Siblings

Coming from a large family of ten siblings, we only appreciated our bonds when we grew old enough to understand what family is all about.

When we were young we used to fight and argue over petty issues. Jealousy reared its ugly head many times and there were also occasions when we felt that one or two of us were favoured above others.

It certainly was difficult for my parents who had ten children all just a year apart. Father was a travelling salesman while mum was a primary school teacher. They had a hard time trying to make ends meet.

We only appreciated what our parents went through when we grew up and had our own families. They always instilled in us the need to be close knit and to be there for one another.

This stood us in good stead as we went through family crises, such as when cancer struck. First mum was stricken with it, then my younger sister, followed by my father. Through the tears and the agony we got closer. My sister emigrated to another country and another sibling went over to help her when she had to undergo chemotherapy. Later when another two siblings were diagnosed with different forms of cancer, we rallied round and were very supportive. This made a difference.


Through these experiences we drew closer, brothers and sisters. We learnt what it meant to be family, that we could count on one another in times of crisis and need and no one can break this bond that binds us.

We also celebrate birthdays and the Chinese New Year is one occasion when we get together to further strengthen our bond.



It is to our parents that we owe this closeness and the joy of being siblings. We in turn bequeath this to our own children and grandchildren that they will also know the joy of being close, that family matters above all.

Durian, King of Fruits

Most of the Asians will know what the Durian fruit is. It’s known as the King of Fruits and there are many varieties, among them hybrids that can cost a princely sum.



It has a very pungent smell and you either love it or hate it! Most Caucasians hate its smell! But I love it! I’ve had this love affair with the Durian since my childhood, when my dad would take us to the kampong ( village ) and we would squat by the roadside, eating durians, not getting up until we’ve had our fill.


I believe this is still the practice in some parts of our country. The durian vendor will open the fruit for you and you just eat it there and then. He even has water ready for you to drink and wash your hands after that. All very civilized.

There are very sweet durians and there are the bitter ones. I love the latter. The outside of the durian is covered with thorns and the shell is hard. You have to know how to open it and it’s quite easy because you can see the natural linear division on the shell. You just have to insert one end of the knife and then prise the fruit open.


The soft pulp inside can be whitish, pale yellow or a deep golden yellow. Sabah has durian which are red!!

You must always drink plenty of water after you have eaten durian or you will find yourself with a sore throat the next morning. You should drink the water from the durian shell. It is deep enough for this purpose.
You can get rid of the durian smell on your fingers by running your hands under the water that drains from the durian shell.

We have been eating durian without realizing that it has health benefits.

The durian fruit is believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac and concoctions made from the leaves of the durian tree are used to help reduce swelling and cure skin disease. More recently nutritionists have claimed that the durian fruit can help lower cholesterol and cleanse the blood as well as cure jaundice and alleviate fevers. Hmmm….. however, the durian is fattening!!


Some experts say that you can get rid of yeast infections such as thrush by eating durian. This is because of the durian's high iron content which enables the white blood cells in our body to make specific chemicals that kill off the infection.

The durian is also packed with amino acids as well as Vitamins B, C and E and it also has high levels of anti oxidants. These anti oxidants protect our cells from free radicals such as pollution and smoking. Among the amino acids found inside the durian is tryptophan. Tryptophan is essential for making and maintaining serotonin levels in the body. Serotonin is the hormone in the body that regulates our happiness. People with low serotonin levels tend to have short tempers, are often moody and suffer from depression. This means that eating durian will help to increase your general happiness and well being.


No wonder I always feel happy after eating durian! The sight and smell of durians make me hungry and even though I’m not an expert in choosing durians, I will always buy them. They have exotic names too such as Musang King, Red Prawn, and the various D’s such as D2, D24, XO, etc However, the kampong durian ( the non-branded ones) sometimes taste just as good.

What you should look for is a durian with a thin shell, large pulps with small seeds. The thorns should also be fat ones but the fruit should not be heavy.

"Being Human"

Yesterday I took my grandchildren to see a movie entitled "Being Human" directed by Jack Neo of Singapore. It's a Mandarin movie and I took the children to watch it since they know Mandarin and would be able to understand the dialogue.

But what do you know? They also had English sub-titles!! You guessed it! The kids read the sub-titles instead. Naughty naughty!

I enjoyed the movie because of its theme and there were quite a few laughs. The character that spoke Hokkien (a Chinese Dialect)was easy to empathise with.

The moral of the story is simple. If you do something bad, bad things will happen to you too but if you do something good, you will be blessed.

The main characters are a married couple who have been trying very hard to have a baby for the last eight years. I thought the character who played the wife was very good. So was the guy who played the hubby.

It's worth watching! Jack Neo's movies are good to watch.

This was the first time I watched a movie in KK and had my grandkids with me. We munched on popcorn and laughed at the antics of some of the characters. It was a great rainbow afternoon! Kids do make one feel young!

Pizza Anyone?

This evening, my two grandchildren, Stephen and Chloe decided to have pizza for dinner. Their mum who usually makes it for them is currently in Vienna so they decided to do it themselves with minimal help from me.

I buttered the grid for them and cut up the sausages and ham. However we ran out of green peppers so they decided to do without.

First they took out the frozen pizza base. Things are so very convenient these days. You can get almost anything from the supermarket.

Then they put it on the buttered grid and placed their sausage & ham topping on top.
Their nimble fingers are very quick and soon it was ready for the oven which was set to 200 degrees Celcius.




They set the timer for ten minutes once the pizza went into the oven.

When the time was up, I switched off the oven for them and took out the pizza. It smelled really good but pizza is not my cup of tea. I don't like cheese.

Chloe did the honours. Just as her mum showed her, she cut the pizza into quarters.

Then she and Stephen tucked in.


I could see they really enjoyed the crispy pizza. Children learn very fast. They are adept at the computer as well. They were familiar with Youtube long before I even knew there was such a thing! Needless to say they go on Facebook too for the games.

I take pride in their achievements and they do me proud as they love to read and they speak excellent English. Their Mandarin is also very good.

My favourite flowers

I'd like to share some of my favourite flowers, those that I grow at home.

I do not know all their names but seeing them bloom gives my spirits a lift. I don't have many cos I cannot manage on my own. Flowers need care and love.
Believe it or not, I do talk to my flowers and plants. Oh no, I'm not going bonkers!

It's just that they are so lovely in their own ways and I pay them compliments. Of late the Jasmines have been blooming but when the weather broke and the rain fell heavily, the flowers just withered, some while still buds. My jasmines are the multi-layer petals so they look like miniature roses. Their fragrance is very strong and can pervade the whole sitting room.


Cannas are very common and they multiply readily. They come in many colours but I'm partial to reds and pinks.




Roses are favourites with the fairer sex. Beaux give their ladies red roses to signify their love.Come Valentine's Day, roses cost a bomb. I have pink roses, red roses and pale pink tea roses. The pink roses have a fabulous scent, very different from the scent of the red roses.

The anti-cancer plant which can grow into a large bush has lovely pink clusters of flowers. There is another which has orange flowers. There is no scent but they are very beautiful. Their leaves are boiled and taken for their anti-cancer properties.


When the weather is very hot, the bougainvillea come out in full bloom. There are more flowers than leaves and this particular plant has only 2 branches but they are covered with flowers and I love looking at them through my kitchen window.


These coreopsis are my favourites. Because of the very hot weather, many of them dried up and died while I was away. So the flower beds which used to flower profusely are quite depleted and bare in many areas. I remember when I was in school, I used to pull off the petals one by one reciting "he loves me, he loves me not"! Such a silly thing to do, trying to find out if my boy friend loved me or not!


These flowers or "crab claws" hang down in a line and can be very pretty. Here they look rather small because of the extremely hot weather again and in fact some of the plants have died off too.


This gave me a very pleasant surprise. The plant commonly known as "mother-in-law's tongue" flowered!! This was the first time I saw so many stalks of flowers blooming, springing up from the inner part of the leaves.


The Ixora has come out in full force, turning the hedges into red spattered rows. They didn't flower as profusely before. It had to do with the heat. Just like the mango trees which are flowering abundantly and another plant which has long red leaves produced an unusual flower, the like of which I've never seen before.


There are more but I will stop here as it's very late now and I have an early morning call. No, it's not golf. I've to send my grandchildren to school and then off to do some work for the British Council. So goodnight.

Delicious, tantalising....but...

You’ve heard about the benefits of dark chocolate. Well, unfortunately,there are some negatives too.

For instance, those who suffer from migraines should not take chocolate as it can act as a trigger. So if you know you have migraine, do avoid eating chocolate unless you love chocolate so much that you’re willing to enjoy first and suffer later!

White chocolate and milk chocolate have higher contents of fat and lesser health benefits. They generally have more sugar, saturated fat and are higher in calories.

Another negative is that chocolate can trigger obesity especially is you’re one of those that cannot stop after a couple of pieces. It is also suspected to be one of the factors in developing diabetes. However this is not conclusive as studies are still ongoing to determine if it has any such implications.


This is important! Chocolate in any form is not good for your pets. It contains theobromine, a kind of stimulant and which pets cannot digest. So if you care for your pets’ health, avoid giving them any cake, puddings, ice cream and cookies that contain chocolate. In this case, what’s good for you is definitely not good for your pets.


If you are a chocolate fan, and you also have to watch your weight, go for sugar-free chocolates ( like me !!! ), chocolates with nuts or orange peel and even chilli!! Avoid those with caramel, nougat or creme fillings since these flavored fillings contain fat and sugar that will make you put on weight.

Finally be aware that there are chocolates and there are chocolates. Those that are highly-processed and poorly made are usually high in calories, sugar, and fat. They don’t taste good at all.

If you can have only small amounts of chocolate, I recommend that you go for the good quality ones, especially the dark chocolates, even if they cost more, for the taste of a good chocolate is simply exquisite. Mmmm….

Dark Chocolate is a Rainbow

Here’s another reason why eating dark chocolate is good for you.

It enhances your mood and keeps you in a happier state of mind. Have you ever had this experience of feeling better after eating a bar chocolate when you were downi n the dumps? How does chocolate do it? How does it put you in a better mood?

The secret lies in the serotonin that it contains. So it is no wonder that a person reaches out for chocolates when he or she feels depressed. I know I do!!

Nothing like a bar of chocolate to perk me up!

Do you know that chocolate is also good for those who are concerned about weight? I discovered that a cup of hot chocolate taken before a meal helps to reduce your appetite!

So do go ahead and enjoy your chocolate, dark chocolate please.

Tell you more next time! Cheers!

Dark Chocolate Keeps Your Heart Healthy

Do you know that eating dark chocolate is good for your heart? Isn't that wonderful?

I just had to share this bit of information with you when I came across it.

Dark chocolate which is bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, is good for your heart.

How? Why is it good?

Eating dark chocolate helps to lower the cholesterol and blood pressure levels thereby reducing the risk of getting heart diseases. It reduces the Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol, which is commonly known as bad cholesterol

Furthermore, high blood pressure is significantly lowered due to the flavonoids in cocoa, a basic ingredient of chocolate. The flavonoids produce Nitric Oxide which helps the body to relax its blood pressure and also keeps the body fats from blocking the arteries.

These flavonoids also contain antioxidants that have been known to reduce the risk of cancer.

This dark chocolate has more antioxidants compared to a milk chocolate or any other white chocolate since it has at least 65 percent of cocoa for or even higher. These antioxidants are essential so that the body can fight free radicals that cause heart ailments and other types of diseases.

Some findings have indicated that chocolate brings about blood thinning, similar to the effects of a small dose of aspirin. This helps the free flow of blood in the system and reduces the risk of blood clots . However, one must not consider substituting aspirin with chocolate!!

Eating a small bar every day will help keep the cardiovascular system working well.
So go ahead and have your dark chocolate. It's good for you.


I love dark chocolate but I allow myself just four little squares after dinner.

More on dark chocolate in the next post so be seeing you!