Tecoma Trees That Look Like Cherry Blossoms

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Admin

Tecoma trees all over Malaysia are in full bloom now.  Many people on my Facebook feeds have been posting pictures of these trees and comparing them with the cherry blossom or sakura trees in Japan.  Coincidently, cherry blossoms are in season now too.  Since our borders are closed and we can’t travel to the Land of the Rising Sun, Malaysians make do with the Tecoma trees and imagine being in Japan now.

The Tecoma trees look really beautiful especially when the flowers are scattered on the road.

The trees have showered the Masjid Tanah area in Alor Gajah, Melaka with pink and white petals. — Picture via Facebook/nana.fadzil.3

Image via Malay Mail

Alas, I can’t find any Tecoma trees in my neighbourhood.  So yesterday when I went cycling, I spotted the bougainvillea and couldn’t resist not taking any photos.  Well, they do look like Tecoma trees, no?

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Some days are hard

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Admin

Yesterday was one of those days.  I did not sleep well the night before as I was thinking about someone whom I follow on Instagram and had passed away earlier that day. She was a strong woman, a fighter who fought till the very end. I have been following her IG for a few years before she was diagnosed with C last year.   She documented her journey in her IG and fought very hard.  When she did not update after a few weeks, I had a bad feeling.  I only found out about her passing when one of her celebrity friends posted on IG.  She is finally free from all the pain she had been enduring.  My heart goes out to her husband and 2 young boys.

Al-Fatihah D. Semoga rohmu dicucuri rahmat dan ditempatkan dikalangan orang beriman.

So I ordered a big cup of Capuccino from Zus Coffee to keep me awake at the office.

Life happens. Coffee helps.

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Instagrammable Murals and Street Art In Kuala Lumpur

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Admin

I love murals and street art, and I have been checking them out in Kuala Lumpur and also Ipoh.   Some of murals that I have seen are :-

    1. Kuala Lumpur’s Largest Mural
    2. Murals in Ipoh here and here
    3. Kwai Chai Hong in Kuala Lumpur

When I discovered this beautiful mural in downtown KL that was shared online by those who have seen it, I wanted to go there and see it for myself.  It is the colourful mural by Kiehl, situated along Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin.  It was so hard to locate this masterpiece as we are not familiar with the roads in this area.  We went round and round the same roads and couldn’t see it.  So we decided to park the car and walked.  Again we went round and round the buildings by foot and voila, after coming to the end Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin and walked out of the five-foot way, we saw the huge mural plastered on the wall of the building. It is a stunning piece.

Lovely ain’t it?  The mural features a neighbourhood with houses of different shapes and sizes.  There is a Kiehl mural in Melaka too and we have visited that a few years ago.

Saw this blue building right across from where we parked our car. I like how the old windows are maintained.

I think this structure is for the storing of books for those who would like some free books to read.  It is something like a free book exchange box.   Sadly, there weren’t any books when I was there and I don’t think anyone actually makes use of this facility.

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High Socks For Skateboarding

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Admin

Usually, when missy goes for her skateboarding lessons, she would wear a T-shirt and leggings with her Vans.  On top of that, she would have on her helmet, arm and knee protector as well as gloves.  Those are important to protect her if she falls.  Once the lesson is over, she would be drenched in sweat.

The sun is scorching during the day and this has gone on for a couple of weeks already. Missy has resumed her skateboarding lessons (with strict SOP in place) last weekend and the thought of her wearing the leggings is enough to make me perspire.  I suggested that she wears shorts to her skateboarding class but she is worried about her unprotected legs.  She has been hitting her legs against the skateboard a couple of times and they were painful and cause her leg to bruise.

I decided to get her some high socks that can be pulled all the way up until right below the knee.   That way she can wear shorts for her skateboarding lessons while also keeping her legs protected by the long socks. I only managed to find 2 pairs in black and white.  I think these 2 colours are easy to match with her outfit and shoes. Will keep a lookout for more.

I think she looks kinda cool in the skateboarding socks.

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Road Trip To Perigi Tujuh Serendah (Seven Wells)

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Admin

Since we are now allowed to cross districts between Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, we decided to take a drive out to Serendah and visit the Perigi Tujuh or Telaga Tujuh or Seven Wells.  I just found out about this scenic recreational place not too long ago.  The drive is about 40 minutes from KL and we passed by Jalan Ipoh and Gombak before exiting to LATAR Highway.  I love going on the LATAR highway because the stretch is so scenic.

Telaga Tujuh, also known as Perigi Tujuh Serendah is part of Malaysian’s heritage and consists of  7 wells or slushies that were built by the British government after WWII.  According to the sources I found online, the vertical concrete wells were embedded into the river bed and act like plug holes to allow the water collected in the upstream lake to flow out to the dam.  The wells were constructed to mitigate the floods that occur often in Serendah.  Further away is the small dam with 2 gazebos above it for visitors to sit and relax.  This place is very peaceful and quite hidden away from the main road.  The wells gave me an eerie feeling maybe because they are not covered and the area is not barricaded properly.

Nevertheless, we are glad to visit the Perigi Tujuh Serendah and marvel at the structure built by the British. This place would make a good tourist attraction if more is being done like proper signages or information board put up and more safety rails installed.  My friend told me about the old-school coffeeshops in Serendah but we did not get to check them out because the sky was opening up. We may come back again.

We spotted this lake from across the dam but it is not accessible.  So hubs drove out and went around the housing area looking for a road that leads to this lake.  We got down and took some photos.  There were some people fishing nearby and it was very windy and scenic.

LATAR Highway.  I love looking at the trees that look like broccoli to me.

If you would like to take a road trip to Serendah, just key in Perigi Tujuh Serendah on your waze and you are all set.  By the way, there is no toll all the way from KL to Serendah.
Posted in family, good stuff, travel | 1 Comment

Keto Portuguese Egg Tarts

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Admin

While browsing Facebook one afternoon, I saw someone making Keto Portuguese Egg Tarts in the Keto Malaysia group and that made me salivate.  I haven’t had any egg tarts since the last time I made Keto Egg Tarts about 2 years ago.  Not too long ago, I bought some Portuguese egg tarts for missy and they smelled so good.  I guess egg tarts have been at the back of my mind for a while.  So in a spur of a moment one evening, I decided to make Keto Portuguese Egg Tart.  Some people called it Keto Egg Custard, Keto Egg Custard Tart or Keto Portuguese Custard Tart.  Below are the ingredients which I got from the Keto Malaysia group.

INGREDIENTS

Tart crust
1 cup (90g) almond flour
2 tbsp (30g) monk fruit sweetener
3 tbsp (42g) melted butter

Custard filling

1/3 cup (90g) whipping cream
1 tbsp (15g) monk fruit sweetener ( I used erythritol)
1 egg

INSTRUCTIONS

Preparing the Pastry
Mix almond flour, erythritol and butter for the tart crust
Divide the pastry into 4 portions
Mold the pastry pieces into the tart molds, press the pastry towards the sides and bottom of the mold.
Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes

Preparing the Custard Filling
Mix all the ingredients for the custard filling and pour them into the pastry.  Only fill up to 80%.
Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

The ingredients


Mix everything up for the pastry


Press them into the egg tart mold.  I didn’t have the foil ones so I used my ceramic cups.


Once the molds have been baked and cooled down, pour the custard filling into the pastry and bake again.

My Keto Portuguese Egg Tart.  I need to work on the pastry again.  The texture of almond flour is different from regular flour and it is not stretchy.

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The Top Moving Company For Home And Office Relocation In Malaysia

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Admin

For those who have ever done a big move, you all know how stressful the experience is. Why is that so? Well, there is the scheduling, packing, budget and the general disruption to our daily lives. We become attached to our home and any disruptions can cause stress.  Nobody likes the disruption to our daily routine which we have gotten so used to.  Moving home or office space can be among the most laborious, time-consuming and stressful of experiences.

A big part of that stress is looking a moving company that you can trust to move your valued belongings at a reasonable price.  While family or friends can help with the move, but do consider hiring professional movers to handle and take care of your relocation to help relieve the stress of moving.  Besides getting help to move the heavy items on moving day, movers can also help to pack your belongs, wrap them up safely and transport them.  All you have to do is to make sure that you hire a moving company that has a proven reputation of offering reliable and trustworthy service such as Smart Movers.

This professional moving company and transporter specializes in domestic, commercial and industrial relocation.  They offer their services in many areas such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor & Seremban.  Smart Movers has a team of professional packers and transporters who have the skills and experience to protect your belongings and ensure that all your items are safely moved.

Smart Movers has helped thousands of Malaysians to relocate with a wide range of services, including packing, unpacking, moving, furniture assembly/disassembly and also piano handling service.

How Does It Work?

  1.  Contact Smart Movers to request for a quotation. Smart Movers will give you an instant quote based on your requirements.
  2. A complimentary site visit can also be arranged if you want a more detailed and accurate quotation.
  3. Consistently providing top-notch services, Smart Movers have flexible options based on your needs.  They offer 3 types of Packages which starts from as low as RM230. Find out more here.
  4. Once you have confirmed everything, just sit back and wait for Smart Movers to arrive at your home and do all the packing, loading and transporting.

Check out some of their customers’ reviews below:

“Aron, who was dealing wit me is very professional in his approach, good customer service and helped me solve my moving headache. His team of movers were great and helpful. They taking care of my items well by ensuring g proper wrapping of the furnitures. I would highly recommend this movers and will definitely use them again when needed.”

Here’s another one:

“Loved how responsive they were via Whatsapp and the supervisor has been helping to answer my queries. The entire job from start to finish took only 1.5 hours.”

To help you save time and money and have your household items move as quickly and as efficiently as possible, start your request for a moving quote today from Smart Movers.

Contact details:

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Email: ismartmovers6@gmail.com
Website: https://www.smartmovers.biz/

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Back To School Again

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Admin

Today missy is going back to school again, after staying at home since the MCO 2.0 began in January.  Her school actually reopened on January 11th for 2 days before MCO 2.0 was announced.  Then it was back to online school until today.  She was so excited to go back to school to see her friends and she got ready for school real fast this morning.  She was also very chirpy, which is rare because she is not a morning person and is usually grumpy *roll eyes*

It is also back to school for children in the primary schools today while those in the secondary will go back to school in April.  While it is scary for our children to go back to school, they need social interactions as cooping up at home for too long is not good for their mental health and emotional well-being.  While the school has safety measures in place, let us all pray that everyone follows the guidelines and that our children will be safe.

Posted in ashley, being a mom | Leave a comment

Hot Spell In March

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Admin

The weather has been insanely hot for the past 2 weeks.  It is so hot that even when I am sitting in front of the computer under a fan, I can still sweat buckets.  I think the temperature could be around 37 degree Celsius during the day.  However it did rain heavily for the past 2 days in the evening and that gave us some respite from the heat.

Missy and her friends have been going to the playground to practice their skateboarding in the evening at around 5pm and gosh I really don’t know how they can stand the heat.  I would be sitting under the tree waiting for them and even then, it was hard to bear.  These 2 girls are very determined to practice their skateboarding skills so the heat does not deter them.

Lately the sky has been giving us a beautiful landscape with fluffy clouds.

Beautiful eh?

I hope the hot spell will be over soon.  If not, we may face another woe and that is water shortage because the dam level will decrease just like what happens in the previous years.

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DIY Gift Baskets For Chinese New Year

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Admin

A few days before the Chinese New Year, I was checking the FB page of my favourite basket shop in Petaling street and saw some beautiful rattan baskets.  I didn’t visit the shop this year because of the Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0).  When I found out that they were opened and also the distance is less than 10km from my house, I asked hubs to buy some baskets for me.   Here is what I bought :-

The rattan baskets in 3 colours – original, red and brown.  Aren’t they beautiful?  I have a thing for rattan baskets if you don’t know already.

These are the 2 Chinese New Year gift baskets I made.  The basket on the left consists of 2 containers of cookies and some mandarin oranges.  The basket on the right is actually a birthday gift basket as well.  I put a gift box together with a container of cookies and some mandarin oranges into the basket.  For both baskets, I used gold crepe papers to line them and decorated them with cherry blossoms.   I have a few ideas on how to decorate these gift baskets so hopefully I can curate and sell them next Chinese New Year.   The rattan baskets are also great as birthday gift baskets for friends and family members.

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