Agnes' Diary & More...

Back to school again

2023-05-19T21:35:00.003+08:00

Been away from blogging for the past weeks. Guess what I have been occupying with? I am back to school again at this time nearing to retirement age..

After resigning from my day job for just into the 4th month, I enrolled myself to a Diploma In Real Estate Agent course which I have to attend classes thru online, I am unable to attend physical classes as I am not residing in Selangor where the institute is situated. I have also registered to sit for the 6 papers exams in September this year. Is a daring endeavour but I will try my best to pass the exams and go to the next level. So for the past weeks, I have been busy attending to the pre-recorded lectures and find time to study the notes that the institutes provided to me and do a lot of catching up because I would like to fast track my course duration.

Will find time to blog whenever I can.

Home baked bread by Pearl

2023-04-24T11:32:00.059+08:00

Another post of home made bread. Eversince I have got the ingredients right for baking white bread using my years old bread maker machine, we do not need to buy bread from outside. My girls enjoy having the fresh soft bread sandwiches for their breakfast. Rather than just me having to bake the bread all the time, I taught Pearl to do it too. She was once putting double scoops of salt in the ingredients, the bread turned out fine but became a salty bread. With that, she learned to be more focus when handling the ingredients. This is the bread she baked. Fresh, nice and soft.

Home made bread by Bread Maker Machine

2023-04-07T22:41:00.112+08:00

Bread baking is a lengthy and hard work process. It takes hours from kneading, proofing to baking. Luckily all these can be done by a Bread Maker Machine. I have put my bread maker machine aside for months due to renovation of my kitchen, and my yeast has gone bad. I am back to baking bread again after getting new packet of yeast.

My white bread turned out just the way I wanted, soft, fluffy and moist.

I have also made an Egg Bread loaf.

There are a few more bread recipes I would like to try using the bread maker machine. Will update from time to time.

Happy Palm Sunday

2023-04-02T14:23:00.003+08:00

We went to sunset mass yesterday afternoon, on the eve of Palm Sunday. We gathered outside the church for the procession and blessing of the palms before entering the church.

We held the palms high for the blessings and waving the branches of palm as a sign to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem. This palm of mine is cut from the palm tree at the back of our house.

It used to be at the front of our house. As we have changed to both ways gate access, we have to move it to the back of the house. It's time to give it a trim to remove the dried branches.

Happy Palm Sunday !!

Finally Rain Shower

2023-03-30T20:07:00.001+08:00

Finally rain came pouring after many days of hot sunny days. We like the sun shiny days but we need some rain to cool the temperature down too.

After few hours of rain this afternoon, water started to accumulate on the part of the road where drainage is poor. We were on the way to fetch our eldest from Uni slightly after 4pm. Many are off from work earlier than usual working hours during the month of Ramadan. Classes at Uni also dismiss slightly earlier.

Rain drops on my newly bloomed desert roses

on these ones too..Desert roses are the only flowering plants that I have.

Boost Flexi Redeem BoostUp Rewards

2023-03-28T15:45:00.003+08:00

Boost is one of the widely used cashless payment method here. They have upgraded to many features over the years. I am not sure when did they started with the Flexi Redeem program. Users can use the Boost stars and top up some money to redeem goodies in their BoostUP Rewards listing.

Instead of letting the stars expired, I redeemed a BYZ Silk Pattern Powerbank 20,000 mAH by using 11,880 Boost stars and RM23.00 deducted from Boost wallet. With that I earned 46 Boost Stars as well.

After the payment in Boost, we will receive a redemption code. We have to order the item from beliguru.com website by using the redemption code. The original price for this Powerbank is RM85.00 so there is a savings of RM61.00 (in this case 1 Boost Star = RM0.00513). Like any online purchase, I have to pay delivery charges, RM14.80 for this one to E.M.

I received it in less than a week. This Powerbank is heavier than the one that I have been using (10,000 mAH), not so suitable to carry in lady's handbag. I bought this for my better half, he will put in his luggage bag whenever he goes outstation.

McDonald's Rahmah Meals with upgraded drinks

2023-03-27T19:40:00.002+08:00

After sending the eldest to Uni, we were deciding where to have breakfast, I have had a mantou at home but my better half hasn't eaten anything yet. He prefers to have his economy mee with stuffed taufu but he followed my choice to McD for Rahmah breakfast. We both opted out from the Ice Lemon Tea that come with the meals because I definitely prefer something hot in the morning, we upgraded the drinks to mocha and Teh Tarik <pulled tea> respectively with additional charges.

If you want to control your food intake, go for Rahmah meals. They are just in the right portions and economical, healthy for your pocket and stomach (will not overeating).

We only spent RM16.30 for our breakfast with upgraded drinks. RM1.00 (inc. SST) for a hot Teh Tarik is hard to find nowadays.

We also tapau (take away) a set of Rahmah porridge meal for our youngest who's still having her beauty sleep at home, a well deserving waking up late after a year long preparation for her SPM exams.

How do you eat plain Croissant?

2023-03-26T21:21:00.007+08:00

On last Friday, after my youngest got her school leaving paperwork done in school, we went to have our late breakfast at Breadboss. It's a corner shop cafe with limited seats. We were arranged to sit at a small table beside the counter after we have done our orders, it's not that cozy sitting there so we moved to the mezzanine floor away from the crowd.

I ordered a mocha

and a plain croissant, I just can't resist croissant whenever I see one. Only recently I got to know one of the best way to eat a plain croissant from TikTok.

That is to dip it in your coffee, be it a mocha, cappuccino, or latte. Just like what we dip the yoo cha quai (Chinese Fried Cruller) in the coffee.

my youngest ordered the Teriyaki Chicken rice because that's only choice they have at about 9am.

a bit pricey for the croissant and the rice.

on the mezzanine floor, I captured these paintings or pictures

seats on the mezzanine floor, it's a bit warm up here.

This is painted on the ceiling

looking down from the mezzanine floor, the cakes & pastries displayed by the counter

McDonald's Chicken Foldover Ramadan Istimewa

2023-03-25T00:30:00.004+08:00

Our Muslim friends have started fasting since 3 days ago on 23rd March. McDonald's has introduced the Istimewa Ramadan Chicken and Beef Foldover, a new menu for breaking fast. I have tried the Chicken Foldover and I really like it. It suit my taste, I love it immediately at first bite, this time for real that the staff said it is not spicy when I asked her. I can't take food that are too hot and spicy.

will order the Chicken Foldover again in my next visit. Hope McDonald's will keep this in their menu.

Pudding and agar-agar Mould

2023-03-24T20:31:00.088+08:00

I finally used this jelly, pudding / agar-agar mould last week after keeping it since last year. I bought this mould because I was attracted to some nice pudding and agar-agar photos posted in the instagram.

My pudding + agar-agar came out good. The top layer is wobbly pudding with more solid agar-agar as base.

This is the pudding premix I used, the texture is good.

I used Nazri brand for the yellow agar-agar base. I reduced the sugar to more than half. Since the pudding is sugar added premix, I do not want my dessert to be too sweet.

It's a great help with the jelly mould, this would be one of the desserts I would do for the coming families gatherings, presentable and nice dessert.

Shopping for shoes

2023-03-23T20:23:00.000+08:00

It's not easy to find a suitable shoes, I usually have to try numerous pairs of shoes before buying a pair and most of the times ended up not buying any. It's even tougher to buy shoes for someone else.

It was around Christmas time last year, there were parties to attend. I have to shop for a pair of heeled shoes for my eldest who doesn't like to go shopping.

After much nagging, she finally showed me a picture of the kind of shoes she prefers.

I whatsapp pictures of similar kind of shoes to her at the shop to let her choose

I even have to put the shoe on me for her to see whether it's ok.

She is ok with this pattern so I bought 2 sizes bigger for her. But when she tried them on at home, they were too small for her (OMG!!)..At the end she has to come along to change to other pattern because stock has run out for the pattern I bought for her earlier.

She only used them twice to the parties last year then safe keeping in the shoe racks until now.

A walk at the park, finally

2023-03-20T00:19:00.002+08:00

Have been wanting to go for a walk at the park. My procrastination is the culprit. I finally did it this afternoon. Crystal is required to take some photos for her uni assignment, she would like to capture some nice outdoor scenery at Perdana Park. We arrived at the park slightly after 3pm.

I took the chance to do my walking at the jogging track. The sun was shining bright, another hot day. There are 3 jogging tracks in this park. This track is in the middle ring.

This is the inner track nearest to the pond. There isn't any shade, I didn't want to get sun burn walking there.

The park is just next to the State Library, it's a nice architectural building with green concepts.

One side of the park is next to Kinabalu Golf Club, a 9-holes golf course which we are a member but hardly utilise the membership's facilities.

I recorded my walk using Strava. I did 3.35 km slow walk on the middle and outer tracks.

You know what ?

We adjourned to McDonald's for an early dinner after that. I had this Ramadan Chicken Foldover and a mocha. I will order this Chicken Foldover again.

Ice Cream indulgence - Cornetto Love Rose and Unicornetto

2023-03-17T15:00:00.001+08:00

Ice cream is one thing that everyone like, irregardless of age.

These 2 Cornetto ice cream cones were for me and my better half which I bought from the petrol station when we were out and about while our 2 girls decided to stay home having their beauty sleeps.

Among other ice cream in the freezer, I picked these 2 because I like the colours and it's easy to handle when eating ice cream cones in the car.

Sweet pastel colours ice cream. I know they are artificial colouring, it's ok, I only had this once so far, it was like more than 6 months ago.

One night staycation near home

2023-03-16T00:30:00.037+08:00

Sis-In-Law and her newlywed son invited us for a night staycation at Likas Square Serviced Apartment on Monday. They have booked a 3 bedrooms Premier Suite just to chill and relax. The check-in time is 3pm. We went there after fetching our girl from school slightly after 5pm, she had her last SPM exam paper done that day, just right for her to unload the stress after about a month long SPM exams. We had potluck dinner with plenty of food. I even tapau some home after the stay.

The spread of food

Me and my 2 girls occupied the master bedroom (with washroom attached). 3 of us shared a king size bed while my better half made himself comfortable sleeping on the long sofa in the living room.

This was the view from 5th floor overlooking Teluk Likas at around 6.30am. Sabah Trade Centre is at the bottom left, the car park in front still pretty empty at this hour. Wisma Perindustrian and Bay 21 Condominium are on the left. I am not sure what's the name of the tall building under construction.

These geometric paintings are hanging around the condo. I couldn't figure out what these painting are about thus unable to appreciation them. I took photos of them anyway.

Overall it was a nice staycation spending time with family. We were talking about planning for another staycation soon.

Reviews for the condo unit (my personal opinions) : It would be good if the cooking utensils can be replaced and there are water leakages in the kitchen (which made the floor slippery), showers need to be fixed for the bathrooms too.

Oscar Winner Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh

2023-03-15T11:39:00.001+08:00

Based on the social media report, congratulations messages have been pouring in for Tan Sri Michelle Yeo as soon as she won the prestigious Oscar awards.

It was in our local newspaper yesterday. She has made our nation proud. Malaysia Boleh.

Home, Food, Family, Love

2023-03-14T21:52:00.001+08:00

These are two of the decorative items hanging on our kitchen wall.

The "HOME" cross stitch on top of the door to the backyard, was a present from my close friend, Viv, we have known each other since primary school, continued to secondary school and later colleague. It's a very meaningful piece of cross stitch, "HOME is where you keep your heart"

By the door, we hang a lovely piece of prayer, a Christmas present from family. We could read the FOOD, FAMILY, LOVE from a distance.

Come closer, the verse goes "Bless the FOOD before us, the FAMILY besides us, the LOVE between us, Amen".

Flying Noodles / Floating Noodles

2023-03-13T00:30:00.009+08:00

Heard so much about the Flying Noodles or Floating Noodles in the social media. This was last year around Christmas time, we went ot Suria Sabah shopping mall to do our Christmas shopping. We seated ourselves for lunch at one of the restaurants in the mall, I noticed they have flying noodles in their menu. Out of curiosity, I ordered one to try out.

The noodles are hard and full of starchy gravy, I find it hard to eat. I made a bit of a mess eating it and I didn't finish it. I still prefer the springy and chewy texture type of noodles.

I ordered a hot drink, it was Kopi Kahwin Tarik to help me send the noodles down.

Learning foreign languages

2023-03-12T01:00:00.011+08:00

My better half has been wanting to learn how to speak good Mandarin. He mingled around with Hakka speaking classmates when he was in secondary school, and now in most business encounters with the Chinese communities, Mandarin is spoken along side with BM and English. He tends to mix up Hakka with Mandarin. Hence, my girls recommended their daddy to take up online Mandarin class from Duolingo which they have been doing so by learning Spanish and Korean respectively. They have previously mentioned it before but we did not put attention to what they are talking about.

Without further delay, my eldest opened up the online website, helped her daddy to register and start learning Mandarin the night itself. As for me, I chose to learn Korean because my youngest is learning Korean from the same website but put her Korean class on hold to concentrate on her SPM exams revision for the time being. Well, it would be an advantage if two of us can practice speaking Korean next time.

I have started my Korean lessons since 8th Mar'23

the lessons look like this.

My daughters have been consistent in reminding us to attend our daily classes.

After few days into the lessons, I still haven't got a clue on the Korean language characters. Will learn at a slow pace. No pressure (😄😄)

Banana Recipe for Generations

2023-03-11T01:00:00.004+08:00

Do you boil the Bananas ?

Yes we do. It is very common for us to boil the Pisang Saba even though we can peel the skin off to eat them like other bananas My mum loves boiled Pisang Saba (Banana Saba). She served us boiled Pisang Saba when we went visit her, she would ask us to bring some home if she has got extra.

There is no special recipe for boiled Pisang Saba. Just clean them and boil them in a pot of water. The fully ripened banana taste the best (sweeter) after boiling. The boiled bananas can be kept up to few days in room temperature and longer if store in the fridge.

the boiled pisang Saba turned softer and browned.

We also use Pisang Saba to make banana fritters (pisang goreng) and banana chips.

We used to have banana trees growing over the fencing at the back of our backyard. They are growing wide, tall and wild. They have grown near attaching to the roof. I insisted to remove them when we did our kitchen renovation last year. They will grow back overnight especially after the rain. We have to trim them almost every week to prevent them from growing wild again. The price of Pisang Saba is relatively cheaper than the other bananas of similar size.

Oats for breakfast

2023-03-10T01:00:00.000+08:00

We have been frequent having oats for breakfast these days. It is quick to fix and healthy. Pearl likes oatmeal, she learnt from youtube/tiktok on how to prepare overnight oats meal for her next day morning breakfast before school.

I bought this pack of Oats with Omega 3 flax flakes, it is an Australian product. Easy to prepare by adding hot water to soften the oats just like any instant oats. The texture is good.

This is my Strawberry Oatmeal breakfast. I also had some blueberries Oatmeal the day before to add more varieties to my breakfast.

Home Bakes - Cocoa Almond Muffin Cupcakes

2023-03-09T01:00:00.005+08:00

My daughter was in the mood to bake cupcakes. After baking the mini carrot cupcakes on last Sunday, she wanted to try out another cake with different flavour, I was a bit lazy but she promised to help out, she started to randomly flipped through a cake recipe book in the kitchen and found a coffee & walnut cake but I do not have instant coffee power nor walnut. I do have coco powder and almond flakes which I have not been able to use them for anything yet, thus we have a twist on the ingredients and we had Cocoa Almond Muffin cupcakes instead.

It was supposed to be a cake as per the recipe book, since I have got plenty of unused muffin cupcake cases in stock might as well use them up. We only made 7 medium size muffin cupcakes using this recipe, using smaller size cupcake cases will yield more.

I included the ingredients in my youtube video description box for record.

Monday food stuff shopping and dinner

2023-03-08T01:00:00.010+08:00

Yesterday Morning, after sending Crystal to Uni, we went to the wet market to get some fresh vegetables, we have totally run out of green in our fridge.

These are what we bought

This sawi and pak choi is RM2.00 per ikat

We bought some favourite kuih for our lunch & tea breaks and a loaf of bread for the next day morning breakfast as Pearl has got SPM's Accounting exam in the morning, we need a quick fix breakfast before rushing to school.

After the wet market, we went to the supermarket meant to get a can of evaporated milk for the whole grain desert that I boiled on Saturday. 100% of the time when we went into the supermarket we will come out with more stuff than what we intended to buy.

the evaporated milk and a bag of rice

some frozen food that come in handy for breakfast (the Mantou), lunch and dinner (the chicken meat rolls & Pork meat ball)

and a bag of 16 rolls of toilet tissues. The prices of the toilet tissues have increased some much, this brand cost RM2.04 per roll, I find the quality of this tissue is satisfying.

To save us time from cooking lunch, we take out/tapau 2 Tuaran Mee for our girls from the shop we had breakfast.

For dinner, we had the chicken meat rolls that we bought from the supermarket in the morning. I fried the rolls in the air fryer

and cut them up, served them in a bed of green vegetable

3 dishes, very simple dinner

Multiplying Hoya Kerrii, the lucky heart plant

2023-03-07T01:00:00.039+08:00

Honestly I did not know what this plant called until I searched it out from Mr Google by typing "heart shape cactus" wahahaha. Now I know it is call Hoya Kerrii, Hoya Heart or Lucky Heart among many other names given to it. Anyway, I prefer to called it Lucky Heart plant from now on.

This Lucky Heart plant with 2 leaves was given to us by my SIL last year who is very passionate in plants and flowers, she has got a garden full of greens and flowers and also vegetables too. She puts a lot of afford in maintaining her garden.

from 2 leaves last year (forgot the date).....I gave auspicious names "吉祥, 如意" to the leaves, simply means "Good Fortune and Abundance of all that you love"

and today, it has multiplied with an additional of 3 leaves with minimal care. I just have to water it 2-3 times a week.

In order for it to multiple more, I will have to transfer my Lucky Heart plant to a bigger pot. Will do that soon.

Philips Coffee Maker HD7431

2023-03-06T01:00:00.002+08:00

My previous "kitchen" was only like a pantry, I can only place the most frequent use kitchen aids on the table.

This Philips Coffee Maker has never been used, still in its original box for years. I took it out for good used since 3 months ago when there are more space in the renovated kitchen. I use local coffee powder from Yit Foh Tenom Coffee, more economical and thick. Sometimes I place a coffee bag inside its jug and boil water in the reservoir to make my coffee. This coffee machine has got keep warm feature which allows me to have warm coffee throughout the day.

I will use this coffee maker until I have got the budget to buy a capsule coffee machine.

Sunday bakes - Carrot cupcakes

2023-03-05T16:26:00.001+08:00

After taking a long break off from baking due to kitchen renovation. Crystal wanted to baked some little cupcakes. She agreed to help me in the baking, my better half flipped thru the recipe book and suggested us to bake the carrot cake because we have got carrots in the fridge. The ingredient called for self-raising flour but we didn't have any. Crystal suggested to ask uncle Google see whether we can replace it with cake flour. Yes, we can. Just add baking powder and salt.

We did it with some modifications from the book's ingredients by reducing the amount of sugar and oil especially.

most of the cupcakes are in this small size with only 4 bigger size with cheddar cheese topping. The cheese all turned brown after baking.