First Road Trip Post-MCO, Part 2

20 Jul

The weekend’s post-MCO road trip was nice. The drive up North was pleasant and didn’t take too long. As always, going away is about food. Our first stop was in Ipoh for lunch; we had Chicken Rice and bean sprouts.

The must-eat choice when in Ipoh

After lunch, it was smooth sailing all the way and we arrived by mid-afternoon. The folks are fine and doing good. But weather-wise, it rained a lot so we couldn’t go out. Anyway, with social distancing still in practice, we didn’t want to and was contented just to laze at home.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time! We decided to have Thai food at the restaurant that we visited the last time and discovered the restaurant has changed its name! Despite the change, the food quality was still good.

Previously it was called Khun de Thai

Saturday was our customary golf day. We make it a point, every trip to play at Darulaman Golf Club, which is a short drive away. And I am pleased that this round, I played so much better than all previous games.

After the game, we got boba teas!

The weekend quickly passed with another sumptuous dinner on Saturday night with the parents and an Aunty before we left on Sunday morning. On the way home, we opted for noodles instead of the usual crab porridge at Nibong Tebal and I must say, they were good choices.

The dinner spread for six
Lunch at Nibong Tebal

The journey home was peppered with rain now and then, but not too heavy until it made the drive tiring. It was a good weekend away.

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First Road Trip Post-MCO

17 Jul

We are going on a road trip! Yay. After staying put for four months during this pandemic, it is okay to travel across the state borders now. So hubby has decided it’s time to visit his parents. Moreover, M2 has been back for so long now, it will be good for her to see the grandparents.

We are taking the drive leisurely without any hurry. And no road trip is complete without a stop or two to savor delicious food along the way! We left home at 9.30 this morning and will most likely do lunch somewhere along the way. Hopefully, the traffic won’t be a crawl and we should arrive by mid-afternoon.

And as always, we will be playing a round of golf. Looking forward to the short break away.

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Diversion, Part 2

14 Jul

The DIY cafe diversion has been very encouraging within a short time. Even the wiring for the lights is much easier. Learning from this experience, one should choose a DIY project with more paper than fabric if one does not wish to be aggravated and end up with more glue on the fingers than the parts.

The wiring cleverly taped to a crossbeam before painting

I have to say again the difference between the three DIY pieces is the choice of material. The two houses had more fabrics to deal with whereas the cafe had mostly paper. For me, the paper-based teeny weeny pieces are must easier to deal with over fabric. Then again, this is a matter of preference as some may think otherwise.

A few more potted plants and it’s complete

Nonetheless, I am now at the tail-end of finishing up the set. The structure and furnishings has been completed and what’s left are just several plants still to put together and it can be proudly displayed. I can’t wait.

Like the top floor, a few potted plants to decorate

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To Walk or Not to Walk

13 Jul

To walk or not to walk 18-holes for a round of golf, that is the question. I thought most in our golf group may not be willing to do so now that the buggy ruling, post-RMCO has been relaxed for twin-sharing but I was wrong.

The Tuesday and Thursday games, played at the Lakes course were on the buggy, twin-share basis, and we had lovely weather which made both outings enjoyable. But the weekend was a different story.

Saturday was again at the Lakes course on the buggy at a snail’s pace because the golf course was packed and the flight in front of us was just terribly slow. We gave up after 15 holes. The wait was unbearable, not just at every hole; it was every shot.

On Sunday, our group’s super-fit elderly asked me (a few days prior) if I would like to join him to walk 18-holes, carrying our bags while our other two flight mates opted for the buggy. He is 78 years old! Amazing… I guess I’m not the only one wanting to do this.

The amazing 78-year-old with his bag and a bucket of sand

We were the first flight out and I certainly enjoyed the company and exercise to keep up my stamina and strength. Moreover, I wanted to do this (walk 18-holes) because I have gained a little weight last week. With restrictions having eased at this recovery stage of the pandemic, and we find ourselves eating out a little more, and it has shown.

So the question to walk or not to walk shouldn’t be raised now that I have another golfer willing to accompany me and I have a reason to do so.

 

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Diversion

10 Jul

There has been no further progress with the DIY 3-story and 2-story houses. Work has stalled because both M2 and I have been very discouraged and aggravated when we have to deal with gluing fabric on wood.

So, we have channeled our energy to focus on hubby’s DIY set instead. It’s not a house like ours, but more of a cafe with lots of plants. And progress on this set has been so much more encouraging because we don’t have to deal with fabrics. None of the parts to assemble the 2-story cafe had any fabrics for us to work with.

Tiny… tiny… tiny!!!

The difference between this cafe and the other two houses is the choice of material. There are lots of paper to fold and glue for the props and these are tinier than the props of the other two houses! Skills to deftly handle them is a must. But the tiniest prop is not paper-based. The coffee grinder had very delicate parts to it and I managed to glue them together.

Smallest coffee grinder EVER!

It has been a good diversion and I guess once the cafe is completed, I will revert to my 3-story bungalow.

Left section of ground level

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The Vomiting Chicken

7 Jul

Online shopping is fun. Buying kitchen appliances online is even more fun, although I don’t use these purchases myself. During the MCO since March, I’ve made several online purchases for kitchen stuff for hubby to use and activity items for myself.

The latest purchases are again kitchen gadgets. Purchase #1: two rolling pins that I thought their bright, fun colors would be nice to add to the kitchen, but more because of their sizes especially the mini one that I thought was very cute.

Purchase #2 was more whimsical yet practical: the vomiting chicken.

The what?!

It’s an egg separator, that’s what the vomiting chicken is. When you crack an egg into its body and tilt it, the egg white comes out of the beak, hence vomiting, while the yolk stays put. And it works much better than the conventional egg separators that we already have.

Works even with two eggs! Our other useless separators

It’s fun to play with it. I guess I will assist hubby with his baking endeavors when it comes to separating the egg whites from the yolks.

 

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A Recovering Situation

6 Jul

There has been much progress in containing the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Malaysia. Statistics tracking new cases and deaths have been very positive with very little or no big breakouts; it looks like the country is well on the road to recovery. As such, various restrictions are easing up and many sectors are reopening. Health guidelines are also being relaxed for life to be back to normal.

Last week the SOP for golf has been revised and golfers are now allowed to twin-share a buggy for a round of 18-holes. No more single-player, single-buggy rule.

With this update, it looks like our weekend (and weekday) games from now on will be with the use of buggy, twin-sharing, and less if not, no more walking with a golf trolley for our group.

So we shall see how it goes as we took a break from golf over the weekend to spend some quality time with M2.

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It’s So Tedious, Part 2

3 Jul

The DIY house project has been such a challenge. While it’s a nice change from carving, it’s truly a test of patience and skills. Putting little pieces of furniture and accessories together is not the easiest hobby on earth, especially when it comes to gluing fabric. It’s so darn hard!

My two kitchen chairs took several days to complete because the fabric, upon gluing, wasn’t bonding with the wood well. I had to use clothes pegs to hold them down so that they can set properly to dry. And it took several attempts as I ended up having more glue on my fingers than the pieces!

Once the kitchen chairs were finally completed, I worked on another equally aggravating set of chairs for the bedroom. And if I thought this was the ultimate test of patience and skills, making tiny pillows take the cake! I’ve managed only three pillows so far and have procrastinated on the last two.

Tiny chairs and tinier pillows to aggravate you!

On a brighter note, the ground floor has been completed and it looks impressive despite an initial misalignment of the chandelier. The chandelier had to be moved so that it’s directly over the coffee table when the sofas were put in place. All’s good now. Phew.

Top: Chandelier was off; bottom: my pretty ground floor

A few days later, the first floor was also completed as I got those darn chairs glued properly. It’s only a matter of time now to shift my energy and focus on the open-top floor with the swimming pool.

Fancy staying in this place? Hehehe

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Goodbye TomTom

30 Jun

Last weekend my golf watch, TomTom Golfer died. Sniffles… I’ve had the watch for almost six years and it has served me well. But like all electronic gadgets and devices, there’s a shelf life and an end to their usefulness.

Goodbye TomTom, you’ve been a good companion

The TomTom Golfer watch had been very easy to use on the golf course. Unlike most other golf watches, it has only one button to press for reading distances, hazards, and greens.

Having used it so much over the years, the spring in the button has eventually lost its sensitivity. Whilst I can press it to move up, down, and left, it does not respond when I need it to go right, the most important function.

So I asked hubby to see if he could fix it for me. Unfortunately, when he opened up the watch, not only couldn’t he find the problem, the watch decided to die on him whilst under surgery. Oops.

Now I don’t have a golf watch for my golf games. Although I did search for a replacement, I’ve decided to hold off buying one for now. Instead I have been using my AppleWatch Series 5 for the subsequent games (yes, I have an AppleWatch since Thanksgiving last year).

As of last week, I’ve downloaded several free golf GPS apps, trying out their functionality without having to pay for any premium bundles yet to see which app is best to use with ease. And if I am not too concerned about hazard indications as these free versions do not include this, I must say Hole19 holds a slight edge over Golfshot and Hello Birdie.

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It’s So Tedious

29 Jun

When it comes to furnishing the little DIY home, it’s so tedious. It’s not as easy as the instructions show. And it takes patience and accuracy to ensure the alignment is precise.

I started off working painstakingly on the itty bitty pieces of furniture and accessories once the main structure was put together. Then focused on the kitchen area.

The kitchen: before and after the wall cabinets, light and top floor were up

When that section was completed, I worked on more itty bitty pieces of furniture and the bathroom on the first floor.

Shower area walls are not straight!

The wiring of the whole structure to be lighted up was tough because things were very delicate and fine. Generally, while it has been slow, I’m rather pleased with the progress.

 

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