Dinner At Restoran Sin Chua Kee

My friends and I had an early Chinese New Year gathering at Restoran Sin Chua Kee a few days ago. I have been to this restaurant more than 10 years ago and it is quite close to where I live.  This restaurant is a no-frills eatery and food is affordable and delicious. It is famous for crabs but we did not order any that night.

Here is what we ordered that night:-

Our first loh sang of 2023

Tossing of loh sang while shouting out auspicious phrases

Homemade tofu with minced meat

Fried brinjal.

Stir fry intestines.

Braised pork belly with salted fish. A very savoury dish.

This is pork ribs with superior sauce. It is one of their signature dishes. It is a bit too sweet for me.

Paku Pakis Kerabu. This is a very flavorful dish that is served cold and we like it very much.

The dinner was also to celebrate 3 of our birthdays. There were 2 old school coffee and vanila butter cakes for Elaine and Annie, and a keto burnt cheesecake for me.

Restoran Sin Chua Kee

Address: 
No. 47, 1, Jalan Kuchai Lama, Taman Lian Hoe, 58100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah  Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Telephone:  
012-688 8022

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Not Ready For It

Last week while I was walking out to the market in my neighbourhood, I spotted some red things bobbling in the air.  They are none other than red lanterns! Yes, the red lanterns are all up on the main roads surrounding the market area.

Red lanterns are being put up every year for Chinese New Year to give it a festive feel. I was quite surprised this time because we haven’t celebrated Christmas yet.

Chinese New Year 2023 falls on the 22nd January and I find this too early. I have not even started doing anything around the house or getting things ready to decorate the house for the festival.

Just to put this here for memories – This Christmas, I got missy to help with the wrapping of gifts. We were invited to a friend’s house for a BBQ on Christmas day and there’s a gift exchange event. So after shopping for all the gift at Mid Valley (My friends and I call it Mad Valley because this mall is totally packed on weekends), missy was delegated to wrap them. I did give some pointers on how to wrap the gifts.

We had a quiet celebration on Christmas Eve. Ordered in Texas chicken which was a good idea as I didn’t have any mood nor energy to prepare anything shopping for 6 hours at Mad Valley that day.  Then we went to the Assumption Church in PJ for midnight mass.

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Free Interactive Money Games Online

When Ashley was little, I did not really teach her about money or help her to build a responsible understanding of financial literacy. Now that she has become a teenager, she enjoys purchasing things without really budgeting her finances. Even when I advice her on her spending, she is still not careful with her money.

As parents, it is important that we teach our children positive money habits by learning the basic concepts such as budgeting and savings so that they will practice good financial behaviors when they become adults.

These days, there are many ways to teach children about money and the best thing about it is through online games that are fun. Online games are easily available and have become a popular tool to educate children about the important things in life.  These money games for children cover an array of financial topics that is easy to understand. 

Playing online money games has many benefits that can help children learn key life skills and they play an important role in their personal development. The games encourages strategic thinking and creativity. Some of the benefits include:-

  • Boosting early learning skills – problem-solving, negotiating, planning and much more. 
  • Concentration – online games require quick actions, patience and concentration. Playing online games has shown an increase in the concentration skills of players. 
  • Analytical Skills – Usually the games require players to solve problems in order to advance to the next level. This will challenge their analytical and problem-solving skills. 
  • Understanding The Value Of Money – playing money games gives children more awareness of the value of money and understand that different costs are associated with different value items. 
  • Understanding Scenarios – Playing shopping games will help children to learn more about real life situations that involve money. 
  • Math Skills Addition and Subtraction Skills – Children will learn how to work out how much an item cost and how much change is required and this will improve their addition and subtraction skills. 
  • Saving Habits – Researches have shown that children who interact with money often tend to have better saving habits when they get older. 

Money Games.

If you would like to introduce some fun and educational money games for your children to play, you can check out the games at MortgageCalculator. Ashley and I had some fun time playing these games and she finds them very useful.

Grocery Cashier

This is a game that is great for younger children to practice their maths. When she was younger, Ashley wanted to work as a cashier at the supermarket when she’s an adult as she found it fun to ring up the cash register. So when she saw the Grocery Cashier game, she wanted to give it a try as it brought back memories. This game involves ringing up the cash machine by entering the price of each item as it comes down the conveyor belt. Then tap the plus button to add the things up. After entering, click on the total button and then enter the amount that the customer paid and click on the pay button. Then click on the bills and coins to complete the transaction. 

Bitcoin Tap Tap Mine

Bitcoin Tap Tap Mine is an idle clicker game that is based on the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Players will collect the bitcoins by tapping on the screen to mine the Bitcoin. You have to click as fast as you can and once you have collected enough, you can use the Bitcoin earnings to improve electricity cost, mining pools, hardware and hashing algorithms. Every time you upgrade your mining, you can increase the Bitcoin production rate to mine faster. You can also collect random gifts and spin the wheel for a chance to win. This game is a good learning tool to explain how Crytopcurrencies work. 

Farm Town

Another enjoyable game is Farm Town that is similar to one that I have played many years ago. This is also a clicker game that involves farming & food processing simulation game with different stages. Firstly, you need to plant the seeds, harvest the crops and also raise animals when you have enough money to buy them after selling your produce at the town market. You can also use the money to buy more seed, purchased commercial equipment and also research new food production techniques. Every level has a unique goal to accomplish and it ranges from cash earned to create certain food items in the kitchen. Let me warn you first that this game is pretty addictive. 

Do check out these exciting money games online at MortgageCalculator with your children. Money games are one of the best ways to introduce the financial concepts to children. MortgageCalculator has games that are ideal for young kids, preteens and teenagers. Even adults can enjoy them too!

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Happy Winter Solstice Festival

Today is Dongzhi festival and this year, we did not roll any tang yuan (glutinuous rice balls) but I cheated and bought the frozen ones. Missy said they taste different. Usually my mom would buy the glutinuous rice flour from the market, add coloring and roll them the night before. Since she is in Ipoh now, I didn’t buy any flour and just bought the frozen ones. Ashley prepared the sugar syrup last night and woke up early to boil them this morning because she said she wants to learn how to do all these. Next year she said we should buy the glutinous rice flour and roll them.

Happy Dongzhi Everyone!

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Charming Penang

About two weeks ago, my sisters, mum, Ashley and I went for an all-girls’ trip to Penang. It was a belated birthday celebration for mum and also she wanted to meet up with her schoolmate. They haven’t seen each for decades.

I haven’t been to Penang since more than 6 years. I just love how charming this city is. I love to spend time walking around the streets and looking at the pre-war shophouses. Some of them have been beautifully restored to become boutique hotels, cafes, museums, and art galleries. I also love the old floor tiles on the five-foot ways. There is just so much to see in this beautiful island. Alas, we didn’t get to walk around Love Lane, Jalan Masjid, Muntri Street and all the little streets around this area as mum can’t walk for too long.

I managed to take some photos near Jalan Melayu when we had coffee and pastries at La Vie En Rose and along Jalan Penang the next day during breakfast at Kheng Pin cafe.

This is the corridor right outside La Vie En Rose. Missy finds it very funny as it’s so low. I also wonder why it was built at this height back in the day.

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Best Cafe To Chill In Ipoh

We made a short trip to Penang last week and then followed by a stopover for 1 night in Ipoh. When I was in Ipoh, I met up with one of my besties and we had coffee at this minimalist cafe in Ipoh. I am actually not sure what is the actual name of this cafe as I believe it has changed ownership a few times. This cafe is in a restored shophouse that was named Gan Lee Co. and it is situated along Jalan Sultan Idris Shah (Brewster Road).  I remember going to this place a few years ago and at that time the interior looked different and it has a different name too.

I tried to google but discovered that there are different names. Now, I think it is called Drinka cafe or Hobo Cafe and it has a little elephant logo. Here is the facade of Gan Lee Co cafe.

I love how the old signboard of this shophouse is being left as it is. Charming right?

This shelving unit and a bicycle decorated one corner of the cafe.

Too bad I did not take more photos of the interior. What I love about this cafe is that it is very bright and calming. It has a high airwell in the back seating area and can you spot the old floor tiles? My friend and I had cappuccino that day but I did not snap a pic. Coffee was good too. They also sell cakes and pastries. You can visit this blog – https://blog.naver.com/kaminoco7/222661115795 to view more of the interior of the cafe. I want to visit this place again when I go back to Ipoh to find out its actual name and enjoy some good coffee.

Address:-
166, 144, Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak

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Saranghae Bridge At One Utama

If you can’t go to Seoul to visit the Love padlock bridge at N Seoul Tower, an iconic symbol and popular attraction, well there is a mini one in One Utama. I stumbled upon this cute version called The Saranghae Bridge while checking out PJPAC. Needless to say, I was thrilled because I am big fan of K-dramas.

Surprisingly, there was no one at the bridge when I was there. To go out to the Saranghae bridge, one has to open the door and walk out. Many people may walk past it as it is not very obvious.  I went out to take some pictures and of course some selfies too. I would have stayed longer if not for the rain.

This is the door that opens out to the Saranghae Bridge.

Right smack in the middle is this famous hand symbol

 

Love Padlocks on both sides of the bridge

I think it would look really nice at night with all the lights on. Check it out when you are in 1 Utama.

Location

2nd Floor, 1 Utama E (near PJPAC)

 

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GE15

Today is polling day and hubs and I went to the polling station which is about 5 mins drive away from our house. This year we went later which was around 12.30pm and there was only a short queue of about 20 people ahead of us. We were done in 20 minutes. This super fast compared to 5 years ago where we set out in the morning and waited for over 2 hours.

Luckily the sky held up although it was a bit gloomy. 

Mandatory inked-finger photo

We have done our duties for a brighter and better Malaysia!

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Sheldon My Funny Husky

Sheldon has a rather quirky character and he is so different from Cooper. He is very inquisitive, does not behave like he is needy and all he thinks about is food.  Cooper on the other hand loves to be near us and would stick his body close to us. If he sees me patting Sheldon, he would come close, like really in-your-face close so that we will pat him or ‘see’ him.

Sheldon loves to see what’s going on along the street in front of the house. If the neighbours have visitors, he would go to the gate and look at them. He also loves staring into space as if he has a lot on his mind.  A few days ago when it was raining, I saw him sitting down and staring at the rain. It must be therapeutic for him.

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Should You Buy An Airconditioner Online?

Some time last year, the airconditioner in our bedroom was blowing out hot air and not working at optimal level. We thought that filters were dirty and removed the front grill and took out the filters to wash. However that did not solve the problem. We had no choice but to get a new air conditioning unit and we thought that the fastest way was to buy it online.

After doing some research, we chose an airconditioning unit from one of the online shopping platform and placed the order. The aircond was delivered within three days. Thereafter, we managed to get the contact an aircond technician from a friend to install the new aircond for us as our regular technician is no longer available.

We were shocked to learn that there is a charge for dismantling our old aircond unit and we have no choice but to fork out an additional RM80 for dismantling besides being charge a few hundreds for installation. The other problems were the aircond that we purchased is of a different size from the old one and the technician needed to add more brackets to hold the aircond unit. Then there were additional charges incurred such as changing the copper pipes and piping. We thought that buying an aircond unit online is convenient and cost saving but there were other hidden cost that adds up to be even more expensive.

So we learned a lesson from this experience. It is best to purchase an airconditioning unit from a reputable and reliable service center like Airconmalaysia.com. They have an experienced service team with extensive knowledge and professionally trained to give the right advice on what is the best air conditioner unit for your home and offer the best and safest installation.

Airconmalaysia can inspect your home for the best solution taking into account the size of your home and the number of occupants. Once you have decided on the type and model to purchase, they will  return to  venue again to provide the best solution in respect of efficient cooling. This aircond installation service provider can install all kinds of units, from ceiling to mobile air conditioner units, whether they are split units or centralized units.

Airconmalaysia is also the authorized Sharp air cond service provider and also are Samsung climate solution partners with full support from Samsung HQ. They also have experience installing airconditioning units from brands such as Daikin, York, Panasonic and more. This professional aircond service provider also offer aircon servicing, repair, chiller and freezer repair and servicing work.

Give them a call at –  017 332 0897 or send them an email at nhn@airconmalaysia.com if you have any queries. They are the one-stop solution to all your airconditioning needs.

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