Butterbeer

10 Apr

At the height of the Harry Potter years, M2 like every other fan, was Harry Potter crazed. She would read and re-read the books and knew lines by heart. It was rather heart-warming to see her (and M1 as well) do so much reading.

But thank goodness the craze was limited to just the books and not any collectibles although there were some Lego sets purchased. And both girls have a magic wand each, gifted from a friend who went to the Harry Potter theme park. I remember one day, many years ago, M2 came to me with a butterbeer recipe and asked if we could make it.

The beverage was of course served in the wizarding world of Harry Potter and back then, she thought it would be awesome if she could drink what Harry and friends drank. I still have the recipe, dating back to 2012 in my iPhone. I think we tried making it only once but don’t recall the outcome.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, at our local grocery store, lo and behold we saw a bottle of butterbeer! Of course we had to purchase it to try. And I must say it was quite refreshing but once the coldness ebbed away, the sweet side of the beverage became too much. Well, if we never tried, we would never have known.

I just wonder will this lead to a renewed interest in reading the books all over again? Only time can tell.

  

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The Perils of Long Hair

7 Apr

Having long hair is hard to maintain. I for one, have had and still have short hair all these years. But my girls have long hair. The maintenance is a constant thing not just for themselves but the surrounding as well.

One weekend many moons ago, we had to fix the sink problem in M2’s bathroom. Hubby suspected it had something to do with hair going down the sink. Sure enough, the bottom trap had eight years’ worth of hair stuck down there! Ewww… put it this way, if we can weave a pet out of it, it’d be a little kitten.

But the problem was not resolved. Water was still going down slowly. Surely it can’t be something stuck along the way. We checked again and this time, the problematic area was from the top. The passage from the sink before it hit the S-trap below had another furball, the size of a hamster this time, lining the pipe! Double eww… no wonder water was going down so slow. There was hardly any room for the water to flow down.

The perils of having long hair I say.

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Choices

6 Apr

Sammy the squirrel has been frequenting the wall and scrounging from the two trays left there. One morning, we put some leftover corn on the bigger tray, hoping it (or Lefty) would eat the corn instead but no. Sammy chose to eat bird seeds from the smaller tray. Why?

Sometimes even official pet number one, Rooney, would want some bird seeds besides his doggy treats. There must be something about the taste or flavor. Maybe I should try some to see what the appeal is.

Hmm… Food for thought.

See the yellow on the big tray? It’s corn

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Giving Up

4 Apr

I am contemplating giving up Candy Crush Saga. After being so long at it reaching Level 2139 at this point, thoughts of giving up lately has crossed my mind.

It’s not so much I am tired of it but more of the fact that my iPad is so slow when the app launches, it makes playing not enjoyable anymore. But this doesn’t mean a total give up, I can still play the game on my new office computer which is able to support the app unlike the previous dinosaur model.

I am merely deleting the app from my iPad Mini and there’s always the laptop at home should I have an urge to have a go at it. I still play Candy Crush Soda though…

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Tall People Travel Too

3 Apr

I speak purely from a shorty’s point of view when it comes to height challenging situations during my travels. The few encounters I had are definitely opposites for a tall person. A reader highlighted this to me.

It never crossed my mind that tall people also have travel woes – simple things like the hotel room’s mirror being too low and the shower head being too low as well for their tall frame. Wow. I never knew.

Hubby and the girls are all average like me. But my only sibling is a one tall dude, standing at six feet in height while yours truly, almost a foot shorter than him (5 feet 1.5 inches). I do remember brother dearest has mentioned to me before that normal beds was a issue for him. His feet would stick out of the bed but other than this, I have not heard much of his height travel woes.

Somewhere along the growing up years, he must have eaten more of something that I didn’t… How else can I explain this huge height discrepancy?

Wouldn’t it be awesome for the travel scene if the hospitality industry came up with two types of room: one for short travelers and one for tall travelers to address the height challenges? But would cost be a deterrent to make this happen?

Wishful thinking… so whether you are tall or short, keep on traveling so that there’s stories and experiences to share!!!

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Was It Really Good?

31 Mar

Last weekend’s getaway for golf was good. We got to play at two golf courses that we’ve never played before – Port Dickson Golf & Country Club and Air Keroh Country Club. Another two off the bucket list, you could say.

I played well but at a cost. My wrist injury flared up again with two consecutive games. Ouch.

It now looks like I cannot do two consecutive games. I need more than 24 hours to recover because it’s too much for the wrist to handle especially when the golf course was dry with hard ground, the rest period needs at least two days or more. Upon every impact, I could feel the pain, ever so slight reverberating in the left wrist during the second game. Ouch again.

It makes me wonder was it really good then? Maybe it was for the ego and confidence in the game but it sure wasn’t good for the old injury!

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Short People Travel Too, Part 2

30 Mar

I must say I was impressed with the ample hooks in the bathroom of Kings Green Hotel at Malacca. It’s rare because most hotels that I have stayed at somehow do not place an importance on their availability, what more on height especially for short travellers. Could this be a hotel star-rating issue? A five-star versus a three-star for such amenities?

I remember when we were in Ipoh in August last year for golf as well, we faced a similar short travellers’ woes…

The hotel we stayed at was boutique-status and you would expect a nicer setup. If having a rain shower facility is considered a nice boutique offering, having no shower curtain certainly spoilt it.  I certainly didn’t place my dry clothes on the covered toilet seat because it’s so close by and water from such a height hitting a body would definitely splash beyond the imaginary demarcation.

In truth, I don’t recall any bathroom hooks (not even on the door) to hang clothes but I do remember the towel rack was placed at such a ridiculous height, it was impossible to use. I understand they may be trying to clear the floor but touching the ceiling? Goodness! How do I place my clothes? Throw them up and hope they land safely on it? Geez.

Maybe the boutique status was more of the coffees and cakes they serve at the lobby? Hmm… Now compare it a five-star hotel…

Several years ago, I was on a business trip to Singapore and stayed at Shangri-La on Orange Grove. Their bathroom was outstanding. Hooks everywhere and at a height a shorty feels right at home. Like I said, are such little details due to the premise’s space and ratings being a higher star-rating with full amenities versus a lower star rating with basics?

You would think that amenities were just stuff in the room and its fridge and bar, but no, additional hooks in the bathroom are actually an amenity too. Think about it the next time you travel…

Society must remember there are short people everywhere and because of this, I think I will start to document this little detail every time I travel from now on.

Ipoh-2016

The square patch above is the rain shower. Too bad I didn’t take a picture of where the towel rack was! 

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Short People Travel Too

28 Mar

Although throughout the school holiday week, we did not go anywhere due to M2 wanting to prepare for her exams, we did go away on the last weekend before school reopened. We joined our golf club for two away-Interclub matches, a 2D/1N trip to Port Dickson and Malacca. It was a good short getaway I must say.

When we stayed overnight in Malacca at Kings Green Hotel, I was impressed with the hotel on two things: the pillows and hooks in the bathroom. The pillows were plump and just right! And the bed was equally good with the right firmness. For once, I didn’t have to whip out my travel pillow, which I brought along, to have a good night’s sleep. And the bathroom hooks! There was ample which is rare, with a row of four hooks at a height that short people appreciates.

This reminds me of our last hotel stay in December last year.

We were in Ho Chi Minh City when M1 was back for her Christmas break. The hotel we stayed at, Sunrise Central Hotel was pretty strategic. Located in District 1, just next to Grand Silverland Hotel (which I stayed at during my June golf trip last year as well), it was within walking distance to food and shopping. The room may be small compared to Grand Silverland’s room but was decent. However, one thing irked me.

There were just not enough hooks to hang clothes in the bathroom and the only one available was way too high! It is as though such tourist hotels are catered only to tall people with an easy reach to hang up their clothes or towel.

The bathroom door actually had a glass panel (unusual with such a feature) and there was no practical place for the hook to be except way above the glass panel. Why didn’t they consider having the hook at the wall right behind the door at a reachable height instead? The hook was at least a good six feet high or more.

I am average in height for an Asian at 156cm (5 feet 1.5 inches), not short but not tall either. When I stretched my arm up to measure the height of the hook, my arm was pretty straight upwards and I still had to be on tip toe to hang my towel. I don’t think this is right, is it? I can’t imagine how my girls dealt with it, as they are slightly shorter than me. Even the closet, the rod inside was pretty high up. Sigh…

Usually when such situations arose, I would, albeit reluctantly just put down the toilet seat cover and place my clean clothes on it because I don’t like to walk into a cold room after a hot shower even with a snugly wrapped towel. All that nice after-shower toasty feeling would be lost immediately once the cold air hits the skin.

Whoever assigned the contractors or installers to put these things up should remember that short people travel too and these things are important to us. And to consider adding another hook in the bathroom as well for practicality. Goodness only knows how clean (or unclean) those toilet seat covers are and for me, after a long day playing tourist, I seriously don’t need to do any yoga stretches in the bathroom to get to my clothes.

 

These babies were so comfy!

 

The row of hooks just above my eyebrows

 

 

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After the School Break

27 Mar

Last week it was the first school break of the year for M2. Daughter dearest was in a bind. Although the thought of going away with us sounded very tempting, she was fretting she needed to prepare for the upcoming exams, scheduled on the Monday (today) when she goes back to school. A sign of the young one having grown up and being responsible? It used to be given a break over the books, the break was chosen.

We were also in a bind. While we were tempted to go away, bringing her along, this would result in her not having any time to study. How does one enjoy whilst on holiday? It doesn’t work this way.

So in the end we stayed put. And I must say we were impressed with her dedication to prepare for the upcoming exams throughout the whole week. Let’s hope the results would yield with the efforts put in.

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Been There Done That

24 Mar

When one is in their teens, their dream is to grow up. Fast. Like M2 now who gets periodic updates from M1 about her life in university, I suspect M2 can’t wait to grow up.

When one is in their 20s, their dream is to see the world. “Wanna be there, gonna do that!” That’s the motto. That was how I was then. During my 20s whenever an opportunity came around, I’d jump at it. Like M1 now who turned 20 in January. When the opportunities are presented, she’d jump at them. Just like mommy.

When one is in their 30s, their dream from the 20s is happening as in “being there, doing that”. That was my life, living every moment and enjoying life to the fullest. Not only we took the opportunity, we made the opportunities happened and are fortunate enough to be living the “being there, doing that” motto.

The next decade, I suppose life takes a turn to tone down. I find the motto in the 40s now (ok, I confess, I am not Forever 38) to be “been there, done that”. Many a time, the enthusiasm and eagerness has simmered down and no longer jumping at opportunities whenever they present themselves. Hmm…

This makes me wonder what the next decade holds. But until then, I am taking one day at a time while M1 goes off on an adventurous road trip for her Spring Break this week.

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