Cassandra's 10th Birthday

10 years ago on 9 April 2008, I welcomed my third and last baby girl. She was delivered via elective C-section at 37.5 weeks. Her name was to be Calista but my Chinaman Ah Pek hubs didn't like Calista ~ it sounded too glamorous for this Chinaman to handle 😆.  In fact the name Sherilyn proved too fancy for this Ah Pek, thus he prefers to call our Drama Queen by the Chinese name of Kay Yi. We also had to think of whether the mil would know how to pronounce that name and imagined how that name would be mispronounced by many, especially by those who are not very proficient with English. My younger brother commented that Calista sounded like some galaxy name.  But I really liked that name, partly because my favorite actress then was Calista Flockhart, the star of Ally McBeal, which was my favorite TV series.  After days of deliberation, we finally settled on the name Cassandra. And I have since loved that name 💓

Since Cass was 6 weeks old, our lives changed forever. That was the day she had her first UTI attack and later diagnosed with  Grade 3 Kidney Reflux with a right duplex collecting system. For many of you who have been loyal readers of my blogs, you would have read the nightmare that I went through since Cass was 6 weeks old until her surgeries were performed when she was 13 months old. I had never faced so many curveballs thrown into my life than Cass' first 14 months of life. I didn't know I was that strong mentally until strong was the only word I could use to describe myself then. There was no time and allowance to be weak and cry.Today as I was jogging in the morning, I reminisced about Cass' birth and all the procedures, scans, radiation that her little body had to endure, pain inflicted and screams from my baby and wondered if my heart was made of steel OR flesh and blood.

Long story short, every birthday that Cass celebrates is indeed a celebration for her and me. Cass has a lust for life, loves to try dare devil stunts and adventures, loves long hikes and badminton, is a party animal and her optimistic outlook in life always amazes me.

With all that said, we had two simple dos to celebrate Cass' first double digit birthday; one on the eve of the eve of her birthday (Saturday) and another one on her actual birthday (Monday).

On Saturday, 7 April 2018:

Dinner at a newly opened Italian Cafe at Faber Tower. I can't seem to remember the name though (Portollini?). It was the cafe's opening day on the day that we went, thus I managed to sweet talk the manager into giving the birthday girl free ice-creams 😆



Pizza for my pizza-craze Alycia (check out her impatient hand that photo-bombed the pic) and mushroom soup for moi:


Lasagna for Cass and pasta for Drama Queen:


Pork chop for moi and steak for the gourmand hubs:



Crispy roast pork salad and 'orange split' ice-cream (on the house):

Dinner was pretty satisfactory and the only beef that I had was the pork chop, which I find too salty for my low-sodium palate.

On 9 April 2018, Cass' actual birthday:

We had dinner at our favorite neighborhood 'tai chau' restaurant, Seng Kee Kitchen.  My younger brother, Roy and the girls' grandaunt were invited to the dinner:


The Hello Kitty strawberry cake from RT Bakery was surprisingly delish and not cloy or sweet. It's a very light cake with strawberry flavor.  After giving two slices to the lady boss (who has become our good friend after being her loyal patron for over 10 years), the cake was completely scarfed down. Good, as we needn't schlep any leftover cake home, find space in the fridge, only to end up in the bin 3 days later.

'Pai kuat wong' (fried pork ribs):



Butter milk fried prawns with curry leaves:



Spinach in superior soup; steamed seabass fish:



Thai style deep fried Chinese bacon and steamed salted free-range chicken:



Cass was utterly enamoured on her birthday as she received ang pows from her mum, grandma, Roy kau fu and Wendy koo poh. I teased her that she's richer than me now and everyone pulled her leg and asked her for a treat of pizza the next day.

Saturday, 8 April 2018

Breakfast today was again with Cass only. Drama Queen was supposed to follow but this girl has an issue with waking up early in the morning. I don't know how I survived 10 years of waking her up for school from pre-school to elementary school. Those screaming days. Those days of spraying her face with water and using the whip, I kid you not. No wonder my gynae asked me what is it about that I am so stressed about. I just know that I have a lot of stressful days but can't seem to remember every one of them until I dissect each day to examine.

I had told her the night before that I would leave the house at 10 a.m. dot the next day and should she not be ready, she stays home. And I won't even bother to buy food back for her. And I kept my words.

Cass ordered fish paste noodles while I ordered junk food  chee cheong fun with an assortment of 'liu', including stuffed pig skin with fish paste 😱

I know what's on your mind. Health Freak Mommy eating such junk? I've been craving to dig into CCF with curry broth for weeks but have been controlling myself not to indulge in it but today I finally caved in. And it felt SO good!  😊😋



Again!  Miss Eleventh Hour rushing to complete a test paper before her Mandarin tutor comes.





After breakfast, I sent Drama Queen to school for Taekwando. After TKD, I brought her to De Market to meet up a friend for them to do their school Science experiment on a 3-layered drink. The teacher wants the experiment documented with video and photos.






While waiting and supervising the girls, I enjoyed my cuppa milk tea.



My lunch was salad, composed of alfalfa + broccoli sprouts, water apple, organic yacon (tastes like turnip and water chestnut and loaded with nutrients), sauteed brinjal and toasted almond strips drizzled with sesame salad dressing.



I've not been diligently pumping in raw salads for almost a year. Since early last year, I was frenzied by fear of a blood transfusion prior to my surgery and was on a carnivorous diet to increase my total blood count.  Miraculously my total blood count climbed from a reading of 6 to 12 (in just 3 months) and a blood transfusion was evaded on the day of my surgery. The GP whom I normally go to for my blood works commented that there is no way my TBC could climb up from 6 to 12 in just 3 months.  But it did and I think it's a miracle.

Now that I am no longer anemic, I am back on a flexitarian diet and now all geared up to bring my cholesterol reading down again.

Clean Eating

My healthy eats today:

Breakfast of yoghurt + matcha green tea granola with wolfberries, dried longan and toasted almond strips.
Lunch of pumpkin pork rice + millet porridge seasoned with sesame seed oil, soy sauce and Korean seaweed.


My plain meals are contributed by hormone hell. Well, bloating, lack of appetite and mild constipation. The usual complaints during the post mid-cycle period, the time when progesterone is higher than estrogen.

I'm sure many of you already know what the hormone progesterone does. Well in case you don't, here's a quick one on it:

Some of the effects of progesterone — when it’s high, like during the luteal phase of menstruation, right after ovulation — include what doctors call delayed GI (gastrointestinal) transit time, which means exactly what you think it does: food moves more slowly through your intestine, resulting in constipation and bloating. However, when progesterone decreases and bleeding begins, you may experience an increase in bowel activity. That means some women may get diarrhea and bloating.

Damn it, we get bloated during mid cycle, post mid cycle and during menstruation. The only time that we feel slim and flat is right after our menstruation for a short few days before havoc again.

It seems we just can't win.  Just one of the pains of being a woman!

Bento Lunch Boxes For Cass

These are the simple bento lunch boxes that I prepped for Cass last week and this week:

Braised boneless chicken thigh with onion + preserved black bean; sauteed mustard green; Japanese rice:



Pandan bun with herb cream cheese spread and avocado slices:


Braised pork ribs with yam; sauteed celery + baby brussels sprout;  Basmati rice:



Chicken stew with potato and carrot; sauteed baby lotus root with pork slices; Basmati rice. This is for today, which is her CoCo day in school:

Celebs And Wigs

Celebrities are always looking for fresh ways to stay one step ahead of fashion trends. What was once a last-ditch effort to hide a balding head has now become the leading accessory to hit the red carpet — wigs!  You may be surprised to know that 97% of female celebs wear hair extensions!

This includes Taylor Swift in this picture:



Beyonce who is always changing up her wig hairstyles:


Nicole Richie sporting a topper plus extensions:



You may be tempted to try on a wig but are curious to know if it's uncomfortable.  You may feel awkward and uneasy wearing it for the first time with a phobia that the wig will be blown off your head but you will get used to it pretty quickly.  Some people comment that wearing a wig feels like wearing a swim cap or a hairy hat.The materials used to make the wig can  be very itchy.   If it’s a comfortable fit, soft fabric, and quality hair, you may forget you’re wearing one until you touch your head.  Most of the time, there is always something that will bother the scalp or constantly touching you, such as baby hairs, hair inside the wefts, a loose hair net, and friction.






If you choose a wig with good ventilation, it will be easy to wear, light and will not cause a lot of heat. If you choose a wig with less ventilation, and thick layers, it will make you sweat a bit depending on your outside temperature. Also the feeling will vary for folks with lots of hair already on their head vs bald. Whether you are looking for straight  hair extensions, a maxglam Brazilian body wave or blond bundles with frontal,  it is best that you do some research on the internet and read up  reviews on wigs before settling on one.  Maxglam hair reviews is one site that you can read up on wigs.

Beauty, fashion, and lifestyle YouTuber  Ivy Powell  who is notable for her videos relating to natural hair care and extensions, as well as makeup recommends best kinky straight hair.

Get A Mother's Day Gift For The Superwoman In Your Life

Mother's Day will be here soon enough, which means that it's time to start thinking about how you're going to cement your place as your mom's favorite kid. Obviously you can't buy a mother's love but you can at least grease the wheels by getting her the right gift.

As a mom myself, Mother's Day is an important day for me. It is a day for my daughters to show me how much they love me and appreciate everything that I have done and am doing for them. I would feel disappointed if I am not given due appreciation on my special day.

In celebrating the roles that our mothers have taken in raising us, Mother's Day is the best time to show and tell your mom how special she is. Get her a unique Mother's Day gift that makes her laugh or cry with joy and certainly warm her heart.  Nothing beats getting your mom a Mother's Day gift that's personalized, especially when it's complemented with a sweet treat. Or you can get her a sexy blouse for women or some fashion party dresses online. I'll be very happy if my daughters got me these 😁







So treat the amazing moms in your life to a perfect Mother's Day gift this Mother's Day. Celebrate her day with sentiment and style.

If your mum is someone who loves swimming, get her a sexy hot swimwear online! 😉




Mom expects to get gifts on Mother’s Day. But, she’ll never see it coming if you surprise her with a gift a few days earlier. And you know everyone loves surprises (me inclusive!). So catch her by surprise this year!  And don't forget to write those lovey dovey notes to your mom 💓

You can check out the Yoins Mother's Day Sale to shop for affordable and stylo women's clothing.

Simple Yet Fulfilling Breakfast

Drama Queen bought three packets of  Genmai Life gluten free organic black sesame  and brown rice crackers when she was in Hong Kong with Alycia last December. I took two packets and gave mum one. These rice crackers are made from whole brown rice (known as Genmai in Japanese). Whole brown rice contains the germ and other nutrients needed to sprout, confirming its vitality as a “living and wholesome food”.

These tasty  bite-sized treats have a light crunch and on days when I feel my tummy needs a breather from hard-to-digest foods, I eat them for breakfast.

I recently found out that this organic macrobiotic brown rice crackers with black sesame is available at Woods Macrobiotics, selling at RM13.90 a packet.



And my treat for the day is a small packet of potato and sweet potato snacks from Hokkaido (my absolute favorite snack!), given to me by my bestie since primary school, Ju when we met in Singapore last December. Thanks Ju! I know you'd most likely be reading this post 😘




We only get to eat Potato Farm snacks when the mil goes to Japan, which is once a year.  It's selling at RM42 for a box (10 small packets) at Shopee and RM60 at Carousell.

Today I had these for breakfast:




Matcha Green Tea Granola from Amazin' Graze.  This granola is made with premium pure matcha green tea powder brought in exclusively from Kyoto. This beautiful East-Asian inspired granola is full of the goodness of green tea, chia seeds, therapeutic goji berries and nourishing sweet longan. Love this granola, as well as Amazin' Graze's range of healthy granolas.

Today I also shared a cup of strawberry yogurt with Alycia.  Farm Fresh recently released a new line of farm yogurt made with fresh milk and real fruits and is free from preservatives, food conditioner and food coloring.  It tastes like premium imported yoghurt but at an affordable price (RM2.80/cup from De Market).





This is Alycia's breakfast today. It's a school holiday for her today in conjunction with Qing Ming festival.

Cheese stick bread sandwiched with char siew and organic tomatoes. Yums!

My 45th Birthday, 29 March 2018

On my special day today, I did what makes me happy most ~ retail therapy!  Even if it means a short 1.5 hours at the mall.

I left the house with Drama Queen and the mil at 10:30 a.m., bearing in mind that I only had a max of 1.5 hours to shop including having lunch at the mall as I had to drop Drama Queen in school before 12:30 noon. She has a dance practice with her friends for a dance competition audition.

I don't know about you but shopping or window shopping is therapeutic for me.  Don’t laugh retail therapy off.  According to a research, 52 percent of people used retail therapy to improve a sour mood. Buying a new item or going to a thrift store can help with mild depression.  If it works for you, you should not feel guilty. Do it, enjoy it and don't overdo it and that's just what I do. I buy stuff that makes me happy but I don't overdo it or splurge. 😊

Lunch was at Pho Vietz again. We love the food here. It's delish and most importantly, the price is very reasonable considering that it's at a shopping mall. But I didn't really enjoy my meal this time as I was swallowing down my food hurriedly with Drama Queen rushing me off with her constant reminder of "mum, hurry, I'm going to be late!"  😠 🤬 I ended up choking on the beef noodles soup and felt like I had something stuck in my throat for the next couple of hours.

Dinner was at Taste And Memories, a Chinese restaurant that serves MSG-free home-cooked type of dishes.

We had steamed tofu with otak-otak; braised yam with pork belly, sauteed vegetables:


Pork lard claypot rice, pork knuckles black vinegar:




Assam fish with vegetables. This is everyone's favorite dish, albeit it's too spicy for me to handle.




Braised kampung chicken with ginger and sesame seed oil and sauteed bitter gourd with canned black bean fish:


Just when we were about to leave the restaurant, hubs surprised me with a birthday cake from one of his favorite cafes, Front Room.   It's a Black Forest cake and the owner brought the cake over to the restaurant. I'm never a fan of Black Forest cake though I grew up eating it at almost every birthday celebration at home as my dad loves it.  I was disappointed that my favorite pandan gula Melaka cake wasn't available and he had to settle for Black Forest. But just one mouthful of the cake and my whole perspective on Black Forest cake changed. My liking towards Black Forest cake was taken to a whole new level!  But that's only for Black Forest cake from Front Room Cafe and no other.

Check out this cute little boy eyeing the cake. After cake cutting, I brought two pieces of cake over to the next table and asked the little boy's mum if he could eat the cake. But the parents turned down the offer politely and thanked me. And the little boy went bawling away as he had no cake to eat 😁








The hubs has been too tied up with work that he hadn't gotten the time to get me a present. But I am not letting him off the hook.  We're going to the shopping mall again on Saturday night to get my gift!

Reasons To Wear Hair Extensions

I am pretty sure most of us have that one horror story of going into a hair appointment and asking for a little trim off the ends and bangs, and coming out with a brand new hair style or even an un-asked for pixie cut. I hear ye! I've been there. Post hair-cut, I'd spent hours standing in front of the mirror and staring at an almost unrecognizable me, cussing away and corroded with regret.  Those times, I vowed never to cut my hair again at that salon.



If this 'nightmare' happens to you again, there is a solution that you can turn to for a temporary fix ~ by way of hair extensions.

The good thing about hair extensions is that it can easily fix this problem that many of us painfully go through. Clip in hair extensions will not hinder hair growth so it’s the best alternative to rocking longer locks while waiting for your real hair to grow out.



Hair extensions instantly make any hair style more beautiful and interesting. With the additional length, volume, and even pop of color to your hair, you can easily make any simple braid, bun, or ponytail more voluminous and intricate.

Another great way to use clip in human hair extensions is to use them as accessories in your hair. For example, you can braid a 3-clip weft to create a braid headband or clip on a few wefts to add that length and volume you've been dreaming about. The options are just endless.



I have three wedding dinners to attend this year and I am thinking of doing up something fresh and sassy for my hair with clip in hair extension.  I know just where to get the best clip in hair extensions online.  Where do you get yours?

Finding Your Inner Beauty And Happiness At Summer & Peach!

On the eve of the eve of my birthday today, I received a beautiful birthday gift couriered to me.  I'll bet you'll be green with envy just by looking at them.  They are all MINE 😁 👙

These luxurious bra accessories are something that I have been hunting around for a while to pair with some of my skimpy dresses and tops *ahem* and I found them at Summer And Peach, a Malaysian online store selling high quality bralettes and bra accessories imported from the US and various European countries.

Every item is wrapped and packaged aesthetically, which makes you feel like a woman of class, deserving only the best inner beauty.



This light and invisible seamless Magic Nubra that doesn't weigh your boobs down is half the weight of a normal nubra! Made from highly adhesive natural ingredient, the Magic Nubra is more secure and gentle on your delicate skin. This innovative Magic Nubra is specially designed with 3D cutting that provides great coverage and push up effect. Now you can have a Nubra you'll actually love!



Plus, this baby comes in an elegant black shiny shell casing for easy storage. And the shell casing can even be doubled up as a dainty dinner bag!

Sugarlace nippies, jelly nippies and stick-on paddings are the life saviors of every woman who owns bare back and off shouldered dresses or tops and unpadded swimsuits.  They are also a dream come true for those who don't like to wear bras.  All you have to do is to stick these nippies or padding onto your boops, slip on your barest back dress or halter neck top and you're good to go.  These intimate accessories are an ultimate must-have staple in every woman's wardrobe!

The color and design of the jelly nippies look so much like real teats that for a moment, you won't even notice that you have a jelly stuck to your twins 😄




Another lingerie staple in the wardrobe of every woman of child-bearing age is menstrual leak-proof panty.  Say goodbye to leaks and hello to PMS Leakproof Panties from Summer And Peach! This soft and breathable everyday panty has a water-resistant lining all the way to the waistline to prevent any unexpected leakage. Excellent for days with menstrual cycle, heavy flow, postpartum bleeding or urinary incontinence.








The PMS Starter Kit from Summer And Peach comprises of a complete set of intimate items that a woman needs at different times of the month:

- 1 x PMS Leakproof Basic Panties 3-Packs (Choose your size)
- 1 x Beboldz 1-Month Premium Sanitary Pads
- 1 x Beboldz Premium Panty Liners
- 1 x Happy Tummy Warm Pouch (I love the baby pink pouch!) to relieve period pains and mid-cycle pains.









I am such a happy camper today.  I know someone will be happy to share some of these stuff with me too. I can't wait to show her these precious!

So girls, do check out Summer And Peach. They offer free shipping on orders above RM150 and also a one-time free exchange. You can also follow them on their Facebook and Instagram.


Couldn't agree more that a comfortable, sexy and pretty bralette is a girl's bff.  I am already in a good mood just by looking at the bralettes at Summer And Peach! Now my hands are starting to get itchy to shop.  I'm sure you will too!