Getting Alycia And Sherilyn To Eat Enough Fruits

On school-going days, Alycia and Sherilyn hardly have the time to eat fruits. I normally make them freshly squeezed orange juice (an orange for each of them every other day), which they will drink before they eat their lunch, upon their return from school. On weekends, they will eat fruits half an hour after drinking milk in the morning. I believe that fruits should be taken on an empty stomach and not together or immediately after food. Alycia has no problem eating fruits, she's a food lover anyway. For Sherilyn, it's tough job to get her to eat anything, except for junkies! And unless it's fruits that she really loves like these:



Jackfruits, strawberries and mini mandarin oranges (sweet tangerines) and her all-time favorite durian! Try giving her an apple, a pear or an orange and she'll take forever to finish them. Most of the time, she doesn't finish her fruits, unless they are in juice form, this lazy girl, sigh....

Settling Well Into New Routine

Alycia is settling fairly well into her new routine ever since she started Primary 1. She has no problem waking up at 5:50am every morning, gets ready for school by herself (drinks milk, brushes teeth, washes up, dresses up, combs hair, wears socks and shoes, all by herself), in time to be picked up by the transporter by 6:40am. By the time she comes home from school at around 2pm, has a protracted lunch (this fler loves eating and spends at least an hour enjoying her lunch and then dessert + junk food), takes a shower and takes a nap without being told. Sometimes when she's in a playful mood, she will skip her nap and if this happens, she will be drop dead jaded and sleepy.

Last week, she skipped her afternoon nap and this was what happened during dinner:



For once, she slept on the chair while eating LOL!! I had to pull her up, urged her to shower and then she plopped onto her bed at 9pm and slept all the way until 6:50 the next morning!

Grim Reminder

Rascal #2 loves eating with chopsticks and mind you, she does not like to use kids' chopsticks but my mil's wooden chopsticks which are quite pointed at the front. This rascal also loves to play with the chopsticks... digging her teeth with the chopsticks, running around with the chopsticks and she has a habit of kneeling on the chair when she eats. I have always been worried whenever she uses a pair of chopsticks to eat coz the problem with her is that she NEVER sits still when she eats. She takes 2-3 hours to finish each meal and no amount of coaxing and caning will deter her from repeating her habit. Sometimes she fights with Alycia during meal times.

Last week, there was an article in the newspapers that reported a 3-year old boy from China who had a chopstick stuck to his nostril while he was playing, which went into his brain. It was a freak accident and thank God the boy survived. I showed the picture to Alycia and Sherilyn, exaggerated a wee bit on the story to scare them in the hope of deterring them from playing with chopsticks. It worked. I scared them out of their wits. I even threatened rascal #2 that I will stick the picture on the kitchen cabinet so that she will not play with chopsticks again. Alycia was quick to help me cut out the article and stuck it on the kitchen cabinet, hahahahahahaha.... Since that day, none of them dared touch the chopsticks again. I will allow rascal #2 use chopsticks to eat again when she's more matured in her thoughts and outgrows all her mischief.

Finally...A Giraffe Soft Toy From Guardian Pharmacy

After collecting the soft toy redemption stamps from Guardian Pharmacy for over 2 months, we finally filled up the card with stamps. For every RM10 spent, a stamp would be issued. Each time we shopped at Guardian, my gals would be eyeing and touching the redemption soft toys at the counter. They would be telling me that wanted the elephant. Last week after dropping Sherilyn off for ballet class, we had 2 rounds of shopping sprees at Guardian Pharmacy and finally filled the Guardian Pharmacy card with stamps. We must thank the gals' 2 godfathers for contributing some of the stamps. We also have to thank a stranger who gave his stamps to us when he saw my gals going gaga over the soft toys at the Guardian Pharmacy counter several weeks ago.

Since the elephant was out of stock, my gals had to settle for a cute giraffe. The quality of the soft toy is very good.





Guess who liked the giraffe the most and has been hogging it?

And guess who was the one who had been diligently collecting the stamps from Guardian? Me, daddy, Alycia or Sherilyn?

Fan Cai Xiang Vegetarian Restaurant @ Taman Danau Desa KL

I have never really liked vegetarian food as I find most vegetarian food laden with MSG, high in white flour, starch and oil. There is no meat or garlic to make the food taste good, so obviously the chef relies on a lot on MSG and seasoning.

On hubs' recent birthday (end December), he suggested having vegetarian food. So we went to this vegetarian restaurant at Taman Danau Desa called Fan Cai Xiang for vegetarian food. I was a tad apprenhensive having vegetarian food as I hate the aftermath - the burning desire to drink water from thirst. After eating at this restaurant, I was really amazed and impressed with the food. The dishes were super low on MSG. Some dishes were free from MSG. You will know that the food was very low on MSG coz the food was not salty, not oily, tasted like homecooked and did not leave me running to the kitchen to gulp down glasses of water. I will definitely patronize this restaurant again.

This is the appetizer - a dried tofu appetizer. Nice!

Spinach in superior soup, wolfberries and foo choke (bean curd skin). Nice!


A tofu dish and fried rice. Nice!


Mui choi dish (preserved veggie with bitter gourd and tofu). Nice!



Chap choy (mixed veggie with button mushrooms and dried mushrooms). Average.


Braised yee meen. Nice!


Tofu and tau kan in clay pot. Average.


Sweet and sour 'fish'. The 'fish' was made of dried bean curd sheets. iLike!

Kaya buns. Average.

Guess What She's Eating?

Wanna make a wild guess what rascal #3 was eating here? We were having Japanese for dinner.


It was her first time tasting this weird looking stuff with tentacles.


I gave her one to try and she held on tight to it, licking and chewing this rubbery stuff.

It looks like a little rat's tail jutting out from her mouth hahahahahahah!

So what do you think Baby's eating?

Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant (Mun Choong)

My hubby's all-time favorite restaurant in Ipoh is Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant or commonly called Mun Choong by Ipohites. The main reason why he loves going to Mun Choong is because of the kon cheen har loke (fried prawns). This prawn dish is a sure-order dish by almost everyone who goes to this restaurant. If you don't pre-order, you won't even get to savour this dish.

This restaurant is always packed. The only thing I hate about this restaurant is the waiting time. We waited almost an hour before the first dish was served. Everybody's tummy was growling away and we were really famished when the first dish arrived.

This signature fried noodles was our first dish. It was really tasty and it was whacked within minutes.


The signature kon cheen har loke (fried prawns).


Stir-fried mixed veggie with deep fried crispy cuttlefish and cashew nuts.


Stir-fried baby french beans.


Stir fried fish sliced with ginger and spring onions.


Deep fried chicken with deep fried onion rings, very yummy!


Steamed super smooth tofu with fish paste. Very tasty.


Steamed crabs with Chinese cooking wine.



Address & Contact Number
Pusing Public Seafood Restaurant
No. G 57-65 Jalan Verasamy Ipoh
(Horley Road)
30300 Ipoh
Perak Darul Ridzuan
Malaysia
Tel: +605 2419 348, +605 2410 306, +605 2533 428

Wrinkle Cream

I have never in my life used wrinkle cream. But I think I may have to start using them very soon. Age is catching up with me. I no longer have smooth and supple skin. Instead my skin is terribly dry, especially on my hands and legs. Fine lines and crow’s feet have started to appear on my face and corner of my eyes. Gosh, I hope I won’t have sagging skin and skin pigmentation too! These usually come together in your BIG 4 birthday package!

Eczema

Eczema runs in my family. I have it and so do my 3 daughters. My younger brother had it too when he was a child. Till today, my skin is still on the dry side. My skin was terribly dry and peeling too during my pregnancies and was especially bad during my 3rd pregnancy. With eczema, the key is to keep the skin moisturized at all times, to prevent a bad eczema outbreak.

Birthday Wish

In a few months’ time, I will turn 37 years old. I can’t believe that the BIG 4 is just 3 years away. I wonder how I will look like and what I’ll be doing when I turn 40. I wonder if I will still have my youthful looks or have to resort to the best wrinkle cream to remove the inevitable wrinkles from forming on my face. Oh well, whatever it is, my one big wish is to have good health – for me and for my loved ones.

Weight Loss Stories

Do you have any good weight loss stories to share? I have my very own weight loss story too. If I had the time, I can write a book on it. It all started 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). One of the many symptoms is unexplained weight gain. I did my own research by poring the internet and with lots of sacrifices and struggles, managed to lose 5kg. Till today, I am still practicing the regimen that I practiced during the height of my PCOS days.

Hoi Seng Restaurant Ipoh

When we were back in Ipoh last month, my dad treated us to a sumptuous dinner at the newly opened Hoi Seng Restaurant located at Ipoh Garden.

Here's what we had:

Shanghai Special Pork Ribs with man tau - very delish!


Signature Tofu Dish - super smooth and tasty!


Phoon Choy (Hong Kong Special Veggie Pot)



Steamed fish.


Crispy chicken stuffed with fish paste - great hit with the kids especially the deep fried noodles accompanying the chicken.


Some of the popular dishes served at Hoi Seng Restaurant Ipoh.

This trip to Ipoh is all about eating. Thankfully I did not gain a pound and don't have to resort to phentermine, phew! That's why I always say, EXERCISE and cut down on your carb intake!

For 7 adults and 2 kids, the bill came up to RM225.80, which is quite reasonable as this restaurant is quite posh and the food that we ordered all tasted good. There will definitely be a second trip to this restaurant again.

Restoran Hoi Seng Ipoh
86 Jalan Dato Lau Pak Khuan
Ipoh Garden
31400 Ipoh
Tel : 05-5482 272

Fun Way To Learn ABCs and 123s

There is no better way to help your kids learn than through fun and play.

Here's what I mean:

Check out Baby's left hand - wrapped up in a plastic bag to protect the IV catheter and bandaged from being wet. This pic was taken last week when she had a UTI attack and needed antibiotics jabs through IV for 4 days.

Bath times can be made into fun sessions and these foam alphabet and numbers from ELC are a great way to help toddlers learn. My sil from Hong Kong gave it to Baby 2 X'mas ago.

On another note, Baby could 'sing' the ABC song about a month back. She can 'sing' (though pronounciation is still not clear yet) and hum this tune, as with many other nursery rhymes.

A Visit To The Orphanage

On our way back from the hospital last night, we passed by a fire station. My kids were excited to see the fire station and the big, red and shiny fire trucks with sirens blaring away. Baby was really excited to see the fire station and fire trucks for the first time, after watching them on her favorite Barney VCD umpteen times. Hubby said that he will one day arrange for an appointment to bring them for a visit to the firehouse since he knows someone from that fire station. I told hubby that he should also bring the kids for a visit to the orphanage. That will be an eye opener for the kids, to show them how lucky they are, compared to the under privileged kids. Hopefully with the visit to an orphanage, they will stop complaining of what they don't have. I have long wanted to bring the kids to the orphanage and make a small contribution too. I wish I had the ability to contribute large sums, just like richard willich, the philanthropist. Anyway, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Crazy Over This VCD

Baby is absolutely head over heels, besotted, crazy, hooked and addicted to this Barney VCD:


Barney's "Let's Go To The Firehouse".

Daddy bought this VCD more than a year ago and it's only last month that I started to play it again. Aly and Sher used to watch this but for a brief period. It was sitting inside the TV console drawer for ages!

Since last month, Baby has been asking for this VCD every single day during spoon-feeding milk (formula) time. She would go to the drawer and single out this VCD and say "house".... not just once a day but twice and sometimes thrice (that's the number of times I spoon-feed her formula milk). I can now memorize all the songs in the VCD and my 2 gals are sick of this VCD to the pit of their guts haha!


Baby fishing out the VCD just before spoon-feeding milk time. As long as she gulps down her spoonfuls of milk and make life breezier for me, I have no problem sacrificing my TV programs. What TV programs? Ooops, I almost forgot that I've not watched a movie or sitcom for aaaaagesssss! Talk about motherhood, it's all about sacrifices.

Fried Hakka Noodles, Cantonese Style

A relative went to Ipoh and brought back some Ipoh Hakka mien (noodles) for us. My mil then whipped up this dish with the noodles:

She shallow pan fried the Hakka mien into crispy noodles... which everyone loved, me inclusive. It's like munching on Mamee snack, can be very addictive!

Then she cooked the sauce for the noodles, which consisted of prawns, shiitake mushrooms, mustard green (sawi), sliced pork and fish cakes. The seasoning used were soy sauce and some dark sauce. She used an egg to thicken up the sauce. The sauce is to be poured on the noodles when it's ready to serve.



Sherilyn my noodles crazed brat whacked a few bowls of noodles...

Even I whacked a bowl of noodles. I don't normally eat Hokkien mien, in fact I don't fancy eating mien, with the exception of vermicelli.

Try this for your kids, they will surely love this dish, especially the crunchy fried mien.

Guess What They Are Eating?

Just make a wild guess what Alycia and Baby are eating?



See how well Baby can hold this bowl and not spill any of the contents from the bowl!


Tadaaaaa...... it's a bowl of Udon soup with veggie, beef slices and tempura. And best of all, this is a coin box! It's a fake bowl of noodles, muahahahahaha, gotcha!!




Check out my online store for some trendy new arrivals! Have a great Sunday everyone.

Chicken, Abalone, Dried Oysters Porridge

Last Saturday, I cooked chicken, abalone and dried oyster porridge for lunch. Everyone including Baby loved it.

Here's the BIG abalone that I tossed into the pot of porridge, about 15 minutes before serving the porridge. This canned abalone is already pre-cooked and does not require a long time to cook it, else it would turn hard and rubbery. I thinly sliced the abalone before tossing them into the pot of porridge.


The chicken meat was marinated with some sesame seed oil, pepper and sea salt before I dumped it into the porridge and cooked it for about an hour.



I also reheated some of the left over chicken nuggets and fish and chips from New Year's Eve poolside party.

Tonight, I am cooking porridge again. This time, it's porridge with roasted pork ribs (siew chue kwat), chicken drumstick - cut into bite size, dried oysters, a wedge of ginger (to expel wind) and the remaining piece of big abalone (there were 2 pieces in the can), YUMS!

What are you whipping up for dinner tonight?

Kids Ask The Darnest Questions

Lately, Alycia has been asking me plenty of questions, questions which often stumped me and made me ponder over them without being able to find an answer for her. The other day she asked me this question :

"Mummy, you always pray to God to heal Baby but why did she get infection again now? Is it because God was careless and left his magic wand behind, so he can't heal Baby? Or is it because God was asleep when you prayed to him?"

Now, how would you answer her? She knows we've been praying hard that Baby would not get anymore UTI but early this week, she got a UTI attack. It's her first UTI attack after her Ureteral Reimplantation surgery a little over 6 months ago.

Another favorite question of hers is "Mummy, God made Jesus. But who made God?" "Where did God come from?"

What are some of the toughest questions your child had asked you that you have been unable to find an answer?

Scolded By Jie Jie And Crest-fallen

Whenever Alycia and Sherilyn want to do something without Baby disturbing them, they will go into their bedroom and lock the door up. At times, they tend to forget to close the door and Baby will charge into the room, climb up the table and cause havoc.

Here, Baby climbed up the table when her jie jies were doing coloring and drawing. Alycia snapped at Baby coz Baby grabbed her precious new crayons that koo mar bought for her from Hong Kong Disneyland and broke one of it.


Check out Alycia's enraged expression....


Baby trying hard to control her tears here. Check out her red and teary eyes, drooping lips and red nose.
Dejected and crest-fallen....

After a few more snaps at her, she baaaaawled. Of all people, her beloved favorite jie jie snapped at her! Alycia hardly snaps at Baby.

But she gave Baby a hug after that and it was really heartwarming to see her sayang Baby again.


Doodling by Baby, which was wiped off by a damp magic sponge / ceramic sponge.