April 2016 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Friday Lunch – Indian Food

Yesterday I sent my car for a wash. To kill time, I had brunch at an Indian restaurant – alone. Bliss! 😀

It’s been a while since I last tucked into some yummy Indian food. I love Indian cuisine and so do our girls. But we cannot be digging into Indian food as often as we would love to as it is high in carbs, calories, cholesterol and ‘heaty’. Cass has to go easy on spicy food as it can stimulate her bladder. Plus spicy food is acidic, which is not good for people prone to getting UTIs. I gave her lots of cool sliced cucumbers, green capsicums, barley water and Izumio to neutralize the acidity.

Here’s what I chowed down –

Half a portion of Indian style fried vermicelli, with lots of thick yummy dhall curry and a glass of teh C tarik kurang manis (reduced sweetness).

I had takeaway of 1 piece of roti telur and 1 piece of chicken murtabak for the girls. The chicken murtabak was bursting with chicken meat, eggs and onions – SO yummy!

The girls thoroughly enjoyed their high caloric lunch and licked the platter clean. I kid you not, that was just what Cass did. She licked her plate clean. The forbidden food always tastes so good, don’t they?

Total cost of our lunch was only RM12. Aha, another plus point for eating Indian food! Just make sure you stay away from all the meats (which don’t come cheap) and the bill will be kind to your wallet. We thoroughly enjoyed our delish spicy Indian lunch and can’t wait for the next round.

No. of times viewed = 10

Cassandra’s Ice Bucket Challenge

Look what I found in the freezer today!

A handful of Shopkins shopping baskets filled with tap water. This cheeky brat loves filling up containers and toys of all shapes and sizes with water and have them frozen. I always get surprises when I open the freezer door! She says she likes experimenting with things.

So what was this brat thinking of this time, I wonder?!

In the evening, I saw Cass removing the ice cubes from the Shopkins baskets to fill up a container. She then cheekily told me that she did an Ice Bucket Challenge when she took her shower in the afternoon. Ahhh, no wonder I heard suspicious shrieks and guffaw from the bathroom when I was working on the computer in the afternoon!

And she did another round of Ice Bucket Challenge in the evening! What a challenger she is and she even challenged me to do it!

On another note, this cheeky girl gave me with yet another pleasant surprise today. She got a full score for her Science test paper! I didn’t expect it at all that she would get a perfect score given that her command of the Chinese language is not superb. She did pretty well in all her test papers this time but she is also competing with a bunch of clever kids who all did just as well. Whatever her position may be, I am still very happy with her results and proud of her. I hope she won’t rest on her laurels and will not slacken in the forthcoming exams.

No. of times viewed = 12

Capsicum Salad

This is my salad of the day for today:

Capsicum (green, red and dark purple), kyuri, baby radish, toasted walnut, toasted almond, Furikake, Nori and a drizzle of roasted sesame dressing.

This capsicum salad is really yummy and refreshing. I love the crunchiness and freshness of the sweet capsicum. I especially love the vibrant colors in my bowl of salad, packed with loads of nutrients and vitamins.

Recently, I saw purple and brown capsicum at our neighborhood supermarket. I was intrigued as I never knew that capsicum comes in these 2 interesting colors too! We have always only been buying capsicum in the traffic light colors.

Below: a purple capsicum

Purple Beauty

Capsicums are really something to chew on! Check out the health benefits:

Capsicum or bell pepper contains an impressive list of plant nutrients that found to have disease preventing and health promoting properties. Unlike other fellow chili peppers, it has low calories and fats. 100 g provides just 31 calories.

Capsicum contains small levels of health benefiting alkaloid compound, capsaicin. Early laboratory studies on experimental mammals suggest that capsaicin has anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, analgesic and anti-diabetic properties. When used judiciously, it also found to reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels in obese individuals.

What Color Pepper Is the Healthiest?

Capsicums are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant believed to lower the risk of certain cancers, such as prostate, bladder, cervical and pancreatic.

Eating capsicum boosts hair growth by regulating the blood flow to the scalp. Incorporate this colourful vegetable into your diet to get long silky hair, and to strengthen your hair follicles.

Red, green and yellow capsicum help with the production of collagen, a component that is responsible for healthy and firm skin. The antioxidants and phytochemicals in capsicum help keep your skin youthful.

Bell peppers have very high content of vitamin A, C and E (all anti-oxidants) that help to effectively neutralize free radicals. Anti-oxidants protects the body from carcinogenic and toxic substances. Just by this virtue alone, it is a good remedy for many health problems.

Pick a peck of colorful peppers to punch up the flavor and nutritional content of your meals. Capsicums come in a palette of colors — green, red, yellow, orange, purple and chocolate brown — and all varieties are excellent sources of the antioxidant vitamins A and C.

Capsicums are another staple vegetables in my fridge. With all the health benefits listed above, you have every good reason to pop some capsicums into your shopping basket now 🙂

No. of times viewed = 27

Our Saturday – 23 Apr 2016

For once, Cass woke up earlier than me on Saturday!

After a packet of Izumio hydrogenated water, she went downstairs and played badminton with grandma. Later, she followed her daddy to the gym. I stayed home to be the maid, quickly doing 2 rounds of laundry before we went out to meet some friends for brunch. I do miss Dyah and think of her all the time. When she was still working for us, I could spend my weekend mornings in the gym or running on the road. Ever since she left, I have taken over her place as the maid of the house 🙁

I. Hate. House. Chores!!

We had a very heavy dim sum lunch at Jaya Palace with a few of our close family friends.

As we were still pretty stuffed, we had a late dinner at Fong Lye Fusion Taiwanese Restaurant @ Gardens at around 8:30pm.

We enjoyed our dinner thoroughly. The food at Fong Lye Fusion Taiwanese Restaurant has always been awesome and we had in every single occasion, left the restaurant feeling very satisfied. Though slightly pricey, the restaurant is perpetually full-house.

Check out our delectable Teppan Angus beef below:

Below – Teppan pork slices with an assortment of vegetables. Each Teppan dish is served with crispy deep fried garlic slices.

Below : Teppan fried rice and other dishes.

Our main intention of going to Mid Valley was to bring Cass to claim her reward. My promise to our girls before each exam is that for each ‘A’ that they score, they will be entitled to a reward. Cass claimed 3 rewards yesterday. This coming week, she will be getting back other test papers. Let’s see if she gets to claim more rewards!

No. of times viewed = 10

Exam Is Over!

The first term exam is finally over for Sherilyn and Cass today, yeeeehawwww, yay yay yay!!

Cass surprised me with the marks that she got for her Chinese paper 1 and paper 2 today. Never in my wildest dreams would I dare to dream that she would be getting marks in the 90s/100 for her Chinese test papers as Chinese language (and BM too) are her weakest subjects. And she did it and got the second highest marks in her class for Chinese paper 2. I am so very proud of her!

The first thing that Cass wanted to do after her exam today is to play with her unopened and brand new Lego Nexo Knights. She spent her afternoon fixing a box of new Lego. When she was done with that, she asked me if she could open another new box to fix. Cass is really good with Lego and puzzles as she’s got such amazing patience, something which I lack.

As for drama queen, all she wanted to do is to plonk herself on the couch and watch the TV. The girls have been deprived of the idiot box and all electrical gadgets for 1 whole week 😀

Check out drama queen dodging me when she realized that I was about to snap her picture, ha ha!

And finally, I can sleep in for the next 2 days this weekend!! I have really a lot of sleep debt to repay and I am going to do just that this weekend. I’ve been feeling like a walking zombie for the past one week due to severe sleep deprivation.

Happy weekend world 🙂

No. of times viewed = 1

Unbearable El Nino Heatwave In KL

The El Nino heatwave in KL is not improving any bit. It’s getting hotter, drier and hazier by the day. The acrid smell of haze is more pronounced today. The temperature for the past few days have been on the high side, so bad that I do not feel like leaving my seat right under the ceiling fan with two stand fans blowing at me at full blast. Swimming at 6:30 in the morning feels like swimming in a heated pool.

The blazing sun is making the plants at our balcony struggling to survive. The pandan plants in the gardens of our condo compound are starting to turn brown despite being watered daily by the gardeners. Now I have to resort to buying pandan leaves from the supermarket.

I do not feel like going anywhere during the day but to hibernate at home. Being a WFHM where doing house chores is inescapable, I sweat buckets everyday. The thought and sight of getting into the balcony to hang and collect the laundry can already make me perspire. The torid outside air blown into our house is making me sick. It feels like having a speed #3 hot air from the hair dryer blown directly onto you all day. Albeit having 5 showers a day and having 3 to 4 changes of clothes daily, I still have prickly itch everywhere on my body caused by the heat. If only I can, I would want to be in absolutely nothing but my birthday suit during the day 😀

The temperature today is 36 degrees Celsius but the number is deceiving. The Real Feel temperature is 42 – 43 degrees Celsius and I think that this is the actual day time temperature.

I am thankful that I have my hydrogen infused water and carotenoids supplements to keep us healthy during this heatwave. Many people are falling ill and resorting to antibiotics to get well, only to fall sick again. If you are one of them or know of someone battling with an illness now, do spend some time to read this article on Why you should worry about giving your child antibiotics too early

I wonder when the heatwave will dissipate. I can’t wait for the next thunderstorm to lash on our land lavishly to bring some respite to the killer heatwave and to avert another water rationing. To my readers living abroad and experiencing bitter cold weather and wishing that there was some sunlight and warmth, I wish we could swap places now! 🙂

No. of times viewed = 27

Supermom

On some bad days, the term “I am a good mom” is not by any stretch of my own imagination. I’d feel incompetent and unfit to be a mom. On some good days, “I am a good mom” does not really measure my own worth. On these good days, the girls would think that their mummy is out of this world. 🙂

Saturdays are usually busy days for me. My day would start at 4:45am to do some chores and then to wake Alycia up to prepare her for school. Alycia attends full day school on Saturdays.

Then, I send Sherilyn off to the tuition center by 9am, have a quick breakfast with Cass, do some quick shopping for groceries and rush back home before 11am. Cass has tuition from a private Mandarin tutor at 11am.

At 1pm, it’s time for me to fetch Sherilyn back from the tuition center.

Back home, I sit with Cass and guide her when she practices her piano. Yesterday, I spent my afternoon revising BM with Sherilyn and Cass. Today is another blood-vomiting and hair-pulling session for me!

By 2:30pm, Alycia is back from school. After her lunch and shower, she does her homework. Since she does not have any tuition, I guide her in whatever subjects that I can whenever she asks me to. Thankfully, most of her subjects are in English. Though she attends a private Chinese school, subjects like Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology are taught in English (Cambridge syllabus). English subject is Cambridge syllabus too.

Math for Junior Middle One is super duper tough. I don’t recall doing anything like what Alycia’s doing now when I was in Form 1, 30 years ago. The Math book is Cambridge syllabus but edited by the school’s board of Mathematicians.

Below are the questions for Alycia’s Math homework yesterday. They were considered the ‘easiest’ I have seen thus far. On a few occasions in the past, I wasn’t able to help her solve the sums and had to Whatsapp my younger brother (UK educated electrical engineer) or friends for help.

I felt a sense of achievement when I could solve the two questions that she tossed to me yesterday. Since I did not have the time to help her at home, I snapped a picture of the page and brought it along with me to work on the sums when I waited for Cass to finish her piano class at Yamaha. Once I was done, I snapped a picture of the answer sheet and messaged it back to Alycia on Facebook so that she could complete her homework 😀

My old brain ain’t rusty after all. Though I don’t remember much about the Math and Add Math formulas that I learned 30 years ago, I applied common sense to solve those questions. What I learned decades ago was pretty different from what my girls are learning now in a Chinese school. I was a product of a Kebangsaan school (Methodist Girls School).

Today (Sunday) is another long and hard day for me. My day started at 4:45am. Alycia has a jogathon to start off at 6:30am.

I prepared a slice of toasted wheat bread and a glass of Manuka honey to help fuel her 10km run.

Life as a mom is really tough. But I am not complaining. The man will always remind me of our struggles and battle with infertility 16 years ago. His reminders have never failed to wake me up and remind me to appreciate our 3 princesses, however tough it is to raise them – mentally, physically and financially. Because that was what we earnestly prayed and asked for from God 16 years ago. 🙂

No. of times viewed = 14

Thursday Home-cooked Lunch – 14 April 2016

Today I had a battle within myself – a mind over matter over what to eat for lunch 😀

After paying Cass a visit in school (to ensure that she pees and to bring her Izumio), I shopped for some groceries at our neighborhood supermarket. I could not decide whether to cook lunch for Cass and Sherilyn or take the easy way out – take out. There were many eateries near the supermarket. I walked to the Indian restaurant and was really tempted to get a portion of chicken curry, fried vermicelli and spiced pumpkin. But the weather has been so hot lately. We should be avoiding spicy and heaty food. Plus spicy food would only stimulate Cass’ problematic bladder. With a heavy heart, I left the Indian eatery.

Then I walked next door to the bakery. I was tempted to get a cake or some buns for the girls. But I heard my inner voice shouting out “processed white flour products! High carbo and high sugar too! Get out of here!” I left the bakery and drove off.

So what should we have for lunch? I could not decide. I seem to have a problem with decision making at times.

I was craving to have some Mee Siam for lunch as we have not had it for more than a week. I knew that Cass and Sherilyn would love Mee Siam too. I was about to make a right turn into our favorite cafe to get Mee Siam when again, I heard the inner voice screaming out to me “meehoon is carbs and it’s fried with sambal. Sambal is heaty and it would stimulate Cass’ problematic bladder. It has not much nutritional value too. Another high carb food!”. Ok, the inner voice won the battle. I drove straight home.

After unloading and keeping the groceries, I went straight to the kitchen and took out the green tea noodles and buckwheat noodles. I blanched the noodles, cold bath them and seasoned them with sesame seed oil, black and white pepper, a few shakes of organic soy sauce and Japanese Furikake.

Next, I boiled eggs and sliced some cold kyuri. Squeezed some Japanese roasted sesame seed dressing on the eggs.

I was already sweating buckets by the time I spent 15 minutes in the kitchen that felt like a furnace in this heatwave. Temperature today was 38 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. I took my second shower for the day. I had 4 showers today!

The girls had this yummy bowl of Japanese green tea and buckwheat noodles for lunch. Cass liked it very much and had the same thing for dinner. She even requested to bring it to school for recess tomorrow.

No. of times viewed = 4

Train The Kid’s Brain At BrainFit Studio

The other day when we were at The Curve for lunch with our usual group of friends, we came across a studio that trains kids’ brains to be FIT! As the moniker suggests, BrainFit is all about training the brain’s fitness. In other words, the kid’s cognitive and learning skills such as memory and attention. My friends and I went in to check out the studio and the programs it offers and we were pretty impressed.

BrainFit Studio is founded by a team of child developmental professionals passionate about maximizing human potential, it has been dedicating itself to bring up the most up-to-date and scientific brain fitness training programmes since 2001.

BrainFit Studio originated in Singapore and is already 14 years in the region with over 5000+ databased results from programs conducted across Asia. It has established foothold in other countries like Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Turkey.

BrainFit Studio aims to transform lives by improving learning capabilities, boosting performance, shaping behaviours and increasing intelligence through high-quality evidence-based neuro-scientific cognitive training programmes.

BrainFit’s fitness programs seek to enhance the child’s learning capacity by addressing opportunity areas across:

(i) Attention/focus
(ii) Auditory processing
(iii) Visual processing
(iv) Sensory-motor
(v) Social-emotional

This is a company built upon by the hopes and joys of children and their parents, whose lives have changed dramatically through the understanding of how brain fitness training works.

Programme

BRAINFit® Scholar SMART Programme (6 to 18 years old)
This fully personalized brain fitness training programme aims to give school-going children a learning advantage through “mental work-outs”. To achieve rapid, enduring results, we use the following programmes to build key mental “muscles” intensively over a 4-month term (1-hour session, twice a week):

SMART™ Moves
This aims to strengthen a student’s sensory-motor brain fitness and accelerate learning speed using a proven and personalised gym-based program. Sensory-motor brain fitness is critical in the classroom whenever a child needs to put pen to paper (e.g. for drawing, colouring and writing), participate in activities with other children or execute any response with a movement element.

See improvements in:
Focus and organisation
Rhythm and timing
Learning speed
Body and spatial awareness
Advance visual skills
Gross and fine motor skills
Confidence

SMART™ Vision
SMART™ Vision aims to rapidly improve a student’s visual brain fitness by using a proven and personalised program comprising gym-based exercises, table-top as well as computer-based visual activities.

Our visual brain fitness helps us to quickly and accurately interpret the information received through our eyes, especially important in the classroom. Having strong visual brain fitness helps students to excel in “visual” subjects such as Math, geometry and have neat, effortless handwriting.

During each SMART™ Vision session, your child will participate in a series of movement activities, as well as table-top and computer-based activities that strengthen visual spatial perception, directionality, eye control and eye-hand coordination.

See improvements in:
Handwriting & copying
Learning speed and abilities
Focus and attention
Visual perception and memory
Accuracy in detailed work
Visual spatial awareness and organization

SMART Listening™

SMART Listening™ utilises the Fast ForWord® family of products (computer-based), proven for its effectiveness at MIT, Stanford and Harvard Universities. The result of more than 30 years of neuroscientific research, this software has helped over 2 million students boost their auditory, reading and language skills for improved scholastic performance, as well as increased their self-esteem.

Auditory brain fitness is a vital foundation for almost every learning task. Children that are able to process sounds rapidly and accurately allows them to not only become proficient with their oral language, but also achieve excellence in decoding and reading comprehension, the very keys to learning and academic success.

During each Smart Listening session, your child will be trained using the Fast ForWord® software. It accelerates learning by developing Learning MAPS™, key cognitive skills comprising Memory, Attention, Processing, and Sequencing.

See improvements in:
Auditory processing
Ability to follow instructions
Auditory memory
Receptive and expressive language skills
Reading and comprehension
Learning speed
Attention and focus
Communication and social skills
Confidence

SMART™ Focus

SMART™ Focus aims to build on children’s attention and working memory brain fitness utilizing computer-based working memory activities and a scientifically proven computer-based software, emWave Pro that uses a real-time heart rate variability monitor to teach children on appropriate breathing and relaxation techniques.

BrainFit’s attention system is closely associated with their working memory system. Working memory is used to remember and manipulate important information, and it requires the simultaneous storage and processing of information using our visual and auditory brain fitness systems. Without paying adequate attention, it is impossible to acquire information accurately or execute without error. Our attention brain fitness is vital to helps us remain focused on task-relevant information, ignoring distractions and control our impulses, without which success in school and learning becomes impossible.

Your child will also be trained to learn stress reduction and emotional management skills using the emWave Pro software. Children will learn to control their physiology through breathing along with heart rhythms and focusing on positive emotions to create coherence, which is critical to improving resilience, wellness and facilitating personal growth.

See improvements in:
Attention and concentration
Ability to stay on task
Working memory
Attention stamina
Impulse control
Over-activity

BRAINFit® Baby Programme (9 months to 2 years 11 months)

Build a strong brain foundation starting at 9 months.

Designed specially for infants and toddlers, BrainFit® Baby builds critical brain fitness and intelligence foundations. Parents and carers will learn how to optimise home environments and interact with their child to support this critical stage. Our unique BrainFit® Baby app records your Babies’ milestones and ensures on-track development.

For BrainFit’ Babies, the SMART Workout emphasises on enriching cognitive development. In each 50-minute session, Babies, together with their carers, participate in a complete range of activities:

Build control, strength and balance – Gross and fine motor exercises to strengthen sensory-motor skills.
Communicate effectively across various settings – Structured listening, music and language stimulation exercises to enhance receptive and expressive language development.
Strengthen memory and focus – Memory and recall activities protect and strengthen the “memory maker” in the brain — the sea horse-shaped structure called the hippocampus, as well as other brain sites.
Pick up Mathematical or abstract concepts easily later on – Exercises to sharpen spatial-temporal reasoning and visualisation —that is, the ability to imagine and manipulate the interaction of objects in their minds.
Nurture social skills and emotional intelligence – Activities like pretend-play not only increases babies’ creativity but also develop self-regulation, the foundation of social skills and emotional intelligence.

BRAINFit® Junior Programme (3 to 6 years old)

Put your best foot forward

While BrainFit® Baby establishes vital intelligence foundations, BrainFit® Junior further consolidates and accelerates these pathways. The goal is for our preschoolers to have a solid and sturdy set of cognitive skills (these are absolutely critical to keeping those learning engines well-oiled!) as they enter Primary One.

Get a headstart with SMART Workout – For BrainFit’ Juniors, the SMART Workout emphasises fortifying cognitive development. This sets a sturdy foundation for life-long learning.

Exercises are designed to meet these goals:

• Thrive at learning in a school environment – Focus and listening exercises enable Juniors to follow multiple-step instructions sequentially and sensibly, and stay attentive for a longer period of time.

• Make friends naturally and manage emotions effectively – Activities to nurture social skills and emotional intelligence help Juniors understand themselves and engage in healthy relationships with others.

• Read, remember and comprehend well – Exercises to strengthen phonological awareness and memory build a solid foundation for reading, retention, and comprehension.

• Write and copy legibly with ease – Fine motor exercises to strengthen sensory-motor skills.

• Excel in Math and Chinese – Exercises to sharpen spatial-temporal reasoning and visualisation — that is, the ability to imagine and manipulate the interaction of objects in their minds.

Check out BrainFit website at www.brainfitadvantage.com

Facebook: Brainfit Studio Malaysia

Instagram: Brainfitstudio

BrainFit Studio is located at Lot 118, first floor, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara and can be contacted at 03-7710 0273 and 012-217 9921.

No. of times viewed = 12

Law Of Attraction

Geez, it’s really creepy!

On Sunday, the hubs brought us to Low Yat Plaza to shop for a handful of computer accessories for our 2 desktop computers at home.

While looking around the computer accessories, this keyboard with dancing fluorescent lights on the keyboard caught my eyes. The lights would blink randomly on the keys, like disco lights. Awwww, I wanted it! The girls were besotted with it too.

Next to the dancing lights keyboard, we saw a keyboard with bright neon colored keys on it. Awww, I wanted this too!!

But no, the hubs said NO as the wireless keyboard that he had bought for me isn’t even a year old. Fine, I rest my case. Plus he’s about to spend a few hundred bucks on a new speaker for Alycia’s computer, a new web cam for my desktop computer so that I can Skype from my computer, a super cute Hello Kitty handphone cover for me and a few other stuff for our electrical gadgets at home.

The next day, I discovered that the Num Lock key on my keyboard was not working! Jeng jeng jeng, isn’t this creepy? I was yearning for a new keyboard with neon colored keys and my existing keyboard died on me the next day! This is too coincidental to be true! I may have a better chance of getting the hubs to get me the dancing lights or neon keyboard now! 😀

Talking about the Law of Attraction. I better start focusing and yearning to earn a 5-figure per month income now. Who knows I really have the power to attract my wishes from the Universe 😉

No. of times viewed = 7

Cassandra’s 8th Birthday

On the eve of Cass’ 8th birthday on 8 April 2016, we had dinner of Italian food at a neighborhood cafe. It was celebrated with the girls’ grand aunts, grand uncles and their little aunts and little uncles (hubby’s cousins).

It was a joint birthday celebration with R (Cass’ little uncle) from the UK. R and Cass’ birthdays are in the same month and they both turn 8 in April.

Cass got a real BIG surprise from her daddy. Her birthday gift from daddy was 2 big packs of the latest Shopkins — Cass’ latest obsession. Her daddy bought the first pack from KLIA and the second pack from a toy shop at Bangsar Shopping Center. Cass also received ang pows from her grand aunts and grand uncles. I have never seen Cass so happy.

That night (eve of her birthday)…

Cass – mummy, this is the ultimate birthday celebration for me, the best ever for me. I got all that I wanted. I am so happy!

On Cass’ actual birthday on Saturday, 9th April, we had dinner at Koyaku Japanese restaurant @ Faber Tower.

As we were seated at the bar and open kitchen, I had a spectacular time watching with awe how the chefs rolled out a wide array of exotic and mouth-watering sushi swiftly and adeptly. Their skills are really admirable. Within the 2 hours enjoying my dinner and observing the chefs intently, I have learned some sushi-making techniques as well. After dinner at the Japanese restaurant, I felt really motivated to dig out our Japanese bamboo mat to churn out some sushi for the girls. Well, I doubt my sushi will look as good. The chefs make it look really easy to roll out different types of sushi but I know that when I try it out myself, it may turn disastrous. I had tried it once and I gave up.

See the Sakura sushi in pink below? It looks pretty easy to churn out by pressing all the ingredients together with a bamboo mat with a change in maneuvering the bamboo mat to make it into a triangular shape. But then again, easy as it may look, it requires skill and lots of practice.

As always, I pray that God will continue to bless Cass with good health, happiness and wisdom. I pray that she will be 100% healed from her bladder issues soon.

No. of times viewed = 1

Healthy Friday – 8 April 2016

Smoothie for today composes of pineapple (half), green apple (1) and orange (2)

This can yield 3 full mugs and 1 bottle for the girls and the hubs.

The girls are having vermicelli with prawn + chicken soup, to go with some takeout char siew and roast chicken. Yeah, I know the weird combo. The mil wanted to clear the freezer and the vermicelli had been lying around for months already.

I am too lazy to prepare a proper salad for myself, thus I am going to have organic broccoli + radish sprouts with skinny char siew and roast chicken breast meat, drizzled with chili sauce from the chicken rice stall and roasted sesame seed salad dressing. I call this my Skinny Super Low Carb Salad 😀

Today is a maid-less day, which means that I have to start sweating buckets in the El Nino heat flexing my muscles round the house 🙁 🙁

I. Hate. House. Chores.!

Have a good weekend world! 🙂

No. of times viewed = 1

Treating UTI Naturally With Hydrogen Water

I got a scare of my life on Tuesday morning (yesterday). It was around 1-ish a.m. and I heard a knock on my room door. I stumbled out of bed groggily with my heart thumping. The mil was standing outside and she told me that Cass had woken up on her own to pee. This has never happened before. My alarm clock rings at 2:30 a.m. everyday for me to bring Cass to pee. Something is not right.

I went to the bathroom and saw Cass on the toilet seat. I asked her whether she was OK and she told me that her bladder region felt uncomfortable. Her urethra hurt a little too. She sat at the throne for a good 20 minutes as she kept having the urge to pee. Dang it, classic symptoms of a UTI! I quickly gave her a packet of Izumio hydrogen water.

I was supposed to feed Cass with Waterfall D-Mannose to zap away the bacteria but I had finished my existing stock. My new stock was still stuck in the UK. The seller (Sweet Cures, UK) had missed out shipping my order but bless her ever kind heart, she gave me 2 extra tubs to compensate for their oversight.

I was insanely worried that Cass has another UTI attack. She had been showing some very initial symptoms of a UTI for the past 2-3 weeks but I now know how to spot those initial symptoms and nip them at the bud before the bacteria starts ‘partying’ and multiplying.

There is current research available that proves that bacteria can colonise layers of the bladder epithelium and bury themselves deep within the bladder wall, especially after an antibiotic attack, waiting to reappear when conditions are favourable. Now you see why I am totally not keen on antibiotics. They only offer short term relief, while sometimes they don’t even work. I am pretty certain that Cass’ recurrent UTI attacks lately are caused by the same colony of bacteria from the first attack in November last year, that were not successfully wiped out by antibiotics. They were snugly hiding deep inside her bladder walls, waiting to reappear and multiply when the conditions are right. Acidic urine creates perfect conditions that encourage this detachment and regrowth.

My diet for Cass now involves an alkaline one, i.e with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, barley water, coconut water and hydrogen water. Sometimes this is hard, especially when we eat out. Almost every darn thing that we eat is acidic, from meat to eggs, milk, bread, nuts and our daily staple. Even cooked white rice is slightly acidic. So when she’s had a very acidic meal, I will ensure that she downs lots of alkaline fluids.

The next day, Cass skipped school. After downing 2 packets of Izumio hydrogen water (at 1:30am and 6am), Cass told me that she no longer felt pain in her bladder region and urethra. I was SO happy but didn’t let my guard down yet. I gave her a total of 5 packets of Izumio yesterday. Cass is back at school today.

Since I have run out of Waterfall D-Mannose, Cass is drinking an additional of 3 packets of Izumio a day now, making it a total of 5 packets a day.

Below – Cass sipping Izumio in school during recess today. I checked on her in school today and will do the same tomorrow.

From my experience, hydrogen water is effective in treating a UTI attack at the initial stage. I just have to ensure that Cass drinks it every 3 hourly or so. On top of hydrogen, I ensure that her intake of meat and other acidic foods is kept to a minimal.

If you know of anyone who is suffering from recurrent UTI attacks, do give hydrogen-infused water a try. You have nothing to lose by trying. Give me a call at 019-266 4290 or email shireenyong@gmail.com to find out more.

No. of times viewed = 450

Hello From Pa Loh!

We managed to get ourselves ready and leave the house at 7am to begin our road trip to Ipoh this morning to partake in Qing Ming tomorrow.

Fortunately we started our journey early, traffic on the North South Expressway was really smooth. We reached Ipoh at 9am and tucked into all our favorite Ipoh hawkers fare at our favorite coffee shop in Ipoh Garden East. Our friend who only started his drive from KL at 9ish am was caught in a massive crawl on the highway.

Weather condition is hazy and super duper HOT. My room feels like a furnace!

Oh yes, I know the title of this post have stoked the curiosity in some. Ipoh is also called “Pa Loh” in Cantonese and this name is only familiar amongst the aunties and uncles from Ipoh 🙂

No. of times viewed = 8

April’s Fool Friday – 1 April 2016

When no one has the time or mood to play board games with Cass, she will bug her grandma 😀

Thankfully grandma is ever so sporting and willing to entertain this Energizer bunny. Grandma would do anything to stop this little girl from getting hooked on electrical gadgets. I have the same sentiments too but I do not have the time. My time for Cass at home is spent drilling her on her BM these days. She has 2 more weeks before her exam and her BM is still not up to par. Gawd, I am really worried for her. How can she even pass when her BM grammar is so weak? And she is in the top class. I shudder to think of her position in all the exams this year. I think I am going to speak in BM with her at home!

Here’s Cass playing a game of Blokus with grandma…

Below – Drama Queen sculptured this ‘shit bug’ to prank her friends in school today *rolls eyes*

Happy weekend world! We’re off to Ipoh for Cheng Meng tomorrow 🙂

No. of times viewed = 4

Good Oral Health Is Closely Related to Overall Good Health

In order for a person to enjoy overall good health, they cannot underestimate the importance of having good oral health. It is essential for any person who wants to enjoy good health to stick to an oral healthcare routine that includes regularly brushing, flossing, and taking care of their teeth. Part of their dental routine involves visiting a dentist at least twice a year. When a person experiences a dental problem, they should visit a dentist right away. Not only is this going to help them maintain a beautiful smile, but it is going to help them have good overall health, sleep better, and have more self-confidence.

More and more individuals are seeing the benefits that come from dental implants when they need a tooth replaced. However, lots of people still have questions about dental implants. They realize that a dental implant involves placing a screw in the bones of the face. A dental implant is then connected to the screw. This leaves people wondering if the procedure is painful. You will be relieved to know that the process is not painful. Your dentist will use a local anesthesia while doing the procedure. After the anesthesia takes effect, you will not feel anything. When it wears off, you may experience some mild discomfort, but you will be given pain relief medications to help control the pain.

Something else you may be wondering about is how long the process will take. Depending on your personal circumstances and needs, the entire process can take anywhere from 2 to 9 months. During the first phase, the implants will need to heal by fusing to the bone. Then the tooth replacement restoration will have to be created and then attached. Throughout this time, it is recommended that you maintain an implant dentistry journal in order to chart your progress.

Once the dental implants have been placed, they can last for 30 or 40 years. As long as you maintain a good oral healthcare routine and care properly for your new implants, they will serve you well for many years into the future.

It is important for parents to take good care of their child’s teeth in order to help them avoid cavities, tartar buildup, gum disease, and other problems that can lead drastic steps needing to be taken in order to maintain good oral health. Even though dental implants and other options are available, it’s best if parents can help their children keep their natural teeth.

No. of times viewed = 1