RMCO Day 2 ~ Thursday, 11 June 2020

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

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

Love at first bite!

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

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

Homemade minced pork patties with melted Mozzarella.

Grilled sweet potato and potato sticks.

Ingredients for assembling the KGB.

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

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



No. of times viewed = 31

Making the Switch to Natural Products

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

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

Black Raspberry and Vanilla Soap

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

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

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

No. of times viewed = 36

MCO Day 84 ~ Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Today our baking queen baked her very first loaf of hand-kneaded bread, which is Brioche loaf bread and Brioche buns!  According to her, the bread is not 100% perfect as the texture is not super fluffy and pillowy but her sisters and I think that it’s pretty good — super soft, buttery and rich (she used 6 eggs and an entire block of butter for all these). In fact she even marked her Brioche as ‘FAILED’!  That’s how much a perfectionist and critical she is, just like her dad.

Brioche burger buns… but we think they look like ‘Heong Peang’ 😆  Nonetheless. taste and texture are commendable.

Lunch today is Sundubu jigae (Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew) again as there’s still one last portion of homemade Gochujang in the fridge which Sherilyn made some two weeks ago. She also made a side of Oi Muchim (spicy Korean marinated cucumber).  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Sundubu jigae which tastes so much better than the ones at Korean restaurants as ours is less salty (and doesn’t give me a bad aftermath of unquenchable thirst) and most of the ingredients are organic.

Dinner tonight is Nasi Hujan Panas from hubby’s kitchen.

Today marks the last day of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and tomorrow begins the next phase ~ Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO). Our country is slowly but surely on the way to recovery! 🙏



No. of times viewed = 38

Catermate’s Bento Boxes For Lunch / Dinner Delivery

Today the mil needn’t have to cook much for dinner again as hubs has extra boxes of Nasi Hujan Panas for us, woohoo! I love days like these when the kitchen is not so greasy and there are fewer things to wash for the girl in charged of washing dishes 🤗  This week is Alycia’s turn to wash the dishes and she was rejoicing when she saw me bringing the bento boxes back from the basement.  Who likes washing greasy dishes, right? It’s my top most dreaded chore, followed by wiping windows and ceiling fans.  I am so thankful I always have someone to help me wash dirty, greasy dishes.

Compliments like this one, received today, on Catermate’s bento boxes really made my day and hubby’s too:

This message was from another customer of ours last week on Nasi Hujan Panas bento box too:

I’m so thankful and grateful to all my friends and customers who supported hubby’s bento boxes throughout the MCO. You saved our days and helped him save his staff from losing their jobs too.

Now that the Government has allowed meetings and workshops to be held again, subject to strict SOP, we are praying that hubby’s catering events will start to trickle in again and soon, for him to achieve his heyday again.

Below: Nasi Minyak on Thursday’s menu @ RM23 a box:

And Nasi Kerabu @ RM23 a box on Friday’s menu:

Only good quality rice and ingredients are used in the cooking. Hubs is super persnickety on this and we go to Jaya Grocer @ Gardens Mall together every Sunday to shop for the rice and other ingredients.

To order, kindly Whatsapp 019-266 4297 (Alan). Thank you for your support 💝



No. of times viewed = 61

MCO Day 84 ~ Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Today marks the last day of the Conditional Movement Control Order.  Effective tomorrow, 10 June through 31 August 2020, our country will be placed in a Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) phase.

Today our country recorded no cases of Covid-19 transmissions among locals, over the last 24-hours.  According to our very capable Health Ministry Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today, he expressed confidence in Malaysia achieving zero transmissions in the near future.   Here’s to Malaysia following suit New Zealand’s latest declaration of a nation that’s free from Covid-19 soon!   New Zealand prime minister on Monday (yesterday) announced her country had no active cases of the novel coronavirus and that the country is moving to lift almost all restrictive measures after midnight yesterday. I’m so happy for hubby’s relatives who are residing in New Zealand. I can’t wait to hear this from our very own prime minister too in the weeks to come  🙏

The littlest brat was insomniac again last night (repercussion of prolonged home quarantine) and it was almost midnight. As online classes resume the next day (today) after a 2-week break, I shooed her to her room and threatened that I won’t be waking her up in the morning. If anyone’s late, he/she won’t be allowed to ‘enter’ the class. I thought she wouldn’t care but this morning I heard two alarm clocks blaring away at 7:45 a.m.   She does care after all ☺️

The Education Ministry will announce tomorrow on when schools will reopen for Form 5 and Form 6 students.  Alycia ain’t very happy that her freedom is about to come to an end but life has to return to how it used to before Covid-19.  She still has to sit for one of the most important exams in  her life (SPM) by the first quarter of next year. I wonder how long more Cass has to be engaged in online learning. I can’t decide if I should be happy or sad that she, too, will be going back to school soon. And I can’t decide if I should continue to let Alycia and Cass take the school van or be a full time Grab mom for their safety sake but lose all my me time and freedom that I used to have pre-Covid19.  Decisions, decision, decisions!!



No. of times viewed = 31

MCO Day 81 ~ Saturday, 6 June 2020

One of the after effects of the almost 3 months long MCO is that our girls have now become insomniac! They wake up way after 9 a.m. and don’t even feel sleepy way after midnight. Their circadian rhythms have gone haywire. Their eating habits have gone out of whack. When they are bored, especially Cass, they munch on snacks. And they have become lackadaisical in their exercise regimen. At the start of the MCO, Alycia and Sherilyn were very diligent and enthusiastic in their exercise regimen. Alycia would work out twice a day and Sherilyn would wake up at 4 a.m. to attend free online dance classes.  As days turned into weeks and months, their time being locked up in prison home got them addicted to their gadgets. Their enthusiasm and vigor in working out daily languished.  Only Sherilyn has interest in doing something useful like cooking and baking. The other two girls are hooked on their gadgets mindlessly. Alycia has recently started attending tennis lessons once a week again and she still does her yoga mat exercises but not as intense and disciplined as she used to at the start of the MCO.  Cass has turned into a game addict monster and I have to resort to bribing her to get her out of the house to exercise 😞

If this MCO continues, this will have an extremely negative impact on the girls’ mental health, especially Cass. It’s also affecting my mental health – it’s not easy to be cooped up at home with 3 teens (a tween who behaves like a teen) and mil at home for so many months!  Throughout the MCO, we’ve been grinding each other’s gears arising out of frustration stemming from having too much time with each other and stress of cooking, washing and cleaning. Disputes often happen, which cause everyone to be unhappy and bitter.

Tomorrow our PM is slated to give another announcement and this time, it will be a detailed one — on whether the  CMCO will be extended or lifted and I suspect that he’s also going to touch on when the education sector will be reopened, with strict SOPs when more sectors are reopened.  I am really anxious to hear what Mr PM is going to announce as our lives are now controlled and wings clipped because of the MCO.  Whether our lives will return to normalcy or continued to be disrupted all depends on the announcement tomorrow!  I am so anxious that I am insomniac and it’s almost midnight now 😳

No. of times viewed = 14

A Complete Guide For Parents To Find Private Tutors In Malaysia 

These days, it is very common for students to have tuition for additional knowledge and guidance outside of school. In Malaysia, especially in large cities such as Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, parents are always on the look out for the best tutors for their children so that they can learn and perform academically well. Students usually face problems in subjects such as Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Higher level Mathematics and language subjects such as English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.

With the advancement of technology these days, it is easy to look for private home tutors through a Google search. In Malaysia, one of the most popular home/online tuition providers is My Quality Tutor Malaysia. The website, www.myqualitytutor.com has a database of more than 10,000 qualified and experienced tutors across Malaysia. The tuition provider will match the right private tutors for you and this is usually free-of-charge. Parents or students will first submit their home tuition requests on their website, which will then be received by the tuition provider.  Following this, suitable and qualified tutors’ profiles will be sent to the parents/students for review. Then, parents or students can pick their private home tutors based on the qualifications and experience in the subjects. Usually, experienced private tutors in Malaysia would be able to teach syllabus such as PT3, SPM, STPM, IGCSE, IB & A-level. In addition, the website also consistently uploads free learning resources for the students via t.me/myqualitytutorparents.

Another way to source for home tutor in Malaysia is through word-of-mouth such as school teachers, neighbours, friends’ parents and so on. In Malaysia, it is a norm for parents of students in both government and international schools to create Whatsapp chat groups and Facebook groups as a platform to discuss anything about educational information. Through these groups, parents or students would be able to source for top and experienced tutors in the subject that they wish to have tuition for.

After you have picked your private tutors at My Quality Tutor, the next step is to get prepared. Students should first prepare the topics that they have problems with and send them to home tutors before the private tuition class starts. For instance,  if a student has an English essay for his assignment, the student can notify the private tutor about the topic in advance.  The first class is usually a trial class; after the first lesson, if the student likes the private tutors’ teaching, then he or she may continue, else a change of tutor is also possible with the tuition provider. 

In conclusion, finding private tuition classes in Malaysia via online means has become a norm due to the convenience of not having to leave the house. Online tuition started to gain popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. By having tuition classes consistently, students are expected to learn and study better, thus perform better in school.

For more information about online/home tuition:

Whatsapp: +60195698912

Website: www.myqualitytutor.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/myqualitytutor

Instagram: www.instagram.com/myqualitytutor

Free learning resources for parents: t.me/myqualitytutorparents

No. of times viewed = 36

MCO Day 80 ~ 5 June 2020 (Friday)

This morning’s jog was cut short when it started to drizzle.  Oh how I dislike wet mornings!  I continued running for a short while in the drizzle until it got heavier.  Getting a minimum of 30 minutes run each day is as important as getting my daily supplements. My daily workout is akin to popping a daily happy vitamin 😊.  When I got back from my morning jog today, brekkie was served!  Our in-house chef has prepped a luxurious gourmet breakfast for me and she later prepped something light and healthy for lunch 💝

Breakfast menu:
* Tartine rye toast with smoked salmon and poached egg with homemade Hollandaise sauce and dill;
* Banana walnut bread baked with organic almond flour, organic multi-purpose flour and organic coconut sugar, thus the dark color.

Lunch menu: grilled broccoli, carrots and onions drizzled with Hollandaise sauce and steamed sweet potatoes.

Banana walnut bread was baked two days ago. Today Sherilyn heated up a slice in the oven for my brekkie.

My guilt-free snack of grilled vegetables ~ I can eat grilled vegetables everyday and never get bored of it.  Everyday can be a different combo – from zucchini to pumpkin, beets, sweet potato sticks or wedges, sweet corns, etc.  The variety of vegetables used, herbs and spices used to flavor the vegetables are just endless.

The girls also prepped something for our in-house guards –  potato chips and tortilla with yummy tuna mayo dip, decorated with dill and seasoned with freshly ground black pepper.

Boxed juice and yummy snacks for our friendly hardworking guards. They are also happy beneficiaries of boxed food from hubby’s shop whenever there is surplus food.

 


No. of times viewed = 31

MCO Day 77 & 78 (Tuesday, 2 June & Wed, 3 June 2020)

Tuesday, 2 June 2020

With over 2 months of being stuck at home and devoid of a daily part-time helper, all the cleaning and washing finally took a toll on my hands.  My stiff shoulders got stiffer and the crick in my neck got ‘cricker’.  I’m currently suffering from pain on my right hand (the hand that I use the most) and have difficulty turning this hand. The Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that attacked my hand shortly after Alycia was born was also on my right hand.  My right hand has been grossly over utilized!  Yesterday I fished out my Salonpas patches and stuck them on my neck and right hand. I also massaged my neck and hand with Wintergreen essential oil. Both the Salonpas and Wintergreen essential oil provided a little pain relief but complete healing is going to take forever as long as Maria our beloved part-time helper doesn’t come back to provide me with the real pain relief! 😫

I miss having my portable massage chair to give me daily massages on my shoulders and back.  When I went to Mid Valley Megamall last Sunday, I was shocked when the staff at Osim informed me that my faulty massage chair is still stuck in their shop – their reason was it’s still Hari Raya. But from the staff’s ‘guilt-stricken’ expression when she found out that my massage chair was still at their shop, I knew they’d forgotten to send it to the head office. 😥  With such cheesy quality despite the 5-star price, this will be my second and last purchase from Osim.  The sales staff even had the cheek to cajole me to buy their second-generation portable massage chair, that’s more expensive at a whopping RM1,800!  No way Jose, not even if it’s at a 50% discount🤔

Our baking queen made Chawanmushi for lunch today and this time, it’s umami-packed with a consistency that’s similar to those from Japanese restaurants.  She added dashi and a little Chinese rice wine since we don’t have sake at home.

Hubs gave us a surprise when he came back early with tapau Ba Kut Teh for dinner.  His catering event ended early and he came back early to rest as he woke up at 5:30 this morning to start work at the kitchen with his team.

Dinner of fried rice (with eggs, turmeric, kafir lime leaves and curry leaves), blanched broccoli, cauliflowers and celery, stir-fried lean pork with big onions and leftover sambal from hubby’s shop and Ba Kut Teh.

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Hubs tapau Yong Tau Fu, Sarawak curry noodles and char koay teow for brunch from O&S Restaurant @ Paramount Garden, PJ after his physiotherapy session at the hospital today.

Today I started my morning jog a tad late at 10:30 a.m. and the sun was already out in full force grilling me like a piece of meat when I jogged at the jogging trek of our condo. Somehow, the morning sun does not give me a migraine, only the afternoon sun does. In fact, it gives me a high of serotonin, which makes me very happy and calm! No matter how busy I am, I try not to miss out on my morning jog – this is very important in helping me detox not only my body through sweat, but also a detox of my mind from negative and unhappy thoughts.  The only downside is I now spot a bronze tan on my limbs and face. When the girls return to school (which no one knows when, yet), I think I won’t look like a Chinese anymore 👩🏾 😜

Hubs brought back Nasi Briyani from his kitchen in the late afternoon. Since there was warm yummy food on the dining table,  I had my lunner at 3:30 p.m. so that I could have a longer Intermittent Fast today.  We used to have dinner at 4 p.m. pre-Covid19 as the girls would be back from school around this time; when they’re back from school, they always appear like famished feral dogs. So I always ensure that dinner is ready by 3:30 p.m. and I eat my dinner with them at this hour!

We also had 5-Elements Miracle Soup today. This meat-less soup is believed to have the ability to fight cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments.  I love this soup and don’t mind having it everyday as it’s meat-free and naturally aromatic and sweet. It’s composed of the following roots:

  • Daikon Radish Leaves (Green element)
  • Daikon Radish (White element)
  • Carrots (Red color element)
  • Burdock Root (Yellow element)
  • Shittake Mushroom (Black element)



No. of times viewed = 39

Dresses On My Wish List

Over two months of zero face-to-face meet-up with friends and relatives, zero parties, zero celebratory dinners at restaurants and no church to go to during this Covid19 pandemic means I’ve not been dressing up in my pretty dresses for this long.  The only few places that I frequent the past few weeks are the supermarket, pharmacies and shopping mall nearest to where I stay to get essential items. I am usually in an old outfit sans any make-up since it’s pointless to put on lipstick and blusher as my mouth and three quarter of the face will be covered by a face mask 😷

Each time I open my wardrobe, I can feel my dresses waving to me, begging me to bring them out of the closet for a donning and strutting around in them. I am certain that the dresses have started to accumulate dust but I pretend not to see it. There are a couple of new dresses that I’d bought just before the lockdown, meant for wearing to a relative’s wedding this year but the wedding will be postponed to next year when the pandemic dies out and remains dormant. This year is going to be a very unexciting year where everyone stays at home.

Though I have no where to go now besides the supermarket to shop for groceries, the shopping addict in me is hankering to go shopping! It doesn’t matter whether it’s shopping at the mall or shopping online, as long as I  get to buy a few pretty dresses, I’ll be doing a happy dance with a glass of champagne😆 .  I used to buy a new dress every other month before Covid19 but this has now changed to online window shopping.  Even browsing at dresses, shoes and bags via the internet without buying them gives me an immense sense of satisfaction. Do you have the same feeling when you window shop?  😁

I’m now dreaming of getting some flowy beach casual dresses from Kis.net for a beach holiday in Penang or Pangkor Island this December. But do you think that December is too soon to go on a local holiday?  Do you think it’s safe to have a beach holiday six months down the road from now, given that a vaccine for Covid19 is unlikely to be available by December? The truth is, no one can give a definite answer.  In the event a local holiday is not possible by year’s end, I hope that we can at least visit my parents in Ipoh. We’ve not seen them for a long time and miss them terribly.

When the movement restriction order comes to an end, the first thing that I want to do is to buy some dresses – a green bohemian dress like the one in the photo above or a flowy blue gradient chiffon strap beach dress like the one below.  It doesn’t matter that I can’t wear it to the beach, I will still be happy donning it to swagger around the supermarket doing groceries shopping 😎

 

 

 

No. of times viewed = 50

MCO Day 75 ~ 31 May 2020 (Sunday)

I can’t believe that five months of the New Year just flew past us, with 2.5 months spent sheltering at home. When I was a school girl, we were told that Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) is the year that many great things would happen. We were asked umpteen times to write essays on this topic and there were drawing and coloring competitions on this seemingly important Vision that our then Prime Minister (who was Dr Mahathir) had for everyone.  We imagined that in over 30 years’ time, cars would be flying in the sky and everything would be automated and everyone could fly to the Moon. Who would have guessed the actual reality in 2020 – a country that is plunged into a massive timeout; the entire world is in a standstill; and World War III happened, fighting against an invisible Virus!

The sky at 7 a.m. today looks like a scene from Independence Day but instead of alien invasion on the Earth, our Earth is invaded by Virus, as destructive as the aliens from Independence Day.

After lunch, hubs asked me to follow him to Gardens Mall as he has to shop for ingredients to cook for a VIP catering event on Tuesday.   Fortunately, the queue wasn’t long when we reached Jaya Grocer at around 1 p.m.

The situation at the mall looked very normal with long queues at eateries. Some families came with their young kids and it certainly didn’t look as if our country is in a recession and people are jobless.  A family even brought their infant and toddler to the mall! I think that’s not necessary and should be avoided.

Our loot for the week – mine in pink and floral recyclable shopping bags and his in the other trolley.

Hubs got a punnet of pretty edible flowers as bento box decor for the function, which will be attended by VIPs with media presence.

The mushroom pasta will be cooked in black truffle flavored olive oil, which imparts a restauranty flavor to the dish, befitting VIPs. This small bottle of 50ml costs a whopping RM54!

After shopping, we had lunner at Din Dai Fung and bought dinner takeout for those at home. The girls are longing to go mall shopping but I’m not ready to bring them to the mall just yet.



No. of times viewed = 43

6 Benefits of Adding CBD to Your Daily Routine

There has bee a lot of hype about CBD products and the many ways you can use them to improve your life and health. Researchers are still wading through the numerous claims, but hey have identified several areas where CBD appears to have positive results. If you have been left wondering what, exactly, this miracle-compound can do, now is the time to find out.

1. Reduce Anxiety
CBD appears to reduce the effects and symptoms of anxiety disorders. It interrupts chemical signals in the brain that cause cortisol production. This results in a general feeling of calm and relaxation. This is one of the most widespread areas of CBD research, and the results are very promising. High quality hemp products may even help reduce symptoms associated with life-changing disorders like PTSD.

CBD Oil

2. Improve Your Mood
Depression can affect every aspect of your life. It ranges from severe to mild. Some people experience SAD, which is a form of depression that manifests during the winter’s short days. Regardless of the severity or underlying cause, current research supports the use of CBD as a possible treatment option.

3. Alleviate Pain and Inflammation
Hemp-based products for pain are widely available. They range from edibles and oils to topical creams, lotions and ointments. There is plenty of evidence to support using these compounds for pain relief. The effectiveness appears to be connected to their effects on pain receptors found throughout the human endocannabinoid system. The best CDB product for your pain will depend on its cause and location. It may also help reduce inflammation by initiating healing processes.

4. Relieve Nausea 
Certain types of nausea and vomiting, particularly when it is an effect of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, may be relieved by using cannabidiol. This is great news for people undergoing these treatments whose side effects can interfere with their administration.

5. Protect Neurological Function
You have probably heard about the amazing results obtained with CBD for the treatment and management of certain forms of epilepsy. There is even an FDA-approved drug that harnesses its power. Researchers are finding it may also have benefits for those living with neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

6. Clear and Soothe Acne
Cannabidiol has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. It also helps initiate healing. Both of those qualities make it a great tool in the fight against acne. The science on how this works is still out, but many people claim to have achieved clearer skin with consistent use.

There are many uses for CBD. Because its use is relatively new, scientists are still working to uncover how it works and what doses are most effective. Despite that, many people have adopted it as part of their regular health regimen.

No. of times viewed = 25

HEALTH FREAK MOMMY