INDOCAFÉ free storage container

Though I have more than enough storage / food containers at home, I still can't resist to add some more containers that comes free with purchases.  I found this Indocafe's container in the hypermarket last week, the quality is good and of good size.  It is free with purchase of 30 sachets of Indocafe coffeemix. 

when I was in dilemma in choosing which colour I should take, my better half reminded me that most of my Tupperware at home is red in colour, to have a more uniform colour theme, I picked the red one over the rest of the colours, as I can remember there are brown, green and yellow covers.

INDOCAFE logo on the cover

30 sachets INDOCAFE in the container

the containers can be stacked up nicely

Would you change brand because of free goodies?

Cempedak 尖不辣, the ugly cousin of jackfruit

We bought 2 small size Cempedak fruit for RM5.00 from a friend.  This fruit smell really nice too.  To avoid the "latex" sticking around when opening it, we use some cooking oil to rub around the knife and the hands before cutting open the whole fruit.

the fruits are all perfect without fruit worms

A full container from 2 cempedak fruits.  We just eat them as it is, I am too lazy to cook them with batter like most people do.  I prefer jackfruit more than Cempedak, because I find chewing cempedak is a tiring matter for me..*strange but true*

Weekend Breakfast 猪杂粉面

 We supposed to have a morning walk at the park this morning but ended up having hearty breakfast at this coffee shop situated at Lintas Square. 

My better half ordered this mixed pork stuffs konlou mee 猪杂面.  He always shares with me everything he eats, I got to taste a bit of the pork and the mee, very tasty.

 

I always go for meehoon soup.  I am a bit disappointed with this serving, it looks so plain, don't you think so?  At least add some green vegetable or shallots/spring onions to it.  The soup is tasty and the meatball with squid is my favourite but I still need those greens.    

Mount Kinabalu Re-open to climbers in September 2015

After near 3 months of closure to repair the mountain trails caused by the magnitude of 5.9 earthquake on 5 June 2015,  finally Mount Kinabalu of Sabah, North Borneo is now opened for climbers starting from 1st September 2015 amidst a mild quake struck Ranau on the very same day.  Climbers can climb up to Laban Rata via Timpohon trial.

The summit trial to the Low's Peak is expected to open by December 2015.

A photo from my brother with his tour coach at the fore ground and a nice and clear view of Mount Kinabalu as background.

Prayer changes things

I spent my spare time doing cross stitch when I only got myself to take care of.  When my eldest came along, I totally have no time to do any cross stitch project, even the unfinished project remain kept in the box someway till today. 

This is one of the cross stitch pieces that I did, "PRAYER CHANGES THINGS".

It is now hanging at the wall near the dining area, reminding ourselves do not stop praying to ask for His blessings and guidance in all aspects of our lives, for our families and for our nation, because not all things are within our human strengths and capabilities to handle.  Let Him show us the way. 

My daughters' drawings by copying the cross stitch on the wall.  Not bad at all.

Fruits season

Come the month of August, we can see many more tropical fruits pouring into the market place.  We get the chance to eat more fruits now then before, because my better half started to have the mindset of having fruit in our daily diet.  We prefer local fruits as they are usually cheaper and fresher.

This fruit display is taken by my brother at Tanjung Aru. How I wish I could have a piece of land to plant variety of fruits trees.   

Mixed fruits cocktail (picture from my bro).

Bambangan 野芒果

My colleague from Papar brought us some Bambangan from his family farm last week.  Our office immediately filled with its pungent smell as soon as he stepped in.  I have to keep these mangoes outside the office because some of them might not like its distinguished smell.

The fruit is brown in colour, selling at the tamu, we can also find the ready prepared ones in the containers, selling from RM4.00 per container.  It is one of the famous pickles in Sabah which believes to contain valuable source of antioxidant.

 

I like to eat jeruk bambangan (pickles) but never know how to prepare it.  My Kadazan colleagues gave me some guides on how to opening up the bambangan.  We have to open it up like a pomelo, petal by petal. That's my better half helping me out.  This is the first time we made Bambangan pickles at home.

looks like it is overripe

slicing into cubes, add some salt and keep in the containers, some would like to add chillies into it. 

Sour sweet Bambangan pickles are very appetising,  add some to the rice to make simple lunch for today.

Eyes therapy with Rooibos Tea (南非茶)

The benefits of Rooibos tea are abundant.  It is originated from South Africa, therefore it is called "南非茶" in Chinese.  This tea is introduced by a friend to my better half a few weeks ago.  I have seen it in the Cosway catalogue many years ago, to discover its goodness, we bought a box to try.   

The taste is just like Chinese tea, it is completely caffeine free, rich in minerals, contains high in antioxidant, improve blood circulations and many other health benefits.  Suitable for young & old. We can read a lot of articles on rooibos tea on the websites. 

we chose the organic green Rooibos tea. 

My better half will keep the tea bags in the fridge each time he finishes drinking the tea.  He said it is good for soothing the eyes, don't waste the tea bags.   

eyes therapy with cold Rooibos tea bags on weekends.  *managed to get a selfie while the tea bags covered my eyes* :D

Flower blooms 花开了

Happy to see a flower blooms in my front car porch.  It is the only flower that blooms so far.  I have never care for it as it is always covers by my better half's car at the side of the yard.  I have to carry it to a more visible place to enjoy its beauty before it withered. 

anyone knows what is the name of the flower?  It is a very common flower but I do not know its name. *update :My colleague told me that this is Desert Rose".

It is planted in a pot.  It was full of weeds before this, I have to clear them all to allow this plant to grow better.

I bought these cactuses from Kundasang in May 2015 just weeks before the earthquake strike Mt Kinabalu in June 2015, They are growing well with minimum care.  I will need to transplant them to bigger pots soon.

The plants that I bought from Kundasang together with the cactus have withered, no one to be blamed but me.  There are seeds that I could harvest from them to plant new ones but I have yet to do it.

Movie night - Inside Out

It was movie night out for us last night.  Our girls have been waiting for months to watch the animated movie "Inside Out".  It is the first day on show here, we catched the 6.30pm slot so that there is not much interruptions on a school day routine.  

Inside Out is another well received Pixar Animated Studio production released by Wall Disney Pictures.   The story reflects our human emotions in our daily life.  The complexity of human emotions are the combinations of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust and everything in between.  We experience the change of emotions every minute and to every situation.  The children would be attracted to the great visual, it is best for the children to read about the story before going to watch the movie, they will appreciate more of what this movie is trying to bring about.  I enjoyed watching it.

while waiting to go inside the theatre

Another forthcoming animated movie : Hotel Transylvania 2.

Forex Trading experience

Ringgit is down.  Time to learn how to earn some USD.  Forex it would be.  Anywhere in the world can trade Forex.  Business round the clock.  Sounds good isn't it?

Had worked in a stockbroking firm for 10 years, experiences gained but down financially. A year ago I tried my hands on forex demo account.  The earning was not good, got few calls from the forex company wanted to further explain on the trading techniques but I was not ready for it.

Up until recently, my better half bought a book on forex trading trying to get some ideas on the how to.  From there, we started on trading forex on demo accounts.  The risks on forex trading is very high, one should not trade on real money without the knowledge of the trades.

Some snapshot of the demo accounts

We tried on the EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY pairing.

we gained some and lose some trades.  At the end of the day/month, it is the Profit & Loss account that will show whether we have gained or loss in the trading.    

The losing positions are tend to be very discouraging,  it is in USD...:)

We are still learning from the demo accounts no real money involve.  My kid is very interested to know what is about, she thought it is one of those online game. hahaaa...

Tenom Coffee "Kopi 'O'

Introducing Yit Foh Kopi 'O' from Tenom of Borneo Island. Kopi 'O' simply means black coffee without sugar and cream.  No colourful fancy packaging, simply silver and black.  

A big pack consists of 12 small packets of 10g sachet 

This black coffee reminds me of my grandparents who always have a mug of black coffee sweetened with sugar on the dining table every day.  As a kid, I do not drink coffee but out of curiosity I tasted it, they made it so sweet, probably that's the way to provide them with enough glucose to work in the farm and padi field throughout the day.  During that time, they used black ground coffee powder, unlike now, it is packed into sachet.

Tenom Kopi 'O' in a sachet. Thick & black, it is enough to make a big mug of coffee for the family.

Tarap - Borneo Tropical fruit

The price of Tarap has becoming more and more expensive.  I still remember a fruit vendor trying to get a huge profit from me by selling an average size Tarap for RM30.00 at Gaya Street last year.  He must have thought that I am a tourist.  Though my daughter wanted to eat Tarap so much, I refused to buy because the price is ridiculous.  I prefer to buy from other sellers who sell at reasonable price.

This year, I managed to buy these 2 Taraps for RM2.00 each, waited for a week to ripe but the fruits were small and not satisfying

We bought another for RM7.00. this Tarap fruits are bigger and taste much better.  To me, the natural scents of Tarap is more pleasing than the durian.   

The skin of the Tarap is soft when it is ripen, even kids can serve themselves by opening a Tarap.

When we were small, my parents taught us to boil the Tarap seeds after eating the flesh.  The texture is similar to peanuts.  Tarap is a very healthy fruit, it is packed with nutrients like Potassium, sodium, Calcium, vitamin C and Antioxidant properties due to its phytochemicals. We have not had enough of Taraps this season, shall buy more from the market during weekends.

the Tarap seeds

Sour became sweet

On working days, I stay in the office with aircons on.  Most of the time I complain it is too cold have to put a blazer on to keep me warm.  My better half whom is out and about most of the time would complain the weather is too warm that it makes him headache.

Today, on a Sunday, I can feel how he feels being in a hot day without aircon. It is unusual for me to make ice cubes, drink cold drinks or serve ice cold drinks to my girls (for reasons that the old folks have advised the ladies to refrain from drinking cold stuff)..but today is exceptional, I myself thirst for icy cold lime juice to counter the hot weather.  I gave my king and 2 princesses a bit of surprise, they happily galloped the icy cold lime juice, sour became sweet..:)

At Chicken Rice Shop

Have heard so much of the Chicken Rice shop advertisement in the radio, only last week end we all agreed to try their chicken rice for the first time.  

We try to eat more fruits nowadays, so I ordered my favourite Rojak Buah. The taste is just right.  

the usual serving of chicken rice with chillie sauce and ginger. No complain and nothing special, just the usual chicken rice that we expect.