Getting a haircut during MCO

My son needs a haircut badly but even though our government will be allowing hairdressers to open during the third wave of MCO, I won't be sending him there.

It's better to be safe and have long hair.

I found this video on a tutorial on how to cut medium to long men's hair by scissors, which looks doable...

...except that my son, who do cut his own hair, just told me he doesn't trust me.

pearlie

A slight scare

I had a slight scare today. I'm praying and hoping all will be okay and that it's nothing in the end. 

pearlie

A long dark ride

I went to the airport yesterday night to pick up my son returning from the US. I was told that some tollgates were closed and when I checked Waze, I could see congestions at several points and so I decided to take the no-toll route.

The drive there was uneventful but never have I driven over so many road bumps, never have I used the high beam so many times and never have I driven so slowly before.

I had to because at most parts of the road, there weren't any street lights and there weren't any other cars on the road. It's just me and I had to give extra attention to driving in the dark to make sure I don't drive off the road. 

As I reach Sepang, there was a police block with a huge tent and many police officers. I told the officer where I was going and showed him my son's flight itinerary and he promptly wish me well to carry on. They were polite and very courteous about it unlike what I've heard from my colleagues. Probably those officers must have been so frustrated with numerous stupid excuses for being out of the house. 

My son's arrival and pick-up has never been so quick. There are so few travellers now that it only took him 40 minutes from touchdown to being seated in my car. And that included getting a health check and filling up a form.

On the way back, I didn't want to risk using the dark unlit roads again and decided to use the highway, which turned out to be better. There were no road blocks and the tolls were opened. 

And it was surreal to drive on an empty road in the dark of night. At one point, I wasn't even sure which lane I needed to be in on an extremely familiar road. 

Good that we are all now safe at home. And the 14 days of self-quarantine starts. I pray and hope we will all be fine. 

pearlie

Long Overdue Date Night

We don't go out often for date nights but the thing is my hubby won't even call it a date!

Nonetheless, we just had a nice night out together, starting it off with a feast of the Musang King durian in SS2.

It is supposed to be cheaper but it was not so. And I have eaten much better ones before. I wasn't that happy with it.

We then made our way to Authentic Penang Char Koay Teow.

As usual, we dug in the moment the food came and never took any pictures. 

We ordered char koay teow with prawns and extra cockles, raw.

The verdict is the prawns to me are irrelevant, I don't know how else to say it. But the cockles is what made it really good.

That's when I told my hubby that's why it's called see hum chau fun. LOL

And we don't know why exactly but the fact that we shared one plate together made it taste even better. 

It was a good night out. 

pearlie

Photos from Taufulou and TripAdvisor

A day in the forest

My hubby and I spent a great day in the forest with family in this awesome looking house in the hills. 

It's like my idea of a dream house, which is house-with-glass-walls-on-a-hill, except that it's so much bigger. 

And here's my hubby setting up his drone to take videos and pictures like the one above. He had a lot of fun.

The weather was cool and nice, in the range of 24°C. Though the skies were a bit dark and the sun didn't show itself...

...giving it a darker side to the scenery.

One could really just stay the whole day here and look out to the stretches and stretches of green foliage and white greyish cloudy skies. 

It was peaceful...

...except that city people (I assume that they were) do not realise that sound gets amplified quite a lot in the forest and the people occupying the premises opposite us were making so much noise that it became really irritating.

We tried not to be bothered by it the best we could. And here we are all lazying on the floor. The place has yet to be filled with furniture but no one minded because it's still quite comfortable.

The house is a 4-storey building and here's the 2nd floor overlooking the 3rd floor and the loft.

And my favourite? Yes, the loft. It's the coziest of places. 

We had steamboat for lunch al-fresco in the temporary shed at the entrance of the house, since the kitchen isn't quite ready yet. 

And here is one of the adorable residents of the house who was tailing everyone just to get a bite, and many a bite did he end up getting. 

We had a wonderful day. 

I'm looking forward to coming here again, when I really need to get away from the noisy city to a quiet place for a quiet retreat. 

Ah, provided that the noisy city people remain in the noisy city. 

pearlie

Happy New Year Everyone!

My father side of the family, or at least part of us, gathered for lunch today and it's so good to see each other again. 

Let me wish you:

恭祝大家新年快乐

身手灵活犹如松鼠

比天竺鼠人见人爱

幸福健康机会平安

数不尽，有的藏

In Cantonese:

zuk1 daai6 gaa1 san1 nin4 faai3 lok6

san1 sau2 ling4 wut6 jau4 jyu4 cung4 syu2

bei2 tin1 zuk1 syu2 jan4 gin3 jan4 ngoi3

hang6 fuk1 gin6 hong1 gei7 wui6 ping4 ngon1

sou3 bat1 zeon6 jau5 dik1 cong4

In literal translation!

Wishing everybody a Happy New Year

Body and hands lively like the squirrels

Compared to guinea pigs people see people love

Happiness, health, opportunity, peace

Counting unexhausted there is to keep

Gong Hei Fatt Choy! Wishing all of you the best of the new year!!! May we all be blessed and happy all year long!

pearlie

Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner

It has been many years since we've gathered for a reunion dinner at my mother-in-law's home. She has been away most of these years but she's home now and it's nice to gather again as a family.

She cooked such a delicious spread and we really missed her cooking!!!

Oh so yummy...

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

pearlie

Happy Birthday Mom!

Two pretty girls: my niece and my mom

Happy birthday Mom! Thanks for everything especially your care and your love for us which is in leaps and bounds. Where would we be without you?!!! I love you!

pearlie

Victoria's Secret Bombshell Wild Flower

My hubby bought me a bottle of Victoria's Secret Bombshell two years ago during Valentine's Day and I loved it. (Though he has been secretly using most of it himself! LOL)

It is almost empty now and so he bought me another bottle for my birthday and I just opened it today. 

Victoria's Secret Bombshell Wild Flower has the same scent but it's a bit sweeter and stronger. 

Loving it!

pearlie

I am on my way to becoming a gamer

My son has a second unit of Nintendo Switch but it doesn't work. Someone had accidentally dumped the unit into the washing machine. It was then given to my son.

We brought the unit to Low Yat twice, and they weren't able to find out what was wrong. During the second time, they even told us there is nothing wrong with the unit. 

But how can it be when it doesn't work?!

So my son continued to dabble with it and he finally found out that it was the micro-sd card slot that was faulty. 

We brought it back to Low Yat to see if they can fix it but we were told to return an hour later when the technician is back. 

So we went to a cafe for coffee, and this mommy as she would always do, googled for the cost of repair. I didn't get any indication of repair cost but what I found was that Shopee sells the micro-sd card part for only RM7.08.

After an hour's wait, we dutifully went back to the shop. They quoted us a sum of RM140 to repair it.

What?

We told them we will think about it but what we did instead was to go hunting for the required screwdrivers. We found some but we weren't too sure if they were the right ones. We bought them anyway, and then I logged into shopee.com and ordered the micro-sd card slot. 

It arrived yesterday. 

My son fixed it. 

And it only cost us RM10.88 inclusive of shipping, not counting the cost of the screwdrivers since that would be considered as fixed cost. 

We saved a whopping RM129.

And mommy now has a new toy. 

pearlie

Tried the Eatigo app?

Have you used the Eatigo app before?

I don't use it that often but I've used it several times on restaurants that offer 50% discounts.

And this is one of the places I have been going to quite often: Mr Dakgalbi at Pearl Point Shopping Mall. 

It isn't too far from home and my son really likes the cheese ring version. 

He will be going back to uni soon and I won't have anyone to go with me after that. 

Too bad my husband doesn't like the place and I find eating alone in restaurants a bit too weird. 

Probably I need to get used to it, eating alone. 

pearlie

Source of photo: The Double Eaters

The crazy tonal languages

My dad is a Cantonese and my mom a Teochew. And I grew up speaking English and Cantonese at home. I don't know any Teochew though. 

I drove them out for lunch today and we began talking about singing in Mandarin and Cantonese whilst we listen to Taiwanese singing in Cantonese and Koreans in Mandarin.

The Chinese languages and dialects are all tonal languages and would you believe that Cantonese has 9 tones, 6 common tones with an additional 3? 

I figured out what the 6 are but still have no idea what the other 3 stand for.

And here is an interesting article, aptly titled Nine Tones of Hell, that says, "There are some Cantonese tones that only dogs can hear." 

LOLOL. 

I found the 9 tones here and it is amazing that all the 9 tones are the numbers 0 to 9. 

But it may be difficult to remember the sequence by numbers. And so here's another way with more memorable sentences, but only the first 6 tones. Pick which works for you, I pick number 2.

1. 身份証唔會換

san1 fan2 zing3 ng4 wui5 wun6

ID card does not need to be renewed

2. 豬扒配牛腩飯

zu1 pa2 pui3 ngao4 nam5 faan6

Pork chop with beef belly rice

3. 輸咗佢唔怕認

syu1 zo2 kui3 ng4 pa5 jing6

Defeated, he is not afraid to admit.

4. 交錢去行政部

gaau1 cin2 hoei3 hang4 zing5 bo6

Enough money to go to the administrative office 

There are claims that tone language speakers have an enhanced perception in musical pitch. They say that we are better in telling apart pitches that are close together. I'm not sure if that is true because I do know someone who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and probably a couple more dialects but when she sings, she couldn't quite hold her pitch.

But back to those songs we were listening to in the car, which we couldn't entirely understand what was sung, I notice it's not so much the tone that's the problem, since they are already being "sung in tones". Chinese and especially Cantonese songs must to be composed in their tones for them to sound natural. 

The problem is more the consonants. 

But that's another crazy complicated thing.

pearlie

Restoran Goon Wah - one of the best in town

I have not been to Restoran Goon Wah in a really long time and so when my mom suggested we go there for lunch, I was all for it. 

And I was not disappointed. The food was really awesome. 

XO Fish Head Noodles - seriously the best in town

Hot Pot Lou She Fun - I don't remember whether it was served in a hotpot the last time when I was there and this dish never did impress me. But it was my mom's favourite and so we ordered it. I changed my mind. It was awesome and I ate most of it!

Stir Fried Pork Maw and Intestines with Dried Shrimps - I was expecting dark marinated braised intestines when I ordered this but it was ok though a tad too spicy for me. 

Fuchok Barley - and it we closed it with one of my most favourite dessert and I must say this fuchok barley is really good. It's not watery but thick and filling. 

There are a few more dishes I wanted to order but with just my mom and I, this the max we could go. Just too bad that they are only opened until 4:00pm everyday. 

I'll be back. Next weekend sounds good.

pearlie

NB: As always, I forget to take photos and the above photos are credited to Ewe Paik Leong, The Chowster & Traveller, Taufulou, Jean and Foodilifecious.

Am I going through the five stages of grief?

It’s almost two months since my son has left for college. I’m managing it quite well though people I meet will almost always bring up the subject of me being in an empty nest and will start asking about him. 

With that, I find it a bit tough to move on. 

And today I think I am feeling a bit depressed about it and wonder if I’m experience any of the stages of the Kübler-Ross Model. 

Most people know the Kübler-Ross Model as the Five Stages of Grief and it was introduced by the author in her 1969 book On Death and Dying.

I am obviously not experiencing a death in this case but I think there is still some kind of grief I’m going through. 

The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. They are not linear and they do not have a predictable progression. The different stages can come at any time in any sequence. 

I think I’m in the denial and depression stage. It’s not serious but I feel it. 

pearlie

What does it mean by being members of a church?

Our sermon in church today was based on 1 Tim 5:1-3 and Titus 2:1-8. And I find the words in Titus very good and instructive. 

Titus 2:1-8 (ESV)

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

I feel that being in a faith community gives us the privilege of being in a larger family in Christ and it’s something so good that we shouldn’t take it for granted, which we sometimes unconsciously do. 

Like what Titus 2:1-8 say, we should be building relationships in the churches we worship in together. 

But building relationships and building trust with each other takes time. And we don’t spend that much time in church. 

So I find that we do need to make an effort to get know each other, to talk to one another and to love them. 

It wasn’t brought up in the sermon but it does bring me to something I have not thought about in a long time: church membership.  

I have not put much thought into committing to being members of a church ever since we sort of got burnt in one. 

We are not negative about it. We just don’t think about it. And with that I realise we are not fully committed either. 

As such, I am now beginning to put some thought into why I am not thinking or considering being a member of the church we are currently attending. 

We have “visited” a church before this for more than 4 years. We left and now we have been in this current one for one and a half. 

We love the people and the place...so maybe it’s time we commit again. 

pearlie

A yummy and homely CNY eve

We haven’t had a family reunion in my parents’ home in a long time, we usually eat out. 

But we had it at home this year, which was wonderful, except that I wished my son was here too. 

I was at the Ayer Panas Morning Market getting a roast duck from my colleague whose family has been selling it for years. 

Here is Jason busy serving his customers, and yup, that’s my roast duck there. 

It was quite crowded. 



The granny on the right was quite cute. When I arrived, Jason saw me and said hi. With so many people, I instinctively told him to take his time. But the granny indignantly said to me, in perfect English no less, “don’t ask him to take his time! I’ve been waiting here for too long already!” LOL Good thing she was good natured about it, and we chatted for a bit. 

My other colleague Teresa then came as well to get her share of roast ducks. 

Then it was time for our reunion dinner at home, with yü sang, pun choi, roast duck, vegetables and fruits. Simple but yummy and filling. 

Happy and blessed Chinese New Year all!

pearlie

Every minute of reunion is worth keeping

With my son now so far away in the US, I really felt it when I watched this short film. 

It is based on a true story, filmed using an iPhone X, and considering it’s filmed using a phone, it’s very well done. 

It’s about how a mother only had 3 minutes to see her son, and with the silly but endearing things that a mom would do. 

It’s short but be prepared with a good supply of tissues. 

Three Minutes - a Short Film by Peter Chan, Apple

And I really love the saying at the end of the film—every minute of reunion is worth keeping. 

It makes me miss my late grandmother so much. 

The Chinese New Year is coming. Get reunited with your loved ones, parents, brothers, sisters, family, friends. 

Tell them how much you love them. Hug them. Tell them how much you appreciate them. 

Every moment counts. 

pearlie

Oh so painful

I opened up my bank app this afternoon to transfer some money to my mom but saw that my credit card statement is already out, complete with what I have spent last month when I accompanied my son to the US. 

I took a look. 

It’s painful. 

pearlie

Broken heart, broken mug

I’m back to work today and when I woke up in the morning, as usual I’d walk over to my son’s room, knock on his door and say, “Wake up!”

But I could only do it mentally...

Then when I reached my office, I took out the CSUMB mug my son bought but it was broken!

Not only my heart is broken, my mug too. 

pearlie

Just the two of us

It is a usual Sunday morning fare that our whole family will have breakfast in Restoran Rishadh before we head off to church. 

But this morning it was only my husband and I. And our usual order is without the “tiga idli, satu roti canai, Milo ais.”

I did tell my son that there will be several places, mostly restaurants I would not be able to go anymore. He is big on food and I can see now that the memories we share are marked with food. 

pearlie