Amazing plant pillar

I just love this plant wall.

It is a brilliant idea to have this type of plant pillar in buildings.

And it's a good idea to have this plant wall at the elevated highway pillar.

Imagine the amount of carbon dioxide it can absorb and the amount of oxygen it can give.

Thanks to the team who came up with this sustainable and practical idea.

You can have different categories of plant for the plant pillars depending on local climate and suitability.

If I may put forward this idea to DBKL or the Majlis Perbandaran...we can always try with a few pillars / have a pilot project before going full fledged. It can serve as tourist attraction as well :)

Growing 'shu zai choi' aka pan mee vege

Got a whole bunch of shu zai choi from the aunty who sell pan mee at the pasar pagi (morning market). Thank you very much aunty

She was very happy when I told her I wanted to germinate & grow them. She say 'take take better than her throwing it away'

Took the whole pack (as tall as 2/3 of my height) home, de-leaves them remaining on the branches and put them in water to germinate

You can see they started sprouting and new shots coming out. 

Just transferred them to the ground last weekend

The bigger plant was from previous batch (also from the pan mee aunty at the pasar pagi)

However, some little insects find it tasty and start attacking it...aduh..they get to taste it before us.

small blessings

Our family is into avocado lately and avocado family is growing. These cuties are sleep companions every night.

I have been trying to advocate savings to my youngest but she doesn't seem to be able to grasp the concept of delay gratification. So when she showed me this article which she cut out from the newspaper on saving money and start saving her pocket money...no words can clearly describe what I felt. I'm really really thankful. And I learnt that some things is really can't be rushed.

Hello 2023

The few seconds before 2023 were spent with my children welcoming a brand new year while trying to catch a few glimpse of the mini fireworks from our room window.

Earlier my daughter had made a video of new year wishes. We were still in holiday mode as I was on leave and we just came back from family trip. 2022 was with ups and downs and I'm thankful for every moment of it. Some days bringing me sweat and tears, some days bringing me heartwarming love from family and friends, somedays are so hard that I feel like giving up but looking back everything happen for some reasons (and act as reminders).

2023 ... we wish it is a better year for all of us, if it's a rough year, may God let me have the strength and wisdom to pull through. This is the year of change for me (change for better) and to live my life in the present the best way possible.

We are 13 days nearer to end of 2023...so I vowed to give my best for the remaining 352 days and be grateful for every day that I'm waking alive and breathing

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.

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. 

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.

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 :)

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

One eye monster easy breathe

For some time, I've been having nose block at night. Sometimes to the extent of affecting my slumber time. So to ease my breathing, he made me essential oil blend after doing some research. Thank you dear for the 'one-eye monster easy breathe' Now I can grin like it :D 

Impatient monster

 I've turned into an impatient monster ... 
one with the slogan of "faster...hurry up...quick quick quick" ...

I'm not sure what happened but I'm in a rush all day long. It feels like I don't have enough time to do everything.

But the worst part of it is that I rush everyone around me too. I rush my children to eat, to bath, to finish homework, to sleep until my children ask me one day : why are we always rushing mama? 

It created anxiety and when everyone is anxious, temper flare up easily (in my case).

As much as I would like to blame technology and the current culture of instant gratification we are all trapped in, I have myself to blame. I should have control over how I response to external stimuli. Why should I let them control me? 

Easier said than done (now, imagine your boss asking you something in whatsapp and expecting you to reply instantly...haha)

Now I understand how my children feel when I keep rushing them all the time.

Starting now, I'm going to take deep breathe each time I want to say the 'f**t word. and ask myself wth am I rushing?

Rainy season - the good and the not so good

 Rainy season started about 2 weeks ago. I do have a love-hate relationship with it..haha. 

Love it because it's easy to sprout n grow (basically we can just throw any seeds at the ground and it'll start growing). 

Hate it because my laundry never get dried (you know the moist and damp feel on your clothes and no crispy sunshine smell on clothes).

Love it because it's such a nice weather to sleep.

Hate it because it makes me miss my morning walk.

Love it because it reminds me that everything can be as changeable as weather.

Hate it because i start to miss sunshine and doses of vitamin D.

Keep or throw?

I love to write down what I need to do, what I want to do, what plans I have, what treasures I found, what lessons I learnt.

These are my diaries ranging from 2009 to date. They are filled with my dreams, my worries, my sorrow & pain, my happiness, my up & downs and my flats.

Today, as I'm decluttering, I have a difficult choice to make, do I continue keeping them or do I dispose them so I have more space for my new dreams & goals?

These diaries have helped me clear my mind, listen to my worries, reminded me of putting 1st thing 1st, cried & laughed with me. Now that I've moved on to new diaries, should I be like 'kacang lupakan kulit' or do I continue keeping them.

One thing for sure, I'm running out of space. And sadly, I do not have a e-version of the content. I'm a paper & pen kind of person. If I'm to keep, how long more should I keep them? This is not something like our tax receipt where we know die die must keep for 7 years. 

I can't believe I'm having a dilemma over these pages ... sometimes I wonder did I refuse to let go? or was it the past that made the current me...so I'm supposed to treasure them? 

Give me another 48 hours and we shall know their fate .. Good night for now!

after such a long time

After such a long time, I really don't know where and how to start ..
Like it or not, life goes on but its heartening to see myself getting quite stagnant (career wise) while people I know moved on.
I guess it all bores down to what is my priority and the fact that I can't be too greedy.
Enough of the boring stuff.

Let's get started. 

Made a trip to Sekinchan and saw paddy field for the 1st time in my life ..lol

had some harvest from my garden ... at last 

made some natural gifts for colleagues .. I'm not sure if they find it 'cheap' though

It's natural rose himalayan salt scrub / soak ... in case you're wondering 

just enjoying the process of making 'home sweet home' 

Here's ... to a great week ahead for you & me =)

糖水without the 糖

The long weekend, I boiled 糖水 without the 糖, but happy as everyone like it :D

the yellow, orange & purple sweet potatoes + ginger

all into the pot with lots of pandan leaves...simmer with slow fire

my daily dose of vitamin N

I guess I'm not cut out to be a city girl aunty

I think I have vitamin N deficiency & need high daily dose of vitamin N(ature) for me to function well, else I'll feel lethargic and fatigue all day long.

But it's kinda not-that-easy to find a decent spot that can offer genuine vitamin N, so sometimes I just make do with whatever-I-can-find or placebo vitamin N.

Making full use of the 'solo' time of 15-20 minutes of time before start work (if I arrive early) to 'sit down & relax' before the start of another hectic day.

So here I'm hanging out on to the last available dosage of vitamin N within my reach. 

Here, trying to avoid those concrete jungle sky scrappers getting into the picture, but futile attempt

A rare glimpse to boost vitamin N effeciency

Here, trying to cheat with some 'placebo' 

To add salt to injury, reading a naturopathy book that emphasize on the importance of vitamin N

At least, this is a consolation, enjoying a custard apple from my backyard for breakfast

一位父亲的故事

About 2 moons ago, we met schoolmates' father (Uncle A) at a nearby coffee shop.
Uncle has just came from a dentist appointment at the klinik pergigian (government dental clinic).
Uncle mentioned nowadays after retiring, everything better go to kerajaan, cheaper.
As we talked, most naturally stories of children and parents were brought up.
Uncle asked about my husband's parents and updated us about his children (DA and SA).
DA is married and living with his wife in UK.
SA is married with 4 children living with her husband in Singapore.

Uncle mentioned her daughter's husband is very good. takes good care & spend time with family. and even they are living far away, he gets to meet his grandchildren online.
Meanwhile his son has a not-so-even tempered wife and is controlling his son.
Then he looked at me and said, in his religion, the man should be the pillar of the home, the man should be the decision maker, the wife can give opinion and support.

It was what uncle A said towards the end of conversation pains my heart.
"I just ask for 70£ out of his 5, 6k pay, that's like less than 2% of his pay but just the other day, he just email me to say he no longer can afford to give me. 
He doesn't even bother to explain. 
Uncle say he don't understand."
Uncle sounded and looked sad. I couldn't bear to bring myself to look at him.

That was about the last words we heard from him before he left the coffee shop.

I told myself never to judge, for I do not know what others are going through each day.
I myself have my fair share of problems too.