February 2016 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Scenes At Home On A Saturday

This is why I call her Miss Drama Queen!

It was only a regular painting homework but knowing that Tiger Mummy will blow her top if she left stains of paint anywhere, this was what she did. She even wrapped up the chair legs and stool with newspapers. Check out the laptop too. This is totally melodramatic to the max!

Below – Cass self entertained herself by playing Monopoly on her own, coz her 2 sisters were not in the mood to play board games with her. I was in no mood to play board games with her too. Poor girl. While she played Monopoly, I had a good siesta on my massage chair 😀

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Health Freak Mommy’s Meals – 24 February 2016

My breakfast yesterday morning…

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Skinny sugar-free, preservative-free and additives-free yoghurt with Pic’s sugar-free cashew butter, toasted pumpkin seeds, organic chia seeds, raw walnuts, blanched skinless almonds, drizzle of maple syrup and a small handful of coconut cookies.

I am surprised that Cass loves Farm Fresh’s sugar-free yoghurt, which is a tad sour and light. She says it tastes like Moo Cow frozen yoghurt, except that Farm Fresh yoghurt is not frozen. I agree with her too! She likes to eat her sugar-free yoghurt with cashew nuts and crumbled homemade cookies.

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Lunch was baby greens salad with organic cherry tomatoes, Korean kim chi, almonds, cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, toasted sesame seeds, sauteed minced pork and salad dressing composed of organic apple cider vinegar + maple syrup + dash of naturally brewed soy sauce.

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Dinner was at our all-time favorite neighborhood restaurant which serves delish dishes at really affordable prices. The mil was still feeling a wee bit under the weather and yesterday was our part-time maid’s off day. And I wasn’t in the mood to cook too 😀

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Stir-fried baby spinach, braised tofu with fish paste and sweet and sour fish fillet.

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Earning Passive Income

This morning I saw another surprise in my bank account. An amount of RM455 has been banked into my accounts. I am chuffed! 🙂 🙂 This is my weekly ‘income’. On some weeks I get more, sometimes a little less. But I am already very thankful for this passive income, given that I have put in very little effort. I am in nature pretty laid back. I prefer to do less stressful things but truth is, I do not put pressure on myself to excel in this business. I am working at my own pace, which compared to my other team members, is considered at snail’s pace.

After consuming the products consisting of hydrogenated water and carotenoids for 11 months with no intention to delve in the business initially, I am glad to say that I am now consuming the products for free!

I am now earning a monthly minimum of RM2,000 on average, which is sufficient to cover the monthly cost of my consumption of the products for our 3 girls and myself. My goal is to reach Excellence status, which would guarantee me an income of RM10,000 a month but to reach this status, I will have to fire on all cylinders. To be honest, I am not confident if I can reach that far by this year. It’s A-OK if I don’t. I will take my own time and will not put too much pressure on myself. My upline’s motto is RSS – Rest, Sit Back and Smile and that’s what I am doing now 🙂 I am confident that I will soon reach this status, maybe by mid or end of next year or perhaps in 2 years. That’s fine by me.

Below is a print screen of my earnings from 4 December 2015 through 5 February 2016 (2 months).

My immediate goal is to see continued healing in Cass’ incontinence issues and my own health issues. I am already very thankful that the products are bringing Cass on her road to recovery. It may take longer for her to be 100% healed as she has an abnormal urinary tract but with continued consumption of the products and lots of prayers, nothing is impossible. I am confident of that.

For myself, the fact that my cholesterol reading has gone down from 6.4 (reading in June 2015) to 5.8 (reading in February 2016) despite having genetic high cholesterol and without taking medications is already a proof that the products are working. Do note that I have all the while been taking only a maintenance dosage as I could not afford high dosage. Now that I am already consuming for free, I have started to increase my dosage. I can’t wait to do my next cholesterol blood test to see if the reading has gone down further 🙂

If this ‘package’ sounds interesting to you and you’d like to know more on how you can consume these high quality supplements and earn a passive income simultaneously, do drop me an email at shireenyong@gmail.com.

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Healthy Drinks for Your Children

Keeping your kids healthy is always a major concern. There are so many things you have to worry about and their diet is just one of them. However, some parents give a lot of thought to food but forget about what their children are drinking. What they drink can be just as important as what they eat. Sugary drinks can damage their teeth and can be a contributing factor in obesity. It’s important to watch what they have to drink and avoid having things like soda too much. However, they don’t have to stick with plain water all the time. Here’s how you can make their drinks healthier.

Cut Back on the Juice
You might think that fruit juice is healthy, but it can contain a lot of sugar. Even if there isn’t any added sugar in it, the natural sugars can still damage little teeth. Fruit juice is acceptable to have on occasion, and even better if it’s watered down. But you shouldn’t be serving a glass of juice with every meal. If your kids prefer juice, try adding a twist of lemon, orange or lime to a glass of water. Using a Sodastream makes it a bit more fun and might even convince them that they’re drinking soda. Try to stick to milk and water more often than juice.

Use a Water Filter
If you worry about how safe your tap water is to drink, don’t start buying it bottled. It’s bad for the environment and for your household budget. It’s much cheaper to get from your home, and you can make it healthier if you want. Using a water filter will get rid of any impurities you don’t want in your water. If you’re not sure how to choose one, you can look at Water Filter Answers to find guides on which one to buy. There are several types you should consider, with varying levels of effectiveness and a range of prices.

Have Fun with Milk
Children need to have calcium to strengthen their growing bones and teeth. As they get older, they need more calcium to keep them going. It’s important to make milk a part of your child’s drinking habits. It’s an excellent source of calcium and readily available. If your child is lactose intolerant or has a dairy allergy, there are alternatives. You can buy other drinks, such as coconut water, with added calcium. There are also foods that contain calcium, such as spinach. If your children don’t like milk, try adding a small amount of flavoring. Just don’t go overboard with sugary additives.

Have Hot Drinks Together
It’s never too early to give your child warm drinks. You might not make them piping hot, but you can, at least, warm them a little or leave them to cool for a while. They might already have hot chocolate, so why not try some fruit or herbal teas? Of course, you should avoid anything with caffeine in it, which can include some teas.
Getting your kids to drink healthy drinks isn’t always easy. But if you avoid the unhealthy stuff from the beginning, you’ll find it much easier.

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Healthy Homecooked Dinner – 21 February 2016

My healthy low in cholesterol, low in fat, low in oil and high in fiber dinner yesterday 🙂

Bitter gourd soup with carrots, red dates and lean pork with 4 tablespoons of organic oats…

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Sauteed organic spinach and braised arrowroot with roast pork and ‘nam yue‘. I singled out only 3-4 small pieces of lean roast pork and that’s my ration of meat for the day.

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Arrowroot is usually seen in wet markets and supermarkets a few weeks leading to Chinese New Year. I cherish eating arrowroot as we only get to eat it several times in a year, usually only during Chinese New Year. We like braising it with roast pork or steam it alongside Chinese sausage. I used to like munching on deep fried arrowroot (‘ngar koo’) but I have ditched all deep fried foods a little over a year now…and feeling good 🙂

If you think arrowroot is just carbs, you’ll be surprised to know that it is chock full of nutrients and health benefits! 🙂

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Photo credits : OrganicFacts.net

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Light And Healthy Meals

These days, I have very light meals – light in meat and light in portion. 80% composes of greens / fiber and 20% meat or eggs.

This is my breakfast this morning – a bowl of pork soup from the pork noodles stall with lots of bitter gourd and a little minced pork sans the noodles and egg. This is an ideal low carb + high protein + high fiber meal.

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Bitter gourd is used to treat various stomach and intestinal disorders including gastrointestinal (GI) upset, ulcers, colitis, constipation, and intestinal worms. It is also used for diabetes, to lower cholesterol, kidney stones, fever, a skin condition called psoriasis, liver disease and to start menstruation.

Below – my dinner yesterday was a bowl of anchovies soup with organic veggie (home grown), egg drop and several tablespoons of organic oats. Everyone else ate roast duck. Thankfully I do not fancy duck 😀 Duck is high in fat and cholesterol.

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You should try to go meatless once or twice a week. Going meatless several times in a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. And you may live longer too if you reduce your meat consumption 😉

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Genetic High Cholesterol

Ok, I have genetic high cholesterol 🙁

My doctors told me that it would be really, really difficult to bring down the cholesterol reading however hard I alter my diet and exercise. I could be stick thin and eat nothing but green veggies and exercise 2 hours a day, but my cholesterol reading would still be slightly high. My younger brother who is a fitness buff with 6 packs also has high cholesterol, all in the name of genetic 🙁

How unfair can life be!

Oh well. Nothing is fair in life. Like, why do some people who lead a healthy lifestyle still get cancer?

For all the hard work I put into my diet and exercise regimen for the past 8 months, my cholesterol reading has gone done a wee bit. And that’s without medication. Only with supplements like fish oil, hydrogen water and carotenoids. That’s why I am pushing myself to swim 24-26 laps on top of brisk walking for 15 minutes, 5 mornings in a week. Exercise is important to bring down cholesterol. And I am about 80% vegan now. I can’t give up on meat totally now as I am slightly anemic. I have a fibroid in my uterus that causes heavy menstruation each month. I need meat to supply me with the iron. No doubt I can ditch the meat and eat red beans, spinach and other iron-rich veggies but it is hard when I have carnivorous kids. I am still training them to go easy on meat and they are aware that too much meat is too taxing on their innards, besides all the growth hormones and antibiotics that go into the animal feed, which eventually end up inside our bodies.

These days, my meals compose of mainly greens, whole grains, nuts, seeds and fiber.

This is my breakfast today…

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A packet of hydrogen water, high fiber cereal with added organic oats, organic chia seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, raw walnuts and skim milk drizzled with extra virgin coconut oil and a squirt of palm sugar syrup to give me the oomph.

Lunch was half a punnet of organic raw alfalfa and broccoli sprouts with apple cider vinegar and roasted sesame dressing and a quarter bowl of Ipoh ‘kai see hor fun’ (shredded chicken flat noodles), which I shared with Cass.

Thankfully I love this kind of meal. And hardly do I crave for nasi lemak, ‘char koay teow’ or other oily fried foods. Heck, I don’t even miss my most favorite food in the world – durian! From queen of musang king, I am surprised that I can even go cold turkey on durians. Yes, I can’t believe that during the last durian season, I wasn’t even craving for it. See how powerful our mind is?! I believe that we can condition our mind and taste bud to eat healthily. If I can do it, so can you 😉

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Sherilyn Is 11 Today!

Today my princess wannabe and drama queen turns 11!

If you’ve not read the story on her birth, let me regale you with the dramatic tale surrounding Drama Queen’s birth in February 2005.

Several weeks before drama baby was born, I could not feel her move in my womb for half a day. Panicked me got the hubby to rush me to the hospital and had the gynae perform an ultrasound scan on drama baby. A Cardiotocography (CTG) was also performed. All was well. I guess drama baby wanted to create a little scene to prep me for her grand entrance into the world 😀

The moment Drama Baby was born (via C-sect), she let out the loudest wail. Of our 3 princesses, drama queen was and still is the loudest. She wailed and wailed for a good 15-20 minutes on top of her lungs in the OT. I was thinking as I lay dead cold on the OT table what an aggressive baby that is!

Next up… I will never forget the day that Drama Baby was born, which was on the 8th day of CNY. As I was breastfeeding her at around midnight, she bit off a small chunk of my tit! OMG, that was awfully painful. I sat on the hospital bed in awe and shock, wondering how a newborn baby who was just a few hours old, sans any teeth, could bite off her mother’s tit!! That was the longest and most painful night for me. There were thunderous fireworks for about 2 hours that night as it was the Hokkien’s Pai Tin Koong night. With a ferociously hungry and aggressive newborn baby in my arm, I was sleepy, tired and in pain. But I could not drink nor eat yet as I had not let out the golden post-surgery fart yet. HAHAHA!

On Sunday, we celebrated Drama Queen’s birthday at Unique Seafood, PJ.

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We ordered all her favorite dim sum…

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There was also a plate of steamed prawns (not in pic).

Below – this steamed shell fish with glass noodles and lots of garlic is pretty unique and very flavorful.

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Below – hubby ordered his favorite grilled fish.

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Dinner was at the girls’ grand aunt’s place, where she cooked ‘lap mei farn‘ (rice with waxed meat) and other yummy dishes.

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As for her birthday pressie, I am going to surprise her with an ang pow and her favorite Sushi when she gets back from school in a bit.

On some days, I feel like a hopeless mother who has tried but failed in nurturing Sherilyn as this little girl is a willful child with guts as big as the ocean. Nothing seems to unnerve her. I pray that God will bless Sherilyn with endless joy, good luck, good health, wisdom, smart foresight and obedience.

Happiest 11th birthday, Sherilyn dear 🙂

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Chinese New Year Day 2 and 4

On the 2nd day of CNY, we got up very early in the morning. We had a train to catch at 9am! Gawd, that was really early for me as it’s a holiday and I wanted to sleep in! I had to crawl out of bed at 5am, first to bring Cass to pee and then to do my slavery chores. At 8am, the hubby used his mobile app to get two cabs from GrabTaxi. We needed 2 cabs to bring the 6 of us plus our luggage to KL Sentral to take the ETS.

KL Sentral station was jam packed with people and there was a 10-minute delay.

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After a 2-day joyful reunion with my family and relatives, with lots of meat-heavy meals, we headed back to KL on the 4th day of CNY, by ETS.

Once back at our home sweet home and settled down, we went to our favorite friendly neighborhood restaurant for lunch and tucked into our favorite ‘char siew’, ‘siew yoke’, roast chicken and ‘choy keok’ (Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew)…

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Yup, another meat-heavy meal!! But funnily, we did not get sick or cloy with the food here. This restaurant serves the best ‘char siew’ in the world… even better than those that I had tasted in Ipoh, Hong Kong and Chinatown in Auckland.

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While everyone gobbled down the roast meat to their hearts’ content, I whacked a big bowl of ‘choy keok’ (Chinese Mustard Vegetable Stew). Yummy, my absolute favorite!

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The mil’s favorite roast duck thigh…

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After 4 days of over loading ourselves with meat, cookies and fried food, thankfully everyone is still not sick. We have our hydrogen water to help wash away all the nasties and heatiness as well as to alkalize our body.

Yesterday I had a pleasant surprise when I logged into my NP account. I saw RM765 credited into my account. That’s my bonus for this week. It’s only the second week of February and I already have a 4-figure income in my bank account. Thank you NP and thank you God! If you want to earn a passive income like I am now, do drop me an email at shireenyong@gmail.com

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all! 🙂

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Eve And First Day of Year Of Monkey 2016

Eve of CNY dinner was at the girls’ grand uncle’s house as usual. After a ‘big meat big fish’ dinner (in Cantonese, it literally means a lavish dinner consisting of mainly meat and fish), which is customary of the Chinese, we had the usual ang pow giving and photography session.

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Below – Cass receiving an ang pow from her favorite grand uncle.

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On the first day of CNY, it is by custom meat-free for half a day.

My first assignment of the day was to tie knots on dried golden needle vegetables — a bowl full of ’em!

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Golden needle vegetable is just one of the key ingredients in the ‘chai choy’ (Chinese vegetarian dish), traditionally eaten on the first day of Chinese New Year. It is not vegetable but is the edible species of a flower’s bud. It is called ‘gum jum choi’ (written as 金針菜 in Chinese), literally golden needle vegetable.

Below – the mil’s ‘chai choy’. She woke up very early today to prep the ingredients. This dish is labour-intensive with lots of washing, chopping and of course frying it. After prepping this, she went for her usual morning swim. After her swim, she fried a big pot of ‘chai choy’, which would last us for 3 meals on the first day of CNY. We all had our brunch at 10:30am, which is a tradition of the family.

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I’d like to wish all my Chinese readers and those celebrating this festival “Koong Hei Fatt Choy”, good health, good wealth and an abundance continuous flow of happiness all year round!

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Lup Chun Day – 4 February 2016

Chinese New Year mood is in the air with just 2 more days to go before we roll into the year of the Monkey!

Yesterday hubs and I did our shopping for ‘kam’ (Mandarin oranges) and gifts for the girls’ teachers and his clients. I’ve always loved the atmosphere at shopping malls pre and during CNY. The catchy CNY songs booming away, the myriad display of exciting CNY food stuff, the red decor and all the CNY paraphernalia always set me in a happy mood.

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When I was a kid, I’d always looked forward to CNY for it was the only time we were allowed to drink soft drinks (from recycled glass bottles that came in crates in the 1970s through to the 1980s) and stuff ourselves sick with cookies, meat jerky, prawn crackers, salty fried bean curd sticks, homemade lup cheong and candies. My favorite flavors of soft drinks were Fanta Grape and Strawberry. Those days, we were not that health conscious yet. I can’t believe I’d intoxicated my body with these colorful fizzy drinks for decades! Gawd! Anyway, I’ve not touched soft drinks for more than a decade now and they are banned in our household.

On the eve of CNY each year, dad would come home at around 11am and surprise us with a big bag of fire crackers. He would then distribute the fire crackers evenly to my 2 brothers and me. Our fire crackers ration was enough to last us throughout the 15 days of CNY, which we would play with our best friends — the 2 boys named Vincent and Michael who lived next to us. They even share the same surname as us.

On the Eve of CNY, we would make our yearly trip to Cameron Highlands, which is my dad’s hometown. Those days, it would take 3-4 hours using the old roads to reach Cameron Highlands. And poor Roy (my younger brother) and I would be sticking our heads into plastic bags and potties puking all the way! Dad would have to stop the car several times along the snaky winding Cameron roads to wash the potty at waterfalls. Sometimes he would stop his car for us to puke at the hill side. That was the only thing I hated about CNY when I was little — the torturous 3-4 hour road trip up to Camerons, to and fro. Though I love Cameron Highlands, the journey up is still traumatizing for me, up until today!

Yesterday was ‘Lap Chun’ day. Unknown to many (me inclusive), lap chun (beginning of spring) actually marks the start of a new zodiac year. Many Chinese thought that the first day of the lunar calendar records a change of a new Chinese zodiac year, but according to geomancy, the actual day only starts on lap chun. Lap chun usually falls on the fourth or fifth day of February of the Gregorian calendar.

On Lap Chun day, eggs have the ability to stand on their ends. Cass and I tried several times but were unsuccessful. We did not have the patience to keep trying but we told each other that we will try again in future until we succeed!

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I googled to find out why we were unsuccessful and according to some people, the eggs must not be refrigerated. Aha, no wonder our egg did not stand!!

The above picture shows how an egg stands on Lup Chun day. We shall try again and I am confident that we will make our eggs stand one day. Watch this space! 😉

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Microwave Muffin In A Mug

This is a throwback post.

I had forgotten all about this fun activity we did with the girls (supervised by my mum) in Ipoh during the December school holidays last year until I saw the photos in my Google Photos album when I was browsing the album.

Busy mummies and daddies, you’ll love me for posting this up! 😉

If your kids love muffins and cup cakes but you can never squeeze out the 1 hour to bake for your kids (I am seriously guilty of this!), fret not. All you need is probably 10 minutes or less to bake a muffin in a mug instantly! In the microwave! 😉

Below – My mum supervising Sherilyn and Cass. Unfortunately, Alycia has zilch interest in the kitchen.

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Below – one with fresh blueberries…

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Below – Sherilyn’s Oreo chocolate microwave muffin in a mug…

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Below – Final product…

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Only 10 – 15 minutes to whip up this yummy muffin! Perfect for hectic school mornings and tea-time.

Ingredients for Microwave mug cake:
4 tbsp self raising flour
4 tbsp caster sugar (you can reduce the amount if you wish)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 medium egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil. You can substitute it with butter if you want a more buttery taste.
A few drops vanilla or other essence (orange, peppermint etc)
2 tbsp chocolate chips/nuts/raisins/fruits/Oreo, etc (optional)

Method:
Use the largest mug you have to avoid it overflowing in the microwave.
Add the flour, sugar and cocoa powder to the mug and mix.
Add the egg to the mixture. Mix in as much as you can but don’t worry if there’s still dry mix left.
Add all the other ingredients apart from the chocolate chips, etc (if you are adding) and mix until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and/or the nuts/raisins/fruits/Oreo and mix well.
Centre your mug in the middle of the microwave oven and cook on high for under 1 minute **, or until it has stopped rising and is firm to the touch.
Watch it rise as it cooks!

** It takes under a minute or 1+ minute to microwave bake the muffin depending on the voltage of the microwave oven. If the muffin is over-baked, then the texture becomes rubbery.

Happy trying! 😉

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