Cat's Whiskers Tea

I have recently been adding "useful" plants to my garden, such as herbs and fruit trees.

One such plant to join my garden is the misai kucing/ cat's whiskers. It has delicate white flowers with protruding stamens giving it a distinctive look. I first saw the plant at a nursery and read about it, and that its leaves may be brewed as a tea to relieve urinary problems and possibly kidney stones.

Well that piqued my interest so I bought a little bag of the plant and grew it alongside my pandan (screwpine) and serai (lemon grass). It took a few days to settle in, and didn't look very well. I continued to tend it, made sure it didn't dry out and added some rich black soil. It is doing well now and has given me pretty blossoms.

I picked about 15 leaves last weekend and put it into a little pot with 2 cups of water. I boiled it for about 10 minutes - the leaves released a mild yet pleasant fragrance, vaguely hinting of chamomile. I drank the tea plain, with no added sugar. I gave some to hubs to try too, and he agreed it was pleasant-tasting. As for the health benefits, we'll just have to see.

Mid-Autumn Festival and making Moon Cakes at home...

... for the first time.

Actually, everything was done for me by Intrico, my local baking supplies vendor in Ipoh Garden. The flour for the skin was premixed and the lotus paste was already ground and nicely packed.

All I had to do was to roll out the flour, knead it, thin it out with a rolling pin and place the requisite amount of lotus paste onto the dough. Then I inserted a salted egg yolk and rolled it all into a neat ball, placed it into a plastic mould (not the traditional wooden moon cake mould), gave it an energetic pump-down and voila! A perfectly square moon cake complete with flower motif on the top.

Pop into the oven for about 8 minutes, remove for glazing with egg yolk, and bake for another 8 minutes. My maiden batch of home-made-with-help-from Intrico-moon cakes was ready, and looked marvellous!

Intrico is really wonderful for the amateur baker or those baking-challenged ones such as myself.

The mid autumn festival falls on 30 September this year, 2012. For this season's moon cake delights, Intrico has a variety of fillings - lotus, white lotus, green tea lotus, pandan lotus, mocha lotus, mung bean, chocolate etc. I found that the white lotus paste tastes better than the pure lotus paste.

In our hurried and busy lives in this era, many activities, processes and experiences have melted away and disappeared from our lives due to the sheer pressures of work, school and time spent commuting to and from places.

I'm just glad my children get to see some traditional Chinese foods being made at home, where they too get to participate in the process. I hope it all makes for a cherished childhood and harmonious family life.

I was touched by an elderly lady's remark to me today when a group of us ladies at school happened to be discussing moon cakes. On hearing that I had made moon cakes, even with this short-cut method, she said in Cantonese, "You are a good and diligent mother. Your children will know your love in your efforts." That was a really nice comment. [thank you :)]

Moon Festival Legends

I grew up listening to the story my mother told me that moon cakes were the instruments used to place instructions and plans by the Chinese to overthrow their Mongol rulers. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is said that mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along plans for the rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place.

A more romantic legend is that of the "lady living in the moon" dating back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, the Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, following a series of events, his beautiful wife found the pill, took it, and floated upwards to the sky and settled on the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.
(picture from http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Culture/EnjoyBJ/t950624.htm)

Dog tales: torn paw pads and broken toe nails

Sounds painful doesn't it?

And it was, by the way our poor Rottweiler was limping. And it was all in the name of fun.

Hubs had gotten a new remote  controlled buggy (more for him and the Rottie to play with, rather than for the kids!) and Rottie was having a marvelous time chasing it up and down the driveway and all around the garden. Her hunting instincts were fully turned on!

Then my little girl exclaimed that the Rottie's paws were bleeding, and indeed there were red swirls all over the driveway and car porch. Not that the Rottie noticed, while she was having so much fun.

But later, the pain set in.

I examined her paws and found that all 4 paw pads were torn and cracked, with some of the black spongy padding dangling loosely. And several of her toe nails were broken too.

Well, the poor Rottie didn't move much for a day or two after. She was clearly in pain, and only got up and moved when she needed to relieve herself.

I had never experienced this with any of my dogs before. Some reading-up on the net turned up lots of discussions on what to do about this not-uncommon problem. Here are pictures of other dogs who have the same problem.


















Fortunately, I had done most of the recommended stuff - cleaned her paws, disinfected them with Betadine and kept her off her feet. If it had been any of my other dogs, I would have let them heal by themselves, with some pampering.

But with the Rottie, we spoil her rotten, so the vet was called in. He said it wasn't anything serious, but gave her a jab to safeguard against maggots and gave her some painkiller and antibiotics.

Well, another experience with the Rottie...

My garden in Ipoh

 

Three years on in Ipoh, my garden reflects the blossoming life that we have adapted to in our new town. Well, not so new now.

We have come to love our house and our life here.

I am happy to share the fruits and flowers of my labour.


The light blue plumbago bloom profusely, especially in the drier months. They are hardy and maintenance-free, save for the occasional trim.

 

 The heliconias were painstakingly planted by yours truly next to the filtering station for our fish pond. It is another species of hardy flowering plants, well suited to our tropical climate.

The anthuriums are a new addition, which I added to a shaded sandy patch that Bonnie my dog kept digging up. She stays away now that the anthuriums have taken up residence there.

These lantanas are also relatively new to the garden. I was looking for something to brighten up the lawn area on the front left portion and read that lantanas provide colour with little care. They sure do brighten up the garden! But when you bend down close to the flowers, they don't smell like roses! They give out a slightly offending smell, probably for its self defence.

The periwinkles are doing fine, and I especially love the bright pink ones. Really easy to grow.

I wasn't too sure about the pentas (star-flowers) as they looked quite delicate. But they too have flourished.

Of course the white spider lillies, the first to be planted into our garden, have proven sturdy and reliable bloomers.

My umbra (kedondong) have been a joy. They produced fruit 9 months into the ground, just as the lady who sold the plant to me said it would, and hasn't stopped since. I've juiced it and enjoyed them as rojak.

My little mango tree with its flower buds, ready to give another crop of fruit.

This custard apple tree (nona) came with us from KL, from my mother's garden. It gives succulent and sweet apples.

I hunted around for this butterfly pea flower, so that we may use its blooms as natural colouring for desserts.

The roselle, has provided its calyx from which we made natural "Ribena"! I have half a dozen more seedlings soon to be transplanted.

My lush basil, superb for garnishing, as a clear soup, for making pesto. So wonderful to walk alongside the basil patch as its aroma fills the air. And my Rottie dashes in and out of them to catch butterflies.

Bayam kampung, and my brinjal plants.

Cat's whiskers (misai kucing) look delicate and bright. Will read up on how to use its leaves for tea.

 
 

The jatropha and costas are doing well.

 

My limau purut (kaffir lime), with fragrant leaves, perfect for curries. The fruits are plentiful and it is such a pity to waste them, but I have found no recipe for them. I tried making  juice from the kaffir lime, but my advice is please don't! The juice smells pleasant and fragrant, but it has a powerful bitter aftertaste. So, looks like the fruit will just adorn the tree with no use in the kitchen.

Kidzania, Kuala Lumpur

Children everywhere, lights, noise, excitement......greeted us the moment we entered the 5th floor of Kidzania in Mutiara Damansara.

I was pretty excited myself.

We were somewhat confused when we first arrived to find ourselves at what appeared to be AirAsia check-in counters! They had made the registration counters a mimic of AirAsia, and the kids couldn't wait to go upstairs.

Kidzania  is a theme park for kids with a twist - children get to role-play adult professions. Children perform "jobs" and are either paid for their work (as a fireman, doctor, police officer, journalist, shopkeeper, etc.) or pay to shop or to be entertained. There is Kidzania currency, which teaches children about earning, spending and saving.

A key component of the KidZania experience is the integration of real-world brands to sponsor the "city's" business and activities. Sponsors comprise major local brands across industries such as airlines, banking, fast food, utilities, mobile phone operators, car makers etc. Brands and companies that children can recognize and relate to.

Kidzania in Malaysia is one of 11 Kidzania chapters (currently). Hey! It's rare that KL got picked ahead of Singapore for any major franchise.....it's a good thing that Malaysians are multi-lingual as tourists can bring their kids here since English is used. Singapore will get its own Kidzania in 2014.

My son homed into the secret agent station, while my little girl seemed lost and confused. She didn't quite understand the concept at first and said she didn't want to work, she wanted to "play".

We spent a long time waiting for my son to get his turn at playing secret agent and in the end we left him there. I took my little girl to the Pos Laju job station and she donned the uniform and teamed up with 2 other "work mates" and off they went with their instructions to pick up 3 packages. Of course moms were hot on their heels, and when the "nagivator" got lost, the dads stepped in to tell the kids which way to go to CIMB bank and TNB for their pickups. For their efforts, they were paid 10 Kidzania dollars each. My little girl now understood the concept and wanted to work more!

My son finally got his turn to be secret agent and had a lot of fun. He also scaled the 100+ wall to ring the bell at the top, surprising me with his success as the climb didn't look very easy and he isn't exactly the McGyver-type! Well done, son!

My girl also had a makeup session that she had to pay for, and brother-and-sister worked together at the BHP station as well as had a cooking class at the Ayam Brand shop. My advice - SKIP the Ayam Brand cooking class. It was a waste of time, boring, and a waste of Kidzania money! We will go for the Marry Brown burger cooking class next time.

There are still many many more professions that we didn't have time to try. Looks like repeat visits are inevitable. I should let them open Kidzania CIMB accounts the next time we are there......

Food Foundry, Section 17, PJ.

It's not a place you would imagine you would go to for coffee, some Asian-Western fusion food, and cakes. After all, it's not your swanky Bangsar or Mont Kiara.

Section 17 PJ is well located and well known as an old neighbourhood, just off the Sprint Highway. There are many coffee shops here offering good local fare, many of which have been covered by food bloggers.

The Food Foundry is located on the ground floor of the Happy Mansion Flats on Jalan 17/13. The middle block to be exact and you have to take a left and drive round to the back. Its popularity has been high and appears to be sustaining, judging by the number of bloggers writing about it, and also its expansion. The last time I was there, it was still a single shoplot. Now, it has taken over the adjacent 3 shop lots!

My daughter has developed a taste for the Food Foundry's vanilla mille crepe cake. So this school holidays, whilst visiting gran and gramps, we ordered a 1kg crepe cake to take home to Ipoh (RM85). Was she pleased!

We ended up having lunch at the Food Foundry 2 days in a row, once with friends and once with family. My son and daughter enjoyed the fish chips, steak sandwich and pasta bolognese, while I had the spicy chicken pasta and chicken cordon bleu over the 2 lunches. Hubby had the mixed grill, as did Dad while Mom followed the kids with fish and chips.

It's nice having this little restaurant/ cafe so close by to us in PJ with something to make everyone happy.

Can a dog get diarrhea from getting its tail pulled?

Now this is the first time I have ever heard that a dog could get diarrhea from having its tail pulled.

I pull at my dog's tail, sometimes.

Before all the dog lovers and animal lovers out there get hysterically upset, can I just tell you that I pull it gently, only very occasionally and never to distress my dog. It's more play and affection, and my dog knows that and likes it. And she has never ever gone to defecate straight after I pull her tail.

So when my brother-in-law's wife saw this rare and unusual form of play the other day, she almost had a fit and practically shouted, "Don't do that! The dog will get diarrhea!"

Really???

I have done a cursory search on the net about this statement and also asked friends on FB to comment. All I have turned up is lots of people's comments that it is "mean", "dumb", "bad", "cruel" to pull a dog's tail but no definitive experience of a dog actually being triggered into having a bout of diarrhea.

On one of  Yahoo's pages, a reader responded to a similar question posted there like this "It makes me sick to even think about a dog getting it's tail pulled so much, that it would stress it out enough to cause it to get diarrhea."

This is a very emotional reaction (typical of people besotted with pets I am afraid), without calm thought. The person who had asked the question merely wanted to know if it was possible that a dog could get diarrhea from getting its tail pulled too much? Answer the question; and not frolic off on your own venting about how disgusted you are that a dog might be stressed enough to get diarrhea because it got its tail pulled.This kind of response contributes nothing to the knowledge-sharing purpose of a forum.

So is this a myth, an old wife's tale?

Found this video on youtube while searching for information on this topic. 

Datuk Lee Chong Wei, our 2012 Olympics Badminton HERO

On Sunday night 5 August 2012, my young family, along with the rest of Malaysia, sat down at 8pm to watch our hero Lee Chong Wei, attempt to win gold in his second and most likely final, Olympics outing, in London.

My children are now just old enough to sit through a whole game, to understand the meaning of victory-defeat, to begin to feel national pride.  And Lee Chong Wei has done a stellar job in uniting all Malaysians in the great spirit of sports and international competition.

Win or lose, DLCW, you are indeed Malaysia's hero and you will be forever remembered in history as our first and to date, only, badminton singles Olympics silver medal winner. Congratulations! 

List of medalists

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Bronze	Razif Sidek & Jalani Sidek	1992 Barcelona	Badminton	Men's doubles
Silver	Cheah Soon Kit & Yap Kim Hock	1996 Atlanta	Badminton	Men's doubles
Bronze	Rashid Sidek	1996 Atlanta	Badminton	Men's singles
Silver	Lee Chong Wei	2008 Beijing	Badminton	Men's singles
Silver	Lee Chong Wei	2012 London	Badminton	Men's singles
Bronze	Pandelela Rinong Pamg	2012 London	Diving	Women's 10 metre platform

We were all crushed when the gold again went to China's Lin Dan, seemingly unbeatable. It was heartbreaking to see DLCW visibly shattered and struggling to hold back his tears, but he did cry a little. And we cried along with him.

My little girl was very sympathetic. She said DLCW was very brave. She said nobody should laugh at him because no one else in Malaysia could have played as well. She's right! And in her childish mind, she must have imagined the loser being jeered and boo-ed which she declared should not happen to DLCW!

As for my older boy, he was disappointed at the loss and also at the prospect of having lost a possible public holiday. Such is the thinking of kids! He also said some nasty things about LD but I told him that in sport, in any competition, there must be a winner and a loser. And one must uphold that gracious spirit of sportsmanship in accepting the outcome of a challenge. And DLCW could not have been more gracious, more controlled and humble in accepting his defeat.

DLCW, you don't have to apologise. We thank you for being Malaysia's badminton hero, for your tireless and dedicated training, for your courage in facing unimaginable pressure, the expectations of a nation and your own physical injuries and pain. Thank you and well done.
(table of medal tally from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_at_the_Olympics)

Brown spot corrector that works

Yikes! Brown spot, pigmentation, freckles.....the bane of lighter-skinned Asian women.

Who wouldn't love to have smooth, flawless, evenly-toned skin?

Most of us ladies would have had the perfect baby-smooth skin when we were babes and as young children. Then comes the teenage years with its over active sebaceous glands, white heads and black heads, and pimples. I so admire the lucky females who have very balanced hormones and "normal" skin who never had to contend with combination or sensitive skin. Sigh...........

I have always had some freckles on my face and legs since teenhood. Sure they looked cute then, and didn't pose any problem to my appearance. Now with school-going kids, and much driving to do, my freckles seem to have generated offspring, and also darkened with time. The picture below (not of me) illustrates the problem with freckles/ pigmentation.

The classic pigmentation or brown spots that affect lighter-skinned Asian women cluster around the highest parts of their faces - around their cheekbones. Many moms who do not have drivers and do a lot of driving develop these skin imperfections in their 40s but I have also noted much younger moms, maybe in their late 20s, also having these distinct roundish brown-black spots around their cheekbone areas.

Aaah, to have Carina Lau Kar Ling's (HK actress-Tony Leung's wife-ambassador for SKII) smooth flawless skin would be a dream come true! But of course, her lifestyle and mine couldn't be further apart, so let's just be realistic shall we?

As for the efficacy of SKII? I haven't tried it..although it is so visible, as its ads and promotional materials are plastered everywhere with beautiful and handsome (e.g. Godfrey Gao) ambassadors to testify for it.    

In terms of branded boutique cosmetics, I have only tried Clarins' roll-on spot corrector. I didn't see any results.

Recently, I chatted with a lady who was purchasing Clinique's spot correcting products while I was getting the Super City Block. I asked her if it was working. Ruefully, she merely turned her cheek to me and asked me to inspect her brown spot. It was still there, dark and obvious. She said she would try Clinique one more time (this was her second-round purchase) before moving on to another brand (incidentally, the Clinique sales personnel was doing brisk business selling the spot correcting serums/ creams and assuring that just one bottle would yield results.) Such is our search for the skin care product that works.

Anyway I am now into week 3 of my new spot correcting creams under Reviva Labs.  I use them once at night and once in the morning - Reviva Labs Brown Spot Skin Lightening Night Cream and Reviva Labs Skin Lightener for Day Fade Cream (with SPF 15). I am pretty sure I am not over enthusiastic or hallucinating when I say I notice the cluster of freckles on my right cheekbone lightening in colour, and the single medium-sized brown spot on my left cheekbone also fading considerably. I also have a spot on my right shoulder which is similarly lightening, while a large spot on my right leg (exposed to sun when driving in shorts) is also responding to the treatment creams.

Both the night and day creams are light and absorb quickly, without leaving a greasy residue. I like the fragrance - light, not overpowering and reminds me of my mom's old English products like Hazeline Snow or Pond's Cold Cream. I purchased both creams from an online dealer, and looking at the amount of cream left, I believe they will last me another 2 months, which is good value for money.

Under Reviva's range, I have used their firming eye serum, and have no complaints. The serum is light and absorbs quickly leaving the skin around the eyes feeling refreshed, soft and supple. I am please with Reviva's range of skin care.
 
(picture from ozskin.wordpress.com and reviva labs homepage)