A short post to boast some of MIL’s delish home-cooked dishes 😛
Simple yet satisfaction to the max dishes that MIL cooked this week…
Pan-fried white pomfret fish and fried minced pork with Shimeji mushrooms and carrot.
Vegetarian dish and braised bitter gourd with pork slices and black beans.
Sitr-fried sirloin steak with fresh mushrooms, homemade mashed potatoes and a medley of colorful veggie (celery, carrot and yellow bell pepper).
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I am so in the mood to write today! After days of having a constipated mind, I finally purged out all that I wanted to write in my blogs today. Today, I transferred all the pictures that I had taken using my phone and uploaded them into my Photobucket. I feel so detoxed after purging my mind out LOL!
Today, I wrote a total of 6 posts in my 3 blogs, including sponsored ones. I know this is really nothing to shout about as I used to write 20 over posts in a day 6 years ago (pre-Cassandra days), during my heydays of earning USD from the internet. I am still earning from the US advertisers but have scaled down considerably. But writing 6 posts is considered a feat for me these days, given that I have much more on my plate right now, have another child to mind and am now without the help of a live-in maid.
Today, I also felt spirited enough to pick up the phone to make a call to speak to the principal of Sherilyn’s enrichment centre to tell her all that I wanted to with regard to Sherilyn’s weakness in her Chinese composition. I told her what I wanted her to do, along with her teachers in order to help Sherilyn improve her Chinese composition before the next exam in July.
All of a sudden, I felt I got back my mojo. Could it be due to the weather or my intrusive hormones wrecking havoc within? Well, the weather this evening is gloomy and not as hot and hazy as it was the past few weeks. I have always felt that my mood is controlled by the darn fickle weather. I am in a cheerier mood when the weather is cooling and feel screwed up when the sun is scorching ferociously at us.
I hope my mojo stays with me and won’t ditch me any time soon. She seems to come and go, playing tricks on my mind!
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There is this pink Hello Kitty dress at my supplier’s warehouse, which can be purchased from my online store that I am very, very tempted to get for myself. I have been a Hello Kitty fan all my life! When I was younger, I used to eat, sleep and breathe Hello Kitty and all things Sanrio. I still have my collection of Hello Kitty collectibles nicely kept in a drawer at my parents in Ipoh. My hands still get itchy whenever I see cute Hello Kitty and Sanrio things 😉
For someone who sells clothes, it is only natural that I have a wardrobe bursting with clothes. Many of them are worn only once. Some are brand new and still not worn yet. If I add this Hello Kitty dress to my collection of clothes, I know I will probably only wear it once or twice. I still have several dresses that I have ordered from my supplier that have not reached me yet and they are for ME! No doubt the dress is in my favorite color pink and has my favorite childhood character on it, but but but, sigh….!
So I turned to Cass and asked her if I should get it. Cass scrutinized the dress and as frank as she has always been with her opinion with me, she told me that I will probably look FAT in it! Errr, have I ever been FAT?! But a child’s opinion is always forthright and I think I will probably look fat in it. And honestly, do you think a 41-year old mother of 3 kids will look ridiculous in a pink Hello Kitty dress? I asked Cass this question and she went “ERRRR….” as if not wanting to spill out the cruel truth from her mouth. So, it is a no go la Hello Kitty pink dress 🙁
In case you like it, you can order it from me though 😉
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Lately, I am hooked on overnight oats!
Oats have never really been my favorite food. But after overnight oats became a Facebook sensation for the past one week, where almost all my blog friends have been coming up with their own juicy creation of overnight oats, I got hooked on it too!
This is my 3rd batch of overnight oats. I soaked about 6 tablespoons of organic oats with fresh milk, macadamia nuts, chia seeds and pine nuts.
Note : full cream milk will produce a very creamy texture vs. low fat milk which will produce a less creamier texture.
Just before eating the oats, I cut up some avocado and tossed in a few dried cranberries. You can add in whatever trimmings that fancy you but try not to add in trimmings that are overly sweet. Oatmeal is actually quite rapidly converted to sugar, and even if you leave off the added sugar, dried or fresh fruit, you will still experience high blood sugars. Steel-cut oats and oat groats are healthier than oatmeal.
I used to soak the oats with some fruits too but after giving it some thought, mixing and soaking freshly cut fruits with milk overnight ain’t a very healthy idea. Moreover, fruits will go through oxidation process. Thus, I now prefer to add in fruits just before I eat the oats. Aromatic fruits like bananas, strawberries, mangoes, oranges and jackfruit will go better with the overnight oats. I also like to drizzle some gula melaka (coconut palm sugar) into my oats.
Another reason why I am so hooked on chilled overnight oats is the recent killer hot weather. Whenever hunger pang kicks in, I just open the fridge door and wallop a few spoonfuls of cold overnight oats. The cold creamy oats going down my throat and into my tummy douses the heat within instantly! This is definitely a healthier alternative to ice-cream and it tastes yummy too!
Here’s a tip for those of you who are diabetic or are on a diet – You can lower the GI (glycemix index) of oatmeal by combining it with a little lean protein, such as milk, a half-scoop of protein powder, or some natural yogurt. Healthy fats are another fantastic option. Add in nuts like walnuts and almonds or a sprinkling of ground flaxseeds and chia seeds. Cinnamon or nutmeg are also good options to add flavoring, without the sweetness. Remember not to adulterate your oats with lashings of sugar, cream, dried fruits and jam 🙂
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Happy Monday everyone! It’s been a while since I last updated my blogs and my reason has always been the same. I’m sure you will know why if you are a regular reader of my blog 😉
The past one week sure had been hectic for me. My regular part-time maid did the unexpected. She demanded for higher pay from me again. In addition to that, she also demanded for reduced working hours from 4 hours to 2 hours per session! And that’s RM50 for 2 hours only! I was stupefied when I read her text message to me last week demanding for a pay of RM50 for 2 hours only (1 maid only). The standard rate for part-time maid is RM15 an hour per maid. I wanted to tell her to go fly kite but I reminded myself to never ever burn any of my bridges. I had increased her pay twice since she started working for me 2.5 months ago on a daily basis and have been ever so accommodating to all her excuses, needs, reasons for pay rise and her inexcusable reasons for never replying my text messages and phone calls. I am pretty sure that it is the friend whom she brought along to help her with the work at our house several times who instigated her into all these requests for pay rise and shorter working hours. Well, she broke her own rice bowl now and I am glad that this happened. I so believe that everything happens for a reason. And I so believe that karma bites back like a b*tch!
Thank God that the ungrateful maid left. The 2 part-time maids who used to work for me came back to work for me, just at the right timing, when I badly needed one. I so miss them! Enough of overworking myself like a slave for the past 1 week, my most trust-worthy and reliable part-time maid, M will be resuming work today, after a 2.5-month break after an operation to remove a lump from her neck.
The past week, I worked full-time 7 days a week from 4:45am through midnight on most nights. Saturday was a replacement school day for Alycia and Sherilyn. I got up at 4:45am as usual to prepare them for school. Later, hubs and I went to their school to meet their teachers for report card collection.
On Sunday yesterday, Alycia had to be in school by 7:30am for an extra-curricular activity and my morning started at 4:45am on a Sunday!
This morning I felt as if my mind was badly constipated, from the lack of sleep. A short nap on my massage chair just a moment ago unclogged my fuzzy brain. Each time the school holiday ends, I will go through a period of zombiefied days, yearning for sleep and counting down to the next school holiday. As of today, I still have another 3 months to endure before the next school holiday in September. I think I will never need to apply eye shadow on my eyes again for I now have natural grey shades on both my eyes!
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Here are more pictures of our Cameron Highlands trip 🙂
At the gloriously scenic Bharat tea plantation.
Pretty girls all in a row.
After tucking into some delish scones with freshly brewed Bharat tea leaves teh tarik at the tea house (picture below), we walked down to the tea plantation for a cam-whoring session. Running up the steep steps from the tea plantation to the top (chasing the littlest monkey who could zig zag her way up so swiftly!!) left me breathless and at one point, I felt I was gasping and could not breathe! Oh no, I hope I am not a potential asthma patient like my mum!
At the beautiful flower garden that we nicknamed the ‘Secret Garden’ at the Smokehouse Hotel.
Melt-in-the-mouth scones from the coffee house of Smokehouse Hotel, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Can you spot someone with a sulky face hiding?
Cass was in a foul mood when we were at the Smokehouse Hotel coffee house and refused to be in the photo *rolls eyes*!
At the flower garden of the hotel that we stayed in – Casa De’La Rosa Hotel. One of the things that I love about Camerons is the beautiful fresh flowers everywhere in full bloom all year round.
My dad brought the girls to the temple to pay respect to their great grandparents (my dad’s parents). This is the lion that my 2 brothers and I used to stand on to pose almost every year during Chinese New Year when we were younger. Now, my own three kids are standing on the same lion’s feet 🙂
At Kasimanis Strawberry Farm. Strawberries are not in season now, thus we could not see any red strawberries in full bloom, what a pity 🙁
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Today is Father’s Day and we spent our day at Avenue K.
In the morning, the girls gave their daddy their own-made cards and drawings. Sherilyn bought a pack of chewing gum for her daddy.
We had lunch at our favorite Japanese noodle house, Bankara Ramen at Avenue K.
Bankara Ramen is a Tokyo-based noodle chain that made its presence in Kuala Lumpur early this year. We first tasted Bankara Ramen’s noodles about a month back and have since fallen in love with their lusciously thick and rich soup-based noodles. For someone who tries to steer clear from the oodles of high-carb (and fattening) noodles, I tend to loose it and drown myself in Bankara Ramen’s noodles. What makes Bankara Ramen’s noodles stand out from the rest is the soup, which is thick, rich and very flavorful. Every bowl of noodles comes with a hefty topping of finely chopped spring onions. I especially love Bankara’s signature broth (RM27++ with four chunky pieces of chashu). The A+ rating soup (HFM’s rating) is made with pork bones infused with refined shoyu.
We ordered a bowl of rice specially for the rice-addict of the family!
On every table is a generous serving of complimentary fresh garlic that customers can press for themselves using a garlic presser, pickled ginger and a bottle of toasted sesame seeds. Thus, with these additional aromatic and flavorful toppings, our noodles were absolutely delish and tasty to the last strand!
After lunch, hubs brought the girls to Black Bull [Kitchen • Bar • Lounge] to play bowling, pool and darts, while I indulged myself in some retail therapy. Nothing gives me more pleasure than shopping kekeke 😀
After retail therapy for moi and play therapy for the girls, hubs headed to Library to wind down with some waffles with ice-cream and coffee. While I get my pleasure from buying stuff, the girls get their pleasure from play, the foodie hubs gets his from food!
Today marks the end of the girls’ 2.5 weeks of school holiday. Tomorrow will be back to reality. Back to the grind and rut. It is a fusion of emotions for me – happy yet sad. Happy that my days are more structured again and I get back my me time in the morning. And sad at the same time that I am going to be heavily indebted again – to my beauty sleep. That’s motherhood and motherhood is all about riding on a roller-coaster. You have ups and you have downs.
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This happened today, when Cass was behaving in a manner so alike our primate friend and driving me dizzy.
Me – you are a real monkey!!
Cass – NO, I AM NOT A MONKEY! YOU. ARE. A. MONKEY!
Me – No, I am not. You are!
Cass – if I am a monkey, then you are a mummy monkey too! How can a human give birth to a monkey huh huh huh??! * o_O… face-palm *
Cass – No no, I think you are a tiger coz you are wearing a tiger dress today (yup, I was wearing a tiger print dress today). And I am a baby tiger too ha ha ha!
Check out the rascal putting on a monkey face in this photo taken at the Smokehouse Hotel at Cameron Highlands on Monday…
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This is going to be a word-less post. No, it is not wordless as in no words but just lesser words 😀
I just want to make a quickie post to update my blog and then plonk myself in bed. Oh my bed! I so miss my dear bed that I have not been sleeping in for 2 weeks! For the past few days, I have been sleeping past midnight to rush off deadlines for my online assignments. I submitted a draft to one of the advertisers at 1am just today.
Anyway, I better not go on and on. This is supposed to be a word-less post.
Enjoy the pictures that we took in Cameron Highlands during our 2-day 1 night stay from Monday to Tuesday.
Picture taken on 9.6.14 at Bharat Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands
Can you spot the 5 of us? I am in my favorite color pink and holding on to my pink handbag 😀
Melt-in-the-mouth scones served with cream and strawberry jam at the Bharat Tea House KT.
Thank you Irene ‘Koo Po’ for spending time with us and taking us to see and ride on the horses.
The girls’ first ever horse ride on a beautiful white horse.
“No no no, I want to come down!” was what Cass said when the horse started to move LOL!
Steamboat at night.
At Kasimanis Strawberry Farm
It’s exactly 12 midnight now and Cinderella has to be in bed right now *yawns*
To be continued…
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We are back in KL! After a 8-day break at my parents in Ipoh, where we did a day-trip to Batu Gajah and Teluk Intan, we also took the kids for an overnight stay at Cameron Highlands. The kids had a very fruitful and enjoyable time this school holiday and so did I 🙂
When we got back to KL on Tuesday, I worked non-stop like a slave to clean up our home. After a 1.5 week long renovation, our home was in a mess and super duper dusty. Every single item visible was covered with dust, as a result of the hacking and drilling of the walls. I was pleasantly surprised that the entire living room and dining area were re-painted and not just the affected areas. The coat of paint is in plain white. For someone who loves bright and vibrant colors, white is just not the color for me. If I were given a choice in the color and design of the walls, I would definitely splash one or two pastel colors to the living room walls.
I will also consider putting some pretty wall papers to the walls of the dining area, like this tree wall decals…
Isn’t it pretty? With such a pretty wall sticker, you need not have to buy very expensive furniture or decor. The picture of the family tree on the wall lights up the entire dining area and it is so eye-catching. I just love it!
Part of the girls’ bedroom wall was also repainted as the contractor accidentally hacked through the wall, causing a hole on one side of the wall! Again, if I had the choice in the wall decor, I would also stick some cute wall stickers to the kids’ bedroom, like this one from www.walldecaltree.com.
I know my girls would love to have one of these cute wall papers for their bedroom. Well, perhaps the next time when we have more time to plan the renovation and refurbishing, we will then reconsider putting up wall papers on our walls. I would love to step into a home with vibrant wall papers decorating my walls.
No. of times viewed = 384
Alycia who loves reading the newspapers (and just about any reading material, EXCEPT her school books!) found an interesting word search game (Wonderword) from The New Straits Times papers today. In KL I only buy Star newspapers but in Ipoh my parents subscribe to both NST and Star.
Alycia then challenged Sherilyn to compete with her in the word search game. And I told them that the winner gets a prize which is a…….. err, an ice cream potong muahahahah!
After an exciting half-hour word search competition, Alycia emerged the winner. She is now hooked on Wonderword and has requested that I buy NST papers too every Sunday. No problemo as long as it is an educational hobby.
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Today, the girls helped my mum in the kitchen. They helped to chop onions for the sardines filling for the sandwiches, mashed the sardines and eggs and buttered the bread before the sandwiches were put into the sandwich maker.
Later, they helped granny to make ang koo kuih.
As I am typing this post, the ang koo kuihs are now in the steamer and in about 15 minutes’ time, we will have them for tea-time 🙂
Happy weekend to all my dear readers 🙂
No. of times viewed = 383
It was an eleventh hour and impromptu decision to bring the kids to visit Kellie’s Castle. I casually asked dad on Tuesday night if he could drive us to Kellie’s Castle on Wednesday morning and my dad obliged without any hesitation. Muacks muacks papa 🙂
After the visit to Kellie’s Castle yesterday, my dad was in a mood to drive us to Teluk Intan to visit his sister. It was the kids’ first ever visit to Kellie’s Castle and Teluk Intan. It was also a maiden visit for my parents and me to Kellie’s Castle.
From the facade, Kellie’s Castle looked like a castle from the olden days of white knights and princesses. Indeed very impressive and grandiose. Inside the castle, everything is in ruins and dusty. We had a lot of stairs climbing to do and when we were at the top, Cass who has a phobia of heights screamed out to be brought down. There are also no proper safety measures and fencing to prevent accidents.
Our tour of the much talked-about Kellie’s Castle with paranormal sightings…
And yes, I did feel spooky when I toured the castle *sweats*!!
Now, who dares to partake in the Kellie’s Castle Paranormal Night Tour?
We saw a bride and groom doing their bridal photography at the castle. The pair climbed up to the top of the castle for their photography. Err, I would never want to do mine here, in a castle that is believed to be haunted, lest my photos get photo-bombed by some unwanted figures! And on a hot and sweltering day some more – my make up would definitely smear my face, making me look like a ghost LOL!
This was supposed to be the dining area. The castle was yet to be completed when William Kellie Smith passed on in Scotland.
After the visit to Kellie’s Castle, dad brought us to Tg Tualang in the hope of bringing the kids to see the famous tin mining dredge but unfortunately, the place was closed. The kids could only catch a glimpse of the humungous dredge from the car. I told the kids that once upon a time in Ipoh, their great grand father (their daddy’s grand parents) was a well-known tin-miner and philanthropist in Ipoh.
As my dad (who is 71 years old this year) was in a mood to drive around yesterday, he made a detour and brought us to Teluk Intan.
Upon arrival at Teluk Intan, we visited the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan, then adjourned to have lunch with my aunt, visited the Teluk Intan River Front, visited the biscuit shop to get some famous Teluk Intan biscuits and then cooled ourselves down with coconut water before returning to Ipoh.
In this picture, the tower looked slanted to one side but from most angles, the slant is not really very obvious. We climbed to the top of the tower, which was only 3 storeys high but the stairs leading up the tower were very very steep and narrow.
On our way back to Ipoh using the old trunk road, it poured cats and dogs shit. We stopped at Kampar to get some famous paus and reached Ipoh at 6pm. The kids enjoyed themselves very much but I found it quite torturous be be walking around under the hot scorching sun and climbing flights after flights of stairs the whole day. As I had said before, this is one of the sacrifices of a mother — to do things that you do not like to do all for the sake of your kids! Ah, the joys of motherhood! 🙂
No. of times viewed = 729
In the midst of my very busy week last week, I received a package of goodies! The goodies for my girls came at the right time, just when I was too busy to remember feeding my girls with vitamins. To recap, I was too busy packing and moving our stuff to our aunt’s unit as our unit would have to undergo some renovation works.
The package of goodies that I received were 3 bottles of fruit gummies from Seven Seas. My girls were delighted to see the 3 bottles of fruit gummies which come in 3 different flavors – orange, blackcurrant and strawberry.
My girls quickly helped me to cut up the parcel and then helped themselves to the delicious fruit gummies which tasted very much like regular gummies! I was worried that the fruit gummies would be loaded with sugar and empty calories but I found out that that Seven Seas® kids Fruit Gummies has zero preservatives, flavourings, colourings and sugar. It has no added salt, gluten, nuts, hydrogenated fats, yeast and lactose.
I can supplement my daughters’ diet with these yummy guilt-free vitamin treats with total peace of mind now. It also comes in 3 delish flavours in cutesy fruit shapes.
Getting my girls to pop and chew their vitamins have never been this easy. With Seven Seas Fruit Gummies, they help themselves to these sweet treats without any reminder from me!
Seven Seas Kids Fruit Gummies retail at RM19.50 for a bottle of 30 gummies. You can get them from most pharmacies.
Seven Seas is now running a Colour & Win Contest for children aged 4 – 10 years old, which ends on 31 July 2014. You can let your child participate by colouring the Seven Seas Gummy Fruity Heroes on the contest form and stand a chance to win a Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Lite/Kids or other goodies!
For more information about the product and colouring contest, please visit www.sevenseas.com.my
Thank you Seven Seas for the 3 bottles of tasty fruit gummies for my kids. We all love them to bits! Yup, I am eating them too 🙂
No. of times viewed = 592
Upon arrival in Ipoh via ETS from KL yesterday, dad and mum brought us to the famed decades-old Kong Heng coffee shop for some famous Ipoh hawkers’ food. The famous coffee shop was as usually packed to the brim.
After a 15-minute wait, we were lucky enough to get a pathetically small-sized table, which obviously did not fit the 7 of us comfortably. What more with the amount of food that the foodie hubs ordered, gosh, it was really squeezy and uncomfortable having our lunch there. To top it all up, Alycia knocked down a full glass of barley drink which spilled on the Princess Wannabe who complained and whined non-stop throughout lunch, saying that she felt like a piece of sticky chocolate *rolls eyes* ! Thus there is no picture of the food that we ordered from Kong Heng.
After lunch at Kong Heng, we walked a few steps away to Kong Heng Square. From a row of once old and dilapidated pre-war buildings, Kong Heng Square has transformed into a modern food square with a retro touch.
Bits & Bobs @ Ipoh Old Town is located in between Burps & Giggles, Missing Marbles and Plan B; focusing on the tid bits, snacks and simple toys back in the early 60s to 80s.
When I saw ice balls, I was excited! Ice-balls used to be one of my favorite indulgences when I was in primary school in the early 80s. At only 10sen each back then, we could pick our choice of sarsi syrup or red syrup drizzled all over the ice balls from our school canteen.
And guess how much this ice ball costs now? A freaking Rm3 each!! And my kids did not quite enjoy it reason being it melted too soon on the scorching day, resulting in the sarsi syrup dripping all over their clothes, arms, legs and shoes! Super duper sticky and messy!!
This bottle of white rabbit candies sure brought back lots of sweet memories of my childhood.
And this Magic Pops too! I remember popping this crackling sweets into my mouth, waiting to be excited and tickled with sounds of POPS on my throat and tongue, really syiok!
And this bear bear bubble gum and bubbles too! They were all my favorite junk food and toy when I was a little girl 🙂
Missing Marbles extends the Burps and Giggles outlet at Kong Heng Square. I told my mum that we have to try out Missing Marbles during our week-long stay in Ipoh to sample their local favorites. And also to see if we could find any missing marbles! Cass is crazy over marbles these days.
The ‘see harng’ aka loos at Kong Heng Square. Looks creepy, dilapidated and dirty? Well, I was taken by surprise when I stepped inside, to find the toilet refurbished and designed ala Ipoh in the 60s – 80s.
There is also an Indian barber…
And we continued our ‘jalan-jalan cari makan di Ipoh’ after we left Kong Heng Square yesterday afternoon 🙂
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