays at Pavillion is not something that I look forward to. I'd rather be loafing at home than jazz around aimlessly at the mall with nothing in mind to buy.  Most of my purchases are now done online since the pandemic started 3 years ago.

While traipsing around at Pavillion Bukit Jalil on Sunday, I chanced upon Tokyo Town.  Located at the mall's second level, Tokyo Town celebrates all things Japanese including food, retail, and culture.

Once at the entrance of Tokyo Town, I felt instantly transported to the land of the rising sun with two larger-than-life artistic sumo sculptures greeting shoppers.

Shoppers will be further greeted into a shopping street in Tokyo Town precinct, also known as “Nakamise” in Japanese with a symbolic and grand Torii Gate – featuring unique and cultural decorations such as cochin or Japanese traditional lanterns, beautiful Sakura trees adorned with tanabata wishes and carp streamers as well as a grand and gorgeous Kimono Art Tapestry on exhibit.

From Nakamise lots to specialty stores, shoppers can find a rich selection of Japanese food, retail, arts and culture.

Visitors can satisfy their Japanese cuisine cravings with a wide variety of F&B from popular sushi dishes at Fuji Sushi, delicious deep-fried succulent meats at Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen, mouth-watering teppanyaki at Tokyo Teppan, best of bite-sized Maki sushi to Japanese street food at Yatai Mura.

I told hubs that the next time we're here, we have to try Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen.

Spend a minimum of RM80 at any store in Tokyo Town, and buy any instant noodles at RM1 each.

A long row of claw machines outside Tokyo Town.

For lunner, I had Indian Rojak & teh tarik at Sedap by Grandmama's located at Level 5 (same level as the skating rink).

Toilet shot, all because I had too much time and didn't know what to do 😁

This Sunday I'll be going to Pavillion again with Cass, just the two of us as hubs has to go to Ipoh for a dinner. Whenever I'm not with my eating partner, I find it really hard to kill the hours at the mall.

Sherilyn's Meals

Sherilyn who's recovering from Covid at home air-fried this cheese and egg sandwich for breakfast today.  She didn't have much appetite yesterday as she vomited once and felt nauseous the whole day.  Today the nauseous feeling is gone and her appetite came back. 

Thankfully she can still taste her food, unlike me who lost my olfaction partially.  Since yesterday everything that I eat has been tasteless and I can't smell anything too, except for essential oils.

Sherilyn made KongGukSu (콩국수) - Korean Cold Noodles with Tofu after the rubber on her braces were changed recently.  Whenever she has an appointment with the dentist for her braces maintenance, she'd ask me to get her tofu from the supermarket as she prefers to eat soft food after new and tight elastics are replaced, which would cause her discomfort for several days.

Refreshing but not my kind of meal.  Tofu and soybean milk are blended together to prep the broth and served cold.

First Half November 2022 ~ Short Random Updates

I am so enervated today. I spent yet another Sunday at Pavillion Bukit Jalil walking for 3 hours while Cass attended figure skating lesson.

I've not been totally resting myself the past few weeks ever since Cass started figure skating lessons at Pavillion Bukit Jalil. I even have to 'work' on weekends. 

Last weekend was spent bringing Cass to Sunway Pyramid and Pavillion Bukit Jalil to get new figure skates and for her lessons.  When we're at the mall, I walk at least 3-5 hours with weights on my shoulders (my handbag and light shopping loot). I've been having achy shoulders ever since the lockdown was lifted when we started to go mall shopping again.  To begin with, I have a long history of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which has affected both my shoulders and neck. Carrying even the slightest weight on my shoulders tend to aggravate the underlying problem.

I may bring a small trolley luggage bag with me the next time we're at the mall to keep my shoulders free of any burden.

After we were back home, Alycia called me to fetch her back from her workplace. At her workplace, Alycia takes over behind the wheel. As she's still a new driver, I feel tense sitting next to her when she drives.  Though she's shown some improvements in her driving and I don't step on my imaginary brake as much as I did before, I still have that jittery feeling when there are many cars on the road, when she drives up a narrow ramp and when she parks the car 😅

Ju, my childhood friend (almost 4 decades of friendship) came from Singapore to KL yesterday. Hubs and I met her and her hubby and another childhood friend at a restaurant in Paramount for a late lunch yesterday. 

Ever so generous with me, Ju gifted me this box of Royce chocolates.   Thank you so much for your love, Ju 💓

Some forgetful people finally killed the microwave oven. This is the second time that they killed my microwave ovens despite me reminding them umpteen times what not to use in the oven. 
They're not supposed to use stainless steel or any breakable plates and bowls with metal trimmings and paintings with metal elements in the microwave oven.  And their forgetfulness or rather a lackadaisical attitude caused a big dent in our wallets.
There were sparks of fire and an obnoxious sound of metal about to explode when Miss Forgetful put a small bowl with metal trimmings into the microwave oven to heat up food. 
Hubs finally got a new microwave oven two days ago after being microwave-less for a month. Life was so hard for them girls who are ever so reliant on the microwave oven for just about anything. Serves them right!

Low Carb Meals

When I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2000, I did tons of research on this disorder and from what I gleaned from the internet, it is a hormonal and insulin disorder that would affect fertility and other diseases.  

With daily exercise and following a strict low-carb diet, I managed to shed some weight and my hormones started to stabilize. It wasn't an overnight cure but required lots of hard work, discipline, and a life-long lifestyle change.

22 years on and I'm still on a low-carb diet, albeit not as strict as I used to be. And I'm still exercising almost daily.

Below is what I usually eat on a daily basis.

Hubs bought Hakka noodles and curry noodles for lunch from Restoran Ipoh Sedap @ SS2 PJ and I replaced the noodles with coleslaw. 
Oh yeah, if you're craving for some authentic Ipoh Hakka noodles, Chee Cheong Fun and curry noodles, Ipoh Sedap is the place to go to. Hubs loves the food from this restaurant.

For dinner, I ate the Hakka fish balls and meatballs with blanched greens.

My 'chap fan' dishes and replaced rice with coleslaw.

The only occasion when I'll eat rice is when there's fried rice (parboiled rice or Basmati rice). And the most that I'll take is just 3 tablespoons of fried rice.

Sri Lanka apam with egg, my favorite. This is not exactly low carb but it's much lower in carbs and calories than other Indian rotis.  Apam is prepped with ghee, which is a healthier alternative to packet oil.  I also love Rawa Tosai.

Keto-friendly brekkie - smoked salmon on Egg Benedict with Hollandaise sauce and a refreshing nutty salad.

Yesterday's lunch was coleslaw with chicken rendang, kailan and cili fish from hubby's central kitchen.  The mil cooked the spam and fried egg for breakfast.

Yummy for the tummy, from hubby's central kitchen ~ aromatic Nasi Jagung (sweet corn rice cooked with ghee and spices), cili Mackeral fish and stir-fried kailan.

Spicy and appetite-whetting cili fried mackerel fish.

Coleslaw omelette, cooked by chef S, for her school lunch box. She cooked extra for my brunch.

As you can probably gauge the size of my meals from the photos, the portions are befitting a 4 to 5-year-old child, thus my size.  I think I've inherited my mom's DNA as she also has a tummy as small as mine and is even skinnier than me 😁