calling in sick

Hello friends! how have you been? Good week? I hope so. Can't say the same here, though.

Things not great here (healthwise). I'm down with migraine and gastric. Been days.Sigh. Actually it's been quite a while I didn't get them so I happily (& foolishly) thought I might have grown out of the sickness. Wasn't really watching my diet and my mealtimes. Then I got hit 'badly' last Friday (just before the teaparty) and my head just don't feel right the following days.

I found out that one of my painkiller for migraine (ibuprofen) doesn't 'agree' with my gastric condition. Meaning I cured my headache but I got gastric. And my gastric usually trigger migraine! So here I am going around in circle, back and forth with these 2 sicknesses.

I tried reading up on home remedy for these conditions, thought I'd do away with painkillers, you know. But didn't find any. The only thing I knew is drinking warm water. Abstain from 'makanan sejuk & acidic' like bananas, pineapples, oranges, etc.
In addition, I break up my meals to..like..6 times a day. I feel I have to eat all the times otherwise my tummy would rumble and if I ignore I would start taste bile at the back of my throat and soon get headaches.

You guys know any better remedy? Appreciate your kind assistance here. Essential for me to get better before Friday. (I'll tell you why later).

Wishing you a better week ahead! Bye, bye!

3 way Tapioca

Let me ask you a question. What 'kuih' comes to mind if you have tapioca as the base ingredient.? Other than eating it plain boiled, ofcourse.
Last weekend we went to our old house in Papar and collected the homegrown tapioca at the backyard along with other stuffs. After giving half to my sis, I still have plenty.


I decided on these 3 menu, my fav snacks.

Kuih bingka ubi.

My favourite bingka. My sis makes wicked bingka ubi. Mine, still to be improved.

Kuih cucur ubi kayu.
This is made from boiled tapioca.Add grated coconut & sugar. Dip in batter and fry. Same way you make kuih kacang hijau. I like it.

Kerepek ubi kayu. All-time fav snacks. My aunt taught me if you want to make it crispy and tasty, mix the ubi with a little pounded garlic, salt and dash of vinegar before frying. You will love it!

Singapore Trip : Part 3

Pembelian baju anak- anak :-

The Dark Knight wears for eldest son (jeans, hooded jacket & t shirt). Same thing for younger brother xcept for jacket-no size. Lucky he didn't mind.
Enchanted Disney for daughter. All three for $20.
Dreams Sleepwear. $12.
I couldn't not get the Barbies - jacket & dress. Kalau girls clothes memang banyak choice kan?
Something for little niece.

There. No shoes. No handbag. Got enough shoes from last HK trip. Didn't find any handbags I fancy.

Nda lah banyak juga kan pembelian ku. I'm happy I stick to budget. Total damage - less than $500 for self, about $320 for kids. Well done, good girl!

Actually July is also the month for Singapore Food Festival. However, gastronomically we are not adventurous people. Lebih-lebih lagi c hubby aku tu. We survived mainly on Indian muslim food, you know briyani, naan. Boring kan. Tapi memang susah juga because we are not sure yang lain-lain tu halal.

The picture below is an Indonesian franchaise restaurant.

Ayam Penyet Ria. What an unappealing name. No we didn't try. Didn't think it's halal either.

Hey, ada lagi RM 0 fare starting 15th Aug. Apa lagi. Booking la kamu.

Singapore Trip : Part 2

Ok. First I wanna tell you about our hotel. Have you ever been to one where they provide detergents? Normally they don't encourage you to do washing right? I found detergents in the bathroom.

Not that I needed to do washing there. But I'm sure if you're travelling with kids, it'll come in handy right.

Now without further ado, my shopping.




Trousers from Promod. Got this at Suntec Mall. Can't believe it's $19.90.

Promod. Different cut & style. $34.
Giordano trousers $29. And I got cash vouchers $20 which I used to buy tshirts.

Don't you just wanna faint!! This is a true SALE.



And then I saw a nice jeans. $49. Local label, Echo.
God! it's so easy to lose your head here. Before I knew it I've taken close to 5 pairs! OK honey..slow down..slow down..I've yet to browse dresses..


This is $20. Very comfy cotton. You see me in the picture, in this. Local - Echo.
$39. It's a 2 pc attached.
Promod. $49.

All below $50 lah. Don't be shocked at the sleeveless blouses. (Ada la caranya aku pakai tu..).

I need a sport watch for the gym. Just a simple one. $62.

Takashimaya is best for scouting kids clothes. Tell u more about it later.


First day windowshopping, I managed to snap these inside Tangs Mall before I was told off. You would go crazy in Tangs, just looking at the faboulous clothes & handbags although comparatively they're more pricey than the other malls. Couldn't find anything below $50 here. Huhuu...

Did you see that, Paris Hilton handbag? But limited designs and not so pretty and v expensive.

I gotta adjourn this post now. Loading the photos are so slow.

Coming up next - shopping kids clothes.

Nite!

Tagged..by Sharonboyd and Shabbymom

**RULES***
“The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.Each player answers the questions about themselves.At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.”
***End***
So now, on to the questions..

1) What were you doing 5 years ago?
I was working with Sedcovest Holdings, Asst Manager Finance.

2) What are 5 things on your to-do list for today?
1. Meet my travel agent
2. Find a new tuition place for my kids
3. Get my jeans & trousers altered
4. Get a hair cut
5. Wrap a belated birthday present (wink)

3) What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Kit Kat
2. Cashew nuts
3. Mc D apple pie
4. Honey dew slice
5. Jagung rebus

4) What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay all loans / debts
2. Give $$ to sisters, brothers, nephews & nieces
3. Perform Haj with mom-in-law
4. Tour Europe
5. Put away savings for kids

5) What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Auditor - Ernst & Young
2. Pegawai Unit Bumiputra - SEDCO
3. SEDCOVEST
4. SEDCOVEST
5. SEDCOVEST

Now I wanna tag: BAKER MIN

Singapore Trip : Part 1

Last week I was in Singapore with hubby becos we got the RM 0 fare from MAS Everyday Low Fares.
It's the Great Singapore Sale season from May to July. So...you know.. I just couldn't decide where to begin!....there is SALE everywhere!...at every corner and we were staying at Orchard Road, the main shopping belt. The whole street are lined with shopping malls. And not just Orchard Road, I mean the whole island is full of shopping malls. And they ARE ALL doing SALE. Goodness!

aboard the HIPPO bus

It was impossible to cover all grounds in 3 days. So on the first day, we toured away from Orchard Road first, by HIPPO bus. This is a double-decker, open-top deck tour bus that brings you around the city attractions and heritage sites. One day ticket. You can hop on and off the bus at any stop you want. The bus arrive every 25 minutes. We got to Suntec City Mall using the bus. It is once the biggest shopping mall in Singapore, now surpassed by another mall I can't remember which. I enjoyed Suntec City Mall. I found lots of local designed clothing lines here (meaning cheaper). I don't have pictures to show you, though. See, Singapore is strict. No photography allowed in the malls. Not even in the FoodCourt.

After a day of city sight seeing and window shopping (survey-survey dulu), I've made up on where to go for kids clothes, for my clothes and what price to look at. You know, I had to be careful with the currency, as Sing dollar is more than twice ours. I reminded myself to not look beyond $40 tag, which was erm..bit tough at first. But I soon managed to steady myself (hik!). And I'm excited to show you what bargains I got! But not yet, k, part 2.
Duck tour they call this. It's a boat on wheels. Can travel on road and in the water.


Amazing architecture. This building just look like a sheet of paper.
This is not a shopping mall nor a govt office. It's a library. Singapore National Library. A two-16 storey blocks with 3 basements. It has gardens, drama centre, exhibition area, cafes.

There are so many tourists in Singapore and we were amazed to find many Indonesians among them. Wealthy Indonesians. Some of them tourists, some work there and we suspect even owning businesses there. A chat with the taxi driver confirmed it. More Indonesians are pouring into Singapore to invest. They owned homes, even have their own private school opened there specifically for Indonesian kids. He showed us a private apartment where 80% of it , bought by Indonesians. I was observing an Indonesian family staying at the same hotel with us, Meritius Mandarin Hotel by the way. The elderly mother, in her late 50s, cooly walked past holding 2 carrier bags, both LV! Fancy that. That's the mother shopping. Can't imagine how's the daughter.

Took us 2 days to finish touring all the malls in Orchard Road up to Tanglin Mall. On foot. We walked day and night. When the malls closed for the day, we hang out at the fountain area fronting Ngee Ann City Mall, munching pastries from Old Chang Kee kiosk nearby. I don't know what time this kiosk close. We often stayed till 11.00 pm there. The open area at Ngee Ann City seem to be the creative site for youth activites. The day we arrived (12th July), there's aYouth Festival happening there. Also, Singapore is hosting the Youth Olympic Games 2010, so there are daily rehearsals held there: acrobatic performance, orchestra music, mime acts, etc. It may also be preparation for the National Day next month (S'pore's on 9th Aug).

Another pride for Singapore is they are holding an F1 Grand Prix soon in September. First time for Singapore. And they don't have it in the stadium. They'll have it in the street. At night. First ever night race in F1 history. The public roads around Marina Bay are where the race gonna be and we saw massive preparations underway. They have also erected a floating stadium, the world's largest. This is where The Youth Olympic Games will take place.

floating stadium

Next to the stadium is a Singapore Flyer. See the 'merry-go-round' thing below. It is an observation wheel. The world's largest. (S'pore BOLEH). Just opened in Apr 2008. I don't know how exciting it is. We didn't try. You are supposed to be able to see the whole of Singapore city and beyond (neighbouring country?). They are 28 capsules on it and each can carry up to 30 people. A choice attraction for all the people coming in for F1 race & Youth Olympic. So, tourists spot in Singapore is not only Sentosa, or Botanic Gardens, people. There are a lot more.

Singapore Flyer up-close

To be continued next post...

Cinnamon Rolls and Pandan Chiffon Cake

Do you like cinnamon rolls? I love cinnamon rolls. It's sweet savoury and smells nice. Do you know there's a short cut to make them? Ha. I just learned it. You use the pie pastry. It makes it crunchy and so much more tasty and I just happened to have some frozen leftover from the chicken pie I made a few 'tea parties' ago . Just a fistful. Enough for 9 pc mini rolls. Perfect for experiment.



It turned out lovely, taste yummy and the kitchen smell so sweet.
How you do it is you roll out the pastry to a square sheet. Sprinkle sugar & cinnamon powder all over. Throw some raisins if you like. Roll it up. And just slice slice slice. Bake for 20 minutes. Easy isn't it?

And this is chiffon cake with pandan flavor. Do you like chiffon cake? I love chiffon cake. (helo.tape rosak).

Tapi puan-puan jangan terpedaya dengan gambar-gambar cantik ini ya, sebab sebenarnya saya gunakan cakemix. Kuang.kuang.kuang....

Really. I've given up making it from scratch. I'm so bad at beating egg whites, I don't know what is soft peak, stiff form, etc. and this thing use a lot of eggs.

So cake mix is the solution. At only RM 3.70 a pack of 500gm you could make 2 batches. All you add are eggs and the pandan juice.

I love the soft pillowy texture of this cake. Again the kitchen smell heavenly because of the pandan. Maybe next I will try with lemon zest, another fav flavour.

Orchid Hut

We're excited. We got this thing built for our orchids at the side of our house few days ago.

Belum siap sepenuhnya. Masih mau touch up tiang lagi.

These 2 beautiful ones I got from the tamu Likas Giant basement. Rare flowers kan?

I don't know what their names are but they're so lovely. The first one doesn't even look like an orchid.

Ada lagi yang lain-lain we've planted from seeds about a month ago tapi belum mengeluarkan bunga.

(Whimsi, not interested to extend your garden corner and hang orchids?).