Cass’ Christmas Show

Last Saturday was a special day for Cass as she performed in the annual Christmas show at the skating rink. Held over two days, with two sessions each day, and opened to the public, this festive event is like a concert but on ice. I was there on Saturday afternoon to cheer her on, and as always, there’s something truly enchanting about watching figure skaters perform. Their movements' grace, precision, and elegance make figure skating one of my favorite Olympic sports, alongside diving and gymnastics.

Besides gaining new experience, Cass also picked up a valuable skill—applying performance makeup. Thanks to tips from her fellow skaters, she learned how to create the bold, stage-ready look required for such events.  

After the show, we headed for an early dinner at KyoChon Korean Fried Chicken. Cass had been eyeing their one-day promotion on 14/12/2024, where fried drummets and wingettes, normally priced at RM25.90, were on sale for just RM14 for 8 pieces. We indulged in two sets for dining in and took one home for Sherilyn. The chicken was crispy and delicious, and I couldn’t get enough of their refillable pickled radish, which perfectly balanced the rich flavors of the fried chicken.

Our post-dinner stroll led us to Koi for milk tea with attap chee, a very refreshing drink with chewy attap chee. Then, we discovered a new noodle shop, Aunt Wu Bone Soup Rice Noodles, which was a delightful surprise. We tried their rice noodles with pork slices, quail eggs, and spam meat in tomato soup. The meal included refillable side dishes like spicy pickled cucumber and potatoes, plus complimentary plum drink—all at reasonable prices.  We’ll be back again to this eatery!

Before heading home after grocery shopping, we enjoyed dessert at Yam Fresh while waiting for Grab fares to drop. Cass generously treated me to a warm taro and purple rice in coconut milk tong sui. I chose something warm as I was freezing cold and sneezing away, no thanks to the freezing temperature at the skating rink.  I think I am going to bring along my puffer jacket the next time I intend to stay in the skating rink for more than 15 minutes to prevent catching a cold. 

Though the fare remained high at RM34, I eventually booked the Grab ride as it was getting late.

Cass received a certificate of participation for her Christmas show.  The next day, after their final Christmas show, the skaters had an early Christmas potluck party and gift exchange session. Cass got some pretty homemade Christmas cookies with fondant and some cute squishy balls. I taxed a squishy ball from her to squeeze when I need to release stress 😁

Delicious noodles in tomato soup (RM28.60) from Aunt Wu Bone Soup Rice Noodles. The plum drink and appetizers of pickled spicy cucumber, potato, and crispy fried soybeans are refillable.  You will also be given a free disposable bib and hair ties.

Delicious taro coconut milk tong sui from Yam Fresh.

X'mas gift from the gift exchange Christmas party. The pink customized bag with Cassandra's name on it is a gift from the skating coach.

Kind and Generous Parents

Cass has been incredibly fortunate to meet some wonderfully kind and generous parents during her figure skating classes. These parents have not only supported their own children but have also extended their generosity and kindness to Cass and the other team members, creating a warm and encouraging environment for everyone.

On the last day of Skate Malaysia 2024, an incredibly thoughtful gesture touched everyone's hearts. One of the parents of Cass' teammates gifted a beautiful fruit basket to all the team members under the same coach who participated in the competition. This generous act was from the mother of one of Cass' teammates—the same lady who helped Cass with her makeup on the day of the competition using her Dior makeup. This kind lady also treated all the girls to a movie on the last day of Skate Malaysia.  Being wealthy is one thing, but being generous and kind is another. Cass is fortunate to have met such a kind lady who goes out of her way to help others and share her blessings.

Two weeks ago, Cass was invited by another teammate to a birthday party celebration at Jungle Gym in Times Square. Despite being one of the oldest team members, Cass enjoys hanging out with her younger friends. The invitation to the birthday party was another testament to the camaraderie and friendship within the team. The kids had a fantastic time, and Cass loved being a part of the fun celebration.

After every level of test, other parents would organize small parties to treat all the teammates. These gatherings are a great way for the skaters to relax, celebrate their achievements, and bond with each other. The effort these parents put into making each occasion special is heartwarming and greatly appreciated by all the kids.

Cass not only loves skating but also enjoys being part of a team with friendly teammates and kind parents. The support system within the team has made her skating journey even more enjoyable. Cass is truly fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people in her figure skating journey.

A beautiful fruit basket with all Cass' favorite fruits, gifted by Cass' teammate's mother.

Saturday, 15 June 2024

It will be a long, late night for Cass and hubby today.  Cass has a figure skating rehearsal at the skating rink from 10pm to 12 midnight. Fortunately hubby is free tonight to do the chauffeuring, otherwise, I'll be waiting at the freezing skating rink until midnight. 

Cass has been eating clean and healthy lately. These is what her meals look like these days:

Salad with kimchi, Korean marinated pork, half an avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, and scrambled eggs with cheese. After her main meal, she ate a slice of air-fried sprouted wheat bread, low-fat yogurt with granola, an apple, an orange, and a few slices of papaya. 
 I also air-fried a slice of quiche, which was given to us by Alycia's bosses at the cafe that she works part-time at. When Alycia's bosses heard that she injured her hand, they passed some goodies from the cafe to her.

Steamed marinated spicy chicken chop, an ear of whole corn (I sliced out the kernels from the cob), sauteed assorted vegetables (from her dad's kitchen), steamed sweet potato, and sweet cherry tomatoes. I love the colors on her bowl, and so does Cass. I'm glad my years of training her to eat vegetables have paid off well.

After Alycia's terrible mishap in the kitchen last week, resulting in shards of broken glass cutting her finger badly, we now have a phobia of using glassware. I've since switched to using stainless steel bowls and containers.  Moreover, our microwave oven died on us yesterday, so we have no choice but to reheat our food using stainless steel dinnerware in the wok 😁

My Life In Photos The Past One Week

School reopens today after a one-month-long break, phew!  School holidays are suffocating for me.  My me-time, morning exercise, peace, space, and freedom at home are literally gone.  The littlest one can be such a handful though she's already 15.  

Besides making a trip back to Ipoh for 3 days and 2 nights, Cass was mostly at home or at the skating rink.

Now that school has reopened and the pandemic is almost behind us, co-curricular activities are back to normal.  Cass will stay back for the first time in high school this week.  CoCo activities were conducted online for the past 3 years. Cass also has to sit for her UEC exam this year. And a few more tests on figure skating.  Cass is going to be one very busy girl this year.

Me at the loo at Pavillion Bukit Jalil.  After sending Cass to the skating rink, I had nothing to do.  To kill time, I did a selfie and rambled around the mall with nothing in mind to buy.  Cass' classes are now from 8-9pm on Fridays 😩

Even though I had absolutely nothing to buy, I still ended up with some stuff from Guardian Pharmacy and a bunch of unnecessary snacks from Food Merchant.  Sherilyn texted me and asked me to help her buy make-up removal oil and I bought a bottle of expensive body shampoo simply because it was on offer and the scent is irresistibly fruity - a mix of grapefruit, apple, peach and all my favorite fruits. That's the reason why I hate going to the mall when I have nothing to buy as I will always end up buying unnecessary things 😁

While window shopping at Guardian, I stumbled upon this - sheet mask for your bust, butt, and belly.  Seriously, would you buy this to nurture your assets? 😆

Ever since mum fractured her right arm two months ago and was down with Covid a month ago, my 80-year-old papa has been taking over all the chores at home in Ipoh.  Mum even taught papa how to bake bread using the breadmaker.  Here, he's removing freshly baked bread from the breadmaker and slicing it, for me to bring it back to KL the next day 💗

The smell of freshly baked bread is heavenly!

Papa also made his signature pandan kaya for us. He stood next to the stove for over 1.5 hours, patiently stirring the santan+egg+sugar+pandan juice mixture, turning it from liquid to a thick kaya paste.  His kaya is the best in the whole wide world. 
This is my air-fried homemade whole wheat bread spread with papa's pandan kaya. It's so delish!

Cinnamon rolls baked just an hour ago - Sherilyn's first bake, post-SPM!  

'Tai Yee Ma Kar Lui' for dinner tonight. 
Hairy gourds are currently on promotion at our neighborhood supermarket @ RM5 for two.  I bought four and gave one to the girls' grand aunt.  Today the MIL cooked all the hairy gourds. Dinner for tomorrow is also settled!

Besides braised hairy gourd, we had steamed free-range chicken with ginger paste and steamed pomfret fish (tau tai chong) for dinner tonight.

My Week In Photos: Cass and Figure Skating

It's only the first week of the four-week school holidays.  It's business as usual for me with my early morning Grab duty, sending the SPM girl to sit for the most important exam in her life.  Her SPM schedule is pretty wacky and I have to be around to fetch her back from school at different times every day.

Cass has been hounding me in all my waking hours with her figure skating matters and stories, from attending extra classes (extra classes = extra money!) to attending class on a weekday at NIGHT now.  She talks so much about figure skating techniques that I now know what some techniques look like and how difficult it is to perform them.  Figure skating is just like gymnastics and ballet on ice and Cass has no background in any of those, yet she managed to pull off some of those 'stunts'.

I told Cass that when her dad agreed for her to learn figure skating five months ago, we never agreed for her to attend weekday classes. And never a night class as this would interfere with my bedtime at 9.30pm, as well as her dad's work.  On top of her night classes, Cass also wants to be at the skating rink on Sundays for practice.  And today she told me that she even wants to attend an extra class on a Saturday -- which means being at the skating rink on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!  

NO!

As Cass has now passed her first test, she has progressed to the next level and has to be put in a class with students of her level. And this class is on a weekday NIGHT.  Her class would start at 8pm and end at 9pm.  The distance from the skating rink/mall to where we stay is about 15km and almost twenty minutes to half an hour of drive time one way. No way am I going to chauffeur her to and fro on a weekday night.  And I have problems with driving at night with my high astigmatism power and night blindness.  I cannot rely on hubs 100% to fetch Cass as he most likely still has work to do.

SIGH!! 😪😩

I have now arranged for something which is quite workable but would still interfere with my bedtime. And I'm always the one who has to sacrifice my sleep for someone. Sleep is very important for me now as how I feel the next day is dependent on how well and how much sleep I get at night. I also realize that getting sufficient sleep is very crucial for my overall health.

This year I realized that Cass is just like her second sister - she's a very competitive girl by nature who likes competing. As she has had issues with her health since birth, her talents and passion have been largely subdued and restrained.  Now that she's in better control of her health, getting fitter, more sporty, and more mature, her passion, interests, and talents are slowly starting to unbridle.  

I still have to nag this girl over many things pertaining to her health and she keeps reassuring me that she will take care of her health. Yet, I am still not convinced and worry a great deal about her health. Dealing with her recurrent UTIs, kidney infections, surgeries, and hospital stays since birth has made me a super paranoid mom.  I still cannot let go of her as how I do with Alycia and Sherilyn.

Besides aiming to compete in figure skating, Cass has also signed up to compete in athletics events on her high school sports day. This is another worry on my mind now. 

Besides having to listen to Cass prattle on figure skating the whole day, another activity that we do during the school holidays is cooking. This week I taught Cass how to cook bolognese sauce. 

Cass is thrilled that she now knows how to cook yummy bolognese sauce and very glad to know that it's actually pretty simple.

A simple bolognese sauce made using Ayam brand tomato paste, lots of Shimeji mushrooms, carrots, onions, frozen veggies, a can of Ayam brand tuna, and loads of dried herbs and spices.

Cass' meals for 3 days. Bolognese sauce is her absolute favorite as it goes well with everything.  Cass ate the sauce with konjac noodles and crackers.

Friday, 4 November 2022 ~ End of Final Exam

After a gruelling two weeks of exams, Cass' final exam for the academic year 2022 is finally over.  

I can finally turn on the radio again to listen to my kind of music.  And I don't have to hear her purge out memorized lines throughout the day.  Cass' method of studying involves lots of verbal purging, just like her mom 😬

The first thing that Cass did when she got home from school today is to assemble a burger for herself.  And she chomped it down within minutes.

Super decadent burger with homemade thick pork pattie, homemade caramelized onion burger sauce, homemade pickled cucumber slices, sliced tomatoes, and salad leaves.

And then she started to badger me again to bring her to the skating rink @ Sunway Pyramid tomorrow to get new figure skates, talk to her coach about competing and bring her to Pavillion Bukit Jalil for her figure-skating lessons on Sunday.  Cass stopped pestering me for two weeks as she was busy revising for her exam.  The moment she got back her mobile phone from the teacher after school dismissal, she started to Whatsapp me on the list of things that I HAVE to do for her and with her! 😳😳

Her list of To-Do things involves $$$$$$ as figure skating is a very expensive sport and even more expensive if competition is involved. 

I managed to talk Cass out of competing next year and to only compete in 2024.  She has two matters to settle next year, which are much more important than the competitions i.e. her UEC exam and probably surgery if her upcoming Cystoscopy is successful in capturing clear images of the possible ectopic ureter in her urinary tract.