Online Tuition

Any one of you having problem with Algebra 1 or Algebra 2?

Of course the answer is NO because almost 100% of my visitors are either working adults, parents or grandparents, right?

But you may be indirectly facing the problem when your sisters, brothers or your children come to you for help in this area. If yes, are you able to help? No? Why not try the algebra help online?

Here Come Bonus

Now is end of the year. Almost all working adult is expecting or have already collected their bonuses. Some fat some thin bonus.

I have a thin bonus. Anyway it is better than none.

Some people may have good plan after receiving their bonuses. For me I want to save it up and this time not the grandma's way like putting it under the pillow, haha just joking.

This time I would like to invest in gold bullions and gold coins. I was not really familiar with this type of investment earlier, but thru friends and some Internet searching I am now more confident and starting to learn about what is gold coin and gold bullion and how to invest in it.

Now with FD interest rate so low, gold is definitely another better option to safely keep our hard earned money.

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Merry Christmas!

Wishing all friends, family members, neighbours : MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

I will be going to Port Dickson for Christmas and to Singapore for New Year 2010!

I am sure I will enjoy myself and hope all of you enjoy yourself too!!

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

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Moon Cake Festival

Tomorrow, 3rd October, is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival or Moon Cake festival or lantern festival, which is on the 15th day of the 8th month of Chinese lunar calendar. On the day the moon is believe to be roundest and brightest signalling a time of completeness and abundance.

I usually celebrate in my mum's house with my sisters, brothers and the children. After the dinner, we move the table outside the house and savor the mooncake with Chinese tea, peanut, fruits etc... while the children parade with their colourful lanterns.

It is indeed a very happy get together every year.

Hey, Mr Postman

I am feeling relieved and in a happier mood recently. Hmm.. Wonder why?

The bad neighbors have moved out, yeah!!!

Since I heard they were moving out few months ago, I have been holding my breath counting the day and hoping that they will not change their mind and stay on.

I am not the only one bullied by them. Their daughter-in-law has moved out earlier because she couldn’t stand the bully too.

Actually their presence were causing me worry and lots of inconvenience. See, I have my own letter box but some of the letters ended up in their rubbish bin, why? Could it be Mr. Postman dropped wrongly into their box or they came stealing it from my letter box while I was out? This has caused me great concern but nothing much I could do about it.

Some of you must be thinking how am I so sure that my letters were missing and they were the one stealing it or Mr. Postman dropped the letters wrongly. Here is the proof:

They don’t have a rubbish chute and they place a rubbish bin in front of my house which irritates me a lot. Sometimes the stray dogs and cats came messed up the bin and there were twice I found my letters inside the bin. I was really angry but I couldn’t do anything, just pretended nothing has happened rather than making a scene out of it.

If you have a bullying neighbor like my ex, I suggest you get a whitehall mailbox with a lock and keep a bull dog for double security.

Now that they have moved, I should praise myself for being so patience, tolerant, good hearted etc…etc… etc.. hehehe....self praise…..

Switch On The Light, Please

While I was cooking one day, my kitchen light suddenly went off with a soft sparkling sound and I smell something burning.

Wao, that was nothing to joke about at all. It seems like a small matter but it could lead to big fire too.

Actually I have just changed the lighting from an ordinary fluorescent light to a fancier one thinking more expensive one would be safer. Too bad it turn out to be opposite.

After the incident, many things came to my mind:

1. What is the cause of the problem?

2. Who is at fault? Was it the manufacturer, the contractor or my house wiring problem?

3. What type of lighting should I go for?

4. Which brand is safer and more durable?

Whatever is the reason, I still have to have lighting in my house. Now, let me plan a little what lighting to use before I call in a contractor.

For the kitchen I will always stick to fluorescent light with extra brightness to make sure I can see all the tiny worms hiding in the vegetable and to avoid adding sugar instead of salt to my cooking or vise versa.

For dinning hall, I would like something dimmer because on a table, there should be enough light to see the person across the table but not too bright that distract from the mood of the candle like kind of mood I am creating.

And the planning goes on for my hall downstairs and upstairs, my room, my children’s rooms, etc. Not an easy task because I would like to have some beautiful designer lamp which might involve more money. But I think it is worth the money because a beautiful lamp is like an art and it does not only help brighten up, it helps beautify our rooms. So there will be some fancier designed lighting to replace the outdated ones.

I think I will go visit some online store like shopwiki for some lamps buying guides.

Making Dumpling

Tomorrow is dumpling festival. As usual my mom will prepare dumpling for us.

This is the first year I am taking part in helping because it is high time I learn the trade, so that I can make for my children in future.

Nowadays you can buy dumpling at almost any wet market and everyday but it is never as nice as the one prepared by my mum. My mum's taste almost 200% better than those bought outside. Hehehe, there is no exaggeration.

The following are the ingredients needed for the dumpling:
1. Pork

2. Oysters (soak)


3. Garlic
4. Nuts (soak and clean)

5. Mushroom (soak)6. 5-spice powder & white pepper

8. The ready ingredients (pork, nut, mushroom, oyster, garlic, 5-spice power, pepper, sugar & salt)
9. Leave and string (boil the leave and clean with a piece of cloth one by one)

10. Rice and bean with some salt, sugar and pepper and 5-spice powder.

9. The ready dumpling

9. Cover and boil it for 2 hours. We didn't use the pressure cooker so to avoid the boiling water overflowing, we add a porcelain spoon into the boiling water and strangely the water stop flowing out.

And if you think that is just an easy job then take a look at this Ah Soh's sweaty face and her messy hair.

Dinner Time

Ho, ho, ho no need to cook for dinner! That will mean no need washing, no need cleaning but that will also mean more money is needed to pay for the food!

Went to Ah Yat Forum Restaurant at Avenue K @ Jalan Ampang for dinner.

Whenever I think of Ah Yat Restaurant, it linked me to dishes like Abalone, Shark's fin, Sucking pig, Fish maw, seafoods, famous Hong Kong foods, Dim Sums, Buddha Jump Over The Wall, etc..... All so yummy, but expensive too.

We decided to order the set meal which consists of 7 dishes :

1. Prawn and century egg in jelly basket.

2. Shark's fin soup. The soup is not too thick and is very, very nice.

3. Clay Pot Seafoods with a small abalone, scallop, sea cucumber, fish maw and mushroom.

4. The fatttttty 'TongPo' pork. This is my favourite dish, but is a little too fat errr... I told the captain that it was too fat and requested for a change but she said it's all the same and this dish should be fatty, without fat it wouldn't be nice. I think they should have let us have a choice whether we want a fatty one or less fatty one. Anyway, with plenty of guilty feeling for my heart, I let it slowly melt into my stomach. It was really yummy. 5, Rice with Pork Rib and Mushroom with some sauce. 6. Vegetable. It is a little overcooked but nice too.

Actually all those dishes were just enough to fill our stomach but we ordered an extra dish of noodle. I knew it will never be too much with my sons around. And true enough, we managed to finished all our food, including the noodle.

At last we had our desserts. It is Mango pudding. Something is missing in this meal, guess what?

Is the fruits and the wine. To me, a meal is never complete without a glass of wine. Anyway we had continuous flow of Chinese tea to replace the wine. Come, lets 'yummmmm cha'.

The Countdown

Chinese New Year is getting closer. Like most typical Chinese, I am also emtying my purse for decorative items for the house, Ang-pow (red packet with money), food and clothing. Apart from that I am also spending my time making sure that my house looks clean and attractive this year so that the prosperity god will visit me as he always does before.

Let me start the countdown before it is too late :

1. 14th - Shop for both big and small lanterns, other decorative items, 2 pots of lime trees and few pots of plants with flower.
- Send greeting cards.

2. 15th - Clean and arrange my wardrobe and get rid of all unwanted clothing.

3. 16th - Paint my gate.

4. 17th - Gardening.

5. 18th - Bake Cookies.

6. 19th - Change new cash notes from bank and get the 'Ang-pow' ready for my children, nieces and nephews.

7. 20th - To clean up my store room, windows, doors, grills, wash curtains, cushions etc...

8. 21st - Shop for my new dress, shoes, handbag etc...

9. 22nd - Send car to mechanic for servicing, make sure it doesn't break down during the New Year.

10. 23rd - Shop for dried food like - red dates, sea cucumber, fish maw, black fungus, tofu skin, rice ......

11. 24th - Make a visit to the wet market - Fish, prawn, chicken, pork, pineapple, mandarin oranges, vegetables, seasonings ....

12. 25th - Chinese new year's eve. I will be busy giving my house a thorough cleaning, to make sure all the ill-fortune are swept away and welcoming the good luck.

Yea it's a handful of chores, so as you'd have guessed, i'm not doing all this by myself. My "maids' will help me.

When I said maids I meant sons :)

This time I will split the job evenly so as not to get grumpy sons this festive season.

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Help, I Am Starving!

See what I have done to my pot again?

This is not the first time I throw away my pot. It is the 3rd times.
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So, I have found a few solutions :
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1. No more boiling soup.
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2. Buy cheap pot, so I dont feel the pinch when I need to throw away..
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3. Take a chair and sit at the kitchen and wait until the soup is ready.
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4. Use a big pot and put lots of water and let it boils for as long as I am busy.

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5. Dont boil soup at home, cater.
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6. Use slow cooker.
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7. An electric cooker with timer.
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To punish myself, I stop cooking and stuff myself with cheese cake for lunch, tea, dinner and supper.

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Errr......Eeee.... I dont think I will ever want cheese cake again for a long, long time.

A Tiring Day

HO HO HO I am going shopping with a friend! She is renovating her kitchen and is looking for lots of kitchen things.
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For me, I am looking for a stove and a pair of sunglasses.
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We went for our brunch then to Signature Kitchen for her kitchen design, after that we headed to IKEA. Spent more than 2 hours walking around but found nothing that suits us. We ended up at the electrical shops where she bought the exhaust fan, water heater, lightings, door bell, washing machine, etc.......

We are still looking for Rinnai Stove and a Kitchen sink.

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Anyone knows where to find the latest Rinnai Stove? We have been hopping from big and small electrical shops but couldnt find any shop that sells this brand.

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OK, One more week, if I still couldnt find Rinnai anywhere, I will just close my eye and get one! Any brand will do, in order for me to carry on with my life without depending on outside foods, which is killing! I mean both the price and quality of the foods.

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Went to Restaurant Shabu-Shabu for steamboat before we call it a day.

Is a nice place for steamboat. It is clean, pleasent environment, indivisual pot, air-conditioned. I really like it, very well ventilated.

After almost a whole day shopping, we still couldnt find all that we wanted.

Huh! Now, it is 'Money not enought' or 'Time not enough'?

I Have My Limit

My stove is spoilt, my electric stove is also spoilt, and I have given away my microwave oven after learning that it is not safe to use it. Huh, I feel that life cannot go on any more if I dont quickly get a new one.

That is not all. I have lost my sunglasses, now only the casing is left with me!And, the worst thing is the neighbour starts hanging the dirty drags on the fencing again. Don't you all think that is irritating. I have not built a concrete wall after they stopped me from doing it, and I have tried to be a good neighbour by giving in to them so that they can dry their clothing and not the dirty drags, but what they have done in return again and again? They know I hate that and yet they purposely do that. Each time I see the drags I get really mad and now I feel like xxx at those people. Can any of you feels my anger?

Now I feel that being a single mother, I am being bullied by people not openly but in a coward way. Hei, dear neighbours, you are educated people, stop doing that on purpose, that will just make you looks otherwise.

Last time it was the left hand side neighbours showing their unfriendliness and now the right hand side neighbours showing theirs in a different way.

I want to kill, kill, kill.................................... the rats.. the skunk.. the cochroaches.... they are all nuisance. But.. what do they have to do with my neighbours ????? I am out of my mind..

I will definitely built up a concrete wall, AND don't think that is what I want, you ask for it, NEIGHBOURs!!!!!!!!!

Home Alone

Home alone, how does that sound to you? I really enjoy being alone but I know if I continue to be alone, I will become koo koo soon. Anyway, it is only temporarily. My sons will be back; and after I have completed my project I will start joining friends out there again.

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Meanwhile, I also have to clear all the stuff I have in the fridge while it's still fresh.
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That will means whatever I eat and cook from now are stuffs from my fridge. I am not sure how many days I need to finish all those stuffs, but one thing for sure, i.e. no more marketing until everything is cleared. .
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Lets see how much I have cleared today, or I should say dumped into my stomach :
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For breakfast, I had a cup of juice with an apple, chocolate milk, multi-vitamin and protein power blended together; a piece of carrot cake I bought from Coffee Bean 2 days ago and a cup of tea.

For lunch I had sambal prawn with cucumber and rice. Mmmm.. delicious .. .
The ingredients are: 3 table spoonful hot spicy chilly sauce with ginger and garlic, one onion, one potato, one tomato, salt and sugar. I don't have 'belacan' and santan in my fridge, but it doesn't matter at all because I am trying to avoid these 2 items which are not doing any good for my health.
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And for dinner, I cooked vegetable soup.

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First I fried the chopped onion and garlic until it is brown, add in some chicken stocks, tomato and wolf berries and boil it for few minutes.

Add in the meat, 2 types of organic vegetables, 1 piece of toufu, an egg, 4 pieces of fried toufu, and prawns.
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That's really filling. *burp* Excuse me!

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First 3 meals 'KauTim'!

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