In fact, I think I’ve gotten so used to wearing sneakers that I have a selection of sneakers to match my clothes - black, white, blue, and pink.  My favourite pair of shoes are my Merrell boots.  It has gotten to the point where the hubby has specifically forbidden me to buy another pair of sneakers.  I’m allowed to buy anything else but not sneakers.

But that’s just it - I’d never wear anything else to go out.  These days I dress for comfort and ease of nursing.  The last thing I want to do is get into an outfit that is impractical for nursing my toddler on the go.  Since that usually means casual, there’s really very little point in getting anything more formal because I wouldn’t wear it - or hardly ever.

It is also worth while noting that in a tropical climate, shoes distintegrate very fast.  There were two formal events I went to recently where I wore some of my old high heeled shoes.  When I got home, the soles of my heels were completely destroyed.  I wondered at first if it was because I wasn’t walking properly but it isn’t.  It is because the rubber has disintegrated over time and after one wear, I might as well throw them out.

Ah well, it’s probably a good thing because last weekend, I read an article in the Star about “Killer Shoes” which highlighted the negative effects of wearing shoes that were too narrow, that compressed your toes, that arched your foot unnaturally (i.e. high heels or any sort), and gave too little support.  The recommendation was to wear sneakers when you need to do a lot of walking and to save your high heels for those special occasions when you won’t have to do much walking.  Good thing I love to wear my Merrells!

Nevertheless, I still miss how my feet look in high heels.  I was helping my SIL2 shop for a pair of casual work shoes for her casual Fridays at the office and spotted myself eyeing a few of the nicer shoes and clothing items on the rack.  Sometimes I miss the days of getting dressed up to go to the office.  Then again I try to remind myself that if I had to do this day in, day out, I’d probably get sick of it pretty quickly.  And besides, who am I kidding?  I’ve never been comfortable in formal wear.  As much as I like how I look in them, I hate having to traipse around daintily just so I don’t keel over and fall face first down the stairs or something. 

Even so, that didn’t stop me from saving a few of my power suits from my working days which I never ever wear any more.  To be quite honest, I didn’t really wear them that often at the office either.  I don’t even know if I can still wear them.  I keep them with this fantastic idea that I’ll wear them to formal functions, like a wedding or something, but seriously, who am I kidding?  Maybe it’s time to get rid of them come CNY when I perform my annual wardrobe spring clean.

I got this thing for shoes.  I think it all started when I first came back to Malaysia and found it difficult to find clothes in my size.  Ironically, even though I was an Australian size 10, I was still struggling to find clothes that would fit me here.  It would be so annoying when I walk into a shop and the sales girl will ask me if I wanted to try on a pair of pants.  I would tell her that it looks too small and she would insist I could wear them.  Yeah, right!  I can’t even get it past my knees!

The only thing I could easily fit into were the shoes - only because I have small feet for my height.  So after that, I only really went shopping for shoes.  I would go back to Australia to go clothes shopping where I could feel like a normal size person, while over here, I would just stick to shoes.

I want soft close cabinets so that when you swing the door shut, it doesn’t slam.  I also prefer the lacquer finish rather than wooden cabinets, although for a while there I was thinking about wood.  As much as I love the all-white finish, I realise the impracticalities of having white kitchen cabinets, especially when you’re planning a home with young children.  A better bet would be to go for off-white:

I’m kind of fond of black, too, but I’m worried that too many dark colours in the house attract mozzies.  Then again, this kitchen design taken from Freshome looks great, don’t you think?

In fact, this design looks like it would fit our house plan pretty nicely.  We have space for an island and a single wall for the cabinets to be lined against because the room design is an open concept with the kitchen connecting to the living and dining.  I also think it is more practical to have floor to ceiling cabinets so you don’t have to worry about cleaning above the cabinets where dust collects.

They have been running demonstrations in places like Home Fix and it caught my interest because of the claim on being able to remove pesticides.  Since we started juicing our fruits with the skin on, one of my concerns has been the increased consumption of pesticides.  Although I thoroughly wash my fruits and veggies before blending them, sometimes even with fruit and veggie cleaners (it’s said that if you wash your fruits with a bit of soap, you can usually get rid of most of the pesticides on the skin), fruits like blueberries, raspberries, grapes and strawberries are a little harder to clean.  Plus, having more surface area, they probably contain a much higher level of pesticides.  Then again, the benefits of eating these fruits and vegetables are supposed to outweigh the disadvantages of these contaminants…

The Okamizu is supposed to be the solution to this dilemma.  Approved by the FDA, they claim to have several studies conducted by various laboratories, Universities and the manufacturer proving its efficacy, however, I’ve only seen one paper.  It uses ozone to clean.  All you need is the device and a bowl of water. Fruits and veggies take 15 minutes to clean, meat takes 30 minutes to clean.  After cleaning, the food is supposed to taste sweeter, fresher, crunchier, etc.  They also claim that the food shelf life is increased after cleaning.

Although it looks like an interesting device with some pretty attractive claims, I’m not sure I am convinced to part with RM1.7k to buy this device.

Here is some interesting information on this fruit that I received through email:

Also known as the Dragon Fruit, the Pitaya is a beautiful fruit with an intense colour and shape, magnificent flowers and a delicious taste. The fruit has a high water content and is rich in vitamins and minerals. With a lightly sweet taste, it is good for the liver, acts as a laxative by supplementing fiber and is a very suitable fruit for dieters.

Dragon fruit is also recommended for people with high blood pressure.  There is a belief that the regular consumption of dragon fruit can help a person reduce weight naturally with many beneficial effects upon his/her health.  Eating this fruit is also believed to reduce diabetes, making it a popular fruit especially among Asians.

Benefits of eating the Dragon Fruit:

1. Enhance the body’s metabolism (Protein)
2. Improve digestion (Fiber)
3. Reduce Fat (Fiber)
4. Improve memory (Carotene)
5. Maintain the health of the eyes (Carotene)
6. Strengthen bones and teeth development (Calcium)
7. Tissue development (Phosphorus)
8. Help to metabolise carbohydrates and produce energy (Vitamin B1)
9. Improve appetite (Vitamin B2)
10. Moisturise and smoothen skin and decrease bad cholestrol level (Vitamin B3)
11. Improves the immune system and promotes healing of cuts and bruises (Vitamin C)

USEFUL TIPS:

How to Select and Store

They should be full-colored and free of moldy spots. Dragon Fruit should be refrigerated, unwashed, for up to 5 days. Serve chilled.

Dragon Fruit Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 package of ready to use pre-made sugar cookie dough
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 dragon fruit, peeled and sliced
• 3 kiwi, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup strawberries, hulled and cut in half
• 1/4 cup apricot glaze

Method:

1. Roll out cookie dough into a 12 inch round.
2. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Allow to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, prepare fruit by washing and slicing it into 1/4 inch slices.
5. Cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon jucie.
6. When the crust is cool, top with the cream cheese mixture.
7. Lay fruit in a circle on top of the cream cheese mixture.
8. Spread apricot glaze over fruit.
9. Chill until ready to serve.

• one montel banana
• 4 Tbsp oats
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp Ski Divine Strawberry yoghurt
• 4 strawberries
• a handful of frozen blueberries
• 1 plum
• 6 frozen cherries
• 10 red globe grapes
• 1 avocado

I’ve made this recipe before but without the avocado.  It tastes pretty much the same except you can taste the hint of avocado with an extra creaminess.  Nice!

Just a few more discoveries: 

Cold Storage in Great Eastern Mall sells the cheapest frozen blueberries at about RM18+ - surprise, surprise (I always thought Cold Storage was over-priced in everything). 

Mercato in Pavillion no longer sells frozen raspberries - dang!  Sometimes you can get pretty cheap Montel bananas (price comparable to the markets).

Jusco Supermarket recently had some really cheap and nice strawberries from NZ going at RM7.90 for a small punnet (normal price is RM8.90) - I bought 4 punnets and froze them.

A few more years after that, I started to get lazy with the contact lenses and would only put them on if I was doing sports.  Since I was quite active in sports, it meant wearing them quite often.  Now that I hardly ever do any sports, I only wear contacts on special occasions when I want to be vain.  In fact, I quite enjoy wearing glasses now - especially having different pairs of funky coloured frames so I can alter my “look” whenever I feel like it.

It used to be really expensive to get a pair of prescription glasses so I only ever had one set - the one I was wearing.  My backup would be the old set I had before my prescription had changed.  Nowadays, you can get some really affordable prescription eyewear online.  How affordable?  Try $8.  Yes, there’s no typo there - you can get a pair of prescription eyewear (lens included) for as little as $8.  And if you want to add anti-reflective and anti-radiation coating to your lenses, it is an additional $4.95 - what a bargain!  Sunglass tint is another $4.95.  I seriously don’t think it gets any cheaper than this.

So where can you get them from?  Zenni Optical.

Maybe it’s time I try for a new look and get myself a pair of Holiday frames?  What do you think of these:

or these:

I’ve got blue frames, red frames and rimless frames, so I thought perhaps it might be time for a pair of green frames.

• 5 Tbsp Ski Divine Berry Haven Yoghurt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Montel Banana
• 10 Red Globe Grapes
• A sprinkling of blueberries
• A sprinkling of raspberries
• 5 strawberries

Lately, I’ve been having and avocado oat blend consisting of:

• 1 Montel Banana
• 4 Tbsp Oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1 avocado

I want to add more to the avocado oat blend to give it more oompf but I’m not exactly sure what makes a good combination with avocado…  Any suggestions?

The pre-dinner fruit blend usually consists of:

• 1 small red apple
• 1 small green apple
• 1 small orange
• 1 large pear
• 1 Montel banana
• 20 grapes
• 1 plum
• a sprinkling of blueberries
• a sprinkling of raspberries
• 4 strawberries (depending on whether we have any)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup ice cubes

I might omit something and add in pineapples if we have any.  I stopped adding the carrots and celery because my health-unconscious hubby complained of overdose.  Sigh.  Well, better that he drink the juice than not at all, so I’ve stopped buying celery and carrots for the time being.

The fruits alone are already pretty beneficial so at least he’s getting something out of it.  Here are the benefits of each of these fruits:

Apples are great for lowering cholesterol and risk for cancer.  They have mild antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory activity.  High in fiber (especially if you blend the whole fruit and not just juice it), they’re great for avoiding constipation and suppressing appetite.

Avocados are good for circulation and lowering cholesterol.  They contain oleic acid which acts as an antioxidant to block the negative effects of LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol).  Great source of glutathione - a power antioxidant that blocks carcinogens and proliferation of the AIDS virus in test tube experiments.

Bananas I’ve already talked about here.

Blueberries ditto.

Carrots are a great source of beta carotene which is an anticancer, artery-protecting, immune-boosting, infection-fighting antioxidant.  One carrot a day cuts stroke rates in women by 68%.  One medium carrot cuts lung cancer risk in half, even among formerly heavy smokers (hmmm… maybe it’s time to start incorporating carrots again on the sly).  High doses of beta carotene reduces the odds of degenerative eye diseases (cataracts and macular degeneration - wow, maybe I should include them myself!) as well as chest pain.

Celery reduces blood pressure (if you take two to four stalks a day).  It also contains different anti-cancer compounds that combat carcinogens such as those found in cigarette smoke.

Cranberries (I was adding frozen cranberries at one stage) have strong antibiotic properties, especially good for helping to prevent urinary tract infections.  It also has antiviral activity.

Grapes contain antioxidants, inhibit platelet clumping and boosts HDL (good) cholesterol.  Red grapes are also antibacterial and antiviral.  It’s important to include the skins and the seeds because they contain a lot of the nutrients.

Oranges are natural cancer inhibitors - carotenoids, terpenes, flavonoids, vitamin C and beta carotene.  Helps ward off asthma attacks, bronchitis, breast cancer, stomach cancer, atherosclerosis, and gum disease.  It boosts fertility and healthy sperm in some men (hmmm… maybe time to up the dose of oranges).

Pineapples suppress inflammation, aids digestion, helps dissolve blood clots and preventing osteoporosis and bone fractures because of its high manganese content.  Antibacterial, antiviral and mildly oestrongenic.

Plums are antibacterial, antiviral and a good laxative.

Raspberry read here.

Strawberries are antiviral and provide anticancer activity.

After seeing the size of the box (see the photo above for size impression), I suppose I’m not all that surprised that the first parcel went missing.  Although I find it terribly disappointing that one can’t even make an online order without the entire contents of the delivery going missing!

Nevertheless, I’m glad they’ve finally arrived, and I think, so is Gavin, since he spent the evening watching 4 episodes!

So what’s the take-home message?

• resist the temptation to save on shipping by making a bulk order - you could end up paying more than you bargained for with other unpleasant consequences
• avoid purchasing DVDs, but if you must - make sure they’re in small quantities and the parcel is small