last post for year 2022

Today is 31/12/2022 and last day of year 2022. It has been a year filled with ups and downs. It is also a year of 'wake up call' for me. Many things happened and some really make think thrice about what have I done so far..

is it really how I want to leave my life? 

Am I wasting my life away doing something I detest? 

Why can't I just for once live for myself? Life is short and I'm halfway already.

My children are growing up fast and I sort of regret not spending enough time with them. Seriously what's the use earning money trying to make a living when I couldn't be there for them when they need me most. Sad..

So come 2023, I'm finding my way out of the rut, going to do what is important to me, going to focus on my priorities (my children, my family, my life, my health). I'm just a normal human with my flaws and limitations. I'm with limited time and resources so I do not waste in on things that does not matter..I'm sorry but this can only be the way forward. And for once, i have this strong urge to venture into education industry educating our future generation.

And I'm starting my own youtube channel to share some info and raise public awareness. My motto for tomorrow : just do it (wrong or right never mind, as long as I get started and even if wrong, I take corrective action from there)

Last but not least, thank you 2022 for a wonderful year that gave me a wake up call on what are the important things in my life and making me realised that me and only me can make the change.

Crochet

I'm thankful my daughter is into crochet and knitting. It helps to mellow down her temper and allow her to learn to relax. And allow her to learn to put in effort to complete a 'project'

Some of her creations and hopefully next time she will have her own brand of crochet items and crafts :) 

making salted limes

Trying my luck at making some salted lime.. using calamansi lime. 

Keeping them to 'jaga pintu' in case of sore throat.

Salted lime makes good remedy for sore throat and for heatiness

Batch 1-4 combined for group pic

And another group pic

And the salt we used red for coarse and green for fine

 

1% improvement everyday

I do not know since when I start to believe that we can improve 1% everyday and by the end of 1 year..we would have improved by at least 365% (which is alot)

The 1% improvement could be from our personal life, children studies, work life, health, mental health, habits, productivity, self care, investment, learning and application.... it could almost be anything.

I try to brainwash my children to approach life using this concept too.. because like how Plato put it : Never discourage anyone who continually make progress, no matter how slow' 

So now instead of lamenting, I make effort to be thankful that me & my children are learning at least 1% everyday and grateful for having the opportunity to learn and grow.

8/9/2022 - my wake up call

8/9/2022 on this particular day, something happened to me. I consider it a wake up call to me. I literally almost work myself to near death. I'm not going to hide but it's something I'm bare to open to admit my self-negligence. 

Basically, I got so worried, so anxious, so panic about the amount of pressure and work that I broke down. I was crazy enough to let all the burden on myself. I was crazy enough not knowing to escalate and let go, thinking if I try on my level best, I may be able to settle it. However, this lesson definately give me a wake up call that I'm definately not capable of doing so. And why so stupid to burden my soul with those things that doesn't really even matter to me at all. 

So from that day till today, I'm learning and still learning to let go, to draw the line and to shout for help when I need it, to be brave to voice my view and have my rights exercised, to basically learn to love myself more cause the work without me is nothing, it will move on. But my family without me is a great deal and I don't want that to happen prematurely.

So to the person writing this.. You are ENOUGH. You have to LIVE for YOURSELF because this is YOUR LIFE. It's ok to FALL and FAIL, but STAND BACK UP and CONTINUE ON.

I'm really grateful to my those who helped me and saved my life in the time of need. Thank you for saving my life. I could be gone if not for your fast action. Thank you and may GOD bless you all. 

It feel good to declutter / give away / throw

Last Saturday, I managed to get rid of 4 boxes of recyclable items .. ie. cardboxes from packaging, old VCDs (if you still remember what they are:) recyclable plastic items, old clothes and some preloved books.

i have to say it feel so good to be able to clear the stuffs that have been sitting at my home for so long because they stop taking recycle stuffs from a few months back. Previously they use to collect recyclable items and garden compost every Thursday.

I feel that my burden are lifted ... perhaps the clutter has been a nagging need-to-do item at the back of my brain giving me invisible stress. I feel at last I managed to do something after promising dear for so long that I'll clear the clutters at home.

With this in mind, I'm looking forward to more clearing and decluttering sessions which actually helps to calm us down. My dream to make our home clutter free although I've been trying for so many years... but still I refused to give up and will even work harder towards my goals.  Till then...wish us luck :)

If you put in effort, God will help you

If you put in effort, God will help you..

This is what I always remind my daughter. She might be slower when it comes to learning academically but I wanted her to know that as long as she put in effort and hard work, God will always help her and path a road for her.

Today she got her chinese test .. she got 69/100 which help to build her confidence and trust that if she put in effort, she can improve. I'm thankful to her teachers who taught them relentlessly and for not giving up on my daughter.

Paradigm shift was what I needed and put to practice..i just have to believe that my daughter is capable. I just have to trust her ability and that she'll improve and be better. 

buying plants online

Rewind to maybe 3 years back, who would have thought that we can buy plants (real plants) online without having to go to the nursery? Last year I bought 2 kedondong (some call it amla) saplings online. Blame it on my craving to eat and drink amla sour plum juice..haha.

I went to the nursery near home however found that the kedondong sapling sold there was expensive. Basically I can buy 3 saplings online for the price of 1 from the nursery. So like it or not I'm willing to take the chance and after much survey, I ordered 2. Voila, they came in perfect condition ... protected and neat and currently the plants are thriving in my backyard .. just yet to bear fruits.

Sharing here how the plants were wrapped with so much care that I could literally feel how much effort the sender has put in to safely deliver the plants to me. And this business is doing a good job because it took opportunity of the pandemic to explore alternative of doing business and make lemonade out of lemons.

Thank you to the seller that made it possible for me to plant kedondong at reasonable price and for the effort to deliver value to customers.

my ABCD ... my family favourite drink

ABCD = Asam Aloe + Butterfly pea flower + Calamnansi Drink

Sometimes when we think hard enough or we have limited resources, it will bring out some suprises. Like this particular day, the weather was hot, we have plenty of aloe vera, butterfly pea flower and calamansi if not plucked and made useful, will dry and wilt away...so we came out with what we can think of ... the asam boi was a 'must' though which i purposely brought to bring the drink to another level. 

Just the wonder '4' 

Butterfly pea flower never fail to amaze me with it's eccentric blue / purple

Sour salty chewy ... all in a glass

Before we add water + ice

Getting comfort from out of comfort zone

This year, I decided to get a little more comfort from being out of my comfort zone. I'm reading 'chicken soup for life' - something which I love in chinese language (which is something out of my comfort zone)

I'm starting with 'a page a day keep the worry away'

I'm starting to love the chinese language...it's a beautiful language full of wisdom and a single character alone can have many meaningful interpretation.

I'm glad I stumbled upon these books @ Popular bookshop .. they are my new treasures.

doing what is best at the moment

 For the 1st time, she told me she wanted to go for art class. For the 1st time, she reminded me when i forgot to do research for art class. For the 1st time, she told me she wanted to join the real class right after the trial class. For the 1st time she treasured her drawing and creation so much. For the 1st time, she asked me if I have enrolled her for the art class and for the 1st time, she asked me if I have the money to pay for her art class.

Perhaps it's true that when it comes to things that we are passionate about, we have this internal motivation to get us moving towards our passion.

This is perhaps 1 of the best thing I could do at this moment..to give her support and guidance towards her strength and passion. Every child is god's gift from heaven... this I believe is true 

rediscover mindful activity

Last month we had a long weekend holiday, while others are doing local or overseas travel, we were travelling within our home back to our heart and mind. We started with a jigsaw which i brought online ..

We started our journey on Saturday, 1st day of the holiday

On the 2nd day of holiday, we almost reach our destination

Finally, on day 3 we reached our destination and decided to frame up this memory :)

why i like pandan leaves?

Pandan leaves is one of my favourite plant .. not only it gives a fresh green visual and aroma, it adds omph to our favourite foods...

                                        

Versatile & all-rounder pandan

Pandan rose.. the best air freshener for home

Pandan leaves can be kuih tako containers too =)

and last but not least, it just make kuih tako tastier

cool fun stuffs created

My youngest may not be good in her studies, however she has her way of creating new fun stuffs such as this writing / drawing board. Pardon her wrong spelling but I think this is cool 

 

Chawan mushi in a cawan

To make life more fun and interesting, I make it a point to try out new breakfast recipe for every week. So in a year time, i would have at least try out preparing plus minus 40 different varieties of breakfast.

This one is one of my favourite and nutritious .... I call it chawan mushi in a cawan 

Because I can't fit 4 bowls into the steamer tray, i decided to use cup (cawan) instead. And because I don't have spring onion at that point of time, I just added some moringa leaves pluck from my kitchen window. What makes me happy was my children like this localised & improvised 'cawan mushi' ... and it's all that matter.

Mushi mushi ... cawan mushi 

 

Finish reading a book for 2022

Today I finish reading a book which I didn't managed to finish reading it last year. Last year for goodreads.com reading challenge, I set myself a target to read 25 books and failed miserably at 5/25 books. So this year I lower my expectation and just set up a challenge of 12 books. January had passed and I just finished 1 book (in the mid of February!)

Hopefully I can rekindle my love for reading and spend more time reading (rather than sleeping and exploring ways to make more money..haha)

Reading calms me down but I could hardly find time to read nowadays ..admists the buzz of life. Still I'm trying to squeeze some time (ie. toilet time) to read. (Please don't look at me like that..haha.. I'm just optimising my time spent in the bathroom) 

Trying new recipe for someone with nil cooking skill

I feel I'm more open to try new things nowadays especially when it comes to food. Every weekend, I'm thinking of introducing new foods or drinks to my family (whether they like it will be a topic for another day but so far so ok la...lucky they have taste bud similar to mine..lol)

1. Tried lemon mint lemongrass sour plum (shuen mui) soda ... failed in look as the drink turned out white instead of transparent but luckily the taste was refreshing.

2. Tried garlic herbed potato wedges (oven baked) again doesn't really look inviting, luckily the taste was acceptable and children love it. (ps. who doesn't love potato wedges when you can't have french fries ;p) 

3. I know i know this doesn't look good but this is the one i like best. Dip oyster mushroom into flour+corn flour+salt+pepper batter and fried them. The feedback I got was my fire was not big enough and the oil not hot enough thus it's not crispy. Will try again next round 

4. Tried basil tomato omelette ... like the combination and makes a healthy breakfast. 

I'm feeling hungry as I'm writing this ... some of my food wishlist 

chawan mushi

indian coconut candy

otak otak 

mieng kam

egg kurma

bibimbap (which I tried and failed earlier) 

tan cha tong shui (which last time the ah pak tong sui sell in yulek last time ... i really miss this one)

Would like to say thank you to youtube and to those who willingly share their recipes and cooking videos online ... mean a lot to someone with nil cooking skill :)

Moringa seaweed soup

I'm thankful I managed to grow moringa tree at my backyard (near my kitchen window) and didn't want to waste the nutritious moringa leaves which greet us every morning.

Cut some of the leaves and mix it into our breakfast seaweed soup. I'm happy children like the new ingredient addition. 

Benefits of moringa leaves (source : https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-benefits-of-moringa-oleifera)

Moringa leaves are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals such as protein, vitamin B6, vitamin C, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), vitamin A, Magnesium. It is rich in antioxidant, can lower blood sugar level, reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and protect against arsenic toxicity

5D art is calming and relaxing

 

Something which I'm into lately and helps to calm my mind .. 5D art. How it works? the self adhesive sheet is covered with many numbers and symbols and we are supposed to stick the beads following the numbers and symbols.

When more and more beads are sticked to the sheet, the beautiful picture will appear :) above is the koi fishes painting which we made for my father for chinese new year :) 

creating something meaningful

Last weekend, I threw an idea out to my eldest ... what if we create a video to teach young children (and ourselves) about collective nouns? In case some of us forget about what's collective nouns ... it's like English penjodoh bilangan (ie. a school of dolphins)

And I started asking questions like :

• What program can we use to create video?
• How should our story board be?
• Who's going to read and how can we record our sound?
• What can we do to get started?
• Where can we upload our video so children can learn? 

So my eldest started exploring and I shared with him one of my goals of having an educational channel where children can learn the simple and relaxing way.

And I got him onboard and even suggested perhaps we can upload a video a week / a fortnight for a start. We spend Saturday afternoon and night completing the 1 minute+ video with him doing most of the job while I cheer him on. He created a new user account and just like that we uploaded our 1st video on collective nouns for animals. 

And we brainstorm with more ideas on the following video contents ranging from collective nouns for fruits and things, animal gender names, idioms, proverb, synonyms, antonyms,vocabulary etc. Please do let us know if there are any topics you would like us to explore.

Nothing great nothing fancy about the video. It was simple & minimal but I'm feeling happy we got started and I'm thankful my children buy into the idea of sharing what we know and learn together. And putting what we know to good use and at the same time pick up a skill or two in the process. 

If you would like to have a look at what came out from that eventful 15 Jan 2022, Saturday effort, please click here : https://youtu.be/k2mF6kTSGxY