Random Updates

Alycia has just completed her 1-year Foundation in Arts with the finale of her final exam held early this week. In two weeks she will commence her 3-year degree program at Sunway University, in collaboration with Lancaster University UK.  

Alycia had earlier planned to make a trip back to Ipoh to visit her grandparents but her plans had to be derailed as she had just recovered from Covid.  Just to be on the safe side, it's better not to stay with my elderly parents as both of them are high-risk individuals who have yet to get their second booster shots.  She may go to Malacca for a short holiday with her coursemates instead.

Since Monday this week, Sherilyn has been at the stadium for a week-long inter-school sports meet. She's competing in several track and field events. Yesterday she emerged 5th in the hammer throw event, an achievement that's totally unexpected as she wasn't even well prepared for this event. She had spent a lot of time training for volleyball, running, shot put, javelin, and cheerleading instead, and also clinched 4th placing in the 4x400m running event (inter-zone).  As I've said before, this girl is a sucker for competitions and challenges since she was little.  

Cass has been working hard to save up to achieve her little dream. She wants to learn ice skating and has been doing odd jobs for her dad. I told her that she would need several thousand Ringgit for the lessons with apparatus and transport from KL to Sunway Pyramid.  I think her target is almost met and I just told hubs this morning that the ball is now in his court. He has to sacrifice his Sundays to chauffeur his youngest princess to Sunway Pyramid to fulfill her dream 😐.  

Here's Haru getting a massage from mil's new massage gun.  She was initially terrified of the gun when we pointed it at her and darted away to hide under the sofa.  When we tried the massage gun on her later, we were surprised that she liked it! 

New Lian Hua Qing Wen Granules

If you follow my other blog, you would have read that Alycia was down with Covid 2.5 weeks ago. It was her second Covid infection in four months. 

This time she had moderate symptoms, unlike the previous infection with nary any symptoms.  On the 8th or 9th day when Alycia tested negative, she started to lose her olfaction.  Her food tasted bland and she could not smell very well.  It could be caused by her blocked nasal.

Two weeks after Alycia recovered from Covid, I started to feel unwell.   I kept feeling extremely sleepy and took naps several times a day, felt lethargic, sluggish, and heaty.  The weather lately has been stinking hot and I had indulged in quite a bit of Musang King durians.  So I'm not sure whether it's caused by the durians or my immunity succumbed to the virus.

Today I remembered about the Lian Hua granules that I'd bought four months ago and gulped down a sachet (mixed with water).  I wasn't convinced that it could help me feel better but my friend who took it told me that it worked like a charm for her. 

True enough, all the feelings of malaise and heatiness vanished several hours later. And I didn't feel lethargic and sleepy anymore. I can't believe how effective Lian Hua is.  

As with all herbs, I would advise against consuming Lian Hua excessively as herbs have the potential to harm our liver, if consumed in excess amounts.  My gynae had told me not to consume any herbs as these may encourage the growth of my fibroid. I have a 1.3cm fibroid in my uterus and it's a second fibroid after the first one was removed via a laparoscopic myomectomy five years ago.

A box of New Lian Hua Qing Wen granule costs RM48 for 6 sachets.  It tastes similar to Ho Yan Hor herbal drink.

Monday, 18 July 2022

Maria our part-time helper of 11 years told me last week that she's expecting her second child. She's eight weeks along now. This time around, she's riddled with bad morning sickness, which is totally different from her first pregnancy with nary any morning sickness or issues.  She even worked for us until she was about 7 months pregnant.  We didn't allow her to climb the ladder to wipe the ceiling fans and she just did simple chores.

It's been two weeks since we're without a part-time helper as Maria is too sick to come.  Things are pretty manageable at home provided we don't cook. Cooking takes up such a lot of time - from prepping to cooking to cleaning up the aftermath. These days the girls are too busy to do their assigned house chores. Alycia comes back from college at almost 10 p.m. every weekday.  Sherilyn has been spending all her time in school training for volleyball and running for inter-school sports meets.  As for Cass, she tells me that going to school makes her frazzled as she leaves the house before 7am and only reaches home at around 4pm from Tuesdays to Fridays. 

Today I tried to be a little ambitious and cooked braised chicken in the pressure cooker while the mil cooked two dishes. Even though these are pretty simple dishes, cleaning up takes up a lot of time.  In between cooking and cleaning up, I had to make 4 trips out of the house to chauffeur the mil around, for school runs, and to run errands.  The current heat wave is not helping either.  

Prepping the chicken in the morning took up 20 minutes of my time. Then I cooked a simple brunch for Cass as her classes are held online every Monday.

After my shower at 8pm, I suddenly felt giddy.  Sitting down and typing this post seems to help alleviate the wooziness.  I wish I could sit in front of my PC for another 2-3 hours but dang it, I have to put everything down and get my beauty sleep after I'm done with this post.  If I don't get my 6-7 hours of sleep, I won't be able to function the next day. 

What a monotonous life I have now. I can't wait for the girls to graduate from uni and get a job so that I am finally relieved of all my responsibilities and start to travel the world!

10 drumsticks into the PPC today.  
It was a very messy affair this time as I have not used the PPC to cook chicken for yonks and almost forgot how to operate it.  I think I didn't shut the lid 100% tightly. When I tried to release the vent manually, steam + sauce shot out from the vent like volcano lava!  Can you imagine the mess on the walls, countertop and other kitchen gadgets nearby?! That's why I felt giddy today from the massive cleanup 😂

Brought Cass to her dad's office today to print her Math worksheets as our house printer conked out.  Cass dragged Haru along and this scaredy cat quivered throughout the car ride 😸

Tomorrow I am SO GOING TO ORDER FOOD. Cass and I have already chosen what we want and at 3pm tomorrow, I'm going to claim my vouchers and check out our Thai food from Shopee Food!  When Cass is back at 4pm tomorrow, she's going to pick up the food from the lobby.

Yay to no cooking!! 

9 July 2022 ~ Saturday Dinner

Both mil and Sherilyn had to go to the optical store.  Mil had to get new prescription glasses after her cataract surgeries and Sherilyn, this girl broke her expensive glasses!

Not even a year ago, I got Sherilyn a pair of new glasses as her power had increased. She chose a frame that was pretty costly and promised me that she would take good care of the glasses. But during a volleyball training session last week, she broke the glasses and it was irreparable.  

Can you feel how enraged I was? She broke her almost RM600 glasses and we're now supposed to get new glasses of HER CHOICE?  Heck no! I told her that she could only choose a plastic frame and my budget was only RM250. But she refused. She said that she'll get a metal frame and choose one that she likes. She said she'll pay the difference. 

Alright, fine.  She also promised me that she'll pay the full cost of the next pair of new glasses herself if she damaged the existing pair of glasses.

I remember I used cello tape to tape up my glasses when I accidentally sat on it and broke the frame. I was only 15 and such a sensible girl for not wanting to burden my parents financially.  

Maybe I wasn't assertive enough to squeeze out a new pair of glasses from my parents but if I was more assertive, I would have been hollered at or even got slapped by my tiger dad. Heck!

And if I were to spank my teenage child now, she would scream child abuse and report me to the authorities! 

Times have changed.

And so here we are at this cafe right opposite the optical store having dinner while Sherilyn is trying on her almost RM600 new glasses at the store.  

After her dad paid the balance, she told me that she has also ordered a box of disposable contact lenses costing almost RM150!

NO, I'm not paying for the contact lenses. She'll have to use her part-time job earnings to pay for them herself. 

And guess what, she fell asleep on her bed just now with her new glasses on and holding a phone in her hand that's charging and got an earful from me!

Gen Z problems!!

Meals Made Easier With Philips Air Fryer

My mum gave me her old Philips air fryer early this year as she got herself a new one.  She previously gave me an Airbot air fryer but it was underutilized as the capacity is very small.  

The Philips air fryer was sitting in our larder for months until recently when the mil went for her cataract surgeries and can't cook for two months.  

Sherilyn pulled the air fryer out and started cooking simple meals in it. And I followed suit as we're all pretty sick of getting takeout food almost every day.  Sherilyn cooks quick meals for her school lunch box.  She's been staying back every day for athletics and volleyball practice for inter-school sports meets.  

Here are a few simple meals whipped up using the Air Fryer.

Air fried shishamo. Fish is lightly oiled and with a pinch of salt.

Our collection of kitchen gadgets. Some gadgets are inside the cupboard as our kitchen is pretty tiny. My wish is to move into a bigger house or apartment with a kitchen so huge that I can display all my kitchen gadgets on the countertop for ease of usage. 

Air fried boneless chicken thigh. Chicken is marinated with cajun, coriander powder, and teriyaki sauce.

Cass made this air fried custard toast.

Air fried boneless chicken thigh from the same batch of chicken thighs that I marinated and this is with  Gula Melaka for caramelizing the skin.

Air fried shimeji mushrooms.  Sherilyn marinated them with black pepper and teriyaki sauce at night. The next morning, she air fried the mushrooms.

Sherilyn's lunch in school - pan-fried wild-caught Pollock fish with herbs, steamed sweet potato, brocolli, and air fried mushrooms.

Air fried chicken drummets marinated with turmeric powder, soy sauce, a dash of oyster sauce, and corn flour.

My Low-Carb Meals

I've been on a low-carb diet since the year 2000 when I was diagnosed with PCOS.  My weight ballooned up from 42kg to 48kg in just a month! I was perplexed, felt something was wrong with me and decided to see a gynae who gave me the diagnosis, which shocked me.  

That was the beginning of my long journey of battling infertility and weight loss.

Going on a low-carb diet (with only 100gm of carbs per day) along with exercising twice a day helped me shed a lot of weight, which was extremely hard.  Women with PCOS usually have unexplained weight gain and difficulties in losing weight. I didn't want to be on Metformin, so I followed a low-carb diet and exercised every single day.  It wasn't easy but I was hell-bent.

23 years on and I'm still on a low-carb diet.  I still eat carbs but minimally and I no longer calculate my daily carbs intake. I have portion-controlled meals and I try to have at least 12 hours of intermittent fasting every day.

My low-carb meals are very simple and sometimes not pocket-friendly. 

Ba Kut Teh with organic broccoli + alfalfa sprouts.

I had Bak Kut Teh again the next time but this time, I had different cuts of meat.  And I added an egg and organic baby spinach.

While everyone else ate 'loh shi fun' noodles, I blanched some veggies and ate only 2 tablespoons of noodles.  This is like a noodle salad.

I air-fried Shishamo and ate 4 pieces for lunch.  The fish is lightly salted with very little cooking oil.

Brekkie with hubs - pork noodles sans the noodles. 

My dessert - mixed sesame bar, limited to only 2 pieces a day.