After Dinner Walks

It's been more than a week ever since Cass and I started our post-dinner routine to have a 30-minute brisk walk outside our condo. She seems to enjoy walking under the street lights and moonlight in the current 'Winter Monsoon' evening weather with crisp air.  I'm glad that I've finally succeeded in getting this couch potato to leave her seat to exercise after almost a year of being discombobulated from being locked up at home and away from her friends. 

This evening we walked to our neighborhood supermarket to get some green vegetables and on our walk back home, we saw an ambulance with the sirens lights flashing (sound muted); the driver and the assistant were donned on full PPE suits with face shields!  Cass and I were stunned. She told me to make a detour and not walk towards the ambulance.  These days whenever we see an ambulance with sirens muted and hospital staff donned in PPE suits, everyone talks about it and wonders which house or building is affected.  The ambulance must have been on the way to whisk away another Covid19 positive patient.  

With the number of positive cases rising not only in our neighborhood but in almost every neighborhood  in our country, I'm now beginning to worry if it's safe for schools to reopen on 20th January.  We've also decided that we will not be going back to Ipoh to celebrate CNY.  It's too risky for us to do that as my parents are high risk folks. Many cases caused by inter-state travels and holidays were reported the past one week.  The only way to flatten the curve is to revert to a lockdown (MCO) for at least 2 weeks, just like how it was in the beginning and it was a success. Much as I'm dying for the CMCO to end and for our lives to return to normal, however, the most effective way to stop the spread of infection is through a total lockdown 😥  We're now waiting for the government to make a decision on this matter.

Our breezy moonlight brisk walking yesterday with a beautiful backdrop ahead of us - KL Towers illuminated in neon purple, The Exchange 106 in the middle and a huge moon on the right.

Our walk to the supermarket today.

The photos are blur and shaky coz I took them whilst brisk walking and I did it stealthily to avoid being noticed.  Cass would give me a killer stare if she found out that I stole pix of her!

 

CMCO Day 206 ~ Dinner on 1st Day of 2021

Our first dinner of the year was a lavish one. Hubs had bought some pre-marinated beef ribs and steak to support a friend's frozen meat business. 

Our chef Sherilyn pan seared + oven grilled the beef ribs and seasoned it with compound butter and celery + egg plant + onion puree. The puree can also be eaten as a healthy soup. No oil was used to sear and grill the ribs.  The compound butter and puree were handled by our new TMX6, which is a gift to us by Santarina!

Happy 2021 everyone!

Pan seared for about 5 minutes first before being transferred to the oven and grilled at 190C for 10 minutes. The result: meat that falls off the bone.  

One of the juiciest, most tender and yummiest beef ribs we've tasted. Superb meat texture and taste and excellent cooking skill by our teenage chef!

CMCO Day 202 ~ Monday, 28 December 2020

Post dinner time is always busy with cleaning up. But the littlest one asked me to go for a walk with her at our condo compound and then to bring her to the gym. How can I say no when this couch potato asked to exercise? This MCO (and now school holidays) is not doing her any good with almost all-day sitting in front of the PC. I take every opportunity to make her leave her seat to walk or exercise. 

So we spent over half an hour walking around the jogging trek and then to the gym - she on the treadmill and me on the air walker 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️

Cass now gets the hang of walking at our condo's jogging trek or walking / running on the treadmill after dinner. I've finally succeeded in transforming this couch potato after almost a year of sitting in front of the PC throughout the MCO this year! 💪  And don't worry about her getting appendicitis. She rests for at least half an hour after dinner before exercising and she will never get one as her appendix was removed during her 2nd surgery 12 years ago.

Random Updates

Alycia's tai kar che mode was switched on early in the morning the other day. After ironing all her clothes, she ironed her baby sister's new high school uniform and then her dad's clothes.

The brat saw her sister ironing her white shirts commented "why iron now? We're not going to school yet!" 😂🙄.

I can't wait for the girls to return to school BUT the Defence Minister announced today that the CMCO in the Klang Valley will be extended to 14 January 2021.  Will school even get to reopen by the 20th? 

So proud of this tai kar cheh.  

Sherilyn whipped up these baked Frittata egg muffins for breakkie some time back.  Love these healthy low-carb and yummy muffin pan frittata 😋

Have you realized that Sherilyn likes cooking and baking stuff that are really complicated? I realized  this trait in her during the MCO this year that she hardly cooks and bakes anything that's simple. When I asked for a simple traditional banana cake, she just had to add cinnamon and other trimmings onto the cake. When I asked for a simple chicken dish, she had to Google for a very complicated chicken recipe with multiple steps and spent hours in the kitchen.  I craved for a good old plain orange cake but she just had to whip up some cream cheese or butter cream for the cake despite me telling her "NO, I JUST WANT A PLAIN CAKE!"  

🙄

I think she's born to love challenges and competitions.  These days I seem to be telling her a lot not to complicate things in life when life can be simple 😐

Participation In Cabaran #SnekMacamPro dengan Nestlé Contest

Sherilyn has taken part in a baking contest organized by Nestle. She made a no-bake mocha caramel entremet dessert.  There are 6 elements in this no-bake cake and all the elements in it are handmade by her.  The decor on the cake is also made from scratch by her.

The 6 elements in this dessert are: mocha mousse, dark chocolate coffee cremeux, mocha panna cotta, coffee caramel, chocolate crunch base and chocolate mirror glaze.

Decoration on the cake is composed of spun sugar spiral, whipped dark chocolate ganache and caramel. The no-bake cake is yummylicious!!  

She even hijacked my thermometer to check the temperature of some of the elements that required cooking. The thermometer has a forehead and room temperature mode.

There are two parts to this contest. The first part of posting the contest product on my Facebook page has been done. A total of 408 entries will be selected.  The top eight finalists with the highest scores will qualify for Round 2 public voting on the organizer's website. The subsequent 400 winners will qualify as Third Prize winners.  

Prize Categories

• Grand Prize: 1 winner x RM25,000.00

• First Prize: 2 winners x RM15,000.00

• Second Prize: 5 winners x RM5,000.00

• Third Prize: 400 winners x RM500.00

Nestle products used are:

KitKat, Nescafe Classic Dark Roast, Milo, Nestle Just Milk, canned Nescafe Mocha and Koko Crunch.

Sherilyn took about 5 days to complete the entire project, spending only 1-2 hours each day after online classes. There are many elements to this dessert and every element is hand-made, thus it's super time-consuming.  Though the cake tastes superb, I wouldn't encourage her to sell it as the steps are just too complicated. Can you imagine the mess she made after each baking session? The chocolate splatters on counter tops and floors, the mess on our dining table from the filming, the amount of bowls and baking utensils to wash, the number of wet wipes used to clean up the greasy mess, the number of kitchen cloths used to clean and wipe and then soaking and scrubbing the greasy cloths.  OMG!!  This is the reason why I will never love baking unless I have a live-in helper 😁

My eye lids and heart fluttered when I saw the grand prize! 😁.  We hope to clinch the grand prize though we know that competition is very stiff. Even if we're one of the shortlisted 400 winners who'll receive RM500 each, we'll be pretty content.  I hope our entry gets selected 🙏

CMCO Day 192 ~ Friday, 18 December 2020

Today is Cass' first trip to the mall in 4 months. She's not gone out of the neighborhood ever since the 2nd CMCO was imposed more than 2 months ago.   If not for her eye power check at ISEC @ Mid Valley Megamall, she would have continued to be a hermit, waiting for the CMCO to be lifted 😓

Today's outing to the mall is like Cass' release from prison. She asked to go to all her favorite stores --  MPH and Popular book stores, Lego store, Typo, Muji and the toy stores at the Concourse area to check out Harry Potter merchandise. She's a true blue Potterhead and is still very much in love with this character after 4 years. 

Cass requested to have brunch at Go Noodles House so that she could check out the books at MPH while I waited for the food. Go Noodles House is located right outside MPH.   I also got Cass all her favorite snacks - GSC popcorn and Boost Juice.  Next we went to Aeon to hunt for her high school uniform. 

The Christmassy atmosphere at the mall is not as intense and joyous as it used to be in previous years.  At this time of the year in previous years, Mid Valley Megamall was packed with shoppers and tourists.  There were long queues at fitting rooms, stage performances, Santa Clause/Santarina making their rounds at the mall distributing gifts and I would have to make more than 100 rounds at the car park to find a place to park.  I see none of these this year and I had to be very cautious with every Ringgit that I spend.

There ain't much difference in Cass' eye power since her last check up in June this year, albeit a slight increase on the left eye - which is the good eye, no thanks to excessive screen time and her persistently forgetting to wear her glasses. She now needs Myopine eye drop on both eyes (previously on just the right eye) to slow down the progression of myopia. Her next eye power check will be in 9 months.  And her bill today inclusive of 2 super tiny 5ml bottles of Myopine eye drops cost RM260! 😱

2020 Christmas Gift Ideas

Finding the perfect Christmas gift that suits your family members, friends, partner or colleagues can be a tall order.  Whether you've got a sister who's obsessed with fitness and exercise, a teenage daughter who aspires to be a You Tuber or a spouse that's obsessed with basketball, you will surely find the perfect gift for them if you invest in a little time shopping for gifts.  I'm talking great gifts like blanket hoodies, smart watches, sports bra, personalized wallet, sports vest and so much more. 

I’ve scoured the web to find thoughtful and affordable gifts and have an ultimate roundup of the best Christmas presents of 2020 for everyone on your list – even those hard-to-shop-for folks on your list, like teenagers, bosses and mothers-in-law!

Whether you have a mother-in-law who treats you like her own daughter, or one who can be a bit more challenging it can be tough to find a gift that both fits her personality and shows you care.  Whether she's a fashionista, an incredible home cook, or a health freak, there are fail-proof gifts for mothers-in-law that are sure to put a smile on her face.  

This Trendy Rhinestone Fragrance Necklace Life Tree Essential Oil Necklace For Women will look elegant on her and she will surely cherish it forever. Other ideas include a luxurious body butter, anti-wrinkle cream, an apron, bedding set in her favorite color or some baking or gardening tools.

I don’t know about you but all the men in my life don't really want anything fancy nor do they love shopping while I can barely keep my shopping addiction under control  😆. When it comes to shopping for gifts, men are the hardest people to shop for.  Nonetheless, I have a few gift suggestions that will work for at least one of the special men in your life.  A rechargeable screw driver comes in handy for all of those light-duty tasks around the house if your man likes installing and assembling things in the house.  You could even get him a set of super comfy faux silk pajamas or dragon print faux silk robe to surprise him.

If pajamas are not his thing, you can't go wrong with a smart corduroy jacket mens in his favorite color.

We parents know that shopping for a teen can be tricky. You surely wouldn't want to gift your teen something that would send his/her eyes rolling or secretly giving the gift away. If you take note of their likes and interests, you might get them a gift that they really appreciate.  If your teenage daughter spends most of her time making videos, you could get her a cool mic or a photography light for the teen who's obsessed with photography.  The teens who love switching their cell phone casing will love adding new phone cases to their collection.  My teenage girls will surely welcome teddy hoodies or hooded sweatshirts. 

As this year has been more difficult and depressing than most years because of a seemingly never ending pandemic, it's especially important to show your appreciation and love to the people who've been with you through it all. Check out New Chic for a great range of affordable and lovely Christmas gifts.  Happy shopping and Merry Christmas!

CMCO Day 185 ~ Friday, 11 December 2020

With half a head of organic cabbage in the fridge bought over a week ago and starting to sprout black spots, a loaf of bread sitting in the freezer for almost a month and some month-old frozen organic boneless chicken thighs in the freezer, our wise chef Sherilyn told me yesterday that she will clear the fridge today. We now plan our meals together but on most days, she wants it her way. She's got one more month to cook for us before school starts in mid January 2021. So I let her try out as many new recipes as she desires to hone her cooking skill. Sherilyn really finds it a joy cooking and baking, just like how she used to love playing with her masak-masak toys when she was a toddler.  

Have I told you that Santarina gave us a new Thermomix for Christmas?!  Our chef Sherilyn is going to have a fun time trying out loads of new recipes with the TMX! 

Today she whipped up chicken katsu sando just to clear the old stuff in the fridge.  She has now mastered the skill of deep frying meat coated with Panko bread crumbs with very little oil splatters. The result is always super crispy and mouth-watering fried chicken and pork that taste exactly like the ones from Japanese restaurants.

Sherilyn even makes her own Tonkatsu sauce for the sando.  In fact, she makes most of the Korean and Japanese sauces herself these days. 

Our teenage chef also tried baking brownie cookies for the first time using dark chocolate.  However, she's not happy with her brownie cookies as she said that the top of the cookies didn't crack like they should. Taste wise, they're  delizioso - very chocolaty and not sweet.  She reduced the organic brown sugar and this could be the reason why the top didn't crack.  Well, you can't have the best of both worlds.  You either eat a healthier version that doesn't look like the real deal or you produce perfect looking brownie cookies that's so sweet you'd be scared shit of getting diabetes after chomping down only one piece😬.

I don't mind the appearance at all as long as what I put into my body is healthy.  I'm pretty non-finicky when it comes to food.  I've been trained from young not to be picky with food or we'd be spanked!  Food must always be finished and there were many times when I had to swallow down my rice (I've disliked rice since young) till I felt like puking with tears in my eyes 😂

I think Sherilyn is going to try baking brownie cookies again and this time with more sugar added so that she gets the cracking top on her cookies.  

Would you buy these brownie cookies from Sherilyn if she baked them again? 😬

Monday, 7 December 2020 ~ Cassandra's DTPA Renal Scan

Cass did a DTPA renal scan at HKL today. For the first time, we needn't have to camp there the entire day. Waiting time was 5 hours, which is considered very fast at HKL. We reached HKL at 8 a.m. and left the hospital at 2-ish p.m.  The renal nuclear scan lasted an hour. Thank God everything went pretty smoothly today. But the report will only be ready in a week's time and my next appointment to see the head of Urology is in early February 2021.  Hopefully we'll be given an earlier date to see the doctor.  

Though we've spent almost the entire year in home quarantine this year, it's nevertheless a blessing in disguise for Cass. Had there been no lockdown, Cass would have to skip school several times and may even need to skip a few major exams to undergo all the diagnostic tests at HKL. With HKL, if you postpone a given appointment, you may have to wait for months for another!  In summary, these are the diagnostic tests that Cass did this year:

1.  MRU 

2.  Cystoscopy 

3.  DTPA renal scan

4.  Ultrasound scan of her kidneys

5.  Several rounds of blood and urine tests

I hope that this will be the last invasive diagnostic test that Cass has to go through and her surgeon will be able to diagnose and tell us how she intends to perform the surgery to fix the issue 🙏. It appears to be a complicated problem (finding the root is perhaps like finding a needle in a haystack) and I pray to God for His direction and intervention in resolving Cass' issue soonest.

This is the waiting room for all the patients injected with nuclear medicine with radiation. They were all waiting for their turns to do their scans. 

 

Some of these patients had to go to IJN for a heart scan and some were redirected to the Cancer Society.  Accompanying relatives/friends were advised to wait outside the room as the waiting room has circulating radiation.  There's even a separate toilet for 'radiation patients' to use.

I killed time by walking up and down the corridor for more than an hour (again!).  This is the only way I can clock in a minimum of 7k steps on a hospital visit day where I have to skip my morning exercise. I walked back and forth the corridor outside the OT for more than an hour when Cass did a Cystoscopy last month.  So to those of you who always say that you have no time for exercise - you can still do it if you are determined.  If there's a will, there's always a way 😉💪

This is Cass after the procedure, waiting for the IV catheter to be removed. She had to wear this oversized hospital pants meant for an adult as her denim skirt has a metal button sewn on it.  All metal accessories and clothing must be removed for the DTPA scan.  This stubborn girl was in a terrible foul mood this morning and refused to listen to my advise to her to wear a shift dress 😠

CMCO Day 176 ~ Wednesday, 2 December 2020 (Hot Pot Night)

We had hotpot again for dinner tonight, cooked by Chef Sherilyn. This time with two flavors for the soup ~ original and super spicy.  I had a shock when I walked into the kitchen and saw a gigantic abalone basking on the plate, ready to be blanched in the pot of soup! This chef didn't ask my permission and quietly opened the can of expensive extra large abalone, which was actually meant to be cooked for some fancy-schmancy dinner with guests at home or for CNY next year.  

Ok la since she's already opened the can and we won't be expecting any guest for at least another half a year, we all had an enjoyable hotpot seafood dinner that cost a few hundred Ringgit 😛.  We're going vegan tomorrow to recoup tonight's expensive dinner!

Assortment of fish balls and 'foo pei' delivered to our condo from Tg. Sepat.

Chef Sherilyn has impeccable meat slicing skills too.  Have I told you that this fearless dare devil has an affinity with knifes? She loves cutting and slicing things with knifes and loves shopping for them too.  She told me several times that she has fleeting thoughts of wanting to become a surgeon in future 😨.

Mille-Feuille Nabe (A Thousand Leaves Hot Pot) ~ Wednesday, 25 November 2020

Sherilyn cooked everyone's favorite dish for dinner ~ Mille-Feuille Nabe (A Thousand Leaves Hot Pot). We used Shabu-Shabu pork slices and thinly sliced boneless chicken thigh for layering with the long cabbage leaves.  We also had Petai & Prawn Sambal from hubby's shop.

Dipping sauce for the meat is Tare, also prepped by our teenage chef. 

Chef at work ~ layering of the Shabu-Shabu pork and chicken between the long cabbage leaves:

My kind of meal ~ a one pot meal with lots of vegetables and meat in a clear broth.  It's not oily, mildly seasoned with salt and Dashi stock and very soothing, healthy and flavorful naturally.

Lunch was chicken chop, Mee Siam, Ayam Goreng Berempah. prawn  and yummy fattening kuih (my ultimate kryptonite) 😆 from Catermate.

Lip-smacking prawn and petai sambal cooked by Catermate's Indonesian chef: