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. 

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

One of my daughters made me fuming mad when she got home from school today. She must have gotten on the wrong side of the bed today and was feeling antsy. She just wouldn’t listen to anything that I told her to do, not for me but for herself. Instead, she said something acidic (and sinful) that just burnt my heart. I was irate. I’m still seething. It’s not the first time that this defiant teen had said those words to me.  I was on the verge of lashing out those cuss words on her for her lack of respect but I held my tongue and said something less severe. Swear words and curses lashed out in the heat of the moment are extremely dangerous – the curses may come true and what’s done can’t be undone. 

I once said something to her at the heat of the moment, for her lackadaisical attitude, for her lack of care and love for herself and disrespectful attitude, and what I said, which must have been a curse on her, came true in the same year. I regretted deeply what I said as the consequences cost me my time and money. And if I wasn’t careful enough, it may even cost her, her life.

She’s my most difficult child and I had cried out to God many times asking him for guidance on how to handle this strong-willed child of mine. She seems fearless to anything, even her creator, which crushes me. 

Perhaps only time will change her. Her follies and obstinacy which may result in pain, embarrassment,  failure, and regret can only change her. We almost always learn the hard way, don't we? Sadly.

We were all once at that age when nothing our mothers said would change our minds and hearts. We were once dead stubborn, rebellious and turned a deaf ear on our mothers. It’s only when we got hurt and when things didn’t turn out the way we intended them to be, that we regretted our follies and thought “I should have listened to mom”.  

Haru's First Complete Bath

We had planned to give Haru a complete and thorough bath when she turns one year old. We finally executed it today!

It was surprisingly easy and she didn't hiss, growl, or try to run away.  We used another bathroom this time and we didn't use the hair dryer as Haru is terrified of the loud sound of the hair dryer. She's a scaredy-cat and is afraid of loud noises.

No one got hurt by her razor claws this time. Thank God!! 🙏🙌 

We didn't even need the cat's bath net or cone on Haru. She's such a good pussy today.

The bath was pretty uneventful this time and we all had a good laugh over how Haru looked, drenched to her bones and looking very much like a skinny black rat rescued from the sewer 😂

Blowing dry the wet pussy's fur with the stand fan this time 😁 The previous time we gave her a simple bath, she jumped at the sound of the hair dryer. Her jump from my arms resulted in a deep and long wound on my left hand.

Haru smells SO good now! Her fur is so soft and fluffy and everyone has been taking turns to cuddle and squeeze her. She's like a squeaky soft toy that would let out a squeak each time we squeeze her 😂😂

Tips On How NOT To Gain Weight During Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is an occasion for one to catch up with relatives and friends, dress up in brand new  clothes, dig into all the once-a-year delicacies and cookies, collect or give ang pows and gain weight!  But wait, you don’t have to gain weight during Chinese New Year. It’s possible to not gain an ounce without looking like an outcast and it’s tried and tested by yours truly!  

Here are five simple tips to prevent weight gain during Chinese New Year. 

1.  Watch Your Food Portion and Share Your Goodies

Size matters – the smaller it is, the better it will be for weight loss. If you usually eat a plate of rice and two pieces of chicken, reduce the portion to a quarter plate of rice and one piece of chicken. Better yet, omit the rice altogether and eat more vegetables to fill your tummy up.   

Also remember to share your Coke with someone else.  Just a gentle reminder – a 320ml can of Coke contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar while a 500ml bottle contains a whopping 12 teaspoons!

 

2.  Wear a shapewear

Wear a cheap shapewear to help control your food intake. Big meals will make you feel uncomfortable when your midsection is under compression. With a waist trainer or shapewear on your body, you'll likely feel more comfortable eating smaller meals rather than large ones.

 3.  Eat and Chew Slowly

Try to chew your food thoroughly before swallowing.  Some of you may have the habit of gobbling down your food while eyeing the drumstick on the serving platter, waiting to grab it before anyone else does!  It doesn’t matter if you don’t get the drumstick or another helping of chicken.  You put in fewer calories and don’t have to work so hard trying to shed off the flab after CNY.

The average calorie intake decreased by 9.5% when people chewed 1.5 times more than normal and nearly 15% when they chewed twice as much as usual.

4.  Keep Yourself Preoccupied

There are so many activities that you can do during your CNY visits instead of having your butt glued to the sofa and munch on snacks non-stop. You can join your cousins for endless rounds of Gin-Rummy or Blackjack or update your socials on what you did and ate during Chinese New Year. Just keep your hands off the snacks throughout your time at your friend’s or relative’s house. 

 

5.  Exercise and Keep Yourself Active

There’s no better way to burn the calories from the bak kwa and pineapple tarts than walking or running it off.  You can choose to stand while you play Blackjack and take the stairs up to your apartment unit.

Many studies have shown people burn more calories standing than sitting.  While sitting, they burned 80 calories per hour. Standing burned an additional eight calories, and walking burned a total of 210 calories per hour.

While you’re working out, wear a waist trainer to help you perspire more. With that extra sweat, you will lose some water weight and calories. Such waist trainers can be purchased online from shapewear manufacturers and wholesale waist trainers with logo suppliers, such as waistdear.com at affordable prices.  

 

As cliché as it sounds, no one can help you when it comes to weight control, except for yourself.  Chinese New Year is a happy occasion but remember not to overindulge and regret it when you can’t fit into your pants after the CNY holiday.  For all the cookies, bak kwa and prawn crackers that you eat during your visits, you will have to pay it back through your time and a lot of sweat!

20 January 2022 ~ Home Updates

Exactly one week after going back to in-person classes (after almost an entire year of online learning), Cass and Sherilyn are now back to home quarantine!

A classmate of Sherilyn was tested positive for Covid-19 and all the students in the class are now close contacts. Sherilyn will be doing her 2nd Covid home self test later and she has to submit the photo of the test kit result along with her IC to her teacher.

One of Cass' classmates' family members was tested positive for Covid and the entire class has to self-quarantine at home, with online classes. Cass did an RTK test and photo of the test kit sent to her teacher.

I have this hunch that this is going to happen very frequently. The girls will go back to school for a couple of weeks, then told to stay home when someone in the class gets infected or is a close contact. This is going to be the new norm now.

Poor Haru threw up late last night but no one knew. No wonder I heard her meowing when I got up at 1.30am to pee but I ignored her. Her loud meows woke me up at 6am today and when I checked on her, her entire cage is a MESS!  Oh. My. Gawd.  I hate cleaning up poop and vomit!!  

Where are the people who said they wanted a cat??!!  Yeah, I'm always the one cleaning up shit 😡

Auspicious Colors To Wear During Chinese New Year

Since ancient times, red is the most auspicious color for the Chinese, followed by yellow. Red is associated with good luck, happiness, passion, vitality, and hope.  You will see the color red everywhere during Chinese New Year. The Chinese will don red clothes and their house adorned with red Chinese New Year décor.  As red is a lucky color for the Chinese, it is a must for most Chinese to wear red or bright colored clothing during Chinese New Year. They believe that wearing red will help attract good fortune.

Red is not an easy colour to pull off, especially when it comes to a man’s outfit.  Red is often associated with danger and passion but it’s not that difficult to rock this attention-grabbing shade and top the sartorial scale.

If you feel like a bright red chili wearing red shirt or red pants, there are ways of taming the color down with muted colors, such as wearing a red top with black pants or blue shirt with red Bermuda pants or choose a shirt with a red background and stripes in muted colors.  If bright chili red men’s vintage clothing is too much for you to handle, opt for darker shades such as a rusty red or maroon. Some men look good in pink too!

 If red is still not the color for you no matter how hard you try, fret not.  Feng Shui specialists have stated that the lucky colours for the year of the Tiger 2022 are mint green, black, fiery red, Cerulean blue, and imperial yellow.  I’m sure you’ll do just fine with these colors.

If you’re looking for some ideas on huat-tastic outfits for the new year and beyond, I’ve rounded up these smart men’s wear from Soinyou, suitable for Chinese New Year.

Orange stripes knitted polo shirt

White red polo shirt

  

Color block men's knitted polo shirt

 

Pink polo shirt with zipper

No matter the colour you wear, whether it is bright red, striking pink or orange, it’s all about wearing the colour with confidence.

If you still can’t buy the idea of buying a red shirt, red pants or red men’s overalls fashion, no worries. There is another way to incorporate red into your ensemble through accessories and underwear, such as red men’s brief, red handkerchief, red socks, red cap or red pouch to hold your ang pows and other necessities!

We have less than two weeks away from Chinese New Year.  Don’t forget to refresh your wardrobe for the year of the Tiger now!

 

Fun Ways To Eat Purple Sweet Potatoes

Our Sunday snack theme yesterday was purple sweet potato. As there was some leftover steamed purple sweet potatoes in the fridge, Cass decided to whip up a fun snack with it.  

Cass mashed 1 sweet potato with half an avocado and seasoned it with pepper and lemon juice. 

It didn't look appetizing initially, as you can see from the photo 😁

After lemon juice was squeezed into the sweet potato mash, the color turned into a vibrant maroon / dark pink hue. Such pretty colors on the snack spread, which is all-natural. 

The purple sweet potato + avo mash tasted so delish on plain crackers! I can have this healthy snack every day!

This is what Sherilyn made - a purple sweet potato latte! She blended two sweet potatoes and then added milkshake (just fresh milk given a thorough shake to make it creamy and foamy), ice cubes, and coffee into the mixture.  What a refreshing and unique twist to latte!  

5 Local Markets to Explore in Malaysia

A holiday – a vacation- basically any trip- is incomplete without a shopping spree. Malaysia has some great options for the shopper in you. The local markets will blow your mind when it comes to shopping, and thanks to their cosmopolitan nature- no two markets will be the same- they all have different things to offer from art to food to garments to souvenirs. Malaysia has something for every shopper!

Here is a list of Five Local markets to explore when in Malaysia –

Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur – It is on the list of every shopper- Petaling Street market in Kuala Lumpur is abode to all kinds of affordable shopping where hundreds of shops and vendors throng both sides of the street offering all kinds of clothes, shoes and bags and everything in between. They mostly sell imitation products of world-renowned brands. Everything is available for a fraction of the original, from perfumes- jewellery to clothes and bags. There are also food stalls serving some authentic Chinese street food and some yummy seafood. It is located in Chinatown, and the market is open on all days from 9 am to 12 noon and from 6 pm to 1 am. This is one market that is on the list of every shopper is a market to explore at all costs!

Gaya Street Market, Kota Kinabalu - It is a typical flea market and possibly one of the largest flea markets in all of Malaysia. The market is only functional on Sundays, but it is a huge affair and has shoppers from all over. It has art, handmade items, batik clothes, clothes, accessories, home décor and a lot of knick knacks that are regulars at flea markets. It is also a great place for souvenirs. Food stalls are serving some good local cuisine. It is located in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. 

Central Market, Kuala Lumpur - The market is a haven for all things art, from gorgeous paintings to embroideries to handcrafted décor items. It is a 120-year-old market that has been recognised as a Heritage Site by the National Heritage Department of the Government of Malaysia. The market is an exploration as well as an admiration for art. It is the perfect spot to pick up some local artefacts, ethnic clothes, and jewellery. It is located in Kuala Lumpur and is also known as Pasar Seni in the local language. It has a huge tourist footfall. The general business hours are from 10 am to 10 pm. 

Jalan Masjid India Market - a market that reflects the Indian Street markets that are a regular sight in Indian cities. The market has stalls selling clothes, bags, traditional Indian products, and food. It is a vibrant and colourful market with tinted glasses shading the shoppers from the sun and the rain. During Ramadan, it comes alive with stalls serving food from dawn to dusk to those who are observing the Ramadan Fast. It truly is symbolic of the cultural conglomeration in Malaysia. The market runs from 9 am to 10 pm and are also located in Kuala Lumpur.

Taman Bandar Baru Night Market - Located in Kampar, this night street market offers the best delicacies that will leave you wanting more. It is a food lover's heaven for sure, from fried dumplings and fried ice cream to fresh dim sums and crispy snacks. The prices are affordable, and the food served is fresh and delicious. 

Terdapat banyak cara untuk seseorang menjelajah Malaysia. Anda boleh merancang keseluruhan perjalanan dengan mengambil peluang untuk menaiki setiap bentuk pengangkutan sekurang-kurangnya sekali. Apa yang anda perlu lakukan hanyalah membuat tempahan awal tiket online bas berserta tiket pengangkutan awam lain.

Our First CNY Gift

As with previous years, our first Chinese New Year gift this year is from the same friend - a lady boss of a Chinese restaurant in our hood.  We started off as her customers over 15 years ago as we loved her shop's signature wanton noodles (and still do), various roast meats, and  'tai chow' dishes.   From regular patrons, we soon became her friends.  After I gave birth to Cass 14 years ago, the lady boss gifted me an expensive confinement gift.  Every year, she would gift us goodies during Chinese festivals such as Mooncake Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Chinese New Year.  She would also give our girls a big angpow every year.  During the start of the lockdown 2 years ago when hubs' catering business was affected badly, she would give us complimentary roast chicken whenever she saw us around. What a great friend she is, ain't she? 

Everyone thought that this was a box of Mandarin oranges but got a big surprise when we unboxed it.  It is a set of 6 CNY-themed bowls and chopsticks!  No wonder it felt like I was carrying a 20kg bag of rice. I had to walk from her restaurant to my car, which was a 5-minute walk. My poor Carpal Tunnel Syndrome hand acted up so badly that I had to buy a wrist splint to wear the next day. 😐