Little things do matter

5 ways to get kids interested in Martial Art

2026-06-15T12:12:44.856-07:00

I’m a mom of two boys, both are black belt 🥋, and people often ask how I got them into martial arts. Truthfully, I’m not a martial artist—just a Jackie Chan fan 🍿. I started them because I wanted them to learn solid self‑defense so they can protect themselves and their friends if they ever need to.

After years of navigating this journey as a protective mom, I’m genuinely glad I got my boys involved in martial arts at a young age. That alone is my first and biggest tip for anyone asking how to get their kids started.

#1. Start young

Kids are naturally curious. They want to explore what their bodies can do, and they don’t carry the same fear of losing or embarrassment that older kids and adults often develop. When they start young, they jump in with excitement and confidence.

#2. Spark their interest first

Before signing them up, get them excited. Let them watch age‑appropriate, cool martial arts movies 🎥 so they can imagine themselves doing those moves. When kids can see it, they start to want it.

#3. Choose the right school

The right fit makes all the difference. You’ll be partnering with the instructors to help your child grow—whether your goal is self‑defense, discipline, confidence, or overall fitness. Not all schools are the same, and not all instructors teach the same way. If a school isn’t delivering what your child needs, don’t hesitate to switch. There are so many great options out there: Karate, Taekwondo, Jiu‑Jitsu, and more.

#4. Join tournaments

The martial arts journey is long, challenging, and incredibly rewarding. Patience and determination are essential to staying motivated. Getting your kids into tournaments helps them see where they truly stand. They might be the best in their school, but competing exposes them to new skills, different styles, and opportunities to grow. It shows them what’s possible if they stay committed to their path.

#5. Explore other martial arts schools

If you’re part of a franchise program, you can usually attend other locations as long as you inform your home school for class credit. I highly encourage this. My kids improved by leaps and bounds after training with different instructors. They get recognized wherever they go—not just as competitors, but as students eager to learn. Instructors from other schools often take them under their wing and genuinely want to see them succeed.

As a mom, watching them lose a match and then be comforted by instructors who’ve been through the same thing is incredibly heartwarming. I’m proud of the moments when they fall short but pick themselves back up, persevere, and come back stronger. Winning a medal feels great, but the real beauty is in the journey that gets them there. No one achieves it alone—it truly takes a village.

Children and money

2023-09-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Days are long and years are long. I keep this in mind when thinking of my children. They will not stay small forever. Being aware of that, my husband and I started their savings since we feel we are able to.

I understand not many people have the luxury of putting aside money for their children so I consider myself fortunate to be able to afford that. You also need to consider to firstly take care of yourself. You must have your own retirement plan. The company typically set this up for you enforcing you to put aside money for your retirement fund. If you are a business owner, do set up your own. In US, I suggest to open Roth IRA and max it out.

Once you have your retirement and emergency funds squared away. Go ahead and start squiring away some money 💰 for your children. Be sure to check for tax incentives that come with it. I would suggest start small, maybe $50 monthly. Automatically transfer to their account to keep it active.

I would suggest that you shop for high yield interest saving accounts since the money won’t be easily spent. You may also open custodial brokerage account for them. In the US, you may opt for 529 account for your children. Thus account is for education purposes.

Another way to help your children about money is teaching them how to manage money, teaching them how to buy groceries. Explaining about the value of money and how much time it takes for us to earn money to pay for say, a pack of pokemon cards.

Regardless which option you choose for your family, this is something you should consider in order to secure financial stability for your family, eliminating stress in the future.

Money 💰 bank

Pay yourself first

2023-08-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

If I have one piece advice to give to myself when I was in my 20s is to pay myself first. When I was in my 20s, I completed both my undergraduate and postgraduate degree 📜. I did that right. I went to local university too with scholarships. This set myself a head start as I don’t own debt 💸.

Unfortunately, I took an unwise advice from well meaning folks. I bought a house and a car when my salary was measly at entry level job. I was struggling and hardly have anything left for savings. Had I known better, I would just bought a secondhand car and house after saving enough for my down payment and emergency.

I would have been patient and ignored that so called advice and saved enough for emergency and down payment for the home. I would plan what I can afford after I paid myself first. I will saving 10% and only buy when I need one

How much should I pay first? It would be around 20%. But if that was too much for you to start, just put away 10% at first. If your pay is $2000, then put away $200. Another thing I would have done with my money after saving 6months emergency fund is to not touch it unless it us dire “emergency”.

Once I got my emergency funds secured, I would start putting money away in brokerage account to invest. This will be another topic we should address another time.

Remember when you get pay, remember to not to save what left after spending but spend what is left after saving.

Grocery Shopping in US

2023-08-06T10:39:00.004-07:00

I have been living in US for over decade, drastic changes from my time back in Malaysia. Shopping in Malaysia can be distracting, most of the grocery stores can have multiple departments within the same building.

There’s whole sections of clothing selection next to pots and pans. This I like as I don’t need to make multiple trips to find pans to fry the fish I just purchased. However, the possibilities of overspending is high. You’ll end up going over budget if you are a compulsive shopper.

Grocery stores in US sold bigger or more like family portions which means very few small packages goods. If you purchase anything on deli or meat section, it’s wrapped with paper instead of plastic. Food brands are also different, less of Asian ingredients and more diverse ingredients including Hispanic and European foods.

We also have options to use either paper or plastic, or bring our own bag.

Things like tortillas shells and spaghetti sauce filled the shelves instead of star anise and soup pouches kits(aka sup bunjut). I ended up going to Asian market to find these items.

Nowadays, I shopped purposefully since prices of groceries increased dramatically. I’m going for generic brands instead of brand names. I would think ahead what I want to cook for the week than just purchase the items for “just in case I need them”. My thoughts process changes to ensure I don’t overspend.

I am back!

2023-07-17T10:45:00.006-07:00

Hello,

I have been in hiatus for few years. Many things had happened since my last post when things are chill and calm in my life.

It took me a while to start writing again after my mom passing in early 2020. Then Covid broke and we all went into crazy roller coaster event of uncertainty and self reflection.

I hope that I will write more about my wellness journey in this so call life. Young Living is still part of my family life so I hope if you wish to purchase, do use my referral link which I am stating below.

I do receive referral for your purchase using my referral link below, 17879782

If you enjoy my blog and love anything nature related, please do help me out on this.

It means a lot to me!

Montana

2019-09-09T08:22:00.003-07:00

What a beautiful state! I can’t wait to come back.

Owl 🦉 hoot hoot diffuser

2019-08-20T12:13:00.002-07:00

This set is so cute! It came with oil diffuser, stuff owl 🦉 and 5ml lavender oil. We have it at hotel and I can tell you, I slept so good! It has several Music 🎶 and sounds that promote relaxing sleep. It also has interchangeable night light who prefer a little ambience during bedtime routine.

Go get them and join my crew! Link

Young Living Purification EO

2019-07-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Being outdoors means I have to deal with bugs, I hate bugs 😱
This essential oil seems to keep the gnats at bay. I still see them flying around but not really close to me. Love the ingredients, citronella, lemongrass and tea tree. These are known for repelling ticks and mosquitoes.

Start your wellness journey by clicking the photo above! 😅

Dry Skin Serum

2019-07-19T13:01:00.001-07:00

I heard that you can never put enough moisture to your skin. It is known that aging starts with dry skin, when you don’t take care of them, wrinkles appeared.

Now, I like prune as much as the next person 😆but I don’t want to have prune face. I started using this after hearing reviews from Lindsey Elmore, she’s a pharmacist, all good things in this underated product.

After using them, it feels good on my skin. It’s not greasy. Smell like cedar wood. Itchy around my jawline due to dryness disappeared. I use it as my day cream. Love it, it’s a keeper.

Start your wellness journey by clicking ➡️🌱🌱

Natural Insect Repellents

2019-07-18T08:52:00.001-07:00

Hike in the woods
We have a small trail close to home and I love to bring my kids for quick hike. This time I came prepared with the new Insect Repellent I got on my ER last month. I transfer some to small sprayer so it’s easy to carry in my pocket.

The liquid is quite concentrated but small amount is enough for my son and I. I spray about 5cent size on my palm and rub them on any expose area. I started to get nervous when I saw gnats started to hover as we walked closer into the woods.

But we came out enjoying the hike without a single insect bites! This is great and absolutely wonderful to have.

Journey starts here: click ➡️🌱

Young Living’s Insect Repellent is tested to repel mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas using only 100 percent naturally derived, plant-based ingredients.

Pure sesame oil and a carefully selected blend of essential oils traditionally used for their bug-repellent properties come together to make up all 99 percent of the active ingredients in this formula. The other 1 percent? Vitamin E. That means you can use it on your little ones and not worry about the synthetic chemicals used in many traditional repellents. You’ll also love the pleasant, citrusy aroma and smooth, non-greasy, non-sticky application.

Thieves Household Cleaner

2019-07-17T21:23:00.001-07:00

Time to switch and ditch
Spring cleaning is so exhausting, on top of this we shouldn't compromise our health. Since changing to thieves cleaner, I noticed I can never go back to chemical laden cleaner in the stores. Those blue liquid bottle we tend to grab to wash our window is out in the thrash bin. We are happy with our general Thieves Household cleaner.

What I do?I mixed with just a capful of THC and 2 cups of water, very economical. It does the job minus the harmful chemical. It also leaves faint lemon scent, not those sharp chemical smell that masked with some weird sweet perfume.

I truly hope more people get on the bandwagon of self love and wellness. This is not just making our house smell good, but going on journey of changing to pure, clean and safe ingredients for our home, our family.

Start your journey by clicking here ➡️🌱

Lavaderm Cooling Mist

2019-07-17T20:40:00.001-07:00

This thing is amazing. It’s a refreshing cool mist, perfect after exposure to sun ☀️. It contains aloe vera, lavender, Northern Blue Spruce and Helicrysum essential oil. Which by itself great to support healthy looking skin.

Young Living products usually are multi purpose, Lavaderm Cooling Mist is no exception. I use it as my facial toner to rejuvenate my skin after cleaning routine.

Join me and start your journey with healthier living now by clicking ➡️🌱

Finance Savvy or Fun Money

2018-10-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

I don't call myself financial expert and I feel at this point in my life I am doing okay with my money and that, so far my money is working not as hard as it should be but at least it still beat inflation and some more. What does this mean? Generally inflation is about ~3% annually, say if you have $1 today, by next year it will worth about $0.97. Therefore the conventional way of saving like putting money under your mattress has been moot as long as I can remember. Even putting your money in bank is doing much for you either. At a rate of 0.01% a year, well you can do better by shopping around.
I have been doing my own finance for years until recently, the abrupt wake up call happened when I have my children. I need to do better, because I no longer doing this for myself, I need to make sure my kids is taken care of at least until they can take care of themselves later on (say in 15 years 😆)
When I was in Malaysia, I worked as a part time Public Mutual agent. This was a wonderful experience, you learn how to manage your income and learn about all sort of financial vehicles available. There are bond, equity, index, small cap, large cap, balance fund etc. It was basic financial 101 but it's fund and help me to play with other people money for awhile without exposing me and my former clients much risk. Mutual fund has lower risk compare to stocks as the risk was spread of 100 over stocks, at the end the risk is brought to a minimum. I still kept some of my Public Mutual Funds. I only sell one fund, which I feel a little regret as it actually made more than double the amount I have now. But the rest is doing great, one of them is kinda lag a little for few years, but two of the equity funds are pulling everything else through making it a positive investments. If you are thinking which private company to invest in Malaysia, go for Public Mutual Berhad. They are the first private owned company and won many fund performance awards for many years. I no longer an agent as I have immigrated abroad but I still very much a satisfied customer.
Every year I will revisit my public mutual funds and noticed how much it grows, I wish I have invested more, I could have a little fortune waiting back in Malaysia if I do that. You know what? I can, hope my agent send me forms for EPF investment soon. For anyone worry over the dip in the market, if you have years until your planned retired, go for dollar cost averaging. Dollar cost averaging is investing small amount every month like $50-$100. This is another way reduce your financial risk even more.
In the USA, the market spectrum is broader. There are more options, there's tax implication to consider. You even get tax when you die! 😖 But it is also quite easy to manage if you have a job that provide 401K. If your employer doesn't provide 401K, you should set something up for yourself, Roth IRA, IRA etc. Company is currently working hard to keep exiting employee stay and enticing new ones by offering match in 401K. Not a bad deal, there's not a lot of free stuffs nowadays. ROTH IRA is also good as they are post tax and whatever we make out of it later on, you don't have to pay tax. Once retirement fund is set, you

Faith, Family and Cancer

2018-10-20T16:26:00.001-07:00

I have heard of cancer, back when I was little, cancer was a death sentence. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to be associate with it, perhaps I can say now, nobody know much about it back then. Now, I think many of us has been touched by cancer, someone we love, someone we know, perhaps some of us is a cancer survivor or battling cancer at this moment.
My family is a typical Asian family, consist of single breadwinner while my mom stayed and took care of us. We are sheltered I might say, we don't have lots of things in life but we have each other. We were happy in our own little ways. I moved away from home and country almost a decade ago, so my line of communication with my family is through daily group text and occasional phone calls. One of my calls back home, my mom complained about her unusual urine color. It was very yellow like "teh c", this she referred to coffee shop drink, milk tea looking liquid. I wasn't too alarm at first, I just had a baby a year ago and I was preoccupied with my two young children. I thought that it was just high vitamin-C content that actually cause our urine to be bright yellow than normal. I went and google online, and seems like lack of water also make our urine turn yellowish. So, I told my mom that it might be nothing too serious but she must by all means go see a doctor.
"But I didn't feel any pain at all," she replied.
"It doesn't matter, you just let the doctor check on you and tell you if everything is ok," I said.

The next phone call we have was after the doctor visits and few x-rays. My mom said that her doctor saw her bile was swollen and there was something blocking the bile duct. He referred her to a specialist at Gleneagle hospital for surgery. My mom, who has never has surgery in her life, totally devastated about the whole ordeal. It took few days for her to decide to go for surgery. The first surgery was to reduce inflammation on her bladder, this by relieving blockage in the duct so to let waste and fluid pass through them normally. After this surgery, my mom urine color went back to normal again.

During one of her review, doctor noticed she has jaundice too. Apparently, this was common when there is obstruct bile duct or inflamed liver. There was regular visits to her doctor to monitor the bilirubin level before she has the clear to go for surgery. By the end of 3rd visits, my mom was so ready to go for surgery. It took few more visit before her bilirubin was at a level where its safe to perform surgery. After almost a month, the doctor finally schedule a surgery date. My mom talked to me several times a week for comfort and encouragement. I can sense her nervousness and vulnerability. My mom who has always been sure and strong now leaning on us for support. My heart ache but I pull myself together and be as calm as possible answering her worries with words I learn from books and some I heard many times in the course of my life,
"It will be ok"
"God will watch after you"
"The doctors know what they are doing"
"Medical technology is so advance now, you have nothing to worry about."
At some point, I was comforting both of us as I too don't know how this surgery going to be.

After my mom admitted to the hospital and to OR, we waited for result, my dad never left "her side". He walked the hospital hallway, visited cafeteria and being the friendly guy that he is, he made friends with many of the healthcare team.

After what seems to be eternity, the doctor came out and my mom moved to ICU to "rest and recuperate". We were told that the surgery went well, they removed cyst that blocked her bile duct and send the specimen for lab test. All was ok, so we thought at first.
The storm came few days after when my mom complained about difficulties in breathing. Doctor thought it was just fluid in her lung, this is just a common side affect after surgery. After few more days, her breathing became more shallow and really difficult. My mom was put under medical comatose to help with healing. My sister told me that she cannot bear sight of her looking so weak like that. We were all so scare, all we can do was pray, pray for healing, pray for strength, pray for my mom. After few days not knowing what was going on, the doctor came to tell my dad my mom need another surgery as he suspect something amiss during the first one. After the 3rd surgery, doctor found some stitches inside were loose, so some fluid leaks causing my mom respiratory issue. My dad asked the doctor, how he knew about it (something not right about the surgery). The doctor explained, that he cannot rest and kept worry about my mom, then it just came to him the only way to find out is to perform another surgery.
We thought this must be the end, my mom will be ok now. I book a flight and came home 5 days after the surgery, this was after I heard my mom voice recording that she's awake and there's no need to come home.

There's other news came after the lab report, the cyst that was removed was confirmed cancerous. Doctor told us my mom has pancreatic cancer. I am not familiar with this type of cancer as it is very rare and consider deadly if it not detected early on. We all spend lots of time googling about pancreatic cancer, what is the cure, how to manage pain etc.

This is what I found:
Pancreatic cancer begins in the tissues of your pancreas — an organ in your abdomen that lies horizontally behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas releases enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help manage your blood sugar.
Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of these.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer often don't occur until the disease is advanced. They may include:
- Pain in the upper abdomen that radiates to your back
- Loss of appetite or unintended weight loss
- Depression
- New-onset diabetes
- Blood clots
- Fatigue
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

In yellow is what my mom experience before her diagnoses.

After reading the symptoms in mayo clinics website, I realize my mom has some but not all the signs. She never feel any pain, no sign of diabetes and consider healthy before this. My mom has always been good with vitamins supplements, being active at church and at home, she's a non smoker and never drinks. Overall, we never suspect any of this. But alas this happened to least among us, they said. We braced ourself and managed this new normal together.

Chemotherapy was scheduled, doctors reviews, strict diet regimen, medications. There was financial implication with hospital bills. Gleneagle is a private hospital, with it came a hefty hospital bills. If it's not for my parents prudent saving, this might not be possible. I wonder if my parents hasn't been a saver when they are younger, things might end differently. My dad was a government staff before he retired, he never own insurance, he never has life insurance or medical insurance, medical cards or any of that. He always thought that being a pensioner on government pay, they will continue to care for them when they are ill. There is always government hospital, QE Hospital. he issue with the government hospital is that there's a long list of patients that have the same needs, there's very little hope my mom will get treated and by the time it did, it might be too late. I think one advice I have for myself and others in same situation is there is no guarantee in life. Government staffs also need insurance, specifically medical insurance. This will save you and your family stress over money, unnecessary distress when you have medical issue to worry about. Do yourself a favor and sign up for a medical card, especially when you have family background of serious health issue like cancer.

My family is a champ, my dad especially so brave and so good, such a brick! My brothers and sister taking turn watching, taking care of mom and dad. I feel comforted knowing my mom and dad both in good hands even after I left. With a heavy heart, I have to head home to my own family that depend on me. We are still worry over both my mom and dad, my mom doing good now, her cancer is in remission, there is no sign of the dreaded cell in her system. I believe our faith has carried us through the stormy weather, what else can we do during time of turmoil where everything seems helpless. I trust the Almighty has His reason for everything, we must make good with this opportunity, not everyone get second chance in life. Go Live, Love and keep faith always.

Spa living, one oil at a time- Part-2

2018-10-18T16:18:00.001-07:00

How to get your hands these babies and start your Spa lifestyle?

First, I would recommend you to educate yourself with type of essential oils and try samples out. This is very important, you have to make sure your skin doesn't react to mineral in these oil. Try some of them during one of Young Living event or you can also purchase samples online.

Once you are comfortable with it, then you can join our team of oiler here and begin this journey with us. You can pick different starter kit, based on many recommendation premium starter kit is the way to go. It may be a little spendy, $169 is a lot of money, but it does come with a lot of stuffs to set you off.

Your Premium Starter Kit Includes:

Desert Mist™ Diffuser
Premium Essential Oils Collection;
Lavender 5-ml
Peppermint Vitality™ 5-ml
Lemon Vitality™ 5-ml
Copaiba Vitality™ 5-ml
Frankincense 5-ml
Thieves® Vitality™ 5-ml
Citrus Fresh™ 5-ml
Raven™ 5-ml
DiGize™ Vitality™ 5-ml
PanAway® 5-ml
Stress Away™ 5-ml
AromaGlide™ Roller Fitment
Thieves Household Cleaner 1-oz. sample
10 Love It? Share It! Sample Business Cards
10 Love It? Share It! Sample Oil Bottles
2 NingXia Red® 2-oz. samples
Product Guide and Product Price List
Essential Oils Magazine
Essential Edge News
Member Resources

1. Once you click this link, it will bring you to this page below. Here's how you start:

Select country and preferred language, then enter ID: 16640569.

2. Next choose a starter kit, as I recommended earlier, choose Premium Starter Kit (PSK). This special price is only offered to new enroll member, so do take advantage of this exclusive offering.

3. You can skip the monthly reward or Essential Reward or you can enroll now. What you will get is a reduced shipping charge and gift at every 3 months of repeat purchase from Young Living.

4. The next step is to enter some basic information, you can skip social security number for now. You can update this later on when you decided to grow this business.

The final step is to check term and agreement page, then entering payment and shipping information to complete this process.

Spa Living, One oil at a Time-Part-1

2018-10-13T16:35:00.001-07:00

It’s autumn again and my mums came back to bloom filling the garden with sweet scent that brought me back to childhood years. I used to accompany my dad to weekly church prayers meeting. End of the meet up, they would ask us to bring the decorations home. These decor consists of fresh mums all different colors. When I get lucky, I would be given a stalk of long pretty mums. I always remember that scent of sweet mums long ago.

Dessert Mist Diffuser

What else in the Premium Starter Kit

So here I am in 2018, a dear friend gifted me a face serum that brought such fond memories back. Memories of utter peace and calmness. I started using essential oil years ago when there isn’t any local source available. It was probably 15 years some time around 2013. There was a spa in Damai, Kota Kinabalu, where I usually frequent to pamper myself with facial and massage. The owner was an intimidating woman, whatever I thought about her character, I can’t find fault about her usage of oil. She insisted using high quality products at the spa. My skin absolutely loves it, I would purchase a blend that last me months and my skin never look better. After I moved to USA, I stopped because starting family actually taking up every facet of my life here. It’s all about them instead of me.
Actually, I am not entirely new to Young Living, I use Lemon, Digize and Lavender. They are good but I am not about to invest time or money 💰 on it at that time. I finally caved in as I aged I realize I need to take good care of myself, beside, living in cold weather region half the year tend to dry my skin.

I decided to give Young Living a try the second time. I bought a premium starter kit (PSK) just earlier this month. The PSK which cost about $160 actually covers everything I need from top to toe. It got all the oil I needed to blend my own face serum.
Premium Starter Kit (PSK) Product Review:
Dessert Mist Diffuser:
I came back to provide an update on the product after few days of usage. What I did is I added few drops of lavender essential oil mixed with a cup of water in the diffuser and I found myself drift off to la la land earlier than I normally would. Now I know this because I track my sleep with a Fitbit and definitely notice the improvement. I usually went to bed early if you call that at 10pm but I stayed awake until midnight, but ever since I tried the diffuser, I noticed that I fall asleep at 1040pm.
Face Serum
The serum which consist of Frankincense, Lavender and Copaiba essential oil works wonders. 15 years ago, people was shocked when I told them I use essential oil on my skin. They said, it'll clogged our pores and cause blemishes. It all depends on type of carrier oil you uses, certain oil like Rose hip and Grape seed oils are really light and fast absorber. This is the reason I wrote this blog because I feel many people will really benefit from this discovery. All the 3 oil I have just mentioned actually included in the PSK. For Organic carrier oil you can get from iherb. I bought several oils from iherb, it offers free shipping for purchase over $20 within US. Fast and great service.

Lemon water
Another oil I used here is lemon vitality, which I add a drop to my water daily. Lemon water has natural detox function. Those who wants to just help regulate their digestive system, lemon water is good for you.

If you do want to try this out, feel free to leave me a comment here. I will show you how you can join Young Living and creating a spa life living, one oil at a time. With most of other MLM, I found that the "upline" most of the time, interested with getting lots of "downline" produce income, for me I found lots of YL group support and together assist me in my journey to create zenfull lifestyle. I hope you will benefit with this too.
The perks with me joining Young Living in the USA means I also have access to products available in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia as the group I am in is truly great helping me get oil that was out of stock in US. I recently just got Ylang Ylang which scent I am so obsessed with.

My sponsor link to Young Living:
YOUNGLIVING

Going up north with essential oil

Cold temperature cause my perfume to solidify, then it change to liquid state at room temperature.

Product guides with all Young Living product catalog and how to use them.

Homecoming

2017-06-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today marked the 8 years I begin my life in US soil. I am in a happy and positive place. I find myself loving my little nook I called home the past years.

Not too long ago, I have to fly home due to family emergencies. I brought little luggage and left my young children behind with my husband holding the fort. I trust they are in good hands. This trip was necessary and we made it happen. The long flight was uneventful and I am so glad. As I landed at KKIA, my heart filled with gladness and my eyes watered, I am home.

My little brother picked me up at the airport and brought me straight to the hospital. Kota Kinabalu was no longer the town I once knew. More shopping malls seems to mushroom everywhere. Did I mentioned there were more hotel that I doubt were needed in this economy. My head spins as I try to adjust my brain to the road and traffic. I am so used to driving in the right side of the road, this British flow was giving me major headache. I decided to focus on the building instead. How interesting that a land used to be water village now were packed with a mall and a hotel.

You know you are in Asia when you see Neko cats welcoming you on the store front.

Gleneagle Hospital was another new building that were once were home to sea creatures. I suppose the city decided that it a good spot as any for a hospital, no one bother to consider how this going to affect the traffic which already bad as is. It was a huge building on the side of freeway, parking fees was horrendous. There was a nice coffee shop on the main foyer, which is cool. I need my shots daily so this ease the cravings for caffeine.

Most of my siblings didn't change much, they were a little tired with lack of sleep but otherwise looking very well. My dad however aged since I saw him merely 2 years ago. He carries a cane with him now which conveniently turned into a little stool whenever he needs to stop and rest. My mom also looked tired and weak. Otherwise they were both so glad to see me home and safe.

Sabah was just as beautiful as I remembered. The people are cordial and so friendly. They don't care who or where you are from, everyone is treated like a million bucks. You went away feeling good all day long. My stay overseas didn't change me, I don't think. If anything, I appreciate my love ones even more. The distance makes the hearts grow fonder the saying goes. Food was fantastic and I can't help but rave about it here.

Turkey Ham??? Why don't they just say turkey sandwiches?

Cake Onde-onde or Pandan with Coconut Sugar cake

Konlou Roast duck and Pork Belly

Buffet Spread at D'Place in Kota Kinabalu (Shell Plaza)

I love how they put element of traditional bamboo house in this restaurant. (D'Place KotaKinabalu)

Ikan Basung Goreng (Fried Mackerel), Labu masak Lemak dan Ikan Masin (Salted fish cooked with Pumpkin and coconut milk).

Nasi Bario (Purple Bario rice)

My cousin made me tried Grub Pizza (Piza Butod), which I ended up liking, Yummy.

BBQ Pork with Roasted Pork on spinach Noodles. (Gam Tong Restaurant at Imago Kota Kinabalu)

These are donuts selection at Dunkin Donut Seoul Airport, I ended up not getting any because it was all in Korean and I wasn't sure what I was going to get.

So I got myself Cafe Latte which the cashier actually understood. The Bachang or Kochung was bought on day before at Restaurant 88 Kota Kinabalu.

The infamous chicken feet soup I had for breakfast the day after my arrival. It was accompanied by my chicken rice at famous chicken rice restaurant at Inanam, Oh and it was so good, I meant the rice.

The apartment suites I stayed was ok. It was a short walk to the hospital and the apartment was clean. It has a working washer dryer but not the stovetop. The kitchen exhausts hood was not even vent out so people might find it inconvenient that the smoke alarm keep going off whenever they tried to cook something. The elevators was partially complete, 2 of the 3 still has plywood as wall and floor covers. For those interested to know, I stayed at Accord Regency Suite.

The area itself was strategically located with the new Imago shopping mall very close by. We walk there to get a bite to eat whenever I get the chance to do so. I tried two restaurants there, Coffee and Tea Legend and Gam Tong Hong Kong recipe. They were very good, I highly recommend them. The price I found a little spendy for local Sabahan but dirt cheap for westerners.

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I came home not really for vacation. Whatever the age you are in, nothing can prepare you to deal with sudden family emergencies, we do whatever we can to give comfort, to ease burdens or to just be present. Sometimes words needn't be spoken to show you care.
Life shoot you a curveball when you least expected, at some point you might missed it but you do your best and stay with your team to the end. When there's a matter of life and death, you find money is a great tool to have but what we truly need is faith. Sometimes things are beyond our control, faith will bring us through the storms.

I returned home after merely 5 days in Sabah, While there, memories of the past visited me at every turn. I seem to walked into the future. The reason I said this is because I last saw my dear birth state five years back, now many things changed here. People who live through the change have time to adjust to them. I wasn't expecting this. I knew there will be some changes, perhaps my sibling mentioned to me where they recently shop, places foreign to me. Now I found what people meant by "It wasn't the same as I last seen it." It made me sad, although progress is inevitable, I wish something just stay as it was.

I came back to the place I called my home now, leaving an aching heart behind. I think of my parents and they are not as strong as they used to be. They came from a generation that works hard and save diligently. My parents never ask for hands out, they never brag about their children. They go to church weekly. They are good people. But bad things happened to everyone, good people are no exception. I think back, life is so short, why not make it worth while. So why not wake up and decide to be HAPPY. Give freely and willingly. Give your family hugs, tell them you love them and they meant everything to you. Walk and smile or say hi to people, little things may bring happiness to someone. You never know, some day you may need one in return.

Teapot Debuckle

2017-01-13T22:00:00.004-08:00

I am surprise that my top post over the years is about cat. There's nothing wrong with loving a fuzzy animal. Anyways before I digress further from the topic, lets talk about teapot and why am I into tea and that sort of things nowadays. I recently read a mystery book title Mystery at Wisteria Tea Room" and the fancy tea party just intrigue me more so these days. It must be because of my dream of stress free chilling days when I can have "me" time without interuption.

So there I was, after reading the book, I literally went out and research everything about tearoom, the teaset, the scones and tiny sandwiches, on my way to create my own little haven. I even went as far as looking for tea house around the city. Picturing myself in full 19 century garb and ridiculous looking hat, holding dainty dessert on my gloved hands.

Partial order that arrived intact.

The thoughts both amuse and pleasing to me but it did't stop me from going to ebay and buy a teapot to match my existing blue danube cups. It took hours of my precious time and hit the buy button for this really cool blue white teapot and sit back and wait.

In the meantime I kept myself busy checking on tea room, cute tea sandwiches to occupy my thoughts. It did dawn on me that I am not a tea person, I love coffee so this didn't derail my plan for a tapot. I simply going to improvise, tea or coffee, both caffeine. I am sure not going to worry over it.

Candle holder was also broken. Noticed how this box was packed with odds and ends. Pretty unusual and ineffective.

So the tea set came in the box yesterday, I anxiously wait until I can safely unpack my teapot. Although I did have my reservation over the packaging. It seems unusual that it cost less to ship some odd shapes teaset and using US postal too. As I slowly pull each item out and inspect them, my head felt giddy with excitement. It was very unconventional how the items packed. The box was stuffed with odd doilies, thrashes, paper towel. Then as I dug on the bottom to pull the teapot out, I feel parts of broken porcelains. Least to say, I was disappointed. So this was what become of my tea-escapade, broken teapot in a sad box. I was bummed but I still cherish the idea of having my late noon hi-tea so I made email inquiry, contact the seller and got some money back. My quest for another teapot continue....

Broken teapot in its' weird packaging

Local Business Matters

2017-01-07T15:07:00.002-08:00

I have been very good at making smart purchase online lately, well, that's not entirely true. I tried to be good at shopping online. I feel that I tend to go overboard every time November month loom ahead, the holiday seasons has started and sales signs appeared almost instantaneously when you turn on your internet browser.

This year I have been making lots of afford to promote small businesses, whether it's my locale or others. Every time I see or red about a store closing, my heart sank. Surely, there must be something we all can do to help this small businesses continue, especially those that have been around over the years. It is very unfortunately, overhead cost were getting too pricey and that the sales just doesn't cut it. It has nothing to do about quality, I know small business owner cares about their products and would sure love to get repeating sales from their regulars.

As a matter of fact, I owned a little business to enable my family to afford extra income. I am proud of the company I am representing. Young Living has a lot of products out there and not just essential oil. It has help many build their own business and support families in wellness and income too.
Here’ link to start your wellness journey ➡️🌱

I make several big purchases via local jewelry store called Wixon Jewelers, well not I, my husband did. I got a pair of amethyst earrings, they are very pretty tear drops gems that not gaudy and old. The store has been around for awhile, they serve complimentary cookies and coffee for customer. The sales clerks are mostly helpful, although, I feel a little intimidated to go in the store on my own because well, sales people really pushy sometimes. But they are polite and let you go on your way to browse through selections, but not far if you have questions.

I also patronize a small coffee shop called Mugshots Coffee Company. They serve the best caramel latte ever! My son would come up the cash register and ask for "hot chocolate please" which they comply by giving him extra whipped cream too. Good manners goes a long way, I tell you.

Caramel Latte at Mugshots Coffee Co.

When Christmas loom ahead, we tried checking out local stores to get our kids presents but it is impossible. So we head to Toys R us and make a big purchase item there for both kids. I am a little disappointed that the prices are crazy expensive. I mean, a kid shopping cart for $39.99, really? But I feel like nothing caught my eyes, the store was just too big, too confusing and I am exhausted. On our way back, we decided to check out a small toy store we caught as driving along freeway. It was called ABC and Toy land. The store front wasn't very inviting and honestly, I was not impress at first. I change my mind after walking into a very organize, nicely rearrange and very helpful sales assistant. We get a nice short tour of the store has and both my husband and I eventually found good decent toys at reasonable price. The store is family own and has unique selection of toys at any ages, we will definitely come back next holiday around.

ABC and Toy Zone

The most expensive purchase I did last year was a work bag. Not just a bag, but the bag. Leather material with copper buckles and pretty stitchings. The old bag has served me well for the past 6 years working. The holder frayed all over the place and there are scratches all over the bag that look so beat up and sad looking. So I make my point, I need a new bag. It took me for awhile to research for a bag, I want USA made and I want one that last awhile. I did not know that both that combine could cost me some moolah. It was discerning at first, but I finally found an online store called Copper River Bags. There inventories look great, I love the design and I like the selections. I finally took advantage of the Christmas sales and bought myself an early gift. For something that is made in this country, I think it is a great deal and I was surprise that they are affordable.

Cooper River Voyager Laptop bag

I have since purchased many more items made locally and I have not been disappointed yet. The product I can tell are well made and I am a very satisfy customer. Least to say I will go back for more local made stuffs.

If you want to see a list of product made in the USA. You can start from this "list".

In Their Little World

2016-09-17T19:27:00.001-07:00

Today like any other day, I make a trip down to the playground with my children. My son insisted that we do that so we can "exercise". I like the idea. Since my son birth and with busy career and kids, exercise has never a priority. So I make a point to go for my daily walk with a side trip to the park.

There are children of many ages that come here and my son has never have problems getting involved in whatever kids were playing. However today it is different. The first instance my son saw other kids, he would immediately engaged and start playing but one kid in particular were not interested and just ran off. When my son try to get closer, while I sat on the park bench observing them, I heard this child said to another child, "He has different skin, he's not like us," He turned to my son and said," I don't want to play with you. "

At this moment, the child father came straight to his son and have a talk to him. I know, in time, the child will learn to get along and that skin color is just that, colors. It doesn't define your character. Just a short time later, another group of friends came around and my son already playing chase with another kid and they having best of time.

This event affected me more than it does my son. Simply because I am also a minority in the place I grew up. I cannot control how others feel towards my children as they grew up, but I want them to understand that the world is made out of different people. There are many good people and some who made bad choices. We can always move on and find others who wants to play in our sandbox. My son never care what color of his friends skin are. I never thought of ever making a reference to it. There is no reason to, in their world, things are not complicated. I just hope it stays that way for a little while yet. As a parents, we play an important role to instil a good deal of morale value in our children and also to remind them that we are here for them. My son teach me a valuable lesson today too. I asked him what he do if other children don't want to play with him. He said, "I'll just walk away and play with other friends."

My son playing on his own at the park.

Challenge of a Nursing Mama..

2016-06-04T16:38:00.001-07:00

I decided to breastfeed my baby right after knowing I was carrying my first child. It was not even a question. I want to do it, it was what a mother should be doing and it should be second nature to a woman whom after 9 month carrying precious cargo in her womb, going through intense labor experience should be able to do. My mother brought up 5 kids and we were born naturally without pain killers, so I should be fine. Little did I know how wrong I was, having imbedded such high expectation in myself made it so difficult when things doesn't go the way we plan it to be.

When I was told by my pediatrician that I have to supplement my baby with formula, I was floored. I feel like such a failure. "Don't do it!"the whole internet pro-breastfeeding forum chided over my first attempt on bottle. My son did not have soiled diapers for two days, what should I do? My nipples cracking and bleeding, pumping didn't yield much at all. "Try this herbs, it should increase milk production" Perhaps it does work on someone else, but as much as I wished it to work, it did not. I finally relented to supplementing formula on top of my struggle breastfeeding my child. It was so hard, will it ever get better? The questions keep coming up my head. It is so frustrating because I wanted my breastfeeding experience to be magical, like other mom. It did not happen immediately, nor did it happen months after. It took a good 3 months before I start enjoying the beautiful bond between myself and my son.

I weaned my son after finding out I am expecting another child 2 years after that. It was a little sad for me, because I truly enjoy the quiet bond between just the two of us. Nobody can take that away from us. Deep in my thoughts, I dreaded the early month of birth when my new baby start nursing. Will it be as hard as the first time? The early week of breastfeeding for my second baby was easier than I anticipated, truly, I do not set high expectation on breastfeeding. Thing does get better, to my relieve and my husband. Formula is expensive and a second child in daycare would most likely burn holes in our pockets.

Lactation cookies as milk booster is still up for debate, but they are extremely delicious!

The minute my second child took the nipple, I knew it is going to be different. His latch is better, stronger. I also feel my let down is faster and longer. Now, I am very analytical person. So I went on comparing my two birth, two babies and finally my diet during their nursing age. My first born, I had cesarean surgery due to last minute complication. My second baby is born normally. Both I have requested epidural although my second wasn't administered until my active labor. My bad, I thought I am getting good at pain management. That was a bad call. My diet wasn't anything different, but the second time, having normal birth means I have faster recovery and I get to take all my normal Chinese confinement diet completely. It consist of lots of nourishing tea and soups. I am trying to promote any kind of diet but I believe drinking lots of soup and tea helps increase milk production. This tea consist of Chinese herbs and spices. I simply follow the direction on its package and drink them sparingly with the soup. The first month of my baby birth, I simply establishing nursing routine. I breastfeed every two hours or at least 8 times a day. I counted wet and soiled diapers, making sure they hit the minimum target for the day. The hospital provided me a checklist to keep all these on track for the first 24 days. I think this was very helpful, although it does make me paranoid if it nearly did not hit the target at times. Another diet food which I have been taking is simply oat in a jar. I made few changes to the original recipe, I keep it simple and easy to make due to hectic schedule. There is only 3 basic ingredients, one part rolled oat, 2 part almond milk and a dash of brown sugar. I added craisin and banana if I feel a little fancy for the day. Add the ingredients in a mason jar and leave them in the fridge overnight. It will be ready for breakfast or mid day snacks. I also start taking oatmeal cereal as my snack, minus milk. I just keep them in ziplock and munch them at work. So far my son has been getting enough milk, he isn't as fussy as my first born and he has some baby fat on him that just makes me want to nibble his chunky arms at times.

Lansinoh bottle

Oatmeal in a jar left overnight in the fridge.

You will need supplies stock for time when you are away from your baby.

Breastfeeding babies actually need Vit-D. But if your baby get at least 15 min of sunshine a day, it should be adequate.

There has been other challenges with my second born although breastfeeding has progress well. My baby has rejected bottle after 4 months of taking them at daycare with no problem. It did concern me in case he might be starving at daycare. But fortunate for him, he did not starve. Unfortunate for me, he has been getting his daily milk intake in the wee hour of the morning when everyone else is getting their beauty sleeps. This took few weeks of figuring out but I finally get a right nipples for his bottle to make it easier for him to get his expressed milk at daycare. Again, this is not an advertisement and I did not get compensate for anything I write in my blog. If it helps put some mamas mind out there at ease, it is already a reward for me. I digress again, sorry. I went through few nipples on bottles, many forums, googling to get the right ones for my child. Finally, I found that Pigeon brand (peristalsis plus) or Lansinoh brand works the best for him. Pigeon brand is distributed in Asia and Australia while Lansinoh is sold in US region. It also helps to have lots of patience and not sweat over it if he push the bottle away the first few times. Having some kind of distracting like TV or toys also helps with bottle feeding.

Don't forget to take Pre-Natal supplement

If I have a do-over for my first child, what would I have done differently? I think I shouldn't have stress over bottle aka formula feeding. My son is fed and he's thriving, that's all that matters. Breast is always the best if you are lucky to be able to provide them but it is also vital that your child is healthy and happy.

I am not sure but those tiny feet just so cute.

Round Barn Bread & Breakfast In Red Wing

2015-07-27T13:13:00.001-07:00

Our recent weekend getaway was just wonderful and romantic. I would recommend it to any couple, regardless how long your relationship are, I think Everyone would enjoy some form of R & R. We spent our night at a quaint B&B at Red Wing, off the road from highway 61, about 6 miles from town. It has substantial acreage and few out buildings on it. The round barn which was how the establishment is named after was one of the buildings. You can't miss it, it is right there on the property just as you drive into the house.

Round barn at night

Restored Round barn at the B&B

The pretty victorian built to fit modern amenities with old world architecture

We were smitten by the house itself, it was a red brick Victorian and had a charming porch with few seating area. Now, who doesn't want a porch at their place? Made me want to reconfigure our little house back home. Perhaps I can sneak in a little porch somewhere. As we knock on the door, we were greeted by our host and were invited into this lovely entrance, to the left was a glass case of the replica of the original round barn. We were told that It used to be a honey factory. There were few cute decorations which introduced the flavor of early 1900. Pretty hardwood floors throughout the entire place. There were a staircase leading to the bedrooms upstairs while there was a door on the right leading to a family room. Huge fireplace sat on one wall while there's more Knicks knacks the guests can enjoy. Puzzles, games, piano, books and some treats on the coffee table.

Model of the round barn when it served as honey processing area

One of the fire place in the living room

Piano and other items for guest to enjoy

Perhaps a reading nook at the screened porch.

Beautiful cabinet at the kitchen

Another fire place at the dining room

A large dining room where we have breakfast in the morning.

An antique sleigh that function as book shelves.

Wagon was used as coffee table.

OK, clearly I am not a fisherman. I have no idea most of these conversation. Thankfully my husband does.

Another door from the hallway leads to a formal dining room with a table that seats 12 people. There was a large cabinet with intricate woodwork stood on one of the walls. Each cabinet doors was careful carved with figures from the era when the cabinet was built. Another massive fireplace filled one side of the wall. It was made from the original stones blocks the old house was built in. As you traveled through each rooms, every nook and cranny tells a story or better yet, you can always imagined one up yourself.

There was a gathering area right outside the room. Lots of puzzles games, a table chess and books again. There was a stocked mini fridge and a coffee/tea station for the guests.

Another guest area by the 2nd floor.

Our room was the smallest bedroom but I personally think the sweetest. It has a queen size bed with heavy down quilt covers and fluffy white pillows. I have to be careful not to drool on them at night. There is a bathroom one corner, Big jet tub one side, a desk, a dresser, an electric stove fireplace and a reading nook. It was a decent size room and just right for us. The room is actually facing the garden where the barn was.

Bath tub with Jet for a relaxing bath.

Writing journal while enjoy a cuppa tea.

Snacks of muffin before breakfast at 830am

Lovely queen bed with thick down blanket.

Our breakfast was consist of three course meal, we were first served fruit cocktails in a wine glass. Then came spinach quiche and bacon. My husband who gross out with eggs has mentioned his preferred "no egg" breakfast so he got a very delicious pancake instead. Then last we have orange or lemon custard pie. So delicious and filling, I could have a second but since nobody asked, so I didn't either.

Fruit cocktail

Spinach quiche and bacon

Lemon and orange custard

Right after breakfast, we were given tour of the round barn. Now, this set this B&B apart from the others. Round barn is scarce nowadays since it's function has ceased to fit the modern used. Back in the days the round barn is more efficient and structurally sound especially in the midwest were tornado and typhoon is a typical occurrence. However, the round shape is no longer consider effective as it limits the space to extend in nowadays farm lives.

Spiral shapes actually gives illusion of curve on each planks.

Rob demonstrated how cow was held for milking

An old wagon decorate the barn. If you look closely, there's a cable holding the structure to keep it straight.

Plenty of window in the barn to keep the lights in.

This was a wonderful stay, my only wish is that we could stay another day here just to relax and just not stress over money and work. It made me appreciate what I have and give me the energy boost I needed badly to get back to the busy uncaring world.

When Rimau and Lucky found their Forever home

2015-07-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

Time flies, this Dec will marked the fifth years we had the two cats adopted from Rainbow Rescue from Burnsville. Both cats fondly called our Meows were claimed to be siblings and so when we fell in love with the tuxedo cat we called Lucky, Rimau came into the bargain. You can't separate sibling cats, the adoption agency said. I doubted that ever siblings since both have different coloring and they have different temperament. But we end up loving both meows equally if not Rimau more. Rimau is a calico, so sweet and endearing that you can't help falling in love with with her. Lucky is just a riot.

I know, they just so irresistible!

He'll chase Rimau around if the mood strikes him. He doesn't care for people picking him up. He gets antsy if you rub him the wrong way. Lucky however loves to snuggle in bed with us or with my son. He'll alternate between the two rooms throughout the night. Its nice to wake up having warm furry meow next to you.

Rimau loves to snuggle to my baby son

Initially, we meant to adopt one cat. But I think we made the right choice when I watched both cats have their paws around each other in a lazy afternoon. They meant to be together.

I think cats like any pet help alleviate stress and keep us balance.

How can you resist the "Rimau stare"

If you are in the fence about having a cat, here are some FAQ you may like to know.

Is it difficult to care for a cat?

No. You just have to feed them, clean their litter daily and play with them.

Do they stink the house?

Not if you keep their litter clean. Cats prefer clean litter, if it gets full, they may go somewhere else to relieve themselves.

Are they expensive?

Depends, my husband told me to provide good food for our meows. Good food=healthy cat, this means less visit to the vet. The cat food which caused us about 18/- will last us 1 and half months for two cats.

What if you go out of town?

Cats are actually easy to take care, we only get friends or family to put water, feed them and change the litter daily. They have each other so they don't get lonely, really.

Any problem with baby in the house?

No. I never left the cats entirely alone with our baby. We haven't had problems with both cats whenever my son is playing with them. We remind our son to always be gentle when petting animals, so that's help.

Is it expensive to adopt a cat at shelter?

We pay $150/- up front, this covers for their first vet visit and neuter/spay. I think this is cheap since the cats has gone through check-up and health review prior to adoption.

Are they litter trained?

Both cats are litter trained when we got them from the shelter.

We hope that more people would look into adopting the animals in the shelter.

You can go to this website:

http://mn.rainbowanimalrescue.org

Or go to Pet supplies plus at Burnsville, there's pet adoption drive every Saturday from 12 to 3 pm.

You can also go to your local SPCA or Humane society to see what you can do to help out these furry friends.

Yearning to roam around outside

Personal Finance - Never too late

2015-05-08T22:30:00.001-07:00

Personal finance is essential for every stage of life, it is the security that will help us to have the freedom to enjoy doing things we love. Be it spend more time with the family, have the means to live in luxury, increase social status or even the capacity to do good and spread wealth in your favorite charity.

My first thought back in my 20s is to save, save and save. Things don't turned out the way we plan however. We tend to digress and just be in position to fit in. I splurged more than I should and at the end of the day I didn't really save much. There were challenges and heartaches. At time your investments on people yield zero return but you learn valuable life lessons along the way.

Now with families and in my 30s, I have been putting small amount of money for retirement and emergency funds. It feels easier now because I have a clear path what this money is for. I draw my strategy by first setting a goal. This is not how much money I wanted to spend but HOW money will help me achieve. Things started to fall into place and now I have the motivation to save.

Here is the list of things you will need to have:

Retirement Fund - take advantage of employer match program
Emergency fund - enough to cover 6 to 8 months expenses
Health Insurance
Life Insurance- opt for term insurance
Will
Revocable Living trust

I am pretty sure some culture doesn't want to associate with the idea of death in financial planning but when you have families, you have responsibilities to ensure your love ones is taken care of if "touch wood" anything happens to you.

I don't have great advice that you haven't heard before, but it will put you in the right perspective. Have a date night with your partner or even doing it solo, yes, do your bills and balance your budget.

Live beyond your means, find a good inexpensive place to live in that is close to work or has a good commute system. Do not get pressure into buying a house if you are not ready financially. You will need at least 20% down to be comfortable in owning a house. Shop around for low interest. You can learn to be emotionally prepared being a house owner by putting away "loan payment" a year before you started paying for the house payment. The house payments should be no more than 1/3 of your total salary.

Transportation is important for work commute, you can choose to ride public transport or bike to work to save more. Either way, buy affordable perhaps used car so you be able to pay them off in 3 years. Now, those are two major expenses you need to be able to pay for, if you can't, you will have to consider getting a higher paying job or a second job.

Groceries could get expensive at times but I learn if you plan your meals ahead, checking for recipes and buying only what you need will help cut the bills significantly.

There is no shame going to thrift store or hand me down fir childrens clothes and toys. In fact, you are being green by recycling used items.

Stay healthy and involve in sports that you enjoy. I loving taking a walk during my lunch hour in the walking path at work. It clears my head and help me focus better. I also use part of my lunch hour to visit my son at daycare. The little time between work truly make my day.

There will be many more years before My family can be financially independent but we know we are in the right path to get there.

Minneapolis Food Tour Experience

2014-06-27T13:06:00.003-07:00

There is a lot happening in my life over these years living abroad but at times I feel obligated to keep this blog alive just because I love writing and enjoy having people stop by and share this experience with them. Two days ago, I have this opportunity to enjoy a unique tour in the city of Minneapolis. Do you know that Minneapolis made up from two language? It is Minni from Dakota origin meaning water and Polis from the word city in Greek. You put two together and it came down to meaning City of water. Interesting...and yes I learned that from the food tour. At first I have the impression that the tour will include sampling lots of food and drinks in town. I was blown away with the concept, we get to walk around one of the historic districts in town and learn a little bit of the history of the building and establishment.

Enough rambling, here goes....

We were driven down to a specific location to meet our tour guides. We started of at D'Lish, which is an indoor farmers market. The idea came up when the owner thought of bringing fresh food and produced indoors so we can all enjoy them throughout the year. They sold organic jam, preserves, grain, dairy and baking ingredients. There is a small coffee stand where you can get your fix while shopping too. We were offered a local cheese, wheat cracker, horseradish cheese and brownies. See Photos here:

Our tour guide, Becca is awesome. She has a "story teller" skills that reel her audience in and keep their attention with her many fun trivia about the building that we visited.

D'Lish offer catering service and Cooking class too. I especially love the local cheese, horseradish cheese is pretty good too but much tastier with the wheat crackers.

We walked quite a bit in this tour which help offset the amount of food we samples in the way. The walks actually fit all level of health and we tend to have mini-stop to learn about some historical structure along the way.

At Federal Reserve bank was a park with many interesting modern art.

Grain Belt Beer sign by the Mississippi River was once the biggest neon ad in the US back in the days but it soon was taken over by other bigger signs. Hennepin Ave Bridge was the first structure ever built on the Mississippi river in US.

Next we stopped by at Kramarczuk Deli, a Ukraine bakery (215 east Hennepin), the original owner Wasyl Kramarczuk along with his wife Anna opened this little deli back in 1954 after many years of hard work. They escaped their war torn home country in the hope of new life in the States. They worked 4 jobs between them to raise money so they can own a business cooking homemade food for just like back home. After the having failed the first business attempt, Wasyl found this little store and the owner sold it to him for few hundreds dollar then. No longer wish to partner with anyone, Kramarczuk remain a family business until today. They are famous for their homemade sausage recipe, made from original Ukrainian heritage. You can also enjoy the sausage at Twins game.

Varenyky is made of cheese, potatoes,meat, sauerkraut and sweet cheese stuffed in delicious dumpling wrap with sour cream sauce.

Famous Ukrainian sausage

This Ad outside the store was painted since this Deli opened half a century ago.

Punch Neopolitan pizza is a trendy wood burning pizza place in town. The idea was conceived when John Soranno and his wife were on their honeymoon in Italy, they got lost while looking for food and saw this long line outside a pizza place and decided to wait and find out what all the hype about the place. It was a wood burning pizza place and the concept blew their mind. When they came home to the state, they decided to open a pizza place, hence Punch Neopolitan Pizza came to life.

All Punch Pizza place has unique tile covered wood burning pizza made by the owner, manager and employees of Punch Pizza.

Delicious pizza with blackened crust gave such unique flavor.

Gorkha Palace serves Nepali, Indian and Tibetan food. The owner Rashmi named the place after a magnificent palace in Tibet. We were served Vegetable fritters and the famous momos while enjoying the ambient inside this unique restaurant.

Vegetable fritters

Momos is a dumpling stuffed with yak meat and Himalayan spices.

Gardens of Salonica is quaint little cafe at 19th Fifth Street that offer Greek food for those who loves sampling Mediterranean cuisine. We enjoy 3 type of their famous desserts and while at it, we get to see some modern art sculptures that were commissioned specially for Gardens of Salonica.

Clockwise from Top: Chocolate Hazelnut Boughatsa, Lemon cream Boughatsa and Baklava.

We don't know what this hanging sculpture means, the artist simply say they are what you wanted it to be. In my case, just a gnarled roots that were hanged up in someone's ceiling.

This beautiful Church of Our lady of Lourdes has French influent design. The unique thing about this church besides its historical significant is that the women in the church would make their families special French Mince pies and were available for sales for the public.

So there you go, my first post after long hiatus. I hope you enjoy every bit of information here about the food tour. If you wish to enjoy this, follow this link: http://www.twincitiesfoodtours.com/downtownnortheast.html and book your ticket there.

Note: Don't forget to bring bottle of water with you since some place doesn't serve water during food sampling.