Archive | June, 2019

Be Silly or Be Happy

11 Jun

Today’s the day we leave! But there are worries, silly ones and several of it…

Silly #1: my cocoon is still hanging on the front tree and it’s been seven weeks since the giant caterpillar morphed into it; way overdue from what I checked online to be at this stage. Why is the moth not emerging? Is the constant rain stunting its metamorphosis? Is it even still alive and okay? I dare not climb up the ladder to check because it’s way too high. Whatever it is, looks like we will miss the moth emerging from the cocoon if it does decide to come out during our time away.

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It’s nice in here, I’m not ready for the world

Silly #2: my 1000 and more Days trek on the Daily Bonus for Candy Crush Soda on the retired iPhone5S will be broken because I am not bringing the phone along. And will the iPhone XR and iPad Mini have the trek broken too being in different time zones? I told myself I should stop this obsession but I just can’t shake it off. Silly.

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Day 1016 for the iPhone5S and Day 1023 for both the iPad Mini and iPhone XR

Silly #3: will Rooney, official pet number one miss us?

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Should I chew on it or not? Hmm…

Silly worries aside, there are some happy reasons too…

Happy #1: the pineapple in the garden. It’s been more than two years that hubby’s been taking care of it, and thank goodness it decided to ripen on time before we leave. Harvested last Friday, the fruit of labor and love weighed a whopping two kilos! Needless to say, the juicy and home-grown pineapple was thoroughly enjoyed.

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Juiciest pineapple ever!

Happy #2: the constant rain seems to be good for the habanero plant for it has thrived well and we had a bumper harvest. So much chillies! I ate a little on Wednesday night and oh my goodness, almost died from the fiery burn. This batch is super duper spicy.

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The spicy level of the reds win hands down over the greens

Happy #3: we will be meeting up with M2 in Amsterdam! Yes, our baby will fly tomorrow from Ireland to meet us at Schiphol. And she will miss a few days of Summer classes which unfortunately can’t be helped. I feel it’s important for her to attend her only sister’s Commencement ceremony, hence the plan as such.

Happy #4: we will finally be seeing M1. The last time the family unit was complete was when she came back for Christmas in 2017, so that’s like a year and a half since we last saw our firstborn in person. The weekly Skype video sessions do not count. Can’t wait. A 12 hours and 40 minutes flight for the first leg, then a four-hour transit before the second leg of 10 hours and 17 minutes flight (hopefully no delays) before the family will be whole again. Yay!!!

I guess with the happy reasons outweighing the silly ones, I shouldn’t be too silly and just be happy.

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Have Blundstone Will Travel

10 Jun

I am excited that my Blundstone boots, after being fitted with new soles, will finally be put to good use from tomorrow onwards. We are flying over to the US for M1’s Commencement ceremony as she has completed her undergraduate studies.

Initially when I was doing my research for flights, I wanted to fly Eva Air because of the Hello Kitty-themed aircrafts. Heheheh… I know it’s kinda silly for a dinosaur like me but hey, Hello Kitty IS cute.

But I couldn’t find suitable connecting flights to our final destination upon arrival at LAX, SFO or even SEA. The transit options are all too short to clear immigrations. Oh well, forget Hello Kitty then.

So we are going with KLM via Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol with a four-hour transit before the next leg directly into PDX which works out perfectly. Stay with me for the next two weeks plus for our exciting journey to the Pacific Northwest!

And yesterday I managed to schedule another body massage at the spa, a last minute little indulgence before flying. This time unlike the last time with no choice at all, I had the granny undies or G-string to choose before the session. I took the G-string thinking since I had to strip down to my bones to be worked on, I might as well wear something without hindrance to the new masseur for her to do her job.

And it was a job well done for she worked out the kinks especially on the legs and feet, in time for me to be ready for the trip!

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Pushing Myself

7 Jun

Last week, I pushed myself on my activities. After playing golf in the morning, I was back in the office in the afternoon. Then in the evening we went to the gym. I told my trainer to go easy on me because I had done more than 11 thousand steps already, more than the quota for the day.

So she put me on the lighter weights instead of the ten-pounder that I have been using the last few sessions. And certain routines, I jumped, lunged and turned less than hubby. I managed and survived the workout session.

And towards the end of last week, my weight dropped even further! Now that’s motivation to push myself. I was down to a mere 0.3lbs away from my new revised target. Woo hoo…

This week, it was the same for Monday – golf then office. However, gym was cancelled because it’s two days before Hari Raya. And it’s only sensible to give my trainer a break from fighting with traffic (like last week) to make her way over to us. It can be very aggravating to be on the road with so many cars for their last minute errands and what nots. Not a good feeling to have before the festivity and holiday.

With Wednesday and Thursday being public holidays again, focusing on the 16/8 diet was a challenge because our routine and menu had to be adjusted.

In fact on Tuesday, I literally pigged out when I met up with my girlfriends dining on a sumptuous porky spread. That evening we talked, laughed and ate passed my eating window. Forget the 16/8 as it was a great night catching up. And after an eventful week, the weigh-in this morning, to my surprise was 0.8lbs beyond the new target! Double woo hoo…

Now I know why I push myself and not sit on my laurels. It sure feels good! Maybe at this point, I will go for another 0.2lbs just to round up the number. From then on, it should be about maintaining the weight as is because my target, twice, has been achieved. There’s no need to set a third new target weight.

To recap, I started this 16/8 diet on 25th Feb and had a horrendous weight spike at the end of that week. But perseverance and discipline paid off over the months. Today, officially on record, I have lost a total of 10.8lbs. So proud of myself.

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Craft Beer

6 Jun

Of late, I find myself wanting to drink beer rather than whiskey although it should be a big no-no for me given the 16/8 diet that I am on and knowing full well the after-effects of having two pints or more. But the resistance is weak especially when it comes to Kronenbourg 1664, a sweet, crisp and fruity beer.

Several weekends ago, hubby and I decided to venture into the city centre for dinner, taking the MRT instead of driving. Stopping at Bukit Bintang, we went to Isetan at Lot 10 for Japanese and then, had some craft beer within the same premise.

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Amber, Elvis and Espresso

The counter offered a beer tasting platter with three choices of an amber ale, an IPA and a stout. I liked the IPA best, a mild grape fruit after-taste but didn’t like the other two as much. Looks like I am more into the fruity beer types, what with Kronenbourg and this. Hubby, on the other hand being a stout man, liked the stout best. The amber ale…. meh.

The glasses were small and just enough for a flavour experience which was nice. Would we drink these again? Maybe as a whole pint of the type I like and not necessary a tasting platter again.

Craft beer is still new for us and it takes practice to appreciate them.

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The Exploding Blundstone, Part 2

4 Jun

Last week I went to two different cobblers before making a decision to have my Blundstone Style 550 re-soled. I opted for the second cobbler, who happened to be the one who fixed my first pair when the boots had this Hydrolysis issue too. Even after all these years, the cobbler still have the same sole choice but I chose not to go with it this time.

Instead I picked something more rugged but heavier. It’s okay, I like it.

Also, I did write to Blundstone Australia to inform them that my boots experienced Hydrolysis. This time via Messenger privately and not publicly as a post on their Facebook wall.

They responded pretty quick and nicely too (best customer service, remember?), and directed me to Customer Service for Claims. So I filled in the necessary information, submitted my claims and within a short time, an acknowledgement email came stating a file was opened on my case. Super efficient!

I kept telling myself not to expect anything – after all this was already a replacement pair. Can’t expect another replacement for the replacement pair, right? What they did for me – replacing the first pair was already above and beyond, and to expect the same this time just does not seem right. Realistically, from the business perspective it would be bad for them as they just can’t go replacing every pair of boots with this known Hydrolysis problem.

The sole is a rubber/PU/TPU compound and over time, the material will disintegrate whether the boots are used or hardly used because moisture from the air is absorbed by the compound. If the boots are worn more often, Hydrolysis will still occur but possibly reduced.

After some back and forth emails to understand the mishap, the investigation concluded and Customer Service deemed there won’t be any compensation or warranty in this instance. The soles of my boots disintegrated due to Hydrolysis, a known common occurrence in humid environments and not because it’s a product, design or manufacturing fault.

I guess this is something one has to be aware of when buying shoes from overseas to bring back to your country. That being said, the humidity level in Malaysia is very high, so shoes purchased from overseas depending on material, may be prone to the humidity and disintegrate or explode upon pressure from our weight.

My only regret from this experience is that I didn’t wear this pair of Blundstone enough before this mishap. Oh well… Anyway, my boots are now fitted with new soles that I like and are still comfy. I should wear them more often and not just keep in the shoe closet. And I will happily go stomping in puddles when it rains because I know my toes will be dry.

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Brand new again and looking fierce but comfortable!

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Daily Bonus Mess Up, Part 3

3 Jun

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Two weeks ago, when I achieved the 1000 Days milestone for Candy Crush Soda’s Daily Bonus with my iPad Mini and iPhone XR, my retired iPhone5S was not far off too, at 993 Days. There was a mess up on the tracking but I am not complaining. A week later after that achievement, the iPhone5S also reached 1000 Days!

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It’s a crazy obsession. I should stop.

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