Sherilyn made Korokke (Japanese Potato Croquettes) for dinner today. They were super fattening but how can I resist when they’re so so delish and crispy?! I whacked quite a bit and then felt super guilty. All these will slowly come to an end when she goes back to school next week . We’ve all enjoyed a year of being her guinea pigs and will have to wait for the next school hols to try her new recipes again.
Hopefully there will be no more MCO and no more home quarantine, ever!
Hubby cooked these for a VVIP lunch event today:
Pan fried chicken chop.Pan fried salmon.
Do check out Catermate if you need catering or bento boxes delivered to your home or office.
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the already muted real estate market in Malaysia upside down. 2020 went down as an unprecedented year as countries around the world are faced with a global pandemic with restrictions in movements.
The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected project development in the real estate sector, sales operations of existing real estate, values and rates of return of existing real estate sector in general not only in Malaysia but all over the world. Stay-at-home orders by the authorities and the inception of new policy and precautionary measures, travel bans and restrictions on domestic and foreign tourists have adversely affected the tourism sector which has a causative ripple effect on other industries, including the real estate such as retail facilities, office and residence transactions, increased vacancy rate in hotels and much more.
My Sil who lives overseas owns a fully furnished cozy apartment unit at the opposite block of ours. Ever since the previous tenant moved out, we have not been able to help her get a new tenant albeit she lowered the rental rate and renovated her unit. She used to rent out the unit to Japanese expatriates but with borders closed and companies cutting down on staff, we do not foresee anyone renting the unit for at least another half a year.
According to the National Property and Information Centre (NAPIC), the property market contracted sharply in March and April 2020 due to the implementation of the MCO before picking up again in May as restrictions were eased during the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) period.
NAPIC’s first half of 2020 data showed that the volume of property transaction declined 27.9% with 115,476 units compared to 160,165 units during the same period last year. Out of this, 75,318 units were those in the residential property sector which recorded a decline of 24.6%. The steepest decline was recorded in the commercial property sector which saw a 37.4% drop followed by the industrial, agricultural and development land and others at 36.9%t, 32.8 per cent and 28.6% respectively.
According to The Edge Markets, the overall property market in 2021 is expected to be flat or record a slightly better performance than 2020 as the start of the vaccination programme in the country would help in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and start the economy on a recovery path. However, with the recent rise in infections and the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) 2.0 and the declaration of emergency, the hoped-for recovery may be delayed until 2022.
On a positive note, with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme which has already started, the economy and subsequently the property market will be able to stage a sustained recovery once herd immunity is achieved. Property buyers may take advantage of the current low interest rates to buy their dream homes and housing developers are expected to intensify their marketing efforts to push sales before the Home Ownership Campaign 2020 ends on 31 May 2021.
If you’re in the midst of house hunting or know of someone who’s looking for one, now is the best time to consider in order to take advantage of the current low interest rates and Home Ownership Campaign. To find out how much you have to pay for your monthly repayment for different home price, deposit, mortgage amount, interest rates and term, check out this mortgage calculator for a quick and easy answer. Also check out this remortgage calculator if you’re planning to remortgage or refinance your home loan and would like to know the revised monthly payment and other details.
For starters, homebuyers will be able to enjoy full stamp duty exemption on the Instrument of Transfer for residential properties up to RM1 million, and a partial stamp duty exemption (3%) for those priced between RM1 million to RM2.5 million. In addition, the stamp duty on the Instrument of Securing Loan will also be exempted for residential properties up to RM2.5 million. And best of all, every homebuyer will enjoy a minimum of 10% discount off the purchasing price!
Saturday, 27 March 2021 – The entire family consisting of hubby, our 3 girls, my youngest brother Roy and I went to the University of Wollongong @ Utropolis, Glenmarie for a short tour of the university and to have a briefing by the staff from the marketing department on the course that Alycia plans to pursue. She intends to pursue a diploma and then degree in Communications.
UoW is about 25km from our home, which is about 40 minutes drive by car. Should we decide to send Alycia to this university, she will most likely be staying with my youngest brother who has a house about 5-6km away from the university. This will be the most practical and economical way for us vs. staying at the campus or renting a room at an apartment opposite the university. The cost of rental of a single room costs between RM1,100 onwards. A 450 sq ft suite opposite the university costs RM1,500!
We are unable to compare UoW with other universities yet as this is the first university that we’ve visited. This Friday we will be visiting Sunway University and then decide on which university to send Alycia to. Sunway University has more facilities and the fees are RM20-30k more expensive than UoW. Sunway University is definitely more impressive and bigger than UoW. Should we choose Sunway University, we’re going to have to spend quite a bit on Alycia’s transportation as it’s also far from where we stay — 33km and 45 minutes drive away from home. Staying on campus is not an option now as it will bust our budget. If we decide to settle with Sunway University, Alycia will probably have to spend over 2 hours to and fro on the LRT, train and shuttle bus on days that she has lectures. Total cost for a 4-year degree program (Diploma / Foundation and Degree) is a little over RM100k at UoW and RM120-130k at Sunway University.
That’s a LOT of $$. Alycia is also going to learn driving soon and that’s another RM2k! One year later it will be Sherilyn’s turn to go to college and our ever ambitious middle child has firmly told us that she will work hard to get a scholarship. Her dream is still to go to her dream university in Canada. We’ll see…
When Kim Kardashian wore a corset beneath her 2019 Met Gala Thierry Mugler silicone gown, the Internet trolls accused her of removing a rib. The latex corseted dress was super body hugging and beaded crystals hung off her like real drops of water. Her hair had a wet look and she smothered her skin with plenty of oil to create the shiny smooth effect. She looked like a stunning goddess. Her anatomically-confounding and barbie-small waist was meant to be hyperbolic, but for the millions of girls who idolize Kim Kardashian as a source of inspiration, it was breathtaking nonetheless.
If you’re a Kim Kardashian wannabe dreaming of a curvy silhouette like hers, have you ever considered wearing a Feelingirldress waist trainer to shape up your body? Waist trainers are undergarments constructed using thick fabric and metal boning. They are worn around the mid-section, cinched up with lacing system, hooks or Velcro. It’s adjustable and if you want to have a smaller and sleeker looking waist, the waist trainer can be worn tighter. Often, results can be seen immediately upon donning on a waist trainer. But to achieve a permanent result, the waist trainer has to be worn over a period of several months to ‘train’ your body to be molded into an hourglass shape.
Some people swear by the benefits of wearing a waist trainer and the best butt lifting leggings for a shapely figure. Below are some of the benefits of wearing shapewear:
1) Better posture – Wearing a waist trainer may temporarily help with improving posture. Over time, you would have gotten used to standing and sitting in an upright position with a better posture.
2) Postpartum support – Waist trainers may provide support to women after child-birth where their abdominal muscles have stretched or thinned following pregnancy. It also helps to flatten the abdomen at a quicker rate.
3) Boosting your self confidence – Besides enhancing your curves and making you look slimmer, shapewear go beyond shaping. They boost your self-esteem and confidence when you look better and give you proper posture support. When you feel confident about how you look, you’re a happier person!
4) A slimmer you – While a waist trainer will not help you lose weight, it will certainly help you to eat smaller portions as your belly is being compressed.
While your body will not look like Kim Kardashian with a waist trainer, you can certainly get pretty close with a good quality waist trainer. Along with a healthy and sensible diet, exercise and proper shapewear, you will be on your way to achieving a permanent hour-glass figure. Remember not to rush things off. It may take months to achieve your desired weight and figure, but if you follow the abovementioned guidelines, you will slowly and surely achieve your dream figure.
If you’re looking for a body shaper or wholesale waist trainers with logo for your retail business, check out Feelingirldress.com for a wide range of shapewear at affordable prices.
When it comes to relaxation, you can’t deny that getting a professional massage is one of the best ways to help yourself wind down and feel completely refreshed and relaxed afterwards. No matter the type of massage you go for, pressure is the main benefit. A moderate pressure massage will move the skin, which causes the nervous system to calm down. As a result, this leads to other relaxing effects in your body such as lowered blood pressure and a decrease in heart rate. Here are some of the biggest benefits of getting a massage to be aware of.
Stress Relief
If you are dealing with high levels of stress and anxiety, getting a massage can seriously help you to feel calmer and relieve some of your symptoms. When you are getting a massage, it activates your parasympathetic nervous system which produces a calming response resulting in a decrease of anxiety and stress. And what’s even better is that getting a massage can have long-lasting results for your stress and anxiety levels.
Better Sleep
If you struggle with insomnia or have trouble with getting a good night’s sleep, getting a massage is an ideal way to get a better and deeper sleep at night. Your sleep is related to the activity levels in your nervous system. When your nervous system is slowed down due to the pressure of the massage, this makes it much easier for you to enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Improve Focus
If you’re having trouble staying focused in work meetings or can’t seem to focus on one thing for a very long time, getting a massage can help improve your attention span and make it easier for you to focus. That’s because your heart rate needs to be lowered for you to best pay attention. Since a massage will slow down your nervous system, it will also slow your heart rate which will ultimately make it easier for you to focus.
Relieve Pain
If you have experienced an injury or are dealing with joint pain, a massage can help a lot. Sports massage is often recommended for people who have suffered a soft tissue injury. If you want a massage that will help to relieve pain from an injury, it’s important to choose a massage therapist who is licensed, experienced, and has a lot of experience working with patients in your situation.
Better Immune Response
Booking a massage at utopiabeautique.com isn’t just great for relaxing, but can also help to improve your immune system. Your body has two different immune responses that need to be optimally balanced to ensure that your immune system is working at its best. During a massage, the production of stress hormones in your body is slowed, which will help to maintain the balance. Because of this, massage can also help you better manage autoimmune conditions like type 1 diabetes or asthma.
Whether you want to relax, relieve pain, sleep better, or simply be stronger and healthier physically and emotionally, massage is an enjoyable and beneficial treatment to invest in.
My blogs were created 14 years ago as a journal to record my daily life as a stay at home mom with two toddlers. Alycia was only 3 years old and Sherilyn 2 years old. Shortly after my blogs were created, I’d read from my blogger friends’ blogs that they were making money from their blogs, in US Dollars. I jumped onto the bandwagon and have never looked back since. Back in the days, the amount of online assignments/opportunities from platforms for bloggers to monetize their websites were bountiful. I used to earn over USD1,000 a month from writing sponsored posts and commissioned writing in my jammies sitting at home while looking after two toddlers. Then the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and my earnings were affected. Nonetheless, there were still assignments albeit on a smaller scale. The timing of the scaled down assignments came at a right time for me as I had just given birth to Cassandra, my third and youngest child in April 2008. She had a medical condition which required 101% of my time to be spent on her with lesser time to blog.
The earnings I got from monetizing my blogs over the years whilst being a full-time SAHM have given me a little financial freedom and self-esteem. Besides getting to monetize my blogs, I’ve made friends with many wonderful like-minded ladies who are stay at home moms like me. We remain good friends up until today. When we met in the blogsphere 14 years ago, we had babies and toddlers. Our children are now teenagers and some are already in college. Some of us are still blogging actively. Blogging has definitely opened up my mundane stay-at-home-mom life to a world of opportunities and brought me to many wonderful friends. Blogging has always been my passion, my outlet to rant and ramble and a great avenue to earn a revenue to save for rainy days — like the pandemic that we’re in now.
The majority of my clients and advertisers used to come from the US and now from China and other parts of the world, including our own country. But no matter which part of the world they are from, I am always paid in USD, GBP and SGD via Paypal.
While I am just an unassuming stay-at-home-mom who blogs during my free time, some bloggers and influencers have made themselves famous social media moguls. They’ve worked very hard to amass a large following organically and have conquered the social media game with their passion.
It’s never too late to start your own blog (it could be on any topic that relates to you) to monetize it. Or you could dabble in You Tube or Instagram, posting photos and videos of your favorite things or hobbies. If you work hard enough and have a large following and subscribers, you could start to earn. You can also reach out to influencer marketing platforms like Intellifluence to monetize your social media platforms. Influencers can join for free and get free products and/or cash in exchange for their reviews and promoting content.
The sky is the limit and with a little creativity, passion and hard work, you can earn a little extra money on the world wide web.
Alycia’s sat for the last SPM paper (Economics) on Wednesday, 24 March 2021 after a month-long major exam. She and I can finally heave an euphoric sigh of relief that it’s all over after several postponements with almost the entire year away from school last year.
I don’t even care how many As she will be getting. It does not really matter to me anymore but it would be great if she does well so that she gets a full or even a partial scholarship to ease our financial burden.
But it’s not going to be the end of the world if she doesn’t fare well as I had hoped for her to. Learning is a lifelong journey and the SPM is a very small part of that adventure. And she’s going to have another exciting adventure ahead of her when she goes to college in July this year. I hope that her relatives and society will not look at her differently if she does not fare as well as they had expected her to. The past 1 year has been filled with nothing but anxiety and stress for her and the SPM 2020 cohort aka the Covid batch of SPM candidates.
So, when the results are finally out, instead of asking, “how many As did you score?”, please be kind to her and me and do not give disparaging and hurtful remarks like “why no As?” or “why so few As?” . This is the last thing we ever want to hear. Give the SPM 2020 cohort a chance to proof their worth when they are in college, university and out in the big corporate world.
Tomorrow will be an exciting day for the girls and I. We’re going to University of Wollongong @ Glenmarie for a visit. Cass is more excited than Alycia of the university visit 😄.
It’s French and Italian fare today! Sherilyn whipped up crepes for breakkie and Chicken Cacciatore with mash potatoes for dinner. They were restaurant standard in terms of taste, quality and presentation. I better cherish all these before our chef Sherilyn goes back to school on 5 April 🙂
Banana and homemade chocolate sauce crepes.Sherilyn learned a new skill today – how to lollipop chicken drumsticks! The mashed potato was made by her too, assisted by the TMX6.
Haru’s nails were trimmed by the vet early this month when we brought her there for her first vaccine. The nails grew sharp and long again very quickly. If you have kittens and cats, you will know how sharp they are, like razor blades! Yesterday I got scratched badly by Haru, unintentionally. Haru was on the floor enjoying her wet kitten food of tuna and I was squatting next to her. Cass who was nearby playfully tried to scare Haru and before I even realized it, Haru jumped, thinking that she would be attacked and in the process, I got scratched by her – a deep scratch on my left palm and two scratches on my fingers. All her food flew from the bowl and splattered everywhere 😿 😾
Haru’s latest craze is this blue unicorn plush indoor slippers with claws. Alycia’s best friend gave her the pair of slippers and a unicorn blanket onesie. She’s the one who fostered Ginger (Haru’s brother). Ginger would get very aggressive and growl each time she sees the clawed slippers 😹
These are photos of Ginger (now named Moon Moon by his new mom), taken by Alycia yesterday when she went to her best friend’s house after their last SPM paper. Yes, yay to them for finally completing their SPM, after months of postponement, causing unnecessary emotional stress to them.
Ginger is one very aggressive cat who loves biting everyone and lets out the loudest MEOW to seek attention. Sherilyn calls him the attention seeker 😸
I had gone through five surgeries in my life thus far. Every time I was wheeled into the OT, I got immensely rattled by the sight of the cornucopia of metal surgical equipment laid out on a trolley next to the metal OT table that I was placed on. It’s terrifying to know what my body would be subjected to in the next couple of hours with so many instruments about to go into my poor body. From long screws to forceps, the different sizes and types of scalpels and scissors, tubes and robot-like devices, the sight of the dozens of surgical equipment is enough to make anyone shiver uncontrollably, not to mention the freezing temperature inside the OT. I had the same paralyzing fear each time I accompanied Cass into the OT (4 times) when the sight of the dozens of terrorizing surgical instruments greeted us.
If you’d gone through a major surgery like I did and seen the plethora of surgical devices in the OT, have you ever wondered how these devices are cleaned before they are used on the next patient? While some devices like tubes are disposable, most of the instruments, which are costly, are washed and sterilized in an ultrasonic cleaning machine. Often times, medical brushes are used to clean the instruments.
While browsing some websites, I found out that using the correct size of cleaning brush (with the right diameter and length) for cleaning surgical instruments is very important to ensure maximum cleaning efficacy. Ineffective cleaning of medical devices is a key factor in many healthcare associated infections and surgical site infections around the world. At AOQUN Brush, there are hundreds of different sizes and types of medical instrument cleaning brushes that are specifically designed to meet the cleaning requirements of medical devices. The medical brushes can also be custom made according to the needs of the hospital.
Best medical practices dictate that cleaning brushes should be disposed of after use on instruments from each surgical procedure to prevent cross-contamination. Using the right tool for the job is important, and one of the keys to effective cleaning is having the right instrument cleaning brush.
Cass finally met up with her two BFFs from primary school today. Her bff, A, who’s now studying in an international school, has moved to our neighborhood. Cass and J went to A’s house to help her with unpacking and arranging. A’s mom brought them to Domino’s for pizza. If it wasn’t because of her piano class, Cass would have stayed at A’s house the entire day to catch up with her 2 bffs to make up for lost time. They should have had a graduation in school, a farewell party and lots of fun year end events together with tons of photos taken but sadly none of these happened last year.
Onwards and upwards! A is now in our neighborhood, which means more opportunities for them to meet up to catch up. And J is in the same high school as Cass. Though not in the same class, they may still bump into each other. At least they have something relevant to talk about as they’re in the same school. I really hope that A, J and Cass will be best friends forever.
While Cass had a great time with her friends, hubs, mil and I went to Restaurant Eight Treasure in Cheras for lunch. Alycia and Sherilyn stayed home – Alycia for SPM revision and Sherilyn to attend online church youth meeting.
Steamed ‘ma cau’ chicken (chicken fed with horse grass), steamed tofu with fish paste, fried yau mak and assorted yong liu stuffed with homemade fish paste. This restaurant serves the best steamed horse grass chicken. I don’t like eating steamed chicken but this chicken is an exception. The texture, taste and doneness are cooked to a tee – smooth, juicy, right amount of grease and aromatic. The ginger dipping sauce gives the chicken moreishness.
Hubby’s catering business is slowly but surely making a comeback. It will take months and perhaps even a year before it reaches its heyday again. He’s working very hard and we’re very thankful that we have many friends and even my blog readers who have been supporting his business.
I’d like to thank one of my blog readers from Australia who ordered food from Catermate for a surprise party for her relatives in KL. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your patronage ❤️
Nasi Briyani with ayam masak merah, mutton rendang, fried fish with sambal cili, Dalcha vegetables, acar and Nyonya kuih.
The moment you held your baby in your arms for the first time, I’m sure he or she made an instant place in your heart forever. You made up your mind that you’re going to give the best of everything to this precious bub of yours. You were determined that baby would be breastfed exclusively for as long as you could lactate, that baby would be fed with only organic produce and you would try to go organic with baby toiletries and much more. However, not all new mothers are able to breastfeed their babies due to a myriad of reasons which are out of their control, such as insufficient glandular tissue (hypoplastic breasts), previous breast surgery, such as mastectomy or a breast reduction surgery, postpartum depression and much more. When faced with such difficulties, there are great alternatives to mother’s milk such as sourcing for a human milk bank or go on baby formula. There are many brands and types of baby formula in the market to choose from and if you can afford it, it would be great to choose a certified organic formula brand, like Bubs Organic®.
According to strict organic regulations put in place by the USDA, organic milk must come from a cow that has not been treated with antibiotics, has not been given hormones ― for either reproduction or growth ― and has been fed at least 30 percent of its diet on pasture. Organic milk has more of the good stuff and none of the antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or controversial pesticides. Organic cows are happier and healthier which leads to more nutritious milk and healthier babies and kids!
Bubs Organic® milk comes from free range cows that graze outdoors, all year round and enjoy a diet of fresh green grass. A grass fed diet improves the quality of cows milk as it is richer in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin e, beta-carotenes and CLA when compared to other milks. Bubs Organic® milk are available for newborns to children up to age 12 years old. The milk is free from nasties, sucrose and maltodextrin.
Exclusively formulated for formula-fed newborns and babies ages 0-12 months, Bubs 365-day organic grass fed cows produce milk with higher nutritional values than regular cows milk. For toddlers, Bubs organic cows milk formula has 16 vitamins & minerals with prebiotics, probiotics and added DHA and ARA to help support your growing toddler’s nutritional needs. With double organic certification, Bubs organic cows milk drink is a delicious nutritional drink for busy, active and fussy eaters.
Whole foods such as fruits or veggies will be the best snacks for kids. However, sometimes kids want fun and yummy snacks. Bubs Organic has tasty snacks, cereals and rusks that are 100% certified organic for babies 4 months onwards. They are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. Each offering from the Bubs Organic® Snacks and Cereal range is carefully crafted with the expertise of nutritionists and chefs, taste-tested by real mums and their bubs.
Did you know that I sometimes buy organic baby biscuits and snacks for our teenage girls for their guilt-free snacking? Even I munch on them 😆
Organic foods, produced without the use of synthetic pesticides, not only help build a healthier ecosystem, they can help boost levels of phytochemicals (plant compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities) in plant foods, as well as lower pesticide residues in the diet.
Bubs Organic® Grass Fed Formula range retails at an introductory price of RM128 each while the Bubs Organic® Snacks and Cereal retails from RM18.90 to RM20.90. All Bubs products are currently available in selected outlets throughout Malaysia.
Learn more about Bubs® and find the full list of retailers by visiting www.bubsmalaysia.com. Parents can also redeem an exclusive 50% off their first Bubs Organic® Grass Fed Formula via the official website over the campaign period. Simply complete your purchase on the website to enjoy this limited introductory promotion!
I spent the entire morning today at the hospital. This time it was at SJMC with Sherilyn, to see a cardiologist!
Sherilyn has been getting a nagging pressure with ‘clicky’ sounds on her sternum (breastbone) since Oct 2020. At times she feels lightheaded. She’s been hounding me to bring her to see a cardiologist for months but I knew that it’s nothing serious and has been brushing her off. Yesterday, this girl said this to me when I brushed her off again: “what if there’s really something wrong with my heart? I’ll be dead then! And you’ll have to spend much more than the cardiologist’s consultation fee on my funeral!”
This silver-tongued girl always gets what she wants with her words!
A mother has to trust her motherly instincts. Before our country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Sherilyn was extremely active in competitive dancing, athletics and taekwondo (she represents her school and district), dancing for all her school events and attends Muay Thai and kickboxing classes. On top of all these back to back activities, she has tuition daily. She carries a very heavy bag to school, which is between 7 – 10 kg! And she always acts gung-ho and tries to carry all my heavy groceries with her hands and lugs them up to our unit, refusing to use the trolley, though I always insist that she uses it. I know that all these strenuous activities and exertion from the school bag and heavy groceries must have contributed to a little injury to the chest tendons.
If you’ve seen how Sherilyn dances in her videos, you’ll be amazed at how flexible her body is. But actually, all these backbreaking and break dancing moves have taken a toll on her bones and body. Each time I see her dance, I have heart palpitations from worrying that she’ll make a slip up and fall. She fell during practice once and a lump with fluid was formed on her backbone, which took a long time to subside. We brought her to see an acupuncturist, physiotherapist and for an X-ray. I’ve been trying to stop her from doing competitive dancing but this girl is a sucker for competitions, especially dancing. If it wasn’t because of the pandemic and MCO, she would have taken part in more dancing and athletics competitions. She would have also gotten a red belt in taekwondo by this year and training to get a black belt by next year. But all these had to be halted because of the MCO.
The cardiologist who is hubby’s close family friend did an examination on Sherilyn and after asking her in detail what she has been doing that causes the chest pain, Dr S thinks that the pain is caused by over exertion from strenuous activities. A blood test to rule out arthritis was also done. He advised Sherilyn to take a breather from all these strenuous activities until the sternum heals. The prescription is Acustop patch and Voltaren gel. Hot and cold compress on the sternum is also recommended.
Damage for the consultation is over RM200 and that’s with free consultation with our cardiologist friend. I still have to buy the Acustop patch and Voltaren gel from the pharmacy tomorrow.
Sherilyn doesn’t cook and bake as much now than she did during the MCO months. However, she still tries to cook every other day, in between online classes. She loves trying out new recipes, especially Korean and Japanese cuisines. We’re all happy to be her guinea pigs. But all these new dishes will soon start to dwindle when Sherilyn goes back to school on 5 April 2021 after almost half a year of lockdown break. And if traveling abroad is safe again, the mil will be abroad with her daughters again and cooking will be back in my Job Description 😐. Fortunately I have a pressure cooker, an air fryer and a TMX6 to make my life easier. I better start to learn how to use the TMX6!
These are some of the new dishes that Sherilyn cooked recently:
1. Gamjatang (spicy Korean pork bone soup)
Another thing that I realized is this girl loves to use gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), gochujang (Korean chili paste) and her homemade kimchi in her dishes. Her spiciness threshold level is 9/10 and I always try to stop her from lapping up all the hot and spicy soup, to no avail. Spicy food isn’t the healthiest of food as it causes acne and may cause inflammation of the stomach lining. The skin on her face has now taken a toll on all the spicy food that she’s been cooking! And she’s not one diligent water guzzler.
Coming back to the Gamjatang. This is a one-pot dish that’s bursting with flavors, very hearty and comforting. It’s perfect for cold wintry weather but the weather here has been sweltering. We’re currently experiencing a heat wave lately. So after downing down the hot and spicy Gamjatang, we were all drenched in sweat and dribbling goo 😅
2. With the leftover Gamjatang, she made a pot of mouth-watering porridge for lunch the next day.
3. Braised kimchi and pork stew.
Told you Sherilyn loves using her homemade kimchi to whip up new dishes. This dish is composed of kimchi and fresh Napa cabbage rolled with pork belly. It’s another sweat-inducing dish that left everyone yelping and gulping down water, except our fiery chef.
4. Pumpkin puree
A whole pumpkin was used to make the puree. She chopped the pumpkin into half and roasted it with garlic and onions, then blended and cooked everything in the TMX6. It’s actually Western pumpkin soup and she used the puree to pair it with the seared vegan scallop.
5. Garlic sauteed mock scallop (meat-free)
Sherilyn used king oyster mushroom stems to curate a vegan scallop dish that tastes 98% like real scallops! The texture of the mushroom stems is almost like real scallops! This dish is a glamourous appetizer or can be used to serve with pasta. I can eat this every day and never get bored of it!!
She used her homemade pumpkin puree to pair with the vegan scallops but the mock scallops are so tasty it does not require any pairing sauce.
The weather has been crazy these days – it’s sizzling hot during the day and come evening, the skies will turn dark and ominous with thunderstorms.
I recently bought several items from Shopee for Haru: a hammock, scratch board bed, squeaky toy mouse, peach scented food grade tofu litter and a hair brush (this is from Daiso).
Haru didn’t like the hammock initially but she now loves to take her siesta on it. And while she enjoyed herself on the hammock, we couldn’t help petting and cooing over her as she looked too cute, so cute that our hearts literally melted looking at her.
Haru looks chubby here but she’s actually a skinny rat. I wish she could be little fatter with fluffier fur 😻
Alycia and Sherilyn helped to set up the hammock in the cage. Alycia is now pretty comfortable holding Haru, though she still gets the jitters if Haru runs across her legs like a rat or nibble playfully on her ankles 😆
After an hour or so of comfortably swinging on the hammock, Haru got her hair grooming session, followed with lots of cuddling and petting.
Haru loves her new scratch board bed and squeaky mouse.
Today Haru is acting a wee bit crazy, meowing strangely like never before, doesn’t like to be held and doesn’t have much appetite. I think she may be having stomach discomfort. Now I’m quite worried. I wonder if it could be due to the new peach scented tofu litter that she may have ingested. When hubs bought a packet of vanilla scented organic tofu litter, it smelled so appetizing that I had to stop Haru from eating the litter. She literally went berserk and excited having a big tray of delicious smelling tofu treat to feast on! 🤣
KL is still under a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) with strict SOPs in place. Everything is still pretty much the same — shops are all opened, the horrendous KL traffic jam is back and people are dining in restaurants just like the way it used to during pre-Covid19 days. However, hubby’s catering business is still not back to how it used to be 😔. In fact, it’s far from how it used to be. The government’s order for staff to work from home is still in force and people are still wary of having training events, parties and weddings albeit gatherings can now be held subject to strict SOPs. Hubs is still in the midst of transforming his central kitchen and office into a small cafe. When the cafe is ready, I’ll keep everyone notified. We really need everyone’s support so that his business stays afloat. The past one year has been one of the toughest months in our lives. Unless one is impacted financially by the pandemic, one will never really understand the feeling of despair and hardship. Only time can rebuild our lives again. The vaccines are now rolled out, we’ve registered to be vaccinated and I hope you have too. We need herd immunity in our community for our lives to return to 99% normal.
Alycia is still in the midst of her SPM exam and she has 3 more papers to go, with the last paper only on 24 March. I’ve changed my plans for Alycia – she will now go to college instead of continuing with UEC (Form 6) at her high school. We’re now browsing for the right college/university and have shortlisted two: University of Wollongong (Glenmarie campus) and Sunway University.
School will start on 5 April 2021 after a hiatus of almost half a year. Part of me is relieved that Sherilyn and Cass can go back to school and the other part of me is worried of their safety. Cass will now be in a new high school and I hope she won’t drown in the big ocean. This high school is well known for stressing on academic excellence. This is what she wants and she will have to face quite a bit of obstacles in another ‘military style’ Chinese school. Totally not my choice of high school for her. But my choice for her backfired and I have to transfer Cass back to the high school of her choice.
Our Japanese neighbor’s father couriered some Japanese snacks to her and she so kindly gave us a box. It’s some indulgent cream filled thin and rolled up wafers. The mil used to bring this back for us each time she went to Japan.Haru is not happy here – she’s watching Maria who’s vacuuming the area where her cage is. Check out her raised hair 🤣 She still hisses at Maria, though not as bad as the first couple of times she met Maria two weeks ago.
. We’ve all enjoyed a year of being her guinea pigs and will have to wait for the next school hols to try her new recipes again. 
