Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Che-che’s skin

7-10 days before 30th Aug

Noticed che-che suddenly had so many huge pimples on her face. Looked worst than when she was a teenager. 她都不年轻了为什么还有青春痘?She’s probably under stress and asked if she wanted to see Dr Chu or facial. She kept declining all my suggestions but it hasn’t gotten any better in the days that followed. 不管她 I’ll fix a facial for her some time. Was then deciding where to bring her? In beauty salons they will always push you to buy products or sign on packages. Saw a few home based facial places with the proper huge machines which looks interesting. 


The girls bo-chap facial care

The girls are so lazy. Only wash face with facial cleanser that’s it, no toner no moisturiser. At least che-che uses the Kiehl’s masks, lil’ one don’t even bother. I mean….how old are they now, I can’t be nagging at them all the time.  or DO IT FOR THEM like when they were younger. 我自己的脸都要忙着做 coz a lot of work to be done when you’re old and almost wrinkly, where to find the time to do for them? Most importantly they’re old enough to do it themselves. 

Why my two girls 不会爱美?At che-che’s age I already go for facials when I can. I had to use my money to pay for my facial, then why is she not using it for proper things instead of spending on her idols stuffs? I don’t mean she has to book a monthly facial if she can’t afford/wants to stretch out $, but she can do it once every 2-3 months then at home do whatever care she can at home. I have the Labelle Sonic & Ionto L6 beauty device which in my opinion can be used every other day to remove whatever gunks. But no….both girls are lazy.

 




30th Aug (Sat) 

After all the 想来想去, decided to go ahead with Kiehl’s. Even if they wanted to promote anything, my mini Kiehl’s shop at home might have it 🤣. Booked appointment for her facial. 

In the afternoon after her work, we dropped by Kiehl’s TM and the SA recommended two items which I do not have at all - 


Not sure if she can use these now. Took pics so I can show them. 

SA advises anything too harsh now. Don’t use the Deep pore cleansing mask for now. 


Day time application. Night time application is the same except omit the sunblock. 


Samples


Che-Che’s diet is not exactly clean. She loves fried food, snacks, junks, no fruits, no veggies how to get clearer healthier skin? No skin cell repair, no fight against inflammation. No matter how much water she drinks will not help her at all. But does she listen? Do the two girls listen? NO!! 


Been asking her to use her Cetaphil for body but stubborn means stubborn. To lil’ one’s knowledge “but it’s goat milk we shower what?!” 🫩 Did she really think it was really goat milk?  
Told the big stubborn girl it’s not exactly eczema friendly but 她也不管


Checked the bottle for ingredients 


Ingredient : Deionised Water, EDTA Tetrasodium, Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Cocamidoprepyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Glycol Distearate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Fragrance, Methylisohia-zolinone, Ethylene Glycol Distearate, Glycerin, Vitamin E acetate, goat milk powder


Decided to go through the list and this is the conclusion :

 

1. Yes, deionized water is generally considered safe for eczema and can be beneficial, especially compared to hard tap water which can exacerbate symptoms. Deionized water lacks the minerals and chemicals found in tap water that can strip the skin's natural oils, weaken its barrier, and cause irritation. 


2. Tetrasodium EDTA is not definitively safe for everyone with eczema

3. Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), and its close relative Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), is not considered safe for eczemabecause it can strip the skin's natural oils, leading to dryness and irritation, which can trigger flare-ups. It's recommended for people with eczema to avoid this ingredient and choose sulfate-free cleansers to prevent further exacerbating the condition. 


4. cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is not safe for most people with eczema, as it is a known irritant and can trigger contact dermatitis, leading to redness and flaking. Dermatologists and organizations like the National Eczema Association recommend avoiding CAPB in personal care products like shampoos and body washes if you have eczema. 


5. Cocamide DEA is not safe for eczema, as it is a potential contact allergen and irritant that can worsen eczema symptoms, especially in those with pre-existing skin conditions or other allergies. Individuals with eczema are more susceptible to developing a contact dermatitis reaction to Cocamide DEA, which can lead to symptoms like redness and itching. 


I give up checking the rests. 



27th Sep (Sat) @ 6.30pm

Her first Kiehl’s facial at Raffles City shopping mall 



Do a skin analysis. M did this on complimentary for my two girls before.



29th Sep (Mon)

Dunno why I suddenly thought of laundry detergent. Coz I noticed of late she’s been scratching her arms and legs. Shouldn’t I be getting her eczema safe laundry detergent? What the?! After so many years then this pea-brain me thought of this? How much harm have I exposed my daughter to all these years? Bad mummy! For the record, I’ve also stopped diffusing essential oils in the house since last year after I read that essential oil can cause eczema flare-ups 😧.  

Not sure how good these two brands (Green Kulture and SimplyGood) are but although it’s going to ba a hassle separating her clothes, towels, bedsheets from us, the one that is working hard is the washing machine and my muscles. 










Cross fingers that this will help her ease the itch. 

On This Day - (30th Sep) #Reminders from FB#

30th Sep 2025

Came across this song by accident on YT. The music made me tear. 太好听了. Had to look for this score, which reminds me I haven't sat on the piano or organ stool for a long time 😂

我的天啊‼️ it's from a movie 20years ago! Which mountain or jungle have I been hiding for 20years?!?!



30th Sep 2023
* added to the album: 26th Sep - Making use of her last week of school hols


Outing with lil’ one 




30th Sep 2022

Ok, I'm more like the guy...tho I pack lesser clothes than him coz I tend to recycle clothes by handwashing clothes n undergarments. Haha!

Though I can never beat my sister, who always pack her stuffs into a haversack. I'm talking abt her long

trips to winter Norway for ⛷️ . 我的天啊‼️ 



30th Sep 2022

So loving the SUN

Shine down your light!!



So many babies 🥰
*video is too large for upload here so just did a screenshot*


30th Sep 2020

Turn Left or right?

#ionlyhave80mins#



When u can't decide where to go, just go for both. A bit of goodness in both direction.


feel like going for a dip too. Feeling hot - 27° C. Sun glaring (forgot sunglasses n cap 🤦🏻‍♀️)


At least on this side the condo is blocking the sun rays.

Feeling like a 🧛🏻‍♀️ 





30th Sep 2015

I just shouted at one fucking China lady in guardian pharmacy. She was directed to queue at the cash payment counter by the vitamins sales lady when nobody's at the counter. When there's a snaking one queue you know one queue then you see which counter is available. Of course the discretion of the payer to see which counter he/she has to go, then the person behind can go??)

So many ppl told her to join the queue. You know the damn China ppl always want to argue "becoz I'm directed here." We said queue behind. She argue with everyone like a innocent woman, which they are always good in acting. I told her join the queue behind coz everyone is queuing, she is jumping queue. Until I got so mad that I raised my voice in public "just shut up and join the queue." Best part is when she said I shouted at her, the man behind me

"no she wasn't." He plus some others were not pleased with her.



30th Sep 2014

It's over! This is a precious picture.

With her good friend here.




First thing she did after her paper.

Ear candling. Time to relax girl....you've done your best.



2nd relaxation

Footnote written in 2023 : 
I wasn’t joking when I said that my monthly cycle halted the whole year. And on her last day, relief overcame and my cycle resumed on the day! I was really under tremendous stress as I was on solo with 2 kids with no helper and no help. I was usually so tired. Then, I was only 39. I don’t even think my 48yr old body today would be able to take this kind of stress. 
And for this pampering after her paper, I truly deserve one too! 


30th Sep 2013

I decided to consolidate theirs together (initially it was written seperately until i got a little confused)

Scary! 2 school- going kids! Teni Poon-Atmadja how do u handle your 4!! Must call you Wonder Woman




30th Sep 2013

Is the haze back? I'm sure feeling uncomfortable. or mavbe not enough sleep??



30th Sep 2012


Happy mid-autumn festival!!




Monday, September 29, 2025

Dinner & abt jap soy sauce

Blogging tonight’s dinner coz I needed to record the recipe somewhere. 


DISH #1
I’ve never cooked okra for hubby before, same goes for bittergourd. He likes these two which I don’t eat that’s why I hardly cook them. Okra dish cooked with oyster and garlic chilli. Have no idea how it tasted coz not much mushroom left so I let him finished everything. 

 I bought the 4 packs of pork + 1 pack of beef during the promotional period. Usual price is $10/box



DISH #2
Tiring to cook this as I had to individually fried each slice. Hmm….I realised that this meat has the chao-chor-bi smell. Strange, I thought usually japanese make their exported piggies eunuch. 
My third time cooking for them BUT my first time eating this just coz I was on vegetarian the days I cooked for them previously. It’s delicious! I was lazy so threw the dishes in my bowl. I have fried egg white too from che-che’s pasteurised eggs. 




DISH #3
Teriyaki tofu. Again another tedious process. This time using this tofu coz che-che prefers it soft not the momen tofu.




Had to fry each tofu individually with potato starch. The whole time for cooking I was using the tamagoyaki frying pan 😂. Tricky with fried tofu is that it should be done just before serving so tofu remains hot and crispy but you know it’s really impossible as I need to get dinner served at different timing BUT I need to clean my kitchen asap. I can’t have any delay; any of my family members walking through the kitchen and smearing the floor grease to other parts of the house. 

Took Sudachi’s recipe for the teriyaki sauce. I doubled it coz thought maybe lil’ one will like the teriyaki sauce.  Turns out it’s teriyaki soup with tofu 😂, so I really shouldn’t double portion the sauce the next time I cook this. Just like the pork, after frying, I did extra step and soaked the tofu/pork back in the pan with the sauce. 
(Sudachi’s recipe for one portion : 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp sake, 2 tsp sugar and ½ tbsp garlic paste

Recipe calls for koikuchi shoyu but I used our LKK low sodium soy sauce 



******** SOY SAUCE ********

talking about soy sauce … I have a blog entry on it in my draft folder. Drafted since July but as usual it takes me forever to type it down (then I’ll backdate and publish in July 🤭). I’ll combine into this blog.

Difference between koikuchi shoyu and usukuchi soy sauce

, 


A video on how to use these sauces. Click HERE
Types of shoyu. Click HERE
Everything about shoyu. Click HERE

We drove past a soy sauce brewery before. Can’t remember whether it’s when we’re on our way to Kagoshima or Miyazaki, 反正 it was on an ulu stretch of road, I saw the decorative barrels by the roadside. I must have cleared those days photos from my phone so I can’t track back the route now. Other than that, don’t think we came close to any other shoyu brewery. Tamari, a gluten-free and keto friendly version, I saw one well known local miso+tamari shop in GH but I didn’t buy coz they were closed when I walked past 😭. Mie is also famous for tamari. 

******************************

Maybe I should go Meidiya one day and take pics of all the soy sauce and slowly research which is the best. I’m not even sure if their shoyu and our Chinese chio-cheng tastes the same.
Long long long time ago I ever bought soy sauce from Meidiya when I asked a staff for recommendation, it was so saltish!!! I can’t remember what I bought then as I threw it away after using it twice. Not to my taste, and I wouldn’t want my family to eat high sodium soy sauce. 


Che-che’s main carbs
After the failed attempt on 30/8, 不甘愿 must try again.  I froze the eggs this time and look so hopeful I can get it done. Yolk looks good here. The moment I gently cup the rounded with a space in between rice on my hand to this rice, it remain intact and I was so happy. But ……. After that I noticed yolk oozing out from the side. I can’t do this. 

Sunday, September 28, 2025

On This Day - (28th Sep) #Reminders from FB#

28th Sep 2023 

Blessed with this flower tea from Loh Moo Han earlier on when I passed her the free mangoes I received.

Make me so paiseh, she 破费

She wants me to sleep a lot a lot, perhaps she knows I've been having insomnia lately.

Honestly this looks really interesting and I will try it tonight.

Thank you so much MH!




28th Sep 2023

Managed to stop a guy from tailgating out of carpark 👍

幸好我的车屁股扁扁 😬 I braked and braked, speed

up and braked. Waited for the arm to come down then drove off 🤭. Saw him reaching his IU. 😂

I'm either smart or he is still not good in tailgating ppl.





28th Sep 2023


아줌마 Aricia craving for korean, been harping at me to bring her here for quite some time.



Meal for 2. Only one rice, should ask for 1/2bowl of rice instead, shouldn't waste rice



The staff is so nice to change my drink to barley tea instead when I told her I'm avoiding sugar


Like a greedy girl. Only the chicken is hers


While I have an empty plate


This one I want! I should have ordered more



28th Sep 2023

Blessed with 2 boxes of mangoes from my lovely tenant.

Thanks to special delivery by my dear friend S  who came to where I was to give it to me. Not forgetting the manly strength from her hubby to help carry the boxes into the car for me. 감사합니다 H.


Now.....how? Che-che Athena Ting not here to eat so.. I think I have excuse to cheat now 😂







28th Sep 2021

I need some energy. Rose pls give me some 🔥 






28th Sep 2021

Found a (I think) smarter but still backaching way to clean the whole big bunch of peanut roots.

Day 1: Chopped off the stems and discard the bulky parts. Portioned out and vacumn seal so can put in fridge

Day 2 or whatever: unpack few packs at a time to do massive cleaning. These small 4 packs took me an hour plus of scrubbing. Dry them out and then vacumn seal and put them back into fridge.

Still have another 5 or 4 packs? I will do them slowly... just like cleaning ikan bilis, do it bit by bit when I have that short timeframe in between.





28th Sep 2018

Our heads are lighter, her shelf is half cleared.



Footnote written in 2023 :

I was so done with PSLE then! Thank goodness second and last kid.

#stopattwo#


28th Sep 2013

Read that this year's PSLE papers so far are easy.

Was talking to tutor n she said she heard the same thing. "I did say that this year's would be easy, so next year would be hard." So suay! Then she started counting for Aricia's turn. "Wah! So suay!"

We understand abt the bell curve but ...morale of kids would be low if papers are hard.



28th Sep 2011


-读书郎-

Can't seem to get the song off my head. Her mumbling words and her funny pronunciation for some.

This is the part that got me laughing :

啷里格啷里格隆咚锵

She reads as "lang little la little la dong giang" then repeats it coz she knows she made some mistake, then makes more mistakes.


Footnote written in 2023 : Who is this? I think it’s lil’ one? 😆 


28th Sep 2010


I screamed at my helper, very pissed with her today.

Really seeing red. For the record, this is the first time I screamed at her since she started working with us since 2006.