Experiences

I told the boss that I wanted to give small Malaysia flags to my young customers. I was glad that he agreed to my idea. Sometimes he could dismiss my idea. He said, 'Yes, do something that's interesting!' So the boss bought some flags for me. At night, it was quiet as it was raining. But when the rain stopped, I could see young customers began to come out and patronize our shop with their parents.  A regular customer came and he liked what I wrote on the white board.  " 31 Aug 2013 - Happy Merdeka Day!" So I asked if his girl would like to have a flag and he was more than happy. But it was not easy as she kept saying, "I don't want!" But her dad kept insisting that she posed for me. I took a few shots of her and I found one nice one. Wanna know which one? Then hop over to Chang Jiang . Happy Merdeka!

I challenged myself to run the steps everyday but I failed to do so. On certain days, I was plain lazy. Some days I had to leave for work early. Out of 30 days, I only achieved 16 days. Hope I will do better next month. I also challenged myself to run at least 30 steps and I did! In fact, I found it too easy so I gradually increased the steps to be covered. I discovered that 80 steps was good enough. I will try to add the number of steps next month. Discovery: 1. Running the steps was not easy. It's easier to run down the steps than to run up the stairs. 2. 30 steps for a start was good. As my stamina increased, my steps had increased. So far 80 steps.  3. My heart started to beat fast at the middle of the run. 4. I only started to sweat profusely after the run. It took some time for me to cool down. 5. I felt good and fit after my run. 6. It's convenient to run the steps as I didn''t need to go all the way to the Polo ground for my runs....

When we got married, we stayed in the shop for a few years before we shifted to our first rented house. That house belonged to an old lady who stayed on the other part of the whole house with his handicapped son. The house was specially built for her late mother. Soon her mother passed away and she let it out for rental. I happened to know about the rental and I planned to shift in as soon as possible. I didn't know anything about the former occupant. I was just too happy to have found a new place to stay. Day by day, I shifted in my stuff from my place at the shop. I always used the back door as my room was located at the back portion of the second shop. Finally, only left the furniture that were to be shifted. I chose a convenient Sunday as my husband was not working. However, the day was still in the seventh month of the Chinese calender. When I shifted in, I didn't even set up any altar for the god/goddess. My eldest girl was four years and I brought back m...

I received a postcard all the way from Haadyai last week. It's from Twilight man who was there recently. Thank you TM for the lovely postcard. It made me happy that day.  And just two days ago, I received a letter from Lina. She wrote that she knew I use Brooks shoes so she's giving me this voucher. Another day of happiness. I noticed that the voucher has no due date. I will show it to my friend when I need to purchase one in future. Thank you Lina for your generosity. Coincidentally, I saw a card at my study door. I wonder if it belongs to my girl. I love its wordings. It makes me feel good. "Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will." - Vernon Howard So here's wishing each and everyone of you HAPPINESS ALWAYS!

We love fried sengkuang and it has become our favorite since my mum cooked for us when my kids were still young. But mum wouldn't be here as often to fry for us so I got to learn. Now it has become an easy dish for me to dish up. I prepared this dish specially for my girl as she came back for the weekend. First, stir-fry the prawns and minced meat with garlic and oil. Then pour in the shredded sengkuang and carrot. Add some light soya sauce.  Add some water and let it simmer. the result best eaten with fresh lettuce I asked her: "How's the sengkuang?" She replied: "Yummy!"

I had baked carrot cakes for the third time. The first time was ok. The second time was not too good as the middle portion was not really cooked. So for the third time, I baked cupcakes instead. It was my best effort and those cupcakes turned up well.  I googled for a simple recipe and I found one. I just used it as a guide. You can read it at the end of this post. 2 cups of brown sugar, a cup of sunflower oil and 4 eggs Beat them till evenly mixed. Then mix with 2 tsp of  cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 cups of self-raising flour Beat them till smooth. Pour in raisins, grated carrots and chopped almonds. Mix them evenly. Scoop the batter onto the paper cups. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees. Bake them for 30 minutes. Last month, I didn't give the carrot cakes slices to my girl's teacher as they didn't turn out well.  This time as the cupcakes look good, I gave six to her.  She was so happy as carrot cake is her favorite...

Recently, I was boiling something and I went out to the front for a short while. When I returned, my pot was burnt. I just left it there and just soaked it with water. I hate to scrub this kind of pot. So I decided to throw it away. But I still didn't get it thrown away. I read somewhere that vinegar could get rid of tough stains. So this time, I got hold of the vinegar. I soaked the pot with some diluted vinegar overnight. It was badly burnt. The next morning, I scrubbed the pan. Wow, it worked! So I kept on scrubbing and scrubbing at ease.  The pot can be used again!

Food for my pets hamsters and turtles were almost finished so I had to buy some new food for them. My intention was just to buy those two types of food but something caught my attention at the pets' shop.  this snack for dogs I bought one for Teddy. It cost RM4.. Reached home, I gave to Teddy. He was very cautious as it's something new to him. He hasn't had this kind of food before. He sniffed and then licked it. Finally he ate it and finished it. He must have loved it. Good Teddy!  I'm beginning to 'sayang' him more..

I remembered my former neighbor told me not to soak vegetables in water but to rinse them. But I didn't listen to her advice. I prefer to soak them in water. But recently I made a change. I rinse the vegetables before I soak them for a short while. rinse them thoroughly to remove all the debris and even pesticides residues then soak in clean water for a short while Good Green Habits for Washing Produce Mix 3 parts water to 1 part white vinegar (3:1 ) in a spray bottle. Spray on fruits and veggies to get rid of pesticide residue. Rinse with water after spraying. or.. Fill a bowl with water and add 1/8 to 1/2 cup of vinegar, depending on the size of your bowl. Place your fruits and veggies in the bowl. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse with water. http://goodgreenhabits.com/

 Well, this post was posted in Jun 2011. It's two years ago. I was amazed to see Fitline products in Lina's blog. It sort of inspires me to talk about Fitline but not about running with Fitline. I used to run in 2006 with Fitline Fitness Drink. It really helped to boost my stamina when I was working out at the gym. It also helped to maintain my stamina when I was running in 2006. Not the grand marathons but just the small runs organised by the Ipoh runners Club.  Looking through my posts about Fitline, I want to share this post. Also to remember my Afternoon Supervisor, Pn Sofiah. She had been the best teacher I had ever met. She has already retired and I hope to look her up one fine day. I missed her.. So here goes my story.. I went to Beijing in June 2006. It was about a year since I started consuming Fitline. I had been successful and I was still eager to promote it at that time. I brought along the products to Beijing. I let my tour people tried it but...

Last Christmas, I had made simple gifts to be given to tiny tots. One of my favorite recipients was this little boy. He was only 15 months old. I like his ever ready smiles..So cute and adorable. Since then, I always notice him. His father is always carrying him. I always call the boy, "Baby" till today. Few weeks ago, I gave him some coloring books and he was so happy. This time his mother was holding him. He's rather shy and wouldn't want other people to carry him. But surprisingly, few days ago, he let me carry him. It was indeed a rare opportunity. Yesterday night I saw him again. This time his grandfather was carrying him. His mum told me that he always 'manja' with the grandpa. She also told me the boy is going to be two years old. So I simply asked, 'When is his birthday?'  She replied, 'September 9.' Wow, I was surprised! I share the same birth date as this adorable tiny tot. I shook hands with him and he gave ...

I bought this cute 'cow' from Switzerland and it cost 8.5 Euros. Not cheap, right? Anyway, I like it as it's smiling. But today I have to give it away to my worker as it's her birthday. a female moo-moo I also made some soya bean agar- agar for her  as her sister has already bought her a birthday cake. She was born in the year of the cow of the Chinese calender and everyone calls her 'ngau-ngau' which means cow. But I couldn't bring myself to call her with that nickname. I call her by her real name. She's my part-time cashier who comes to work at 4pm after school. It's of great help to me as I am able to take a break in the evening so that I can prepare dinner for my boy and girl. Really thankful that she's at our shop till it closes late at night. I always wonder how she does her school homework. She told me that she will do her homework when she gets home after work. Such hardworking worker and I don't mind g...

Few days ago, my Malay staff, M suggested that we had a gathering today and of course I fully supported it. Usually I was the one to suggest such gathering but I was glad this time, she initiated it herself. She has her expertise in chicken rendang so today we had chicken rendang. She wanted to sponsor all but I wouldn't allow that. Chang Jiang had to sponsor part of  the expenses. Mariah with her rendang chicken But the chicken rendang had to go with the nasi kunyit which was prepared by my Indian staff, S. My other staff and a part-time worker sponsored the glutinous rice. fried wanton by these two part-time workers. Chang Jiang sponsored the expenses. The longan drink was sponsored by another staff. I invited my former staff. Also invited my Pureen sales promoter who has resigned from the company. This was what I had for lunch. We had a scrumptious lunch and thanks to all my people. Selamat Hari Raya to  M...

Read a post on facebook about the wonders of okra. So I thought I might as well try it since I have some okras in my fridge. I used to cook okra only once in a while as my boy doesn't like it. I took two okras and washed them. Then I cut them as shown above. I put them in a glass of water. Left the glass in the fridge. For about 12 hours. Took out the okra and I was astonished to see those slimy substance flowed down. Here's the glass of water ready to be drunk. I drank it and there's no taste or whatsoever. Instantly I could feel something funny in my head and I felt warm. Read more about the health benefits of okra at Knowledge   .

Friday is a special day for me as I get to come back from work earlier so that I can have dinner with my boy and girl. But this afternoon was more special as something happened right in front of our shop. a customer's car was on fire Can you see the small fire underneath? The boss helped by splashing pails of water onto the car but  those kind people opened up its bonnet and started  pouring water onto the engine using the  water hose from our shop. Finally, it's safe! Thank God all's fine.. Later in the evening, we went our for dinner at Sushi King.. my boy's chicken dish: it's piping hot and the raw egg  easily cooked when poured onto the hot plate. my girl's mixed bento But what's mine? Can you guess? Hop over to Scrumptious and find out..

Yesterday, I received a call from my friend. She told me that she's coming over to my place soon. She just started her journey then from KL.. So I gave her some directions so that she could find my place when she exited at Jelapang. About two hours later, she called and told me that she was somewhere near Billion. Oh, she was so near already. I directed her to my place and within seconds she had reached. She bought some herbal soup packets, dried longan, kei chee and red dates.  Of course, I gave her some discounts and the items totaled up to RM100. They were in a hurry so we didn't manage to sit and chat for long.  Since they didn't know the place to buy the Ipoh salted chicken, the boss led them there. It was a pleasant surprise and a sweet one too as they came all the way just to buy from us.. Thank you very much, my dear friend & hubby!

Last year Chang Jiang had Merdeka Day Contest whereby participants were needed to create the "MERDEKA" word with wrappers of items that they bought from our shop. It was a tough competition. This year, I want to make it easier in the sense that creativity is not necessary. All participants are just needed to post a picture of themselves with their friends of other races. Since it's Merdeka Day, I suppose 1Malaysia concept would be appropriate. So here's the post at Chang Jiang : 1Malaysia Contest: Have you got a good friend of other race? Show us your picture with him/her. Tell us a little story about your relationship. All participants will receive a voucher from Chang Jiang. Closing date: 30th August 2013  I hope there will be more participants this time. It's a very easy contest. Just post a suitable picture and you are already entitled to receive a voucher from Chang Jiang. But I won't reveal the amount yet. It will depend on t...

Yesterday, my cashier was on leave so needless to say, I had to be at the shop earlier than expected. But I needed to prepare lunch for us. I thought fried noodles would be appropriate as it's very easy to prepare. Firstly, I boiled the noodles till soft. At the same time, I prepared some omelet. I also fried the minced meat with garlic and then stir-fried the bean sprout and sawi. I poured all the ingredients onto the noodles. Added some black sauce and soya sauce. Stirred them up on low fire. Ready to be served for four of us!