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.  

My Nuffnang Earnings

It has been 6 years now since I joined Nuffnang.  This is the first time I cash out from my Nuffnang account.  It took me more than 6 years to accumulate the amount of RM95.42.  I will have to wait for another few more years for the next cash out...:D  It would be interesting to know any members who earn sufficient to cash out on a monthly basis.

Now I am waiting to receiving the cheque through my mail box in a month of so.  With the availability of ebanking system nowadays, the payment process could be made faster than before. Anyway, be blessed with what is given to me and hope that the cheque will land safely in my mail box.  Thank you Nuffnang.

Queenskin Lanolin Cream from Australia

Without obvious reason, my face, jawline and neck area has become sensitive.  The itchiness has caused me to scratch till wounded on my neck line.  Not so nice looking in appearance so did not take a photo.

The itchiness intensified each time I bathe or cleanse my face.  I did not change my toiletries products nor did I eat extra ordinary food.  Therefore, could not identify what's the cause of the problem.  Besides itchiness, my skin around my face feel like sand paper.  

I have tried several products hoping to soothe the discomfort but all to my disappointment.

One of my friends mentioned that I should use Vitamin E cream onto my daughter's forehead to heal the pimple marks which have been there for weeks...I quickly recalled that we have a pot of Vitamin E cream given by SIL months back.

It is Queenskin Lanolin Cream, product of Australia. It moisturises my skin, I can feel the relieve of the itchiness after the first application.  My face is obviously smoother now after less than a week.  I let my daughter used it too.

Stated on the bottle :

"Queenskin Lanolin Cream has the functions of revitalising and nourishing formula containing Vitamin E and Lanolin, it helps soften skin exposed to harsh weather conditions and daily routines.  with the benefits of the natural oil from sheep's wool, it will leave skin supple, smooth and healthy.  Can be applied as often as necessary."

Thanks to my SIL for this great product.

*The above is purely my own testimonial of using the product*

Season of Exotic & Tropical Fruits

We are blessed with all kinds of tropical & exotic fruits at this fruiting seasons.  From the start of August, we can see more varieties of tropical and exotic fruits being sold at the stalls.  Some over priced especially at tourists spots.

Shopping of fruits has been made convenient by a fruit trader whom has a farm from Keningau.  With the permission from the school authority and his good gesture of donating some earnings to the school, he is allowed to sell his produce outside the school compound.  The trader will come again with more fruits next week.  Some parents and teachers have placed their orders in advance.

Avocados & pumpkins

my better half bought this lot of fruits from him last week

He bought 2 ordinary durians from him too..  It is  not the breed of D24 nor Musang King but it's good enough to taste the king of fruit this season.  The chopping knife is a tool needed to open a durian.

Hello Kitty toy collection from McDonald happy meal

Yes, I managed to collect 3 of the 4 cute and adorable Hello Kitty toys from McDonald.  Thanks to my colleague whom did not mind helping me to purchase the happy meal during lunch break.  

These are meant for collections, I prefer not to open the plastic cover.  My little girls are always so excited to take the toys out to have a good look at them, after which they will just leave the toys alone, me as a collector will pick them up and keep..:D  Believe me they are sooo cute.!!

Morning breakfast at Old Town White Coffee

Old Town White Coffee is nothing new to Malaysians.  

On a rainy morning, we went to the city.  Most of the coffee shop were full.  We ended up at Old Town White Coffee where it was not so crowded.  

My favourite morning breakfast is meehoon soup.  So I ordered one and it came more or less like the one shows in the menu,  I would suggest the brand of the meehoon that they served to be changed to other brand.  

The consistency of its coffee is undeniable delicious.  Thick yet not bitter, a cup just enough to start the day.  I like the aroma of its coffee.

A small portion of bread just enough for a light breakfast, there are half boiled eggs to come with the set which I did not take a photo of it.

Old Town White Coffee is celebrating its 10th years anniversary with an offer of RM10 nett for combo meals on every 10th of the month, from 10am - 10pm, from May till December 2015.   

Fish soup breakfast

After a brisk morning walk last weekend, it's time to go for something delicious for breakfast.  My better half suggested to have laksa which he knows is one of my favourite.  But I chose my other favourite, that's fish meehon soup.

Konlou meehoon for him

fish meehon soup for me

every time I see this, I could not resist to fill up the sauce dish. Very appetizing.  I could finish a bowl of rice with just this preserved green chilies. 

Seafood meehoon at Tawau

I was amazed to see this serving of seafood meehoon.  It is very different from the normal seafood meehoon that we had in KK.  Photos were taken by my brother who had this in Tawau this morning.  I believed, he too was amazed with it and whatsapp a picture to us before he started enjoying it.    

I reminded him of the cholesterol but he did not hesitate a bit..minutes later he sent us a whatsapps showing a photo that he has polished off all the seafood and meehoon...very cheap, it is only RM7.50 per bowl.

Tawau, at the east coast of Sabah, is a place with aplenty of fresh seafood..I have been to Tawau once by road many years ago, it took us at least 8 hours to reach there from the west coast (Kota Kinabalu) to east coast, I would prefer to take a plane there for my next trip because I could not stand the long hours by road.

Sewing with Singer Sewing machine

Each time after taekwondo upgrading to colour stripe belts I will have to use my sewing skills.  Just last week I have to attach the blacks onto my girls' red belts to become black strip belts for their inter-school competition. 

I have to admit that I have a bit of a struggle putting the thread through the needle hole for the machine.  Luckily my Singer sewing machine has the lighting features which really help.

I have a bit of struggle too to find my sewing kits as we have moved things around to make way for a minor renovation done at the wardrobe room.  Meantime, the travel size sewing kit is sufficient for this small project.

the red belt and the black clothes to be attached at both ends.