Tiffin carriers

On February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 By mouseytongIn Food, Misc...Leave a comment

Have always been a little fascinated with tiffin carriers. The antique ones are so beautiful! Have you seen them? These are some of the tiffin carriers I grew up with. Though we never used them in my family but I see them in my relatives’ homes and in my grandparents homes. I love those enamel ones with all those intricate designs. If you click on the link you would be able to read up on the story of tiffin carriers in Peranakan Malaysia.

I never knew porcelain tiffin carriers existed. They probably did but I never saw them before. To think they used this to bring food to different quarters of the home. Some Peranakan homes or old rich Chinese homes are huge and these were needed to send food.

Many years ago, I bought 2 tiffin carriers for myself thinking that I would use them someday. All in all, I have probably used them about 10 times in the last. I used them twice in the last week alone! So proud of myself. It is the Covid situation that got me busting out the tiffin carriers. Brought food to the office for M and myself.

My tiffin carriers are the new version one. Airtight and insulated. I love how the handles are fully incorporated in the full length of the carrier. Though I would have loved to have an antique one but I think these suit my needs better. I travel around on a scooter so an airtight and insulated tiffin carrier is more practical for me.

Homemade wholemeal bread with sunflower and pumpkin seeds with chia and goji

These was lunch today. Fruits – kiwi and apple, beef with ginger and broccoli, vegetable curry, tofu and mushrooms and salad for M and last but not least my own homemade wholemeal bread.

Lunch last week. Hamburger under the egg

This was lunch last week. Fruits- kiwi, apples and grapes, peas and broccoli with smoked bacon and onions, hamburger and a bullseye egg.

This Covid situation has made me the home maker I never was. I love cooking and baking but I was never that good. I definitely upped my game this 2020 lockdown. I used my oven and kitchen the most in 2020 than I have in my last 13 years in this house. I could never successfully make bread before 2020. My cupcakes were also a miss or a hit depending on my luck. Now I consistently churn out bread, cakes, biscuits like nobody’s business! So proud of myself. 🤟😆

The best thing I got out of this whole Covid situation is that my children get to eat my food and they love it. Asking me to make them this and that all the time. Even M. So happy. I post some of my cooking and baking on my Instagram. I am still to shy to post them all. Also, I take horrible photos of them so they don’t do them justice. So I rather not. But rest assured they were devoured with relish.

I am just going to go off and enjoy lunch and the feeling of accomplishment now. 😉

My foray into YouTube

On January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 By mouseytongIn Food for Thought, Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment

So, I have thought about this for the longest time and I finally took the plunge. Though I have had this thought for a while, it resurfaced and reinforced itself after my Digital Marketing course. More so after we had to build our own website, which I already have and I used that opportunity to revamp my site a little and revisit my old blog posts. I realised, I always had so much to say but so little was put into words.

Then I asked my friends and family what should be my first vlog be about. My sis said to talk about whatever I want. Another friend said, you always tell great stories and another said that I have a good voice. Oh, how sweet she was. I agonised over it for a few months. About 2 to be exact. 😆

Then I promised myself that I would start it in 2021. Maybe I should post one on new years. That came and went…I still mulled things over. Not to say that I was idle. I took videos, I tried to download them onto my computer but I couldn’t. Then I tried a few other ways. Then I gave up. Changed over to another camera and tried with that. Then I tried to edit the videos which I suck at. The video is still there waiting to be finished.

As all that was happening, the days were passing. Now we are right smack in the middle of January, way beyond the new years deadline I put for myself and I am still nowhere with that video.

So today, after a pretty eventful week, I decided that I am going to throw caution to the wind and sat myself down and made a video. No editing, no special effect, no anything. Just me and the phone yapping away. After I was done, I watched it again just to see if I was making sense at all and realised I wasn’t half bad. Guess all my university debate experience came in handy. I bit the bullet and decided that this was good enough and I must post my first video today. So I did.

Though if you look at my channel, it is not the first video per se as the previous ones were the videos I had to post for this blog. WordPress didn’t support video content before. We could only link videos before. I don’t dare to delete the previous ones for fear that I will affect that blog post. As you can already tell, I am not that tech savvy. I have a long way to go.

Anyway, here is the link to my YouTube channel and post. Hop over to watch it, feel free tonlike it and maybe subscribe and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any suggestions or ideas or anything you want to me to talk about just drop a comment here or in YT. See you all there!

Thanks and toodeloos!!

P/s: just realised that we can now add videos directly here. WordPress has improved. I like. Or maybe I am behind with technology. 🤔

Bath Stories

On December 24, 2020January 4, 2021 By mouseytongIn Misc...Leave a comment

Some time back I received a beautiful package in the mail. In the midst of the horrible pandemic of 2020, a little box of joy dropped in to say hello from @bathstories.sg. Have you ever seen such a beautiful piece of soap? It reminds me of a very famous painting. Do you know which painting I am talking about? Though it reminds me of a painting, Simone, the beautiful soap maker found her inspiration from a photo by Babak Tafreshi. This photo is the cover of the photobook “The World At Night”.

This particular piece is made of lavender, neroli and patchouli. When I first opened it, a burst of intoxicating perfume filled the room. For the next few days, till I kept it away, it filled my hall with its beautiful scent. It worked just like an room incense. I had to keep it away cause while it was pleasant for me, it was a little to overwhelming for everyone else. Also, the kids kept playing with it and it was too precious to me for them to play with it and it will probably be “lost” among their toys later. So I kept it away until it was time to use it.

I didn’t use it right away as I had others I need to finish up first. I don’t like too many opened items around, all half used and nothing finished. So, I patiently waited. Though I kept it away, I kept it within sight so that I won’t forget to use it once my other soaps finish. The moment it did, I whipped it out of its box gleefully, like a kid in a candy store. But it was a few months later, hence the late posting. I got it back in October and only started using it in December and only now am I posting it here. I did already post in on my Instagram.

It was quite a change for me to use bar soaps as we use liquid soaps cause of the kids. Way easier and the kids can soap themselves without dropping the bar everywhere. Also, my elder child has sensitive skin so bar soaps are a “no no” for her. Dries out her skin too much. But with the linen bag that comes with it, I can keep this bar of soap away from those prying hands and hang them way up high, away from them. Now it is my own personal soap bar.

Now, let me sing its praises. This bar of soap not only looks nice it leaves my skin silky. I absolutely love it! It is perfect for my “lazy to put on cream” days. So perfect for winter! Though it leaves the skin silky, I still won’t share it with my girls. 😛 shh….don’t tell them. Someday they might read it here but by then it will be ancient history. 😀 It is not only good for the skin but the bar of soap becomes more beautiful as you use it. In one of Bath stories’ posts, you can see how beautiful it becomes with each use. It looks like a pebble weathered by the flowing waters of a stream.

Bath stories have so many more amazing bars of soaps. Hop on over to her Instagram and get one for yourself. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. Get yourself a piece and see it for yourself. You will love it and be so sad when the bar of soap finishes. I am already a little sad as I see my bar of soap getting smaller by the day. I should get myself another piece but with lockdowns and Italy’s “amazing” postal service I am hesitant. I would rather fly to her and get the bar of soap myself, in person. I shall be back to see the soaps for myself, Simone. Keep some for me!

Toodeloos everyone! I will be here patiently waiting for the borders to re-open to fly back to Asia to stock up on everything, especially hugs, kisses and love and comfort food from my family back home.

Hope 2021 will be better and safer for everyone!

Care package with love

On December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 By mouseytongIn Food, Food for Thought, Misc...Leave a comment

Look what came in the mail today!! An amazing care package arrived with all my favourite goodies sent with love 💘 all the way from the UK. 🇬🇧

A little of Malaysia in a box making this Malaysian a very happy Malaysian. 😄

Best of all I get my Ipoh white Coffee!! Because of the lockdown on international travel, I couldn’t stock up this time but a good friend with a huge heart got me my fix. Am super happy!

Sending my care package angels lots of love, hugs and kisses!

Thank you Lyn and Vikki!

Advent calendar

On December 10, 2020December 9, 2020 By mouseytongIn Celebrations, Misc..., StationeryLeave a comment

Finished stuffing every pack with something

There was more chocolate than anything else

My eldest wanted to make her own advent calendar this year. Not that we have ever been making them all these years. She just decided she wanted to make one this year. Mind you, we are not religious. So much so, that this year is the first year we have a Christmas tree at home. We just never got round to it before. We were usually never home anyway for the holidays. But we are doing it this year for the kids.

I bought all the items needed and got them to design their own boxes. It took them 3 days to finish colouring everything. Then one morning when the girls were in school I packed and stuffed each packet with stationery and chocolate.

Now every evening after school, they will run to the boxes to open their surprise for the day. Sometimes it is fun but sometimes they fight. Kids! Though I put in the same things for both boxes but because they get to choose their boxes everyday, they both get different items each time.

What most interesting about this whole thing was that M doesn’t know what an Advent calendar is? I looked at him incredulously and laughed. I mean, he is the Christian in this house and he doesn’t know what an Advent calendar is! Now he knows. 😄

This is our Advent calendar adventure. Our first, and I see it, the first of many more to come.

Toodeloos!

Isolation activities..

On November 24, 2020November 24, 2020 By mouseytongIn Misc..., My Mini Me2 Comments

Last 2 weeks, J and I were in isolation. A classmate of hers was or maybe still is as he is not back in school yet, is positive for Covid-19. Unless you have been living off the grid with no access to civilization or maybe on another planet, you will know that Covid-19 is not a trifle thing. The whole of 2020 can surely be remembered in the future at Covid 2020. The year the whole world was brought to their knees.

Anyway, I digress. So, since she was to be home the whole day for 2 whole weeks we set about getting some activities to do to pass our time. I have seen this particular activity but I have never done them. When M brought the first one back J couldn’t wait to start while I was dreading the possibility of the millions of coloured plastic pins all over the floor. But I managed to stop her and coax her into starting on them bright and early the next day when I had more time to organise and do it with her.

The next day we started on the first one. The first set was a set of Disney portrais of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy. In the pictures you will see that the whole piece is made up of 4 smaller pieces put together. So we had a portrait piece if each character. When we started, it took us a while to get the rhythm going. Also, it was not that easy for J to push those little pins into the holes piercing through the paper design on top. After a while she got the hang of it. She stops once in while to rest her little hands or when she gets carried away in her thoughts while chattering away. She chatters non-stop. I had to play the ‘game of silence’ which she loses every time, just to catch a respite from her constant chatter. 😅

We finished that in 4 days. I limited it to one a day. It was actually enough cause each one took us about 2-3 hours depending on how chatty or distracted we are. You could probably guess that I did most of the work but she was just so cute!! I found this avtivity to be very relaxing and cathatic. I didn’t have to think, like in board game or a puzzle, which we also did in that 2 weeks. Just grab a pin of whatever colour we working on, from the bowls I have prepared and just stick it in wherver I see the corresponding colour. Easy peasy! We finished it in no time at all!

Then, M got this one. This set came with 2 Disney princesses and we had to choose. We could only do one. The choice was between Snow White or Rapunzel. You can safely guess which one won. 😉 This took us 4 days too. I can truly say the outcome is really beautiful! So much so that we are thinking of framing it! Though I joked to M that it would probably cost more to frame it than to actually buy it. It was €12 for this set. The frame would probably cost us at least €50. 😅😅

After we were done, i told J to hold it up as I wanted to tale a picture of her with it. She gave me a cheeky face as I took the picture. I don’t think she intended to posr like Snow White but it turned out to look like she did.

I am glad we did this. I liked it so much that I am thinking of getting another one. Something to do for when I am stressed or in need of some distraction? How about you guys? Has anyone tried this? If you haven’t, you should. Then you will know what I mean by it veing relaxing and cathartic.

Actually, now that isolation is over and i am back to work, I don’t know if I will have the time to do this again. But for now, I am glad that we are healthy and that J is back in school. Freedom!! 😆

Am off to get some alone and ‘me’ time. Till next time! Ciao and Toodeloos!!

Timing is forever off

On October 5, 2018 By mouseytongIn Misc..., MusingsLeave a comment

My timing for blogging is forever off. I think of the random-est things at the most random times and it is usually when I can’t blog. It is because I am driving, putting the kids to bed then subsequently falling asleep myself or having a epiphany while I am with kids which is almost 20 hours a day.

Thanks to my babysitter (godsend) I have about 4 hours Monday to Friday excluding holidays that I can get some time for myself. Which I subsequently fill with work, physiotherapy, and all other appointments ie. hair, nails, banks, dentist, doctor and grocery shopping and cooking if I need to. In the end when I don’t need to do anything, I literally don’t. 😀 Does that make sense? I also spend some of that time to be with M. We work together cause we have businesses together. We used to travel together very often as well. Now less so. So when I don’t have the kids, I will go the the meetings and other appointments with him so that he doesn’t have to inform me of them later.

Now that I have some time, since I have to do some work urgently, I gave J her tablet. The only way get her to leave me alone and not bang on the keypad while I am working. Not even with the TV on on the kids channel does the trick. I am forcing myself to write. Forcing because I can see that my flow of thought is not there. I feel that I am incoherent and just having a verbal diarrhea. But I know that I have to try. I also get frustrated that when I do find some time, I don’t really remember anymore what I wanted to blog about. Then my mind wanders and then I find myself on Instagram, FB or Youtube, Netflix or Viki. I am going through a documentary phase. Devouring documentaries like there is no tomorrow. Mostly criminal and historical or both.

This makes me feel like when I first went back to school. After not having to write anything longer than possibly 3 sentences, I found it so difficult to even write 500 words for my first English 101 essay. I was despairing, thinking , oh no…how am I ever going to write my papers as things get harder. Thank God, all I needed was more reading and more writing. I managed to graduate so I guess I did do something right and what I wrote coherent enough for a final thesis. *peace sign*

Sigh…absolutely incoherent again. Could you get my flow of thought here? I think I want to attribute this to mommy brains. You know, the same ones as the pregnancy brains? 😛 Ok, I am just trying not to take responsibility. Just looked at the word count at the bottom and I am approaching 500. Whee!! Who would have thought this incoherent verbal diarrhea can even reach 500 words! Ah…proud mommy brains moment! 🙂

Signing off and I apologised if you came here to read about something more interesting and got this. I will try to make an effort on the next one. I update on Instagram more often. See you there!

Selamat Merdeka Malaysia

On August 31, 2018 By mouseytongIn Misc...Leave a comment

Malaysia is celebrating its 61st birthday today!!! Happy birthday!

The Star newspaper in Malaysia is running a campaign calling for Malaysians around the world to use this picture above and pose with it, post it on any platform and send back messages for our national day. So, I am posting it here for my part.

This year, for my birthday a few days ago, all I wanted for my birthday was a Malaysian meal. 😁 But the nearest to us was in Milan. 😅 In the end, I dragged M to watch Crazy, Rich Asians with me. Obviously, I knew he will not like the movie, he hardly watches anything, so a rom-com was pushing it. But I told him this was what I wanted for my birthday. Just him with me. He can even sleep in the cinema if he wanted to. I got my wish. 😉😆

While I was browsing through Facebook, a video from Global Malaysia Network caught my eye. This song brings me back to my school’s days. When this song first came out, we had to sing it in school and also it was a choir competition song. I have sung this song so much that the lyrics comes to mind immediately every time I hear this song. This time, while watching this video, it brought tears to my eyes.

I have posted the link here. I hope it works.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/globalmalaysian/permalink/293329541280559/

Malaysia,happy birthday! Merdeka!!

Love you!!😍

❤️💓💕💖💗💞

Been away too long….

On August 24, 2018 By mouseytongIn Misc...Leave a comment

I have been wanting to get back to blogging for such a long time that it is personally tormenting me inside.

What the real problem is this, I don’t know where to begin. So after mulling over this for forever, I have decided that is should just write this short blog post to start off and let’s see if I get my writing mojo back.

Lately, I stumbled upon a Korean documentary or talk show series (not sure if they should be called this) that features foreigners who have settled in Korea. Their lives and their concerns. Got me thinking about a few things of my experience here in Italy. Maybe I can write more about it in my next blog post. It is called “My neighbour, Charles”.

I will make a promise here now that I will post something this weekend. After all it is my birthday on Monday. 😁😉

Bak Kut Teh

On April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 By mouseytongIn Food, Malaysia, Misc...Leave a comment

Did I tell you I made some bak kut teh the other day, and it was awesome!! Missing the real deal but this is as close to it as I can get for now. It was really good too. Managed to get all the ingredients too. All hail the Asian supermarket.
I took me close to 3 days to get all the ingredients. Apart from the laziness, it is the fact that parking would be a nightmare where I first intended to go and with a baby in tow it would have been most inconvenient having to park by the roadside bundle baby up and rush in and out and put groceries in the car as quick as possible and try not to get run over whule trying as fast as possible to un-bundle baby back into her car seat. So I tried to out it off as long as possible but the craving was strong.

In the end, my babysitter saved the day. She told me of another new shop which I also thought would be impossible to get to, but she told me a day later when I lamented on the lack of parking that this place has its own carpark area right behind. Now I only have to look for that entryway. Which I did easily thanks to her great and way to follow instructions.

Thanks to her my craving was satisfied. Albeit after 3 days. I don’t cook often. Just wanted to share it. 😀

Night!