It’s been a while since I last used my mini drill. Last week, I decided to use it and inadvertently caused a mini double accident.
The DIY cafe was at the tail-end of completion. I had to drill a little hole for the wire from the table to go underneath to connect to the rest of the wires at the other end. But things did not go as planned.
I switched on the drill and tripped the power in the house. Oops. Initially, I thought it was the adapter plug but on further tests, it’s the drill. Sigh. I’ll deal with this another time.
Immediate attention was on the hole to drill. So I had to poke a hole manually with my carving tools. Luckily, the base wood isn’t that hard. I just had to be patient but persistent.
The hole for the wire that caused the accident
I tilted the cafe at an awkward angle to get a comfortable position. And accidentally tilted a wee bit too much, the whole cafe fell off the table! I was horrified.
Clothes pegs are useful gadgets to use!
Thankfully the damages weren’t too bad. Only the back roof truss broke, the bar stool top came off and a flower fell out of place.
With a little creativity, the roof truss was glued and held back in place, while the other two were glued back without issues. As it was last bit of this project, I finished it without further challenges.
It has been six months that M2 came back from Ireland at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic mayhem. And it was a good six months with her around; the house is not so big and empty.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end. Time has flown by so fast, and it is time for her to return to Ireland for her studies.
While we are worried about her journey, there are many precautions and SOPs taken by the airlines and airports to ensure a safe journey for every traveler. So we should be comforted by these new norm practices.
I will, as always, track her flight on flightaware.com and being unable to sleep through the night until I know she has arrived safely on campus. A mother’s worry is constant regardless of how old a child is.
It’s been raining a lot these past few nights. And we’ve been getting a lot of of winged critters coming into the house. Looking for a warm shelter?
Last week, we had a dragonfly that M2 and I called a big-assed dragonfly because the wing markings made it looked big at the bottom. Bottom heavy, hence big-assed. Heheh…
Last night, it was a big moth that was unfortunately a little injured. Poor thing was flapping about near the living room sofa but ended up perched on the ceiling light tray.
I was cleaning out the closet last year and found a forgotten bag of Snoopy collectibles from my Happy Meal days. Ah, the things we did when we were younger.
McDonald’s meals are not for everyone for various reasons. But there was once, a long, long time ago, both hubby and I ate a lot of McDonald’s, particularly the Happy Meals as I wanted to collect the Snoopy figurine that came with it.
I adore Snoopy, and I would go to lengths to collect anything and everything to do with Snoopy. Even if this means eating Happy Meals, I will do it.
After that bout, there were other Snoopy series, but I stopped the Happy Meals. Now, during this pandemic and the various MCO phases, we did eat McDonald’s occasionally when we don’t know what else to eat, or I don’t feel like cooking. However, no Happy Meals choice since there’s no more Snoopy offered.
Wednesday was a public holiday, being Malaysia Day, and we took the opportunity to do another day trip excursion. This time, we went to Cameron Highlands.
Mom came along this time for the little adventure. The journey started late as we couldn’t wake up early. But as we’re not in a hurry, it did not matter. The first stop was at Bidor for brunch.
Wantan Noodles for brunch
I was disappointed that I did not get to eat the Duck Noodles because the order taker was not very clear when she spoke in Cantonese to us. Nor was she attentive to recommend. We all ended up having Wantan Noodles instead.
After the quick meal, the journey continued towards Cameron Highlands. Traffic was not that heavy, and the drive was pleasant enough despite the winding road along the hillside. Along the way, we stopped to buy local produce – bamboo shoots and stink beans, or commonly know as petai.
Buying bamboo shoots and petai
By 12.30 pm we arrived at the Boh Plantation. The weather was cloudy, windy, and a wee bit chilly. Nice though. However, with the pandemic and SOP enforced, visitors had to be controlled for social distancing; we couldn’t stay too long, enough only for a quick tea and scone break.
The picturesque hills of the Boh PlantationThe scone
I felt the scone paled in comparison to hubby’s home-baked scones. It’s good to know though the quality and standard of hubby’s baking skills. As the factory tour has ceased due to the pandemic, there was no reason for us to linger. We left shortly for the Bee Farm, which was not too far away.
Bees and strawberries, and masks on!
It was a short visit as there wasn’t much to see. There was only one strawberry plant worthy to be photographed, and I did just that.
Vegetable farms on the hills
We left for Cameron Highlands for Raju’s Hill Strawberry Farm next. By now, traffic began to build up. Before we knew it, it was like every other car on the road was also going to Raju’s farm! The traffic crawl was a good hour or so. Not nice.
Look at the sky and traffic! It was like a long arduous drive into the abyss
By the time we arrived at the junction to turn towards the farm, the long queue in front change our minds. We decided to leave before the traffic built up again when everyone decides to leave the place.
Along the drive back, we stopped at the roadside to buy some fresh vegetables and more petai! The rest of the journey down wasn’t too bad as there weren’t that many cars yet.
More petai and fresh vegetables
We arrived in Tapah by 5.30 pm and had an early dinner. We were all ravenous as I realized we didn’t eat lunch!
A satisfying meal after a rather long and tiring day
The rest of the journey home was pleasant without much traffic build-up, and after sending Mom home, we arrived home safely. A wonderful day trip indeed.
I was pleasantly surprised when my online purchase arrived yesterday. I certainly did not expect the parcel to arrive so soon this week. But it did, and I’m pleased.
So, what did I buy? Yet another DIY set, of course!
DIY project number five! 😍
This will be my fifth set, and from the looks of it, the biggest and heaviest by far (1.682kg according to the parcel description). But even without the weight mentioned, the package felt heavy when the delivery man handed the parcel over to me.
Ooohhhh… I can’t wait to get started on it. However, I have to finish project number four first before I can even open the individual packs inside this latest DIY set to get a feel of things.
It’s been a while since my preoccupation with the caterpillars in our garden. Ever since the various MCO phases, I’ve hardly ventured out to the garden because I’ve been busy cooking, carving and crafting inside the house.
Knock! Knock! Let me in… 😅
So it was a surprise when we discovered one adventurous caterpillar on our front door! Is it trying to come in? Hahaha… It amazingly made the long trek from the lime tree in front of the house, a good ten feet away, and four feet up the door. How? Why? I don’t know.
We also spotted another one on the same lime tree. While it’s nice to have them around, just to observe their growth and transformation, they’re actually detrimental to the plants.
Nonetheless, we didn’t have the heart to harm our little adventurous friend, so hubby relocated him to the garden. It certainly looked happy chomping away on the leaves when I checked on it the next day.
I have finally completed the DIY project #3. It now sits proudly with the other two completed projects at the dining table. Even my Gnomes are enjoying the fruits of my labor, chilling in all the rooms! Heheh…
Four Gnomes are just chillin’
And so, with an end, another begins – the fourth DIY project which is another cafe. And it’s about the same size as the earlier cafe but minimal plants.
Here we go with Project #4!
I find this latest set is even more challenging because the instructions are rather small in font size, and all in Chinese unlike the previous sets. And I for one, cannot read Chinese!
So I had to download the Google Translate app and use if the pictorial steps with tiny Chinese characters are not clear. Thank goodness for technology that is put to good use here.
Well, I’m in no hurry to finish this set and will work on it at a comfortable pace. The best part, no fabrics to deal with! Yay.
Over the weekend, it was our first time doing a really short anniversary trip. Just two days and a night away, given the circumstances of the pandemic and protocols to contain the spread.
We decided to visit Malacca again after the last trip there to check out the Husky cafe with M2. This trip, sans M2, it was simply a round of golf at A’Formosa Golf Resort, food and playing tourist at Jonker Walk.
The front of Aava Hotel. The back entrance faces the riverfront.The lobby, breakfast room and waiting area. Room was big and comfy.
We stayed at Aava Hotel which was very strategic and within walking distance to the attractions. On Saturday evening, after golf and checking in, we explored the street market on Jonker Walk before and after dinner. People were all masked up and it wasn’t too crowded.
Pre-dinner was Cendol and SatayLovely anniversary tapas dinner
The next day, we even had time to do a morning walkabout again after breakfast. To our delight, we stumbled upon a morning antique market. Not as big as the night attractions, it was very interesting nonetheless. Some of the items on displays brought back memories of things both of us had seen or used when we were young. Lovely.
Colorful rickshaws on the road!
By eleven, we checked out and bade Malacca goodbye, to head for lunch in Seremban. Unfortunately, the famous Beef Noodle at the market was too long a queue, so we opted for something else instead. Oh well, next time…
Clay pot Loh Shi Fun
Next stop was Seremban International Golf Club (SIGC) for an afternoon round of golf before going home. It was windy, the fairways were hard and the greens were horrid to putt. Then it rained. Haish… we had to wait out the rain for about 20 minutes before we could resume our remaining seven holes.
All in all, the trip was short, sweet and very enjoyable. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be far and foreign or exotic but doing what we enjoy most together is best.
I’m down the homestretch for the third DIY project now that most of the pieces are in place!
The sofa’s done with the pillows in place, the first floor is up, and the stairs as well. Even the bathroom is done. This time I managed to get the shower door installed, unlike the previous set whereby the door did not align at all, so I left it out.
A very detailed bathroom
However, I still have the bed and a chair to work on before the whole set is complete. And ugh, I have fabrics to deal with. I hope I won’t get derailed.
Angieneering 
Remarks