Home Quarantine Cooking

Even before the CMCO was announced on Monday afternoon, I had already kept Sherilyn at home for a week as she was feeling a tad under the weather. She had been having very late nights lately to complete projects and her health has taken a hit from the lack of sleep.  Over the past few weeks, there were a few Covid positive cases in three condos  in our residential area. One of Sherilyn's teachers and classmates stay in one of the condos, though not from the same block as the Case.  A couple of days before the CMCO was announced, almost everyone from her class skipped school.  I also didn't allow Cass to go to school a few days before the CMCO was announced. She wasn't very happy as she doesn't like to stay home all day without having anything to do. 

Since she's got so much free time at home, Sherilyn made Tempura prawns, pumpkin, mushrooms and lady's fingers. Tempura is something that she's always wanted to try making and what better time than now?  Home quarantine is the best time to try out new recipes!

Mixed Tempura of prawns, pumpkin, mushrooms and lady's fingers, using a packet of sample Thai Tempura flour she found in the kitchen cabinet.  Hubs got the sample Tempura flour from a supplier and the flour has been sitting inside the cabinet for a long time already.

On Monday, Sherilyn's second tooth was extracted for braces.  A few days before the scheduled tooth extraction, she had already planned what to cook for her post-extraction meals.  She prepped Dashi and some other stock for her Soba, Japanese simmered pumpkin and savory oats. 

A day after the tooth extraction, Sherilyn ran a temperature.  But she was still well enough to whip up a very yummy buttery and garlicky oats porridge.  Thank God the temp subsided after just a day. 

The savory oats porridge was so good that I preferred her oats more than the Dah Makan food delivered to us 😆 

Ingredients:

Instant organic steel-cut oat groats (pre-steamed, thus the oats soften easily)

Butter

Milk

Dashi stock

Minced garlic

Toppings:

Poached egg

Avocado

Simmered pumpkin (Kabocha No Nimono)

Scallions from our garden

Before her dental appointment, she quickly prepped a batch of chewy pumpkin cubes for future use in her dessert bowls. When she came back from the dental clinic, she continued rolling the cubes until almost midnight while watching a movie from her phone 😐

Such is the life of a middle high school student during lockdown!

Our 15-year old sure has a lot of potential and caliber in the culinary and creativity department but ironically, cooking and baking are only her hobby (as she's a foodie like her dad!) and she has told me many times that she will never pursue a course in F&B in future.  Her dream is to get a scholarship and study in her dream university in Canada! And my reply to her is "chase your dream and make it come true" 🙏

Easy Way Out

On days that Maria our part-time helper doesn't come, I now get takeaway food from my favorite family-approved eateries in the neighborhood.  One of the eateries is a Japanese restaurant and they have economy mixed dishes cooked the Japanese way available during lunch.  However, the price is not as cheap as 'chap fan'.  It cost RM50 for these three dishes for 5 pax, sans rice. Everyone loves the food and there's never once any food that's leftover.  The chef is a health freak and she's very fastidious about what goes into the dishes that she cooks.  Even my persnickety foodie hubs approves of the food from this Japanese restaurant.

Chicken Teriyaki:

 

Tofu + minced chicken patties:

Japanese seaweed and radish appetizer:

 

It's such a chore taken off our shoulders when we don't have to cook, scrub pots, wok and pans and wipe greasy stoves and floor. I know the mil feels tired as well having to cook 6 times a week.  And the house is so much more peaceful when the girls don't have to squabble over cleaning up and keeping unfinished food after dinner!   I think I'll stick to this arrangement of buying takeout on days that our helper doesn't come in.  My right hand has now completely healed and I am not taking any chances of overworking it again!  

Fall Outfit Ideas For Ladies

Hi there fashionistas! Now that it's fall, it's time to think of fall fashion. I can't help but get excited for the new outfit ideas and layering opportunities the new season brings. From oversized blazers and modernized outerwear trends to cozy knits and sweater dresses, there is so much to play around with. 

Get inspired by the following autumnal ensembles—to wear while working from home, indulging in virtual Zoom happy hours, or getting out to enjoy weekend wanderings.  Let's have a look at some of the chicest Autumn outfit ideas for ladies to wear this year.

How about grabbing a long sleeve tee with the words "Please Stay 6 Feet Away! Social Distancing 2020" ?  This is a great top to wear while you're out as a reminder to everyone near you to keep a 6-feet distance away from you to keep everyone safe. This is one tee I'd like to get for myself too! Check out more cool tops at prices you'll love at Ninacloak.

What you wear on Halloween does not have to cost you a quarter of your monthly salary. If you’re still trying to figure out your costume, there are so many simple, funny, and just flat-out genius ideas out there that don’t require hundreds of dollars. You can DIY them, shop smart for some good deals, or just get creative with clothes you already have in your closet.  This pumpkin printed yellow long sleeve tee from Ninacloak costs under $20. As long as you put on some Halloween makeup, basic craft supplies, and some extra time, you're good to go for your Trick or Treating!

 

The one clothing piece that never gets out of trend is t-shirt. Whether it’s a printed tee with funny words, graphic tee, plain oversized t-shirt, or body-hugging t-shirt, they have always ruled the trend and are adored by people of all age groups.  This hilarious tee is great for layering and can be worn on its own on hotter days.

This yellow Halloween round neck long sleeve printed sweater is another inexpensive costume for your Halloween party this year. With some creative Halloween makeup and hairdo and DIY props, you're have a blast.

As the air gets crisper, it's time to start thinking about knitwear and trendy sweaters. Whether you're into fitted cardigans, long loose sweater coats like the piece below or oversized crews, finding the perfect fall sweater will be easy thanks to Ninacloak.

The hallmark of fall fashion, sweaters mark the onset of crisp autumn days, and provide a cozy middle ground until coats become mandatory.  From statement-making sweaters to Zoom-ready knits, pick your favorite fall wear at Ninacloak at affordable prices this season.

 

Complete Change of Taste Buds

Cass' UTI attack with hospital stay and a week-long administration of antibiotics intravenously and orally last month has caused her taste buds to evolve and now, she has an almost new set of gustatory cells. Food that she once loved are no longer her favorites now. She used to love meat, eggs, rice and noodles but has now lost interest in them.  She now has kooky food preferences. She's still hooked on oats with milk, which ain't a bad thing, as she eats organic steel cut oats with low fat milk.  She now prefers to eat oats, bread or crackers with cream cheese for lunch and dinner 😦. And she's crazy over apples 😁

Someone ain't too happy though, that Cass is not eating the food that she cooks as she doesn't fully understand why Cass' taste goblets have changed so dramatically.  

Cass's quirky dinner on Monday, with dishes on top, making this a Tartine 😁:

Wheat germ bread layered with tuna mayo + sweet corn + celery, Mozzarella cheese, fried soy bean sprouts and sweet and sour chicken fillet.

 

She doesn't even like steamed fish anymore.

Cass' dinner yesterday: organic instant steel cut oat groats with low fat milk, fresh blueberries and bananas. After scarfing down this wholesome bowl of fiber, she ate a whole organic Juliet apple 😊

Sharing Doesn't Work!

Today when we were at the pharmacy to pick up some toiletries and 'healthy' biscuits, Alycia wanted to get a bottle of facial toner.   After Alycia found her Thayers toner (finally Big Pharmacy at our area has it, yay!), Sherilyn wanted a bottle too. I told them to share but an argument broke.  One girl was claiming that her sister always steals her toner and Avène Thermal Spring Water and the accused rebutted. Soon, the argument escalated and got pretty intense.  And I said "OK, each one gets one bottle!"... and the brannigan stopped instantly.  There goes my RM96!  

When they were little toddlers and pre-schoolers, Alycia and Sherilyn would fight over toys and snacks.  Now that they're teens, they often fight over facial toner, pimple cream, perfume and other stuff, which I've always encouraged them to share. I told them that they better not fight over the same boy a few years down the road 😂

For peace at home, sharing just doesn't apply anymore with our teens. Each one gets to keep her own bottle of toner or perfume or whatever.  Just don't come and hound me with grievances when I am busy with work!

RMCO Day 114 ~ Thursday, 1 October 2020

Today is the first day of the last quarter of 2020. It feels like it was not too long ago that we were back in Ipoh to celebrate Chinese New Year. I had such a happy time bonding with all my loved ones in Ipoh.  It was during CNY this year that Covid-19 just landed in our shores.  And within a month, we were all grounded and sheltering at home.  The hubs' catering business went from making several millions a year to zero revenue for months. We were all stuck at home and feeling really miserable.  This year has been pretty much a wasted year where nothing much is achieved. It's a year that we tell ourselves that if we could survive this year - from escaping the Virus and from being severely impacted financially, next year will be a better year for us.

Although it's Mid Autumn Festival today, there's not much atmosphere and spirit to celebrate. It's raining for almost 24 hours and the moon is hiding away from us.  The pandemic situation in our country is very worrying, with cases totaling 260 today.  Our DG of Health has hinted that the RMCO may be reverted back to MCO if people do not follow SOPs and positive cases continue to increase.  As of today, though the cases are steadily increasing, our DG of Health mentioned that it is still under control but he advised everyone to stay at home and not go out unnecessarily.  The bulk of the cases come from people who returned from Sabah (a hot red zone), who then infected other people. All but two states in our country have new cases now. 

So it looks like my long impending trip to Mid Valley Megamall will not materialize anytime soon.  I need to go to ISEC to buy another bottle of eye drop for Cass' mild Lazy Eye. I'm going to call ISEC tomorrow to inquire if they could courier the eye drop to me. As there has been a worrying trend of infections at shopping malls the past few days, I think I'll just stay put for now. The only places that I will go to are the supermarkets, pharmacies, eateries and bank at my residential area.

We're thankful to God that hubs still has catering functions, though a couple of them were cancelled this week in view of the increasing Covid19 cases.  Today's catering event is a Mid Autumn Festival celebration, ordered by his client - a leading car manufacturer in our country. The function is attended by big wigs and Management staff.  On the menu is Chinese cuisine with sumptuous double yolk mooncakes.

Hubs' chef cooked extra for us and we had these for lunch and dinner:

I'd like to wish all my Chinese readers Happy Mid Autumn Festival 月圆人团圆!

Eight Treasure Restaurant @ Taman Connaught, Cheras

Our girls ditched us on Sunday.  We were supposed to go out for lunch together but when they heard that daddy was going to our regular neighborhood kopitiam for a quick lunch, suddenly, everyone had something cropped up at the eleventh hour.  The girls are bored of eating the same old food at the eatery.  Just mention that we're going for Korean or Japanese, all their online classes and projects will be unbelievably postponed or someone would say that she got the dates mixed up 😐

With just hubs, mil and I, hubs decided to venture out of our neighborhood as the mil suddenly had a craving for Pan Mee at Eight Treasure Restaurant, a small neighbourhood restaurant in Taman Connaught that attracts a continuous queue of zealous diners.  The last time we were there about a month ago, the Pan Mee was sold out when we reached the restaurant at around 11-ish a.m.  The Pan Mee is one of the restaurant's star dishes and is replete of ingredients and flavor.  Eight Treasure serves good old traditional homecooked comfort food.

We ordered two bowls of Pan Mee and another two bowls for takeaway for the girls.

We ordered a portion of Hakka Yong Tau Foo. A portion comes with 8 large pieces of stuffed 'liu'. We also ordered another potion for takeaway for dinner.  Each piece of stuffed 'liu' has a generous wedge of homemade fish paste.  This is my absolute favorite dish. My late grandmother used to make very toothsome Hakka Yong Tau Foo, bouncy fish balls, fried fish cakes and stuffed 'liu' with fish paste that she made from scratch from fresh fish.  The Yong Tau Foo and 'liu' cooked in fermented bean paste from Eight Treasure taste very similar to the ones that my late grandmother made.  I should learn how to cook this dish one day when I have no more Grab Mom duties to do and no kids to mind.

The horse grass-fed chicken, steamed and served with minced ginger is another crowd-puller.  If you're used to eating antibiotics and hormone reared chickens, you will find such a huge contrast with horse grass-fed chickens. The meat of horse grass-fed chicken is very flavorful and firm with no chicken odor. For someone who does not fancy eating steamed chicken, this chicken is my only exception. It is cooked to a tee and I give it a 10/10 rating for taste and freshness.  But the price is a shocker @ RM120 a chicken.  We ordered half a chicken and the entire plate of chicken was polished clean with no leftover for the girls.

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, hubs segued into Sun Ming Restaurant to get takeaway roast duck, char siu and siu yoke.  This restaurant is well known for their charcoal roast duck.  But I'm not a fan of ducks.  These roast meats were for our lunch the next day.  

While we were waiting for our bill to arrive, we saw the owner packing homemade dumplings (Jiao Zi) for a customer and we ordered two boxes @ RM26 a box as the girls love dumplings.  I'm happiest when we don't have to cook.😁

Healthy Breakfast

After a UTI attack about a month ago and a recent bout of torturous constipation that lasted almost a week, Cass' taste buds seemed to have evolved. Her love for oats resurfaced  and she's eating a lot more fruits now.  Her sudden crave for oats is so intense that she's now eating oats twice a day - breakfast before going to school and lunch. Sometimes she has oats thrice a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner! And she only likes oats with fresh milk.  This morning she added a large Korean Fuji apple and pineapple into her oats. She prepped the breakfast herself at 9 a.m. and enjoyed her breakfast with a good book before attending BM tuition at 11 a.m..  We had Char Siew rice for lunch and after lunch, she chomped down another large Fuji apple 🍎.  When we came home at 5:30 p.m. after piano lesson, she chomped down a big plate of papaya. 

My health freak eating habits have definitely rubbed off on Cass. While she had oats, I had skinny sugar-free yoghurt with melon seeds, peanuts, pistachios and homemade coconut sugar kaya (75% sugar reduced).

RMCO Day 106 ~ Wednesday, 23 Sept 2020 (Random Updates)

I'm back at churning out fruit smoothies for the girls again after a hiatus of more than half a year.  Cass has been suffering from constipation for the past week, a side effect from the strong antibiotics administered to her intravenously and orally when she was admitted to the hospital for UTI three weeks ago.  Initially she suffered from diarrhea, then I gave her probiotics and the diarrhea stopped but in came the constipation. This is the reason why I would never allow myself or the girls to be given oral antibiotics unless absolutely necessary in a do or die situation.

Dragon fruit, banana and apple smoothie with a few shakes of organic lemon juice.

The constipation was so bad that nothing seemed to work to jump start her defenseless lazy bowel. Not even enema. She was bloated and had no appetite.  Strangely, she craved for instant oats with fresh milk, a comfort food that my mum would feed me with whenever I was sick when I was a girl.   I also encouraged her to eat my skinny sugar-free yoghurt, which she surprisingly liked though it was sour.   After several meals of organic oats with milk, smoothie, yoghurt and tummy massages (using peppermint essential oil), she finally made the dump, yay!!

There was a little drama surrounding the organic oats when I was about to prep some for Cass' lunch when she returned from school yesterday.   When I opened a packet of organic oats that I bought yesterday morning from the pharmacy, a weevil crawled out and gave me a scare!  The weevil, the size of a baby butterfly fluttered its wings and was about to fly away when I quickly yelled out to Cass to help me scoop it back into the packet of oats.  Some of the oats had a layer of glue-like web and I think it must be the excrement from the weevil and its family.  Imagine the weevil survived months inside the packet of oats all the way from New Zealand.  Ewwwwww!!  This made me convinced that the oats are genuinely organic as pests can survive in it for months. This is not the first time I find weevils in organic oats, rice and noodles.   Later I brought the packet of oats back to the pharmacy for an exchange and the owner recommended a premium brand of oats to me, which costs double the price!  On top of paying an additional RM5 for the price difference, I had to pay RM1.50 for car park again, just to get the packet of oats exchanged.  😕. 

My packet of Signature Premium organic instant oats, steel cut from oat groats. I guess this should be free from pests as the oats have been steamed.  The oats taste better than regular oats as they are roasted and have a distinct earthy aroma.  

And if Cass is willing to eat oats regularly, I don't mind getting a premium brand with better quality.  Oats are incredibly nutritious and chock-full of health benefits. 

Our lunch at Seoul Korea again on Sunday - our all-time favorite and something that we will never get bored of.

Random Ramblings

  

This stupid fake lizard never fails to startle me. Hubs bought it for Cass about a year ago at a toys wholesaler in Chinatown. No prize for guessing who these two mobsters intended to scare to death with the lizard!  After a few rounds of trying her luck to terrorize me with it with no success, the lizard went missing and a few months later, it resurfaced. Though the color on the body faded a wee bit, the lizard still gives me the heebie-jeebies each time I see it on the table or floor out of nowhere as it does look frigging real!  Someone is still trying her luck! Today she succeeded as it scared the living daylights out of the mil when she saw it on the floor!

Look what I found inside the washer yesterday morning..

 

Someone had left the USB cord in his jeans pocket yesterday and despite me checking the pockets before the clothes went into the washer, I couldn't find anything. His jeans pockets are really deep and I don't stick my entire hand into them to check. Everyone should be responsible for checking their own clothes before chucking them into the laundry pail! I'm no one's maid!   I had a shock when the USB cord poured out of the washer when I opened the door. No wonder the washer had strange sounds inside during the cycle!  

Yesterday none of the girls wanted to follow us out for brunch. With just the three of us adults, hubs ventured into Paramount Garden @ PJ to try our luck getting a table at O&S Coffee Shop. When we saw a queue longer than 10 meters (expected as it was a public holiday), we segued into Choon Prawn Mee House to tuck into some authentic Penang prawn noodles.

Ice milk tea with grass jelly.

While mil and I waited for our prawn noodles, hubs queued up at O&S to get takeaway Yong Tau Fu, Indian rojak and char koay teow for our dinner.  My life is constantly filled with good food when I have a foodie hubs who lives to eat and a daughter who finds her zen cooking and baking.

And this is the reason why I must clock in an average of 13,000 - 17,000 steps a day to melt all these calories away.  I exercise twice a day every other day - once from 6:20 - 7:00 a.m. at our condo's jogging trek and another round from 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. at the park.

My Fitbit is always worn on my upper arm when I'm at home so that it doesn't get in my way when I do house chores.

And yes, I finally got myself a new smart watch - a Fitbit Charge 4 with awesome features.  It's water resistant to 50 meters, thus I don't have to freak out if I accidentally left it in my shorts pocket for an hour spin in the washer 😅. I shall write a separate post on my Charge 4 soon...

Benefits of Wearing A Waist Trainer

If you're on a mission to achieve a super small waist like your idol, Kim Kardashian or have always dreamed of having a Barbie doll-like body, there are less painful alternatives to going under the knife in a Rib Resection surgery to have a couple of ribs removed.

A less invasive and much cheaper alternative is through waist training, the process of reducing your waist size and accentuating your curves using a waist trainer, a tight-laced corset and shapewear shorts. These garments are meant to give the wearer an exaggerated hourglass figure. Waist trainers or shapewear have been around since 1500 (though known as a bodice then) but was made popular again by the popular Kardashians. Even if you're on the larger size, you can get a plus size waist trainer and you'll see the difference on your body instantly.  Unlike jeans or belts, they are extremely flexible and the stretch of these fibers is up to 500%. 

These are some of the benefits of wearing a waist trainer:

1.  Tucked in. The most obvious advantage of a bodysuit is what they were designed for: they stay tucked in!  There is no need to worry about your blouse or singlet popping out and having to thrust your hand down your skirt or pants to tuck it in place.

2.  Eating smaller food portions. Large meals may feel uncomfortable to consume when your midsection is under compression.  With a waist trainer or shapewear shorts on your body, you'll likely feel more comfortable eating smaller meals rather than large ones.

3.  Improvement in posture.  A waist trainer certainly does not allow you to slouch and keeps your posture straight and after a period of time wearing it, it becomes second nature to you to keep a good posture.

4.  More calories burnt.  When you wear a waist trainer during exercise, you will sweat profusely, especially around your waist area.  With that extra sweat, you will lose some water weight and calories.

Just make sure that you are getting the right size when you purchase shapewear – or any type of clothing for that matter.  If the garment is tight around the hip area especially it can constrict the blood circulation to the lower legs. One should use common sense and if there is discomfort, should attempt a larger size. Also remember not to wear shapewear and waist trainers for extremely long periods of time and never sleep in them.   

If you’d like to cover up those minor imperfections and give your body a more natural shape, a women’s shapewear or bodysuit added into your closet of arsenal attire might give you just the boost of confidence that you need.  To help you safe some money, you can get the best Black Friday deals at FeelinGirl.

Along with a healthy diet, exercise and proper shapewear, you will be on your way to achieving a permanent hour-glass figure 😉.  

RMCO Day 95 ~ Saturday, 12 Sept 2020

Last night I promised Cass that we'll be having breakfast together this morning at her favorite fish paste noodles stall at our neighborhood kopitiam.  But hubs doesn't want to eat the same boring food from our neighborhood.  He was in the mood to venture down to downtown KL to tuck into the best Ipoh-style 'kai si hor fun' and bean sprouts chicken in KL at Jalan San Peng Wat Kai Fan / Kai See Hor Fun. When Cass found out that her dad was going somewhere else instead, she was so upset and refused to eat what he'd ordered 😂   

After brunch, we went to a dried food stuff wholesaler in Petaling Street as the mil wanted to restock our supply of dried anchovies, red dates, dried cuttlefish, groundnuts, etc.   Then we stopped at Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee Beef Noodles to tapau beef noodles for dinner.

So tomorrow's brunch will be Cass' call.  We'll be bringing her to tuck into her favorite fish paste noodles after badminton in the morning. 

Did I tell you that this brat got the highest marks (96%) in her BM Penulisan paper this exam? She got a tie with the top student. I was gobsmacked and think that it was purely a fluke. For someone who put in so little effort and time into revising, I really think that the BM teacher was being super duper lenient with his marks. I can't wait to find out what marks she scored for other subjects! This time, I placed very little expectation on her marks as she was hospitalized and still in a very chillaxed mood, knowing that UPSR is cancelled and this exam will not have much impact on her as she's going to high school next year.

Yesterday morning I bought a tub of orange and purple sweet potato chips from our neighborhood kopitiam and by evening today, the tub is empty! It's so addictively crispy and yummy that everyone in the house kept opening the tub to pop a few chips into our mouths each time we passed by the dining table.  Time to get another tub tomorrow morning!🤭

Wigging Out The Celebrity Way

Wigs are a commitment-free way to try on a different hair style, color and cut and sometimes even take on a whole new style identity for a bit of fun.  That's why celebrities turn to wigs to jazz things up.  Wigs these days can be bought online from wholesale hair vendors.   Celebrities change up their hairstyles on a regular basis, from wild shades to super-short pixies. But rather than chopping their tresses on a whim (and regretting it later on) or damaging their strands with excessive coloring, several stars turn to a more temporary solution: wigs and hair extensions. They are made from human hair and most times, they look so natural that it's hard to tell if they are real or faux.

As proven by some of my favorite hairstyle chameleons, including Kim Kardashian, Cardi B and Kate Perry, wigs are the easiest way to transform your look and make a major statement—commitment-phobe.  From Kylie Jenner to Katie Holmes (whose blunt bob was so convincing, everyone thought it was the real deal), many other celebs love rocking faux tresses and peruvian hair on the red carpet.

Dolly Parton, the legendary singer never hid away her love for wigs. She has been wearing wigs since 1973. In fact, you may not have seen her making a public appearance without one.  She confessed in her talk show with Jimmy Fallon that she's been wearing wigs all the time because wigs are so handy and she's always so busy.

Halsey - looking cute and gorgeous like a modern-day Ariel from The Little Mermaid, the "Without Me" songstress rocked a long bright red wig to channel the Disney princess while singing "Part of Your World" during the sing-along on May 10, 2020. 

Today, many women experiment with hair additions in every length, color and texture ~ from body wave to straight to bundles with closure.   Brazilianhairtop is an online store to shop for all your hair extensions and wig needs. They specialize in high quality human hair extensions.

Faux hair is very common in the show business and we are grateful that celebrities are so open and authentic about their wig use. This is a reminder for us that people with cancer, alopecia and hair loss are not alone in their struggle. Wigs are flexible and no hassle, and thanks to the new improvements made using high technology, wigs are extremely realistic looking!

Random Updates (RMCO Day 93 ~ Thursday, 10 Sept 2020)

 This is our edible garden on the balcony:

Spring onions (grown from red shallots), Thai purple basil, red Malabar spinach and stink grass (fragrant actually).

Chinese parsley (both pots alongside spring onion on the ledge), baby shoots of green Malabar spinach  (on the right) and red Malabar spinach. Both the red and green Malabar spinach plants were grown from stems after we ate the leaves.  The Chinese parsley were grown from the root bunch after we used the top part.  The plants on the bottom left are Sherilyn's school RBT project where she planted lettuce and chilies from seeds.

This was my breakfast yesterday: 

A packet of vegetarian meehoon with vegetables curry and fried tempeh with curry leaves as add ons. The mil and I shared this.  Lately, she's been reducing her food portion too. Guess my health freak practices have rubbed off on her 😆.  She also walks an hour a day in the morning sun. As a result, she lost quite a bit of weight, something for her to rejoice in as she was advised by her doctor to shed some weight some time back.

My new stock of pickled raw mango, papaya and Ambarella, bought from a seller on Facebook.  I didn't expect each box to have so much pickles in it and I shared them with Maria our part-time helper as well as hubby's aunt who stays 2 floors below ours.  

Today there was a little drama at the supermarket car park. After I took the parking chip coin, I dropped the coin (which is super slippery and small)  which fell through a small gap between the driver's seat and a tray and landed at the bottom. There was no way I could wedge my hand between the tiny gap and the bottom is too deep for me to reach. I searched my car and handbag frantically for anything that's long and thin to slot between the gap to push the coin out. I was so glad that I found a tube of hand cream, which is almost finishing, thus flat enough to go through the gap.  When the tube reached the bottom, in my excitement, I pushed the coin forward a tad too hard and then the coin flew away and was no where in sight. Fudge!!  

Again, I searched for the coin frantically, like I was looking for a needle in a haystack and had to squat down in my tight mini denim skirt to search under the car seat, which made things harder! With the coin no where in sight, I ran into the supermarket after going through the My Sejahtera QR code scanning and temperature check and looked for the manager. He's someone whom I'm familiar with. Told him the sob story but he said sorry, you still have to pay RM30 as the replacement coin costs almost that much.  Bummer.  I went back to my car to do another thorough scan of the car floor. This time I had to literally stick my  head and hand under the seat but still I couldn't see the dang coin. I flipped the double layer of floor mat on the back passenger seat and blimey, the blue coin was sitting underneath the mat!  And I was perturbed as to how the coin could have gone backwards when I pushed it forward!  

Happy yet flustered after I found the coin.  I think I'm going to have a phobia putting the parking chip coin on the seat next to me after today's drama. Just like how I'm now paranoid of holding my keys when I get in and out of the lift. A few years ago, the bunch of house keys slipped out of my hand as I exited the lift, fell through the elevator shaft and landed at the bottom. The condo manager had to call the elevator technicians over to retrieve the keys 😑