It's been a long time...

 In the blink of an eye, 4 years have elapsed since my last post..

Many things have happened, not least, the effects of the Covid-19 booster shot. It's strange, how one's fears overwhelm thinking logic and a decision made then, prompted by those fears, has had a devastating effect. Many of my friends succumbed to the Covid-19, and when the booster shot was introduced, everyone was urged to take it, as an added precaution against the virus. Should I, or shouldn't I, take it?

What if I don't? Will I be the next Covid-19 victim? I was among the vulnerable elderly with comorbidities. Many in my community went for it, so I followed suit. Alas, the after effect of that booster dose, was inflammation. My right optic nerve was severely affected, resulting in accelerated vision loss as I already had Glaucoma.

When the opthalmalogist confirmed the rapid progression of vision loss, I wept inwardly. I had already noticed the deterioration when I experienced difficulty in reading and writing for a sustained period of time. It also affected my driving. I no longer felt confident on the road so I stopped driving. The car was sold and it was hard, losing the convenience of mobility. 

The strain on my eyes affected my writing. I couldn't concentrate and it became laborious, to write. I couldn't read my favorite books at the rate I used to. Depression set in. I lost heart.

My children encouraged me to return to the mainland to celebrate my birthday and they took me on road trips each time, to a different place. We returned to Penang one year and I enjoyed my favorite dishes, pictures of which were in my previous post.  

Another year, we went to Ipoh, another town famous for its food and snacks.

                                                             Char Siew or roasted pork

                                                            Sweet soya bean curd dessert

                                                                           Fern salad

Last year, we spent two nights in Taiping which has a beautiful lake and ancient trees, some of which were already tilting but firmly supported by steel trusses. Joggers thronged the lake gardens in the cool of the evenings. 

                                                                    Taiping Lake Garden

                                                    Ancient tree supported by steel trusses

Best of all was the support of my old friends and former golf buddies who fetched me out regularly for meals. Their company is therapeutic and the bonding over food is priceless.

                                                                 Regular weekend buddy

                                                Former golf buddies celebrating a birthday

                                             Old friends of many years bonding over a meal

Today's post is a return to a more settled frame of mind, thanks to my children and my friends and buddies.

Ready when you are!!

 "Hey travel, I’m ready when you are." I came across this while reading and yes, I’m ready and have been for the last couple of months. What about you?

Everyday I see many planes flying in the sky from my balcony and the travel bug began to bite!! My tickets which had been cancelled by the airline because of the Covid-19 virus pandemic were re-activated and together with my daughter, we flew off to the Pearl of the Orient, or Penang as the locals know it. It’s also known as a food paradise!

We partook of the signature dishes in different establishments and I’d like to share some of the dishes we had.

From clockwise: row 1 - Spring rolls with vegetable filling (poh-piah); steamed rice rolls (chee cheong fun) in sweet sauce topped with fried onions; oyster omelette (oh-chien);

Row 2- Deep fried savory snacks (loh bak) with sweet and spicy dippings;
cendul (a local dessert with palm sugar and coconut milk);

Row 3 – local black coffee and noodles fried with cockles, prawns and duck egg (char kway teow); Ice kachang topped with ice-cream (local dessert with cream corn, cendul, kidney beans, black herbal jelly sweetened with palm sugar and some thick coconut milk).

The top favorites are the Char Kway Teow and Cendul. People actually come to Penang for these two dishes which originated from here. The queues to get these two dishes are usually long as people don’t mind waiting. They are very yummy and the cockles are big and fresh! It’s the cockles that make the dish so tasty!

Penang is also home to the Peranakans who descended from mixed marriages between the Mainland Chinese immigrants and local Malay women. The off-spring are known as Baba (male) and Nonya (female).

The Nonyas are excellent cooks and skilled in embroidery. In the olden times, these are mandatory skills for marriage. More on the nonyas in my next post! Stay tuned!

 

Books Available on Pre-Order

 I’m happy to announce that the last book “Successful Magic” in my series “Love in the Shadows of Salem” is now available on pre-order in amazon.

Here’s the link.

https://amzn.to/3PelQ0l

Just in case you haven’t heard about this series, there are 5 books altogether. It’s the story of Gwen, who was ignominiously thrown out of her college, found herself without a home, thanks to her father’s crime, and dumped by her fiancé. Get to meet her and to know her within the pages of these books, as she discovers her true nature, befriended by werewolves and falls in love with a vampire. You’ll love the irrepressible Gwen and the chaos created as she discovers her magical powers in raising the dead.

Coming up is a new series entitled Destinies Entwined. The prequel “Welcome Home” is available on amazon and Bryn, after a long sojourn in the human world finally goes home to her own world where Joseph has been waiting for her, always at hand to protect her as he had vowed, centuries ago.

https://amzn.to/3uEaTg6

Destinies Entwined is also a 5-book series which showcase Bryn’s story. Book One entitled “The Daywalker” is now available on pre-order on amazon.

https://amzn.to/3NZjml0

My mother, a vicious killer vampire presumed dead is alive and still killing.
My mission? To bring her in, alive.

“Who are you?” I asked, staring at him. I could only see his body from the waist up, but I saw enough to know every inch of his body was lined in muscle.

“Are you enjoying what you see?” he remarked.

I was. But I was not going to let him know that. As far as I was concerned, he could be my next meal. I did not tend to play with my meals...but he might be the exception to that.

Loneliness and death are the constant for Bryn, daughter of vampires. She sets out on her perilous journey to bring in her killer mother, accompanied by the handsome daywalker assigned to assist her. Their attraction to each other is very strong

Will it develop into something more or will their separate destinies doom it from the start? When secrets are uncovered and truths revealed…

*****

Writing has always been my passion and more books are in the pipeline. I will inform you when they are on pre-order.

If you would like to read all my books for FREE, I suggest you sign up to be on my ARC street team. The VIP members in this team get to read all my new books before they are launched, for FREE and the only thing I ask in return is an honest review when the books are live on amazon. Here’s the invitation to join my team. Just click on the link below.

https://bit.ly/3zuG522

Reviews mean a great deal to an author as it enables more readers to learn more about her books and to read them.

Thank you for reading my books.

Yay! Heartstrings will tug your heart!

 My new 5-book series entitled Heartstrings is now available on amazon!! I'm chuffed!

Take a peek into the lives of the Manvin family and share their ups and downs. Each member has his/her own demons to deal with and the passions simmering below the surface will have you fired up too.

Stan is back to helm the family business empire after his father’s demise but it’s not what he wants. His return unravels the family in subtle ways. His first love Amy whom he left without a word is now married to his younger brother.

Amy cannot forget Stan and Steve has noted the effect Stan still has on his wife.

Julie the youngest Manvin who dislikes Amy because she has “taken away” her brothers’ attention has her own secrets that are taking a toll on her mental health.

Mama Leah the matriarch currently holding the family together but for how long? How will things work out for the Manvins? Will the family business survive? Will Steve and Amy go their separate ways? What of Julie?

Do grab a copy and while away your weekend with the Manvins in Heartstrings.

Copy and paste the links into your browser to get the books.

 https://amzn.to/3t5vnNc

https://amzn.to/3JtmsMn

https://amzn.to/3CTulII

https://amzn.to/37L5lrE

https://amzn.to/3wo6DmM