June 2020 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

RMCO Day 18 ~ Saturday, 26 June 2020

I have to make a decision by this week on which high school to send Cass to next year. The high school that Cass wants to go to is the one that her Alycia che che goes to, which is one of the top Chinese Independent High Schools in the Klang Valley. Her main reason for choosing this school is because almost all her classmates will be going to this school (95%). The remaining 5% are going to international schools and national schools. Applications for entrance test to this Chinese independent school can be submitted online by early next week.

However, I have reservations in choosing this Chinese independent high school for Cass because I know this girl too well. Her Chinese is weak and her choice of language is English. She will thrive in an English medium education environment. Before our country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, I was almost 100% certain that I would be sending Cass to this small-sized international school located conveniently right smack in our neighborhood. But when our country came to an almost standstill on 18th March this year for two months, the hubs’ catering business was impacted. Social gatherings were prohibited, which meant that his catering business was reduced to zilch.

When the government recently reopened almost all the economic sectors, hubs’ catering events slowly trickled in again. It would take some time before his business returns to its heyday. Thus, we would have to reconsider our plans in sending Cass to an international school which costs almost RM2k a month. Things are so uncertain now without a Covid-19 vaccine. With almost every social and economic sector returning to normal now, our country could experience a new wave of Covid-19 cases, just like in Beijing, Tokyo and Australia, which are seeing a surge in new cases after the state of emergency/restrictions in their countries were lifted recently. If this happens, another lockdown would be imposed and the whole vicious cycle affecting our country’s economy will be repeated 😪. With so much uncertainties over our country’s economy and hubs’ business, I am taking the conservative approach and have made up my mind to send Cass to a national school — the one that Sherilyn is currently going to. I had a lengthy discussion with my education consultant, aka my wise mom who was a school teacher for almost 40 years and she has given me the same advice. I also had a brainstorming session with Alycia and Sherilyn over the choice of high school for their baby sister and they all think that a national school suits Cass more, for now.

Cass has now accepted our decisions for her and I hope that she’ll thrive and be really happy in the high school that she’ll be going to next year. I’ve been praying hard that she’ll be getting dedicated and caring teachers as well as cross paths with new good friends in this high school.

This morning I went to our favorite coffee shop to get takeaway fish paste noodles for Cass. When I got home and poured the noodles out from the stainless steel food carrier, I was stupefied. There was not a single piece of fish paste or ingredients in the container except for plain vermicelli and soup! The seller must have totally forgotten to add all the ingredients and fish paste into the food carrier. And I paid RM9 for it!! I quickly googled the name of the fish paste noodles and thank God I found the seller’s mobile phone. I gave him a call and I think he realized too that he’d forgotten to add in the fish paste into my food carrier. He promised me that he’d give me a rebate or give me extra fish paste the next time I patronize his stall.

My 3 perpetually hungry girls walloped all the noodles and soup anyway, though it’s vegetarian and without any ingredients, except for some tomato skin floating in the milky soup 😆. My girls are really pretty ‘cincai’ (simple) kids who don’t mind eating anything as their main meals, though their dad always spoils them with luxurious meals. They’ll be happy with just biscuits or bread for lunch or dinner when the mom is lazy to cook. I’ve always instilled a sense of humbleness, modesty and thriftiness in them so that they will be able to face the real harsh world when they’re completely on their own in future.

No. of times viewed = 61

RMCO Day 15 & 16 (Wed & Thursday, 24 & 25 June 2020)

Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Cass’ best friend, A and her mom visited us today! A’s mom brought a huge bag of Enid Blyton books for Cass as A knows that Cass loves everything Enid Blyton from the Famous Five series to the enchanted tales series. We had lunch together at our condo’s in-house Japanese restaurant for the 2 girls to catch up on the 3 months that they missed out with each other in school. Cass is enamored of A and they are upset that they’re going to have very little time to spend with each other before they go separate ways to different high schools next year. This is their last year in primary school and they have to miss all the important and exciting events in school because of the pandemic — sports day, concert, canteen day, jogathon, trips, parties, UPSR and the culmination of their 6 years in primary school — their graduation ceremony. As the MoE announced yesterday that the year end school holidays will be shortened by two weeks, a graduation for the Year 6 students may still be possible in December with strict SOPs in place.

When we came back from lunch and stepped into the house, the aroma of fried chicken from the kitchen wafted in the air. Someone was deep frying chicken, something that both the mil and I will never do! And the chicken tenders were coated in flour – double the calories and fat! I freaked out but Alycia and Cass were all excited and couldn’t wait to dig into the forbidden food!

Not exactly chicken Karaage but a cross between it and oriental style soy sauce honey garlic fried chicken. And the girls loved it to bits. Food that’s usually forbidden always tastes extra yummeh eh?

Thursday, 25 June 2020

Today is the 100th day of MCO that our country is in and let’s all pray that our country never has to relive the MCO days again when the RMCO ends on 31 August 2020.

In the morning I brought Sherilyn to the clinic for the doctor to check out a corn on her right big toe that has turned inflamed. A corn is a tiny, discrete callous that can be very tender if it’s on a weight-bearing part of the foot. The corn developed on the bottom part of her big toe as a result of over-friction — from over-twirling on that toe during dance practice for several competitions, during taekwondo, kickboxing and Muay Thai classes when she had to train bare-footed and during running practice for an inter-school competition. This dancer of ours has been having rather frequent injuries to her legs caused by dancing, running and accidents. Early last year I took her for an x-ray when she fell during dance practice, injured her spine and had a swell on the spine. When she was 11 and 12 years old respectively, she fell from the stairs when she didn’t listen to my warning to her not to run down the stairs. She missed a step and landed on her ankle. The exact same accident happened around the same time, two years in a row and I thought that she was really jinxed.

Our lunch today was glutinous rice dumpling / zhong as today is Dragon Boat Festival. The zhongs were gifted to us by hubby’s aunt and are deliciously replete with ingredients.

Today we ate the last two Gula Melaka Nian Gao (glutinous rice cake) that my mum made for Chinese New Year this year. With this, we will have to wait for another half a year for her to make these sweet delight again. Mum makes really good Nian Gao that’s full of aroma from the palm sugar with soft and chewy texture. She makes it with her Philips pressure cooker.

This is my spunky, sociable and social media savvy 74-year old mum who enjoys baking and cooking. She makes almost all her food from scratch. In this photo taken last week, she’s prepping the dough to make ‘yau char kwai’ (Chinese Crullers / Oil-Fried Devils). My mum can fix anything in the house from changing light bulbs to simple repair works to changing the single handle kitchen faucet on her own! If only she lived near us, we could exchange homecooked food and visit each other more often 👩‍❤️‍👩

No. of times viewed = 66

RMCO Day 14 & 15 (Tuesday & Wed, 23 & 24 June 2020)

My days are slowly but surely seeing some semblance of old normalcy now. I am getting busier by the day, just like how I used to before Covid-19. And as things slowly return to normalcy, my hectic days are following suit too. My sleep hours are getting shorter, my chauffeuring duties are getting heavier and I am starting to doze off on my work chair once again. During the height of the MCO, I was a little insomniac and had trouble falling asleep at night.

This pandemic is a real test from God on our patience and perseverance. The past 4 months during the ‘World War III’ felt surreal, like we were all in a very bad dream that would never end. Hubs’ business was hit so badly that we thought it would never be back to its glorious heyday again. Everyone at home felt discombobulated – the kids for being taken out of school for so long, disruption to their routines, anxiety over loss of income, anxiety over when this pandemic will end, family members grinding gears with one another out of frustration being stuck at home and cooking 3 meals a day and much more. The news that we read from news portal everyday were very negative and demoralizing. The end of the road seemed so near for us.

But the worst of the 4 months are now behind us. New Covid-19 cases have now gone down to single digits. Today’s new cases is 6. More and more sectors are reopening. Alycia who is in Form 5 went back to school today (Wed, 24 June 2020). Gyms, swimming pools and cinemas will be reopened on 1 July 2020. And the sweetest news yet is weddings, seminars, parties, training events and social gatherings can now be held effective 1 July 2020, up to a max of 250 pax with strict SOP in place. This means that hubs’ catering events will start to trickle in. He’s already received a catering event for a meeting with over 100 pax. God has been very kind to us. Throughout the partial lockdown and restrictions on social gatherings when his catering events were slashed to zilch, he had and still has an alternative income. No one in our family had to go hungry, nor any of his staff throughout the MCO. In fact, we had more than enough food placed on our dining table everyday. And it’s looking pretty positive that our beloved part-time helper, Maria can come back to our home soon. God has answered many of my prayers and I am so thankful to him.

On the eve of Alycia’s school reopening yesterday, I brought her for a much needed hair cut.

The school’s hair cut policy is length of hair cannot be longer than 2 cm below the ears. This is Alycia before her hair cut:

Our regular hair salon owner has increased the price by RM5 to RM25 for Alycia’s haircut, to cover the cost of disposable aprons and hand sanitizer. The hair stylist cum owner wore disposable rubber gloves and goggles during the haircut.

Our dinner yesterday:

Buddha’s Delight (Lo Hon Jai), blanched organic baby spinach, stir-fried assorted vegetables from hubby’s kitchen, stir-fried ginger, mushrooms and sesame seed oil chicken tenders for the big girl who cannot stomach spicy food and sambal cili Tenggiri fish from hubby’s kitchen.

First day of school in RMCO – Alycia getting out of the house to her waiting transporter at the lobby this morning:

Social distancing markers on the van:

Students’ temperatures are scanned at the school entrance on a facial recognition thermometer and teachers are stationed at the bus stop area screaming out to the 5th and 6th formers to maintain a 1 meter distancing from one another. 😷

No. of times viewed = 36

3 Ways To Treat Your Shoulder Pain

If you’ve been experiencing shoulder pain, you’re not alone. In fact, studies have shown that up to 67% of people deal with shoulder pain at some point. This can be tiring and sometimes even prevent you from carrying out daily activities. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can treat your shoulder that have been shown to provide relief. Take a look.

1. Consult a Specialist

If you’re having severe pain or just can’t quite put your finger on what’s wrong, the best course of action is always to see a specialist. A chiropractor, for instance, could help diagnose you and recommend treatments. The best part is, experts could be more accessible than you think! For instance, you can easily get treatment for Frozen Shoulder Lincoln Square.

2. Try Epsom Salt Baths

If you think your shoulder pain might be due to cramping, an Epsom salt bath could help relax your muscles. This is because Epsom salts, named after their discovery location of Epsom, England, contain high amounts of magnesium. Simply fill up your bathtub with warm water, add the salts and enjoy a 15-minute soak.

3. Apply an Ice Pack

Finally, sometimes an old-fashioned ice pack or even a cold compress could be enough to provide the soothing relief you need. For a makeshift cold pack, try putting a small bag of ice inside a pillowcase and applying it to the area for ten minutes. If you try this method, be careful to never apply ice directly to the skin, as you could risk getting frostbite.

Shoulder pain can be frustrating to deal with, disruptive to your daily activities and greatly impact your quality of life. Thankfully, there are a few steps you can take to treat it. Try one of these remedies the next time your shoulder’s acting up, and you’re sure to start feeling better in no time.

No. of times viewed = 59

3 Things You Should Know About Robotic Surgery

If you have an upcoming procedure and have been wondering whether scheduling robotic surgery could be right for you, there are a few things you should know. While over 48 million surgical and nonsurgical procedures are performed in the United States each year, robotic surgeries are a relative newcomer to the scene. While it might sound intimidating, this highly advanced technology can actually make a big difference in your procedure experience, rate of recovery and final result. To learn more about robotic surgery and what it could mean for you, read on.

1. It’s Often Minimally Invasive

If you want your procedure to be minimally invasive, robotic surgery could be a good option. It uses physician-controlled robotic technology to assist in the surgical procedure, enhancing the surgeon’s abilities and helping make the procedure safer. It’s also more accessible than you might think – for instance, you can find a surgeon Victorville CA and weigh whether robotic surgery could be right for you.

2. It Has Excellent Success Rates

According to recent research, some robot-assisted procedures have had success rates of between 94% and 100%! This high level of success makes robotic surgery at least on par with the minimally invasive laparoscopic approach. The data indicates that robotic surgery could be a growing trend to watch.

Non-Invasive Treatment for Cervical Dysplasia | Surgeon Dr. Mobley

3. Procedures May Take Slightly Longer

One potential downside to consider is that robotic surgeries can sometimes take a bit longer than traditional ones. Whether an extra hour or more added to your procedure makes a difference depends on your condition or sometimes simply your preferences. When in doubt, consult your doctor about whether it’s an important factor in your situation.

If you need a surgical procedure and are considering minimally-invasive options, robotic surgery could be the right option for you. Talk to your doctor and you could look forward to an easier recovery and improved results!

No. of times viewed = 36

RMCO Day 12 ~ Sunday, 21 June 2020 (Father’s Day)

Hubs has been swamped with work for the past two weeks on a project. He’s providing consultancy service to a client to set up a kitchen for a bistro. As the client needs the kitchen to be built in express speed so that it can be ready for the bistro to start business pronto, hubs has to camp at the client’s site, literally. Everyday, he leaves the house for his office very early to settle his catering and arrangements for the food boxes for delivery before rushing to the client’s bistro. He doesn’t come back until way past 10 p.m. We try to have a short conversation everyday to update each other on what we’ve been up to. I communicate via Whatsapp with him most of the time, mostly on customers’ orders as I’m now helping him in his bento box delivery orders while he concentrates on his client’s bistro. So to those of you who’ve been getting super slow replies from him on your orders (or sometimes he may even overlook your messages), my apologies 🙏 You can Whatsapp me instead at 019-266 4297 if you need a quicker reply pertaining to order enquiries 😄

As part of the SOP of the bistro, all staff and workers must undergo a Covid-19 swab test, including hubs. So he did his very first swab test early last week and thank God, the result came back as negative! 😁

The bistro opened its doors to customers on Friday and today hubs brought us to the bistro – Sky Pe Cafe to celebrate Father’s Day.

These are the dishes that we ordered. The photos are taken from the cafe’s website as the lighting inside the bistro is a little dim and not ideal for producing good quality photos taken with my cheap phone.

Grilled salmon fillet with lemon dressing:

Mushroom soup with crispy garlic toast:

Fried chicken wings:

Beef burger with curly fries

Mee Siam:

Seafood pasta:

Australia grass-fed ribeye steak:

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the food, comprising Western and local cuisines which are priced pretty reasonably.

Patrons’ temperatures are scanned by a facial recognition thermometer before they go through a Bacteriostatic Atomization Intelligent Door where disinfectant mist will be sprayed all over their bodies! And hands must be sanitized too, of course.

Sky Pe Cafe
🖲 No.15, Jalan PJS 8/10, Dataran Mentari, 46150 Subang Jaya
☎️ 012-236 6933
⏱ RMCO operating hours ：11.30am – 10pm

Facebook page and website are still a work-in-progress as this is a new bistro.

I’d like to wish all the fathers out there a very happy Father’s Day, especially to my beloved papa whom I can’t be with him together this year to celebrate this special occasion together. But we had a great time chatting via Whatsapp video call in the evening💖

No. of times viewed = 31

RMCO Day 10 ~ Friday, 19 June 2020

After 4 days straight of eating delectable rich curried food from hubby’s shop this week, I had to run an extra mile today, in the glorious 10-ish a.m. sun. It feels absolutely satisfying to be drenched in sweat with rosy cheeks after a 40-minute jog 🏃‍♀️.

I had a light mid-morning breakfast of sugar-free yoghurt and added swirls of sugar-free crunchy peanut butter and homemade caramel, made by our baker daughter. Today’s breakfast is light and easy as we’re going to be digging into Nasi Kerabu from hubby’s shop for lunch, which is just an hour away!

Today our baking queen rolled out tangy and zesty lemon curd tarts. She split the baking into several days and started prepping the tart dough first earlier this week. Next day she baked the tart shells. And the following day she prepped the chocolate cream for the chocolate tarts. Yesterday she made the lemon curd and today she filled the tart shells with it. All these were done in between online classes and house chores (her duty this week is washing dirty dishes) with the OCD mother screaming at her to wipe away crumbs, flour, sugar and cream droppings on counter tops and floor before the ants feast on them and make her ballistic 🙃

Lemon curd that tastes like a hundred bucks! This jar comes from the juice and zest of 4 lemons. I eat it straight from the jar, like ice-cream, yumms!

When life gives you lemons, go make lemon curd and lemonade. Sherilyn made me a glass of super sour lemonade sans any sweetener or honey, which helped to melt away the beef rendang and Nasi Kerabu from hubby’s shop 😆

Sherilyn also cooked Japchae today and that’s for her breakfast tomorrow as she won’t have the time to cook anything tomorrow — she’s attending a Fighting Course for PT3 students conducted by teachers at her tuition center. I’d paid over RM500 for this 3-month revision program just before the Coronavirus pandemic. No one could have guessed that a month later, the Ministry announced that all government exams for this year will be scraped off due to the pandemic and partial lockdown, except for SPM, which will be postponed to the first quarter of next year. Since we’ve paid, the course will still proceed as planned. I think it’s still very beneficial that she attends this course (to be conducted online until the MCO is lifted) so that she gets to learn everything that she missed out in school throughout the MCO.

In the evening, Alycia toddled out of her room and sprang a surprise on all of us when she cooked! The girl who hates to be in the kitchen and hates greasy hands actually cooked a new recipe which she’s just watched on You Tube and couldn’t wait to try it out! It’s some kind of Korean tofu noodles pancake, using a little Japchae that her sister cooked, and added soft organic tofu, eggs and flour. Very impressively addictive, I must say, and it’s pretty healthy too as she used very little oil and didn’t add any salt to the batter 😁

No. of times viewed = 35

Fish Head Curry From Catermate

For those of you who missed out on the fish head curry from my hubby’s shop last and this Wednesday, his chef is cooking it again this Sunday, 21 June 2020 just because it’s Father’s Day 🙂

One portion is RM60 — composed of Garoupa / Grouper fish head, lady’s fingers, aubergine, tomatoes and onions. Some of you asked me how the curry tastes like – we all think it’s very close to the famous Kg Attap fish head curry 😋

To order, kindly Whatsapp 019-266 4297. Thank you ❤️

No. of times viewed = 50

RMCO Day 9 ~ Thursday, 18 June 2020

Today I brought Cass to school for her to retrieve some books from her desk, as requested by the class teacher. It’s her first time in school in over 3 months and the school looks eerily deserted and dusty. There are still no markings on the floors and tables for social distancing, which means that the school has not received any directive from the MoE yet on school reopening anytime soon. When I asked her if she missed school, she said “kind of. I’ts SO BORING at home!” I’m happy that she misses school; we’re just waiting patiently at home for the MoE to announce when primary school kids can return to school. Alycia who is in Form 5 will be going back to school next Wednesday and she’s not too zealous about it 🤨 Anyway, she just needs to be in school on Wednesday and Thursday but whether this arrangement is just for next week or the new norm until she completes SPM is yet to be confirmed.

Cass brought this miniature cactus to school for an experiment early this year and she’s so glad that it’s still thriving beautifully after months of being neglected at the balcony. Before she left, she brought the plant to the bathroom and watered it.

Nice view of KL skyscrapers outside Cass’ class

After takeout lunch of Wanton noodles and feeling thirsty, someone with buttery fingers brought out the GLASS bottle of blackcurrant cordial to pour some into her cup but as clumsy as ever, the glass bottle slid out of her buttery hands!!! It happened so fast I didn’t even hear the sound of glass breaking and when I turned back, I saw a scene that looked like some kind of gory murder scene at home:

“Oh. My. Gawd. I don’t know how to clean up this mess!” was all I could cuss. It was triple trouble! The glass broke into a million pieces and scattered few meters away. Same thing happened to the sticky sweet cordial – it splattered on chairs, computers, everything! And the sticky cordial seeped underneath the solid marble table with NO raised leg. With no MANpower at home, we could not life up the dang table to wipe the cordial away.

I pray that this sort of real bloodshed will never ever happen to me or my loved ones, ever! Even the sight of this makes me turn to jelly!!

An hour later and with my feet and fingers bloodily poked by super tiny and sharp glasses, we finally finished cleaning up the bloody mess. The toughest part was moving the almost 1-tonne marble table to wipe off the sticky cordial syrup underneath 😡

Mother of all nightmares for OCD mothers!

And some cheeky fella who was prepping lemon curd as filling for her tarts just had to join in the commotion. She dipped her hand onto the ~~blood~~ cordial and poked some jest just for some good laughs. 😆

Our dinner tonight: stir-fried chives with fish cakes, steamed eggs + century eggs + minced pork, stir-fried Gai Choy (Chinese Mustard) with dried shrimps and beef rendang from hubby’s shop.

No. of times viewed = 39

Support for Families Navigating the Adoption Process

Adopting children can be a beautiful way to begin a family; however, the process can be costly, comprehensive and stressful. With the complexity of the process, it can be difficult for families to navigate, so you will need to consider these resources and support systems to help you navigate this.

Services for Adoptions
While there are certainly private adoptions, there is also adoption facilitating service available to support both family and child throughout the process. Finding a reputable and supportive service can make the difference between a stressful and smooth process.

Pre-Adoption Counseling
Not many people know about pre-adoption counseling services that can help family and child through this transition. While it is an incredibly exciting time, adopting children can also be a transition, so utilizing these resources can help smooth that transition for all parties involved.

Financial Assistance
The process of adopting a child can be costly and sometimes even a cost-restrictive one; however, there are grants and financial assistance to aid prospective parents through the process. Do your research so that you can put your funds towards the newest addition to your home and not the process itself.

Your Employer
Many companies offer assistance to prospective parents with the adoption process, as they recognize the complexity of it. Investigate your options with your employer to see if there is any support for you and your family during this.

Your Family
Keep in mind that as you begin to form your new family, one of the biggest support systems you have is from your family. Whether you are relying on a partner, extended family or a chosen family, they are likely to be one of the best supports that you could ask for. If the process feels overwhelming or anxiety-provoking, you can rely on them.

Adoption can be such a marvelous experience, but just like any other avenue to start a family, it can also be stressful. Make sure that you have a plan and know what resources are available to you and you will have all of the care that you need as you navigate starting a family.

No. of times viewed = 18

RMCO Day 7 ~ Tuesday, 16 June 2020

I skipped jogging this morning to wash my car that’s not been washed throughout the MCO, which is 3 months! But something unbelievable and amazing that I notice is even though my car hadn’t been washed for over 3 months, the exterior ain’t black, dusty nor coated with grime. She was even left outside the car repair shop for almost 1 month recently when she conked out and had to spend her days there while waiting for the spare parts to arrive. Before Covid-19, my car would get really dusty and coated with a layer of black grime after just a day that she’s been washed. Now I truly believe that our environment is SO MUCH CLEANER during the lockdown! The lockdown has truly given our Mother Earth a much needed respite from the beatings and choking from hazardous fumes and industrial wastes that contaminate our air and water. Our country is even spared from the haze that normally drops by for a yearly visit around this time of the year.

Has anyone noticed how clean your car has been throughout the MCO though it’s been exposed to the elements? Fascinating right? In hindsight, I think this MCO has triggered the complete reset button not only in us but in our much loved planet.

My first time washing a car in 20 years!

When we had live-in helpers for more than 10 years, our cars would be washed almost daily. When we no longer have live-in helpers, hubs and I would send our cars to the nearby car wash centers. Now that I have more time on hand, I don’t mind washing my car myself once a week. After washing her today, I don’t think it’s that difficult after all. It’s quite a good workout too! Now my pink beauty is shimmering and squeaky clean again😍

A very simple and yummy one-pot meal for dinner today – pumpkin chicken rice with Chinese sausage. This is my kind of dinner as post-dinner aftermath ain’t that tough on us girls who are in charged of post-dinner clean-up vs. a 4-dish + 1 soup dinner ☺️

No. of times viewed = 42

RMCO Day 6 ~ Monday, 15 June 2020

Today I’m feeling a wee bit under the weather – throat is starting to act up and nose feels unusual, the kind that you know a cold or flu is about to attack. I know that if I don’t nip the virus or bacteria at the bud from proliferating, I could end up with a full blown nasty flu and throat infection. I still went for my usual 10 a.m. morning run to soak up the healing sun rays and popped Esberitox, drank honey with propolis tincture, sprayed throat with propolis spray, gulped down a few packets of Izumio and gargled my throat with a concoction of sea salt water with Melaleuca essential oil, Clove essential oil and Peppermint essential oil several times a day. I used the same concoction to clean my inner nose with a cotton bud. I think this routine seems to help. I better go to bed early tonight as sleep is just as important for healing.

Sherilyn cooked meat balls spaghetti bolognese for lunch with the leftover burger patty meat that she prepped last week. By the time she finished cooking, it was already 3 p.m. Cass ate so much that she was too bloated for dinner. She’s going to have a 17-hour Intermittent Fasting if she breaks her fast at 9 a.m. for breakfast tomorrow! 😆

Our dinner tonight: steamed cod fish, ‘Tai Yi Ma Kar Lui’ (braised hairy gourd with pork, dried shrimps and glass noodles) and braised sliced pork shoulder with tomatoes and Bombay onions.

Below: throwback dinner from one of the weekdays last week: healthy rainbow fried rice, stir fried organic baby spinach, sweet and sour fried Mackerel and sweet corn fritters.

No. of times viewed = 34

RMCO Day 5 ~ Sunday, 14 June 2020

Cass is free from online classes obligation on Sundays. Thus, it’s a great day today to drag this dopamine-frazzled zombie out of the house to soak in some healing morning sun. She really needs the much needed sunshine vitamin and happy vitamin after spending 3 months indoors in quarantine. What motivates her to walk to the shops is the street food that she misses dearly! 😁 She’s not dug into her favorite-est fish paste noodles for more than 3 months and has been craving for it since the start of the MCO. The mil walked with us too, with a market trolley in tow.

Today’s brunch was high carbs, high cholesterol and high fat. Sundays have always been our cheat days 🤭. We bought fish paste vermicelli, wantan noodles, char koay teow, mochi with crushed peanuts, char siew pau and the mil bought a big bag of assorted Youtiao and Ham Chim Peng aka deep fried Chinese doughnuts. The young chap that sells freshly made Youtiao resembles a celebrity! He’s tall, good-looking with huge killer eyes and blessed with flawless fair pinkish complexion; he definitely doesn’t look like a street vendor with a bandana on his forehead and Good Morning towel draped over his shoulders! He should have been head hunted to be a model or actor 😆 This leng jai’s (handsome boy) assorted Youtiao are the tastiest and crunchiest in the world (in my opinion) and there’s always a long bee line next to his truck.

My other kryptonite, besides kuih! Tomorrow I’m off to running for 40 minutes again in the morning sun!!🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

No. of times viewed = 50

Dress Your Best This Summer

Summer is here and some of the best things about summer are the balmy weather, clear blue skies, lots of fun outdoor activities, trying new sports, beach fun, picnics, bikini and donning on sexy and cheap summer clothes to soak in the glorious sunshine!

One of the best places to search for affordable funky summer clothes is at Prestarrs. These days I prefer to shop for clothes via online platforms as they are cheaper than those sold at brick-and-mortar stores. And it’s safer to shop online in perilous times like now.

For those of you who prefer not to show off your legs, maxi dresses are your next best choice this summer. This frock exudes charm and makes every woman look elegant and feminine. Maxi dresses are very versatile and allows you to wear it for just about any occasion ~ party, beach, office, shopping. If you’ve never tried on a maxi dress, then head over to Prestarrs to check out their amazing choice of cheap maxi dresses. You can see some of the pretty maxi dresses below and you’ll be spoilt for choices at Prestarrs.

Of course you can wear a maxi dress during fall and winter months as well. Summer maxi gown styles are mostly strapless, sleeveless, sheer, made of thin fabric while maxis made of thicker fabric and long sleeves are for chilly weather. Maxi dresses are pretty forgiving. Even if you are on the larger side, you can still look stunning in a maxi. I recommend that you choose floaty and lightweight fabrics, so your bulges don’t appear too obvious. Better go for dark colored dresses, as they have the ability to camouflage unwanted parts and make you look slender.

Whatever the occasion and season, if you’re a dress lover, Prestarrs is the place to shop for them.👗 Happy shopping! 😉

No. of times viewed = 22

RMCO Day 2 ~ Thursday, 11 June 2020

After churning out a whole load of brioche buns two days ago, our baking queen finally had the opportunity to roll out her version of Killer Gourmet Burgers (KGB) today. Being the fastidious and critical chef / baker / dancer that she is, she made sure that the KGB lives up to its moniker. Almost every piece of ingredient in the KGB is curated, baked and cooked by her – from the meat patties to the pickled onions, grilled zucchini, grilled sweet potato and potato sticks, caramelized onions and brioche buns. The homemade pickled onions that she made this morning gave the burger the moreishness and refreshing tang. She soaked the onions in apple cider vinegar, Gula Melaka syrup, rosemary and a few other aromatic herbs. The result is a droolicious assembled KGB that tastes like a hundred bucks!

I can’t believe that this KGB is produced by a 15-year old girl whom I once suspected had ADHD as she was just so hyperactive, mischievous and lacked focus in her studies that I just didn’t know what to do with her! Thank God all those negative traits were just a passing phase. I thought she was a no-goner when she was 11-12 years old but surprisingly when she went to high school, she had a 360 degrees turn, even with her studies. I am amazed! So I still have hope in Cass, who’s going through the same terrible phase as what her 2-che went through when she was 12 years old 🙏🏼

Love at first bite!

Sherilyn’s homemade Brioche buns. Now that they’re sliced into half, they don’t resemble ‘heong pneang’ that much 😆

Homemade pickled onions – this morning she woke up early to start prepping these. She soaked the onions in apple cider vinegar, Gula Melaka syrup, rosemary and a few other aromatic herbs.

Homemade minced pork patties with melted Mozzarella.

Grilled sweet potato and potato sticks.

Ingredients for assembling the KGB.

A KGB piled so high with ingredients that it’s so hard to bite onto it! We replaced lettuce with fresh basil leaves.

Thanks for dishing out the gourmet burgers Sherilyn! We appreciate your effort very much, though I scream and cuss a lot at the mess you create each time you play masak-masak at the kitchen 😘

No. of times viewed = 31

Making the Switch to Natural Products

If you’re feeling the overuse of chemicals in your life, you’re not alone. Now is a great time to make the switch to natural products that won’t dry your skin or pollute your house. Making just a few changes can make a big difference to your health and happiness.

Personal Products
Luckily, there are plenty of soaps, shampoos and body washes out there made with all-natural ingredients. Interest in natural products is on the rise, so it’s easy to find products at the grocery store or a soap company Lampasas TX. Although all soaps contain lye (It’s a must in the soap-making process.), natural soaps counteract its harshness with ingredients like glycerin, shea butter and goat milk, for example, leaving your skin with a soft moisture barrier.

Black Raspberry and Vanilla Soap

Household Products
It turns out that some of the best natural household cleaning products are probably already in your pantry. Baking soda does an excellent job on baked-on food on pots and pans. There is no reason to buy an expensive cleanser. Purchase a glass spray bottle, and for pennies, you can make a wonderful all-purpose cleaner using water, white vinegar, baking soda and a few drops of essential oil. You can even make your own disinfectant wipes with old t-shirts, vinegar and a variety of essential oils.

Pest Control
One of the best ways to kill fleas, spider, ant and roaches is with diatomaceous earth, a non-toxic powder you can buy at the hardware store. Diatomaceous earth can be applied to your home in several different ways. It can be “puffed” into small spaces and crevices, sprinkled and raked into carpets or left under appliances in shallow jar lids. Insects who encounter the powder die by drying out. Once any powder has settled, children and pets are perfectly safe around the substance.

It’s easier to just buy a bottle of something with a long list of chemicals in it because that’s what’s on the shelf at the grocery store. If you want to make the transition to all-natural products, start small, and begin to breathe freer.

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