Sherilyn's 15th Birthday - 16 February 2020

We celebrated Sherilyn's 15th birthday at Bangsar Shopping Centre on Sunday. Hubs had to be at a client's function in Bangsar in the morning. So we Grab-ed our way to BSC to meet him for lunch. Hubs asked the birthday girl to pick her choice of restaurant at BSC and of all the restaurants there, she chose Chilli's.

I was mad as hops when someone took my phone to use and didn't put it back in my handbag. How can I celebrate Sherilyn's birthday without my phone to snap pix? I had to rely on hubby and Alycia's phones for the photography and I am not 100% satisfied with the quality of the photos 😡






After our meal, the staff brought out ice-cream (complimentary) and sang the birthday song. We went into a fit of laughter when the staff pronounced the birthday girl's name as "SHE-LE-LINA" 😆



The birthday girl's next request was to go to Niko Neko The Concept Store @ Bangsar for her favorite matcha latte and matcha desserts. Just like her mom, Sherilyn is a matcha devotee.   As it was a Sunday, the store was packed like sardines.  The store is not very spacious and with so many people queuing to enter the store, to order food and to wait for a table, we felt suffocated in the store cum cafe, thus only stayed there for about 15 minutes and left with take-away matcha desserts.










Photo credit - Niko Neko Facebook




The birthday girl's wish was to have tarts from Encore Patisserie and matcha brownies and matcha burnt cheese cake from Niko Neko.


Sherilyn's birthday - 16 February 2020 vs 16 February 2008.

Here's a blown-up photo for a clearer view to see much our girls have grown over 12 years. In this photo, Sherilyn had a plaster on her forehead. These two monkeys were so happy when their daddy came home for our Valentine's Day celebration (14 Feb 2008) that Alycia gave her little sister a piggyback ride and when the big monkey stood up, Sherilyn came tumbling down and knocked her head on the sharp corner of the wall. We rushed to the A&E of the hospital with blood gushing out from Sherilyn's forehead, with my clothes stained with her blood and thank God no sutures were required. What an eventful Valentine's Day celebration we'd had that year! I was 7 months preggers with Cass.  Till today, there's still a scar on this Drama Queen's forehead.


A week later, Sherilyn had another birthday celebration. This time it's a joint birthday celebration with Asyura, her classmate since their primary school days at a Chinese school. Asyura is still her classmate in high school.








The party was held at their classmate's mom's cafe.

Update on Alycia's Flu

As a precautionary measure that Alycia doesn't spread her flu bugs to her classmates and teachers, she stayed home for 4 days. Her fever subsided on the 3rd day and I told her to stay home for one more day to rest. I didn't want to receive a call from school requesting me to bring her home. All  schools have been put on high alert on students with a temperature ever since the Covid-19 Coronavirus outbreak which has escalated into a frightful global emergency and epidemic.

I even bought a new no-contact thermometer so that I can check everyone's temperature several times a day.  This forehead thermometer from Big Pharmacy cost me a frigging RM193. I also hoarded packets of wet wipes (super size) from Guardian Pharmacy when the stock finally arrived 😂




The mil cooked a big pot of roast pork bone porridge but Alycia pouted her lips at the sight of porridge. She only had the appetite to eat cucumber sushi, so that was what she ate for 3 days straight 😐😷


On top of supplementing the family with vitamins, Izumio hydrogen water, Super Lutein, essential oils (topical application and diffusing), fruits, vegetables, coconut water, barley water, chrysanthemum tea and all that jazz, we drink matcha green tea (quality matcha powder from Japan) everyday.

Did you know that green tea is an effective alternative anti-infectious agent against Influenza virus? And this is scientifically proven.  In a study in Japan, it was found that green tea catechins and theanine (an amino acid found naturally in green tea) might be an effective prophylaxis for influenza infection.

On the first day that Alycia was down with fever, I was also feverish that night with chills and a 38C temperature. I was worried sick that everyone else would be bitten by the flu bug too.  I downed packets of Izumio, popped my Super Lutein, applied Thieves and Oregano essential oils on the soles of my feet every night, drank matcha tea and popped Esberitox. I gargled on a concoction of sea salt water mixed with Clove, Melaleuca + Peppermint essential oils throughout the day and applied propolis throat spray into my throat several times a day. Thank God on the second day, the fever subsided.

The mil boiled a big pot of mung beans with 'stinky grass' when Alycia was down with fever. This concoction is a good detox and can expel heatiness from the body.



Green bean (also known as Mung Bean) has been long known to have a “cooling effect” on the body, with the ability to clear body heat, toxins and acne. Traditionally, green bean soup is an extremely popular family dish in China during summer.  The 'stinky grass' is planted in a pot at our tiny balcony. Though it has a moniker of being called 'stinky grass', most people find the grass very aromatic. However, it may be an acquired taste for some, just like 'stinky bean'/petai.

Throughout the time that Alycia was down with flu, she had no appetite for oily food. She survived on cucumber sushi, mung bean + stinky grass sweet soup, sweet potatoes, fruits and organic sweet corns.


These purple sweet corns are from our regular organic vegetables seller. It's very rare that she brings purple sweet corns from her farm. In my 10 years of buying vegetables from her, I've only seen purple sweet corns from her produce several times. These purple sweet corns have a slightly chewy texture.

Bored to her bones for being 'quarantined' at home for 4 days, Alycia got a little cheer when she successfully sold her old novels at Carousell.  She made RM95 for selling her pre-loved Spirit Animals series! 💪💗


The transaction was made to my bank account and I helped her to post the books to the buyer.

Tuesday, 11 February 2020

I got a scare last night when Alycia came to me and asked me to touch her forehead. She said that her body felt hot and her throat hurt slightly. I checked her temperature and it showed 40C 😱 With the 2019-nCoV spreading like wild forest fire to 25 countries including ours, I can't discount this as small matter. I told her to skip school tomorrow (today) and sent her to bed early.

At 6 a.m. today  her temperature shot up to 41C. I quickly fixed her a glass of Panadol Soluble and got her to guzzle down a packet of Izumio. After my morning exercise and sending Sherilyn to school, we went to the clinic. I don't normally bring the girls to the clinic at the onset of a fever. I usually self treat them at home. But because of the Coronavirus scare and also Alycia's school requires an official MC (failing which marks will be deducted), I took her to the clinic. She was prescribed with Panadol and some lozenges.

After sending Alycia home, I went to e-Genki for a 1.5 hour massage session, which the hubs has pre-booked for me. He recently signed up for a RM2k+ massage package that comes with 10 sessions of massage.  e-Genki is a fusion form of modern bioelectric meridian therapy and traditional massage. I needed it to fix my aching shoulder blades and frequent stiff neck. My only beef about this massage is I had to strip down to my underwear and donned on only a pair of disposable undie provided by the centre 😂







I will have to monitor Alycia's temperature closely. Her fever is under control though she's only taken one dosage of Panadol Soluble. I think 'll keep her home for another day. Her teachers and classmates won't be too happy to see her in school if she went back to school tomorrow with a slight temperature.

Platform 9½ Cafe - Harry Potter Themed Cafe in Ipoh

Calling all Potterheads! Whether you think you’re a wizard/witch, or a Muggle like our dearest Cass who's a huge Harry Potter aficionado, this is cafe is made just for you.

On the 3rd day of CNY, we were free from all obligations as we had done all the necessary visits and stuff on the first two days of the Lunar New Year.  Yet we got up early. The kids were all very excited, especially Cass. Hubs has agreed to bring everyone to the Harry Potter themed cafe at Concubine Lane, a cafe that Cass has been longing to visit since its opening recently.  We reached Kong Heng and Thean Chun at 10 a.m but the entire street was already ultra busy with super early birds waiting to have breakfast at the world-renowned Kong Heng and Thean Chun coffee shops.  All the patrons, including us were warned by the 'kai si hor fun / ngar choi kai' vendor that waiting time would be 45 minutes. But we waited anyway and ordered other Ipoh favorites as well.

Opened in late 2019 on the famous Concubine Lane (opposite Kong Heng and Thean Chun coffee shops), Platform 9 1/2 has some other noteworthy neighbours including BookXcess situated at Kong Heng. This new Harry-Potter themed cafe is definitely a showstopper with the window-front resembling Diagon Alley’s windowfront. With two bulging and curved windows accompanying the front door, this is the first Instagram spot in this cafe. Instagrammers can don on wizardry props and costumes complete with Harry Potter's accessories to have their perfect shots taken at this spot, like what Sherilyn did.

Staying true to Ipoh’s heritage area, it appears that Platform 9 & 1/2 retains some of the features of the heritage building. Nonetheless, there are still so many Harry Potter-themed spots! One of the most standout beverage would be butter brew float, or commonly known as butter beer, a beverage enjoyed by wizards and witches in Harry Potter. It is made with butterscotch and whipped cream and tastes like A&W root beer.  Cass and Sherilyn loved it.  Patrons can also try other beverages such as coffee, tea, juices, etc.  Besides drinks and tidbits, this cafe does not serve food though.














Crowd at the famous Kong Heng coffee shop. This is NOT the place to go to during peak holiday season if you have no patience.








Cass choosing Harry Potter snitch for her 2 BFFs, Alysa and Joslyn (who are both Potter fans), which she bought with her ang pow money.  Concubine Lane is Cass and Sherilyn's Disneyland - there are stalls that sell all their favorite trinkets, costume jewelry and of course Harry Potter souvenirs, along with stalls that sell Instagram worthy snacks like rainbow colored cheese toast, pastel colored candy floss, ice popsicals and much more.

A word of caution when you walk on the ever crowded Concubine Lane. Something unfortunate almost happened to me had I not been extra vigilant, paranoid and bitchy. As I was inching my way on the street packed with people, a male foreigner suddenly hit my shoulder very hard with his shoulder deliberately. I snapped at him loudly. When I turned back to look at him, he turned back to look at me too.  Minutes later when I was at the stall with Cass and her grandaunt to look at Harry Potter snitches, the same man walked back to my direction and looked at me suspiciously. I glared at him and pointed at him, quickly put my gold chain inside my blouse and warned the seller about the man. We left Concubine Lane quickly for our next makan destination.


Platform 9 ½ Cafe is located next to My Home One along Concubine Lane.




Opening Hours: 9am -5pm everyday
Directions: Google Maps
Social Media: Facebook Instagram

BFFs

Last Friday I had a mini gathering at my childhood friend, SF's house. Jo, my friend since primary school was back from San Francisco to celebrate Chinese New Year. It's so good to meet her again. The last time we met was four years ago in Ipoh.


We definitely don't look like we're almost reaching our big 5 in three years, eh? 😎
Jo and I stay in the same neighborhood in Ipoh and still do.  We used to go everywhere together from school to tuition, cycling, trips, parties, shopping, camping, mountain climbing to even dating 😁



Friends for over 30 years.  Jo's little girl (in red) is oh so adorable!

Chinese New Year 2020

Koong Hei Fatt Choy to all my Chinese readers who are celebrating Chinese New Year!

Sorry for the lack of update as I was back in my beautiful hometown of Ipoh for 5 days to celebrate the Lunar New Year.  The days seem to pass so swiftly when you're with all your favorite people and having loads of fun with them. Today is the 7th day of CNY and the CNY atmosphere seems to have dissipated the moment we returned to KL on the 3rd day of CNY and instead replaced with another kind of vibe. 

Everyone's talking about Coronavirus since the start of the CNY.  The topic of discussion during our CNY dinner on the 3rd day of CNY with the Yaps was centered on the novel Coronavirus / Wuhan Virus.  As we have relatives who are frequent travelers, everyone couldn't help but to talk about the latest epidemic that has swept like wild forest fires to many parts of the world, including our country. As of the date of this post, there are 7 confirmed cases in Malaysia.


The mil left for Chiang Mai early yesterday morning for a holiday with sil #2 from Hong Kong. I've been helping her get ready for this trip since two weeks ago with multiple trips to the pharmacies and clinic. I called most of the hospitals in the Klang Valley to ask if there's stock for the flu shot but all the hospitals and clinics in Malaysia have run out of stock! SIL #2 from Hong Kong also asked us to help her buy cartons of face masks but most pharmacies in Ipoh and Klang Valley have run out of stock too.  Same goes for hand sanitizer. Fortunately we managed to get a box of N95 face mask from a pharmacy in Ipoh (last box) for the mil to pass to SIL from Hong Kong when they meet in Chiang Mai.  Two days ago the mil made a trip to a warehouse in Klang to get a few cartons of face masks for SIL #2.  A family friend managed to help us pre-order a few cartons of this precious commodity!




One carton contains 1000 pieces (50 pieces x 20 boxes)

Thousands of pieces of face masks went with the mil and another family friend to Thailand yesterday for the Hong Kongers who are in desperate need of them.

OK, back to my main topic - Chinese New Year 2020!

Our trip back to Ipoh on the eve of the eve of CNY went pretty smooth, except for the traffic congestion in Selayang. It took 3 hours to reach Ipoh (with one toilet stop) instead of the usual 1 hour 40 minutes.  The returning trip on the 3rd day of CNY only took 2 hours as we left Ipoh at 7:30 a.m.

Doting indulgent daddy got the girls Baskin-Robbins ice cream at the Tapah R&R and they ate it in his car, something that I prohibit the girls from doing in my car 😐


The gourmand hubs just had to get his fix of Hakka noodles on the eve of CNY. We had this a couple of hours before our reunion lunch with the Yaps at Mun Choong Restaurant.  CNY is all about food, eh?



Cass helped her dad to wash car to earn some pocket money to buy more novels.

Our reunion lunch at Mun Choong Restaurant:







And this is our reunion dinner at my parents':



A huge spread of CNY dishes, all lovingly cooked by my 77-year old papa who loves cooking.


This year hubs bought a big fat capon / castrated chicken (RM210 for the capon) from KL to bring back to Ipoh for the reunion dinner. The capon weighed 3.5kg and has firm and tasty meat.  Some chicken lovers even eat the capon skin as it tastes better than regular chicken skin but chicken skin is a big NO NO for me.   A capon is a cockerel that has been castrated to improve the quality and taste of its flesh.



Papa started to prep the 'yeong ho si' (stuffed dried oysters with fish meat) a few days before the reunion dinner. It's a Hakka dish that my late paternal grandmother would cook every CNY - tedious to prep as it involves many steps. Thanks papa for cooking my favorite dish 💗


The cousins played with firecrackers after dinner.  When we were kids, my papa never failed to buy firecrackers for my brothers and me to play every CNY and that was the best part of CNY for us, besides the Fanta Grape and Fanta Strawberry soda 😍


To be continued...

Sunday Lunch, 12 January 2020

Last Sunday we had our first lo sang of the year at Gold Dragon City Restaurant, PJ - 11 days before Lunar New Year on 25 January 2020.  Hubs' cousin from London joined us for lunch.

Hubs ordered a Yee Sang with abalone and jelly fish, which was the star of the show that afternoon.



Have you ever tried yee sang with abalone?  If you're a lover of abalone, you're going to love this platter with chewy abalone. I prefer abalone to raw salmon but if abalone is ordered, be prepared to pull out more notes from your wallet la...



Do you know that the abalone in yee sang has an auspicious connotation to it?  Abalone (pao yu) means guaranteed luck or success.  And if raw fish is added, the fish (yu) represents abundance in Chinese.

The higher you toss, the better. Huatttttt arrrrr!  May this year be a big 'huat' year for all of us!


Stir-fried assorted vegetables with water chestnut, fried cuttlefish and macadamia nuts; steamed Soon Hock fish.  The fish meat texture is superb - succulent, fresh and sans any fishy odour.


Stir-fried choy yuen; braised fish maw and pig veins in claypot.


And two hearty meat temptations - stir fried Chinese bullfrogs (tin kai) koong po style and fried nam yue pork ribs, especially for the carnivorous men.



After lunch, we walked across to Awesome Canteen for cakes, coffee and juices.




Cempedak cake is oh so comfortingly good, fluffy and filled with chunks of aromatic cempedak. Love it!

Butcher Carey @ Plaza Damas 3

Where's the best place to eat the best steak in the Klang Valley? It has got to be at a place where the steak is cooked by the owner himself. And who also happens to be a butcher. And a banker.  This place is no other than Butcher Carey, a NO FRILLS steak house with fewer than 8 small tables.  Everything about this restaurant from the decor to the cutlery to the food and drinks is NO FRILLS and simple; it gives you the feeling that you're eating at your parents', with dad serving you his homecooked steak and salad.

We were treated to a lovely lunch of juicy steaks at Butcher Carey on New Year's Eve, courtesy of eldest SIL from Hong Kong. It's a belated lunch treat to hubby, whose birthday was a day earlier.


 
Pic credit - walauwei.com

The restauran’s owner, Chef Yusof Dayan Iskandar Carey is one macho handsome butcher, though at initial glance, he looks like some grouchy and unapproachable chef 😂

Chef Yusof started his career life as a banker, but after six years he decided to follow his passion to become a butcher.   It’s really strange that for an erudite banker to be drawn to butchery as an alternative career, of all jobs! 

When he decided to pursue his passion, he threw caution to the wind and moved to the remote Australian town of Toowoomba. There, he started from the bottom, working at a butchery business for months learning just to sharpen knives.  This led him to be an apprentice butcher, then as an artisanal master butcher and as a general manager for an international livestock company, and to ultimately found a renowned meat shop and steak restaurant chain in Malaysia.  What a great feat!

Having successfully turned his passion into a lucrative career, a few years ago he sold his business to enjoy the fruits of his 25-year labour of love.  However, after a year experiment with retirement, Chef Yusof is back in the butchery business. This time with a singular aim and scant regard for unnecessary trappings of a modern restaurant.  He just does what he loves — grilling top notch steaks, sourced from best quality farms.  His purposeful drive has enabled him to take his passion and give it the necessary craft for success.

Avocado salad - a simple salad of Romaine lettuce, red onions, tomatoes and sliced avocado seasoned with cracked black pepper and a little Thousand Island.  Cass commented that this is the best salad she's ever tasted.


Addictive sweet potato fries.


Pasta, which is sans any decor. Pretty delish though and the entire plate was polished off.



Juicy lamb chops



And the steaks. I didn't manage to snap pix of the other steaks that my SILs and MIL ordered though as they were already whacking their steaks.





Chef Yusof brings out the frying pan and serves the piping hot steak on our plate.







Butcher Carey
A-0-10, Block A, Plaza Damas 3
Jalan Sri Hartamas 1
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Call 019-338 0811