Saturday, 22 October 2022 ~ Lazy Saturday

Today has been an extremely lazy Saturday for us.  It's a day of takeout and food delivery for us.  

After sending Alycia to the cafe for her weekly part-time job, I went to a nearby shop to pack 'chap fan' for brunch. 

Then I went for my morning exercise.  I love my mid-morning brisk walk + jog around our condo compound with lush greenery. It's my daily chillax and mind-detox session while I soak in the glorious morning sun. 

Cass who usually finishes all her meals by 2-ish p.m. on weekends (she's been on IF for more than a year now) began bugging me to order her dinner at 1-ish p.m.. She loves the healthy cauli rice poke bowl from The Fish Bowl @ Gardens Mall.  So I got her that through Grab Food.  This smarty-pants always knows how to claim tons of vouchers from Grab Food, Shopee Food, and other online shopping platforms.  Today she found a RM9 voucher from Grab Food for her poke bowl. From an almost RM30 poke bowl, I paid only RM19 for it.  We both shared the poke bowl from Fish Bowl and that was our lunner.

By 3 p.m., my stomach was already rumbling, and as I was browsing food from the 'Shocking Sale' section, I saw 'tong sui' (sweet soup dessert).  Perfect, as 'tong sui' was exactly what I was craving to have!  I ordered taro cha cha for myself, black sesame tong sui for the mil and tau fu far for Sherilyn from Tong Dessert @ OUG Lucky Restaurant. I managed to claim and use a free delivery voucher as well as a RM3 food discount voucher for this order.  I made another order of Hong Kong-style fried rice from Tsuen Wan Restaurant and also managed to claim and use another free delivery voucher as well as a RM3 food discount voucher for this order.

That's why I love ordering from Shopee Food!  It's cheaper than eating at the restaurant itself.  I hope Shopee will continue to give away these discount vouchers.

Very delish Hong Kong-style fried Yang Chow fried rice and 'tong sui' ordered from Shopee Food. The  two 'tong sui's have just the right sweetness level and are not too cloy.

I love lots of thick coconut cream in my taro cha cha!  Kara brand of coconut cream is by far the best, i.e. tastes the closest to fresh coconut milk.

My order of organic flaxseed meal and organic almond + oats + cocoa powder from Lazada.  I drink this combo every morning and sometimes switch to instant oats with plain organic almond milk.

Cass had online Math tuition and then spent hours in the afternoon doing her Math homework, as well as revising for her upcoming finals.

Sherilyn has been having a marathon of tuition and is in the trenches of revising for her forthcoming SPM trials.

Monday, 17 October 2022

Classes are held online every Monday for Cass. In between classes today, she cooked konjac noodles and shared them with me.  She added a packet of plain noodles (sans the seasoning), lettuce, frozen garden peas, two eggs, and some leftover takeout chicken.

For the soup, she used Melaleuca's Simply Fit instant vegetable dashi. 

Our brekkie today - spinach konjac noodles and healthy banana bread from Front Room Cafe.  Konjac noodles are my guilt-free way of enjoying instant noodles. They're keto-compliant, full of fiber, and may help lower cholesterol. 

Love this instant vegetarian dashi from Melaleuca.  Cass loves to cook konjac noodles with this vegetable dashi.   It's priced at RM76.40 for a pack of 30 sachets.

My stock of different flavored konjac noodles (spinach, sweet potato and carrot), which I ordered from Lazada.  At RM7+ a pack, the konjac noodles are very versatile - they taste great when cooked with clear soup, broth, dry or stir-fried.

Lunch for Cass is an egg mayo sandwich from Tedboy. I got this from our neighborhood supermarket.

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Alycia is having a short term-break and she's off gallivanting again.  She got back from a sleepover and hike yesterday evening and with less than 12 hours with us, she went to Melaka with another group of friends this morning.  They are staying at a lovely Air BNB house, set within a rubber estate.  It's her third trip to Melaka this year, and with different groups of friends.

Below are the photos of the Air BNB house where Alycia and her friends are staying in Melaka today. The photos were taken with her new iPhone 14, unfiltered.

Wish I was having fun with them girls too!!

From a reserved and shy little girl who didn't like to socialize, Alycia's now become a social butterfly.  She's got many groups of friends, from high school to college to her workplace (a cafe that she works part-time at every Saturday and sometimes on Sundays), church, to university now.  

I can't help but feel sidelined by my eldest daughter as she hardly has the time to even have a meal with us now 😥. The only time she talks to her dad and me is when she needs something from us, like money or our help 🙄

And this girl bought herself an iPhone 14 early this week. It's the most expensive phone she ever owned.  Her dad and I didn't pay a single cent for it and we would never have for such an expensive phone!

Taken at our condo at 6.55 a.m. today.  It was a very, very wet Wednesday morning today.  The weather has been chilly and wet for the past two weeks. It's so cooling that I have not turned on the air-conditioner in my room for two weeks. Our electricity bill this month is RM100 cheaper, but still on the high side at slightly over RM400!

Negitama Gyudon - our dinner yesterday from Sukiya Tokyo Bowls & Noodles @ Mid Valley Megamall, ordered via Shopee Food.

Yakiniku Don

Sunday, 2 October 2022

Today is Cass' second ice-skating lesson at the Blue Ice Snow Park skating rink @ Pavillion Bukit Jalil.  Cass and I took a Grab car to and fro as hubs had to work. 

Cass went into the skating rink about an hour earlier to practise skating before her class started.   After sending her off, I walked around the mall, window shopping with nothing in mind to buy, until I stepped into Sports Direct, and ended up spending 1.5 hours there. And came out of the sports shop with a pair of Adidas running shoes 😬

I'm one who will invest in a pair of comfy walking/running shoes as I walk and run quite a bit every day.  Ever since I ditched my sandals and wear only sneakers, my feet are cleaner, my cracked heels have healed and I chalk up to at least 10,000 steps every day. Plus I managed to shed some weight after I replaced sandals and slippers with sneakers.  When I wear sneakers, I walk faster more comfortably and don't mind walking long distances, not to mention bidding good riddance to achy feet and painful blisters.

Since I have 101 reasons to buy new sneakers, I got myself this pair of Adidas running shoes in my favorite color.  

Reasonably priced at RM229.

Cass with her pretty coach.

The cheapest pair of skates cost RM800.  Cass has saved enough money to buy it. But her doting koong koong and granny surprised her and told her that they will pay for the skates. Woo hoo!  Cass is truly blessed to have such loving grandparents 💓

After we left the skating rink, we went to get takeout at Grandmama's and Sushi Empire.  And the last stop was at the supermarket to get our favorite Ready-To-Eat Triple Washed salad and coleslaw before we went home.

Friday, 30 September 2022

A while ago, Cass told me that she had a light bulb moment when she collected my parcels from the lobby of our condo. She usually helps me to collect my parcels at around 9-ish p.m. after working out at the gym.  

Yeah, I have quite a number of parcels to look forward to every day.  About 70-80% of my stuff are purchased online since the pandemic started, from food items to underwear to pet supplies, supplements, and much more.

When the Government imposed a lockdown 2.5 years ago, delivery riders were no longer allowed to go up to the residents' units to deliver items.  Instead, all parcels and food items are to be left on a long table at the lobby and the respective recipient has to collect their stuff themselves. 

When Cass saw the amount of parcels left on the long table at the lobby every day, her money-minded brain suddenly had this idea that popped out on how she could earn a little pocket money -- by helping residents collect their parcels and sending them to their doorsteps! She would charge RM1 for delivering to each unit.

Cass asked me if she could do this so that she could build up a nice little nest egg. 

I'm hesitant as I don't want Cass to be spending too much time delivering parcels and neglect her studies. All I want is for her to focus in her studies and her health.  She could consider working on a  part-time basis after her SPM.  

Also, a Committee Meeting of the condo would have to be held before this side hustle is allowed in the condo grounds. And this involves an under-18 child.  I don't want to be known by neighbors as the infamous parent who allowed her young teen to work!

I've told Cass to forget about this whole side hustle idea and just focus on being a good student. But she's not about to give up yet. 

Cass whipped up this one-tray grill on Monday in between online classes. 

Homemade pork burgers, Japanese pumpkin, garlic, onions and potatoes.

My kind of meal. So delicious!

Cass wanted to make Japanese sando but it was a flop.  She made this in between online classes, thus didn't have enough time to do deeper research on how the sandwiches are wrapped and cut.

And it turned out to be a regular sandwich that didn't look too pretty after it was cut into half. It's bursting with fillings of egg mayo, chicken chop, salad greens and cherry tomatoes. Very delish, nonetheless.

Weekend Is Here

The weekend is finally here. I hear someone rejoicing and planning fun activities to do over the weekend. Going to school is torturous for her as it's not easy to cope in a Chinese Independent High School.  I'm talking about mini-tests almost every week, on top of homework.  But I ain't rejoicing at all. When she's at home, I have extra work to do. She cooks and bakes almost the entire morning and messes up the kitchen. She badgers me for things the whole morning. I actually prefer her to be in school 😬.

Even though it's the weekend, it's not a rest day for me.  Sherilyn has to be in school before 6.30 a.m. tomorrow to take part in a marathon. The school bus will leave at 6.30 a.m.  After sending her to school, I continue with some chores at home before sending Alycia to the cafe for her weekend part-time job. Then I get home and settle more chores before going for my morning run under the glorious sun to soak in some sunshine vitamin and mood-enhancing energy.  

Before I even get to rest, it's time for me to fetch Sherilyn back from school, get the girls lunch and do another round of laundry. Then it's time to fetch Alycia back from the cafe. But that's not it.  I have to be Alycia's driving instructor, which is a nerve-racking 'ordeal'.  I let her practise driving every weekend when she gets to drive home from the cafe. At the car park, I teach her reverse parking.  In my entire motherhood journey, I think sitting next to my teenager, who's a new driver, is one of the most difficult tasks. I have cold sweat and have to hang on tightly to whatever I can grip in the car while stepping on the imaginary brake all the time that Alycia's driving 😂.  

Alycia's driving has improved slightly but is still not good enough for her to drive independently yet.  There will be many more nerve-racking sessions with her before she passes my stringent test requirements. 

Oven-baked prawns with garlic butter, prepped by Sherilyn early this week.

Sherilyn hardly has the time to cook and bake now as she has intensive tuition classes to attend. She has less than half a year more to go before her SPM exam! 

Spaghetti aglio e olio with baked prawns. Very, very aromatic and yummeh!

16 September 2022 ~ Malaysia Day Outing @ Pavillion Bukit Jalil

One of Cass' greatest desires is to learn ice-skating.  For more than a year, she saved money to pay for her ice-skating lessons. She did odd jobs for me and her dad as well as saved money from ang pow collected during CNY and birthdays.

Hubs finally had the time to bring Cass for her first ice-skating lesson on Malaysia Day, a public holiday.  Cass had earlier called the Blue Ice Snow Park @ Pavillion Bukit Jalil to book an appointment for ice-skating lesson but was told to walk-in to try her luck as it was a public holiday and all the slots were already taken up. If she's lucky, she may get a slot.

As expected Cass didn't manage to secure a slot for the skating lesson.  However, she and Sherilyn went for casual ice-skating @ RM35 for 2 hours.  While they skated, hubs and I had breakfast and checked out the mall. It was our first time at Pavillion Bukit Jalil, a newly opened mall.

We walked quite a bit before we finally found the Blue Ice Snow Park. The mall is very huge and if it's your first time to the mall, it's a tad difficult to locate the skating rink.

Very good exercise for us - it took us a good 15-20 minutes of brisk walking from the car park to the skating rink.

Very much smaller than the skating rink at Sunway Pyramid but we prefer Blue Ice Snow Park as it's new and the facilities and skating shoes are newer and cleaner.

Sherilyn & Cass paying for the locker rental using their dad's credit card.

The last time the girls went ice-skating was 3 years ago, before the pandemic, with Raelyne their cousin from Singapore.

There's a huge screen outside Blue Ice Snow Park that life screens the activities in the skating rink.

Cass balancing herself.

Sherilyn skates better than her sister, but ice-skating is not her jam.  

With two hours to skill, hubs and I had breakfast at Oppa Toast Cafe.

The BBQ beef teriyaki toast that hubs ordered was super scrumptious. Juicy BBQ beef slices wedged between crispy toasts topped with a jiggly egg and cheese. And you don't have to worry about messing up your hands as disposable gloves (packed in a tiny cute bag) are provided so that you can enjoy your killer toast.  The coffee was superb too.

Crispy Korean fried chicken. For the first time I really enjoyed holding my piece of fried chicken with my hands at a cafe as I needn't have to worry about having oily hands afterwards.

After the girls were done ice-skating, we brought them to Oppa Toast again for them to have their breakfast.  

Cass ordered egg toast and Korean hotdog.

Right after leaving Oppa Toast, we segued into Sedap to have roti canai and satay! 

Revenge feasting after almost 2.5 years of modest eating, mostly at home 😂

The girls wanted to try IlaoIloa's Milo froyo, only available for one day on 16 Sept as it's Malaysia Day. Their verdict - not much Milo taste but nonetheless still refreshing and yums.

The girls wanted to check out Tsutaya Books, a popular bookstore originating from Japan but what we saw before our eyes was jaw-dropping.  The queue into the bookstore was at least 500 meters long! This is the first Tsutaya Books in South East Asia.

Before we left, we had our lunner at Dai Cha Dim.  While we waited for the food to arrive, Cass and Sherilyn quickly darted off to Tsutaya Books as it's just opposite the restaurant. They were not about to give up trying their luck to step into the bookstore.  Fortunately the queue moved pretty quickly and they managed to get into the bookstore.

Lunner at Dai Cha Dim.

We clocked up almost 10k steps after spending over 4 hours at Pavillion Bukit Jalil. My total number of steps for the day was over 14k. 

10 September 2022 ~ Mid Autumn Festival

The day that Cass was discharged from HKL was Mid Autumn Festival. I thought that we could have a long overdue Mid Autumn family dinner at a restaurant that evening but my poor girl twisted her ankle on her way out of the hospital to her dad's car 😖. It hurt so badly that Cass could not walk. She had to hobble and hop around.

While everyone else went out for dinner, poor Cass stayed home and nursed her foot with the classic RICE regimen — rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

Our Mid Autumn festival dinner ~ steamed fish, steamed chicken with minced ginger sauce, stir-fried celery, stir-fried spinach and 'phai kuat wong'.  I doggy-bagged the dishes for Cass who ate them for lunch the next day.

The moon that night was full - round and bright!

The night before Cass' MRU procedure, I had a meetup with my ertswhile childhood friends.  Jo (first from right) is back for a holiday from San Francisco. We were supposed to have dinner at Pavillion at 6pm but had to cancel the dinner as one of our friends couldn't make it. We ended up having a late meet up at a friend's house and I only got back after 11pm. And the next day I was up at 5 am to get some chores done before leaving to camp at the hospital.  

I only had 5 hours of sleep the past few nights last week caused by Haru's constant wailing and having to wake up early to go to the hospital.  

Friends since primary school, over 40 years of friendship!