New Sneakers For Cass From Lucca Vudor

Since the darn pandemic started over two years ago, I have not bought any new shoes. So does Cass.  She really needs new running shoes and sneakers as she works out every single day and walks a lot. Now that our country has progressed to the endemic phase, we're also going out more than we did during the past two years.  So Cass has been asking for a new pair of sneakers. She's also badgering me to get her new shorts and tees.  I'm really glad that our country is finally opening up and hopefully we will soon see some semblance of normalcy 🙏. 

Cass' new sneakers arrived early this week. It's a pair of Lucca Vudor sneakers with platform soles.  She loves the sneakers as they fit her feet perfectly! I was so worried that they won't fit as I hardly buy shoes online.  

Lucca Vudor shoes have specially padded insoles made from lambskin leather for extra cushion and comfort.  This is to reduce pain from prolonged walking.  The raised soles are a plus point as they give Cass a boost in her height, something which is yearning to have 😂

Chic and comfy sneakers. They look a tad like Hermes' Voltage Sneaker but this costs a fraction of the price of Hermes.

Besides stylish sneakers, Lucca Vudor has a lovely range of shoes that are trending such as this pair of Sesa wedge sandals in striking blue, which I'm eyeing.  They're made from soft leather and Lucca Vudor Pressure Relieving Sole for extra comfort.

I would have bought this beautiful pair of heels in silver if I were still in the corporate world. Nothing matters more than a pair of super comfy heels with cushiony leather inner soles if you're going to be wearing them for more than 10 hours a day because no one looks forward to painful blisters on the toes!

Lucca Vudor is based in Singapore but they ship internationally.  It took a mere 3 days for Cass' sneakers to arrive and I'm really impressed by the speed at which they shipped out my order. 

Covid Scare

Last week the entire family had a major scare when hubs had diarrhea and a high fever. He was 101% certain that his diarrhea was caused by food poisoning as he had eaten a piece of fried chicken where the meat was not thoroughly cooked.  He was dumping several times a day and had a temperature of 38.6C.

Sherilyn and Alycia were terrified because they didn't want to get infected as they had many plans lined up ahead. They kept urging their dad to go to the clinic to do a PCR test.

Hubs did the Covid self-test thingy several times a day for 5 days and all the tests showed negative. Moreover, besides diarrhea and a temperature, he had no other symptoms.   While he was 101% certain that his diarrhea was caused by the uncooked chicken, we were worried that it was Covid as he was also in close contact with a friend who was Covid positive.  

To be on the safe side, I slept on the couch in the living room for 3 nights.   In my 22 years of being married to him, I have never slept on the couch before. It's always him who had to sleep on the couch whenever he felt unwell. 

I didn't sleep well the 3 nights that I slept on the couch. The couch was narrow and my right hand was squeezed, making my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms worse, even with a wrist splint. Plus I'm an ultralight sleeper - anyone who got out of the room to use the toilet woke me up.  Haru knew that I was sleeping in the living room and woke up early meowwwwwing away for my attention for her to be let out of her cage. 

We're very thankful to God that we're once again spared from this dreadful virus 🙏

BookXcess @ RexKL

After lunch at Lai Fong LaLa Noodles last Sunday, we segued into RexKL to visit BookXcess' new flagship store.  Cass has been pestering us to bring her to BookXcess to check out the books.  This price-savvy girl likes to compare the prices of books and will usually buy them online from Big Bad Wolf on Shopee as books are usually cheaper at BBW.

RexKL was previously a cinema and is now transformed into a community-based cultural and creative hub in Jalan Sultan, a few minutes' walk to the iconic Petaling Street.  BookXcess is incorporated into Rex, an old cinema. There are many stairs and uneven flooring inside the bookstore as the structure of the cinema has been preserved. The layout of the bookshelves is such that they are built from floor to ceiling, thus one will not be able to reach books placed on those high shelves.  

There's an amazing spread of books of all genres and bookworms will love this place.  Cass loves this kingdom of books. However, all the books are cling wrapped and you're not allowed to open the wrappers to read the books.  The entire bookstore is like a labyrinth of steps, nooks, and corners.  It's a great place where one can browse through the thousands of book titles and burn some calories while walking up and down the tens of hundreds of steps and uneven flooring.  Thus, this place is not suitable for those who have difficulties walking or have bad knees.  

Parents with young kids - do watch your small kids closely as they may trip and fall on the uneven steps and may even get lost in the maze!

Overall, BookXcess @ RexKL is an impressive bookstore and an Insta-worthy spot for IG content.

There's a tiny cafe on the top-most floor of the book store.  Part of the flooring on the top-most floor is made from transparent glass panels.  So ladies, do wear pants if you're planning to visit this place coz people on the floor beneath are able to have a clear view of what's on the upper floor, yeah 😉

Food court on the ground floor of RexKL.

Hubs bought fried ice cream for the girls from the food court.

From RexKL, we segued into Petaling Street, which is only a few minutes' stroll away.

The ambiance at Petaling Street is a far cry from the hustle-bustle it was during pre-Covid times. It's sad to see that many stalls have shuttered for good.  

 

The main purpose of our walk to Petaling Street was to get our fix of mochi!

Hubs also bought takeaway dishes from the popular Sai Kee 'tai chow' stall at Petaling Street. 

Sunday, 27 March 2022 ¬ Lunch at Lai Fong La La Noodles @ Jalan Sultan, KL

These days it's quite a rare occasion that everyone in the family goes out together. Now that the two older girls are almost young adults, they have their own activities and it's hard to get all 3 girls to join us for lunch or for an outing.  Cass especially doesn't like to follow us out - she prefers to do her own things at home. She prefers to cook her own meals these days.  But she joined us for lunch today because this outing is because of HER, the bookworm who's always bugging us to bring her to BookXcess and other book stores.  

Lunch was at Lai Fong LaLa Noodles @ Jalan Sultan, located opposite RexKL, where BookXcess is housed.  For fans of lala noodles at the decades-old famed Kedai Kopi Lai Foong @ Jalan Tun HS Lee, there's now a 2nd outlet just around the corner  (a mere few minutes walk) at  Jalan Sultan.  The new outlet is housed in a double-storey air-conditioned restaurant, so you don't have to brave the huge crowd at the original coffee shop and sweat it out at the stuffy place.

We ordered the best-seller lala meehoon, sang har mein (fresh prawns with fried noodles in egg gravy) and lala + prawn meehoon.  All the noodles were delish. The lala meehoon soup is pretty fiery as there're lots of ginger and chilis in it.  The bowl of lala noodles comes with a generous amount of lala and the broth has a stunning combination of flavors coming from the fresh lala and Chinese wine. 

As I'm typing this post now, my tummy is rumbling and I'm already missing the noodles. For those of you who'd like to try Lai Fong lala noodles in a soul-satisfying soup, they're available for order via food delivery platforms, if you prefer to enjoy your bowl of noodles in the comfort and safety of your own home.

Refreshing coconut jelly, everyone's favorite.

Lai Foong Lala Noodles

99, Jalan Sultan

City Centre

50000 Kuala Lumpur

Phone: 016-376 4928

Order: fastorder.my

A Cat Who's Always Hangry

After her spay surgery a few months ago, Haru has turned into an even more hangry cat.  To begin with, she's got a very good appetite even before the surgery but after the procedure, she could even eat double the amount of what she used to eat.  I guess it's because of the empty space left in her abdomen cavity after both her ovaries and uterus were removed surgically, leaving more room for her intestines to expand. Logical explanation? 

A cat her age usually eats twice a day but Haru needs 4 feeds a day:

Morning - a packet of 85gm or 100gm fish + water

Mid morning - a packet of 70gm fish or two tablespoons of grain-free Urban Wolf Adventures kibbles (made from seafood, fruits and vegetables) + water

Tea time - two tablespoons of grain-free Urban Wolf Adventures kibbles + water 

Supper - a packet of 100gm fish + water

She also gets one or two mini treats in between these 4 meals, which is her catnip biscuits (no more than 6 pieces a day as it contains wheat/grains, something which her stomach doesn't tolerate well).  Sometimes we give her a pinch or two of our pau and bread and share our hard-boiled eggs with her.

With so many meals a day, Haru is still hangry.  Whenever she smells chicken, pork or fish from the kitchen or dining table, she'll hunt for the source of the aroma until she finds it.  Many times she jumped onto the dining table to steal our food the second we turned around and walked away!  She's always stalking us!

The next time we bring Haru to the vet, I have to ask our vet if it's normal for a spayed cat to be this hungry or if she she worms in her tummy!

Caught in action seconds after she jumped up the dining table to snatch our dinner. And guess what was in her mouth? Bitter gourd omelette! This hangry fella swallowed some bitter gourd! 😂.  She even stole our onion omelette and burnt fatty char siu once. And she threw up the same night after gobbling down a big piece of burnt fatty char siu that the mil threw into the thrash can.

A Guide to Finding Your Dream Prom Dress

Prom night along with graduation mark the end of high school and the start of a new chapter of a student’s life. A culmination of four years of learning, camaraderie, and school spirit for the senior class, prom night is often the last time the entire class is all together before graduation. That is why choosing the dream prom dress is so important as the girl dreams of looking her absolute best on this very special night.

 

As the prom night is such an important event in a teenager’s life, finding the perfect prom dress involves so much time and effort. Get started early and follow this guide to find the best dress for the party of the year!

1. Plan In Advance

Plan four to six weeks (or even earlier) ahead of your prom night. You may need alterations on a dress or suit and ordering it in advance gives you ample time for any alterations done. Decide if you’d like to purchase the gown online, from a boutique, bridal shop or have it tailor-made. The best is to find a shop that sells cheap prom dresses and suits to help your parents safe some money.

2. Do Your Research

Take cues from what you saw in magazines, red carpet, catwalk and what you are seeing in the stores now to find some of the most sought-after styles of the season.

3. Plan Your Budget

What can really crush your feelings is trying on a beautiful dress only to find out that the price is no where near your budget.  Therefore, before you begin to look, let the sales assistant know your budget and if you’re doing your shopping online, filter the results so you can only see the dresses you can afford. One place to get affordable prom dresses is Customizeone, an online store that carries a neat range of gowns and suits.

4. Choose a Dress Style That Suits Your Face and Body Shape

Finding out what your face and body shapes are will help you to match these to the ideal dress, one that flatters and accentuates all of your good features, hiding anything you might consider a flaw.  For example, if you’re a plus size, choose A-line dresses made of sturdier fabrics such as cotton, rayon and polyester rather than flowy, clingy options like satin and silk.  If you have a round face, choose a dress with a deep V-neck to create the impression of a sharper face shape.

5.  Decide The Style That You Want

Once you have done your research and decided the style that you want, narrow down the search to save time. It could be a halter neck A-line floor length gown, short prom dress or mermaid prom dress.

6.  Find Out the School Dress Code

Many schools have instituted dress codes for prom dresses and men’s prom suits. Strapless styles, mini dresses, plunging necklines or other sexy details may not be permitted. Additionally, the school may institute a theme for prom night and request that students’ outfits reflect the theme. Be sure that you take cognizance of the school dress code and guidelines before you start shopping.

Now that you have the tips to find your perfect prom dress, it’s time to get started. Remember to look for a great fit that suits your body and face shape, a beautiful color that plays up your best features, a dress with embellishments if you want that extra special quality, and remember to go for a dress that you feel your best in! 

Happy shopping and happy prom night!

 

Seafood Tomato Soup

Our teenage chef whipped up a huge pot of tomato seafood soup a few days ago. When she discovered that the punnet of tomatoes in the fridge had turned bad, she substituted the tomatoes with a whole bottle of tomato puree for the soup base. 

What inspired Sherilyn to cook this soup was the seafood tomato soup that she ordered on her birthday at Red Kettle last week.  

Seafood tomato soup whipped up by chef S.  It's composed of tomato puree, herbs and spices, a whole Garoupa fish head, salmon, squid rings, loads of chopped onions and carrots, and a can of abalone.  It's my kind of soup - so delish and so rich.  I can have this every day, to go with toasted sourdough slices, baguette, or just on its own as a keto meal.

The pot of soup was so huge that we had it for 3 days. Yesterday was the 3rd day that we had it for lunch.  Our chef also made a quick pan-toast double mozzarella cheese sandwich to go with the soup.

Seafood tomato soup from Red Kettle, our family's favorite fusion restaurant. We celebrated Sherilyn's 17th birthday at this restaurant last week (16th February).

Easy-Peasy Few-Ingredient Snacks Made By Cass

Lately, Cass is into whipping up healthy snacks for breakfast.  With only about 10-20 minutes available in between online classes in the morning, she Googles simple recipes for a healthy breakfast.   

We have another finicky eater at home now who prefers to whip up her own food vs. outside food!

Cass is also into 16-hour Intermittent Fasting and this is not my idea. I really don't know who influenced her to be on a 16-hour IF.  I've been on a 12-hour IF for years but she beats me to it with a 16-hour IF.  She even does it on school-going days despite me protesting. We had a major heated argument over her not eating in school and she's still not eating in school 😥😥.  She says she doesn't feel hungry at all while in school as she only sits at her desk the entire time in school.  Due to Covid SOPs and restrictions, physical education and CoCo activities are halted.  CoCo activities will resume in March but will be conducted online.

Her first meal of the day after 16 hours of fast is very heavy. She has food from the previous day's dinner followed by a fruit smoothie or yogurt, both of which she adds a handful of frozen walnuts. Then she has fruits and if she still feels hungry, she has a bowl of granola or whips up microwave mug cakes.  

Cass loves pancakes and crepes. Lately, she's been making them and has a big stack of them for brunch. 

Cass made a very healthy and absolutely delish 'ice cream' for dessert after brunch today. It's composed of skinny and sugar-free yoghurt, frozen bananas, and frozen raw walnuts, all blitzed in the blender.  It's so delish I think she can sell it. 
She uses different ingredients every day but skinny yoghurt is used as the base.   Some of the ingredients used are mangoes, strawberries, apples, kale, baby spinach, and whatever she can find in the fridge. 

This 'cookie' is made from organic oats, blended into powder, mixed with honey, walnuts, Lakanto keto sugar, a splash of milk and a few drops of vanilla essence. All the ingredients are blitzed in the blender and baked in the toaster for 15-20 minutes.  It's crispy and my kind of healthy cookie!

Haru Our Smart Kitty

Haru is just like a loyal guard dog. She guards the Roborock while it does its job around the house. Whenever the robot tries to eat up our indoor slippers, Haru will push the robot away with her paws to safe the slippers.  She's getting better at it by the day.  Today when the robot was about to go near my kitchen slippers, Haru sat on my slippers and pushed the robot away with her paw 😂.  She's such a smart guard cat!!

Haru's got a bottomless pit too. She can eat non-stop and the only time she'll stop eating is when she's too full and throws up 😹

Sitting next to Cass and waiting for her sister to give her whatever's in the bowl. Her favorites are pau, bread, eggs and cakes.

Chinese New Year 2022 ¬ Day 6

We wanted to eat something that's not Chinese after almost a week of having CNY dishes twice a day.  So we went to Money's Corner Food Court in Brickfields where there's a good choice of delicious hawkers fare ranging from Indian to Vietnamese, Western to popular street food, such as Char Koay Teow, Chee Cheong Fun, pork noodles and more.

Peter's pork noodles is one of the best pork noodles in KL.  Generous with pork and pork lard, the bowl of noodles in rich pork soup is a must-have at Money's Corner for fans of pork.

Our other favorite at this food court - Moorthy's Mathai Nasi Briyani with a good choice of delicious Indian dishes for you to pick. 

Our third favorite - beef pho and Viet food. This stall is run by a former chef of a popular Vietnamese restaurant at Mid Valley Megamall.  He and his wife are Vietnamese.

In the evening, a lion dance performance was held at the pool side of our condo.  Some rich neighbors hired the lion dance troupe to perform a spectacular dance on stilts.

Poor Haru was super duper terrified of the banging and thumping of the drums and cymbals. She hid behind my computer desk for hours and refused to come out even after the thunderous sounds of the drums stopped when the show ended.

Two days later on Pai Ti Kong day (Hokkien New Year), our scaredy cat was again scared shit of the thunderous sounds of fire works which lasted for almost an hour.  We had already put her back into her cage but she was so terrified of the blasting sounds that she squeezed herself out of the tiny gap under her cage!!  Sherilyn had to cuddle her tightly for the entire hour from 12 - 1am and slept on the couch that night to accompany her manja meow!

Chinese New Year 2022 Photos

Our talented in-house teenage chef S whipped up Phoon Choi on Lichun day (4th day of CNY). 

Her Phoon Choi was superb - the broth was a stunning combination of flavours coming from the abalone, mushrooms and homemade chicken stock.  The mushrooms were beautifully glossy with a luxurious mouthfeel, the fish maw was smooth, silky and without a tinge of fishy smell and all other dishes from the stuffed dried oysters with fish paste to the abalone and tofu pok were very flavorful and a delight to our taste buds. The only flaw was the prawns as we ran out of big un-shelled prawns in the freezer - we had cooked them on CNY Eve, thus had to make do with small peeled prawns.

Phoon Choi is quite a cinch to cook - dishes like braised mushrooms and stuffed dried oysters can be cooked in advance and assembled on the day of serving.

The broth is one of the most important component in the dish as it can either make or break the entire dish.  Our chef S whipped up a winner broth where all the other components in the platter soaked up the toothsome soul satisfying liquid.  The broth gives the entire dish more depth of flavor.

Camwhoring after lunch on the 2nd day of CNY.

Chef S with her meow.

Our spoilt meow.

Higher Cost Of Living

This is my grocery cart today.  As you can see, all the items in the cart are healthy stuff, they are our necessities.  

Skinny low fat and sugar-free yoghurt, fresh milk, grated coconut, 2 heads of broccoli, 2 Marmalade papayas, a packet of sweet potatoes, roast almonds, Ohkuraen Japanese matcha (my favorite brand of matcha), and a pack of MTEX KN95 face mask in my favorite color (pink).

Damage from this grocery trip is RM118!  If I added organic vegetables, eggs, and meat, the bill will run up to at least RM160.  And if I threw in toilet papers and other toiletries, the bill will breach RM200.  And had I chosen a costlier brand of milk and taken Greek yoghurt or imported yoghurt instead, the bill will cost even more.  The China broccolis are on promotion at RM3 for a head and are not even organic. Had I opted for organic broccoli or Australian broccoli, it would cost double or even triple the price.  Had I shopped like how I used to, today's shopping trip would have cost at least RM250.

It's so costly to eat healthily as an investment for better immunity and health. With the prices of everything going up this year, I have to stretch my money even more and the only way is to cut down on organic produce, cut down on luxuries like ice-creams and snacks, and choose cheaper brands.

Am I the only one feeling the pinch from the inflation?

Chinese New Year 2022

This year is the second year we have had a low-key Chinese New Year in KL.  The last time we celebrated CNY in Ipoh was in 2020. I've not seen my parents and older brother (and his family) from Singapore for 2 years, except for video calls and photos via Whatsapp.  I really miss all the fun times we had in KL and Ipoh before Covid lashed out across the world.  Our girls and their Singaporean cousins have definitely lost touch with one another. The next time they meet each other (most likely in 2023), they'll probably feel like strangers again.  The twinnies may have even forgotten us becoz they were only 2 years old the last time they met us.  😓

This year, all our meals have been within the six of us only.  No house visiting and no gathering.  Hubby's cousin who stays in our hood has been flagged as close contact and couldn't come to our house to celebrate. We packed food for him and dropped it off to him at his car in our condo lobby.

CNY Eve lunch - roast chicken gifted by hubby's friend who owns a chicken farm.

CNY Eve dinner - simple CNY dishes and a Yee Sang.

Dishes and lotus root soup packed in takeaway containers for hubby's cousin.

'Jai' on the first day of CNY and red bean tong sui packed for hubby's cousin.

I'd like to wish all my Chinese readers a very prosperous Chinese New Year. I hope that the year of the Tiger will bring everyone roaring success, wealth, good health, and happiness.