Adding More Greens Into My Diet

Ever since my blood work came back with a bad cholesterol reading of 6.5, I am now even more resolute to cut out red meat from my diet.  As I have genetic high cholesterol aka Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH for short), it will be quite impossible for my cholesterol level to go down even with a strict diet.  It went down to a reading of 4.9 when I drank 2-3 packets of Izumio hydrogen water daily - that was about 4 years ago.  But Izumio is too costly and I now only drink it when I feel under the weather.  

I now try to include more raw veggies in my diet.  I used to eat quite a bit of raw veggies and sprouts but the darn pandemic and prolonged home quarantine threw my healthy regimen out of the window.   The prolonged lockdown almost threw my sanity out of my my head too.

My yearly blood test  is in January or February each year. But because of the lockdown and my fear of knowing the truth,  I delayed going to my doctor's office until recently (late September).  

Good news is my blood sugar is still good at a reading of 5.0.  I thought that it would protest and go up too as I had not been eating as clean as I should have been throughout the lockdown.  

Bad news is my cholesterol reading has gone up from 6.4 (last year) to 6.5.  And the little good news amid the bad is that my HDL (good cholesterol) went up and my total cholesterol/HDL ratio is only 2.8 (< 5.0).  It must be my diet that's high in nuts and fish oil.

My doctor is not pressing me to go on Statin, albeit he did say that I could try taking Lipitor.  But I'm not taking Statin just yet. I have my reasons.   I may also want to consult our family friend who's a cardiologist at SJMC to seek his advice. He's currently out of country.  

So hopefully by adding more veggies and rawsome goodness into my diet and eating lesser red meat, my cholesterol reading will go down.  I know it's going to be hard with a mutated gene, but eating more veggies will also benefit other aspects of my health.

I love Hakka Lui Cha (Thunder Tea Rice). After all, I'm a Hakka girl.  I've been ordering my Lui Cha from this Hakka seller on Facebook as she makes pretty good Lui Cha.   I like to add on raw broccoli and alfalfa sprouts and cashews to my Lui Cha sans any rice. And it's really filling.

I use the Lui Cha paste as dipping for raw bell pepper slices.  

A bottle of lui cha paste (RM26 with peanut and RM36 with cashews) can last me for almost a month. I freeze them in silicon ice-cube molds and pop one cube into hot water to drink as a healthy veggie tea or simply pop one frozen Lui Cha cube into my mouth and enjoy it as an ice-popsicle.

Homemade Caramel Popcorns With Hazelnuts, Hotteok and Tiramisu

Throwback post from last week.

After making Hotteok today, Chef Sherilyn made a small batch of caramel (for the popcorns), popped another batch of popcorns to make 'Garrett' popcorns with hazelnuts and in the evening, made two trays of Tiramisu (one with chocolate liqueur, one without).

Her 'Garrett' popcorns taste 99% like the real deal and the cost is only a fraction of the price of Garrett's. So dangerously addictive! I need to quickly walk past the tupperware of popcorns and resist the urge to open the lid to pop a few into my mouth! 🤪

Divinish Hotteok aka Korean sweet pancakes.

This time she used the trusty wok instead of saucepan.  No more burnt bottom pit and more popcorns can be produced.

It's not that difficult to make Garrett's caramel popcorns. We can sell our very own too and make good $$ 😆

Another dangerous dessert. One spoonful is enough to send you to dessert heaven!

  

There's nothing our teenage chef can't bake or cook. And it all boils down to interest and a burning passion. 

Sunday, 19 Sept 2021

Today is the end of the week-long school term break.   Cass hit the sheets a few minutes before 10 p.m., which is something that is extremely rare for this night owl.  But I'm glad that she's slowly learning to take charge of her life without me nagging her anymore.  Baby steps. My prayers have been answered 😍

I didn't notice Cass going into her room as I was busy with work on the computer.  The MIL asked me in astonishment why Cass went to bed so early as that's just not Cass.  I went into Cass' room and asked her if she'd still like to pray together as this morning she requested that I pray with her before bed. 

As I walked into the room, instead of calling her Cassandra, in a slip of the tongue, I called her Haru instead 😆.  We both broke into hearty guffaws.  

After praying with Cass and giving her a goodnight hug, I went to check on Haru who's already in her cage. Today Sherilyn fed and put Haru back into the cage.  It's my nightly routine to carry Haru back to her cage, pet her and say I Love You and Goodnight to her.  Sometimes I say a short prayer for her.  If I'm too busy with work on my computer, Haru will jump up my chair and bury her face behind me to nudge me. This is her way of telling me that she's either hungry or want to be carried back to her cage at night.  

Having a pet is akin to having another child as I love my pet like my own human child.  Though I was never a cat lover and never knew how to care for one, I've now fallen in love with this kitty, who's like a child trapped in a cat's body.  

Alycia who used to have phobia of cats and fury animals has also fallen in love with Haru.  She likes putting Haru on her lap, like a toddler, while she watches her Korean dramas.   Haru who is not really a lap cat, does not resist and seems to enjoy Alycia's company.  But she has a limit. She won't sit for more than 5 minutes on our laps now as she prefers to roam freely.  She used to be stroked for hours till she fell asleep on Cass and Sherilyn's laps when she was a 2-3 month old kitten.

Outerwear Trends For 2021

Some of you may be wishing that the summer months would continue so that you could be in your comfy and light trendy women's tops every day to enjoy the warm summer days.  But the reality is fall is upon us and winter will come around just as fast.  

Whether you’re a fan of trench coats, cardigans, puffers, cozy fuzzy sweaters, or oversize teddy coats, these wardrobe staple is an absolute necessity this time of the year. They keep you warm and stylish throughout the cold months.  What's not to love about winter fashion? 

You might be getting tired of wearing the same outerwear that you wore last fall and winter.  The dampening cold temperatures will be so worth it when you get to wear chic new coats that make you look so swank.  This season there are endless of gorgeous new styles for all the right reasons.  With endless coat options to suit every style, whether you want to tap into this season’s animal print or opt for faux fur coats, women’s trench coats or  sweaters with cute animal prints, there is a coat to suit every mood at Ninacloak.  

If you want to start getting your wardrobe together for the bitter cold days that will inevitably happen in a couple of months, these are the styles to keep in mind when shopping so you can be in the ~know.~ From fun patchwork pieces to classic textured cardigans, you'll be all bundled up for winter in no time.

I’ve picked 5 snazzy winter fashion trends from Ninacloak and wishing that I could also be bundled up in them for fall and winter!  

1. Luxury Faux Fur Collar Cape Sleeve Coat

2. Women's Halloween Printed Long Sleeve Sweatshirt. 

3. Luxury Black Hooded Faux Fur Coat

4. Faux Fur Collar Double Breasted Coat

5. Autumn And Winter Checker Blazer

Experimenting with a brand new look is the key to keeping fashion fun and to brighten up your day when you feel doom and gloom amidst the pandemic.  Make a statement in a faux fur long trench coat or dress yourself in cute Halloween women's sweaters, with the new season coats that offer timeless appeal.

If you’re in search of the perfect fall and winter pick me up for 2021, head over to Ninacloak, an online store where snappy dressers are spoilt for choices with the season’s most exciting outerwear and more!

  

Lemongrass Plant For Haru

 

I've been wanting to buy cat grass for Haru from Shopee or Lazada. But lazy me just won't have the time to plant these grass from seeds, water it and tend to it everyday.  So I went to a nursery at our hood today and got a pot of lemongrass at RM6 a pot.

Lemongrass has a catnip-like effect on most cats. Whether potted indoors or planted in an outdoor garden, a nibble-friendly patch of lemongrass is a safe cat treat. Lemongrass essential oil, however, can be toxic to felines.

Initially Haru didn't know what to do with the lemongrass plant except to sniff it. Sherilyn cut a teeny bit of leaf and taught Haru to chew on it.  Moments later she was nibbling on the leaves from the pot.  

Thankfully Haru didn't get the Zoomies after nibbling on the leaves.  In fact, she's been very good today, except for the fact that she climbed up the kitchen counter top, where the microwave oven is to look for food! 

Haru gets very excited each time she hears the sound of the microwave door opening and the sounds of the buttons being pressed as these are the sounds she hears whenever we heat up pork or chicken (her favorite food) for her.   It was already her supper time and her way of telling us that she's hungry is by climbing up the counter top.  Someone wasn't happy when she saw it 😂

Four Reasons To Love Boots

Many women are crazy over footwear.   Many of them spend thousands of dollars just to get a pair of designer shoes.  I am not against this as long as you can afford it.  Many years ago when I was in the corporate world, I splurged over RM2k on a branded leather handbag and RM1k+ on a pair of killer heels.  I even had a pair of embroidered boots up to my ankles which I loved but wore them less than 10 times as it was hot wearing that boots in our country's sizzling hot weather.  

I still love boots. Though it's not suitable to wear them in our country, I would want to get a pair of boots, especially knee-length boots to wear in a winter country when it's safe to travel out of our country again. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who love boots so much. Why do we all love boots?  They can have a rugged country look or a sleek urban feel. On chilly days they make dresses and skirts wearable. They also give polish to jeans and add a down to earth feel to more delicate pieces. They're sexy, glamorous, protect your legs from the elements and versatile.

Boots are one of the fashion world’s unsung heroes. Stylish, versatile and flattering, they're a staple of every woman's wardrobe.  Here are four tops reasons to love boots and to add them to your shoe collection.

1)  Ultimate Trans-seasonal Footwear  

At the end of the summer, when it's too warm for tights but definitely too cold for sandals, a pair of ankle boots work perfectly with bare legs and a dress.

When temperatures dip a little, just add a thick pair of tights or tuck your jeans into your floral cowboy boots to stay cosy no matter what the weather.

 

2)  Super Flattering

Everyone looks good in boots, especially if you choose one of the more flattering styles from the range of Newchic boots, which are also affordable.   Look out for boots which are cut low towards the front of the ankle if you want to make short legs appear longer.

3) Practical

There is a very obvious reason behind this trend – boots, especially ankle boots are practical. They're comfortable, flexible and waterproof. You can run in them without breaking a heel and they won't chafe the way that flats can when you've been walking in them all day.

4) Never Goes Out of Style

Get acquainted with the ankle boot, and you may just be calling this evergreen shoe your new BFF. This particular piece of footwear can be worn on the daily, whether you’re kicking around town in denim and a sweater or heading to the office in a skirt and blouse. They should have a moderate heel that’s manageable — the right ankle boot should be comfortable and easy to walk in. You’ll be putting in a lot of mileage on them, after all.

Which type of boots do you love?  Vintage knee high boots, ankle boots, cowboy boots, classic boots or army boots? 

Holiday Activity - Making Stovetop Popcorn

I bought these popcorn kernels by mistake from Shopee. I thought they were already popped and ready-to-eat.  I got a shock when they came as kernels.  I missed out the word 'kernels' 😐 That's the problem whenever I buy something in a rush.

RM3.98 a packet for US mushroom kernels and RM4.98 a packet for the South Africa variety.

Today Sherilyn popped the kernels on a stovetop in a saucepan with organic coconut oil and littered them with a teeny bit of maple sugar.  They turned out pretty well, albeit some of the popcorns didn't turn out looking like mushroom popcorns (rounded) but instead, looking more like butterfly popcorns (irregular shapes).  Nonetheless, the popcorns were very nice and addictive.  We can indulge in them without much guilt as we know what goes in.  

The aroma of the popping popcorns wafting in the house was reminiscent of our good old cinema days.

We will try popping the kernels again tomorrow. This time we will add cocoa powder and matcha.  

Popping popcorn kernels is a fun holiday activity. It only takes a few minutes to get one big pot of yummy popcorns.  Quite glad that I erred on this purchase 😅

Haru In Our Home

 

This pussy saw a bumble bee buzzing away outside the mozzie net and got hyper excited. She was intent on catching the bee and almost pushed the mozzie net down our unit.  The other day she saw a lizard for the first time in her life and bit off the poor lizard's tail. The tail was still flipping and Haru bit the tail into pieces. O.M.G.!!

She's a lover of food and is hungry round the clock. About 1-2 hours before her meal time, she will be seated at the kitchen island shelf (this is where we keep her kibbles and wet food), waiting patiently for her food.

Haru's new scratch board beds arrived.  While her 2 doting sisters assembled the box, she waited patiently in the old scratch board bed which is already in a terrible beat-up condition.

Trying out her new scratch board box/bed.

Lockdown Tales

Two days ago, we found out from our friend who runs a Chinese restaurant at our hood that two of her shop neighbors had died of Covid.  This happened at the plaza that recently had a cluster -- the same place that Maria stays. The same place where the supermarket that I go to is.   We are also friends with the two deceased. One is the owner of a photo shop and the other, the owner of a Chinese medicine hall. We had been patronizing them for decades. A few shops away, something unfortunate happened to the owner too (who is also our friend), albeit not Covid. He suffered a stroke and is now hospitalized.   Although our friend's restaurant had to be closed for 2 weeks twice in a span of 1.5 months due to confirmed Covid cases from her workers and shop neighbors, thankfully our friend and her family members who help out at the restaurant were spared. They had to fork out thousands of Ringgit on Covid swab test for the entire crew. 

I couldn't sleep after I learned of the news. It was only three weeks ago that I saw one of the deceased when I went to the plaza to buy lunch and he's now gone forever.  Covid could infect anyone, even the fully vaxxed ones.

Life is very fragile. Tragedies, illnesses, death and other unexpected bumps in the road remind us of that fact. Unfortunately, a long life is not guaranteed. Some of us will get to live to be one hundred while others will live a fraction of that time.  

This reminds me once again that I should live in the present moment and take it one day at a time. With so much uncertainties over the future because of this pandemic, we can no longer plan ahead anymore.  I am trying hard to enjoy my lockdown days, though it's not easy. 

To beat the lockdown blues, I do quite a bit of online shopping.  I really enjoy waiting for my parcels to be delivered. That's the only thing that I can look forward to now.

Last weekend I ordered something that I've long wanted to try - lemang and beef rendang from a Malay seller and paid a frigging RM15 for delivery!

The lemang came encased in a bamboo.

The seller sent me a You Tube tutorial on how to remove the lemang from the bamboo. Cass tried it with a pestle by knocking the bamboo with it and then squeezed the lemang out.

The beef rendang melts in the mouth and very delish. But I had unquenchable thirst after that!  I read the ingredients and saw the word 'flavor enhancer'.  I thought I was going to reorder from this seller  but after the terrible unquenchable thirst episode throughout the day, no thanks 😁
Nonetheless, we all enjoyed the lemang and rendang.

Haru In Our Home

Cass' online classes start at 7:30 a.m. and only end at around 3 p.m. everyday.  Her days are pretty hectic, though classes are 100% remote.  Whenever there are breaks in between her classes, she will de-stress and get her dose of laugher and pet therapy from Haru.  But she can sometimes be overzealous in the way she shows her affection towards Haru - she hugs and squeezes Haru till she shrieks, she tosses Haru slightly in the air and makes Haru bleat and growl or chases Haru till her tail bristles up.  If I were a cat, I wouldn't want to be handled like that 😹 

But whenever Cass is gentle with the cat, Haru can remain still on her lap, watches Cass play a game or two or watches You Tube with her.

Haru's favorite person is her hooman dad as his voice is the first human voice that she heard. Haru's mother gave birth to her right outside hubby's office.
Every morning Haru follows her dad to the lift and I have to carry her back into the house.  
Whenever the door bell rings, she darts to the door and meows in anticipation that it will be her dad coming home.

I don't have to buy toys for Haru anymore.  She loves playing with thrash -- boxes, strings, bottle caps, broken hair ties, blister packs from my supplements, pens and plastic bags. 
The toy rat and scratch pad poll that I bought for her are untouched now. 

This is the look from Haru just before she bites us. She loves to bite us when her playful mode is switched on or when she's busy with something and we try to play with her.

In troubled times like now during the COVID-19 pandemic, pets can offer more than just a slobbery greeting or good-natured nuzzle, in Haru's case, she likes to tap on our leg with her paw to say 'hi' to us.

Haru is a great listener 😁.  I tell her things that I can't tell anyone else in the house and no unwelcome advice is given,  and sometimes, just saying things aloud can help me feel better rather than bottle up the feelings.

Thursday, 19 August 2021

Today is my papa's 78th birthday. I still remember very vividly celebrating his 60th birthday with him in Ipoh when I was heavily pregnant with Alycia.  And in a blink of an eye, Alycia will be 18 years old this December and papa is now 78!  

Where did the time go?! 18 years is a very long time - almost 2 decades but time just flew past us without us even realizing it.

I ordered a customized special birthday gift basket with balloon craft from a good friend staying in Ipoh, which she personally delivered to papa.  The gift basket has some of papa's favorite food items -- Häagen-Dazs macadamia nut ice-cream, Magnum Gold almond ice-cream, Nescafe Gold and two slices of cake from Secret Recipe.

This good friend is my brother's ex-girlfriend and till this date, she is still very close to my mom and me.

I'd like to wish my papa a very happy 78th birthday. May God bless you with many more happy years ahead and I pray that we will be able to reunite very soon. The last time I met my parents and brothers was in February last year during Chinese New Year.   It's almost two years we have not met in person, except for video calls 😔

Lockdown Tales

The prolonged lockdown has turned Sherilyn into an accidental baker and chef and now - hair stylist.  Alycia has been complaining that it’s been super hot lately and her hair is bothering her.   As hair salons are still closed in the Klang Valley and our area is a red zone, Sherilyn offered to cut Alycia's hair.   While Alycia did not have confidence in Sherilyn initially, I convinced Alycia that I was very confident that her sister will do a great job as I was really satisfied with Sherilyn when she cut my hair last year during MCO 1.0.

Alycia agreed. She just wanted her shoulder length hair snipped off and didn't have the patience to wait for hair salons to be reopened.  Our country recorded a record-breaking high of 22,242 Covid cases today - 18 August 2021. It's getting from bad to worse.

It’s not easy to cut Alycia’s thick hair with the limited apparatus that we have, which is a pair of decades-old scissors meant for cutting baby hair and a hair clip.  Instead of the usual 15-20 minutes job done by a professional hair stylist, Sherilyn spent 1.5 hours standing inside the shower stall meticulously and patiently snipping her persnickety older sister’s thick hair with lots of huffing and puffing coming from Alycia, followed by hysterical laughter and shrieks inside the bathroom.  

I am beyond impressed with the outcome – Alycia has a 99% straight and perfect bob hair cut!! I gave Sherilyn a RM5 tip 🤭.

Impressed with Alycia's haircut, the mil and the girls’ grand aunt living a few units below ours  (both are equally finicky on their hair stylists) now wants Sherilyn’s service too! 

Sorry I have no photos to share. I actually stole the pix of them in the shower stall and when they realized it, locked me out of the room.  When they found out that I posted the blurred out images of them on social media, they protested vehemently and screamed blue murder, demanding that I removed the post instantly and even threatened to sue their mother, not realizing that it is their mother who is also their banker.  🤬

See la. Really 'char siu' daughters I have.  I also bemoan to them all the time that I have 3 ungrateful 'char siu' girls. I pray that they will grow up to be filial and loving daughters and not burnt 'char siu' that I have to discard.

That's the reason why at this age, it's best to have a pet at home. I can channel my love to Haru and she even knows how to reciprocate my love.  Now I see why most of my friends who are my age have several dogs and cats at home. Because their 'char siu' just don't know how to reciprocate love 😔

OK, nuff of ranting.  I'm stepping off the soapbox.

 

Missing Haru's baby face so much!

Our lockdown kitten. We fostered her during the lockdown early this year and one of the best things that we've done.

Friday, 13 August 2021

I got a shock this morning when I opened the washing machine door after the cycle ended. A wad of cash rolled out of the washer door. 

He forgot to remove stuff from his pocket again! 😣

I quickly air dried the notes and before he left the house, I passed the cash to him. To my surprise he said I could keep them.   🤑

 

My online shopping haul received today:

My wet and dry floor wipes and lint roller replacement tapes from Daiso, bought from Lazada.  As I couldn't get any free shipping from Shopee, I hopped over to Lazada and managed to get free shipping! Without Maria coming into our home to help me, most probably until this year end, I will have to rely on all these cleaning accessories to get all the daily cleaning done everyday.

Organic beet root powder from Lazada with a RM2 shipping fee.  Beets are rich in iron (something which I need for my anemia), calcium, magnesium and potassium.  Beets have impressive health benefits such as lowering blood sugar, lowering blood pressure, may prevent certain cancers and can boost brain health.

Alycia has overcome her fear of cats. She now loves playing with Haru!

Online Shopping Amid The Lockdown

I have never done so much online shopping in my entire life than in the last two months, no thanks to the protracted pandemic and never-ending lockdown in our country.  When the supermarket in our hood was recently closed for two weeks due to a cluster detected, I had to switch to online mode for the purchase of most of my essentials. Online shopping is convenient but can be a tad time consuming as I sometimes need to wait for the prices of certain items (non urgent ones) to be reduced or wait for free shipping and cashback vouchers before I pay for them.  Thus, I spend much of my time on Shopee and Lazada these days.  I even stay up to midnight several times in a month whenever Shopee has a midnight sale, just to save some $$. Online shopping can be tiring but it's therapeutic, just like mall shopping.  In such depressing times, shopping online is my little guilt pleasure. It's my only source of entertainment now since we can't venture out.  I can't even exercise at our condo grounds for the next two weeks because of a few Covid positive cases detected among the workers and guards at our condo.

My online shopping haul in the last couple of weeks...

An Ikea trolley storage rack for Cass to put her books.  As it now looks quite certain that online learning will be in for the long haul, I have to get extra storage for her to put her school books. 

Cass spent almost an hour assembling the trolley.

We love this 3-tier trolley storage rack - it even came with a screwdriver to help us with the assembly. This trolley is bought from Shopee, at a discounted price of only RM43.25 with a 423 Shopee Coins in cashback (equivalent to RM4.23).

Toilet papers. We're heavy users of toilet papers and I need to restock them every week 🤭

Bamboo tissue papers at only 60 cents a packet from Lazada.   The quality is superb - thick, large and even perforated.

I finally found Ora2 toothbrushes at Shopee. Ora2 toothbrushes are by far the best I've used. They are made in Japan and cost only RM4.60 each, which is way cheaper than at supermarkets.

Tena extra large wet wipes - I got them at a steal from Shopee (under Vinda Official Store).   These are sold at RM6 a pack at the pharmacy and I got them at RM5.40 a pack with discounted shipping and Shopee Coins.  I use these wipes to dry clean Haru and for general cleaning around the house.

Unscented, paraben-free and alcohol-free baby wet wipes at only RM20.24 for 10 LARGE PACKS (80 pcs per pack) with FREE SHIPPING from Lazada!!  Only RM2 a pack hey! What a steal! I use these to clean Haru's ears and face and for everything else. 

   

A heavy duty stainless steel towel rack at only RM59 with free shipping from Shopee! 

KN94 Korean disposable face masks from Lazada. A pack of 50 pieces only costs RM14.90 with a RM10 voucher from Lazada!  Shipping fee was only RM4.  These were shipped from China and took 10 days to reach me.  

Cat food, catnips biscuits and cat litter from two different sellers from Shopee and Lazada.

Nuts, matcha biscuits, vegetable crisps and pop corns from Signature Market. We love the nuts and snacks from Signature Market. They're always fresh and prices are very reasonable.  I buy them from Shopee or Lazada, depending on which platform offers me free shipping and discount vouchers.

With so much shopping done, being stuck at home doesn't look that bad eh?  

No, it sucks.  Being stuck at home for 1.5 years with our household earnings impacted badly is not fun.  But life has to go one and we try to make the best out of the situation.  Worrying won't help a bit, it may even cause more damage to our health if too much time was spent worrying about the unknown.  We can only take one day at a time.  And pray that we and our loved ones will not be infected by this invisible enemy that is already at our door step.