Skipping To Good Health & Greater Heights

In her pursuit of gaining a few inches in height, Alycia skips between 2,000 - 4,000 times a day with a skipping rope. Every single day. That's how steely her determination is.  Yesterday, Alycia's classmate came over to our place to get lessons from Alycia on how to skip with a skipping rope! 😄

Lately, Cass is following her che che's footsteps. When I first got her a skipping rope, she just couldn't master the act of skipping. Just like her che che, she persisted and never once gave up. After trying for hours on end, she finally got it. Now, she skips about 20 minutes every evening.






Skipping is a great calorie cooker, improves your stamina and increases your bone density. It's good for your heart and brain, helps with constipation and is a cheap form of exercise.  Skipping also helps in muscle toning as it is a body weight exercise.  It improves footwork, balance and coordination. Skipping is one of the best exercises for endurance training and conditioning.

Skipping also adds to bone mass by making them longer. That is why skipping can help in gaining a few inches.

Our girls each have their own skipping rope.  You can stash your skipping rope in your handbag or briefcase and skip during break time in the office. Skipping is a funtastic exercise 👍💪

Our Friday - 23 June 2017

Friday, the eve of eve of Hari Raya was a school holiday. After dropping Drama Queen at school for UPSR preparation class, we had breakfast at the Mamak restaurant.

My baby girl was all smiles as she LOVES spicy food.  





On our way back from piano class on Saturday, Cass and I talked about our dream house again. We love woolgathering and building castles in the air during our ride back home after piano class.  As usual, she said she wanted a corner house with 3 dogs - a Samoyed, a Corgi and a Golden Retriever or Husky. She would then plant lots of chili trees, papaya trees, coconut trees and lots of flowers and herbs in her garden.  Why chili trees I asked her and her reply was "Coz I LOVE chilis. I could eat lots of them. I can even eat cili padi. I can eat all the chilis in the world" 😈

Grilled Cheese On Cream Crackers

My friend and her hubby paid me a visit last week. They gave me a big tin of Jacob's original cream crackers, a gigantic bottle of Ribena, a big packet of red dates and American ginseng. They are old school like that - cream crackers and Ribena must go hand in hand when it comes to gifting to sick / convalescing friends. So very sweet and thoughtful of them to come all the way from Shah Alam to visit me with the goodies 💗

I can't remember when the last time was that I bought original cream crackers. I used to eat them for breakfast so very often when I was in college. I would dunk the cream crackers into Milo / coffee. It was such a fast, convenient and economical breakfast that could fill me up until lunch. My dad still eats cream crackers dunked into his coffee till today.


The other day, Alycia found a novel way of enjoying cream crackers. She placed cheddar cheese on the crackers and grilled them in the toaster oven for a few minutes. Then, she spooned some 'tau kok lup' (a dish consisting of sauteed long beans, carrots, meat, prawns, peanuts and preserved radish - all diced)  on top of the crackers with cheese, turning it into a pizza cracker!  I thought it was a weird combo but it turned out to be epic! Soon, Cass and Drama Queen followed suit. And I helped myself to a piece too.  

I thought that the girls wouldn't fancy eating cream crackers as they are pretty tasteless and dry but now, they have found a novel way of savouring this crispy and delightful snack😋👍

Father's Day - 18 June 2017

15 years ago, the thought of ever having a child to celebrate parents' day with us seemed so remote. The hubs and I didn't have an iota of feeling of how it would be like to have someone calling us daddy and mummy and to have a child to celebrate mother's day and father's day with us.

Now we have our 3 precious daughters to celebrate these two meaningful days with us.  They are high maintenance and suck us dry each month with endless expenses, drive us potty every single day with the typical Gen Z kids' problems but we  are not complaining.  Being given the privilege to be their parents is a true blessing 💗

Today we celebrated father's day at Front Room by The Kneady Baker @ Taman Desa, a newly opened cafe run by friendly owners with past careers in banking and advertising.





I love the Caesar Salad with crispy bacon bits, poached egg, cheese and homemade croutons. Mixing the runny poached egg with the salad gives it a very creamy texture.




The Pulled Pork Sliders is superb. The luscious and tender pulled pork cooked in sweet-sour gravy whets the appetite. The soft, fluffy and milky buns are house-made by Jo, the owner.




Photo-bombed again! They couldn't wait to lay their hands on the hot fries...



The American grilled toast with cheese is insanely lip-smackingly delicious. I love the ultra soft and fluffy milk loaf baked by Jo. The aroma of butter and cheese grilled on the milk bread is to die for.  Jo's partner cooks everything himself.



The Big Plate comes with two slices of house-baked Jalapeno bread, crispy bacon, house-made sausage, scrambled eggs and baked beans.



The cakes baked by Jo are outrageously delish and fluffy yet not overly sweet or cloy.  Though I am on a low-sugar diet now for quick healing of  my surgical wounds, I  just had to have a day off today to indulge in these sinful babes.  We had strawberry sweetheart, red velvet in white chocolate, peanut butter jelly and pandan gula melaka cake. I love them all and noshed down quite a big wodge of all these cakes. Now, we don't have to make a mad dash to Alexis for our sinful indulgence. We can now find perfect cakes to go with our coffee and tea at our neighborhood cafe.




The Naked Belgian Waffle - simplicity wins the heart. As the name suggests, this waffle is sans any topping. It's fluffy, light and goes really well with butter and maple syrup.  I've always like my waffle naked and sometimes drizzled with a little maple syrup. The girls and I really enjoyed this waffle.





Front Room And The Kneady Baker
16-1, Jalan 1/109E, Desa Business Park, Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur.
Open Wed-Mon, 930am-5pm.
Tel: 016-233-8807

One Pot Meal - Roast Chicken And Vegetables For Dinner (9 June 2017)

Today the mil had a wedding dinner to attend and wasn't around to cook dinner. She removed half a chicken from the freezer in the morning and asked me to settle dinner. The girls missed having grilled chicken as they have not had it for a long time. When the mil is around, she hardly cooks Western dishes.  Thus, the girls were beginning to miss the Western dishes that I would normally cook whenever their grandma is away.

Since the half chicken was uncut, I had an idea. I've wanted to try Jamie Oliver's roast chicken for years but was just too lazy to try. Since I was feeling much better, could walk around like myself again and was in the mood to cook, I told the girls that I would be dishing out roast chicken. They couldn't be happier!

I marinated the chicken with sea salt, pepper, a little turmeric powder and dried rosemary. Drama Queen helped to slice a lemon and squeezed a little lemon juice all over the chicken. The chicken was placed in a ziploc bag and marinated for half a day.

For the roast vegetables, I used 2 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 2 sweet corns, 1 whole bulb of garlic (with skin intact), 1 brinjal and 3 big onions.

Drama Queen took a breather from revising for her exam and helped to cut the vegetables. She cut the potatoes and carrots into French Fries like strips.

Method:
Drizzle some rice bran oil (we ran out of olive oil) and sea salt on the vegetables and mix well. Place the vegetables at the base of a tray. Place the chicken on the vegetables, skin side facing up.

Drizzle oil all over the chicken.

Heat oven at 200C. Reduce to 180C and roast the chicken uncovered for half an hour.

Baste the chicken with a mixture of melted butter mixed with dried rosemary after half an hour in the oven.  Grill for another 30 minutes.  The skin will be crackling when you prick it with a fork (what awesome sound to hear!)





The moment the chicky was removed from the oven and placed on the dining table, our 3 piranhas attacked it with their bare hands and noshed it down to the bones.  No cutlery was needed.  They even gnawed on the bones 😜. It was simply finger licking good! Everything on the tray was chowed down, except for the bones.

This roast chicken is a stunning showstopper that is so easy to prepare.  The girls will definitely have this dish at least once or even twice a week for a whole month that the mil is in Hawaii starting from early next month 😁

Moments Before The Surgery

My mum the paparazzi snapped many pictures of me while I was being wheeled to the OT of SYMC on 29 May 2017.

The teary and red eyed ones are omitted here.

Below is the picture of me being pushed to the OT Complex.  My loved ones were prohibited from going beyond the door. But my dearest papa managed to barge in to check on me 2 hours after the surgery as there were still no news on me from the doctor or the nurses. 😆




Below - a hospital staff waiting to push me into the lift to bring me to the OT and I was trying so hard not to burst into tears again.  I had gone through this bloodcurdling events 5 times in my life. While waiting for the lift to arrive, with my baby girl next to me, I suddenly felt like it was the year 2002, when I was waiting to be pushed to the OT to undergo the very first surgery in my life, which was a laproscopic Ovarian Drilling. I was desperate to have a baby then and tried ALL means to get pregnant.  15 years on, I have the same spine-chilling and nervous feelings all over again but this time, I have my 3 grown up babies by my side. 💗💓.  Please GOD, let this be the LAST surgery I ever have to go through, amen.




Time really flies. Two weeks ago, I was up to my eyeballs worrying over everything about the surgery and the biopsy result.  Now everything is over and I am recovering well. My prayers now are for the insurance company to approve the two unapproved items - the power morcellator and the morcellator bag costing a whopping RM5k+.

Post Operation Appointment With Surgeon

Today is my appointment with Dr Tan, both to collect my biopsy report and to remove the plasters on the 3 wounds on my belly.  I only found out today that there were sutures as well on the 3 holes!

I left the house at 8:30 a.m. with the hubs and reached the clinic in Sri Kembangan at 9 a.m.  After I registered myself, I had breakfast with the hubs.

We went to PappaRich as the hubs wanted me to eat in a clean eatery vs. some unhygienic hawker stalls. I ordered the blandest item from the menu, which was hor fun in clear soup and it came with a piece of steamed chicken drumstick. The noodles and soup were pretty insipid and I whacked down half a bowl anyway as I was famished.  As I am still avoiding caffeinated tea, I didn't order my favorite lai char but ordered lemon slices in hot honey.  Hubs had toasties with kaya and two half boiled free-range chicken eggs.   I can't wait to tuck into spicy food again!




Dr Tan is in the midst of helping me write a detailed medical report for submission to the insurance company. She is trying her level best in helping me fight my claim of the two excluded items from the bill totaling over RM5k, i.e the power morcellator and the morcellator bag.  These items were once approved by the said insurance company and I think they are now trying to cut costs, thus making claims really difficult to get through.

Dr Tan is recommended to me by the hubs' aunt and I now highly recommend her. She is knowledgeable, smart, helpful, down to earth and her team of staff is just as helpful. One of her staff has been going all out to help me since day one and I gave her a little gift today.

If you've been keeping an eye on my blog to find out about the biopsy report results, it's ALL CLEAR with no malignancy found, thank you Lord!  The past few weeks had been one of the darkest moments of my life and I was riddled with immense worries and anxiety. The storm is over and  I can see the rainbow and smell the sun now 😇

If you are looking for a good fertility specialist, Ob & Gyn and hynobirthing classes, I highly recommend Dr Tan Ee Ping from CT Woman & Child Specialist Clinic.  Dr Tan's husband is a pediatrician and they both share the same clinic.






My lunch today - fried rice with ginger strips, chopped ngai (mugwort) and eggs, seasoned with lots of sesame seed oil.

Check out the daisy that Cass bought for me on the day I was discharged from the hospital 6 days ago. It's surprisingly still fresh and  standing strong 💗

Keeping Allergies At Bay

It seems like as soon as the weather turns warmer, the trees begin to get their leaves and the grass turns green that there are sounds of people sneezing and coughing. Seasonal allergies can make life difficult, sometimes making it almost impossible to go outside to enjoy the warm sunshine and the beautiful colors. Fortunately, there are a few solutions that will make allergies a bit easier to deal with, such as visiting the Asthma and Allergy Center Hunterdon County, NJ  to see what it offers. Most allergy centers will perform tests to determine what sets off your allergies, giving you medications to help deal with the symptoms.

If you do venture outdoors, leave your shoes at the door when you go back inside the house. This will prevent grass and other debris from the yard from getting into the home. If you're doing any kind of yard work, then take a shower when you get done so that you wash away the grass and pollen that flies around. This can help prevent any sneezing or coughing that might occur if you leave grass on you for even a short while.

You can stop allergies in their tracks by rinsing the sinuses with saline solution. There are products on the market now that make it easy to wash the entire nasal cavity so that it's free of any allergens that might be present. You can also spray saline in the nose each day to get rid of any pollen that lingers.

Another idea to consider, at least during the spring, is to eat more chicken than beef. Cows usually eat just grass and hay while chickens are often fed other types of food. The grass and hay can pass through the cow into the beef that is made from them, transferring to your body as well even in some small way. Consider taking a capsule of fish oil each day to help in preventing allergies. If you don't want to change the diet or take supplements, then wear a large sun hat and sunglasses to cover the face as much as possible so that you're not breathing in allergens from outside.

Voracious Reader

I was watching the video of 12-yo Darci Lynne perform at America's Got Talent 2017 and called Cass and Drama Queen over to watch the remarkable performance.  Darci received a Golden Buzzer for her performance and  had all the judges rooting for her. She is so adorable, charming and has an angelic voice. I watched the video umpteen times and could not spot a moment where Darci's mouth moved when her hand puppet 'sang'.

The moment Cass watched the video, she excitedly told me that this is called 'ventriloquist'. She explained to me that ventriloquist is a person who can speak or utter sounds so that they seem to come from somewhere else, especially an entertainer who makes their voice appear to come from a dummy or animal.

I was stunned as to how my 9-yo would know the word 'ventriloquist' and asked her where she learned the word from. Cass then showed me that she read it from one of her Famous Five books. She has a huge collection of Famous Five books, some of which belonged to my older brother Raymond some 30 years ago.

Cass is a voracious reader and is currently reading Dan Brown's Inferno (a thick novel with super tiny words). She even hijacked my book on the autobiography of Olivia Newton John, a book that I bought from the Big Bad Wolf sale but haven't gotten the time to read yet.

Fear Of Death And Drawing Up A Will

For years, I procrastinated in having a Will drawn up.  Death comes unannounced and at a time when you least expect it. Having my hard earned money channeled to the Government by default upon my death where there is no Will in place is the last thing I want.

If not for the surgery that I would be going through, I guess I'd most likely still be procrastinating in drawing up my Will.  I am such a dawdler in such matters.

About 2 weeks before my surgery, I started asking around for quotations. The fee ranges between RM400 - RM600 for a basic Will if prepared in KL, which I find too costly. The Will is just a 2-page signed and stamped thingy, nothing fancy and I didn't want to spend too much on it. My mum then recommended her ertswhile student to me, who now owns a law firm in Ipoh.  Her fees are cheaper and I engaged her immediately.  Everything was done via email and Whatsapp and I then couriered the signed Will to her for stamping.  Easy peasy.

When I read the draft Will, I was overcome by emotions. Such words as 'upon your demise' and 'the money in your banks will be used in your funeral expenses' cut me like a knife. Asking a certain someone to be my first witness in the Will was chokingly emotional for  me too.  I told my 3 girls about the Will and what they would be getting upon 'mummy's death'.   Suddenly, I felt like I was preparing for my death.  I was overwhelmed by emotions the week leading to the surgery. I felt like it was my 'last week' around with my loved ones. I can get this negative at times.

But Cass was very, very confident that the surgery would be successful and that I would live very, very long 💕

Cass to me: mummy, I don't know why, but I have this feeling that you will be ok. I know you won't have cancer. I just have this feeling that you won't die so soon! Think positive mummy. Remember mummy, DO NOT be negative. Being negative kills you ok!

😪💗




My Will


Have you drawn up your Will yet?  If you're a procrastinator too, don't wait, just do it.

Post Surgery Nourishing Food

My parents who are my biggest cheerleaders have been in KL since the eve of my surgery.  By just being next to me at my hospital bed to walking me to the OT door, to the first few people whom I saw after I came to, they were with me at my darkest moments. This means a lot to me.

My dad, a self-taught chef has been whipping up sumptuous dishes for me to nurse me back to health. I am definitely recovering from strength to strength by the day.

Here are some of the comfort food that my dad and mil prepared...


Chicken with homemade rice wine, ginger slices and 'ngai' (mugwort). This dish is outrageously good and it's pretty simple to cook as well. 



Steamed minced pork with water chestnut and dried cuttlefish strips, another lip-smacking homecooked dish.



Pan-fried fish with turmeric and ginger; pork liver and kidney soup with mugwort; braised bitter gourd (partially shown) and stir-fried cabbage (partially shown)




Braised pork ribs with homemade preserved plums made by the hubs' aunt in Taiwan, another insanely appetizing dish that goes well with rice, porridge, noodles or just on its own, like what I do.




Red dates + blue dates + tong sum (poor man's Ginseng) tonic boiled in slow cooker


Today is the fourth day after my surgery and I am feeling very  much like myself again. I am very sure that by next week, I will be able to start my early morning brisk walking again 💪

Conversation With Cass

Before bedtime last night...

Cass - mum, you don't have to help me do anything. I can wash up myself. You just rest OK.

I then lay in bed and told her that I wanted to sleep early.  Later, Cass knelt down beside me and said this:

Cass - mum, don't you dare to swim or jog when we go back to school in 2 weeks ok?

Me - I will only walk around the condo compound VERY SLOWLY, ok?

Cass - NOPE! Don't you dare do it!  What if you fall down and hit your wound? You fell down before right?  You listen to me now. I am the mother and you are the baby girl now.

Me - oh yeah! What if I fall down yeah? I never thought of that. You're so smart.

💕💓💘

Post Laproscopic Myomectomy Surgery

My first solid meal after the surgery was a few slices of tuna sandwich, prepared for me the night before. I didn't eat it and just left it in my room as I was too lazy to get down from bed and to brush my teeth after that. I didn't feel like moving too much right after a surgery.  I just drank a packet of Izumio, a few sips of Milo and many sips of warm water after my surgery. I had a bad throat with phlegm caused by the oxygen tube inserted into my throat during the surgery. I only ate the tuna wholemeal sandwich at 6:30 a.m. the next day.

At 8:30 a.m., I had breakfast of fish porridge.




At 11:30 a.m., lunch was served. I chose braised chicken with potatoes and ginger and brown rice. There was a side of fish ball soup and honey dew as dessert.



The food was bland enough for recuperating patients.



Eating and working at my lappie 😁

After my discharge from the hospital on Tuesday, 30 May, my papa, mil and the girl's grand aunt joined in forces to cook up a storm. It was a celebration of sorts to welcome me home. It was coincidentally the Duanwu / Dumpling Festival too on that day.





I had pumpkin, pork and fish porridge but I didn't take any pic of it. I was feeling very bloated with gas pains from the unreleased gas and CO2 trapped in my body. The gas was finally released after dinner. What a relief!!!

The hubs bought a jackfruit cheese cake for us to celebrate a 2-in-1 occasion: Shireen's Homecoming and Parents' Day 💗




This morning as I was watching Cass wash up and brush her teeth, Cass said this proudly and melodramatically. "mum, you see, I survived a HUNDRED days without you... and you, you got back alive after the surgery. The good thing is, I feel a lot more independent! I can wake up to pee with my alarm clock at 4am, without you. You see, I survived without you!"

After a mere 3 days away from home, my girls are suddenly so independent. This morning, Alycia helped peel an orange for Cass and hung the laundry.  Cass helped to mop the floor with the magic mop after breakfast. After lunch just now, Drama Queen helped to mop the kitchen floor.  I am blessed 😍💖


You can read the story of my laproscopic myomectomy surgery in my other blog.

Pre-Admission To Hospital

This post is typed in the hospital. Today is my pre-admission day and the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 3pm.

Thank God a blood transfusion is not needed as my total blood count went up to a reading of 12 (from reading of 6 in January this year). After my blood test results were out and I've checked into the hospital, I went home for several hours.  My beloved parents arrived  from Ipoh today to give me moral support. They have always been my number one cheerleader ❤

At the hospital in the evening today...


My charges helping me with my luggage





My papa helping me place my luggage and paraphernalia

And my paparazzi mum furtively took all the pix here without our knowledge :D


Pic above - Cass helping me set up the laptop; pic below - the hubs taking a rest on the recliner bed in my single bedroom while Cass helps me to log in using the hospital WiFi.  

I an indeed blessed that I have my entire family to accompany me to the hospital and cheering me on.

My tummy is growling now and I am not allowed to eat until 7am. My last meal before the surgery must be before 8am tomorrow. I have gulped down my first dose of pico salax (pre surgery bowel prep) but nothing is out yet. How??  I guess I have to wait for the second dosage at 9pm,..

Friday Lunch - 26 May 2017

Today is the last day of school for the girls and the 2 weeks mid term holidays begin tomorrow. It's not quite a holiday yet for Drama Queen as she has another 1 week of school to attend for UPSR exam preparation classes. Though it's the long awaited school holidays, it's not quite a holiday for me.

Cass said this to me when she came back from school today "mum, it's the start of the school holidays but it's the start of your nightmare!  It rhymes, yeah?" 😁

Yeah, rub it in. I know. You are so right baby girl. It is indeed the start of my nightmare. I have been praying hard that the surgery will be 100% smooth sailing and successful with no complications. I sure hope that my hospital stay will be pleasant.  My good friend had a similar surgery done some time last year and she told me that she enjoyed her stay in the hospital very much. She is a mother of 2 young girls and has no help at home. Thus, I can totally relate to her. The much needed rest and sleep can all be claimed during the hospital stay.

Before I decided on this surgery, on days when I longed for just one extra hour of sleep in the morning, I wished that I could sleep forever. I wished that I could sleep for hours on end with no one waking me up. I have always wished that I could sleep to my heart's content. And now my wish has come true. I can now sleep uninterrupted in the hospital.  I better be very careful and watch what I wish for next time! Same goes to all of you 😭

Do you know that I have a very bad relationship with hope and optimism? Before Cass went for a Uretheral Reimplantation surgery exactly 8 years ago, I had imagined that the surgery will be a success. I had envisioned that she would be discharged after 5 days and the hospitalization bill would  cost us no more than RM10k like what her surgeon had informed us.  But as fate had it, there were complications after the surgery and Cass was operated on again after 2 weeks. The bill shot up to over RM50k and not a sen was claimable from our insurance company. Our 5-day stay prolonged to a 3-week nightmarish stay!  😰

This is why I have this tinge of pessimism in me this time. Visions of my hospital stay with Cass kept playing back in my head. And visions of my aunt who went in for an abdomen surgery but she passed on 2 months later kept flashing in my mind.  I better not ramble on about all the negativity.  Positive I must stay!! 💪💪😉

Our simple homely lunch today:


Fried fish, mugwort ('ngai') omelette with ginger strips and braised Buddha's Hand gourd/melon.


A pitcher of refreshing cool lemonade with raw honey.

Kids Are Our Blessings

My drama queen is my savior at home. She is the most helpful around the house, especially in the kitchen. On days when we have no part-time helper, she would do the dishes, help to sweep the floor and do other cleaning chores. In the kitchen, she will always be the first to help me. Whenever the hubs comes home late to eat dinner, she will be the one who helps to heat up the dishes for her dad, brings the food to the table and clears the table after that. Just last night, I was so burned out that I knocked out by 9 p.m.  When the hubs got home at 10pm and asked for his dinner,  Drama Queen who wasn't in bed yet helped to heat up the food for her dad.  Thank God for my Drama Queen! She's got her flaws, no doubt and the willful  side of her drives me potty ALL the time. She always stretches my patience till it snaps. I always have to keep my socks on in order not to go to pieces when dealing with her. But the other positive qualities in her manage to balance out the 'dark side' of her to an equilibrium state. She's a fun daughter to have. She's chatty, funny, melodramatic and likes to tell me everything about school and her friends. Drama Queen and Alycia are the polar opposites.

The big girl, on the other hand, is an introvert and an ice maiden of sorts. She does not tell me much about her school and social life. She prefers to do her things in her room. When she tells me things, I am in luck!  She dislikes house work but still helps out and the kitchen is definitely not a place for her to be in. But thankfully, she has inherited my cleanliness OCD and her dad's neat freak DNA 😁 She helps to keep the house neat and tidy everyday, cleans the dining area, arranges our messy shoes neatly, throws the garbage in the refuse room and keeps her room clean. When her two sisters messes up the house, she goes into a fit.  Imagine that if I were to do everything myself, I am certain that I would either end up in Tg. Rambutan or have a pre-matured demise! Thank God for my daughters!

As for the littlest one, I must admit that she is a tad spoilt and pampered. Though she has her fair share of household chores on her plate,  this cheeky rat would try to evade her duties and shirks responsibility as much as she can. This drives everyone berserk, especially her sisters who all have duties and chores of their own. She just wants to read her novels all day and if I would allow it, go crazy playing with her phone or laptop all day. She needs a lot of pushing to do her duties each day.  But this little cheeky one is really good at comforting me with her words whenever I am down and out.  Her nimble hands do a good massage job on my shoulders too. When I have an achy gassy tummy, she would make me lie down on the bed and then fetch my peppermint essential oil to massage my tummy. She even knows how to massage and push the gas out of my tummy! She is very appreciative of my cooking and likes writing little thank you notes to me 💓



Thank you God for these 3 little angles. They are indeed my life's blessings 💗

Pre-Surgery Foods

I had this bowl of spicylicious meehoon curry with 'sui kau' dumplings accompanied by a glass of iced milk tea at Taste Good with the hubs last week.  This is my favorite kind of brunch on a weekday, where I can peacefully tuck into my favorite spicy food sans the littlest one pecking on my food.




It looks like this will be the last time I get to indulge in spicy food and tea for this month.  From today, it is only clean eating for me. My laproscopic myomectomy surgery is scheduled for 29 May 2017.

From today, I will be eating more lean protein and eggs (both for a quicker post-op recovery and to increase my red blood cells), kefir (my guts need lots of good bacteria to fight the bad ones post-op), more greens and fresh fruits and lots of Izumio. I have stopped some supplements since yesterday and will only resume popping them after I am discharged from the hospital.


My pre-dinner snack of free-range chicken eggs and roselle kefir yesterday.

7 more days to go! Bring it on! I can take it 💪💪

Protect Your Most Precious Heritage: Ideas on How to Protect Your Baby Against Falls

As a mother, protecting your baby from falling is one of the biggest responsibilities you have towards them. This post shares ideas on how to do that. At Yourwriters best essay writing site, they believe that babies are embodiment of the joy and the hopes of many parents. However, babies are also delicate and vulnerable to many dangers in the home. Some of the hazards that every mother needs to protect her baby from is falling. Unless you take the necessary precautions, you may find yourself being mentioned among those mothers who have lost their babies to falls. That is why this post shares ideas you can implement to keep your baby safe from falling in and around the house.

Be cautious with infant seats 
When you place your baby in an infant seat, you need to be there and watch them unless you have used all the safety straps they have.

Watch out for heights 
To keep your baby safe from possible falls, you need to pay attention to them anytime they are in a place from where they can fall. For instance, you need to attend to your baby anytime they are on the sofa, bed, or a crib when the sides are down.

Think about the degree of injury if the baby falls All baby falls cause injuries.
As a mother who values the safety of her baby, you should be very careful when your baby has a pacifier in his mouth. The reason is that if they fall with such objects in their mouth, they stand higher chances of suffering more injuries. Additionally, do not allow your baby to walk or run around with any object in their mouth.

Instill early training Another step you need to keep your baby safe is instilling early training as soon as they can understand instructions. For instance, you should teach the baby to avoid playing with pets when they are on the stairs. Also, teach them to practice holding the stair rails every time they make movement on the staircase.

Lock doors to danger zones
As soon as your baby begins walking, you should always lock all the doors that lead to any area you know the baby can fall if they are left alone. You should also keep all the keys to such openings away from the baby’s reach.

Beware of the floors 
Other areas you need to take care of are the floors of the house. With babies around, you need to include anti-slip rugs on the floors of your home. You should also do the same in the bathrooms to prevent falling.


Light and clear hallways
To keep your baby safe from falls, you have to pay attention to your hallways. You should make every effort to light them adequately and rid them of any clutter so that babies do not fall.

Take care of playing places Another area you need to take care of is where you allow the baby to play. There are many safe places where your baby can play as long as they are not the balcony, deck, staircase, and porch. If your baby has no other venue to play, and these places are the only available alternatives, you should supervise them.

Mind the tricycles your baby uses In as much as a tricycle is a good tool for your baby’s growth and development, you should ensure it is stable. You should also make sure that it is low to the ground and when the baby is using it, keep a close eye on them so that they do not lose control of the cycle and roll off.

Install rail guards on the bed Another safety measure you need to take to keep your baby from falling is installing rail guards on beds. You should also ensure that the rails are not big enough to allow the child to get trapped and choke or suffocate.



Fix window guards
Installing window guards is another sure way of keeping your baby from falling.

Keep furniture away from windows Make sure that you keep all furniture away from windows so that kids don’t use them to climb windows and fall.

Furniture climbing You should keep a keen eye on babies so that they do not climb furniture, especially tall pieces of furniture.

Know where to place the baby carrier Another measure that will keep your baby safe from falling is placing the carrier on the floor as long as the baby is inside it. If you place it on the table or other pieces of furniture, you will be exposing your baby to a sure fall.

Keep your baby’s head safe To keep your baby safe, you need to take care of their heads, as they start learning and engaging in more activities that are vigorous. Ensure when your child is engaging in activities such as biking, they have a helmet. You should take this measure so that if they fall, they will not incur serious head injuries.

Don’t trust that baby walker For a parent, the best tools to teach your baby how to walk are your hands and legs. Additionally, they are the safest of all baby walking support tools, and they do not cost you any coin. The reason is that baby walkers are not safe. For instance, a baby walker can roll down the staircase and cause your baby injuries. Therefore, don’t gamble with the life of your child by leaving them on that support system.

Be careful how you use the shopping cart with the baby
Shopping carts can be fun for kids when you are busy shopping. However, you need to pay attention to the following precautions to ensure that the baby is safe from falling so that your shopping does not end at the hospital.
● Never leave the baby alone in the cart
● Make sure the cart you use has a wheeled child carrier that has a permanent attachment to the cart. If the cart does not have this provision, then you should ensure that it has a binding strap you can use to belt up your baby. If this feature is also missing, then do not experiment with the life of your baby.

Lock the windows
You need to close and lock out all windows as long as they are not in use.

Open top windows only
If your windows can open from both top and bottom, you should only open the upper ones and leave the bottom ones.

Install safety gates 
You should install safety gates at the top and bottom of all staircases. Such a measure will keep your baby safe from accessing the stairs without adult supervision.



Support the child while on the staircase
Even after installing safety gates, you still need to hold your baby’s hands when you are climbing up or down the staircase. This is the best form of safety you can give your child on the stairs.

Remember, supervision is the best safety measure After all is said and done, you need to supervise your baby as soon as they start crawling. Supervision is the only sure way of detecting and preventing all forms of baby falls in the home.

Final thoughts 
There you are with the best and most practical ideas to keep your baby free from falling. You now have the ball in your court. Protect what matters the most to you—your  precious baby.

Lunch Battle

Every day I go through a lunch battle,  battling with my mind on what to eat for lunch, not so much for myself but for Cass.  The two older girls have their lunches at school as they stay back in school everyday. It's just Cass who comes home to eat lunch. I know it's just lunch but if you have to put something healthy yet not boring on the dining table every single day, not only for lunch but for dinner as well, you sometimes get trapped. I guess I am OCD with what I feed my children and this is what's causing the brain freeze and lack of choices. If I would just allow sausages, burgers, fast food and outside food every single day, I wouldn't have to go through this headache all the time.  I know of someone who used to feed her son with spam meat every other day just so her son would eat his dinner.  On non-spam meat days, she would fry an egg for the son. This routine went on for many years and I am surprised with how his son never got fed up with egg and spam meat!

Just yesterday, the mil and I had a hard time planning what to dish out for lunch. At mid-morning, the hubs came home with some snacks that he had bought from KLCC after a meeting with his client. They were a pack of O'Briens chicken sandwich and a box of droolicious Hokkaido cheese tarts and durian tarts!  I was so happy! Lunch for Cass was settled. This girl loves sandwiches. While Cass had the chicken sandwich for lunch, the mil whipped up a ginger + egg + Chinese sausage fried rice for the both of us. How I love Chinese sausage, though I know it's made from crap 😛, thus I don't allow our girls to eat them often. Cass knows Chinese sausages are bad for her and she would single out almost all the Chinese sausages from her fried rice.




Oh by the way, I think the O'Briens sandwich is nothing to shout about. The bread tasted stale  and there was nothing outstanding about the filling. I guess the sandwich would taste better if it was eaten immediately after purchasing it.  I can definitely prep a tastier chicken sandwich. Even Drama Queen can prep a yummier sandwich.  But the Hokkaido baked cheese and durian tarts were SO good, they should be illegal! They don't come cheap but for tart lovers, you should give it a try. One bite of the tart and you would be in Tart Heaven 💓

Eve Of Mother's Day - 13 May 2017

On the eve of Mother's Day, hubs brought us to a restaurant that we've never visited before. He wanted to treat us to something different on the eve of Mother's Day.  UFO Cat BBQ Restaurant is owned by a Chinese national and they serve dishes for UFOs (just kidding 😆), authentic Chinese cuisine, BBQ dishes and steamboat fare as well.





This humongous steamer does appear like some UFO spacecraft but is in fact a high pressure cooker that can cook up to 12 fishes in only 8 minutes. Pretty awesome and impressive eh?





Below: watermelon slices, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and pumpkin soup given on-the-house.




We ordered some BBQ meat on skewers...




Our fish cooked in 2 flavors, with such seafood as squids, lala and prawns and an assortment of veggies steamed together with the fish. This dish was hot and spicy and even spicy food fans such as moi and our girls could not stomach the level of spiciness. Very typical of dishes from certain parts of China. I remember eating such dishes when I went on a holiday in Bejing and Tianjin with my parents in 1997.




Below : the dish at the foreground consists of some cow innards pickled with parsley and lots of burning hot chillies. One mouthful of it sent steam coming off my ears and head and I had to order one jug of fresh watermelon juice to douse the fire in my mouth.





Below: The best dish came from the BBQ chicken wings.  The BBQ eggplant with lots and lots of garlic and chillies was very flavorful too but it was a tad spicy for the girls' liking.










Below: Our bill. Sorry, this yellow banana can't interpret it. For over RM300, we  did not really enjoy our super hot and spicy authentic Chinese meal.  The kids were panting away and chugging down glasses after glasses of water and watermelon juice.




Onwards and upwards! Hubs wanted to end our dinner on a sweet note, thus he brought us to Mykori Dessert Cafe to indulge in some cool shaved ice desserts to cool our burning tummies. This time, we ordered a Matcha Latte Adzuki Kakigori shaved ice, which is a new item on the menu. And also the girls' all-time favorite of Triple Cheese Taiyaki with oozing cheese within.