Shopping Cart @ 25 February 2016

My shopping cart on 25 February 2016...




Contents: 7 ruby grapefruits, 5 jumbo Sunkist navel oranges, 1 medium-size papaya, 3 packets of barley pearls, 1 tub of sugar-free Skinny yoghurt, 1 tub of raw walnuts, 1 tub of mixed raw nuts, 1 crate of antibiotic-free eggs, 1 packet of Korean seaweed and 1 bottle of Nature's Gate body shampoo (no SLS, no Paraben and no nonsense it seems).

Though there are only 12 items in my cart yesterday, the damage was a 3-figure amount!  See how our ShRinggit has shrunk!!   Darn our lame exchange rate and GST!

Even my favorite bitter gourd pork noodles stall uncle has increased his price by RM1 a bowl just before CNY!

That's it. There will be NO SHOPPING for groceries and no take-out for lunch today!  I'll just finish off the baby greens salad in the fridge for lunch and the mil is now cooking a simple lunch for the girls now.

Can you guess the amount on the receipt for this shopping cart?

Earning Passive Income From Naturally Plus

This morning I saw another surprise in my bank account.  An amount of RM455 has been banked into my account from Naturally Plus. I am chuffed! :) :)    This is my weekly 'income'.  On some weeks I get more, sometimes a little less. But I am already very thankful for this passive income, given that I have put in very little effort. I am in nature pretty laid back.  I prefer to do less stressful things but truth is, I do not put pressure on myself to excel in this Naturally Plus business. I am working at my own pace, which compared to my other team members, is considered at snail's pace. 

After consuming Izumio and Super Lutein for 11 months with no intention to delve in the business initially, I am glad to say that I am now consuming the products for free!

 I am now earning a monthly minimum of RM2,000 on average, which is sufficient to cover the monthly cost of my consumption of Izumio and Super Lutein for our 3 girls and myself.  My goal is to  reach Excellence status, which would guarantee me an income of RM10,000 a month but to reach this status, I will have to fire on all cylinders.  To be honest, I am not confident if I can reach that far by this year. It's A-OK if I don't.  I will take my own time and will not put too much pressure on myself.   My upline's motto is RSS - Rest, Sit Back and Smile and that's what I am doing now :)   I am confident that I will soon reach this status, maybe by mid or end of next year or perhaps in 2 years. That's fine by me.

Below is a print screen of my Naturally Plus earnings from 4 December 2015 through 5 February 2016 (2 months).


 


 My immediate goal is to see continued healing in Cass' incontinence issues and my own health issues. I am already very thankful that Izumio is bringing Cass on her road to recovery. It may take longer for her to be 100% healed as she has an abnormal urinary tract but with continued consumption of Izumio and lots of prayers, nothing is impossible. I am confident of that.  








 For myself, the fact that my cholesterol reading has gone down from 6.4 (reading in June 2015) to 5.8 (reading in February 2016) despite having genetic high cholesterol and without taking medications is already a proof that Izumio and Super Lutein are working. Do note that I have all the while been taking only a maintenance dosage as I could not afford high dosage. Now that I am already consuming for free, I have started to increase my dosage. I can't wait to do my next cholesterol blood test to see if the reading has gone down further :)



 


If this 'package' sounds interesting to you and you'd like to know more on how you can consume these high quality supplements and earn a passive income simultaneously, do drop me an email at shireenyong@gmail.com.

A Flexitarian's Lunch - 23 February 2016

Did I tell you that I am slowly transforming into a flexitarian?

These days, I eat very little meat and eggs, both to bring down my cholesterol reading as well as to reduce my carbon foot print.

If you read my other blog too, you would have read that I have genetic high cholesterol, a condition where even with strict diet and exercise, it would be hard to bring down one's cholesterol reading.

How sad, huh?

Fortunately, I am not one who lives to eat. I am pretty simple and don't have extravagant taste or crave for rich food.

When live throws lemons at me, I make the tastiest lemonade :D

These days, my meals consists of 80% veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds.  I try to eat raw greens for lunch while my dinner would consist mainly of a bowl of soup with organic oats and lots of greens.

This is my lunch today...





Raw baby greens salad with organic cherry tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, raw walnuts, Japanese seaweed seasoning, coarse black pepper and a salad dressing composed of organic apple cider vinegar + maple syrup (low GI) +  dash of naturally brewed soy sauce + toasted sesame seeds and 4 slices of super skinny char siew .... washed down with a glass of  cooling barley + screwpine leaves water.

Handy Girl

Here's the drama queen in action - to help me set up a clothes rack that I have just bought.





She's pretty good with art, craft work, cooking and sewing. Well, anything that has got to do with her dexterity.  It also helps that students these days are taught Living Skills in school, a subject that was not yet introduced during my time.

In under 20 minutes, she managed to erect the clothes rack. I know I will probably need several hours to do this, or probably I would have given up half way through with a sore finger or two coupled with tons of grouses. Fixing things is just not my cuppa. I have no interest or patience for it. This is the hubby's department in the household. Now, I don't have to wait for him to come back to help me. I have my street smart handy girl to help me out!

Shopping Cart Today - 18 February 2016

I love shopping for groceries.  There's a new and upscale supermarket at my neighborhood that carries a complete range of groceries, fresh produce and imported stuff.  I go there every morning! Well, maybe just every other day or perhaps  5 times a week... to shop and destress :D

I like the atmosphere at this supermarket and the range of food stuff it offers, which is not good for our wallets! Each trip would cost us between RM50 - RM100.  Go grab your calculator and add up how much we spend on average each week :D

This is my shopping cart for today...






As you can see, the items in the shopping cart reflect the personality of the shopper. Every item is healthy. No junk or canned food and trying hard to refrain from buying highly processed food stuff. I strongly believe in the adage of "YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT". So  spending a little more on healthy foods is a good investment.

Today's damage was RM70+ and that's for organic sprouts (that's my lunch for 2 days), organic cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, organic long beans, 10 oranges, 6 packets of barley pearls, antibiotic-free and growth hormone-free chicken eggs and skim milk.  All these perishables will probably last us for 2 - 3 days.

How much do you spend on your groceries a week?

Pro At Solving The Rubik's Cube

Cass is now a pro at solving the Rubik's cube. All she needs is under 5 minutes to solve one side of the cube.  I noticed that she has good concentration power and good amount of patience to solve puzzles ever since she was 3 years old when she was a jigsaw puzzle whiz. Now, she's shifted her focus from jigsaw puzzles to Rubik's cube!

Alycia shares her Rubik's cube with Cass and they bring the cube along with them whenever we are out to keep themselves busy when we adults partake in boring stuff like shopping or chit chatting with friends ;)





Cass also has the patience to obligingly help out in the kitchen whenever her help is needed. When we were back in Ipoh for CNY recently, she helped to remove the skin of a big bowl of peanuts.  She quietly sat at the kitchen for a whole 45 minutes without muttering a word of complaint. She beats me to it in terms of patience. That's my girl. Good job baby girl!




Cass at 7 years 10 months.

Eve Of CNY 2016 - 7 February 2016

On the eve of the Eve of CNY 2016,  the hubby made a trip to Parkson Pavillion after weeks of being badgered by his darling princess for Shopkins.

Shopkins is only available at  selected Parkson outlets. I had to message Parkson on Facebook to find out which outlet carries this toy.  The hubby finally had the time on Saturday  to swing by Parkson for his princess to claim her reward.

The princess was really nervous when we stepped onto the 6th floor, where the toy department is located. She  was tensed, as a result of feeling worried that she could not find her much awaited toy.  When she finally spotted Shopkins, she gasped in disbelief, like a girl finally meeting her online lover in person for the very first time! HAHAHA!!






She had a tough time choosing the characters as each  and every one is unique. With my help, she chose a pack of 12 characters from Season 3.

"Mummy, I am going to faint. I am going to die!! I have to breathe in and out!!  I can't believe I finally found Shopkins!"  These were the words repeatedly chanted by this drama queen. Now, I am certain that she is definitely more melodramatic than her second sister!  She would make a really good nominee for best theatrical performance award in future!




Young and older kids go gaga over Shopkins, just like how people, young and old, would, over Hello Kitty and Snoopy. These collectibles are cute and tiny and not cheap either.  The pack of 12 characters that we got for Cass cost us RM49.90.


Finally, a very, very happy girl! :)

Staying Hydrated and Healthy This CNY With Izumio

Chinese New Year is just 2 days away.  It seems like it was only recently that we celebrated CNY and here we are at it again. Time really flies!

CNY is the time when everyone seems to have forgotten about their health and exercise regimen and diet plans are thrown out of the window. But not for me. I am still pretty disciplined. I eat everything but in really small portions. But I still say NO to deep fried food.

CNY is also the hottest time of the year.  With a brutal hot weather, sinful indulgence in deep fried snacks, cookies, meat jerky, meat heavy meals and late nights, it is also the time when many will fall sick.  The most common ailments are sore throat with phlegm and cough. And I do hate cough coz once you get it, it would take months to be completely healed.  Thank God that ever since we consumed Izumio and Super Lutein, along with a healthy diet, my girls and I had not gotten a bad cough. Even when we had a cough, it was always a mild one and took only a couple of weeks to be completely settled.

So I got ready my supply of Izumio to help everyone overcome heatiness.  Izumio also helps to wash away all the nasties that we eat during this celebration.

Cass was of great help to me again when my stock came 2 days ago. She helped me to carry the heavy boxes of Izumio  and arranged them neatly inside the store room.





Thanks to Izumio, Cass is very well on her way to healing from incontinence.   Our immune system is stronger and I have  a peace of mind knowing that Izumio will take care of my health and that of my girls'.





If you need a box or two of Izumio to safeguard your health this CNY, do drop me an email at shireenyong@gmail.com or Whatsapp me at 019 266 4290.

Izumio And Super Lutein - Testimonial On Scalp Psoriasis

Here's a testimony by one of my friend's customers on how Izumio and Super Lutein have helped to treat her Scalp Psoriasis

"I have had psoriasis since a teenager. Topical cream with steroids have been part of my treatment plan. Though it heals for a while, but my psoriasis still comes back. And then, I found out that taking too often has side effects to the body. So I tried other non-steroid treatment, but didn't actually work that great.

Thanks to Izumio and S.Lutein, my psoriasis is under restraint. Initially, I wanted to try these two to boost my immune system. I was hospitalized approximately 8 months ago due to viral pneumonia and a few months after that I had acute bronchitis. I had a sore throat about every month. I've attempted so many options and finally someone introduced Izumio and S.Lutein to me so I gave it a try because I really need something that genuinely works to boost up my immune system. I reckon these two products really works. Last month was durian season, was so afraid of having a sore throat once more, so I immediately drank izumio. Same goes to my kids. Once I see that they have symptoms of falling sick...I'll immediately give them a packet of  Izumio. They are always fine the next day"



























All the above credit cards are accepted for 6 or 12 months interest-free instalments.




For more reading on Izumio and Super Lutein, please click on the following links:

Hydrogen (H2) as a potent antioxidant and exhibits anti-inflammatory and potentially anticancer-like activities (from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health)

Izumio Hydrogen Water and Super Lutein

Izumio and Incontinence

 Super Lutein

Day 18 On Izumio For Incontinence

Symptoms of A Body Detox

Day 20 On Izumio Hydrogen Water For Incontinence

IZUMIO – Antioxidant Hydrogen Water

Hydrogen Water Facts

Super Lutein Goodness

 Dangers of Eczema Steroid Creams

Super Lutein and Izumio Hydrogen Water For Glaucoma

Effects of Hydrogen Rich Water On Metabolic Syndrome (Diabetes and Obesity) - from US National Library of Medicine

Izumio and Super Lutein - Testimonials From High Blood Pressure and Diabetes Patients

Izumio and Super Lutein - Testimonial On Diabetes And High Cholestrol

Super Lutein For Osteoarthritis - Testimonial

Your Body On Anxiety

Hydrogen Water And Asthma  

Super Lutein and Izumio Hydrogen Water - Testimonial From Kidney Dialysis Patient

Izumio And Super Lutein - Testimonials From Diabetics Patients

Earning Passive Income

Izumio And Super Lutein - Testimonial On SLE (Systematic Lupus Erithematosus)


Izumio And Super Lutein - Asthma and overall immunity

Izumio And Super Lutein - Testimonial On Psoriasis And Gout

You can buzz me at my email at shireenyong@gmail.com to find out more! 

Cassandra's Latest Craze

Cass' latest craze is some kiddos' cutesy toys called Shopkins.

Shopkins are a range of 148 grocery store-themed characters for kids to collect, share, and trade. Shopkins come packaged with a shopping bag and a hand basket, which can be used to tote around lots of Shopkins friends.




Some time in August 2015, Shopkins were the latest toy craze to capture Canadian kids. These tiny toys are as hot as Pokemon once was. Girls (and even boys) enjoy collecting them, organizing them and using the supplied checklist to keep track of their collection. This collectability is part of what makes Shopkins such a hot item. There are hundreds of characters available, with different levels of rarity.

I have no frigging idea why Cass, who has never liked soft toys or dolls would like Shopkins. As a baby, she liked 'challenging' toys like stacking cups or slotting shapes into a shape sorter. As a toddler, she only liked jigsaw puzzles and playing with real kitchen utensils.  Dolls and soft toys given to her as presents were all given away.   I hardly ever bought her toys when she was younger. She hardly ever bugged me for toys too, except for Rainbow Loom 2 years ago and play dough recently.

For the past 2 weeks, Cass has been bugging me to buy her Shopkins.  I caved in and set a few conditions, which she met.   But I didn't know where to buy Shopkins. I searched Toys R Us online but they did not carry Shopkins. Cass then bugged her daddy to help her buy these toys online from overseas. I think it would be absolutely crazy to pay so much for international shipping to ship these toys over. The shipping may cost more than the toy itself.

Then yesterday, the girls' friend in school Whatsapp-ed a picture of Shopkins to Alycia.  The friend saw Shopkins at Parkson @ Sg Wang Plaza.  Cass was happy beyond words.  From that moment, she has been using her magical charm on her daddy. She has been talking to her daddy using her cutest charming voice and giving her daddy lots of hugs to charm him.

And daddy was entranced!

This morning, he took pictures of Shopkins with his phone as reference for him to shop for the toy.  But he will first try checking out the wholesale toy shop at China Town and if  that fails, he will then have to make a trip to Parkson.

Since this morning, Cass has been sending umpteen Whatsapp messages to daddy to remind him to shop for Shopkins :D






Maybe I should also do a 'Cass' Charm' to beguile the hubs for some bling bling diamonds and Chanel bags ;)

Update On Cass' UTI - 30 January 2016

Today, things are looking up a wee bit.  Cass has been telling me that  she does not feel anymore pain in her bladder when she pees, Praise The Lord!!

You see, my happiness for the past several weeks has been maneuvered by Cass' well-being.  When she had a 2nd bout of UTI attack two Sundays ago, my world came crashing down like the world markets. When there was some improvement, i.e. pain eased a little, my happiness went up too. When the pain came back, my mood slid down in tandem.   Though her pain level has been down to 0.1 / 10 since a week ago, I could still not let my guard down and rejoice just yet.  As long as there is still a pain level of 0.0001 / 10 (yes she tells me that from time to time), something is still not right in the bladder.

I told the hubs and Cass that should she still have an iota of pain in her bladder  by Monday next week, off we'll  march to the pediatrician to check things out... which means that there will be a string of tedious tests from urine tests to ultrasound scan to even more invasive tests and most likely - the dreaded and much-avoided antibiotics.

I have been dutifully forcing my arse off the bed at 2am for the past 2 weeks to nurse Cass -- to carry her like a big sack of rice from the bedroom to the toilet  for her to pee, feed her with some anti-UTI potion and to shower her with lots of TLC.   My life has been on hold automatically. I had not much energy left to do anything else during the day as I would be in school several hours to check on Cass. When I'm home, I would be sleepy all the time from the lack of sleep and agonizing worry for Cass.

Quoted from my Facebook friend, Jac Sun Yoga's blog post today, which I find it to be so profound:

Caring is an art of the highest form because it is through caring for another human being that we express pure love.


It's exactly a week away from Chinese New Year.  We will be traveling by ETS back to Ipoh to celebrate CNY with my beloved family members on the 2nd day of CNY.  I pray that Cass will never have another bout of UTI attack.  I never want to spend my CNY with Cass in the hospital again.  We spent our CNY in the hospital 7 years ago before Cass had her surgery.  She was barely one year old that year.

Here's a picture of the MIL's Water Narcissus.  She brought it back from Hong Kong and has been showering it with lots of TLC.  Tending to her pot of Water Narcissus is a yearly pre-CNY affair.   From just 3 bulbs that resemble an arrow root tuber, stems are now growing. By Chinese New Year, flowers will be blooming too :)

Our Saturday - 25 January 2016

Sorry dearies for the long silence.  I lost my mojo to blog :(  

I have been too busy with too many issues, especially with Cass' latest bout of UTI attack.  Read on  here.  

As of today, Cass tells me that she still has a pain level of 0.05/10 at her bladder region caused by a Urinary Tract Infection. People are telling me that Cass does not know what 0.05 is but  she knows. She's a smart girl and pretty matured in her thoughts. As long as she still has an infinitesimal amount of pain, I think there are still a few stubborn and strong pesky bacteria  lurking inside her urinary tract, which means that I have to continue with my home remedies and waking her up at an ungodly hour of 2am to pee. Sigh, I am so fagged. My eyes are burning with weariness but my gray matter is still working rapidly from all the worries and deep thinking that I have to grapple with. Though I am severely sleep deprived, I was insomniac last night, DANG IT!

Alright, I shall stop ranting and rattling.  Let me post some pictures taken last Saturday, at our friend's house-warming party.  Their new house is at least 10 times the size of our unit of condo. Decor is very zen and very tastefully done.

Below - Our girls with their friends, whom they have known all their lives.





Below - Garden is still sans grass and I like it that way.  It gives us a feeling that we are at a Balinese beach resort.





Below - The kids playing with their friends' new pet hamsters...









And BBQ was executed by the kids!  There were some burnt chickie wings and sausages but the kids had a great time. They have learnt some BBQ tips and tricks now.




There was also a whole roast pig, which was really huge. Everyone had packs of 'siew yoke'  as door gift to bring home :D





Below - the kids played with fire crackers. It's been a while since our girls last had their hands on fire crackers.





While the adults chit chatted and drank wine, the kids watched a 3D movie at the home theater, while munching on nachos and sipping on soda. Pretty unhealthy but I have Izumio hydrogen water for them to wash away all the nasties :D




It was almost midnight when I had to drag the girls away. Our girls were reluctant to leave but all good things have to come to an end.  But it won't be long before they meet again, during Chinese New Year :)

'Surfing' In The MTR In Hong Kong

When we were in Hong Kong for a holiday last December, we relied on public transportation quite a bit to bring us around.    My sil stays at a very strategic location where the bus stop is right outside her apartment. We call the bus driver our 'private driver'.  With just 1 bus ride and a walk to the MTR station, we would be in Disneyland already.   We walked a lot and it helped that the weather was very conducive.  When it's cold, you won't feel tired walking miles. I didn't feel tired at all though we walked A LOT.   Despite me eating like a pig and not exercising throughout our 1-week holiday in Hong Kong, I did not gain an ounce of weight, thanks to all the walking! :D    Bliss!!

Inside the moving MTR, the kids would pretend to be 'surfing' to balance themselves from falling.  Of course they were the only ones doing it and we got stares!

But who cares, right?  :P

Grilled Chicken Curry Drumsticks And Pan-Fried Prawns

Our home-cooked dinner a few nights ago...

Grilled chicken drumsticks with curry paste, pan-fried soy sauce prawns and blanched broccoli with oil and salt.






This pan-fried soy sauce prawns is the MIL's specialty. It's pretty easy to cook, provided you don't mind the splish splash of oil everywhere.

Directions for Aromatic Pan-Fried Prawns
1) Heat oil in wok
2) Gently slide the prawns into the wok of hot oil (use kitchen towels to dab dry the prawns to prevent major splash of oil)
3) When prawns turn orangy in color, add some soy sauce and sugar.  I used palm sugar syrup.
4) Add some Chinese cooking wine
5) Lastly, throw in some scallions and toss for about 1 minute
6) Plate up





Directions for Grilled Chicken With Curry Paste
1) Marinate chicken with instant curry paste and soy sauce. You can use any part of the chicken you fancy.  Keep marinated chicken in ziplock bag and refrigerate for at least half a day.  You can freeze the marinated chicken for future use.

2) Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line oven tray with aluminum foil or baking paper  and grease it with some cooking oil.  Wrap chicken on greased foil / baking paper.  Grill for 20 minutes

3)  Unwrap aluminum foil and grill for another 10-15 minutes or until you get a nice glossy golden brown color on the chicken.

4)  While chicken is grilling in the oven, heat up non-stick pan with oil. Brown some chopped garlic and onions.

5).  Add cubed potatoes and lightly fry for about 5 minutes.

6)  Add in the leftover curry sauce used to marinate the chicken into the pan.  If you prefer your sauce to be spicier, add more curry paste. Add some water.

7)  Remove chicken from oven and transfer onto a nice plate.

8)  Pour potato curry sauce over chicken and decorate.

9) Whip up camera, snap pix and quickly share picture via Whatsapp, Instagram or Facebook to boast about your new creation

Our Monday - 11 January 2016

Today has been a fruitful day for us. Despite leaving the house only at 10:30am, the hubby managed to chauffeur me around the most congested roads in KL to get a few very important and urgent matters accomplished.

I told the hubby that we had to be back home before 1:30 pm as that's when the transporter drops off Sherilyn and Cass after school.

With the perpetual horrendous traffic jam in KL, what more on a Monday morning, it was quite a feat to do all these in under 3 hours..

1) Went to UTC @ Pudu Sentral to have my driving license renewed.
I had thought that my driving license was only expiring in February but when I took out my license to have a look at it again, I was shocked that it had expired on 6 January 2016. How could I have seen the wrong date??!

2) Went to Menara Multi Purpose @ Capital Square to collect my customers' Fukubukuro sets (Izumio and Super Lutein set) from Naturally Plus

3) Had lunch of beef noodles at the famous Shin Kee Beef Noodles at Petaling Street














4) Went to KL Sentral station to buy train tickets to Ipoh during CNY.  There were 72 people waiting ahead of me. So, forget it, we left KL Sentral hurriedly.  Hubby weaved in and out of the horrendous traffic jam to bring me home just in the nick of time to receive Sherilyn and Cass.


For the first half of the morning yesterday, I made several calls to JPJ and JPN to enquire about the process of renewing my driving license and My Kad. My main concern was my My Kad (IC) which is over 11 years old.    I was worried that the chip is not readable, thus my driving license could not be renewed at the post office.

I had my My Kad done when I was pregnant with Sherilyn!  And I am glad that I still look almost identical to the picture on my My Kad :D

How And Where To Renew Driving License In Kuala Lumpur

1) You can renew it at the post office but the chip on your My Kad must be readable.

2) If the chip is damaged, thus not readable, you have to go to a JPJ branch to have your driving license renewed.  We chose UTC @ Pudu Sentral as it's the nearest to us.

3) Documents needed are your old driving license, your My Kad and cash. I renewed for 5 years and paid RM150 + RM15 (RM15 is pro rated payment according to my date of birth)

4)  Renew it online at MyEG.  I think you can pay for courier fees to have your renewed license, insurance or road tax couriered to you.


The queue at JPJ @ UTC, Pudu Sentral was long. I had to wait for 25 people ahead of me but know what?  The process was unbelievably fast and in under an hour, I had my driving license renewed.  The photo on my renewed driving license now is the same  as the one on my 11-year old My Kad, taken when I was 32 years old :)

I wanted to walk a few steps away to JPN to have my My Kad renewed (with address updated and new card issued) but the crowd was intimidating!  Plus we had not much time left as we still had a few more errands to run. First things first. We had to collect my Izumio and Super Lutein for my customers and purchase train tix and that's more urgent.

Our Sunday - 10 January 2016

This morning, I was greeted by a beautiful skyline of sunrise. The KL Tower was illuminated in blue (but turned out purplish in the photo). Such a beautiful scene on a Sunday morning.  I love the color tone of the sky.






We had lunch at Han Room @ Gardens Mall, simply because hubs had a RM80 birthday voucher from the Oriental Group and he had to utilize the voucher before it expires next month.





After tucking into a lovely spread of dim sum, I had my dose of retail therapy while hubs waited for us at Alexis Bistro. He's not someone who would follow me shopping. He has zero patience for that! After retail therapy, we joined him for cakes and tea at Alexis.

Our dinner was famous Ipoh 'kai see hor fun' (shredded chicken with flat noodles) from the world renowned Kong Heng restaurant, brought to us all the way from Ipoh, courtesy of our dear friend - celebrity Alan Yun who was in Ipoh today.





'Kai Si Hor Fun' from Kong Heng coffee shop, Ipoh - best in the world!

And err..... I've got a confession to make.  I whacked the entire bowl of carbs myself without sharing it with anyone :S

And I am corroded with guilt now!!

Never mind, I will have my 24 laps in the pool tomorrow morning to burn it all away! :D





After kai si hor fun, the girls loaded themselves with more carbs! They tempted me with Haagen Dazs but I quickly busied myself with chores and tried my best to steer clear from the tub of macadamia nuts Haagen Dazs!

Then I saw Cass eating her ice-cream from the ice-cream scoop.

Her reason?   "so that I don't have to wash any extra spoon!"

You've learnt well baby girl.  Today is maid-free day. So the girls had to think twice and thrice before they grab a cutlery or plate from the kitchen, coz they will have to wash it themselves!

Snake Meal In Hong Kong

On our 3rd night in Hong Kong, on 8 December 2015, we adults went to an eatery for a snake meal.  The eatery is an Association for members. I am not sure what association it is. Everything was written in Chinese. And every table had the same dishes in their course dinner.  The place was packed to the brim with fans of snake and I saw a lot of elderly people.  No children were present at the eatery.

While we indulged in the snake meal, my 2nd SIL brought all the kids to eat pizza.





The first dish that arrived was 'seh kang' or snake soup. This is similar to sharks fins but the snake meat in the soup had a strange taste. I added lots of vinegar to mask the snake taste.








Next was stir-fried snake meat.




This snake dish was particularly delish. The finely shredded kafir lime leaves sprinkled on the dish imparted a very refreshing and aromatic flavor to the snake meat.

Lamb in claypot...




Crispy roast chicken. Aha, my favorite dish of all! And everyone else's too.




Herbal soup with black chicken and the embryo of an animal (I can't recall). If you can read Chinese, scroll up to read the menu ;)




Braised mushrooms with fish stomach and dried oysters.





Every single dish was wiped clean.







It was my very first experience with snake meat and certainly an eye-opener for the hubby and me.