The New Proton Preve

The much anticipated Proton Preve was launched last night.  If you have not seen the newly launched Proton Preve, here are some photos, they look really really nice to me, very elegant yet sporty.  The prices ranging from RM60K - RM73K depending on the model.  At first sight I thought it would priced at near RM90K.  

After sharing my views with my colleague, she would prefer to buy a Toyota Vios which is a foreign brand with a price similar to Proton Preve, simply because the earlier is a Toyota, not Malaysia made.  After so many years of our government's efforts to instill and promote Buy Local Products, it doesn't not seem to change our people's having the mindset of foreign products are much more superior than Malaysia made.  Though she prefers foreign brand, but she is driving Malaysian made cars..hahaha..simply because local made are more affordable.

Looking at the pictures, I really like to have the Elegant Brown one

I am attracted to this one -  The Elegant Brown 

More pictures & features here

The Millionaire Next Door

Not sure whether our next door neighbour is a millionaire or not, they do not seem to be one but we never know they could be a millionaire with their unrealised assets.

It is definitely our dream to become millionaire.  That' why this book "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J, Stanley and William D. Danko, has become the phenomenal #1 bestselling book, more than 1 million copies sold! This book is to unveiled the surprising secrets of America's wealthy.  This is the book I am reading at the moment at a very slow pace; a few pages during my coffee enema time and private business moments.:)  

So far I learnt that the high income earners are not necessary wealthier than the lower income groups.  Budgeting, control spending and investment in assets/stocks are the main fundamental keys to achieving a millionaire dream.  I have only read 1/4 of this book still a lot to discover the secrets of become a millionaire...

This is the cover of the book:

A glimpse of its content page: 

The back cover of the "Millionaire Next Door"

Instant noodles once in a while

I do not know the nutritional value for the instant noodle, if there is any at all.  People has been saying eating instant noodles do more harm than good.  My family's consumption of instant noodle has greatly reduced after reading an article pointing out how unhealthy it is to eat instant noodles.

After reading through the whole article, Crystal has refrained herself from taking instant noodles ever since ( I think it was more than 6 months ago).  Before that she is a big fan of instant noodles.  Now she would discourage her little sister, Pearl, not to eat instant noodles as well. 

I do keep a pack or 2 of my favourite Laksa Maggi mee in the cupboard, that would be my 4-5 months supply.  Just to get them ready in case we need a quick meal just like tonite, we had it as our supper for Clet and myself, we haven't had our proper dinner after bringing our girls to the park for a sweat out.  They had their Spaghetti Carbonara, milk shake and ice cream at the park's eatery.  I had Fish & Chips but the portion is too small for me to treat it as my dinner. And Clet cooked my Laksa Maggi mee, 

and I finished it all, just for once in a while.

Remedy for phlegmy cough

One of my mum's friend gave her this natural remedy for phlegmy cough a couple of months ago. The ingredient is simply Unsalted duck egg, water and rock sugar, a slice of ginger is optional, double boil all the ingredients for one hour. My sister gave it a try last week and it does relieve the phlegmy cough problem for her daughter who has been coughing for months and my dad whom is a asthma suffer, felt the relieve too, and my dad love it and asks for more.

My mum knows that I am having a bad cough since Chinese New Year and not getting any better, she asked me to try it too.

As the ingredients called for the Unsalted duck egg, it is hard to find unlike the salted duck egg which is plentiful in the market.  My sister only managed to buy some at the Inanam tamu.  I got 3 eggs from her.

 The ingredient : Unsalted Duck Egg, Rock Sugar

 I bought this pot especially for this purpose

the ingredients are all in my new pot now

Here you go into a bigger pot with half filled water ready to double boil for an hour

After an hour, the duck egg is now boiled and the rock sugar is all melted, very sweet. 

A small slice of ginger can be added to it if you do not want too much of the cooling effect of taking this.  I have taken it last night and have not feel any obvious improvement on my cough yet, like any other natural remedy, one can not expect to have miracle cure instantly.  I still have got 2 more duck eggs, I shall try them all to see whether this formula will do any good to my sensitive airway problem. 

Need cure for Hives, the allergy

It always very tiring and mind exhausting when our kid is not feeling well, Crystal has been suffering from allergy  since December last year, I believe it is the kind of allergy called hives which usually come after midnight when one is resting, the itchiness is hard to bear and it is burning hot on the areas where the hives attacked, the more you scratched the faster and wider it spreads on the body.  What she is suffering now is exactly what I had experienced when I was a kid till my adulthood.  I am really sadden with the fact that she has inherited the hives from me. It is disturbing me so much every time I see her suffers from it.  She has been having sleepless nights that she has to absent from school the next day.  She is taking a sick leave off from school today because of the nasty hives attacked last night.  She woke me up 3 times after midnight to ask me to help her spray the acid water on her body which she finds has a bit of relieve of the itchiness, but acid water alone can not do much help, the hives covered the whole of her back on the 3rd time she woke me up.  I think she only managed to get some rest just before the alarm clock rings.  While she is weak and lost her appetite, she got diarrhea and has to visit the toilet 3 times today.  She has to take the allergy control herbs and also the diarrhea today.  

We have tried to clean her room, take supplements, change washing powder, shower soap, refrain her from eating certain food, bathe with herbs and so on, nothing seems effective.  The hives come back a few days after medication.  

At the moment she is taking alkaline water and the acid water for skin for the past 1 week. Thanks to our nephew and family for offering the alkaline water. 

I have searched through the internet to find cure for hives, but to no avail so far.  My parents have brought me to Chinese and Western doctors for treatment during the time I suffered from hives but no one treatment can give me a cure.  I had undergone many traditional treatments that aunties, uncles, grandmas have recommended to my parents, some were pretty weird, I tried them any way with the hope that they can get rid of the hives.  The hives attack was serious that I fainted in my bedroom without anyone realising because it was over midnight.  I have to take medicine to control the hives and later of the years I undergone a serial of Chinese medical treatment.  It slowly went disappear when I was in my 20s.  I could not go back to this Chinese doctor because he's no longer around.  He was already in his 90s when he treated me with the help of his daughters. 

I am sharing this here with the hope that anyone whom could share and know the treatment of hives.  There are many of us hives sufferers out there desperately need cure. Suffering from Hives is depressing and disturb our daily lives.       

Largest Room For Rent Website

This is an interesting site that I have come across on room renting advertisement website for the Malaysian. In my opinion, iBilik is some what have more advertisements on room rental than Mudah.com.  There is a whole long list of rooms for rent advertisements to browse through instantly without having to buy a newspaper.  I believe this is by far the largest room for rent website in Malaysia.  At the time of writing this post, the number of room for rent advertisements in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur alone are at 40,209 and 43,504 respectively.  

Sometime end of last year, my colleague, Kathy's home has hit by a bad flood in Lido area.  The flood has left her home in a bad condition that she has to move out in order to make way for major renovation.  Now she is in midst of looking for a room to rent. This would be the right site for her to search for the right accommodate. 

iBilik has fast becoming the largest and No.1 Room For Rent, Home Stay and Short Term Rental Database website in the country. It is FREE to post your advertisement, just register yourself with the site and start placing your advertisement. How I wish there was such a website many years ago. I still can remember I have to go through the trouble of placing a room for rent advertisement on the newspaper, to go to the news office, I had to find a parking at the busy street, at the news office, I have to queue to be served.  A small column of hardly noticeable advertisement  cost pretty expensive for just a day placement, a day gone by and there is no inquiry at all, pretty frustrated. Now, there is this site providing such a convenient service for both advertisers and those who wish to find a room to rent.   It is also a good site to look for a short term place to stay if you plan to travel to any of the major towns within Malaysia.

Chinese New Year 2012

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

GONG XI FA CAI

MAY THE DRAGON YEAR BRINGS GOOD HEALTH, 

SAFETY AND PROSPERITY TO ALL OF US, 

AND PEACE TO ALL MANKIND. 

Not much decorations have been put up at our home this Chinese New Year, have been busy with works and other daily chaos.  We have just put away our Christmas trees on the eve to make way for some Chinese New Year decorations.  Lanterns are up few days earlier but the Dragon figurine is still very much lying on the table.  

The Chinese believe that there should have some food on the dining table to welcome the brand new year, symbolizing the abundance of food throughout the year.  Here are some of the goodies I placed on our dining table to attract the good chi to our family.

Fine Dining venue at the Republic of Texas

The month of December till Chinese New Year is the season to be jolly, thanks giving and to welcome the brand new year. Celebrations would not be complete without good food, and gathering with families and friends. 

During these festive season period, many restaurants are offering special menus to cater for those who prefer to dine out. Many working class mothers are too busy to prepare a set of complete meals for their families. Not to mention the time to shop for the ingredients, time to prepare and cook and clear up the mess after the meals. As a working mother, thinking of all these tasks is enough to make me tired. 

Being a busy business lady, a friend of mine who lives in Texas was telling me that they had a wonderful Christmas meal at the Republic of Texas, its banquet restaurant Dallas with her families and friends, a truly fine dining experience. Its Republic of Texas Company Store also offer over 100 gourmet Texas made products and fine foods. Of the Republic of Texas Foods, the gourmet smoked meat looks particularly delicious to me. It is also a good place to get hold of Texas wine, there are wide varieties of wine to choose from, a toss for a good year ahead. 

Those who love Mexican food, you could try out its Mexican Cuisine too. I also noticed on their website that a 10% discount will be given for all orders till 31st March. If you are thinking of holding parties at home, try find out from them on the catering menu or the party delivery menu, they cater for groups as small as 10 to as big as over 1000 guests. Let them handle the tedious part of any functions, that is, the preparation of food and drinks. 

I have told my friend that if I visit Texas, please bring me to the Banquet Restaurant Dallas for a taste of its gourmet smoked meat dishes!! :D

For the Longans and Tangerines

All because of the fault of a dog chasing after a cat. It is a usual thing that our neighbour's dog chases after their own cat. The cat will jump, run for its life and hides under the car, the dog will keep barking and find its way to get the cat.

This usual dog and cat chasing scene has turned out to be a little disaster when the dog ran on the drying cement in front of our car porch.  The renovation work is in progress to enlarge entrance and fix the gate for our house.  As you can see the naughty dog has left his many foot prints.  

Our neighbour felt bad about what their naughty dog has done.  They sent over some longans and tangerines over to us to apologise despite we told them earlier that it is not a problem we could touch it up again the next day.  

Since they are sincere in sending their apology, it is hard for us to refuse their gift of apology.  I can tell you those longans are sweet and juicy, Crystal loves the mini tangerines, I have to stop her from eating too many for reason being that too many will cause one to cough.

Roasted Turkey for Christmas

Christmas is here in less than a week time. Time flies so fast and so many things to handle that I find myself haven't got time to get things done for Christmas this year. I am still deciding on what presents to get for the kids, Clet is busy with our front gate renovation, so he hasn't got the time to spare on the Christmas presents this year, luckily I have got crystal to help me on getting some girl's accessories done as gifts, yes, she handmade them, I helped her on the beginning and finishing touches (will post it in my next post).

Christmas is not complete without some kind of feast in the celebration. Some may think having turkey is a must in the Christmas menu. If you have no plan to roast your own turkey (which is a lot of work and know hows). Here are 2 places you could order a cooked/ roasted turkey in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Borneo Turkey is where you could order a cheaper organic turkey, the cheapest is RM120.00 for a 3kg roasted organic turkey with free side salads. My colleague has ordered it last year, she is thinking of ordering it again this year.

Christmas Carolling

We have been busy for the last 2 weeks or so. Our girls started their carolling after we had a short trip to Tawau. They were having fun going house to house sending the good news on the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the first time they joined the Kids of the Kingdom's carolling group. This is the youngest carollers from our church, kid age as young as 3 years to 9 years, parents are advised to accompany them during the 4 days of carolling. Inevitably we as parents join in as part of the carollers as well. The kids are so very excited when receiving goodies, food & drinks at the church members' houses that we visited.

Crystal continues to join the elder group of the Children Liturgy's carolers this week. It's our turn to welcome them to our home on Wednesday. I bought some chocolate biscuits and packet drinks as goodies for them to bring back.

As carollers, our girls brought back bags and bags of goodies. Now our home are filled with goodies, pray and hope that with God's Blessing, our coming new years will be sweeter than previous years. It's truly an experience for Crystal and Pearl this Christmas for joining the carolling.

Lighting Fixtures

I always like the coziness of the hotels' room, of course I mean those with at least 3 stars hotels. I realise that it is because of the effect of the lighting fixtures, and the type of lights that the hotels choose to use in their rooms.

Some of the lights that they used are very simple not those fancy types but yet able to give their guests the welcoming and coziness effect. The lighting fixtures are just at the right place. Usually there is a lamp shade by the bed side, down lights at the door way, small lamp just right on top of the dressing mirror, and of course one in the wash room. I realise that they use dim lamps and bulbs to achieve the warm effect which we can also do the same for our home.

As I do not have bed side lamps yet, to have them would sure lift up the warm and coziness for my bedroom. As for my front porch, I would like to fix an antique outdoor wall light, that will give a total make over look from outside.

The Macarons has arrived!!

I would like to say a big "thank you" to InspiredMom who recently organised a free giveaway contest at her blog. I am very overwhelmed to the fact that I was the winner in this contest. when I first saw the contest, I told myself that I want to have those Macarons and I followed through with what are the requirements to be a winner, and I did it!!!

I have won a pack of 12 pieces petit Macarons in assortment of six flavours, that is Cafe, Pistache, Framboise, Chocolate, Vanilla, Citron. I received it this afternoon, just a day it was sent by courier, it was securely packed, I received this box of Macarons without damaged. Perfect!!

I have heard and seen so much about Macarons in website advertisement, recipe and food websites, blogs and magazines, honestly speaking, I have never tried the Macarons before. For one they are consider luxurious treats and secondly, hardly find shops selling them in where I live.

Blogging can be rewarding. I earn some extra money through sponsored posts and most importantly I earn friendships through blogging.

Into the Fifth day of Detox and Rejuvenation Program

Just an update on how I am doing with my annual Detoxification and Rejuvenation Program (DRP).

I am now into my fifth day of Detoxification & Rejuvenation Program (DRP) today, I decided to do just 5 days this time, that means today is the last day of my Detox. One would ask whether I feel any difference after the fifth day of strict fruits & vegetable diet supplemented with vitamins in the package. I would say YES. I feel much lighter, not only slimmer, I also feel much relieve on the neck strain and headache problem that I have been suffering all this while, and I wake up more refreshing even with lesser hours of sleep.

I am more at ease in following this program as compare to last year (which I completed the course of 7 days). Probably I know what to do and what to expect in this time round.

Do I crave for food?? YES, definitely, but my will power is strong enough to resist those food placed in front of me while having dinners together with my family for the last 4 days. Craving for food is always the biggest challenge in carrying out the DRP.

If you have gone through a strict diet like what I do, I am sure you will crave for your favourite food. I can tell you that there is one food that I crave the most in these 5 days. I have told my hubby and he will bring me there after I am done with my DRP, hopefully tomorrow.

I am really craving for this Fish Soup with Rice Vermicelli that I used to have for breakfast at one of the famous eatery in town.

Let me show you what I really craving to have….

Is this mixed fish meat and fish balls soup with rice vermicelli, dip with the mixture of light soy sauce, chillie padi and calamansi juice. Yummy…I am droolling now!!!!

This is the coffee shop in Bandaran Berjaya, Kota Kinabalu, famous for its Mixed Fish Soup

Similar article here : http://notecook.com/soup/fish-soup-with-rice-vermicelli-to-satisfy-my-crave/#ixzz1fC6jtEOm

Baby Micole's Full Moon Party

My ex-colleague, Doris, invited us to join them to celebrate their new born baby girl, Micole's full moon party on 20th November.

We have not been seeing each other ever since I resigned from the Stockbroking firm 4 years ago. I am really glad that she included me and my family in her invitees' list. She is as pretty as ever, only put on a little inches after giving birth.

I also managed to catch up with my other ex colleagues, Vivien, June and Lesley in the party. Only in a party like this we are able to meet up with old time mates. As we are all having kids with the same age groups, our topics for the night were mostly about the affairs & happening around our kids, especially 3 of our kids are going to Primary one next year but at a different schools in town.

Vivian and me (at the back), baby Micole and her pround mummy, Doris

Crystal and Pearl meeting little baby Micole