20 Bloom Where You Are Planted

A garden stone decorative item on my shelf has these words on it ~ Bloom where God plants you .

Wherever we are, whether we like it or not, do our best because that makes our character. And sometimes, we will be rewarded in ways we cannot imagine. I find life much sweeter this way. It is exciting too; an adventure of sorts when things aren't going the way I dreamed it would but turned out beautifully in the end.

Rather than be upset at what life throws at us, swim with it and do it innovatively. I'm saying that I would get on an inflatable unicorn floater or snorkel my way through instead of drifting sorrowfully. 

Some see weeds. I see a place, if not for weeds, would be barren. That is optimism for you and looking at a different perspective. Oh, enough with the motivational chat. I've gotten carried away! I'm really here about a beautiful flower that has bloomed in my garden.

My orchid plant has been through a rough patch. It was snapped in two after a hanging flower pot fell onto it. I wasn't sure if it would survive but a new shoot appeared and I was assured. The shoot, however, grew out of the broken stem at an awkward horizontal angle. It looks like a long arm stretching out with three fingers; The fingers being the flower buds.

Orchid Blooms

 In Manglish, " Nice anot ? "

It Took Three Weeks To Bloom!

18 The AINO Warehouse Sale, I'm Done With Gift Shopping!

Would you believe that I'm done with Christmas gift shopping already? It all happened when I popped into AINO's warehouse sale at Desa ParkCity over a month back.

I love going into this home furnishing store. It is my place of happy. They sell exquisite kitchen and tableware at reasonable prices. The bright red ads they had placed strategically along several roads were effective in getting my attention. Hubs and I made our way to the warehouse sale that was organised in an open carpark

This mandoline was going for RM30. I'd been eyeing for one the longest time; it had always been too expensive ranging from RM80 to as high as RM300. This is a steal!
 

Mandoline

What's Inside The Mandoline

Tadaaa..my new toy! Ready for slicing and grating action.

A Stand And Various Cutting Blades

We checked out every corner of the sale. There were so many pretty things. Then, we saw it. This item (pictured below) originally costs RM14.90 per set. Guess how much I got it for at the sale. What thing? It's a secret known only to few.

"Wow, this would make a great Christmas gift . I'll take ten-lah." So I told the young chap who was assisting us.

"What do you mean ten. We'll take the whole carton!" My husband quipped in excitedly.

That's 24 in a carton and we paid RM24 for all of it. Yes, it went down to RM1 each! I am feeling so blessed by this phenomenal find.

The Secret Christmas Gift

That's why I love going to warehouse sales. It's like a play centre for adults. Here's a couple of photos showing what the scene is like.

AINO Warehouse Sale

AINO Warehouse Sale

Coincidentally, AINO is running a small-scale sale at their stores right now for selected items. Check their website out to see the bargains.

As for me, I think I have enough to hold off shopping until the next warehouse adventure. Or do I ..

14 Spring Cleaning - Stuff Happens!

The plan was to redecorate the bedroom, but this has gone on to become a major spring-cleaning exercise that includes the store room.

Stuff happens when you're doing so many things at one go. I accidentally snapped the drawer bottom into half. It felt like my heartbeat dropped for a moment as I stared at the broken piece in tiny panic. The feeling washed over; I'm planing to tape it up and am keeping my fingers crossed that it can at least hold up lingerie.

What do you think? Can she-hulk, that's me, save this?

Broken Drawer Bottom

It was part of a 3-drawer cabinet that I had purchased from IKEA many years ago.

IKEA Drawer Cabinet

The Daiso vacuum seal bags are proving very useful. I have not vacuumed these items flat yet since I have more bags to fill. It's taking me a lot of time because my small washing machine can only handle so much abuse and the drying area? Fits two comforters, max! Besides that, pillows and soft toys take at least 3 days to dry.

Guess how many pillows are packed here in the picture below? ..At least 6 sleeping pillows, 10 cushion pillows, 4 bolster pillows. Then, I've got comforters, bedspreads and a sofa cover too. That leaves 10 blankets and a bag full of bedsheets still to pack.

You must be wondering why I have so many bedding items. In addition, I have three sofa beds and 2 mattresses. I get a lot of visitors staying over. Taking people jalan-jalan (sight-seeing) is an activity I love.

Pillows, Comforters And Bedspreads

It looks like it'll be sometime before I start with the wall-painting but that's okay. I'm in no rush.

14 Die-lor, I'm At Daiso ..And I Bought More Than Vacuum Seal Bags

Die-lor, I'm at Daiso. This means an excitable me and a bout of over-spending. All the items are priced at RM5.30 making it one of the best stores to shop for presents and household items for the budget-conscious.

I was here to get some storage bags, the vacuum seal kind. Spring cleaning is the new exercise. I always feel good after a major one and I'm midway through the bedroom. It needs to be revamped, the walls painted, curtains changed, cabinets re-organised and so forth. I've been washing all sorts of things from soft toys to old pillows the past couple of weeks. Four bags of used items have been donated away. I'm always surprised by the number of things we accumulate over the years! It feels like yesterday that I gave away ten bags of stuff ..

As it is, I did over-buy at Daiso, a few lovely tray organisers making their way into my shopping basket. It was white and had these beautiful carvings around the sides. I thought it'd be perfect for keeping our skin and beauty products neatly in place. No more using old recycled chocolate tins - these I'm saving for gift-wrapping.

On the vacuum seal bags, I wasn't sure which would be the better buy so I brought home two varieties - one a plain ziplock bag in XXXL size and the other with a valve.

Vacuum Seal Bags

I dug my vacuum cleaner out and proceeded to vacuum pack my bedspread and comforter. It worked like a charm - both items were flattened to half its size. I cannot wait to do the same with the fluffy pillows!

Vacuum-Packing To Save Space

I wasn't too pleased about the one that had the valve in the beginning because it didn't look aesthetically pleasing with a huge button sticking out on top. However, compared to the other, it proved to be the user-friendlier one! Without the valve, it wasn't easy to vacuum the bag flat. The plastic kept getting sucked into the vacuum cleaner .. perhaps I'm not doing it quite right.
 

Vacuum Seal Bag With Valve - Easy-Peasy!

Vacuum Seal Bag Without Valve - Phew! Hard Work!

Therefore, it will be the one with the valve for me from now onwards!

Have you any storage tips for large items?

20 In A Village Far, Far Away ..

 ....lived this girl (me), her family and the relatives. It was a world of greenery and beaches. Then, she moved to the concrete jungle of the city. The fairy tale faded away leading to a life akin to those you read in chick lits.

Anyway, I was back in my hometown for some two weeks just before Raya. The one thing I love doing at the kampung (village) I grew up in is to take pictures of trees and plants around the compound. I don't know if it's true but it is said that seeing greenery improves our eyesight. So feast your eyes on this.

Coconut, mango, rambutan, jackfruit - these are some of the trees that are grown here. There used to be a guava plant at the back of the house which I was fond of climbing. The fruit had pink flesh. There was also a soursop tree but both are gone now.

Mango Tree (left), Coconut Tree (at the back)

These are some of the trees that are fruiting at the moment.

Banana Trees

Mango Tree

Mangoes

Pineapple Plant

Papaya Tree

I gave my aunt the seeds to grow this blue pea flower plant. So happy it's flourishing!

Blue Pea Flowers / Bunga Telang

 
The cassava tree. Haven't eaten this in a quite a while.

Tapioca

There's herbs like basil and lemongrass plus aromatic pandan leaves.

Sweet Basil

Life may look laid-back in the village but the amount of effort people put towards gardening, picnicking and get-togethers after a day in the office is really something to me. Comparing city life, I guess the difference is one finds joy in doing the things they do, hence a feeling that nothing is too much to do. The other is stressed out from things they don't want to do like being stuck in the office all day, being caught in traffic jams and getting too focused on earning a living rather than making a life. Not everyone, of course. Just generally.

22 Dragon City Bak Kut Teh, Kepong

Bah Kut Teh (BKT), a delicious pork soup cooked for hours in Chinese herbs and spices, is the stuff that warms the body and makes you feel good on a chilly day.

It is my comfort food and I have been having lots of it lately. My husband knows of my love affair with BKT. If it's mentioned as a lunch 'suggestion', it will most likely be our meal of the day. I'm grinning as I type this.  

We popped into a BKT restaurant in Kepong impromptu one evening. Besides BKT, we ordered a soy sauce pork belly claypot dish, lettuce greens and chinese crullers.

The yummy food:

Bak Kut Teh

I was wearing a bright yellow tee. Coincidentally, yellow was the theme of this restaurant too so, I blended right in with the waiters! Hubs kept teasing me about it.

Dragon City Bak Kut Teh, Kepong

I enjoyed the food and the friendliness of the staff. They were a jovial lot.

The Ambiance

The View

To end, should you happen to wear a shirt and colour similar to that of the waiters of the restaurant that you intend to have your meal at, would you shy away from walking in and choose to eat elsewhere instead?