July 2010 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Home-Turned Garment Factory

2 nights of losing sleep… that’s the price I have to pay for having a one-man-show shop to cut down operating costs, save for the 3 little hands I get occasionally….

Eye sore and heart attack sight for me….over hundred pieces of clothes to check and pack… nice to take order, oh really nice, just type into my Excel spreadsheet only but when the stock comes from my 6 suppliers, I tell ya, I feel like jumping down from my unit haha! Coz each time my batch of stock arrives, I only get 3-4 hrs of sleep. If I promise my customers that they will get their clothes by the 15th, by hook or by cook, I must ensure that they get it by the 15th, unless there is delay beyond my control.

Every part of the house is filled with clothes and pos laju bags…not to mention thread and dust….

Child labor haha! But they willingly volunteered to help me… who says girls are no good hor?

No. of times viewed = 384

Escape The Sweltering Heat And Head Over To The Caribbean Islands

Countries in certain parts of the world are now affected by blistering summer heat that has sent thousands of people to the hospital with heat stroke and deaths. Japan and Germany have been sizzling in heatwave with sky high temperatures. Thankfully the weather here in our country has been pleasant for the past couple of weeks. It has been breezy and raining almost everyday. I am one who absolutely cannot withstand hot weathers and I feel like I will melt once the temperature touches 35 degrees Celsius.

If you would like to escape the sweltering summer heat head over to the breezy Caribbean islands for one of those all inclusive caribbean vacations. The weather in the Caribbean will suit the taste of most people and the temperatures are almost always moderate with very little seasonal variation, ranging from between 20-30 degrees Celsius.

An all inclusive Caribbean vacation in any one of the breezy Caribbean islands would be nice. There are many all inclusive beach resorts in the Caribbean islands to choose from at breezes.com. My favorite is the beach resort at Nassau’s legendary Cable Beach in the Bahamas. At the Breezes Bahamas Resort you will have everything that you could possibly hope for in a tropical getaway at your fingertips and all of the important things are included. By important, I mean everything you will need, your choice of luxury accommodation, food, drinks, and entertainment activities including sporty land and water activities like water skiing, wind surfing, bouncy boxing, rock wall climbing and more. The resort is conveniently located close to the airport, and also Nassau is within walking distance. The best part of an all inclusive Caribbean vacation is that your wallet never needs to leave your pocket when you are at the resort. You eat out but don’t have to pay or tip. Now that makes for an ideal vacation.

No. of times viewed = 453

Baby’s First Day Of Potty Training

You will be amazed to know that I spend around RM160 just on disposable diapers for Baby every month. I have been procrastinating potty training her as I have been terribly busy with my online store. Alycia and Sherilyn were potty trained when they were 2 years old. I know Baby is highly trainable too but I am just too lazy to get out from my comfort zone and break my back while potty training her. But now, all of a sudden, I feel the big pinch on our wallets. So today, I decided that I MUST potty train Baby. Before I took the diaper off her butt, I talked to her …. face to face, seriously and gently. I told her that she has to stop wearing diapers. I told her that she has to help daddy and mummy save money. I told her that the money we save can be used to buy…. ICE CREAM for her haha! Since she loves going to school and absolutely yearns learning ballet, I have been telling her that if she wants to go to school and learn ballet, she cannot wear diapers anymore. She seems matured enough to understand everything and I managed to knock sense into her head. So far she has been A-ok wearing a panty…. though she would go to the potty every 5 minutes initially… and I have been breaking my back washing potty. The potty is placed in the living room for her convenience to ease herself anytime.

I shall see how the 2nd day of potty training goes tomorrow. Wish us luck!!

No. of times viewed = 460

Daddy’s Princess Always

We were about to leave the house for Mid Valley Megamall. My princess wannabe insisted that she had to wear her Princess clogs to match her dress. She even dressed herself to the nines by wearing her favorite necklace that Joshua’s Mummy (the girls’ former Sunday School teacher) bought. She dressed herself up like she were going for a ball LOL! We warned her that she will surely complain of pain when blisters sprout out from her toes but this hard-headed girl turned a deaf ear. Sure enough, when we were all walking from Mid Valley Megamall to the Gardens, she complained that her feet hurt. I told her ‘serves you right for not listening to mummy’ but she always has a white knight to run to for saviour. Her white knight gave her a piggy ride all the way to TGIF where we had lunch, despite him having a bad back.

We were at Bata to get Alycia a pair of jogging shoes and my princess wannabe took the opportunity to try on all the ‘klick klock’ sandals. I told her that she has over 10 pairs of unworn shoes at home and that she cannot buy a pair of new shoes…. but as usual, she persuaded her white knight to get the the klick klock sandas for her. Her prince on white knight agreed without even looking at the price, citing reason that her feet hurt!!! I could only fold my arms and shake my head and roll my eyes that this prince on white knight is spoiling the princess rotten…. again!

Baby was also choosing her favorite shoes and shortlisted a few pairs but we had to say no to her as she has too many hand-me-downs at home.

And Alycia cannot stand her sister for being so vain…. she will never ever wear that pair of klick klock sandals, this pretty girl of mine who has quite a conservative taste in fashion and dislikes everything girlish and pink , sigh…..

No. of times viewed = 376

Treasure Found

I have been extremely busy working on the computer for the past few days. I had left Baby to play alone yesterday and all of a sudden, I realized that the house was very quiet. Silence is often a sign of trouble brewing. I quickly left my computer and went to look for her. There she was sitting on the floor in my room with the drawers opened. She was ransacking my drawers and my things were all strewn on the floor. As I was putting my things back into the drawers, I found some old treasure— 2 gold rings and a bracelet! They were the first gold jewelry that my man gave me about 18 years ago. I had thoughts of selling the gold jewelry as I hardly wear gold jewelry now. They are probably worth two to three times more than they were 18 years ago as the price of gold has been steadily rising over the years. Gold is a very valuable asset and a safe haven bet. If you have the extra cash and want to invest in something that’s safe and profitable, buying gold from the United States Gold Bureau is a wise choice.

No. of times viewed = 296

Another Hectic Day Today

Today is going to be another stressed-to-the-max and hectic day for me. My main supplier is delivering my batch of stock to me. I am also expecting any parcel from one of my kids apparel suppliers. I have over 100 pieces of clothes to sort out in the evening, which will last until mid night. And my house is going to look like a garment factory again with clothes strewn in every corner, pieces of thread flying everywhere and pos laju bags stacked up on the floor. I am planning to cook fried mee hoon (that’s the easiest 1-pot dish with all the good stuff in – eggs, meat, veggie, noodles) this afternoon. My kids and I will have that for lunch and dinner. I am also going to rope in Alycia and Sherilyn to help me with some of the processes like folding the clothes after my round of QA inspection and sealing the Pos Laju bags.

When my customers’ clothes are all packed and ready to be collected by the Pos Laju postman, I am one very happy woman. My house is clean again. I can have a little respite… until the next big batch comes again in less than a week. This pic was taken early last week. I needed a huge garbage bag to place all the parcels for the postman to carry.

Baby doesn’t want to miss out the ‘fun’ too…

No. of times viewed = 338

Lovely Visitors

I had some lovely visitors over at my place last Saturday. Annie and her twin boys, Elaine Tan and her cute Amber and Barb and her bubbly Ashley popped by. Elaine and Annie were here to collect their loot from me and ordered some more 😀

It wasn’t easy getting 7 kiddos to sit still and behave themselves for the group pic… Can you recognize who is who?

Barb bought my kids these colorful santan jellies which they absolutely loved….

Elaine baked these sugar-reduced chocolate chip cookies and they are really really delicious. I gobbled up almost the entire bottle myself sei mou!! Elaine, you are a fantastic cook and baker!

Annie also bought some cute stickers for the girls. It was great having them over to my place and I hope that we can do this more often, yes ladies?

No. of times viewed = 221

10 Products That You Should Buy Generic

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am a cheapie when it comes to buying groceries. I love going to hypermarkets like Tesco and Carrefour to pick up my stuff. I find that their store brand of pantry staples pretty good. I especially like Tesco brand of cheap diapers (since Baby uses a pack of diapers every week!), panty liners, 3-in-1 coffee mix (for my helper), chips, biscuits, pasta, noodles and other toiletries. I also use Guardian Pharmacy’s in-house brand of face cotton, panty liners, shampoo and diapers.

Buying store brands and other generic stuff can help you save serious money, especially if you have many kids like moi! Here is a very interesting article from Wallet Pop on the 10 Products to Always Buy Generic :

1. Over-the-counter medications.
2. Cereal.
3. Pantry staples.
4. Soda.
5. Gasoline.
6. Electronic cables.
7. Makeup and other beauty products.
8. Batteries.
9. Salad mix and produce.
10. Baby formula

I have yet to try store brand formula but may try one of these days to save some money! Many people think that they have to get the best baby formula for their babies. If you are one of them, did you know that the Infant Formula Act requires specific procedures be followed in making infant formulas? Paying $10 more for a can of branded formula over a generic brand is a waste of money since both are certified by the FDA as good and healthy for your baby!
Do you buy generic stuff? If so, what store brands and generic stuff do you buy? Would love to hear your story.

No. of times viewed = 214

Lunch At TGIF @ Mid Valley Megamall

We were at TGIF @ Mid Valley Megamall last Sunday. Though there were not many patrons, we waited for almost half an hour before food was finally served. Hubs and Alycia, the 2 Worldcup fans watched football on the wall-mounted TVs. We were quite disappointed with the taste of the food. Hubs said that the food served at American Chillis taste better.

The Fajitas set:

Hubby was especially disappointed with the Fajitas as the beef was tough and dry. When asked by TGIF how we liked the food, we told them that the Fajitas at American Chillis taste better. To our surprise, we got this dish on the house. We would rate TGIF’s customer service 9/10 !!

Alycia has outgrown her balloon crazed days. She’s now into World Cup and Ultraman *slap forehead*! Sherilyn still likes balloons and Baby is absolutely besotted with them.

Kids meal – mini beef burgers. iLike this!

Grilled chicken with salsa… part of the Fajitas set.
My grilled fish – run of the mill and nothing to shout about. I can whip up a better grilled fish dish 🙂

A very happy Baby…

No. of times viewed = 579

My little Scavenger

These days, I have to be very, very careful what I put on the dining table or on the kitchen counter top. Must make sure nothing non-edible or sharp are on the tables. Baby’s eyes are super sharp, always on the look-out for forbidden food and stuff. Each time we walk away, this scavenger and opportunist will pounce on whatever food and stuff that we place on the table, just like a stray dog or stray cat. This had happened many times. She had pounced on our kuihs, chocolate Calcium chewies, scissors (and eventually cut her own hair!!) and other food that we don’t allow her to eat unsupervised, just when no one was watching.

Remember my durian post earlier? Well, I had taken out the pack of durians from the fridge to eat for breakfast and had forgotten to put it back into the fridge. When I stepped into the kitchen later, I saw my little scavenger up on the Ikea stool and happily helping herself to the durians HAHAHAHAHAH!

Caught on camera unaware….

After pouncing on the durian, she took a bowl from the kitchen drawer by herself….

Without wasting any time, she quickly stuffed the durian into her mouth… fast fast ate it before mummy took it away from her…

And then sat in front of the tellie to enjoy her breakfast HAHAHAHAHA! She’s just too cute!

No. of times viewed = 251

Durians For Dinner And Breakfast

My 2nd sil from Hong Kong was here in KL recently. She, like anyone of us in the family is a big fan of durians. Everyone in our family loves durians, even Baby. We had a durian party for dinner when she was here and spent a few hundred bucks on premium durians! Our favorite is ‘Musang King’ and ‘Red Prawn’.

There was a surplus of durians and after she had returned to HK, I had durians for breakfast 3 days in a row! But I wasn’t sick of durians just yet. In fact, 3 days ago hubby bought durians again and I had them for breakfast 3 days in a row again hahaha! But if you don’t exercise or have health problems, don’t play play oh, too much durians will cause your cholesterol level and sugar level to shoot sky high wor!

The fridge stuffed with durians placed in containers…

Durians galore… for those of you from overseas, sorry… didn’t mean to make you salivate ;P

No. of times viewed = 409

My Homecooked Dishes

My mil has been away in HK for almost a month now…. and yes, I managed to dish up healthy and tasty dishes for my kiddos. Here are some of my ‘sau sai’ (culinary skill)…

Stir fried fresh udon noodles with purple cabbage, chicken meat, garlic and onions. There are 2 types of udon noodles – dried type and fresh ones. Fresh ones are only available from Japanese marts and taste better than the dried ones. They are pretty expensive and can cost up to RM20+ a packet. My kiddos love Udon but not me. I hate starchy noodles!

Braised chicken with organic Japanese pumpkin. My kids hate pumpkins but loved this dish 🙂

Braised turnip with mushrooms, shredded carrot, chicken strips, onion, garlic and dried cuttlefish strips.

No. of times viewed = 263

Math Is All About Practice

I try to ensure that Alycia and Sherilyn practice solving Math equations at least 3 times in a week. This is in addition to their school Math homework. I think anyone can be a Math wiz if he/she keeps practising it.

Alycia in full concentration…

The Math questions that I set for her. Do you think it’s too hard for a Primary 1 kid? The questions are a tad harder than the ones she’s doing in school now but I think it’s good to give her something more challenging to stimulate the wires in her brain haha! I want her to keep up with the A that she scored in her exam recently.

However, for the past 2 days, my kids’ butts have been glued to the couch and eyes glued to the tellie. I have been super busy with my online store for the past 2 days and haven’t had the time to read to them or coach them in their homework. Today, I MUST help Alycia complete her very first school project before the deadline, lest she gets reprimanded by her teacher!

Here are some cool stuff from my online store, Old And New Stuff For Sale :

DD-Q4341 Guess Orange Check Pattern Dress

Carter’s Colorful Flower Dress

E10171 B2W2 Rose Dress

E10183 B2W2 Princess Set

E10159 B2W2 Blue Superman Set

E10155 B2W2 Red+Black Set

80143 Romantic Flowers Retro Dress With Belt

68033 Korean Lantern Floral Dress

OD015 – Dress

MD001RD – Dress (Red)

MD010RD – Dress (Red)

Do check out Old And New Stuff For Sale for more great and affordable stuff!

No. of times viewed = 375

Her Wish Is His Command

Last Sunday we had a shopping trip at Mid Valley Megamall. Just as we were leaving the house, Sherilyn decided to wear her Princess clogs to match her dress. Knowing very well that this pair of clogs would cause painful blisters to pop up on her toes, she went ahead to wear the clogs despite warnings from me that no one will carry her should she complain that her feet are painful. As expected, she complained that her feet hurt when we were at the mall. Daddy the forever yes-man to his 3 princesses gave her a piggy-back ride, despite having a painful back! He even bought his princess a new pair of sandals when we were at the shoe shop to get Alycia a pair of jogging shoes, despite me putting my foot down. Daddy is really spoiling her rotten. All her wishes are his command. Even if she asks him to buy gold coins for her collection, I am pretty sure he would accede to her request!

No. of times viewed = 146

Why You Hit Me… I Am Your Baby Sister!

During a fight between rascal #2 and #3 just now, rascal #2 hit #3. And rascal #3 gave me a big surprise when she said this to her jie jie : “hey….why you hit me? I am your baby sister!” Baby must have heard me saying this to her 2 jie jies every now and then : “don’t let your baby sister see you eating ice-cream”. Whenever there are things that I do not want Baby to know when I tell her sisters or to anyone in the family, I will not mention her name or would say it bombastically when she’s in front of us. But I am amazed that Baby actually comprehends what’s going on…. and she’s only 2yrs 3 months. She is definitely going to out-smart all of us very soon! Way to go Baby sister!

No. of times viewed = 242

Ridiculous Hair Sense

Sherilyn my #2 is very fastidious when it comes to her hair. Being a princess wannabe, she wants her hair long, very very long up to her waist but no way am I going to let her keep that long. It’s crazy to have a child’s hair kept that long when she doesn’t know how to care for her precious locks just yet. She loves to have her hair tied up and clipped but in the most ridiculouse ways ever LOL!! Here is just one of the funny hair style which she created herself :

Can you see that she has a bling bling butterfly hair clip on her fringe and a head band on top of it? LOL!!! And it is a chore getting this fella to do her homework everyday. She will come up with 1001 excuses to evade doing her homework and even when she finally does it unwillingly, she needs to do something else simultaneously… like eating a banana or perform some acrbatic stunts on the chair!! That’s Sherilyn…

No. of times viewed = 310