Food Waste Friday: Those Five Round Sugary Things

Posted on October 14, 2011 by The Giddy Tigress

Today (and hopefully every Friday), I’m joining The Frugal Girl and other bloggers out there in posting my food waste photos within the past week, calling it Food Waste Friday.  It is hoped that by sharing pictures of the food I have wasted, it would motivate me to reduce wastage as much as possible.  I will try my very best to participate each week, and hopefully there will be weeks where I will be able to happily report that there was 0% wastage! 🙂

I missed last week’s edition of Food Waste Friday, because there was just too much going on that I’d forgotten.  By the time I realized it was already Sunday.

Anyway, this week, I threw out 5 mini donuts.  I bought 10 from Tesco, because my kids love them, but all of a sudden, they decided they like other stuff better.  So these 5 were sacrificed.  Boo.  (I won’t force them to eat sweet things if they don’t want to)

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On the flipside, I did make full use of the leftovers.  On Tuesday night, we had some roast chicken leftovers, so I made kiam chye boey the next day, which is like a stew with salted vegetables, meat, sour plums and whatever leftovers you like to put in.  The beauty about this dish is that it can keep for several days, with each day rendering a richer aroma than the day before.

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On the following day, I poured in the leftover chicken soup together with the oyster mushrooms and carrots.  Yummmmssss!!!!

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Drooling & Cooking, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

All Waxed Off!

Posted on October 13, 2011 by The Giddy Tigress

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Well, maybe using a gorilla to convey the message is taking it a little too far, but just bear with me and look at it as a tongue-in-cheek image, okay?

If you think this post is about candles or figurines in a museum, then read no further.  Because here, I will tell you the tale of my Brazilian wax experience.  It has nothing to do with football though, so those of you who have been misled, you can stop reading here too.

The Brazilian Wax.  No no…some call it the Brazilian All-Off, to be precise.  Because that’s really what you get:  ALL off.

I satisfied my curiosity about 2 years ago when I first found out about this waxing specialist shop in Penang and decided to book myself an appointment.  As a first-timer, I was, quite simply put, terrified about the prospect of someone yanking off all the hair down there.

But a brief chat with the friendly waxing therapists at Fluff Waxing Concept Store assured me that it would not be as painful as childbirth, which I had gone through.  On the other hand, I would have to tell you that childbirth is not a walk in the park either.

Anyway, long story short, that’s how I came about doing the Brazilian.  When I had my first Brazilian, Fluff was located in Island Plaza, but they have now moved to Gurney Plaza.  I’m not a regular though, as I find that getting a Brazilian is more of a luxury, rather than a necessity.  Still, it depends on how you look at it.  It does feel more hygienic to a certain extent, and if you want to look good in a bikini, it will be considered a necessity. 🙂

Since my maiden encounter so many months ago, I have had the Brazilian done about 5-6 times, and on each occasion, I’ve requested for the same wax therapist to do it.  After all, it’s enough that only one person sees me “exposed” that way, yes?  However, it gets tricky now because my wax therapist will be leaving soon…

So this is how they do it at Fluff:

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Continue reading →

Posted in The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Don’t ASSume

Posted on October 11, 2011 by The Giddy Tigress

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Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Oh boy, these fitness center consultants are really persistent now, aren’t they?  It all started with this phone call.  And after that, a couple more phone calls, and I remember the last one, I told the consultant to text me his number and I would call him if or when I am ready to come by for a discussion (after all, I still had my free 7-day trial at that gym to utilize……heh…)

So anyway, last week, another consultant from the same gym called me.  This time this guy was from the HQ in KL, but anyway, this conversation ensued.

Consultant: Hi, I’m calling from this-famous-gym.  I understand that you filled out an online form at our site?

Me: Yes I did, that was months ago.

Consultant: So are you still interested to join our gym?

Me: Well yeah, but not at the moment.

Consultant: Oh by the way, are you working?

Me: No, I’m not.

Consultant: You’re a student?

Me (thinking: wow, I sound like a student??!!): Nope, I’m a homemaker.

Consultant: Oh I see.  Well, anyway I’m calling to let you know that we are giving you a special voucher for something-which-I-can’t-recall and you are welcome to come and collect it from our gym.  May I know where you are staying?

Me: I’m staying in Penang.

Consultant: Oh, alright…so you can collect your voucher from this-mall-in-Penang, anytime today or tomorrow.  We are open from 7:00a.m.-10:30p.m.

Me: By tomorrow?  Oh, then I am afraid I can’t collect it, given such short notice.

Consultant: Why not?  You’re a homemaker, right?  So may I know what is holding you back from coming?

Me (getting irritated): What do you mean by that?  For your information, I need to take care of my kids, a home to manage and other things too.  At such a short notice, how can you expect me to drop everything?  So no thank you, I can’t make it this time round.  I will call your consultant when I want to go to your gym.  I have his number.

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Is it just me, or did anyone else find that offensive to stay-at-home-moms?  That guy seemed to think that we stay-at-home-moms don’t do anything at home, eh?  Well, if I had a maid (or maybe two) at my beck and call, then perhaps I could.  But for most of us SAHMs, we do everything.

He’d assumed that since I do not have a 9-to-5 job, I would be free to come to his gym at any given time.

Well, on the contrary, if I want to go for a haircut or beauty appointment, I need to make prior arrangements especially for my kids to be cared for.  It takes a lot of planning, even just to take both kids out for lunch, or to fit in some marketing and shopping into the schedule.  It’s tough, but we somehow manage, ….somehow. 🙂

And all we ask is for some understanding.

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Yoohooo…Check Out What I Made Today :)

Posted on October 6, 2011 by The Giddy Tigress

Okay, I might have left out a teeny-weeny piece of information as to what I had been up to for the past week…it’s because I had been planning and designing and creating this cake as a surprise for my hubby’s birthday today…

Ta-daaaaa..!!! A Liverpool birthday cake for an absolutely true-blooded Liverpool supporter! 😀

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I was telling a friend of mine this morning that I was in the kitchen baking a cake for my husband, and she said how sweet that was of me…it’s my first time ever baking a cake for his birthday though…hehe…

It’s a vanilla cake with a chocolate ganache filling, decorated with fondant and royal icing.  Everything on the cake is edible except for the words “YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE” – I would need to practise more to pipe such small letters :).

The words “LIVERPOOL” and “EST*1892” were piped with royal icing, but as you can see, since it was my first time working with royal icing, it’s not perfect.

The words “happy birthday daddy” are crafted with fondant.

The words “FOOTBALL CLUB” , the Liverbird, the two torches and the green Shankly gates at the top of the Liverpool crest are hand-painted with food coloring.  I had originally wanted to craft them using fondant, but soon realized that they were way too intricate.  Besides I think my painting is better than my fondant-shaping, especially since the details were so tiny. 🙂

I added the red scarf at the end to hide the…errm…..slight imperfections at the side of the cake.

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Overall, I’m satisfied with my attempt…my kids were especially excited, and so was the birthday boy! 😀

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Relax & Celebrate | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

What Have I Been Up To Lately?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by The Giddy Tigress

Last night, while I was busy tinkering on my laptop, my most avid blog reader (who does not comment, ironically) asked why I had no blog updates.  Told him I had a blog drain and I did not know what to write.

Well…that, and also because I have been lazy…no no, scratch that…I have been preoccupied with other things.  Not that I have forgotten this blog, but I just needed a slight breather to catch up on some long-abandoned *projects*, if you may.  And sometimes when I take a step back and do other things, I find renewed vigor in blogging.

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Sneak peek of the long-overdued photobook I have been working on for Hannah.  Long past its due date, which means I need to take some time to hunt down the photos.  But just looking back and smiling at the memories makes it all so worth it.  I hope to finish it soon..*crosses fingers*

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I’ve reignited my jewelry-making too, after a long hiatus of goodness knows how many months.  The ideas and inspirations are coming to me, albeit slowly, and I can only work on my jewelry after the kids are asleep anyway, which means only at night….some pieces are half-done, while the easiest to complete would be the earrings.

The one above is part of a necklace which I would love to complete soon.

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Photo credits

And most of the weeknights before I go to bed, I am addicted to this show which in my opinion, is the Friends replacement.  It’s not a new show, but oh, how my soul has ached with emptiness for want of a sitcom that can make me genuinely laugh, ever since Friends ended.  And now, my hubby just introduced me to this show.  Very funny, very in-the-face, and oooh, that Doogie Howser…I mean, Neil Patrick Harris is really funny!  He’s like Chandler Bing.

So that’s what I’ve been up to.  How y’all doin’?

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Oh, by the way, please allow me to bask in a few moments of humble fame while I tell you about an article of mine which has been recently published in the October 2001 edition of My Child Malaysia Online.  It’s entitled Stop!  Don’t Say It! Think Before You Speak!

Go ahead and read it and let me know what you think 🙂  I promise it’s not a long and boring one!

Posted in Blogging, Close to Heart & Home, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments