‘Phut Jai Koa’

This dish is called ‘phut jai koa’ or steamed rice with minced pork in a claypot. Though it looks like a very simple dish, it is really tasty. The texture of the rice is just right and the minced pork is delicious. This is another must-try dish at the Duck King Restaurant.

Dried Gourds

I bet most of you have no idea what these are. These are actually dried ‘kua’ or gourds. I also bet most of you do not have any inkling what these are used for. But for folks from the small city of Ipoh, I am sure you would have seen these sold in the wet market. These are sold at RM1.50 each and can be cut into halves or one thirds to be used as washing sponges / pads to wash dishes. They hardly go moldy, unlike sponges that go moldy really fast when soaked in water. My parents and mil love using these dried gourds to wash dishes.

Baby C's First Trip To The Church

I finally found Sherilyn's old stroller. It was all wrapped up and hidden in the maid's room. Now that I have found the stroller, I can bring Baby C to the church tomorrow. I don't know how she will react to her first trip to the church but I am praying that she will not cry and fuss and whine for my teat teats coz there is no special room for nursing mums in my church. I will have to discreetly nurse her in one of the classrooms in the church kindy if she looks for my teat teats.

Sucking Air Too?

Baby C is one baby who just cannot wait for mummy's teat teats each time she's hungry. Well, I guess most babies are like this. She would wail till her face and body turn red and stiff. When she's really hungry, she would suck my teats so ravenously that there is a loud 'jup jup jup' sound produced, especially when the pressure of my milk flow is high. My friend told me that the 'jup jup jup' sound is caused by Baby C sucking too much air. Huh? Really? I only hear this sound when the pressure of the milk flow is high and when Baby C is sucking too ravenously.... so ravenously till she often choked. Is she also sucking air? I think she has latched on correctly coz my teats no longer feel sore. What say experienced mums out there? You think my Baby C is also sucking air and did not latch on properly?

I Love Fishballs

Kids really love fishballs, don’t they? Sherilyn who hates meat only love fishballs, the saltier the better…. the bigger, bouncier and whiter the better. I don’t really encourage her to eat processed fishballs as they are loaded with MSG, salt, preservative and boric acid (thus, the white color and the bouncy texture). But she gets all crazy when she sees fishballs at my favorite ‘yong tau foo’ stall and always begs me to get her those yong tau foo fishballs that are loaded with food additives.

Here, she’s enjoying her fishball at the Duck King Restaurant with granny.

A Fun Outing On Wesak Day

Find out what we did on Wesak Day here.

Yau Jar Kuai Wrapped With Cee Cheong Fun

This dish from Duck King is quite unique. It is ‘yau jar kuai’ (deeped fried rice flour sticks) wrapped with ‘cee cheong fun’ (rice flour flat noodles). Quite tasty but I didn’t even finish a piece as I was worried about the high carbo and high calorie. Strictly a no-no dish for weight watchers and health freaks like me.

Meat Platter

We had this meat platter at Duck King Restaurant @ Jaya 1 PJ. It consists of roast duck, roast chicken, ‘loa kai’ (braised chicken), ‘siew yoke’ (roast crispy pork) and jelly fish. The chicken, ‘siew yoke’ and jelly fish were tasty but nothing to shout about. I did not try the duck though as I don’t really fancy eating duck and I was worried that duck (considered a ‘toke’ or ‘poisonous’ food) would worsen Baby C’s eczema.

Baby C’s Eczema And Cradle Cap

After 5 days on Betamethasone cream, the eczema on Baby C’s face cleared. However, the next day (6th day), the eczema / rashes started to make their reappearance. I then applied a thin layer of Hydrocortisone on her face, as advised by the paed. I am only applying the Hydrocortisone cream on her face once a day. On the parts of her face that I applied the Hydrocortisone cream, they were eczema / rash free. However, on parts that I did not apply the cream, eczema / rashes erupted. I have cut down on drinking milk myself (but have not totally stopped) and have replaced milk with sugar-free soya powder as dairy products are known to trigger eczema. I am also avoiding other food that would trigger the eczema like beef and seafood (except fish). I don’t use any soap on Baby C’s body when I bathe her, apart from the diaper area and Baby C’s hair, which I use 1 or 2 drops of Johnson’s PH 5.5 soap-free shower cream to wash and rinse with lots of water. The cradle cap on Baby C’s head has not cleared but I am not doing anything to it, though it does smell unpleasant.



Baby C's face all smooth and fair again.

8 Long Days Without Internet

That’s how efficient our Telekom is… making me wait for 8 days to fix my problem. Had I not called Telekom every 3 hours to check on the status of my disconnected Streamyx (and exaggerated / dramatized a tad on how urgent my case was, and sounded stern, really serious and pissed off with their lackadaisical attitude, threatened them that I would cancel my Streamyx, threatened them that I would bring this matter up to the Management of Telekom, asked if Telekom would compensate me for my loss of income and finally told them that I would publish this matter in my websites), I think I would have to wait for more than 2 weeks to a month before I can have my internet connection up again. I was told by a friend in the IT line that sometimes Telekom takes up to 1 month to get the Streamyx up again! Can you beat that?

I was really cheesed off with the way they handled my case. The staff seemed to be dragging their feet in getting my case solved. I spoke to 2o over customer service staff before my internet connection was up again. Each time I called, they seem to give me the standard answer which goes “I have handed your report to my supervisor. A specialist will be handling your case Mam". It was only when I spoke to the supervisors and told them sternly and seriously as a matter of fact that I would publish this matter in my blogs for the entire nation to read that they got a little worried and put some effort in getting my case solved.

I guess this is the mentality of staff from our government departments. Yup, Malaysia Boleh when they Tak Boleh solve a matter within one day! I think it’s time for me to switch to either Maxis or 3G (Digi) prepaid wireless broadband.

8 Long Days And Still No Internet Yet

Can you beat it? The broadband internet has been disconnected from my house for 8 days and there is still no sign that it will be up again. I have stolen 2 hours again, to go to hubby's office to complete an assignment. I tell you, i am REALLY REALLY pissed off with Telekom. I have been calling Telekom every 2-3 hours for the last 7 days and when I could no longer tolerate hearing their same old lame excuses anymore, I told them yesterday that I will publish this matter in my websites. Today, the technical department of Telekom called to inform me that my Streamyx should be up but my fixed phone line is still down, thus I still can't access internet. Though I have already lodged a report on the faulty phone line, no one came or called me. See how efficient our government is! I am SO DARN PISSED OFF!

Good Old Ipoh Food

Soooo much good food…. and they are all from Ipoh. My parents form Ipoh came to visit me last week and they bought all my favorite food from Ipoh – famous curry noodles from Yat Yat Seng coffee shop in Ipoh Garden, famous Hakka fish balls and noodles from Kg Simee market, famous egg tarts and ‘kayang kok’ (kaya puff) from Kg Simee market, deep fried turmeric chicken drumstick, roast chicken, ‘siew yoke’ (crispy roast pork), ‘char siew’ (roast pork), roast duck, yam cake, ‘cee cheong fun’, pomeloes and famous ‘heong peng’ (baked fragrant biscuits with molasses and onions). There was so much food that there were so much leftovers, that left us eating the leftovers for the next 3 days.

Kai Jau

That's my all-time favorite confinement food - 'kai jau' or chicken cooked in ginger wine and rice wine. I ate this dish almost every other day during my confinement and know what? I just can't get enough of eating it. Now that my confinement is over, I am still craving for it. I think I'll ask my mil to cook another big pot of it next week. Anyone cares to join me for lunch? You're cordially invited to my house to taste the 'kai jau'!

Laughing Cow = Laughing Kids

Alycia and Sherilyn are crazy over Laughing Cow cheese. I hardly buy them this brand of cheese as it is very expensive. But daddy and especially mah mah are the ones who always spoil them rotten and would always get them the triangle wedges or Party Cubes or Cheeze Dippers each time they go shopping. Alycia and Sherilyn are so crazy over the cheese that they will do anything to lay their hands on the cheese. Sometimes after I have gone upstairs for my shower, they will go to the kitchen, ransack the fridge for Laughing Cow and eat them without my knowledge. But kids being kids, I always found out as they do not know how to eliminate all evidence. I always found the wrappers and box in the dustbin or bits of cheese at the corner of their mouth! Once, Alycia refused to eat her lunch and demanded for Cheeze Dippers. I refused to give in to her whims and she cried and cried. I ignored her but when I went upstairs to have my shower, mah mah secretly gave her the box of Cheeze Dippers! Grandparents tend to have such a weak spot when it comes to seeing their grand children cry. They always give in to their whims and fancies. You agree?

Bottle Feeding Exclusively Breastfed Babies

One of these days, I really have to try bottle feeding Baby C to get her used to the bottle. Now, she only wants my teats and nothing else. If she continues to be so hooked on my teats, there are not many places that I can go to, apart from shopping malls that are baby-friendly that have special rooms for mummies like Jaya Jusco. I will even have a hard time going to the church as there is no special room for nursing mums in my church. The only way I can try making her drink from the bottle is to only feed her when she’s really hungry. But then again, I fear she will get choked when I bottle feed her when she’s really hungry. She will definitely suck too hard from the bottle like she used to when she nurses directly from my breast…. and then get traumatized.

For those of you who have successfully breastfed your baby exclusively, did you also bottle feed your baby? For those who did not bottle feed your baby, how did you manage when you go to places without special rooms for nursing mums or changing rooms for babies?

True Friends

True friends are really God-sent. They are willing to offer you help in times when you are desperate. I have discovered another true friend yesterday when she offered me something that even money can't buy (well, maybe money can buy, but she did not ask me for money). Thanks Miche for everything! I truly appreciate all that you have done for me.

Blogging Marathon

I have not worked up my brain at full steam for quite some time. Guess how many assignments I managed to complete yesterday and today? 18 paid posts! And more than 20 personal posts as interim posts. All I need is 2 hours yesterday and 3 hours today. It really ain't easy to steal a few hours a day, away from my house, away from Alycia and Sherilyn... but not away from Baby C as I need to nurse her every 1.5 - 2 hours. That's why Baby C is with me here, at hubby's office on her pink bouncinet, with my worked up left leg bouncing her net and my worked up fingers tapping on the computer keyboard.

Impeccable Timing

Baby C's internal clock is impeccable. Know why? At precisely 10:30am - 11am everyday, she will whine to signal to us that she wants her bath. After her bath, she will whine again to signal to me that she wants mummy's teat teat and milkie. At precisely 6ish pm, she will whine again to tell me that she wants her bath again.... and after her bath, whine again to tell me she wants mummy's teat teat and milkie again. Then at 8ish pm, she will whine again... to be brought up to her air conditioned room, and she wants her jammies put on, lights turned off and only wants mummy's teat teat and milkie again. Impeccable sense of timing for a 1 month old eh? Easy for me coz I don't need to guess what she wants!

Is your 1 month old baby like this too?

Duck King Restaurant

My hubby is crazy over this newly opened Duck King Restaurant at the newly opened Jaya 1 in PJ. He has been patronizing this restaurant every week without fail for the past 1 month with Alycia and Sherilyn and my mil (whilst I stayed at home during my confinement). Today I finally went to this much talked about restaurant and boy, I tell you, the queue was loooong. The restaurant even had to put chairs outside the restaurant for patrons to sit whilst they queue up! Know what? Hubby is so obssessed with this restaurant that he plans on taking us there for dinner tonight! That's because my parents from Ipoh, brother and sil from Singapore are in KL. Looks like my hands will hurt further tonight as I will have to carry Baby C for at least 1-2 hours during the dinner.

Leg and Hand Ache

I am surely going to get an ache on my left leg and an ache on my leg hand tomorrow. Today is the first time we brought Baby C out to the restaurant. As we could not find the old stroller, hubby and I had to take turns carrying Baby C throughout our lunch. I tried to put her into my Baby Loft sling but I found that Baby C's body looked curled up in the sling and I felt stiff putting her into the sling. In the end, I took her out from the sling and carried her till my left hand ached.

As I am typing this post, my left leg is also moving the bouncinet with Baby C sleeping on it. I really need a good urut from my urut lady next week to get rid of all the aches from my body.