Live Well Laugh Often Love Much

Sushi has quite a collection of baseball souvenirs, which I thought would be nice to hang up in his room. I just randomly put them up frame after frame.  But I ended up with big blank spaces. And then I saw these Live well Laugh often Love always decal from - you'll never guess - Dollarama. For only a dollar, you can't go wrong. I have just recently pointed that quote out to Sushi, so he thought I took it from the restaurant we saw it from.  Although this was intended for another room, it found a better home in my boy's room.  Think, space fillers.  It's also something my boys could live by beneath the craziness for baseball and other things.

 

 

The Impossible

The devastating tsunami as rendered in the movie is a cruel reminder of what matters most in life.  Family. Kindness. Brothers. Compassion. Strangers. Humanity. We watched the movie with the kids. I cried almost the entire movie. That was expected.  But even Sushi did.

 

Watch it with tissue.

 

Today's Bento

East meets west sort of.  Korean seafood pancake, Pineapple cake, fried surimi fish balls, with carrots, wheat crackers and toasted raisin bread.

Temporary Solutions

My Operation Pantry began with a shopping trip to Dollarama and Home Sense.  I have been procrastinating this, but with all the baskets, tubs, labels, racks and liners I now have on hand, there's no more excuse not to get on with it.  I am on a mission to organize my pantry one cabinet shelf at a time.  The corner cabinet in my kitchen is not the best to work with.  Think diamond shape.  I have to make sure nothing will get hidden in the nooks that will not see the light of day. 

I got this expandable stair-step rack for only $6.99 to organize my canned goods, which luckily I don't have much of.  The rack is a good tool for organizing, at the same time, it controls my purchase of canned good to the rack's limited capacity. 

On the other side of the shelf, rather than leaving the space unused, I have placed my morning coffee/creamer/honey & PB&J jam on a tray that is easy to slide out.  This will be the temporary set up until I find more efficient pantry solutions. Maybe another stair-step rack?

Above this shelf is where I stash my tea and coffee sachets. 

 

I always first shop around the house for what I may already have before buying. Reuse. Reduce. Recyle.  And so I played around with the boxes I already have.

  

By trial & error, the 2 tea boxes fit perfectly inside the sturdy fruit cup box which I have saved earlier, knowing I'll make good use of someday.  That someday is now.  I just have to cover the box with some pretty paper when I get one.  Meanwhile, I am loving this temporary solution.

 

Coffee, tea or fruit cups, anyone?

  

Insta-Life

Mr. Hotpot surprised me with a Keurig machine on Valentines. Not that I'm a coffee drinker, but at least now I can make better coffee not from 3-in-1s.

 

This is not the most exciting thing to do, but I wanted to be screened for colon cancer. When I told my family physician, she was like "you're not even 50 yet." But I insist.  I'm not a doctor, but I think this is the first step.

 

Lindor is my favourite chocolate.  And cookies & cream are the best!

 

Do you take photos inside the store?  I wanted to see if this will make the cut in our house. It's from my favourite home store, Home Sense.  It's right beside where Sushi goes for Karate class.   That is so dangerous!

 

Another one from Wicker Emporium, what didn't make the cut.

 

My mom brought this sungka (mancala game) all the way from Manila.  If not being played with, it is my tea light holder. 

 

No place like... IKEA.  My source of design inspiration.  This is Pinteresting for my TV room.

 

Joe's Plantain chips.  I'm going back for more to hoard!

 

Please stop snowing.

 

 

Bento 2x3

The boys has 3 eating breaks in the new school - 2 snacks & a lunch.  That means they are now most likely to finish the bento I send - third break to finish what they couldn't on first 2.  However, I still always have to stuff 3 breaks worth of food on 2 boxes [each], some times an extra fruit cup. There are days of disappointments, but more often it works out.  Sashimi's bento is usually a reduced version of Sushi's or more fancy.

Strawberry jam swirlie, croissants, edamame and apples

 

Waffles, cheese, siomai, carrots and Sky Flakes crackers

 

Red bean sesame bun, whole grain crackers, carrots, cheese string, Rockets & BBQ bun

 

Croissant, strawberries, fortune cookie, Pineapple cake and Jap rice crackers (Sashimi's)

 

Dusting

Do you ever wish for the impossible? I always wish there will be no dust in my house (and falling hair on my pillow when I wake up). I am sure you have asked the same question, “Where do these dusts come from when I just cleaned yesterday?” So I did the unthinkable of googling about “dusts”. I never knew humans shed 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every hour. Source.

Sadly, I have to live with dusts as much as I have to live with myself.

 

This is Sashimi wiping off dust from the chaise.  He told me, anything he asks for becomes his, including the cleaning cloth.  He loves how the streaks is changing its colour, or so he thinks.  He also cleans his toys with it. Thanks for helping!  I love how when I call him to vacuum falling hair in the bathroom, he's right there so quick with the hand vac.  I hope he stays like this forever.

 

 

Love Multiplied

This is old (2011) but why didn't I see it until now. Perhaps it was reserved for this Valentines. This is not your usual proposal, not the usual flash mob. But a combination of. It's too perfect. Too nice. It makes you feel good. Please watch. Warning, you may cry too, because I did. But I always cry anyway.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Very touching.

大腸麵線 Intestine Vermicelli

I drooled over Bubble Republic's 大腸麵線. I wrote about it here. I had the chance to make it at home. It was such a good lunch.

 

Thanks, Mom, for getting me this.

It was the perfect thing to go with this, from T&T.

 

However, my blood pressure shot to the moon when I saw 1135mg of Sodium per serving on the packaging, and that was before I started thinking - what about Uric Acid?   Multiplied by the number of bowls I had... *Gulp!*

 

 

 

 

 

No Classes

As a young girl I was the type who doesn’t want to miss school. If classes were suspended due to typhoon, I’d rather get the announcement straight from the school than from the news. Nevermind going to school and going back home.  Yeah, nerd!  It hasn’t change now that I’m working, except work is never suspended and offices are never closed.

I braved the last two snow storms early this year. Two hours for what normally would take me ½ hour to work. That means 2 hours wondering if you’re ever going to make it safe (yes) and on time (obvious no). Today I made an easy decision to stay home. This is not worth the drive.

It snowed all day =[

 

 

 

T&T

Chinese New Year is around the corner, so lately I have been doing my groceries at the Asian market. I haven’t been to T&T in ages, but now that we’ve moved – danger - we’re darn close. Is it just me, but everything they carry makes you grab at first sight?

Crablets


Squid Tentacles
 

Jasmine Green Tea - did I just hoard?
 

These buns give me sanity some mornings. 

 

Haw Flakes.  Nostalgia. 

 

Did I say T&T does rip your wallet too??? 

Cheers to a bountiful new year! 恭喜發財!

Tempura Ramen

Yes, I'm a bad mom.  I serve instant ramen... but once in a blue moon.  The kids I love it!

Be Content