End of AY2020/21 and Summer Break 2021

 Salam my lovelies,

Pardon for the long silence as we trudged on the final term of pandemic-online-schooling. Syukur alhamdulillah Girl and Bean both did exceptionally well in their GL Assessments. Girl graduated in our living and dining room. Bean scored an award for Most Improved Student of his class. The Awards Ceremonies were surprisingly interesting! We applied for access to be granted to The Grandparents so they joined us online to watch both ceremonies. Both of the children's homeroom teachers will be returning to England, alas. They will both be sorely missed.

Girl and Bean somewhat enjoyed their online Sports Day as the novelty had worn off. We will suggest that the programme be updated next year as repeating the same routines and challenges from AY2019/20 annually were not exciting nor engaging for the most part. Morion, their sports house, did not win this year but put up a good fight. Sportsmanship can be tough under pandemic-fatigue as we witnessed first hand.

International Week came and went without much pomp and gala as the overall spirit was dampened by high daily new cases and long-drawn lockdown. Girl's class was assigned Thailand, and Bean's year group was again assigned China (same as when they were in Year 1). Girl's Thai costume arrived after International Week Dress Up Day, and Bean donned his Lunar New Year red costume. There was not much decoration of study space, except reusing all our Lunar New Year deco items for Bean's China-theme. I must remind myself to order Bean's new costumes as he is outgrowing them soon.

We cooked some masa harina pancakes (the recipe is a keeper) and ordered Thai food during International Week. Bean missed his xiao long bao and la mien so much he kept reminiscing his meal at Din Tai Fung KLCC when we could last venture out.

Summer break is finally here and we are spending every single day indoors, same as most Klang Valley dwellers. Our 9.2 acre park is still shut but we enjoy the greeneries and fresh air. This is our first holiday-less indoor long break. We ordered a whole series of The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer and a few more titles for Girl, including a new release from David Edward Williams (David Walliams). Bean is working on his Horrible Histories series, still. His stamina for reading is nowhere near that of Girl's, not that I am comparing.

Personally, I am working on re-motivating myself. I have a lot to be grateful for and reaffirm myself of this fact daily. Although The Other Half and I have been fully-vaccinated, we are not taking our chances and are very aware of the fact that both children have yet to reach their respective vaccination threshold age. We are certainly taking all precautions and coping the best we can with what we have.

On the fluffier side of life, our balcony plants are thriving and they bring much joy. Both children are painting, colouring, crafting and playing online games. They usually transition into movement breaks without cue. Dances and balloon-volley indoors are so fun with them! We must include more of our stationary bike and rower considering we have been eating well could use some extra exercise.

We hope to spend the rest of this summer break in good health and happiness. All school fees have been paid and their books for Y7 and Y4 are arriving from the warehouse. Hopefully, Girl's new secondary uniform will be available as soon as the bookstore is allowed to open (on-site at School and it is not currently permitted under Phase 1). I am still in awe she is going to Y7 and knowing me, I may get all emotional come September.

Ending this post with much love and peace to everyone. Stay safe and healthy. May happiness and joy come your way daily. 

Run, Run, Run

The recent haze forced me indoors. I would so love the foliage and fresh air when running so imagine my disgruntle within when I had to run on a treadmill. 

As soon as the haze cleared up a bit, I wished so much to be out in the park but my lungs could not handle it.

We are losing the Genting view,

floor by floor. That translates to week by week.

Only neighbours change, at least this view is more predictable.

Yes, I miss the foliage and blue skies. Not much view running indoors, on a treadmill. Better than not exercising though.

Run, run, run.

Snippets: Personal Shopper & Personal Trainer

The Little Girl is the best personal trainer I have ever had. Free of charge and always available. Like my own shadow. 

"When are you going to the gym, Mummy?"

"How many more inches of flab to lose, Mummy?"

"You used to have a stomach that flat?"

She is also the best talking/interactive mirror when we are in the changing room.

"Wow, that's a huge tummy."

"This does not look good on you. Too drab. Try that, should look much better."

I love her honesty. I do have to flatten my post-natal flab and tone up my abs. Perhaps even wear colours other than white, navy and black (my favourite trio!).

If only she will say all those comments 30 decibels softer...

I also realised that if anyone other than her verbalises those comments, I would not be as calm and collected. 

Unconditional love, much?

*back to the gym* toodles!

Gratitude: Pre-pregnancy Body

Today I am thankful for the return of my pre-pregnancy body.

I was hovering at 52 kg for the last few months and felt like another 4 kg off would be nice (I wanted to feel like I can perform my tashahud seating comfortably, feel more energised and lean, lose the baby flab, lose the sluggish feeling, have glowing hair and skin, a whole lot of other reasons).

 

Obviously, something had to be done and I made the pact with a group of awesome ladies to eat healthily.

Sugar was the first to be sent off the list. No more Milo and Horlicks for now. Coffee and tea for me are much better off sans sugar anyways. 2L of water is now 4L of water daily. Does wonders for milk supply too.

 

Since sugar is off the list, baking cookies and loaves with The Little Girl had to be adopted as well to something less sugary.

Since rice has high carbohydrate content, we sent our brown rice off the list for a few days of the week. We were not eating much brown rice all that often anyways but now it is almost zero. Cous cous and quinoa are our new best friends.

Pasta? Bye bye. One of the easiest and fastest meals to whip up in my kitchen is now served to only The Little Girl when she specifically requests for her favourites (mac 'n cheese, carbonara, pasta bake, Bolognese, pesto).

Potatoes? Airfried.

Sweet potatoes? Airfried.

Salads made a huge comeback to our diet. We eat all colours of the rainbow again. Very satisfying to regain clean taste buds. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds tossed with some extra virgin olive oil or lemon juice and Manuka honey. No store bought dressing.

By now, you would have realised that we have become the accidental organic vegans. Protein sources from quinoa, lentils, beans, tofu, milk, nuts and cheese are so plentiful that we hardly miss meat, chicken, seafood. Watch Food, Inc. and you will see what I see too.

That was just food and drinks.

Exercise. Gosh! Try handling 2 kids under 5 without a helper. Lifting weights, 8+ kg and 15+kg every time, at Gymboree. No kidding. They do bestow the most appropriate name for that happy place.

Housework. Some naysayers claim that housework does not count. Come to my humble abode and witness yourself if it counts. Especially when one of the kids vomits. At midnight. Onto the bed, floor and wallpaper covered walls.

There, it took me 39 weeks and 3 days to my big, pregnant body growing another life within me, and 230 days to return to my old clothes with a  healthy baby in my arms. I feel like myself again. This weight loss has done my soul so much good.

I repeat: I feel like myself again, alhamdulillah!

 

Occasionally, we do dine out, or indulge with extended family members. This balances life out, and we do not feel the slightest deprivation. Consistency is key, so commitment to health is important.

How has your journey been? Do share!

Philips Airfryer

Love eating fried Spanish Mackarel and thick crinkle cut fries.

Hate frying. The smell, oil pops, greasy kitchen floor, stale air, stained wok...you name it, I'd probably have that on my pet peeve list.

Enter the solution to my kitchen woe:

Oil-less. No more fear of oil pops and burns! The frying rack goes into a little neat compartment. Helps me to stay trim too.

Clean kitchen, floor and air. That means more time for the kids and less for follow-up after cooking and eating. 

Easy wash-up (dishwasher friendly). Very important deciding factor in all my utensils and kitchen toys purchase.

I am eager to try frying more in this little helper, as it also saves me from having to fire up the oven. That said, I still love my steamer more!

Do you use one too? Please share your fun and easy recipes!

Self-inflicted Misery

Out came my Ogawa Magic Belt from its resting place after 3.5 years.

Back to commission of being my fat buster.

Pray it works like it did before because after 30 minutes my blubber is all hot and bothered! 

Hot as in warm feeling, the sort you'd feel after a good long warm shower. Bothered as in prickly itch, the combo of blood rush and lactic acid burn you'd feel after a 5km run.

Will duly report on results when I see some. It did me wonders back in 2010!

Now, if only I can stop craving for a snack every night after the kids go to bed...