Online Groceries Shopping

I am so sleepy and tired now.  There are simply too many things going on lately.  Anyway, something to share before I head for the bed.

I was recently exposed to another method of shopping for lazy busy people!  Lols... No, not for clothes/shoes/bags/wigs/sex toys(oopst! lols)/etc.  What I discovered is even more interesting than those things. It is online shoping for groceries!

And I actually likes it!  No need to drive out to the supermarket, walking down the endless aisles of items, pushing along the cumbersome shopping cart (which injured my little toes pretty badly once), queue up the long line to pay for the items, stuffing everything (groceries shopping usually involves MANY bags) into the only space I have (the passenger seat), drive home, proceed with bringing all the heavy bags from the car to the house.  That's a lot of work ok!

All I have to do now is just browsing thru the many online groceries store in the comfort of my home (while sipping coffee, msn-ing, fb-ing, tickling the piles of fur at my feet (Rumba & Sunshine)), compare the prices of what I need from many different online store, click click click and VOILA! 

Some charge a minimal delivery fee, some doesn't.  Usually are just about RM5-10 depending on your area.  Still cheaper compared to the petrol, toll and parking that we have to pay and not forgetting, the many other unneccesary 'on-the-way' purchases plus that coffee break or that 'feel'... to pamper ourselves to some good lunches.  Yes, I know all those... and don't tell me it doesn't happen.  Hahahaha...

Some require a minimum order value and some doesn't too.  You can choose to either pay online or COD.  Just make sure there is someone at home to receive your orders on the selected delivery time.  Easy isn't it?

Best part is, I get a FREE orange too!  Haha.. that's just for sampling.  Seriously, now I don't need to look like a mad woman with messy hair and oily face lugging hundreds of bags and stuffing them all into a car too small. :)  I think this is espcially good if you are buying big and heavy stuff like liquid detergents, oil, rice, toilet rolls, canned food and so forth. 

If you wish to give it a try, here are few links that I've explored.  Go check them out and let me know if their prices are as competitive as the 'real' supermarkets outside. I will love feedback so that I can save more on the groceries and splurge more on the shoes!  Yes, the priority sounds right. :p

1) Virgrocery.com  

2) Redtick

2) Doorstep

So, it is goodnight for now. :)  Have fun!

Potato Chicken + Cordycep Soup

I cooked these for dinner last week, and the kitchen was closed after that.  Inspiration-less.  Lols...  Picture above was just a simple chicken dish cooked with potato = Potato Chicken.  Nothing much to this post.  Just something to share. ;)

Ingredients:

Some chicken cut into pieces

Some potato cut into cubes

Some oyster sauce + some dark soy sauce + a little sesame oil + cornflour + little water

Chopped some garlic

A little chinese wine

Methods:

1) Heat wok with a little oil.

2) Saute some chopped garlic till fragrant.

3) Add in the cut chicken pieces and cook for a minute or so.

4) Add in the cubed potato.

5) Drizzled in the sauce mixture.

6) Cook on high heat for a short while till boiling.

7) Reduce heat to low and cover with wok's lid to simmer for while.  Hmm... approx. 10minutes.

8) Remember to stir it every now and then to prevent burn.

9) Last but not least, drizzled in some chinese wine, off the fire, ready to serve. :)

For simple chinese cooking, I usually just go with 'a little' of this, or 'some of that'.  Not sure of the exact amount.  Hahaha... simply only.  Go with the 'feel'... hahaha...  Luckily it turned out pretty yummy. :p

Boiled Chicken Cordyceps soup too.  I remembered grandpa used to boil cordyceps soup for me when I was young for I was an asthmatic + coughfy child.  So I thought this should be good for us too since both of us have been experiencing coughing spell since the recovering of the nasty cold.  Though these are just some cheap cordyceps, well, it's better than none at all... :p  I bought the herbs off the supermarket shelf.  Pre-packed.  Easy peasy! ;)

1) First, scald the kampung chicken (village chicken, small black ones) for awhile in a pot of boiling water.  This is to rid the raw stench (smell) and 'remaining blood' so that the soup we boil later would turned out clear and not choky.  

2) Then, put the scalded chicken into the slow cooker, throw in the herbs (washed) and filled up the pot with water (normal temperature), amount as indicated on the packaging of the herbs.

3) Set cooker to 'high'.  When boiled, switched to 'low' and let it cook for 3-4 hours.  Ready to serve.

4) Salt are optional :)  

  

Besides Kampung Chicken, you can boiled with lean pork meat, normal chicken, or any other meat you prefer (or no meat at all).  I chose Kampung chicken cause I was told they are good for health.  In what ways, I don't know.  Probably less chemicals.  Hahaha....

Tips:

If you are working, you can use the 'auto timer' adapter to boil soup.  You know those plug which you can set when to turn on or off?  Just set your slow cooker on 'low' and your 'auto timer' to on for 4-5 hours. By time you get home from work, you'll have hot yummy nourishing soup waiting for you at home!  :)  So what I usually does is, I'll set the adapter to on at 10am and off at 3pm.  Then on again at 6:30pm for half an hour so that the soup would be hot at dinner time :).  You get what I mean?

These are the expensive cordyceps.  The cheap ones are plummer, rounder and whiter.  Hmm... go zoom in on my soup picture.  You might be able to see some.. lols..

Medicinal uses of Cordyceps:

Replenishes energy, alleviates cough (bingo!), expels phlegm (bingo!), relieves lower back pain and aching joints.

Personal verdict:
I think the soup does help with the coughing.  We cough lesser and almost recovering :)

Maybank Fraud Expose

I just went into my mailbox and found this rather misleading email sitting in there yelling out for my attention and thought that I should share it with you guys. Maybe some of you might have already known this but nevertheless I'll still like to share it to prevent any of you being conned out of your Maybank user id & password.

The email says:


"Dear Valued Customer,

Maybank found a serious security problem in your account as several unauthorized transactions were attempted from an unknown location. We have deactivated and also restricted access to your account for security reasons. Your immediate attention is required to reactivate your account. Please be informed that your account will be terminated if not activated now. Proceed Now: www.maybank2u.com.my

Sincerely,

Maybank Group"

Rather convincing huh? The email was from a mberhad@lead2u22.com email address. Why would a corporate bank have a 'lead2u22.com' email address??? As I never have a Maybank account, I knew immediately it is a fraud. So I sibuk-sibuk click on the link shown in their email and true enough, when clicked, it does bring me to a pretty believable 'Maybank2u.com' login site. But on closer inspection, the web address shown on that page is a branching out of some iov5may2u.com (http://www.iov5may2u.com/M2ULogin.htm) instead of the standard branching of a Maybank (https://www.maybank2u.com.my/).

What this crook does is, the moment you key in your user id & password, their system will automatically record it down. Then they will log into your maybank2u account and transfer out all your hard earn money.

Anyway, this is just another classic case la... just want you guys out there to be aware of this. Spread the words to your brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, father, mother, friends... anyone la... just be extra careful when you receive emails from banks ok.

Latest Update on a Crook's Creativity!

Wake up to another drama this morning. No, no opened gate. When we pulled open the curtain this morning, we found a bunch of security guards at our opposite neighbour's gate. We then quickly changed and went kaypoh outside.

We later found out that the old indian amma (old granny) living opposite is the latest snatch thief victim on our street. Apparently she was robbed off her gold necklace right in her car porch, with her gate safely closed. You must be asking, "How???"

What happened was, a man with a motorbike stopped in front of her gate and claimed to be a postman delivering a registered mail. He handed the amma the mail and told her to sign receipt on a piece of paper. He told the amma to check carefully and he held the piece of paper really closed to the gate so that the amma will lean forward. When she does just that, he quickly snatched the gold necklace that she was wearing and sped off. Unbelievable eh? Robbed right in the safe compound of her own porch with a strong closed gate.

Luckily she didnt fell. At that time, she was carrying her young grandchild in one arm. Sometimes I wonder, I wonder since when all these unscrupulous activities started. What motivated them to do it? A person's life is not worth the few dollar riches they gained out of it? Haizz... I dunno la...

So next time, if you see a mail man at your gate, whack them kau kau first on the head first before retrieving your mail ya...! With all these happening around us, it is not our fault that we act a little wacky...

Of Car Alarm To Life Saver Tips

I slept at 10:30pm last night. Was peacefully snoozing away until about 1 hour later, awaken rudely by an extremely loud car alarm that went off. My better half was outside, at the living room upstairs watching some cartoon. He then went to check from the window upstairs, then down to the living hall downstairs, to see where the alarm came from and concluded that it was a house alarm of one of the neighbour cause he don't see any blinking car and went right back up to his cartoon.

After tossing & turning for about 10-15 minutes trying to get back to sleep with the alarm blaring away, I gave up. I told him I gonna go out the porch to see which house it came from. If something is wrong, how come no security guard in sight. Maybe one of the neighbour is in distress and needed help. Maybe the whole family is being tied up after the robbers had left and all they can do is triggle the alarm off, hopefully, some kind samaritan kepochi like me will come to their rescue. Leaving him with no other alternatives, he followed me downstairs. He can't be expecting me to go out by myself in the middle of the night right... wanna die, die together la... :p

The moment I went downstairs, it felt strange. How can the siren be so extremely loud downstairs? I quickly rushed to the window and immediately knew that it came from our RAV4 that is parked in our porch. I quickly grabbed the remote control but it was not able to silent it. As it is not exactly OUR car, we don't know exactly where the emergency off button is. In the end, we just dismantled the battery. Finally, 5 minutes before midnight, peace & quiet. The blardy car has been screaming away for a good 20 minutes at least.

I think last night arr, the whole neighbourhood must have cursed our father/mother/grandmother & all our ancestors.... hehehe.... gosh... it was really loud. You know, those kind of car alarm that have a few different tones - tiu tiu tiu, pi poo pi poo pi poo, ten ten ten ten... that kind la. To think of it, where got house alarm like that one?? But at that moment, I did thought maybe they have improvised the siren of house alarm to those kind.

Again, as it is not exactly our car, we never knew it has an alarm. We also never knew that the alarm sounded like that. And we never knew car alarm could go off without blinking its lights as well. Not sure what had triggered it off since the car has not been driven since Monday afternoon. Anyway, these are the things you should look out for should the same thing happen to you.

(1) Do not rush out of your house immediately.

(2) Try disarming the alarm with your car remote first.

(3) If failed, before unlocking your house door, squat down and look beneath your car right thru to the front gate to ensure no hidden intruders.

(4) If you have a security camera, better still. Go check to make sure nobody came in and hiding in the porch.

(5) When the coast is clear, carry a weapon and be alert. Program your mind to the fastest path to rush back into the house should something goes wrong so that you won't panic if something does go wrong.

(6) When one is checking on the car, the other one should be on the look out for just in case.

(7) Like us, if you don't know where the emergency alarm-off button is, just dismantle the battery by unclamping one of the clip. It's pretty easy to do it. When you free free, just take out the tool bag in your car, look at the tools, then at the battery, you'll know what to do. :p Or you can ask your father/brother/husband/mechanic to show you how.

(8) Finally, get your ear clean periodically so you can hear clearly where the alarm coming from without having the need to go out. :p

Seriously, these days robbers are getting very creative & innovative in their crooky activities. Therefore, we too must be extra creative & innovative in protecting ourselves. Never act in rash. Always think before you act. Train your mind to go into auto-life-saving-mode when in an emergency or threatening situation. You can save yourself. Don't bother about saving others. That one, we leave it to the police. That's what we need them for.

TIPS: Let there be light!

This is an auto-timer where you can set when an electrical appliance should be switched ON or OFF. It is a very useful item to have at home. You can find these auto-timers almost everywhere; hardware shop, electrical appliances shop, supermarket and etc. There are many models to it. Some even come with a small digital LCD screen. Whatever it is, they all functions the same. The cheapest that I’ve come across are those sold in Ikea itself. It is equally reliable & functional. So don’t waste money on expensive ones.

An auto-timer is useful for:

1) Home lightings: To auto ON/OFF lightings at specific time without having the need to do it ourselves everyday. This is especially useful when we are on holiday. We can set the lights in our house to switch on automatically in the evening.

2) Slow-cooker: We may not want to boil our soup for too long. Therefore, we can use the auto-timer on the slow cooker so that it can automatically switch off after 5 hours of boiling and automatically switched on again half an hour before we are home, so that we get to enjoy hot, yummy & nutritious soup after a long day at work.

3) Radio: To auto ON a radio when we were away for holiday to scare off potential intruders. They might think there is someone at home.

4) Pets: To amuse your pets with automatic switched on toys when you are away for holidays. (Just kidding.)

There you have it. Hope this little tips will help you at home. Have a great new week ahead!

Household tips #1 - Bye bye grease!

Last night as I was doing something (can't remember what it was), a bright idea strike me. Instead of blogging about silly stuff all the time, I will blog about something useful once in awhile such as life's tips/tricks which I've picked up as I go about my life, just to share with you. Hopefully, these little tips/tricks will help to make your life like a bed of roses.

I would like to start off this label with a household tips. Remember how we hate to clean up after a cooking storm? Splattered oil all over the stove? How you would need to use soapy sponge to clean the grease followed by a wet cloth?

Maybe you already know of the trick. Anyway, for those of you that is still cleaning up using the conventional ways, here's how you should do it. Just spray some glass cleaner over it, and wipe it off with a damp cloth. Voila! All grease gone!

Oh... one more thing. Please don't get cheap brand. Cheap brand usually come in other colours like purple and etc. Those are not as effective as the blue ones. Good luck!