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DIY Project #28, Part 3

2 May

I finally completed DIY project number 28 over the weekend after six weeks. I think it could have been a lesser duration. The two public holiday breaks and the recent trips up North to hubby’s hometown derailed my momentum. Oh well.

This set is the tiniest house that I have built compared to the others. Everything is so minuscule, the flowers especially and the pieces of furniture. On top of this, this is also the first set with two hinges on the structure (roof and front façade of the house) to open and close – a very different setup from the others.

Although there were frustrating moments because of the size and mistakes (misreading the instructions), I took on the challenge. My biggest bane now is the wiring for the lights. It is so messy! In most of the projects that I have done, the lighting wiring is not so complicated, and this set shouldn’t be as well.

This mess aside, I’m pleased with how this set turned out. Onwards with the next one!

DIY project number 28
The house with hinges and messy wiring!

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A Year Wiser

28 Apr

The days leading up to my birthday went by so fast! We had an early birthday dinner celebration last weekend with the girls. It was such a gastronomic indulgence.

A toast to a good year ahead!

Then hubby and I played a round of golf at Royal Perak Golf Club on Wednesday. I had the shot of the day on Hole 5, a Par 3, landing my ball a foot and a half away from the cup for a birdie. Perhaps my Hole-in-One shot is coming soon?

Prelude to my Hole-in-One soon?

But the actual day of my birthday, the day went by so slowly. We were back in Alor Star and it was like a furnace. I could feel my body fat melting away, which was good because I’d been feeling a bit chunky, eating so much leading up to my special day.

And then it rained, no, it poured and poured and poured! Mother Nature was relentless. The outside perimeter of the house was flooded. Oh no! It was sometime before the rain subsided, and we had to clean up the place. Not the ideal activity to do on one’s birthday but it had to be done.

I was sweaty, I was tired and hungry. Sigh. It could be worse because look at the bright side – I am healthier now after my recent hospitalization, and I feel the love of my family and friends for their good wishes on my special day. That’s all that matters. Happy birthday to me regardless of the circumstances!

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DIY Project #28, Part 2

11 Apr

Sunday was not a golf day but a good day for some me-time and my craft. I worked on DIY project number 28, and there was much progress. But this project is taking a little longer because we have been traveling up North to hubby’s hometown more frequently than before.

Anyway, back to the project in hand – all the eenie meenie pieces of furniture are on track to being assembled. It’s hard to hold them, so two tweezers are required to hold onto them when I apply the glue. And several times, I messed up because I did not read the instructions properly.

My little Happy House

Then again, the manual is in Chinese, and during those mess-ups, I did not use GoogleTranslate on my iPhone to do the job well. I assumed and thus messed up. One just cannot be complacent when it comes to dealing with tiny things here.

The biggest challenge will be the hinges. This piece is very different from the others that I have worked on. The frontage wall and roof are not glued down but hinged to open and close. Interesting. Well, I hope I can complete the set before the end of the month!

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Fig Raiders

10 Apr

The darn garden squirrels are at it again, beating us to the fruits! Aaargh. Last week, when we were away, several figs were ripening on one fig plant. But we couldn’t get to harvest them on time upon our return.

The four-legged furries were faster than us and helped themselves to not one or two but four figs on the plant. Four figs! They must be hungry or very daring. Unfortunately, hubby did not cover the fruits with netting bags, so the fruits were exposed.

Evidence of the raid. Hrmph

But even the netting bags cannot deter these darn fig raiders, for we have seen fig fruits disappear inside a bag, still intact in its place! We have even tied old CDs as light reflectors to scare the raiders, but this method is not working too. Sigh.

We need new methods to prevent the fig-raiding squirrels from eating the fresh figs off the plants. Any ideas?

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A Lighter Bag, Part 2

7 Apr

Now that we are back in town, I wonder if I should play my next golf game using only nine clubs instead of 14. Hmm. Well, I could still bring 14 clubs but stick to this new game plan of using only nine. Driver off the deck again instead of the 3-wood for my second shots on a long Par 5? Hahaha, how fun!

But even then, when I had nine clubs, I did not use all of them. I used a maximum of five clubs! When there are fewer choices to consider, the mistakes are lesser. Will I learn from this and play better golf?

As for putting, I am reverting to the TaylorMade Spider Mini putter again. The Peanut Putter has not been kind to me with several three-putts during the rounds up North. So we’ll see, a tweak here and there to improve further.

A lighter bag it won’t be until my next outstation trip, but let’s hope the golf outing will be good. And I hope my putting will be better now that the Spider Mini is in the bag again.

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A Lighter Bag

4 Apr

On this trip to hubby’s hometown, we both decided to pack a lighter golf set. Thus, both have nine clubs only. I debated what to leave behind, and my trusty 3-wood, two mid-irons, a hybrid, and a sand wedge did not make the trip.

Despite being handicapped with lesser clubs, we played well in the two games. When there were fewer club choices, it became very mechanical for the second and third shots, but enjoyable nonetheless.

The only bane is the putting; I had several three- to four three-putts for both games. Imagine the outcome would have been even better if my putting was more accurate. Oh well.

I discovered a new trick during the second game, hitting the second shot on the fairway with my driver! It’s termed driver off the deck. Oh, what fun I had to be able to gain the distance on the dry fairways. With my 3-wood at home, my other long club was only my Hybrid 4 that couldn’t cover the length as well.

So perhaps, a bagful of 14 clubs is not required for an enjoyable round of golf, something to consider for our next golf trip.

Harvard Golf Club. The greens and green sides were immaculate.

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A Break From the Usual

3 Apr

Whenever we traveled up North to hubby’s hometown, we would stop at the same place and eat the same thing in Ipoh. You could say we are creatures of habit.

On this trip, we decided to break from the usual. So we stopped at Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok) in Pasir Pinji instead. The last time we ate here was before the pandemic broke, four years ago, if I recall.

At the stop, we decided to try new food choices, deviating from our usual and typical. Suddenly, we are so adventurous. Hahaha.

We had Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun, something we hardly eat. It was very smooth and bursting with flavors with all the different sauces on top.

The mouth watering choices of Chee Cheong Fun (top left), porridge (top right) and Popiah (bottom).

And we also had Popiah, which was just as good. Rounding up the spread was a Pork Porridge with Mixed Innards and Iced Black Coffee each. Yum, so good. How come we never considered these choices before?

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Oh My Ferragamo!

17 Mar

Recently, at the wedding, I decided to wear heels to match my outfit, but I was in a bind. I didn’t think I could balance on either the black three-inch or the bling-bling four-inch dinner stilettoes. It’s been ages since I wore these!

So I decided to don my Ferragamo shoes instead. It was either the classic Vara pumps or the Artiste block heels. I prefer the Vara over the Artiste, and the ever-reliable Vara pumps have held up after all these years. Perhaps a tad hardened on the insides that I have to grit my teeth when I walk, but what’s a little pain for a night of glam?

However, the other pair of Ferragamo has suffered a terrible fate. With two years upended by the pandemic, traveling and meeting people was out of the question. Furthermore, there have not been many new business opportunity meetings, so wearing good shoes were not required.

Anyway, my Artiste Ferragamo shoes suffered massive hydrolysis on the bottom. It’s like a replay of my Blundstone boots, only this time, it’s my designer label heels. The rubber underside of the shoes exploded to smithereens! The only consolation is that the shoebox contained the mess.

The awful state of the Artiste

I am not upset, but wondering if I bring the shoes to the Ferragamo store, can anything be done to save them? Would I be accorded a solution or a replacement (wishful thinking here) like Blundstone Australia did? Hmm.

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No Time to Write

10 Mar

I was away earlier this week and hardly had time to pen my thoughts. And when I finally had a moment, I found myself driving back from hubby’s hometown; as such, being at the wheel, how to pen my thoughts?

I kept the iPad in the boot, and for five hours, I did not play any games. Hahaha. The drive back was tiring because there was heavy traffic at several stretches on the Plus highway. But the build-up was of no reason – no accident or even roadworks. Sheesh, slow down for nothing.

Although it was tedious, sipping my green tea and listening to my music helped to collect my thoughts for the next entry. You could call it a good me-time.

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A New Game, Part 2

6 Mar

I am still playing the new game, Brick Out, that I downloaded. It’s addictive and frustrating at the same time. I don’t know why I subject myself to such emotions.

There were a couple of occasions I wanted to delete the game because I had super hard levels that were impossible to pass. But when I prevailed, the deleting idea was squashed. Hahaha.

This week I am out of town, and my iPad is with me. And certain games are playable offline, which I do in the car. However, a handful of them needs a connection to work better, so I manage. Not every game needs my attention constantly, and I have to learn to accept this.

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