His new bestie

This is The Other Half’s new best friend.

He keeps it close to his heart, skin to skin, an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening and anytime in between when he feels like it.

Bini dia pun dia tak peluk lama macam tu hari2, muahahahaha….

When we first started our exercise regime, we all guna heart rate monitor watch saje. Every minit, kena press the button on the watch so the watch can calculate our pulse and then from that, it calculates how many calories we are burning during the exercise. It’s not that accurate sebab kadang2 we all terlupa nak press the button while termengah2 exercising. Kadang2, press button bagai nak rak tapi it couldn’t detect our pulse. Macam mana lah nak detect kan sebab tengah buat ‘jumping jack’ sambil press the button so bergerak2 lah the watch.

But, walaupun tak accurate sangat, it was still good enough for us to agak2 berapa calories we have burnt (so, boleh tau berapa banyak food we can eat that day or can’t eat that day, hahaha).

Then one day while we were surfing the net, we found an online shop yang jual polar heart rate monitor (HRM) yang agak murah so we bought 1 for him and 1 for me too.

And now, everytime we all exercise, we will strap on the polar HRM onto our chest and then put on the watch on our wrist and then voila, the HRM will ‘talk’ to the watch and start counting our heart rate (instead of pulse) and calculate our calories burnt from there.

Tak payah susah payah tekan button lagi dah, hehehehe. Everything will be done through electrical signals? between those two things.

And I found out after using the polar HRM that:

1. kalau I exercise cardio dengan Maya Wii for 45 minutes, I will burn around 225 calories macam tu.

2. kalau I buat Upper body exercise with Maya for 30 minutes, I only burnt a meagre 130 cals saje!

3. kalau I buat core body exercise with Maya for 30 minutes, I will burn around 170 cals aje.

4. kalau I buat dusting, vacuuming, cleaning and scrubbing the kitchen cabinets and sink and stove top for 110 minutes (with lepak2 sekejap in between), I will burn about 300 calories.

5. kalau I sental and scrubbed and cleaned the toilets and the bathrooms and then mopped the floors for 60 minutes, I will burn around 220 cals gitu.

(btw, the calories burnt tak sama for everyone tau. This is only accurate for someone my age, my weight and my height.)

So, you rasa kan, exercise mana yang patut I buat selalu ye untuk kekal langsing?

I guess kalau I nak rumah I berkilat2 from the kitchen sink to the bathroom sink and without a single dust present anywhere sambil melansingkan badan, bolehlah I buat exercise no 4 dan no 5 hari2 kan .

(Hikhikhikhik….rasa macam tak kuasa aje I nak membuatnya pulak pulak….).

Next, I nak strap on the HRM when I go shopping so I can tell The Other Half yang I wasn’t spending/burning money, I was only burning calories/ exercising aje, hehehehehe.

And our dinner pulak, berapa calories do you think I consumed malam ni?

oven baked chips and fish and salad.

Berapa hari dah asik malas aje nak masak from scratch……

Kesian dia….

This was what Miss 7 and I did today… Well, Miss 7 had it done, I cuma Ibu Supir aje .

Sape2 yang pernah baca my old post, sure you all tau tentang Miss 7’s peanut allergy kan. She was first tested for the peanut allergy when she was around 18 months kot masa kat Adelaide and it was confirmed. Pastu, we moved here and we didn’t follow up on the test sebab selama ni her symptoms could be controlled with antistamine.

Then, bila dia start sekolah, memang dah lama cadang nak get her re tested just to see whether ada improvement ke tak. But biasalah kan, tak terbuat2 until today.

Kat sini kalau nak jumpa specialist, kena ada referral letter from GP or else you won’t get Medicare rebate. And kalau you nak jumpa specialist at a public hospital (you don’t have to pay extra money), the waiting list will be so long so we opted to go private lah. Kena lah bayar the extra tapinya but much better than waiting months and months kan.

So, we saw an Allergy specialist today and he did the skin-prick testing again on Miss 7. Masa dia kecik dulu, she got it done on her back and punyalah dia meraung, satu hospital dengar .

Tadi, she got it done on her arm and tangisan dia, satu klinik boleh dengar, hikhikhikhik….

But, memang sakit pun sebab you are basically pricked with a needle so many times. Kita pun kalau tercucuk jarum sekali pun dah kata, “Ouch!” or “Adoi!” or “Adehdehdeh!” or “sakitnya!” so her reaction meraung tadi was justifiable lah kan.

So, this was the result after 10 minutes…

She got tested for 16 different allergens that are common. Yang macam peta Australia tu is the positive reaction to peanut. It is considered quite a big reaction sebab saiz dia was 19mmX12mm. Anything bigger than 7mmX7mm is considered positive. The other 3 small marks are from grass-mixed, mould and pecan.

The specialist assumed that her reaction to peanut would have reduced over the years (because sometimes that’s the case) since she was first diagnosed but salah sangkaan dia tadi. Makin besar adalah .

And the end result, she’s put on epi-pen and I have to get her a MedicAlert bracelet. Anti histamine will still be her first line of treatment, kalau makin teruk, then only cucuk epipen.

And how much did the specialist and the test cost tadi?

$350 but we’ll get back around $173 from Medicare (which is the government public health cover). Our private health fund tak cover the specialist visits. It’s not bad lah kan to see a specialist .

Lepas balik from the specialist, I made mee goreng daging for dinner. I malas betul nak masak, hehehe.

Mee goreng ni I guna minyak more than usual, about 3 teaspoon instead of just oil spray . I exercised pagi tadi so tu yang boleh makan extra malam ni.

Mee goreng sangat2 sempoi but sedap, hehehehe….

He’s so close…….

He is so ecstatic because after nearly 3 months of  blood, sweat and tears (hikhikhik)  hard work and determination, he has gone from obese to normal BMI!

Yeay!!!!!!!!!

When he first started on this weight loss journey, his weight was around 99kg. And with his height of 177cm (I know I know, he’s not a tall Mat Saleh, hahahaha), his BMI was 31.6! BMI of 30 and over dah termasuk dalam category obese so tu yang buat dia susah hati sangat2. Sape lah yang nak kena grouped as obese kan. Pastu kalau jalan2 dengan I, memang nampak jauh benor beza nya lah our body size, hehehehe.

Another thing I noticed when he started gaining the extra weight, tidur I selalu sangat2 terganggu from his snoring. Kadang2 tu memang nak nangis I and nak aje I kick him out of bed sebab I was so dead tired but couldn’t sleep. Baru aje nak terlelap, suddenly got awaken rudely by his loud snoring. I had to wake him up to ask him to change his sleeping position. Dia boleh terus tidur lepas tu but I was left fuming tak dapat tidur. Dah lah I ni jenis yang light sleeper and susah nak fall asleep easily.

But, as soon as he had lost around 5 kgs of his weight, the snoring suddenly disappeared overnight! Aman damai tidur I sekarang ni without anyone snoring (except me, hahahaha).

Tadi, I just had to take a photo of his current weight.

So, now with 78.2kg, his BMI of 25 is finally within the healthy range albeit the upper limit . He wants to lose a few more kilos still to get to his ideal weight of 75kg.

He said, the closer it is to his target weight, the slower the weight loss. I guess sebab dah tak banyak fat to lose anymore and he is gaining muscle mass, tu yang lambat sikit nak reach 75kg.

Hopefully, he will soon be able to join me in the ‘weight maintenance’ group. Best weh to be able to be in this group sebab kalau nak makan lebih, we just have to do a bit of exercise to burn off the calories and the weight stays the same forever .

Oleh sebab itu, I made one of his favourite food tonite. Pizza .

Tapi I buat thin crust vegetarian pizza makan dengan baked chicken wings.

(tak muat my lightbox nak masukkan the whole pizza tadi. I had to sengetkan dia sikit tadi, hehehehe).

I put pineapple, chargrilled capsicum, diced eggplant, red onion, chilli flakes and fresh basil on the pizza. I only used about 40g of grated light cheddar on the extra large pizza.

Makan dengan baked chicken wings. I didn’t use any oil at all tapi lemak from the skin itself dah cukup banyak.

My weird and pathetic collection :-)

I nak tayang our lunchbox collection. Orang lain tayang their handbag collection, shoe collection, perfume collection, fridge magnet collection etc… I tayang lunchbox collection.

I know it’s pathetic but I love looking at the lunchboxes at the shops and when they are cheap, rasa macam nak borong aje semua, hahahaha.

Macam lebih kurang cerita Dr Seuss lah, I can use them on a boat, I can use them on a train, I can use them on a house, I can use them here or there, I can use them anywhere .

But I dont like to collect the hard lunch boxes yang macam kat M’sia tu. I like to collect the padded lunchboxes/lunchbags. Senang nak keep cold things cool and hot things hot in there and so convenient for people yang suka pergi picnic like us ni.

Ini cuma some aje, ada lagi actually but I think they are in the shed in a box and some in a drawer out there, hehehehe…..

Syyyy…..The Other Half tak tau about my hobby ni, muahahahaha…..

Ini lah Miss 7’s purple lunch box. We bought it as a set. Ada water bottle and 2 clip-on plastic containers in it and a freezer pack. The water bottle was hopeless, leaking aje tak tentu pasal so we threw it out.

Every year at the start of the school year, The Little Misses mesti nak beli new lunch boxes for school. Normally dah kotor pun their old lunchboxes tu so memang kena beli new ones lah each year.

Kalau I balik M’sia, I love bagi hadiah lunch boxes for my nieces but they didn’t use it untuk bawak gi sekolah, they used it untuk letak benda lain, hahahaha.

And our dinner tonite was tuna mornay with wholemeal pasta and peas.

Sekali sekala makan canned tuna ni memang lah sedap sangat2 kan .

Tuckshop lady aka Makcik kantin update

How was your weekend?

Ours was quiet as usual. Stayed at home the whole day semalam (didn’t drive anywhere ) but drove The Little Misses to Sunday School and back hari ni. The Other Half lagilah malas nak drive so I lah yang kena hantar them today. Takpe, dapat pahala kan hantar anak2 pergi mengaji ni, hehehe.

Pergi pukul 9.30, balik sampai rumah tadi dah pukul 2.15 so memang terus lepak lah saje2 hari ni . Tu yg dinner pun lepak aje I masak tadi.

We had crumbed chicken breast strips (beli kat kedai), yiros bread (pun beli kat kedai) and mixed salad (carrot aje beli kat kedai. The capsicum, cucumber and lettuce kebun mari ).

Memang sempoi giler kan our dinner, hikhikhik….

Tu yang sempat put on my makcik kantin hat at the same time.

The Other Half’s sandwich sebelum di wrapped. He wanted vegetarian cheese sandwich so I made sandwich with mashed avocado, chargrilled capsicum, marinated artichoke, gherkin slices and grated parmesan.

This is his lunch for tomorrow. Vegetarian sandwich with chicken breast strips and fruits.

And ini pulak lunchbox Miss 11. She has an after school Gavel Club esok, tu yang bawak extra food for afternoon tea sekali. 

And ini lunch box Miss 7. She wants dates and rockmelon for fruit/recess time and custard profiteroles for ‘dessert’ after her sandwich, hikhikhik. I made silverside sandwiches for both of them.

Facts of life as seen by me

Facts of life as seen by me.

Number 1:

-When something is scarce to get thus expensive to buy, lagilah meronta2 jiwa kita nak memilikinya.

The best example for me right now is pisang as in banana. Nak tau berapa harga sekilo pisang sekarang ni? Paling murah I jumpa was $7/kg but usually around $12/kg. I am talking about pisang montel ye tuan2 and puan2, bukan harga durian siam atau harga halia ye. Last year, harga dia was around $2 aje sekilo.

Sejak cyclone and banjir kat Queensland and Carnarvon which are penanam pisang terbesar kat OZ ni, harga pisang melambung2 tinggi nya. Kalau boyfriend or girlfriend you belikan you hadiah pisang, maknanya memang dia sayang sangat2 lah kat you, hahahaha.

(OZ doesn’t import bananas at all because of the banana diseases rampant in other countries.)

You all bayangkan lah saiz pisang montel itu, besar2 belaka kan. So, even though you beli sebiji, you still have to pay around $2 for that 1 biji banana! Kulit dia aje dah harga $1. Nak tercekik I makan pisang $2 tu kalau I beli, baik I beli finger bun kat Baker’s Delight, lagi murah and boleh makan the whole thing, hehehehe.

But tak tau apsal, tetiba I teringin sangat2 nak makan pisang goreng lah, cekodok pisang lah, peanut butter n banana sandwich lah especially bila pisang naik harga ni (Menyampah betul I dengan tekak mengada2 I ni, hahahaha).

The Little Misses pun I dah told them not to ask for banana in their lunchbox sebab mahal sangat2. Banyak lagi buah yang murah2 and sedap2 for them to eat like plums, nectarines, rockmelons, kiwis so memang nak cari pasallah kalau mengada2 mintak banana tu, hikhikhik…

(Mak dia pun terpaksa menelan air liur nak makan pisang goreng so they have to do the same jugak lah ).

Last year for Sunday School, I selalu sangat buat cakes or cuppies yang berunsurkan pisang but this year, bau pisang pun takde, hehehehe.

Jadi, blog mana2 yang tayang gambar pisang or kuih muih buat dari pisang, memang lah I tak kan singgah! Sape nak lap when I drool? hahahaha…..

Tu sebab lunch we all tadi memang takde langsung banana inside it.

I masak nasi goreng ayam (not nasi ayam goreng) for lunch tadi and also thai green curry makanan laut .

The girls makan nasi goreng aje while we had the extra green curry to make it more pedas.

Number 2:

When you lost something, the sure fire way of finding the lost thing is by buying a new one (or at least threaten to buy a new one).

Kat rumah ni, they (as in The Other Half and The Little Misses) seem to be forever losing their USBs. Cari lah bagai nak rak, mesti tak jumpa until Mak dia (why is it always me yang kena pergi beli?) belikan a new one. And then the old one suddenly materialised out of nowhere! Tak ke pelik tu, hikhikhik….

And for a few weeks now, The Other Half has lost his ‘spirit level’ (the gadget that you use to make sure things you want to hang are level). Sungguh kesian kat The Little Misses sebab they can’t have their mirrors hung behind their doors.

Puas lah The Other Half mencari rata2 tak jumpa jugak until lah tadi I paksa/threaten dia suruh pergi kedai beli yang baru. Tetiba, macam magic show, boleh pulak jumpa that spirit level tu!

You rasa kan, kat rumah I ni ada genie yang suka sorokkan barang or anak2 I and laki I cari barang pakai hidung? .

The hectic driving story

Hari ni giler punya penat. Bukan penat caterwauling or melalak nyanyi lagi Sheila Majid tapi penat sebab rushing drive dari satu tempat ke satu tempat in hot weather!

Pagi tadi, bangun2 tidur dah terus penat sebab exercise dgn Maya. Pastu, terus sambung goreng karipap and hias cupcakes. Pastu terus busy siapkan budak2 for school and then Mak Budak pulak nak bersiap.

Sampai sekolah, I dah exhausted sebab cuma sempat minum kopi aje, hahahaha.

Pastu, I stayed at school for their special Harmony Day assembly sampailah pukul 10. Miss 7 and I pakai baju kurung pagi tadi you untuk assembly ni, jangan tak tau! hikhikhik….

Last I pakai baju kurung was Raya last year, sikit nya lama kan .

Layan advert gambar at the assembly dulu ye before I sambung cerita.

Harmony Day theme colour is orange.

A didgeridoo player who’s the father of one of the students.

So, bila dah stayed at school sampai pukul 10, of course lah lambat nak ke karaoke tu kan. Nasib baik gi rumah orang melayu so tak kisah lah kan, hehehe.

But bila I sampai situ, lepas borak2 and cerita sikit2, tiba2 ada pulak amoi ni buat demo barang jualan dia. Terpaksalah I duduk mendengar, even though I am so against what she’s trying to sell. Tapi, sebab kita cuma tetamu kan, kenalah hormat tuan rumah and just zipped my mouth aje instead of questioning her products.

Don’t ask what she tried to sell ok because I wouldn’t even mention it on my blog.

Anyway, obviously lah takde masa nak berkaraoke after the demo sebab Tuan Rumah dah panggil I makan sebab she knew that I had to go soon. And then orang lain pun join I makan sama2 sambil bergossip2 lagi, hehehe.

Pastu, tengok jam dah pukul 12, berdesup lah I salam2 semua, angkat vontot and lari keluar (cisssss, perasan macam Cinderella pulak I sekejap tadi ). Diaorang masa tu baru nak asah2 vocal nak start karaoke! Tension I sekejap, hahahahaha.

I teruskan acara marathon drive secara berhemah to Miss 7’s school. Kelam kabut parking sebab I was quite late already. Miss 7 and Miss 11 dah tunggu tepi pagar for me with a worried look sebab I lambat .

Miss 11 dapat permission keluar sekolah untuk join the picnic lunch kat sekolah Miss 7 tadi. I had to write a letter asking for the permission. She got a ‘permission pass’ untuk keluar sekolah tadi for 30 minutes.

See, I told you, kalau your parents tak dapat datang to the picnic, you boleh ngendeng nak duduk dengan parents your friends. I pun dapat lah anak ‘picnic’ 2 orang tadi, hahaha.

Ramai betul yang datng picnic tadi, penuh lah jugak all the ground area. Mat2 saleh siap bawak eskies and camp chairs lagi!

With one of her kawan yang joined our picnic tadi. She’s mixed Egyptian Muslim and German. Memang exotic habis kan . Kat sekolah Miss 7 ni ramai Muslims especially from India and Pakistan.

Habis aje picnic tadi, I terus balik rumah and sempatlah rehat2 kejap and solat and picked things up for Miss 7’s swimming class.

Baru aje nak lepak2, terus kena patah balik to school and rushed to swimming class pulak.

I hate driving in hot weather. Rasa macam everything in the car was melting!

Then, rushed home after swimming sebab nak kejar Asar but sempat singgah Woolies to pick up our dinner sebab I tak larat nak masak because penat sangat2 from the driving everywhere today.

This was our dinner. Tinggal open the box and tear the packet and bung them all in the oven and siap untuk dimakan .

Crumbed fish fillet with curly fries and salad.

Ini pinggan I yang penuh dgn salad sebab I dah makan banyak for lunch tadi.

So, I’m totally exhausted now!

And I didn’t even get a chance to asah my vocal cord!