Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Apples and the Tree

Found on Facebook

How far did the apples fall from the tree?
 
I've been thinking a lot lately about my kids and how their characteristics are starting to emulate what I had as a child. Of course, neither one of them  is exactly like me but when I look at the one daughter and then the other, they seem to eerily resemble two sides of the younger me.
 
I sometimes felt schizophrenic when I was younger. I went through different stages as a child but two immediately come to mind when I look back on my childhood: my lazy brain, independent, witty Miss Society phase and my quiet mouse demeanor attempt at being a regular Jane.
 
In a way, my eldest daughter is now like the "lazy brain" version of me. She's brilliant and intelligent when she wants to be but at times she can be quite lazy at working at it. She has gazillions of friends she hangs out with and is quite independent. I remember being like this and thinking the world is at my feet. The downside of having this talent is that she is easily irritable, which if I remember correctly, I was too, when I was the lazy, brainy person.
 
On the other hand, my youngest daughter captures the quiet mouse that I was. She loves reading, computer games, and all things art. She does not mind too much if she does things by herself. In fact, although she welcomes company (from friends) at times, she prefers the luxury of alone time more. Her shortcoming, as was mine at that stage, was indecisiveness. I never really liked definite and was more interested in remaining flexible for anything.

I have mellowed out through the years. I still have both qualities (the brain and the mouse) to this day. In actuality, they've stayed with me longer than any other phases I had in childhood. I look at my kids now and wonder how they'll turn out.
 
When you look at your children, what do you see?
 
My apples didn't fall that far at all. I think. That is, for now.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Shred Me Some Fresh Express

T-Fal Fresh Express

On a recent visit to a friend's house during a demonstration of some popular (and pricey) line of potware, we were treated to some homemade coleslaw.

Now, I am rarely one to get impressed with food, much less one with loads of veggies. But I was really awestrucked by how easy and how tasty the coleslaw was.

It was a simple mixture of mangoes, apples, zucchinis, cabbages and carrots. Topped with a slight coleslaw mayonnaise and it was dynamite. To my tastebuds, anyway.

I was so spurned by the coleslaw that I spent my next few days looking for a shredder that could do the same thing. I could not really afford the famous kitchenware...or maybe I couldn't justify spending all that money. Anyway, I trolled the Internet for a couple of days and stumbled upon the T-fal Fresh Express.

Another look at the Fresh Express

The T-Fal Fresh Express is a slicer, grater and shredder. It comes with 5 different cut options. It's easy to use and clean. Also very affordable. My only observation is that the spout where the food enters is slightly tight and so I have to chop the food up more before I can even begin to think about slicing them. It's a quick operation from there on though so the observation has no big bearing at all on whether it's a great kitchen help or not. It's a star, most definitely.

The Fresh Express was also a tad smaller than its popular counterpart, but other than that, it worked very well. No complaints on my side. I'm churning coleslaws now like there's no tomorrow. LOL.

So if you're into some health stuff and want to try making your own coleslaw, but not really wanting to spend all that money on fancy equipment, why not try the T-fal Fresh Express?

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Disney Froze Over


Revisiting my childhood :-)

One of my earliest memories as a child was attending a Disney on Ice event with my parents. I remembered being in awe of watching Mickey and Donald skating around the arena and how wonderful and magical it all was.


 So when the opportunity presented itself recently, Disney on Ice was showing a Frozen-themed show, I thought it would be nice to take the family to watch.

The show was nice enough and really great for the younger kids. It was a smooth presentation of the movie, Frozen. I especially loved Elsa who skated very well on ice. (She's an ice queen after all so what did I expect? :-))



I suppose the show wasn't as magical as I thought it would be because maybe our age, as a family, was a tad older than the normal audience that would've been thrilled at a Disney on Ice show. But I truly believe that Disney on Ice was something that we had to experience, as a family, at least once in our lifetime. So now we have. And now we know.


If you have a chance to catch a Disney on Ice show, I highly encourage you to go see one. It's an experience. But if you go with younger kids, you'll enjoy it  tremendously more.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

My Bit of #OOTD

Eons ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I spoke about wanting to add a one-shoulder top to my wardrobe collection. That was way back in 2011. To tell the truth, I was so picky that I never really got around to buying one until now.

So last December, I got my wish. I finally had an excuse to shop for new clothes! As if we girls need that extra push of an excuse to shop for clothes (You know what I mean, wink, wink).

Hubby and I got invited to attend a year-end function at his workplace and so buying a new outfit was definitely in order.

I shopped high and low, beating the Christmas rush at the packed malls, tried on a couple of dresses at different boutique shops. The price tags on the dresses made me a bit gaga but I'm always of the idea that if you're happy with your purchase, money should not be an object (unless that is, you really do not have the money to pay for it). I was ready to settle on a little, short-skirted garb when I stumbled upon the red, one-shouldered ensemble.

And the rest, as we say, is history. It took me 2 hours in a 100-square-metred shop to finally be at peace with a dress. Absolutely got mesmerised with the colour. And I really loved the flowing, hanging sash-like fashion.

So, I am happy to share that after many long years (3 to be exact), I finally got my lopsided look. And it wasn't just a top, it was a dress. I supposed I desired it long enough that the fabric just stretched a bit, hahaha.

Here I am, in my #OOTD (outfit of the day) or OOTN (outfit of the night, a more fitting description) four months ago.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

I "Porkchop" Minecraft!

It seemed only last week I was being nostalgic about my child staying young forever, and now she has ditched playing her Barbies and Kens and have replaced them with Minecraft Steve. How's that for a "wake up, Mommy" call?

I didn't even realise the change had happened until she started asking me if I could gift her Minecraft access on the internet.

Frankly, I don't understand this whole Minecraft thing. I know she builds and breaks down walls, houses, structures. And she's got Steve running around killing livestock and whatever else that looks menacing and delicious on the computer screen. She's also been watching other Youtubers talk and discuss Minecraft tactics, game plans, etc.

To show how much I understood her obsession with the game was, I gifted her an "I Porkchop Minecraft" t-shirt instead.


So, out of gratitude, she named a pig after me.