July 2015 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Random Things On A Friday – 31 July 2015

As July 2015 ends today, I ended the last day of the month by embarking on a new fitness regime this morning! With creaky and achy knees that give way whenever I run on the road, I have decided to give running and brisk walking a break to heal my aging knees.

Inspired by the mil who swims for half an hour every morning (she’s 70 years old this year) and advised by the hubs, I have decided to swim every morning to give my knees a good break. I have never been a fan of swimming as I prefer to sweat it out on the road or gym but I have no choice but to go through a hiatus to heal my knees. Today, I found a renewed love for swimming! I swam for 45 minutes starting from 6:30am and felt really good after the workout in the water! The only thing missing is a swimming cap to hold my waist-length hair in place. In a few minutes, I will be driving to Mid Valley Megamall with the mil to shop for a swimming cap and a pair of goggles. Swimming, here I come and conquer the pool from now on!

Happy Friday peeps! 🙂

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Refreshing Salad With Satay Sauce

I concocted this very delish, light and refreshing meat-free salad for lunch yesterday.

Royale Butterhead leaves with satay sauce (made by hubby’s cook), two spoonfuls of ginger + egg fried rice with garlic and sesame seed oil (black rice and Basmati rice) and Ipoh pomelo (pink and white).

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I still have another head of Royal Butterhead and it looks like I am going to have salad for lunch again today. I really need something light for lunch today as I’ve just gorged on 5 seeds of Musang King durians and a handful of poppy seeds corn chips for breakfast just now and guilt-stricken now! 😀

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Treating Dengue Fever With Hydrogen Water

Several months back, a friend of mine nearly lost her husband to hemorrahagic dengue fever. Her husband was hospitalized for almost 3 months. He had partial loss of memory, his liver and kidneys almost failed him, he had to be intubated and now he has to undergo rehab and physiotherapy. Thank God he survived this deadly disease caused by just one unassuming tiny mosquito.

While he was in ICU at the hospital, my sifu (aka my upline) visited him in the hospital and brought him a packet of hydrogen water. Our friend coaxed her hubby to down the packets of hydrogen water.

Also a few months back, I found out from Facebook that 2 of my friends’ friends succumbed to the deadly dengue fever. Life is so fragile and so unexpected. I am still learning how to let go of many trivial issues and live each day as if it was my last.

If you know of anyone who is battling Dengue fever now, do give hydrogen water a try. You can email me at shireenyong@gmail.com to get more information.

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Our Sunday – 27 July 2015

Someone made me very, very enraged yesterday! She knew that she was not allowed to drink or eat while watching the idiot box. In fact, I think the idiot box is too distractive and I don’t allow my girls to watch it for more than 2 hours a day. This year, viewing time is cut even shorter as Alycia will be sitting for an important exam in September. Whenever the idiot box is switched on, the girls are deaf to my talking to them, deaf to my instructions and only a hollering will distract them and shake them off the ‘trance’ that they are in. They get so consumed watching the idiot box that they are lost in their own world. And it was proven yet again yesterday when the littlest one was so engrossed watching the idiot box (some silly cartoons) that she could not even remember that she was holding on to a mug of fruit smoothie that I had given her and KABOOM, she dropped the mug full of smoothie on the floor! On a Sunday and we were rushing to go to church! Talk about the devil!

No she did not get a whack from me but I made her help me clean up the absolute mess… while I spewed out hot lava on her non-stop for the half hour that I cleaned up the mess. Drama queen was very helpful. She quickly lifted up the trampoline to wipe it. She then brought the broom and dust pan and helped to sweep the broken mug. She even used some old newspapers to wrap the broken mug before binning it. Alycia helped to lift up the heavy sofa so that I could wipe the smoothie off the legs of the sofa. While slaving on the floor, I kept giving her my killer stare, which was enough to make her drown in her own guilt.

Her punishment for this boo boo is a 10-day ban from watching the idiot box haha! And henceforth, no one, absolutely no one is allowed to eat or drink (not even plain water) in front of the idiot box. Period.

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Sprouted Mung Bean Salad

After 2 weeks of sinful binging, I started back on eating raw sprouts for lunch today! 🙂

Here’s my sprouts-of-the-day for today’s lunch…

Triple Combi sprouts, consisting of alfalfa, mung beans and snow pea.

Triple Combi sprouts salad with homemade spicy acar (pickled vegetables), hard-boiled free-range egg, meat floss, baked cashew nuts, a drizzle of Japanese sesame dressing and fresh apricots.

Today is the first time I ever tried eating raw sprouted mung beans. Initially I had doubts that those raw baby mung beans would even be palatable but I bought them anyway coz they are healthy and good for me! And they are really good, taste wise! Though the sprouted mung beans feel hard, they are not hard at all. The taste and texture are similar to that of raw turnip – crunchy, juicy and naturally sweet. iLike!

Mung bean sprouts are low in calories, high in fiber and B vitamins and deliver a boost of vitamin C and vitamin K.

And I ended my lunch with a little guilty pleasure – a handful of natural Salsa tortilla chips from Food For Friends 😉

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Saturday Night Out – 18 July 2015 (Magnum Cafe and Nana’s Green Tea)

The day before the girls’ aunt Sarah returned to Hawaii, we went to Mid Valley Megamall – us to have dinner and Sarah to meet her friends.

Hubs planned to bring the girls to watch the Ant-Man at 8pm but the tickets were sold out by time we reached the counter after queuing up for over half an hour! Instead, he bought tickets for the movie for the next day (Sunday).

After dinner of Japanese food, we segued into Malaysia’s first Magnum Cafe, located just a few doors away from the Japanese restaurant.

The lines were long outside the cafe and it took us over half an hour to inch to the counter. Magnum has two floors and is a major magnet for crowds near the GSC cinema.

We opted for the ‘Make Your Own Magnum’ (RM9.90 per stick) where we patrons get to choose an ice cream base (vanilla or chocolate), coated with milk, white or dark choc, then customise it further with a plethora of intriguing toppings from an assortment of nuts to goji berries et al. This is a novelty that has worked for Magnum in many cities worldwide.

This is our pick – vanilla ice-cream base with a dip of white chocolate and dark chocolate, coated with pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts.

Our verdict – being long-time loyal fans of Magnum, we loved our ‘Make Your Own Magnum’. However, I feel that it is overpriced. A regular Magnum Gold is retailed at RM4.50. If I were to add in my own nuts and chocolate bits / sauce, my DIY Magnum would probably cost only RM5.50 or at most RM6. With RM4 going towards the rental of the shop, I’d rather buy my own Magnum Gold and add in my choice of nuts and toppings, without spending half an hour queuing up. Plus I get to enjoy my Magnum at the comfort of my own home! 😀

After the 3 girls and I shared the sole superior Magnum (like, how pathetic huh?), we went a floor up to Nana’s Green Tea First Modular Shop and ordered green tea ice-creams! Now, everyone had their own lip-smacking green tea ice-cream on cone without having to share. Nana’s Green Tea also has another outlet on the Lower Ground Floor of The Gardens. That outlet serves a sweeping selection of tea drinks, desserts and comfort Japanese food while Nana’s Green Tea Modular Shop serves ice-creams, desserts and drinks on the go.

Nana’s Green Tea is Japan’s biggest green tea house chain which use ‘‘Matcha’’ or green powdered tea as the main ingredient for its range of uniquely blended matcha green tea and other delectable items on its menu.

Magnum Cafe Kuala Lumpur
Third Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur

Nana’s Green Tea
T-045A, 3rd Floor Mezzanine
Mid Valley Megamall, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nanasgreentea.com.my
Website: www.nanasgreentea.com.my

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Random Pictures Of Girls With Cousins

Lunch after school at the Japanese restaurant at our condo on Wednesday. It was two days before their cousins (they are twins -a boy and a girl) left KL to return to Auckland.

Cass with A – her favorite cousin.

Yummy sushi and tempura…

Never to be missed – chewy grilled flying squid…

And grilled salmon head…

After Japanese food, the kids took a short rest before playing in the pool for a frigging 2 hours long!

On the eve before their cousins’ departure, which was also the eve of Hari Raya, at 1 Utama Shopping Mall…

They had sushi again! This time at Sushi Zanmai.

After sushi, they shopped for books at MPH and then had dessert of Häagen-Dazs ice-cream.

Lover of books, ice-cream and sushi. That’s how the 5 cousins can be so chummy for they all have the same interests!

For dinner, we brought the kids to the Japanese restaurant at our condo again…for sushi again! These kids can never get fed-up of sushi!

This morning, the girls woke up at 5am and followed their daddy to the airport to send their aunt and cousins to catch a morning flight back to Auckland. Back home, Alycia’s classmates came over to work on a Kemahiran Hidup (Living Skills) project together. And I have been working non-stop helping the kids with the project, cleaning up after their messy project and lunch and accompanied them to swim and play ping-pong until evening. What a long and tiring day I’ve had!

While everyone else gets to continue their holiday until next Tuesday, mine will end on Sunday as Alycia has to be back in school 2 days earlier for their compulsory pre-UPSR exam classes.

Happy holidays everyone! 🙂

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Durian & Nasi Lemak Party

Two days ago we had Round #1 of Musang King durian and nasi lemak party at home, specially for my visiting SILs, BIL, niece and nephews from overseas. Other local relatives came over as well and there was a mega party at home!

Nasi lemak was from Village Park Restaurant @ Damansara Utama. If you want to taste the best nasi lemak in the world, this is the place to go to!

Picture above credits of www.kuala-lumpur.ws/

Crispy aromatic chicken deep-fried to perfection – juicy on the interior and crispy and aromatic on the exterior with lots of deep fried ginger and spices. The rice – oh my, if you are on a low-carb diet, best to avoid this restaurant. The coconut milk rice is very aromatic and every grain of rice is fluffy.

We bought 6 packets of nasi lemak and kept them warm in the rice cooker back home.

The Nasi Dagang with tuna fish curry was good too.

Warning – super addictive deep fried spiced chicken.

The girls and I feasted on these sinful fried chicken.

Dinner was Grade A+ Musang King durian party at home…

Gawd, with durian party round #2 on Sunday after my SILs return from Penang, I must check my cholesterol level already!

Check out the Grade A+ Musang King durian flesh – so yellow, so aromatic, so creamy and so soft!

See, the girls played like there’s no tomorrow though tomorrow they were to sit for 3 test papers! No eye see! Hopefully they will still fare well in this exam. The girls have exams several times in a year but this rare reunion with their cousins and aunts in KL happens once in a few years. And I don’t want them to miss all the fun, which will forever be etched in their ‘happy memories bank’.

Thank God we did not get sore throat after our binge on durians, nasi lemak, fried chicken, yau char kwai (aka Malaysian Churro) and curry! And I must thank Izumio hydrogen water and Super Lutein (I swear by them now!) for keeping heatiness and sicknesses at bay during this super hot durian season.

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Eve Of Exam

Today is the eve of exam for Alycia, Sherilyn and Cass but it is the most relaxed eve of exam ever for them!

SIL and family from New Zealand are in town now. In 2 days, SIL and family from Hong Kong will arrive, together with SIL from Hawaii. Yes, there is another mega reunion of the Yaps 🙂

In the morning, we went to Jalan Imbi for breakfast of hawkers’ fare.

Back home, I spent a couple of hours revising BM Tatabahasa with the girls while SIL and family went shopping.

When the girls’ cousins returned from shopping, they continued playing and goofing around the house.

Lunch was take-away Jalan Imbi bakuteh.

Tea-time was kuih, durians, Indian rojak, cendol and coconut water, BUUUUURRRRPS!

As I am typing this post, the kids are chilling out at the pool.

Hopefully I will have some free time to do a final revision with the girls tonight.

Happy weekend peeps! The weather is frigging HOT! Stay hydrated with Izumio, coconut water and lotsa water! 😀

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Renovate Your Home Right : Top Tips from Contractors

When you’re renovating your home it can be difficult to know exactly what to do. In fact, even mentioning a home renovation to a lot of people can send them into a panic where they just want to shut down and leave the house how it is.

However, a home renovation can boost the value of your house and make your space more comfortable for you and your family. It might seem stressful now, but once the project is done you’ll be happy you did it.

Use this guide to help you learn the basics of beginning a home renovation project.

1. Know Your Needs

Before you can do anything on a home renovation project you need to figure out what it is your home really needs. Do you need more space in the kitchen or do you need to renovate your kitchen to keep up with the times? Maybe you simply need an additional bedroom for a growing family or a home office for a burgeoning business? Whatever your needs, you need to make a clear list of what a renovation should accomplish before you call anybody for help.

In addition to knowing what you need, you should also consider how the renovation will impact your family. Will a renovation make the space more comfortable? Will a renovation free up space for more productivity at home?

Make sure you know what you want and need before you begin any sort of home renovation project.

2. Get Quotes

Hiring the right contractor for your project is important, but you need to know that they will charge an amount you can afford. That’s why you need to get several home renovation quotes before you choose any contractor for your job.

Always get quotes in writing too, and know how much above or below the estimate is.

3. Shop Around

Great contractors are out there, but you may need to find them. Don’t be afraid to interview multiple contractors and see what they can offer. The more you shop around the better your home renovation project will turn out.

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Breakfast

My breakfast for the past 2 days…

Day 1 – homemade banana cupcake – made with almond flour, wholewheat flour, cake flour and reduced sugar (organic fine raw sugar). A slice of crispy sprouted wheat toast with homemade nutty jam (almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts and olive oil) and palm sugar (Gula Melaka) syrup.

Day 2 – a slice of crispy sprouted wheat bread with dad’s homemade pandan kaya. Notice that on day 1, I ate 1 slice of toast and 1 cup cake and on day 2 only 1 slice of toast? That’s because I worked out 15 minutes lesser in the gym on day 2, thus input of calories should also be lesser – then you won’t give the extra calories the chance to attack your waistline. Common sense 😀

And ahem… the dessert… I know it’s fattening and heaty but the durian season only comes several times in a year. So chow while they are in season! haha!

Musang King liu lian 😀

So how do we manage to keep ‘heatiness’ at bay from all these crazy durian binging? With Izumio hydrogen water of course and I swear by it – for my kids and me! During each durian season in the past, getting a sore throat is not uncommon for us. Thankfully this time, we have Izumio to bring down the heatiness from the durians and crazy heatwave. And we have Super Lutein to strengthen our immune system guards too 😀

Give me a buzz via email @ shireenyong@gmail.com if you want to find out more on Izumio and Super Lutein.

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Update On Little Ethan’s Fight Against Leukemia – 2 July 2015

Baby Ethan went for a procedure for insertion of CVL (Central Venous Line) yesterday at SJMC. The purpose of the CVL is to save Baby Ethan from having to be poked and prodded on his hands or legs for an IV line each time he goes for chemotherapy.

Looking at this picture here brought me a flood of memories on Cass when she was hospitalized for 3 weeks at GMC Penang after her surgeries. Due to an unfortunate complication, her gut was kinked and she could not eat or drink for 3 weeks. Her surgeon also inserted a CVL near her collar bone so that liquid nutrients (TPN – total parenteral nutrition) could be fed to her intravenously.

This is Baby Ethan after the CVL procedure in the OT yesterday (1 July 2015). He’s a tough little soldier!

2/7/2015 : Picture above shows Baby Ethan’s 1st chemo through the CVL line – no more poking!

Kindly continue to pray for Baby Ethan’s full recovery. Pray that each of his chemo session will cause minimal or no discomfort. Pray that he will be able to fight Leukemia and continue to live like any other normal child would. And pray that God grants Ethan’s mother, Mary Anne (she’s a single parent) with a ton of strength to grapple with the situation.

For those of you who would still like to donate towards Ethan’s Medical Funds, you may send a Whatsapp message to my friend, Mary Anne Loh at 010-220 4123.

Mary Ann Loh’s MBB account number is 1143 9318 6527

No amount is a small amount. A little contribution from everyone would add up to a big amount and this would help to ease Mary Anne’s financial burden.

Thank you for your generosity! 🙂

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Alfalfa Sprouts Salad For Lunch

Twice or thrice a week, I will have raw organic alfalfa sprouts for lunch. I will pair the alfalfa sprouts / alfalfa + broccoli sprouts / alfalfa + onion sprouts with a variety of ingredients, condiments, fruits, seeds, nuts, egg and veggies.

This was my alfalfa sprouts salad for lunch yesterday…

Organic alfalfa + broccoli sprouts with organic cherry tomatoes, cherries, fried Sunny Side Up, Taiwanese crunchy meat floss, Kobe beef jerky (MIL bought from Japan) and a few shakes of Japanese flavored seaweed (mum bought from Japan). I did not use any salad sauce as the condiments were flavor intense, thus my salad was really very flavorful and refreshing! And so filling too, though it’s very low in carbo 😀

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