Homemade Chocolate Brownie And Healthy Roselle Tea

Whenever there's a holiday, my handy girl's hands would start to itch ~ itching to bake her favorite cookies and cakes.

During the long Merdeka weekend, Drama Queen baked a tray of chocolate brownie, using a new recipe. Instead of using regular baking chocolate, which I wasn't too keen to buy as I find those too sweet and too junky, I bought Whittaker's dark chocolate and another imported brand of organic milk chocolate.

This brownie is about 90% organic, made using organic flour, antibiotic and hormone-free chicken eggs, organic brown sugar and organic salt, organic cocoa powder and organic vanilla essence.  What's not organic are the Whittaker's dark chocolate. baking powder and UCC coffee powder. I bought Whittaker's as it's my all-time favorite brand of chocolate (from New Zealand).  And it cost me a frigging RM80 for all the ingredients!





This Drama Queen sure knows how to enjoy her food and life!  She took a scoop of her daddy's Häagen-Dazs macadamia ice-cream to go with the brownie.  The blueberries are organic too.



At the pasar malam on our country's Independence Day, Drama Queen saw some fresh Roselle flowers and asked if I could buy them to make Roselle tea. I told her that if she wanted to make Roselle tea, she would have to help with cleaning and peeling the flowers, which can be pretty time-consuming if you are time-strapped.  Some flowers may be covered with soil and insects and needs umpteen rounds of washing. The petals have soft spikes, like ladies fingers and if you are not careful, can poke your fingers. Be careful of the sharp pits too.

Our Roselle tea boiling in the pot, after Drama Queen helped to wash and removed the pits from the flowers.

How I love the bright ruby red color of the roselle tea!  And it's chock-full of health benefits from lowering blood pressure to boosting our immune system, aids digestion, relieves menstrual pain, nourishes the liver,  has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, contains anti-cancer properties and is high in iron, among other health benefits.

Roselle tea has a taste that is very similar to cranberry juice. It can be described as tart, so you can add sugar or honey to add a little sweetness to it. Also, you can try adding spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger depending on your taste preferences.  I prefer mine without any sweetener.



A big bag of fresh Roselle flowers (at RM5 only) managed to yield about 2 liters of Roselle tea. I add Manuka honey for the girls as the tea is too sour for them. If you can tackle pure cranberry juice without sugar, you can down this Roselle tea sans any sweetener.


Cass made ice popsicles with the Roselle tea. She threw in some fresh orange cubes and cubed Japanese jelly into the mold.


Such a refreshing and healthy dessert on a sizzling hot afternoon.

Someone blew lots of bubbles on her Roselle tea with her new glass straw!



The reusable glass straws can be purchased from my online store. The starter kit comes with 3 straws (straight, bended and bubble tea straw) and two straw brushes.  If you prefer reusable stainless steel straws, I carry them too at my store! Check them out!

It's good to start training your kids from young to stop using plastic straws. These plastic straws are killing turtles and other sea creatures when these poor fellas swallow them thinking that they are jelly fish. We now return all plastic straws and disposable cutlery to the seller when we buy takeout. I even have a few stainless steel tiffin carriers and food containers stashed inside my car trunk so that I rarely have to use disposable plastic containers when buying takeout. Plastic containers release carcinogenic chemicals when in contact with very hot food and soups.

Tell Me It Ain't No Magic Hat Trick!

I have been feeling a tad disturbed and troubled since yesterday. A customer of mine informed me yesterday that after collecting her stuff for her baby from me 3 days ago, she only realized yesterday that 2 items were missing. Now, I am 101% sure that I did put the 2 hats in, absolutely indubitable! I had paid my supplier for the hats and when I received them, I had updated this customer's invoice before putting the hats inside the parcel.  I have records of my payment to my supplier for the 2 items.  The terms and conditions of my online store states that for missing item or defective item, the customer must report to me within 24 hours upon receipt of parcel. So I have every right to reject her claim. But this customer is just too nice to reject her outright. You see, it hurts and it pays to be nice!!  Sometimes I wish I had a heart like Cruella who would not give a d*mn on how other people feel as long as I feel good! People say you have to be cruel at some point to be able to climb up real high!  That explains why I can never reach that high!!

This customer does not seem to be the trouble-maker kind of customer. She is amiable and warm. I can feel it through our chats on FB.  There is really a big mystery surrounding this missing hats case. She had wanted to come and pick up the stuff from me so that she could meet me.  After 3 months from the date of purchase, she finally told me that she could pick up the stuff from me at my condo on one afternoon. As I had to go out on that day, I left the parcel with the guards at our condo and gave instruction to the guards to pass the parcel to her. But she did not turn up. I had to go down and collect the parcel back from the guard at night.  Then about 1.5 months later, she told me that she could come and collect her stuff again.  Again, I was not free to wait for her and had to pass the parcel to the guard at the Guards Control Room.  She finally came and pick up her parcel. But 3 days later, I got a shock when she told me that 2 items were not in the parcel.

I quickly checked the cupboard that I keep all my customers' parcels and almost turned it upside down. I went through each and every customer's parcel to check if the 2 hats were inadvertently placed in the parcel but NO, no sight of the hats. I sat down and checked the invoice again, over and over again and the more I tried to track back the sequence of events, the more assured I was that I had placed the 2 hats into her parcel.  I then began to feel that there is something really creepy going on.  There seems to be a creepy magic hat trick!?  These days, everyone in our country is talking about MAGIC... not going to elaborate further on this political magic, lest I get arrested too.  I just don't understand how the 2 hats can go missing! I asked my customer to check her car and house and she said she could not find them.

In my 3.5 years running this online store business, this kind of problem has never surfaced. I dare say I am an overly cautious person in nature. I would check the customer's invoice against the items in the parcel and again check the invoice against my email / FB message with the customer before sending the parcel out. I would repeat this process at least two times before I seal the parcel. Sometimes when I feel uneasy, I would open up the parcel again to double check for the last time before sending the parcel out. I know very well the consequences if any item is left behind or if  I send the wrong item to a customer. All my profit would go towards the return  postage by courier!

Now, how would you handle this situation?  I can feel that she wants me to pay her for the 2 missing items but how can I pay for a mistake that is not even a mistake that I made? Maybe she had really misplaced the 2 items herself?  It is her words against mine.  But then I should also give her a benefit of the doubt.  But who will give me a benefit of the doubt?  Though the 2 hats do not cost me a hundred bucks, it is not the money that matters. It is a matter of principle and I want to darn know where the heck the 2 hats disappeared to!

Oh yes, I even went to the guards control room to view the CCTV footage and got some unkind comment from the chief guard.  I do have some suspicion that the guard that day took the 2 hats but heck, they are hats for babies! But who knows, the guard took them for his baby girl?  Fark, all the possibilities have been running wildly in my head for the past 2 days and this missing hats mystery is making my mind sick!

I am still waiting for my customer to revert on the next course of action. Running a business is never easy. It is even tougher if time is not always on your side... when you have to divide yourself and juggle all your tasks (personal, kids, business and what not) carefully every single day. Sometimes it is not money that makes you unhappy but everything else that surrounds the situation or the problem. I could have just refunded her the RM60 but I am not the type of person who splashes money for the wrong reason. I know the hats are in the parcel but where the heck are they now?! Dear God, please let the truth reveal itself soon, amen...

Mega Busy Day Today

Today is set to be a mega busy day for me. I am expecting 4 huge bags of stock from 4 of my suppliers. Today, Unify will be coming to install broadband internet too. Praying hard that my internet connection will not be disrupted during the transition from Streamyx to Unify, otherwise nothing gets done but will only lead to a huge pile of work undone. This is a very busy week for me as I must rush out all my customers' orders before CNY, lest I see complaints written all over my FB wall or worst - phone calls from some impatient customers. I told the girls that tonight I am not going to cook dinner as kakak has to help me with the QA check of all the clothes. We will be going downstairs to the Japanese restaurant at our condo for dinner. The girls are so happy to be able to have Japanese food for dinner on a school going day, which is something that we rarely do. Wishing myself lots of good luck and hopefully everything will proceed smoothly. I am so looking forward to the long CNY break. That's the only time of the year when I can take a long rest as business is usually very slow during this period.

Pissed Off By A Customer

I am really pissed off by a customer today when she called me today and said that I was 'action' when I told her that I do not accept orders over the phone and I do not practice reservation without any payment. My online store's policy is that reservation of clothes or for any item will only be made after full payment is made. 2 years ago when I just started my online business, I had allowed customers to reserve an item without payment but after a few bad incidents which left me with clothes that were never paid for when the customers disappeared and never replied my calls and emails, I decided to put a stop to non-payment reservation.

After my encounter with a handful of MIA customers (some were my regular), I have to put my foot down and say no more reservation and no more down payment for reservation. Last year, I had a reseller who paid me a 50% down payment for stock worth over RM500 but she never came back to collect her stock. My countless numbers of emails, text messages and calls to her were never returned but thank God, I managed to sell all the stock! Thank God for helping me out as the items that she ordered were specialized items, which not many people will buy.

Many times I had reserved an item for a customer and turned away the next customer who is interested, only to be informed by the first customer much later that she is not interested anymore. Needless to say, the second customer was not interested anymore later. The result is I had lost both the customers. Hence, I have made up my mind that reservation of an item will only be made after payment is made... and on a first pay first get basis. Ordering will only be taken if they are made through email or Facebook message. No verbal reservation will be accepted anymore.

Now back to this customer. She had re-assured me profusely that she is very genuine in her purchase but she can only pay up after 1 month! That item is not even RM40! I told her that as per our store's policy this is not possible but she snapped at me and said "you cannot be so action you know" in Cantonese... at which time I could feel my blood turn hot from my heart shooting up to my head. I tried hard not to blow up and raise my voice but told her that she cannot say that I am 'action' as a store's policy is a policy and it cannot be tweaked however way a customer wants it. I don't think any online store will entertain a customer's non-payment reservation through the phone and with payment only to be made after one month, unless if the person is the seller's good friend or relative. Customers like this really spoils my day.

Recently a customer called me up when I was on a holiday, put words in my mouth (when she did not read my earlier messages to her with all the terms and conditions of purchase) and asked for a refund. Thank you God again for helping me to settle this matter amicably. Now she wants to order from me again but I am very hesitant to accept this order. Money cannot buy happiness and money is not everything. Of course, I have good customers too. I have several generous customers who paid me tip by asking me to keep the change. On the whole, most of my customers are easy going and some are heaven sent haha! I do pray to God to send me only good customers, customers who will not spoil my day and make me to believe that I am all out to cheat them. Oh please, I am here to do long-term business and my store is not a fly-by-night store. And let me tell you, some customers are out there to cheat sellers like me by tricking me into believing that they had made payment but in actual fact, no payment was ever made!

Darn Tired

I have been feeling really really exhausted, lethargic and burnt out for the past few weeks. While I am happy that business at my eStore is good, I am nevertheless sacrificing my sleep and time with my 3 kiddos. I should have done more revision with Alycia and Sherilyn to prepare them for their exams but I just can't squeeze out the time in a day. What's with the 3 kiddos down with purging and high fever for the past 5 days, I am really jaded now. For the past 5 days, the girls have been pooping almost every hour of the day (and night!) I have been washing their pooped out bottoms every hour of the day, checking their temperature, feeding #2 meds, spoon feeding Baby (she now screams on top of her voice in defiance whenever our helper tries to feed her) and all that jazz that a full-time mom has to do.

At 11pm when all the kiddos are asleep, I will creep out of my bedroom to have some really quiet time to do stuff related to my online store and to complete my online assignments. But my eyes would droop as my fingers tap on the keyboard. It's really really dangerous to work when your mind, body and soul are shutting down. Once, I wrote a customer's address wrongly and suffice to say, the consequences was costly. Another time, I sent out a customer's order before all her stock arrived. Again, it was a costly consequence as I had to send the remaining stock to her later. Once bitten, twice shy... I will never repeat these mistakes again. Sigh... well having said all these, I think this arrangement is still better than me being a working mum. Not really regretting but just need to rant out all the frustrations in me.

A Wide And Interesting Collection

I’ve got customers looking for all sorts of clothes from my online store. Most of my customers shop for office attire, many of them buy smart casuals and dinner dresses. Once I had a customer who wanted 9 units of dress in yellow for her bridesmaids. Sometimes I have customers looking for prom dresses and dresses to wear for a church wedding. I have even sold clothes to women aged 60 and above! Yup, my collection is for woman of all ages from infant to infinity age 

New Temp Store Assistant

She's my new temporary store assistant and the best ever... but she's only going to help me out for the next 1 week and then she'll return to her hometown :(

Yesterday was a super duper hectic day for me. My stock from 5 suppliers arrived on the same day, coincidentally. Thank God my mum is here and she helped me check the clothes, else I would have to work round the clock to check, sort and pack the clothes into Pos Laju bags. Order for the past few days have also been high. I have been working 15 hours non-stop for 2 days. I am really burnt out and jaded. I need a breakie today!

Check out those beautiful kawaii hats. I LOVE them all!! I have bought 2 hats for my girls and now I am tempted to buy more!!


Pic taken this morning.... pos laju bags waiting to be picked up by the postman later.

Do check out my online store http://oldandnewstuff4sale.blogspot.com/ to shop for cute kids clothes, hats, swim wear, costumes, kids accessories and chic ladies wear at very affordable prices.

My Home Turned Garment Factory

I have been super duper busy with my online store for the past 2 days that I just could not find the time to update this dear blog of mine. Yesterday, it was a coincidence that 3 of my suppliers delivered my stock to me, with almost 100 pieces of ladies and kids clothing. This always happens. When I am more relaxed, my suppliers will not send their stock to me despite me chasing them but when one supplier delivers, all of them starts to deliver as well, as if they have telepathy! And my store is only a one-man-show whose poor owner has to one leg kick everthing herself!

Here's the scene at my home, like a garment factory:

Kids clothes, busha pants, kawaii hat, etc all on the floor, waiting for the round of QA inspection by the QA officer...


Bags of ladies clothes...


My little factory workers helping me to fold the clothes and re-insert them back into the bags after I had checked....


Clothes and Pos Laju bags strewn everywhere....



Baby trying to kacau jie jie....


Here are some cool stuff from my online store, Old And New Stuff For Sale :


DD-Q4341 Guess Orange Check Pattern Dress



Carter's Colorful Flower Dress





E10171 B2W2 Rose Dress



E10183 B2W2 Princess Set



E10159 B2W2 Blue Superman Set



E10155 B2W2 Red+Black Set



80143 Romantic Flowers Retro Dress With Belt



68033 Korean Lantern Floral Dress



OD015 - Dress


MD001RD - Dress (Red)




MD010RD - Dress (Red)



Do check out Old And New Stuff For Sale for more great and affordable stuff!

Google Searchers Turned Customers

Many of my online store (Old And Stuff For Sale)'s customers make up of my blog readers. And a handful of them comprise of 'google searchers'! One customer of mine was searching for 'buckwheat' and landed on my blog. Another customer searched for 'breastfeeding', one searched for 'hotpot', one on homemade kaya, homemade jam, etc. etc. and they all landed on my blogs and then became my faithful blog readers... and eventually became my customers!

Today, someone called me on my mobile phone. This lady was also a google searcher, in search of a kids harness for her gallivanting toddler and landed on my blog. She told me that she does not trust buying things from the internet and wanted to come to my place to get the harness. I sold the kids safety harness to her :D

Hmmm, I think I should start writing more articles on popular-searched keywords on Google to attract more readers to my blogs... and eventually to my online store *greeeeeeeedy grrrrrrrin*

Cutting Baby's Fringe

Baby is getting a fringe cut here from mah mah. Whenever my mil is around, she will help me trim Baby's bangs but when she's overseas, I have to take over this chore. It really ain't easy to trim them real straight when she keeps fidgeting. I usually need 2-3 days to get her bangs straight!



For those of you who are looking for a second hand ring sling to wear your baby, do hop over to Old And New Stuff For Sale. I'm selling my Baby Loft purple silk ring sling at only RM60 inclusive of shipping (original price is RM149.90) .

Sell Any Of Your Old Or New Stuff At My Blogshop!

This invitation is open to everyone! I am pretty sure many of you have stuff that you want to dispose of but don't know where to dispose them or who to give them to. Sometimes, you feel that it would be a tad too 'sayang' to give your stuff away and have thought of selling it. Well, now you can sell your stuff both old and new at my blogshop, Old And New Stuff For Sale!

You can sell just about any stuff - old baby clothes, your old clothes, bags, costume jelweries, accessories, belts, iPod, your old car (!!) and anything under the sky that you have EXCEPT for pornographic stuff, illegal stuff, banned stuff and stuff that I don't support. Listing of your stuff at my blogshop will be subject to my review and approval. You only pay me 20% in handling / listing fee and commission. For eg. if someone buys your old handbag at RM20, you only need to pay me RM2, that's it!

You can also make nice stuff - costume jewelries, crafts, kids' stuff, even cakes, cookies, etc. and sell them at my blogshop.

This is the procedure:

1) Take pix of your stuff
2) Write description of your stuff
3) Set pricing for your stuff
4) Email the pix and description of your stuff to shireenyong@gmail.com
5) I will post your pix and description of your stuff in my blogshop
6) Any enquiries from interested customers, I will direct them to you.
7) Payment will be to my bank account.
8) I will transfer the money to your account less 20% (10% handling / listing fee + 10% commission) to be paid to me.

You like this stuff? If you love my stuff, quick go through your wardrobe and garage/storeroom to look for old stuff now, snap pix and email them to me. Spread this news to your friends and relatives too. You don't have to go to eBay or sweat it out at the weekend bazaar to sell your stuff now! Sell it at Old And New Stuff For Sale.

BTW, I got this idea from self-made millionaire Rob Kalin when I read from last month's Reader's Digest about how he made his millions doing this at his website. He is only 29 years old and he grosses more than USD12 million a year!! Well, I don't dream of making this much, just a million a year will suffice :D

Sale At My Online Store!

My online store, Old And New Stuff For Sale is turning 1 month old on 4 January 2010 and is growing stronger by the day. To celebrate this occasion, I am offering a 10% discount on items that begin with the code ID for the period 1 Jan 2010 - 7 Jan 2010 only.

Don't miss out this great opportunity and quick hop over to Old And New Stuff For Sale !

Here's wishing all my readers and customers a very blessed and happy new year!

Alycia Is 6 Today

We celebrated Alycia's 6th birthday at our favorite Seoul Korea Korean restaurant this afternoon with my mil and parents. My parents had just arrived in KL from Ipoh today and will be flying off to Hainan Island tomorrow for a vacation. Tonight, we will be having dinner at the Japanese restaurant at our condo. Alycia shares the same birthday with the owner of the restaurant! Let's hope she will give us a small treat, hehe! Shall post pix soon.

I've been busy with my new online store for the past 1 week. It's really difficult to juggle my time having to manage 3 kids, my 4 blogs, my hubby's catering blog , my new online store and a few personal matters that need urgent attention. Plus, with a handful of orders from my first few clients and having to deal with my suppliers and courier company, my head is spinning lol! To all my clients, thanks so much for your support. Sorry if I've been a tad slow in responding to your emails and SMSes. I am very confident that in days to come, everything will run more smoothly and you can all get quicker replies and receive better customer service from me.