Domestic Diva Wannabe

Working on A Labor Day

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:28:43 +0000

Today was Labor Day, while everyone was on a break, I had a full day doing housework and homeschooling my kids. It was only later I realized when my Hubby remarked that I seemed so busy on a “Labor Day”. But I didn’t mind working the whole day since I really want to catch up with housework and homeschool for we will be away for the week.

Anyways, I just it’s not everyday that I work so hard, only on Labor Day I guess..

Another Road Trip

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:21:38 +0000

We’re going on another road trip to Malaysia tomorrow. I’m actually feeling quite a mix of emotions for this trip. Of course I’m excited since I like to travel but I’m quite anxious about my visa application and the condition of our car. I’m not sure if our car will be able to endure the long travel since it hasn’t been in a perfect condition for the past weeks. Hubby has had the car checked with a couple of repair shops but we’re still experiencing problems with it. Since I’m not an expert on cars and I’m even sure what Autobest electric fuel pumps are for, I’ll just leave the decision to my Hubby whether our car is fit to travel long distance or not. But I’m fervently praying that we’ll have a pleasant journey to Malaysia and back.

Home Cooked Meals

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:04:52 +0000

I always get that feeling of satisfaction after cooking new recipes. Here is one of the newest recipes that I cooked and it’s called Chicken Biryani. It’s an Indian recipe and it’s not very easy to make ( well, for me… since I’m not an expert cook). Anyways, as we’ve realized over the years, even if eating out or buying outside food seems cheaper here in Thailand, but it’s still much, much cheaper to cook our own meals.

So, we will try to cook at home as much as we can since it’s healthier and cheaper.

Online Work Going Well

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:59:14 +0000

I was quite ‘worried’ a few months back when my online work opportunities has been coming less than expected. You see, my online income has really helped our family in a lot of ways- financially for that matter. And since I’m a stay at home mom and homeschooling my kids , getting a full time work for me has never been an option. During those ‘low times’ in my online work, I already thought of joining affiliate programs or starting a small cupcake business. I know doing this will require a lot of time and effort on my side, but that was one of the options. But thank God because for a few weeks now, it seems that more online work has come and everything is almost back to normal.

The Chapati Night

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:05:04 +0000

My Hubby was supposed to teach me how to make chapati tonight, but it turned out that it became a family activity. My daughter and my son were also interested on how to make this indian bread and they involved involved themselves in the Chapati making process. Oh, it was fun to see everybody busy mixing and kneading the dough. And I was glad that our Chapati even turned out well.

It was actually more satisfying to eat a meal that has been made by the whole family.

On Facebook Distraction and Other Social Network Sites

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:57:16 +0000

I have a lot of articles to read and post today but then somehow I get distracted by Facebook. Sometimes, it’s just so tempting to see what’s those notifications are about especially as the numbers rise. Did someone comment on the photo I posted? Did someone send me a message? Did someone replied on the photo comment I made? So, to avoid the temptation, I just closed my Facebook browser. I would never get to finish my work if I keep checking my account.

Social media can be distracting but do you know that there’s another type of social media that can be helpful too? It’s called Doximity. This is a social media for physicians. Currently, 6% of the physicians in the US already have an account in this social media. This is specially helpful for physicians in which they can give correct patient referrals. The search bar is specially helpful since it can lead you to the right physician. For example, if you need an female Asian OB who lives in California , you just have to key in these keywords and it will give you a number of options. It’s very helpful huh? It’s not just serves as a directory like when you want to search for Stanley Ling MD but gives you a whole network of physicians whom you can interact with and connect with.

Saving Electricity

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:20:11 +0000

We notice that our electricity bills have really gone high over the years. I could still remember my first year here in Thailand in which our monthly bill was only 200 plus baht. Of course, we didn’t have a lot of electrical appliances by then and it was just my Hubby and I. As the years have gone by and as our family has grown, our bill has gone so much higher. Plus, it has also been 2 years now since we got 2 air conditioning units from our organization and I guess, that’s where the bulk of our bill is from.

So, what’s our solution? Well, we just have to go back to the very basic like turning off the lights or fan when no one is using it. We are also trying to just let the aircon be on for an hour or two in the afternoon and at night. But sometimes, it’s just too tempting to let it be on for the whole night specially during the summer.

But I guess the best solution for this will be to use solar energy. Yeah, I know that installing all these solar panels will be expensive, but I guess in the long run, it’ll still be cheap and we can also help save the environment. Using solar energy is not so common here in Thailand yet but I heard that in UK, many of the houses have these. I’ve heard that solar is made easy in UK and other countries so, I guess that’s why more and more people prefer to have them.

My Daughter’s First Pancake

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:12:03 +0000

I was craving to eat pancake this evening and so I decided to make one. Then my daughter who has always been wanting to cook or make things my herself, asked if she could make the pancakes instead. She has actually helped me make pancakes a few times and this time she wanted to do everything herself. So, I consented and was just sitting at the living room while she busied herself in the kitchen.

After like 3o minutes, she called out that her pancakes are ready for the pan. Then I saw her proudly showing the pancake batter on one hand and the empty bottle of oil on the other hand. As what I remember, there was at least 1/8 of the oil left in the bottle 30 minutes earlier and only 2 teaspoons of oil are needed for the pancake. Then I immediately knew that she made a mistake. When I asked her how much of oil she put, she pointed the measuring cup and said, ‘ oh, it says 2/3 in the recipe’. I checked the recipe and it was ‘ 2-3 tablespoons’ of oil. Opppsss… she thought that it was 2/3 and she overlooked the tablespoons.. So, there goes my daughter’s first pancake attempt. I had to console her that it’s okay to make mistakes and I also made several mistakes when baking or cooking when I first started out, because she felt so sad for ‘failing’. But it’s okay, even if the pancake batter went straight to the sink, but I’m sure my daughter has learned a precious lesson to carefully read instructions and measurements.

The Difficult Journey to Health

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:00:23 +0000

I constantly find it a struggle to make healthy choices. If I’m not on a ‘diet’, I could easily choose a burger over a healthy salad and a Coke over a fruit juice. Though at the back of my mind, I KNOW which is better for me, but my actions say otherwise.

I wonder how I can change all this… that’s why I find it ‘easier’ (well, that’s an understatement) to just simple be on a ‘diet’ so, I can force myself to make healthy choices. But then repercussions come when I’m already off the diet. Do you experience the same things, or is it just me?

Anyways, I did read a lot of stories in which people has come to a complete lifestyle change after they’ve gotten too obese or too sick to the point of using ekg machines to monitor the activity of their hearts. But I don’t want to wait for that to happen to me. That’s why I better act on changing my eating habits now before it’s too late.

Almost Back to Juicing

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:48:22 +0000

I’ve stopped juicing for more than a month now. Honestly, I missed juicing but it’s taking me so long to start back again because I’m afraid of giving up my ‘normal’ food again. But my ‘normal’ food intake is actually not normal since it’s quite unhealthy.

But on the other hand, why don’t I start back again tomorrow? I will have to start with 100% Tipco juices first since we haven’t gone to the groceries yet to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I still have about 4 boxes of the 100% juice , so I guess this can last me for 2-3 days. Then I proceed to juicing fresh fruits and vegetables. I would then have to think of getting a compost tumbler , so I can put all the extra pulp in there.