Self pampering on 15th Apr

It’s been ages since I last went to my beautician ( before 2019?) . Not all the time, but I’ve done eyelash perming; eyebrow embroidery there a few times. So when I had to book for che-che’s Brow Construction at Browhaus, I made an appointment for myself to do Advanced Lash Curl Up. Was really excited but my lashes aren’t as long and thick as before …😥 cross my fingers that I can blink blink my eyes and 出电 with humsome guys 🤣. 

This is the after result of my pathetic 几条毛 perming. 

It’s recommended to avoid getting the lashes wet for the next 24hrs which proves to be a little tricky. A cleansing sponge helped me for the next 2 days. I have to remember not to be rough in washing my face. I do feel the perming lotion getting into my eyes when I washed my face the first 4 times which was really uncomfortable. I don’t remember I had this problem last time.  

I’ve signed up for 3 sessions of Lash Resurrection. Becky showed me hers and it’s so thick and beautiful, I hope I’m making the right choice and keto is not causing my eyelashes to drop otherwise it’s really money wasted. originally a 3 session costs $756, I paid $610. I only checked the price later, what the staff told me was $280/session x3 would be $840 so I’m saving. Yay, I forgot they always like to “sell things”, “promote things like so cheap”. They even asked me to get a store credit card which is valid for 2 years and it’s transferrable, would only need to pay 85% of the full price instead. Nah..I still have dunno how many packages with my beautician (ear candling, bust massage, tummy massage, cupping, facial). Forget it, I wouldn’t know what’s going to happen in a year’s time let alone 2. And che-che would head off the the States then, then how? I do not want to have my money stuck here as well. 

Left the place $845 poorer. (I pray for stronger willpower the next trip to say no to anything new they ask me to get) Got a Lash and Brow Undercoat which I have to use it twice a day to protect and moisturize lashes. I applied 3x a day though! Bought the Lash n Brow Serum which helps to ‘achieve longer, fuller and stronger lashes and brows like never before in just 4 to 6 weeks.’ 

Took this from their website on Lash Resurrection 

Revising Japanese n want to learn german

Something that I regret not doing while in SQ is to re-learn Japanese and pick up German. It was a good way to pick up a new language since language is something that we need constant practice, and as ambassadors for SIN and having so many different passengers on an almost daily basis, it's an opportunity not to be missed right? Yah, but I did miss the opportunity.  

So the question is why didn’t I express interest in the course?

1) If I remember correctly, I’ll need to be in Singapore most times (or was I to be grounded for months?). As it is, I was also studying for my Diploma at that time and I’m not that intelligent to cope with so many things. Most times I have to catch up with lessons at least a week or two after the rests, so if I were to add on a language course I’m only putting more pressure on myself. I don't think I'll be able to go sightseeing anymore, as I'd be holed up in the hotel room studying and studying.  

2) I would have preferred to continue with my Japanese if given a choice. I took up Japanese before I joined the airline, therefore it makes sense that I should continue and upgrade myself. However that would also mean that I would be rostered for more Japan flights even if we had Japanese stewardess on board. Another reason, while I love Japan flights with all the kawaii things I wouldn't want to fly to Japan all the time. Still not willing to forgo much of my sightseeing in other countries. PLUS! A big PLUS! I tend to spend more than my allowance in Japanese stations. So how can I have any savings if I were to overspend?   

Fast forward to 2022, 20 years after I left the airline, I finally picked up the ipad (Using Goodnotes to make my notes) and revised a little of my nihon-go. 

Learning German is what I'd love to do, I bought a set of German Language Kit in 2020, hoping to take CB time to start learning something new. 2 years later nothing is done as I'm just so busy. Perhaps I can do it when I don't have to be so uptight over any of the girl's education. 

wünschen Sie mir Glück  

Having fun with an iPad

A few people I know owns an iPad apart from having a phone. They usually use it to watch dramas in a bigger screen. I wasn’t into iPad because I hardly have time to watch dramas after dramas but during our trip to US in Dec I was kind of interested in owning one. 

More so after when we got stuck in LA and I started thinking to self how nice it would be to have one - lil’ one can use it for her SLS. Also I have been wanting to pick up German, I think it’ll be nice to make notes in iPad. Che-Che told me a lot of people in JC do that. Wow! I didn’t know that. I only knew about this recently when I went into study vlogs in Instagram. The students do their notes so asthetically attractive. I didn’t know there’s such an app called GoodNotes and there are digital planners which one can purchase and download. Sounds really good, especially the planners as I’m crazily mad over planning things. 

I was checking between iPad Pro and iPad Air, more inclined towards iPad Air with the cheaper price between the two. Passing by an Apple Store in Brea Mall tempted me. The cons tend to weigh heavier than the pros so I didn’t go in.  How often do I use it? I don’t have time to watch dramas or play games all the time so it will be a white elephant after the interest dies down. Moreoever, I don’t have to wait for anyone to finish their tuitions outside the house now for me to kill time. I usually pick lil’ one up from school on time so.. even if I happened to have that 10 minutes to spare outside VJC, I’d rather do a quick check on my emails; clear stuffs on phone (my phone’s memory is almost full!). 

Some time in March,  I remembered hubby has an iPad in the house. He hardly uses it now. When I checked his drawer, I noticed he has 2 - iPad 6th gen (2018) and a mini iPad (2019). My goodness! If I had bought one, it might end up in the drawer within a few months. I asked him if I can have it and he gladly gave it to me after deleting and reformatting the iPad. So yay! I finally got one old model but it’s okay. 

I downloaded a few apps which I’ll need it here. And then I embarked on my “studying”. But you know what? I was trying out the Notability and GoodNotes 5 app and instead of embarking on German, I went to revise my Japanese. Haha! It’s good fun being able to write on the iPad. Bought an OEM iPad pencil from Shoppee and then I had so much fun scribbling with ease. 

Yesterday,  I purchased a digital planner from Etsy and started jotting down a few things. Primarily with lil’ one’s major exam dates and I decided to be more hands-on with her. She doesn’t seem to be in sync with her revisions (can sukat sukat jump chapters, then forget what’s done or not done 😖) , so I have to plan the topics she needs to revise and then I’ll 🐯 mom enforce. I’m still exploring GoodNotes but taking a break now to blog. Blogging seems so much easier here too! I’m lazy to lug the laptop around with me, old laptop also battery doesn’t last that long without the cable. 

はなみ - over some days

あっという間に1年が経ちました。そして今、3月です。桜は、私のお気に入りの時期である春の到来に間に合うようにゆっくりと咲いています 。

私の美しさを見るためにフラワードームに向かいます。

Yes, it’s the time of the year again. My cherry blossoms are here.  Majority of the trees are botak and they will slowly bloom, slowly but surely. しばらくお待ちください 。

Charged my battery the night before and brought along DSLR and lenses. I was a little disappointed as I ended up using my phone more than the DSLR. I think there’s something wrong with my 55-250mm lens. Perhaps it’s time to upgrade my lens😬? It wasn’t easy too especially when Che-Che was with me and I took long time with the photo taking. Honestly speaking, I can’t have anyone with me if my main purpose is to take pictures,  I need to be alone coz I tend to take longer time than anyone else taking photos and usually with family members or friends, I have to do it quickly.  

In the end we only spent less than an hour there

Photos taken on opening day - 4th Mar 

The second time (8th Mar) I went on my own before picking lil' one up from school. I spent almost 2 hours in there. See the difference in the photos? 

Haha! Okay maybe not this shot

On 22nd Mar - spent 1.5hrs. Again I could take as many photos, in many angles. 

 

1st April - was with lil' one. I have lesser photos coz this girl lagi more impatient than her sister. Aiyah! Best is when I'm alone lah!  

My visits to the Flower Dome just for sakura display often exceeds the membership fee I pay. It's my happy place, a place where I can immerse myself in the display of flowers and immerse myself in taking photos not a selfie but of the beautiful flowers. A place where I can put my worries anger aside and live for that moment.

Kawaii 可愛い

It’s been such a long time since I went for any cutesy snack making/baking class. The last in 2019 😜 with Jenny.

Che-che asked me why do I need to go for class when I can always learn a plethora of stuffs from YouTube. She’s not wrong but sometimes I feel for some things it’s better to go for class and learn the 技巧.

Went for dumplings class at The Vanilla Bean. Shirley from Kneadtoonspire is the instructor. I had been following her Instagram for quite some time so it’s time to see 老师 in person. 

Not going to talk much about the class, just putting in the end product pictures here. 

                                    我的作品

老师的作品

The boiled dumplings

Had an enjoyable time away from home; away from housework. Once in a while getting day off is really good for me. 

I hope they will like the dumplings and hopefully I’ll have the time to 展开我的才华 , to experiment with more cutesy designs. But alas my kids are so old now ……

The stationery in US

When we knew we would overstay the new school term in USA, we had to get stationeries for lil’ one so she can get some work done here in USA and perhaps “live lesson”? with the rest of her classmates? 

To be fair we only went to the comparable Dollar Store to look for stationeries. So maybe there are more choices in Staples, Target or Walgreens?

Testpad / Writing Pad

It’s really weird to see their testpad with 3 holes and the lines seem so huge compared to ours. Maybe that explains why Americans handwritings are always so huge? 

Pen

She wanted to get pen but they sell in bulks of 5? And mind you, there no such thing as gel pen or Sarasa or whatever. If we’re stuck in Japan, we’d go crazy since we have better excuses to buy stationeries. haha! The pens are like those I used when I was in secondary school. 

If she uses pen, then she’ll need correction tape right? Lo and behold, there no such thing as a correction tape or even the fast drying correction fluid. They carried the old brush correction bottle. Oh my! 

Pencils 

Decided to get her pencils instead. After all as loads she gets her work done, her teachers can’t blame her for using pencil right? It was then a choice of the wooden pencils or the mechanical pencils that comes in 5s. We settled for mechanical pencils but they use 0.7mm HB lead. This is just so weird… I wouldn’t have paid attention to stationeries if not for the situation we were in. But it certainly is an eye opener. 

Eraser

Having being so used to the soft Japanese erasers, it was a struggle to use the huge and hard polymer eraser

Anyway, some pictures to show you what we got. Perhaps if we had gone Staples there would be more choices? 

 

元宵节快乐

🍊 元宵节快乐 🍊

正月十五喜庆多，

苔家团圆委福多，

心情愉快朋友多，

身体健康快乐多，

财源滚滚钞票多，

年年吉祥如意多，

祝大家好事多多多。

Her bestest attendance in school thus far (heehee!)

Lil’ one’s school attendance this year so far is so “good”. Excluding PH, her attendance is  13/26 or should I say 13 days plus 4hrs? Her record! 

Last Friday (4th), the man was tested positive. Results came at 2pm, then he called to inform me. I called the school to check since lil’ one had to stay back for CCA. The school lent her ART kit so she did the test, she didn’t call back so it means she’s negative. Big girl n myself quickly tested ourselves, negative too. We were then issued HRWO - High Risk Warning Order for the next 7 days. 

Monday(7th) was her e-learning day so she didn’t go to school. Tuesday, she called at 9+ and asked me to pick her up

Her report book won't look good this year. *wink*

#notpontangschool# #colivingwithcovid#

Stargazing in US - Dec 2021

Last year’s stargazing  🔭 day in the freezing cold winters. 

I got my DSLR n correct lens n tripod all ready but it was so so so cold + the strong wind 💨. I couldn’t do any set-up as I think my camera will freeze in the cold. My hands and fingers will freeze until someone invents a warm but sensitive to the touch gloves. 

I experimented with my new iPhone 13Pro. I must admit the phone is marvellous. Most of these pictures posted here are unedited unless otherwise stated. 

Let’s start with the last stargazing in JTNP, which we wouldn’t have gone if we all returned home on schedule. So count our blessings. 

31st Dec 

*edited to bring out more stars*

It’s only 6.13pm but we had to make our way back to hotel. We can’t help but stopped along the way to look at the dark sky again coz the moment we head back to Palm Springs, visibility will be low. 

A ranger drive by and stopped to check if we’re alright. Maybe we pulled off at a wrong spot? Or maybe there are wild animals around? 😅 We can’t help but to lay our eyes on the huge masterpiece. This is our last chance to stargaze. Nevertheless he was very friendly with us, I mean I could pick up conversation with him and chat about the stars and this beautiful national park we've been twice already, but I think he needs to get to do his other duties. 

One's feelings is changed the moment we have that darkness all around us and only thrown to marvel the creation of the universe.

How many more days will we be stuck in US? Maybe can we go Death Valley? 😉 I miss DVNP! 

Our position 33.8734° N, 115.9010° W

I really miss the dark sky 🥰. How many times have I repeated this sentence? 

I took some pictures in Grand Canyon but I think my hands were shaking from the cold that my pictures turned out a little blurry. I was not able to get any pictures without the trees, not sure why. All I wanted to do is to snap and run back into the room. I really wonder how some people can stay out so many hours in the cold stargazing and snapping pictures.  

On 13th Dec, the day we arrived in GC. Mr Moon was up and I wondered if I can get any pictures. I’m so glad that even if the sky wasn’t that pitch dark 伸手不见五指, I did manage some shots

The lodge is at 36.0542° N, 112.1199° W

Taurus, that obvious V shape was spotted and immediately I looked up to find the 7 sisters. 

14th Dec - was cloudy. Tho I kept opening the door a few times to check but left disappointed after so many attempts. Moreover weather forecast says there’s going to be a snowstorm in the night. If I apply my geography knowledge, a sudden snowstorm means there’s way too much “droplets” evaporated days before = cloud cover. 

We are not guaranteed clear nights all the time. But I must admit I am disappointed, I don’t live here! If out of 365 days in a year, I still have many days and chances of stargazing I wouldn’t be so disappointed. 

15th Dec 

15th Dec - taken on the day we drove from GC to Page. After a stop in the supermarket, near Page’s City Hall, I just had to look up into the sky even though there were streetlights around us. 

Nearer to the building are Jupiter and Saturn. And the other bright star (to the top right of this photo) is Altair. 

Che-che’s driving lessons timeline 2021 - 2022

13th April (Tue)

Induction - $free

16th April (Fri)

Eye-test 

20th May (Thu)

BTT

Lesson commences @ $42/hr

1. 28th May 10am ($122 - inc $80 registration fee)
2. 3rd June 8pm
3. 12th June 3pm 
4. 21st June 10am
5. 24th June 4pm

FTT
25th June (Fri) 10.30am 

Lesson on-going
     6. 1st July 7pm
     7. 7th July 4pm
     8. 9th July 10am

SWITCH ACCOUNT TO PRIVATE APPT
9th July 12pm

Circuit is so quiet. Comfort Delgro closed from 15th July to 29th July due to cases reported. I should take picture of the back where there were countable cars. I'm thankful she's under private tutelage so she's not affected. It's a good thing I rushed to book her FTT on the day she passed her BTT, otherwise she might be one of those affected by the disruption.     

Lesson on-going

     9.  20th July 2pm

Mr Lim told her to book the simulator trainings. We're totally lost in the procedures. Was there such a thing in my time? She has to clear all 3 and all her practical lessons before she can go for her driving test. And when she made the bookings the next day (21st - Wed), she told me the earliest slot is only in November! My God! She chose 26th Nov and crammed all 3 into one day, as she would be in Uni by then   

Interesting that it also helps you analyse your mistakes and best thing is you don't get injured when you get into an accident. This made me realise that one will need more than 6 months before getting a licence if she's on private tutelage and longer if one learns from school. I can't remember how long it took me to get my licence as I learnt driving on my off days, probably it took me longer + I passed at second attempt. 

    10. 22nd July 5pm

    11. 25th July 4pm 

    12. 29th July 9am

    13. 31st July 1pm

    14. 1st Aug 3pm

    15. 11th Aug 5pm 

     16.  13th Aug 5pm 

     17.  11th Sep 4pm. 1st Circuit 

     18. 23rd Sep 8pm. Circuit 

     19. 28th Sep 8pm. circuit 

     20. 9th Oct 4pm. circuit 

     21. 6th Nov 11am 

     22. 24th Nov 

Did x3 simulator on 26th Nov 

Practiced 3x in the hotel carpark, although it’s left hand drive.

She told Mr Lim to cancel her test date which is end of Jan as we didn’t know when we would be back. Apparently he didn’t which is also good coz our 7th day post arrival would long be over by then. She requested to go for few more lessons. Thankfully Mr Lim was able to accommodate her, when he had an empty slot or last minute cancellation from other students he would approach che-che first. 

      23. 20th Jan 6pm (circuit. Was informed circuit price increase to $82)

      24. 22nd Jan 8am

      25. 23rd Jan 7am

      26. 24th Jan 8am. Followed by test at 9.15am

                    AND SHE PASSED!!

1st Jan 2022

First day of the new year and we are all stuck here in LA. An unexpected thing happened, che-che was tested positive during our PCR screening for pre-flight departure on 26th Dec (results came back on 27th, the day we were to depart for home). 

While all the rest of the world are so strict with their quarantine of affected people, the US has this laxed attitude. Which is no wonder the number of infection are soaring high. We were left on our own accord. No help; no calls from California county as what SIA ground staff said we would be. I can’t imagine what would happen to those who are stuck with limited monetary expenses. Of course we can get consular help from our embassy but we didn’t approach ours as they can’t offer much help for us, they can’t fly us out even with a positive case. 

This holiday is an extended one. We got out from our room late for lunch and return early and have cooked dinner in the room. Although I brought the travel cookpot along, we basically used it for simple boiling water; cooking instant noodles; warming soup etc..it was nothing fanciful like my SQ ala-squat days where we could churn out fried rice and dishes from the handy cookpot. 

Things just have to happen this way. Really have no idea how the 🦠 got to che-che when we were all so careful. I mean, I don’t mean to start denying or start blaming anyone or anything, if it’s fated that we get it here then too bad. We need to look at things in positive manner. But just can’t help but feel a sense of bewilderment on how it can only affect 1 person and not all of us. 

Mrs Hau is informed of the current situation. Tutors informed to delay the commencement of lessons as we really have no idea when we will be back. Worst come to worst, we will do Zoom in LA. Somebody will just need to be awake at ungodly hours while we all snore in bed for her class lessons. At 4pm here in LA it would be 8am the next day in SIN. If lil’ one has her tuition at 7pm in SIN on a Monday it would be 3am on Monday in LA. 

So when does the girl sleep? Let me work out a quick conversion :

SIN TIMING (US TIMING) - SIN 16hrs ahead                       

Mon 10pm - Tue 6.30am 💤 [her usual bedtome] (Mon 6am - 2.30pm)

When school 🏫 starts from eg.

Mon 8am - 2.30pm (Sun 4pm - 10.30pm) 

Tuitions that starts at 5pm SIN time on a Monday would mean her tuition would start at 1am on a Monday. 

Imagine her needing to study on a Sunday. Miserable! 

And on a daily basis where I need to iron our undergarments and socks dry at around 6-7pm LA time, it would be 10-11am the next day. I’d definitely need to hide in one corner if she’s doing live lessons. 

Covid Situation here : No ART kits

Can you believe this country, wanting or claiming to be a super house economy? Has no ART kits in the pharmacies (which they claim is OOS), while Singapore has more than enough. But on the hindsight, the covid tests here are free and there are small stations smacked right by the roadside for people to do their walk-ins. One only needs to wait for the results which will take 24-48hrs. 

Covid Situation here : No masks

No masks for sale? (I found some masks for sale in the Asian mall after that) So whatever had happened to the tagline “Make America Great Again”? Basic stuffs like this is not easily found. 

Covid Situation here : No control. No quarantine aka 没有政府

A country so big but no control, that’s how some positive cases can be walking around and spread to the others including to che-che. While I understand that every state has their own constitutional Govt or whatever governmental rule, it should be a time to not divide their political group whether they are republicans or democratics. The President should set the rules and every states every county follows, but no… some people who thinks so highly of themselves don’t believe in science and medical reports just want to rebel for the sake of rebelling. And people who thinks they have the liberal rights to think and act what they want so it’s definitely harder for them to listen unlike the asians who are technically more obedient.

Covid Situation here : Right from the start things were done wrong.

A country so big but always so critical of others, they didn’t look at themselves. They thought they handled the situation well but no. On the other hand, the other powerhouse China handled their situation well right from the start with closing borders, lockdown. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/amp/china-travel-covid-19/index.html

Covid Situation here : A backward approach

Vaccination cards can be forged. A country so big but yet is backwards in their technology? Things still done on paper? 真的开玩笑。

Even Europe has the Trace together app, and scan to go in before restaurants.here? None at all, strangely the only time they checked for vaccination status was the day we couldn’t fly out at Yoshinoya and few days later at Elmers.

But then again, do you think the people will allow their tracks to be traced? 

Wrong place to be stuck?

Perhaps this is a wrong place to be stuck? 

As what W said a friend of hers is stuck in Germany but they were chauffeured to a facility and accommodation n meals are provided free. 

Here? Dream on. They don’t have time and probably resources to trace anyone. So the positive note is that we are not confined to our room, we can be out and about driving infact to other National Parks for stay which nobody will know and check. So you can see how easily 🦠can move from one place to 🦠 another. Anyway, we need to be out coz we need to get lunch. There’s no Grab food, no food delivery here tho there’s a Denny’s just right next to our hotel. 

Aiyoh…we pray hard for clearance soon

That’s what we can do for now, to quickly get clearance. 

ART Test

Looking forward to our flight tomorrow.

Our ART is tonight. 

Quick! We can't wait to fly the skies again. 

A sense of urgency

So I felt a sense of urgency and could immediately churn out 7 days of imovie of our 2019 USA holiday.

Huh! And it took me how long to do one previously?? Guess sometimes I need to be forced into a corner, then I'll put in more effort. 

Need to clear the pictures asap, clear up space in phone since I'm only relying on iphone most of the time, although bringing the DSLR too. 

   

A new cookpot

Since we are going to go for our long awaited holiday this year, I decided that I'm not going to bring the silicone travel cooker  this time. Although it's compact in its storage, I never liked it that it took ages to cook and the circuit cycle keeps pausing. I will throw that away, or perhaps drop it in Salvation Army.

Bought the identical travel cooker which I used during my SQ days. Not Sanyo brand but another brand, who cares it works the same. The cookpot arrived on 1st Dec, just in time for me to pack into the luggage. Ready for the first time usage and more to come.   

I love it that this time round we're able to keep the plug in nicely beneath the cooker

How does a workout affect glucose n ketone level

Whatever diet plan one is on, we all know that exercise works hand in hand together. Nothing is easy in this world, you gotta work like shit to get to that slim figure you want. If only dieting can help, gyms can close down their businesses. 

Likewise in a ketogenic diet, a workout affects the blood glucose and ketone levels

How is ketone developed?

Ketones develop in our bodies when we mobilize fat as fuel. Fat is an important energy source that is used by the body at rest and during exercise. Ketones are a general term in medicine used to describe the three main ketone bodies that the liver produces – acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone.

How workout affects glucose?

To understand how a workout affects glucose, watch this Youtube video by 2Fit Docs

If you're a dummy like me who prefers pictorial explanation, this is a good video by DiabetesforBundet

How Exercise Affects Ketosis and Blood Sugar Youtube video by Optimize with science

So the million dollar question, is exercise on a keto diet a necessity to be successful in keto?

Dr Berg answers this question well in his video Is Exercise on Keto Diet a Must for Keto Success? 

YES!!

Yes! The mentally straining work is finally all done. Tour booked for Antelope canyon. Apparently I found out that we can't do self tour on a navajo land, so I managed to book a tour with a company. Bought Disneyland tickets. 

All research done. Damn! Those are really hard work. All the late nights, plus I lose concentration, I get distracted easily. I deserve a good rest after this, a good whole 7hrs sleep.

I was excited when I did the final last binding for lil' one's travel journal today. 

Itinery planning was completed 6 days ago on 21st Nov. And then I concentrated on her travel journal. Infact, her journal at one point was done concurrently with the itinery planning, so that's why I have lesser things to research. But when I get so distracted with something that I had read, I'll go into into youtube videos (thank goodness we have the internet to help us now). I ended up spending half an hour watching videos on navajo nation, their cultures etc..

Yay! I'm all done! Not bad, not bad. It's more than a month after we bought our tickets. I had initially set a targetted date for myself to complete everything in 5 weeks. So I'm late, but it's ok coz I always buffer some time with the final final target date.  

I can finally concentrate on the cooking of meals (a silly me suggested that we should do a self quarantine 2 weeks before our flights, so as not to sabotage our PCR test. So home quarantine started 2 days ago on 25th Nov.)

Did I mention that I arranged for all tutors to start zoom lessons as well, so I have no visitors. Which is good, otherwise I'm always lugging the laptop and printer to and fro when I have tutors coming into the house. It's really sad, I can't use the study table in the master bedroom as the man needs to work. I always end up either at the dining table or in lil' one's room on the floor when she's having tuition outside. 

I can also start packing our luggage and at the same time get the ironing done. I haven't ironed for 3 weeks, so I have a huge pile of clothes piling up in the laundry bag. Sigh..... when you're a one woman show, need to set priority. Not to mention my walk-in-wardrobe is a total mess with stuffs I need to pack into luggage.   

  

Lectures online

With the rising number of cases, uni has ceased in person lectures from 4th Oct - 24th Oct. The students were informed on 2nd Oct. 

Good! I didn’t have to send or pick her up from school. Only need to take care of one kid who dismisses from school at weird timings (coz it’s exam weeks! 4th - 14th) 

Then on 20th Oct, they informed an extension from 25th - 31st. That’s an entire month of HBL! Oh man….I wonder how much can she learn. 

And when she’s back in uni, the little one starts HBL for a week at home.sigh… 

Thanks to VTL. Our air tickets booked!

Off to LA! 

Yippee! Time to get busy - planning itinery. 

Feeling like a sloth

Have things I need to do -
1) Clear that bloody big pot in PES 
2) The blue pea flower seeds that che-che chose, I need to plant them. I also need to plant my sunflowers. But it means a massive change in the pot stands (will probably need a dual level pot stands), getting that same uniformed rectangular pot 
3) Tidy the bomb shelter, which is messy again with all the girls' snacks
4) Clear and throw and whatever shit things I need to do in the walk-in
5) Tidy and re-organize the washing machine area. Can we get rid of that damn sink? 
6) De-clutter the toilet cabinets.

7) Re-pot the pennyworts into hydro. But might attract 🦟 

8) Get a vase and do something with the extra arrowhead plant    

 
Not forgetting the (9), (10) and ....... (??) 2008 NZ photos, maybe the girls' photo albums, my 2019 US iMovies, my video camera - need to convert the videos into something somewhere. blah blahblah......

When will I ever find the time and energy to do so many things? And don't forget I had wanted to pick up German. 

Just thinking of what I need to do around the house makes me weary and then I slothed out. Literally! I spend my time playing with the colouring app instead. But seriously, I need to get my mojo moving. Coz' I might be busy next year with lil' one's major exams. 

What is cyclical ketogenic diet?

Such an interesting read on this. 

Click on the links :

1)  CYCLICAL KETOGENIC DIET (CKD): COMPLETE GUIDE  

2) WHAT IS THE CYCLICAL KETOGENIC DIET? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

3) WHAT TO EAT ON A CYCLICAL KETOGENIC DIET

4) CKD: THE CYCLICAL KETO DIET AND YOUR LOW CARB LIFESTYLE

Videos to help visual learners like me :

1) Cyclical Keto Diet| How to carb cycle on Keto

2) How to Follow a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet

Teacher's Day 2021 gifts

3rd August
The year has gone by too quickly, before I know it it's already August. And before anyone knows, September will roll in. 
This year, I didn't realize Teacher's Day is in a month's time. I haven't thought about what to gift the teachers. (usually start thinking and then sourcing for ideas, source for craft materials etc at least 2 months in advance) And for who? Are primary teachers included? There's no way lil' one can go back to KCP with covid and all the safety measurements enforced. 

Asked her and her reply was she will prepare them herself this year. She wants to give food items. Haha! Did she think she was giving teacher's kiddy goodie packs? But perhaps it's not a bad idea after all. Teachers (I believe) are overwhelmed with gifts that they might not want, so snacks/food is a win-win solution. They can give it to their kids if they do not want to eat, everyone's happy.

In the end, I thought perhaps can outsource the gifts to this cute personalised handphone stand. And she selected only 3 school teachers she's gifting and not forgetting all her tutors. 

First time ever, I'm so free with prepping for Teacher's Day. I only helped her with printing the cards, laminated and packed for her.  

She only gave tutors the handphone stand.  

Links to items purchased

1) Gifts are from shopminthome   

2) Kraft bags from packeverything since I was at the vicinity. I remember seeing cute packaging from their shop years ago. So tempted to buy rubbish home then, but this time I was able to hold myself back knowing that I've long past the 'packing favors' stage. I wouldn't have any use for them. And even if I want to get any packaging, I had better finish what I have at home - the varied cellophane bags sizes.    

My new territory

Suaku me. 长到这么大还是第一次来武吉知马大厦. My new territory this year? I’ve expanded from Parkway 😂. 

Sent girls to school twice this week (and it has to rain on those days that I sent them. Daddy send no problem 🧐). 

First time I sat at Beauty World’s Macs to have breakfast coz big girl ends at 10am and need to zoom her home fast fast for her zoom lesson at 12pm. Today, dropped by BT Plaza so that I can do my grocery shopping as both girls end school early (Teacher's Day celebration). 

Next time, maybe every Mondays I'll go for exercise?