Stuck on Magnets

I have a very common hobby of collecting fridge magnets and my collection just sort of grew over the years. Whenever my in-laws or friends go on holiday, they would usually bring back one for me, as would my hubby when he goes out of town for seminars. Guests have always commented on my very colourful fridge and have enjoyed spending time in front of my fridge scrutinizing them and laughing at the funny or cute ones. For me, looking at them bring back fond memories, whether of a person, a place or the time when my children were little...pretty much like looking at photos.

the side of my fridge

The other day I came across this magnet at a makeshift stall selling handicraft and I thought it was quite appropriate since we have guests over for dinner once in a while.

Recycling Myself

The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live - Joan Borysenko



My husband and I were at a shopping complex the other day and we came across an organ donor booth set up by the The National Transplant Resource Center (Pusat Sumber Transplan Nasional). Since I am now into recycling, I thought 'why not recycle my organs after I am gone'...after all, I wouldn't be needing them anymore.



So my hubby and I became organ donors. We filled up a form and were given an Organ Donor Card each, plus a little green ribbon pin. Next we had to tell our family members so that they are aware of our decision.



Be an organ donor...save a life!

Tutus and Twinkle Toes

Miss PreTeen takes ballet lessons and this year she took part in her ballet school's biannual concert held at the Securities Commision hall at Bukit Kiara. I helped to sew sequins onto her costume and I thought I did a pretty good job...until the week before the concert when she put on her costume, we heard a snap and the sequins started falling off! Had to sew them on again, this time using double-thread to ensure the thread doesn't snap again...especially on concert day!

Her class had been practising for the past few months and she had lots of fun with the girls in her class as well as the older girls from another class. Her excited grandparents came along to watch the concert and take lots of photos of their grand-daughter.


Here is a short video clip of the performance entitled 'The Cygnets':




Cygnets


Photos of some of the other dances:


Grecian Maidens




Fun Time




Ocean Bliss




Arabian Exotique




Enchantment

Sushi Queens go to Sushi King

I had lunch with my daughter at Sushi King in Leisure Mall today. My daughter loves the Maki kind of sushi, rice wrapped in seaweed, like the ones I usually make for her. These cost RM2 a plate but she was disappointed to find there were none on the conveyor belt, only the other kinds costing RM3 or more. We chose a few plates of interesting-looking sushi but after eating a few pieces she just sat there and watched the sushi go by, not finding anything that she liked.

Then I decided to do what moms would usually do for the sake of their children...become kiasu and lodge a complaint. After a few minutes, my daughter got her Maki...specially prepared for her...and because the chef made a little extra, he put it on the conveyor belt and all the plates of Maki were gone in a blink of an eye! The other children in the restaurant were evidently waiting for them too.

Got some ideas on how to make my sushi more presentable...will try it out the next time I make sushi.

How Very True

My sis-in-law bought this little plaque for my mom-in-law because when my mom-in-law was staying with her for a few months, her 2 boys (aged 4 and 2) understood that they could ask all kinds of things from grandma and grandma would usually say 'Yes'.


My children love to go to grandma's (my hubby's mum) house. Grandma cooks their favourite food and grandpa lets them watch TV and use his computer. Now grandparents are also tech-savvy...chatting with their friends and grandchildren via Skype or MSN.

My kids think that my favourite word is 'No', for example:

Son: Mom, can I go pierce my ears?
Me: No
Son: How about dyeing my hair?
Me: No!
Daughter: Mom, can we eat at McDonald's today?
Me: No, and no computer games for you until you finish your homework!

....so I suppose that's why grandmas are more popular!

High School Musical On Ice in KL

My daughter is a great fan of the Disney movies High School Musical and High School Musical 2. She has watched them over and over without getting bored and has memorized every line of the dialogue as well as the songs.


So when the High School Musical Ice Tour came to Kuala Lumpur, she asked if I could go get the tickets for her. The tickets were not cheap, 2 tickets on the Lower Tier cost me RM283.50 and that is AFTER discount because I had the Direct Access credit card. My husband and son weren't keen on going.


My husband dropped us off at the Stadium Putra at Bukit Jalil about 15 minutes before showtime. There were lots of parents with school-going children. The show was divided into 2 parts: High School Musical and High School Musical 2 (45 minutes each), with a short interval in between...enough time for us to grab a snack. We wanted to get a nice HSM cup, but changed our minds when we saw the price...RM40


The changing of scenes and props were done very smoothly and the 2 leads (Troy and Gabriella) were very good, doing spins and leaps with ease. My daughter enjoyed herself tremendously while mommy tried to take some photos...we weren't allowed to use video cameras.


Here are some snapshots taken from where we were seated...which was quite a distance away from the stage.


View of the stage before the show began








Sharpay's pink golf buggy made an appearance










The finale with fireworks



Waving goodbye

How To Preserve A Husband

pic fr bakingnewbies

My hubby bought a recipe book while he was studying in New Zealand because he was sharing an apartment with 3 other guys and each person had to take turns cooking. When we got married I got hold of this book and had a lot of fun trying out the various recipes. Tucked between hundreds of recipes is this one very unusual recipe:

How To Preserve A Husband

Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young. When once selected give your entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use. Some insist on keeping them in a pickle, others are constantly getting them in hot water. This may make them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter. Even poor varieties may be made sweet and tender and good by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with love and seasoned with kisses. Wrap them in a mantle of charity. Keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion and serve with peaches and cream. Thus prepared they will keep for years.

Dust...be gone!

It is amazing how quickly the kids learn the operation of the DVD, yet are unable to understand the vacuum cleaner ~ Etienne Marchal

My trusty 13 year old vacuum cleaner finally came to the end of its useful life with a dramatic tripping of the ELCB (translation - caused power failure in our house). So I had a break from vacuuming for a while until I got a replacement. I looked around but couldn't find one that was suitable - I wanted one that would take up as little space as possible in the store room, powerful but bagless and does not use water or steam to clean, and of course it must be within my budget of below RM500...ok, I'm quite fussy about my cleaning gadgets as well as the amount of money I spend on them!

Anyway, my hubby and I finally found one which fit all the critetria above...much to my delight...at a SenQ outlet.


Hubby was the first to try out our new 'toy', vacuuming our bedroom floor, curtains and everything else he could lay his hands on. The amount of dirt was quite shocking as our bedroom is not very big...I suppose due to old age my previous vacuum cleaner was not efficient at all.


Hmm...now if only I could get the kids to view the vacuum cleaner as a toy, then maybe they would have a go at cleaning their own rooms....wishful thinking....

Homemade Sushi

My daughter, Miss PreTeen, has taken a strong liking to sushi. Once in a while we would take her to the Japanese restaurant to have her dose of sushi, our favourite being Sakae Sushi at The Curve, but usually we just end up at Sushi King which is nearer our home. Japanese food can be rather costly so I thought I would learn how to make sushi instead. When I told my friend Nini about it, she said that I should put on my blog the step by step instructions for homemade sushi. I'm sure she makes much better sushi than me but here is my own simple recipe:



Things you would need (all available at Jusco supermarket):



Calrose rice, bamboo rolling mat, large pieces of dried seaweed, Japanese vinegar, sugar and salt.


Method:

Boil the rice: 1 cup of rice + 2 cups of water


Mix into the rice after it is cooked:
1 tablespoon vinegar + ¾ tablespoon sugar + ½ teaspoon salt





Ingredients for the filling: Japanese cucumber, crabsticks, caviar, egg omelette (you can add any ingredient you wish)







1) Place 1 slice of seaweed on the bamboo mat.
2) Scoop some rice onto the seaweed, flatten with a spatula.
3) Place filling onto the rice.
4) Roll up into a log shape using the bamboo mat.

5) Cut into small bite-size pieces with a sharp wet knife.



Bon appetit!

Durians in my Tummy

Hooray! I get to eat durians...finally!! My parents-in-law went to Raub, Pahang with some friends yesterday to visit a durian orchard, and came home with RM80 worth of durians. My mom-in-law called this morning to ask me to come over and have some durians. Of course I went as soon as I could!





When I reached there my dad-in-law was already opening the durians in the kitchen.





They even packed some in a plastic container for me to bring home, and made sure that it was sealed tightly so that it wouldn't make the car smell of durian. I think I have the best parents-in-law in the world!! ...burp





Did you know that if you freeze durians, they taste like very smooth ice-cream? Yummy!

Cold fish Hong Kong Style

Saw this in the menu at BB Restaurant in Taman Connaught, Cheras. I think it should be COD fish, one of my son's favourite kind of fish...he has expensive taste!




There is actually another meaning for 'cold fish':

cold fish = a person who is not pleasant or agreeable

Meep Meep Music

Being a music lover, I was looking at music videos in Youtube the other day and chanced upon this very funny video of Beaker from the Muppet Show. The Muppet Show was one of my favourite shows when I was little ( this gives a clue as to how old I am! ) as they always had very funny music videos even before MTV came about. This is one video you need to view a few times so that you don't miss all the details...Enjoy!


video clip from Meepmeepmeepow


My daughter and I love the smoking violin!

30 Books of the Bible

I received this very interesting puzzle from a friend through email and I dedicate this puzzle to my Sunday School teacher, Cheng Yoke Poh (who is now my pastor), for helping me to memorize the order of the 66 books of the Bible when I was a young Christian.


There are thirty books of the Bible in this paragraph.
Can you find them?




I took quite a long time but I finally found all the 30 books. The answers are below, but it would be more challenging to find the books yourself before you take a look at the answers...

Durians Durians Everywhere

It’s durian season again in Malaysia! Makeshift durian stalls have popped up almost everywhere and there is this place on the main road to Bandar Tun Hussein Onn and Cheras Perdana where you can eat all the durian you desire for just RM10.








My hubby doesn’t eat durian, and neither do my children…hmm…all these bananas in my home (yellow on the outside but white on the inside…meaning they look Chinese but have Western taste!). So even if I buy some I would have to finish them all by myself….now what fun is there in eating durian all by yourself??!!

I suppose I could just settle for the hairy cousin of the durian...for the time being.


I saw this photo in The Star newspaper…now this is what I call PASSION for the king of fruits!


pic by Chan Koi Yoon