Rose' World

Yummy!

2012-01-27T12:36:00.003+08:00

It is time to lose some fats after all those food eaten during the CNY holiday!! But before that, let me recollect on some unique dishes that we had in Sibu.

The famous prawn noodle we had in Jaka before we heading to Sibu. RM20 per bowl. Super fresh prawns with red wine soup. Too peppery for my taste bud!

It makes me wonder whether I am celebrating CNY or other celebration because the chef (hubby's uncle) cooked Iban dishes for us. This is a pork pansuh!!

Tasty pork leg with a bit of chilli spice. I almost choked to tears on this dish. Lol!

As for the kids, my girl stayed at her aunt's house while 3 of us stayed in hotel. The weather in Sibu was very hot but we had rain in the evening. The kids had fun playing with fireworks while adults were having great time gambling. Lol! I neither lost nor won in Ballad game. For kids' photo, go here.

I am back!

2012-01-26T12:11:00.002+08:00

Came back from Sibu last night. We had a great but tiring CNY in Sibu, visiting hubby's family and relatives. But it was an enjoyable holidays as we get to see many cousins, nephews and nieces there.

We started our journey on Sunday morning around 6am after picking hubby's cousin and niece. We reached Sibu around 12noon. Whereas our trip back to Kuching yesterday, it took us more than 7 hours. Why not? We stopped 5 times for toilet breaks and meals along the way and some more it was heavy rain at some stretches. We even saw an accident going to Serian yesterday. But overall the kids enjoyed the car ride.

More updates to come!

Happy Water Dragon Year

2012-01-19T14:33:00.003+08:00

It has been a very busy time in the shop that for this week, I have closed late. Why customers always late minute rush into shop when it is almost time to close?? Lol! I re-phrase myself. It has been busy since Christmas last month and I am glad the business is picking up again. How I wish every days would be good days! *wink* It is good thing to stay busy. Keep my mind and body active and stay positive.

Is it me or the mood this year is rather slow and quiet? Do not really feel the heat. As for us, we did not prepare much since we are going away. Just bought some bacon jerky back to Sibu. We are celebrating the Year of Dragon in the city of Sibu.

Hubby is taking a day leave tomorrow. Good thing too, he needs to help with the packing. I have done packing for the kids and half for myself. Can never finish packing although you start way early, because something are meant to be packed on the day itself. Hubby will help with the spring cleaning. Honestly I think he is better housekeeper than me. Lol! Am glad to marry to someone who knows how to clean up because I am terrible housekeeper.

My cute red packets for the kids. Red packets now come in many designs. Red is no longer the "in-thing" among the youngsters. Which kids do not know those cartoon characters huh???

We would be leaving for Sibu on Sunday morning by car. Hope it would not be a long trip as it is the eve. Everyone will be gathering in Sibu this year. Hubby's grandma had a fall few weeks ago (according to my SIL who resides in Sibu now) so hubby (been a filial and eldest grandchild), he wanted to spend more times with his aging grandparents. I don't mind, as I also grow fond of both grandparents who are very loving and hospitable couple.

I would like to wish everyone "Happy Chinese New Year" and "Gong Xi Fa Chai".

Remembering grandma

2012-01-17T15:04:00.000+08:00

*This is post-dated entry*

When I was small my maternal grandma always made glutinous rice (nuomi fan) for us. All of us love her glutinous rice. I never know my mum know how to prepare this dish or not, because I never ask her.

Now my grandma in her 80s, she seldom make this rice dish but I got the privilege to taste it again few weeks ago. Still taste the same after all those years but I remember grandma put some chestnuts in her rice but now just some mushroom, pork bits and dried prawns. Cannot eat a lot as I have indigestion problem. Genetic? Because my dad also have such problems and so is my sister.

Thank you, grandma!

P/s CNY is just few days away. Ready for it??

Weekend Menu #19 : Wolfberries experience

2012-01-16T11:07:00.004+08:00

Another cooking weekend for me. Both kids are sick. As usual, down with flu and cough, so we prefer to stay at home than going out for meals, especially Baby Jay would tend to drink every cold drinks on the table he can take irregardless he is ill or not.

Cooked something nutritious for the kids so I bought a pack of dried wolfberries home. Commercially called goji berries, they are high in vitamins and micronutrients.

Nutritious kailan and mushroom dish.

My chicken soup for the cold!

Hope the kids recovered in time for the CNY and I would not get sick too!! Lately I have not been resting well and suffering mild headaches and dizziness. The kids are sick, but they still full of energy. Before they are tired, I tired first from looking after them over the weekend!! Lol!

In the mood

2012-01-12T13:02:00.000+08:00

Continue with my shop CNY decoration..... As usual, when my girl saw the decoration last night, she immediately want to learn how to make them. But instead of learning how to make them, she did her own decoration. If you asked me, I think she is trying to make firecracker out of the red packets. Happily showing off her creation and asked me to MMS to her grandma to see. Lol!

This morning I had the worst breakfast in NK. Never tasted the sweetest Teh-C Peng Special in my life! Yukky! I would not want to order that drink from that cafe again. Some more coupled with my plate of Crispy Noodle in tomato sauce, I gulpped many water into me to get rid of the sour and sweet out of my food. Too sour and sweet for me. And hubby kept complaining about their teh-O Peng too. Too sweet. Their reason for all the sweetness is because a new staff handling the drink. Hmm.

But at least their selection of songs did not spoil my entire morning mood. They played all those 90s songs which I love like Trademarks, Michael Leans to Rock, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, etc.

My all time favourite.

Red packets decoration

2012-01-11T17:32:00.001+08:00

We did little Chinese New Year decorations in the shop. Since the opening of schools, we did not have many customers dropping by during the weekdays. So the staff requested for unused red packets. Initially for the pasting of Chinese fans on the glass panels, but end up we did something different with the red packets. I do not have unused red packets as I do not usually keep them, unless they are attractive. I have many leftover red packets from last year, so I brought some packs over.

All DIY by us, save money on buying CNY decoration!! Lol!

We did 8 of these tiny lanterns and hang them above the counter. 8 is always an "ong" number for Chinese.

I got this fish decoration idea from the internet. It does not turn out bad, but my fish does look bigger and fatter, because I used a rectangular type! Lol!

So 8 little lanterns, and a pair of fishes around. Hope 2012 bring prosperity and good business!!

Smoked meat

2012-01-09T10:40:00.004+08:00

I have been experiencing dizziness and headaches since last week. Don't know what is wrong with me, but today I feel much better. Just that when I lied down too long, I will experiencing dizziness when I move or sit up. When I posted my condition on Facebook, my friends started speculating that I am pregnant! No-lah! Hahahah! If pregnant, I would not be worry much about my condition, but I guess lack of rest or sitting too much in front of pc caused my dizziness and headaches.

Anyway, hope it will go away. CNY is 2 weeks away. Have you ready everything or almost done with the necessary chore?? As today is Monday, and I guess some of you will experiencing Monday Blues, I want to share this yummy food with you. Actually a gift from a neighbour. Very thoughtful of her! Sugar cane smoked pork belly.

Yes, you heard it right! Sugar cane. And the taste is heavenly. Hard to describe. Tasted her sugar cane smoked chicken before, but I still think the taste fit pork belly best!

Okana and the lion head

2012-01-06T11:41:00.003+08:00

Black Olive

The native of Kapit called it "O-ka-na" or "Da-bai" while us called it black olive. It has that smooth, oily texture that need acquired taste (which I am still not accustomed to). My father-in-law is in town since Wednesday and besides passing some native rice and fishes for my 2 kids, he also bought some olive fruit here. Very expensive if you asked me, can fetch up to more than RM20 per kg!

My mum's favourite fruit besides the Sibu kam (green orange)! *wink*

Historic head

I did not know of its existence till last weekend! Lol! Talking about being a Kuchingnite at birth. *Paisey*

It is nothing unusual about this fountain, but the historical thing is the fountain head in the shape of a lion. It was built during British Colonial time so you know how old is this fixture. Located in Leboh Wayang, opposite Jalan Wayang.

My usual model girl!

Water came out from this lion head during the old days, now no more.

At least me and the kids learn something during the weekend, thanks to dear hubby! *wink*

Happy Friday everyone!

p/s It rained this morning but has stopped and did not caused any flashfloods. Wish for less wet days ahead. Dread driving in the wet condition.

Not ordinary day

2012-01-05T12:38:00.004+08:00

The continuous downpour since last night caused a massive flood in most areas in Kuching! Never been hit this bad. I think today is the worst I ever see!!

Me and the kids were caught in jam for nearly more than an hour on the road. I were able to drop my girl off her kindy but unable to get into the housing estate leading to baby sitter's house. Tried 3 different routes but unsuccessful. Some cars are caught in the pools of water while others moved their vehicles out from their houses along Hui Sing, Arang Road and Dogan Road. After contacting the baby sitter, we met in front of 688 shop to pass my boy to her. And it took me another hour to reach my shop. Late for an hour and my foot was tired from all those driving!

And this is nothing. An accident happened this morning just on 2nd day school reopens. My prayer goes to both victims!

Looking back at 2011

2012-01-04T12:58:00.008+08:00

New Year celebration is over and kids are back to school, everyone is back to work. But I am still thinking about the goods and worsts of 2011. And I still write "2011" on paper subconsciously. Yes I know. 2011 has ended and everyone is looking forward to 2012 but it is alright to remember the good and bad times. So before I forget and for myself and my family to read in the future, I better pen them down here.

Some days were bad, but who doesn't have right? The key word is to learn to relax, de-stress and less worry. Most of 2011 I were in uptight positions, may it be in business or family. I hope this year would be a better year and hope I would enjoy life to its fullest!

Alright, let's talk something good here!!

Some hightlights of my 2011:

January ****** My Indonesian worker left us for good. After working for 9 months, she requested to be home for CNY. She said she will be back but it was a lie. We knew at first because she packed everything. It was hectic in the shop back then but I survived. Thank god I found 2 good staff who still working for me since March.

February *******Bring the kids back to hometown for CNY celebration. It was Baby Jay's first visit to grandparents' town. Luckily it was a smooth trip as he slept in the airplane and also in the express, keep the stresses away from us.

May *****Officially operating the shop for a year and my 1 year as a stokist.

June *****We had a 2 days makeup and photo taking session in the shop. Little girl was also one of the participants. Her first time doing make up and being photographed. She has a fall and cut her scalp the night before, which gave us a fright! Luckily she was fine.

August *****Got a digital camera as my birthday present from hubby! Still polishing my photography skill here. Maybe this year hubby will get his Canon camera since he has been drooling over its Canon EOS.
****** Hubby bought his first iPad2. For work and leisure he said. *wink*
****** Officially started our extension and furniture fitting in new house. Cannot wait to move in. Everything should be ready by mid-year the latest.

October ********First time going to Sibu by land. We drove for nearly 6 hours per route. A tiring experience but we see a lot of things along the way.
****** Enrolled little girl in music class. She enjoys herself and hopefully she will get her own piano and we are able to hear her play on one(provided she passes her Grade One first!).

November ******Little girl participated in the school year end graduation dancing performance. Really proud of her performance!
****** Family vacation to KL cum shopping spree. First visit to Zoo Negara.
******On reading momentum for the month as bought a lot of books from Logo's Hope.

December *******Family has a short vacation in KL during Christmas Day so I am in charge of looking and feeding after their dogs. GOsh! Hard to look after dogs after all, especially one old and almost blind terrier and another naughty one. And my brother complained his dog lost weight while he was away!! What to do?? Both dogs are so choosy when it comes to food. Lol!
******* Joined Her Space, a great place to meet up with other great women and exchange opinions, and got my first Starbuck gift card for participating in their forum!

Hope for more exciting and prosperous 2012!

The case of intolerance

2012-01-03T10:52:00.002+08:00

Not a good way to start my New Year but that was the way. Few days ago I had stomach upset. At first I was wondering whether I ate too much, you know all those year end and wedding dinners invitation, but I thought otherwise. Then I thought that maybe the overdose of "teh-c-peng". I think that would be the culprit because when ever I tasted a very "kau teh-c-peng" I would have stomach upset and sometimes diarrhea. So I stopped taking for few days, and yet the stomach upset still "visiting" me.

Then it just popped into my mind. MILK! I have been taking milk for 4 consecutive days. And in the past when ever I took milk, I will have lactose intolerance. I seldom take milk in my life and when I did, it was when I was a preggie. Now I am now I seldom take milk because of the intolerance. However lately I experienced backache and hubby is suddenly so concern about lack of calcium etc, I thought I give milk a try. I bought 4 packs of Anlene high calcium milk and drank one pack per day. Still, I am not over the intolerance. I have stomach upset for 2 days.

I gave up on milk, and better go back to Calcium tablets. I have not take Calcium supplements for few years too. Because I don't like swallowing those big white tablets. Sigh!

Going into 2012

2011-12-31T14:05:00.006+08:00

A quick greeting to all blogger friends and readers! Happy 2012!

And how are we going to celebrate our last night of the 2011??? Watching DVD at home with the kids tonight. Yes! Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked DVD. Always a fan of the chipmunks and I enjoyed their first movie. I am sure the kids will like it especially little gal who watched the first movie. Once a while, I still played the DVD for the kids to watch.

So, looking forward to the New Year with new resolutions and more challenges ahead of me. Thank you everyone for all the supports and comments given throughout the year. It has been a wonderful year; and I get to know more blogger friends and learn more from you guys. Happy blogging and see you guys in 2012! Cheers, everyone!

Not so ABC

2011-12-29T12:07:00.003+08:00

It has been raining non stop since 25 December morning, and only yesterday afternoon we were able to see Mr Sun out, and then the rain continue till this morning. It stopped but it began again. Sigh! Really gloomy and wet day. Expected it to be like this till this weekend.

I also recovered from cold. Had runny nose on Christmas Eve but that did not stopped me from going to a Christmas potluck gathering in our church. Did not have time to cook anything for the potluck so we "tapau-ed" a roasted duck. First time I joined a church potluck and I was surprised to see so many people there. Definitely more than 100. Luckily the food is enough for everyone. After the dinner, we proceed to the mass, but we did not finished the mass as Baby Jay grew restless. So we left half-way.

On Christmas Day I did not feel any better so we did not attend the Church. What a shame!! Some more the rain was so heavy that morning. So sick me craving for something light and soupy, so I dug into the fridge for inspiration!

Not so sure whether I should call it ABC Soup because I think it does not really contain all the vitamins. But anyway, for the pleasure of this post, I shall called it Pork Ribs with corns and carrots soup.

I am relying more on slow cooker to cook my soups nowadays. Easier and no need to mend the fire. If need to heat up, I just transfer the soup to a pot and warm up on the gas stove.

Ingredients

Few pieces of chicken feet
1/2kg Pork ribs
3 Sweet Corns break into 3 pieces each
2 carrots, cut into chunks
Little bit of ginger slices
Salt to taste

Methods

1. After washing, prepare all the ingredients accordingly.
2. Boil the pork ribs in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain.
3. Add water in slow cooker, put all the ingredients (except salt) and cook for 2 to 3 hours till ribs tender. Add salt to taste.

HK or Spore??

2011-12-28T11:25:00.004+08:00

Out of sudden hubby told me that he is thinking of a holiday next year, bringing the kids along either to Hong Kong or Singapore. Wow! An overseas holiday? I know I know, one of my top 10 wish for the year! *wink* It would be either the Universal Studio or the Disneyland which I am sure the kids will enjoy themselves. But that is just his thought, see how things go next year.

My main priority for next year would be the new house. Got to finish the renovation and furniture, then we can move in and settle down in our new nest. Vacation can be later.

Top 10 wishes for 2012

2011-12-26T11:23:00.009+08:00

A day after Christmas. Now it is time to list down your new year wishes.

Here are my wishes (where is the genie in the lamp to grant my wishes?? If not all 10, at least 3 wishes!).....

1. Money, money, money
No debts, no people calling and chasing you for payment and have extra money to do the things you love. Hmm, I guess hitting the jackpot would get rid of everything. Lol!
Image from Google Search

2. Travelling around the world
It would be a great dream to be able to travel, taste and see those beautiful countries around the world. I want to go to Europe, Canada, Australia and other far far away countries. Gosh! I need to have my #1 wish granted first! But hubby has promised me that we will have a family vacation may it be overseas or local at least once a year.

Image from Google Search

3. Have an online shopping website
It has always been my dream to own an online shopping website; catering to ladies and children need.

4. Be a homemaker
It means that I would able to do my wifey and mother duties to my family. It is not easy with having a shop as I juggle between the shop and family but hopefully I would be able to hand down the business affair to my staff. Then I have more times to attend to the needs of my children. I realised that my children are growing up each day and I would not want to miss out on their growing stage. Little girl is going to be 6 years old and Baby Jay is going to be 3 years old next year. Soon, my girl is going to be in her teen and how I wish then that she would be my little girl again. *wink*

5. Going back to Redang
Our honeymoon spot in 2005, so I would love to bring both kids there. Hubby and I discussed on family vacation in Redang island before. It leaves good memories for us, so we definitely love to go back there. This round, with extra packages. *wink*

Image from Google Search

6. To venture more in cooking
I would love to try new recipes and able to cook great food for my family. Have not be able to do so since I am busy at the shop, so if time permits, I would love to cook nutritional meals for my hubby and my 2 growing kids.

7. Teaching kids with iPad education
Yes, you reading it correctly. With so many good ebooks and online education websites, I find that iPad does wonders. So convenient and my kids never bored of its interactive learning. So, hubby, if you read this, I wish for a new iPad which is my wish #8.

8 iPad3
For conveniences, and personal use. Who does not own an iPad nowaday? Lol!

9. Go to gym more and learn to swim
Do not waste the monthly services we have to pay, better fully utilise the community facilities and clubhouse. Must keep fit and healthy and since I did not have times to go exercises, I must make it a habit to go to gym in the morning. At least an hour in the morning in gym before I go to open up my shop. And I have to admit, I do not know how to swim. So what? Not to old to learn, right? So I would be able to go to Redang and scuba diving during our next visit. My kids definitely must know how to swim. Lol!

Image from Google Search

10. Own a car
Thanks to my dad for lending his car. Although the Toyota Corolla has been faithfully serving me for more than 15 years, it is time for me to get a new car.

So what are your 10 wishes for 2012?

To be jolly

2011-12-22T11:05:00.000+08:00

Today is the celebration of Winter Solstice! Have you taken your rice ball (tang yuan) yet?

It ain't too early to wish everyone "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", right?? Christmas is just around the corner; a time of jolly. We are spending times with loved one. It is all about happiness, hopes and loves.

I have just finish buying and wrapping my Christmas presents. Always last minute thinggy for me! Lol!

Have you list down your next year resolutions?? As for me, it would be another post another day. *wink*

So I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday!! Counting down to 2012. Another 10 days to go!!

Breathing the ocean air

2011-12-20T11:48:00.002+08:00

That was what we did after our Sunday mass last weekend. We decided to drive all the way to Damai since it has been more than 2 years we went to beaches. The last one was when I was heavily pregnant with Baby Jay.

Cooling day to drive to Damai and boy, the roads getting wider and change a lot. I cannot recognised the old road anymore. We reached Damai Central in 30 minutes. Damai Central is the latest recreational centre that open recently. By the time we reached there, there a big crowds as they were having a sport day. A bit of drizzle but that did not dampen our spirit.

Don't you like the feeling of wind and drizzle blowing onto your face??

Looking at the waves I would not even want to jump into the ocean. With the year end weather and high tide, it would not be encouraging to swim in such condition.

Munching away

2011-12-19T11:24:00.004+08:00

I am not a big fan of snack times, but sometimes exception is inevitable. *wink*

Fall in love with this mixed fernels when I tasted it last week. And me and Baby Jay can finish up the whole container if no one stopped and took the container away.

Baby Jay feed me raisins (a bit sourish) and sunflower seeds (because the seeds a bit spicy) while he takes the rest. I like almond nuts the most. Healthier (I think) as they are not fried.

Some days I would be lazy to have my lunch or cannot think of anything to eat, I opt for something easier like bread.

Raisin & sesame seed bread with olive oil spread! Yummy! I could finish half loaf.

2011 is almost comes to an end. Don't you agree with me that 2011 is flying very fast??

Indonesian style

2011-12-17T19:23:00.003+08:00

Did online search for this recipe after trying it out in Sing Garden last week, but did not managed to find the right recipe. Wonder whether that is the right name or because it is cooked by an Indonesian?

There is a stall operated by an Indonesian lady, using a conventional oven stove to bake the chicken drumsticks. You can see the fire in the oven when you glance at the back of the stall. Each plate accompanied by a plate of rice only costs RM4.50, to me it is pretty reasonable.

RM4.50 per plate with a bowl of rice.

Have been trying to ask for the recipe but the lady very tight-lipped about it, so I do not want to pursue some more. But from what I tasted, it definitely has some Shaoxing wine, and ginger in it! What I like about this dish is that it comes with gravy and taste good when pour into your rice! Yummy!!

Butterflies feeling

2011-12-15T12:37:00.004+08:00

On this date in 2002, I had a butterflies feeling that he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend! And indeed he did! By SMS. (How romantic could that be??? *wink*). But he did call up after the SMS and after finished talking to him over the phone, I hardly can sleep and my butterflies in the stomach did not subdue till pretty late at night.

For few weeks I have butterflies feeling whenever he called or picked me up. It was a very nice feeling. Hearing his voice, having him touching you, kissing you is so magical and it would make your head spinning. Everything evolve him.

Ok, enough musing from me. I do not want to make you puke over this post! Lol! I remember this date because it was the day me and my boyfriend (now husband) went steady. He and I were mending our broken hearts; actually from cheating partners that time. Fate takes its course. He came back from KL after many years there and we met in my previous company. Both of us were trying to move on. I am thankful that we did give our special friendship a try. And now we were blessed with 2 lovely children.

Does your partner give you that butterflies feeling after many years of marriage? I do. Not all the time of course. Lol! We have our ups and downs, but we make up. I still feel butterflies in my stomach when he shows up unexpectedly or when he gives me a surprise present. He may not be perfect person, but he is perfect for me. We complement each other. And guess what I replied him when he asked me to be his girlfriend 9 years ago?? "I am not a perfect girl, I have bad habits and flaws. You sure you want me to be your girlfriend?". And he replied back "I am not perfect too!"

And yet he gives me the butterflies feeling that many years ago and he still does. And I long for such feeling forever.

Can you stand B.O.?

2011-12-13T15:19:00.000+08:00

I used to have a staff working for me last year in the shop. Now she is working in Singapore. She is a very naive and hardworking girl. She does not have much education, but she does what was told. An obedient girl and I have no problem with her work attitude.

There was only one thing I cannot stand about her and that was her BO (body odor)! I never have weak resistance toward other people B.O until I have children. Wonder my pregnancies make my nose more sensitive to smell?? Lol!

And my staff never do anything about her B.O until I took the matter into my hand! Luckily I sell deodorants, so one night when I could not stand it any longer, I passed one bottle to her. Told her it was a Christmas gift and she must tred and tested it herself, so she knew how to sell to customers! Lol! I think I did not offend her in any way but I guess she took the hint. She even bought deodorants from that day onwards! I even forced her to take Chlorophyll as it helps to reduce B.O.

Customers come and go. Some really has bad BO, but being courteous I never suggest deodorant as a purchase to customers unless they ask. How would you tackle this situation? Can help me increase the sales of my deodorant without offending anyone? *wink*

Monday starter

2011-12-12T12:15:00.001+08:00

It is Monday again! Don't you wish it is weekend again??? But life goes on.

I still thinking about the tasty roasted pork I had at Jen's baby party last Saturday! The biggest pig I ever see! Around RM800 for a 60kg pig.

Yummy!! I am drooling! *Slurp*

*Back to the present*

With no schooling, I turned off my alarm clock so I could sleep longer. But somehow the biological clock keeps waking me up around 7am. If not, my boy will wake me up asking for his feeding. And few mornings we were over-slept, and hubby was having a mad time in the morning; rushing to work. Me and Baby Jay takes our time before I sending him off to baby sitter.

One of our favourite breakfast place is NK Food Network. Hubby and I love to go to NK as we enjoy its Western breakfast. Few choices to choose, but I like its Big Breakfast (RM8.50 per plate).

I like my sunny side up egg.

This is hubby's plate.

We usually have a quick reading on The Star online website, a quick check on Facebook and a game of monopoly. At least no kids to disturb our peaceful morning breakfast. *wink*

After our hearty breakfast, we are off to our respective work places and start our long day. How you start off your Monday morning??

Fancy Mexican food??

2011-12-11T20:57:00.000+08:00

We were enjoying the cold night on a lazy Sunday; chilling out in our balcony. And suddenly hubby was asking me about our plan for Christmas. And oh dear, Christmas is fast approaching! Have you thought of what to have for Christmas Eve or on the day itself?? I told hubby that I want something different this year. Every year would either we would cook at home or go to Chinese restaurant or Western cafe to celebrate Christmas Day. But this year I opt for a Mexican gourmet for my Christmas Eve dinner. Yes, Christmas Eve dinner ala Mexican cuisine.

Christmas without turkey would not be Christmas at all. So I would have some of the Republic of Texas foods which include its Jalapeno glazed smoked turkey and pepper crusted hams. Have you start to drool already? I bet you are!

When you think of Mexican food, you would think of Republic of Texas foods such as tamales and pecan pies. And not forgetting a nice bottle of red wine to go with your food. Tempting???

I would not be worry about the planning and table set up as the party caterer Dallas will be assisting me with that. So my Christmas dinner would the perfect one. And if you are looking for a nice present for the festive season, you can choose many varieties of gifts such as big box of chocolates, dinner gift crate and even 2006 Inwood Estate Magellan.

Congrats, Jen!

2011-12-10T10:22:00.003+08:00

One of my girl friends, Jen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on 14 November. Today marks Baby Gwen's full moon and Jen's release from confinement. Congratulations, my dear friend. Welcome to the mummy world and all the best in motherhood.

Gwenhwyfar (pronounced Gwen-ni-vier) Estella R.

G is for her gentleness,
her tiny hand's soft touch,

I is for her innocence
that warms your heart so much,

R is for her radiance,
her cute and precious face,

L is for the love
that makes your world
a sweeter place.

Bird's Nest soup

2011-12-08T12:21:00.001+08:00

I nearly forget this pack of processed bird's nest till hubby told me last week. Lol! It has been kept in the cabinet for many months, and luckily it is still in good condition.

A pack of bird's nest

When my SIL was in Kuching, she used to boil them once a month for us, but now she resides in Sibu, we do not have such privilege. Got to do it ourselves. Never cook bird's nest soup before, but it is relatively very easy to prepare. Of course you need to get the ready processed bird's nest so you can save time of plucking and cleaning the nest.

Serving : up to 4 persons

2 pieces of bird nests
Few red dates
Pandan leave
A big lump of rock sugar
3 cups of water

Wash and soak the bird's nest for few minutes. Soak red dates for few minutes till they turn softer. Wash pandan leave.

Add 3 cups or more of water into slow cooker. Put bird's nests, pandan leave and red dates into slow cooker. Simmer for 2 - 3 hours.

Once cooked, off the slow cooker, add in the rock sugar and give the ingredients a quick stir.

When ready to serve, stir the bird's nest to loosen them.

In slow cooker, before it is cooked

I love my bird's nest warm but hubby likes it chills.

Turtles the Coin Collectors

2011-12-06T20:08:00.000+08:00

If you are of same generation as I do, then you would definitely know the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon series in the 80s. Those days the 4 turtles are famous for their kungfu fighting, pizza loving and "save the days" characters. Leonardo, Michangelo, Donatello and Raphael. I even remember me and my younger siblings played its video games too. Those were the days and it was even made into a movie after more than 2 decades.

Recently my dad brought these 2 ceramic coin containers for the kids. Yeap, the head shape of the king fu turtles. RM50 for 2 turtles. He could not get the other 2 as no more stock or else it would be a rare collection of those 4 turtles. Pretty big so I guess it would take a long time to fill them up.

Raphael with red bandana

Good timing as it is time to teach my Baby Jay on money saving technique. I like the sound of the coins going into the hole and drop into the container. I used to have a ceramic coin container in the shape of rabbit but when it was full, my parents had to break it to take and keep them in the bank. Those day the ceramic one did not have any opening where you can take out the coins without breaking the whole thing. Did you have a coin container when you were a kid??

My little girl was trained to keep all coins that she could get hold of when she was young, so she has few full coin boxes that we have yet to count its content. What should I do with all her coins? Would the bank counts and accepts all those coins, I wonder???

Over loaded

2011-12-05T11:40:00.003+08:00

We noticed something not right with our wardrobe last night. I mean the current wardrobe in my current house. We have not yet move into new house; it would be definitely after CNY.

Bought the current wardrobe where we got married, and that was 6 years ago. We noticed that the whole thing slanted to one side and look like it is going to collapse anytime soon! Oh dear! I think we have over-loaded the wardrobe with too many clothings. Lol! I really have a load of stuff in my side of cabinet. So we took away the 4 different sizes of luggages (which we place on top of the wardrobe). And I got to tidy and pack some clothing sometime this week. Hubby assured me that it will not collapse into our beds which are in front of the wardrobe, but that make me having sleepless night last night!

Weekend Menu #18: Sunday breakfast

2011-12-04T19:12:00.001+08:00

We usually have our breakfast in a coffee shop near our house on Sunday morning before we heading to church mass, but with Baby Jay being naughty and hubby is fed up with his table manners, I decided to do something different last Sunday morning. I do not usually cook breakfast, not on a Sunday. Lol!

It happened that I suddenly craved for fried noodle on a Saturday evening. I remember during my school day where we studied in home economics class, one of the basic things a girl should learn is cooking. I did not mind learning to cook because I love to eat. Better than ask me to carve or sew! I nearly failed my home economics, but thanks to my mum I passed because of the cooking examination which would be another story to tell next time. For now, it would be on fried noodle.

Forgot to take picture of my home-cooked fried noodle, so no picture to drool, folks! Sorry.

Finally my hubby able to taste my first plate of fried noodle as I never fry because I fancy fried vermicelli more which hubby is not. Now I pity my poor hubby! Lol! The verdict: Hubby said my fried noodle is not bad.

Simple fried noodle

Serves 4

Pack of noodles (I used 3 Ramen, bring to boil for 2 - 3 minutes)
Green vegetables (sawi), cut into smaller pieces
Big onion, shredded
3 eggs, beaten
Minced chicken meat
Garlic and shallot

1. Fry beaten eggs and scramble them. Put aside.
2. Fry chopped garlic and shallot in cooking oil. Once fragrant, add in big onion.
3. Once big onion almost cook, add in minced chicken. Add some salt and a dash of light soy sauce. Stir the meat well.
4. Add green vegetables and mix the ingredient well in the wok. Then add the noodle into wok and mix everything well. Add dark and light soy sauce and oyster sauce to taste. Add scrambled eggs into wok.
5. Stir the noodle well. Can add a bit oil so noodle would not stick to wok. Dish out and serve hot.

Love my fried noodle, served with a cup of hot tea.

We got to wait longer

2011-12-02T11:56:00.000+08:00

After our short holiday in KL last month, we can now concentrate on our house!

My daughter has gone back to Kapit on Wednesday morning with her grandmother. Going to miss her. Initially Baby Jay will be following them, but we worry about him being away from us so in the end, we let him stay back. Maybe next year when he is not so clingy to us. I do hope for a "get-away" once a while from the kids as I think it would be good for my sanity. *wink* Me and hubby can have some personal times together without the kids around. And we can have more times to get ready the new house too.

Talking about the house, it would not be ready in time as we are on tight budget now. Over-spend on the extension work and in due to CNY celebration just next month, we would not want to rush things too much. So we are planning to move into new house after CNY, finding good "ong" time maybe the first half of next year.

Perfect 4

2011-11-30T16:27:00.010+08:00

This blog is 4 years old today! Thank you to my family and everyone out there that support my blog all the way.

Everything starts with a dream, and a dream is always sweet when you turn it into reality. I realised my dream. Having a blog of my own is one of my dreams. Actually it is two blogs!

To some, number 4 is not a good number, but not to me. We are family of 4! I am blessed with a girl and a boy. Hubby and I registered our marriage in 2004 after a brief courtship of 2 years.

This year has been another amazing year for me. For instance I have been in my business for more than a year, and it is picking up. We can see some extra incomes coming in from the business as well as personal networking. And now we are in midst of planning for another venture. Hopefully it will be achieved by next year.

Hubby is doing great in his work and other ventures although some hiccups early of the year.

And after more than a year of struggle, we can finally relax and have a family vacation. Where else but shopping in KL last week?! It were my children first trip to KL, so after so much story telling about the shopping complexes to my girl, it was time to show her the real place. *wink* They having so much fun walking the whole Mid-Valley and a day trip to Zoo Negara. Maybe we can have an overseas vacation next year, if everything goes well.

Till then, happy blogging everyone! And Happy 4 years old to my blog! :)

After a tiring weekend

2011-11-28T15:16:00.006+08:00

It is always good to be back to own home after a holiday. After 2 days rest at home from our short KL trip, I finally regained my strength and everything back to normal in shop. Kids are with baby sitter's since hubby is not free to look after them and I would be mending the shop whole day today.

Finished with all the packing of our shopping items and have the new clothing washed today. Fortunately the weather was good these few days but as usual it always heavy rains during the afternoons. No wonder many people is down with sickness.

Talking about sickness, my old car was down again on Saturday morning when I was sending my kids to babysitter. Probably it was on "mogok" because I deserted it for few days? Lol! Tried to drive it to my dad's workshop today but again, it broke down after few minutes so we decided to get my dad to pick up the car from our house. Wonder what is the problem now. Told hubby maybe it is time to get new car. Lol!

I have also made appointment for my facial this Thursday. Really need to go for one after back from KL because I can feel my face is clogged. Happy Monday and December is just a couple of days away!!!

A short holiday

2011-11-26T11:13:00.000+08:00

I am trying to live my life to the fullest and that is what I did for the past 3 days. I came back from KL with my family last night. Yes! Four of us had a great time there.

We shopped till we dropped. After all, I seldom spend on myself (after having two kids!), so it was a great time shopping for myself. We spent the most on the kids, more than RM1000 on their clothing and shoes. Plus the kids were having so much fun walking around and eating there. What is most important is it was a wonderful and quality time with the family. And we have great time in Zoo Negara too. We spent nearly 4 hours there, luckily the weather was not so warm. And my boy can recognized bears when he saw one.

We will definitely do it again, if hubby and myself can find time and money to spare. Got to plan our next trip next year; maybe some place else. *wink*

My travelling with kids tips

2011-11-22T14:01:00.000+08:00

It is that time of the year. With school holidays and festive seasons, who could resist a vacation right? So, we are going to have our first family trip tomorrow. Here are some tips when you travel with not one but 2 hyper-active kids. Thank god it is only few days so not much things to bring over.

1. Plan the trip well
Day 1 it will be shopping. Day 2 we bring the kids to zoo. Day 3 shopping again!
It would be good to check out any interesting activities around the travelling date.

2. Get a to-pack list
List down what you need to bring for the kids like stroller, their toothbrush, their swimming wears, favourite toys/dolls, and enough clothing. Not forgetting camera (to snap the kids) and its charger, handphone and its charger and hubby's ipad and its charger so we still able to keep in touch with what's latest and happenings.

3. Chewies for children
Soft candies and snacks for my children when in the airplane.

4. Get enough sleeps
Make sure everyone has good sleep the night before. Travelling with kids can be hectic.

5. Not forgetting the eco-friendly shopping bags as shopping malls are practising no plastic bags policies.

6. Enough cash
Yes, make sure we have enough cash (or credits) for our shopping loots.

7. Do not forget your luggage
The night before, pack everything in the luggages and place your luggages together so you would not forget them. Sometimes, you make rush to go to air port that you tend to forget this and that.

8. Enjoy and relax!
That is the main objective of our holiday!

On fire

2011-11-21T11:02:00.003+08:00

Hubby received call early this morning around 6.15am telling him to go back to his office! And when I asked him where in the world is he going at such hour, he said his office on fire! FIRE!

But thank god after an hour later, he MMS-ing me the picture, it was just the banking hall. But hubby's office is just above, so a lot of cleaning and clearing need to do due to the smoke and dust. For time being the bank below shall be closed for investigation. Fortunately for the rain this morning, or else I think the fire could get worse.

Holiday starts

2011-11-18T12:07:00.002+08:00

Today is the last day of schools for little girl. It is party day so all children are required to bring some food for sharing. As usual, I do not bake so I always having hard time thinking what to bring to her school party. But finally I chose her favourite snack of all times; Croissant from her favourite bakery. Easy as it is on the way to school and it opens around 7.30am.

No more waking up early and rushing in the morning. Yahoo!

Weekend Menu #17

2011-11-17T11:58:00.002+08:00

Another cooking over the weekend.

One of my favourite beans of all times. French Beans. Shimeji mushroom with french beans.

A week

2011-11-15T07:23:00.004+08:00

It has been a week that my Internet connection in the shop having problem. No one seem to know the problem but I am suspected the modem is the culprit. But anyway I have books to accompany me so if nothing urgent, Internet is not so important to me.

Other than my new novels I am currently addicted to monopoly board games and sudoku. Even my daughter is playing monopoly but mind you, not the traditional board but the online board games. One of my favorite past time games when I was a child was monopoly. Me and siblings love to play monopoly. The feeling of owning properties and monies when you were a child was overwhelming. Lol!

As I was saying, my girl is also addicted to virtual Monopoly games. I wonder at her age would she misses out the feeling of playing with friends or her sibling instead of with a pc player? Somehow their games are so much different from our times too. Now everything is played or done on a pc screen. One day, she even asked her dad to buy her an iPad. Faint! Need to remind her on books too as she has not been reading much lately. Every time I always catch her with iPad playing games.

No connection

2011-11-09T22:49:00.003+08:00

Streamy has not been good to me lately. Down! So bored and frustrating at the shop, but luckily I have new novels to read or it would be hard to pass the times there.

Wonder it is only my shop connection problem or Streamyx's? Really hope the line is back tomorrow. Otherwise I need to check with Telekom on the problem. Sigh!

Logo's Hope

2011-11-08T12:32:00.001+08:00

It was a public holiday yesterday. Since I operated my shop last year, I lost count of holidays. Every day is the same to me, irregardless of holidays or working days, so not much differences.

But yesterday hubby invited me to go to Logo's Hope as it has international book fair which will be ending on 15 November. It was a hot day yesterday. We were under the hot sun for more than 30 minutes before we were able to go into the ship.

It is Logo's Hope maiden trip to Malaysia and the first stop is Kuching! Yes! Next would be in KK from 17 November to 13 December.

As you can see, this was only the first half of the queue. Luckily I brought along my umbrella. The second half of queue was much better as it was under the canopy. The queue reminded me of an hour queue for the roller coaster in Korea last year. Luckily this queue only lasted us about 30 minutes under hot sun.

Me taking photo before the queue

Our tickets and brochure. RM1 per adult. Kids below 12 is free admission

We were briefed on the operation of the ship. The famous section of the ship would be the largest floating book fair.

An insight on the crew cabin. Hubby has an idea of a double decker beds for the kids from this! Lol!

The price are in unit, since they are going to more than 40 countries.

The entrance of the book fair. It was very stuffy in there, many people. But I managed to grab 3 novels which is only RM16 per book. We spent RM204 on books and souvenirs yesterday! We did not bring the kids along, but probably I will bring little gal over this Friday since she has no school that day. Hopefully less people.

I am reading one of the novels now. Happy reading to me! *wink*

Toward recovery

2011-11-03T20:50:00.003+08:00

The weather is damn crazy and there is no wonder we all fall sick. Baby Jay is down with diarrhea and vomitting, while I am having tonsilitis and bad cough, and so is little gal. Luckily we are recovering from our sickness. Shooo! Go away all the sickness. We don't need you here.

I went for a facial this afternoon. One of my customers operating a facial centre at her home so thought of giving it a try for first time. Reciprocal agesture; she supports and buy products from my shop and I support and done my facial. Since my facial course has used up, so it was right time to try out new place and compare their services and pricing. Near to my shop so convenient for me and I like the personal space offered by having it done at home.

I cooked at home this evening since hubby offered to take care of the kids. Both kids are still recovering, so it would be better to have them rest at home than running around at my shop. Don't want them get sick again.

I love this simple dish. When you are running out of time and don't know what to cook, you can give this dish, I called Steamed Shimeji mushrooms with Black Fungus and Chicken a try. I knew that I would not have much time after the facial, so I prepared the ingredients and keep refrigerated in the morning.

Method
Cut the lower part of the Shimeji mushrooms and wash and soak in water for few minutes.
Soak black fungus in water till it turns softer. Cut into smaller slices.
Slice some ginger, strip the Shimeji mushrooms into smaller slices (I did not have much time, so my slices are bigger) and slice boneless chicken meat into strips.
Mix the mushrooms, fungus, ginger and chicken together, add salt and oyster sauce. Mix well. Do not add water as the mushroom will release some juices.
Place into steaming dish. Steam till chicken strips are cooked under medium fire.

Voila!

Weekend Menu #16: I cook, I eat

2011-11-02T10:39:00.000+08:00

I counted the days I cook this year. So shameful! *wink* Anyway, got the chance to cook over the weekend. The weather has been pretty wild lately. Either it rains or shines whole day but we stayed doing nothing at home over the weekend.

Felt like drinking some chicken soups. Remember we bought some of this dried fish slices from Korea last year. The Koreans used this fish for stock in soup and other dishes. Still have some leftover in the fridge so I added some slices to my chicken soup. Taste very sweet!

I do not have much time during the day since I need to open up the shop so I rely very much on slow cooker since I no need to check on it from time to time.

Red dates chicken soup
Half chicken used
10 Red dates
Few slices of dried Korean fish
Salt to taste

I put everything into slow cooker, let it cooks for 3 hours. Great taste!

On Sunday, I cooked Fu chuk (beancurd skin) pork rib soup. Very easy to prepare, and again I used slow cooker. Simple, just get ready all the ingredients in the morning and throw into the slow cooker. After came back from mass, our soup is ready.

Beancurd skin pork rib soup
Pork rib
Beancurd skin
Ginger slices
Garlic clove
Salt to taste

Thaw the pork rib in warm water for few minute. Soak the beancurd skin in cold water till it soften, then cut to desired sizes. Wash the garlic and ginger; slice the ginger into few pieces. Pour water into slow cooker and put all the ingredients in. Let it cooks for 3 hours.

As for the kids who do not really enjoy soupy dishes, I have some luncheon meat with egg for them.

After so many trials, my steamed egg is successful. *wink* But I still like my mum's steamed egg, because hers is silkier and yummier than mine. Overall, my steamed egg not so bad. *wink*

Nov is here

2011-11-01T09:58:00.000+08:00

It is November already? Wow!! I am so looking forward to November although it is going to be a busy month for me!

Firstly, hubby's birthday is coming soon. So going to plan something nice for dear hubby.

Secondly, school holiday is going to start soon. It means no morning rush hours and we can sleep late in the morning!

Thirdly, we are going to have a family vacation end of this month. A shopping therapy for me! Lol! Yes, a short break for us and we are going to enjoy ourselves in KL before the kids going back to hometown.

And fourthly but not last, this blog is in existence for 4 years by 30th November! Wow! I have been sharing my thoughts here for 4 years. Time really flies. Thank you everyone for making this blog a wonderful place of thoughts.

Migraine hits me

2011-10-27T23:26:00.004+08:00

I have a migraine attack this afternoon around 1something. So suddenly. Started with throbbing pain on one side of the head, then slowly going to my nose and eyes. Could not stand it, I took a nap, which amazed me because I slept for almost 2 hours! If not a phone ring from the shop, I do not know what time I will wake up.

The migraine getting worse when I woke up and I hardly can open my eyes, drive and seeing the light is difficult. Luckily it got better after I took 2 tablets of Panadol after the dinner, but after few hours the headache started again. So no choice I had my hubby to do some head massage for me. Now slightly better but I could not get some sleep. Too much afternoon nap. Lol!

Ok, off now. Still not feel right looking at the pc screen. Good night everyone. Hope the migraine goes away by tomorrow morning.

Me and kids

2011-10-26T17:53:00.002+08:00

It is Deepavali Day today and a public holiday in West Malaysia. Over here, no holiday and everything runs as usual. It was jam and raining in the morning, took quite some times on the road than usual.

Last night my girl told me that there is no school, but I corrected her as it is not a holiday in Sarawak today. She tried to say the word "Deepavali" but a bit of tongue twister for her. Lol! And I got some ranting from her as well because you see, yesterday was her dental care day and all students are to bring napkins, cup, toothbrush and toothpaste to school. End up she did not participate because she could not find her cup (which is at the bottom of her school bag) and napkin (because I gave her a big towel since there was a swimming lesson). Lol! Kids!

Anyway, find an interesting tag from one of the blogs that I blog hopping this morning. It is about parenting style so thought it is fun to pen something about myself.....

Describe your parenting style in one word:
Strict but democratic style

Favourite TV family of all time (real or fictional)?
Full House

What’s always in your refrigerator?
Cheddar and orange juices

Last meal you made for your family?
Fried eggs and instant noodle for breakfast

Favourite book to read to your kid?
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series count as book??

Craziest thing you’ve done while sleep-deprived?
Playing Farmville while everyone is fast asleep

A trait you hope your children don’t inherit from you?
Hot tempered and easily irritated by small matters

Favourite kids’ movie?
Baby Day Out

Kids’ TV show you can’t stand?
Dora The Explorer, because I don't understand Spanish. Now my girl is learning numbers in Spanish.

Best piece of parenting advice you ever got?
Treat your kids like how you want them to treat you.

When your kids say “Mom,” you say…
“What?”

They will work it out....

2011-10-25T14:06:00.004+08:00

Someone I knew told me a month ago that she is making a biggest decision in her life. Divorcing her husband!!

It is not a shocking revelation from her, but please, I am not being cruel here, it is just that in first place, they married too young and secondly both are not trying hard in their marriage.

I know that such decision needs courage so as a friend, I stand by her, telling her that she has to think about her young girl and what ever decision she makes, it will affect her kid in the future. She was so convince that time that there were no U-turn for both of them.

But as the weeks go by, I heard from another friend that they are working things out. Great! And it happens I bumped into them today, shopping for crockery and kitchen utensils. And funny thing is that she has never cook in her life before and now she is cooking. I am impressed with her. Like the saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.". I am happy for both of them and hope they do work things out this time. They'll be fine.

Yester Day

2011-10-22T11:13:00.000+08:00

Time really passed fast. I don't know about you, but 2011 is really pretty fast. Now end of October. The other day I have been tagged by old friends back during my college days. Old photographs were posted in Facebook and a lot of old classmates made comments to the photographs. It is kind of great to see some old classmates via Facebook. Some are not even in Malaysia but we still keep in touch via Facebook.

Looking at those photographs, how young and naive I was then. Wore t-shirts and jeans most of the times. Lol! And how green I was when I got my first job. I remember I work till 8.00pm something on my first day at work. Don't ask me why but I just tried to show my bosses that I can do my work and proved them I am serious and able to work longer hours. But I half-dead when I reached home that night! Lol!

A college friend used to say about having a big reunion but it has been more than 10 years since he said that. *laugh* I guess everyone move on and not easy (but possible) to gather everyone together in one place. Once in blue moon I managed to find some times to have lunch or drink with some of my close girl friends. Even my friend now residing in KL commented that we live so near, yet hardly bump into each other in Kuching! Lol! And we only go out together if any friends come back to Kuching.

Thinning hair

2011-10-20T12:07:00.003+08:00

I straighten my hair last Sunday with my sis. A little sister time to ourselves. We started around 1pm and as a lot of customers came to have their hair wash, it took us almost 3 hours to have our hair straighten. Suppose to be a 2 hours process but we ended up have it done around 4.30pm. But it only cost RM100.00 per head only.

But I lost a lot of hair. After straightening, my hair is even more thinning. Gosh! Maybe due to my last pregnancy. Used to have a very thick tresses but now I can see some baldness on my head. So before I losing some more hair, I better use some hair tonic. Any good hair tonic to recommend me?? How should I use hair tonic??? I understand I must put few drops of tonic on the scalp area and massage but if I want to massage all over my head, how???

I asked hubby how do I look and he does not give much comment. Maybe because I asked him before I went to the salon, whether he likes me curl or straight hair and he replied the former style. But I ended up with straight hair because I am the lazy type. No patience and time to maintain the curls. *wink*

Stay young tips

2011-10-17T14:56:00.001+08:00

Who would not want to be young forever?? I am in my 30s and raising 2 growing children, I feel like I lose the youthfulness and energy in me once a while. Not forgetting the independence and freedoms that does not come easy with having children, but it would not be long when I think back that what my life would be without my children. Empty! *wink*

I am young enough to remember my wonderful teens and old enough (wiser?) to know what my parents have been through and before long, I will find myself in their shoes, going into mid-life then to golden years. Gosh! Now I am thinking way to far ahead. But don't get too sentimental here. The point here is that how we might stay young - no matter what age you are.

1. Exercise
It keeps your body re-charge and stay young and healthy. Brisk walking, swimming or hitting the gym does wonder.

2. Keep learning.
We are never too old to learn and we will never stop learning. Keep your brain young by learning new things or taking a class (cooking, baking, sewing, language etc). Discover a new hobby for continual learning.

3. Connect with friends
Old friends are hard to find and keep. Go for a lunch date with friends, or do something together.

4. Mixing with younger people
I have a friend in her 50s. Most of her friends are either in their 20s or 30s. She said she does not have much friends of same age as her because they think and act like old people. *wink* This friend will never grow old as she dressed younger than her age and she well liked among her younger friends.

5.Play
Children makes you stay younger. They are full of energy. Spend times with your chldren, either making some craft or arts, play computer games or having fun in the playground or beach.

6. Laugh
Laugh is the best medicine. Cultivate our sense of humour in our lives.

7. Spend times outdoor
Nature is rejuvenating. Fresh air, sunshine and sound of nature are stimulating and naturally you tend to be active when you are outdoor.

8. Maintain positive mindset
Old people tend to be bitter and love to nag and critise. Avoid being old and bitter. Have a positive and enthusiastic attitude. It is powerful tool to stay younger.

House WIP #3 : Wardrobe

2011-10-15T14:31:00.002+08:00

Sneak preview on my unfinished wardrobe. They said it will be done by this month together with the other 2 bedroom's wardrobes.

Next to the master bedroom's bathroom

Have a blessed weekend

2011-10-14T10:34:00.000+08:00

You know you are blessed when

....you are showered with loves from your family

....you are hugged and kissed when you need them

....you got call from long lost friends asking you "How are you?"

....you looking fondly at your kids' photographs and thinking how much they have grown

....your hubby does not mind you start growing few wrinkles and grey hair, fatter and grumpier and he still say "I love you" in the morning. Lol!

Brought from Sibu

2011-10-11T19:50:00.002+08:00

Never forget to eat the famous Sibu kampua when you are in Sibu. And for souvenir, you will never go wrong with some pork-stuffed kompia and Sibu kam (local oranges).

Eat it while it is hot! Yummy!

Don't really fancy Sibu kam because I don't really like sour fruits. My mum loves it the most!

Never know there are so many types of oranges (kam). This is called "Limau susu". Guess you know why it is called that name.

Authentic Sibu kam???

We started our journey to Kuching around 1130am and we stopped at Lachau around 3pm for lunch. There is one corner shop (next to Pasar Tani) that sell great Chinese economy food. Really taste good but very little portion. I even commented that the girl dished out the dishes so little I can count the meat! Sigh!

We continue our journey to Serian and we stop for toilet break before heading back to Kuching. We reached home around 6pm. Phew! Tired, because I could not sleep in the car while holding Baby Jay who suddenly down with fever. Glad that he has recovered from his fever, diarrhea, flu and cough. He has not been that well before the trip and it got worse in Sibu. Play, eat and drink too much but did not rest well. Lol!

Secret Garden Grill, Sibu

2011-10-10T11:57:00.001+08:00

It rained on the 2nd night. After wait for SIL to close her shop around 8pm, we had our dinner ala Western style.

We went to Secret Garden Grill after heard recommendation from Suituapui blog. Just want to taste their burgers with their own made patties. So, my verdict? The price quite reasonable, the place is pretty cosy and great for gathering. We chose the "non-smoking" area since we have kids. Food portion pretty big for our tummies.

From the picture, I know my children were enjoying themselves. Why not? Not so often we bring them to this type of place in Kuching!

Here are our orders, so don't drool over them, okay? Lol!

Double Cheese beef burger.

Supposed to order some chicken nuggets for my kids, but end up with their crispy chicken. Not bad, can compete with KFC!

My chicken burger.

SIL ordered meatball spaghetti. Very filling.

We slept late that night because we were too full from the food.

What I see in Sibu

2011-10-09T12:15:00.003+08:00

We started our road trip to Sibu around 7.30am on Wednesday morning. Our first stop was Betong for our lunch around 10 something. The kids were pretty obedient; Baby Jay looking out from the window, curious with our whereabout. He was very quiet, probably wondering where we were heading at such early hours and woke him up from his beauty sleep. Lol! As for my girl, she has her iPad and nothing will bother her.

We reached the toll around 1.30pm. After paying RM5, we heading to the Sibu town.

Before this bridge was built, visitors have to wait for ferries which may take hours.

The arch of Sibu welcoming us in the city area.

First thing I notice when I stepped into Sibu was a lot of pigeons. Or maybe Rejang Park has lots of pigeons there??

Sibu by road

2011-10-04T11:13:00.002+08:00

Let see! The kids' milk powder. Checked! Kids' clothing. Checked! Diapers. Checked! Snacks. Checked! My clothing. Checked! Toiletries. Checked! What else I forget?? The luggage has been there since the weekend, almost ready for our trip. I have double, triple check and still checking on the items this morning. Lol! Why not? I must not forgetting things when it comes to travelling with my kids.

I will be taking a short break from the shop and going to Sibu by road tomorrow. My first road trip to Sibu and I wonder I can stand the long duration in the car with my 2 kids or not. Lol!

Leaving the shops to my 2 sales assistants. Their first without me around, I guess they can handle it well.

The kids particularly my girl is so looking forward to the trip. Why not? No need to go to school and same time, can see her doting grandparents and aunt there. It is my hubby's cousin's wedding tomorrow evening, so it will be a grand family affair there. Being the eldest grandchild, my hubby is expected to be there and since we cannot make for the tea ceremony in the morning, we shall make up for the dinner. This will be Baby Jay's second trip to Sibu and his great grandmother is so looking forward to seeing him again. In the past we usually in the hurry when we were in Sibu, but this time round, we will have more times to visit Sibu. But I guess we will be spending more times in hubby's grandparent's house and my SIL's shop.

I just hope it will be smooth road trip and hopefully the kids will be able to take some naps in the car, so giving me less headache. We will start our trip around 7 somethings after collecting our pre-ordered sio bao to bring over to our relatives. We will be back to Kuching on Friday evening! Adios! Wish us a happy and smooth journey.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2011-10-01T15:05:00.001+08:00

According to the WHO, more than 1.2 million women get the new diagnosis of breast cancer every year in the world. Breast cancer claims the top position as the leading cause of deaths from cancer among women aged between 40 and 55 years. It can occur at any stage as alarmingly, it affect women below age of 30. It is not a women issue as men can get breast cancer too.

Prevention is still the best weapon, so do a monthly self-examination.

Sources: Breast Cancer Care

What changes should we look and feel for?
•Changes in size or shape.
•Changes in skin texture such as puckering or dimpling.
•Inverted nipple.
•A lump or thickening of breast tissue.
•Redness or a rash on the skin/around the nipple.
•Discharge from one or both nipples.
•Constant pain in breast or armpit.
•Swelling in armpit/around collarbone

For women aged 20 to 40 years old, arrange a clinical examination every 3 years and for those 40 years old and above, annual examination and mammogram are recommended.

Ticking away

2011-09-30T12:37:00.000+08:00

So many things, so little time.

From Google Search

OMG! It is already end of September???! 3 more months to go before we bid 2011 goodbye. There are so many things in hands, and I frantically trying to divide my time (and myself if can) between works and family. The last quarter of the year would be a very busy time, as festive season is around the corner and not forgetting our new house. Just could not help but to whip those contractors to do the works faster around the house so I can choose a good day and time to move in, and have my stuff really move in and unpack them.

Time is never enough!

Weekend Menu #15: Food to warm your soul

2011-09-27T10:43:00.001+08:00

What a great dish to kick start my day non other than a nice bowl of mihun soup. I love my soup to be sour, so some kiam chai and tomato do the trick. Fresh fish meat is a good protein source. I can finish 2 bowls but I got to watch my weight at the same time.

Another great soup is chicken soup. Funny thing is that when I am not well, I always crave for either porridge or warm chicken soup. As hubby and I were not feeling well last week, we have some ginseng chicken soup. I can have many bowls of these soups and dip my chicken meat in light soy sauce. Yummy! What do you have when you are not feeling well?

This dish is mostly cooked during confinement. I ate a lot of these kacang ma during my 2 confinements. It is a Hakka heritage dish. To read more, go here. It is flavourish with lots of herbs, old ginger and wine. On normal days I will crave for it but of course with less white wine. I do not need too much of wine, but it does good to cleanse the body when you have your monthly menstrual.

Sisterly meeting

2011-09-25T15:34:00.002+08:00

I have few good friends from previous company. We are no longer working there and we ended up as ladies of leisure (more or less). Once a while we tried to find times to meet up. May it be breakfast or lunch, we try to get together once a week or at least twice a month. You can see we grew close since the old days when we were in same company that we feel like we are sisters. I find it is good get-away time as I hardly have time to meet up with old friends. Most of my days I am stuck in the shop or busy with family matters. And when we did meet up, we talk like no body business. Sometimes I feel other people from other tables are looking at us. Must be we talking or laughing too loud. You know girls. When we meet up, we love to gossip!

Boh Eng

2011-09-22T11:57:00.001+08:00

I do not know what I am busy about, but the works in my new house make me more excited. Why not? It means in two or three months time I will be moving to my new house. Before Christmas we must move into the house! *wink*

Update on the new house works. Now contractor is doing some touch up on the wet kitchen (windows & door fixed, painting, building the cabinet and stove top). At same time, the built in wardrobe for the bedrooms. Next would be the installation of air cons, lightings, heaters and ceiling fan(s). Follow by tiles on car porch and back of the house. Last but not least, before all the furniture and stuff moving in, the cleaning part!

More cleaning works to be done, but luckily hubby said he will get a cleaning company to do the cleaning. Debris and dust everywhere and no matter how much I sweep and mop, the floor will be covered in white dust in few minute. So I guess I leave the cleaning job to the professionals who has the right tools and equipment to do it.

I have already packed my room and I can see that it is pretty empty with all those stuff sealed in boxes. As I were doing the packing, I realised we have so many rubbish and unused items. So same time I took times to clear all those overdue bills, magazines and unnecessary things.

More boxes and packing needed, but I wonder where to keep those boxes for time being before we are moving in. Some more there will be a new member of the family arriving next month so need to clear one of the bedrooms for the confinement lady. Oh boy......really boh eng (busy)!

Go bare

2011-09-20T16:35:00.002+08:00

My beautician advised me to minimise on make up and wash my face more thorough as I have a lot of white heads and make up residues. I have oily skin with big pores, so I have to take care of my skin well, otherwise pimples will "visit" me. So I decided to go "naked" on my face with no make up.

It has been a week since I went to my last facial wash. My complexion is better as less pinching and not so red. I always hate going for a facial, because they tend to pinch my face till it so red and take long time to heal. Unlike the previous one, my redness gone in after 2 days while this last trip, it gone in a day. Since then I have not put any make up on my face. At first I am not used to it. As you see, my usual morning routine would include make up in front of the mirror but since then, I have more time to spare with my kids. And I feel relax in the morning too. I spent about 5 - 10 minutes (depend on how extensive my make up is) but now that extra minutes are spent on chatting and playing with my 2 kids. *wink*

My skin feel great and smooth too. But still, I need to wash and blot my face often as I do not want to clog my pores with my already-oily-combination. I think I will spend less money on cosmetic especially those foundations and compact powders, but I still love to get myself a new eye shadow palette. You should try it out too. Go naked on your face.

Cracked nails

2011-09-19T09:52:00.004+08:00

Not exactly cracked nails, but nail colours. Tried out the new Cosway Crackle Nail Lacquer. Not so sure how much to put in first place but after trying on few nails, I decided that more is better. Bring out the colours in them. And with Gloss coating to finish them, it sure stands out.

Used my own gold and gloss coating, and used Purplish Brown Crackle Nail Lacquer.

Crackle in seconds!!!

Beautiful or not? First experiment so I do not think it is that smooth. Will try other colours.

House WIP #3

2011-09-17T11:35:00.003+08:00

I have to sweep once and mop three times in the family hall and 3 bedrooms, and clean 2 bathrooms upstair yesterday. It took me more than 2 hours and by the time I finished, I was exhausted to go for a swim.

My proposed new kitchen.

No more side and front landscape since we are lazy to maintain grass and plants. All cemented in the car porch to give more spaces to our cars.

Hubby is done with the coat painting to the kitchen. Now waiting for people to install the windows and door, and building wooden cabinet to the kitchen.

The backyard also cemented; more space.

TGIF

2011-09-16T10:34:00.005+08:00

It is Friday and a holiday today. Not that it makes any difference to me. The kids are with baby sitter and my shop still have to operate as usual. Just that today I will do something extra.

Time to do some cleaning to my new house. Actually not a thorough cleaning, just only on the 3 bedrooms up stair. The workers will do the built in wardrobe to the bedrooms soon, so I would need to do some cleaning and mopping to the wooden floor before the wardrobe are in. Hubby is going to paint the wet kitchen today so maybe after the works, we will have a dip in the swimming pool. Long time did not go for a swim. We are paying the monthly service charge, so must fully use its facilities, right? Hopefully the weather is good later.

It has been raining almost this week and I even have to send my dirty clothing to laundry centre. My clean laundry is piling up and I have not have time to keep them. I have brought back some boxes for hubby since he wanted to pack his books and dvd. The room is going to be dusty again......

Mummy's children

2011-09-13T17:18:00.001+08:00

I had my first child at the age of 28. I think it is an ideal age to have children but at that point of time, I were ready and settling down to have kids. Some think that I was rushing things because I got pregnant after a month of marriage. Some said I should enjoy marriage life, maybe a year before settling for kids.

What ever it is, I have no regrets. At that moment of time, I just feel like having kids. And boy! I am in my 30s and I have a pair of kids. How beautiful my 2 kids are. I am truly blessed and grateful to have wonderful children, although sometimes they giving me headaches and heartbreaks. Nevertheless I am proud of them.

I love the feeling of waking up in the morning to the sound of my children either greeting me with "Good Morning" or asking for their milk. I love the idea of sharing ice cream cone with my girl, playing blocks with my boy and having a nice bucket of fried chicken with my kids. I am contented with 2, but hubby keeps persuading me for Baby No 3. See how thing goes after we move into the new house. *Wink*

House WIP #2

2011-09-13T10:41:00.004+08:00

The wet kitchen is in progress, first coating has been laid down, and next work would be installing the windows and door, and building of bricked cabinet in there. More painting to be done by hubby after all those works are done.

Next would be our built-in wardrobe for the master bedroom and the kids' 2 bedrooms. Me and hubby gone for colour selection yesterday. We are pleased with the sketches of the wardrobe, so the work will start this week after the down payment of 30%. It will take about a month. Phew! Money and more money is pouring out for the house but it is good thing, as slowly our dream house is in progress.

Breakfast of Kueh Chap

2011-09-08T19:25:00.002+08:00

I rarely take kueh chap, partly because I do not take internal organs of pigs. So after so many years of not tasting kueh chap, I finally decided to give the new stall in Sing Garden a try this morning.

Turned out good! I requested for those lean meats, tauhu puff, egg and "kueh". RM5 per bowl. Love the soup as it is not too overwhelming yet flavourish and not to mention the chunky lean meats. Hubby was even surprised that I finished up the whole bowl. Lol!

Down!

2011-09-06T12:16:00.003+08:00

My Streamyx is not behaving well since yesterday. Hardly can get connected; so frustrating especially when there were some urgent matters to be e-mailed and updated. This morning the Streamys also down although my computer has the connection icon. However luckily I am able to get down to work now. Hope everything is smooth without any more interruption.

I am also down. Must be the virus from my boy that caught me. I have been sneezing since Sunday evening. I did not take any medicine, just sleep it off and taking more Vitamin C to boost my immune system. Only until it is serious, then I "die die" go see doctor or get medication from pharmacist. Lol!

Busier

2011-09-01T13:33:00.003+08:00

September is here and I think I am even more busier than ever this month.

The extension work at the back of the new house is almost ready, left the painting part. That will be taken care by hubby himself as he volunteers to paint himself. Save money and same time, he needs the exercise. *wink*

It is that time of the year again where wedding bells are ringing. This month I will be attending 2 ex-colleagues' wedding receptions. Thank god they are not holding theirs at same time. One is on 11 and another on 13 September. So got to chip more for ang pows. Lol!

School is starting next week, so it means "rush hour" is back for us in the morning. My girl's school fee have been settled last month otherwise another big hole in our pocket other than the renovation work that we need to chip out.

Relax, relax~ Need to find time to breathe and relax. Because more is coming up this month and month to follow.....

End of the month....already?

2011-08-29T12:24:00.000+08:00

Good things always ended fast. I always love the month of August, because my birthday and Baby Jay's birthday fall this month, and not forgetting the school holidays too. No rushing in the morning to send my girl to school and I could bring both kids to breakfast before sending them off to baby sitter. It is kind of great feeling to get up late. *wink*

I do not know about you all, but I am thinking that weekends are no longer that long and Saturdays and Sundays passed so fast before we really can enjoy every seconds of them. Sigh! Wish we have more times to spend, right?

So when there are school holidays or Public Holidays, I am looking forward to them. It means more times with family. I am starting to cook again during the weekend since hubby has been complaining of our "malnourished" kids. Lol! Don't expect me to cook every day but one or two days a week sound good. I also bored of eating outside.

Okay, I am looking forward to indulge in my appetite tomorrow with rendang, ayam masak merah, lemang, satays, curries and Malay delicacies. Will be visiting our good friends' house tomorrow afternoon since I missed out on visiting them last year. I do not really fancy visiting during festive; partly because of kids. Hard to enjoy yourself when you have to run after naughty kids! Lol! So usually one house visiting is good enough for me.

I would like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya, Happy Holiday & Happy National Day!! Yahoo!

Lost and Found

2011-08-26T12:23:00.004+08:00

have you ever thought that we lost something and thought it really gone forever and when you least expected it, it was found right in front of you??

I swear that I searching high and low for it everywhere especially my car where I thought I lost it yesterday and I could not find it till this morning!! And the way how I find it was rather ironic too.

It began yesterday morning. You know women, we have so many things in our bag, so mine is not an exception. I have my handphone, my makeup kit, name card holder, papers, tissue, purse and a pouch where I put my sunglasses and some redemption coupons and vouchers. And as usually when I drive, I will put on my sunglasses in the morning. I had breakfast with hubby and then sent my car to car wash and walk to my shop. As I were walking to my shop, I scrambled my bag for my pouch to keep my sunglasses and suddenly right there I could not find it! Sh*t! I thought I must drop it in the car while taking it out earlier. So never mind, after I got my car I look in the car but could not find it. Never mind again. I will search for it again in the afternoon when I go home.

Again, I could not find it. I even look underneath the car seat; knowing how "efficient" are those people washing and vacuuming my car, but my pouch was no where to be found. Sh*t! I lost those coupons that I keep for many months. Funny thing was I just keep all those coupons in the pouch a few day ago. I usually do not keep my coupons in one bag, but do not know what got into me, I kept them all in that pouch with my sunglasses.

So forgetting the whole thing I had my usual chore in the morning and as I was about to open my shop, I could not find my shop keys in my bag. And I swear to you again, that my handbag (the same handbag) does not have any hole in it! I could felt my keys but I could not found the hole where it dropped into. Sh*t (Please excuse me as I really was sh*ted that time and wonder what was wrong???)

So no choice, I have to sacrifice my handbag (a last year Christmas gift from my cousin from Singapore) by cutting it with my keys. I did it in my car as I do not want to embarrass myself doing it in front of my shop. Lol!

So, I throw all my stuff from my bag in my car and cut loose my bag to retrive the keys. After done a minor damage to my bag I started keeping all the stuff back and I saw some papers on the floor of my seat so I ducked down to retrieve them and suddenly I saw my pouch. Right there!!

Gosh! Wonder it is because I am getting older, I am also getting absent-minded and clumsy or it is something else?? And my poor bag!

34

2011-08-24T08:34:00.007+08:00

My big number!

Yes. That is how old I am today. I cannot believe that I am that old.

When I was in my teen, I dreamt of being in 20s and have a career. I can do a lot once I reached 21. But now I am in my 30s, I wish to remain 20s all the time. Lol.

Never mind what is my age, the most important thing is what I have achieved so far. Family and career. I have a great life with my loving hubby, 2 beautiful children, a promising career and business opportunity. So, no big regrets there. *wink* Hope more to come.....I am not greedy but no harm asking more right? Lol!

Happy birthday to me! :) Age is nothing but a number

Our weekend chore

2011-08-22T19:50:00.003+08:00

Yesterday we have a cleaning and clearing in our room. Since we are going to move to new house in couple of months, we have to start packing some stuff over.

I had gone through the children old stuff and clothing, since my SIL is expecting. I giving away my maternity clothing too since I would not be wearing them anymore. Never knew I have so much baby clothing to give away. Two big boxes to the new baby. After all my Baby Jay is overgrown and hardly can fit into them. *wink*

Two big boxes of books, old magazines and little girl's school books and arts. 2 big boxes of toys. I guess we will need some more big boxes to pack our clothings and some more books and stuff. Really, I have moved to few houses when I was young. I remember I move to 5 houses before I got married, but that time, everything were done by parents. Now it is my turn, I really do not know where to start. Because it looks like you want to take everything over. Lol! But we shall leave the furniture since we are going to get new one in our new home.

We spent our afternoon at home and after a great nap, hubby made dinner for us. Just simple dinner; roasted chicken with lettuce mayo salad; roasted spring chicken; and tuna and cheese sandwiches. The kids did not like any of those, so I have to cook a pack of Maggi instant noodles with chicken favour for them. At least they finished it up! And we having the dinner watching "Final Destination 5". That was how I spent my Sunday!

House WIP

2011-08-19T09:49:00.002+08:00

The extension work up to date on the back portion of the house. It will be my wet kitchen and laundry area.

Dreaming Costa Rica

2011-08-18T10:19:00.001+08:00

When my sister told me that she is planning to expand her career in Costa Rica, I was more than happy to support her decision. She has been in her travel agency for 5 years and very familiar with ticketing and tour works. It is time for her to move on with her career.

I have heard so much about the Costa Rica rainforest and its natural beauty. My sister said that Costa Rica is one of the famous countries in Central America for honeymooners and those into natures as it has vast forests, valcanos and caves to explore in. As for me, I think I would opt for a city tour like a visit to San Jose and its historical buildings. I would love to go to Mercado Central and spend my shopping there.

My sister being an adventurer herself has started to learn more about this beautiful country of Costa Rica. So if everything goes well, she will be going end of the year. Good luck to her!

Music in her

2011-08-16T12:17:00.003+08:00

I find it amusing and surprising at the same time when my 5 yo girl suddenly popped out a few lines of lyric when we least expect it. Like Christina Perri's Jar of Heart. It is rather a sad song and definitely not a good song to start off a day.

Little girl sang:

You're gonna catch a cold,
From the ice inside your soul,
So don't come back for me,
Who do you think you are?

I don't know why she sang the song last Friday while sending her to school, but she always a quick learner when it comes to songs and musics.

Maybe it is time to enrol her in a music class. I have been procastinating for quite some times. Whose know, she may have some hidden talents inside her.

My breakfast

2011-08-11T09:24:00.003+08:00

Once a while I would treat myself to a heavy breakfast. Like this morning, after a cold raining night, I craving for something different, other than the usual Sarawak kolok mee or laksa.

Since I woke up pretty early today at 6am as need to wake up hubby for his Sibu trip, I have a very early morning after sending off the kids. So I invited my mum for breakfast in King's Centre for curry chicken rice. Love this curry chicken rice especially the curry gravy and its char siew.

You may wonder why my rice is dry. It is because I requested for seperate bowl of curry gravy, did not want it to be overflowing on my plate. Lol! RM4.00 per plate.

Now I am a bit sleepy after the early morning and heavy breakfast. Wish can take a little nap in the shop.... zzzzzzzz

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Back to work force

2011-08-09T17:41:00.004+08:00

What would you do when your ex-boss called you up and ask you to work for him again? That was the case when I got a call from my previous boss. Funny of him to think of me although I just work for him for about 3 months. I guess my experiences and work quality impressed him as he thinks high of me. Lol!

I told him that I would think about it because I definitely would not leave my business to staff to handle without my supervision. And if I do join him, it would be next year story. See what he has to offer first, but I see how thing goes by end of the year.......

Update

2011-08-08T14:55:00.004+08:00

Life goes on........

Little girl is heard coughing since yesterday and it gets worse this morning when she woke up, so quickly give her cough syrup. Hope she will recover soon.

Baby Jay is very clingy to me lately. When in the shop, he will hold on to me and when ever he wants to wander around he will find and hold to my hand, pulling me to follow him. Still not much words coming out from him, but he is learning to count with his fingers now. He can recognise and say "two" and "three" now.

House's renovation is starting this week. Finally!! They will do the extension to our wet kitchen.

Hubby has a bout of bad luck lately. First his aching tooth, then follow by his Blackberry (which died off after accidentally in contact with water), then his aching foot, dead computer desktop and lastly this morning, his reliable wrist watch! I wonder he is going to get any 4D soon because when he checked yesterday's result, his car numbers are jumbled up but he did not "pau" them! Sigh!

If you have not yet realised, today is 08/08/11. So if you thinking of buying any 4D or 6D, do let me know if you win it! *wink*

It's August already

2011-08-05T13:26:00.003+08:00

When my mum told me this morning that today is my Baby Jay's Chinese birthday, I went blur. Alamak! Forget about it. Or you can said, I do not remember my kids or my own birthday based on Chinese calendar. So my mum asked me whether I boiled any eggs for him to eat in the morning, I said "No. He will have it end of the month, as I only can remember the English birthdate". Lol!

So, in 3 weeks time, it will be my birthday as well as Baby Jay's, so I guess we will have a simple dinner to celebrate our big days.

Happy Friday and weekend, everyone!!!

Tale of my fried noodle

2011-08-04T12:09:00.004+08:00

Feeling warm right now. Still not fully recovered from tiredness and stresses, but I am alright now! Both kids and myself just recovered from sore throat and cough. Yeap, the weather sure play culprit here. It has been a very hot week. Nothing prepared me to this torturing weather, so wonder when the hot spell is over? The heat feels like piercing through my skin.

So hot at night that even the full blast of air condition does not help to cool down my two kids. For instance my boy woke up in middle of the night on Monday crying and throwing tantrum. It lasted for almost an hour after we wiped his body and changed his pyjamas.

Have you ever crave for something that you are not supposed to eat when you were sick but you desperately wanted to? *wink* Well, it was just another day when I "ingin" something and I got my wish granted. I was thinking of having fried mee hoon for breakfast in Blossom Cafe as I picked up hubby for breakfast on Monday. And when he finally turned up after 10 minutes waiting, he directed me to Blossom Cafe which is less than a minute walk from his office. So I jokingly told him I was thinking about the cafe and its food and we are heading to it now.

So when we reached the cafe, I saw a plate of fried noodle on the display panel and guess what? That plate of noodle look so yummy that I order a plate for myself! Talking about marketing to me! And thank god my judgement was correct. Look at my plate of fried noodle. So appetizing. What a satisfying breakfast I have, although I did not come for its noodle in first place, but it sure satisfy my tastebud for fried food that day. I will definitely go back for it again. As for my sore throat, it gone after few days of drinking herbal tea. Quick, someone hand me a bag of ice please!

Not so angelic

2011-07-31T11:50:00.002+08:00

How I wish that my Princess is a baby again, not a 5yo toddler. She used to be good gil; listen to mummy, helping mummy around and such an angelic girl. But everything change just so sudden, especially this year where I feel she was so mischevious and always up to her sleeve. She talks back and rude. She does not learn that in school, I am pretty sure because I got confirmation from her teachers that she is very good girl there. So, does her brother's presence and my lack of times contribute to her change of behaviour??

How I wish I have more times for my children. When Princess was small, I spent much time with her, nurture and teach her. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself and her as she has pick up good reading habits. She enjoyed reading books and never stop to learn. Just that her recent behaviour is pretty unacceptable. She always fight with her brother, does not give in to him, did not do the things she was told and speak back. So it was a headache for me and hubby as we sensed that she has be own personality and worry she will get worse when she goes to primary school in 2 years time.

Well, I got suggestions from other mummies around and hopefully it does work in my case:

1. Don't get angry
It only make things work and she gets more rebellious. Take some minutes to cool down first and then talk rationally with her

2. No siding
Do not side any of your kids. When they fight, and no matter who started it first, punish both. Take away their toys, no snacks etc.

3. Praise them
Like punishment when they misbehave, praise them when they are well behave. Hug, kiss, pat their head or clap hand will make them feel great.

4. Spending more times doing things your children love
Like playing with their favourite dolls, toys, building blocks or reading books. Anything to bond the quality times and show them that in regardless of busy schedule, we still love them

So, you think they will work for me? Anything else you would like to add?

My children bag

2011-07-29T10:13:00.005+08:00

I used to have many baby bags from Anakku, & Mummycare but I guess I put so much toll on them, they all worn out. Probably the children stuff are too heavy for them. Lol! So recently I resorted to organise my children bag better and never buy any of those bags again. Now I have one or 2 bags that I recycled and turn into my children bag.

A lady will never goes wrong by owning a bag organiser. I put my mobile phone, keys, purse, lipsticks and other stuff in there. So when every time I change my handbag, I just take out the organiser and put into the new bag.

I never throw away those pouches as they come in handy. I pack a pouch with spare clothngs and napkins, and another pouch with diapers, creams and tissues.

This is actually a cooler bag but since no one used it as cooler bag, I turn it into my handy bag.

Authentic Prada bag bought by hubby from China 5 years ago. Now I turn it into a great children bag, because I like it spacey.

Still have space to put more stuff.

Car washing

2011-07-25T17:25:00.005+08:00

There is a car wash shop near my shop, so almost every week I would send my car for washing.

Before I married, I used to wash my car myself. And after I got married, I seldom wash my car. Not so frequent unlike when I was single where I washed it once every 2 weeks. So everytime I picked my my mum for breakfast back then after I married, she will not stop complaining about how dirty my car was. Why not? Little gal loves to step on the cushion with her sandals on and throw things in the car, may it be wrappers, toys or hair accessories. So now I have small plastic bags in my car, when ever she wants to throw something, I will ask her to throw in the bags. At least it is easier for me to dispose later.

Back to the present. Since I have no time to wash and vacuum for a past year, I just have to rely on them to do the work at the price of RM8.00. They do not do great job, I have to admit, but at least it gets my car clean (if not sparky clean). Why I said they do not do great job? Because I still find some stuff underneath the front seats. Sigh!

Extra Hands

2011-07-21T21:00:00.000+08:00

When we move into our new house, hubby is getting a live-in helper to look after the housechores and kids. At least he can take his hands off the kids (no need to look after the kids after office hours) since I have to be at the shop every evening.

It does sound good having a live-in helper. However after listening and reading about some Indonesian maids, I have second thought of having foreign maids. I had one Indonesian helper before, who helped me in the shop for 9 months but after she gone back for CNY this year, she never come back. Waste of money spend on her work permit and passport, but there is some thing we cannot control, right?

So we are looking for a local girl that would be willing to work as our maid. It would not be much work actually. Simple housechore in the morning (no need to do cleaning daily since we only at home in the evening and sleep). As for the kids, by next year both kids will be in kindergarten, so she only need to look after them in the afternoon. By evening, if I can spare my times, I would pick and bring them to my shop.

Sound smooth, but got to see once we move in and we able to get a helper. Need my MIL to find from kampung. Suppose to have one Indonesian maid, and my MIL said she is very good in work. However after working for my MIL in her canteen, the maid decided not to come to Kuching and work for us. Probably the kids factor. Not many maids want to look after kids. Lol!

Our favourite

2011-07-19T17:41:00.004+08:00

No 6 Kopitiam is our frequent place as it is in between my shop and our house. So as usual on Saturday around 5pm and since we both did not have our lunch, we went to our "lao ti fan" (old place)

As usual, we ordered our favourite claypot dishes; his curry lamb and my assam fish! Usually I would ordered my usual dish, i.e. soy sauce pork trotter, but that day, I just felt like having fish.

Total RM18.00 for the 2 claypot dishes with 2 bowl of white rice.

To have a balanced diet, we had stir fry midin, which is RM6.00. Pretty expensive for such portion, I said. But still, we like this place and never bored of its food.

Last of Harry Potter

2011-07-15T20:55:00.001+08:00

Yes! Avid fan of Harry Potter series, ready! The last installment of Harry Potter films is in cinema now. I have not grab a ticket to the big screen yet but will definitely do so in the next few week.

I remember back in end of November 2001, when hubby and I first dated, Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone was just released in cinema. It was actually our second date that night. First was a lunch date in Hong Kong Noodle House. So, our romance started from there and together with Harry Potter movies, it has been 10 years now.

After a nice candelight dinner in San Francisco Grill on our second date, we went for the late night movie in Star Cineplex. It was our first movie together, so it is meaningful for both of us to watch the final installment in big screen. *wink* Hubby even has the original DVD collection of all Harry Potter movies; a good movie is worth keeping, he said.

Child's food

2011-07-14T11:19:00.000+08:00

First of all, thank you guys for your birthday wishes in my previous post. My big day is more than a month, but it is really nice to have earlier wishes. You make my day!

Let me bring you back to my childhood time. Yes, once a while I would reminiscing my sweet path of childhood, especially on food and time spent with my family. I grew up in strict environment where mum is the "police" ensuring we abide to "house rule". Nevertheless she is a good mum and I love her cooking. Dad on other hand is sole breeder; providing what necessary for the family. No matter how tired he was after a long day at work, he would brought us for supper almost every night. Come to evening time, me and my younger siblings would dressed up and eagerly getting ready to go for supper.

One of my favourite childhood noodle dish is tomato sauce crispy noodle. Remember one of the favourite stall to have such dish was in Chawan Road where a couple operated a small business in their house compound. Since then, they were no longer in operation; wonder where have they moved to. Hardly can find good tomato sauce noodle in Kuching.

The noodle will be deep fried to crisp first, and when there is order, the cook will cook the tomato sauce and add some fish balls, fresh prawns, sliced pork meat and chicken meat with green vegetables. Then the sauce will be added to the noodle. However nowadays the portion shrink and less ingredients. Tasted one last weekend in Stutong. The sauce not bad, combination of sweet and soury, but they only added some chicken meat slices and vegetable. So bland. RM4.00 per plate!

Definitely would not go back for it, unless I really craving for tomato sauce crispy noodle again since nearer to my house! *wink*

Once a while, I feel like kid again and indulge in sinful food. Fried chicken. It has been my favourite dish when I was small, and tell me which children never love fried chicken huh?

As tempting as it is, I seldom have it. Got to control my diet, you know.

So just out of craving on a Saturday, I opted to try My Chicken Restaurant in Tabuan since near my shop. I ordered the take-away since a lot of patrons that time. Love the takeaway box. Colourful and atractive, don't you think???

A lot of advertisement in this small box!!

The chicken taste almost the same like KFC, but bigger in size. That was my lunch for that day.

Presents

2011-07-12T11:42:00.000+08:00

From hubby

My early birthday present. *wink*

Yeap, my new toy to play with. Since he knew I love snapping this and that, my ideal present would be digital camera. Thank you, my dear.

From far away lands

Chocolate from Sweden, toothpick holder and fancy earrings from Moscow. A shop operator near my shop went to Russia to attend her son's graduation from medical centre. Then tour around Europe for over 10 days. She bought chocolate bar for my 2 kids. My 2 kids always play with her when they come over. Very thoughtful of her.

Skinny me?

2011-07-09T17:03:00.000+08:00

Hubby commenting that I am too skinny. I think my current weight is okay for my height. 48kg for 152cm. Skinny meh??

I have got back to my pre-pregnancy weight and die-die I will maintain my current shape and weight. How I do it? My formula as follow:

#1 Stress
How can you think of food when under stress? May it be family related stress, work related stress or other type of stress, I would not be thinking much about eating.

#2 Long working hour
It means busy. When busy, I would not be thinking about food

#3 Diet
Eat less fried food and carbohydrate, eat more vegetables.

#4 Light housework
I have not been going to any aerobic or gym for few years now, so I do some light house chore like cleaning the room. I can never finish cleaning up the room. Everyday there would be mess around. Sigh!

#5 Supplement
I rely on supplement to replenish any nutritions that I may not be able to obtain from food

#6 Kids
Tell me who never lose some weights with kids around. Running after them, screaming after them and cleaning after them. Already enough to make your adrenaline runs high!!

#7 Sex and sleep
Do I need to explain this further? It enhance better relationship with your other half and same time, sex is good exercise too. And not forgetting quality sleep at night.

So I jokingly told my hubby few nights ago, if want me to grow fat then have to treat me to supper every night! Lol! I think he could not afford to because if I gain weight, he will automatically gain more because he has to accompany me to eat.

So what is your post-pregnancy weight control???

Eye makeup test

2011-07-07T21:07:00.003+08:00

My basic makeup is foundation, compact powder, eye brow and blusher. Do not have much time to make up every morning, but if I do have some spare time, I would put on eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara. I do not like loud colours, so something light is good for me.

I never knew that eyeshadow can tell someone personality till I try this test. More or less it is true. *wink*

You have a loud and outgoing personality. You love to be the center of attention, and you always speak your mind.
You are good at getting people to laugh. You have a wicked sense of humor.

You are highly observant and mindful. You take in a lot of information, and you're very perceptive.
You love adulation and praise. You want your accomplishments to be noticed by all.

Try out this eye makeup test yourself.

Allergy

2011-07-05T17:49:00.004+08:00

Finally, I discovered the cause of my allergy near my upper lip. Not lipsticks or skincare; but seafood. When I ate prawns, the very next day I would have red dry patches on corners of my lip. Not so sure on other seashells because I seldom eat them. Prawns are common in most food like seafood noodle, laksa and fried noodle here.

It has been like this when I was pregnant with my first child. Since then, it has never heal regardless of how doctors and creams I tried. So, I just got to control it by eating less seafood.

Many women I know also have such allergy. Funny thing is it only appeared on upper lip. A staff of mine has such allergy since she was young but once she was pregnant and delivered, her allergy gone. Hormonal change I said. So good!!!

To-do-list for the house

2011-07-03T17:33:00.004+08:00

I am making a list for the new house. Targeting to move in, earliest by September or latest in November. Definitely before Christmas. I would love to spend my Chinese New Year in my new home.

We have get the SESCO technician to install the DB yesterday so we have electricity supply and contractors can start their work without delay. Just some extension work for the wet kitchen and touching up on wall and ceiling. Damn the developer. Lousy workmanship! What to do, other than complaining and get them to rectify. But after so many rounds of complaining, we gave up and decided we take over and do it ourselves.

Time to hunt for furnitures. Bedroom and kitchen would be in the most important list. Should not be a problem in hunting for good bargain as Hari Raya celebration is just two months away!!

So much to do and so little time to spend!

Lunch @ Mr Ho

2011-07-01T13:28:00.003+08:00

My second time to Mr Ho Fine Dining. This round, me and hubby are more careful in choosing our menu. Lol!

We ordered its signature pasta dish and crispy roast pork knuckle. The portion is just nice for two of us to share.

Like this bacon and walnut salad. Great appetizer.

A beer for hubby, who is on leave today. Total tab is RM104.70!

Wednesday morning

2011-06-29T17:34:00.008+08:00

Every morning, I would wake up and try to remember what day it is today. It is nothing different this morning when I woke up. But at least it is mid-week and only 2 more days to go before I can sleep late on Saturday. *wink*

It is supposed to be the usual Wednesday. However when I went downstair, hubby shown me a "disconnection notice" from Sesco. Yeap! Our electricity overdue 3 months! My FIL supposed to pay the outstanding last week but he forgot. So being a good daughter-in-law (better than suddenly come back to a dark house in the night, right?), I have to drive all the way to Jln Satok to pay the bills in the Sesco office.

And I have to miss out on my daughter's BM Reading Competition this morning. After so many days of encouragement and practicing, I cannot see her perform this morning. What to do??

And I "tapau" some sio bee and eat while stopping at traffic lights. I have been having my breakfast in the car most of this week. Got to run here and there, paying this and that. If can, I would rather sit in front of the pc, and do the internet banking. Let it deduct RM2.00. Better than stuck in the morning jam. But not all bills can be done that way, still have to go the particular office and queue up. Lol!

What I saw when heading to Jln Satok to pay bill this morning........Few minutes after settling my bill, the fire truck was heading to the scene area.

Rambling

2011-06-28T12:16:00.004+08:00

Almost end of the month. And it means half of 2011 is gone. Every day I feel like a sailing yacht, sailing in the big ocean without any sense of direction. Yeap, some days I wonder what have I done in life and whether it is worth it. People told me the important thing is that you are happy with what you have achieved. I believe it is true. Why hold on to something that is not worthy?

Enough crazy rambling from me. It must be the crazy weather that make my brain nerves go insane. *wink*

Afternoon break

2011-06-21T16:35:00.001+08:00

When there are not many customers and I am a bit of craving for snack, this is what I have in store.

Yeap, Tiger brand crackers dipped in hazelnut chocolate spread.

Salty cracker + Sweet chocolate = Yum! Super delicious!

Switch places

2011-06-20T17:58:00.003+08:00

Hubby asked me the other day, what happen if we were to switch body for a day? Er, I don't think that would likely happen. Anyway for the fun of it, I just answered him "NO". Reasons:

1) I would not want to be in his body. 10 years ago body-fit him, I would consider. Not in his current body size. He grows many waist inches and put on weight. So, a "no-no".

2) Working in office, in a cubicles. Oh no!! Definitely I would not want to go back to such state after I have not been working in a office hour for more than a year.

3) Drinking and entertaining. Nah! I am a homey-type of person. Perfect to be lazy around the house.

4) Nagging. Men usually do not nag. So I would miss nagging even if I were a man for a day!

5) If he were me, he will commit suicide! Because he prefers to work than look after my two "monkeys"! Lol!

So, a no for both of us. This question remind me of Beyonce's song "If I were a boy". Lol!

Oh daddy!

2011-06-18T07:06:00.002+08:00

I wake up so early today. I know it is a Saturday (little girl has no schooling), but my biological clock disallow me to take more nap. So what to do??? Online, what else! While waiting for the kids to wake up and hubby to get ready before we are off to breakfast.

A short note here! To all the great daddy and daddy-to-be, Happy Daddy's Day tomorrow! You are the best!

Angry bird player

2011-06-16T17:45:00.005+08:00

Never knew that my little girl was a fan of Angry Bird until she get her aunt to buy this cute but moody red bird last week. And I never knew of this famous bird till I heard about the Nokia's attempt to break the world record for the most people playing a mobile game relay on 12 June over the radio for the past month. What to do? I have not own a Nokia phone for many years now.

This little fella hang next to the printer in my shop now.

Little girl even told me she played in her aunt's Nokia handphone, where the bird has to hit the pigs otherwise the pigs will steal the eggs. Hmm, my game-savvy girl. And every time she comes to my shop, she asks me to log into Yahoo! games for her to play some puzzle games. And I could not believe she plays up to Level 7 in Bejeweled game all by herself!