May 2017 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

The Story Of My Laproscopic Myomectomy Surgery

Hey folks, I am back home since yesterday!

I am sure many of you have been waiting to hear my story. It’s a long one, but I’ll try to make it as brief as best as I can.

Monday, 30 May 2017
Today is the day of my laproscopic myomectomy surgery by contained power morcellation. My surgeon is Dr Tan Ee Ping. You can check with Mr Google on what this surgery is. The surgery is scheduled for 4 p.m.

In the morning, my parents came to the hospital to accompany me, followed by the hubs and our 3 girls at 2 p.m. Hubs had to wait for Drama Queen to come back from school at 1 p.m.

Moments before I am wheeled to the OT. – all my loved ones by my side. When there was nothing else to say, everyone was glued to their electrical gadgets.

At 3:45 p.m., my entire family walked with me till the door of the OT. When everyone started kissing and patting me, I felt like it was their last goodbye to me. I was overwhelmed by emotions and cried. The nurse who pushed the bed consoled me “this is not your first time ma, you already went thru 3 c-sections. You’ll be OK la”

The anesthetist came in at 4:30 p.m. He first tried inserting the IV catheter on my left hand. He gave me a LA jab to numb the hand but that stinging jab was even more painful than the catheter itself! But when he found out that the line wasn’t smooth after flushing some saline into the catheter to test it, he had to try my right hand. Oh. My. Freaking. Gawd! Another round of torture. Thank God, the line on the right hand was A-OK. That were 4 torturous pokes on my hands. The most anxious time came when the anesthetist brought the tube of whitish liquid that was the GA. I felt something cold going into my right hand, then felt dizzy and closed my eyes….zzzzzz. I opened my eyes after I heard the anesthetist said “Shireen, surgery is over, wake up”

Cass and my younger brother, Roy walking around the waiting area while waiting for me to come out from the OT.

When I came to, I saw the time as 6:30 p.m. on the big wall clock and I was in the recuperating bay. I was shivering uncontrollably as usual (side effects of GA). My throat was terribly sore and I felt like there was a clump of phlegm stuck in my throat. The sore throat is caused by the oxygen tube inserted into my throat during the surgery. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel drowsy this time vs. the time I went in for an Ovarian Drilling laproscopic surgery to counter infertility in the year 2002. I was very alert this time. I used my tongue to check all my teeth to ensure that they weren’t damaged by the oxygen tube. I tested my memory to see if I had lost a part of my grey matter. All was well as I could remember everything before the surgery. Then I heard my super anxious and ‘kan cheong‘ papa outside the OT asking “mana Shireen” and the OT staff replying him “uncle, dia di sana, tengok” 😁 He had barged into the OT recuperating area to check on me 💘

My loved ones kept checking on the Operation Schedule on the TV in the waiting room to see when my surgery will be completed.

After I was wheeled back to the room, everyone was in good spirits and relieved. Mum kept urging me to rest and sleep but I was not drowsy or sleepy at all. In fact, I have been having insomnia since the day of pre-admission right until I came home. Even at home last night, I was not sleepy nor tired and had trouble falling asleep. It must be all the Izumio that I have been pumping into my body, giving me all the energy and mental alertness.

The pain I have is very much similar to my very first C-Section delivery but with a lesser pain intensity. There is a cut in the uterus to remove the fibroid and a suture too. I had pretty heavy bleeding immediately after the surgery and Dr Tan ordered the nurse to give me an anti-bleeding jab. The jab gave me an instant nauseous feeling and I managed to suppress the feeling with lots of essential peppermint oil that I had brought along with me.

My very first ‘meal’ post-op was a few sips of Izumio. About 2 hours later and with no nauseous feeling, I gulped down another packet of Izumio and a few sips of Milo.

Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Dr Tan came in to check on me at 10 a.m. today. She checked my wound and then told me that I could be discharged today! What, so soon?! I was totally stunned that she said that. Mum and dad wanted me to stay in the hospital for 1 more night to rest but I was reluctant and raring to be back to my home sweet home.

My girls surprised me with some gifts at the hospital when I was discharged. Cass had wanted to get me a stalk of flower since yesterday. Today, her dad ‘lent’ her some money to get me a stalk of daisy and some grapes from the gift shop at the hospital 💗😍

I thought that I could sleep to my heart’s content at the hospital but it’s the exact opposite. I was insomniac and still am insomniac. Izumio is indeed my power drink!!

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

The 3 holes on my abdomen, adding more scars to it.

I’d like to thank everyone who have prayed for me. Thank you to those who messaged me privately to wish me best of luck for the surgery and to check on me after the surgery. I am indeed blessed 💓

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It’s Getting Real

Two more hours to go and I’ll be wheeled to the OT. As the time is approaching, my heart beats faster and faster! The rumblings of my tummy to retaliate hunger compound matters. I only had 3 slices of white bread with strawberry jam, 2 packets of Izumio and 1 cup of Milo at 6:30 a.m. this morning. No dinner for last night.

I am starting to have the familiar jitters I get each time I am wheeled to the OT. I have gone through this 4 times and this is my 5th time. The pre-surgery prep is all done, including an ECG this morning. The insertion of the IV line will be done at the OT itself this time.

I didn’t get to sleep well the entire night last night. After 2 dosages of Pico Salax oral bowel prep yesterday evening, I had to run to the bathroom every 2 hourly. By the time I was done with it and with all the washing, I couldn’t fall back into slumber again. It was really hard for me to fall asleep in the room with lights turned on and the moment I fell into a deep sleep, I was awoken by strong urges to evacuate. Plus the huge wall clock in my room ticks away pretty loudly too, which is annoying.

Please pray for me dearies and stay tuned for updates on the surgery. Hopefully I’ll be feeling well enough to sit up and type away right away! 🙂

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Pre-Admission In Hospital – 28 May 2017

I was up at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning today. I have been overwhelmed by anxiousness since yesterday as today is my pre-admission to the hospital for a laproscopic myomectomy surgery scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The reason why I needed to be at the hospital so early is to do a blood test. Should the total blood count reading still be low, a blood transfusion would be required today.

I had a pleasant surprise when the blood test report shows that my total blood count (TBC) has climbed up to a reading of 12! Yippeeeeeee!! The TBC reading showed a reading of only 6 in January this year and I had only expected it to be at 7 or 8 now. Praise the Lord for his blessing as a blood transfusion can now be averted!

I am now back home for several hours before having to report back at the ward at 4:30 p.m. The pico salax (bowel prep medication) will be administered to me at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. today. I wonder why this time round a pico salax is to be administered and not an enema. During my 3 c-section births at the same hospital, enema was given.

Folks, I am requesting that you help pray for my surgery to be smooth sailing without any complication before, during and after the surgery. Please pray also that the biopsy will show a benign report. Thank you dearies 💗😘

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TGIF

As I got into the elevator just a moment ago, I greeted a young mum with 2 young daughters. They live on a few floors above me. We always bump into each other but never had the chance to chat. Today I commented how pretty her little girl’s princess gown was. She then opened up. She commented how young and pretty I look even after having 3 daughters. I told her that I ain’t young anymore and revealed to her my age. She was floored. She then commented “wah, you should be proud of yourself that at 44 and with 3 grown daughters, you still look young, slim and pretty!”

I am totally flattered 😍 I really have to thank my parents for their youthful looking genes. My parents definitely don’t look like they are in their 70s. The food we eat, the supplements we pop (I have my Izumio to thank too!) and exercise all make that difference too.

I walked into the house grinning from ear to ear. Drama Queen caught me in that ludicrous smirk and gave me a “are you mad, mum?” look 😆 I told her about the lady’s comment and she too shared my joy together.

That lady really made my day today.

TGIF peeps. And happy holidays to all the parents out there. 💘

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Healthy Meals Before Surgery

Four more days to go before the long awaited day! Bring it on!

These days, I am very careful with what I put into my mouth. I make sure that what goes into my body is not ‘tuk‘ (poisonous in Cantonese) and is low in sugar. I try to eat more iron-rich foods, more fruits and vegetables and more Izumio. Prawns, peanuts, dried shrimps, seafood (except fish) are considered ‘tuk’ foods and I avoid them like the plague.

My breakfast this morning:

Salted gula Melaka granola from Amazin Graze with toasted sunflower seeds, toasted almonds and walnuts, cranberries and banana. Amazin Graze’s granola is the best in the world!

Lunch today:

Minced beef ‘mee suah’ with fish balls and mustard greens. Soup base is chicken stock. Dessert is red bean + black glutinous rice ‘tong sui’.

My little bookworm all soaked up in her Enid Blyton novel.

I made a big mug of chilled lemonade with raw honey for the girls. It’s super refreshing on a sizzling 36 degrees Celsius afternoon.

Fruits of the day for the girls – red dragron fruit, apple, organic tomato and kyuri.

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My Tuesday – 23 May 2017

Five more days to go before I go under the knife. The clock is ticking away….

This will be my fourth surgery, of which three were C-section deliveries and one was a laproscopic ovarian drilling. The laproscopic myomectomy surgery that I am scheduled to go through will be performed at the same hospital that I gave birth to our 3 girls to. I have also requested the same anesthesiologist who is a family friend to administer the GA on me.

The past few days seem like a blood-chasing marathon for me again. I’ve been forcing myself to eat red meat at almost every meal, which is quite a torture for me as I am not quite a meat lover. Can everyone please pray for me that my total blood count goes up and shows a reading of at least 8? If it does, then I can avert a blood transfusion on the eve of the surgery.

My lunch today is beef + purple sweet potato porridge with our favorite ‘tau kok lup’.

My mid morning breakfast was 2 guinea fowl eggs with organic blackstrap molasses and pepper. Yesterday, a relative gave me a crate of guinea fowl eggs to ‘pou’ (nourish) my body.

Guinea fowls are relatives of pheasants and chickens. Guinea fowl hen eggs are smaller (weighing about 45 g), but richer in content of dry matter, lipid, vitamin “A” and carotenoids. The eggs are pear-shaped, smaller than chicken eggs, with thick and strong light brown shell, have large yolks and taste similar to chicken eggs. Guinea fowl eggs are very nutritious and the content of vitamin A, D3, E and group B exceed that of chicken eggs almost twice.

guinea fowl sitting on eggs
Guinea fowl

Dinner was beef porridge again. This time, my thoughtful mil minced the beef with a chopper as I commented that the meat was a tad tough 💗

Tonight’s homely dinner of minced beef purple sweet potato porridge, cooked with love.

Today has been a pretty good day for me. I felt a burst of energy and optimism during my pre-dawn exercise.

When Cass got back from school, she told me what all mothers love to hear most. She did well in her recent school exam with a top 10 position in the entire standard 3 😊💟

Later, my insurance agent Whatsapped me to inform that the insurance company will be approving my claim for the upcoming surgery and a Letter of Undertaking has been issued. That’s RM30,000 saved, praise the Lord!

In between, there are a couple of good news too. The stars have definitely aligned with the moon today. Drama Queen got up at 5:30 a.m. this morning and told me that she saw a big sparkling star next to a crescent moon on a very clear sky. What a pleasant sight to behold.

The batch of cinnamon, pandan, walnut and chocolate chip rolls that the mil baked today for the girls’ snacks box and breakfast tomorrow.

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Sports Day Saturday – 20 May 2017

I was up by 5 a.m. on a glorious Saturday morning today. It was raining and chilly. I was dying to hop back onto my glorious and inviting bed and sleep till the sun comes out but hard luck. I had to get the laundry done, wake the girls up, put some food on the table and Uber them to school early, just so I get a nice parking spot just outside the school so that we don’t have to walk so far in the rain. Alycia followed her sisters back to her old alma mater to meet up with her old school mates and to join in the convivial atmosphere of sports day in school. She still misses her old school a lot.

I heated up a slice of mushroom and chicken pizza that I had bought from Ficelle the day before for breakfast and the girls drank a packet of Izumio to power charge them for a long and strenuous day at the tracks.

Thankfully the rain stopped at 8-ish a.m. and the participants could start off with the marching and aerobic dance.

I left early at 10-ish a.m. with Cass and Alycia and brought them for breakfast at our neighborhood cafe.

We had sushi, red bean black glutinous rice ‘tong sui’ and curry noodles.

I Uber-ed Drama Queen back from school at 2pm after the Sports Day was over. As this is her last year in the school, she stayed on till the entire event was over and had a whale of a time camwhoring with her besties. I was surprised that Drama Queen came in 2nd and 3rd placing in two running events.

A very happy and proud Sherilyn with her medals

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Down Memory Lane

When my brothers and I were small, our favorite past time activities were playing badminton, climbing guava trees, catching tadpoles in rain water filled drains, cycling for miles everyday, playing card games with our neighborhood kids, flying kites, playing marbles, ‘congkak’ and much, much more. I remember plucking flowers grown at the compound of some random houses to suck the sweet nectar from the flowers. I knew which flowers had nectar and which didn’t. Every evening at 4-ish or 5-ish pm would be happy hour for my brothers and me. After watching Flinstones and Scooby Doo, we would dash out of the house to play with the other kids who were all boys, everyday. I was very much a tomboy. We spent a lot of time outdoors in the evening, about 2 hours everyday right until dinner was ready. My maternal granny was a fantastic cook and all her dishes were very sumptuous, though she used inexpensive ingredients.

I remember playing with dirt and soil in my garden, sticking my hands into the soil and digging out earth worms to play with these wriggly creatures. I don’t remember even washing my hands afterwards. And I don’t even remember my mum being overly clean with us.

I cycled to the river bank (without my mum’s knowledge) on my own at 9 years old to admire the scenery of the serene river and to another neighborhood just to pluck flowers and to play with dogs from people’s houses. I crashed my bicycle and flew like super girl onto the road a couple of times with badly grazed limbs. At 16, I rode on a racing bicycle for about 5 km every Sunday morning, braving and crossing congested traffic on big roads to attend Chemistry tuition. I got chased by dogs and nearly crashed my racing bicycle into the drain. When I turned 8 or maybe 9, I started to walk to the sundry shop about 5 minutes walk away from my house to help my mum buy flour and other groceries. She would always give me an extra 10 sen to buy hawflakes or maltose candy. In those days (from late 1970s through 1980s), kidnaps and road accidents were hardly heard of. I wonder what would happen to city kids now if they were to partake in all those activities that I mentioned here. They would be really, really lucky to get back home in one piece.

Once in a blue moon, my papa would bring the entire family for a movie treat. The 6 of us comprising my dad, mum, my 2 brothers, my maternal granny and I would cramp into my papa’s yellow Datsun 120Y car. I remember very vividly the movies that we watched together in the early 80s – The Ten Commandments, Poltergeist (1982), Star Wars I, Superman I and II, Possessed, Bewitched and many Jackie Chan movies. Papa was a big fan of Jackie Chan. Before we entered the cinema, my papa would treat us to boiled groundnuts wrapped in cone shaped newspapers sold at a cart outside the cinema. After the movie, we would all walk to a nearby roadside stall to have supper of ‘tong sui’ and ‘kuih talam’. Our life was this simple yet content back in the 80s.

Two weekends ago, the mil made a trip back to Ipoh to attend a wedding dinner. Before she returned to KL, she collected some goodies that my dad had prepared for his beloved daughter and grand daughters in KL. He cooked 3 bottles of pandan kaya, roasted some peanuts and pumpkin seeds and bought a big bag of raw groundnuts for us. He knows we all love eating boiled soft groundnuts. Thank you so much my dear papa for your unconditional love to us always 💕💕

Each time I eat boiled groundnuts, I would think of my cinema nights with my papa and my beloved family in Ipoh in the 80s. Money did not come very easily for us back then and we had to share our coneful of groundnuts. When we didn’t have enough groundnuts for sharing, we would suck on the groundnut shells, which were salty and tasty. My younger brother and I even had to share one seat in the cinema but we were very happy. I miss my simple and fulfilling childhood growing up in the beautiful town of Ipoh 💕💕

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Mother’s Day – 14 May 2017

On our Mother’s Day Sunday, hubs dropped Drama Queen and me at UTC Pudu to collect our ICs. I had brought Drama Queen to UTC the day before to have her IC done while I had mine changed with a new address. I thought that I had to wait at least half an hour, considering it was a Sunday but we were really lucky. We got our ICs instantly upon taking our numbers. Our numbers were called the moment the number tickets were churned out. Before hubs could even park his car, we were already out from the building! All in, we were in the office for less than 10 minutes! Never had things been at such lightning speed from my previous experiences at Malaysia government departments, I am impressed!

Next, we went to Pik Wah Restaurant @ Wisma Maba for an early Mother’s Day brunch. Good thing we went there early as only those who had made reservations got a table. The restaurant was full house, with many families having their Mother’s Day lunch as well. Since we were there at 11am, we got a table, albeit it being at the end of the restaurant, at a corner next to the loos 😷 Nonetheless, we enjoyed our lunch very much. We were all commenting how much more satisfying this meal was compared to our dinner the night before – taste wise and price wise.

Pik Wah’s specialty – crispy skin ‘char siew’

Steamed free range chicken

Smoked duck paired with pickled jellyfish

‘Yin Yeong’ Cantonese fried noodles

Fried rice with deep fried baby anchovies

After a very satisfying lunch, we had desserts at LDG (Les Deux Garcons).

Banana fritters with peanut butter and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream

A stack of fluffy pancakes for our 3 pancake-craze girls

A scoop of complimentary ice-cream with a pretty flower crafted from strawberry for the mothers.

I had a pleasant surprise receiving this card from my eldest daughter! It was a big surprise for me coming from this girl who is an introvert, who is totally not poetic, theatrical nor expressive with her words and feelings. She’s an ice maiden of sorts. I had to ask her a hundred times if she wrote it herself or copied it from somewhere 😂. The big girl retorted jokingly, albeit pleased and flattered that I loved her card, “huh, is that an insult to me mummy, that I can’t write a poetic card? I wrote it myself, really, really, like really! Go Google and see if you can find similar poems” 😝💘💘

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Our Saturday Spent At JPN @ UTC Pudu For IC Application

Today I decided to bring Drama Queen to UTC Pudu to get her IC done. It’s been almost 3 months since her 12th birthday and both hubs and I have been too caught up with work respectively that we could not squeeze out some time to bring the girl to get her IC done. Plus Drama Queen needs to attend UPSR exam preparation classes in school every Saturday. This makes Sundays the only available day for us to bring her to do her IC. But we have church to attend on Sundays.

Since today is the only Saturday this month that Drama Queen needs not be in school, I took the opportunity to bring her to UTC to get her IC done and to get the address on my IC changed. As the hubs was busy at work, I arranged for a Uber driver to get us to UTC Pudu.

Our Mr Uber driving us in his Proton Axia car.

Mr Uber arrived to pick us up at 11:30 a.m. and we reached UTC Pudu about 20 minutes later. The number we got was 1187 and 1188. The number on call at that time was 1132 — a frigging 55 people ahead of us, GREAT! Thankfully we didn’t really have to wait that long. After a 1.5 hour wait, it was finally our turn. The whole process, including photography took about half an hour. We wasted quite a bit of time as Drama Queen wasn’t cooperating during photography, like a whiny toddler who just refused to smile *roll eyes*. I had to coax her to smile. Can you beat that? On my 12-year old! Ha ha ha! That brought back memories of me bringing my then 6-month old baby Sherilyn to get her passport done for our holiday in Hong Kong. That was in 2005 (exactly 12 years ago). Thankfully the Malay lady who was attending to us today was super patient, bearing with this OCD mum who rejected about 6 photos. Well, though the 7th photo was still not acceptable in my eyes (the whiny girl still refused to put on her best smile just yet), I had to let it go as I was taking up too much of the officer’s time and I felt really bad.

In total, I paid RM20 for our ICs done. RM10 is for the ‘denda’ (fine) on Drama Queen’s IC application as we had exceeded the 1 month grace period. RM10 is processing fee for the change of address on my IC.

After we got the IC application done (IC collection is the next day), Drama Queen and I had to walk the streets of Pudu to flag down cab after cab to bring us home. It was drizzling and I had forgotten to bring along a brolly. I have not taken a cab in KL for aeons. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait for long before we caught a cab after running like sprinters on the road and waving like a mad woman flagging down cabs desperately 😅

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Cheddar Cheese On Toast

Today’s lunch for Drama Queen and Cass was takeout Mee Siam from our favorite cafe. Cass was super hungry today. When she alighted from the school van, she grumbled “mum, I am SO hungry. My stomach is SO pain and growling. I am going to die from hunger!” The moment she got into the house, she rummaged through the fridge for lunch. She saw the packet of Mee Siam in the fridge, took it out and devoured it like a feral dog. She was supposed to share the packet of Mee Siam with me but she scoffed it down within minutes, still in her dirty school uniform, stinky socks and with ruffled messy hair all over.

After she was done with her packet of Mee Siam, Cass said that she was still very, very hungry! OMG, what’s with her appetite?! She must be going through a growth spurt now. “But you have already eaten my share of Mee Siam. There is nothing else to eat. Do you want cheese on toast?” I asked her. There was a twinkle in her eyes. That’s her favorite, why not!

So I hurriedly popped a slice of wholemeal cranberry bread into the toaster, along with a slice of cheddar cheese and sliced tomatoes. This open toast is very much in the same mold as pizza bread. The bread is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The soft and chewy melted cheddar cheese is SWOON! Something as simple as a slice of crispy toast with hot tomatoes and chewy cheddar can really warm the cockles of this little girl’s heart 💓💓

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Our Saturday – 6 May 2017

I spent half my Saturday shopping with my baby girl, just her and me. Both Alycia and Drama Queen were in school. The mil was in Ipoh and the hubs had to work.

Before we left for Mid Valley Megamall, we had breakkie at a neighborhood cafe, tucking into our favorite best-in-the-world Mee Siam and mushroom tomato omelette.

Cass at work – decorating her notebook with FOC rubber stamps at Muji. She adores these rubber stamps and I can see that even adults are just as enthusiastic in them from the crowd at the stamping station.

A shopping queen in the making, just like her mum! Cass queuing up to pay for her dresses at Uniqlo 😁

Upon recommendation by a friend, we tried Q Zai Eggette, a popular snack made popluar in Hong Kong. Q Zai are waffles in the shape of a bed of little quail eggs. Cass and I had fun popping and munching these little eggettes on the go while walking the mall. Q Zai is located on the same floor as the cinema at Mid Valley Megamall.

Q Zai Eggette

After shopping, I sped to school to pick up Drama Queen. We had overspent our time at the mall and were late! Back home, I told Drama Queen that I was craving to have some flour-free banana pancakes, which Drama Queen can whip up some very yummy ones. Without even hesitating and bursting with enthusiasm to cook / bake, my chef wannabe hurriedly prepared the ingredients, which composes of only eggs and ripe bananas, that’s it, this simple… and of course a little oil for the pan.

Soon, the big girl who was craving for some pancakes ‘ordered’ pancakes from the chef wannabe and she of course was ever too pleased to accept. Drama Queen quickly gathered the ingredients and made 2 batches of fluffy pancakes. Then she had a light bulb moment. She made another batch of pancakes so that we could have them for breakkie the next day! The big girl took a breather from studying for Chemistry and Chinese language and helped out in the kitchen. This girl with ‘royal fingers’ seems to have a liking for making pancakes and that’s the only time she would help out in the kitchen.

Perfect pancakes made by Chef Sherilyn and Chef Alycia – crispy on the outside and pillowy on the inside!

After our late lunch of pancakes, Cass attended piano lesson.

Cass with teacher Crystal. She’s currently learning to play “Scars To Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara, her latest favorite pop song 🙂

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Random Matters – 5 May 2017

Today marks the 8th anniversary of my 3-week nightmarish stay at GMC Penang with Cass. She went in for a Uretheral Reimplantation surgery on 5 May 20o9. Something awfully awry happened during the surgery. There was a complication and she was operated on 2 weeks later, after many X-rays, ultrasound scans, a CT-Scan and a Fluoroscopy failed to show the kink at the end of her guts. My poor baby had to endure all these harmful scans and she was only 13 months old then.

The month of May happens to be a month of bloodshed and pain. May has never been too kind to me. Whether coincidental or jinx, May has always been unfavorable to me. Maybe it is in May that the stars and moon don’t align well for me. Dang it! This end May, I will be going for a surgery. You can read it at my other blog.

The mil is away in Ipoh for a few days and as a matter of course, I am tasked with cooking dinner. The thing with cooking is that once you lose the momentum, you lose the mojo and inspiration to cook. You will dread walking into the kitchen. The mil knows cooking is not my forte (though I can whip up a real mean meal, he he!) and she pre-prepared the ingredients for me the day before from de-shelling the prawns to mincing the pork done from scratch on the chopping board. This morning, she removed the skin of the leek flowers and cut them. How very thoughtful of her eh?

But the mil didn’t have time to finish prepping all the leek flowers this morning. After Drama Queen got home from school and finished her lunch, I tasked her with completing the job 😆

Steamed eggs with minced pork; sauteed leek flowers with baby shrimps and sauteed ‘yau mak’ vegetable. Simple dishes yet the girls scoffed down each plate of dish 😉

The scene at the dining table today.

The big girl pored over her Sejarah (History) textbook throughout dinner. She’s sitting for her Sejarah paper tomorrow and the last two papers of Chemistry and Chinese will be on Monday. And the other 2 girls pored over their novels 😁📗📘📙. Someone will surely see red to see this during dinner if she was around!

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Bonding With My Eldest

Every Friday, I have a one-to-one little jaunt with my eldest daughter. After Math tuition, I would drive her to the night market. She loves walking the night market to grab her favorite snacks. We would munch on snacks whilst strolling the road and stop by her favorite stalls which is a very delightful past time.

If the weather permits and it does not rain, we would scoff down a few sticks of ‘balls’ at the ‘look look’ van. Of all the snacks at the night market, we love the ‘look look’ van the best.

I know what’s on your mind y’all. Why is health freak mommy allowing this unhealthy food? Those fishballs and meatballs on bamboo skewers cooked in a pot of boiling water that everyone else dips their skewers inside too ain’t the healthiest choice of food. I believe that if we eat a little bit of something less than healthy once in a blue moon, we will still be fine. Just don’t go overboard. I do indulge moderately in my favorite less than healthy food once in a while to satiate that craving. Most days are clean eating and I have that cheat day once or twice in a week 😀

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